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Diablo 4 Barbarian Skill Tree & best builds

Here are the best builds and skills for Barbarian in Diablo IV.

Brent Koepp

Published: Mar 20, 2023 08:06 pm

If you like close combat and in-your-face action in video games, then Diablo IV's Barbarian class is for you. These physical warriors pack a punch with both one and two-handed weapons like axes, maces, and hammers and are essentially a giant damage sponge. Here is every Skill on the Diablo 4 Barbarian Skill Tree and the best Barbarian builds for dominating the battlefield.

Diablo 4 Barbarian Skill Tree

Barbarian has seven Skill types, all with a mix of Active and Passive Skills: Basic, Core, Defensive, Brawling, Weapon Mastery, Ultimate, and Key Passive.

Related: Are classes gender locked in Diablo 4

Basic Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Bash	Active	Bash the enemy with your weapon, dealing 12 damage. After bashing enemies four times, your next Bash will Stun for 1.25 seconds. This increases to two seconds if using a Two-Handed weapon.
Flay	Active	Flay the enemy, dealing 1 damage and inflicting 14 Bleeding damage over five seconds.
Frenzy	Active	Unleash a rapid flurry of blows, dealing 6 damage with each pair of hits. If Frenzy hits an enemy, its Attack Speed is increased by 20% for three seconds, up to 60%.
Lunging Strike	Active	Lunge forward and strike an enemy for 12 damage.

Core Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Double Swing	Active	Sweep your weapons from opposite directions, dealing 11 damage with each weapon. Enemies caught in the center are damaged by both.
Hammer of the Ancients	Active	Slam your hammer down with the fury of the Ancients, dealing 23 damage to a concentrated area.
Rend	Active	Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing 4 damage and inflicting 37 Bleeding damage over five seconds.
Upheaval	Active	Tear into the ground with your weapon and fling debris forward, dealing 29 damage.
Whirlwind	Active	Rapidly attack surrounding enemies for 5 damage.
Pressure Point	Passive	Lucky Hit: Your Core skills have up to a 10% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Endless Fury	Passive	Basic Skills generate 5% more Fury when using two-handed weapons.

Defensive Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Challenging Shout	Active	Taunt Nearby enemies and gain 40% Damage Reduction for eight seconds.
Ground Stomp	Active	Smash the ground, dealing 3 damage and Stunning surrounding enemies for three seconds.
Iron Skin	Active	Steel yourself, gaining a Barrier that absorbs 50% of your missing Life for five seconds.
Rallying Cry	Active	Bellow a rallying cry, increasing your Movement Speed by 30% and Resource Generation by 50% for six seconds, and nearby allies for three seconds.
Imposing Presence	Passive	Gain 5% Maximum Life.
Martial Vigor	Passive	Damage Reduction against Elites is increased by 4%.
Outburst	Passive	Gain two Thorns. Also gain two Thorns for each two bonus Maximum Life you have.
Tough as Nails	Passive	Increase your Thorns by 20%. When enemies hit you, they take an additional 1% of your Thorns as Bleeding damage over five seconds.

Brawling Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Charge	Active	Become Unstoppable and rush forward, pushing enemies with you, then swinging through them for 10 damage and knocking them back.
Kick	Active	Throw a powerful kick that deals 5 damage and knocks back enemies in front of you. Enemies who are knocked back into terrain take an additional 17 damage and are stunned for three seconds.
Leap	Active	Leap forward and then slam down, dealing 13 damage and knocking back surrounding enemies on impact.
War Cry	Active	Bellow a mighty war cry, increasing your damage dealt by 15% for eight seconds and nearby allies for 4 seconds.
Booming Voice	Passive	Your Shout Skill effect durations are increased by 10%.
Raid Leader	Passive	Your Shouts also heal allies for 1% of their Maximum Life per second.
Guttural Yell	Passive	Your Shout Skills cause enemies to deal 8% less damage for five seconds.
Aggressive Resistance	Passive	Gain 4% damage reduction while Berserking.
Battle Fervor	Passive	When a Brawling Skill damages at least one enemy, gain Berserking for one second.
Prolific Fury	Passive	While Berserking, Fury Generation is increased by 6%.
Swiftness	Passive	Movement speed is increased by 4%.
Quick Impulses	Passive	Reduce the duration of Control Impairing effects by 6%.

