Within this guide, I aim to demonstrate how to effectively utilize an affordable Barbarian build at the onset of D2R Ladder Season 6. The core components of this build necessitate only lower runes and elite bases, complemented by frequently dropping unique and set D2R Ladder Items. This setup is fully prepared for the challenges of Hell mode.

Particularly for engaging in cow runs, this proves to be the most cost-effective build I've encountered thus far. Naturally, I can also provide an array of alternative farming locations for your consideration.

Stats & Skill Allocation

Let's delve into stats and skill allocation. It's crucial to ensure you have sufficient strength and dexterity to equip your gear.

My base stats stand at 190 strength and 94 dexterity, allowing for some flexibility; any remaining points are invested in Vitality.

My skill distribution follows the typical Frenzy Barb archetype: 20 points allocated to Frenzy and Double Swing, with 1 point invested in Leap for its utility. Additionally, allocate 20 points to Sword Mastery and distribute 1 point into each of the lower 4 masteries.

Regarding shouts, prioritize 20 points in Battle Orders, allocating 1 point each into Battle Command and Find Item. The remaining points are channeled into Taunt, which synergizes effectively with Frenzy.

Equipment

Now, onto the equipment.

The cornerstone of this setup comprises 2 rune weapons: Unbending Will and Hustle, each housed within a Colossus Blade. While a Colossus Sword or another base can substitute for Hustle, Unbending Will necessitates 6 sockets, exclusively available in a Colossus or Phase Blade. Given the Colossus Blade's superior damage output and range, it stands as the optimal choice. The Fanaticism aura from Hustle, coupled with the speed boost from Frenzy, grants us a staggering attack speed with the Colossal Blade.

Next, equip Arreat's Face with an Ort Rune, crucial for bolstering your resistances, and a Duress chest plate, which, while not as pivotal, complements the build admirably. If you lack Arreat's Face and the Um Rune for Duress, consider employing Duriel's Shell and a helmet with resistances like Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Dreath Mask or Rockstopper.

Additionally, I possess Atma's Scarab, which boosts poison resistance and enables us to combat physically immune monsters thanks to the amplified damage curse. While beneficial, the absence of this amulet doesn't significantly hinder the build's performance.

Laying of Hands enhances attack speed and fire resistance, with its bonus damage to demons proving invaluable. String of Ears provides additional life leech and damage reduction, while Natalya's Soul augments running speed and resistances. These items are readily available and can be acquired through trading at minimal expense.

A Raven Frost ring prevents freezing and offers an attack rating bonus. The other ring necessitates mana leech, making Dread Master a suitable choice. In the off-hand, wield 2 Warcry spears (Echoing Throwing Spear), obtainable from Mala or other vendors with a bit of patience.

In my inventory, I carry 2 small resistance charms each for cold (Sapphire Small Charm), lightning (Amber Small Charm), and fire (Ruby Small Charm). Even without these charms, your resistances remain satisfactory.

Furthermore, I've stashed some items from the Immortal King set, enhancing the Magic Find. The helmet boasts up to 40% MF and 2 sockets for yellow gems. While the shoes offer a 25% Magic Find bonus when paired, utilizing the full set compromises your resistances.

Within the stash, I retain the belt to offset resistances to some extent, along with the gloves, allowing for flexibility and additional set bonuses if desired.

While I opt not to employ a mercenary, you might consider enlisting an Act 5 Barbarian, outfitted similarly to yourself. Ethereal bases, if found, can be put to good use.

Statistics

Let's examine the statistics.

With Frenzy and level 1 Fanaticism aura, achieve such significant attack speed that the additional boosts from gloves and weapons suffice. This results in up to 11 frames per animation, roughly equating to 4 and a half attacks per second when the maximum speed boost is active.

By level 85, my Barbarian boasts 2,400 life with Warcry, 2, and a maximum damage output of 3,000 with both weapons. Furthermore, each weapon yields over 6,000 attack rating.

Under the standard setup, attain maximum resistances when Battle Command is activated. Opting for a Magic Find setup allows us to reach up to 123 Magic Find. However, there is a significant deficiency in lightning resistance, alongside gaps in fire and cold resistances. Yet, in certain farming locations, these shortcomings may be tolerable.

Farm Spots

Let's explore the top farming locations.

To begin, Trav takes precedence. However, it's advisable to venture there with complete resistances, particularly fire, as there's an abundance of hydras awaiting your arrival. Depending on the elite council member mods, additional resistances may also prove necessary.

Moving on to Act 5, you encounter the traditional swift path: Pindle, Eldritch, and Chank. Here, you may opt for Magic Find gear, but ensure beforehand that the target isn't lightning enchanted.

