PunkPenguin
New member
Ultimate Throw Barb Handbook/Guide V1.00 By Penguin
Ultimate Throw Barb Handbook V1.00
Dedicated to The "Great Throwzini" himself, Scott Gracia. Knife throwing in real life and in Diablo 2 are hobbies i have a passion for. This guide is a Encyclopedia of all i have experienced, learned and stumbled upon in my career with Throw Barbs. Thanks for taking the time to read this and i hope this guide has been helpful for you and will encourage you to try somthing other than the boreing "run of the mill" character setups.
**WARNING**: If you are looking for a cookie-cutter build then read no further, this build is made for a more challenging aspect of a barb and will not be pwning everything left and right. It is made for a more enjoyable and challenging style to PvM and PvP with, so with that in mind please do not complain or be rude posting like "throwing barbs suxor" or anything, if you dont like it, then dont play or read it. Thank you. -Penguin-
Glossary:
1. Introduction
2. Basic overview of the Throw Barb
3. Skill and Stat placement and suggestions
4. Weapon and Gear selection
5. My Throw Barb and Epilogue
1. Introduction
Ive been playing Diablo games for about ten years now, and i am finally up to writing my first guide to my most favorite character build in Diablo 2. Never really had the time or motivation to write a guide but my diablo career seems to be comming to a close so i would like to pass on my experience and expertise onto everyone about this challenging, unique and very fun barbarian build. I could easily write a novel about this build but to spare you all from that im gonna get right to the point of everything as much as possible. So bear with me and come along into the ancient world of axe, javelin and knife throwing.
2. Basic Overview
A throw barb is a very unique build that is more similar to a javazon in most respects, except that you dont get lightning or poison skills for damage but you do get the added bonus of having high life and defense compared to most amazons. One of the best things about a throw barb is that you have the ability to dual wield two throwing weapons at the same time and use them in sequential attack with the skill double throw. Even though you can't use a shield with double throw the attack speed is a lot faster than if you were using a single handed throw. Now i know some of you may be thinking, how the hell can this build kill anything? Well thats where i come in to try and help you with a basic idea of some tactics and items to use and how to build a great throw barb. I have played throw barbs on single and multiplayer ever since Diablo 2 classic was out, and it is possible to beat the game with a throw barb even in hell. Dueling is where it really gets fun thou, not only because it takes skill to kill someone with a throw barb (you will get REALLY good at aiming trust me) but it also takes a lot of damage to do this with all of these cookie cutter builds around today. The good thing is you don't have to be super rich to make a throw barb, a lot of the gear can be found pretty easily or traded for cheap except for all of the real high end items like i use (than again im a perfectionist and i threw a lot of time and effort into making my throw barb). So without further adue lets take a look at some tips on how to start your throw barb.
3. Skill and Stat placement and suggestions
All right lets get down to the good stuff, here im gonna give some general advice about skill and stat placement.
First off we'll look at how much we should invest in stat points. At lvl 80 with all your quests done you will have 410 stat points to use along with 91 skill points
Stat Placement.
Strength - 30-118 Even though most barbs have high strength, with a throw barb you want to have the least amount of strength possible. Strength does raise your damage, but the attack rating bonus from dexterity is a greater factor. Normally a good rule of thumb is to have enough strength for your highest required item including bonuses from charms/items exc. Enigma is pricey but is a great armor for a throw barb, when used in a breast plate or mage plate a lot of times u can leave strength base and use a annihilus charm with some other strength charms and be able to use all of your equipment. Plus the teleport from Enigma comes in handle for getting around quick. If you can't afford an enigma or want to use other armor, make sure you have enough str to just be able to wear your equipment.Planning is the key when making your throw barb.
Dexterity - 150-200 I reccomend using at least 150 dex that way you can achieve a nice attack rating to hit things and dex raises your damage a lot so you can never go wrong here. The only thing you really need to decide is wether you want more damage or life. Ultimatly that will determine how much you put here. And remember you can get charms with bonuses to max damage/attack rating and life so try and get as many of those charms as you can.
