Barbarian HotA Build with Immortal King
Introduction
Empowered by the Immortal King
set, this Barbarian build emphasizes melee devastation and pulverizes his
enemies to the ground with Hammer of the Ancients, while maintaining a
vast array of buffs and warriors at his side. This agile, face-to-face burst
damage build is geared towards Greater
Rift solo progression, but we also have a speed farming variant of it.
HotA Raekor Barbarian Build
This HotA IK Barbarian Build used to have a Raekor variation, but it eventually grew into a competitive build of its own, before turning into a Boulder Toss Raekor build, which you can access using the link below.
Quick Reference
Skill Setup
The basic skill setup of the IK HotA Barbarian is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.
Active Skills |
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Passive Skills |
Gear Setup
The required gear setup for IK HotA Barbarian is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.
- Helm:
Immortal King's Triumph
- Shoulders:
Fury of the Ancients
- Gloves:
Immortal King's Irons
- Chest:
Immortal King's Eternal Reign
- Belt:
Immortal King's Tribal Binding
- Pants:
Immortal King's Stature
- Boots:
Immortal King's Stride
- Bracers:
Bracers of the First Men
- Amulet:
The Traveler's Pledge
- Ring 1:
The Compass Rose
- Ring 2:
Convention of Elements
- Weapon 1:
Remorseless
- Weapon 2:
Echoing Fury
Season 28: Altar of Rites
Season 28 comes with the theme of the Altar of Rites — a powerful new account-wide and Season-specific progression system that brings tremendous offensive and defensive buffs to every seasonal character. 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 Gems
- Legendary Gem 1:
Bane of the Trapped
- Legendary Gem 2:
Bane of the Stricken
- Legendary Gem 3:
Esoteric Alteration or
Pain Enhancer
Kanai's Cube
- Weapon Slot:
The Gavel of Judgment
- Armor Slot:
Mortick's Brace
- Jewelry Slot:
Band of Might
Follower and Potion
We recommend the Scoundrel for GR solo progression, and the
Enchantress in speed GR and T16 farming. Check our Follower guide for advice on their skills
and gearing. For your legendary potion, we recommend
Bottomless Potion of the Leech.
Changelog
- 22 Feb. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 28.
- 22 Feb. 2023 (this page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
- 08 Feb. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
- 26 Aug. 2022 (gear page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 26 Aug. 2022 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 27.
- 26 Aug. 2022 (this page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (gear page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (skills page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (this page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (gear page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 25.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (this page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (gear page): Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (skills page): Added skill variation recommendation.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (this page): Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (gear page): Added follower recommendation.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 23.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (this page): Added follower recommendation.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (gear page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (skills page): No changes required to skills for Season 22.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (this page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
- 30 Jun. 2020 (gear page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 30 Jun. 2020 (skills page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 30 Jun. 2020 (this page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (gear page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (skills page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 19 Nov. 2019 (gear page): Revised and update for Season 19.
- 19 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Revised and update for Season 19.
- 19 Nov. 2019 (this page): Revised and update for Season 19.
- 28 Aug. 2019 (this page): Revised recommendations for the Raekor and speedfarming versions of the build.
- 22 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Item recommendations were revised for Season 18.
- 22 Aug. 2019 (skills page): Skill selection was clarified for Season 18.
- 22 Aug. 2019 (this page): Item recommendations were revised for Season 18.
- 13 May 2019 (gear page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 13 May 2019 (skills page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 13 May 2019 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 27 Jan. 2019 (skills page): Minor revision to the passive selection options.
- 27 Jan. 2019 (this page): Introduced minor improvements to the guide and adjusted the Raekor variant according to the meta.
- 17 Jan. 2019 (gear page): Added suggestions for the baseline Ring of Royal Grandeur for Seasonal characters.
- 17 Jan. 2019 (this page): Guide was revised with additional recommendations for Season 16.
- 16 Jan. 2019 (skills page): Information was reviewed and approved for Season 16 with no changes required.
- 20 Sep. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 15.
- 14 Jun. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 14.
- 16 Nov. 2017 (this page): Added the Raekor build variation for GR progress.
- 31 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Changed the weapon recommendation to a dual setup with The Istvan's Paired Blades replacing The Gavel of Judgment (which is now cubed).
- 31 Oct. 2017 (this page): Overhaul of the guide to reflect the 2.6.1 buffs that made this build the best build of the season for Barbarians.
- 26 Jun. 2017 (this page): Guide updated for 2.6 and moved to new format.
More Barbarian Guides
Builds from Other Classes
Farming Guides
This build is presented to you by Deadset, one of the very few professional Diablo 3 players. Deadset regularly publishes video guides on Youtube and streams on Twitch, where you can see how this and other builds play out in practice.
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