Leveling as a Barbarian with Hammer of the Ancients, Upheaval, or Rend
Please note that our Barbarian leveling guides have been moved to a different page, and can be accessed with the buttons below.
Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Leveling Build Upheaval Barbarian Leveling Build Rend Barbarian Leveling BuildThe best way to level a new Barbarian character is with our 
Hammer of the Ancients build. It deals high damage per hit with decent Area of Effect (AoE), making it the best starting Core Skill. 
Death Blow deals supplemental damage that synergizes well with this one-shot build.
General Leveling Tips
The recommended World Tier to level in is 1 (Adventurer) for the fastest experience. You can play on World Tier 2 (Veteran) for an added challenge, but the 20% extra experience from monsters does not make up for the added time it takes to kill them. This will generally result in a slower and clunkier leveling process.
If you are playing on the seasonal realm, check out our season checklist for some useful tips and tricks to prepare you for Season 1 of Diablo 4. Don’t miss this chance to make the most out of your leveling journey!
You must complete the main storyline before you can engage in endgame activities, like the Capstone Dungeon (which unlocks World Tier 3), Nightmare Dungeons or the Tree of Whispers. If you have already completed the main storyline on another character, use the Campaign Skip feature in the character selection screen.
Getting a mount is an important step in your leveling journey, and we recommend saving your explorations of the world (such as for obtaining Altars of Lilith) for until after you get it. For more details, read our mount guide.
Fury, Barbarian’s Class Resource
Fury makes a return in Diablo 4 as the Barbarian class resource, where it is functionally identical to its Diablo 3 counterpart.
Fury has a natural cap of 100 and slowly drains while out of combat. It is generated by casting spammable Basic Skills such as 
Bash and expended by the more powerful Fury Skills such as Hammer of the Ancients.
There are many other ways to generate Fury or improve its generation.
Arsenal System, Barbarian’s Class Mechanic
The primary unique class mechanic of the Barbarian is the Arsenal System, which allows the Barbarian to assign specific weapons to specific skills. This causes the Barbarian to automatically swap to the appropriate weapon upon casting the skill to which it is assigned. It should be noted that by default, the Barbarian is able to equip four weapons at once: A Two-Handed Bludgeoning (Mace), a Two-Handed Slashing (Axe, Polearm, or Sword), and a Dual-Wielded set (One-Handed Axe, Mace, or Sword).
The Arsenal System also allows the Barbarian to grow more experienced with the different weapon classes as they are used in combat. Each weapon class starts at Expertise Level 1 and features a unique effect that improves linearly with every Expertise level. Upon reaching the maximum Expertise level of 10, a bonus effect is also unlocked. The following table lists the effects for each weapon class.
| Weapon Class | Effect Per Expertise Level | Expertise Level 10 Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| One-Handed Axes | +0.5% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. Double this amount when using two Axes. | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a 55% chance to grant +0.6% increased Attack Speed for 2 seconds. Double the Attack Speed bonus when using two Axes. |
| One-Handed Maces | x1% increased damage to Stunned enemies. Double this amount when using two Maces. | Lucky Hit: Up to a 10% chance to gain Berserking for 1.50 seconds when you hit a Stunned enemy. Double this chance when using two Maces. |
| One-Handed Swords | Lucky Hit: Up to a 1% chance to gain 5 Fury when hitting a Crowd Controlled enemy. Double this chance when using two Swords. | Killing a Crowd Controlled enemy grants +15% increased Attack Speed for 3 seconds. Double this amount for kills with two Swords. |
| Polearms | x1% increased Lucky Hit Chance. | You deal +10% increased damage while Healthy. |
| Two-Handed Axes | x1.5% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. | +10% increased Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable enemies. |
| Two-Handed Maces | Lucky Hit: Up to a 1% chance to gain 2 Fury when hitting an enemy. Double the amount of Fury gained while Berserking. | You deal x15% increased Critical Strike Damage to Stunned and Vulnerable enemies while Berserking. |
| Two-Handed Swords | +2% of direct damage you deal is inflicted as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. | You deal x30% increased Bleeding damage for {5} seconds after killing an enemy. |
In addition, the Technique Slot allows you to benefit from one of the above effects at all times, regardless of which weapons are equipped. The ability to use the Technique Slot requires the completion of a short questline in the Dry Steppes obtained after reaching Level 15.
Secondary Barbarian Class Mechanics
Berserking
Berserking is a temporary positive effect that increases damage by 25% and movement speed by 30%. Being exclusive to the Barbarian, Berserking is featured prominently in many of their skills and passive skills.
Barbarian Weapons and Restrictions
The Barbarian may dual-wield One-Handed Weapons (Axes, Maces, Swords) and Two-Handed Weapons (Axes, Maces, Polearms, Swords). The Barbarian does benefit from the stats of weapons that are equipped in those additional slots even if they are not currently holding them in their hands.
Barbarian Skills and Passive Skills
This section provides an overview of the main skill categories for the Barbarian.
For a detailed list of all Barbarian skills and passives, refer to the pages below.
Barbarian Skills Barbarian Passive TalentsBarbarian Skill Categories
Basic Skills
Basic Skills are spammable skills whose primary purpose is to generate Fury for skills of the Core category. By virtue of being free and having no cooldown, they are also used to fill dead time while waiting for other, more powerful skills to be available.
The Basic Skills for the Barbarian are Bash, 
Flay, 
Lunging Strike, and 
Frenzy.
Core Skills
Core Skills are the main sources of damage of the Barbarian. Although they have no cooldown, the main limiting factor of Core Skills is their Fury cost.
