Intro:

Hey, I'm Tysnatch. I've been playing barbarians ever since this game was in beta when barb was one of the 2 only select able characters. I've been playing what I can call a BvC since 2008, after testing out various fortitide/thundermaul and immortal king builds myself, then learning how much good enigma can do on a barb. I played UsWest until 2011, when I took a year break from d2. I came back in 2012 to the east server, and since then I've had the barbarians xTSA, xB, and xE. Every ladder I've gotten more and more respect from the people I duel with, who recognize the time and effort I've put into my barbarian, and appreciate that I stay gm all the time. I've put so much time into every choice I've made on a barb, and figured out what I believe to be the best possible builds for a barbarian. I've also done numerous mathematical analyses of aspects of BvC designing, like the systematic proof that Grief is better than BotD, and actually testing the effects of Grief/Beast versus Grief/Grief (Grief/Beast significantly more damage).

This build is designed for Ladder, so 08 items will not be listed.

This is my first real guide for jsp, and I hope you will enjoy.
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pros:
- no real weakness
- high life, high damage, cannot be absorbed
- very good team player through bo/shout/leap
- king of 1v1, good barb can beat anyone in a gm duel
- can take down bmers/modders by himself pretty easy
cons:
- expensive on ladder
- needs prior duel experience to operate
- hates lag
- needs high lvl char, 89 is reccomended as a minimum. 96 or 99 are ideal end levels, and I will explain why later in this guide.
- a few builds will be hard to beat until you learn the technique to deal with them

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Skills:

These are the required skills. Every barb should have these, and if yours doesn't, then you should keep your barb to pvm.

Battle Orders - 20
Axe Mastery - 20
Whirlwind - 20
Prerequisites - 6 (Bash, Conc, Leap attk, Inc stamina, Iron skin, Howl)
Battle command - 1 (optional)

Howl is useful for scattering summons. It doesn't work on shadows, which is quite unfortunate.

Battle command is optional, since you may use HotO + CtA to cast battle orders, or get it from your bo helmet, but you need to ask yourself if those items will be available every time. More in the builds section.

These skills are the skills that make a barb into a bvc

Leap - 12-20

When you leap, hostiled characters within a radius of your character (leap lvl * 0.66 yards) will be knocked back and put into a double FHR animation.
The absolute minimum level to have leap is level 19 when you are wearing the gear set that gives you the LOWEST + to skills bonus. This will let you hit the whole screen, minus the corners.
Level 24 will nicely cover the corners and give you a bit of off-screen rage.
I put 20 points to have a long offscreen reach, which is particularly useful in team matches.

Natural Resistance - 5-6

Depending on your build, you can put 5 or 6 points to have 64 all res with your caster setup on, or with coa/40fcr setup on.

Increased Speed - ~4-5

The additional speed allows to outrun bone spirits when slowed, and helps you synch (I will explain this later). Also, being able to run faster lets you get out of dangerous situations faster.
Depending on your build, you can put 4 or 5 points here.

Berserk - 1

Berzerk is going to be your best friend once you master chainlocking with it. I will explain chainlocking later if you don't know what that is.
Berzerk peirces through a necromancer's bone armor, allowing you to 2-3 hit ko him if he doesn't block. It also bypasses damage reduction, so even if he does block, two hits that get past his shield should kill him.

For stat placement, you should be able to put 100% of your points into vitality, unless you need some extra dex for a secondary weapon.
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Now here's where you have the freedom to customize your barb to your playstyle, while still keeping it's natural assets high.
I will go over a few different builds, and what is different between them.

The Synching Tank

Shout - the rest
Gear changes: High defense enigma, str bo sticks (I'll explain these later.), Eth upped arreats or high defense viso helmet
The Tank is the barb I usually play. He has higher defense, which helps in team duels and vs melee characters, which helps, considering you don't have max block.

The Brawler
Throwing mastery - 1
Double throw - 1
Double swing - 1+ (Increase this skill for more throw damage, but 1 is sufficient)
Shout - The rest
Gear changes: 2x lacerators on switch, 40/15 jewel in arreats(if you use one)
The Brawler exploits the 2x lacerators for casting amplify damage before he comes in for the kill.
Amplify damage is seen as BM by some duelers, so if you chose this build, please leave 2x hotos in your stash.
The Brawler gets more dex then the other builds, so he has a high chance to block.

