Looking for advice on build

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

(Seperately posted to agd2)

Finally got around to seriously playing some D2 last night after playing
around with a couple of characters off and on, and thought that I would
ask in here for some advice.

I am starting out with a barbarian, because it looks like, to my
inexperienced eye at least, that it offers the opportunity for going
through the game without managing toggles or anything like that. Only
walking and killing.

Here is the style that I am looking to play: The closest thing I could
cpompare it to is a "tank" from a MMORPG. Walks in, hits things and they
die.

I am up to L8 so far, and have been splitting my skill points between
Bash and Weapon Mastery (axe). I am debating getting the double weapon
skill, but am currently leaning away from that. From looking at the info
that the Skills screen gives me, I can see that there is a nice link
(synergy is the term I think) between Bash and Stun, so once I get to the
right level, I will be putting points in there. IIRC, Stun also gets
duration from one of the war cries. Is it worth putting more than one or
two points in the war cryto increase the duration of the stun?? What
would be a useful length of time for a stun??

Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I have
been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level putting a
couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.

For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do you
use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?

Finally, and this is a stupid question, how do you set a hotkey? I have
looked, but I don't know if it is something that I missed, or if was just
brain-dead the day that I looked.

PS: Is there any etiquette for making agd (or agd2) games on the server?
I was the one that made them last night between 8ish and 10ish (EST).

--
Marcel

 

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On 20 Jan 2005 13:23:47 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
<mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>PS: Is there any etiquette for making agd (or agd2) games on the server?
>I was the one that made them last night between 8ish and 10ish (EST).
>
>--
>Marcel

Yeah, although due to a few griefers joining the ladder ones, there's
been talk of changing it lately. Stay tuned for updates ;-)

First thing: Before you try creating the game, see if it's already up,
obviously. If it isn't, especially in the Normal games, try to make it
with your lowest level character, so as many quests are available to
you and other players as possible. Ideally the Normal game gets made
by a non-playing mule (and, as soon as the game gets burned in, you
then bring in a slightly higher level and rescue Cain, but that's a
whole 'nother kettle of fish ;-) ), the reason being that if someone
comes in and needs a quest that's already done, they'll have to go to
another game, and the community gets split and everyone gets less
experience (and fun). Also, from experience, if you end up having to
go beyond agd2 to agd3 or above, you're likely to end up playing solo.

Game names/password:

Ladder:

Normal:

agd/agd
agd2/agd, etc.

Nightmare:

agdnm/agd
agdnm2/agd, etc.

Hell:

agdhell/agd
agdhell2/agd, etc.

Non-ladder:
(Someone *please* correct me if this is wrong, it's been a while ;-) )

Normal:

agdx/agd
agdx2/agd, etc.

Nightmare:

agdxnm/agd
agdxnm2/agd, etc.

Hell:

agdxhell/agd
agdxhell2/agd

As you can see, the whole idea with the names was to make it easy to
remember and have a simple format. Unfortunately, as I mentioned,
they've been *too* easy to remember for one certain player and his/her
friends, so it is not advised for you to mule in these games, unless
you can find someone you trust to hold the stuff for you. The idea
*has* been that anything on the ground around the stash was free game,
although it's always polite to ask to make sure (especially if you see
people exiting and entering quickly, thus probably muling), but lately
anything on the ground has been snapped up when the griefers are in
the game.

There's probably more, but this is almost undoubtedly more than you
were after, so I'll STFU now ;-)

ald
"Knowledge is Power"
VK`Sister`ald level 47 Rogue (HF V&K) (RIP :-( )
Matriarch Sis-West level 82 Bowazon (US West)
Champion RingsNThngs level 61 Bowazon (US West)
Slayer ZannEsu-ald level 51 Sorceress (US West)
Matriarch Sis-AR level 99 Bowazon (Ancestral Recall Mod)
Champion Creepy-AR Level 91 Necromancer (AR)
Slayer Zan-AR Level 79 Sorceress (AR)
Slayer SisEight-AR Level 78 Bowazon (AR)
Gems-AR Level 55 Barbarian (AR)
Matriarch Sis-otSEye Level 78 Bowazon (US West, co-op)
BtaSisEight-ald Level 50 Bowazon (LoD 1.10 SP)
Aragorn-AR Level 51 Zealadin (AR)
Champion LTwoSis-ald Level 79 Bowazon (US West Ladder)
CotSRSig #16

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

In article <Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

[snip]

>I am starting out with a barbarian, because it looks like, to my
>inexperienced eye at least, that it offers the opportunity for going
>through the game without managing toggles or anything like that. Only
>walking and killing.

