This is a legacy build that is not competitive for the current version of Diablo 4 and which we do not recommend using. It only exists for documentation purposes and will not receive any further updates.
Build Introduction
This is your comprehensive guide for building a true Spartan. A warrior driven by their thirst for battle, built to bring the demons of hell to their knees as he lays waste to them. His mind driven into a frenzy, but still tempered like steel – harnessed to withstand the darkness that Hell pours out on to the land of Sanctuary. Welcome to our Frenzy Endgame build. This build handles the hordes of hell with Frenzy, holding its ground as it rapidly cuts down the enemy. The simplicity of this build makes it a true joy to play and you might even find yourself yelling “This is Sparta!” as you send your enemy barreling backwards from a Power Kick.
Our guide will cover all basic mechanics and deep dive into the optimal setup for skills, Paragon, and gear for the build.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Amazing single-target damage
- Low cooldown for shouts
- Huge damage from Kick
- Clears Nightmare 100 Dungeons
- Up close & personal
- Gear dependent
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Build Requirements
Season of the Construct
Season 3 Patch Updates
The following list details all changes of Season 3 that may pertain to Barbarians.
Skills
- Frenzy
- Damage increased by 10%.
Passives
- Unconstrained
- Berserking damage bonus increased from 60% to 100%.
Paragon
- Marshal
- Now reduces the cooldown of every non-Shout skill by 4 seconds, instead of every other Shout skill by 1.2 seconds.
Seneschal Construct Companion Powers
The Season 3 theme introduces a Seneschal Construct Companion that can deal damage or provide support to complement your character. Equip the Seneschal with two Governing Stones to activate their abilities, and then link them to three Tuning Stones each to augment the abilities. There are 12 different Governing Stones and 27 different Tuning Stones that can be found in Vaults scattered across Sanctuary. Fuse together duplicate stones to level them up, increasing the potency of Governing Stones or adding augments to Tuning Stones.
Listed below are the general recommended Governing Stones and their linked Tuning Stones for Barbarians, ranked by importance.
- Tempest: Electrically charge an enemy causing it to deal damage to themselves and 1 additional enemy each second over 5 seconds. If the enemy is killed, Tempest spreads to another enemy gaining 2 additional seconds and 20%[x] bonus damage. These bonuses are also applied if Tempest is reapplied onto the same enemy.
- Evernight: The supported Skill grants you +4 to all Skills when used for 2.0 seconds.
- Resource Support: Player gains an amount of Primary Resource when the supporting Skill first deals damage.
- Efficiency Support: When the supporting skill deals damage, you gain Critical Strike Chance to the same targets hit.
- Swift Support: The supported Skill gains 40% Attack Speed bonus.
- Flash of Adrenaline: Administers a quick flash of adrenaline into the player, granting bonus damage for a duration.
- Genesis: Increase the effectiveness of the supported Skill by 150%.
- Safeguard Support: When used, the supported Skill grants Damage Reduction to you.
- Tactical Support: Decrease the cooldown of the supported Skill.
- Duration Support: Supported Skills have their durations increased.
Video Guide
The video below is intended to demonstrate gameplay as well as the overall build. Keep in mind that any updates or future patch changes will only be reflected in the written guide.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Follow the points allocated in the image above for the complete 58 point build. The additional 10 skill points are completed using the Renown system.
