Barbarian Guides

[Muderman24]

All Barbarian Guides that members have put together can be found here.
If you have a guide organize it and pm it to a mod and it will be added and you will be given credit for the guide



Singer Barbarian: by HEYman

The Warcry barbarian, or popularly known as the singer, is a build which requires a lot of expensive items to make the build smooth. Also, it is rather strange as the PvM build of the singer is completely different from the PVP build in terms of stat placement points and gear. After leveling two characters, the PvM one and the PVP one up to level 85, I have finally decided to write about it, due to the sheer number of posts that was asking for a singer guide..

Okay, those interested in making the singer barb for PVM, stick to the PVM side of the guide. Those interested in PVP stick to the PVP side of the guide…. DO NOT get confused…=/

Oh by the way, the PVM warcry build is good for PVP as well, it just can’t handle melee or physical attackers, only elementals : )

Stat Placement

PVM Build

Strength: 60
Dexterity: 60 (For Dual Hel’d Wizardspike)
Vitality: 150
Energy: Rest here

Yes, this is actually one of the builds in which you actually have to part with most of your stat points is. The thing is WC takes up a lot of mana and in PVM, you must be casting very fast. We are not going Shield here, so not a lot of points for dexterity.

PVP Build

Strength: Enough for SS after + to strength equipment
Dexterity: Enough for Max Block
Vitality: Rest here
Energy: None

The PVP build relies on max block, meaning dexterity and also strength for SS. Energy is not that important in PVP, since characters take less hits than monsters to die =/


Skill builds for both PVP and PVM

Shout: 1 point

Leap: 1 point

Battle Command: 1 point

Increased stamina/speed/Iron skin/Natural Resistance: 1 point

War Cry: 20 points

Battle Cry: 20 points
Battle Orders: 20 points

Taunt: 20 points

Howl: Rest goes here


The skill points are pretty self explanatory, just make sure you max taunt first instead of howl…. This is because taunt gives a insane penalty to monsters attack rating and damage you just cast on. However, for PVP you might want to max howl first : )



PVM Equipment

Helm: Harlequin’s Crest Shako (No Arguing it is > Arreat’s face for a singer barb)
Armor: Que Hagan’s (Breaking 105 FCR breakpoint with dual wizzies)
Weapons: Dual Hel’d Wizspikes (WOOT! 150 resists, 100 FCR, Regenerate mana and + mana, for this build Wizspike > HOTO, Don’t even try Dual HOTOs, you’ll run out of mana entirely + to skills don’t add really much to WC damage and increases mana by a chunk.)

Weapon Switch: 2x +3 warcry spears. Activate this while doing BO ^.^)
Amulet: FCR Amulet, preferably with + to barb skills.
Rings: 2x SOJS
Glove: Frostburns
Belt: Gloom’s Trap
Boot: Silkweaves

Charms

10x Warcry grand charms with + to life.


PVP Equipment

Helm: Arreat’s Face with Shael
Armor: Engima Archon Plate
Weapon: Heart of the Oak
Shield: Stormshield Sur
Belt: Arachnid’s Mesh
Rings: 2x SOJS
Boots: Silkweaves
Glove: Bloodfists
Amulet: Crafted Barbarian FCR amulet
Weapon switch: 2x +3 warcry spears

8x Warcry Charms with + life again
Annilhus
Rest of inventory filled with resists sc


PVM Tips

Do not go charging into a pack of Oblivion Knights. That is the last thing you would want to do. Always drink Health and Mana potions to refill your life and mana supply (no leech remember?). When using Battle Cry and Taunt against crowds, switch to your 2x 3+ warcry spears to do so and switch back to the dual wizzies for the insane FCR casting WC. I would add to add that your barbarian can stand right in the center of Throne of Destruction’s oncoming waves and not get killed due to the insane def/life and the stunning duration…

Mercenary

Get a Act2 Might Mercenary and equip him with Vamp Gaze, DOOM Runeword polearm and Shaftstop.


PVP Strategies


Remember, you run out of mana very easily, as you are teleporting. So keep 16 mana potions (Your opponent won’t know anyway) on your belt.



Lightning Trapsin: Wear T gods They’re practically screwed =/ Leap around while they are wasting traps and then teleport over and launch a few war cries. Or more precisely spam it… If you want to be evil, 4x Lo Monarch, 2x Wisp Projectors, T Gods and Max Resists… lol

Fire Trapsin: Never dueled one before

WW Assasin: Screw the Shadow Master by taunting [img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/henry/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/img]


Charged strike Javazon:
Very hard to beat, since the bolts trigger anytime they try to hit. Remember to get T Gods and max resists facing up against a c/s zon

Bowazon: If they stand still, they lose 100 % Warcry has enough duration to make sure they are completely stunned and they die fast under warcry. Teleport to them and spam warcry ^.^

Bone Necromancer: Equip Gavel of pain and amplify him, otherwise you won’t be able to get through his bone armor -_-“

Poison Necromancer: Hmm, I am interested to as how drinking 30 antidote potions before a fight actually helps it. I tested this out, and was surprised to see it actually had an effect -_-

Summoner Necromancer: You will rock against this. Let him come to you, and them spam warcry to keep the minions in check. If you really want to be cheap, cast Howl to scare monsters away to face off against the necromancer… He can teleport away to regroup, but he will be under stun lock by then…


Wind Druid: Leap on him and spam war cry as fast as you can

Fire Druid: Just have high fire resists and put on norozan’s relic or rising sun.

