This guide covers the Frenzy Barbarian. It is a well-rounded build capable of farming and even destroying Ubers. With the main source of our damage being Physical Damage from Frenzy and Magic Damage coming from Berserk, the majority of the game is unlocked to us.
The Frenzy Barbarian has excellent mobility with its ability to gain "Frenzy Stacks" which increases the overall speed of your character with each successful hit. Common farming places are The Chaos Sanctuary, The Pit, or Travincal for the Council Members that drop an abundance of items. It is very gear dependent, but has plenty of gear options. Your Mercenary is also a great asset for this build with Decrepify from The Reaper's Toll to help break Physical Immunes.
Uber Variant ✔ High Mobility ✔ Fast Paced Gameplay ✔ Plenty Of Gearing Options ✔
❌ Gear Dependent ❌ Repetitive Gameplay ❌ Can Feel A Bit Clunky ❌ Slow Against Physical Immunes
Sunder Charm Setup
Patch 2.5 introduces a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Bone Break, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need Grim Ward and a source of Amplify Damage or Decrepify. Equip Atma's Scarab and The Reaper's Toll on your Mercenary.
Counteract the negative effect of Bone Break with Crown of Ages.
Terror Zones
The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build on the Starter or Budget setup. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.
Best
✔ Travincal - Quick Access, Council Members ✔ Frigid Highlands - No Immunities, Quick Access, Eldritch ✔ Nihlathak's Temple ONLY - No Immunities, Quick Access, Pindleskin ✔ Pit - No Immunities, Many Elite Groups ✔ Tristram - No Immunities, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. BattleCry 2. finditem 3. Grim Ward 4. Shout 5. Battle Command 6. increasedspeed 7. naturalresistance 8. leap 9. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Damage
Frenzy* swings both weapons and grants "Frenzy Stacks" for increased overall Attack Speed and movement speed with each successful attack. This Skill deals Physical Damage with the ability to deal a small amount of Magic Damage from the Berserk Synergy.
Double Swing* requires 2 weapons and either hits 2 targets or the same target twice, if no other targets are in range, dealing Physical Damage.
Berserk* is used against Physical Immunes or to speed up the run. It converts some of your damage to Magic Damage, deals additional damage, and Attack Rating. The downside is that it decreases your Defense during your attacks.
Leap* allows you to jump over and through objects, allowing you to clear obstacles you could not pass with walking or running. It also causes a radial Knockback effect, great for keeping monsters stunned. The jump distance scales with Skill Level.
Leap Attack* makes you jump to the location of your cursor and swings your weapon onto an enemy target when landing if one is in range.
Grim Ward* uses corpses to create a totem that debuffs and Fears enemies within its effective range, increasing you and your party's Physical Damage output with some Crowd Control.
Battle Cry* is an Area Of Effect (AOE) Skill used to reduce the Defense and Damage of your foes.
Teleport* lets you cover large distances over almost any gap and wall on the maps.
Shout* increases the Defense of all party members by a percentage of their current Defense.
Battle Orders* is one of the most iconic Skills that originates from the Barbarian. This Buff grants you and your party a percentage based amount of Life, Mana, and Stamina. This is one of the best buffs in the entire game!
Battle Command* is a buff that gives you and your party +1 to All Skills.
Find Item* gives you a chance to find additional drops from slain monsters if the corpse is not consumed by other effects.
Howl* is an Area Of Effect (AOE) Skill used to scatter your enemies in fear.
Taunt* can call over specific targeted enemies to focus on you breaking attention on whatever they were doing previously. This does not affect Elite or Boss monsters.
Increased Speed* is a Passive Skill that increases your overall run and walking speed.
Natural Resistance* is a Passive Skill that increases your Resistances to all Elements and Poison.
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Do not allocate any Stat Points into Energy. Mana costs are covered by “x% Mana Stolen per Hit” or “+x Mana after each Kill” on gear.
Essentials
Gear Options
While every Stat in the Desirable Stats column is useful for this build, we highlighted the Priority Stats in Teal so you can easily identify the Most Important Stats on them.
Hover over any Item to see a pop-out with the full Item description.