Priority Skills | Cluster |
---|---|
Frenzy Level 5, Enhanced Frenzy, Combat Frenzy | Basic Skill |
Core Skill | |
Imposing Presence Level 3, Martial Vigor Level 3, Challenging Shout Level 1, Enhanced Challenging Shout | Defensive Skill |
War Cry Level 5, Enhanced War Cry, Power War Cry, Booming Voice Level 3, Raid Leader Level 3, Aggressive Resistance Level 3, Prolific Fury Level 3, Battle Fervor Level 3, Kick Level 5, Enhanced Kick, Power Kick, Charge Level 1, Enhanced Charge, Power Charge | Brawling Skill |
Thick Skin Level 1, Counteroffensive Level 3, Pit Fighter Level 3 | Weapon Mastery Skill |
Wrath of the Berserker, Prime Wrath of the Berserker, Supreme Wrath of the Berserker | Ultimate Skill |
Unconstrained | Key Passives |
Weapon Expertise – The Barbarian Specialization
Weapon Expertise is a set of benefits tied to which weapons you use as a Barbarian. To unlock your Expertise, simply hit Level 5 and the tab below will be made available. By using a certain weapon type, you will begin to gain ranks with that weapon as you fight. The ranks are from 0 to 10 and will level up moderately quickly as your character gains experience. Once your expertise hit rank 10, you will be maxed out on the benefit for using that weapon with your skills. As a reminder, to swap your assigned weapon to the skill you are using, go to your Skill selection list (not Skill Tree) and you will see how to switch it. For mouse and keyboard users, you can access this by pressing the middle mouse button. At Level 15, you will unlock the Masters of Battle quest. This quest will be available in the township of ‘Ked Bardu’ from the Forgemaster Gerti. Upon completing this quest, you will unlock the Technique slots as seen below. This will offer you an additional permanent bonus from one of the weapons regardless of whether you have it equipped to a skill or not.
For the Walking Arsenal Build, we use the Two-Handed Axe Technique to raise our damage against Vulnerable Enemies.
Weapon Selection
Barbarians have an unique mechanic in Diablo 4 where you can assign a weapon type to certain skills. This is a critical component for all builds to function properly, and failure to match your weapon to the proper skill may cause the build to perform poorly. For this build, we will be assigning the following weapons to our skills:
- Frenzy – Dual Wielding
Paragon
We recommend using these Legendary nodes and Rare Glyphs to truly take this build into the endgame. Note that each Rare Glyph’s information listed below is for the Level 21 version.
Rare Node | Effect |
---|---|
Exploit | – For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [3.85%] increased damage to Vulnerable targets. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: When an enemy is damaged by you, they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy. |
Territorial | – For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[9.6]% increased damage to Close targets. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain 10% Damage Reduction against Close enemies. |
Marshal | – Grants +[125%] bonus to all Magic nodes within range. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Strength points are purchased in the glyph’s range: After casting a Shout Skill, the active Cooldown of every non-Shout Skill is reduced by 4 seconds. |
Ambidextrous | – Grants +[125]% to all Magic Nodes within range. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Strength points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You deal +[8]% increased damage while wielding One-handed weapons. |
Undaunted | – For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, you deal + [8%] increased damage while Fortified. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain 10% Damage Reduction the more Fortify you have. |
Ire | – For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal +[8%] increased damage while Berserking. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Strength points are purchased in the glyph’s range: While Berserking, you take 10% reduced damage from Elites. |
Carnage | – While Berserking, Critical Strikes increase your Attack Speed by +2%, up to +16% for 6 seconds. |
Blood Rage | – Killing a Bleeding enemy has 10% chance to grant Berserking for 5 seconds. Your Damage is increased by x25% of your Damage while Berserking bonus. |
Let’s break down each of these beneficial nodes and where our Paragon Points are positioned in each of the paragon boards we use. This part of the build is presented in order of importance. If you do not have enough Paragon Points to use in your Paragon Tree, just slowly work towards each step.
Starting Board
- Take the pathway up the right hand side of the board towards the open glyph slot.
- Along route pick up the Rare Node Brawn, this will boost our flat damage and offer us an increase to Maximum Life.
- Now cross over and take the Rare node on the opposite side of the board, Tenacity, for the bonus Maximum Life.
- Insert the glyph Territorial, and take the Dexterity nodes shown to get the bonus. This will help us with fighting Close Enemies and Damage Reduction against Close Enemies.
- Inside the glyph radius, we take both Rare Nodes, Raw Power and Iron Strength, for the increase Armor and Physical Damage boost.
- Finally, path towards the connection point at the top of the board and attach our next Paragon Board, Warbringer.
Warbringer
- Take the pathway to the right and pick up the Rare node Core Reserve, this will increase our Maximum Life and Fury.
- Go back towards the open glyph slot and insert Marshal. This glyph will help us with our non-Shout Cooldowns like Charge and Kick.
- Next we will take both Rare Nodes inside the Glyph radius, Raw Power and Conditioned, these nodes will grant us an increase in Physical damage and Resistances.
- Go to the next Rare Node Hungering Fury, for additional bonuses to Fury.
- Head towards the left hand side of the board and attach the next Paragon Board, Carnage.