Vitality - 150-200 Again same thing between the dex and life situation, if you want more life invest here. From my experience i used about 180 points in dex but i am a damage freak and i have a lot of max/ar/life charms. A good amount of life is anywhere from 2000-3000 for a throw barb with battle orders. I have about 3400 life at lvl 86 but that is with charms. Later on ill give a detailed description on what my throw barb uses.
Energy -NOTHING! i dont even know why they made an energy slot for barbs, no offence to all you singer barbs out there.
Skill Placement
Throwing Mastery - 20 points -DUH! your a throw barb you need to max this out so you can get a decent attack. ALWAYS MAX THIS SKILL FOR ANY THROW BARB!
Double Swing - 20 points - This is they synergy for Double throw and it gives you a added 8% damage per skill point invested, thats 160% more damage at skill level 20. Max this skill also (FYI: + to skills do not add damage to the synergy so you only get the bonus for actual invested skill points).
Double Throw - 1-20 points- Depending on wether you are going to be using the angelics ring + amulet combo and if you are gonna be PvM or PvP, you should invest as many points in this skill as you see fit. You will have enough points to be able to max this skill after maxing mastery, battle orders, and double swing so i suggest maxing this skill because as a throw barb you need all of the attack rating you can get.
Battle Orders - 20 points- This skill boosts you life and mana, always max this skill on any barb.
Iron Skin, Natural Resists, Increased Speed, Increased Stamina - These are all one point wonders. If you are lacking in resists you can throw some extra points in Natural Resists after you get your other skills maxed. This is what i did on my barb because i dont have much resists gear on with my items.
Shout - If you want higher defense for doing Barb vs. Barb dueling (although nowadays even with my godly gear i cant kill too many barbs) then u can throw more points in here, of if you are inclined to Iron Skin. I like shout better because it gives you extra time on your other warcries too.
4. Weapon and Gear Selection
Here is where the fun begins, this is what makes the whole build, mainly your weapons but all of your gear in general is driven toward becomming a better throw barb. Lets take a look at some of the cool items diablo has to offer to us.
**Please Read** As far as throwing weapons go, axes and knives have a shorter range compared to javelins and spears. Axes and knives travel about to your screens edge while javelins will actually go off screen about 5 yards. Always take this into consideration when PvPing so you can hit your targets because otherwise you might be too far away and they will not get hit. Also with double throw there is a bug that your stacks will decrease unevenly when you throw real fast. This is no longer too much of a worry for your etheral throwing weapons because in 1.10 if your etheral throwing weapons reaches zero quantity it CAN REPLENSIH ITSELF NOW!. Before 1.10 etheral throwing items with replenish quantity would break if their quantity reached zero, now there are no more worries. Also if you have a throwing weapon that is etheral and does not replenish quantity such as Gimmer Shreds, they will become uneless once their stack is depleated and there is no way to repair them.
Weapon Selection
Knives + Axes
*BEST PvP* Etheral Lacerator - This is by far one of the best throwing items the game has as far as PvP goes. It is also very handy to use one of these baby's in PvM with another good weapon. With nice damage, 30% ias, 33% chance of open wounds and best of all, 33% chance to cast lvl 3 Amplify damage on striking. With the amp skill you will no longer have to worry about physical immunes in PvM because it removes the immunity, and in PvP it will double your damage! Although the hit causes monster to flee can be annoying in PvM, it does help if you get swarmed to keep a few monsters off of your back. All around the benefist outweigh the downfalls of this axe, a deffinat A+ for this item. Try all you can to get a pair of decent etheral lacerators, non etheral ones are really easy to get but the etheral ones can be far and few between.
Etheral Warshrike - Warshrikes are VERY VERY fast! These guys can hit some insane speed break points and are the fastest of all the unique throwing weapons. The damage is not too impressive unless you can find some etheral ones. These knives are ladder only too so if you are on non ladder they will be harder to get. These knives have a piercing attack at a 33% chance which means they knife will penetrate your target and pass through hitting anything behind it. Also they have 50% deadly strike which doubles your damage and 30% increased attack speed. My favorite thing about warshrikes is all the nova's they create when they hit because it looks really cool. I do not reccomend these unless you have the etheral versions, but if you are going to use a non etheral one use only one in conjunction with a lacerator, they make a great combo.
