D2R Solo Barbarian Leveling Guide

This guide is going to be able to give you valuable information and strategies so that you will be able to efficiently level a Barbarian whether it be in Ladder or Non-Ladder. This guide is going to go into specifics but should remain as a guideline to help you determine what you think the best way for you to level in D2R is. D2R is a constantly evolving game so make sure to always be open to learning.

Mainly, this guide is going to teach you how to be able to optimize your skills. Some skills are only good when they scale and some skills don’t scale so well, although they can assist you in leveling. We are also going to be tackling the stats so that you will be able to transition through your gear efficiently. Hopefully, by the end of this guide you are going to be able to breeze through the game as a Barbarian, overcome an area where you were stuck, or improve your leveling strategy.

Skill & Stats

Skills distribution:

Stats distribution:

Respec

This is going to be done by level 31

Max out in Order

Important note:

For your attributes you just need to allocate enough Strength so that you will be able to wear all of your gear. Then dump the remaining Stat Points into Vitality. From Levels 40-75 you are going to want to put all your attribute points into Vitality. With the exception of adding Dexterity to be able to maintain a 50% block chance.

Progression & Leveling:

ACT I

This leveling build is going to start with you dual-wielding and dealing a lot of physical damage and you are going to be using regular attacks throughout the early stages and then you are going to use your Bash on harder opponents.

When you  are done with The Den of Evil and then return to town make sure to buy a scepter from akara, if you already have your Double Swing skill then you are going to want to return to town and then purchase a second scepter to be able to utilize your Double Swing.

When you reach the Black Marsh you are going to want to find the waypoint and then you are going to want to start farming the Countess until you can get the following runes 3-4 Tal, 2 Eth, 1 Ith 1 El. Make sure to keep these in your storage for use later in the run.

Make sure that you also check Charsie for a (2) socketed non magic armor and 2 (2) socketed non magic helms. You are going to be using these for bases later on.

When you reach level 13 you should be able to equip flails, be mindful that if you find a Nef and a Tir rune while you are doing your Countess runs you can slot those into the first (2) helm and make a Nadir rune word. An alternative to this are 2 Ral runes inside your (2) helm.

Act II

When you reach act II the first thing that you are going to want to do is to buy a belt so that you can store and use more potions. When you reach level 14 you are going to want to buy 2 Flails so that you can replace your scepters. Again when you reach level 15 you are going to want to create a Malice rune word with Ith,El, and Eth runes inside a (3) socketed Flail. 

You will be able to buy a (3) socket Flail with Farah in Act II. If she isn’t selling it then simply refresh by entering The Waypoint and coming back to town.Malice is going to help you deal damage with OPEN WOUNDS and  it is going to prevent Monsters from healing.

To be able to deal with a large density of monsters you can opt to have choking gas potions in your swap slot. When you reach level 17 you are going to want to make your Stealth rune word with Tal and Eth inside a (2) socketed armor without magic properties. Sealth gives 25% FRW, FCR, FHR, mana regen and more.

At this point you can then opt to buy another (3)Flail and insert 3 Tal runes to be able to add a huge amount of poison damage which is going to help you later on with your Malice rune word to be able to deal DOT (damage over time).

Act III

When you reach Act III you are going to want to use battle cry to weaken opponents and then use double swing in combination with strangling gas potion to be able to apply poison to large amounts of enemies and hitting them with your Malice causing you to deal a lot of DOT. Don’t forget that you will also be able to use your leap attack for mobility to jump over the rivers.

When you reach level 20 you are going to want to buy a Staff of Teleportation which is going to be good for your mobility. You are only going to be able to use the staff at level 24 but the reason we are buying it at level 20 is so that we can use the red background to make it easier for us to find the staff instead of checking each and every staff. At level 24 you can keep this staff in your weapon swap.

Also, at this point you are going to want to hire a Fire Rouge from Act I so that she can help you deal damage and If you have an extra 2-3 slotted bow you can equip it and insert extra Ral runes to increase her fire damage.

When you reach Travincal and have finished creating Kalim's Flail don't use it to destroy the compelling orb just yet but utilize it and use Kalim's Flail to be able to level up efficiently around Act III until you are roughly level 25.