Slot
Item Options
Desirable Stats
Weapon
Beast Berserker Axe Grief Phase Blade Last Wish Phase Blade Breath of the Dying Berserker Axe Oath Balrog Blade Unbending Will Phase Blade Black Knout
Level x Fanaticism Aura When Equipped +x to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only) +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Enhanced Damage Damage +x Ignore Target's Defense -x% Target Defense x% Bonus to Attack Rating +x to Attack Rating +x Maximum Damage +x% Mana stolen per hit +x% Life stolen per hit x% Chance of Crushing Blow x% Deadly Strike +x to Attribute All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Repairs x durability in x seconds Ethereal, Socketed [x]
Off-Hand
Beast Berserker Axe Grief Phase Blade Last Wish Phase Blade Breath of the Dying Berserker Axe Oath Balrog Blade Unbending Will Phase Blade Black Knout
Level x Fanaticism Aura When Equipped +x to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only) +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Enhanced Damage Damage +x Ignore Target's Defense -x% Target Defense +x to Attack Rating +x% Mana stolen per hit +x% Life stolen per hit x% Chance of Crushing Blow x% Deadly Strike +x to Attribute X Resist +x% Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Weapon-Swap
Heart of the Oak Flail Call to Arms Crystal Sword Wizardspike Echoing Balanced Knife
+x to All Skills +x to Warcries [Barbarian Only] +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to battlecommand +x to battleorders All Resistances +x
Off-Hand-Swap
Heart of the Oak Flail Wizardspike Echoing Balanced Knife
+x to All Skills +x to Warcries [Barbarian Only] +x% Faster Cast Rate All Resistances +x
Helmets
Arreat's Face Crown of Ages Vampire Gaze Guillaume's Face Immortal King's Will Rare Primal Helmet Wisdom Bulwark Assault Helmet
+x to All Skills +x to Barbarian Skills +x% Faster Hit Recovery x% Bonus to Attack Rating +x% Mana stolen per hit +x% Life stolen per hit x% Chance of Crushing Blow x% Deadly Strike +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% Cannot Be Frozen Socketed [x]
Body Armor
Chains of Honor Enigma Fortitude Lionheart Duriel's Shell Tyrael's Might
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Run/Walk +x toTeleport +x% Life stolen per hit +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% Cannot Be Frozen x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Gloves
Chance Guards Laying of Hands Blood Crafted Gloves
+x% Damage to Demons +x% Mana stolen per hit +x% Life stolen per hit +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% Cannot Be Frozen x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Boots
Goblin Toe Gore Rider War Traveler Immortal King's Pillar Aldur's Advance
+x% Faster Run/Walk x% Chance of Crushing Blow x% Deadly Strike x% Chance of Open Wounds +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x to All Skills +x to Barbarian Skills x% Faster Run/Walk +x to Attack Rating x% Deadly Strike +x to Attribute X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Rings
Raven Frost Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Nagelring Blood Crafted Ring
+x to All Skills +x to Maximum Damage +x to Attack Rating +x% Mana stolen per hit +x% Life stolen per hit +x to Attribute X Resist +x% X Absorb x% Cannot Be Frozen x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Charms
Grand Charm Large Charm Small Charm
+x to Warcries [Barbarian Only] +x to Combat [Barbarian Only] + x % Faster Run / Walk + x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Maximum Damage +x to Attack Rating +x to Attribute + Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Unique Charms
Gheed's Fortune Hellfiretorch (Barbarian) Annihilus Bone Break
Monster Physical Immunity Is Sundered +x to All Skills +x to Barbarian Skill Levels +x to all Attributes All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Reduces all Vendor Prices x%
Farming Spots
The areas below are efficient farming locations that make use of the build’s strengths. Other farming spots might not be as effective due to immunities or bad layouts. These areas are strong without a Sunder Charm.
Anything that has a ✔ in the "Starter" column can be farmed with the Starter Variant.
Your Mercenary serves an incredibly important role to the overall success of your build. They can be a front line tank, provide a pivotal Aura, and/or deal Physical Damage to kill enemies with Immunity to your Skill set.
Act 2 Desert Mercenary
The Act 2 Desert Mercenary is hired from Greiz. He can be equipped with a Spear or a Polearm, a Body Armor and a Helmet. Every Act 2 Mercenary has access to an Aura and uses Jab as his base Attack. The Aura activates once the Mercenary has engaged in combat and remains active between traveling to and from town. The Auras available are based on what difficulty you hire the Mercenary from.
Might Reaper's Toll
Might Reaper's Toll
Reaper’s Toll, Might
Use a Desert Mercenary with Might Aura to significantly boost your Physical Damage. Equip him with The Reaper’s Toll for a 33% Chance to cast Decrepify on striking, slowing down and increasing Physical Damage dealt to enemies. Decrepify can even break some Physical Immunities.
Mercenary Gear Options
Your Mercenary needs maximum Resistances, Life Leech, a high damage Weapon, and high Defense and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive reliably. Cannot Be Frozen is also a great stat for maintaining Mercenary DPS and leech. Ethereal gear is preferred since it doesn't lose durability.
The Mercenary is hard to keep alive until you have the minimum gear recommended in this guide. Remember you can drag Healing Potions onto the portrait, or shift + 1/2/3/4 to directly feed them a Healing Potion from your Belt. The Mercenary also gains bonus Resistances from Thawing Potions and Antidote Potions.