Weapon Mastery Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Death Blow	Active	Attempt a killing strike, dealing 50 damage to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, its cooldown is reset.
Rupture	Active	Skewer enemies in front of you, dealing 5 damage, then rip your weapon out, damaging enemies for their total Bleeding amount and removing all Bleeding damage from them.
Steel Grasp	Passive	Throw out a trio of chains that deal 7 damage and pull in enemies.
Pit Fighter	Passive	Deal 3% increased damage to close enemies and gain 2% Distant Damage Reduction.
No Mercy	Passive	3% increased Critical Strike chance against Immobilized, Stunned, or Slowed enemies.
Slaying Strike	Passive	Deal 8% increased damage against Injured enemies.
Expose Vulnerability	Passive	Dealing direct damage with a Weapon Mastery Skill causes your next Core Skill to make enemies Vulnerable for one second.
Thick Skin	Passive	Each time you take direct damage, gain 0.4% Base Life as Fortify.
Defensive Stance	Passive	Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional 3%.
Counteroffensive	Passive	While you have Fortify for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5% increased damage.
Hamstring	Passive	Your Bleeding effects Slow enemies by 10%.
Cut to the Bone	Passive	Your Bleeding effects deal 6% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.

Ultimate Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Call of the Ancients	Active	Call upon three Ancients to aid you in battle for six seconds: • Korlic leaps at enemies, dealing 34 damage and swings his weapons in a frenzy, dealing 12 damage per hit. • Talic spins in a whirlwind, rapidly attacking enemies for 21 damage. • Madawc upheaves the ground, dealing 64 damage.
Iron Maelstrom	Active	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 25 damage and Stunning enemies for two seconds. • Second, your Two-Handed Slashing weapon swipes in front of you, dealing 8 damage and inflicting 50 Bleeding damage over five seconds. • Third, your Dual Wield weapons swing around you, dealing 13 damage per hit.
Wrath of the Berserker	Active	Gain Berserking and Unstoppable for five seconds. For the next 10 seconds, dealing direct damage with Basic Skills grants Berserking for five seconds.
Heavy Handed	Passive	While using Two-Handed weapons, you deal 5% increased Critical Strike damage.
Wallop	Passive	Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5% increased damage if the enemy is stunned or Vulnerable.
Brute Force	Passive	Your Overpower deals 15% increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon.
Concussion	Passive	- Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10% chance to stun enemies for three seconds, or up to a 15% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
Tempered Fury	Passive	Increase your Maximum Fury by three.
Furious Impulse	Passive	Each time you swap weapons, gain two Fury.
Invigorating Fury	Passive	Heal for 3% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
Duelist	Passive	Attack speed is increased by 3% while using One-Handed weapons.

Key Passive Skills

Skill Name	Type	Effect
Unconstrained	Passive	Increase Berserk‘s maximum duration by five seconds and increase its damage bonus by 25%.
Walking Arsenal	Passive	Dealing direct damage with a Two-Handed Bludgeoning, Two-Handed Slashing, or Dual Wielded weapon grants 10% increased damage for six seconds. While all three damage bonuses are active, you gain an additional 15% increased damage.
Unbridled Rage	Passive	Core Skills deal 135% increased damage, but cost 100% more Fury.
Gushing Wounds	Passive	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 three Bleeding damage over five seconds.

Best Barbarian Builds in Diablo 4

Depending on your playstyle, I recommend three Barbarian builds: Fury, Bleed, and Frenzy.

Fury Build

As the name suggests, the Fury build is all about building up your Fury so you can unleash the most devastating attacks possible and wipe out enemies quickly and efficiently.

Related: How to swap weapons in Diablo 4

The Skills required for this build are:

Frenzy
Enhanced Frenzy
Hammer of the Ancients
Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients
Furious Hammer of the Ancients
Combat Frenzy
Iron Skin
Enhanced Iron Skin
Tactical Iron Skin
Hammer of the Ancients 2

Hammer of the Ancients 3
Hammer of the Ancients 4
Hammer of the Ancients 5
Leap
Enhanced Leap
Power Leap
Death Blow
Enhanced Death Blow
Fighter's Death Blow
Thick Skin
Thick Skin 2
Thick Skin 3
Defensive Stance
Wrath of the Berserker

Bleed Build

The Bleed build inflicts the Bleed status effect on foes, dealing damage over time on top of what you're already dealing with your attacks for an extra punch.

The Skills required for this build are: