I didnt want to dirty up the new D3 forums with old D2 junk, but I found thing old thrower guide I wrote up back in our heyday and got a good laugh out of it.
Im not sure really if this info is worth what it really says, but I think back then it was pretty close on target.
Genie’s Compilation Ranged Barbarian Guide v1.0
This guide is a compilation of multiple ranged barbarian guides in existence. This guide will cover the basis behind the Thrower variant and its off breed, the Hybrid barb. All the information contained within is copyright of its original author and used only as a compilation to help preserve in its entirety the information pertaining to the Throw Barb and the Hybrid Barb. So lets begin, shall we?
Terminology
Thrower – A barbarian who uses throwing class weapons as a form of attack, usually utilizing the skill “Throw Mastery” and the skill “Double Throw”
Hybrid – A barbarian who utilizes the skill of a Throw Barb but can easily substitute Throwing for Melee attacks, usually in the form of S/S
S/S – A form of Barb utilizing Swords and Shields equipped simultaneously. This guide will only cover the Hybrid side of S/S as there are FAQ’s and guides relating to this build.
DT – Double Throw, skill used to throw weapons in two hands at one time
TM – Throw Mastery, the skill that adds to damage and attack rating for throwing a weapon
BO – Battle Orders, a skill used by the barb to increase max mana and life.
Leech – The ability to return life or mana to your character based on the damage you deal and the %age you have of either leech type.
PDR% - Physical Damage Reduction %, all damage dealt to you that’s physical is reduced by this %age
Storm – Stormshield, the unique Monarch shield
Shaft – Shaftstop, unique mesh armor used primaryily in duels
String – String of Ears, unique demonhide belt used for dueling
Gaze – Vampire Gaze, unique grim helm
Arreats – Unique Slayer Guard, a barb only helm, called Arreat’s Face
PvP – Player versus Player, or dueling. Where 2 or more players battle each other.
PvM – Player versus Monster, as name implies, killing monsters of the game.
PK – Player Killing, the malicious form of dueling where one player kills another with the intent to flat out kill, the other player isn’t wary of the kill (For the most part)
Summary of the Sub-classes
Thrower Barb – Throw barbs tend to be more aloof, a faster breed of barbarian who rely more on their wits than their brawn. Strength isn’t needed but for your gear and Dexterity is pumped. Vitality is utmost important for any Barb and the thrower is no exception. Thrower Barbs have high amounts of life, high AR and really sweet damage from throwing weapons. This class is the most fun and most overlooked of variants today, although gaining in popularity pretty quick.
Hybrid Barbs are far from being traditional in any sense. Not a true S/S (Or Weapon/Shield of choice) but not a pure blood either (Pure bloods are what the Hybrids call their strictly throwing brethren). Hybrids gain the swift skill and speed of the Thrower variant, however they get the lethal strike and block of the S/S portion of the build with a switch of a button. High health and a great attack rating, along with the defense rating the Thrower lacks, this build gives both the Pure Thrower and the S/S types a run for their money.
This discussion will go over the pro’s and con’s of each class. Neither class is preferred over the other, since each has its advantages and disadvantages.
The Knitty Gritty (Building your Subclass)
Throwers- Thrower barbs only need enough str to equip their final gear. For most PvP Throwers, that’s Arreat’s Face, at a nice 118 Str. You can add a little more (125 is optimum for throwers, in my opinion) But a little less wont hurt, with added points from items. Dex is a concern though, and usually, most PvP’ers get that up to about 200 before leveling it out. 200 gives you a high attack rating and lets you equip those Harps later on. Energy isn’t a concern for you so never “EVER” put a single point into energy, no matter how much mana you go through early on. With this in mind, where will those extra stat points go? Simple solution: Vitality. Vitality is a thing a Thrower excels at having, the more the better I always say.
Sum’d up
Str: 118
Dex: 200
Vit: Everything Else
Rgy: Nothing (Leave at base)
Now that we have the stats down, lets look at the important skills a Thrower Barb will ultimately rely on.
(Based off TomaHawkXIII’s Thrower Barb guide v1.2)
WAR CRY tab
Battle Order’s (20) – Max this life/mana doubling, 7 mana cost war cry. You wont regret it later.
Battle Commands (0-1) – Imo, it’s a waste, you don’t need it. However, add a point to BO for a lv 21 increase, its all good.