Oh dear. Are you in for quite a surprise. As far as I can determine,
Barbarians are one of the tougher characters to play solo with, especially
once you reach Hell difficulty. Good equipment is a necessity.

I recently started my own barbarian, because on a recent MF run of Hell
Worldstone I found my own IK Armor, and am going to build an IK barb.
Rumour has it this variant is quite durable, also in Hell.

>Here is the style that I am looking to play: The closest thing I could
>cpompare it to is a "tank" from a MMORPG. Walks in, hits things and they
>die.

Sounds like any of the melee characters in Diablo 2.

>I am up to L8 so far, and have been splitting my skill points between
>Bash and Weapon Mastery (axe). I am debating getting the double weapon
>skill, but am currently leaning away from that. From looking at the info
>that the Skills screen gives me, I can see that there is a nice link
>(synergy is the term I think) between Bash and Stun, so once I get to the
>right level, I will be putting points in there. IIRC, Stun also gets
>duration from one of the war cries. Is it worth putting more than one or
>two points in the war cryto increase the duration of the stun?? What
>would be a useful length of time for a stun??

Actually, both Bash and Stun are not the skills of choice for any barb.
Some swear by Whirlwind, other by Frenzy.

What almost every Barb build does is maximizing the Battle Orders warcry,
for the extra life/mana it gives.

>Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I have
>been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level putting a
>couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.

Most build-guides recommend to put _no_ points at all into energy, so I'd
suggest you either save up those points, or put them in Vitality (never
bad for a barb).

>For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
>this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do you
>use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?

Well, for my planned IK barb, I need enough Str to equip all the IK items,
Dex no idea, and the rest goes in to Vit.

As for the skills, I'll max Mace Mastery (because the IK weapon is a
Mace-class weapon), Whirlwind, Battle Orders, and put at least 1 point
each in stuff like Iron Skin, Natural Resists, etc.

As for the other points: no idea yet, and I'm also open for any
suggestions regarding a good, solid IK build.

>Finally, and this is a stupid question, how do you set a hotkey? I have
>looked, but I don't know if it is something that I missed, or if was just
>brain-dead the day that I looked.

Point the mousepointer to the skill you want to hotkey, and press the
hotkey you want to put it in. Per default, only the F1-F12 keys are
hotkeys, but you can define additional hotkeys via the Options menu.

>PS: Is there any etiquette for making agd (or agd2) games on the server?
>I was the one that made them last night between 8ish and 10ish (EST).

No idea here.

Anyhow, to give you some more ideas regarding your barbarian: if this is
your first one, feel free to experiment around, you'll learn a lot this
way, but be prepared to run into a 'brick wall' as far as survivability is
concerned once you reach Hell difficulty: you need some serious
forethought to be able to survive there.

If you don't feel like wasting the time now to learn, try to find any of
the guides which describe possible barbarian builds. There are many
variants which are quite capable: like a double thrower, or a Frenzy barb,
but keep in mind barbs desperately need good, very good (and therefore
hard to find!) equipment to be able to survive in Hell.

Regards,

Patrick.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:06:19 +0000 (UTC), Patrick Vervoorn
<patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote:

>Point the mousepointer to the skill you want to hotkey, and press the
>hotkey you want to put it in. Per default, only the F1-F12 keys are
>hotkeys, but you can define additional hotkeys via the Options menu.

>Regards,
>
>Patrick.

Unless things have changed since the last time I did a re-install,
only F1-F*8* are there by default.

ald
"Knowledge is Power"
VK`Sister`ald level 47 Rogue (HF V&K) (RIP :-( )
Matriarch Sis-West level 82 Bowazon (US West)
Champion RingsNThngs level 61 Bowazon (US West)
Slayer ZannEsu-ald level 51 Sorceress (US West)
Matriarch Sis-AR level 99 Bowazon (Ancestral Recall Mod)
Champion Creepy-AR Level 91 Necromancer (AR)
Slayer Zan-AR Level 79 Sorceress (AR)
Slayer SisEight-AR Level 78 Bowazon (AR)
Gems-AR Level 55 Barbarian (AR)
Matriarch Sis-otSEye Level 78 Bowazon (US West, co-op)
BtaSisEight-ald Level 50 Bowazon (LoD 1.10 SP)
Aragorn-AR Level 51 Zealadin (AR)
Champion LTwoSis-ald Level 79 Bowazon (US West Ladder)
CotSRSig #16

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
news:csodsr$osf$1@news.tudelft.nl:

> In article <Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
> Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>>I am starting out with a barbarian, because it looks like, to my
>>inexperienced eye at least, that it offers the opportunity for going
>>through the game without managing toggles or anything like that. Only
>>walking and killing.
>
> Oh dear. Are you in for quite a surprise. As far as I can
> determine, Barbarians are one of the tougher characters to play solo
> with, especially once you reach Hell difficulty. Good equipment is a
> necessity.

