Barbariand4levelingFrenzymeleeSeason 6

Double Swing – Barbarian Leveling Build for Diablo 4

Slice through demons with dual blades and tornadoes!

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Mathris

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Double SwingLeapCall of the AncientsWar CryLunging StrikeRallying Cry


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General Leveling Tips

To find out more general information about leveling as a Barbarian in Diablo 4, you can check out our main Barbarian Leveling guide. You can also go to our Barbarian Builds page for a list of other leveling and endgame Barbarian builds for you to choose from.

In regard to leveling up on the seasonal realm, you might also want to check out our season checklist, as it will give you some useful tips and tricks for Season 6 of Diablo 4. Don’t miss this chance to make the most out of your leveling journey!

Build Introduction

The point of this leveling guide is to quickly take your character from level 1 to 60 while using Double SwingDouble Swing and prepare for your transition into our Dust Devil Double Swing Endgame Build. This guide will walk you through the skill point placement for levels 1-60 and give some insight on how each passive and skill work together to create synergy able to tackle whatever form of leveling you choose to take. We will also give some insight on Legendary Aspects, Affixes, Gems, and Elixirs we can utilize to accelerate our journey.

Our primary skills with this build are Lunging StrikeLunging Strike as our primary Fury Generator. We’ll be augmenting this skill using:

Our core skill of choice is of course Double SwingDouble Swing. Our primary spender and what we will be using to carve demons into ribbons. We augment this skill with:

Now that we know the two most basic skills, we can look deeper into how we will allocate our skill points as we level up.

Allocation of Skill Points

Your first 20 skill points are used to acquire all of your skills, filling in passives points only as needed to advanced to the next tier. The allocation of these points is listed below.

Skill Point NumberAllocation
1Lunging StrikeLunging Strike
2Enhanced Lunging StrikeEnhanced Lunging Strike
3Combat Lunging StrikeCombat Lunging Strike
4Double SwingDouble Swing
5Enhanced Double SwingEnhanced Double Swing
6Violent Double SwingViolent Double Swing
7Rallying CryRallying Cry
8Enhanced Rallying CryEnhanced Rallying Cry
9Tactical Rallying CryTactical Rallying Cry
10Double SwingDouble Swing Level 2
11Double SwingDouble Swing Level 3
12LeapLeap
13Enhanced LeapEnhanced Leap
14Power LeapPower Leap
15War CryWar Cry
16Enhanced War CryEnhanced War Cry
17Mighty War CryMighty War Cry
18Thick SkinThick Skin
19CounteroffensiveCounteroffensive
20CounteroffensiveCounteroffensive Level 2
21CounteroffensiveCounteroffensive Level 3
22Double SwingDouble Swing Level 4
23Double SwingDouble Swing Level 5
24Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients
25Prime Call of the AncientsPrime Call of the Ancients
26Supreme Call of the AncientsSupreme Call of the Ancients
27Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients Level 2
28Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients Level 3
29Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients Level 4
30Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients Level 5
31Aggressive ResistanceAggressive Resistance
32Battle FervorBattle Fervor
33Battle FervorBattle Fervor Level 2
34UnconstrainedUnconstrained Key Passive
35Battle FervorBattle Fervor Level 3
36Prolific FuryProlific Fury
37Prolific FuryProlific Fury Level 2
38Prolific FuryProlific Fury Level 3
39Pit FighterPit Fighter
40Pit FighterPit Fighter Level 2
41Pit FighterPit Fighter Level 3
42Slaying StrikeSlaying Strike
43Slaying StrikeSlaying Strike Level 2
44Slaying StrikeSlaying Strike Level 3
45OutburstOutburst
46Tough as NailsTough as Nails
47SwiftnessSwiftness
48SwiftnessSwiftness Level 2
49SwiftnessSwiftness Level 3
50Imposing PresenceImposing Presence
51Imposing PresenceImposing Presence Level 2
52Imposing PresenceImposing Presence Level 3
53Martial VigorMartial Vigor
54Martial VigorMartial Vigor Level 2
55Martial VigorMartial Vigor Level 3
56LeapLeap Level 2
57LeapLeap Level 3
58LeapLeap Level 4
59LeapLeap Level 5
60Booming VoiceBooming Voice
61Booming VoiceBooming Voice Level 2
62Booming VoiceBooming Voice Level 3
63Guttural YellGuttural Yell
64Guttural YellGuttural Yell Level 2
65Guttural YellGuttural Yell Level 3
66Tempered FuryTempered Fury
67Tempered FuryTempered Fury Level 2
68Tempered FuryTempered Fury Level 3
69WallopWallop
70ConcussionConcussion
71ConcussionConcussion Level 2

If you are making a Seasonal Character, you already start with 10 Skill Points, so it is even faster.