When you have Frenzy and Battle Orders you are going to want to use Frenzy to build charges and use Double Swing to deal damage. Battle Orders is going to increase all of your skill levels. Make sure to always keep your Battle Orders buff up.

Act IV

Do the same in this act and make sure to follow the chart for the Izual quest.

Act V

When you are done with Act IV this is going to be a tough act for a barbarian, since you are still a single target build and you are going to have a tough time reaching 29. There are 2 perfect spots that you are going to want to farm in Act V that are going to be utilizing your strengths. The two spots are going to be Eldritch and Pindle Skin. This is also where your Fire Rouge is going to come in handy.

When you are done farming for levels make sure that you fight the Ancient at level 29 so that it'll bump you to level 30. At this point you are going to have area damage with your War Cry which is going to make it easier for you to fight the ancients.

When you reach level 31 you are going to want to Respec. So make sure to go back to acara and Respec to reset your skills and your stats. Refer to the table for the Respec.

After your respec you are going to become a Singer Barbarian and you are going to have strong AOE (Area of Effect) and focus on using Warcry to deal damage and kill large groups of monsters.

At this point you will no longer need your Malice Runeword anymore, but you might still be able to re-use the Flail to make the Black rune word later in the run. To be able to remove the runes inside the Flail just place the mace into the Horadric Cube with a Hel rune and a scroll of town portal.

Now you are going to need to change your weapon so you are going to want to buy a wand from Malah with a + to mana option, but sometimes you can find an extra +20% FCR which is going to be a good plus. Then you are going to want to find a throwing weapon with + to Warcries as your second weapon, this is going to increase the damage of your Warcry and strengthen your Battle Orders.

When you have access to the Secret Cow level you are going to want to farm 2 Crystal Swords. When you have your 2 non magic Crystal Swords you are going to want to Larzuk them, note that you need to make sure that the crystal sword you have are from The Secret Cow Level, this is going to ensure that it comes out with 4 slots or else you might get something between 3-5 sockets. You are going to need the 4 sockets because that is going to be for the Spirit runeword.

Nightmare:

When you reach Nightmare make sure to find gloves, a belt, and boots with resistances. For the boots FRW is a good additional option. Make sure to prioritize Lightning and Fire for resistances.

When you reach The Countess in Nightmare you are going to want to farm her again for the rune words. 2 Tal, 3 Thul, 3 Ort, 2 Amn,Io, Nef, Sol, Shael, and Eth.Insert the Tal, Thul, Ort, Amn into your crystal sword to make the spirit rune word. 

Spirit is going to give you +2 to all skills, FCR, a lot of mana and more. You are also going to want another Spirit in your 2nd Crystal Sword. Your options are either you find a (4) socketed one or rush to reach Larzuk.

Get your (2) socketed cap which you are going to want to turn into the Lore rune word with Ort and Sol. This is going to give you +1 to all skills, +30 lightning resistance, and +2 mana after each kill which is going to be very useful for a barbarian.

You are also going to want to insert the Thul, Io, and Nef rune into your Flail to create the Black runeword. This is going to give your 40% chance for Crushing Blow which you are going to need to be able to deal with bosses since Warcry suffers against single targets, you are going to be using whirlwind to apply the crushing blow.

Next you are going to be inserting the Shael and Eth rune into a Bone Shield to make the Rhyme rune word as your off hand with the Black runeword.

When you reach level 35 you are going to want to craft blood crafted gloves. To make this you need to insert Magic Heavy Gloves, a Perfect Ruby, aNef Rune, and a Jewel then hit transmute. These gloves grant Life Stolen and up to 10% Crushing blow to complement your Black runeword to deal with single targets and bosses.

Gear options:

Conclusion:

The Barbarian is going to be a little hard to level throughout the earlier stages of the game. Since he is a physical character he is going to suffer from low attack ratings. Later on he is going to be transitioning into a Singer Barbarian and then he is going to shift from being a single target character to being an AoE clearer. Although he is going to be suffering again from the lack of a single target. All in all the Barbarian is going to be a hard character to play and scale because he is going to be very gear dependent, but all in all a good and fun character to play.