Frenzy Barbarian Guide
Last Updated:August 10, 2024|Changelog
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.
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Barbarian Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.
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.
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
Worst
❌ The Tower Cellar - Trash Mobility, Immunities
❌ Arcane Sanctuary - Trash Mobility, Immunities
❌ Blood Moor + Den of Evil - Low Density, Few Elite Groups
❌ Burial Grounds + Crypt + Mausoleum - Low Density, Few Elite Groups, Trash Mobility, Slow Access
❌ Act 2 Sewers - Trash Mobility, Few Elite Groups, High Physical Damage
Skills
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
Damage
Utility
Attributes
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
Farming Spots
Mercenary
Playstyle
Breakpoints
Hardcore
Build Variants
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
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
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
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
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
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