Diablo 4 Barbarian Guide: How to play Barb in D4

Welcome to our guide on the Barbarian Class in Diablo 4!

This comprehensive article will cover everything you need to know about the Barbarian character, such as best skills and talents, class strengths and weaknesses, how to gear and play it, and how to prepare your build for End-Game PvE content.

First, we will cover the Barbarian class particularities and see if this type of character suits your needs. Then, you will learn how to prioritize your primary stats, how to gear and what build to choose, and the skill rotation to maximize your damage output.

Finally, we will get into the best Barbarian Skills, builds, items, and gear to min-max your character. By the end of this guide, you will become a master of the Barbarian Class in Diablo IV! Without further ado, Let's get started!

Table of Contents

Here is a little breakdown of our Diablo 4 Barbarian Class guide:

• Barbarian Class Overview
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Stats Priority
• Barbarian Skill Tree
• Specialization
• Barbarian Class Talents
• How to play Barbarian
• How to gear your Barbarian
• Best Barbarian Builds
• Set & Unique Items
• Legendary Items & Powers
• BiS Gear for Barbarian
• Barbarian Paragon Board
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion

Barbarian Class Overview

The Barbarian Class is one of the most iconic damage dealers who can attack from melee range while using an arsenal of mighty weapons. As a Barbarian, you can further boost your damage with the unique class mechanic called Arsenal. You can equip 4 weapons to empower your character.

Following up, we'll cover the class archetype, the resource generation, and more information about the Barbarian Class in Diablo IV!

Class Archetype

In Diablo 4, the Barbarian can use 4 weapons while also having an Expertise system, gaining experience for each type of weapon and gaining bonuses from leveling them up.

Resource

As a Barbarian, a very powerful melee fighter, you will use a lot of Fury. Each attack requires a specific amount of Fury; the stronger the spell, the more it costs.

Note: Your Fury will replenish slowly over time, but Basic skills can also generate Fury!

Damage Type

Barbarians are masters of Physical damage that can use up to 4 weapons:

• Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon
• Two-Handed Slashing Weapon
• Two One-Handed Weapons

Skill Groups

All Diablo IV classes have specific Skill Categories, such as Basic and Core skills, but barbarians have additional groups for Defensive, Brawling, and Weapon Mastery abilities:

• Basic – Filler skills used to generate Fury.
• Core – Abilities with no cooldowns, but their most significant drawback is the high cost of Fury.
• Defensive – Skills that either crowd control enemies or buff your character up.
• Brawling – Crowd control and aggressive skills.
• Weapon Mastery – High damage skills that debuff the enemies.
• Ultimate – Powerful abilities with big impact but high cooldown.

Skill Examples

• Rend – Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing x% damage and inflicting x% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
• Ground Stomp – Smash the ground, dealing x% damage and Stunning surrounding enemies for 3 seconds.
• War Cry – Bellow a mighty war cry, increasing your damage dealt by x15% for 8 seconds, and Nearby allies for 4 seconds.
• Death Blow – Attempt a killing strike, dealing x% damage to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reset.

Unique Class Mechanic

Each class owns a distinctive mechanic that adds bonuses to the character's skills & abilities. The barbarian's unique class mechanic in Diablo 4 is called the Arsenal. This new addition allows players to equip and use four weapons and gain bonuses from the weapons' expertise.

Weapons Used

As a barbarian, you can equip seven types of weapons:

• One-Handed Axe
• One-Handed Mace
• One-Handed Sword
• Two-Handed Axe
• Polearm
• Two-Handed Sword
• Two-Handed Mace

Note: You should equip Two One-Handed Weapons, One Slashing Two-Handed Weapon, and One Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon to benefit of all the mechanics and skills. The choice is yours, and everything is dictated by your playstyle and the purpose of the build/character.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In this section of our Barbarian guide, we'll present the Barbarian's Pros and Cons in Diablo IV:

Following up on our Diablo 4 Barbarian Guide, we'll present the stats prioritization for your class and the bonuses & effects provided by them. Let's get into it!

Barbarian Stats Priority

In this section of our Barbarian guide, we'll present the most important stats and how to prioritize them.

Each primary stat in Diablo 4 is another way of enhancing your class further. The offensive effects of each stat will differ depending on which character you are playing. In terms of Primary Stats for Barbarians, the priority should be the following:

Barbarian Offensive Stats Priority: Strength > Dexterity > Willpower > Intelligence

Barbarian Defensive Stats Priority: Strength > Willpower > Dexterity > Intelligence

Following up in our Diablo 4 Barbarian Guide, we'll present the skill tree & skill groups and how to enhance the proficiency of your abilities.

Barbarian Skill Tree

In the following section of our guide, we'll present the Diablo IV Barbarian Skills, ability groups, and enhanced versions of them.

The Barbarian class in Diablo 4 has 23 different skills distributed in six categories:

• Basic Skills
• Core Skills
• Defensive Skills
• Brawling Skills
• Weapon Mastery Skills
• Ultimate Skills

Following up, we'll dive deep into each category of skills and their importance!