Grim Ward (1) One of lifes 1-point wonders. This skill at lv 1 works its magic and you stay alive longer, that’s all you need.
Unmentioned skills – Don’t bother with em, its all I can say. Find Item might be useful for horking, but only if you intend on making this char a mf’er
MASTERY tab
Weapon Masteries (20 Throw, choice on anything else) First off, let me begin with SPEAR/AXE MASTERY WILL NOT STACK WITH THROW MASTERY. Throwing a weapon only gets affected by Throw Mastery, Axe and Spear mastery get theirs from melee only (That’s hand to hand). Spear Mastery doesn’t effect Javelin class weapons. Preference: Max Throw, ignore the rest
Increased Stamina (Pre-req) Drop a point and forget it, its not important…
Increased Speed (1-5) Depends on if you like to desync or not, I guess. 5 points is optimum, but anything can be achieved with run/walk charms.
Iron Skin (1-5, or pre-req) I personally would drop a point in it for a pre-req. If your getting hit more often, drop a few more in and ride it out, but +s to skill will help ya here.
Natural Resistance (1-5) I would sink 5 into this skill no questions. In Hell the +res will help you survive, whereas negative res kills. That’s right guys, Damage is King, and Speed is cool, but in reality, negative resistances is what kills!!!
COMBAT tab
Bash (pre-req) Somewhat of a 1 point wonder, this skill can be used for a pre-req or a standard attack at least til the double throwing comes into play.
Double Throw (1-20) I’d max it, the AR boost is amazing and well, what else do you need? You have to be able to hit, regardless. Personal preference, I s’pose.
Leap Attack (1 point wonder) This is your escape util, use this when your in the thick of battle and on your way to neg life (For idiots, that’s dying…) 1 point wonder!
Whirlwind/Berserk/Concentrate/Stun/Frenzy (1-20) Depends on your flavor. Most might want to drop some points into Berserk, I’ve seen whirly Chuckers, weird as it may seem. I would rather ignore all of these, personally.
Summary: Max Battle Orders, Double Throw, Throw Mastery. Get 5 points in Speed and Resist, and add gravy.
Hybrids- Hybrid Barbs have a versatility that the thrower genre lacks, but retains the important aspects of a thrower, being able to deal a substantial amount of damage with a ranged weapon. Since a Hybrid uses a 1 handed weapon on switch for melee, you have to determine your stats by the gear you “wish” to use. For the most part, though, the Hybrid tends to have similar stats of the Thrower, hence the versatility in using throw tactics. A mid ranged Strength followed up by Dexterity for AR make up this variant. Since this build is for more advanced players, its mostly geared towards PvP and as such, pays attention to detail when distributing Vitality to Dex/Str ratio.
Sum’d up
Str: 100-118, as little as possible (Uses items for boosts)
Dex: 130-150 (Also, uses items to boost. You need enough for your sword, so gear towards that. You can stop at 130 no problem)
Vit: Everything Else
Rgy: Nothing (Leave at base)
Time to invest your skills properly, and this is how your Hybrid should look, to the most extent. Remember, every skill counts!
(Based off PhiSig-MoB’s Hybrid Guide)
WAR CRY tab
Battle Order’s (20) – As mentioned in the Thrower portion, this skill is a must have. All Barbs should max this if anything.
Grim Ward (0) 1 point wonders, as mentioned above, are worth recognition, however as a Hybrid you don’t need it. 1 point for cows, otherwise leave it alone
Unmentioned skills – Don’t bother with em, I stress this more for the Hybrid than the Thrower, where every skill point spent counts..
MASTERY tab
Weapon Masteries (Ranges) SPEAR/AXE MASTERY WILL NOT STACK WITH THROW MASTERY. Maxing Throw Mastery is important for you, make sure to get it as high as possible, if not totally maxed, before working on other skills. When determining what to Hybrid in, remember you need to calculate damage/speed and range into the equation. Most Hybrids go with swords, but you can just as easily substitute your favorite melee weapon in this slot. For this example, we will assume Swords. Max Throw, put 10-Max Swords. To quote PhiSig “It depends on how much you use your sword. I have 10 in it and I’m quite happy. I’m sure there is an optimal skill point usage to damage breakdown between Whirlwind and this but I’m not getting into that just. I don’t really feel like calculating dmg functions and curves. “
Increased Speed (5-10) Most Hybrids will tell you that being a versatile character means people will hate you, and go cheaper, when dueling you. PhiSig recommends 5-10 for a good base, since you need to avoid those hard to dodge attacks such as Guided Arrow and the like. Remember, run/walk can easily be achieved through charms.