*BEST PvM* Gimmershred - These throwing axes are my pick for the best throwing weapon to be used for PvM. With a stack size of 240, you wont have to go to town to repair as much or have to wait for etheral weapons to replenish. They have a nice 30% increased attack speed and massive fire, cold and lightning damage. Your best bet is ether to use two of these for PvM or use one with a lacerator. A+ for PvM selection.
Deathbit - These knives are great for lower levels when you are in nightmare with your throw barb. They offer 40% deadly strike, a bonus to attack rating and mana + life leech. The etheral versions are by far the best and you can upgrade them to flying knives if you are on ladder. The recipe to upgrade to an elite unique weapon is Pul rune + Lum rune and a perfect emerald. I only suggest upgradeing etheral ones otherwise the damage is too low. Even though these knives lack ias, there base speed is decent.
Scalper - The etheral versions of these can get higher damage than a etheral lacerator, but the scalper lacks the amplify damage. Scalpers are a bit slower also. The etheral ones are the best and can be upgraded to flying axes. I would not reccomend going out of your way to buy these things, if you come acrossed them go ahead and use them but you would be better off putting the value into a lacerator instead. In all a decent weapons with 20 ias, 33% open wounds and the 25% bonus to attack rating is good.
Javelins + Spears
Demon Archs - These spears have great speed with elemental damage and life leech. The only downside to javelins is their stack size is so low at 80. The etheral Demon archs are impressive its just it sucks having to wait around for them to repair because you will run out too quick.
Gargoyle's Bit + Wraith Flight - These javelins have some nice damage especially the etheral versions, but the attack speed is very slow so i do not reccomend using these unless you have too. Speed is the key to killing effectively and these just lack in that area.
Rare Throwing Weapons - Rare throwing weapons (axes, knives + javelins) can have some of the best mods in the game on them. Find a etheral one with high ed, ias and replenish quantity and you have a god send of a weapon. Look for weapons that have increased attack speed, bonuses to attack rating, high damage, etheral with replenish quantity, increased stack size (great for winged harpoons) the fool's mod, and plus to max damage.
Armor + Other Gear
Helm- Arreats Face -There is NO SUBSTITUTION for this helm! +2 barb skills, 20% bonus to attack rating, +20 str and dex, +2 combat skills and 3-6% life leech +30 all resists and 30% faster hit recovery. This is by far the best helm in the game for any barb!
Body Armor- Enigma- This is the best armor for a first time thrower to use if you can afford it. The bonus to strength will allow you to save more points to use for dex/life if you make this in a low strength armor. Has +2 skills and 45% faster run/walk 8% damage reduce and increase max life 5%. Plus the teleport is very handy when dueling.
160ed/60ias armor - If you can afford this it is a deffinat better pick than enigma. Use it in a jewelers plate of the whale for some added life. This is what my throw barb uses and even thou you have to invest more into strength the 60% increased attack speed and 160% more damage are the best.
Crowcaw - This would be the poor mans choice of armor for a throw barb, with 15% increased attack speed, +15 dex and 35% open wounds this armor is very thrower friendly. Other viable armors would be Lionheart and Duress runewords, or you can always make 60%ias armor if you cannot get the ed/ias jewels.
Boots- Gore Riders- By far the best boots for a throw barb, 30% faster run, 10% open wounds, 15% deadly strike and 15% crushing blow.
Belt- Razor Tail- Great belt offering piercing attack, +10 max damage, +15 dexterity. All great thrower mods.
Noferatu's Coil - Awsome belt with 10% ias, +15 str, life leech and slows target by 10%( this is a lot of times considered bad manners in PvP, but in PvM slow target is great).
Verdungo's Hearty Cord- Great belt which is better for Barb Vs. Barb with 10-15% damage reduction, 10% faster hit recovery and a massive +30-40 to vitality.
Crafted Blood Belt- These belts always get open wounds on them, other mods to look for are + strength, faster hit recovery, resists and life.
Gloves- Draculs Grasp -Great gloves for PvP and PvM with chance to cast life tap, 7-10% life leech, 25% chance of open wounds, +10-15 to strength and +to life after each kill.