D'ohest!! Oh well. Live and learn. I am still having fun so I am just
going to forget I heard that and go on blindly.
<sticks finger in ears> LALALALALALALALALA

> I recently started my own barbarian, because on a recent MF run of
> Hell Worldstone I found my own IK Armor, and am going to build an IK
> barb. Rumour has it this variant is quite durable, also in Hell.

Sure. I'll pretend I know what that means.
<leans to person next to him> pssst, buddy. What the hell did he just
say??

>>Here is the style that I am looking to play: The closest thing I could
>>cpompare it to is a "tank" from a MMORPG. Walks in, hits things and
>>they die.
>
> Sounds like any of the melee characters in Diablo 2.

True. But from looking at the basic melee characters, the barb seemed the
closest to go in and hit things. The paladin seemed to have a lot of aura
management required. I am not sure that the amazon (I would play as an
archer to start) would be able to get enough loot goodness to be viable.
ANd I don't remember why I didn't want to play the other people.

>>I am up to L8 so far, and have been splitting my skill points between
>>Bash and Weapon Mastery (axe). I am debating getting the double weapon
>>skill, but am currently leaning away from that. From looking at the
>>info that the Skills screen gives me, I can see that there is a nice
>>link (synergy is the term I think) between Bash and Stun, so once I
>>get to the right level, I will be putting points in there. IIRC, Stun
>>also gets duration from one of the war cries. Is it worth putting more
>>than one or two points in the war cryto increase the duration of the
>>stun?? What would be a useful length of time for a stun??
>
> Actually, both Bash and Stun are not the skills of choice for any
> barb. Some swear by Whirlwind, other by Frenzy.

Hunh. Going to have to do some searching than. Is Battle.net still a good
place to start for looking for builds, or are there better places??

> What almost every Barb build does is maximizing the Battle Orders
> warcry, for the extra life/mana it gives.

OK

>>Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I have
>>been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level putting
>>a couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.
>
> Most build-guides recommend to put _no_ points at all into energy, so
> I'd suggest you either save up those points, or put them in Vitality
> (never bad for a barb).

OK.

>
>>For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
>>this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do you
>>use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?

<snip>

>>Finally, and this is a stupid question, how do you set a hotkey? I
>>have looked, but I don't know if it is something that I missed, or if
>>was just brain-dead the day that I looked.
>
> Point the mousepointer to the skill you want to hotkey, and press the
> hotkey you want to put it in. Per default, only the F1-F12 keys are
> hotkeys, but you can define additional hotkeys via the Options menu.

Thanks!!

>>PS: Is there any etiquette for making agd (or agd2) games on the
>>server? I was the one that made them last night between 8ish and 10ish
>>(EST).
>
> No idea here.
>
> Anyhow, to give you some more ideas regarding your barbarian: if this
> is your first one, feel free to experiment around, you'll learn a lot
> this way, but be prepared to run into a 'brick wall' as far as
> survivability is concerned once you reach Hell difficulty: you need
> some serious forethought to be able to survive there.

Meh. I am having fun right now. So, to paraphrase what I said above:
LALALALA

(I am not being flip, I am just having too much fun right now to worry
about looking for uber gear or anything like that.)

Thanks.

--
Marcel

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

On 20 Jan 2005 14:33:19 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
<mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
>news:csodsr$osf$1@news.tudelft.nl:
>
[snippage]
>>
>> Anyhow, to give you some more ideas regarding your barbarian: if this
>> is your first one, feel free to experiment around, you'll learn a lot
>> this way, but be prepared to run into a 'brick wall' as far as
>> survivability is concerned once you reach Hell difficulty: you need
>> some serious forethought to be able to survive there.
>
>Meh. I am having fun right now. So, to paraphrase what I said above:
>LALALALA
>
>(I am not being flip, I am just having too much fun right now to worry
>about looking for uber gear or anything like that.)
>
>Thanks.

If you can keep this attitude then you have the right mindset to fully
enjoy your D2 experience. Many posters here, myself included, have
been playing for so long that we already know which characters are
going to be hellish to play and which ones will be easy. Some of us
stay far away from them while others welcome them with open arms.

