         ______                 _       _
        |   _  \   _           | |     | |
        |  | \  \ |_|          | |     | |
        |  | |  |  _   ____ _  | |___  | |  _____
        |  | |  | | | |  _ \ | |  _  | | | |  _  |
        |  | |  | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | |
        |  |_/  / | | | |_|  | | |_| | | | | |_| |
        |______/  |_| |___/|_| |_____| |_| |_____|
                     _____________
                     \           /
                      \   / \   /
                       |  | |  |   _
                       |  | |  |  |_|  Barbarian
                       |  | |  |   _
                       |  | |  |  |_|    Guide
                       |  | |  |
                      /   \ /   \
                     /___________\

                   By DontHaveaCow



Contents:

-Introduction
-What Stats are Important?
-Stat Point Distribution
-Which Skills to Use?
-Choosing your Mastery
-Skill Point Distribution
-Mini Quest Guide
-In-Depth Skill Guide
-War Cries
-Combat Masteries
-Combat Skills
-Last Minute Advice
-Copyright and Trademark information


V 1.0 - First Version, need to add descriptions and ratings for skills.


************************************************************
************************Introduction************************
************************************************************

Hello, and welcome to my Diablo 2 Barbarian Guide.  I'll give you good advice
on how to distribute your skill points, stat points, and how to fight
enemies.  Well, on to the guide!

************************************************************
******************What Stats Are Important******************
************************************************************

For the barbarian, the most important of his stats are Strength, followed
close by dexterity and then vitality.  You won't be using your mana very
much because you will use your combat masteries for most of your skill
points.  I suggest that you follow this guide on how to distribute your Stats
Points:

************************************************************
******************Stat Point Distribution*******************
************************************************************

I reccomend that you put your first 3-5 levels of stats into Strength, then
put 2-3 levels into Dexterity, then 2-4 levels into Vitality.  After that,
put most of your levels of points into strength, second most into vitality,
and last put some into dexterity.  Vitality is important to the Barbarian
because you will be using melee weapons most of the game, so you will take
more damage than other classes will.  Don't forget to put stats into dexterity
or you willend up being unable to hit your target and will get hit yourself
far too much.  Strength is the main stat of the barbarian, so make sure to put
most of your stats into it.

************************************************************
********************Which Skills to Use?********************
************************************************************

The skills that are most useful are the combat masteries.  These skills add
damage and give you better aim with the weapon which is being mastered.  The
other 2 sets of skills aren't too important or useful with a couple of
exceptions.  Most beginners put points into warcries and combat skills, but
you'll soon find out that is the wrong way to go.  If you spend most of your
skill points on 1 mastery, then you will be quite a formidable barbarian when
you have higher levels.

Here is a chart of a pathway to use.  This path will give you abilities other
than combat masteries, which I personally don't use, but some do.  This will
also give you Battle Command, one of the best Warcries in the game.

Barbarian 1

1  - Bash
2  - Howl
3  - Mastery
4  - Saved
5  - Saved
6  - Shout, Double Swing, Leap
7  - Mastery
8  - Mastery
9  - Mastery
10 - Saved
11 - Saved
12 - Increased Stamina
13 - Increased Stamina
14 - Increased Stamina
15 - Saved
16 - Saved
17 - Saved
18 - Iron Skin, Leap Attack
19 - Iron Skin, Leap Attack
20 - Iron Skin, Leap Attack
21 - Iron Skin, Leap Attack
22 - Iron Skin, Leap Attack
23 - Saved
24 - Battle Orders, Increased Speed
25 - Mastery
26 - Mastery
27 - Mastery
28 - Mastery
29 - Saved
30 - Natural Resistance, Battle Command
31 - Natural Resistance
32 - Battle Command
33 - Natural Resistance
34 - Battle Command
35 - Natural Resistance
36 - Battle Command
37 - Mastery
38 - Mastery
39 - Mastery
40 - Mastery

This is another chart, which I used with my barbarian.  It will give you a
decent amount of masteries and a couple other of the useful skills.  As you
see, you will have level 14 Mastery before level 30, and at level 40, you will
have level 20.  After level 40, you will get good resistances, then good speed,
then go from there.  I went all the way to 50 with this chart because I'm only
level 41 with the first barbarian.I'm level 56 with this barbarian and I perfer
fighting with him, he was much more prepared for the -50 resistance default on
hell difficulty.

