Calling all Frenzy Barbs!

[noobintraining]

Calling all Frenzy Barbs!

After years of refusing to upgrade from version 1.09 and then months of another awesome game (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) I have finally installed patch 1.11 as Frostburn advised. I fired up a brand new Frenzy Barb about a week ago and have a few questions.

I apologize beforehand, as I realize these questions were quite possibly discussed in earlier threads, but I found little mention in my forum searches or any of the character guides. Besides, you ladies and gentlemen give capital advice, and are polite as well.

QUESTION 1: I am aiming for the following skill point placement:

Warcries
Howl - 1
Taunt - 1 through ?
Shout - 1
Battle Cry - 1
Battle Orders - 20
Warcry - 10

Combat Skills
Bash - 1
Double Swing - 9
Double Throw - 1
Frenzy - 20
Leap - 1
Leap Attack - 1
Stun - 1
Concentrate - 1
Berzerk - ?

Combat Masteries
Sword Mastery - 20

*Any skill not listed receives 0 skill ponts.


This allocates a total of 89 skill points. Assuming this character reaches Clvl 99, that leaves 21 skill points remaining. My question is, where should these points go? Maxing Taunt for it's synergy bonuses to Frenzy seems like a good idea. But on the other hand, my past Barbarian builds in 1.09 always maxed Berzerk, and that seems like a good idea as well; if I ever want to combat those pesky Physical Immunes. Then again, I sure like the idea of at least 5 points in Natural Resistance as well.

I'm playing untwinked and self-found, so I have doubts about my ability to garner a lot of +skills equipment.

What would you advise? Max Taunt, Max Berserk, or split the skill points between the two? And what about Natural Resistance?


QUESTION 2: Using Mace Mastery instead of Sword Mastery seems somewhat appealing, with all the magical scepters available at vendors (good starter weapons, possibly), and the +50% damage to undead. I seem to recall hearing Jude advocate maces.

Which weapon mastery would you suggest? Sword, or mace?

Question 3: I know that your fastest weapon should be in your character's right hand (left box, as you're looking at the screen) but is there anything else I should know? I believe I read somewhere that overall weapon speed depends on which weapon is placed on your character first. Or am I out of my mind?

The Frenzy Barb I'm playing now (level 25) is mostly just for practice and to gather a little wealth for future characters, but I would greatly appreciate any advice regarding this current Frenzier or any future ones.

Thanks!

 

[Cattleya]

Untwinked, I would wait on the mastery, and plan on maxing that last. You can usually find some barbarian helms wth +different masteries to get you going in the early game without spending the skill points. Then, by the time your other skills are maxed, you will have a better idea of what weapons you have available to you for the end game.

 

[FrostBurn]

...I have finally installed patch 1.11 as Frostburn advised.

I did? Sounds vaguely familiar... Coming to grips with the synergies and the extra in-game difficulty will be a challenge, but I'll bet that you will like it. I know that you will like all the nice elite uniques that will drop now that you are all patched up.

Sadly, I can offer no advice on barbs. If you had asked anything about the other 6 classes, I would most likely have had something to say, but for me, barbs... ech.

 

[killian27]

After years of refusing to upgrade from version 1.09 and then months of another awesome game (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) I have finally installed patch 1.11 as Frostburn advised. I fired up a brand new Frenzy Barb about a week ago and have a few questions.

I apologize beforehand, as I realize these questions were quite possibly discussed in earlier threads, but I found little mention in my forum searches or any of the character guides. Besides, you ladies and gentlemen give capital advice, and are polite as well.

QUESTION 1: I am aiming for the following skill point placement:

Warcries
Howl - 1
Taunt - 1 through ?
Shout - 1
Battle Cry - 1
Battle Orders - 20
Warcry - 10

Combat Skills
Bash - 1
Double Swing - 9
Double Throw - 1
Frenzy - 20
Leap - 1
Leap Attack - 1
Stun - 1
Concentrate - 1
Berzerk - ?

Combat Masteries
Sword Mastery - 20

*Any skill not listed receives 0 skill ponts.


This allocates a total of 89 skill points. Assuming this character reaches Clvl 99, that leaves 21 skill points remaining. My question is, where should these points go? Maxing Taunt for it's synergy bonuses to Frenzy seems like a good idea. But on the other hand, my past Barbarian builds in 1.09 always maxed Berzerk, and that seems like a good idea as well; if I ever want to combat those pesky Physical Immunes. Then again, I sure like the idea of at least 5 points in Natural Resistance as well.

I'm playing untwinked and self-found, so I have doubts about my ability to garner a lot of +skills equipment.

What would you advise? Max Taunt, Max Berserk, or split the skill points between the two? And what about Natural Resistance?


QUESTION 2: Using Mace Mastery instead of Sword Mastery seems somewhat appealing, with all the magical scepters available at vendors (good starter weapons, possibly), and the +50% damage to undead. I seem to recall hearing Jude advocate maces.

Which weapon mastery would you suggest? Sword, or mace?