Feel free to ask questions as you need. If you want an "uber" char,
I'm sure someone here can supply you with the right info to get that
as well. If you just want a variant build and have fun, then you've
come to the right place as well as we have enough variant posters here
to make up for Bnets craziness.

In a nutshell, enjoy yourself and feel free to post here with any
questions or progress that your barbarian is doing.

Alan
--
USWest - SonofJorEl, SonofJorEl2-3 Ladder SC
USEast - SonofJorEl, SonofJorEl2-4 Ladder & Non, SC & HC

 

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In article <Xns95E461581AC33mbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:
>Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
>news:csodsr$osf$1@news.tudelft.nl:
>
>> Oh dear. Are you in for quite a surprise. As far as I can
>> determine, Barbarians are one of the tougher characters to play solo
>> with, especially once you reach Hell difficulty. Good equipment is a
>> necessity.
>
>D'ohest!! Oh well. Live and learn. I am still having fun so I am just
>going to forget I heard that and go on blindly.
><sticks finger in ears> LALALALALALALALALA

Good attitude, just try it and find out.

>> I recently started my own barbarian, because on a recent MF run of
>> Hell Worldstone I found my own IK Armor, and am going to build an IK
>> barb. Rumour has it this variant is quite durable, also in Hell.
>
>Sure. I'll pretend I know what that means.
><leans to person next to him> pssst, buddy. What the hell did he just
>say??

Well, there's a barbarian-specific set of equipment called the 'Immortal
King's Detail'. The rarest part of that set is the armour. Which is the
piece I find. The rest is more common (I found several of the Immortal
King's Stone Crusher, the Ogre Maul which also forms part of this set),
and I expect to be able to acquire that more easily by trading.

The complete set gives a big amount of bonuses, like a lot of elemental
damage on the weapon, damage reduction, resists, skills, etc, which is
supposedly enough to make a barbarian tough enough to be able to solo
Hell. I'm trying to find out.

Hope this clears thing up a bit. Look at Battle.Net for all available
items to find out more about this set, and other stuff you can find.

>> Sounds like any of the melee characters in Diablo 2.
>
>True. But from looking at the basic melee characters, the barb seemed the
>closest to go in and hit things. The paladin seemed to have a lot of aura
>management required. I am not sure that the amazon (I would play as an
>archer to start) would be able to get enough loot goodness to be viable.
>ANd I don't remember why I didn't want to play the other people.

The Barbarian is indeed the one which looks like a solo warrior the most,
so you made the right choice. However, as far as finishing the game, solo,
including Hell difficulty, is concerned, there are easier builds
(Skelliemancer, Trapassin, Hammerdin, etc), but if that's not your cup of
tea: enjoy your choice. Whichever way you do it, you'll certainly be able
to have a lot of fun.

>> Actually, both Bash and Stun are not the skills of choice for any
>> barb. Some swear by Whirlwind, other by Frenzy.
>
>Hunh. Going to have to do some searching than. Is Battle.net still a good
>place to start for looking for builds, or are there better places??

There are not that much builds, if any there, but googling for the right
words should give you quite a lot of guides.

>Meh. I am having fun right now. So, to paraphrase what I said above:
>LALALALA
>
>(I am not being flip, I am just having too much fun right now to worry
>about looking for uber gear or anything like that.)

Enjoy!

Patrick.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
news:csogik$pii$1@news.tudelft.nl:

> In article <Xns95E461581AC33mbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
> Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:
>>Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote
>>in news:csodsr$osf$1@news.tudelft.nl:

>>Sure. I'll pretend I know what that means.
>><leans to person next to him> pssst, buddy. What the hell did he just
>>say??
>
> Well, there's a barbarian-specific set of equipment called the
> 'Immortal King's Detail'. The rarest part of that set is the armour.
> Which is the piece I find. The rest is more common (I found several of
> the Immortal King's Stone Crusher, the Ogre Maul which also forms part
> of this set), and I expect to be able to acquire that more easily by
> trading.
>
> The complete set gives a big amount of bonuses, like a lot of
> elemental damage on the weapon, damage reduction, resists, skills,
> etc, which is supposedly enough to make a barbarian tough enough to be
> able to solo Hell. I'm trying to find out.
>
> Hope this clears thing up a bit. Look at Battle.Net for all available
> items to find out more about this set, and other stuff you can find.

Yup, much clearer. Thanks!!