Active & Passive Skills

Active skills are abilities that are used by different characters and monsters. Barbarian's active skills can be acquired from any abilities group in the tree.

Passive skills are permanent buffs/effects added to a specific skill or group of skills. A Barbarian's passive ability is always active and modifies the attributes of the character/skills or give bonuses based on distance or movement.

Basic Skills

Basic skills are abilities that can be used indefinitely with zero Fury cost. These abilities have a good damage output, and they are good to use while waiting for other skills to cool down or to gain Fury.

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Bash	Bash the enemy with your weapon, dealing x% damage. After bashing enemies 4 times, your next Bash will Stun for 1.25 seconds, this increases to 2 seconds if using a Two-Handed weapon. Enhanced Bash: Damaging a Stunned enemy with Bash grants you 5% Base Life as Fortify. Double this amount when using a Two-Handed weapon.	Upgrade 1 (Combat): After Critically Striking 4 times with Bash using a Two-Handed weapon, your next Core or Weapon Mastery Skill will Overpower. Upgrade 2 (Battle): Damaging a Stunned enemy with Bash generates an additional 3 Fury, or 4 Fury if using a Two-Handed weapon.
Flay	Flay the enemy, dealing x% damage and inflicting x% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Enhanced Flay: Flay has a 10% chance to make the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Double this chance when using a Two-Handed weapon.	Upgrade 1 (Combat): When Flay deals direct damage to an enemy, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and 4 Thorns for 3 seconds. This stacks up to 4 times. Upgrade 2 (Battle): When Flay deals direct damage to an enemy, they take x10% increased Bleeding damage from you for the next 3 seconds.
Frenzy	Unleash a rapid flurry of blows, dealing x% damage with each pair of hits. If Frenzy hits an enemy, its Attack Speed is increased by +20% for 3 seconds, up to +60%. Enhanced Frenzy: While Frenzy is granting +60% bonus Attack Speed, it also generates 2 additional Fury.	Upgrade 1 (Combat): You gain 8% Damage Reduction for each stack of Frenzy you currently have. Upgrade 2 (Battle): While Berserking, your other Skills gain +5% Attack Speed for each stack of Frenzy you have.
Lunging Strike	Lunge forward and strike an enemy for x% damage. Enhanced Lunging Strike: Lunging Strike deals x30% increased damage and Heals you for 2% Maximum Life when it damages a Healthy enemy.	Upgrade 1 (Combat): Critical Strikes with Lunging Strike grant you Berserking for 1.5 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Battle): Lunging Strike also inflicts 20% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.

Core Skills

The Barbarian's core skills are abilities that have no cooldown, but they consume a lot of Fury when casted:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Hammer of the Ancients	Slam your hammer down with the fury of the Ancients, dealing x% damage to a concentrated area. Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients: Gain x3% more Fury for 5 seconds for each enemy damaged by Hammer of the Ancients, stacking up to 10 times.	Upgrade 1 (Violent): After Overpowering with Hammer of the Ancients, you deal x30% more damage for 2.5 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Furious): Hammer of the Ancients deals x1% additional damage for each point of Fury you had when using it.
Rend	Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing x% damage and inflicting x% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Enhanced Rend: Dealing direct damage with Rend extends the duration of Vulnerable on enemies by 2 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Violent): Rend deals x12% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Upgrade 2 (Furious): Direct damage with Rend grants 4 Fury per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 20 Fury.
Whirlwind	Rapidly attack surrounding enemies for x% damage. Enhanced Whirlwind: Gain 1 Fury each time Whirlwind deals direct damage to an enemy, or 3 Fury against Elite enemies.	Upgrade 1 (Violent): After using Whirlwind for 2 seconds, Whirlwind deals x30% increased damage until it is cancelled. Upgrade 2 (Furious): While using a Slashing weapon, Whirlwind also inflicts 20% of its Base damage as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
Double Swing	Sweep your weapons from opposite directions, dealing x% damage with each weapon. Enemies caught in the center are damaged by both. Enhanced Double Swing: If Double Swing damages a Stunned or Knocked Down enemy, gain 15 Fury.	Upgrade 1 (Violent): Hitting an enemy with both hits of Double Swing makes them Vulnerable for 1 second. Upgrade 2 (Furious): Casting Double Swing while Berserking grants 2 additional seconds of Berserking.
Upheaval	Tear into the ground with your weapon and fling debris forward, dealing x% damage. Enhanced Upheaval: Upheaval has a 20% chance to Stun all enemies it damages for 2.5 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Violent): If Upheaval damages at least 2 enemies, you gain Berserking for 2 seconds, increased to 3 seconds if it damages at least 4 enemies. Upgrade 2 (Furious): Dealing direct damage to an enemy with a Skill that is not Upheaval causes your next cast of Upheaval to deal x8% increased damage, stacking up to 10 times.

