Barbarian Diablo 2 Class Guide

 

The Barbarian is often the picture boy of Diablo 2 and uses brute strength to destroy his enemies.  The class is one of the original 5 from Classic Diablo 2 and can be built in many different ways, depending on your preferred weapon type, playstyle (e.g. support or damage dealer) and purpose for which you are playing the character.

 

The choice of Barbarian build stems from your chosen Weapon Mastery for which there are 6 to choose from: Swords, Axes, Maces, Polearms, Throwing or Spears.  The choice doesn’t end there, as there are different ways you can play with each weapon type, with the most popular being a Whirlwind or Berserker Barbarian.  The Barbarian also has the ability to perform Warcries which can provide boosts to you and your party (e.g. extra life, defense, skills) and also affect monsters, either by making them run in fear or stunning those around you.  All in all the Barbarian is an excellent all rounder and a strong choice for beginner players, the playstyle is simple hack and slash which Diablo 2 players love and when you study the class in depth you can develop some exceptionally strong builds.

 

The following sections will take you through the skill trees available to the Barbarian and the most popular builds.

 

Warcries

The Barbarian’s Warcries are a unique skill that make him stand out from the other classes, rallying his allies and intimidating enemies through his piercing shouts.  There is an entire build for the Barbarian centred around the Warcries skill tree, maximising the damage from the War Cry to stun enemies and deal damage at the same time.  Whichever build you choose for your Barbarian, there are 3 primary warcries that you will want to use:  Battle Command, Battle Orders and Shout.  The combination of these 3 will provide huge boosts to your life, mana and defense and also +1 to all skills – these really are too good to be left out of any build!

 

Combat Masteries

Combat Masteries is where you choose the weapon for your Barbarian.  Once you have made your choice and selected your mastery, you will receive big boosts to your damage, attack rating and critical strike whenever you use weapons of this type.  There are also opportunities within this skill tree to boost our resistances, armor, stamina and running / walking speed.  Everything your Barbarian needs to supplement his combat skills are here and you will spend a lot of skill points here gaining as many bonuses as you can.

 

Combat Skills

The Barbarian’s Combat Skills allow you to move away from standing still and hitting enemies, and get creative with leaping into battle and taking them down in many different ways.  There are plenty of options available depending on how you wish to play the Barbarian.  The most popular choice is the Whirlwind ability, causing your Barbarian to spin in circles hitting monsters around him as he passes them.  You can boost your single target damage through the Berserk or Concentrate skills, Berserk is the more popular choice and converts your damage to magic damage allowing you to overcome physical immune monsters.  If you liked the sound of a throw Barbarian, the Frenzy and Double Throw skills will be your best friend as you become frenzied and receive attack speed boosts to allow you to throw your weapons with exceptional speed.