Diablo 2: Resurrected
Guides
Find Item Barbarian/Magic Find Barbarian Guide
Introduction
Find Item Barbarians have great survival, high magic find, and can pop corpses for double drops while magic finding Eldritch, Pindleskin, Travincal, The Pit, and the Chaos Sanctuary. Barbarians also do not require Call to Arms for Battle Orders which can sometimes be difficult to obtain at the beginning of a new season. The Magic Find Barbarian is also highly recommended as the best character to start out with when playing Hardcore difficulty.
Whirlwind Barbarian Skills
The top spot for a Magic Find Barbarian goes to the Whirlwind Barbarian which is excellent at both survival and damage.
Recommendation: Whirlwind Barbarian
Stats: Enough Strength for gear, about 200 dexterity (136 dexterity in Hardcore), all remaining points in Vitality, and 0 Energy.
Skill Points:
20 Whirlwind
20 Battle Orders
20 Sword Mastery
20 Shout
7 Increased Speed
1 Battle Command
1 Increased Stamina
1 Berserk
Enough in Natural Resistance for 75 resist all
Enough in Find Item to reach about 50% success rate with plus skills
All remaining points in Increased Speed for faster magic find runs in Softcore or Iron Skin for a higher defense in Hardcore.
Whirlwind Barbarian Gear
Whirlwind Main Weapons
Grief Phase Blade (Eth Tir Lo Mal Ral) for high attack speed, indestructible so it doesn't need repairs, and high damage combined with an Ethereal Breath of the Dying Colossus Blade (Vex Hel El Eld Zod Eth) which gives high life leech and mana leech (frees up a ring slot that would need to be dual leech), high damage, indestructible, range 3, and +30 to all stats. Dual wielding is preferred to using an ethereal Breath of the Dying Great Poleaxe because range 5 gives a much less focused attack.
Budget Weapon
Ethereal Oath Balrog Blade (Shael Pul Mal Lum) - The budget option deals very high damage for its low rune cost. An ethereal Balrog Blade is the preferred base because it's guaranteed 4 open sockets with the socket quest making it very affordable.
Weapon Switch
Call To Arms (Amn Ral Mal Ist Ohm) - One CTA can give +1 to all skills and +3 to Battle Orders but you can only gain this bonus from one CTA and you should also use a +3 to Warcries weapon (or optionally a Heart of the Oak flail which gives +3 to all skills).
Helmet
Harlequin Crest (aka Shako) - Gives +2 to all skills, 10% reduced physical damage taken, high life and mana, and 50% magic find.
Budget Helmet
Immortal King's Helmet - Gives +2 to Warcries, up to 40% magic find, 37% gold find, and 2 sockets for more magic find.
Body
Tal Rasha's Guardianship - Gives 40 cold resist, 40 fire resist, 40 lightning resist, and 88% magic find and can be socketed with an Ist rune or a Perfect Topaz for even more magic find. Tal Rasha's three set has much higher resistances and magic find than Enigma.
Gloves
Chance Guards - Gives 40% increased magic find and 200% extra gold.
Belt (Softcore)
Tal Rasha's Belt - Gives 15% magic find, 20 dexterity, and 37% damage taken goes to mana and completes Tal Rasha's three set which gives a high amount of magic find.
Belt (Hardcore)
String of Ears - Use this in Hardcore for up to 15% reduced physical damage taken, 8% life steal, and reduced magic damage taken.
Feet
War Travelers - Gives 25% faster run walk, 50% magic find, 10 strength, 10 vitality, and 15-25 base weapon damage.
Budget Feet
Immortal King's Boots - Gives 110 attack rating, 44 life, and gives 25% magic find when paired with Immortal King's Helmet.
Amulet
Tal Rasha's Amulet - Gives 65% magic find from the Tal Rasha's set bonus. In Hardcore you should use a +2 Barbarian skills amulet (optionally a crafted Blood Amulet) with magic find and other useful stats like life leech and all resistances.