FOH Paladin: Easy fight. 4x P topaz Monarch, T Gods negates his conviction completelky and ensures he does crappy damage. Take the offensive.

Zeal/Charge: Leap on them of first. This does two things. Knock him back and removing name lock. Battle Cry him and immediately spam War cry. Don’t allow him to hit you because zeal is uninterruptible

Hammeradin: Since you need to move into their hammer range, which is point blank death, here’s a tip for you: Never get onto their northern region. You will get hit. If the hammer is a clock, it starts from 10 o clock. The dangerous regions are therefore the northern ones. Teleport on the bottom of him to spam warcry

Fire Sorceress: Rising Sun and max fire resists. It is easy to kill a fire sorceress because fireball is hard to aim. Dodge them, Namelock them and warcry. You can also leap to them and spam warcry to get them into FHR animation

Orb Sorceresses: Dangerous ones, they are. Never underestimate these girls. IF your hit by a full orb , its death. Not even absorb will save you if you get hit by a full orb. Wear 4x Saphhire Monarch here, as well as Snowclash, Raven frosts. Drink lots of thawing potions to boost your cold resistances to 85 for 30 seconds (Providing your resists aren’t below 40)

Blizzard: Same as above, thawing potions. Wear the 4x sapphire shield and spam warcry. These girls won’t teleport as fast thoughas they have a longer cooldown and most of them expect their opponents to die within 1-2 blizzards =/

WW Barb: Its easy to kill a ****** ww barb with warcry, due to the stun duration etc, but against very experienced WW barbs, its near impossible. Sorry, just do your best for this match up.


~thanks to GSC from diablorealm.net

~~HeyMan~~

[Muderman24]

Taz Mania Devil: PvP Whirlwind by HEYman

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Skills
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20 Sword Mastery-Increases Attack Rating, Damage, and has Critical
20 Whirlwind-Main Attack, Whirlwind is good because you cannot be hit in Whirlwind form
20 Shout-Huge Defense Bonus
20 Battle Orders-Huge Life and Mana Bonus
01 Concentrate-Secondary Attack
01 Increased Speed-Outrun Missile attacks
01 Natural Resistances-Resists against Elemental Attacks
Rest-Iron Skin-Increases Defense even more
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Stats
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Strength=80-You can wear Enigma Archon Plate with Annilus Charm and Arreat's Face
Dexterity=155-Max Block, Attack Rating
Vitality=+300-What do you want me to say?
Energy=Base-Botd and Anni will give enough Energy. Although you should carry mana potions for battle
------
Equipment
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Arreats Face-(SOCKETED)-40/15 IAS-What can I say Faster Hit Recovery, Skills, Strength, Dexterity, Defiantly best helm to use
Angelic Amulet-Attack Rating is Necessary
2xAngelic Ring-Attack Rating is Necessary
Verdungoes-Huge life Bonus, Great Belt All Around.
Stormsheild-(SOCKETED)-40/15 IAS-Best shield, no need to explain why
Breath of the Dying Ethereal Colossus Blade-Best Weapon none to Diablo
Enigma Archon Plate-Great defense, teleportation, and huge strength bonus
Grim Spur-Faster run/walk, Faster Hit Recovery, Resists
Dracula's Grasp-Duel leech, and life tap, Strength Bonus, and Open Wounds
On Weapon slot B, have 2xWarcry spears
------
Inventory
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Demon Limb- Charges
31x3-20-20s-Life and Attack Ratting
Annulus-Resists and Skills
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Dueling
------
-Sorceresses-
Fire-Hellmouth and Rising Sun
Cold-Raven frost and Blackoak Luna
Lightning-Wisp Projector and Thundergods
Should be moderately easy since they can’t hit you in WW form, basically just 'charge' at them in ww form.
-Paladins-
Zeal-Don’t use Concentrate, you'll get owned. Just run in WW form and when they come back at you, WW back at them.
Chargadin-If you can survive the first charge then you can do just fine.
Foh'ers-Thunder gods, and 1xWisp Projector, if you still cannot survive try 4xPerfect topaz Monarch.
Hammerdin-Very hard to duel against
Smiters-Youll have good Faster Hit Recovery, don't WW towards them.
-Assassin-
Trapsin-Thunder Gods and 1xWisp Projector
Whirlwind Assassin-Hard because of open wounds, duel is mostly luck
-Barbarian-
Whirlwind-Depends on equipment
-Druid-
Wind-Go up to his hurricane and whirlwind towards him
Shapeshifter-LOL
-Amazons-
Bowazons-It will take hundreds of arrows to kill you
Javazons-Thunder gods only, Whirlwind them like a lawn mower.
-Necromancer-
Poison and Bone-You can outrun bone spirits, just Whirlwind towards where the necromancer is going. Tough Match.
Poison- Use Death's Hand
**No Shield Necessary**

Well that about concludes my Guide.

