Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction 1.12 WW Barbarian Guide
Created by Syntax_Error94
Version 1.00
Copyright 2008 Ted Ljunggren
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This is property of Syntax_Error94(Ted Ljunggren). This may be not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of
any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
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Please note that 1.12 added no gameplay changes(as far as I know, but Blizzard
has had many secrets throughout the years). This WW Barbarian guide can be
used just as well for 1.10 or 1.11 as for 1.12.
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Table of Contents
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I.      Version History
II.     What this guide is for
III.    Overview of the WW Barb
IV.     Skills
a. Warcries
b. Combat Masteries
c. Combat Skills
V.      Skill allocation
VI.     Stats
VII.    Equipment
a. Necessities
b. Way of the Axe
c. Way of the Sword
d. Way of the Polearm
e. Way of the Mace
VIII.   Mercenary
IX.     Tactics
X.      Leveling
XI.     Contact Me
XII.    Thanks to
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I.      Version History
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V1.00 - First Version(also my first D2 FAQ:D)
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II.     What this guide is for
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This guide is for people who want to build a WW Barbarian(I will refer to it as
a WW Barb), a very powerful character build that, when built correctly, can
complete the whole game on all difficulties. It uses the Whirlwind skill(I will
refer to it as WW) as it's main attack. It is also a great build for MFing. It
can also be used for PvP, but that will not be discussed in this FAQ. This is
for the purpose of PvM, and nothing else.
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III.    Overview of the WW Barb
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Like mentioned before, the WW Barb is a powerful character. It has high amounts
of HP, does high damage, and can boost the whole party with his Warcries.
Pros:
-Can solo the whole game.
-Can boost the whole partys life, mana, stamina, skill levels and defense.
-Can kill almost anything(can have some problems with unleechable monsters).
-You don't need über-gear to be good.
Cons:
-Iron Maiden=Instant death if your in the middle of a WW.
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IV.     Skills
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The skills of the Barbarian, like all other classes, are broken up into three
trees. I will only include skills that you will put any points into, if the
skill has no use for a WW Barb, it will not be included. I will also only write
in depth statistics for skills that you will be using alot.
Note: If the skills synergies is not included, then it means it has no
synergies.
a. Warcries
#########################
From this tree, you will mainly be using three skills, all of which are used
to boost yours and your party members stats before battle: Shout increases
defense, Battle Orders increases max HP, mana and stamina, and finally Battle
Command, which increases all skill levels by 1.
--------
--Howl--
--------
Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
The Barbarian howls fiercly, sending nearby monsters running away in terror.
This skill has no real use to the WW Barb. It might come in handy in the early
levels for seperating really large groups of monsters. It is also a
prerequisite for most warcries.
Skill points spent: 1
---------------
--Find Potion--
---------------
Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Searches the corpse of a slain body in an attempt to find a potion. This is
pretty handy if your low on potions. However, it is not a necessity so if you
don't want this skill nor Find Item, don't put any points here. Find Potion
will find all levels of Healing, Mana and Rejuvenation potions. It can also be
useful to prevent corpses from being revived and also to prevent them from
being used for corpse explosion, poison explosion and all other corpse spells.
Skill points spent: 1 or 0
---------
--Shout--
---------
Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: Howl[1]
The Barbarian shouts, alerting party for dangers and improves defense. Very
good skill, you will use it throughout the whole game. Max this skill.
Level              |1  |2  |3  |4  |5  |6  |7  |8  |9  |10 |
Mana cost          6----------------------------------------
Defense Bonus %    |100|110|120|130|140|150|160|170|180|190|
Duration(seconds)  |20 |30 |40 |50 |60 |70 |80 |90 |100|110|
Level              |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |
Mana cost          6----------------------------------------
Defense Bonus %    |200|210|220|230|240|250|260|270|280|290|
Duration(seconds)  |120|130|140|150|160|170|180|190|200|210|
Synergies:
Battle Orders: +5 Seconds Per Level
Battle Command: +5 Seconds Per Level
Skill points spent: 20
---------
--Taunt--
---------
Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: Howl[1]
The Barbarian taunts a monster to walk up to melee range with him. Useful for
hunting down archers and spellcasters that run away from you. I find myself,
however, never using it. I simply like seeing monsters running away in fear
from me:P But I know many thinks it's irritating, so put 1 point into this
skill if your one of those guys(or girls).
Skill points spent: 1 or 0
--------------
--Battle Cry--
--------------
Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Howl[1], Taunt[6]
The Barbarian lets out a battle cry, frightening nearby enemies, lowering their
defense and damage. This skill can be of some use against very tough oponents.
Most people however, rarely put points into this skill. Put 1 point here if you
feel the need, I wouldn't bother though.