>
>>> Sounds like any of the melee characters in Diablo 2.
>>
>>True. But from looking at the basic melee characters, the barb seemed
>>the closest to go in and hit things. The paladin seemed to have a lot
>>of aura management required. I am not sure that the amazon (I would
>>play as an archer to start) would be able to get enough loot goodness
>>to be viable. ANd I don't remember why I didn't want to play the other
>>people.
>
> The Barbarian is indeed the one which looks like a solo warrior the
> most, so you made the right choice. However, as far as finishing the
> game, solo, including Hell difficulty, is concerned, there are easier
> builds (Skelliemancer, Trapassin, Hammerdin, etc), but if that's not
> your cup of tea: enjoy your choice. Whichever way you do it, you'll
> certainly be able to have a lot of fun.

Yeah. The necromancer looked cool as well, and not only for the ability
to raise an army of the dead to DO MY BIDDING!! Sorry, Mad Scientist
slipped out a bit.

>
>>> Actually, both Bash and Stun are not the skills of choice for any
>>> barb. Some swear by Whirlwind, other by Frenzy.
>>
>>Hunh. Going to have to do some searching than. Is Battle.net still a
>>good place to start for looking for builds, or are there better
>>places??
>
> There are not that much builds, if any there, but googling for the
> right words should give you quite a lot of guides.

Digging around on Battle.net, I found a build that seems to follow what I
would like to do.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=28682&st=0

--
Marcel

 

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In article <Xns95E467C26BE10mbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>Yeah. The necromancer looked cool as well, and not only for the ability
>to raise an army of the dead to DO MY BIDDING!! Sorry, Mad Scientist
>slipped out a bit.

Well, the necromancer specializing in skeletons is certainly one of the
most durable builds available. So if you need a character which is able to
go into Hell, and find the best items there, he's one of the ways to go.
Who knows, you might find some 'godly' barbarian equipment, to hand over
to your barbarian.

My skelliemancer was the one who found the aforementioned IK Armor, just
to give you an idea.

>Digging around on Battle.net, I found a build that seems to follow what I
>would like to do.
>http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=28682&st=0 >

It seems I was wrong, and Bash and Stun are still quite viable. Hmmm,
interesting. Well, the guide certainly looks promising, so good luck to
you. I'm curious how you fare.

Regards,

Patrick.

 

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"Marcel Beaudoin" <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote in message
news:Xns95E461581AC33mbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4...
> True. But from looking at the basic melee characters, the barb seemed the
> closest to go in and hit things. The paladin seemed to have a lot of aura
> management required.

Actually, 99% of the time most melee paladin players put on their combat
aura(Might, then Concentration, then Fanatacism from lvl 30 onwards for a
normal zealot, holy freeze or holy shock for an elemental zealot) and runs
in and hits things, no other aura is ever used except occasionally
salvation(if you need extra resists), vigor(for running through cleared
areas if you're in a hurry), cleansing(if you get poisoned or cursed and
want it to go away quicker), and SOMETIMES an aura to deal with physical
immues(whereas some paladins just stick with elemental damage on their gear
and keep fana on). There's almost NO aura management required.


> --
> Marcel

 

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Hi,

Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote in
news:Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4:

> I am up to L8 so far, and have been splitting my skill points between
> Bash and Weapon Mastery (axe). I am debating getting the double weapon
> skill, but am currently leaning away from that. From looking at the
> info that the Skills screen gives me, I can see that there is a nice
> link (synergy is the term I think) between Bash and Stun, so once I
> get to the right level, I will be putting points in there. IIRC, Stun
> also gets duration from one of the war cries. Is it worth putting more
> than one or two points in the war cryto increase the duration of the
> stun?? What would be a useful length of time for a stun??

you have already chosen the best weapon mastery, IMHO. Axes are the most
versatile weapons available. Most weapon runewords can be used in axes, and
the blood recipe for crafting also uses axes. I've got a bunch of crafted
axes (and throwing axes) with up to 412% Enhanced damage.
>
> Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I have
> been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level putting
> a couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.

If you don't go dual-wield, but use an axe and shield, stat points should
go to vit and dex (enough for max blocking). Just enough strength to be
able to wear your equipment.
>
> For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
> this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do you
> use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?

I guess a Concentrate barb would be the easiest build. Don't put too many
points in Bash/Stun, they are just stepping stones for the better attacks.
Concentrate attack cannot be interrupted and gives bonusses to AR, damage
and defense. It also receives synergies from Battle Orders, which every
barb (or nearly every) puts a lot of points into.

One point into Frenzy/Berserk should be enough to play with it and see if
you like it. Frenzy basically gives you a speed burst that increases with
every succesful attack.
Berserk can help against those pesky phyiscal immune/Stone skin bosses, as
it converts all damage to magical, but also your defense drops to zero for
the duration.