!~~HEYman~~!

[Muderman24]

Concentrate Barbarian by: BurNin RaVe


Welcome to my second faq. This time is a about a concentrate barbarian. Intrested? read on and find out.

Stats:

Strength- 150-200

Dexterity- Enough to keep block rate up and hit most monsters in hell (200-300)

Vitality- 300-400

Energy- None

Skill Points:

Bash: 5-10 Points

Concentration: 20 Points

Mastery: 20 Points

Iron Skin: 20 Points

Whirlwind: 1 Point

Natural Resistance: 10 Points

Shout: 5-20 Points

Battle Orders: 20 Points

Battle Command: 1 Point

Gear--

When using an concentrate barbarian it is best for you to not use the set "immortal King" mainly because you cannot weild the maul and a sheild at a same time.

Helm: Upped Arreat w/ Cham in it

Amulet: Highlords or Metalgrid

Armor: Stone (2000+) Leviathan 25% Dr

Shield: Stormshield

Weapon: Botd weapon or GF 250% w/ 40/15

Gloves: Perfect Steel Rends

Rings: 1 Ring With All Resis and 5/5 Mana/Life Leech And a 5% Bk Ring

Boots: Gore Riders


Tips:

When using a concentrate barbarian if you are surrounded by too many monsters its best to use whirlwind to clean them up.

When dealing with alot of monsters that have high damage simply use DAMAGE REDUCING items and fhr charms.


Conclusion:

Have fun with your concentrate barb and remember if you followed this each time you attack you get a 15000 point defence bonus.

[MadCowBoy]

Hi guys!This is my first time posting a guide!Though I'm net a perfect barbarian player,but I play well with barbarians!Since the early days when Diablo II was first introduced to us,all the Barbarian class has been a favorite character to many of us D2 addicts. Whirlwind (WW) barbarian was one of the most played barbarian builds in 1.09 and in earlier patches also and with the coming of 1.10 a lot of WW Barbs out there were left out in the cold and had noticed that their once "almighty, cookie-cutter barb" couldn't cut butter let alone a cookie. I decided to write up this WW barb guide because there seems to be a lot of players asking for one and as soon as I made my first 1.10 WW barb and had him be very effective in hell I thought I would be the one to write a guide up.
I'm aimming this guide could be seen by other people!And I advise people who are gonna create a Whirlwind barbarian make is this way to make it work effectively and easier in hell lvl!This guide can steer ur barbarian to the right path to go!But the choice of using this or not is 100% not my dicision!

STAT POINT DISTRIBUTION:

Strength:
Enough to use your equipment. You should never pump strength more then you need to, it takes away points you could have on vitality instead. The best way to calculate how much strength you should have is to look at the requirements of your heaviest piece of equipment, add up how much of a strength bonus you will be getting from all your other gear and place points on strength accordingly.

Dexterity:
The amount of dexterity a barb should have all depends if you're going to be using a shield or not. In my opinion, and I'm sure a lot of you will agree with me, a shield is an extremely useful thing to use and will save you more times than you think. The benefits of using a shield can be priceless. Defense, resistance, and blocking are awesome things to have. After saying this, you should put enough dexterity so that a 75% chance to block is reached. You can check your chance to block simply by hovering your cursor over your defense in game. One thing to remember is that dexterity bonuses you receive from equipment, charms etc. will increase your chance to block to as written above. Figure out how much dexterity you will be getting from your gear, and place points accordingly. Also, as Hal has said on many occasions and I seem to agree with him, dexterity is a very bad way of increasing your Attack Rating, so don't place points in it if you're not hitting anything. Charms and other things that are listed in this guide is all you need.

Vitality:
This stat should be pumped up as high as you can get it. Any remaining stat points you get after placing what you need on strength and dexterity should go directly to vitality. It's simple, high vitality = high hit points (life), and therefore you will be able to take more damage before dying. Also, if PvP is your aim, vitality should be maximized in every way possible. Aim for at least 200-300 vitality before items bonuses.

Energy:
Don't ever touch this stat, you don't need any on energy. Mana leech, bonuses you get from leveling and Battle Orders will take care of your mana needs. Besides, there are always pots to drink when you need them.

SKILL POINT DISTRIBUTION:

This build relies on four major skills and therefore they should all be maxed. Any variation of the Whirlwind barb is going to max these skills, they are the basics of the Whirlwinder! MAX the following!

