Barbarian Rend Build with Wrath of the Wastes

Last updated on Sep 13, 2023 at 09:00 by Deadset 129 comments
Build Variations Updated for Season 29, Patch 2.7.6 Main Build Solo Greater Rift Progression Nephalem Rift Farming
1.

Introduction

This mobile, DoT-based Barbarian build utilizes the Wrath of the Wastes set for its Rend-empowering aspects, and adds a slew of synergistic legendary items into a single, adaptable and very lethal package. The build is designed with Greater Rift solo progression in mind. For more information about how this build performs on the ladder, please refer to our Solo push rankings.

This build also comes with its own speed farming variation, which features a build similar to the present one, but with alterations to fit a speedfarming playstyle.

2.

Quick Reference

2.1.

Skill Setup

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

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Ancient Spear Icon Ancient Spear Rage Flip Rage Flip Right Mouse Button Whirlwind Icon Whirlwind Wind Shear Wind Shear 1 Rend Icon Rend Bloodbath Bloodbath 2 Ground Stomp Icon Ground Stomp Wrenching Smash Wrenching Smash 3 Battle Rage Icon Battle Rage Swords to Ploughshares Swords to Ploughshares 4 Wrath of the Berserker Icon Wrath of the Berserker Insanity Insanity
Passive Skills
2.2.

Gear Setup

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

2.2.1.

Season 29: Paragon Cap

Season 29 introduces a season-specific cap to stat benefits from Paragon levels, all while updating how Paragon point distribution is handled. For the duration of this Season, you can only assign 800 Paragon stat points to your character, removing the long-standing practice of main-stat stacking (with some gearing implications — see below) after you reach Paragon 800.

On top of that, you could only allocate 50 Paragon stat points to each of the four stats in a given Paragon category (Core, Offense, Defense, and Utility). In Season 29, you can allocate up to the full 200 points per category into any attribute, allowing you to more easily reach necessary build breakpoints (as outlined in the Gear page of the guide) for Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction, etc.

With the changes to Paragon in mind, we recommend using the following Paragon distribution for this build:

  • Core: Movement Speed: 200 points.
  • Offense: Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage: Allocate points so they are as close to the desirable 1:10 ratio between the two stats, as displayed in your Character Details sheet. For dual-wielding 1-handed builds, this is usually achieved with 150 points into Critical Hit Chance and the remaining 50 into Critical Hit Damage.
  • Defense: Life and All Resistance: Allocate points to maximize survivability; for Barbarians, this is usually achieved by evenly splitting 100 points into Life (directly increasing your Health pool) and All Resistance (to complement the naturally high Armor stat of Strength-based characters).
  • Utility: Area Damage: 200 points.
2.2.2.

Season 29: Gearing Considerations

In terms of gear, keeping the Paragon cap in mind is paramount, as it stymies the traditional endless supply of main stat after Paragon 800. This means re-rolling mainstat off your gear is no longer desirable, and full equipment augmentation with your main stat is even more critical. Additionally, you should take a careful look at your build and consider if you can fit the following changes to strengthen your damage and survivability:

  • Guardian's Jeopardy: This is a craftable armor set, and the recipe for its creation drops from Bounty farming. Guardian's 2-piece provides a decent damage reduction bonus, but the true powerhouse of the set is the 3-piece bonus, which nets you an additional 100% of your main stats from equipped items. This is a tremendous benefit in an 800 Paragon capped Season. If the Guardian set can fit into the build with minimal sacrifices (other craftable sets, tertiary damage multipliers, etc.), consider its implementation. The available pieces are Guardian's Aversion Guardian's Aversion (Wrists), Guardian's Case Guardian's Case (Waist), and Guardian's Gaze Guardian's Gaze (Head). Of course, you can wear 2 pieces of the set and complete the full 3-piece bonus with a Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur (found from Act I bounty caches).
  • Endless Walk:This is a jewelry set consisting of The Traveler's Pledge The Traveler's Pledge (Amulet) and The Compass Rose The Compass Rose (Ring), and is randomly found through farming, gambling Blood Shards, and/or Kanai's Cube recipes. The Endless Walk set is a nice compromise between damage bonuses (building up while stationary) and defensive bonuses (building up while moving). It can replace glass cannon choices like the Bastions of Will set (Focus Focus and Restraint Restraint) and Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace with acceptable losses to DPS.
  • Unity Unity: A character wearing this ring, along with another Unity Unity on their follower plus an immortality relic for them (i.e., Enchanting Favor Enchanting Favor), will reduce their damage taken by 50%. Unity Unity can roll excellent offense-oriented stats and has an innate Extra Damage to Elites roll, which somewhat offsets losing all-out offense jewelry.
2.3.

Legendary Gems

2.4.

Kanai's Cube

3.

Changelog

  • 13 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 29.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (this page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 28.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (this 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): No changes required for Season 24.
  • 22 Jul. 2021 (this page): Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
  • 31 Mar. 2021 (gear page): Clarified jewelry selection and added follower recommendation.
  • 31 Mar. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 23.
  • 31 Mar. 2021 (this page): Added follower recommendation.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (gear page): Revised base Cube armor slot choice. Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 22. No changes required.
  • 18 Nov. 2020 (this page): Revised base Cube armor slot choice. Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 30 Jun. 2020 (gear page): No changes required for Season 21. Added note regarding why Ground Stomp is replaced by Ignore Pain / Iron Hide.
  • 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): Kanai's Cube alterations depending on playstyle added to the guide.
  • 12 Mar. 2020 (skills page): Revised passive selection to better reflect the state of high-end pushing.
  • 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): Skill and item revisions are introduced for Season 20.
  • 10 Dec. 2019 (gear page): Submitted a clarification to ring rolls to account for ORotZ.
  • 19 Nov. 2019 (gear page): Guide revised and updated for Season 19.
  • 19 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Guide revised and updated for Season 19.
  • 19 Nov. 2019 (this page): Guide revised and updated for Season 19.
  • 22 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Item revisions are introduced for Season 18.
  • 22 Aug. 2019 (skills page): Skill revisions are introduced for Season 18.
  • 22 Aug. 2019 (this page): Skill and item revisions are introduced 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.
  • 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.
  • 31 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Changed jewelry for Patch 2.6.1. Band of Might and Convention of Elements replace Focus and Restraint.
  • 31 Oct. 2017 (skills page): Wording updates to reflect the change in jewelry in the build.
  • 31 Oct. 2017 (this page): Updated jewelry recommendations to reflect 2.6.1 changes.
  • 26 Jun. 2017 (this page): Guide updated for 2.6 and moved to new format.
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