Your complete skill bar will look like this:

Suggested Skill Bar
Lunging Strike Lunging Strike Double Swing Double Swing War Cry War Cry Call of the Ancients Call of the Ancients Leap Leap Rallying Cry Rallying Cry

Skill Tree

Here is the completed skill tree for the build:

Skill Clusters

Let’s review each cluster in the skill tree and discuss our reasons behind each passive and skill choice so we have a good understand of the build before we transition into the Double Swing Endgame Build. Keep in mind, if you are leveling a new seasonal character you will have some additional points to start.

Basic Skills

Lunging StrikeLunging Strike is our choice for the basic skill and fury generator. This is used constantly to generate our resources and chase down foes. Fury will not be much of a hassle with this build as Double SwingDouble Swing is not terribly expensive and thanks to Enhanced Double SwingEnhanced Double Swing it refunds its own cost when we stun things. The main draw of Lunging StrikeLunging Strike is the mobility it provides to make sure we can chase down our foes.

Core Skills

Our core skill of choice is Double SwingDouble Swing which is used as our main spender and main source of damage. As we gain Fury through our generator as well as things like our Shouts such as Rallying CryRallying Cry we will spam Double SwingDouble Swing as often as possible. Thanks to the aforementioned Enhanced Double SwingEnhanced Double Swing if we carve into something stunned or knocked down it will refund its cost and allow us to keep chopping away. This attack is very fast and we can quickly consume our pool of Fury if we aren’t careful. We snag the newly moved Tempered FuryTempered Fury node here as well for more fury for pooling for double swing chains.

Defensive Skills

Our defensive skill cluster has a few things of note. Of course our main active button here Rallying CryRallying Cry and specifically Tactical Rallying CryTactical Rallying Cry which gives us some Fury generation. We will pick up some life through Imposing PresenceImposing Presence and with 1 point each in OutburstOutburst and Tough as NailsTough as Nails we can provide a source of Bleeding which will trigger other effects from our gear. Lastly of note here is Martial VigorMartial Vigor which will give us some mitigation against Elite monsters and bosses.

Brawling Skills

This cluster has a ton of passives and our main mobility skill LeapLeap which will help us get around faster and generate some resource for us through Power LeapPower Leap. It also brings an on-demand source of Berserking and Fortify through War CryWar Cry and its enhancing skills Enhanced War CryEnhanced War Cry for Berserking and Mighty War CryMighty War Cry for Fortify. We also take a ton of passives. Let’s review them below:

  • SwiftnessSwiftness – Movement speed to get around fast and keep on top of our targets
  • Aggressive ResistanceAggressive Resistance – Damage reduction helps our survival
  • Prolific FuryProlific Fury – Since we will almost always be Berserking, this gives us more control of our resource generation
  • Battle FervorBattle Fervor – Provides an easy way to enter the Berserking state through the use of LeapLeap
  • Booming VoiceBooming Voice – Increases the duration of our Shout skills to give us more resources and damage

Weapon Mastery Skills

Here we only focus on a few powerful passive skills. Let’s take a look:

  • Pit FighterPit Fighter – Increases both our offense and defense against close enemies and since we are a melee class, that is everything we want to be fighting
  • Thick SkinThick Skin – A small boost to give us more Fortify
  • CounteroffensiveCounteroffensive – A powerful damage boost as long as we have more than half of our life as Fortified health.
  • Slaying StrikeSlaying Strike – Lets us more easily kill wounded targets who might be at low HP after a few swings

Ultimate Skills

For our Ultimate skill while leveling, we are choosing Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients. It provides us with a source of stun for Enhanced Double SwingEnhanced Double Swing, Fury through Supreme Call of the AncientsSupreme Call of the Ancients and is just generally more useful before we move into an endgame build as what we don’t carve through, our ancients surely will. With the new ability in Vessel of Hatred to add 4 more points to our Ultimate, Call becomes even more powerful. We also take two nodes in this cluster explained below:

  • WallopWallop gives us some bonus damage when things are stunned or vulnerable
  • ConcussionConcussion gives us the ability to stun enemies for 2 seconds on lucky-hit. As long as one of our dual-wield weapons is a one-handed mace we benefit from this talent which will also serve to help as a trigger for Enhanced Double SwingEnhanced Double Swing

Key Passive

Finally at the end of our tree our key passive of choice is UnconstrainedUnconstrained due to its many interactions with the Berserking state which we will be in almost all of the time. It gives us longer duration on the state making it easier to keep up and gives a massive damage multiplier while we’re in the Berserking state making it a huge gain for this build.