Defensive Skills

Defensive Skills give Barbarians the ability to destroy enemies in close combat without worrying about their Life:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Ground Stomp	Smash the ground, dealing x% damage and Stunning surrounding enemies for 3 seconds. Enhanced Ground Stomp: Increase Ground Stomp’s duration by 1 second.	Upgrade 1 (Tactical): Ground Stomp generates 25 Fury. Upgrade 2 (Strategic): Reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 1 second for each enemy damaged by Ground Stomp.
Iron Skin	Steel yourself, gaining a Barrier that absorbs x% of your missing Life for 5 seconds. Enhanced Iron Skin: Iron Skin's Barrier absorbs 5% more of your Maximum Life.	Upgrade 1 (Tactical): While Iron Skin is active, Heal for 10% of the Barrier’s original amount as Life per second. Upgrade 2 (Strategic): Iron Skin also grants 9% Base Life as Fortify. Double this amount if cast while below 50% Life.
Challenging Shout	Taunt Nearby enemies and gain x% Damage Reduction for 8 seconds. Enhanced Challenging Shout: While Challenging Shout is active, gain x20% bonus Maximum Life.	Upgrade 1 (Tactical): While Challenging Shout is active, you gain 3 Fury each time you take damage. Upgrade 2 (Strategic): While Challenging Shout is active, gain Thorns equal to 50% of your Maximum Life.
Rallying Cry	Bellow a rallying cry, increasing your Movement Speed by +30% and Resource Generation by x50% for 6 seconds, and Nearby allies for 3 seconds. Enhanced Rallying Cry: Rallying Cry grants you Unstoppable while active.	Upgrade 1 (Tactical): Rallying Cry generates 25 Fury and grants you an additional x50% Resource Generation. Upgrade 2 (Strategic): Rallying Cry grants you 10% Base Life as Fortify. While Rallying Cry is active, you gain an additional 2% Base Life as Fortify each time you take or deal direct damage.

Brawling Skills

Brawling skills bring more utility to the Barbarian's kit.

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
War Cry	Bellow a mighty war cry, increasing your damage dealt by x15% for 8 seconds, and Nearby allies for 4 seconds. Enhanced War Cry: War Cry grants you Berserking for 4 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Mighty): War Cry grants you 28% Base Life as Fortify. Upgrade 2 (Power): If at least 6 enemies are Nearby when you cast War Cry, your damage bonus is increased to x30%.
Kick	Throw a powerful kick that deals x% damage and Knocks Back enemies in front of you. Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain take an additional x% damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds. Enhanced Kick: Damaging enemies with Kick makes them Vulnerable for 4 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Mighty):  Kicked enemies deal 54% damage to enemies they collide with while being Knocked Back. Enemies damaged this way are Knocked Down for 2 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Power): If Kick damages an enemy, it consumes all of your Fury and deals an additional 20% damage per 10 Fury spent. Kick no longer Knocks Back enemies.
Leap	Leap forward and then slam down, dealing x% damage and Knocking Back surrounding enemies on impact. Enhanced Leap: If Leap doesn’t damage any enemies, its Cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Mighty): Enemies damaged by Leap are Slowed by 50% for 5 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Power): If Leap damages at least one enemy, gain 40 Fury.
Charge	Become Unstoppable and rush forward, pushing enemies with you then swinging through them for x% damage and Knocking them Back. Enhanced Charge: Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain by Charge take 15% damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Mighty): Damaging enemies with Charge makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Power): Reduce Charge’s Cooldown by 3 seconds if it Knocks Back an enemy into terrain.

Weapon Mastery Skills

The Weapon Mastery skills are very powerful and will either execute or debuff enemies:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Death Blow	Attempt a killing strike, dealing x% damage to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reset. Enhanced Death Blow: Death Blow deals x100% increased damage to Bosses.	Upgrade 1 (Fighter): If Death Blow damages at least one enemy, gain 20 Fury. Upgrade 2 (Warrior): If Death Blow damages at least one enemy, gain Berserking for 3 seconds.
Rupture	Skewer enemies in front of you, dealing x% damage, then rip your weapon out, damaging enemies for their total Bleeding amount and removing all Bleeding damage from them. Enhanced Rupture: Ripping your weapon out of enemies during Rupture causes an explosion that deals 30% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Fighter): Hitting at least 1 enemy with Rupture Heals you for 15% of your Maximum Life. Upgrade 2 (Warrior): Hitting enemies with Rupture increases your Attack Speed by +20% for 4 seconds.
Steel Grasp	Throw out a trio of chains that deal x% damage and Pull in enemies. Enhanced Steel Grasp: Steel Grasp also makes enemies Vulnerable for 2.5 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Fighter): If Steel Grasp damages an enemy, gain Berserking for 2 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Warrior): Steel Grasp gains 1 additional Charge.

