Frenzy Barb Guide 1.12

[Swiftle]

Frenzy Barb Guide (PVE - 1.12)

1.Introduction
2.Overview
3.Stats
4.Skills
5.Gear
6.Merc
7.Conclusion etc.

1.Introduction

This is a guide for a PvE Barbarian using Frenzy as the main skill. I'll try to explain some of the basic concepts of the build, give some gear choices. I hope to improve this guide over time. Also sorry for the bad english

2.Overview

A good Frenzy Barb can easily solo everything, even Chaos Tristram. Your only problem is IRON MAIDEN, but hey, you can always Save & Exit :P. Frenzy is an awesome skill: when you use it it increases you damage, your (A)ttack (S)peed, your (W)alk/(R)un speed, and your (A)ttack (R)ating. The bonuses to AR, AS, and Damage apply after the first swing. In order to get to the max W/R speed you need couple more swings. So after few hits you'll be running and swinging like a madman.

Of course swinging this fast has a price on the durability of your weapons. Many frenzy barbs go for 2xBerserker Axe. They pack alot of damage but you have to repair them often, and since you'll be using Rune Words for your weapons this makes repairing very expensive. There is a very simple solution - using swords. How are swords different than axes? The swords you will be using are Phase Blades - they have no durability, so you can swing as much as you want without worrying that your weapons will break.

Another key aspect of the frenzy Barb is the Life Leech and the Crushing Blow. For now you can read more about Crushing Blow here: The Arreat Summit - Items: Magic (scroll down).
Life leech is obvious - you gain health when you inflict damage.

3. Stats

Disclaimer: At the moment I can't give you the exact values of the points needed in each attribute. Instead I will tell you how much you need for your gear. Also I assume that you don't have a Torch/Ani/Charms.

STRENGHT: Your weapons require only 25 STR to equip but the other pieces use more. For Arreat's Face you need 118, and this is (probably) the most demanding STR item you'll be using. So your aim will be 120 STR.

DEXTERITY: Dex is mainly needed for the Phase Blades. They require 136 DEX to be equipped. So 136 should be your aim.

VITALITY: Every spare point goes here. More VIT = more health.

ENERGY: Nothing. Frenzy costs 3 mana at rank 20 and you'll probably have some mana-leeching items anyway.

Again these values are based on the assumption that you don't have a Torch/Ani or any other charms that modify your attributes. Of course if you DO have them you can save some points of STR and DEX and put them in VIT instead.

4.Skills

A)Warcries
-Howl: 1 point as a prereq.
-Shout: Max it - 20 points.
-Battle Orders: Max it - 20 points.
-Battle Command: 1 point.

B)Combat Masteries
-Sword Mastery: 20 points (you are using swords after all)
-Increased Stamina: 1 point.
-Increased Speed: 1 point.
-Iron Skin: 1 point.
-Natural Resistances: 1 point.

C)Combat Skills
-Bash: 1 point as a prereq.
-Double Swing: 1 to XX. After you're done with your other skills you may want to put the remaining points here to increase your Frenzy damage.
-Double Throw: 1 point as a prereq.
-Frenzy: 20 points of course.

OPTIONAL: The following skills are optional but they do help in some situations.
-Leap: 1 point as a prereq to Leap Attack.
-Leap Attack: 1 point and you can jump like a bunny
-Stun: 1 points as a prereq.
-Concentrate: 1 point as a prereq.
-Berserk: 1 to XX points. Berserk deals magic damage so it's great against mobs with physical immunities. It also adds magical damage to frenzy as a part of a synergy.

After you're done maxing the 2 shouts, frenzy and SM, you have several options. If your resistances and defenses are low you can always spend some more points in Iron Skin or Natural Resistances, just don't forget that with the +skills you get from items, these skills give more defense and resistances. Otherwise you can put some points in Double Swing for the Frenzy Bonus. Personally I never tried Taunt so I can't give any advise about it.

5.Gear

Ah, probably the most interesting part in any build. As you may have guessed already gear is very important for this build. It also doesn't come cheap so if you have another char that can provide some income it will make the task of gearing your Barb much easier. For now I will post the "best" combination of items. I plan the add some alternatives later on. Also because I'm a lazy bum I'll post links to Arreat Summit.

---HELM---

Arreat's Face: The Arreat Summit - Items: Unique Barbarian Items

A great helm, with very good mods for a Barb.

---GLOVES---

Dracul's Grasp: The Arreat Summit - Items: Elite Unique Gloves

One of the things that keeps you alive: the life leech and there is a chance to cast the Life Tap curse (which also leeches life for each hit)

---BELT---

Verdungo's Hearty Cord: The Arreat Summit - Items: Elite Unique Belts

This is what I call a great "tanking" belt.

---BOOTS---

Gore Rider: The Arreat Summit - Items: Exceptional Unique Boots

Chance of Crushing Blow, Open Wounds, and Deadly Strike: perfect for us.

---ARMOR---

There are several options available. I've seen Barbs with Enigma, Fortitude, Chains of Honor and I've also used Duress. These are rune-words so feel free to check them out here:

The Arreat Summit - Items: Rune Words: 1.10 Rune Words

My favorite must be the Chains of Honor rune-word. It gives great mods but is also the most expensive. Enigma gives you the ability to Teleport and nice amounts of STR. The other two ain't bad either and aren't that expensive to make. I'll elaborate on the armors another time.

---WEAPONS---

Get a pair of phase blades and make the following rune-words:

Last Wish and Grief

The Arreat Summit - Items: Rune Words: 1.10 Rune Words

They give superb mods but I'll go into depths another time.

---JEWELRY---

Angelic Wings and Angelic Halo: The Arreat Summit - Items: Set Items

The 2-item bonus they give is very good.

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band: The Arreat Summit - Items: Unique Rings

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And that's all for the equipment. I'm not saying that this is the BEST you can find, but it has worked so far for me and that's why I'm choosing these items. The important thing is that you get Crushing Blow and Life Leech. Those 2 are the main ingredients of a frenzy barb. I will try to talk more about them in the future.

6.MERC

Unfortunately this is another part I haven't really explored. All I can say is the following. If you use the Enigma runeword and you teleport alot you will run Out Of Mana really fast. The solution is to get a merc from ACT 2 and make Insight Polearm (another runeword).

Here's a link: The Arreat Summit - Items: Rune Words: 1.10 Rune Words

The Insight RW gives Meditation aura. This aura regenerates your mana and you'll never go OOM

7.CONCLUSION

I hope this guide will give you some ideas about the Frenzy Barb. It's far from being perfect and I'll try to make it better. If you have any suggestions/corrections contact me and I'll edit them. Also as you have noticed alot of info comes from the "Arreat Summit". It's a great site with tons of Diablo 2 information. So if you want more information or you are looking for something specific regarding the game there is a good chance to find it there: The Arreat Summit - News

So there you go, hope it helps.