My Throwbarb uses Concentrate against bosses or tougher monsters, with only
one actual point in it (with +skills its at level 5). But he also has a
Kingslayer axe (runeword) for these attacks. So far, this works really good
in Act1 Hell.

HtH,

Oliver

 

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Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
news:csojjp$qhu$1@news.tudelft.nl:

> In article <Xns95E467C26BE10mbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
> Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

> Well, the necromancer specializing in skeletons is certainly one of
> the most durable builds available. So if you need a character which is
> able to go into Hell, and find the best items there, he's one of the
> ways to go. Who knows, you might find some 'godly' barbarian
> equipment, to hand over to your barbarian.
>
> My skelliemancer was the one who found the aforementioned IK Armor,
> just to give you an idea.

Hmmm, I might start one up, just for the heck of it, incase I feel the need
to try something different.

>>Digging around on Battle.net, I found a build that seems to follow
>>what I would like to do.
>>http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=28682&st=0
>>>
>
> It seems I was wrong, and Bash and Stun are still quite viable. Hmmm,
> interesting. Well, the guide certainly looks promising, so good luck
> to you. I'm curious how you fare.

So am I. I just reached Act 1, Rescue Cain (I just got the scroll from the
Tree) and have not really had any problems, except when I get lots of
rangers or skeleton archers against me. The Axe with 5% Life Leech helps, a
bit, but it is two-handed, so I would like to find something one-handed so
that I could use it with a shield. Oh well, something will turn up.
--
Marcel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

In article <Xns95E48D6626B4Ambeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4>,
Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:
>Patrick Vervoorn <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
>news:csojjp$qhu$1@news.tudelft.nl:
>
>> My skelliemancer was the one who found the aforementioned IK Armor,
>> just to give you an idea.
>
>Hmmm, I might start one up, just for the heck of it, incase I feel the need
>to try something different.

Sounds like a good idea; if you have the feeling you run 'aground' with
your barb (or any other char), start playing the Necro, and see what
stuff turns up from his adventures. It might just help to unstuck your
'stuck' character...

Or give you some 'inspiration' for starting another, different, character
(as my skelliemancer did when finding the IK armor).

>So am I. I just reached Act 1, Rescue Cain (I just got the scroll from the
>Tree) and have not really had any problems, except when I get lots of
>rangers or skeleton archers against me. The Axe with 5% Life Leech helps, a
>bit, but it is two-handed, so I would like to find something one-handed so
>that I could use it with a shield. Oh well, something will turn up.

I don't want to sound arrogant, but you should not expect many, if it all
any, problems playing normal difficulty, or even most of NM. It's at the
end of NM, and especially the whole of Hell, that the game becomes really
challenging and difficult.

All IMHO of course. But I also expect a melee character will have some
more troubles with stuff that a ranged character just breezes through.

Ciao,

Patrick.

 

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Oliver Wenzel <ouuch@t-online.de> wrote in
news:csoqmh$um0$00$2@news.t-online.com:

> Marcel Beaudoin <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote in
> news:Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4:

>> Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I
>> have been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level
>> putting a couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.
>
> If you don't go dual-wield, but use an axe and shield, stat points
> should go to vit and dex (enough for max blocking). Just enough
> strength to be able to wear your equipment.

I am only L8 so far, so I am still getting all my stats up, but that would
mean what, about 70-80 for Strength??

>> For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
>> this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do
>> you use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?
>
<snip tips>

Thanks.

--
Marcel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

On 20 Jan 2005 19:10:58 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
<mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>I am only L8 so far, so I am still getting all my stats up, but that would
>mean what, about 70-80 for Strength??

>--
>Marcel

I'm not much into melee characters (playing mostly Bowazons, as the
overly-long sig shows) but I *think* you'll need a lot more than that,
for the stuff that shows up later.

ald
"Knowledge is Power"
VK`Sister`ald level 47 Rogue (HF V&K) (RIP :-( )
Matriarch Sis-West level 82 Bowazon (US West)
Champion RingsNThngs level 61 Bowazon (US West)
Slayer ZannEsu-ald level 51 Sorceress (US West)
Matriarch Sis-AR level 99 Bowazon (Ancestral Recall Mod)
Champion Creepy-AR Level 91 Necromancer (AR)
Slayer Zan-AR Level 79 Sorceress (AR)
Slayer SisEight-AR Level 78 Bowazon (AR)
Gems-AR Level 55 Barbarian (AR)
Matriarch Sis-otSEye Level 78 Bowazon (US West, co-op)
BtaSisEight-ald Level 50 Bowazon (LoD 1.10 SP)
Aragorn-AR Level 51 Zealadin (AR)
Champion LTwoSis-ald Level 79 Bowazon (US West Ladder)
CotSRSig #16

 

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ald <103175.3500@compuserve.com> wrote in
news:kbsvu0h7h4a1als38j393tq7lakinooljc@4ax.com:

> On 20 Jan 2005 13:23:47 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
> <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:
>
>>PS: Is there any etiquette for making agd (or agd2) games on the
>>server? I was the one that made them last night between 8ish and 10ish
>>(EST).

