Controlling Frenzy
There's a trick I learned playing FPS games that has an indirect correlation to almost all other games. I'll demonstrate how it applies to full-powered Frenzy in Diablo2.
When I played FPS games, one of the many tricks I learned when aiming was not to fire immediately upon moving the mouse. This means the cursor since, in FPS games, that's the crosshair. I also learned to move the cursor to the spot I expected to shoot by anticipating people being there, not out of obviousness but caution - if they're there I'll get the first shot, if not... Anyway, the trick was 'predict and prepare,' take your time and aim. Critics say that split second costs you many times, but by getting into the practice you can speed the process up and begin aiming faster while still maintaining accuracy. This is the opposite of the baseball adage 'throw hard then throw it over the plate.' Instead, you're learning to get the aim first then gradually improving reaction time until it's second nature.
The same is true for Frenzy. It may last only six seconds, and some may say standing still for any period of time is a waste, but that half a second spent while you delicately manuever the cursor to your next target has the benefit of allowing you to pick target after target without missing one. Even with Frenzy on the left mouse button, where I've always had it, I simply get into the 'feel' of the movement and can wratchet up target acquisition. I remember once, in .09 cowing, I loaded up with speed charms and went to town (Moo Moo Farm, technically). I zipped by a Paladin at almost full tilt and saw him type the equivalent of 'WTF WAS THAT?' while still reaching another herd of cattle.
It doesn't take much practice to get the monster selection down, but does require patience to get it done more and more quickly to keep Frenzy at it's highest charge. I've also never had a problem choosing random monsters with left-clicking, but prefer picking my main victim since the second is chosen arbitrarily. This is why choice of primary weapon is important. For instance, when using Tancred's Battlegear with Skull Splitter, it's the latter you want as your main weapon due to the Dim Vision hitpower. Once the target is blinded, you can manually choose another to work on, effectively pacifying a crowd and making it safe for your mercenary and party members.
It just takes some getting used to, but then I've played a Frenzy Barbarian as my main character up until .10. Lots of reasons for that, but no need to go into them here.
There's a trick I learned playing FPS games that has an indirect correlation to almost all other games. I'll demonstrate how it applies to full-powered Frenzy in Diablo2.
When I played FPS games, one of the many tricks I learned when aiming was not to fire immediately upon moving the mouse. This means the cursor since, in FPS games, that's the crosshair. I also learned to move the cursor to the spot I expected to shoot by anticipating people being there, not out of obviousness but caution - if they're there I'll get the first shot, if not... Anyway, the trick was 'predict and prepare,' take your time and aim. Critics say that split second costs you many times, but by getting into the practice you can speed the process up and begin aiming faster while still maintaining accuracy. This is the opposite of the baseball adage 'throw hard then throw it over the plate.' Instead, you're learning to get the aim first then gradually improving reaction time until it's second nature.
The same is true for Frenzy. It may last only six seconds, and some may say standing still for any period of time is a waste, but that half a second spent while you delicately manuever the cursor to your next target has the benefit of allowing you to pick target after target without missing one. Even with Frenzy on the left mouse button, where I've always had it, I simply get into the 'feel' of the movement and can wratchet up target acquisition. I remember once, in .09 cowing, I loaded up with speed charms and went to town (Moo Moo Farm, technically). I zipped by a Paladin at almost full tilt and saw him type the equivalent of 'WTF WAS THAT?' while still reaching another herd of cattle.
It doesn't take much practice to get the monster selection down, but does require patience to get it done more and more quickly to keep Frenzy at it's highest charge. I've also never had a problem choosing random monsters with left-clicking, but prefer picking my main victim since the second is chosen arbitrarily. This is why choice of primary weapon is important. For instance, when using Tancred's Battlegear with Skull Splitter, it's the latter you want as your main weapon due to the Dim Vision hitpower. Once the target is blinded, you can manually choose another to work on, effectively pacifying a crowd and making it safe for your mercenary and party members.
It just takes some getting used to, but then I've played a Frenzy Barbarian as my main character up until .10. Lots of reasons for that, but no need to go into them here.
