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.

Ideal Standard Setup

Frenzy

Double Swing

Teleport

Grim Ward

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.

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

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

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

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

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 to Teleport +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
Belts	String of Ears Verdungo's Hearty Cord Thundergod's Vigor Trang-Oul's Girth Immortal King's Detail	+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
Amulets	Mara's Kaleidoscope Highlord's Wrath Metalgrid Blood Crafted Amulet	+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

Mercenary

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

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.

Slot	Early-Game	Mid-Game	End-Game
Weapon	Insight	Insight	Lawbringer Phase Blade
Body Armor	Smoke	Treachery Duress Shaftstop The Gladiator's Bane Duriel's Shell Guardian Angel Wealth	Fortitude Treachery
Helmet	Bulwark Temper Ground Cure	Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Vampire Gaze Crown of Thieves Stealskull Rockstopper	Andariel's Visage profile=fc01065b id=69]Vampire Gaze[/d2planner-item]

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

Breakpoints

Hardcore

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.

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

Changelog

13 February 2023
Updated to Patch 2.6 - Added new Runewords
22 September 2022
Updated to Patch 2.5 - Added Sunder and Terror Zone sections - Added Gear Options - Added Sunder to Playstyle - Added Sunder Charm Suggestion in variants
17 April 2022
Updated to Patch 2.4 - Reworded Introduction - Reworked Skills section - Added Gear Options - Added Farming Spots - Playstyle added Grim Ward - Reworked all Build Variants - Reworked Summary and added Grim Ward

Area	Starter	Rewards
The Countess	✔	Runes Key of Terror
The Pit	✔	All Item Types Max Area Level Leveling
Andariel	-	Uniques Sets Jewelry

Area	Starter	Rewards
Stony Tombs	✔	All Item Types Max Area Level Leveling
Summoner	-	Key of Hate

Area	Starter	Rewards
Travincal	-	Gearing Runes Charms / Gems / Jewels Gold
Mephisto	-	Uniques Sets

Area	Starter	Rewards
City of the Damned	-	All Item Types
River of Flame	-	All Item Types Max Area Level Leveling
Chaos Sanctuary	-	All Item Types Max Area Level Leveling
Diablo	-	Uniques Sets Leveling

Area	Starter	Rewards
Eldritch the Rectifier	✔	Gearing Gold Leveling
Shenk the Overseer	✔	Gearing Gold Leveling
Pindleskin	-	Gearing Gold Leveling
Drifter Cavern	-	All Item Types Max Area Level
Nihlathak	-	Key of Destruction Leveling
Worldstone Keep / Throne of Destruction	-	All Item Types Max Area Level Leveling
Baal / Waves	-	Uniques Sets Max Area Level Leveling

Frames	13	12	11	10	9	8	7
FCR	0	9	20	37	63	105	200

Frames	12	12	11	10
Frenzy Gear IAS	0	5	10	32

Frames	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
FHR	0	7	15	27	48	86	200

Frenzy Barbarian Guide

Sunder Charm Setup

Gear Changes

Terror Zones

Best

Worst

Skills

Damage

Utility

Attributes

Strength

Dexterity

Vitality

Energy

Essentials

Gear Options

Farming Spots

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

Mercenary

Act 2 Desert Mercenary

Reaper’s Toll, Might

Mercenary Gear Options

Playstyle

General

Immunities

Late-Game

Breakpoints

Faster Cast Rate (FCR)

Increased Attack Speed (IAS)

Grief Phase Blade

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)

Hardcore

Item Changes

Build Variants

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Video Guide

Summary

Credits

Changelog