Ultimate Skills

Ultimate skills are the most powerful abilities with very long cooldowns but high effectiveness. Only one ultimate skill can be equipped at a time:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Call of the Ancients	Call upon 3 Ancients to aid you in battle for 6 seconds. Korlic leaps at enemies, dealing x% damage and swings his weapons in a frenzy, dealing x% damage per hit. Talic spins in a whirlwind rapidly attacking enemies for x% damage. Madawc upheaves the ground, dealing x% damage.	Upgrade 1 (Prime): While Call of the Ancients is active, gain +10% bonus Attack Speed and x10% increased damage. Upgrade 2 (Supreme): Each of the Ancients gains additional power: Korlic: You gain 10 Fury each time Korlic damages an enemy with his Frenzy. Talic: Enemies are Slowed by 50% for 1 second when damaged by his Whirlwind. Madawc: 30% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds when using his Upheaval.
Iron Maelstrom	Activate three times to attach chains to each of your weapons and perform an attack: First your Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon slams into the ground, dealing x% damage and Stunning enemies for 2 seconds. Second your Two-Handed Slashing weapon swipes in front of you, dealing x% damage and inflicting x% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Third your Dual Wield weapons swing around you, dealing x% damage per hit.	Upgrade 1 (Prime): Iron Maelstrom gains +10% increased Critical Strike Chance and deals x20% increased Critical Strike Damage. Upgrade 2 (Supreme): Dealing direct damage to an enemy after swapping weapons reduces Iron Maelstrom’s Cooldown by 1 second.
Wrath of the Berserker	Gain Berserking and Unstoppable for 5 seconds. For the next 10 seconds, dealing direct damage with Basic Skills grants Berserking for 5 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Prime): While Wrath of the Berserker is active, gain +20% increased Movement Speed and increase Fury Generation by x30%. Upgrade 2 (Supreme): While Wrath of the Berserker is active, every 50 Fury you spend increases Berserk’s damage bonus by x25%.

Dismount Skill

The barbarian has access to a unique Dismount Ability which causes the character to leap from the mount and slam the ground twice.

Arsenal

The Barbarian Unique Class Mechanic let's you use 4 weapons and level each weapon's expertise level and gain Bonuses from each of them to Empower your character.

Arsenal mechanic unlock

The unique class mechanic is unlocked at level 5 automatically, by simply leveling up.

Arsenal Bonuses:

Note: The bonuses between the parentheses () are the max version possible (rank 10). Each one of them scale up with the rank.

This covers everything you should know about the Arsenal Bonuses for Barbarian in Diablo IV. Next, we'll present the Barbarian Class Talents and their passive benefits.

Barbarian Class Talents in Diablo 4

Talents are passive abilities that increase your character's survivability or DPS output. There are 35 talents in Diablo 4, and you can unlock them by allocating a specific amount of points to your skill tree.

Following up in our Diablo 4 Barbarian Guide, we'll cover all six talent groups and how they affect your character!

Barbarian Core Talents

• Pressure Point - Lucky Hit: Your Core skills have up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Vulnerable enemies take 20% increased damage.
• Endless Fury - Basic Skills generate 5%/10%/15% more Fury when using Two-Handed weapons.

Barbarian Defensive Talents

• Imposing Presence - Gain 5%/10%/15% additional Maximum Life.
• Martial Vigor - Damage Reduction against Elites is increased by 4%/8%/12%.
• Outburst - Gain 2/4/6 Thorns. Also gain 2 Thorns for each 2 bonus Maximum Life you have.
• Tough as Nails - Increase your Thorns by 20%/40%/60%. When enemies hit you, they take an additional 1% of your Thorns as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.

Barbarian Brawling Talents

• Booming Voice - Your Shout Skill effect durations are increased by 10%/20%/30%.
• Raid Leader - Your Shouts also Heal allies for 1%/2%/3% of their Maximum Life per second.
• Guttural Yell - Your Shout Skills cause enemies to deal 8%/16%/24% less damage for 5 seconds.
• Aggressive Resistance - Gain 4%/8%/12% Damage Reduction while Berserking. Berserking grants 25% increased damage and 15% increased Movement Speed. This effect lasts up to 5 seconds.
• Battle Fervor - When a Brawling Skill damages at least one enemy, gain Berserking for 1/2/3 second(s). Berserking grants 25% increased damage and 15% increased Movement Speed. This effect lasts up to 5 seconds.
• Prolific Fury - While Berserking, Fury Generation is increased by 6%/12%/18%. Berserking grants 25% increased damage and 15% increased Movement Speed. This effect lasts up to 5 seconds.
• Swiftness - Movement Speed is increased by 4%/8%/12%.
• Quick Impulses - Reduce the duration of Control Impairing Effects by 6%/12%/18%.

Barbarian Weapon Mastery Talents

• Pit Fighter - You deal x3%/x6%/x9% increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2%/4%/6% Distant Damage Reduction.
• No Mercy - You have +3%/+6%/+9% increased Critical Strike Chance against Immobilized, Stunned, or Slowed enemies.
• Slaying Strike - You deal x8%/x15%/x23% increased damage against Injured enemies. Injured characters have less than 35% of their Life.
• Expose Vulnerability - Dealing direct damage with a Weapon Mastery Skill causes your next Core Skill to make enemies Vulnerable for 1/2/3 second(s).
• Hamstring - Your Bleeding effects Slow enemies by 10%/20%/30%.
• Cut to the Bone - Your Bleeding effects deal x6%/x12%/x18% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Thick Skin - Each time you take direct damage gain 0.4%/0.7%/1.1% Base Life as Fortify.
• Defensive Stance - Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional 3%/6%/9%. Fortified characters take 10% reduced damage. You become Fortified when you have more Fortify than current Life.
• Counteroffensive - While you have Fortify for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal x5%/x10%/x15% increased damage.