Skill points spent: 1 or 0
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--Find Item--
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Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Find Potion[1]
Extremely useful for MFing. Even if you don't MF that much, 1 point here can
truly help you out with your economics. This can also, just as Find Potion, be
used to prevent corpses from being revived or used for corpse spells. You
should put 1 point into this skill. If you really don't want to waste points,
however, then don't put any here(although i recommend you do).
Level                  |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9 |10|
Mana cost              7------------------------------
Chance to Find item %  |13|19|24|29|32|35|37|39|41|42|
Level                  |11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|
Mana cost              7------------------------------
Chance to Find item %  |44|45|46|47|47|49|49|50|50|51|
Skill points spent: 1 or 0
-----------------
--Battle Orders--
-----------------
Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Howl[1], Shout[6]
The Barbarian shout out tactics to his allies and friends, increasing their
life, mana and stamina. Like shout, this is a very good skill that you will be
using throughout the whole game. Max it!
Level                         |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8  |9  |10 |
Mana cost                     7---------------------------------
Life/Mana/Stamina increase %  |35|38|41|44|47|50|53|56 |59 |62 |
Duration(seconds)             |35|45|55|65|75|85|95|105|115|125|
Level                         |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |
Mana cost                     7----------------------------------------
Life/Mana/Stamina increase %  |65 |68 |71 |74 |77 |80 |83 |86 |89 |92 |
Duration(seconds)             |135|145|155|165|175|185|195|205|215|225|
Synergies:
Shout: +5 Seconds Per Level
Battle Command: +5 Seconds Per Level
Skill points spent: 20
------------------
--Battle Command--
------------------
Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Howl[1], Shout[6], Battle Orders[24]
Like Battle Orders, this skill makes the Barbarian shouting out tactics to his
companions, but this time about how they should use their skills. This
increases all your party members skill levels by 1. Putting in more points only
increases duration. However, the duration is also increasen by it's synergies,
which is Shout and Battle Orders, both of which you will max. So only 1 point
here.
Synergies:
Shout: +5 Seconds Per Level
Battle Orders: +5 Seconds Per Level
Skill points spent: 1
b. Combat Masteries
#########################
The Barbarian is a master of weapons, as such this skill tree increases your
skill with different weapons and your skill in combat.
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--Sword/Axe/Mace/Polearm/Throwing/Spear Mastery--
-------------------------------------------------
Required Level: 1(Sword/Axe/Mace), 6(Polearm, Throwing, Spear)
Prerequisites: None
Putting points into these skills will increase your damage, attack rating and
critical strike chance for different kinds of weapons. You should in general
wait with putting points into one of these skills untill you have found
yourself a really good weapon that you will probably use forever, since you
cannot max all. When you do ,however, max the mastery for that weapon. But, if
you plan on using a specific kind of weapon throughout the game or you have
already decided which weapon to use in late game(see gear section for tips on
that), then it doesn't really matter when you max it.
Skill points spent: 20
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--Increased Stamina--
---------------------
Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: None
Passivly increases your stamina. You will rarely run out of stamina towards
late game. However, many people want the Increased Speed skill, and this is a
prerequisite for that. Put 1 point here, but only do it after you have maxed
all skills that should be maxed.
Skill points spent: 1
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--Increased Speed--
-------------------
Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Increased Stamina[12]
Passivly increases your walk/run speed. This is a skill that makes your
Barbarian more comfortable to play. Put 1 point here, and let +skills do the
rest, only do it after you have maxed all skills that should be maxed though.
Skill points spent: 1
-------------
--Iron Skin--
-------------
Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: None
This skill passivly increases your defense rating, very useful. It's also a
prerequisite for Natural Resistance. Put 1 point here, and let +skills do the
rest.
Skill points spent: 1
----------------------
--Natural Resistance--
----------------------
Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Iron Skin[18]
This skill passivly increases your resistances against Lightning, Fire, Cold
and Poison. Like Iron skin, this is a very useful skill. Put 1 point here,
and in late game when you have maxed all the skills that should be maxed, you
can optionally put more point here if you still haven't reached maximum
resistances.
Skill points spent: 1-5
c. Combat Skills
#########################
Ahh, this is your main skill tree. This is basically the skills you use to
crush your enemies into tiny little pieces. 'Nuff said.
--------
--Bash--
--------
Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Delivers a powerful blow to the enemy, damaging them and knocking them back.
This can be useful in very early game, and is also a prerequisite for most
Combat skill. 1 point here.
Skill points spent: 1
--------
--Leap--
--------
Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: None
The Barbarian leaps, either out of danger or into the fray. 1 point here, only
because it's a prerequisite for Leap Attack, which is so much better.
