View Full Version : Barbarian Strategy?
If you've watched the Denizens Panel, you will have heard the panel talk about the Barbarian being sheer power.
From what you saw in the Gameplay Demo and the other panels and interviews, do you think strategy will still be a part of the Barbarian class or if he is going to go to pure power?
People don't often think of the Barb and strategy but a good one in D2 does use strategy whether that is using Beserk in the CS, or the terrain to break up large groups or the War Cries to reduce damage/stun monsters.
So do you think this balance of power/strategy will be continued in D3 or do you do think they'll go sheer power and leave the strategy to the other characters. Or maybe just take out any element of strategy and be sheer hack-n-slash.
lionheart
06-07-2008, 15:25
I think there will be strategy in the way how you use your skills and when you use them. If the video can be used as reference it was visible that different skills were more needed in different situations. Just to give a plain example in the fight with the thousand pounder they kept using skills that would make the barbarian hit and get away from him, i dont think it would have been easy to kill it him slash or things that requiere the barbarian to just stay there and keep on hitting. So i dont know in the end, since we havent seen the final product nor have we seen the power that the skills can achieve but if it continues like it was shown i think some strategy or at least good finger and keyboard skills will be needed. It would make it way more fun in my opinion, even if i love sherr power lol
SlechtWeerBeer
06-07-2008, 19:30
There's always the destructable enviroment to use for strategic assaults. Or to skip a beating. Whatever you prefer ;)
The Thousand Pounder seemed like a 2-hit-KO monster, and seeing he hits with both his weapons at a time...
Ok, so perhaps not an instadeath, but at least some really high damage.
That needs at least some brain.
In the gameplay trailer we saw how the barbarian used the ground stomp skill to stop the shielded skeletons from blocking. It isn't much, but there is strategy in the way he used the skills.
It's a little hard to say at the moment, but it seems like the barbarian will get tons of combat skills, where they each serve their own nieche. From the looks so far it seems the barbarian is more "GAR in your face!" melee and yet more strategy minded, thumbs up so far from me. :-)
As the game progresses, strategy will become an essential factor (especially if the game is like its predecessors).
But for the barb, hack 'n slash will be much more common than any other character. Which is pretty obvious, i think.
How does it look for PvP then? If the barb is all power he could be overwhelming in PvP. But there has to be some kind of balance there. Thoughts?
Deckard Cain
07-07-2008, 08:06
One thing i noticed from the the game play video is that the bosses seem to be much stronger (although the last fight was not against a boss, the monster did pick up someone and rip him in two). If you notice the barbarian did not just sit still and wack any stronger monster. The Barb seemed to be constantly jumping away from stronger enemies and then getting a blow in before jumping or charging away. A destructible environment also seemed like it could add a bit more strategy. I have no doubt that the barbarian will require skill, maybe just less than others :nod:
lionheart
07-07-2008, 08:22
How does it look for PvP then? If the barb is all power he could be overwhelming in PvP. But there has to be some kind of balance there. Thoughts?
I think its too early right now to tell we havent seen the other classes and we dont know all the skills, i think there will be some kind of balance. That would be the smart way to go for them if they want all the characters to be played the same
Grunthex
07-07-2008, 09:16
I think there's a reason our new barbarian is an old fellow. Let the young pups wade in and stand there swinging until you or your enemy falls older. This barbarian is strong, tough, and smart. Yep, he can pound faces better than anyone else, but he ain't gonna let you pound him back!
I still believe the barb will be primarily hack 'n slash, and maybe the REAL strategy is in the way you upgrade his stats and skills. Just a thought.
Strategy? Smash smash smash.
As you can obviously see, Crushy McBigsword doesen't like strategy.
Nah,seriously, I think that the Barb will be one of the simplest and easiest chars to use.
Though that didn't reduce joy of playing him in D2 =)
I think that the barbarian will require strategy and skill because d3 will provide a wider range of skills for different situations.
also the belief that d3s barb will be a pure smash and or hack and slash character seems uneducated. i think that if you watch the video the barbarian had little to no trouble in dealing with minions becuase, for the demos sake, they gave him a full list of skills and most likey higher stats and attributes (level) for the areas he was clearing. its not to say that the barbarian wont have a physical advantage throughout the game but i think that the game developers set the demo barbarian at a superior level to his opponents. i mean the purpose of the trailer is to show off the game because people arent going to buy it if their barbarian is weak and dies
just a thought from my perspective.
