Diablo II Single Player Thread - 2

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Hah. I played D2 a little this evening, and I am amazed at how crappy the graphics are and how great I found them then. ATMA is nice. I have two characters now, a lvl 1 amazon and a lvl 7 barbarian.

I think the barbarian is probably best for my playing style. Alternatively there would be the Paladin ...

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Impressions please: What's the coolest class for Diablo II anyway? Barbarian is plenty fun. What else?

 

Sort of - when you "save and exit" you get the XP credit for every single monster that you killed, and every single item that you picked up. However, there are way points throughout the act, and when you play again, you can only begin playing from a WP you already touched. This is a double-edged sword. While it forces you to retrace your steps at times, it also allows you to go back and repeat boss encounters, and hope for a better drop than what you got the first time.

Regardless, WP are pletiful in all the Acts. It's not like you have to replay half the Act to get to one. There's one in just about every area of the game. I try to stop my questing for the day at a WP for convenience, but unless you missed several WPs, it's not like if you save and exit you'll have to replay a huge chunk of the Act. If you make a point of finding all the WPs in each Act (and that's not hard - they're always in the same area), you'll rarely have to "repeat" more than about 10 minutes of playing time on your next attempt.

The "best" or "coolest" character is largely a matter of opinion. It really depends on what you're looking for. Barbarians and Paladins are melee specialists, the Amazon is the lone ranged specialist, Necromancers and Sorceresses are spell casters, and Druids and Assassins run the gamut from mostly melee to mostly casters depending on where you invest your skill points. So a sorceress is not a cool character if you're looking for a melee specialist, but really cool if you want a caster.

Based on what you typed, I'm assuming you would prefer a melee class. I see three good options there - Paladin, Barbarian, or Druid (specializing in the Shapeshifting tree). Of the three choices, I believe you would find the Paladin to be the most challenging (past normal difficulty - on normal, it's pretty easy regardless of which class you pick). They generally have lower damage outputs and lower life than a Barbarian or a Shapeshifter. The biggest advantage of either the Barbarian or Shapeshifter is the margin of user error - both classes get gobs and gobs of life at higher levels, which makes them particularly hard to kill. Paladins need to make quick kills or retreat from battle to heal. Barbarians and Shapeshifters have more staying power. All characters can get around 1000 life at higher levels, but Barbarians and Shapeshifters usually end up with 2-3 times that total.

Ultimately, there is no "right" selection. Some are certainly easier than others, and if you plan on playing through to hell difficulty with a melee build, I'd advise one of the high life builds. Once you make a decision of what class you want, I can provide you with a list of skill setups that are excellent for starting players, that don't require top flight equipment to be effective.

EDIT: After I finished typing I realized you were asking for a suggestion for a character. When I switched to single player earlier this year, I was essentially starting from scratch, with no items. I knew I would play several characters, so I wanted my first character to be one that would be able to collect a good base amount of items for future classes, without dying a ton in the process. I went for a Barbarian specializing in the Concentrate skill. It's a very defensive build, and not nearly as flashy as something like Whirlwind, but it's one fo the safest builds in the game.

 

Thanks. My first char also is a barbarian. I think that there is nothing better to find into a game than to play a melee char. I generally don't like the summoning spell casters and shape shifting druids, despite their strength. I like a more hands on approach to combat - as in: I cast a spell and they die, I whack them and they die or I stab them and they die. Why use a surrogate?

And thanks for the tip about ATMA. It's really helpful.

In my three hours yesterday evening I also use it to exchange items between my barbarian (lvl 7)and the other characters - which are atm my pally (lvl 6) and a trial-amazon (lvl 1). I think I may also try out a sorceress. But I guess at level soandso I'll decide with which char I'll make the complete run through the game.

Besides: What about that assassin char class?

 

Melee assassins specialize in the martial arts tree. They are by far the trickiest of the melee classes, and I would not recommend them to a first time player, or someone like yourself who is re-acclimating to the game. The Martial Arts skills come in two distinct types: Charge-Ups and Finishing Moves. What assassins typically do is link their Charge-Up attack(s) of choice on the left mouse button, and the Finisher on the right mouse button. When you attack with a Charge-Up skill, the attack hits for whatever the regular damage is on your weapon, and a little glowing ball will start circling around your character. That's the charge. You can accumulate up to three charges per skill with subsequent hits, and it is possible to mix and match charges from different Charge-Up skills. If you are dual wielding claws, a hit roll is made for each claw, and so it is possible to get two charges from a single attack.

