Barbarians are the melee heavy-hitters of Diablo 2. Able to effectively wield essentially any weapon using their masteries (like Mace Mastery or Sword Mastery) and deal major damage with skills like Whirlwind, they are devastating on the battlefield, and hearty. With abilities like Frenzy and Berserk, he can make himself even stronger, and his various Warcries, such as his stunning War Cry or the Health-and-Mana boosting Battle Orders. Because of this complex list of Skills and a slight reliance on gear, though, Barbarian can be an ironically tricky class to master, whether you are using his ever-populat Whirlwind Build, or something else like his Singer or Berserk Builds.
Starting Attributes
- Strength: 30
- Dexterity: 20
- Vitality: 25
- Energy: 10
- Hit Points: 55
- Stamina: 92
- Mana: 10
Attribute Point Effect
- 1 Vitality point gives 4 Life
- 1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina
- 1 Energy point gives 1 Mana
Increases Per Level
- Life: +2
- Stamina: +1
- Mana: +1
Playstyle
The playstyle of the Barbarian is, as you might expect, aggressive. Rather than staying in the back and casting spells, even a War Cry Barbarian tends to go straight into the fray. Between his Combat Masteries increasing his effectiveness, his mobility/damage-focused Combat Skills giving him deadly techniques, and his close-ranged Warcries, there is very little reason for him not to be right in the middle of any enemy group, especially as his Attribute curve lends itself towards having high Life and gear with High Defense. While some Builds can take more punishment than others, a Barbarian should never be far from his enemies.
Skill Trees
Class Tips
- Barbarians have a very unconventional leveling approach, and you should be ready for similarly unorthodox playstyles, including heavy single-point investments into skills in order to unlock higher-ranked skills.
- Barbarian’s high mobility is essential, as you will need to “kite” enemies in order to avoid being overwhelmed.
- Except for Singer Barbarians, you will essentially never need to worry about Mana gear, and will rarely be limited by it.
- However, Singer Barbarians are, effectively, casters, and as such will need to invest in Mana.
- You will have to maintain relatively high Strength and Dexterity for most Barbarian builds, in order to use required equipment, and you should do this through a combination of base Attribute increases and gear with +Attribute stats.
- Barbarians should focus on a specific weapon mastery entirely. Mace Mastery is the typical choice, but you can choose any Mastery so long as you want to use the weapons it provides.
- Barbarians have many skills which boost survivability, including Natural Resistance, Battle Orders, and Iron Skin.
- Similarly, skills like Leap Attack, Frenzy, and Increased Speed improve his mobility.