If your Mercenary dies in battle, you can revive them from any of the Mercenary NPCs in each Act. This does come with an increasing cost, capping at 50,000 Gold. Keep that in mind and decide if the Mercenary is currently worth the cost.
Playstyle
General
Use Frenzy and Double Swing by targeting enemies and attacking them.
Against fewer targets or single target use Double Swing after getting Frenzy Stacks from Frenzy for fast hits.
Leap Attack can be a great way to move from place to place requiring larger distances until Teleport becomes available.
Leap can be used to keep enemies stunned or navigate small obstacles.
Use Battle Cry on the enemies to make the whole fight easier for both you and the Mercenary.
Pop Grim Wards in tight corridors when the first enemies die to deal additional damage. Know that the Grim Ward does send them running away.
Against large groups of monsters or Mana Burn hit the pack around the outer edge to prevent yourself from getting surrounded.
Use Leap to Knockback enemies or get out from being surrounded.
Immunities
Berserk can be used against Physical Immunes or Physical Resistant mobs.
Bone Break breaks ALL Physical Immune monsters and brings them to 95% resistance. Pair this with a source of Grim Ward, Amplify Damage, or Decrepify.
Late-Game
At the beginning of each run be sure to buff you and your Mercenary by swapping to whichever Weapon Swap that gives you more + to Warcries and cast Battle Command 2 times, Battle Orders, and Shout. Make sure that these buffs stay active all the time, they are essential to your survivability.
Use Teleport to move from place to place, reposition yourself, and reposition your Mercenary. Your Mercenary stands a better chance of staying alive with you in control. Your Mercenary acts as a first line of defense after you Teleport, catching incoming damage you would have taken otherwise.
Breakpoints
Breakpoints in Diablo 2 are the minimum values required to reduce the frames of an action. Below are the important breakpoints considered for this build. For more information on the mechanics involved, check out our in-depth Resource: Breakpoints.
Faster Cast Rate (FCR)
Faster Cast Rate speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for at least the 63% FCR Breakpoint on Weapon Swap. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.
Frames
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
FCR
0
9
20
37
63
105
200
Increased Attack Speed (IAS)
Increased Attack Speed speeds up your attack animations. Weapon bases have different IAS breakpoints. Values for recommended weapon options provided below. Consult the d2planner for other bases.
Grief Phase Blade
Frames
12
12
11
10
Frenzy Gear IAS
0
5
10
32
Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)
Faster Hit Recovery increases survivability. Aim for at least the 27% FHR Breakpoint.
Frames
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
FHR
0
7
15
27
48
86
200
Hardcore
This build can become Hardcore viable with key changes to the Skills, Stat Point allocation, and items. Review the changes below before building this character, as they may differ significantly from the normal build.
Item Changes
Be sure to keep your Resistances over capped against enemies with Conviction Aura
Crown of Ages
Verdungo's Hearty Cord or Thundergod's Vigor
Dwarf Star or Wisp Projector
Build Variants
Budget
Standard
Magic Find
Hardcore
Uber
Setup
The Frenzy Barbarian requires a decent amount of gear to farm efficiently. Physical Damage and Attack Rating are some of the most important stats for this starter. Oath Balrog Blade and Treachery are strong Runewords that can be farmed from The Countess in Hell Difficulty. Increased Attack Speed, base damage on items, Life, and Resistances important stats to focus on.
Mercenary
To keep your Mercenary alive, equip him with a Treachery and Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest for Life and Resistances. Insight is a pretty easy Runeword to find and farm that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Hire the Might Aura Mercenary, to gain extra Physical Damage.
Skills
The Weapon Mastery depends on the Weapon used with your Frenzy Barbarian. We recommend blade Mastery for our Oath.
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Howl 2. Taunt 3. BattleCry 4. finditem 5. Grim Ward 6. Shout 7. Battle Command 8. increasedspeed 9. naturalresistance 10. leap 11. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery (Depends on your Weapon) 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Standard Frenzy Barbarian uses dual Grief Phase Blade providing up to +800 Damage. Using Fortitude over Enigma is an option to increase your damage, sacrificing the mobility of Teleport. Highlord's Wrath and Gore Rider are great for additional x% Deadly Strike, increasing your chance of critical strikes, while Laying of Hands are great for the +x% Damage to Demons. Use Bone Break instead of Sharp Grand Charm of Maiming to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Might Aura Desert Mercenary provides us with a significant boost to our Physical Damage attacks. The Reaper’s Toll has a chance to cast Decrepify on striking, which slows your enemies down, increases any Physical Damage dealt to them, and even breaks Physical Immunities. Andariel's Visage and Fortitude Sacred Armor fill in everything else he needs, from damage to survivability.