To release the charges, use a Finishing Move, and you will get the damage from the Finishing Move on top of the effects of whatever charge(s) you have built up. This is better explained by example:

Let's say we have a Martial Arts Assassin at level six, who has two types of Charge-Up attacks (Tiger Strike and Fists of Fire) and one Finisher (Dragon Talon). We'll say they are all Level 1, and that you're dual wielding claws. Let's take a look at those skills.

Level 1 Tiger Strike:

15% bonus to attack rating
Charge 1: 100% damage
Charge 2: 100% damage (cumulative so 200% total)
Charge 3: 100% damage (cumulative so 300% total)

Level 1 Fists of Fire:

15% bonus to attack rating
Charge 1: 6-10 Fire Damage
Charge 2: 2.6 yard blast radius
Charge 3: 9-15 burn damage (from a patch of fire it leaves behind on the ground)

Level 1 Dragon Talon:
5% bonus damage
10% bonus attack rating
Releases build up Charges

So our Martial Artist runs up to a boss and attacks with Tiger Strike on left mouse button, and hits with both Claws. The attack had a 15% bonus to attack rating, but the claws just did their regular damage. She now has two orbs swirling around her body. She quickly switches to Fists of Fire, attacks again, and hits both times again. Those attacks just do regular claw damage as well, but now she has four orbs swirling around her.

She then right clicks to attack with Dragon Talon. Assuming it hits, she will get the bonus attack rating and damage from Dragon Talon, and the effects of all of her charges. So the finisher will do regular damage, +5% (from Dragon Talon), +200% (from Tiger Strike's two charges), and 6-10 Fire Damage to any creature within 2.6 yards of the assassin (from Fists of Fire). (Note: All other monsters within the 2.6 yards take only the fire damage - the Tiger Strike Damage is only dealt to the creature that you actually used the finisher on.)

While you can only accumulate up to three charges per skill, there is no limit on how many skills you can attempt to charge up prior to using a Finishing Move. However, the charges expire after about 15 seconds if they aren't used, so it's not like you can charge up 5 different Charge Skills with 3 charges each, and then release a massive finisher. Most Martial Artists specialize in one or two Charge Up attacks, which they get to three charges, and then release the Finisher.

Having said all that, there is a lot of finesse in playing an assassin. You're constantly switching skills, and assassins get a rather poor return in life for points spent in vitality. (Assassins get two life per point spent in vitality, whereas Paladins get three, and Barbarians get four.) So you're kind of squishy. Can be fun, but I'd definitely recommend playing a Barbarian first.

On Barbarians, here's a few helpful tips:

1. You don't know what kind of weapons you're going to find, so it doesn't make sense to spend heavily in a mastery early on the game. However, the first point spent in each mastery confers a large bonus compared to all subsequent points. Therefore, I spend my first three skill points by devoting one each to sword, axe, and mace mastery. That way, I'm covered to use whatever I happen to find, regardless of whether I chose to dual wield, go with a single handed weapon and a shield, or go for two-handed weapon. I typically don't start adding points beyond the first to any mastery until I'm in hell difficulty, and I have decided on what my end-game weapon will be.

2. Decide early on what your primary attack is going to be. If a particular skill isn't a main attack or a synergy for your main attack, you should only invest in it if it's a prerequisite for your main attack (and in that case, just one point). Your main attack skill will likely determine whether you will single or double wield. Double Swing and Frenzy require two weapons to use. Bash, Stun, Concentrate, and Berserk all work better when wielding one weapon. Whirlwind works with everything - you can dual wield, go weapon with shield, or go with a big two-handed weapon.

3. IMO, all Barbarians should max the skill Battle Orders first. When you max this skill it will double your life, mana, and stamina (or more than double if you have +skill items equipped) for the duration of the skill timer. Barbarians already get a good return on life for points spent on vitality, but with a level 20 Battle Orders each point in vitality is now worth 8 life. You can't beat that! At level 20, the skill lasts for about 4 minutes, and you can recast it whenever you like to reset the timer. Shout is also a skill well worth maxing at some point, for the co-synergy it has with Battle Orders (unless you're a Berserker, who won't benefit any from the defense boost, in which case you would max Howl).

4. Regardless of what your main attack is, I would recommend one (and only one) point in all of the following skills: Taunt, Find Item, Natural Resistances, Leap Attack and Battle Commands. All of these skills you make gratuitous use of, and are effective with just one point. Cast Battle Commands immediately before using Battle Orders, Shout and Find Item, for a +1 boost to all of those skills.