The Howler
War cry - 1
Shout - The rest
Gear changes: 63fcr setup almost all of the time, 2x hoto or hoto+cta on switch
The Howler exploits the stun on war cry to fhr lock his targets with quick whirlwinds.

The Widower
Shout - The rest,
Gear changes: Widowmaker with Um or Hel, 20ias +knockback +dex gloves can be helpful. Also look for dex on your barb circlet.
Widowmaker is one of the best tools a barbarian ever found. We can lure trap sins out of their fields, make hammerdins have to stomp us, and much more.
Um is the preferred choice for a widowmaker. 25% open wounds helps maximize the damage output of a widowmaker.
You can use hel rune if you don't want to put any points into dex. The 20ias gloves help widowmaker hit a higher ias breakpoint, and the dex helps wear a widowmaker especially with an um.
The knockback can interupt charging paladins, synching hdins will hate you forever.
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GEAR:

On ladder, BvC is one of the most expensive builds to construct. There are some things you can compromise on items, but there are others than you simply cannot do without.
I will list a welfare build for people too poor to fill the inventory, but the gear listed is all required.
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Helmets:

CoA is primarily used because BerBer can be put in its sockets for 31% damage reduction, allowing BvC’s to go toe-to-toe with good Windys and Smiters.
Arreats face or a Barb circlet will be your second helmet. Put a 20/15 in your arreats to increase your res/hp, because you will be using it when you need res.
If you get a Barb circlet, you will put the 1 additional point into speed and resistances that I mentioned earlier, because you will not be wearing arachnids as a primary belt.

On the circlet, you must have
+2 barb skills
+20% fcr
+ 20% resist all
2 sockets

You can use a plain magic 2barb/20fcr/2os circlet if you're really poor, but you're probably better off just using arreats.

Now on the circlet, you can get other mods that can help you in various ways.
10fhr gives you +40 more life via your inventory, so think about it.
+41-60 life is more valuable than 10fhr.
+mana can help you teleport for a longer period of time, which is helpful for 63fcr builds and times that you need to teleport without ravens on.
30% frw can help you synch on the Tank barb, it can help you outrun bone spirits, wsg out of traps (explained later), and helps you avoid hammers. If you can find this on a circ, it's a keeper.
%Viso mod can be nice to have on the circlet, but it really only helps vs hdins.
+Dex adds attack rating, and helps to wear widowmaker/lacerator.
+Str gives 1% enhanced damage per point, but it's not something to strive for. Also, you cannot have str on the Synching Tank barb, or he won't synch.

The jewels that go in are pretty hard to find on ladder, so I will list some alternatives.
The best jewel to use for all purposes is 2x 7fhr/9str/9dex/10res. If you can't get that, your next choice should be 9dex/15res x2.
If you decide "Fuck dex, I'm only ever going to wear this circ vs casters only ever ever ever," than you can get 20/15s or something. I don't recommend it.
If you want to stack ias vs a necro's golem to get some extra zerk breakpoints, or if you want the widowmaker/lacerator breakpoint, you can put in a 40/15 in your helmet. Remember that this will mess up your resists.

You can also use what's known as a dr circlet, for certain matchups. I won't get into it much because I do not like the idea, but I will bring it back up later in the builds section.
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Armor

Enigma? It's the only choice. You won't be able to wear anything without your enimga on either.
I've tried fortitude, and I don't like it. It’s really only useful if you’re using glitching it on, because hard points in str hurt your other matchups.
Imo teleport + Widowmaker/Lacerator is way more useful then a fortitude.
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Weapons

Grief/Beast. The only choice. I have tested the damage output of other axes, and nothing else measures up, unless you're thinking of using a Malice zerker axe against a pesky ES sorc.
Remember that you need +34% ias on grief to hit the last whirlwind breakpoint. If your grief doesn't have 34 or more ias, you will hit about half as much damage.
You also need at least 34 str on your beast to wear a coa, so don't forget that. Some people may need more than 34, do the math for your barb.

Normally though, Grief/Beast will be all you need. I really can’t recommend malice axes or EDC. They are subpar when compared to grief's massively consistent damage. Remember that minimum dmg is more important then maximum, and Grief has the highest minimum dmg of any 1h weapon in the game.

