So, I just came back to d2 about two weeks ago and have been considering characters that are worth investing time and fg into, simply based on what returns they offer. I currently am using a blizz sorc as it was my best option seemingly, just starting out and starting from scratch. Now that the game has me again.. lol.. Ive been considering more end game things and my next step as far as building wealth. Recently before even considering the Item Find barb, the question in my mind was Light Sorc or Hdin. I still wonder a bit on that. Of course the hdin is the cheaper option somewhat, but the pure speed of the Light Sorc seems unmatched, and truthfully more fun. Another thing I love with light, is unlike with cold, you can get to a point where you arent limited to where you have to farm. You can farm where youd like and where you feel that day/ Although these characters have expensive cost of entry, there are of course steps to get there. Starting as cold for example, building wealth, slowing move to light etc etc.

Within the past two days though, I recently saw a fairly popular video by a quantitative analyst who crunched some numbers on high rune farming. Long story short, Travincal is the move. Along with potentially Meph Council. This had me remember that ive seen tons of item find barbs (pitzerker, horker w/e you prefer to call it) running travincal a lot. I'm definitley a person that leans towards wanting a few incredibly nice items, rather than a ton of smaller value items. So the jewelry potential there (2/20 rings/ammys), charms, and such seems nice. Also of course the high gold amount is nice for gambling these things as well. So high runes, nice jewelry, circlets, etc. Seems like my way of farming. But I have one potential qualm, and this is where I could use some more experienced players to chime in and help me out. Compared to say a cold sorc, when considering clear speed, does the barb have a much higher value over the sorc? Is it worth investing into a barb to specialize in this area? And I guess the answer to that is based of someones experience with clear speed and value of Find Item.

I hope some more experienced players take the time to read this and help me out, as im stuck as to what to do here. Should I invest into say Light Sorc? Or give this barb thing a try? Hoping to hear some personal experiences with these type of barbs and maybe even people who have been in the dilemma im having right now. Look forward to some responses.

imo trav gf barb is the best return on investment, but can be mind numbingly boring to play. also gambling can be fun for a bit but melt ur brain after a few hours.

Okay this is good to hear. If I get some good advice from this thread, I may try to build a really budget version just to get a feel for it.

How do you feel about it for an end game MF char? Like as a main MF char?

This post was edited by Ccharper on Dec 14 2021 03:23pm

Would love some more opinions.

If you can run trav endlessly without hanging yourself then I guess it’s okay.

Sorc/pally is still a better return on investment than barb though. Services end up giving higher fg/hour than casual mfing and you do still find hrs during rushes.

This post was edited by Doggyfood on Dec 15 2021 06:42am

In my opinion, a strong OP barb is better than a gf/mf barb. Especially if we're focusing runes. If you literally want to do just trav, I suppose a gf or pitzerker is ok. If you want to be fast and efficient, here is the build:

Best pvm barb is a ww barb.

1 zerk
1 item find
1 bc
1 nat res
1 inc speed
Max sword mastery
Max bo
Max ww
Max Shout
Dump the rest in iron skin

Enigma
Cham gface (can swap for IK helm or CoT in p1-3)
Gorerider (can swap to war trav p1-3)
LoH
Arach
Highlords
Grief pb + broken 0 durability weapon (dual grief if lod)
Dual hoto (item find, tele, bo)
Dual leech fcr ring
Dual leech +mana ring
(You can swap a ring out for Dwarf/nagel for p1-3)

Merc +ias eth reaper's, eth treachery, +ias gface (can do ias eth CoT)

Charms are up to you. Dmg lifers for speed, or mf/gf. Doesn't really matter.

(This barb can also run services like rushes where Doggyfood suggested sorc/pally for.)

This post was edited by GirthO on Dec 15 2021 07:10am

Do you think maybe the barb is a good addition to having a nice sorc?

Right now, im looking for a really budget build so I can give it a try and see if I enjoy it. Looking for the best balance between GF and clear speed. As this is 75% about HRs to me. The gold is just a big upside.

Personally? Not really. I recommend having a char that can kill dclone but that’s not a likely occurrence or even really necessary. You can always pay someone to kill it for you. And barb is not as fast at dclone as other builds like sin or pally.

Even if you were only botting so the sheer boredom of trav runs wasn’t a concern, it would still be better to run pally or sorc. I just can’t think of a reason you would ever make a trav barb unless you enjoyed mindless repetitive gameplay or there is one specific magic item you need to gamble that nobody else would ever keep.

Target farming hrs is also a pretty terrible idea. I believe it’s something like 500 runs on average to get a hr.

This post was edited by Doggyfood on Dec 15 2021 08:22am

Well the idea that a sorc would be a better option for doing this is a large reason why I made this post, in order to hear opinions about whether its worth investing into vs investing into another char. Still hoping for some more opinions.