So a basic barbarian skill layout would look like this:

20 points spent in main attack
20 points spent in synergy to main attack (if applicable - Whirlwind doesn't have any synergies)
20 points in Battle Orders (usually first maxed skill)
20 points in Shout (or Howl for berserkers)
Pick up all prerequisites and one-point wonders along the way.
Once you're level 80-something and you know what weapon you'll be using for the rest of the game, spend your few remaining skill points in the appropriate mastery.

Now, if you know exactly what attack you want to use as your main attack, I can give more suggestions, but this is a general outline to get you started.

 

Thanks!

My barb is lvl-14 now. I have reached the prison. Strength 50, Dexterity 40, Vitality 50. No difficulties playing whatsoever. I have misread your advice, and have already reached a sword skill of 11, and an axe skill of 1. Next point will go into blunt weapons. My char is currently using a triple socket great sword with to-hit bonus and two skulls for leeching live and mana on hit.

I'll see how that works out. I can restart a new character any time and do things right. I haven't invested all that much playtime yet.

I have equipped him with gear that boosts his ability to find magic items and gold

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PS: What is it with the keys? Shall I keep them, sell them? What are they good for?

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PPS: Ok, got it, the keys are for opening chests, but you need only one set. Silly concept, that.

My barb has finished chapter I after Killing Andariel at level 16. And I eventually have found the first set items with the distinctive green names.

Also found the first gems and pure precious stones. Is it worth investing them on stuff like triple socket two handed swords, or is it better to save them for later?

 

There is a means of upping the difficulty in-game if you want more of a challenge. Press enter at any time, and a chat box will open up on the screen. Type: /playersX - where the "X" is a number between 1 and 8. The default is 1. By increasing the players count the following things happen:

1. Enemy monsters receive a 50% boost to life for every player beyond the first.

2. Enemy monsters yield 50% more experience points when killed for every player beyond the first.

3. Enemy monsters have an improved chance of dropping an item on death.

You can go all the way up to 8 if you'd like - monsters will have 4.5 times the amount of life as they presently do, and will give 4.5 times as much experience, and have a much better chance of dropping loot. However, it does get a bit tedious hacking your way through devilkin on /players8. My personal favorite players setting is /players3. It offers a good balance, IMO of experience, killing speed, and item drops. That setting results in monsters with double life and double experience awarded, which allows you to level your character more quickly.

So long as you continue using a sword as your primary weapon, those are 11 points well spent. The problem arises when you acquire a really cool flail or war axe, in which case your 11 points in sword are worthless.

My advice would be as follows. Assuming you have logged on to battlenet and got the latest patch (recommended), Akara in the rogue camp will award you a skill reset every time you finish the Den of Evil quest (the first quest in the game). It lets you re-assign skill points at any time you'd like. There's no need to do this so long as you keep using your sword, but if you find something else you'd like to use better, that's when I'd reset your skill points.

To reiterate my prioritization plan regarding skill points:

1. One point each in sword, axe, mace mastery.

2. There's no harm in saving skill points for later use. If you want to specialize in a skill like whirlwind or berserk, save your skill points. Spend one point each in all the prerequisites to your main attack skill of the future, and all the one-point wonders along the way. Save the rest. Then, when you hit level 30, you can dump one point each into your main attack skill along with Battle Orders.

In fact, I would recommend saving up at least 4 skill points prior ot reaching levle 30. Then, when you hit level 30, you can dump one point each into Berserk, Battle Commands, Battle Orders, and Natural Resistances - all useful one point wonders.

3. The one exception to rule #2 is if one of the prerequisites to your main attack (even if you haven't gained enough levels to use that attack) also happens to be a synergy to your main attack. Since you're going to max the synergy anyway, there's no harm in spending your skill points here. As an added bonus, it may give you a useful attack skill to use while you're waiting to get to the attack skill you'll use for the rest of the game.

Example: Frenzy is a skill that requires two weapons, and you cannot work on this skill until you hit level 24. However, the main synergy to Frenzy is Double Swing, which is available at level 12. It's OK to spend points in Double Swing before you get to Frenzy, as you're going to want to max it eventually anyway, so the points aren't wasted. As an added bonus, you can use Double Swing as your main attack between levels 12-23, when you cannot use Frenzy.

