First off, let
me say the Barbarian is not my favorite character. He is powerful,
I know -- but while others think that's a good thing, I don't
have much fun with it. My first Barbarian, way back in the
days of 1.00, was a polearm whirlwinder. He was powerful,
VERY powerful... so powerful I wasn't having any fun. The
game turned into endless repetitions of "click around,
everything dies, pick up the treasure, move on"; it was
just too easy. I quit out of boredom and never made another
until after the expansion came out. Trying to give the Barb
another shot, I made a thrower. He was powerful, VERY powerful...
until I met a physical immune. Then he was helpless (at the
time, I did not know Berserk did magical damage.) Barbarians
seemed either overwhelming or impotent, neither of which is
fun to play.
So... let's give
the Barbarian another chance. Surely, I can come up with something
crippled enough for the game to be a challenge. The most popular
combat skills seem to be Whirlwind and Frenzy -- avoid them.
This leaves the Bash - Stun - Concentrate - Berserk tree.
Ah, an idea comes to me. The first item set I managed to complete
was the Berserker's Arsenal. To celebrate this awesome achievement,
our Barbarian will be an axe berserker.
Now, what is a
Berserker? In dark ages Nordic societies, a berserker was
a mad fighter, tough enough to forego armor completely, but
not much good for anything besides war and fighting. The name
was applied to any warrior outside the mainstream of society
-- bandits, pirates, duelists, professional warriors, etc.
Even among the Nordic peoples, most made a living by farming
and trade, and only occasionally went raiding, or "viking."
When war came, or during a feud, the berserker had a place
like no other. They were frightening men, and you always wanted
them on your side. But no one wanted to be led by a Berserker,
or have one as a neighbor during peacetime. Old Scandinavian
cultures admired honesty, hospitality, courage, and loyalty
-- a berserker might get one out of four.
The Barbarians
of Diablo II are more like the popular conception of Celts
and Vikings than anything else in the real world, with some
important differences. Even during peace, I doubt they farm;
they're supposed to be nomads, who are usually hunter/gatherers.
Their mandate from Heaven, coupled with being physically different
from everyone around them, would make them very proud indeed.
Most or all males are warriors, so having a berserker as a
neighbor wouldn't be uncommon. As in real life, there do not
seem to be female warriors, so there are probably strongly
traditional gender-based roles in Barbarian culture, even
more so than in the rest of the world. Because they are supposed
to stay in the mountains, going on raids among the lowlanders
wouldn't be as popular, and they sure don't trade much. A
Barbarian would likely be arrogant, xenophobic, and sexist
by anyone else's standards.
So, what will our
Barbarian have? The Berserker's Set, obviously. That's splint
mail, a helm, and a one-handed axe. In his off hand, a shield.
The Vikings described berserkers as "mad shield biters"
for their way of biting the edges of their shields as the
fit came over them; while they might eschew armor, a shield
was permissible. A "Rhyme" tower shield will do
nicely. You can't leech with Berserk, but there's plenty of
potions. Switch to Concentrate for leeching if needed. Choose
armor for its properties, not defense. Even Greyform would
be decent. He'll need high shield blocking and resistances,
or a lot of hit points, preferably both. Finally, a name:
"Tearlach", a Celtic name meaning "strong and
manly."
Enough planning!
As the Vikings say, "A man should be wise in moderation,
but never too wise. His mind is freer of care if he doesn't
know his fate in advance." What good does long contemplation
do for anyone? Into the fray!