Barbarian Ultimate Talents

• Duelist - Attack Speed is increased by +3%/+6%/+9% while using One-Handed weapons.
• Tempered Fury - Increase your Maximum Fury by 3/6/9.
• Furious Impulse - Each time you swap weapons, gain 2/4/6 Fury.
• Invigorating Fury - Heal for 3%/6%/9% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
• Heavy Handed - While using Two-Handed weapons you deal x5%/x10%/x15% increased Critical Strike Damage.
• Wallop - Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal x5%/x10%/x15% increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
• Brute Force - Your Overpowers deal x15%/x30%/x45% increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon.
• Concussion - Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15%/30%/45% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.

Barbarian Capstone Talents

• Unconstrained - Increase Berserk’s maximum duration by 5 seconds and increase its damage bonus by +25%.
• Walking Arsenal - Dealing direct damage with a Two-Handed Bludgeoning, Two-Handed Slashing, or Dual Wielded weapons grants x10% increased damage for 6 seconds. While all three damage bonuses are active, you gain an additional x15% increased damage.
• Unbridled Rage - Core Skills deal x135% increased damage, but cost x100% more Fury.
• Gushing Wounds - When causing an enemy to Bleed, you have a chance equal to your Critical Strike Chance to increase the Bleed amount by 100% of your Critical Strike Damage bonus. Overpowering a Bleeding enemy creates an explosion that inflicts 11% Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.

This sums up everything regarding Barbarian Class Talents in D4. Moving on, we'll present a quick introduction to how to approach this class and how to improve your character.

How to play Barbarian in Diablo 4

The Barbarian is one of the most powerful solo classes in Diablo IV. As we tested in the Beta, there was nothing you couldn't solo on this character except the World Bosses. To improve your DPS and survivability, you must use gear with good affixes that boost your character, such as:

• +% Core Skill Damage
• + Ranks to any of your selected skills
• +% Crit Strike Chance
• +% Attack Speed

Additional attributes that could work, but they are not as important as the ones listed above are:

• +% Skill Damage
• +% Movement Speed
• +% Crit Strike Damage

Barbarian Leveling Skills

The best leveling skills in the barbarian's gameplay depend significantly on the chosen build. Below you have a setup of skills for each one separately:

Whirlwind Build – Flay, Whirlwind, Rallying Cry, Charge, Rupture & Wrath of the Berserker.

Bleed Build – Flay, Rend, Ground Stomp, Iron Skin, Challenging Shout & Call of the Ancients.

Barbarian Leveling Talents

The best leveling talents are extremely powerful and define the overall playstyle of your build. Every talent group has a requirement that needs to be met before allocating any points to the skill tree:

• Core Talents: Requires 2 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Defensive Talents: Requires 6 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Brawling Talents: Requires 11 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Weapon Mastery Talents: Requires 16 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Ultimate Talents: Requires 23 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Capstone Talents: Requires 33 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.

Regarding leveling, we recommend using the Weapon Mastery for increased damage output, the Stutter Step for increased mobility, and Innervation for Fury restoration. There are a couple of talents that we recommend for specific builds, such as:

Whirlwind Talents

• Pressure Point: Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to 10%/20%/30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
• Endless Fury: Basic Skills generate x5%/x10%/x15% more Fury when using Two-Handed Weapons.
• Swiftness: Movement Speed is increased by +4%/+8%/+12%.
• Pit Fighter: You deal x3%/x6%/x9% increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2%/4%/6% Distant Damage Reduction.
• Cut to the Bone: Your Bleeding effects deal x6%/x12%/x18% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Heavy Handed: While using Two-Handed Weapons you deal x5%/x10%/x15% increased Critical Strike Damage.
• Tempered Fury: Increase your Maximum Fury by 3/6/9.

Bleed Talents

• Tough as Nails: Increase your Thorns by 20%/40%/60%. When enemies hit you, they take an additional 1% of your Thorns as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
• Outburst: Gain 2/4/6 Thorns. Also gain 2 Thorns for each 2 bonus Maximum Life you have.
• Hamstring: Your Bleeding effects Slow enemies by 10%/20%/30%.
• Thick Skin: Each time you take direct damage gain 0.4%/0.7%/1.1%.
• Imposing Presence: Gain x5%/x10%/x15% additional Maximum Life.
• Cut to the Bone: Your Bleeding effects deal x6%/x12%/x18% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.