4. As soon as you hit level 24, spend one point every level into Battle Orders until you have the maximum 20 points allowed. (Even if you saved skill points, the game will only allow you to place one point into Battle Orders when you reach level 24, but you can spend a point in Battle Orders and a point in your main attack on each level up until you spend your excess skill points.)

5. After that, your main attack should be your next priority, followed by a synergy, and followed by shout.

The information listed above always comes with the caveat "if applicable". Sometimes, you cannot follow the exact build plan because your main skill doesn't have any synergies. Like whirlwind for example. After you max Battle Orders and Whirlwind, since there are no synergies, you jump to Shout as your next priority. Then you finish up with a weapon mastery for whatever weapon you happen to be using. Or as another example, Berserkers don't invest heavily into Shout, because when they attack, their defense drops to zero. Shout offers a large % bonus to defense, but a large % increase to zero is still zero. So Berserkers will take Howl instead.

There's a really simple rule with gold and magic finding - wear as much as you can so long as it doesn't significantly reduce your killing speed. It doesn't make sense to double your magic finding ability if it takes you twice as long to kill stuff - you'll end up with the same amount of magic items per unit time spent playing, and it will take you a lot longer to level up your character.

Also, make sure you use your Find Item ability. It's only worth spending a single point in that skill (although eventually you'll get gear that gives +1 or +2 to all skills, and Battle Commands is a free +1, so it will function at a level far higher than level 1 eventually), but the benefit is it gives you a chance at a second drop. It would be terribly tedious (and mana intensive) to use that skill on every monster you kill. However, it is worth using on monsters where you'd really like a second drop - like champions/possessed/fanatics etc, and all unique monsters. If the skill works, they give another full drop - gold, potions, and a magic item or gem. It works on everything that leaves a corpse behind, so pretty much everything except act bosses, and corpses that shatter on death (if you are dealing any cold damage there's a chance that the monsters shatter when you kill them).

I agree - there's really no point since there is a vendor in every act that sells keys, and they are cheap to purchase. The only in-game mechanic of locked chests is that they are slightly more rewarding than regular chests. Locked chests have two drop chances, whereas unlocked ones have one chance. That said, chests don't have very good drop odds, so even if you find a locked chest, even with two chances it's not at all unlikely that you get nothing.

Possibly, but I usually save them up and use my horardic cube (you'll find it early in Act II) and upgrade them. You put three identical gems into the cube, push the transmute button, and you get a gem of the next higher quality. So three chipped gems (of the same type) yield a flawed gem. Three flawed give a normal gem, three normal gems give a flawless, and three flawless give a perfect gem.

The higher quality the gem, the better the bonus. To use topazes as the example, all topazes (from chipped all the way up to perfect) add lightning damage when you socket them into a weapon, but you get more lightning damage the better the quality gem you use. In the case of skulls that you have in your sword, you get a bigger % bonus to life and mana steal.

This also works with runes - three of the same type yield the one of the next higher type when transmuted in the cube. However, unlike gems, the next higher rune will have completely different properties than the ones you transmuted. For example, the first Rune is "El". That gives you a bonus of +50 attack rating when you stick it in a weapon. You can transmute three of them, and get a "Eld" rune. But Eld doesn't give you a bigger bonus to attack rating - it adds +75% damage to undead monsters when you place it in a weapon. Similarly, three Elds will transmute into a "Tir" rune. When you put that in a weapon, it doesn't give a bonus to either attack rating or damage to undead - instead it gives you +2 mana back after every kill. So gems always should be transmuted because the next higher quality is always better. With runes, that's not necessarily true, and some runes are more useful than others, and some of the more useful ones are the lower quality ones.

 

Thanks

1. One more question: What about set items? Keep them, sell them? Will the inventory always stay as small as it is in the beginning?

2. Do I get much better weapons with more damage later on i.e.: Is it worth it to modify a triple socket g'sword with flawed or chipped gems now, or is it better to retain the gems to use (i.e. refine) them at a later time?

 

Your stash is always the same size, but if you took my advice and downloaded ATMA, it has unlimited storage capacitiy. Most of the sets you'll find are useful throughout normal difficulty*. The thing is, with your first character, it is unlikely that you'll find all the pieces of a given set before you finish normal, and chances are the first set you complete will not be useful to your particular character anyway. I save all my set items it ATMA, and I find them very useful for my "second character" to use on normal difficulty.

* The exception of this are the class-specific sets, which when completed are among the most powerful item setups in the game. For the barbarian, the class-specific set is the "Immortal King".