Iron Skin (1-5, or pre-req) This is more of a pre-req here than anything, since you should drop a few into Natural Resistances.
Natural Resistance (1-5) If you want maxed res in hell, go for it, add the 5, otherwise a point or 2 will suffice.
COMBAT tab
Double Throw (10-20) As I mentioned above, I would personally max this skill. The % to AR is awesome regardless if you’re a Hybrid or Pureblood. However, you can find ways to increase your AR from charms/items and save your much needed points for your Sword swinging side of things. (Say that 5 times fast)
Leap Attack (1 point wonder) Escape Util, use if you need, otherwise pre-req for Whirlwind
Whirlwind (10-Max) This is debatable for a Hybrid. There are 2 versions of a Hybrid, one that is mostly a Thrower, and those that like the S/S side of things. Max if you’re a whirler, otherwise 10 will give you positive damage and a nice way to surprise your opponent when they’ve seen the harps come out.
Berserk (discretion) You only need this when leveling for PI’s so get 1 point if you feel compelled, but remember, every point counts!
Unmentioned Skills – Mostly pre-req’s (Frenzy, according to PhiSig, is a great “Power up, Drive by” skill) Use em if you want to.
Summary: Max Battle Orders, Throw Mastery. Get 10-max of your weapon and 10-max of whirlwind. Drop utility skills (Speed to 5, Res to 1-2 or so) And practice, lots and lots of practice!
EQUIPMENT
Details to the Thrower world and the machinations of a Hybrid.
For the most part, Thrower and Hybrids alike use the same gear set up. Lets look at the possibilities though.
HELM
Arreat’s Face – For a Thrower, hands down the best. AR, skills, resist and leech. Hybrids love it too, as the icing for any barb, but these 2 are no exception.
Vampire Gaze – Duelers tend to use Vamp a lot for its dual leech and PDR%. Nice mods all around.
Tal-Rasha’s Horadric Crest – Dual Leech, added life/mana and some res, nice CHEAP helm for newer Throw/Hybrids.
BELT
Razortail – For leveling, this belt is godly for Throwers and Hybrids. AR, Dex and the popular 33% pierce (Your javs go through cows like pincushions)
String of Ears – Nice leech and pdr%, a good duelers belt
Mavina’s Tenet - Mana Leech and Faster run/walk %, a substitute belt for a cheap price.
BOOTS
War Traveller’s – For most players, War Traveller’s propose to be the best Magic Find boots around (Ranges from 25-50%) but for our ranged classes here, they add damage (No other boots add hard damage) and have stats, Vit and Dex. Hybrids love these boots, where as Throwers like a high Run/Walk trade off with Dex and AR
Immortal King’s Pillar – 44 to life, 40% r/w and 110 to AR with a decent defense, I use these on my Thrower.
Sander’s Riprap – The best overall for a Thrower, +10 dex and +5 str with 100 to AR and 40% r/w. these are the mods we look for on our boots.
GLOVES
Mangus Skin/Sander’s Taboo – Both have 20% increased attacxk speed and add nice mods. Both very good choices. Laying of Hands also falls into this department.
Crafted Gloves – This is where you come in, as none of the gloves mentioned above compare to what you can make as a Thrower or Hybrid. Crafting is my favorite hobbie and these babies give it all. Blood Recipe – 1-3% life leech and +15 or so to life, get 20% ias on this and a few more leech%’s (Including mana) and your set. The Hitpower recipe, although not used as much, adds knockback to your gloves. Knockback is a useful tool for your ranged attacks. Get 20% and leech and these things sell for a good sum. Get +dex and +str on these babies to soar.
APPAREL
Raven Frost – A perfect one adds 250 to AR and 20 dex, awesome for a Thrower. Cannot be frozen is its cup-of-tea. Hybrids use at least 1, whereas Throwers like wearing 2
Dual Leech Rings (Your standard classic dupes) – Personally, I dislike all dupes, including these, but they have their use. Dual Leech, stats and other bonuses. As a Thrower, late in the game, mana leech matters less, where a Hybrid needs as much as he can without depleting his damage and AR. This spells out nicely for either class
Blood Rings – Get a high life leech on these (8-11% is optimum) and some stat bonus and these compliment a Raven nicely.
