Alright, so I’ve been wanting to level a Barbarian in D2 for ages, but man, everyone talks about how slow and painful it is. I put it off forever because early Barb leveling sucks. Like, hitting stuff with a basic axe while Skeletons laugh at you? Not fun. But I finally decided to tackle it head-on and actually found a path that wasn’t terrible. Here’s exactly how I did it.
Getting Started Was Rough (No Surprise)
Rolled the Barb on Single Player. Name: HulkSmashJr (lame, I know). Goal: Get to Hell Baal runs without crying. I knew from the start I wouldn’t have top-tier runewords straight away. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Act 1 Normal felt like a slog. Just hitting things with whatever rusty crap I found. Cleared the Den, Blood Moor, Cold Plains – boring stuff. Had an axe with like 1-4 damage. Pathetic. Felt like I was tickling the Fallen Ones. Needed a better plan quickly.
The Game Changer – Runewords & Act Boss Runs
Knew I needed some cheap runewords to speed this mess up. Farmed the Countess early. Spammed her like crazy. Took maybe 10 runs just for Normal. What I made:
- Steel Runeword (Tir + El): Found a 2-socket sword. Slapped these runes in. Finally hitting harder! Big difference early game.
- Stealth Runeword (Tal + Eth): Found a 2-socket Light Armor. Faster run/walk? Faster casting? Yes please! This helped SO much just moving around quicker.
With those equipped, cleared to Andariel pretty easily. Killed Andy. Hoped for loot. Got junk. Whatever. Went straight to Act 2.
Act 2: Focused solely on rushing the quests. Hired the Prayer Merc to help keep me alive (sorta). Ignored side dungeons. Just bee-lined for Duriel. Had to drink potions like water, but took him down.
Here’s the real key part I learned: Instead of grinding full areas, started doing Baal runs in Normal as soon as possible. Got to level 20. Unlocked War Cry. This became my bread and butter for grouping enemies. Spammed War Cry like crazy. It stuns fools! Gave me breathing room and made packs easier. Kept doing Normal Baal runs until about level 40. Sounds high, but it builds that base.
Hell Difficulty? Nope! Nightmare Pit Runs First
After Normal Baal, jumped into Nightmare. Rushed the story again, ignoring side stuff. Had a goal: Find “The Pit” in Act 1 Nightmare ASAP. Needed better gear badly. Found it pretty quick near the Tamoe Highland WP (I got lucky).
The Pit levels 1 & 2 in Nightmare are awesome! Monsters are higher level but not insane. Good density. Started farming the hell out of it. Goal: Level and find better weapons. Found a nice rare polearm for my merc and, crucially, a Bonesnap Maul! Finally a decent two-hander.
I ran the Pit endlessly while leveling, easily getting me to about level 60. It was way faster XP than trudging through Acts 2-5 Nightmare immediately. Also found some decent mid-level gear like Raven Frost ring! Pit runs are crucial.
Respect Time – Switching to Whirlwind
After finding Bonesnap and hitting around level 60 in the Pit, I finally felt ready to tackle the harder stuff. Used Akara’s Nightmare reward for my first respec at level 60.
Dumped Battle Cry (mostly useless for this). Went hard into:
- Whirlwind: Maxed (this is your new weapon!)
- Weapon Mastery (Mace): Maxed (using my new Bonesnap)
- Shout: Around 10 points (for defense)
- Battle Orders: MAXED (More life = not dying. Critical!)
- Natural Resistance: Some points (needed those resists badly)
- One point in Berserk (for physical immunes later)
This build absolutely wrecks in Nightmare and early Hell. Spinning through packs with Bonesnap felt amazing after all that early struggling.
Cranking it to the Endgame (Hell & Pit Runs)
Finished rushing through Nightmare with my shiny new Whirlwind. Went straight to Act 1 Hell. Did NOT try to clear every monster. Focused on objectives. Died some, obviously. Merc died constantly. But slowly pushed through.
Once I hit Hell Act 1 again, I went right back to farming Hell Pit at level 70+. Found the level 85 area easily enough. This became my new home. Here’s why:
- Great XP still at this level.
- Chance for AMAZING gear drops (found my first Shako here!).
- Managed it safely with Shout/BO and careful Whirlwind spins.
Just kept grinding Hell Pit runs. Eventually swapped Bonesnap for an Obedience runeword polearm my merc was using (found a good base!), which helped a ton. BO is always running. Shout is always running. This is non-negotiable for survival. After hundreds of runs… hit level 80+.
Honestly, it wasn’t fast like a Sorc. But compared to my old Barb attempts? This method made it bearable and actually somewhat efficient. Finding those key items (Steel, Stealth, Bonesnap/Obedience) and farming the right zones (Pit Normal Baal runs then Nightmare/Hell Pit) makes it WORK without needing insane luck. Get that BO maxed early!