When placing weapons, put grief above the gloves and beast above the boots. Shouldn't be too hard to remember, G over G and B over B. The primary weapon is the weapon that has a hit-check by itself on the first swing of whirlwind so it is important that grief is always the primary weapon. Typically, the first weapon equipped is the primary, but when you switch weapons, the order reverts to primary/secondary; glove/boot. This means if you put a beast on while not wearing a grief, then put a grief on, your beast will be the primary weapon until you switch weapons twice.

Battle Orders Switch

2x hotos give you 105fcr on switch unless you're not wearing any other fcr at all, in which case it gives 63fcr. It also has 40 life rep, so you can escape faster with hotos out then with anything else, while your life goes up.
Hoto+Cta gives 63fcr on switch with 40fcr setups, and 105fcr on switch with 63fcr setups. Cta also has 12 life rep, so you get 32 instead of the original 40. You get +1 boost to battle orders for 5% more life, but you lose +2 to shout. The Howler also loses +2 to war cry if that even matters. If a howler is using a 40fcr setup(I don't know why) then they should use 2x hotos, or else cta can be viable. I reccomend putting Cta in a berzerker axe, and putting it in your primary weapon slot (above gloves), and putting hoto in a scourge so in case you accidently are whirling with your bo switch, or if you're using the fcr on bo switch to stomp someone and warcry them, then you can at least do some damage with your whirlwind.
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Jewelery

Highlords Wrath is your one choice. You will wear this amulet vs practically everyone.
Highlords ias lets you hit the last berzerk breakpoint, and the deadly strike is incredible. The lite res is just a bonus.
2barb/17-20fcr ammy can be used for 4v4, or vs druids in 1v1, but I am a real highlords fan, so I don't give this ammy much credit. Look for res and mana as a bonus, dex and life help too.
Angelics will be your choice vs high defense characters. You can use 1 ring vs most barbarians, and 2 rings vs really high defense barbs, and vs paladins.
2x Raven frost is your favorite ring. The huge dex+ar bonus gives twice the ar any other ring can, and has a solid 40mana stat. 2 ravens are GM on a barb(With less then 150 cold res) vs cold, so pretend it also has a ton of cold resist.
FCR rings can be used, but the times that you will use them vs how much you pay will make you think twice. The mods to look for are 10fcr/100+ar/8+dex/30+life/60+mana/res.
I recommend only getting 1 fcr ring for the 63fcr setup, and not using 2. The only time 2 fcr rings will help you is vs a sorceress, who you should be beating anyway. Shame on you.
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Gloves
Dracul's Grasp is one of your two main gloves, giving a solid open wounds bonus, and a small str bonus. Tap is bm (Some consider it only bm in melee vs melee), so remember that while whirlwind doesn't proc life tap, zerk does. If you see it as gm, then go ahead and zerk with it. You won't be zerking vs any melee characters anyway, but remember that widowmaker and lacerator can both proc tap. Don't wear dracs if you're using widow vs a barb or smiter without an enigma, and don't use dracs+lacerator, because life tap cancels out amp.
The second glove you will be using is Trang-Oul's Claws. The reason I'll use these over Magefist is that Trangs provides a decent amount of cold resistance as well as a slight Grief-Venom damage boost. When you zerk with grief, you proc venom, and trangs adds a couple hundred extra damage.
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Belts

The standard belt is Arachs, giving you 20% FCR, allowing you to easily reach 10 frame teleport* (40fcr). Its +1 skill is a nice bonus. However, the 20 FCR from a barb circlet lets you use TGod’s/Dungos and keep 40 FCR (10 frame teleport). This will be your main belt if you use arreats. This belt can also be used with CoA and trangs for 40fcr teleport and 39dr.

Whenever I get my circlet in a ladder, I am always so excited to put a dungos on as my main belt. 23dr from dungos+enigma is usually enough to take down pub barbs/smiters, so I don't have to change gear. If you don't use a fcr circlet, go for a 40vita/11dr dungos because you won't need the extra dr. If you use a circlet, then go for 15dr dungos with the highest vita you can get.