Bloodfists - Awsome gloves for any level, 10% ias, 30% faster hit recovery, +5 min damage, +40 life
Crafted Knockback Gloves - Knockback is an awsome mod to get, craft these gloves till you get some with 20% ias and you have the best gloves for duelin. If they happen to spawn with high +strength or dex, or even both you have the best dueling gloves in the game
.
Rings + Amulets
*BEST PvP* - Angelic Combo- The angelics amulet + 2 rings are the best combination to be used for pvp. This will give you a hell of a lot of attack rating which you will need for hitting barbs and paladins.
Raven Frost- Great ring with +150-250 attack rating, cold damage, +15-20 dexterity +40 mana, 20% cold absorb (great for sorcs) and most importantly CANNOT BE FROZEN!.
Highlords Wrath- Amulet with +1 skills, 20% ias, lightning resist and deadly strike per character lvl.
Cats Eye- Cool amulet with 20% ias, 30% faster run, +100 defense and +25 dexterity.
Rare Rings + Amulets- Keep any eye out for rare rings with dual leech, +attack rating, +damage, +str and dex, and for amulets look for +barb skills, leech, +str and dex, Prizmatic (all resists) mod and poison length reduction.
Charms
Mods to look for in charms would be grand charms with +1 barb masteries, +life, small/large charms with +max damage and attack rating, strength or dex mods, or even warcry grand charms if you want a higher battle orders.
Annihilus- Try and get one of these, Uber Diablo drops this: +1 skills, +10-20 all stats, +10-20 all resistances, +5-10% experience gained.
5. My Throw Barb + Epilogue.
Just to delve anyone's curiousity on what my throw barb uses and his stats, heres what i use.
Helm- Arreats face socketed with "Cham" rune (cannot be frozen)
Armor- 160ed/60ias archon plate -or- enigma (depends on if im dueling casters or not)
Belt- Crafted Blood Belt- 24% faster hit recovery, 10% open wounds, +25 strength, +24 life
Boots- Goreriders of coarse
Gloves- Crafted knockback gloves with +15 str and +9 dex
Jewelery- Angelic amulet +2 rings
Weapons-(Im going to list all the throwing weapons i have and use)
2x Etheral Lacerators 199 and 198ed
2x Eth Warshrikes 248 and 239ed
2xEth Deathbits upgraded 175 and 172ed
Eth Scalper Upgraded 193ed
2x Gimmershred 208 and 200ed
These next two weapons are my pride and joy, they are uber sexy rare weapons and im going to list all there stats so you have an idea of what can spawn sometimes.
Storm Splitter -Rare flying Axe
97-437 throw damage
40% increased attack speed
342% enhanced damage
+183 attack rating
6% cold resists
Repenish Quantity
Etheral (cannot be repaired)
Stack Size of 180
Storm Bar- Rare Winged Harpoon
55-400 Throw Damage
40% increased attack speed
248% enhanced damage
4% life steel
Increased stack size
Replenish quantity
Etheral (Cannot be repaired
Stack size of 159 (compared to 80 as normal winged harpoons)
As far as charms go i use mostly max/ar/life gc's sc's and an annahilus.
My normal dueling setup i use my 199ed Eth Lacerator with the Storm Splitter flyign axe with double throw, damage is 9K for the lacerator and 13k for the flying axe
On weapon switch i use Storm Bar Winged Harpoon with Phoenix runeword shield, gives me blocking and 373% enhnaced damage, 13k damage one handed throw!
One handed attack rating is 16k, which double throw is 25k.
Epilogue
Well there you have it! I could give some details about dueling strategies and playing style but as an opinion it is more fun to figure it out by yourself. Then you really experience the skill and appreciate how much fun it can be to play a throw barb. Trial and error is the best way to learn, when i started playing throwers it was all trial and error, so good luck and thank you for reading my guide to throw barbs and how to build an effective one. Throw fast, hit hard, stay sharp and run like hell!
-Penguin-
**If you would like to contact me you can reach me on Battle.Net Uswest Ladder *Mr.Penguin69 -or- you can private message me here on the forums.** Im always happy to give tips and help with throw barb strategies.