Barbarian 2

1  - Howl
2  - Mastery
3  - Mastery
4  - Mastery
5  - Mastery
6  - Shout
7  - Mastery
8  - Mastery
9  - Mastery
10 - Mastery
11 - Mastery
12 - Increased Stamina
13 - Increased Stamina
14 - Mastery
15 - Mastery
16 - Mastery
17 - Mastery
18 - Iron Skin
19 - Iron Skin
20 - Iron Skin
21 - Iron Skin
22 - Iron Skin
23 - Saved
24 - Battle Orders, Increased Speed
25 - Increased Speed
26 - Increased Speed
27 - Saved
28 - Saved
29 - Saved
30 - Natural Resistance, Battle Command
31 - Natural Resistance, Battle Command
32 - Natural Resistance, Battle Command
33 - Natural Resistance
34 - Battle Command
35 - Mastery
36 - Mastery
37 - Mastery
38 - Mastery
39 - Mastery
40 - Mastery
41 - Natural Resistance
42 - Natural Resistance
43 - Natural Resistance
44 - Natural Resistance
45 - Natural Resistance
46 - Increased Speed
47 - Increased Speed
48 - Increased Speed
49 - Increased Speed
50 - Increased Speed

This barbarian is the most extreme and IMHO the most powerful one.  He is quite
focused in a couple areas,but he is the mightiest one of all.  Using other
skills is tempting, but if you stick with this, its greater than the rest.

Barbarian 3

1  - Mastery
2  - Mastery
3  - Mastery
4  - Mastery
5  - Mastery
6  - Mastery
7  - Mastery
8  - Mastery
9  - Mastery
10 - Mastery
11 - Mastery
12 - Mastery
13 - Mastery
14 - Mastery
15 - Mastery
16 - Mastery
17 - Mastery
18 - Iron Skin
19 - Iron Skin
20 - Iron Skin
21 - Iron Skin
22 - Iron Skin
23 - Iron Skin
24 - Iron Skin
25 - Iron Skin
26 - Iron Skin
27 - Iron Skin
28 - Mastery
29 - Mastery
30 - Natural Resistance
31 - Natural Resistance
32 - Natural Resistance
33 - Natural Resistance
34 - Natural Resistance
35 - Natural Resistance
36 - Natural Resistance
37 - Natural Resistance
38 - Natural Resistance
39 - Natural Resistance
40 - Natural Resistance
41 - Natural Resistance
42 - Natural Resistance
43 - Natural Resistance
44 - Natural Resistance
45 - Natural Resistance
46 - Natural Resistance
47 - Natural Resistance
48 - Natural Resistance
49 - Natural Resistance
50 - Mastery

Always Remember, these charts are not meant to be followed exactly.  The person
who plays as the character should adjust them to fit their own needs.  Some
people find items that make learning skills such as Iron Skin and Natural
Resistance not as useful, but most don't and need these skills to become
powerful enough to handle hell difficulty.


************************************************************
********************Choosing your Mastery*******************
************************************************************

Choosing what weapon you master is as important as anything else in the game.
Make sure that you stick with your choice of mastery, for if you change, you
will be handicapped because of your poor judgement.  Also, Polearms arent quite
as strong, but they also have a longer range.  Maces, on the other hand, are
only good during certain circumstances. I've seen barbarians that are quite
strong using Spears, but I think that you should just be an Amazon if you want
to do Spears or Throwing.

This is a table of which masteries are good choices:

   ________ ________ ______ ________ ______________
  |Mastery |Strong? |Handed|  Sets? | Good Choice? |
  |________|________|______|________|______________|
  |Sword   | yes    |  1/2 |  Yes   |   Yes        |
  |Axe     | yes    |  2/1 |  Yes   |   Yes        |
  |Polearm | yes    |  2   |  Yes   |   No         |
  |Spear   | kinda  |  2   |  Yes   |   Be Amazon  |
  |Mace    | vs und |  1   |  Yes   |   No         |
  |Throwing| no     |  1   |  No    |   Be Amazon  |
   -------- -------- ------ -------- --------------

************************************************************
********************Skill Point Distribution****************
************************************************************

Choose your mastery, and put most of your points into that.  The only skills
that I have found remotely useful are Leapand Whirlwind.  Get a couple of
levels of Leap near the beginning of the second act and use it to escape
battles if you need to.  Whirlwind simply attacks all the enemies surrounding
you and will sometimes get you out of sticky situations, but not too many will
require it.  The other skills in Combat Masteries are also quite useful, so I
can reccomend using them also, but not very much.  All the skills in combat
masteries are passive, meaning that youdon't have to pick that skill specificly
to use it.  They are always in effect, no matter what.  Just make sure to put
most of your skill points into your mastery of choice.