Barbarian Leveling Build

A build is more important in the endgame than in leveling, but we found some examples of high-quality items that you must use as a Barbarian:

Whirlwind Barbarian Build

• Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind (Gloves) Whirlwind's Critical Strike Chance is increased by 5% for each second it's channeled, up to 20%.
• Aspect of Ancestral Echoes (Amulet): Damaging enemies with Leap, Upheaval or Whirlwind has up to 40% chance to summon an Ancient to perform the same skill.
• Aspect of Might (Helm): Basic Skills grant 25% Damage reduction for 4 seconds.

Bleed Barbarian Build

• Aspect of Quickening Pulse (Gloves): Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to reduce the cooldowns of your non-Ultimate Skills by 1.5 seconds when you inflict Bleeding on Elites.
• Aspect of Anemia (Amulet): Direct damage against Bleeding enemies has up to a 31% chance to Stun them for 2 seconds.
• Slacking Aspect (Ring): You have up to 30% chance to gain 20 Fury when Rend deals direct Damage to at least one Bleeding enemy.

Barbarian Rotation

The Barbarian Rotation is very dependent on your Fury resource generation. The basic skills are very weak, mostly used to apply debuffs on targets or as fillers.

The rotation itself is effortless: use each skill when it comes out of cooldown and try to maintain the Fury with the help of abilities, upgrades & legendary aspects.

This wraps everything regarding the basics of the Barbarian Playstyle in Diablo IV. Now let's check out the gear particularities and what stats you should primarily focus on for your character.

How to gear a Barbarian in Diablo 4

Barbarian in Diablo 4 can equip a total of twelve items in the following item slots:

• Head
• Chest
• Gloves
• Pants
• Boots
• Amulet
• 2x Rings
• Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon
• Two-Handed Slashing Weapon
• Two One-Handed Weapons

Note: As a reminder, please remember that you can use all four weapon slots equipped with a specific Aspect to help your character have an additional Legendary Power, depending on how many aspects you need to make the build work, regardless of the weapons used.

Barbarian Primary Stats

In Diablo IV, the stats are divided into two categories; the class you use determines the benefits you gain by increasing a specific stat. The bonuses for Barbarian Primary Stats in Diablo IV are the following:

Offensive Effects

• Strength – +0.1% Skill Damage per point.
• Dexterity – +0.02% Critical Strike Chance per point.
• Willpoower – +0.1% Resource Generation per point. +0.25% Overpower Damage per point.
• Intelligence – + Nothing

Defensive Effects

• Strength – +1 Increase to Armor per stat point.
• Intelligence – +0.05% Increase to All Resistance per stat point.
• Willpower – +0.1% Increase to Healing Received.
• Dexterity – +0.025% increase to Dodge Chance per stat point.

Best Weapon for Barbarian

Two-Handed Weapons equipped along with One-Handed weapons with a specific Aspect helps your character have an additional Legendary Power, depending on how many aspects you require for your build.

As soon as we have specific weapons for particular builds, we will update the section for the best Barbarian Weapon in Diablo 4.

Barbarian Best Armor Pieces

When using a specific build, you want to look for particular pieces of equipment with any of the required legendary aspects. Any Barbarian build depends on skills, so your gear improvement upgrades the efficiency of your DPS & survivability.

The aspects either help you regenerate Fury, deal more damage, or receive less damage from enemies.

Best Gems for Barbarian

A perfect addition for survivability or DPS increase would be socketing your gear with proper gems to buff your active or passive skills:

• Amethyst on Weapon for increased Damage to Damage over Time (DoT).
• Ruby on Weapon for Increased Fury Regeneration.
• Sapphire on Armor for Ideal for Damage Reduction.
• Emerald on Weapon for Increased damage output while fighting with Elite Enemies.
• Diamond on Jewelry for Resistance to all Elements.
• Topaz on Armor for Damage Reduction.
• Skull on Jewelry for increased Armor.

Now that you've learned how to gear your character, it's time to check out some of the best Barbarian builds in Diablo 4.

Best Barbarian Builds

When it comes to the best Barbarian Build in Diablo 4, combining and carefully selecting the skills that we use is very important. We are currently testing the best Barbarian Builds to update the section with the strongest abilities and a mixture of skills.

Meanwhile, let's cover the best Barbarian Leveling and Farming Builds that we used during the Beta Testing.

Best Leveling Build

One of the best leveling builds for the Barbarian in Diablo IV seems to be the Whirlwind build, that has a huge advantage over other classes or builds. We used the following Skills and upgrades while leveling, and we went through the content like a breeze:

Basic Skill - Flay - with the Battle upgrade for the chance of making enemies Vulnerable.

Core Skill - Whirlwind - with Furious upgrade for added Bleed.

Defensive Skill - Rallying Cry - with the Tactical upgrade for added Resource generation.

Brawling Skill - Charge - with the Mighty upgrade for making enemies Vulnerable.

Weapon Mastery Skill - Rupture - with the Tactical upgrade for increased Attack Speed.

Ultimate Skill - Wrath of the Berserker - with the Supreme upgrade for incredible DPS, increased Move speed and Fury Generation.

