Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide

Skill Tree Progression

Technique

Stat/Affix Priority

Affixes

Legendary Aspects

Best Way to Obtain Barbarian Build Aspects From The Purveyor

Barbarian Leveling Tips

Introduction

Skill progression per point

Stats

Build defining

Highly Recommended

Last Updated: Thu Jun 01 2023 Reading Time: 6 min

Welcome to our Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide. In this guide we will show you exactly what skills to take to bring Barbarian to the next level. We will be utilizing bleeds and ripping the bleed from our enemy to deal extra damage.

Below we will go over the skill tree progression for this Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide. Focusing on the active abilities first and taking the passives where we need to fill up to reach the next active ability.

Lunging Strike – 1/5 – Enhanced – 1
Rend – 2/5 – Enhanced – 1 – Furious – 1
Challenging Shout – 1/5 – Enhanced – 1 – Tactical – 1
Battle Lunging Strike – 1/1
Rend – 3/5
Ground Stomp – 1/5 – Enhanced – 1 – Strategic – 1
Rend – 5/5
Rupture – 1/5 – Enhanced – 1 – Fighter’s – 1
Endless Fury – 3/3
Imposing Presence – 1/3
Iron Maelstrom – 1/5 – Prime – 1 – Supreme – 1
Imposing Presence – 3/3
Hamstring – 1/3
Cut to the Bone – 3/3
Martial Vigor – 1/3
Gushing Wounds – 1/1

This will give you all the active abilities in the most effective way possible. Granting you the Key Passive – Gushing Wounds as soon as it is available. It will take 33 skill points to unlock it.

After spending the above points going through level 1 – 30~ it’s time to fill in all the passive skills as shown in the screenshots.

Screenshots from d4builds.gg

While there is little known about the Technique at this point, so far only data-mined information. The theory is you get to choose a weapon expertise bonus from a weapon you are not wielding, allowing you to match 2 expertise types. We would then pair the following 2 weapon expertise bonuses for this build. Equip one of them and slot the other bonus in the Technique slot.

Polearm – + [10%] increased Lucky Hit chance – Rank 10: You deal x10% increased damage while Healthy
Two-Handed Sword – [20%] of direct damage you deal is inflicted as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds – Rank 10: You deal x30% increased Bleeding damage for 5 seconds after killing an enemy

Below we will go over the stats and affixes that you should prioritize for this Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide. We will list them from most important to least. For a more in depth view make sure to check out our Stats and Affix guides!

Strength – +1 Armor per Stat and 0.1% Skill Damage
Willpower – 0.1% healing Received, 0.25% Overpower damage per point and 0.1% Resource Generation
Intelligence – +0.05% All Resistance per point
Dexterity – 0.025% Dodge Chance per point and 0.02% Critical Strike Chance

+X Rank(s) to SKILL
+X Strength
+X% Strength
+X% Damage Over Time
+X% Damage to Targets That Are DOT
+X% Damage While Fortified
+X% Damage to Near Targets
+X% Damage When Swapping Weapons

As a side note it is very important to keep up your resistances, as content becomes more difficult it will require higher resistances to compensate, the following affixes can become very important:

+X% Cold Resistance
+X% Fire Resistance
+X% Lightning Resistance
+X% Poison Resistance
+X% Resistance to All Elements
+X% Shadow Resistance

Legendary Aspects are one of the most powerful parts of any build. Below are the Legendary Aspects that go well with our Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide. Each build has a limited amount of Offensive, Defensive, and Utility Aspects that it can use. Here is a reminder of the slot limitations for Legendary Aspects:

Offensive – Amulets, Gloves, Ring, Weapons
Defensive – Amulets, Chest, Helm, Legs, Shield
Mobility – Amulets, Boots
Resource – Rings
Utility – Amulets, Boots, Chest, Gloves, Helm, Shield

Skullbreaker’s Aspect (Offensive) – Stunning a Bleeding enemy deals [22 – 40%] of their total Bleeding amount to them as Physical damage
Iron Blood Aspect (Defensive) – Gain [2.0 – 4.0%] Damage Reduction for each nearby Bleeding enemy up to [10 – 20%] maximum

Iron Blood Aspect can be found by completing the Forgotten Ruins in Kehjistan while Skullbreaker’s Aspect is only found on legendary gear. They are considered build defining because of the way they synchronize with our bleeds. Grab the Iron Blood Aspect as soon as you can and keep an eye out for any legendary gear with the right aspect!

Aspect of Might (Defensive) – Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0 – 6.0] seconds
Slaking Aspect (Resource) – Lucky Hit: You have up to a [30 – 50%] chance to fain 20 Fury when Rend deals direct damage to at least one Bleeding enemy
Aspect of Unrelenting Fury (Resource) – Killing an enemy with a Core Skill refunds [10 – 20%] of its base Fury cost. Can only happen once per Skill cast
Rapid Aspect (Offensive) – Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed
Aspect of the Expectant (Offensive) – Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by [5 – 10%] up to 30%

The following Aspects are unlocked in Act 1 Fractured peaks: Slaking Aspect (Maulwood) and Aspect of Unrelenting Fury (Hallowed Ossuary). Make sure to complete the dungeons and use them when available.

Aspect of Retribution (Offensive) – Distant enemies have a 8% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal [20 – 40%] increased damage to Stunned enemies
Aspect of Limitless Rage (Offensive) – Each point of Fury you generate while at Maximum Fury grants your next Core Skill [1 – 2%] increased damage, up to [15 – 30%]
Aspect of Anemia (Utility) – Lucky Hit: Direct damage against Bleeding enemies has up to a [20 – 30%] chance to Stun them for 2 seconds
Aspect of Encroaching Wrath (Offensive) – After spending 100 Fury, your next Weapon Mastery Skill deals [82-100%] increased damage

Aspect of Anemia is unlocked by completing Kor Dragan Barracks in Act 1 Fractured Peaks. Make sure to complete the dungeon and use it when available.

Thanks to Don The Crown for the information!

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Offensive

One-handed Weapon

Defensive

Resource

Utility

Mobility

Our first tip for this Diablo 4 Barbarian Leveling Guide is to team up with someone, be it a friend or someone you meet in Diablo 4. Teaming up greatly improves the leveling process and allows you to progress faster and easier.

Keep a look out for the change in color on the health bar, darker red means they are bleeding. Stack up the bleeding damage and use Rupture for big damage. Note: After getting the Skullbreaker’s Aspect you can use Ground Stomp before Rupture for extra damage.

Use challenging shout off cooldown when fighting, this gives you Damage Reduction and also Fury generation each time you get hit.

Sticking to the Campaign and leveling through completing it will be the best option for your first character. For alternative characters this might be different as the Developers have shown there is a “Skip Campaign” button after doing the campaign once.

After some testing it seems that Tier 1 will be faster for leveling through the campaign, allowing you to reach the end-game faster.