Conveniently, I've organized my items in the cube, facilitating quick and effortless switching with a shift left-click. Extending the route allows you to farm other super unique monsters, including Sharktooth near the first Barbarian cage, Eyeback at the border of the Arreat Plateau, and finally, Thresh Socket just before the entrance to the Crystalline Passage. The combination of swift running speed and the ability to leap over obstacles is invaluable in these areas.

Furthermore, there are several T85 areas worth considering. In Act 1, delve into the Pit in the Tamoe Highland; in Act 2, explore the Stony Tomb; and in Act 3, venture into the Arachnid Lair directly from the first Waypoint.

In Act 5, you have the option to investigate the red portals: Abaddon, Pit of Acheron, and Infernal Pit, particularly if opting for the longer Frigid High route. However, beware of potentially formidable monsters in these areas and ensure adequate use of resistances. Typically, a Magic Find setup suffices for the Pit of Acheron and the Arachnid Lair.

It’s no secret that no class can rival Necromancer in terms of AOE damage, and that’s true in D2R Ladder Season 5 as well.

Especially when paired with the right build, Necromancer can truly become the king of AOE. If you are using this powerful Necromancer build in Season 5, be sure not to miss this guide.

Below, we’ll detail our pick for the best Necromancer in D2R Ladder Season 5: Poison Nova Necromancer. We’ll discuss everything from the class’s pros and cons to the best D2R Ladder Season 5 items and skills it can use, and more.

Pros & Cons

Necromancer is considered one of the most powerful classes in the game and is known for its fast-paced gameplay style. It can easily overwhelm enemies in a fierce attack. Because it can use its ability to produce an incredible amount of Poison, Fire, and Physical Area of Effect damage in one skill rotation, making it almost impossible for enemies to resist.

Combine all of this with the fact that it deals damage in a wide area as it moves, and Necromancer class is a monster vaporizer.

But no class is perfect. Necromancer is indeed powerful, but it is also a tough class to master and very difficult to learn. What’s more, its ancient game is also quite weak, and its overwhelming advantage only appears in the mid-to-late game. And it’s not the best at dealing a lot of damage in boss fights either.

However, we can eliminate some of these issues by setting up the best build for the class and create Necromancer builds that will be fearsome in D2R Ladder Season 5.

Poison Nova Necromancer

Our pick for the best starting build for D2R Ladder Season 5 is Poison Nova Necromancer build.

It uses skills such as Poison Nova and Corpse Explosion to cause massive damage to enemies in a wide area. They all deal Poison, Fire, and Physical Damage in one turn, while also using Sunder Charms to break down enemy resistance, giving you the chance to deal massive amounts of damage.

Mods such as Amplify Damage, Lower Resist, Conviction Aura, and Sunder Charms can reduce resistance to almost every immunity. 

We combine necromancer with Poison Nova and Corpse Explosion, which deal types of damage. This means that regardless of their immunity to unique sources of damage, it will critically hit them with damage.

This build can be difficult to get the hang off at first, but once you do, there’s almost nothing that can stop you.

Mercenary Selection

Next, let’s talk about the specific mercenary, equipment slots and skills of Poison Nova Necromancer.

Similar to other builds in D2R Ladder, the best Mercenary I recommend is Act 2 Desert Mercenary Hire from Greiz.

This Mercenary has aura ability and can use Jab attack on top of the basic attack. His Might Aura gives you a damage buff that can help you deal with enemies that are immune to Poison, while his Jab attack can be used to damage the rest of the enemies.

Mercenary also requires the use of Infinity War Pike, which reduces enemy resistance, allowing you to deal more damage. It comes with Conviction Aura, which improves your Corpse Explosion.

Overall, with this setup, Act 2 Desert Mercenary is crucial to your survival in D2R Ladder Season 5.

Keeping Mercenary alive can be difficult until you have the necessities recommended in this guide. Therefore, we recommend you sort your items first. This way, you can drag Healing Potions onto mercenary portraits as quickly as possible, or feed them directly from your belt to keep them alive.

If you lose a mercenary in combat, you can resurrect them by talking to any Mercenary NPC in each act. But you should keep in mind that it will cost you more money each time you do it, up to a cap of 50,000 gold.

In short, Poison Nova Necromancer is very effective in clearing high-density monsters in the game. Poison, Fire, and Physical Damage make this build fast and deadly in almost every farming spot. They can increase your farming efficiency in multiple areas.

With solid setup and execution, this build is definitely your go-to build for D2R Ladder Season 5. What do you think of Poison Nova Necromancer? Hopefully, this guide will help you get off to a great start when entering Season 5!