Barbarian Hammer of the Ancients GR Build With Legacy of Dreams

With a slew of mighty Hammer of the Ancients and the Fire element at his side, the Barbarian can utilize the adaptable Legacy of Dreams bonuses for a powerful Hammer of the Ancients build that drops clunky set mechanics for a simpler, to-the-point playstyle.

The basic skill setup of the LoD HotA Barbarian is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, and build customization.

Active Skills
Furious Charge Merciless Assault Hammer of the Ancients Smash 1 Call of the Ancients Together as One 2 Battle Rage Bloodshed 3 Ignore Pain Ignorance is Bliss 4 Wrath of the Berserker Insanity
Passive Skills
Ruthless Berserker Rage Weapons Master Boon of Bul-Kathos

The required gear setup for the LoD HotA Barbarian is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.

• Helm: Leoric's Crown
• Shoulders: Fury of the Ancients
• Gloves: Magefist
• Chest: Cindercoat
• Belt: Pride of Cassius
• Pants: Blackthorne's Jousting Mail
• Boots: Illusory Boots
• Bracers: Mortick's Brace
• Amulet: Hellfire Amulet of Strength
• Ring 1: Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac
• Ring 2: Band of Might
• Weapon 1: Remorseless
• Weapon 2: Echoing Fury

This Season comes with the theme of Angelic Crucibles — consumable items that empower Legendary items with perfected Ancient-level stats, as well as infuse them with one of three unique, powerful, class-specific abilities at random. For this build, both the Whirlwind and Hammer of the Ancients Sanctifications are viable and important to consider. For high endgame pushing of Greater Rifts, where you're testing the build to its upper limits, the pulling utility of the Whirlwind Sanctification edges over its competitors. Thus, for high-end soloing endgame, we recommend substituting Ignore Pain from the regular build and using Whirlwind Dust Devils to proc the following power:

• Whirlwind Sanctification: Whirlwind pulls in and holds all enemies within 25 yards.

However, you will also be using the build in content where pulling is less of a concern, such as Echoing Nightmares and solo speed GRs. In these scenarios, you should use the regular build described above, and opt for the Hammer of the Ancients Sanctification instead:

• Hammer of the Ancients Sanctification: Hammer of the Ancients hits in all directions around the Barbarian. Every tenth cast of Hammer of the Ancients unleashes a powerful shockwave.

Use Angelic Crucibles on an item that crosses over most (if not all) variants of a build, and is also an item that is relatively harder to perfect than other slots (since sanctifying an item maximizes its stats). In the case of this build, good candidates for Sanctification are Remorseless and Bracers of the First Men.

You can read more on Angelic Crucibles and the sanctification process in our dedicated Angelic Crucible Mechanics guide.

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

• Legendary Gem 1: Bane of the Trapped
• Legendary Gem 2: Bane of the Stricken
• Legendary Gem 3: Legacy of Dreams

• Weapon Slot: The Gavel of Judgment
• Armor Slot: Bracers of the First Men
• Jewelry Slot: Convention of Elements