AxlStrife
08-07-2008, 09:27
I definitely think that strategy will be at a premium in D3, mainly because of the destructible environment and the graphics engine. The Barbarian's general strategy will generally be to "hack'n slash" and use the environment to decimate the opponent, as the demo showed.
With the skillbar, Fury (the barbarian's mana according to Furious Charge, named Stamina on Hammer of Ancients(could there be class-specific potions?)) consumption will also have an impact, probably much more than what we've seen since D2X.
Blasphemy! All the Barbarian needs to do is charge and bash peoples' heads in. And run like a little girl when your dying.
Wonder if there'll be new problems for the Barbarian in this game, cause he really had no troubles in D2. He had every possible advantage unlike the other classes. Good def, res....
Raging_Zealot
17-07-2008, 05:04
Also during the game play video the narrator talked about strategy in killing the berserker type enemy that "had a powerful attack" and was best to avoid their attack then stun and finish them off. Right after that the narrator talks about taking out the Acolyte character that summons other monsters before it can summon and overwhelm the Barbarian. So it certainly seems there will be some battle tactics strategy involved. D2 required some as well, especially when playing untwinked without uber-gear.
Also during the game play video the narrator talked about strategy in killing the berserker type enemy that "had a powerful attack" and was best to avoid their attack then stun and finish them off. Right after that the narrator talks about taking out the Acolyte character that summons other monsters before it can summon and overwhelm the Barbarian. So it certainly seems there will be some battle tactics strategy involved. D2 required some as well, especially when playing untwinked without uber-gear.
Those mages seemed harmless. They didn't even hurt him, unless only because he was buffed big time. I think he was just being overdramatic. hopefully it will be difficult for us. Not more of the dumb 100s of blood maggots and bone mages that don't hurt you.
The skeletons with the shields is new and refreshing. Wonder if they block magic too.
SlechtWeerBeer
22-07-2008, 05:36
He was way overpowered. He had crits flying about, and never really took much damage. Normal play will involve some more friendly blood I think.
I imagine myself a Barbarian and a friend playing the Witch Doctor fighting a hoard of monsters in an open field. My W.D. friend casts wall of Zombies and his Minions charge in for the Brawl. I Leap attack the Mobs attacking the Zombie Wall hitting the creatures at the tip of either side of the wall, then charge through the rest of them lined up on the wall using Dash. Then I pick off a few stragglers while my W.D buddy blows up a few minions here and there and chucking a fire bomb which blows a few enemies in my direction. The survivors at my feet meet my Ground Pound and the rest get finished off with a Shock Wave.
I'm gonna love using more than one skill, definetly!
With the all the different types of skills he has there has to be to strategy. The D2 barb had a bunch of get up close and swing skills, and Wirlwind.
now they have:
Leap: ranged + area
Ground Stomp/Pound: Area
Seismic Slam(?) sorry don't remember the name: Ranged
Cleave (?): close combat with that can attack multiple targets
Hammer of the Ancients: Close combat with one target im guessing
I might be forgetting some but you get the point. Its quite varied compared to the past barb and its pretty simple to predict from the gameplay video and this that the barb will require strategy in pvm and pvp.
LarryPaul
23-07-2008, 21:45
This is purely a balancing issue. If you look at the gameplay video, the guy playing the barbarian clearly had some training. A lot of different skills are being used at the right time. And even though the demo was tweaked, he did receive a lot of damage in certain situations.
With the implement of the new skill systems (max at 1, 5, (10, 15?) 20) strategy will play a much bigger role with the barbarian.
That being said, he's probably still the tank of the game.
That being said, he's probably still the tank of the game.
There's no doubt.
Do you remember Bashiok saying this yesterday?
We essentially "hand placed" every drop that happened in the video. We knew people were going to dissect and scrutinize every detail, and everything that drops in that video was purposefully and specifically chosen to be dropped... everything.
You can bet that every aspect of that video was planned, not just drops Nothing was left to randomness. Even the skill selection was pre-planned, imo, and so were the critters the barb smashed.
Kinnison
27-07-2008, 05:17
Cronk: Cronk like how She-Thing smashes friend
She-thing: She-Thing like how Cronk smashes friend
To say they are about raw POWER. Means BAM BAM! basically a tank. You saw how the barb dealt with the bridge. granted he used a chokepoint to reduce the swarm around him, but once he was in position it was Smash smash smash
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