Skip to main content

Best Diablo 4 Barbarian build: recommended skills, passives, and gear

The Barbarian class is a fan-favorite in Diablo 4, and has been used to climb through the ranks of the game’s Hardcore mode. While there are plenty of effective Barbarian classes in the game, one specific class stands tall above the rest. This is the best Barbarian class in Diablo 4.

Recommended build

Barbarian skill tree in Diablo 4.
Blizzard Entertainment

The key to this class is to utilize Whirlwind to decimate every enemy you come into contact with. The skills for this build are all geared toward increasing your maximum damage output, defense, and resources — allowing you to spend more time dishing out attacks and less time during cooldowns.

Must-have skills

Basic

  • Frenzy 1/5: Deals fast blows and boosts attack speed. Upgrade to Enhanced Frenzy and Combat Frenzy.

Core

  • Whirlwind 9/5: A key component of the build that deals high damage to enemies in quick succession. Upgrade to Enhanced Whirlwind and Violent Whirlwind.

Defensive

  • Challenging Shout 3/5: Taunt enemies to gain damage reduction. Upgrade to Enhanced Challenging Shout and Tactical Challenging Shout.

Brawling

  • War Cry 1/5: Increase damage dealt for you and nearby allies. Upgrade to Enhanced War Cry and Power War Cry.

Weapon Mastery

  • Death Blow 3/5: Deal additional damage to enemies in front of you. If it kills an enemy, its cooldown resets.

Ultimate 

  • Wrath of the Berserker 1/1: Explode into a rage and knock enemies back while gaining Berserking and Unstoppable. Upgrade to Prime Wrath of the Berserker and Supreme Wrath of the Berserker.

Must-have passives

Key Passive

  • Unconstrained: Increase Berserking’s max duration and damage bonus.

Basic

  • Pressure Point 3/3: Core skills have a 30% chance of making enemies Vulnerable for two seconds.

Defensive

  • Rallying Cry 1/5: Increases movement speed and resource generation for you and nearby allies. Upgrade to Enhanced Rallying Cry and Tactical Rallying Cry.
  • Outburst 1/3: Gain thorns and additional thorns for maximum life.
  • Tough as Nails 1/3: Boost thorns and deal additional bleed damage from thorns.

Brawling

  • Booming Voice 3/3: Shout skill durations increased.
  • Raid Leader 3/3: Shouts heal allies.
  • Guttural Yell 3/3: Shout skills cause enemies to deal less damage.
  • Aggressive Resistance 3/3: Gain damage reduction while in Berserking.

Weapon Mastery

  • Pit Fighter 3/3: Deal additional damage to enemies nearby and gain damage reduction from distant enemies.
  • Slaying Strike 4/3: Deal increased damage to injured enemies.
  • No Mercy 3/3: Increased crit strike chance against immobilized, stunned, or slowed enemies.

Ultimate 

  • Tempered Fury 1/3: Increase max Fury.
  • Invigorating Fury 3/3: Heal for a percentage of your max life for spending Fury.

Gear

  • Edgemaster’s Penitent Hammer (Two-handed mace): Additional damage to bleeding, close, and crowd-controlled enemies. Additional Core skill damage. Boosted alongside Whirlwind.
  • Gargoyle Greatsword of Limitless Rage (two-handed sword): Points of Fury generated while at Max Fury grants Core skills increased damage.
  • Conceited Obsidian Blade (sword): Deals additional damage while you have an active barrier.
  • Necklace of the Dire Whirlwind: Crit strike chance is increased for each second Whirlwind is channeled.
  • Mother’s Embrace (ring): Hitting five or more enemies with Core skill refunds some of the resource cost.
  • Doom Casque of the Protector: Damaging Elite enemies gives you a barrier that absorbs damage.

Editors' Recommendations

Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
The best places to find Purple, Ice, Pink and Rock Pikmin in Pikmin 4
The player stands with Oatchi and some Red Pikmin in Pikmin 4.

While there were only the base Pikmin types of Red, Blue, and Yellow in the original game, there are now nine different types in Pikmin 4. All the originals return, as you would expect, but plenty of new and exciting ones are introduced. Each one still has a unique advantage that allows you to do new things and get to new areas of the massive zones, meaning you will need to utilize each and every one to complete all your tasks. That said, there are some types that are more difficult to find than others. Yes, you could make each type yourself by finding their corresponding onion, however, some onions aren't unlocked until very late into your playtime, or even after you've beaten the game. If you want to know the best places to track down the Purple, Pink, Ice, and Rock Pikmin in Pikmin 4, follow our lead.
Where to find Purple Pikmin

The Purple Pikmin are the first type that is somewhat tricky to find. This type is useful because each one has both the carrying capacity and weight of 10 Pikmin, creating shockwaves when you throw them, but is the slowest of all the types. The first level you can encounter them on is Seren Shores. On this map, head into the Engulfed Castle cave. This is a very dangerous cave, but if you're just looking to bolster your numbers, you can rush in, collect them, and run away.
Where to find Ice Pikmin

Read more
Where to find each onion color in Pikmin 4
Collin saying how onions come in tons of colors in Pikmin 4.

The plant-like creatures known as Pikmin come in more shapes and colors than ever before in Pikmin 4. These colors do more than give each Pikmin a different style -- they also indicate what that type of Pikmin can do. The basic Red Pikmin, for example, is fireproof. If you haven't played the previous entries, you may not be aware of how you go about creating these various Pikmin types. The answer is the colored onions you can find scattered throughout the game. By collecting them and bringing them back to your base, you can unlock the ability to make more of a specific Pikmin type. Here's where you can find each of the onion colors in Pikmin 4.

Note that the new Glow Pikmin do not have an onion in Pikmin 4 and can only be found while exploring at night. There are also some onion colors that appear multiple times, but you only need to collect one of them to unlock the ability to make that Pikmin type.

Read more
All Flarlic locations in Pikmin 4
A Flarlic growing in a broken pot.

The Pikmin series has always highlighted the idea of commanding huge numbers of tiny creatures at once. With Pikmin 4 utilizing the power of the Switch, more Pikmin than ever can appear on screen, but that doesn't mean you can just grind out an entire army right off the bat. The game will limit you on how many total Pikmin you can control, forcing you to manage your forces between the different types. While this limitation will feel constricting at first, by collecting special plants called Flarlic, you can increase that number by 10. There are 12 total Flarlics to collect, with each stage having one on the surface and one in a cave to find, but you only need eight of them to reach the max Pikmin limit. Here's where to find all the Flarlic in Pikmin 4 so you can travel with a full army.
Sun-Speckled Terrace
The Flarlic you can find on the surface is way up north beyond the electric fence that you need Yellow Pikmin to pass. You'll need at least five Yellow Pikmin to toss up on the potted plant next to the fence in order to reach the Flarlic on the elevated mound.

The second is in the Last-Frost Cavern. Go to the top-left corner of the large northwest room and pluck it out of a sunken plant pot hidden behind some pots you need to smash.
Blossoming Arcadia
Our surface Flarlic is up north on the south side of the water and requires Blue Pikmin to bring back, or Ice Pikmin to freeze the water below it. It is tucked inside a wooden structure you need to toss some Pikmin up to collect.

Read more