Am I doing OK so far?

Bardolph - Harshlands

I'm now a lvl23 Barbarian, and having followed the stickied guide in this forum, I now begin to see why there are less and less barbarians as they rise in level: the repair costs are rising intensely and doing quests on my own is still possible but costly in terms of potions...

I really don't want to drop my first character, this class appealed to me the most even though I've read tons of times how hard they are to build up. I'm the kind of player that loves to plan ahead, especially if the class chosen is this difficult to maintain. I'd rather hear what I have to change at this level, than hearing it at lvl50.

So here's my character, and I'd like some advice...

Barb lvl23 (Coins: 90-100k)
- Attributes
I followed the chart in the guide, but it just seems I get to invest very little Vitality and tons of Strength, is this normal?

-Skills
I've maxed True Form, Shapeshift Intensify, Flesh Ream, Beast King's Inspiration, Swimming Mastery, Mighty Swing, Alacrity of the Beast and Beastial Rage. I have Garrotte at lvl4 but I'm considering to drop that one. It misses alot where the other don't.

Manufacturing: Tailoring 26/30 (almost level3), everything else is 20/30 (level2)
I figured tailoring would be the most efficient. The most important thing is my armor, right?

-Equipment
The FB19 poleaxe and the best heavy armor I could get my hands on. I don't have a belt atm because it had no endurance left and it probably won't be long until I get another one. One question: are poleaxes also affected by Axes and Hammer Mastery? I think they look best but if dual axes are more efficient then I'll go with those.

-Genie: Longevity lvl15 (10/10 lucky points lol)
Skills are Solid Shield and Tree of Protection. I'll probably get Alpha Male when I get my genie that high, but are there any other skills that are absolutely necessary? I basically have yet to use Solid Shield and only use Tree of Protection when I notice I'm going to die.

I could make a lot of more money by selling my Dragon Quest items to the NPC, but I currently have them stashed in my bank for doing DQs (also upgraded my bank with it). I also have a spare genie -_- I had no idea they came free with the quest and I spent 3 Miragestones to summon one.

Also, this is just a thought of mine, but is it somewhat manageable to grind 'naked'? As in, without equipment. This would basically annihilate the repair costs.

TheGoliath - Heavens Tear

u are doing good but don't use alpha male, we already have a similar skill


grind naked ? o.o oh.. u'll die pretty fast

Edit: yes much str compared to vit is normal, stick with doubl axes/hammers