The Budget Berserk Barbarian is a solid setup for Solo-farming Pindleskin, Thresh Socket, Eldritch the Rectifier, and Shenk the Overseer - the easily accessible Super Unique monsters in Act 5. Several Terror Zones are also solid for this build. Farming Travincal Council Members can be particularly fruitful on a slightly modified version of this build with more Fire Resistance and Dwarf Stars. Without Enigma you lack the ability to quickly travel to and traverse many of the Farming Spots, such as The Pit, that the Standard Berserk Barbarian excels in. However, while using a Harmony on Weapon-Swap, you can quickly run through town to the Portal or Waypoint where the Act 5 Super Uniques are located. You can also use a Teleport Charge Amulet for limited travel and repositioning capabilities. The Budget Zerker makes use of several lower-end gear options that still provide decent Damage, Attack Rating, Magic Find, and the Cannot Be Frozen stat.

Similar to the Standard Build, the Budget Berserk Barbarian uses a Might Mercenary with Insight, Treachery, and Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest. This Mercenary is better at surviving and dealing damage than the Starter one, but uses easier to acquire Bases/options compared to the Standard one.

Spread your Skill Points evenly among Battle Orders, Find item, and Find Potion. Also allocate additional Skill Points into Natural Resistance if needed.

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Increased Speed
2. Iron Skin
3. Natural Resistance
4. Shout
5. Battle Command
6. Concentrate

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Berserk
2. Blade Mastery
3. Howl

Put 10-15 Skill Points into these Skills:
1. Battle Orders
2. Find Item
3. Find Potion

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to wear all of your gear. If you are lacking Attack Rating (below 9000), allocate up to 50 additional Stat Points into Dexterity to improve your Hit Chance. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

This is the Standard Best in Slot (BiS) Berserk Barbarian featured in the beginning of the guide. It is the balanced "jack-of-all-trades" version, capable of performing the most tasks well. This variant is the point of comparison for all other variants. It prioritizes Magic Find while maintaining solid Damage and Teleport mobility. This setup achieves the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on Weapon-Swap. It is strong for Solo-farming The Pit, the Zerk Barb's best Farming Spot. The vast majority of Terror Zones are also efficiently farmed with this setup. A quick swap to Immortal King's Will achieves maximum Pindleskin farming efficiency as well. Highlord's Wrath along with additional Fire Resistance/Fire Absorb makes this an excellent build for farming Travincal.

The Standard Berserk Barbarian Mercenary is an Act 2 Might Mercenary with Insight for Damage and Mana Regeneration. Treachery and Guillaume's Face maximize this Mercenary's DPS without having Cold Damage. Andariel's Visage can be used for increased survivability.

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Increased Speed
2. Iron Skin
3. Natural Resistance
4. Shout
5. Battle Command
6. Find Item (Max Last)
7. Concentrate

Put 10 Skill Points into this Skill:
1. Battle Orders

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Berserk
2. Blade Mastery
3. Howl
4. Find Potion
5. Find Item

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to wear all of your gear at a minimum. Allocate 50-100 additional Stat Points into Strength to increase Berserk's damage, and thus one-shot potential. Additional Stat Points into Dexterity can improve your Chance to Hit. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

This variant achieves the 200% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on Weapon-Swap by using Arachnid Mesh, Trang-Oul's Claws, 2x Rare Rings with 10% Faster Cast Rate, a Rare Diadem with 20% Faster Cast Rate, and a Caster Crafted Amulet with 20% Faster Cast Rate. Prioritizing fast Teleport cast speed, this elite setup is optimal for farming Uber Key Bosses (e.g. Nihlathak) and Chaos Seal Popping. This variant is strong in any Farming Spots, including Terror Zones, which require traveling long distances between Elite Packs or to the Farming Spot itself. The Mobility Berserk Barbarian sacrifices Damage, Damage Reduction, and Magic Find.

Just as on the Standard Build, the Mobility Berserk Barbarian Mercenary is an Act 2 Might Mercenary with Insight, Treachery, and Guillaume's Face.

Put 1 Skill Point into Battle Cry to kill Act Bosses quicker (like Diablo). The rest is the same as the Standard Build.