Weapon Mastery
Decide what type of weapon you will be using and max the appropriate mastery. This will increase your damage and attack rating (AR), as well as give you a nice critical strike percentage.

Whirlwind
This is ur main attack ,and this is what makes a whirlwind barbarian(When u max it,damage will lower,but the time of whirlwinding will be longer.Note that enemies CANNOT hit u during whirlwind)

Shout
This Warcry should be cast before going into any battle as it will increase your defense to incredible heights and is a must for almost any barbarian build so max it.

Battle Orders
This Warcry should be cast along with shout before going into the fray. Every barbarian build should max this one. It is also a synergy for Concentrate which you will use a lot so max it.

The following is a list of skills that require at least 1 point and that are very useful to any barbarian. Deciding whether to put more than one point in is up to you and some variations of the build that are listed bellow do make more use of some of these skills.
Berserk
This is going to be your "physical Immune" killer. This skill converts your damage to a nice huge amount of pure magic damage. Also use this skill to kill those pesky Oblivion Knights that cast the "Iron Maiden" curse on you, because this skill causes no physical damage it is unaffected by the curse.

Concentrate
This skill should be used on your left button attack at all times. Concentrate receives a huge damage bonus from maxing Battle Orders so 1 point is enough, though you may want to put more into it after maxing the main four above.

Leap Attack
This skill is very useful for getting yourself out of trouble as it allows you to leap away from a crowd when things get a little too heated. This skill is also extremely convenient when killing Mephisto, because it allows you to leap over the blood river instead of having to run around killing everything.

Iron Skin
This skill increases your Defense rating. It is a passive skill so no casting is necessary. It is also a prerequisite for Natural Resistance which is a must-have skill also.

Natural Resistance
The name says it all. This skill gives the barbarian a head start over any other character type by giving a certain percent resistance to all elemental damage. Maxing your resistance to elemental attack is a must for any character and this one helps out a lot.

Increased speed
Although not completely necessary, this skill is very nice to have 1 point in. It simply makes you run faster. If you want to duel a lot definitely put 1 point on this.

Taunt
In the words of Scorpion from Mortal Combat.. "GET OVER HERE!" and this is exactly what this skill does. It makes a monster come to you and try to attack. This skill is awesome when going against ranged attackers like the archers you find in act5 Highlands. Once taunted, they will stop attacking from a far, and walk towards you making them easy prey for a WW barb.

Battle Cry
This skill is a must-have when boss-killing or going against any hard hitting, high defense monster. It will decrease the monster's defense and damage they cause.

War Cry
Not completely necessary but still a nice tool to have under your belt. It will stun and cause a small amount of damage to monsters and before you start thinking "Woh, cool, it stuns, I should max it!" the stun length is extremely short and the damage is minute

Battle Command
Simply increases all your skill levels by 1 for a long time, this skill should be cast first before any other Warcry.


OUTFITTING UR BARBARIAN:


The Whirlwind Barbarian is very item dependant in my opinion, and requires some top-end gear in order to be successful throughout the later stages of the game. The following is a list of different gear that could / should be used. Some will be expensive but alternatives will be listed.

WEAPON:

The Whirlwind Barbarians weapon is the most important item he needs. In order to be effective in hell, you will need a weapon that reaches the final speed break point for Whirlwind (for more information about speed break points, see the Speed Break point section below). Because Whirlwind speed is not affected by off weapon Increased attack speed, you will need a weapon that has a speed of -35 (see the arreats summit weapon section for base weapon speeds) for example, an ordinary Colossus Blade had a base weapon speed of 5, and therefore need to have +40% Increased attack speed in order to reach the speed desired. Remember that more speed = more hits per WW = more life and mana leach for your barb. What weapon you choose relies greatly on which mastery you have chosen and if you are going to be using a shield or not. The following table has all the best items in each mastery and a number of alternatives if you can't get your hands on those expensive runes.

Weapon Switch: unless Magic finding, every Barbarian should have 2 weapons on switch with the echoing mod (+3 to war crys), this will pump your Warcry's with a total of +6... try buying some from a shop. Be patient

SWORDS:

"Breath of the Dying" Colossus Blade: An excellent choice for any sword barbarian, with some great mods and the fact that you can make it in an ethereal 6 socket CB means that the damage on this baby is going to rock! Also very versatile because it can be used both 1 and 2 handed which lets you take your shield off when you don't need it and cause even greater damage. The 60% increased attack speed means it has an item speed of -55, which is more then enough speed for a WW barb. It has a relatively low strength requirement too and a massive bonus of 30 to all attributes meaning more vitality for you.

"Crescent Moon" Legend Sword: You may be wondering why I'm listing this one, and the simple answer is that it reaches the speed break point that we want. It also has decent damage and it ignores target's defense which will make hitting normal monsters a breeze. The base speed of a legend sword is -15 so the 20% increased attack speed adds up to -35. The runes are not too expensive and the 25% chance of open wounds and static on hit will help a lot. Note: % chance to cast static will not go off while WWing but will when using Concentrate.