Skill points spent: 1
--------
--Stun--
--------
Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Bash[1]
The Barbarian smacks his opponent, stunning them for a short duration. This has
no use for a WW Barb, except one thing. It's a prerequisite for WW and Berserk.
So, 1 point here.
Skill points spent: 1
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--Leap Attack--
---------------
Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Leap[6]
The Barbarian Leaps and attacks any opponent withing range when he lands.
Appart from Leap, Leap attack allows you to jump to any place within sight with
only 1 skill point. This is a true must when killing Diablo and to a lesser
extent Mephisto. Before getting into Diablo's sanctuary you will face a small
labyrinth filled with monsters. With Leap Attack you can get past this in 10
seconds, just jumping from platform to platform(there are no walls there, it's
just lava seperating the different paths). As for Mephisto, when you get into
the last level of his endurance where you'll face him, you can skip fighting
two of the super unique Council Members by jumping over the lava in the middle
of the level. It is also very useful in many other places. 1 point here.
Skill points used: 1
---------------
--Concentrate--
---------------
Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Bash[1], Stun[12]
The Barbarian concentrates on a single blow against his opponent, making the
attack uninterruptible and temporarely increases defense. This skill has no
use to a WW Barb, except it's a prerequisite for WW and Berserk, 1 point here.
Skill points spent: 1
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--Whirlwind--
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Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Bash[1], Leap[6], Stun[12], Concentrate[18], Leap Attack[18]
Finally, you main skill! Using this skill, the Barbarian spins around and into
a pack of monsters, striking multiple times. At first it decreases your damage,
but once you get it up to lvl 8, it starts increasing your damage. As soon as
you get it, get some mana leech to take care of the mana.
Level      |1  |2  |3  |4  |5  |6  |7  |8  |9  |10 |
Mana cost  |25 |25 |26 |26 |27 |27 |28 |28 |29 |29 |
Damage %   |-50|-42|-34|-26|-18|-10|-2 |+6 |+14|+22|
Attack +%  |0  |5  |10 |15 |20 |25 |30 |35 |40 |45 |
Level      |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20  |
Mana cost  |30 |30 |31 |31 |32 |32 |33 |33 |34 |34  |
Damage %   |+30|+38|+46|+54|+62|+70|+78|+86|+94|+102|
Attack +%  |50 |55 |60 |65 |70 |75 |80 |85 |90 |95  |
Nobody knows exactly how Whirlwind works(except for Blizzard themselves). All
that is known is that Weapon speed does make a huge difference. The faster the
weapon, the more often you hit. Note that only the base speed and +attack speed
modifiers of the weapon itself make any difference, not +attack speed modifiers
from your other gear. Exactly how weapon speed works with WW is quite complex.
Here is what it says on Diablo 2: LoDs official website which is
www.battle.net/diablo2exp:
In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Whirlwind is affected by weapon speed as
follows. After you click to start your Whirlwind attack, the game checks for a
hit on a target in range at the 4th and 8th animation frames (recall that the
game runs at 25 frames per second). After the first two "free" hit-checks, the
frames elapsed in-between subsequent hit-checks will depend on your weapon
speed. Note: increased attack speed from items outside your weapon DOES NOT
affect whirlwind - only the speed of the weapon itself counts. The dependence
on weapon speed is obtained by subtracting your weapon's increased attack speed
(IAS) to its base weapon speed (the number between square brackets listed in
the weapons section of the Arreat Summit) and checking where the number you
obtain fits in the following table:
One-handed weapons
Breakpoints: 15, 10, -10, -35.
Number of frames in-between hit-checks after frame 8: 12, 10, 8, 6, 4
Two-handed weapons
Breakpoints: 15, 0, -10, -30, -60.
Number of frames in-between hit-checks after frame 8: 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4
Examples:
#1 War pike of quickness (two-handed weapon)
Base weapon speed: 20
Weapon increased attack speed: 40
Whirlwind speed: 20 - 40 = -20
Breakpoint reached: -10
Number of frames in-between checks: 8
Hit-checks at frames 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, etc.
#2 Falchion (one-handed weapon)
Base weapon speed: 20
Weapon increased attack speed: 0
Whirlwind speed: 20 - 0 = 20
Breakpoint reached: none
Number of frames in-between checks: 12
Hit-checks at frames: 4, 8, 20, 32, 44, etc.
#3 Grandfather colossus blade with 'Shael' (one-handed weapon)
Base weapon speed: 5
Weapon increased attack speed: 20
Whirlwind speed: 5 - 20 = -15
Breakpoint reached: -10
Number of frames in-between checks: 6
Hit-checks at frames: 4, 8, 14, 20, 26, etc.
Note: two-handed swords are treated as one-handed weapons for Whirlwind
purposes, regardless of the sword being held in one-handed or two-handed mode.
The above calculation for Grandfather therefore holds for any way the sword is
held.