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Increased Speed
2. Iron Skin
3. Natural Resistance
4. Shout
5. Battle Command
6. Find Item (Max Last)
7. Concentrate

Put 10 Skill Points into this Skill:
1. Battle Orders

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Berserk
2. Blade Mastery
3. Howl
4. Find Potion
5. Find Item

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to wear all of your gear at a minimum. Allocate 50-100 additional Stat Points into Strength to increase Berserk's damage. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Chaos Preparation or "Chaos Prep" is all about Solo spawning Diablo in Chaos Sanctuary inside a Full Game (7-8 Players) as quickly as possible for a Player trying to reach Level 99. Diablo in High Player Count is a significant source of Experience for a Level 97-98 Character. With the advent of Terror Zones, Chaos Prep is no longer part of the core leveling meta. However, it can still be efficient when D or F Tier Terror Zones are active (see our Terror Zone Tier List). This Berserk Barbarian variant excels at taking down the tanky, dangerous Seal Bosses, "chunking" Diablo, Seal Popping, and High Player Count gameplay in general. Highlord's Wrath, Guillaume's Face, Laying of Hands, and Gore Rider provide this setup with high Damage output. Rare Rings, each with 10% Faster Cast Rate, allow you to maintain the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on Weapon-Swap. Stormshield socketed with a Shael Rune gives this build much needed Damage Reduction, Increased Chance of Blocking, and Faster Block Rate. Verdungo's Hearty Cord provides additional survivability. Magic Find is a secondary focus on this version of the Zerk Barb.

The Chaos Prep Berserk Barbarian uses an Act 5 Bash Mercenary equipped with Lawbringer for its Sanctuary Aura, which is highly effective at controlling the Undead enemies in Chaos Sanctuary. Its Decrepify proc is also helpful against Diablo and the Seal Bosses. Guillaume's Face and Treachery provide this Mercenary with much needed Damage, Attack Speed, and survivability. Having Cold Damage is not a major concern on the Chaos Prep variant.
Note: You can also use the Standard Mercenary with Vampire Gaze instead of Guillaume's Face if you value Mana Regeneration more than Crowd Control.

Skill allocation for the Chaos Prep Berserk Barbarian prioritizes Damage output. Put 20 Skill Points into both Howl and Battle Orders to max out Berserk Synergies. 1 Skill Point into Battle Cry provides you with a valuable Skill that greatly improves your Chance to Hit. Use it on Diablo before lowering his Life for a quick finish by the Player seeking Level 99. Additional Skill Points into Natural Resistance provide this setup with stacked Resistances. Skill Points into Find Potion and Find Item are a lower priority for this variant.

Allocate an additional 50-100 Stat Points into Strength beyond your gear requirements to increase Berserk's damage and enough Stat Points into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%). Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

For the Hardcore mode variant, aim for 50% Damage Reduction and maximum Chance to Block (75%) to guard against taking extreme amounts of Physical Damage. Additionally, overcap Resistances beyond the natural cap of 75% if possible to counteract hostile Conviction or Lower Resist. This setup achieves the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on Weapon-Swap. For overall safer Farming Spots such as The Pit, you can opt to maintain higher Magic Find by using a Gemmed Phase Blade socketed with 6x Ist Runes like on the Standard Build. However, you are much more vulnerable to dangerous enemies such as Dark Archers without Chance to Block and increased Damage Reduction. Consult the "Hardcore" section for more detailed information.

Your Mercenary's survival is directly correlated to your survival in Hardcore. Because of this, the Hardcore Berserk Barbarian Mercenary uses Andariel's Visage for its Life Leech and Attack Speed stats. And just as on the Standard Build, he is an Act 2 Might Mercenary that uses Insight and Treachery.
Note: Do not hire a Holy Freeze Mercenary for improved survivability. It shatters corpses with its Cold Damage, limiting use of Find Item.

Max out Battle Orders before putting additional Skill Points into the Find Item Synergy Find Potion.

Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Increased Speed
2. Iron Skin
3. Natural Resistance
4. Shout
5. Battle Command
6. Find Item
7. Concentrate

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Berserk
2. Blade Mastery
3. Howl
4. Battle Orders
5. Find Potion

Only allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear all of your gear and enough Stats Points into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%). Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.