Best Barbarian build in Diablo 4
The brute force character of the bunch
Big and strong. Image via Blizzard Entertainment.
Out of the five classes in Diablo 4, the Barbarian could be considered the weakest of the bunch in terms of overall usability. That means players will need a top-tier Barbarian build if they want any chance of keeping up with the other classes in Diablo 4.
While technically stronger than other classes, the skills available for the Barbarian are considerably weaker than most of the other class skills. Below, you can see the six skills we have chosen for the Barbarian in addition to some passive skills that will complement your attacks.
What’s the best Barbarian build in Diablo 4?
As with any build, we’ll start things off with the best skills that you should use for the Barbarian. We will list a skill from each of the six branches in addition to what upgrade you should give each of the skills.
Basic skill: Flay Enhanced Flay Battle Flay Your main skill for the Barbarian should be Flay, as it deals solid damage and inflicts bleed damage over a course of five seconds. Using a two-handed weapon with Flay will cause even more damage, especially when you add the Battle upgrade. The Battle upgrade has a 10 percent chance to make the enemy vulnerable, which is doubled to 20 percent when using a two-handed weapon. Core skill: Whirlwind Enhanced Whirlwind Violent Whirlwind Next up there is Whirlwind, which is an area-of-effect (AoE) attack that players can keep going for several seconds. Your character will swing violently around the battlefield, cutting into enemies as they do so. Defensive skill (party): Rallying Cry Enhanced Rallying Cry Tactical Rallying Cry This skill should only be used by those in a party. When Rallying Cry is performed, allies will gain increased movement speed and resource generation for six seconds. When the Tactical upgrade is applied, you also receive additional resource generation and added Fury. Defensive skill (solo): Ground Stomp Enhanced Ground Stomp Tactical Ground Stomp For solo players, we recommend Ground Stomp in the Defensive skills category. Ground Stomp can stun or knock down enemies, giving you a chance to attack them with another skill, and gives you extra Fury generation when performed. Brawling skill: War Cry Enhanced War Cry Power War Cry Similar to Rallying Cry, War Cry is a shout that increases the Barbarian’s overall damage. It’s a great skill to use just before a battle or when you have a free second or two in the middle of combat. Weapon Mastery skill: Deathblow Enhanced Deathblow Fighter’s Deathblow Another DPS-focused skill, Deathblow is a powerful attack that can deal massive amounts of damage when used. Also, when you kill an enemy with Deathblow, your cooldown for the skill will be reset, allowing you to use it again. Ultimate skill: Wrath of the Berserker Prime Wrath of the Berserker Supreme Wrath of the Berserker Finally, we have the Ultimate skill, Wrath of the Berserker. This skill grants the Barbarian berserking and unstoppable buffs for five seconds. Additionally, the next 10 seconds of damaging enemies with basic skills will grant an additional five seconds of berserking, which increases your overall damage.
Now that we have the main skills out of the way, you can focus on what passive skills you’d like to assign for the Barbarian. We have a list of a few that will prove immensely useful in Diablo 4.
Endless Fury – Basic skills generate extra Fury when using two-handed weapons. Cut to the Bone – Bleeding effects deal increased damage to vulnerable enemies. Heavy Handed – Your critical strike damage is increased when using two-handed weapons.
Related: Which class should you choose in Diablo 4?
Best Arsenal weapons for the Barbarian in Diablo 4
The Arsenal system is a unique part of the Barbarian class. Essentially, the system allows you to rank up certain kinds of weapons, which gives them extra boosts when you level them up to certain ranks. To take advantage of the Arsenal system, you want to use a few different weapons that work in conjunction with the skills you have chosen.
As most of the skills above are centered around two-handed weapons, that’s what we recommend you rank up first. You have a two-handed sword, mace, and axe available to you in this category. If we had to pick one, though, it would be the two-handed sword, as its Arsenal bonuses give you extra bleeding damage, which works well with the Flay basic skill.
Related: All the Class Achievements in Diablo 4 and how to finish them
It’s also recommended to rank up some one-handed weapons as well so you can have complete build freedom when deciding to switch up your skills. The Barbarian can hold up to four different weapons at once, so there’s no need to strap yourself to a single weapon.
About the author
Joey Carr
Joey Carr is a full-time writer for multiple esports and gaming websites. He has 6+ years of experience covering esports and traditional sporting events, including DreamHack Atlanta, Call of Duty Championships 2017, and Super Bowl 53.
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