This build has a very high clear speed and DPS output, slaying bosses in seconds without any legendary powers or items.

Best Farming Build

At the moment, we haven't found a build that would allow faster farming of the items or materials you need. As soon as we have a specific build in place, we will update the section with the best Barbarian Build for Farming in Diablo 4.

Sets & Unique Items

In this section of our Barbarian guide, we'll present the best class-exclusive Sets & Unique Items you can use on your character and what benefits you acquire from them!

Barbarian Unique Items

Uniques are very rare drops in Diablo 4, and only a little information has been revealed about them at the time of writing this guide. We can only say that your character can only equip one Unique Item at a time!

Barbarian Set Items

Set items are powerful pieces of gear that enhance your character with unique bonuses and abilities depending on how many pieces of that particular set you have equipped. They are similar to Diablo 3 sets which provide a bonus when you equip 2/4/6 set items.

Specific details were not announced, but as soon as we have any information about the Barbarian Sets, we will update this section for you!

Barbarian Legendary Items & Powers

In this section of our Barbarian guide, we'll present the legendary items, powers, and aspects you can use to further increase your character's capabilities, such as DPS output and survivability.

Best Legendary Aspects For Barbarian

We did not have access to all aspects, but only those from Act I. The following section lists only the known groups of Barbarian-specific legendary aspects in Diablo IV:

• Defensive Legendary Aspects
• Offensive Legendary Aspects
• Resource Legendary Aspects
• Utility Legendary Aspects
• Mobility Legendary Aspects

Legendary aspects can be imprinted on Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist, and after imprinting, the following results can occur:

• Rare Items turn into Legendaries + they keep the same stats that were previously on the item.
• Legendaries will overwrite their aspect with the new one.

Certain Legendary aspects are exclusive to a single class, while some are available to multiple characters. The Codex of Power aspects remain in the book indefinitely, and the imprinted item consumes the extracted Legendary Aspects.

Barbarian Defensive Legendary Aspects

Defensive Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Chest Armor, Pants, and Amulet.

• Aspect of Bul-Kathos - Leap creates an Earthquake that deals X Physical damage over 4 seconds. While standing in Earthquakes, you gain 5% increased Damage Reduction.
• Aspect of the Iron Warrior - Iron Skin also makes you Unstoppable.
• Aspect of Numbing Wrath - Each point of Fury generated while at maximum Fury grants X Fortify.
• Aspect of Tempering Blows - After swapping weapons 6 times, gain X Fortify.

Barbarian Offensive Legendary Aspects

Offensive Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Gloves, Ring, Amulet, One-Handed Weapon, and Two-Handed Weapon.

• Aspect of Ancestral Echoes - Lucky Hit: Damaging enemies with Leap, Upheaval, or Whirlwind has up to a 40% chance to summon an Ancient to perform the same Skill. Can only happen once every 5 seconds.
• Aspect of Ancestral Force - Hammer of the Ancients quakes outwards, dealing 32% of its damage to enemies.
• Aspect of Berserk Ripping - Whenever you deal direct damage while Berserking, inflict 22% of the base damage dealt as additional Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
• Brawler's Aspect - Enemies damaged by Kick or Charge will explode if they are killed within the next 2 seconds, dealing X damage to surrounding enemies.
• Death Wish Aspect - Gain X Thorns while Berserking.
• Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind - Whirlwind's Critical Strike Chance is increased by 5% for each second it is channeled, up to 20%.
• Aspect of Quickening Pulse - Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to reduce the Cooldowns of your non-Ultimate Skills by 1.5 seconds when you inflict Bleeding on Elites.
• Veteran Brawler's Aspect - Each time a Core Skill deals direct damage to an enemy, your next Charge or Leap deals x15% increased damage, up to 225%.
• Windstriker's Aspect - After swapping weapons 6 times, gain 20% increased Attack Speed for 4 seconds.

Barbarian Resource Legendary Aspects

Resource Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Ring, and Amulet.

• Aspect of Echoing Fury - Your Shout Skills generate 2.0 Fury per second while active.
• Aspect of the Relentless Armsmaster - Gain x20% increased Fury Generation while all damage bonuses from Walking Arsenal are active.
• Slaking Aspect - Lucky Hit: You have up to a 30% chance to gain 20 Fury when Rend deals direct damage to at least one Bleeding enemy.
• Aspect of Unrelenting Fury - Killing an enemy with a Core Skill refunds 10.0% of its base Fury cost. Can only happen once per Skill cast.

Barbarian Utility Legendary Aspects

Utility Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Chest Armor, Boots, Gloves, and Amulet.

• Aspect of Anemia - Lucky Hit: Direct damage against Bleeding enemies has up to a 31% chance to Stun them for 2 seconds.
• Relentless Berserker's Aspect - Lucky Hit: Damaging an enemy with a Core Skill has up to a 22% chance to extend the duration of Berserking by 1 second. Double this duration if it was a Critical Strike.

Barbarian Mobility Legendary Aspects

Mobility Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Boots and Amulet.

• Aspect of Perpetual Stomping - Damaging an enemy with Kick or Ground Stomp resets Leap's Cooldown.

