Welcome to our Diablo 4 Barbarian Build Guide. In this guide, we will be discussing five different builds you can use to make a strong Barbarian in the game. We have three recommended builds with the respective skill tree allocations that you need to allocate to achieve the optimal build. Since the Open Beta only allows players to reach a maximum of Level 25, we're only building up 25 skill points. Make sure to check back when the game launches to see the full builds we'll have prepared by then.

Diablo 4 Barbarian Build Guide

The Barbarian is the brute class of Diablo 4. They are focused on melee and hand-to-hand combat, getting up close and personal and bashing skulls. The Barbarian also has access to four different weapons at one with their arsenal system, as well as a slew of tank and direct damage options.

Rend and Deathblow: Direct and Burst Damage
Skill Progression:
1. Frenzy (1/5)2. Enhanced Frenzy (1)3. Combat Frenzy (1)4. Rend (1/5)5. Pressure Point (1/3)
6. Enhanced Rend (1)7. Furious Rend (1)8. Iron Skin (1/5)9. Challenging Shout (1/5)10. Enhanced Iron Skin (1)
11. Tactical Iron Skin (1)12. Leap (1/5)13. Rend (2/5)14. Rend (3/5)15. Pressure Point (2/3)
16. Pressure Point (3/3)17. Death Blow (1/5)18. Enhanced Death Blow (1)19. Fighter's Death Blow (1)20. Death Blow (2/5)
21. Death Blow (3/5)22. Frenzy (2/5)23. Frenzy (3/5)24. Iron Maelstrom (1)

This is the most straightforward build and is best for those who are just concerned with playing alone. Rend deals damage to all enemies in a cone in front of the Barbarian, which allows the Barbarian to clear waves of mobs. This build also focuses on lowering enemies' health down to a certain threshold as fast as possible so that the Barbarian can use Death Blow to instantaneously kill their opponent. While most mobs would be easily killed with a few hits, the Death Blow can also be used to clear large hordes of near-death opponents, as it also deals damage to a cone in front of the Barbarian. Death Blow can also be used again and again as long as an enemy is killed with it. When a chunky opponent is taking a bit of time to kill, Rend will also help in chipping at the opponent's health, as it causes DOT (damage over time) and it stacks. All of the enhancements are selected to increase Fury to ensure that you're always attacking with a high attack speed, getting damage in as fast as possible. The Enhanced Death Blow bonus in particular is helpful as it doubles Death Blow's damage against Boss enemies.

Outside of damage, Challenging Shout and Iron Skin are also allotted points to improve the Barbarian's survivability. Being face-to-face with the enemy all the time requires the Barbarian to endure a lot of damage, so damage-reducing skills are needed to mitigate the attacks. Challenging Shout allows the Barbarian to control the enemy's movement and even kite ranged enemies so that he can manipulate their position and cleave them all in one swoop. Some points are added to Leap to give the Barbarian mobility to allow them to escape dangerous situations or to chase enemies that teleport or run fast.

While you will still be useful in raids with this build as a direct damage dealer, it's not the ideal skillset for a party-centric play style.

Tank and Thorns: Damage Received is Damage Given
Skill Progression:
1. Flay (1/5)2. Enhanced Flay (1)3. Combat Flay (1)4. Whirlwind (1/5)5. Enhanced Whirlwind (1)
6. Furious Whirlwind (1)7. Outburst (1/3)8. Tough as Nails (1/3)9. Imposing Presence (1/3)10. Challenging Shout (1/5)
11. Enhanced Challenging Shout (1)12. Strategic Challenging Shout (1)13. Charge (1/5)14. Enhanced Charge (1)15. Booming Voice (1/3)
16. Guttural Yell (1/3)17. Thick Skin (1/3)18. Defensive Stance (1/3)19. Outburst (2/3)20. Outburst (3/3)
21. Tough as Nails (2/3)22. Tough as Nails (3/3)23. Imposing Presence (2/3)24. Iron Maelstrom (1)
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This build focuses on getting the opponent's attention, having the mobs pile up on you, and using Whirlwind to crush them and their own damage against them. We start with Flay to start for its Bleed damage which goes well with the other skills we're picking up later on. Whirlwind is picked up as it synergizes well with Challenging Shout which taunts enemies to pile up on you. We put points on Outburst for our main source of Thorns damage, Tough as Nails to add more Bleed against our attackers, and Imposing Presence to up our health for even more Thorns as Outburst procs. We get Charge as our Brawling ability as it gives us a last-second escape or a finisher for enemies or as a stopper when we need its stun to stop an enemy from channeling a spell. As we're not focusing on damaging our opponents with our attacks, we spend the rest of our skill points on Outburst and Tough as Nails to maximize our Thorns output.

Spin to Win: The Diablo 3 Recipe
Skill Progression:
1. Frenzy (1/5)2. Enhanced Frenzy (1)3. Battle Frenzy (1)4. Whirlwind (1/5)5. Enhanced Whirlwind (1)
6. Violent Whirlwind (1)7. Challenging Shout (1/5)8. Ground Stomp (1/5)9. Enhanced Ground Stomp (1)10. Tactical Ground Stomp (1)
11. Enhanced Challenging Shout (1)12. War Cry (1/5)13. Enhanced War Cry (1)14. Power War Cry (1)15. Aggressive Resistance (1)
16. Prolific Fury (1)17. Steel Grasp (1/5)18. Enhanced Steel Grasp (1)19. Fighter's Steel Grasp (1)20. Pit Fighter (1/3)
21. Slaying Strike (1/3)22. Slaying Strike (2/3)23. Slaying Strike (3/3)24. Wrath of the Berserker (1)

This build is the classic Barbarian build with a little twist. Just like the Thorns Build, this build wants enemies to pile up on the Barbarian. However, instead of withstanding their attacks, you try to kill as many of them as you come. Challenging Shout is still here to have the enemies taunted to get within your reach for Whirlwind. Anyone who survives the initial onslaught can be kept in place with Ground Stomp, and War Cry will ensure that your damage will just keep increasing as you attack the enemy. Aggressive Resistance has a point as well as Prolific Fury to make sure that you have enough Fury to keep your Whirlwind going indefinitely. Steel Grasp can be used to get ranged enemies closer to you or to stop enemies from escaping. Pit Fighter is selected to increase your damage against the enemies you're spinning at, with Slaying Strike maximized to dramatically increase the damage you deal against enemies the longer they stay within your zone of control. Finally, we get Wrath of the Berserker for the long Berserking and Unstoppable states you'll get that will allow you to really unleash against enemies around you.

Not yet set with the Barbarian? Check out the other classes available in Diablo 4.