Barb Guide

I. Pros and Cons really depend on your build/gear, but here are the overall assumptions.
Pros:
High HP
High HP Recovery Rate
Good Physical Defense
Skills to help keep aggro/hate of monsters
Best Tank / Wanted in Parties
Catapult Pullers = Essential in Territory Wars
Great damage at endgame
Cons:
Low accuracy(due to low DEX in most builds. Can be solved at later levels with the skill Blood Bath, as well as +50% accuracy rings (Lv. 77?))
Low damage in the beginning/mid levels
Low Magic Defense
High repair cost
High potion/charm cost
Requires patience. Many give up before reaching lv 89+ due to high costs & other classes excelling more in terms of damage. (Barbarians rock at endgame though)

II. Attributes

A. How each stat affects your other attributes
Strength (+4 Str adds +1 DEF; +6 Str adds +4 DEF)
increases attack power for melee weapon
increases physical defense
Armor stat requirement: Usually 0.5 STR every level for magic robes, 1 STR for light armors, and 2.5 STR for heavy armors.

Dexterity (+1 Dex = Accuracy +8 and Evasion +
increases attack power for range weapon
increases evasion
increases accuracy
increases critical hit rate (Every 20 DEX gives 1% more critical hit rate)
Armor stat requirement: Usually 1 DEX every level for light armors, 0.5 DEX for heavy armors, and of course 0 for magic robes.

Vitality (+1 Vit = Max HP +17)
increases physical defense
increases magic defense
increases HP
increases HP regeneration rate (NOTE: HP regen is reduced by 75% when in combat mode)

Magic (+1 Mag = Max MP +7)
increases magic attack power
increases magic defense
increases MP
increases MP regeneration rate (NOTE: MP regen is reduced by 75% when in combat mode)

Lv Up Bonus: Max HP +34, Max MP +14

B. How much Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Magic does a Barbarian need?
The amount of Strength in any build is simply the latest axe/hammer requirement for your level, nothing more & nothing less. There's no point adding more Str than necessary because the Str requirement of axes/hammers are already so high, that you'll barely have enough points to put in other stats.

I recommend adding at least 1 Dexterity every 2 levels until you get 60 Dex no matter what build (if you have great accuracy/Dex gear though, just stop at around 50 Dex).
And remember, try to keep Dex in terms of 20s (+20 Dex = +1% critical hit rate). Most Barbarians try to have only 62, 80, or 104 Dex endgame; depending on your gears. 62 Dex is the heavy armor requirement for Lv 105; 104 Dex is the last light armor requirement.
80 Dex is the max you should have unless you’re going for a pure PK build, then maybe around 104 Dex. Anymore than that is a waste.

Add as much points in Vitality as you can (after all, more Vit = a better tank, which is the whole purpose of a Barbarian. Also, more HP = higher Armageddon damage -> more dead people).

Barbarian builds do not add any Magic. Why? Because Barbarians don’t have any magic attacks and the magic defense you get from Mag is too little; you might as well add those points to Vit instead. Don't raise your Magic for MP either. MP can easily be recovered with MP potions and charms .

III. Main Stat Builds of the Barbarian

NOTE: All builds focus first on fulfilling weapon/armor requirements, then differentiate, based on how you spend the remaining status points.
Choose the build best suited for your play style; and there’s no need to follow one build the whole way through.

You can try a hybrid build first (to level quickly), then move toward a tank build at higher levels (to survive in dungeons/TW/PVP), and lastly add a little more Dex before you reach max level (for PKing).

A. Str-Based Damage Dealer
Armor: Heavy
VIT = 1 each level
STR = 3 each level
DEX = 1 each level

Comments: Levels quickly at low levels, but the low HP will kill you later. If you’re looking for high damage, you might as well be a Blademaster instead.

B. Hybrid
Armor: Light for magic opponents, Heavy for physical opponents
VIT = 1 each level
STR = 2.5 each level
DEX = 1.5 each level
(or 2 Vit / 5 Str / 3 Dex every two levels)

Comments: same comments as Build A, except that you will have a decent base accuracy and critical hit rate. Works well in PVP if you go with the Demon path at lv 89. Also, being able to switch from heavy to light armors will allow you to tank magic damage better than Build A. Still not as useful as a tanker build though.

C. Tanker (Recommended Build)
Armor: Heavy
VIT = all points left over
STR = follow equipment requirements
DEX = follow equipment requirements

Notes: Parties and Territory War factions love this type. Great for tanking bosses/mobs and as a catapult puller in TW, but don't expect to kill things as quickly as other classes until you're at a very high level. Once you get Armageddon lv 10 and very high HP, you’ll pwn in PvP, but that’s if you don’t miss. Using Blood Bath helps.