This is essentially tailor-made for the Concentrate Barbarian +Skills, tons of resistances, life leech, a nice Strength bonus, enhanced damage vs.
Provides some nice bonuses, including +Skills and Deadly Strike. Keep in mid that “uping” a non-ethereal helm will require you to put an extra 10 points in Strength. If it’s not ethereal, it should be socketed with a Jah. If you can find a perfect Ethereal one, it would be prudent to "up" it and socket it with a Zod rune. This really is the best all-around helm for any Barbarian, providing nice bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, Attack Rating, life leech, resistances, and skills. Aside from the armor bonus, one of the primary benefits of Concentrate is the fact that it is uninterruptible, which significantly reduces the importance of Faster Hit Recovery for this build, making gear choices easier, and provides the Barbarian with a fighting chance, even when swarmed by enemies. The bonus lasts for a very short amount of time (less than a second), so it’s important to have a weapon that swings quickly enough to keep the buff active (more on this in the next section).
Missed or blocked attacks will not give you the armor bonus. About ConcentrateĪ few notes on your primary skill: first, the armor bonus will only be applied when your attack succeeds. This Concentrate Barbarian has nearly 21,000 defense, even when afflicted by Baal's defense-reducing curse. Seems like it could be useful, but considering it increases Concentrate’s damage by 5 times less per point when compared to Bash and all Ubers’ magic resistance is equal to or higher than their physical resistance, it loses its luster quite quickly.
Gives you a huge amount of extra life and also provides the largest synergy to your primary offensive skill. Provides a significant increase to your defense. After this, you’ll have an opportunity to pick up some optional skills or boost synergies (or both). The base skills for this build will require level 76 to max, assuming you’ve completed all skill quests on all difficulties. The sheer survivability of this build makes it a great option for hardcore play and provides a nice alternative to the cookie-cutter Smiter if you’re looking to do Ubers.
For this reason, it is not particularly well-suited to leveling (a Whirlwind or Frenzy build would be a better option), but should rather be respec’d to at a higher level. If there is one chink in the Concentrate Barbarian’s armor, it is the complete lack of any AoE skill. When properly geared, he can also dish out a fair amount of damage, making it a very solid all-around build. Thanks to this, the Concentrate Barb can survive nearly any onslaught. The Concentrate Barbarian is a uniquely defensive build, boasting some of the highest defense and life numbers of any character build.