*Note: 10 frame teleport is how fast a hammerdin will teleport/cast with 75fcr.
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Boots

Gore Riders are some really solid boots, and they work as your only boots if you can't afford the other ones.
30/10 tri res boots are your other shoe. Which 3 resists you want is a choice that lots of barbs cannot agree on.
I personally prefer using cold/lite/poison, because I can wear them vs hybrid sins. If you chose to get max res with gores, fire/lite/cold can be used for stacking.
If you go cold/lite/poison, you can use aldurs boots for stacking fire res.
If you go fire/cold/lite, you can use treks to stack poison (if you feel the need to beat poison necros)
I find that the situations that you need to stack fire are very rare, and usually only happens when there's a team with conviction paladin or the sorc is using a merc with infinity.
If it's a sorc using infinity, I just put on 2 dwarf stars, because it's a bm duel now, and it works fine.
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Charms

Annihilus - 20 stats (important)
Hellfire Torch - 20 stats (important)
Just try and get the most res you can on these.
0-8 3max/20ar/5fhr scs. Use these to hit 48fhr with different setups. You won't need many if you use arreats.
0-8 5fhr/5res scs. These can be used to hit max res with gores if you think the open wounds and ds = more damage.
0-2 132ar/45life gc. If you can't get at least 16-19 ar on all of your small charms, you're going to need a few of these.
0-1 6max/48ar/8fhr lc. Barbs need 48fhr, so we can ride off that 8. 48ar is more than two 3max/20ar/5fhr scs. You usually need to keep this with you, but you can stash it for more 3/20/20s vs melee chars.
0-1 451 poison sc. Don't use this all the time, because poison charms in your inventory cause a glitch that makes deadly strike not activate, which means your damage will drop. Keep this guy in your stash. Only pull this out in defensive duels, where the goal is to hit and run.
An example of this would be vs an es sorc. You can let open wounds and poison drain their hp down while you life rep with your hotos. Or vs a defensive synching hdin, who stays off your map all the time. 451 scs are also helpful on a Widower barb for the same reasons.
26-33 3/20/20 scs. These are the best charms you can use on a barb. The life gained from small charms is better than the 1 dmg and slight ar boost from using grand charms. I've tested this. If you are poor, you can use 10max/60+ar/30+life gcs.
Use however many you need based on the duel.

IF you cannot afford good charms, then just mix 110+ar grand charms with 19-20 life small charms.
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Misc/Stash

Thundergod's Vigor: The strongest piece of gm lite sorb. Use this with a barb circlet for 40fcr vs trap sins/cs zons/lite sorcs. If you use arreats, you can use it vs cs zons, and you can use it vs the other two if you have a fcr ammy.
Wisp: See above. Good for beating bmers, and it lets you sorb while having 63fcr setup on.
Dwarf Star: Your other best ring. Wear 1 of these vs fire chars for gm sorb, and 2 vs modders/bmers. You can wear one of these vs necros or cs zons as well, because the reduce magic damage helps a lot. Remember that you lose 40mana from raven.
Demon Limb: Your weapon vs bmers. Use this when you are getting bmed to get a slight edge. Socket this with a 5% fire damage facet for maximum win.
Stormshield: Your defense vs strong barbs and zealots. Socket this with an eld rune to increase the block chance. With no pts into dex, and my +dex circlet on, my barb hits 51% block chance with no pts into dex.
Metalgrid: This ammy has one use only, which is beating v/ts. The ar from 2 ravens and a metalgrids is very close to the boost from angelics, but you also get that 35 lite res to stack vs foh. Don't use metalgrids if you can't get a decent one, 425/30+.
Eth upped Arreats/High def viso: This helm can be used with stormshield to increase your potency in bvb/bvz matches. Try to get a 700+ def eth arreats, it helps your defense a lot.
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Bo cube

To make your barb the best that it can be, you need what is called a bo cube. This technique is used by amazons to get battle orders while wearing both a bow and a java, and used by ghost sins to hold 2x 6venom claws and buff venom.
We are going to make it work for us. Put this cube in your inventory. Put a 6bo helmet in here, put your arachs in here, put 2x sojs (or bks if you're cheap), a +3 warcry amulet, and a +1 warcry grand charm.
Depending on which setup you use, this can add between 8 and 11 to your battle orders, which is way more valuable than 4x small charms. If you are wearing coa or arreats and you're wearing your arachs, than just put your dungos in here instead.
This also lets you switch between 40fcr/39dr with coa to 20fcr/50dr with coa/dungos quickly, so you can switch them in the battlefield.
Bo cubes are bm in BvB, but if you don't have max block, than I won't judge you if you use it vs barbs anyway.
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This post was edited by Tysnatch on Oct 6 2013 09:15pm

Setups: (All include Grief, Beast, Enigma, and bo switch)

Arreats setup: 40fcr and max res
Arreats, highlords, trangs, arachs, 2x ravens or raven/dwarf, gores or tri res boots
This is your usual barb setup if you're poor. It works very well.