Mercenaries

As you play through the campaign in Vessel of Hatred, you will unlock various NPC Mercenaries who can join you on your quest to slay demons. Each Mercenary has their own small talent tree that will give them bonuses and skills to help you. Additionally, you can assign a Mercenary that you don’t take with you as a reinforcement to jump in when you activate certain skills. Let’s take a look at how we want to set this up for this build

We hire Varyana the Berserker Crone

Our Reinforcement Mercenary will be Raheir, the Shieldbearer

Mechanics and Playstyle

The majority of our power with this build comes from fast attacks with Double SwingDouble Swing and a few new Legendary Aspects that provide powerful Dust Devils when we swing. We want to start any encounter by Lunging StrikeLunging Strike to get into the group and then Double SwingDouble Swing away once we’re in carving the demons to ribbons. If LeapLeap is available, you’ll want to engage with that instead of Lunging StrikeLunging Strike. Use your War CryWar Cry liberally for its damage bonus, use Rallying CryRallying Cry to help manage your resources and whenever it is available or when you’re running into a boss or powerful elite, summon the squad with Call of the AncientsCall of the Ancients and get to swinging.

Berserking

Perhaps the most critical component of getting the most out of this build is managing your Berserking state. We have a few options to enter it. Our main way will be through LeapLeap which counts as a Brawling Skill and will put is in the state whenever it hits an enemy thanks to Battle FervorBattle Fervor. Enhanced War CryEnhanced War Cry also provides us with an on-demand source of Berserking and lets us keep the flow going. Leaping in, double swinging, war cry, more double swinging, and leap to the next group to keep the chain going. Once we have our key passive UnconstrainedUnconstrained maintaining this chain and status will be much smoother and provide a large damage bonus for doing so, rewarding your management of this buff.

Leveling Options

There are many options to level your character: kill monsters, do quests in each region if you need the Renown, follow a Seasonal storyline, farm dungeons, or participate in regional events. With so many methods at your disposal, we’ve chosen some methods that will accelerate your path to the endgame. As always check out our Barbarian Leveling Guide for the best options.

The open world is full of monsters and activities, you are welcome to find your own path or leveling areas but if you are looking for some great options, here are two great suggestions for this build:

Helltide

With the revamp to Helltide, it is available right from the start and comes with a massive amount of loot and experience. Helltides are active for 55 minutes of every hour with a downtime of only 5 minutes before the next Helltide zone spawns. They are a powerful search for early game loot provided you can survive to open the chests scattered throughout. For more details check out our Barbarian Leveling Guide.

Questing & Strongholds

Questing is a necessary evil if you are still grinding out your renown levels for each zone. If you need to complete your Renown, it can be a relatively easy way to get some quick experience along the way. If this is something you need to do, take as many quests as you can from one area and complete them all in one go. It may not feel necessarily faster, but going back and forth for each one is a waste of time.

In Vessel of Hatred, Strongholds have been slightly revamped to give massive amounts of experience the first time you complete them. Going through and doing each Stronghold across the various zones can net you a lot of fast levels as well as large renown gains to help you reach certain renown milestones if you haven’t completed them.

Gear Affixes

In the early levels, targeting affixes on your gear can be very challenging. However, we will show three recommended affixes to give you some flexibility in what you will want. We will also be listing a Tempering Affix for each slot, keep in mind that tempering is more of an end-game system and with the frequency of gear replacements may not be the optimal thing to do while leveling. Items may have two tempers placed on them as long as they aren’t from the same category, for example you cannot have two “Offensive” tempers on the same item. We will be listing the most important temper for each slot to help speed up your leveling.

Gear SlotTargeted AffixesTempering Affix
Helm1. Cooldown Reduction
2. Strength
3. Maximum Life
1. Double SwingDouble Swing Size Berserking AugmentsBerserking Augments
Chest1. Strength
2. Maximum Life
3. Needed Resistance
1. Double SwingDouble Swing Size Berserking AugmentsBerserking Augments
Gloves1. Attack Speed
2. Critical Strike Chance
3. Strength
1. Damage While Berserking Berserking FinesseBerserking Finesse
Pants1. Strength
2. Maximum Life
3. Needed Resistance
1. Dust Devil Size Wasteland InnovationWasteland Innovation
Boots1. Movement Speed
2. Fury Per Second
3. Ranks to LeapLeap
1. Movement Speed Natural MotionNatural Motion
Amulet1. Cooldown Reduction
2. Attack Speed
3. Fury on Kill
1. Resource Generation with Dual Wield Weapons Weapon Attunement — BarbarianWeapon Attunement — Barbarian
Rings1. Critical Strike Chance
2. Attack Speed
3. Fury on Kill
1. Resource Generation with Dual Wield Weapons Weapon Attunement — BarbarianWeapon Attunement — Barbarian
2-Handed Weapons1. Strength
2. Fury on Kill
3. Maximum Life
1. Chance for Dust Devils to Cast Twice Wasteland AugmentsWasteland Augments
Dual-Wield Weapons1. Strength
2. Critical Strike Damage
3. Maximum Life
1. Dust Devil Size Wasteland InnovationWasteland Innovation

Gems

Listed below are the best gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

  • Weapons: TopazTopaz for basic skill damage until around Level 20, and then EmeraldEmerald for critical strike damage after.
  • Armor: RubyRuby for more Strength
  • Jewelry: DiamondDiamond for all resistances.