You will get access to better and better equipment as you proceed through the game. There are entire new item lines when you get to nightmare and hell difficulties, called "exceptional items" and "elite items", respectively. So your equipment selections escalate from one act to the next, and from one difficulty setting to the next. You'll also find that by the time you get to Act IV or V in normal, you'll start acquiring gems at a much quicker pace.

So I would wait until you get the Horadric cube, upgrade the gems you have, and not hesitate into putting them to immediate use wherever you may need them. You'll get better equipment and better gems in each Act, so whatever gems you spend now will be replaced with better versions later on. Gems represent early game capital - spend it.

 

Hmm, call me daft, but while I get how to swap items from one character's inventory to another's, I don't get how to move stuff to my stash.

Draging-and-droping items as described on ATMA's site does not work. And transfer to the stash - well, you need to export the items and then import them into the stash? When I do that they remain in my inventory. I am sure it works, but ... HOW?

 

You have to create a stash first. You should have three or four drop down menus on the upper left corner of the screen. The frist two are character folders - one for classic Diablo2, the other with the expansion. The third is the stash folder. Open the 3rd folder and create a new stash. You can have an unlimited number of stashes, so you can have one for uniques, one for sets, etc., or because stash size in ATMA is unlimited, you can have just one big stash, as ATMA does sort items by item type.

Then you open up your character and your stash. Drag stuff from your character file to your stash, and it stays there until you transfer it to another character. You can just drop anywhere in the stash folder, ATMA automatically sorts it to the correct subfolder. For example, if you found the unique hand axe, Gnasher, just drag and drop and it automatically will be placed in the folder Weapons/Melee/Axes. As soon as you make the stash and transfer an item or two, you'll get how it works.

ATMA's default setting is to sort items by type, but if you're looking for a specific item and you know it's name, you can change the sort to alphabetical.

 

It is weird, drag-and-drop works with some characters, but not with all of them.

 

Is it only while moving items from your stash to a character, or both ways?

ATMA's inventory doesn't work like your characters' inventory, in that if you place an item on top of another item, it won't pick the other item up - it will just put the item you were holding back to where ever it came from. So if you want to move Item A from a character to a stash and Item B from a stash to that character, you cannot move Item B over unless there is sufficient clear space in your inventory.

EDIT - BTW - have your decided on what your barb's main attack skill is going to be? You should have made at least a preliminary decision by now. Double Swing and Frenzy are on the right hand side of the skill tree, and if you don't plan on using either of them as your main attack, you can skip the right side completely. (In fact, unless you do plan on making DS/Frenzy your attacks of choice, there is no point in picking up either of these skills, as they only give synergies to each other.

If you decide to go with Berserk or Whirlwind, I do recommend getting one point in Concentrate at level 18. While it is possible to make a barb that specializes in Concentrate, it's a useful skill to use between Level 18-30 even if you don't plan on using throughout the game (it's a prerequisite for the later skills anyway, so no point is wasted here). The good thing about Concentrate is it is the only attack skill that receives a synergy from Battle Orders - which you'll be pumping once you hit level 24 regardless of what path you pick. So not only is it a useful pre-level 30 skill, it's one that gets a 10% damage boost for every point spent in Battle Orders.

Like I said before, I can give specific advice depending on what barbarian you pick. The most common types are:

1. Whirlwind Barb - probably the most common, and most balanced build, because you have a good mass attack, and enough left over skill points for defense boosting skills as well. Skill/equipment required to play effectively: Moderate/Moderate

2. Frenzy Barb - also popular, this is a more offensive oriented build, as you're using two weapons, and thus forego the ability to use a shield. While Frenzy barbs can have high defense, they usually cannot match the Whirlwind barb in that category, but can kill very quickly (some builds incorporate War Cry to compensate for this). In fact, they can probably kill individual monsters faster than a Whirlwind Barb, as they can focus their attacks on one or two monsters at a time, whereas a Whirlwind barb does damage to the enitre pack at once, but may not kill the whole pack with a single pass of Whirlwind. Skill/equipment required: Moderate/High

3. Berserker - most offensive oriented build, but since your defense drops to zero on attack, you need crowd control measures. You need Howl to thin out the pack, and War Cry to stun monsters for a brief period of time to get your attacks in. Skill/equipment required: High/Low

4. Conc Barb - on the other end of the spectrum, this is the most defensive oriented build. Hardest to kill, but generally the lowest killing speed. Not at all bad if you're reacclimating to the game. Skill/Equipment required: Low/Moderate

 

Oh goody, found myself a Seraph's hymn and another heaven's light. Might consider starting a paladin soon. For now the Seraph's hymn amulet will go to my barbarian whom will also benefit quite a lot from it. Too bad it does not have resistances but the damage bonus vs demons and undead as well as the attack rating bonus more than compensates for that.

