Ok so I've decided on a Barb as my first slasher. I've read some of the basic info and a couple different strategy ideas, I just want to get a plan before I get too involved and screw something up.

Here it goes...

First off, stats. I've seen some people say pump pure str and some say 120 dex and then the rest in str. Another person said that the amount of dex I need varies depending on what type of weapon I am using.

Add a "why?" to each of the above statements. Or I'd even settle for a "true / false".

Next. About weapon choice. It seems to me like Barbs are really low on crits and attack speed. That being the case, would I be better off going for the more consistant axe damage? Or swinging a 2 hander and hoping for a big hit? If the dex based on weapon choice rule is true, how much dex would be necessary for the weapon?

Lastly, at least for now... Gear choices. I obviously need str. EE for damage / armor. About EE...if EE is on a charm, does that affect only the charm itself? Or the entire character? Life per battle, vit, dex, I'm sure all work too. Problem is, I don't know what to prioritize. Help me out?

I want to do this right. Any other info that you think is helpful I would appreciate.

Thx,
John 'n Kyz


EDIT: Thought of something else.

The Accessory charm. It says that I don't get the stat bonuses from it, and that it only works at 50% effectiveness. Since I won't have hardly any mana, do I even need one? I won't be healing myself, at least not early on...

This post was edited by John.L on Jul 25 2009 03:40pm

EE only effects the item it is on. so an ee charm has higher damage or healing capabilities.

if you listen to all the advice about going for 120 dex you are going to find yourself spending a LOT of fg upfront

regarding barb, i personally liked clubs, i aimed for str/dex around a 100 for my first few climbs, because i did not have a lot of +stat gear

for arena/solo you want to have ee armors, if you go cata and someone is healing either ee or str/dex armors, depending on what the group wants.

weapons, EE of course, the higher the better, and TRY to change weapons every 5 lvls, 10 if you must.

edit: and it is hard to find good heavy weapons, they only drop in catas

edit2: acc charm is more for casters. consider it an extra item slot for picking up items for the shrine

edit3: and regarding different levels of dex for different weapons, i would disagree, aim for a lvl of dex, crits are crits, and it will increase your avg damage. with a barb if you can get 80-120 dex at lvl 71 you should be fine

This post was edited by 2learyt on Jul 25 2009 03:43pm

if ur a barb n tryna get gear cheap

i suggest using Axe's with ee

armors w/ EE if u wanna be a tanker in cata n u shud use a ee armor for arena

str/dex for main slot charm

dont have to worry bout acc charm slot unless u wanna heal

for ur stats

Dump all into STR considering axe is real consistant with the dmg

if u go club of course u might wanna get a bit of dex id say 100-110 is a good range this is cheap too but i would rather go axe than clubs

if u go sword id say get 110-125 of course swords are a bit expensive

Depending on weapon, I'd say 70-120 dex is pretty nice, if you play HC you might want to try a pretty high vita build, trying out 90 vita/70 dex/rest str build myself atm and it's doing pretty damn good so far. Axes work very nicely for a barb. Swords/daggers are pretty good too since you can use them on multiple chars, clubs are ok but the next char that can use it is pala. :/

Aim for str/dex on your charm and about the add's.. LS% works nicely on higher levels, lpa/k on early levels.