Equipment for a lvling IK Barb? Hey folks, Having recently aquired the whole ik set, it swayed me to consider a barb as my next char. What sort of gear should i be looking at for lvling from, say lvl 10-30, then lvl 30-50 etc? It doesnt have to be a detailed description, just ideas would be great. ReGarDs Teo
Ideas huh? Okay.. Early on: Bonesnap is the only way to fly. Equip the IK peices as soon as you are capable. The gloves, belt, boots and helm can be equipped in the 30's as I recall. Use the Angelic rings and ammy until you can equip your rings of choice. Later: You'll want to use Windhammer. While it may seem like it's only for a few levels, getting from 70-76 in Nightmare Baal is more time consuming than it seems. Definately don't move into Hell until you glow. Also, I believe you should pump Mace Mastery, then WW, then BO, then Shout last. You want to be able to hit things first and foremost. My IK barb levelled WW and BO first, then Mace Mastery - that was a mistake, as he was whirling but not hitting very much (therefore.. not leeching) throughout the 50's and 60's levels. Equip +3 warcry weapons asap (lvl 45).
If you have an arreats laying around use that instead of IK helm until lvl 76 when you can wear full set. To be honest any good damage weapon will work fine in NM. I kept doing solo NM baal runs with nothing but some crappy unique poleaxe until I got lvl 76. Windhammer would have been nice though!
weapon - bonesnap (@24) - Bloodtree stump (@48) - IK @ 76 armour - vipermagi (@29) - shaft(@38) - jeweled shaft(@58) - IK @ 76 helm - peasant crown - IK @ 47 Gloves/Belt/Boots - doesnt matter imo as as soon as u start baaling u hit 31 fairly soon and can put all 3 IK parts on. (i used Bloodfists / deaths sash / tearhaunch iirc). as for jewellery - as above - wear angelic until u can put on your final choice's. HF with him, he farking rocks imho - my first barb (also made just to wear the set) and he is SOO much fun.
If you are gonna use bonesnap you should upgrade it to war club then it is level 30. You just need sol and ral runes and perfect emerald in cube to upgrade. Upgraded Bonesnap has more damage than Bloodtree stump.
Or, the other way around I have IK lev 93 barb doing well in every aspect of this game. You can try bonesnap, but as someone will point out soon, it is slow. if you're thinking of especially whirlers, and I guess you should, I recommend Steeldriver (unique great maul). Some people prefer it to be uped to Martel but I found out just plain 200%ish ed one without upgrading works till when you get IK stone crusher (lev 70 I guess?). I'd rather not even waste a single rune to up it, but if you do want it, then do it for more dmg and life leech. The Steel driver has -40 req and 40IAS which means to get 2 handed wpn's 1st break point for whirl, you gotta at least socket it with 1 15%IAS jewel or shael. But i found even without socketing, it works till you finish the nm baal runs for lev 75. So, don't waste your socket quest if you are in need of it. Also, even after upgrading to Martel, it still has very low lev req around 33ish and low str req, which means you can get as much as life not to die during your questing with this BIG dmg weapon. The remaining equips should be whatever you want. But, simply, i'd say Steeldriver is the way to go for leveling IK barb. Good Luck
One more... I just reminded myself that there is another fun leveling equip for IK barb. That is... Ripcracker, a unique exceptional staff. It already acheived 2nd break point for whirlers, so you don't need to waste socket quest. It has crushing blow, and low lev and str req. For any mace barb out there, this is the weapon you gotta try at least one time when leveling, just for experiencing its efficiency and most of all, "FUN sound". Personally, I love the sound Ribcracker makes, the ultimate revenge against diablo's miscreatures by cracking their skulls and ribs, "Thuk Thuk Thuk". (Actually when I levelled my mace barb in 1.08-09 days, I preferred to equip my mace barb with 2 war/divine sceptors or even caduceus plainly because of those sceptors' hitting sound was so cool unlike any other weapons for whirlers. And, ppl seem to be amused by the look of a barb carrying staff but doing a fairly good job in bloody runs).
I used Sigons till mid nightmare.... I love this set for low lvl, it's pretty much how I start out all of my Barb's.
