New/Old Barb Skills...

[Spankeh]

Welcome all,

Personally, what Blizzard has shown us so far has brought back so much excitement for this future release, and the barb class looks totally revamped for the better.

Nothing wrong with WW and Leap included, but will they bring back:

Battle Orders
Masteries
Frenzy

...or other superhuman strength skills with massive power.

This game looks to be awesome not only on the visuals, but the audio as well.

[stressball]

Like they say in the gameplay trailer: "There's no such thing as too much power!" - sounds fun to me! :D

[ExtraStrongFireEnchanted]

I wouldn't worry about 'missing' skills at this stage. Because firstly there is only so much you can show in a 20 minute demo shared between 2 classes and secondly, if they wanted to reveal every skill there is, they would have put talent calculators on the website already.

I agree with you that barb got improved drastically. In D2 it was enough to hold your finger on super rejuvenation potion and another in WW. Removal of pots will have big impact to all classes and especially barbarian. Because you won't be able to 'tank' mobs by simply drinking one pot after the other. You will have to leap out of crowd, charge to some distant mob to escape, position yourself and mobs to do maximum damage with that 'bone spear' skill and leap AoE.

I am positive the barb will still be master of arms. Dual wielding, 2H, sword and board. You name it. It is unlikely that you won't have skills to enhance dual wielding, while some of skills logically should benefit mostly from massive 2 handers (WW + charge thing).

<3 barb.

[Spankeh]

See thats the thing, you didnt really need pots in LoD for barbs anyway, just stack on some leech for both life and mana, and your away. And as long as you kept swinging (and hitting) you didn't have to leap out of crowds at all.
And this is where my next question lies... will D3 have lifeleech?
If yes, then the no pot scenario will make barbs a very powerful class again...

[CYBERPUNK]

@spankeh

I would "expect" D3 to have most everything that D2 has, obviously there are some changes, but something as integral as LL and ML I think will be standbys

HOWEVER, notice that the barb does NOT have mana in the demo video, so the non-magical fighters may have "stamina" or "endurance" or some such thing instead (as to how fast it replenishes and/or ways to make it do so faster are obviously further off)

[Es Mors]

@spankeh
HOWEVER, notice that the barb does NOT have mana in the demo video, so the non-magical fighters may have "stamina" or "endurance" or some such thing instead (as to how fast it replenishes and/or ways to make it do so faster are obviously further off)

Is that based solely on the fact that his "right bulb" is of a different colour than the witch doctor's or has there been any more information on this?

[Cast_Raider]

I am positive the barb will still be master of arms. Dual wielding, 2H, sword and board.

If it were up to me, I'd make barbs unable to use shields, period.

Seriously. A shield on a barb never seemed right to me, and goes against what a barb is supposed to be. It's like seeing a bicycle helmet on the incredible hulk. A barbarian should be wielding weapons that are so big other characters can scarcely pick them up.

Actually 2-handers are something I'd like to see become more viable in general. Aside from the (increasingly rare) barbarian and bowzon, everyone else seems to use a shield in D2.

[ExtraStrongFireEnchanted]

Getting just the right amount of mana and life leeching was fun and sometimes challenging. It's also nice to see your life/mana going up after successful WW. I would like to see leeching stat in D3. You say that would make barb very powerful, well I don't really see why. It's not like sorcs ir necros were weaker compared to barb in D2. In the end if you are leeching life back that means you are getting hit. It evens out IMO.

[etslayer]

I hope they add a lot more original skills. I have played the hell out of the barb. I want something new. And I hope they dont bring back all those useless warcries... only BO and BC were of any use for the majority of players.

And they should give the barb a weapon block skill so that we won't need shields.

Actually now that I think about it some more, it would be a HUGE mistake NOT to give the barb weapon block.

[Hdefte]

They will probally have some knockback abilities, where the barb really can show off brute strength....and also something that can crush surrondings, some area effect where everybody just get slammed to the ground....

But masteries, maybe somekind of weapon buff, like spikes on his hammer or something like that. there are a lot of options :)

[BAMFSpecialOps]

: ( In one of the screens of the barb its 3 images in one, the middle one seems hes holding a claw, and now someone mentions weapon block...enough to make someone start playing d2 just to get their sin fix again.

[panaxos]

Is that based solely on the fact that his "right bulb" is of a different colour than the witch doctor's or has there been any more information on this?According to the skill descriptions in the video some barbarian skills (Battle Cry and Hammer of the Ancients) use stamina (instead of mana). At the beginning you can see him use Battle Cry and the right bubble decreases - hence it must be a stamina bubble.
One thing still puzzles me though. Furious Charge lists Fury cost instead of Stamina cost, although I haven't made out that "pool" yet.

