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Frenzy

The Frenzy guide

Written by MrLlamaSC for Icy Veins, shown here with his permission. Read the original on Icy Veins· Skills and items link to their pages.

›Introduction

One of the best melee leveling builds for the Barbarian, Frenzy takes advantage of dual weapons and fast Attack Speed to quickly crush his enemies. Making sure to find him a source of Cannot be Frozen will be crucial once advancing into Nightmare and Hell mode though, or the Barbarian will find himself often too slow to kill enemies before they can get hits in.

›Frenzy Barbarian Skill Build

  • 20 points to Frenzy — Main damage dealer, required

  • 20 points to Double Swing — Synergy of Frenzy

  • 1 points to Leap — Useful for movement, optional

  • 20 points to Weapon Mastery of Choice — Adds damage, Attack Rating, and Critical Strike

  • 1 points to Increased Speed — Helps you move faster, required

  • 1 points to Natural Resistance — Massive boost to resistances, required

  • 1 points to Battle Command — Increases skills, required

  • 20 points to Battle Orders — Massive Life and Mana boosts, required

  • 1+ points to Shout — Increases defenses, required

  • 1+ points to Taunt — Synergy for Frenzy, optional

  • 1+ points to Battle Cry — Great for lowering damage and defense of monsters, optional

  • 1+ points to Find Item — Helpful if running a lot of Magic Find to find more items, optional

›Frenzy Barbarian Build Discussion

The Frenzy Barbarian is one of the stronger Melee builds in Diablo 2, allowing for quick multi-target Damage and a building Attack Speed and Faster Run Walk as he hits. Building off of Double Swing, Frenzy is the perfect starter build to work through Diablo 2.

As with most Melee builds, this Barbarian will want to focus on finding some gear with Attack Rating and find a source of Cannot be Frozen for Nightmare and beyond. Additionally, focusing on some faster Attack Speed weapons will be very helpful in increasing overall damage output.

In terms of endgame, Frenzy still has great power and brings a lot of extra speed to any farming thanks to the increased Faster Run Walk stacking. Additionally, this Faster Run Walk stacks in a separate way from your gear so it makes you even faster!

Although the Area of Effect damage is not quite as strong as something like endgame Whirlwind, this tank can focus on boss groups and minions to produce a similar speed of farming. Definitely a great first Barbarian build for someone new to the class.

›Frenzy Barbarian Stats Discussion

The following section discusses how many attribute points should be allocated to each of the primary stats.

How much Strength does a Frenzy Barbarian need?

Enough for gear — your weapon will most likely be the highest Strength requirement for this build, so usually whatever that number is; however, this number constantly changes based on the gear you are using. So make sure always to double-check the Strength requirements of each piece of equipment you have and how much Strength each piece will provide once equipped. You can technically place additional Points into Strength to increase your damage if you feel tanky enough already. It is a 1% increase in damage per point in Strength.

How much Dexterity does a Frenzy Barbarian need?

Enough for gear. Dexterity is excellent for increasing Block Chance, but if you are not planning to invest points to max that out, it is often not worth adding additional points. Likewise, the little bit of Attack Rating gained per Stat point ends up not worth it most of the time and is better spent on more Life instead.

How much Vitality does a Frenzy Barbarian need?

Everything else into Vitality — 250+ Vitality. Every excess attribute point should be allocated to Vitality, as long as you can meet the Strength requirements of your items by the time you wish to equip them. Not only does this increase your Life total, but it also increases the chance for Health Potions to double the healing provided. On top of that, the more Life you have, the less chance you have to be put into Hit Recovery, helping your character out even more!

How much Energy does a Frenzy Barbarian need?

Nothing — Allocating stat points to Energy in a final build is universally considered sub-par for almost every character due to the widespread availability of Mana Potions. While leveling, if you find your character struggling with Mana, you can allocate a few points to Energy that you can then remove with a respec later in the game.

›Frenzy Barbarian Mercenary

You can either choose a Defensive ( Holy Freeze) or Offensive ( Might) Act 2 Nightmare Mercenary here depending on if you prefer a slower pace and safety, or want your Mercenary to have added Damage to help take care of Cold Immune enemies. I prefer a Might mercenary.