Carnage
- Take the pathway towards the glyph slot and insert Ire into the glyph slot. This glyph will boost our damage while Berserking.
- Inside the glyph radius take both Rare Nodes, Brash and Fierce, these Nodes will grant you an increased Berserking Damage and give you an increased Damage Reduction for Close Enemies.
- Now path towards the bottom connection point (for use later) and pick up the Rare node Enraged.
- Next path to the left hand connection point (for use later) and pick both, Berserker and Carnage, these will amplify our Berserking.
- Complete the path upwards to the attachment point and attach the next board, Blood Rage.
Blood Rage
- Head up towards the open glyph slot and pick up Rare Node Enraged, this will increase our Berserking Damage and duration.
- Now take the Legendary node Blood Rage for the chance to gain Berserking if a Bleeding Enemies dies.
- Path to the glyph slot, picking up Grit along the way, and insert Undaunted. This will help us increase our damage while Fortified.
- Now take the other Rare Node inside the glyph radius, Revel. These will help us increase our damage to Bleeding Enemies.
- Now go back to the Carnage board and take the left hand connection point to attach Decimator.
Decimator
- Follow the pathway to the open glyph slot and insert Ambidextrous, this glyph will boost the Rare nodes in the glyph radius and boost your damage with one-handed weapons.
- Now take the two Rare Nodes inside the glyph radius, Arrogance and Demolish, these will will increase your offenses and defenses against Vulnerable Enemies.
- Now that this board is complete, go back to the bottom connection point on the Carnage Paragon Board and attach Weapons Master.
Weapons Master
- Select the nodes towards the open glyph slot, and insert Exploit for the increases in damage against Vulnerable Enemies.
- Take the needed Dexterity nodes to boost your damage output.
- Lastly, take both the Rare Nodes, Raw Power and Iron Strength, this will increase our Physical Damage and Armor.
- This completes the Paragon Tree for this build.
Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.
Build Mechanics and Playstyle
The playstyle for this build is designed for single skill, Frenzy. This skill powers this entire build, generating Fury and accelerating our attacks to maximum potential. We use several different augments while we use Frenzy. Let’s check out the list below for more on each of them:
- Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus – This weapon increases our damage as we stack up Fury, using Frenzy we can stay ahead of the drain and always be gaining damage.
- Battle Trance – built to augment Frenzy.
We also have a great burst skill in Kick, used to dump excess Fury. Using Power Kick, we can jack the power behind this skill and dump our entire Fury pool in a single massive hit. Charge is also available to help transition between packs of enemies. These are used as part of our rotation, after you fill your Fury bar from Frenzy.
Shouts
Our entire build is amplified by each one of our Shouts. War Cry is our offensive Shout, used to keep our damage high, put us into a state of Berserking, and increase Movement Speed. Challenging Shout is our singular defensive Shout, saved for situations where you need that added Damage Reduction.
Berserking
While Berserking gives us a base increase of 25% damage and 30% Movement Speed, we also benefit from the passives Aggressive Resistance and Prolific Fury. The goal here is to be in Berserking as much as possible, amplifying the damage dealt while using Frenzy. This shouldn’t be a major issue with War Cry and Wrath of the Berserker, but we also get another source of Berserking from our Kick and Battle Fervor. With all of these options available to you, staying in a state of Berserking should be relatively easy. On top of all of this, we gain an increased boost to Berserking from our unique helm, Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty.
Gear Choice and Stat Priority
As you begin to farm in World Tier 3 and 4, Rare and Legendary item drops will begin to appear with some regularity depending on your luck. We recommend saving the targeted Legendary items that have the needed Legendary aspects listed below. We also recommended to keep multiple copies of the build’s Aspects in your Stash for future upgrades.
As for the Rare items, you will need to inspect each one for targeted affixes for use in each specific slot and do your best to match the recommended rolls. We have listed our targeted affixes in order of importance. Check the chart below and make note of what affixes you are searching for when you see a Rare gear piece drop.
Season 2 Update (1.2.0): Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage affixes are changed to be additive with other damage increases. All additive damage increases of the same amount are equal in value, as long as their conditions are active.