> Yeah, although due to a few griefers joining the ladder ones, there's
> been talk of changing it lately. Stay tuned for updates ;-)

I saw that farther down/up the group.

> First thing: Before you try creating the game, see if it's already up,
> obviously. If it isn't, especially in the Normal games, try to make it
> with your lowest level character, so as many quests are available to
> you and other players as possible. Ideally the Normal game gets made
> by a non-playing mule (and, as soon as the game gets burned in, you
> then bring in a slightly higher level and rescue Cain, but that's a
> whole 'nother kettle of fish ;-) ), the reason being that if someone
> comes in and needs a quest that's already done, they'll have to go to
> another game, and the community gets split and everyone gets less
> experience (and fun). Also, from experience, if you end up having to
> go beyond agd2 to agd3 or above, you're likely to end up playing solo.

Ahhh, that makes a whole lot of sense. I will try to remember to do that,
although the fact that I am currently L8 should make most (if not all) of
the current players way above me.

<snip list of games/pw>

> As you can see, the whole idea with the names was to make it easy to
> remember and have a simple format. Unfortunately, as I mentioned,
> they've been *too* easy to remember for one certain player and his/her
> friends, so it is not advised for you to mule in these games, unless
> you can find someone you trust to hold the stuff for you. The idea
> *has* been that anything on the ground around the stash was free game,
> although it's always polite to ask to make sure (especially if you see
> people exiting and entering quickly, thus probably muling), but lately
> anything on the ground has been snapped up when the griefers are in
> the game.

Ahhh. I remember reading somewhere about ATNA?? but the name is all I
remember. Is it useful??

> There's probably more, but this is almost undoubtedly more than you
> were after, so I'll STFU now ;-)

Actually, very useful. Thanks!!

--
Marcel

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

On 20 Jan 2005 19:14:18 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
<mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>Ahhh. I remember reading somewhere about ATNA?? but the name is all I
>remember. Is it useful??
>--
>Marcel

ATMA? Some people find it very useful, for *Single Player* games, or
Open BNet (same characters). It doesn't work on Realms characters,
since the characters are stored on Blizzard's servers, not on your
machine.

Personally I don't use it, my SP characters play "pure", using only
what *they* find, but I've had many occasions to rue that decision ;-)

ald
"Knowledge is Power"
VK`Sister`ald level 47 Rogue (HF V&K) (RIP :-( )
Matriarch Sis-West level 82 Bowazon (US West)
Champion RingsNThngs level 61 Bowazon (US West)
Slayer ZannEsu-ald level 51 Sorceress (US West)
Matriarch Sis-AR level 99 Bowazon (Ancestral Recall Mod)
Champion Creepy-AR Level 91 Necromancer (AR)
Slayer Zan-AR Level 79 Sorceress (AR)
Slayer SisEight-AR Level 78 Bowazon (AR)
Gems-AR Level 55 Barbarian (AR)
Matriarch Sis-otSEye Level 78 Bowazon (US West, co-op)
BtaSisEight-ald Level 50 Bowazon (LoD 1.10 SP)
Aragorn-AR Level 51 Zealadin (AR)
Champion LTwoSis-ald Level 79 Bowazon (US West Ladder)
CotSRSig #16

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

On 20 Jan 2005 13:23:47 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
<mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote:

>I am starting out with a barbarian, because it looks like, to my
>inexperienced eye at least, that it offers the opportunity for going
>through the game without managing toggles or anything like that. Only
>walking and killing.

A melee barb is not actually that easy or simple to manage, especially
in Hell difficulty, and especially untwinked. You will certainly want
to be using at least a few warcries, esp Battle Orders.

>Here is the style that I am looking to play: The closest thing I could
>cpompare it to is a "tank" from a MMORPG. Walks in, hits things and they
>die.

There are other melee chars that kill faster than barbs. I am
currently playing an untwinked HC Conc mace barb in A4 of Hell
difficulty, and even though he is level 78, until a Demon Limb dropped
he was killing with painful slowness.

>I am up to L8 so far, and have been splitting my skill points between
>Bash and Weapon Mastery (axe).