The Core Skills for the Barbarian are Hammer of the Ancients, 
Rend, 
Upheaval, 
Double Swing, and 
Whirlwind.
Defensive Skills
Defensive Skills revolve around protecting the Barbarian and their allies through powerful protective effects or crowd control.
The Defensive Skills for the Barbarian are 
Challenging Shout, 
Ground Stomp, 
Iron Skin, and 
Rallying Cry.
Brawling Skills
Brawling Skills provide a wide array of utility, including mobility.
The Brawling Skills for the Barbarian are 
War Cry, 
Kick, 
Leap, and 
Charge.
Weapon Mastery Skills
Weapon Mastery Skills are situational but powerful offensive skills with a relatively long cooldown.
The Weapon Mastery Skills for the Barbarian are 
Rupture, Death Blow, and 
Steel Grasp.
Ultimate Skills
Ultimate Skills are extremely powerful skills with a cooldown to match. Their use is typically reserved for dispatching powerful enemies. Only one Ultimate Skill may be equipped at a time.
The Ultimate Skills for the Barbarian are 
Wrath of the Berserker, 
Iron Maelstrom, and 
Call of the Ancients.
Barbarian Dismount Skill
While mounted, the Barbarian has access to a unique Dismount Skill which causes the Barbarian to jump off their mount and slam into the ground twice, dealing damage to and stunning nearby enemies.
Barbarian Attributes
The four core attributes benefit each of the five classes in slightly different ways. Here are their effects on the Barbarian.
| Attribute | Effect 1 | Effect 2 | Effect 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength* | 10% Skill Damage per 100 | 1 Armor per point | |
| Intelligence | 5% All Resistances per 100 points | ||
| Willpower | 10% Resource Generation per 100 points | 10% Healing Received per 100 points | 25% Overpower Damage per 100 points |
| Dexterity | 2% Critical Strike Chance per 100 points | 2.5% Dodge Chance per 100 points |
Endgame Barbarian Builds
The leveling builds listed at the top of this page are designed to take your Barbarian to Level 50. Afterwards, you should use an endgame build guide to allocate Paragon points and equip gear with the best stats and Aspects. The following endgame builds will help you optimize your character from Level 50-100.
Level 50+ Endgame Barbarian BuildsEndgame Activities
Finish the storyline to unlock the various endgame activities in Diablo 4. Follow the yellow-marked quests, and you should have no trouble finding your way.
After finishing the main storyline, the game becomes quite open-ended. The following sections provide a quick list of the activities you should do, in approximate order.
Complete the Level 50 Capstone Dungeon
Switch the difficulty to World Tier 2 and complete the Level 50 Capstone Dungeon located in Kyovashad, Fractured Peaks. Once unlocked from completing the main storyline, the dungeon can be attempted even while below character Level 50. Clearing the dungeon can be difficult before you are Level 45, as the enemies are fixed at Level 50. You must switch difficulty to World Tier 2 in order to see the dungeon and be able to enter it.
Once you have completed the Capstone dungeon, you can switch the difficulty to World Tier 3 to enable Sacred items and Nightmare Dungeons.
Tree of Whispers
The Tree of Whispers, located in Hawezar, rewards you for completing bounties found all over the game world. These are generally profitable activities that reward you with experience and items. They can be completed while doing other events and activities in a zone.
The Tree of Whispers is also your first source of Nightmare Sigils, used to activate Nightmare Dungeons. They are not guaranteed to drop, so keep turning in Whispers of the Dead until it appears.
Nightmare Dungeons
Nightmare Dungeons are arguably the main endgame activity in Diablo 4. Once you receive your first Nightmare Sigil from the Tree of Whispers, you can start clearing these dungeons. Nightmare Sigils continue to drop in Nightmare Dungeons, so you should never run out. Nightmare dungeons can only be performed in World Tier 3 or higher.
Nightmare dungeons are an essential part of the endgame (since their difficulty has a lot of potential for increase), providing you with a challenge in return for which you can receive great item rewards. Nightmare dungeons are also the only way to level up the Glyphs that are inserted into your Paragon board, which is crucial for increasing character power.
Helltides
Helltides appear on the map for players who are in World Tier 3 or higher, taking over large swathes of land for one hour. During this time, monsters killed in the affected area drop a special temporary currency that can be used to unlock chests found in the Helltide area.
Participating in Helltides often is highly recommended. They are the only activity where you can reliably obtain Forgotten Souls, a crafting material required to Enchant Sacred and Ancestral items at the Occultist. Enchanting items to replace an undesirable property is key to optimizing your gear.
Complete Renown in All Zones
Complete the remaining Renown stages in all of the zones. Since stages 4 and 5 are locked behind World Tier 3, doing the Capstone dungeon first is necessary.
Although Renown bonuses provide some Skill and Paragon Points, character power grows faster from leveling and finding gear upgrades. Completing Renown can be quite time consuming, so you should delay it until you are well geared with Sacred Items in World Tier 3 or Ancestral Items in World Tier 4.
Complete the Level 70 Capstone Dungeon
Completing level 70 Capstone dungeon (marked on your map with an orange dungeon entrance) unlocks World Tier 4, and with it the highest possible item type, Ancestral items.
The enemies in this Dungeon are fixed at Level 70, and the final boss is very punishing. We do not recommend attempting it before Level 65.
Legion Events and World Bosses
Legion events and World Bosses are marked on the map. They are worthwhile activities to engage in, since they reward potentially good items.
Legion events are also good experience. Simply go to the marked area on the map and join other players in killing the enemies.