Cat’s Eye – This ammy says it all. 30% faster r/w, 20% IAS and Dex! Throwers love it and Hybrids tend to use it more as well.
Highlord’s Wrath – Good bonuses but the one that shines is the 20% IAS, the +1 skills is okay, but not needed. Still a good ammy for either class
Classic +2 Barb ammy (Another dupe *sigh) Dual stat, leech and +2 skills. Nice mods for an ammy, keep this in mind when buying your gear.
ARMOR
Shaftstop – The 30% PDR is why people use it. It has a decent level/str req on it and nice defense. A duelers armor
Twitchthrow – IAS & Run/walk plus dex mods, this is a nice early level armor, its light so you run faster with it and its cheap to find.
Lionheart Runeword - +10 to stats, resistances and hard % damage! Awesome armor with easy to retrieve runes, HelLumFal.
WEAPONS (Throw)
NOTE: BARBARIANS CANNOT USE TITAN’S REVENGE!
Cruel Winged Harpoon of XXX – Ultimately this is what you want to look for, specifically of Quickness. 40% IAS is great for a thrower and cruels tend to have over 250 damage.
Stygian Pilum – cruel mods with a decent suffix, these are great for throwers, abiet a tad slower than the Winged Harps.
Ghost Glaives – Higher Damage (Over 350 on a perfect Cruel with no suffix) but the speed is slower, making throwers not want this. I personally love my Cruel of Gore (333 max) But as the saying goes. Damage is King but Speed kills.
Elite Axes (Any) – Get crafted/rare axes with 180+ damage to PvM with, leveling made easier with less fuss.
Deathbit/Scalper – Deathbit, for its level and damage, is quite decent for about 10 levels, specially if you get a perfect one. Scalper plain out sucks. If anyone ever uses it, they need shot!
WEAPON (Hybrid)
Personal preference here. For S/S You want a high damage Cruel with little mods. Highland Blades have low requirements and since you have little Str to supply a Cruel Col. Blade, stick with these. Remember, you cannot re-roll a Highland as you can a Colossus Blade.
SHIELD (Hybrid)
Stormshield – This is your best bet as a Hybrid, its got everything you’d want for a shield. Its most notable is the 35% PDR and +30 to str. The high block % is great too. Recommended dropping either a Hel or a –requirements jewel in this sucker to equip it easier.
Whistan’s Guard – High Defense and increased block, this shield can take Storms’s place if you cannot afford the Elite shield.
SUMMARY ON EQUIPMENT
Throwers want the AR, although each class uses the PDR%. Hybrids want the best weapons they can find with the requirements to suit them. R/W is a nice compliment to either class, keep this in mind too.
SUMMARY ON BUILDS (The tweaks, bugs and karma)
To kill isn’t about your damage, but its about delivery. Throwers and Hybrids need to be able to hit their opponents and to do so, you need AR. So you have the 10k Attack rating but you still die faster, why? You need the IAS (Increased Attack Speed) IAS is the rate at which your character animates an action, for example: Attacking. Higher IAS, the faster your harps travel across the screen and you hear that sorc’s deathcry. Too little, too slow. Get the IAS you need.
The Speed Bug – When you double throw, keep in mind you need the IAS to move faster, however there is a point at which your IAS gets buggy and causes you to lose one weapon’s stack size faster than the other. This usually occurs when the base speed of the weapon and the total IAS of your gear reaches the 70-75% range. Simply remove some IAS (It cant hurt) or add more (the Flash?) and you can fix this. Be warned. If one stack runs out faster than the other, that means your dueling time is going to be cut in half.
To duel is the fun part of a Hybrid and Throwers love to show other barbs we can dish it out and take it. Don’t let it go to your head, your not IRONSWORDBABA or anything, you can die, fast I might add, since you lack the stability of the cookie-cutters. Your build takes a lot of skill to play, don’t respect it, you lose control. Fail to understand how these builds work and you’ll fall to those cookie-cutters all day long.
PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER(PvP)
How to handle dueling in the world of D2
Each of these tactical ideas come from Phisig’s Hybrid and Phreek’s Thrower barb guides. Give em credit, they started it all.
Heh, check this out.
Heh, check this out.
The fleecy cloud may kiss the sky...the rose may kiss the butterfly...the morning dew may kiss the grass...and you, my friend, can kiss my ass!
