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
Angelic Crucible Sanctification
Season 27 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, we recommend aiming for
the Hammer of the Ancients Sanctification, which adds the following power
to your build:
- 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, a good candidate for Sanctification is the
Remorseless.
You can read more on Angelic Crucibles and the sanctification process in our dedicated Angelic Crucible 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
- 26 Aug. 2022 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 27.
- 26 Aug. 2022 (this page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 26 Aug. 2022 (gear page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (skills page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (gear page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 13 Apr. 2022 (this page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 25.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (this page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (gear page): Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (gear page): Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (this page): Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
- 22 Jul. 2021 (skills page): Added skill variation recommendation.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (this page): Added follower recommendation.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (gear page): Added follower recommendation.
- 30 Mar. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 23.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (gear page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (this page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
- 18 Nov. 2020 (skills page): No changes required to skills for Season 22.
- 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 (skills page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (gear page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 19 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Revised and update for Season 19.
- 19 Nov. 2019 (gear 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 (skills page): Skill selection was clarified for Season 18.
- 22 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Item recommendations were revised for Season 18.
- 22 Aug. 2019 (this page): Item recommendations were revised for Season 18.
- 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.
- 13 May 2019 (gear page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 27 Jan. 2019 (this page): Introduced minor improvements to the guide and adjusted the Raekor variant according to the meta.
- 27 Jan. 2019 (skills page): Minor revision to the passive selection options.
- 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 (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.
- 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).
- 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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