The Grandfather: I'll start off by saying that this sword will be too slow and never reach the final break point of -35 no matter what you socket it with! But the damage rocks and if you want huge damage and can't afford a BotD, well give this one a try. I advise duel wielding this baby with another sword for extra hits.

Rare Elite Sword: If you are finding it difficult to get your hands on a great WW sword then make sure you look out for rare swords, even if they are normal/exceptional, they can be upgraded. Look for Increased attack speed and Enhanced damage mods.

AXES:

"Breath of the Dying" Berserker Axe: If you're going to be strictly using a shield or perhaps duel weird 2 axes, nothing even comes close to touching this baby. The 1-hand damage and speed of this weapon blows anything out of the water so if you can get your hands on one of these, touch it! touch it! Base weapon speed on a Zerker axe is 0 so it will have a weapon speed of -60.. WOOT !

"Breath of the Dying" Glorious Axe: If your WW barb is never going to use a shield, or if you want a huge damage weapon on your switch, this weapon is the way to go. Base weapon speed is 10 but will be -50 when you finish the rune word. That's fast enough for us.

"Breath of the Dying" Champion Axe: Although not as high damage as the Glorious Axe, the speed will be extremely godly, base speed on one of these babies is -10 and will get to -70 when BotD! WOOT !

"Beast" Berserker Axe: This rune word is a little less expensive than the one above and stands out for one mod especially, Fanaticism! The 20% Chance of Crushing Blow and 25% Chance of Open Wounds is a great addition as is the strength bonus you receive. All round great weapon of choice and I recommend it to those of you who are going to be duel wielding. A Botd in one hand and a Beast in the other results in a pretty hard-hitting fast attack barb and you'll took bad-***. Desired speed is reached.

"Doom" Berserker Axe: This rune word stands out for the Holy Freeze Aura it gives its wielder, with 20% Deadly Strike, 25% Chance of Open Wounds and a +2 to all skills, this weapon is awesome for duel wielding and reaches our desired speed too.

Death Cleaver: This unique elite at first sight seems to have only a few mods, but boy are they quality. +40% Increased Attack Speed, -33% Target Defense and 66% Deadly Strike, it is a fast killer and for the rich ones out there, an ethereal ZOD'd one would own.

Razor's Edge: with a modest -33% Target Defense, 50% Deadly Strike and 50% Chance of Open Wounds, this weapon is a decent choice for those on a budget.

Rare and Crafted Axes: You can always try crafting your own axe with the blood recipe, it is possible to get incredibly strong items with it. Also look out for Rare axes with Increased Attack speed and high Enhanced Damage.

MACES:

Immortal Kings Maul: If you're interested in using this one, why not just use the entire set. The bonuses are great and with 2 shaels it will get faster. Note: even with 2 shael runes in it the speed will only get to -30, which won't be as fast as we desire. You glow with the entire set on, making you look like a huge Christmas light.

Stormlash: This mace class weapon has great damage and speed, and although its minimum damage is quite low it has a nice +33% Chance of Crushing Blow which makes it a decent killer. Range is the same as the Colossus Blade and Berserker axe so it's quite neat indeed.

Baranar's Star: This one is old school. The damage is ok and speed can be reached. The main mods that stand out are the huge 200% Attack Rating bonus and elemental damage but the range is a little low for my liking.

POLEARMS:

"Breath of the Dying" Great Poleaxe: Needless to say that any BotD weapon will be great and these are no exception. Huge damage and looks that will kill (literally) these are great choices for the polearm WW barb. (there is no ebotd colossus voulge)

Bonehew: This massive weapon looks damn cool. If damage is what you want and "price is no object" try an ethereal one of these with a shael/IAS jewel and a ZOD.

Tomb Reaver: With big damage, magic find and 1-3 sockets this one isn't bad. It reaches our desired break point and looks cool too.

SPEARS:

"Breath of the Dying" War Pike: If pure damage is what you want, then look no further. The only thing to remember about this one is that it won't reach the desired break point we want, but damn will it do damage!

"Breath of the Dying" Ghost Spear: The speed and damage of this weapon will be one to reckon with. Also, it looks damn cool. what else can I say? its a BotD!

Arioc's Needle: Not a bad choice at all, with super mods like +2-4 To All Skills, Ignore Target's Defense and 50% Deadly Strike, makes it a great killer.

BODY ARMOUR:


There are many choices when it comes to what armor one is going to wear, and many have their pros and cons so they're just listed blow with a small run down about them. There are many other alternatives, but you should be able to determine what's best for you.

ARMOUR:

Enigma: Great high defense armor that gives any character who wears one the ability to teleport. Woot! Also has a nice +2 to skills, a faster run / walk bonus, great amount of magic find, but most importantly a huge strength bonus that lets you save some stats on strength so you can invest them in vitality. Very nice.

Chains of Honor: Awesome armor with high defense a heck load of resistance, +2 skills, life leech, magic find, and 8% physical damage reduction. Woot!

Duress: This would have to be my favorite armor because of the great mods and relatively cheap runes that are required to make one. This armor boasts high defense, a massive 40% faster hit recovery, resistance, cold damage, and my favorite....15% crushing blow and 33% open wounds. These mods make this armor very nice.

Stone Nice utility armor. Massive defense bonus, 15 resistance, and a nice bonus to strength, vitality and energy. Also has a beautiful 60% faster hit recovery.

Shaftstop I couldn't bring myself to leave this armor out of the list. It has served many of us well for many characters and throughout lots of patches with 30% physical damage reduction and a small life bonus, this old school armor would best work if upgraded and UM'd!

HELMS:

Arreats Face: This is probably the best all round helm for any barbarian build with +2 to skill and +2 to combat skills, great Strength/Dexterity bonus, resistance and a very useful 20% to Attack rating, this helmet stands out from the rest. The life leech is also great.

Shako: This helm is as old school as they come. +2 skills, 10% physical damage reduction and a hefty life/mana bonus, this is a very decent choice helm for any character.

Vampire Gaze: Also old school, 15%-20% physical damage reduction and duel leech, this one's a keeper. Also great for a mercenary helm.

SHIELDS:

Stormshield: The almighty shield. Easily the best shield for a Barbarian with its massive defense and 35% physical damage reduction it'll help you out a lot. Gives a nice 35 strength bonus to help you reach strength level easily.

Alternatives: what makes a shield great is when it has a decent defense, high block chance and resistance. If you can't afford a Stormshield, look for a rare with good mods like the ones above and it should do fine until you can upgrade to a better one.

GLOVES:

Steelrend: In my opinion, no other pair of gloves come close. These are so simple. Super high defense, enhanced damage bonus, strength bonus and a super important 10% Crushing Blow. Awesome gloves.

Soul Drainer: Not a bad choice also, with duel life/mana leech. If you're having trouble leeching pop a pair of these on. Also has a useful -50 to monsters defense per hit.

Rare Gloves: If you can't get your hands on any of the above gloves, try and find some rare ones with increased attack speed, high defense, perhaps some leech and resistances too.

BELTS:


Verdungo's Hearty Cord: This is the belt you are looking for. Huge vitality bonus and 10%-15% physical damage reduction. This one will give you more life while helping you reach that all important 50% damage reduction.

String of Ears: An old school belt that has served me well in the past. Life leech and 10%-15% physical damage reduction makes this a great choice for any Barbarian.

Thundergods Vigor: This belt seems to be more useful for Amazons but it is an awesome belt to use. 20 to strength/vitality is godly but what you'll also find useful is the lightning absorb. With high resistance and lots of absorb you can sometimes be healed by lightning attack. Woot!

BOOTS:

Gore Rider: This is the pair you want with 10% Chance Of Open, 15% Chance Of Crushing Blow and 15% Deadly Strike you really can't go wrong with these. Upgrade them for extra defense and you never have to worry about your boors again, except to repair them =)

Sandstorm Trek: Great strength/vitality bonus and faster run/walk with Faster hit recovery, all round useful pair of boots. Good choice.

War Traveler: These are great for the extra strength, magic find and damage they provide. If you want a little good luck, pop a pair of these on.

Waterwalk: The dexterity and life bonuses are useful on these and not a bad choice for those on a budget. The dexterity bonus can help with your blocking too.

JEWELRY:


Angelic Combo: When equipping the Angelic set amulet and ring it will give a huge attack rating bonus based on your character level. AR is so important for a WW barb because you want to be able to hit as much as you can, especially when dueling! It also gives a nice 10 dexterity bonus. Use two rings if you're really having trouble hitting things.

Highlords: The Ultimate Barb amulet, +1 to skills, 20% increased attack speed, and a % to Deadly Strike based on character level not to mention the lightning resistance. If you have no Attack rating problems, grab one of these, you wont be disappointed.

Raven Frost: In my opinion this ring should never be taken off, it's just too damn useful. The massive dexterity bonus will help with your AR and blocking and the "cannot be frozen" mod is godly. The cold absorb helps out a lot too, especially when dueling a cold skill tree sorceress.

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band: This ring is very popular with a lot of Barbs out there. The +1 to skills and life leech in general are awesome mods and it gives a nice life bonus also.

Rare rings/amulets: If you can't afford any of the above or want something a little different try getting your hands on a rare ring with either duel leech, stat bonus and/or resistance, or an amulet with + skills, resistance and other helpful mods.


BUILD VARIATIONS:




If you do the calculations you will notice that maxing the four necessary skills for Whirwind can occur at a minimum character level of 83, so this leaves us with some left over skill points when your character progresses past this level. I have listed a few options to consider when your WW barbarian matures over level 83.

