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Diablo II/Concentrate Barbarian: Difference between revisions
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== Equipment == | == Equipment == | ||
Equipping your character is always a tricky proposition. If you have good equipment handy to trade for, you may know in advance what you are able to use and plan for that. On the other hand, if this is the first character you've beaten hell with you may have nothing saved and have to try to choose between what you find and what you can craft. | |||
* Unlike many builds, high defense is the first thing to look for in armor; weapons need to be one-handed, match your weapon mastery (if any), and do high damage including a fair bit of physical damage. | |||
* Skills bonuses (+skills) are always extremely good in any item. Stats bonuses (aside from energy) are likewise good, but require a bit more preplanning if you find the item late or intend to discard it. | |||
* As the character will be hit a lot, all forms of resistance are crucial. Aim for 75% of elemental/poison resistance, and any magic or physical resistance (which caps at 50%) will help hugely. The "cannot be frozen" protection is also a huge help to surviving. | |||
* Mana and lifesteal are essential. The more lifesteal the better basically - with high lifotou and brawl continuously. Very little manasteal is needed but you have to have some. | |||
* As concentrate damage is low, anything that can increase it will speed your battles up a lot. Deadly strike, crushing blow, and increased attack speed in particular will all combine well (tailoring your IAS to your weapon is an added plus). Bonus damage to demons or undead is also very helpful, as these will be some of the slowest battles. | |||
* Prevent monster heal is absolutely essential with the low damage done by concentrate. A charm of poison damage can work almost as well here. | |||
* Finally, anything that increases your life will get the bonus from Battle Orders, increasing its potency twofold. Life is already high to begin with but the more you have the less likely you die. | |||
* Avoid knockback at all costs. | |||
The way warcries work, you can switch weapons to use them, then switch back for the next 5 minutes to fight. An effective strategy is to keep two +skills or +warcries weapons dual-wielded on your switch, for use with Shout/Battle Orders/Battle Command. Malah in Act V has a chance to sell you such weapons; the best ones are only available in Hell difficulty, have prefix "Echoing", and give +3 to warcries. | |||
== Mercenaries == | == Mercenaries == | ||