My armor department is still horrible though with Duriel's Shell STILL the only half decent armor I have.

EDIT: Apparently Seraph's hymn is the second rarest unique amulet in the game after Metalgrid. I still find it slightly better than Metalgrid though.

 

Aldeth,
I had the problem that I was unable to transfer equipment from two chars into each other's inventory, or into my stash. I solved that - by reloading a game, traveling a few way points, and saving and exiting again. Luckily, I now have all my gems, rings, amulets and precious stones in my stash - my pally's inventory was full with that and I'd have ended selling them otherwise.

I won't have time to play on any earlier than tomorrow and I have not yet decided on how to play. The concentration barb may be it. BBL.

 

IMO, with the exception of some of the really high-end runewords, Heaven's Light is the weapon of choice for any paladin (except hammerdins).

For a barbarian, Seraph's Hymm technically DOES give a resistance bonus, as you'll get +2 to Natural Resistances. Depending on how many hard points you've spent in NR, and how many +skills you already have, that can be a significant improvement. (Conversely, if you already have NR at level 10, then Seraph's isn't going to increase your resistance by much.)

Seraph's is a great amulet for any character, not just a paladin. In fact, since so few paladins actually have a defensive aura active, one can argue that it is an equivalent amulet for all melee classes. With bonuses to attack rating and damage to demons and undead, it's great, as demons and undead comprise about 2/3 of all the monsters in the game.

Duriel's is fine armor - not just "half decent" - and it's definitely end-game viable. If I were going to rank armors into tiers, I'd but the top end uniques and runewords in the top group, and Duriel's would be in the group just below that. In other words, unless you can land a top-end unique or have significant rune wealth, you cannot do much better than Duriel's on a melee build.

Also remember that this armor can be upped to the elite version. That would take it's base defense to well in excess of 1500. And just look at the other stats: +def/lvl, +life/lvl, 20% res all (more to cold but 20% to everything else), CBF, +15 strength. That's great armor. Definitely worth the runes to upgrade, and definitely socket-worthy.

For most characters, I also find Seraph's more useful, although Metalgrid is far more popular. Metalgrid gives about twice the attack rating bonus than Seraph's, 25%-35% resist all, and 300-350 defense (which can help if you are playing a high defense character).

So for me, which amulet is "better" largely depends on the character in question. If you are playing a character that already has maxed resistances and a high attack rating, Seraph's is obviously the preferable choice for the +2 to all skills. OTOH, if you are playing something like a barb or druid wielding a big hulking maul, you probably have a low dexterity and you don't get to use a shield, which usually provides a big chunk of resistances. For a character like that, Metalgrid is definitely the way to go.

Overall, I'd say Seraph's is more versatile in general (everyone benefits from +2 to all skills), so Seraph's has utility even for non-melee characters. Metalgrid is strictly a melee oriented amulet. The only thing it does for non-melee character is give resistance (non-melee character don't care about AR, and their defense is too low for the bonus to matter), and there are a host of other choices than give similar resistances and do something else for you.

Glad that worked. I typically find that ATMA is a little screwy when you try to transfer stuff while the game is running. Also, I find that sometimes ATMA has a hard time locating items on a newly created character, if you have not yet saved and exited the game.

The only word of warning I can give you against a concentrate barb is that it is easily the slowest killer of all the barbarian builds. You can only attack one enemy at a time, and you'll never get your damage high enough to do one-hit kills in hell (like a Berserker who is also one enemy at a time). That said, the upside is that you are nearly indestructible. The other big benefit of a Conc barb is that the synergy chain really works to your benefit.

In fact, let's look at that for a minute. Remember that most barbs first three skills to max are Battle Orders, the main attack, and the best synergy for their main attack. For a conc barb, Battle Orders is the main synergy for Concentrate (+10% damage per level), so conc barbs basically get an extra skill to max out that other builds don't.

A conc barb is definitely an example where you don't want to spend more than one point early on in any of the masteries. You benefit more by hoarding those points until BO comes available, because BO gives Concentrate a 10% bonus in damage per point spent, whereas a mastery gives a 5% bonus per level after the first point. (The first point in a mastery gives a 28% boost to damage though, so that first point is definitely well spent.)