Ultimate Throw Barb Handbook V1.00
Dedicated to The "Great Throwzini" himself, Scott Gracia. Knife throwing in real life and in Diablo 2 are hobbies i have a passion for. This guide is a Encyclopedia of all i have experienced, learned and stumbled upon in my career with Throw Barbs. Thanks for taking the time to read this and i hope this guide has been helpful for you and will encourage you to try somthing other than the boreing "run of the mill" character setups.
**WARNING**: If you are looking for a cookie-cutter build then read no further, this build is made for a more challenging aspect of a barb and will not be pwning everything left and right. It is made for a more enjoyable and challenging style to PvM and PvP with, so with that in mind please do not complain or be rude posting like "throwing barbs suxor" or anything, if you dont like it, then dont play or read it. Thank you. -Penguin-
Glossary:
1. Introduction
2. Basic overview of the Throw Barb
3. Skill and Stat placement and suggestions
4. Weapon and Gear selection
5. My Throw Barb and Epilogue
1. Introduction
Ive been playing Diablo games for about ten years now, and i am finally up to writing my first guide to my most favorite character build in Diablo 2. Never really had the time or motivation to write a guide but my diablo career seems to be comming to a close so i would like to pass on my experience and expertise onto everyone about this challenging, unique and very fun barbarian build. I could easily write a novel about this build but to spare you all from that im gonna get right to the point of everything as much as possible. So bear with me and come along into the ancient world of axe, javelin and knife throwing.
2. Basic Overview
A throw barb is a very unique build that is more similar to a javazon in most respects, except that you dont get lightning or poison skills for damage but you do get the added bonus of having high life and defense compared to most amazons. One of the best things about a throw barb is that you have the ability to dual wield two throwing weapons at the same time and use them in sequential attack with the skill double throw. Even though you can't use a shield with double throw the attack speed is a lot faster than if you were using a single handed throw. Now i know some of you may be thinking, how the hell can this build kill anything? Well thats where i come in to try and help you with a basic idea of some tactics and items to use and how to build a great throw barb. I have played throw barbs on single and multiplayer ever since Diablo 2 classic was out, and it is possible to beat the game with a throw barb even in hell. Dueling is where it really gets fun thou, not only because it takes skill to kill someone with a throw barb (you will get REALLY good at aiming trust me) but it also takes a lot of damage to do this with all of these cookie cutter builds around today. The good thing is you don't have to be super rich to make a throw barb, a lot of the gear can be found pretty easily or traded for cheap except for all of the real high end items like i use (than again im a perfectionist and i threw a lot of time and effort into making my throw barb). So without further adue lets take a look at some tips on how to start your throw barb.
3. Skill and Stat placement and suggestions
All right lets get down to the good stuff, here im gonna give some general advice about skill and stat placement.
First off we'll look at how much we should invest in stat points. At lvl 80 with all your quests done you will have 410 stat points to use along with 91 skill points
Stat Placement.
Strength - 30-118 Even though most barbs have high strength, with a throw barb you want to have the least amount of strength possible. Strength does raise your damage, but the attack rating bonus from dexterity is a greater factor. Normally a good rule of thumb is to have enough strength for your highest required item including bonuses from charms/items exc. Enigma is pricey but is a great armor for a throw barb, when used in a breast plate or mage plate a lot of times u can leave strength base and use a annihilus charm with some other strength charms and be able to use all of your equipment. Plus the teleport from Enigma comes in handle for getting around quick. If you can't afford an enigma or want to use other armor, make sure you have enough str to just be able to wear your equipment.Planning is the key when making your throw barb.
Dexterity - 150-200 I reccomend using at least 150 dex that way you can achieve a nice attack rating to hit things and dex raises your damage a lot so you can never go wrong here. The only thing you really need to decide is wether you want more damage or life. Ultimatly that will determine how much you put here. And remember you can get charms with bonuses to max damage/attack rating and life so try and get as many of those charms as you can.
Vitality - 150-200 Again same thing between the dex and life situation, if you want more life invest here. From my experience i used about 180 points in dex but i am a damage freak and i have a lot of max/ar/life charms. A good amount of life is anywhere from 2000-3000 for a throw barb with battle orders. I have about 3400 life at lvl 86 but that is with charms. Later on ill give a detailed description on what my throw barb uses.