Circlet setup: 40fcr and max res
circlet, highlords, trangs, dungos, 2x ravens or raven/dwarf, gores or tri res boots
This is your usual barb setup once you spend some fg on your barb. It offers more flexability than the arreats setup.

Open wounds circlet setup: 40fcr and max res, 40% wounds
circlet, highlords, dracs, arachs, 2x ravens or raven + dwarf/wisp, gores
This setup is for defensive duels, the only time you really need this setup is vs strong es sorcs, or vs strong max block casters. Use a 451 poison charm with this setup.

Circlet setup2: 63fcr and max res
circlet, highlords, trangs, arachs, raven/dwarf/wisp and fcr ring, gores or tri res boots
This is a setup designed to catch quick characters. You can use this setup vs necromancers and 200fcr sorceresses if you feel the need, but I usually don't.

Open wounds circlet setup2: 63fcr and max res and 40% wounds
circlet, barb fcr ammy, dracs, arachs, raven/dwarf/wisp and fcr ring, gores
This is another setup designed to kill es sorcs. This particular setup is used almost exclusively for 200fcr es sorcs.

Circlet setup3: 40fcr and max res and 39dr
dr circlet, highlords, trangs, arachs, raven and fcr ring, gores or tri res boots
This is a European setup that I don't use, but I will list it because it's a valid idea. This setup gives you 39dr and 40fcr, which is used vs druids. I personally prefer coa because of the fhr, and because that's one less item I have to stick in my stash.
You can use a barb fcr ammy and dracs if you feel the need, but I don't do that.

Circlet setup3: 63fcr and 39dr
dr circlet, barb fcr ammy, trangs, dungos, raven and fcr ring, gores
This is another European setup that I do not use, but I will list it so you can read it. This setup is designed to kill druids. I personally do not like sacrificing my highlords just to get another fcr breakpoint, because I love that deadly strike and it loves me, but that's just me.

Coa setup: 0fcr and max dr, 40% wounds
coa, angelic ammy, dracs, dungos, angelics x2, gores
This is your setup vs smiters. It pretty much speaks for itself. Max out your dr, hp, ar, and open wounds.

Coa setup2: 40fcr and 39dr
coa, highlords, trangs, arachs, 2x ravens, gores
This is my preferred setup vs druids, and the reason I do not use the 40fcr/39dr circlet build. Coa has higher resists, and 30% base fhr.
This build is designed to keep your dr high, while maintaining your 40fcr to chase them down when they recast.

Coa setup3: 40fcr and 50dr
coa, barb fcr ammy, trangs, dungos, 2x ravens, gores or tri res boots

BvB setup:
Some barbs just don't care about their bvb matchup because they think it doesn't matter, because they're a bvc anyway. I personally would like to win every duel if it's my choice.
Eth Upped arreats/High defense viso, angelic, dracs, dungos, 1 raven and 1 angelic, gores, eld'd stormshield.
This setup has won me so many duels. A normal arreats or a fcr circlet with lots of dex works just fine if you don't have the stash room for the extra hat. If you use eth upped arreats, you may need to put 1 point into strength, but not everyone.
You can slap a widowmaker on to this barb if you're dueling a barb wearing fortitude. Your open wounds will make him regret not choosing an enigma (some hard points in dex required, which will also increase your block)

Fpk setup:
There is some debate as to which setup is the best for fpk.
Both of the 40fcr coa setups are viable, as are the 39dr circlet setups.
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Notes on gear depending on build:

If you're a Synching Tank barb, you are going to need Str on your bo swap. Level 96 or under barbs need 33 str, and 97+ barbs need 41 str. If you can get all of that on one stick, then you can use a hoto with it, but if not then use 2x str sticks.
If you can't find ones with base str, just socket some magic ones with fal runes. If you are lvl 96 or under, wear an archon plate. If you are 97+, wear wire fleece. The armor will str bug, giving you 45% frw desynch.
You will not get this 45% desynch if you wear dracs, so be careful.