So the basic build plan for levels 1-17 is one point each in sword, axe, and mace mastery (I would avoid polearms and spears altogether - such weapons are good for WW barbs, but not so much for a conc barb), one point in all the war cries, and one point in each of the prerequisites for concentrate (Bash and Stun).

At level 18, place a point in Concentrate, and link it to your left mouse button. Also add a point into Iron Skin, as a prerequisite for Natural Restisances, and Battle Cry (you won't need it now, but it's a useful one-point wonder later on). Level 18-23 add a point into Concentrate. Since you still obviously are getting a skill point at each level up, you'll still have all of you hoarded skill points from your earlier level ups.

At levels 24-29, place one point each into both Concentrate and Battle Orders. You'll see big jumps in damage to Concentrate on these levels, because you're boosting the skill and the synergy every level up.

At level 30, you'll burn through the rest of your stockpiled skill points, because you need a point each in Battle Commands, Berserk, and Natural Resistance.

At this point you'll have all your prerequisites and one point wonders. So you'll want to max Battle Orders first, and then go back and finish Concentrate. That should get your started - I'll write more a bit later.

---------- Added 2 hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds later... ----------

OK, I'm back - let's look at what to do after maxing Battle Orders and Concentrate. After those two, I typically go for Shout. A conc barb is a defensive oriented build, and there are two skills - Shout and Iron Skin - that boost defense. Shout is generally considered the superior skill because point for point it offers a better defense boost than Iron Skin, and Shout helps you and your merc, whereas Iron Skin just helps you.

But there's a few other bonuses from Shout. It co-synergizes with Battle Orders. Every point spent in Shout adds 5 seconds to Battle Orders duration, and likewise every point in BO does the same for Shout. Both skills start at 30 seconds for the first point spent, and each additional point adds 10 seconds. So when you have both skills maxed, even without any +skill gear, they will have a duration of a very nice 320 seconds.

Finally, Shout offers a damage synergy to Berserk - which we only spent one point on. You will use berserk in only one situation in the game - when you run into something that is immune to physical damage, which can occur irregularly in Nightmare, and somewhat frequently in hell. Concentrate, and all the other barbarian skills except Berserk deal physical damage. Berserk changes all physical damage to magic damage, and will work against physical immunes. Just one point in Berserk with maxed Shout as a synergy offers very satisfactory damage.

That covers three skills. In the course of your barb's career, you can realistically hope to level him to the point where you max 4 skills. (If you get to level 99, and complete all the quests that offer free skills, you can technically earn up to 110 skill points, which would allow you to max a 5th skill, but levels come so slowly after around 85, that getting a character to level 99 is virtually unattainable, unless you want to play D2 every day of your life for about 16 hours a day.)

There are two remaining skills that will boost the damage of Concentrate - a weapon mastery, and Concentrate's last synergy, Bash. Both offer a 5% damage boost, but the Weapon Mastery also offers an 8% increase to attack rating per point spent. So max the appropriate mastery, and then any remaining skill points you get beyond that would go to Bash.

Some other things to consider - starting in normal Act III you can start seeing weapons for sale that give +1 to war cries. In Nightmare and Hell, you'll see +2 and +3 varieties. (Notice I said for sale - you can buy them - you don't have to get lucky and hope they drop. Visit the vendors every trip to town that sell weapons and see what they have. Of course, you have to go to them anyway to sell your loot and repair your equipment, but actually look what they have for sale even after all your equipment is filled with uniques, sets, and rares, which they cannot sell.)

+war cry weapons are excellent to use on your weapon switch. You don't care what other attributes are on the weapons, or even what type of weapons they are - the only thing that is important is the +to war cries. You switch to them just prior to casting Battle Commands, Battle Orders, and Shout (and when using Find Item on a corpse), which you should do between battles every 320 seconds or so, and then switch back to your main weapon. Your war cries effect and duration and fixed based on the equipment that you have when you cast them. So even though you'll switch back to your main weapon after casting them, you'll still retain the effects of the higher skill level you had with your weapon switch. That's why the only thing that matters is the +skills - you'll never be actually using them during combat anyway.

