[Mox]

So I’ve been playing D3 for a little while now (and am enjoying it a lot I must add) and am currently swaggering around as a Barbarian (level 37) in the middle of Act 2 Nightmare. Although I’m not a particularly high level, there doesn’t seem to be much discussion about Barbarians, so I figure I’d write a little something. I am usually running around with a Demon Hunter (or 7) as they seem to be one of the most popular class choices, kinda ironic considering that was the class I initially wanted to play. So after reading Bard’s fantastic Monk guide (if you haven’t read it, link is here: http://www.sc2sea.com/showthread.php?t=4730) I thought I would try to write not so much a Barb guide, but more of some notes on my experiences so far, and just general recommendations.

A Few Notes for those who haven’t played a Barbarian:
- They are really….really….REALLY fun. They have a good mix of damage and sustain, not to mention the fact they can go super saiyan (probably my favourite ability).

-As far as 2h weapons go…..don’t get your hopes up for a while. When I started out, I was hell keen to grab a massive club or giant axe and go around smashing face. Unfortunately, I spent levels 1-10 running around lightly tickling people with a couple of daggers. Up to this point, I’ve only actually used a 2h weapon for say 5 levels? Still, Goku holding 2 glowing swords does look pretty sweet…

-There’s a lot of versatility in their play style. You can build as a pure tank, a hybrid of tank/damage or you can build as Super Saiyan Goku.

-You can make tonnes of money by flogging all the Demon Hunter loot you pick up off on the AH as there is a serious shortage.

-Depending on how you build, there is the potential for a lot of mobility, through charges, ancient spear and the like.

-Looks like they will translate pretty well into PvP, if that’s your thing.

Highlights so Far:
-Watching my friend die within 10 seconds of engaging Belial, and soloing the rest of the fight…then promptly reminding him of how terrible he was (in a friendly way of course )

-Buying a legendary off the auction house for all of my gold at level 15 and thinking I was amazing, then replacing it after 1 level with a random blue I picked up.

-Getting at least 3 rare 2hand weapons that decided they would be really nice to me and put intelligence on themselves when I examined them, because they figured my Barbarian wasn’t smart enough.

Playing with Demon Hunters (My Current Setup):
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...ZVP!ZdW!aZZZaa)

So I suppose I should preface this section with a little bit of a description. Watching my mates play Demon Hunters, it was pretty obvious that they are able to do the most damage when they don’t have to run away from the demonic monstrosities of the underworld like little girls. So I am kind of playing my barbarian as a ‘support’ as if I was playing Taric or Alistar bottom lane in League of Legends.

I find with this setup you are able to tank massive packs of mobs for your allies, but also pump out some wicked damage. You do need a reasonable level of vitality to make sure you actually survive at certain points (like when Revenge decides it won’t pop for 20 seconds, and then decides to pop 3 times in 3 seconds) but for the most part, an even mix of strength and vitality will do.

The Abilities:
Should preface this section with FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE ELECTIVE MODE IF YOU DON’T ALREADY! I cannot stress this enough. It is amazing. (To activate it, go to Menu --> Options --> Gameplay --> use Elective Mode)

Left Click: Bash (Clobber) My left and right clicks are both personal preference for this setup. I got sick of having to switch between Bash and Cleave on my click, so I took both instead. It’s really just to make life easier for me. Clobber’s stun helps lock down mobs for your allies to go bananas on them.

Right Click: Cleave (Reaping Swing) As I said above, the clicks are personal preference. The extra fury generated helps to spam your 2, however it’s not essential.

1: Ground Stomp (Wrenching Smash) This is the bread and butter of this setup. The theory is, if you can pull a massive pack into you into a confined choke point, your demon hunter party member can go berserk and do mass deeps. The stun is ridiculous as well, the 4 seconds seems to last an eternity.

2: Hammer of the Ancients (Smash) This is your single target damage dealer, especially good for rare mobs or bosses/gold mobs. Not essential but advised. Could take Rend/Whirlwind or a shout.

3: Revenge (Vengeance is Mine) The rune makes this spell ridiculous when it procs. You can literally pull a group of 20 mobs and with sufficient procs, you will melt through wave after wave. The heal is based on the amount of damage done, so the more mobs that are hit, the more healing you get back. Really recommended for this setup.

4: Wrath of the Beserker (Arreat’s Wail, though I plan to swap it out for Insanity when I hit level 40) This is my favourite ability, followed closely by Earthquake. God mode, super saiyan, whatever you want to call it, it looks insane, it buffs you massively, and a part of me always looks for the Kameheha ability to use after I activate this.

Passive Skills:
Ruthless – Extra damage basically
Bloodthirst – Gain 3% of all damage done as life, is really useful for surviving big pulls or in boss fights. It is especially useful if you don’t have much vitality as you will need it to survive.
Animosity – I just like the extra fury generation for more spamming of my 2

Skill Sequence:
So basically when you run into a massive pack, you want to get near as many as possible and hit your 1, to stun them for what seems like forever. Then spam right click to cleave like a madman. Important to note that revenge (your 3) should be used whenever it procs, assuming you have mobs near you. I try to save my 4 for bosses/rares as you don’t really need it for trash mobs.

This setup can be used on boss fights, but I would say it probably isn’t ideal. I will add in some new builds as I work my way further through the game, but just thought I would give this one to start with.

I’m really excited to see how Barbarians translate over into the PvP side of the game. I feel like it will be interesting, and will facilitate the use of abilities I don’t really use in single player or cooperative (Sprint, Leap, Ancient Spear, Furious charge etc.)

Please leave any feedback you might have on this build, and let me know what setups you are using! Note it is only one possible setup and I plan to add to this as I level up more and experiment with some different builds, but this one should get you started and carry you pretty easily and swiftly through normal mode.

~~Mox

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