Berserk Barbarian Build (2024)

Last updated on Apr 28, 2022 at 12:00by MrLlamaSC1 comment

The Berserk Barbarian, also known sometimes as a Pitzerker, is the bestMagic Finding character in Diablo 2. The reason for this is that not only doeshe move quickly through areas and have high survivability with his shouts, buthe has the skill Item Find that uses his Magic Find every time it successfullypops a corpse. Because of this, the number of unique monsters that he can killand Magic Find "double-dip" is higher than any other character, thus giving himthe title of greatest Magic Find character in the game.

The best place to farm for the top tier items comes from Unique Monsters inlocation with a high Area Level (alvl), such as The Pit or Ancient Tunnels. Bytaking advantage of the skill Find Item the Berserk Barbarian candouble-dip on these monsters drops, making him more effective at Magic Findingthan any other character in the game. His unique build style and speed also makehim faster than other Barbarians and truly the king of farming.

You can check the viability of this build in PvM by consulting our PvM Tier List.

The following section shows the core skills for the BerserkerBarbarian. For a detailed breakdown of all core and optional skills as well asthe recommended order for allocating skill points, refer to theSkills page of this guide.

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Berserk — Main skill used by the character,required
3. 20 points to Weapon Mastery of choice — Sword Masteryrecommended, required
4. 20 points to Battle Orders — Increases Life and Mana,required
5. 20 points to Find Potion — Synergy for Find Item,required
6. 15+ points to Find Item — Increases chance to find additionalloot, required
7. 1 points to Increased Speed — Great for additional FasterRun/Walk Speed, required
8. 1 points to Natural Resistance — Adds a lot of ElementalResistance, required
9. 1+ points to Howl — Allows you to scare off all non-Uniquemonsters and Synergy for Berserk, required
10. 1 points to Battle Command — Increases skills by 1,required

Since the Berserk Barbarian is not a starter character, we recommend using ageneric Barbarian build until the appropriate level. For more information, referto the Early Leveling section of thisguide.

You can read more details about the Stats and Attribute requirements forthis build on ourSkills page.

The following section shows some of the most important Items for the Berserker Barbarian. For a detailed per-slot breakdown of all Berserker Barbarian Items and alternative builds, refer to theGear page of this guide.

• Weapon: Grief ( Phase Blade preferred)
• Weapon Offhand: Phase Blade socketed with 6 Ist Runes
• Weapon Swap: Wizardspike and Wizardspike
• Body Armor: Enigma
• Helm: Harlequin Crest
• Gloves: Chance Guards
• Boots: War Traveler
• Belt: Goldwrap
• Ring 1: Nagelring
• Ring 2: Nagelring or Ring with +10% Faster Cast Rate to reach the105% breakpoint
• Amulet: Highlord's Wrath or Amulet with +5% Faster Cast Rate to hitthe 105% breakpoint
• Charm 1: Barbarian Hellfire Torch
• Charm 2: Annihilus
• Charm 3: 40% MF Gheed's Fortune
• Rest of Charms: Small Charms with 7% Magic Find

We also have a video guide that goes over the build, if you prefer thatinstead of or in addition to our written guide.

In Diablo 2, stats that affect action speed (known as frames) forattacking, casting, blocking, and recovering from a hit can almost never betaken literally. For example, gaining 10% Increased Attack Speed from an itemwill not necessarily translate into 10% faster attacks. To achieve fasteractions, certain breakpoints must be reached, which vary for every class. Thetables below list how much of a given stat is required to actually improve theaction speed of the class for the stated action.

You will want an Offensive ( Might) Act 2 Nightmare Mercenary. Anotheroption could be an Offensive ( Blessed Aim) Act 2 Hell Mercenary.

• Weapon: Etheral Insight
• Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
• Helm: Ethereal Andariel's Visage with Ral Rune

The following section features a generic Barbarian skill point progressionmeant to make leveling towards becoming a Berserk Barbarian smoother.

1. 1 point to Bash
2. 4 points to Mace Mastery or the Weapon Mastery of your choice
3. 6 points to Double Swing at levels 6-11
4. 1 point to Double Throw at level 12
5. All remaining points to your Weapon Mastery until level 24
6. All remaining points to Frenzy until ready to respec into Berserk

For more comprehensive leveling advice, please refer to our Barbarian Fastest Leveling Build.