On ditributing stat points (the 5 you get when you level up). This can be a bit tricky, because you're just starting out, and you have no idea what kind of equipment you are going to find. Let's go through them:

Strength - does two things: 1) It allows you to wear heavier armor/wield heavier weapons and 2) each point in strength adds 1% to the damage you deal. The 1% is not partiucalrly important, so we're more interested in meeting strength minimums for your equipment.

The heaviest armors in the game require 232 strength to wear. But you're unlikely to find those armors, and even if you did, just because the armor has a higher strength requirement doesn't mean it's better. Many of the best armors in the game have much more reasonable strength requirements. I would shoot for somewhere in the area of 150-180 strength by the time you get to hell difficulty. That offers a good balance between having a wide choice of equipment while still leaving you a decent amount of points for your other attributes.

Dexterity - does the following 1.) increases your attack rating by 4 per point spent (that 4 is subsequently mutliplied by your skills) 2.) increases your defense by 1 per four points spent (not significant) 3.) allows you to meet minimum requirements for swords (axes and mace class weapons have very low - and in some cases no - dexterity requirement and 4.) affects your block rate.

So the amount of dexterity you need is largely based on whether or not you decide to use a shield. The block formula in D2 is quirky, in that the higher your level, the more dexterity you need to attain a maximum block rate of 75%. It works out to approximately 2-2.5 dexterity per level to maintain maximum blocking with a decent shield.

So if you use axes or maces and no shield, you can pretty much leave dexterity alone. If you go with swords and no shield, you'll need to get it to around 100, and if you go with a shield, you're looking at around 200 in dexterity by the time you get to hell difficulty. The more points you spend in dexterity, the fewer you have to go into vitality, but if you block 75% of attacks you get hit a lot less, making your life total less important. The decision is yours...

Vitality - everything you have left over goes here. As I level, I typically place two points per level in strength and dexterity and one point in vitality early on, until I'm happy with my strength and dexterity scores. (Although if I find a nice piece of equipment that I don't meet the strength requirements for, I'll dump all of my stat points into strength until I can wear it.) Then, when I get my strength and dexterity to where I need them to be, I divert those points to vitality. (Note if you use a shield, you'll have to spend at least two points each level to maintain maximum block. So even when you're happy with your strength score, you'll be splitting your attribute points between dexterity and vitality.)

Barbarians get 4 more life for each point spent in vitality, and those 4 points are multiplied by Battle Orders. Since you can easily double your life pool with Battle Orders, it's really like 8 life per point spent.

Energy - does one thing and one thing only - increases your mana pool. I highly advise leaving this at the base 10 that you start with. Barbarians skills require very little mana (2 in the case of Concentrate), so as long as you have equipment that allows you to steal mana from enemies when you hit them, you'll easily steal back far more than you use. Add to the fact that Battle Orders will also double your mana pool, and your maximum mana increases by two each time you level (as does your life even if you don't spend any in vitality), and you don't need to worry about your mana pool.

 

dmc,
what do you mean with 'do the normal respec'?

 

The difference in damage between +192% ed and +229% ed is going to be small compared to the elemental damage the xbow will be dealing. Unlike melee weapons, missile weapons give bonus damage based on your dexterity, and chances are you are only going to raise that high enough to equip the weapon in the first place. Obviously, against PIs, the difference in %ed is meaningless. My thinking would be giving yourself a better chance to hit is more important than adding another 30 or so damage per bolt. Also, you almost certainly want a Raven Frost to help your hit chance.

Well, I've never made an Edge bow, so I cannot say whether or not it does from direct experience. However, Gheed's Charm most definitely applies to gambing costs, and so I don't see any reason why Edge would not. If so, you could use such a bow for any character - so long as they meet the minimum requirements for using it.

He means using the Akara quest reward to reset his skills. This proposed change would completely alter his character. He's going from a melee werebear into a caster.

 

I will point out that even if you do pump dex with the SS, your AR won't be great - it will be acceptable. Remember that you are not going to get any AR bump from your skills when you fire a bolt - it's just going to be a regular attack - so don't expect to be hitting as frequently as an amazon. That's why I think a RF is pretty much madatory if you go with a missile weapon as a backup attack. If you with Spirit, you may even want two RF. I think the biggest advantage of using a SS is for the added AR, but then you miss out on +2 all skills. It's actually a pretty tough decision.

I have to get back to my necro - I went on hiatus for the last two weeks to try out SCII. I have a few missions left, and while I think the game is pretty good, it's not something I'm going to want to play through again for some time. There are 4 "choice" missions in the campaign, but that still means I have to do the other 22 missions the same way as I did the first time.