Question 3: I know that your fastest weapon should be in your character's right hand (left box, as you're looking at the screen) but is there anything else I should know? I believe I read somewhere that overall weapon speed depends on which weapon is placed on your character first. Or am I out of my mind?

The Frenzy Barb I'm playing now (level 25) is mostly just for practice and to gather a little wealth for future characters, but I would greatly appreciate any advice regarding this current Frenzier or any future ones.

Thanks!

As cat said I wouldn't decide on a mastery until you find your weapons... untwinked you just never know what will drop. It won't be the end of the world if you put 1pt in axe,mace,sword ... thats only if you find a weapon of that class and it looks to suit you well for a while. Berzerk only needs one point, and that is for PI's, it will be enough. You will want at least a point in nat resist... and probably more like 4-5 points. I'd put a point in increased r/w as well. Warcry would be effective with only one point, but you could add to taste if needed... 10 hard points is probably too many... but as you say, you don't know how many plus skills you will get. And finally, taunt... add points to taunt, but not only for the synergy, but for its use... taunt is one of the greatest unused skills around... packs of ranged archers/caster suddenly stop what they are doing and come over to say hi as you pummel them.

Playstyle would be taunt the ranged, battlecry the hard to hit, load frenzy on right-click and auto-target (easier to get from one monster to the next when frenzied), warcry when you need a breather or for "hard" packs. Use a nightmare act2 offensive merc. And above all, have fun with a very fun build =)

edit: also visit the weapon speed calculator to tweak your frenzy speed as best you can with items available... and remember weapon ias is ignored on your secondary hand, but the weapon base speed is averaged between both hands... ultimatley you want your fast base speed and wias weapon on your hero's right hand.

 

[lagalot]

Ive just made a frenzier for magic finding and went with the bezerk synergy maxed.This converts 20% of your total damge into magic damage and really helps kill phys immunes in hell.
Pis die very fast just using frenzy and for really tough stoneskin PIs you have a killer backup skill with maxed bezerk.

 

[gregorya]

Lagalot, I was tempted to do that, but couldn't work out where to take the points from: Mastery, Frenzy, BO, a handful in Warcry, prerequisites and 1 point wonders seems to mean I'll only get a chance to boost beserk from lvl70+. Did you drop something, or only start maxing it quite late on?

 

[lagalot]

Dropped points from taunt and double swing ...frenzy,bo mastery and bezerk maxed.

 

[AndiDi]

I made a Frency Barb in HC and brought him to Hell Act V. He is currently sitting in Harrgogath awaiting further play time. He is Lvl 77 now. His skills look like this:
1 Bash
20 Double Swing
1 Double Throw
20 Frency
1 Stun
1 Concentrate
1 Berzerk
1 Howl
1 Taunt
5 Shout
1 Find Potion
1 Find Item
1 Battle Cry
20 Battle Orders
14 War Cry
1 Battle Command
I played him in a tourney (TWD) that didn't allow any points in Combat Masteries. The next time I would spend some points (3-4) in Natural restists and in Hell when you know what your end game weapons will be, a single point in the Weapon Masterie but not more.
Playstyle is like this: Taunt all ranged monsters, WCry, Frency till WarCry nearly runs out then WarCry again. Some monsters that are hard to hit need a Battle Cry. In the Chaos Sanctuary I used my Crescent Moon Ettin Axe with Berzerk/WarCry and a Rhyme Monarch. Works pretty good because the Axe has Ignore Targets Defence and you really need that because with Berzerk you won't have much AR.

Just my 2 cents.

-Andi

 

[noobintraining]

Untwinked, I would wait on the mastery, and plan on maxing that last. You can usually find some barbarian helms wth +different masteries to get you going in the early game without spending the skill points. Then, by the time your other skills are maxed, you will have a better idea of what weapons you have available to you for the end game.

I always figured that choosing a mastery and maxing it ASAP would give me an advantage from the start, with the + Damage and +AR. But I see more and more people who say don't max until much later.

I don't have the option with my current Frenzier, because I already put 10 points into Sword Mastery. But my next Frenzier will take your advice.

 

[noobintraining]

Dropped points from taunt and double swing ...frenzy,bo mastery and bezerk maxed.

Interesting. I read that Berzerk added magic damage to Frenzy, and it looked very nice.

How many points in Taunt and Double Swing did you wind up with?

 

[Atil]

I think the final build is personal preference. My Frenzy Barbarian is built around Bul Kathos' Children + other twinkage, so he has a few +skills from items. I don't have any points in Warcry, put only 1 hard point in Berserk (remember, no leech from this skill, so be aware of minions hitting you and you not leeching life back when taking on PIs) and Double Throw. Extra points go into Taunt.

Iron Skin, Increased Stamina and Speed got one each with Natural resistances to reach 75ish after Quests/Items.

Taunt, Howl and Battle Cry (and Warcry for that matter) are great crowd control skills. Know them. Use them.

Mercenary wise, I used a Normal Act 1 Fire Rogue. Good ranged support for your tank and rarely got into trouble.