If you're a Howler barb, you might want to use 63fcr in more situations than a different barb would.
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Some More Notes

Teleporting:
If you can, teleport beside your target instead of namelocking. You will hit them once more because you start out in front of them, not right on top of them.
If you can't do this effectively, then stick to namelocking.

Teleport + Whirlwind:
When you teleport on someone, switch from your teleport hotkey to your whirlwind hotkey, which insures you come out of your teleport whirling.
Always use teleport and whirlwind on right click. It ensures the best teleport + ww attack.
Try to move your mouse cursor over your boots when you switch to whirlwind to get the best whirlwind attack.

Tri-Whirlwind:
This is the most dangerous weapon in a barb's arsenal. If you master this you will be a force to be reckoned with. Basically, if you make three short whirlwinds in a triangle pattern after teleporting on top or beside someone, you can hit them many more times then if you just whirlwinded straight through them, and that speed in turn fhr locks them, keeping them in your triangle. This is a hard trick to do correctly, but I'll do my best to explain. When you teleport on or next to someone and do a very short whirlwind, do a second one at a 45-60 degree angle from where you land, and then a third one back to the point you started from. If you do this correctly, all three whirls should land in under a second, hitting up to 5-6 times and killing most players without block.

Unsummon + Teleport + Attack Sequences:
Namelock your target with unsummon. You can now switch teleport and whirl/zerk them. Be sure to reposition your cursor in the center of the screen before teleporting.

Teleport + Berserk (Chainlock)

Have zerk, teleport & unsummon on right click. Hold down right click namelock on them and tap your teleport hotkey, then switch to berzerk again. You should land on them and start zerking. When you do so, try to land your mouse pointer right on their head so you namelock them again with berzerk. If they escape, switch to teleport and then quickly back to berzerk, remembering to center your mouse over your shoes on screen. Some of the more experienced players will attempt to ‘walk’ you after seeing that you're using zerk to chainlock by moving away and spamming, leaving you without a chance to go through all the frames of your attack and connect before they walk away again.
If you see them walking right away or you’ve seen them do it before to you and can predict after how many chainzerks they’ll teleport away from, whirl with their walk/run and they’ll be in for a world of fucking pain.

WSG
Wsg is a way to escape being locked by mind blast, among other things. Set your weapon switch hotkey to two buttons next to each other, like W and E. When you walk, press one and then the other, over and over again. Every time you switch weapons, you break your own fhr lock.

Potion Drills:
This is a practice routine you can do to practice tri whirls

Place two potions about 4 inches from each other on the ground. Teleport on one and do a triwhirl. After the third whirl, teleport onto the other potion and do another tri whirl.

Anya bug:
The 10%-30% resistance boost that you get from anya goes away as soon as you die in game. Your character screen might show you with 75 fire resist, but in reality you only have 45. This leaves most BvC’s with 50% fire resistance, causing them to die in 3-5 fireballs.
To fix this, get better resistance boots. Tri res and aldurs work fine. You could also replace the 3/20/5 FHR charms with 11/5 res + 5 FHR charms. I advise against using 20/5 charms because you swap them out for 3/20/20s instead of 3/20/5s, and you really only need res in places that you also need fhr. Remember that most 105 FCR fire sorcs will have 1-2 fire facets, and 200 FCR sorcs will have 3-4. You will have to stack resistance to prepare for this.
I personally never do anya on any character besides in hell on a mfer so I can mf pindleskin, and I recommend that you don't either.
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Dueling Strategies

Sorceresses

The only sorc that will give you trouble is an es sorc or a mb sorc. If they can out tank your whirls, then you're in trouble. Use open wounds and a poison charm if this happens.
Keep 40-63fcr, and keep your resistances high enough that they won't be affected by griffs or facets.

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Amazon

On East, any barb should beat any zon, but lack of experience can make this a punishing duel.

Javazon:

There's a trick to whirling a javazon. Once you get tri whirls down, you will notice that they can't hit you while you're doing a tri whirl. Abuse that.

