Over 20 years after its initial release, Diablo II has made a comeback. This has, of course, led to an influx of players interested in rekindling their love for finding the best synergies and techniques to do in their quest to defeat Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo himself. In the list below, we cover some of the best builds for Barbarians, the most abrasive of all classes.
Best Barbarian Builds
Barbarians are all tough. They dive into the heat of battle and empower their teammates with battle cries, bolstering everyone's attack. Barbarians are known for arming themselves with the most powerful weapons and equipment. They are also known to deal consistently high damage with each hit. Players who like fighting and don't stop until every mob is destroyed often choose Barbarians as their primary.
Equipment
One important thing to note about gear is that choosing the right type almost always comes down to the player's methods rather than the build itself. Since loot is randomly generated as you kill enemies, it's always best to equip the gear that best suits your needs rather than hunting for specific items. However, we've listed below which items work best for the Barbarian class as a whole. If different gear is recommended for a specific build, it will be mentioned in the additional notes for that build.
- Helm: Face of Arreat or Face of Guillaume
- Armor: Chains of Honor or Enigma
- Gloves: Dracul's embrace or laying on of hands
- Belt: Thunder God's Vigor or Verdungo's Nourishing Cord
- Boots: War Traveler
- Shield: Stormshield
- Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope or Highlord's Wrath
- Rings: Raven Frost, Alliance of Bul-Kathos or Stone of Jordan
Related: Best Druid Builds in Diablo II Risen - Pro Game Guides
Dragon
Dragoon Barbarians focus on Leap and Leap Attack skills to dive into battle and deal massive damage quickly. These barbarians aren't great in PvP, but are powerful forces against monsters and tend to take out a horde of enemies before other players have even had a chance to help them.
- Skill points
- Leap Attack: 20
- Jump: 20
- Orders of Battle: 20
- Weapon Mastery: 20
- Stat Points
- Strength: Enough for equipment.
- Dexterity: Enough for gear and a 75% block chance if using a shield.
- Energy: Basic level, if possible.
- Vitality: Deposit nearly all of your stat points into Vitality.
- Notes added
- In addition to the required points mentioned above, a point must be removed in many other skills as prerequisites or simply to provide buffs and debuffs at their most basic level. If you want to earn extra points in something, it should be Iron Skin.
- Since this build tends to be in the middle of battle often, it's best to use a one-handed weapon with a shield and a 75% chance to block. Two-handed weapons are nice but leave you open to taking a lot of damage.
Whirlybarb
This is perhaps one of the best known builds outside of the Paladin's Hammerdin build. Whirly Barbs focus on using the Whirlwind ability to dash quickly out of combat while dealing damage and are known to cleave through even the toughest hordes of enemies. A Whirlybarb's only weakness is that it is somewhat weak against large groups of monsters that are immune to physical attacks.
- Skill points
- Tourbillon: 20
- Weapon Mastery: 20
- Orders of Battle: 20
- Shout: 20
- Stat Points
- Strength: Enough to carry the desired items (you may need to review the minimum requirements of the items you want in advance).
- Dexterity: Enough to carry desired items and 75% chance to block if using a shield.
- Energy: Keep at base level.
- Vitality: Deposit nearly all of your stat points into Vitality.
- Notes added
- Whirlwind has the highest mana requirement of all Barbarian builds, but it's best to get your mana from Mana Leech or items/skills that increase mana.
- To avoid being weak against physically immune mobs, it's a good idea to put several points into Berserk when you complete the required skills above.
- Equipment
- Weapon Mods: Breath of the Dying is almost always the best option. Doom is good for axes and polearms. Death or oath are good for swords.
Related: How to Identify Items in Diablo 2 Resurrected – Thekingplayers
Berserker
Berserker is to the Barbarian class what the Hulk is to the Avengers. He gets really angry and breaks things up with reckless abandon. This build's biggest weakness is its lack of defense, but the ability to do massive damage before the enemy even really realizes what's going on outweighs this problem.
- Skill points
- Berserk: 20
- Orders of Battle: 20
- Weapon Mastery: 20
- (Using a shield) Shout: 20
- (Does not use a shield) Battlecry: 20
- Howl: 20
- Tourbillon: 1
- Battle Command: 1
- Speed increased: 1
- Iron Skin: 1
- Natural Resistance: 1
- (Using a shield) Taunt: 1
- Stat Points
- Strength: Enough to carry the desired items (you may need to review the minimum requirements of the items you want in advance).