Runes

While leveling in Vessel of Hatred, you may come across Runes, a unique gem that can be placed into an item with two sockets such as a helm, chest, pants, or two-handed weapon. Putting one Ritual Rune and one Invocation Rune into the same item creates a Runeword which can enhance your gameplay and grant powerful boons. Ritual Runes generate Offering when the conditions are met, and once enough Offering has been met, the associated Invocation Rune’s effect will trigger. Here are some early Rune suggestions for leveling

Rune NameRune Effect
CirCirGain 30 Offering: Cast the same Non-Channeled Skill 3 times in a row
ZanZanGain 150 Offering: Cast an Ultimate skill
CehCehRequires 100 Offering: Cooldown 1 second, Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds
LumLumRequires 5 Offering: Cooldown 1 second, Restore 1 Primary Resource

Legendary Aspects

As a reminder, all Legendary items can be put into the new Codex of Power once salvaged. These are simply recommendations for the easiest to acquire early on during your leveling path.

Gear SlotLegendary AspectAspect Power
HelmAspect of Numbing WrathAspect of Numbing WrathEach point of Fury generated while at Maximum Fury grants [X] Fortify
ChestJuggernaut's AspectJuggernaut’s AspectGrant [X] Armor, but your Evade has a 100% increased Cooldown
GlovesAccelerating AspectAccelerating AspectCritical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [10-25%] for 5 seconds.
PantsAspect of Bul-KathosAspect of Bul-KathosLeapLeap creates an Earthquake that deals [X] Physical damage over 4 seconds and provides [10-25%] Damage Reduction
BootsRelentless Berserker's AspectRelentless Berserker’s AspectLucky Hit: Damaging an enemy with a Core Skill has a [22-40%] chance to extend the duration of Berserking by 2 seconds. Double this duration if it was a Critical Strike
AmuletWindlasher AspectWindlasher AspectCasting Double SwingDouble Swing creates a Dust Devil that deals [X] damage to enemies in its path
Ring 1Bold Chieftain's AspectBold Chieftain’s AspectWhenever you cast a Shout Skill, its Cooldown is recduced by [1-2] seconds per nearby enemy up to a maximum of 6 seconds.
Ring 2Aspect of Giant StridesAspect of Giant StridesReduces the Cooldown of LeapLeap by [2.5-5] seconds per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 9 seconds. Hitting a Boss with LeapLeap provides the maximum cooldown reduction
2-Handed Bludgeoning WeaponAspect of Fierce WindsAspect of Fierce WindsYour Shout Skills create 3 Dust Devils that deal damage to enemies along their path. Your Dust Devils are [5-20%] bigger and deal 1% increased damage for each 1% their size is increased
2-Handed Slashing WeaponDevilish AspectDevilish AspectAfter generating 100 Fury, your next direct damage creates 3 Dust Devils that deal [X] damage to enemies in their path
Dual Wield Weapon 1Edgemaster’s AspectEdgemaster’s AspectSkills deal up to [5-20%] increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource
Dual Wield Weapon 2Aspect of ElementsAspect of ElementsGrant + [20-30%] increased damage to a set of damage types for 7 seconds. This effect alternates between two sets: Fire, Lightning, and Physical. Cold, Poison, and Shadow.

Early Paragon

Once you hit Level 60 with this leveling build, you will be ready to begin your paragon journey and transition into an end-game setup as you unlock Torment 1 and beyond. This will open up the true endgame and allow you to collect new Ancestral Items you will need to transition into the Endgame Version of this Build. Once you upgrade your build to the Endgame build, you will be ready to push into The Pit and unlock new difficulties, face new bosses, and get incredible Unique items to raise your power and crush more and more demons and beyond!

Below you will find a Paragon Setup for the first two Paragon Boards to get you started. After this we strongly recommend making the transition into an Endgame setup as you increase in power and paragon. Let’s take a look.

Starting Board

Blood Rage

Elixirs and Health Pots

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats, and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Use Elixir of AdvantageElixir of Advantage for the attack speed but any Elixir you have for the extra experience as they all grant between 5 and 8% increased experience to help you fly to level 60 even faster.

Return to the Alchemist again each time you return to town in case it is time to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.

Changelog

  • October 3rd 2024: Guide updated for Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred
  • August 4th 2024: Guide updated for season 5 and Patch 1.5.0
  • May 8th 2024: Guide created
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