Rings
Carrion Wind - Gives 9% life leech and 55% poison resistance (important because Tal Rasha's Armor lacks poison resistance) and a Raven Frost for 20 dexterity, 250 attack rating, 20% cold absorb, and cannot be frozen.
Charms
Hellfire Torch for +3 Barbarian skills, Annihilus for +1 to all skills, Gheed's Fortune for up to 40% magic find, Max Damage/Attack Rating/Life Charms, and 7% Magic Find Small Charms.
Mercenary Type
Act 2 Might Mercenary
Mercenary Weapon
Ethereal Reaper's Toll - 33% chance to cast level one Decrepify on striking and 15% life stolen per hit.
Mercenary Armor
Ethereal Fortitude (El Sol Dol Lo) - Gives 300% enhanced damage, all resistances +30%, high life per level, 5% to maximum lightning resistance, and a 20% chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck.
Mercenary Helm
Ethereal Andariel's Visage (Ral'd) - Gives +2 to all skills, 10% life leech, -30% fire resistance, and 30 strength. Ral gives 30% fire resistance but you can also use a 30% fire resistance jewel with other great modifiers.
Budget Mercenary Weapon
Reaper's Toll - 33% chance to cast the level one Decrepify curse on striking and 15% life stolen per hit.
Budget Mercenary Armor
Duriel's Shell - Gives all resistances +20%, 50% cold resistances, life per level, 15 strength, and cannot be frozen.
Budget Mercenary Helmet
Tal Rasha's Helmet - Gives 10% life stolen per hit, all resistances +15%, and 60 life.
Note: You can always keep a +3 Warcries Amulet in your inventory for better warcries which is especially helpful in Hardcore.
Frenzy Barbarian Skills
The second place spot for a Magic Find Barbarian goes to the Frenzy Barbarian. Frenzy Barbarians have an extremely fast run speed which can definitely speed up your magic find runs. They do, however, need solid gear to survive well in hardcore.
Recommendation: Frenzy Barbarian
Stats: Enough Strength for gear, 136 Dexterity for a Grief Phase Blade, all remaining points in Vitality, no Energy
Build:
20 Frenzy
20 Double Swing
20 Battle Orders
20 Sword Mastery
1 Battle Command
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed
1 Berserk
Enough in Natural Resistance for capped resistances.
Enough in Find Item to reach about 44% success rate with plus skills.
All remaining points in Taunt which is a synergy for Frenzy.
Frenzy Barbarian Gear
Frenzy Main Weapons
Grief Phase Blade (Eth Tir Lo Mal Ral) and Ethereal Breath of the Dying Colossus Blade (Vex Hel El Eld Zod Eth) - Phase Blade is recommended for Grief because it's indestructible and won't need repairs and the eBotD runeword has indestructible.
Budget Weapons
Two Ethereal Oath Balrog Blades (Shael Pul Mal Lum) - These two weapons deal high damage for how much they cost.
Weapon Switch
Call To Arms (one can give +1 all skills and +3 to Battle Orders but you can only benefit from one) and a +3 to Warcries weapon (or optionally a Heart of the Oak for +3 to all skills).
Helmet
Harlequin Crest (aka Shako) - Gives +2 to all skills, 10% reduced physical damage taken, high life and mana, and 50% magic find.
Budget Helmet
Immortal King's Helmet - This option has +2 to Warcries, up to 40% magic find, 37% gold find, and 2 sockets for more magic find.
Body
Tal Rasha's Guardianship - Gives 40 cold resist, 40 fire resist, 40 lightning resist, and 88% magic find.
Gloves
Chance Guards - Gives up to 40% magic find and 200% extra gold.
Belt (Softcore)
Tal Rasha's Belt - Gives 15% magic find, 20 dexterity, and 37% damage taken goes to mana.
