New Players Guide To Barb/fighter Abilities - Topic

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Feb 27 2011 06:47am

So in this i will try and make selecting which abilities to use as easy as possible.

So first, let's look at barb/fighter abilities and see how quickly they will charge.

On the left is the Fighter, right for Barb.

Lets look at the 3 main skills for each. For fighter this is at the top and on left, at the top and on the right for barb. (i've highlighted them in green)
We will take one or two from this bunch for certain. As these skills will gain charge a lot faster, to see exactly how fast, check this table:
http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu64/Stok3d-Photos/LSAbilities-2.png
(thanks to Stok3d for making this)

The ones in yellow are worth a look as well. The ones with a blue cross, you will find charge pretty slowly but some are still worth a look. The Cast abilities we want to completely ignore (in the red cross).
The leftover abilities depend on how useful they are. Multistrike for example is useful for how it charges and what it does.

Now we are going to look at how they charge.
For we don't want a skill which needs to charge when you cast, as you shouldn't be casting at all!!

So which ones are any good?
Ones with green ticks, are ones which charge with weapons, i would reccomend at least one of your skills to be one of these (usually 2-3!)
Ones with yellow circles, This is generally the next best, and they charge from hits taken. Obviously this is only useful if you are being hit, so if you are in the back rows, you do not need this.
A note on these ones, if you are not charging, it is because you're taking 0 damage. You must take at least 1 damage for it to try and charge.
Ones with blue squares and charge from when you are healed, these ones are really not worth it, much better to get them charging when you are hit. Can be ok for barbs.
Red Crosses, charge from casting, or damage is based on caster charms. We do not need these.

So i've told you which ones are bad/good for different reasons, so let's sum up the "best" few skills for fighters/barbs:
Knockdown, if you are a barb, this should get more than a few points, very much worth considering on any class which you are meleeing with.
Powerstrike, very simple and should be gotten if you are a fighter, at least a few points in it. Worth considering on other classes.
Bottomsup, A slightly harder one to use, as it only hits the bottom row. Still, this is great for fighters and could be considered on other melee classes, i prefer knockdown as knockdown lets you choose ANY row.
Backstab, Also only works well if there's mobs in particular places. If the back verticle column (so furthest from you) is full, this will hit all 3 of them.
Multistrike, This is the only ability in the red section which really deserves mentioning. Hits EVERYTHING! good fun and i would recommend you at least give this one a shot on one of your climbs.

For tanks only:
Retribution, if you are not in the front row and do not intend to use armors with EE (to increase defense), you should not be getting this skill. If you are in front row, especially with a barb, it is very much worth considering.
Healrage, Try retribution, if you like it and you do have healers in the game, this can be worth a shot, i generally stick with retribution and one of the charges with weapon skills.
I don't really recommend any other tanking ones for barb/fighter, simply because it takes a long time to charge.

Selecting abilities, hotkeying them and using them!
So now we have decided which abilities we wish to use, we need to select them!
It is as easy as pressing "C" (presuming you've logged on, and selected your character) then clicking the skill you wish to level up!

Now we need to make sure it is hotkey'd (this has to be done once per skill per mq/reroll, so if you reroll, you will need to redo this).
Choose a skill you have put points into, Hold either Ctrl, Shift, or Alt then click on the ability. There you go, it's hotkeyed!

Now, to using the skill! Now this depends on what skill you are using. First we need to get the skill charges.
So i have been attacking and getting hit, i have Knockdown, Powerstrike and Retribution which can be seen here:

(i added the bottom bit of the image from my chars stats, to see how i've put skills on this particular climb).
50% charge on knockdown and low % on the other two isn't enough, so lets charge it some more with more attacks, after it does get charged lets try using it!
So here is me using a knockdown! (i had hotkey'd this to CTRL, so pressed CTRL + click)
(sorry only 3 images per post, so you'll have to click the link

) http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4006/alsguide7.jpg
As you can see, i hit two on the middle "row", seeing there is nothing to hit in the middle on the middle row and will not hit anything else. Seeing knockdown you can choose which row, i could have hit the single unit on bottom row with it as well.

FAQ:
Q: Why is my ability not charging?
A: Firstly, the amount you put into the ability increases how quickly it charges, so if you put only 1 point into knockdown on a barb, it is 20%, so still on a lot of attacks, this will not be charging!
Next, what charges your ability up? "With weapon" means each time you attack it charges, "With damage healed" means each time you are healed, "With damage taken" means every time you take at least 1 damage from an attack. If this appears to be charging slowly, it may be that you're taking 0 damage a lot. "With cast" means each time you use your charm to deal damage and finally "with heal" means when you heal yourself or an ally. So make sure you are trying to charge it correctly, this is why i only really reccomend "with weapon" and "with damage taken"
Have you put your points into the right ability? obviously you can't expect retribution to charge if you put the point by accident into healrage.
Also you need to not be using the ability!! if you are holding your hotkey (such as ctrl) down for it to charge. Had one guy who was trying to use knockdown on every attack, didn't work out very well at all!
Lastly make sure you haven't changed to attacking with your charm by accident!
Q: What is a good amount to charge to
Anything between 80-180% is generally good, i personally don't recommend 200% as you may have to waste some attacks waiting for an oppurtunity to use your ability!
Q: How many points do you recommend i put into each ability
In your "main" two abilities which you decide you are going to put more points into, i would suggest about 3-4 each and then from there, either take a third ability (i'd put no more than 4 points into the third one). I have seen successful builds which only use one ability (such as all into multistrike on a samurai).
Q: How many abilities can i have?
You can have a maximum of 3. If you mess up and accidently choose a wrong ability, you will only have 2 abilities left. It is not possible to put a point into a fourth ability.
Q: Can i remove an ability or get my point back?
The only way to do this would be to complete a MQ or reroll and start at level 1 again.
Q: How many abilities do you recommend i use?
Between 2 and 3. Although as i mentioned, i've seen One used to good effect as well, because it will charge very quickly.
Q: Can you suggest what skills for me to use as a barb/fighter for my first climb?
Sure, for a barb using EE armor: Knockdown (50% points here), Retribution (3-4 points here), Powerstrike (2-3 points when you reach level 35-40 or so)
For a barb using strength/dex armor: Knockdown (60% points here), Powerstrike (3-4 points when you reach level 35-40 or so), or why not try out a lot of points into multistrike?
For a fighter using EE armor: I recommend you use a barb really, but 50% of points into powerstrike and 50% into retribution.
For a fighter using str/dex armor: Powerstrike (60%), Knockdown (3-4 points) or why not try a lot of points into multistrike?

Got any more questions? feel free to ask!
Any suggestions on how to improve this guide are welcomed as well!