Gear Slot | Targeted Affixes |
---|---|
Helm | Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty |
Chest | 1. Damage Reduction while Fortified 2. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies 3. Damage Reduction 4. Maximum Life 5. Ranks to Challenging Shout |
Gloves | Paingorger’s Gauntlets |
Pants | Tibault’s Will |
Boots | 1. Movement Speed 2. Strength 3. Damage Reduction while Injured 4. Needed Resistance |
Amulet | Battle Trance |
Rings | 1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Lucky Hit Chance 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Maximum Life 5. Max Fury |
Weapons | 1. Strength 2. Basic Skill Damage 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Damage to Close Enemies 5. All Stats Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus |
Please note that these affixes are the recommended picks for this build, but that is simply our opinion. Other affixes could certainly work instead of the ones listed above, but may not be optimal.
- Lucky Hit Chance.
- Critical Strike Chance.
- Damage Reduction – you will be in close range to enemies at all times.
A final point on acquiring the right Affixes and Legendary Aspects, use your Obols to target farm them. Obols are awarded from many different activities in the game, you will always stockpiling them until you hit your maximum. Instead of just randomly spending them on a random pick, use them to target what you might be missing from this build. It is a great way to target a specific slot of loot and find what you need.
If you are interested in checking out a new tool for gambling Obols check out this link below from Icy Veins.
Obol Gambling Optimization ToolLegendary Aspects
Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for the Double Swing Barbarian build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used if you cannot find the proper Legendary drops, but they have weaker effects. Extract Aspects from lower level Legendary items and imprint them onto better Rare items with preferred stats. The endgame itemization goal will be to imprint Aspects with the best values Ancestral Rare items with Item Power above or as close to 800, then upgrade them through the Blacksmith. Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each aspect in the slot it was posted with.
Gear Slot | Legendary Aspect | Legendary Aspect Power |
---|---|---|
Helm | Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty | |
Chest | Aspect of Might | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0-6.0] seconds. |
Gloves | Paingorger’s Gauntlets | |
Pants | Tibault’s Will | |
Boots | Ghostwalker Aspect | While Unstoppable and for 2 seconds after, you gain 10% increased Movement Speed and can move freely through enemies. |
Amulets (50% bonus) | Battle Trance | |
Ring | Bear Clan Berserker’s Aspect | Killing an enemy while Berserking has a 40% chance to grant [16-32%] increased Cooldown Reduction to your Brawling Skills for 2 seconds. |
Ring | Aspect of Adaptability | When cast below 50% Maximum Resource, Basic Skills generate 3 of your Primary Resource, once per cast. When cast at or above 50% Maximum Resource, Basic Skills deal 40–80% increased damage. |
Bludgeoning Weapon (200% bonus) | Edgemaster’s Aspect | Skills deal up to [10- 20%] increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. |
Slashing Weapon (200% bonus) | Rapid Aspect | Basic Skills gain [15 – 30]%[+] Attack Speed. |
Dual-Wield Weapon 1 | Aspect of Berserk Ripping | Whenever you deal direct damage while Berserking, inflict [20-30%] of the Base damage dealt as additional Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. |
Dual-Wield Weapon 2 | Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus |
Uber Uniques
The chart below is our recommendation for Uber Uniques that will work with this build. However, all Uber uniques are extremely powerful and can shine in different situations. Good Hunting!
Uber Uniques | Recommended(Y/N) | Replaces |
Andariel’s Visage | No | |
Harlequin Crest | Yes | Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty |
Melted Heart of Selig | No | |
Ring of Starless Skies | No | |
Doombringer | No | |
The Grandfather | Yes | Rapid Aspect |
Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander | No |
Gems
Listed below are the best gems to socket into gear for each slot type.
- Weapon: Royal Topaz for the increase to Basic Skill Damage.
- Armor: Royal Ruby for Maximum Life.
- Jewelry: Royal Diamond for All Resistances, however, certain bosses may require you to switch to their corresponding resistances.
Elixirs and Health Pots
Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats, and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Use an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Assault Elixir to increase Attack Speed.
Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80 and 90, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.
Changelog
- March 5th 2024: Updates for Patch 1.3.3.
- February 5th 2024: Build adjustment.
- January 30 2024: Updated Marshal Glyph changes.
- January 21 2024: Season 3 speculative changes.
- October 30th 2023: Build Creation Season 2.