Bow:
Maintain a 10 frame teleport(40fcr). Approach in a curve, and name lock whirlwind, since good amazons will desync while walking.
Some zons are strong enough to out tank you with their shield out. Watch out for these devils, you will need to play defensively vs them.
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Druids

Use howl to get rid of their summons, and exploit their terrible fhr with your leap.
If they use wolves (and the good ones will), then you will need to stay on top of them. When they run to recast wolves, chase them down and get those tri whirls in.
If you can do a medium length whirlwind that takes out their oak sage and hits them as well, do it.
Use 40 or 63fcr.

Paladins:
These guys will universally have high defense, so use angelics.
Use 40fcr if you can, but 20 is fine.

Smiters:

Whirl to their sides, which should result in 1 or no hits for them. If you have a range 2 zerker, and they have a range 1 phaseblade
If they have a zerker, they will hit you more, but this should still be a duel in your favor if they don't teleport.
If they teleport, make your whirls hard to predict. One strategy you can use if you're a Synching Tank is to whirl in a box pattern, because your whirls will synch and he will teleport to the wrong spot.

Vindicator/Templar:

One of the toughest duels.
If you can't out tank him, then try to teleport in and clip him. Open wounds is your friend in this match.
If his smite damage is low, stay on top of him, especially when he gets distance to foh you.
You can wear tgods if you have a fcr circlet.

Hammerdins:

Widowmaker is your friend in this duel.

If they try to stomp you, just whirl southwest and they won't hit you.
If they synch, try to whirl where you expect them to be. Remember charge = 0% block, so that's your best time to get hits in.
If they out class you, let your open wounds talk for you.
Now I shouldn't have to say this, but I will. Don't stomp a fucking hdin.
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Necromancers

Watch out for spirit trains. If you suspect they've made a train, teleport around them in a circle and leap them out of it.
When they run to recast the train, chainzerk them down.

Tri whirling a necro is hard to pull off, because of their bone armor. If you think you can do it, go for it, but you should zerk a necro more than you whirl on average.
Always keep 40/63 fcr vs necros.
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Assassins:

Trapsin:

Get in there and eat them up with tri whirls. Wsg out if they get a mind blast lock on you. Widowmaker forces them to play more offensive.

WWSin (Enigma):

You're stronger than them hands down. Stay on top of them, remember their damage is dealt over time, so the more time you spend on top of them, the more you outclass them.

WWSin (Bramble/Fort):

Mock them with your widowmaker! No seriously, this duel should be easy. If you're having trouble, it's probably because you don't have max poison resist. If you REALLY need a shield, put one the hell on.

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Barbarians:

BvC (Dual Wield, Enigma)

Trick him into teleporting into a whirlwind if you can, never end a whirlwind near him, always do long whirls. Try to whirl where his whirls will end, crossing them like a T. If you can hit them while they aren't in whirlwind animation, you will get more hits in.

BvA (Stormshield, Enigma)
CRAP.

Avoid whirling with them, try to cut them off if you can again, and just desync whirl away in a zigzag unpredictable fashion.

BvB (Fort + Anything)

Well, you have two options here. Lose, or pull your widowmaker out and call him names.
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Thank you so much for reading my guide, and I hope it helps.

This post was edited by Tysnatch on Oct 6 2013 09:18pm

didnt read anything else, ctrl+f'd fcr, 10/10 you already know what you're doin

I like how you quoted u.

glad you made a guide your barb always wrecks every ladder

Thanks dave, I'm glad to see someone already found my guide!
Your support means everything. I wouldn't write this hard if I didn't want people to appreciate this guide.


This is supposed to be for just v/ts and hdins, not for smiters.

This post was edited by Tysnatch on Oct 6 2013 09:50pm

desynch, desynch, str bug, glitch, desynch, charge lag, desynch, buggable

this terms only show how bad is this game, why any man without braindead should play this?

in this guide is nothing new btw, we already know it from 2008, ciao

I just list every option. You can make whatever kind of barb you want.
I played a Synching Tank barb last ladder, and had great success.

firstable
there's basicly 1 way of building proper bvc...
it has been already shown in 2 guides @ this forum which have more than 1 year...
if these guides were incomplete... but they explores the area of bvc dueling fully so
nn another one


btw. Using widowmaker sux... ur attack animation is sooo slow... 125fcr hdin teles twice in the time u shot 1 arrow , which means u can get stomped from offscreen by a hdin while trying to shot a crappy dmg arrow that's goin to be blocked anyway...

This post was edited by mysz15 on Oct 7 2013 03:03am