Energy -NOTHING! i dont even know why they made an energy slot for barbs, no offence to all you singer barbs out there.
Skill Placement
Throwing Mastery - 20 points -DUH! your a throw barb you need to max this out so you can get a decent attack. ALWAYS MAX THIS SKILL FOR ANY THROW BARB!
Double Swing - 20 points - This is they synergy for Double throw and it gives you a added 8% damage per skill point invested, thats 160% more damage at skill level 20. Max this skill also (FYI: + to skills do not add damage to the synergy so you only get the bonus for actual invested skill points).
Double Throw - 1-20 points- Depending on wether you are going to be using the angelics ring + amulet combo and if you are gonna be PvM or PvP, you should invest as many points in this skill as you see fit. You will have enough points to be able to max this skill after maxing mastery, battle orders, and double swing so i suggest maxing this skill because as a throw barb you need all of the attack rating you can get.
Battle Orders - 20 points- This skill boosts you life and mana, always max this skill on any barb.
Iron Skin, Natural Resists, Increased Speed, Increased Stamina - These are all one point wonders. If you are lacking in resists you can throw some extra points in Natural Resists after you get your other skills maxed. This is what i did on my barb because i dont have much resists gear on with my items.
Shout - If you want higher defense for doing Barb vs. Barb dueling (although nowadays even with my godly gear i cant kill too many barbs) then u can throw more points in here, of if you are inclined to Iron Skin. I like shout better because it gives you extra time on your other warcries too.
4. Weapon and Gear Selection
Here is where the fun begins, this is what makes the whole build, mainly your weapons but all of your gear in general is driven toward becomming a better throw barb. Lets take a look at some of the cool items diablo has to offer to us.
**Please Read** As far as throwing weapons go, axes and knives have a shorter range compared to javelins and spears. Axes and knives travel about to your screens edge while javelins will actually go off screen about 5 yards. Always take this into consideration when PvPing so you can hit your targets because otherwise you might be too far away and they will not get hit. Also with double throw there is a bug that your stacks will decrease unevenly when you throw real fast. This is no longer too much of a worry for your etheral throwing weapons because in 1.10 if your etheral throwing weapons reaches zero quantity it CAN REPLENSIH ITSELF NOW!. Before 1.10 etheral throwing items with replenish quantity would break if their quantity reached zero, now there are no more worries. Also if you have a throwing weapon that is etheral and does not replenish quantity such as Gimmer Shreds, they will become uneless once their stack is depleated and there is no way to repair them.
Weapon Selection
Knives + Axes
*BEST PvP* Etheral Lacerator - This is by far one of the best throwing items the game has as far as PvP goes. It is also very handy to use one of these baby's in PvM with another good weapon. With nice damage, 30% ias, 33% chance of open wounds and best of all, 33% chance to cast lvl 3 Amplify damage on striking. With the amp skill you will no longer have to worry about physical immunes in PvM because it removes the immunity, and in PvP it will double your damage! Although the hit causes monster to flee can be annoying in PvM, it does help if you get swarmed to keep a few monsters off of your back. All around the benefist outweigh the downfalls of this axe, a deffinat A+ for this item. Try all you can to get a pair of decent etheral lacerators, non etheral ones are really easy to get but the etheral ones can be far and few between.
Etheral Warshrike - Warshrikes are VERY VERY fast! These guys can hit some insane speed break points and are the fastest of all the unique throwing weapons. The damage is not too impressive unless you can find some etheral ones. These knives are ladder only too so if you are on non ladder they will be harder to get. These knives have a piercing attack at a 33% chance which means they knife will penetrate your target and pass through hitting anything behind it. Also they have 50% deadly strike which doubles your damage and 30% increased attack speed. My favorite thing about warshrikes is all the nova's they create when they hit because it looks really cool. I do not reccomend these unless you have the etheral versions, but if you are going to use a non etheral one use only one in conjunction with a lacerator, they make a great combo.