************************************************************
**********************Mini Quest-Guide**********************
************************************************************

**Under Construction**

************************************************************
********************In-Depth Skill Guide********************
************************************************************

Barbarian skills aren't too useful, with the exception of the Combat Masteries
set.  Here are descriptions of the skills.  Later, I will add more information
on the skills and have ratings and descriptions of when to use them.

************************************************************
**************************War Cries*************************
************************************************************

Howl
Description: Makes enemies run away
Level: 1
Previous Skill: None


Find Potion
Description: Find potions on dead bodies
Level: 1
Previous Skill: None

Taunt
Description: Makes enemies attack
Level: 6
Previous Skill: Howl

Shout
Description: Improves you and your party's defense
Level: 6
Previous Skill: Howl

Find Item
Description: Find items on dead bodies
Level: 12
Previous Skill: Find Potion

Battle Cry
Description: Decreases enemy defense and damage
Level: 18
Previous Skill: Taunt

Battle Orders
Description: Add to max mana, life and stamina of party
Level: 24
Previous Skill: Shout

Grim Ward
Description: Make a totem that scares away enemies
Level: 24
Previous Skill: Find Item

War Cry
Description: Hurt and stun enemies
Level: 30
Previous Skill: Battle Cry, Battle Orders

Battle Command
Description: Adds to party's skill levels
Level: 30
Previous Skill: Battle Orders

************************************************************
**********************Combat Masteries**********************
************************************************************

Sword Mastery
Description: Improves sword damage and accuracy
Level: 1

Axe Mastery
Description: Improves axe damage and accuracy
Level: 1

Mace Mastery
Description: Improves mace damage and accuracy
Level: 1

Pole Arm Mastery
Description: Improves polearm damage and accuracy
Level: 6

Throwing Mastery
Description: Improves throwing weapon damage and accuracy
Level: 6

Spear Mastery
Description: Improves spear damage and accuracy
Level: 6

Increased Stamina
Description: Increases stamina
Level: 12

Iron Skin
Description: Improves defense
Level: 18

Increased Speed
Description: Increases walk\run speed
Level: 24
Previous Skill: Increased Stamina


Natural Resistances
Description: Increases resistances
Level: 30
Previous Skill: Iron Skin

************************************************************
***********************Combat Skills************************
************************************************************

Bash
Description: Hits harder, knockback
Level: 1

Leap
Description: Jump in or out of battle
Level: 6

Double Swing
Description: Attacks 2 targets at once, if not 2, 1 twice
Level: 6
Previous Skill: Bash

Stun
Description: Stuns target
Level: 6
Previous Skill: Bash

Double Throw
Description: Throw 2 things at once
Level: 12
Previous Skill: Double Swing

Leap Attack
Description: Leap and attack in 1 motion
Level: 18
Previous Skill: Leap

Concentrate
Description: Not interuptable and improves defense
Level: 18
Previous Skill: Stun

Frenzy
Description: The more hits you make, the faster you get
Level: 24
Previous Skill: Double Throw

Whirlwind
Description: Spin with your weapons
Level: 30
Previous Skill: Leap Attack, Concentrate

Berserk
Description: More damage and accuracy, but less defense
Level: 30
Previous Skill: Concentrate


************************************************************
*******************Last Minute Statements*******************
************************************************************

Always remember, money can buy anything in this world other than love,
happiness, and experience points.  Peace!

************************************************************
***************Copyright and Trademark Information**********
************************************************************

Diablo, Diablo 2, the barbarian class, and any other information directly
pertaining to Diablo 2 is copyrighted by Blizzard.  This FAQ is intended to be
used as a help to get through the game and is not meant to harm anybody in
anyway.  I am not affiliated with Blizzard in any way, nor am I bound by any
contracts other than the end-user license agreement with them.

This FAQ is copyrighted by the Author, referred to as GPS.  All rights
reserved.  You may not place this FAQ on yoursite without the permission of
the author.

Sites allowed to post this FAQ:

GameFaqs - http://www.gamefaqs.com

************************************************************
********************Contacting the Author*******************
************************************************************

The Author can be messaged on battle.net under the username DontHaveaCow.  Or
I can be E-Mailed at AmazingleeStupid@hotmail.com
