By Hodey Johns
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The very best Barbarian builds available in Diablo 3 can be very damage heavy or favor the "zBarb" approach instead.
Diablo 3 Barbarian Best Builds Collage Trailer Art And Profile Screen
Being the "best" in Diablo 3 is a temperamental experience. You're always just a recent patch note, a new piece of gear, or another season away from having to overhaul your entire build. That's part of what keeps the game fresh; you've got to be on your toes if you're looking to conquer the toughest rifts.
The Barbarian is something of an exception to this rule. With heavy melee strikes and a core set of skills to build around, there is far more consistency to the Barbarian than any other class. Even so, it's worth seeing what little tweaks might make the difference between being middle of the pack and envy of the community.
Updated on April 23rd, 2021 by Hodey Johns:This list was initially published after the big 2.7.0 patch. After observing the trends, while some builds performed as expected, others began to succeed or underdeliver. As a result, this list has been updated to reflect what the leaderboards have shown. Additionally, each entry now comes with a complete list of how to construct the buildwith bullet points and how the build functions highlighted in bold lettering.
Savage Frenzy
Diablo 3 Barbarian Using Frenzy To Attack Quickly
- Active Skills: Frenzy (Sidearm), Furious Charge (Merciless Assault), Threatening Shout (Falter), Battle Rage (Bloodshed), War Cry (Veteran's Warning), Wrath of the Berserker (Insanity)
- Passive Skills: Ruthless, Berserker Rage, Rampage, Boon of Bul-Kathos
- Armor: Skull of Savages (Flawless Royal Diamond), Spines of Savages, Aughild's Rule (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Claws of Savages, Aughild's Search, The Undisputed Champion, Leggings of Savages (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Heels of Savages
- Jewelry: The Traveler's Pledge, The Compass Rose, Band of Might
- Weapons: Oathkeeper (Flawless Royal Emerald), Azurewrath(Flawless Royal Emerald)
- Caldesann's Despair Augment: Strength
- Legendary Gems: Bane of the Stricken, Simplicity's Strength, Bane of the Trapped
- Item Stat Priorities: Attack Speed, Cooldown Reduction (until 50%), Elemental Damage, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Chance, Area Damage, Strength
- Kanai's Cube: Bastion's Revered, Depth Diggers, Ring of Royal Grandeur
Diablo 3 Barbarian Using Frenzy In The Middle Of A Pack
Diablo 3 has become a game that is all about the skills, but it's good to know that a build where regular attacks are primary can still carry players up to Greater Rift 135. With a lot of attack speed, this is a fantastic Greater Rift Guardian killer build and it's one of the very few ways that a non-support Barbarian will be allowed into a group, especially with a leveled-up Bane of the Stricken.
Thanks to so much damage reduction, the Savage Frenzy build doesn't have to leave battle when enemies begin to swarm around. In parties, the Savage Frenzy Barbarian is in charge of taking down elites, bosses, and Greater Rift Guardians, so any team looking for a single target damage dealer will want you along if this is your style.
MotE Earthquake
Diablo 3 Barbarian Aftermath Of An Earthquake With Magma
- Active Skills: Seismic Slam (Rumble), Leap (Call of Arreat), Wrath of the Berserker (Insanity), Battle Rage (Swords to Ploughshares), Earthquake (Molten Fury), Threatening Shout (Falter)
- Passive Skills: Boon of Bul-Kathos, Earthen Might, Rampage, Ruthless
- Armor: Eyes of the Earth (Flawless Royal Diamond), Spires of the Earth, Spirit of the Earth (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Pull of the Earth, Strongarm Bracers, Girdle of Giants, Weight of the Earth(Flawless Royal Diamonds), Foundation of the Earth
- Jewelry: Squirt's Necklace, Focus, Restraint
- Weapons: The Furnace (Flawless Royal Emerald)
- Caldesann's Despair Augment: Strength
- Legendary Gems: Bane of the Trapped, Bane of the Stricken, Zei's Stone of Vengeance
- Item Stat Priorities: Earthquake Damage, Fire Damage, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Chance, Cooldown Reduction, Strength, Area Damage
- Kanai's Cube: Blade of Tribes, Lut Socks, Band of Might
Diablo 3 Hitting A Portal Watcher With An Earthquake
The build is named after the signature damage move, but the most notable part of this build is how often the Leap can be spammed. Players who have mastered the rotation will prove that the Barbarian spends just as much time in the air as it does on the ground. This makes for an unparalleled mobile advantage over any other Barbarian build.
