Hate wizards and witches getting up in your face? The Diablo 4 Barbarian class is an excellent choice if you want true melee combat – and while it starts rather slow, with a random set of weapons, you soon learn how to craft your own weapons to tear monsters apart.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the Diablo 4 Barbarian isn’t on of the more versatile classes, but that’s what we love about them. Barbarians reveal themselves in numbers for those who can handle melee weapons – enough said. And with a good class build and specific skills, you can conjure up your own demonic destruction to wreak havoc on Sanctuary and cut demons down with whatever you can find in your immediate vicinity.
Unlockable weapons come thick and fast in the Diablo 4 class, so from the start you need to get used to the Arsenal System. Keep track of all the weapons you find and equip them wisely; unless you’ve invested time in unlocking weapon-specific features like Weapon Expertise. It’s best to spend points on flexible, all-round skills, but if you’re gunning for one specific weapon, it’s worth unlocking that added buff.
Diablo 4 Fury basics
As you grow in strength throughout Diablo 4, you learn to become more and more aggressive with actions such as crowd-control skills and Fury-draining skills. It’s important to balance these with those that help get your Fury back up quickly, such as Parry or Hold the Line. Once you know you can generate Fury quickly by putting the pedal to the metal, you can do massive amounts of damage or keep enemies in check.
To execute powerful attacks, Barbarians use their Fury meter. Your default attack generates two Fury, while a blocked enemy attack or a skill adds one Fury, with big attacks requiring at least three to execute. Every class has a meter, but since you’re a Barbarian, you need to keep it in mind more than other Diablo 4 classes.
Ultimately, this is how you beat enemies in Diablo 4: you swing your weapon so hard that you break their defence and they can’t help but take it. There are other ways, of course, from strategically deploying your minions to using spells and skeletons, but Barbarians can beat them in battle.
Barbarian weapons and abilities
Take a look at some of the Diablo 4 classes’ weapons, and why certain skills are more important than others acquired on the way to level 50.
The Hammer of the Ancients core skill makes for a solid foundation when building your own Diablo 4 Barbarian class build, due to its crowd control abilities, the damage output, and the armour piercing it provides. When you equip the skill, bash the ground causing shockwaves which stagger enemies and can repel projectiles. The upgraded version deals even higher damage, but is often tough to master because you need to spend a lot of Fury. Consider other skills to help you lower the cost, such as Overpower, which increases generation and immediately restores all consumed Fury.
Another useful skill while swinging your weapon is Bash, as it can be useful for stunning enemies and crowd control. Another Fury-generating skill is Battle, which provides multiple buffs while fighting enemies in an area. This can be excellent if you’re clearing out a large group of minions and need to generate the Fury required to perform big crowd control skills such as Whirlwind and Snow Blind.
As mentioned in the weapons section,, the Arsenal System is only for the Barbarian class, which means you need to focus on one weapon at a time. As you level up, you can unlock weapon buffs, such as the Critical Strikes feature which can increase damage output. This isn’t the only option, though, as you can unlock weapons that provide specific skills instead.