Summary
Although the Barbarian class has gone through ups and downs throughoutDiablo 4’s post-launch seasons, it has the potential to be incredibly powerful with the right build.Diablo 4Season 3 may have nerfed the impact of theWhirlwind Barbarian build, but there are still plenty of other builds that take advantage of the Barbarian’s unique potential. As such, players should pay attention to some of these unwritten rules to ensure they ae playingDiablo 4’s Barbarian as efficiently as possible.
Unwritten Rules for Success When Playing a Barbarian in Diablo 4
Pay Attention to Which Skills Use What Weapon Types
A mechanic unique to theBarbarian inDiablo 4is the Arsenal System, which allows Barbarians to wield four different weapons at a time, alternating between them as they use different skills. While players will want to equip a weapon in each available slot, it’s also important to pay attention to which of the Barbarian’s skills utilizes which weapon type, so that players put their effort into finding the best weapon for their primary skill.Diablo 4doesn’t make it obvious which skills utilize which weapon types, such as Lunging Strike using dual one-handed weapons and Upheavel using bludgeoning weapons, so it’s an important element to watch for when using a skill.
Take Advantage of Weapon Expertise to Power-Up Attacks
Another side of the Barbarian’s Arsenal System is Weapon Expertise, which gives the Barbarian the ability to level up their weapons through usage and unlock new passive bonuses. Gaining buffs like increased damage to Vulnerable enemies or increased Critical Strike chance to Injured enemies can be a huge help when trying to maximize theBarbarian’s damage output, so it’s worth focusing on increasing the Weapon Expertise levels of the ones crucial to a particular build. While the Weapon Expertise bonus only applies to the weapon the player is currently using, Barbarians can also assign one bonus to their Technique Slot to apply it to all weapons.
Manage Shouts for Optimal Buffs
Aside from dealing tons of damage with their powerful weapon-based skills, Barbarians are also great at providing buffs for themselves and their teammates using Shout skills. Important Shout Skills for any Barbarian to use include Wary Cry, which temporarily increases the damage done to enemies for the player and their allies, and Rallying Cry, which temporarily increases movement speed and resource generation for the player and their allies. While these buffs are great for solo players, they are even more important during co-op, when keeping a Shout active can help protect some of the more frail classes, likeDiablo 4’s Sorcerer.
Enter the Berserk State as Often as Possible
The final pieces of the Barbarian puzzle thatDiablo 4players should be aware of are the effects of Berserking, which gives the Barbarian a 25% increase in damage output and a 30% increase in movement speed while Berserk is active. To activate Berserk, players will need to utilize specific skills that allow the Barbarian to enter this state, such asEnhanced Wary Cry, Violent Upheaval, and Wrath of the Berserker. The buffs provided by the Berserking status are too great to ignore, so it’s a good idea to have at least one skill on any Barbarian build that can activate Berserk.