Iron Barb Whirler
Left over skill points can be placed into Iron Skin, giving your Barbarian an extra defense bonus. Not getting hit by monsters is everyone's' dream and in PvP the higher your Barbs defense, the better.

Concentrated Whirl Winder!
Concentrate is a powerhouse attack skill, giving huge damage and defense bonuses. Using your left over skills to maximize Concentrate, a great tool that is already in your arsenal. This would make Concentrate even better for Boss Killing or very useful for killing mana burn monsters because of the low mana cost.

Windzerker
You could always invest those left over skill points into Berserk. With an even more powerful Berserk with higher Attack Rating Bonus those annoying Physical Immune monsters won't know what hit them. Berserk also adds a bit of Magic damage to your Concentrate so it's not a bad idea in that respect also.

The Stun Whirler
Another option for those extra skill points is to invest into Warcry, allowing you to Stun a mob before Whirlwinding them to death. Yeh baby!

The Resister
More points on Natural Resistance would allow for a higher resistance again elemental damage, maybe even free up a socket or two for you to place some Enhanced Damage jewels in.

PVP TIPS:

There comes a time in every player's career when leveling becomes a bore, you couldn't be bothered trolling the trade channels and it feels like if you do another magic find run and get that unique breast plate again, you'll throw your computer out the window! Well when this happens I recommend trying your hand at a little dueling!

Basics
Dueling can be very fun indeed, but going against the 7 different character types in the world of Diablo II can be a different experience every time you do it. So the basics about dueling and the equipment you should look out for are listed here. There are several mods and attributes you should always look out for when thinking about what equipment you are going to be equipping on your WW Barb.

Barb vs. Barb dueling

When going against a fellow barbarian you have to remember that most of the time he has the same tools in his arsenal as you do, depending on his build. All Barbarian builds, excluding singers, should try and maximize the Big 2.

Defense: You can never get enough defense. Try and maximize your defense by having some nice armor. Some good dueling armors are included bellow:

Stone: The stone rune word offers a huge amount of enhanced defense of an armor, therefore try making it in the highest defense armor you can find. Armor of 2000+ defense are very realistic when using the Stone rune word. It also offers faster hit recovery and resistance which always helps!

Enigma: The teleport and strength bonuses this armor gives you are priceless. Just the fact that you can save so many points on strength is enough to make this the choice of many duelers out there. Teleporting around also helps your barb to plan attacks or retreat quickly.

Chains of Honor: If high defense and lots of resistance is what you want, try this rune word out and you won't be disappointed. This armor boasts +2 skills and a 20 strength bonus that will help your damage and overall effectiveness. Throw in 8% life leech and some Physical damage reduction and you've got yourself some pretty nice dueling armor.

Attack Rating: After reading the defense section, you must assume that the Barbarian you're going up against will have extremely high armor also therefore you need to make sure you are able to land a blow on him. This is where your attack rating comes into play. There is no use having godly weapons and armor if you can't even hit the guy.

Raven Frost: This ring will give you a nice attack rating boost by adding straight to your AR and also giving you a dexterity bonus, which also helps with your chance to block. The cold damage is a nice bonus.

Angelic Combo: There has been much discussion on the angelic set combo, and the amount of attack rating it gives you is legendary. The amount increases as your character level increases and also gives you a small dexterity bonus of 10. Hint- if you're still having attack rating problems try equipping 2 rings and the amulet for double the AR bonus!

Barb vs. Casters Dueling

When going up against most casters try and remember that most of the time their defense is quite low and so in theory they should be quite easy to hit but the biggest obstacle is getting close enough to them to hit them before they kill you or teleport away. A few general strategy's are listed below.

Sorceress: In general, sorceress' have quite low life compared to most characters, this is because they aim not to get hit in the first place! Because of their low life, usually 1-2 hits will take them down, but in order to get close enough to hit them you need a few things. Very high resistance to whatever skill tree they have mastered, this is usually the cold/fire tree. In order to help with the initial chase, Enigma (listed above) would help immensely because of the teleport skill it grants. Try wielding a Wizardspike for the resists and faster teleporting and make sure you have some absorb on. (some duelers think it's bad manners to have too much absorb on). Another good idea would be to have a 4 socket shield with the appropriate resists in it given by perfect gems.

Fist of Heaven Paladin: A good idea for resists would be to equip a 160 lightning resist shield (4 perfect topaz) to counter his Conviction and have some nice absorb on, then chase the mofo and hunt him down or teleport to him if you have Enigma. It is always very useful if you have a high run/walk speed.

Hammerdins: Don't let this guy anticipate your moves. There is a blind spot for all hammerdins when they are casting their hammers, it is situated just south of him, if you can teleport/run/leap to him while avoiding his hammers you should be able to take him down. Also, any "magic damage reduced by X" items are useful but not really worth sacrificing your top gear for. Instead try having the highest amount of hit points you can get by pumping vitality, having charms, and having a high level Battle Orders.

Lightning Trap Assassins: Some lightning absorb would do you very well when going against a Trapsin. Follow the same sort of strategy as you would a FoH Paladin, except you won't need the 160 resist shield because sins won't have the Conviction aura lowering you resistances. Hunt them down fast!

Necromancers: One of the hardest characters to beat for the Barbarian. My only advice on this one is to grab yourself an Enigma, and try to teleport right on top of him and Concentrate/Berserk him quickly!

Elemental Absorb
There a several items that grant their user some type of elemental damage absorb. These include Raven Frost, Wisp Projector, the Rising Sun amulet, Thundergods Vigor, Dwarf Star, Lightsabre. Try browsing the Arreats summit and there may be more useful items with absorb on them.

Dueling in General

In general, the best dueler is the experienced one, and the person who dedicates his/her character to the art of dueling. The more practice you get, the better you get, and although I could probably write pages upon pages of theory, you really won't be a great dueler until you step into the ring and get the hang of it.

Mercenary
In my opinion there is only one mercenary any hard hitting Barbarian would require and that is the act2 Offensive mercenary(Or if u like,get a defensive one,though it dosen't die easily,but u'll have less damage). With this guy's Might Aura you will get an extremely useful increase to your damage and with your maxed out Shout and Battle order, your mercenary will have huge amounts of defense and life.

For your mercenary's equipment, the most necessary stats are a good amount of life leech, high defense, and lots of physical damage reduction. The optimal equipment would be an upgraded Shaftstop with UM, 20% Vampgaze with UM, and a Reapers Toll unique thresher. With this weapon you mercenary will be cursing monsters he hits with Decrepify which will lower the damage they cause while making them take more physical damage from you and your mercenary.

Gameplay Tips

• Whirlwind anything that moves and cannot cast Iron maiden on you.
  
• If you come across an Oblivion Knight, Berserk the MOFO 'till he drops at your feet.
  
• Make use of your Warcrys, all of them serve you well in different situations
  
• Use Berserk on Physical immune monsters.
  
• Use a shield
  
• Try and have a Decent amount of Crushing Blow, Critical strike and Open wounds
  

CONCLUSION:
Hope u guys play well with Whirlwind barbarian!Get used to it and u'll be killing spree!

"this guide has been sent to the barb guide section. thank you for your contribution". (silver_ice1212)

[A|fzZz]

nice one baby!!!
Did u wrigte that all by urself or rip it off some site?

[TyKe]

i will never look at a barb the same way again.

[MadCowBoy]

I juz wrote these all by myself!!!^^

[Obfuscate]

HOT DAMN! Someone stickie this! Great job man! Maybe barbs will get some respect now.

[PantallicA]

Awesome guide, bro. Rep from me.

[SoulessKnight]

this is one of the best barb guides i have ever read.. and i think i am gonna go make one .. very good job man

[Puffen]

This guy ripped the guide from http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=574

Trying to steal the credits u f* noob?

[Inferno]

Darn Puffen! You were faster than me on posting that this guy is claiming credit from someone's else work lol!

[SoulessKnight]

omg that is so lame.......hmm people nowadays

[Silver Ice]

i could tell its ripped before i even finished reading it. how about u redeem yourself and add a suggested gear to use for rich people: medium people: and poor people.

[Fuggle]

Lol Perfect Timing to use my new Veteran Status rep addition. Neg rep for him for claiming it was his own.
Edit: You can be hit during a ww.

[Fykins]

my god he copied and pasted what i could have wrote in 2 minutes! you should give credit to the place you got that from

[medicine_man]

Very lame I must say. Gmoura (real author) deserves a pat on the back from us - and an apology from you.

[MadCowBoy]

.................................
A friend of mine said he wrote them,so I posted it for him!Not my fault,I juz thought he wrote it!And I juz changed it alittle,really not my fault!My friend told me to post this for him,cos he's not an d2sector member!I didn't know he ripped it of from somewhere else!I have no idea!

[Cauhtemoc]

Hi guys! This is my first time posting a guide! Though I'm net a perfect barbarian player, but I play well with barbarians!

You said it was your guide, which was a downright lie.

I juz wrote these all by myself!!!^^

There, you did it again.

A friend of mine said he wrote them, so I posted it for him! Not my fault, I juz thought he wrote it! And I juz changed it alittle, really not my fault! My friend told me to post this for him, cos he's not an d2sector member! I didn't know he ripped it of from somewhere else! I have no idea!

Yeah sure, whatever you say...

This was your first post on this forum, so to claim that this "friend" of yours asked you to post it for him sounds like, dare I say bullshit?

[MadCowBoy]

OK!
Now,I mean my first time posting a guide means it's my first time putting a guide into d2sector!Second thing,I thought my friend wrote it,he said his guide means my guide(cos we're good friends),so I juz did some edits and said mine.Cos u know what,he quitted Diablo already,so he asked me!And he's not really a sociable person,he don't really use computer and stuff!.............