Belt (Hardcore)
String of Ears - Gives 15% physical damage taken reduction, reduced magic damage taken, and 8% life leech for Hardcore.
Feet
War Travelers - Gives 25% faster run walk, up to 50% magic find, 10 Strength, 10 Vitality, and 15-25 base weapon damage.
Budget Feet
Immortal King's Boots - This option gives 110 attack rating, 44 life, and 25% magic find when paired with Immortal King's Helmet.
Amulet
Tal Rasha's Amulet - For 65% more magic find from the set bonus. If you play Hardcore you should use a +2 Barbarian Skills amulet instead (optionally a crafted Blood Amulet) with magic find and other useful stats like life leech and all resistances.
Rings
Carrion Wind/Raven Frost - Carrion Wind gives 9% life leech, chance to cast Twister which stuns, and 55% poison resist (used because Tal Rasha's armor lacks poison resistance) and Raven Frost gives up to 20 dexterity, 250 to attack rating, 20% cold absorb, and cannot be frozen.
Charms
Hellfire Torch for +3 Barbarian skills, Annihilus for +1 to skills, Gheed's Fortune for up to 40% magic find, and Max Damage/Attack Rating/Life charms.
Mercenary Type
Act 2 Might Mercenary
Mercenary Weapon
Ethereal Reaper's Toll - 33% chance to cast the level one Decrepify curse on striking and 15% life stolen per hit.
Mercenary Armor
Ethereal Fortitude (El Sol Dol Lo) - Gives 300% enhanced damage, all resistances +30%, high life per level, 5% to maximum lightning resistance, and a 20% chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck.
Mercenary Helm
Ethereal Andariel's Visage (Ral'd) - +2 Skills, 9% life leech, -30% fire resistance, and 30 strength. You can socket this helmet with a Ral rune for 30% fire resistance or you can use a 30% fire resistance jewel with other great modifiers.
Budget Mercenary Weapon
Reaper's Toll - 33% chance to cast the level one Decrepify curse on striking and 15% life stolen per hit.
Budget Mercenary Armor
Duriel's Shell - Provides high all resistances, strength, life, and cannot be frozen.
Budget Mercenary Helm
Tal Rasha's Mask - Gives 10% life leech, 60 life, and 15 to all resistances.
Note: You can always keep a +3 Warcries Amulet in your inventory for better warcries which is especially helpful in Hardcore.
Magic Find Barbarian Leveling Items
You can start using Hsarus' Belt and Gloves once you are at least level 3 and have 30 strength for added Defense and Attack Rating per level from the set bonus. Civerb's Cudgel is a great starter weapon that increases in damage as you level and can be used as early as level 9. You can also add Angelics Amulet and Ring once you are level 12 for more Life and Attack Rating. Smoke only requires level 37 and is a great starter runeword armor that can be made with a Nef rune and a Lum rune for All Resistances +50.
Magic Find Runs
Eldritch, Pindleskin, Travincal, and The Pit
These magic find spots are all completely safe to magic find on a Barbarian even on hardcore once you have a decent set of gear. Eldritch, Pindleskin, and Travincal are all very quick runs. Travincal runs also have the added benefit of dropping a large amount of gold which can be used to gamble +2 skill amulets once you are at a high enough level (the best gamble is for amulets at level 93+) and The Pit can drop every item and rune in the game. Eldritch, Pindleskin, Travincal, and The Pit are all great places to pop corpses for magic finding on a Barbarian. And yes the super chests in high level areas are worth opening. I've personally found a Shako and 2 Um runes from the super chest in The Pit to date.
The Forgotten Tower
With a Frenzy Barbarian you can use your very fast run speed to get through the Forgotten Tower but Teleport is much quicker. Whirlwind Barbarians can also efficiently do Countess runs once they have an Enigma runeword armor for Teleport. The Countess will on the average drop two runes between Ist and Pul every one hundred runs. The Countess drops up to Ist on her rune table drops but, she also has a very low chance of dropping up to Lo rune from her normal monster drops.