Better save some of those points for BO and single points in the
higher masteries. Weapon mastery is usually left until NM, at least,
especially if you don't know what weapons you are going to have
available.

>I am debating getting the double weapon
>skill, but am currently leaning away from that.

It does help a lot with your killing speed, at the cost of defense,
blocking and resistances from a shield.

>From looking at the info
>that the Skills screen gives me, I can see that there is a nice link
>(synergy is the term I think) between Bash and Stun, so once I get to the
>right level, I will be putting points in there. IIRC, Stun also gets
>duration from one of the war cries. Is it worth putting more than one or
>two points in the war cryto increase the duration of the stun?? What
>would be a useful length of time for a stun??

A few seconds is very useful, depending on your attack type.

>Where should I be putting the 5 stat points I get every level?? I have
>been focussing on Strength and Vitality, and every other level putting a
>couple points into either Dexterity or Energy.

Barbs get so little benefit from points in energy, it is best to never
put any there. You get _4_ hp for each stat point in vit, but only
_1_ mana point for each point in energy. Just get yourself some
decent +mana items. It's quite easy to find +mana charms or even
stick a sapphire in a socketed hat or body armor. With a few +mana
items, BO will eventually give you a big enough mana reserve.

>For those of you that have barbarians, and use a build something like
>this, is Bash your only attack, and you use that every time, or do you
>use the normal attack and save bash for nasty enemies?

Normal attack doesn't do much beyond the first few acts of Normal
difficulty. You will want to use your chosen combat skill -- for
melee barbs, normally WW, Conc or Frenzy -- almost exclusively.

-- Roy L

 

[mark]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

"Marcel Beaudoin" <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote in message
news:Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4...
> (Seperately posted to agd2)

First mistake, how is Whitedog going to get himself in trouble if you
don't crosspost?

> Finally got around to seriously playing some D2 last night after
playing
> around with a couple of characters off and on, and thought that I
would
> ask in here for some advice.

I'd say play your Barb. Try things out, experiment all you want. And
after you finish normal difficulty scrap the character and start
again. With that level of experience you'll know what to expect a
little better, and will better be able to understand the suggestions
you'll get here. Sometimes it's more fun to make a few mistakes, and
stub your toe a little bit. Then come back stronger and more
determined the next time.

Regards-
Mark

Bongo-Fury

 

[desktop]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

Mark wrote:
> "Marcel Beaudoin" <mbeauINVALID@sympaINVALIDtico.ca> wrote in message
> news:Xns95E4558DF989Cmbeausympaticoca@130.133.1.4...
>> (Seperately posted to agd2)
>
> First mistake, how is Whitedog going to get himself in trouble if you
> don't crosspost?

Did someone put a muzzle on Whitedog or what? Release the hounds I say!

>> Finally got around to seriously playing some D2 last night after
>> playing around with a couple of characters off and on, and thought
>> that I would ask in here for some advice.
>
> I'd say play your Barb. Try things out, experiment all you want. And
> after you finish normal difficulty scrap the character and start
> again. With that level of experience you'll know what to expect a
> little better, and will better be able to understand the suggestions
> you'll get here. Sometimes it's more fun to make a few mistakes, and
> stub your toe a little bit. Then come back stronger and more
> determined the next time.

This is what I did with my first ever Amazon. Must admit it took more than a
couple of builds to get her on track.

desktop at home dot se

 

[Watchman]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

Patrick Vervoorn wrote:
>
> >So am I. I just reached Act 1, Rescue Cain (I just got the scroll from the
> >Tree) and have not really had any problems, except when I get lots of
> >rangers or skeleton archers against me. The Axe with 5% Life Leech helps, a
> >bit, but it is two-handed, so I would like to find something one-handed so
> >that I could use it with a shield. Oh well, something will turn up.
>
> I don't want to sound arrogant, but you should not expect many, if it all
> any, problems playing normal difficulty, or even most of NM. It's at the
> end of NM, and especially the whole of Hell, that the game becomes really
> challenging and difficult.
>
> All IMHO of course. But I also expect a melee character will have some
> more troubles with stuff that a ranged character just breezes through.
>

I would say the first act of Normal is fairly easy to get through. Act
II and onwards are usually tougher with aura's of Holy Freeze, Iron
Maiden and Amplify Damage being cast by more Mobs. And then, of course,
there's Diablo!

If no one else mentions it, get your fire (a fiery breath is a common
form of attack) and lightning (beware the Lighning enhanced boss (LEB))
resist as high as you can. Cold isn't so bad and poison can be dealt
with by an antidote potion.

Watchman
--
'Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really know what's going on'