It might be that they chose the WoW way, where some classes use different pools for their skills (mana, rage, energy).

[NoGuts]

It's a nice idea Panaxos, but during the Q&A at the WWI they said they didnt intend to use alternatives to mana.

Though I thought that was quite strange, first of all your statement, as well as the different color of the orb. Plus I dont thinkt he dev really understood the question (damn Frenchies).

[lumpor]

I think leap and whirlwind are good. But it won't be fun if all the skills are from old games. I think the rest of the skills should be new. Frenzy is just too stiff and boring animation. They can ake frenzy back, but in that case, make the animation more agile and less stiff, and make it look like the barb has gone berserk.

[CruelMick]

I hope they add a lot more original skills. I have played the hell out of the barb. I want something new. And I hope they dont bring back all those useless warcries... only BO and BC were of any use for the majority of players.

And they should give the barb a weapon block skill so that we won't need shields.

You know nothing about Barbs I have a singer that solo's Hell in Lod with nothing but yells and doesn't need any weapons.:girly:

[Foolishpleazure]

Welcome all,

Personally, what Blizzard has shown us so far has brought back so much excitement for this future release, and the barb class looks totally revamped for the better.

Nothing wrong with WW and Leap included, but will they bring back:

Battle Orders
Masteries
Frenzy

...or other superhuman strength skills with massive power.

This game looks to be awesome not only on the visuals, but the audio as well.



I agree,it looks GREAT.........and,if you watch carefully,you do see the Barb BO a few times.

[etslayer]

You know nothing about Barbs I have a singer that solo's Hell in Lod with nothing but yells and doesn't need any weapons.:girly:


Buddy I know everything about barbs, and I have made singers as well. They are really cool but even with the best gear they do low damage. Maybe it is possible to beat hell, but that doesn't mean its a good build. It's entertaining but very weak compared to other barb builds.

[Gauss]

I want to see double welded weapons as well as double throwing abilities. It would be so cool.

I liked how one of my thrower Barb could get rid of some sorcs that raged in mad after being defeated xD

They can ake frenzy back, but in that case, make the animation more agile and less stiff, and make it look like the barb has gone berserk.

That should be a must! Then I would love the Barb.

[strongdwarvenale]

Am I the only Frenzy lover here? I f**king love that skill! I've found it very much fun and most convenient as barb build. BO + Frenzy + Lifetap = Invincible. If there's Frenzy, that'll probably be my first build. However, it would also be cool if they came up with a new dual wielder skill.

[sh25]

I used to not like sheild either on barbs but then I tried the ebotdcb and phoenix combo on my ww barb and it changed my mind..u guys shud try it if u haven't yet..

I hope he has some kind of non weapon fighting skills too, kinda like how the assassin kicks (not as martial artsy tho). I think it wud be cool to see him kick some1 in the chest like the king leonitis does in the movie 300 or pick some1 up and throw them or something like that.

And I think he shud have some type of charge up or warcry skill that adds to AR that always was a small problem with me and my barb

[Apocalypse]

If it were up to me, I'd make barbs unable to use shields, period.

Seriously. A shield on a barb never seemed right to me, and goes against what a barb is supposed to be. It's like seeing a bicycle helmet on the incredible hulk. A barbarian should be wielding weapons that are so big other characters can scarcely pick them up.

Actually 2-handers are something I'd like to see become more viable in general. Aside from the (increasingly rare) barbarian and bowzon, everyone else seems to use a shield in D2.


i never liked shields on barbs either, not because of gameplay but thats just how i see barbs, how i would roleplay one i guess. i would not want to limit barbs from using them though.

i hope d3 allows for more roleplay in the characters, i want to be able to bring several builds through the game of the same char

[Drytchnath]

I always thought the 2-Handed weapons seemed more suited to the Barb (check out my thread to discuss the ups and downs of 2-Handers). Unfortunately with the exception of certain polearms, using most 2-H weapons turned into a death sentence.

I always thought the barb masteries should've given innate IAS bonuses to the weapons you specialized in. And with the inclusion of Phys immunes, barbs became nearly useless past NM unless you liked playing an extremely slow Concentrate build.
I really hope they handle phys immunity differently this time. It really was a kick in the pants to all melee characters, specifically to the barbs.

Back on-topic...I wonder if Seismic Slam is pure physical damage? I'd love to make a barb specializing in Leap Attack and Seismic Slam.