Without knowing your build I can only recommend you re-spec into a new build. Some builds are great, others not so much. Part of the game is theory crafting to get the best build you can (and that you enjoy playing…that’s most important).
If you want help there are loads of builds you can find online.
Bottom line…if a character is not working for you change the settings (or, maybe, try a new class).
There is a cost to repsec but I think it is not much at first (gets more expensive over time or more respecs…you can’t just do it willy-nilly).
Also, remember a Barb gets the bonuses from ALL weapons equipped. That can figure a lot into your overall build.
For a while developers were implying that a respec at high levels would be crippling to impossible for some people, because it was so insanely expensive. There was a huge outcry over that, so they changed it so that as you say, it’s not something you would want to do casually (as in changing your spec before every boss fight) but generally a player can afford to tweak things when they feel it’s necessary.
Oh, man, I never thought of that. That’s pretty cool.
My L25 Druid is pretty solid right now with a ton of Storm skills and the ranged/wind shear basic attack. I’m playing that one co-op and now keeping up well enough.
The Barb I have to work on. I did just respec her to a two-handed build but have not yet tested. But she’s only Level 12 so that might be part of it. I don’t get to play solo as often as I play co-op.
My Barb is not doing great. Act I… Still trying to get past Venhard. Though I was happy to learn that the boss who slaughtered me in a dungeon I entered earlier is considered to be one of the hardest bosses in the game. (Blood Bishop.)
I honestly think some classes work better for some players than others.
I said before that I just couldn’t do a Druid. But Sorcerer was great, and I took to Necro like a duck to water (and made that my main at launch).
It could be that Barbarian to you is like Druid is to me.
They did such a great job of making different classes play with such unique playstyles that I can believe that different players just can do one thing and not another. Sort of like one people being a natural violinist while another is a natural at basketball. Of course there is training and practice and experience and all that, but you can’t teach talent.
I had some dips and struggle with my Barb. Especially around 20 hours in (give or take). Then things seemed to get better. Whether I just stopped seeing tough enemies or got a good crop of weapons or something else I do not know. But there does seem to be a rollercoaster of difficulty. There was one fight (I forget which) that I simply could not get by and had to give up and go do something else. I mean, it wasn’t even close. I was getting my ass handed to me every time despite many tries (and it was presumably a level appropriate area/dungeon).
Also, if you aren’t already, set the difficulty to Tier I. I have read that Tier II, while maybe more fun for some, actually slows progression and is generally not worth it unless you really want that challenge.
Not just different classes but different builds of the same class can play very differently from each other. Kind of amazing the number of options available and it all (mostly) seems to work well.
Tier II definitely slows you down. Everything is much harder, enemies do more damage and they react smarter. Meanwhile you get no better loot, just a bit more gold dropped by monsters, and while you get a bit more experience from killing monsters, you get no additional XP from any other activity (like quests and exploration) which is the best way to level up.
The only reason to do Tier II is if you want to practice for the later content, or just find Tier I too easy. It does not advance you faster regardless of what it implies in game.
Of course, when you are ready to move on to World Tier III (which does give better rewards finally), you need to switch to Tier II and complete the capstone dungeon to unlock it.
The skill trees are so big! I’ve respecced like 10 times already on World Tier II and I’m still struggling to find a style that helps me survive against bosses so far with my sorceress. I thought I played on the harder difficulty in the beta but maybe I’m misremembering.
I’m only like level 20 or so, though.
Also, it’s so good. I gambled on an amulet and saw the orange glow and the degenerate gambling gene in me lit up like a Christmas tree, which is how I know it’s got the Diablo II juice.
I don’t think you’re misremembering. They may have lowered the difficulty in beta (or made players stronger, potato-pohtahtoh). One clear difference is that legendary items dropped constantly in beta, probably because they needed people to test them, and I think good loot is just harder to find after release, so maybe that’s a reason why characters feel weaker.
But I was in 3 different beta sessions (closed beta, open beta, then server slam) and always did World Tier II. World Tier I feels harder now than II did before.
It’s not a bad thing, I’m actually glad they made it more challenging. It seems sensible to me.
There is really no reason to play tier 2, the extra xp from killing mobs is the only benefit and it is cancelled out by how much slower you go. Nightmare has specific loot that can only drop there so that makes sense.
The general advice I read, if you want to be efficient, is…
Play the campaign on World Tier I.
When you are ready to move on, switch to World Tier II and do the capstone dungeon.
That unlocks World Tier III, which doubles XP gain and leads to better loot.
But it’s not wrong to go through the game in World Tier II. I have folks in my clan doing it so that they will get used to the harder difficulty and like the challenge. They’re making an informed decision and enjoy themselves. Some of them are already in Tier III.
I almost switched to Tier I for my Barb, and then felt sheepish and didn’t go through with it. But it sounds like it’s less like punking out and more like being efficient… heh, that’s what I’ll tell myself. What I did instead of (Act I) Venhard is go and complete the Battle Master thing to get my Technique. That was actually surprisingly easy if you don’t count the two hours it took to hack n’ slash my way over there. Now I’m thinking of going back and tackling that Campaign boss. If I still fail, pinky swear I’ll drop to Tier I. I’m seeing some really good passives in the Barb skill tree which is making me think it’s stronger at higher levels (currently Level 17.) I’ve heard that Tier II caps at Level 50 so people have been discouraging me from doing side quests and levelling up too much… but you know what? I like exploring things. So if I get stuck at Level 50 for a while BFD. Or maybe that’s a reason to drop to Tier I.
Meanwhile, my Druid got her spirit boons! Killing it with pretty much all Storm skills + Debilitating Roar.
I’m still fairly early into Act I. I started with the Sorcerer, as Diablo 3 Wizard was one of my favorites, but something about the core skills didn’t feel right. I ended up switching to Rogue early on, and it feels a lot more fun, though also hectic.
I hope they’ll implement some quality of life improvements eventually. There’s a lot of small stuff that bugs me, like long distances in towns. There’s no real reason for why dashing and movement speed increase skills in towns should be prohibited. Some of the long quests are also not very friendly to shorter play sessions, as progress doesn’t seem to be saved if you quit midway. I had to stop in the middle of a longish campaign quest, and had to do the entire thing again including a boss fight when I continued on another session.