Good luck with your one :thumbsup:

 

[atigdng]

I don't use war cry, never have. Battle cry is enough. It also give you plenty of room for other skill placement.

 

[Ugla]

Hi all,
I accidentally made one SC frenzy-barb (in a spontaneous joy after finding Azurewrath) and finished the game al lvl83, so I had to level him a bit more. I didn't go for a weapon mastery though, because I wanted to compare various weapons. My build was very straightforward (aka lame):

20 Frenzy, Battle Orders, Double Swing, Taunt
1 Howl, Battle Cry, War Cry, Shout, Battle Command
1 Sword&Mace Mastery, Increased Stamina, Increased Speed, Iron Skin
5 Natural Resistance (the last 4 points so far)

Some comments:
I died-through the Chaos Sanctuary, because I had not the 3 spare points for Berserk atm and throwing weapons disappointed me completely despite maxed Double Swing :sad2: Really, 1pt in Berserk is a must!

Taunt is only viable to lure ranged attackers, but 1pt is far enough for that. Also maybe well placed Grimwards can do better job. Honestly, Frenzy's synergies suck a lot.

War Cry is an essential skill definitely worth some points, because its recasting each 2-4 swings is both annoying and risky. Mooo, Mooo, Mooo!

If you have your weapon of choice, you can put some points into its mastery instead of maxing Double Swing. I think though, it's better to place 1pt in some (1-2) masteries as they provide a great initial benefit. If you really mean to go for lvl99 barb (good luck on this), you may not be willing to waste an additional point in another mastery. Choose your weapon well in this case!!

Leaps seem unnecessary, since you go for Warcry. Be sure to place 1pt in Natural Resistance at lvl30, you can add more later on. The combined Frenzy/Berserk build is tempting, I have my eye on this one (with non-synergized Frenzy just to speed up Berserk and 1pt BO - most of SPF members getting a heart attack instantly :laugh: )

I personally liked Andidi's build from TWD3, it is very well ballanced and safe one. Without NR, it must have been hard task nonetheless. Just pity we didn't provide enough challenge to force him finish the game with this char :smiley:

Good luck, find what suits you best!
Ugla

 

[Atil]

Taunt is only viable to lure ranged attackers

Taunting a normal Shaman, Greater Mummy or a Zakarum Priest will stop them healing/reviving their minions.

 

[noobintraining]

Taunting a normal Shaman, Greater Mummy or a Zakarum Priest will stop them healing/reviving their minions.

You are proving most helpful, Atil!

I used Taunt in 1.09 against the imps of Act IV, mostly so they would quit tossing their fireballs and engage me in melee (so pathetic). It never occurred to me that I could use the same tactic to stop a shaman or greater mummy from reviving minions.

 

[Frozen Orb]

Based on what I've read, sword or axe seems to be the way to go. If you are just beggining and you don't think this will be your last frenzier ever created, i would suggest going with swords. There are for more many swords in the games then axes. Although, down the road sometime when you develop some wealth, I would definately reccomend axes. Not only can they do the same if not more damage then swords. Their requirements are quite a bit less allowing for you to pump vit and make your even insanely higher.

 

[Hamburger]

Well, I'm playing a sword frenzy barb right now(twinked to the balls) and he's doing just fine through the first parts of hell(just finished act 1).
He's at level 70 right now, dual wielding amn'd djynn slayers, and they work just fine on /p1 at least....I'm not sure what his final gear will be, but I made it for fun :grin:

Rest of the gear is still not defined, but looks something like this:
Arreat's, Cat's eye, Duriel's, crafted gloves(10CB, 3 ML, 3LL, 20IAS, 10 life :grin: ), verdungo's, travs, and some rare rings....

I don't know what I'll use him for yet, but he sure is fun!

Like everyone said, your build looks fine if you get a couple of good swords....but remember to use your skills and you should be ok.
I like getting leap attack, it's really fun and useful to use in my own experience! Taunt should be abused, like Atil said, it stops revivers like a charm.....

If you can get find item from a heart carver, it would be very nice, it saves you two points...

 

[jrlafrance]

Based on what I've read, sword or axe seems to be the way to go. If you are just beggining and you don't think this will be your last frenzier ever created, i would suggest going with swords. There are for more many swords in the games then axes. Although, down the road sometime when you develop some wealth, I would definately reccomend axes. Not only can they do the same if not more damage then swords. Their requirements are quite a bit less allowing for you to pump vit and make your even insanely higher.

This is my current setup althought I went Arreats instead of Guillaume's Face (resistances are direly needed. Poison and cold are +2). I'm parked at RoF waypoint right now, but except for A2 tombs, its been entirely /p8 with relatively little problems. Even most PI are broken with decrepify from merc. Hopefully I'll have a Pat thread to show off in the next week or so.

 

[lagalot]

Interesting. I read that Berzerk added magic damage to Frenzy, and it looked very nice.

How many points in Taunt and Double Swing did you wind up with?

My barbarian is lvl89 atm 1 point in double swing six points in taunt.I added points to find potion and find item also as this was a mf char build.Also 1 point in increased speed/stamina masteries.