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

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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.

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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.
Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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