Now that we've gone through all the Legendary Aspects for the Barbarian in Diablo IV, it's time to present you how to min-max your character for the end game!

BiS Gear for Barbarian in D4

In this section of our Barbarian guide, we'll present the Best in Slot Gear for your character and how to acquire it.

The most crucial point in acquiring the best armor and weapons for your Barbarian is that you don't need to farm a perfectly rolled Legendary piece. You can transfer any legendary ability/aspect into a rare item. Legendaries have four affixes that make them more powerful.

You can create perfect items by rolling rare items with your desired aspect. We recommend gathering materials while leveling, but save them for the end game crafting.

Note: The Codex of Power has the lowest possible roll of the legendary aspect.

Barbarian Paragon Board

In this section, we'll present the Barbarian's Paragon Board, its levels, and how to acquire them.

Once you reach level 50, you start gaining paragon points. At each level beyond that, you will gain four paragon points, expecting 200 Paragon Points at the maximum level.

At level 50, you will receive a starting paragon board (each class will start with a suitable board for them). You assign your points moving closer to the gate tiles; when you reach one of those, you will attach a new paragon board to your existing one.

As you can see, the Paragon Board represents one of the end game progression systems in Diablo IV.

Barbarian Glyphs

In addition to the different tile types, glyphs can be slotted into paragon sockets. Glyphs are items found throughout the sanctuary and in dungeons. When a glyph is socketed into your board, you will gain various benefits based on the number of active tiles within the Glyph's radius.

Glyphs have different qualities, such as magic or rare, and they can be leveled up to increase their bonuses and the radius of their effect, allowing them to draw powers from more active tiles.

Frequently Asked Questions - Diablo 4 Barbarian Class

1. Are Barbarian any good in Diablo 4?
As we could see in the Beta Launch, the Barbarian is one of the strongest classes for soloing, mostly all activities. We recommend this class for both beginners and professional players.

2. Is Barbarian easy to play in Diablo 4?
The Barbarian is a beginner-friendly class that is very easy to use in any activity, even if it's about ad-clear or bosses.

3. Is the Barbarian the best solo class in D4?
As we mentioned, the Barbarian is one of the best classes to play Solo, with many self-buffs that help with survivability and the best aspects for massive damage outputs.

4. Is Barbarian good in PvP in Diablo IV?
We don't have access to PvP in Diablo IV for now, but the Barbarian will be very good in PvP due to its talents and movement skills.

5. How long does it take to level a Barbarian in Diablo 4?
The Barbarian will have one of the fastest evolutions in Leveling due to its big DPS and the speed with which it can farm materials/items.

6. What is the best Barbarian leveling build in D4?
One of the best Leveling Builds for Barbarian is Whirlwind Build due to the speed with which it can go through the content and the ease with which it can kill regular enemies and bosses.

7. What is the best Diablo 4 Barbarian build?
The best builds for Barbarian depend on your playstyle, both Whirlwind and Bleed builds being very good.

8. What skills should I use for a Barbarian in Diablo IV?
Typically, you should choose the skills that represent your gameplay and help you get through the activity you are in.

9. What are the best weapons for Barbarian in Diablo 4?
The best weapons for Barbarian depend significantly on the build you choose and the number of aspects you need to enable your build.

10. What is the stats priority for Barbarian in Diablo IV?
As a Barbarian, regardless of the chosen build, you must consider that Strength must be the most important because it increases both the damage of your abilities and armor increase.

11. What are the best Sets for a Barbarian in D4?
There is not enough information about Barbarian Class Sets in Diablo 4, and we will update the guide when more details become available.

Related Guides

Now that you have learned about Barbarian Class, how about you check out our guides about Leveling, Other Classes, Class Builds & Currencies Farming?

• Diablo 4 Leveling Guide
• Diablo 4 Best Builds Guide
• Best Barbarian Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Rogue Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Necromancer Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Sorcerer Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Druid Builds in Diablo 4
• Diablo 4 Legendary Aspects Farming Guide
• Diablo 4 Uniques & Uber Uniques Farming Guide
• Diablo 4 Best Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Druid Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Necromancer Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Rogue Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Sorcerer Class Guide
• D4 Gold Farming Guide
• D4 Forgotten Souls Farming Guide
• D4 Grim Favors Farming Guide
• D4 Materials Farming Guide
• D4 Red Dust Farming Guide
• D4 Aberrant Cinders Farming Guide
• D4 Murmuring Obols Farming Guide
• D4 Seeds of Hatred Farming Guide

We update our articles with each and every update in the game, so keep an eye out on our guides.

Conclusion

This is the end of our in-depth Diablo 4 Barbarian Class Overview Guide. We hope that we helped you have a better view about this complex class and learned how you can easily become a Barbarian Master. Our recommendations should help you min-max your gear, create your perfect build, and have fun mastering the elements.

As Diablo said: "Are you ready for the carnage to come?" so be prepared to revisit our Diablo 4 Barbarian Class Overview guide for new and updated content!

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