Had enough of magic and minions? How about some good old-fashioned bludgeoning? If this sounds like a good time to you, then the Barbarian is calling. The Barbarian focuses on heavy physical damage and can be built in a variety of ways to dish out tons of pain and punishment.
Thinking about trying out a different class? Check out our ranking on all the available classes in Diablo IV.
Key Takeaways for the Barbarian Builds:
- The Rend Barbarian focuses on Rend and Death Blow for a berserker build.
- The Thorned Barbarian uses Thorns and Iron Skin to get up close and personal.
- The Needleflare Aspect is especially potent with the Thorned Barbarian.
- Use your companions to dish out pain with the Hammer Time build.
- Use the Z League app to share your own Barbarian builds with others.
Rend Barbarian
The Rend skill turns your Barbarian into a Berserker and turns the battlefield into a blood bath. Start by taking the Rend skill which is an AOE attack that cleaves enemies in front of you and adds bleeding damage over time. Grab the Hamstring passive to slow enemies that are bleeding. Upgrade to Furious Rend which grants a certain amount of Fury per enemy hit. Another attack to concentrate on is Frenzy, which is a basic attack that unleashes a rapid flurry of blows to help soften up enemies. When several enemies are about to die you want to go all in on Death Blow which is a killing strike that will be automatically refreshed if you kill an enemy. The idea is to use Rend and Frenzy before landing the killing attack with Death Blow. You would be wise to also nab Pressure Point, which gives your core skills a percentage chance to make enemies Vulnerable. Leap is a good skill for maneuverability, so you can easily move out of the way of incoming damage or cross-section of the battlefield quickly. Use Challenging Shout to taunt nearby enemies while gaining damage reduction for a time. Pair all this with Iron Skin that forms a barrier, which absorbs a percentage of your missing Life. Snag the Tactical Iron Skin upgrade to heal yourself as you defend against oncoming damage. Another hint we’ll give you is to use the Aspect of Anemia on a two-handed blade, which will do direct damage against Bleeding enemies and has a chance to Stun them.
Thorned Barbarian
The next build focuses on the barbarian’s ability to generate thorns and the Iron Skin’s ability to increase survivability. Start by investing in the Flay ability that deals damage and inflicts bleeding damage over time. Upgrade this ability to Combat Flay which will add damage reduction and thorns for a certain period. You can stack this up to 4 times. Nab the Strategic Challenging Shout so this build can shine as it adds Thorns equal to a percentage of your max life. Equip Iron Skin so you can easily get up close and personal with all the baddies and let them have a taste of your thorns. Add to your thorny build by investing in Outburst, adding more thorns and several thorns based on bonus max life, and Tough as Nails which increases your thorns by a certain percentage. Imposing Presence will increase your max life and Booming Voice will increase the effects of Challenging Shout. The idea is to use the taunt (Strategic Challenging Shout), bring up your barrier (Iron Skin), and watch as foes die to your thorns. Using the Needleflare Aspect on a two-handed weapon will also hugely increase the damage that thorns do and damage all enemies around you. Suffice it to say, this Aspect is crazy powerful.
Hammer Time
This build focuses on the Hammer of the Ancients skill and builds around it with increasing Fury as much as possible. Start by getting the Bash skill and upgrading it to Battle Bash which will allow damage to a stunned enemy to generate additional Fury—even more, Fury will be generated with a two-handed weapon. Next, grab Hammer of the Ancients which will permit the Barbarian to slam a hammer down with the fury of the ancients and will do damage to a concentrated area in an AOE-style attack. Upgrade the ability to Furious Hammer of the Ancients and watch as your hammer deals additional damage for each point of Fury you have. Work in Endless Fury to generate a percentage of extra Fury when wielding a two-handed weapon. Rallying Cry and Strategic Rallying Cry should be staples in your build since your movement speed will be increased plus adding unstoppable and Fortify to your arsenal. Mix in Challenging Should and Tactical Challenging Shout to gain Fury each time you take damage. Note that Booming Voice will also increase your shouting effects. Pit Fighter is a great skill that deals increased damage when enemies are close and enemies at a ranged distance deal less damage to the Barbarian. Death Blow and Fighter’s Death Blow will continue to add more Fury to your build when you finish off enemies. In true heroic fashion, Call of the Ancients summons 3 ancients to aid you in battle. Prime Call of the Ancients adds bonus attack speed and increased damage. And finally, the Supreme Call of the Ancients will give additional powers to each ancient.
Be sure to check out our other build guides for the Sorceress, Necromancer, Rogue, and Druid.
