War Cry Barbarian (Singer) Build for Diablo 2 Resurrected

The Singer Barbarian is a funny build made viable by the skill War Cry stunning and doing damage. Not relying on physical damage from good weapons, this build is surprisingly not too item dependent, making a PvE playthrough a bit easier than a standard melee character might find. That being said, the damage ultimately does top out a bit lower than one would like, making it a less than optimal end game build.

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

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

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to War Cry — Main damage dealer and stunner, required
3. 20 points to Battle Orders — Increases Life and Mana, required
4. 20 points to Battle Cry — Lowers Defense and Damage, required
5. 20 points to Taunt — Synergy for War Cry, required
6. 1+ points to Howl — Synergy for War Cry, required
7. 1 points to Battle Command — Adds one more skill, required
8. 1 points to Increased Speed — Increases Barbarian movement, required
9. 1+ points to Natural Resistance — Increases Resistances greatly, required
10. 1 points to Leap — Good for movement, required

Note that since War Cry is only available from Level 30 onward, playing as a Singer from the start of the game is not possible. For a smoother leveling experience, we recommend using a generic Barbarian build and then at Level 30 can respec into using War Cry. For more information, refer to the Early Leveling section of this guide.

You can read more details about the Stats and Attribute requirements for this build on our Skills page.

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

• Weapon: Heart of the Oak
• Weapon Offhand: Heart of the Oak, Stormshield
• Weapon Swap: 2x +3 Warcries Weapons, Last Wish for Concentrate
• Body Armor: Enigma
• Helm: +2 to Barbarian Skills Circlet with Faster Cast Rate
• Gloves: Trang-Oul's Claws
• Boots: Ethereal Sandstorm Trek
• Belt: Arachnid Mesh
• Ring 1: The Stone of Jordan
• Ring 2: Raven Frost, 10 Faster Cast Rate Ring
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
• Charm 1: Barbarian Hellfire Torch
• Charm 2: Annihilus
• Charm 4: 9x War Cry Skiller Grand Charms
• Charm 5: Small Charms with Life, Resistances, Faster Hit Recovery, Mana, or Strength

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

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

You can either choose a Defensive ( Holy Freeze) or Offensive ( Might) Act 2 Nightmare Mercenary here depending on if you prefer a slower pace and safety, or want your Mercenary to have added Damage. Generally, a Might Mercenary is preferred, so he has faster kill potential.

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

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 level 30, where you can respec into War Cry

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