- Dexterity: Enough to carry desired items and 75% chance to block if using a shield, otherwise ignore.
- Energy: Keep at base level.
- Vitality: Deposit nearly all of your stat points into Vitality.
- Notes added
- Focus on ramping up Berserk, Battle Orders, and Shout. Scatter weapon and howl mastery points evenly.
- Equipment
- Weapon Mods: Breath of the Dying is almost always the best option. Doom is good for axes and polearms. Death or oath are good for swords.
- Gloves: Steelrend
Related: Best Druid Builds in Diablo II Risen - Pro Game Guides
Frenzy
This is another popular build for the Barbarian due to its versatility in use. Frenzied Barbarians go a long way and are almost always a crucial part of a late game team. Frenzy Barbarians also matches the classic Barbarian vibe with dual-wielding weapons and lots of hacking and slashing.
- Skill points
- Frenzy: 20
- Weapon Mastery: 20
- Orders of Battle: 20
- Double swing: 20
- Provocation : 20
- Berserk: 1
- Howl: 1
- Shout: 1
- Battle Command: 1
- Natural Resistance: 1
- Iron Skin: 1
- Hit: 1
- Double throw: 1
- Stun: 1
- Concentrate: 1
- Stat Points
- Strength: Enough to carry desired items.
- Dexterity: Enough to carry desired items.
- Energy: None.
- Vitality: Base value.
- Notes added
- Stack the Crushing Blow, Critical Strike, and Open Wounds mods as best you can, as they are crucial for this build to reach its maximum potential.
- This build is known to be weak against monsters that are immune to physical damage, so be careful when near them.
- This build is one of the best builds to use for people playing solo if you find gear that helps you cleave enemies away from physical damage.
immortal king
A Barbarian Immortal King can be expensive, but it's a great build for a Barbarian if you can get the gear. It's a simple setup that focuses more on the gear you use to level up your character, as well as a strict skill point allocation path. The biggest downside to this build is the number of stat points required in Strength to equip the necessary gear, but it's worth it closer to the end of the game.
- Skill points
- Tourbillon: 20
- Mass Mastery: 20
- Shout: 20
- Orders of Battle: 20
- Concentrate: 9
- Increased stamina, iron skin, increased speed, natural resistance, howl, combat command, hit, jump, stun, jump attack, berserk: every 1 stat point.
- Stat Points
- Strength: Enough to carry desired items, then an additional 15-20 for added security. Focus on getting gear that increases the strength stat.
- Dexterity: none.
- Energy: None.
- Vitality: Deposit nearly all of your stat points into Vitality.
- Additional Notes
- The Immortal King Barbarian has strict skill, stat, and gear requirements. For this build, ignore the gear listed above, as this character's strength is entirely based on what you wear. You should not deviate from the list below unless you have not obtained the equipment.
- Helm: Will of the Immortal King
- Armor: Immortal King's Soul Cage
- Weapon: Immortal King's Stone Crusher
- Secondary weapons: +3 Warcry skills or +3 call to arms
- Amulet: Metal Grid
- Ring: Raven Frost, Carrion Wind or Bul-Kathos Alliance
- Belt: Immortal King Detail
- Gloves: Immortal King's Forge
- Boots: Pillar of the Immortal King
- Charm: Infernal Torch
- Charm: Annihilus
- Since this set is gear-based, it's best to get the gear from other characters first and save it to your stash. It's nearly impossible to get this build effectively until you have plenty of the gear listed above.
- Many players consider this version as a game in itself. It's not the best build and the time investment makes it not worth it for many players. However, we chose to include it in this list because it's still a great build that will get you through Hell difficulty and is a great way to show off veteran status in the game.
- The Immortal King Barbarian has strict skill, stat, and gear requirements. For this build, ignore the gear listed above, as this character's strength is entirely based on what you wear. You should not deviate from the list below unless you have not obtained the equipment.
Ultimately, the best build for you depends on your playstyle. However, the builds above are tried and tested by many experienced players in the game. If you have any builds that you think should be mentioned , tell us in the comments below!
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