Skills
The Weapon Mastery depends on the Weapon used with your Frenzy Barbarian. We recommend blade Mastery for our phaseblade Base.
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. BattleCry 2. finditem 3. Grim Ward 4. Shout 5. Battle Command 6. increasedspeed 7. naturalresistance 8. leap 9. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery (Depends on your Weapon) 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Magic Find Frenzy Barbarian uses Grief Phase Blade for damage and Last Wish Phase Blade with x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (MF) among all the other things you get from it. It is capable of most, content with its damage and survivability. Note: If you need to get back to town, we use the Scroll of Town Portal on the Belt. Use Bone Break instead of Fine Small Charm of Good Luck to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Use the Act 5 Mercenary because we already have Might from Last Wish Phase Blade. The advantage here is that his fast Attack Speed allows him to proc Decrepify from Lawbringer Phase Blade and x% Chance of Crushing Blow from Guillaume's Face. Survivability mainly comes from Fade provided by Treachery Sacred Armor.
Skills
The Weapon Mastery depends on the Weapon used with your Frenzy Barbarian. We recommend blade Mastery for our phaseblade Base.
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. BattleCry 2. finditem 3. Grim Ward 4. Shout 5. Battle Command 6. increasedspeed 7. naturalresistance 8. leap 9. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery (Depends on your Weapon) 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Hardcore Frenzy Barbarian focuses on having a large amount of Damage Reduction (46%) while stacking over capped Resistances and Life. The most impactful item for a build like this is Crown of Ages. More survivability options include Thundergod's Vigor or Verdungo's Hearty Cord. Dwarf Star or Wisp Projector can also be used for more Absorb. Dracul’s Grasp allows you to cast Life Tap on striking, adding another layer of Life recovery. Hits return 50% of their final Physical Damage to you. Use Bone Break instead of Sharp Grand Charm of Maiming to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Use the Act 5 Mercenary because we already have Might from Last Wish Phase Blade. The advantage is his fast Attack Speed which allows him to proc Decrepify from Lawbringer Phase Blade and x% Chance of Crushing Blow from Guillaume's Face more often. Survivability mainly comes from Fade provided by Treachery Sacred Armor.
Skills
The Weapon Mastery depends on the Weapon used with your Frenzy Barbarian. We recommend blade Mastery for our phaseblade Base.
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. BattleCry 2. finditem 3. Grim Ward 4. Shout 5. Battle Command 6. increasedspeed 7. naturalresistance 8. leap 9. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery (Depends on your Weapon) 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
Focus on having a large amount of Damage Reduction (42%) with Fade while stacking over capped Resistances and Life. Prior to entering any of the Uber fights, we proc Fade by standing in the fire next to the River of Flame Waypoint. A combination of Frenzy for the stacks and Double Swing can dish out great DPS. The most impactful items for this build is Crown of Ages, Thundergod's Vigor and Wisp Projector for more Absorb. Dracul’s Grasp allows you to cast Life Tap on striking, adding another layer of Life recovery. Hits return 50% of their final Physical Damage to you. Use Bone Break instead of Sharp Grand Charm of Maiming to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Use the Act 5 Mercenary because we already have Might from Last Wish Phase Blade. His advantage is fast Attack Speed allowing him to proc Decrepify from Lawbringer Phase Blade and x% Chance of Crushing Blow from Guillaume's Face. Survivability mainly comes from Fade provided by Treachery Sacred Armor. DON'T expect your Mercenary to survive Uber Trist!
Skills
The Weapon Mastery depends on the Weapon used with your Frenzy Barbarian. We recommend blade Mastery for our phaseblade Base.
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. BattleCry 2. Grim Ward 3. Shout 4. Battle Command 5. increasedspeed 6. naturalresistance 7. leap 8. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frenzy 2. Double Swing 3. blade Mastery (Depends on your Weapon) 4. Battle Orders 5. Berserk
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Video Guide
Summary
Enough Strength and Dexterity to wear gear and put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Keep your Battle Command, Battle Orders, and Shout buffs up at all times.
Use Teleport and Leap Attack to move around obstacles.
Take note of your surroundings before fully sending into an area. Beware of enemy Auras, movements, and positioning.
Generate Frenzy stacks and use Double Swing for big single target DPS.
Utilize Grim Ward in confined areas to deal additional damage.
Have fun!
This build can be a ton of fun with its ability to ZOOM around the map with all your Frenzy Stacks and additional movement speed. You'll notice that sometimes you move so fast that it can be difficult to target enemies!
Good luck!
Credits
Updated and Reviewed by Teo1904 Original Author BTNeandertha1