# Barbarians wielding weapons with slow Whirlwind speeds should try and keep
their whirls very short, so as to take full advantage of the 4th and 8th frame
"free" hits. Hold down the Whirlwind button and hover the cursor just right
after the place where the Whirlwind starts. The free hits are taken and almost
immediately after it, the Whirlwind stops. Then, since the Whirlwind button is
still being pressed, a new Whirlwind starts and we get back the free hits of
frames 4 and 8. Keep doing this in a triangular pattern. By using this
technique you minimize the time under which your weapon slows down whirlwinds.
This tactic is used by many Barbarians online and is nicknamed "The Dance of
Death". This is because you keep spinning close to the target, not zig-zagging
in long lines back-and-forth.
# When dual-wielding, both weapons try to score a hit against the target. In
other words, the game does a hit-check for each weapon. Since both weapons are
given the chance to score a hit, the damage done over time is roughly the sum
of the damage of both weapons, which is comparable to the damage done whirling
with a two-handed weapon. The effect of weapon speed in dual-wielding Whirlwind
is as follows. While a target is in range, one of the weapons' speed is
constantly used to calculate the next hit-check frame. If there's no target in
range, the game will alternate between weapon speeds to calculate the next
hit-check frame. The best way to make sure you have maximum Whirlwind speed
when dual-wielding is to use weapons that both reach the final breakpoint,
like for instance a Lightsabre phase blade and a colossus blade with 40% IAS.
Like I said, quite complex. Anyhow, this is your main skill. Max it!
Skill points spent: 20
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--Berserk--
-----------
Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Bash[1], Stun[12], Concentrate[18]
The Barbarian does a powerful but reckless attack, turning all damage into
magic damage, but lowering defense to 0 for a short amount of time. This is
what you will be using to take down physical immunes and those pesky Oblivion
Knights which keeps casting Iron Maiden on you. 1 point here. You can put more
points here once you've maxed all necessary skills and want to take down the
physical immunes and oblivion knights faster.
Level               |1  |2  |3  |4  |5  |6  |7  |8  |9  |10 |
Mana cost           4----------------------------------------
Attack Rating +%    |100|115|130|145|160|175|190|205|220|235|
Magic Damage +%     |150|165|180|195|210|225|240|255|270|285|
Duration(seconds)*  |2,7|2,4|2,2|2,1|2,0|1,9|1,8|1,7|1,6|1,6|
Level               |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |
Mana cost           4----------------------------------------
Attack Rating +%    |250|265|280|295|310|325|340|355|370|385|
Magic Damage +%     |300|315|330|345|360|375|390|405|420|435|
Duration(seconds)*  |1,6|1,5|1,5|1,4|1,4|1,4|1,4|1,3|1,3|1,3|
*This is the amount of time your defense will be reduced to 0.
Skill points spent: 1+
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V.      Skill allocation
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So, now you know what all the skills are for? Good, let's rack it all up then!
First, the skill that we are going to max:
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Whirlwind
Secondly we have 1 point skills, optional skill that i recommend and
prerequisites:
1 Battle Command
1 Find Potion
1 Find Item
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed
1 Iron Skin
1-5 Natural Resistance
1 Leap Attack
1+ Berserk
1 Taunt(if you want it)
6 Prerequisites
Third, optional skills that I do not recommed:
1 Battle Cry
So the perfect skill setup for a WW Barb(according to me) is the following:
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Whirlwind
4 One pointers(Battle Command, Increased Speed, Iron Skin, Leap Attack)
3 Recommended Optionals(Find Potion, Find Item, Taunt,)
1-5 Natural Resistance
1+ Berserk
6 Prerequisites(Howl, Increased Stamina, Bash, Leap, Stun, Conentrate)
95-99 Total skill points used(depending on Natural Resistance)
11-15 Skill points left over.
For the 11-15 points that over... well, they can go into different directions.
On one hand, more points into Berserk will make OK's and physical immunes much
easier.
On the other hand, more points into Find Item will make you rich.
On the third hand(third hand!?) More points into Increased Speed and Iron skin
makes your character overall better. I would put 2 more points into Increased
speed, 3 points into Iron skin and Find Item, and the last 3 points into
Berserk. If you have more than 11 points over, just put 1 point into each of
the skills i mentioned above untill you have no skill points left. So, here we
have the final setup!:
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Whirlwind
1 Battle Command
1 Find Potion
4-5 Find Item
1 Increased Stamina
3-4 Increased Speed
4-5 Iron Skin
1-5 Natural Resistance
1 Leap Attack
4-5 Berserk
1 Taunt(if you want it)
6 Prerequisites
110 Total skill points used
0 Skill points left over
And there you have it! Now, when to distribute them>