*BEST PvM* Gimmershred - These throwing axes are my pick for the best throwing weapon to be used for PvM. With a stack size of 240, you wont have to go to town to repair as much or have to wait for etheral weapons to replenish. They have a nice 30% increased attack speed and massive fire, cold and lightning damage. Your best bet is ether to use two of these for PvM or use one with a lacerator. A+ for PvM selection.
Deathbit - These knives are great for lower levels when you are in nightmare with your throw barb. They offer 40% deadly strike, a bonus to attack rating and mana + life leech. The etheral versions are by far the best and you can upgrade them to flying knives if you are on ladder. The recipe to upgrade to an elite unique weapon is Pul rune + Lum rune and a perfect emerald. I only suggest upgradeing etheral ones otherwise the damage is too low. Even though these knives lack ias, there base speed is decent.
Scalper - The etheral versions of these can get higher damage than a etheral lacerator, but the scalper lacks the amplify damage. Scalpers are a bit slower also. The etheral ones are the best and can be upgraded to flying axes. I would not reccomend going out of your way to buy these things, if you come acrossed them go ahead and use them but you would be better off putting the value into a lacerator instead. In all a decent weapons with 20 ias, 33% open wounds and the 25% bonus to attack rating is good.
Javelins + Spears
Demon Archs - These spears have great speed with elemental damage and life leech. The only downside to javelins is their stack size is so low at 80. The etheral Demon archs are impressive its just it sucks having to wait around for them to repair because you will run out too quick.
Gargoyle's Bit + Wraith Flight - These javelins have some nice damage especially the etheral versions, but the attack speed is very slow so i do not reccomend using these unless you have too. Speed is the key to killing effectively and these just lack in that area.
Rare Throwing Weapons - Rare throwing weapons (axes, knives + javelins) can have some of the best mods in the game on them. Find a etheral one with high ed, ias and replenish quantity and you have a god send of a weapon. Look for weapons that have increased attack speed, bonuses to attack rating, high damage, etheral with replenish quantity, increased stack size (great for winged harpoons) the fool's mod, and plus to max damage.
Armor + Other Gear
Helm- Arreats Face -There is NO SUBSTITUTION for this helm! +2 barb skills, 20% bonus to attack rating, +20 str and dex, +2 combat skills and 3-6% life leech +30 all resists and 30% faster hit recovery. This is by far the best helm in the game for any barb!
Body Armor- Enigma- This is the best armor for a first time thrower to use if you can afford it. The bonus to strength will allow you to save more points to use for dex/life if you make this in a low strength armor. Has +2 skills and 45% faster run/walk 8% damage reduce and increase max life 5%. Plus the teleport is very handy when dueling.
160ed/60ias armor - If you can afford this it is a deffinat better pick than enigma. Use it in a jewelers plate of the whale for some added life. This is what my throw barb uses and even thou you have to invest more into strength the 60% increased attack speed and 160% more damage are the best.
Crowcaw - This would be the poor mans choice of armor for a throw barb, with 15% increased attack speed, +15 dex and 35% open wounds this armor is very thrower friendly. Other viable armors would be Lionheart and Duress runewords, or you can always make 60%ias armor if you cannot get the ed/ias jewels.
Boots- Gore Riders- By far the best boots for a throw barb, 30% faster run, 10% open wounds, 15% deadly strike and 15% crushing blow.
Belt- Razor Tail- Great belt offering piercing attack, +10 max damage, +15 dexterity. All great thrower mods.
Noferatu's Coil - Awsome belt with 10% ias, +15 str, life leech and slows target by 10%( this is a lot of times considered bad manners in PvP, but in PvM slow target is great).
Verdungo's Hearty Cord- Great belt which is better for Barb Vs. Barb with 10-15% damage reduction, 10% faster hit recovery and a massive +30-40 to vitality.
Crafted Blood Belt- These belts always get open wounds on them, other mods to look for are + strength, faster hit recovery, resists and life.
Gloves- Draculs Grasp -Great gloves for PvP and PvM with chance to cast life tap, 7-10% life leech, 25% chance of open wounds, +10-15 to strength and +to life after each kill.