Chaos Sanctuary
Chaos Sanctuary can drop the highest level items and runes from magic finding runs using a Find Item Barbarian but keep in mind that this area is dangerous in hardcore difficulty. If you want to magic find Chaos Sanctuary in hardcore with a Find Item Barbarian you should have fully optimized gear and/or work with a team for faster and safer runs.
Sample Drops From 300 Runs of Eldritch - Time to Complete: Less than One Minute
Ethereal Colossus Voulge
Stone of Jordan (current value: Ohm)
Small Charm w/ 12 Life and 15 Attack Rating
Trang-Oul's Gloves
Rare Boots w/ 37 Cold Resist, 40 Lightning Resist, and 23 Magic Find
Small Charm with 7% Magic Find and 12 Attack Rating (current value: Um)
Sample Drops From 300 Runs of Pindleskin - Time to Complete: Less than One Minute
Eth Shako
Guardian Angel
Mal Rune
Elemental Skill Grand Charm w/ 25 Life
Warcries Grand Charm
Lem Rune
Sample Drops From 300 Runs of Travincal - Time to Complete: Less than Two Minutes
You will receive about one charm every two Travincal runs.
Mal Rune
Ber Rune
Immortal King's Boots
Immortal Kings Gloves
Immortal King's Maul
Grand Charm w/ 8 Maximum Damage, 73 Attack Rating, and 12% Faster Hit Recovery
Razor's Edge
Ring w/ 10% Faster Cast Rate, 20 Fire Resist, and 11 Cold Resist
Tal Rasha's Weapon
Wizard Spike x2
Guardian Angel
Raven Frost x2
Dwarf Star x2
Titan's Revenge (current value: Um)
Headstriker
Grand Charm w/ 8 Maximum Damage, 76 Attack Rating, and 6 Strength
Highlord's Wrath (current value: Ist)
Sample Drops From 300 Runs of The Pit - Time to Complete: Less than Five Minutes
Gul Rune
Tal Rasha's Armor (current value: Vex)
Um Rune x2
Oculus (current value: Um)
Sandstorm Trek x2
Homunculus (current value: Um)
Soul Drainers
Nord's Tenderizer
Tal Rasha's Mask
Tal Rasha's Belt x2
Skin of the Vipermagi (current value: Um)
String of Ears
Bartuc's Claw
Dwarf Star
Small Charm w/ 20 Life and 12 Attack Rating
Marrowwalk w/ +2 Skeleton Mastery
Small Charm w/ 7% Magic Find (current value: Pul)
Trang's Belt
Immortal Kings Armor (current value: Gul)
Immortal Kings Maul
Lycander's Bow
Lem Rune
Andariel's Visage (current value: Ist)
Guardian Angel x2
Eaglehorn
Eth Thresher w/ 4 Open Sockets (current value: Gul)
Note
All runs were done with about 340 magic find with no magic find on weapon switch. High Value Items from the sample include: Stone of Jordan, Ber Rune, Gul Rune, Skin of the Vipermagi, Tal Rasha's Armor, 7% Magic Find Small Charm with 12 Attack Rating, 2 Mal runes, 2 Um Runes, Andariel's Visage, Immortal King's Armor, Ethereal 4os Thresher, Small Charm w/ 20 Life and 12 Attack Rating, Grand Charm with Maximum Damage/Attack Rating and 12% Faster Hit Recovery, Grand Charm with Maximum Damage/Attack Rating and 6 Strength, Titan's Revenge, Homunculus, Oculus, Highlord's Wrath, Trang-Oul's Belt, Raven Frost x2, Dwarf Star x3, 7% Magic Find Small Charm, Elemental Skill Grand Charm with 25 Life, and a Warcries Skill Grand Charm.
And that's all for the Item Find Barbarian Guide. You can also check out the Gold Find Barbarian Guide here Gold Find Barbarian.