Battle Orders

Battle Orders

Required Level: 24

Prerequisites: Howl, Shout
Synergies: Battle Orders is granted bonuses from:

• Shout: +5 Seconds Per Level
• Battle Command: +5 Seconds Per Level

Details: "Improve party members' life, mana and stamina". The most popular party skill in the entire game, virtually no Barbarian is satisfied with less than 20 base points in this skill. It works on the Barbarian and all friendly players and their minions, increasing everyone's maximum hit points, stamina, and mana by a percentage.

The warcry lasts for a good amount of time, longer with every skill point in it, and most Barbs max this one out quickly, and try to find bonus Warcries equipment to add even more to it. A good Barbarian helm with bonus to Battle Orders is a very nice find.

This skill doesn't add anything to your current hit points, mana, and stamina, it just increases the maximum possible number. So if you are at 800/1000 hit points, 200 from max, and you get 100% Battle Orders cast, you'll go to 800/2000 hps. This looks like you're half dead suddenly, and can be scary to characters who don't expect it. You need to drink potions or leech to fill up from there.

You need to keep Battle Orders on, refreshing it before the duration runs out, or you'll drop back to your normal max hit points, and then have to leech or potion them full again, to get any benefit from BO. After all, more potential hit points are useless if you don't actually fill them up.

This is complicated when there are multiple Barbarians in the same party. The Barb with the highest level BO should be the only one to cast it, since if a lower level of it is cast, it resets everyone to their normal level of hit points, then ups their maximum by whatever % of BO they have. And you'll need to leech or potion to fill up again. You can reset your own BO if you forget to cast Battle Command first, or if you get a Skill Shrine and cast BO at the +2, then cast it again once the Skill Shrine wears off. In parties discuss who has the higher level, and let that Barb cast it. They need to be responsible for keeping everyone else refreshed though. If other players are nearby, BO them to keep the duration up, if you are letting them run out all the time, especially if there is another Barbarian around, you can't complain if they cast it themselves, no matter their Slvl. Other players should learn that when you cast it they need to hold still a minute, since most Barbs cast Battle Orders (and often Shout) first.

Once you've played a Barbarian for a bit, you'll develop a timer in your head for how long since you last cast BO, and will learn to cast it again before then. BO lasts from 2.5-3 minutes at the level most Barbarians have in it. The mana cost is very low, so it's best to cast it any time you have a moment, even it's only been 30 seconds or so. It's possible to forget or not be able to stop for it during heated battles, and if you run out in the middle of a mob, it can be fatal.

It's always good to cast it before you go to town, so you'll ideally get back to the dungeon and recast to reset the duration before it runs out. Before battling a nasty boss it's a good idea to take a waypoint, BO up, go to town for a quick heal from the NPC, then go through your portal to the boss.

Most Barbs max out Battle Orders. It's a good idea to get it to at least Slvl 6 or 8 immediately, so you'll have enough duration on it that you aren't always running dry and having to leech full again.

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Mana Cost: 7
Duration (seconds)	35	45	55	65	75	85	95	105	115	125	135	145	155	165	175	185	195	205	215	225
Stamina/Life/Mana Increase %	35	38	41	44	47	50	53	56	59	62	65	68	71	74	77	80	83	86	89	92