Bloodfists - Awsome gloves for any level, 10% ias, 30% faster hit recovery, +5 min damage, +40 life
Crafted Knockback Gloves - Knockback is an awsome mod to get, craft these gloves till you get some with 20% ias and you have the best gloves for duelin. If they happen to spawn with high +strength or dex, or even both you have the best dueling gloves in the game
.Rings + Amulets
*BEST PvP* - Angelic Combo- The angelics amulet + 2 rings are the best combination to be used for pvp. This will give you a hell of a lot of attack rating which you will need for hitting barbs and paladins.
Raven Frost- Great ring with +150-250 attack rating, cold damage, +15-20 dexterity +40 mana, 20% cold absorb (great for sorcs) and most importantly CANNOT BE FROZEN!.
Highlords Wrath- Amulet with +1 skills, 20% ias, lightning resist and deadly strike per character lvl.
Cats Eye- Cool amulet with 20% ias, 30% faster run, +100 defense and +25 dexterity.
Rare Rings + Amulets- Keep any eye out for rare rings with dual leech, +attack rating, +damage, +str and dex, and for amulets look for +barb skills, leech, +str and dex, Prizmatic (all resists) mod and poison length reduction.
Charms
Mods to look for in charms would be grand charms with +1 barb masteries, +life, small/large charms with +max damage and attack rating, strength or dex mods, or even warcry grand charms if you want a higher battle orders.
Annihilus- Try and get one of these, Uber Diablo drops this: +1 skills, +10-20 all stats, +10-20 all resistances, +5-10% experience gained.
5. My Throw Barb + Epilogue.
Just to delve anyone's curiousity on what my throw barb uses and his stats, heres what i use.
Helm- Arreats face socketed with "Cham" rune (cannot be frozen)
Armor- 160ed/60ias archon plate -or- enigma (depends on if im dueling casters or not)
Belt- Crafted Blood Belt- 24% faster hit recovery, 10% open wounds, +25 strength, +24 life
Boots- Goreriders of coarse
Gloves- Crafted knockback gloves with +15 str and +9 dex
Jewelery- Angelic amulet +2 rings
Weapons-(Im going to list all the throwing weapons i have and use)
2x Etheral Lacerators 199 and 198ed
2x Eth Warshrikes 248 and 239ed
2xEth Deathbits upgraded 175 and 172ed
Eth Scalper Upgraded 193ed
2x Gimmershred 208 and 200ed
These next two weapons are my pride and joy, they are uber sexy rare weapons and im going to list all there stats so you have an idea of what can spawn sometimes.
Storm Splitter -Rare flying Axe
97-437 throw damage
40% increased attack speed
342% enhanced damage
+183 attack rating
6% cold resists
Repenish Quantity
Etheral (cannot be repaired)
Stack Size of 180
Storm Bar- Rare Winged Harpoon
55-400 Throw Damage
40% increased attack speed
248% enhanced damage
4% life steel
Increased stack size
Replenish quantity
Etheral (Cannot be repaired
Stack size of 159 (compared to 80 as normal winged harpoons)
As far as charms go i use mostly max/ar/life gc's sc's and an annahilus.
My normal dueling setup i use my 199ed Eth Lacerator with the Storm Splitter flyign axe with double throw, damage is 9K for the lacerator and 13k for the flying axe
On weapon switch i use Storm Bar Winged Harpoon with Phoenix runeword shield, gives me blocking and 373% enhnaced damage, 13k damage one handed throw!
One handed attack rating is 16k, which double throw is 25k.
Epilogue
Well there you have it! I could give some details about dueling strategies and playing style but as an opinion it is more fun to figure it out by yourself. Then you really experience the skill and appreciate how much fun it can be to play a throw barb. Trial and error is the best way to learn, when i started playing throwers it was all trial and error, so good luck and thank you for reading my guide to throw barbs and how to build an effective one. Throw fast, hit hard, stay sharp and run like hell!
-Penguin-
**If you would like to contact me you can reach me on Battle.Net Uswest Ladder *Mr.Penguin69 -or- you can private message me here on the forums.** Im always happy to give tips and help with throw barb strategies.
Rare items can also be up'ed so if you ever find any good 350% ed++ ethereal items don't just throw them away at first sight.