This exact build has recently been able to clear Greater Rift 140. There is a Seismic Slam variation of this build that is about six to ten Greater Rift levels underneath this build, but that build might be enticingfor players that don't like the way Earthquake plays out.
Waste Whirlwind Rend
Diablo 3 Using Whirlwind To Get Huge Numbers
- Active Skills: Whirlwind (Wind Shear), Ancient Spear (Rage Flip), Wrath of the Berserker (Insanity), Ignore Pain (Iron Hide), Rend (Bloodbath), Battle Rage (Swords to Ploughshares)
- Passive Skills: Boon of Bul-Kathos, Ruthless, Berserker Rage, Rampage
- Armor: Helm of the Wastes (Flawless Royal Diamond), Pauldrons of the Wastes, Cuirass of the Wastes (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Gauntlet of the Wastes, Mortick's Brace, Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle, Tasset of the Wastes (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Captain Crimson's Waders
- Jewelry: Squirt's Necklace, Convention of Elements, Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac
- Weapons: The Slanderer (Flawless Royal Emerald), Little Rogue(Flawless Royal Emerald)
- Caldesann's Despair Augment: Strength
- Legendary Gems: Bane of the Trapped, Taeguk, Bane of the Stricken
- Item Stat Priorities: Cooldown Reduction (until 50%), Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Chance, Rend Damage, Physical Damage, Area Damage, Strength
- Kanai's Cube: Ambo's Pride, Lamentation, Ring of Royal Grandeur
Diablo 3 Barbarian Hitting From Far Away With A Whirlwind
Despite being considered a go-to support, the Barbarian does surprisingly well solo, and can accomplish as high as Greater Rift 146 all alone with the Waste Whirlwind Rend build. That's higher than what the Witch Doctor, Demon Hunter, and Monk are capable of doing right now!
Of all of the offensive statistics here, none is more important than the 50% cooldown reduction, which allows the Barbarian to maintain 100% uptime on Wrath of the Berserker and Boon of Bul-Kathos.
The gear can be difficult to assemble, but it plays like a dream after it's all together. Even those who don't plan to use this build in the end will want to consider at least putting this build in the armory as it's one of the best farming builds in the game and the best experience and gear per minute that a Barbarian can get by far.
ZBarb Support
Diablo 3 Barbarian Tanking An Army Of Skeletons
- Active Skills: War Cry (Veteran's Warning), Whirlwind (Wind Shear), Ancient Spear (Rage Flip), Ignore Pain (Mob Rule), Threatening Shout (Falter), Ground Stomp (Wrenching Smash)
- Passive Skills: Nerves of Steel, Inspiring Presence, Pound of Flesh, Superstition
- Armor: Leoric's Crown (Flawless Royal Diamond), Mantle of Channeling, Aquila Cuirass (Flawless Royal Diamonds), Claws of Savages, Strongarm Bracers, Pride of Cassius, Leggings of Savages(Flawless Royal Diamonds), Illusory Boots
- Jewelry: The Flavor of Time, Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac, Oculus Ring
- Weapons: Bul-Kathos's Warrior Blood (Gem of Ease),Bul-Kathos's Solemn Vow (Flawless Royal Amethyst)
- Caldesann's Despair Augment: Intelligence
- Legendary Gems: Gogok of Swiftness, Wreath of Lightning, Gem of Efficacious Toxin
- Item Stat Priorities: Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed, Resource Cost Reduction, Resist All, Armor, Life Percentage, Vitality
- Kanai's Cube: Messerschmidt's Reaver, Chilanik's Chain, Band of Might
Diablo 3 Using Ancient Spear As A Barbarian
The importance of the zBarb (the z stands for "zero" as in "zero damage") cannot be overstated. Go ahead and look at the leaderboards for any size of group. Every single party that has cleared a Greater Rift of 150 has a zBarb Support in the group. This is not only the most crucial class of Barbarian, it's the most important build in the game.
Attack speed works to drastically speed up animations, so you'll be able to cast your Ancient Spearthat much faster. Other than that, everything else is focused on defensive statistics. There are many variations to this build, both in items and skills, but the item stat priorities are the same for all of them.
Your job is to get as many enemies as possible into a tight ball of bodies, then let the damage dealers take care of the rest. This requires a fast-paced style of gameplay, knowledge of the maps, skill management, and tanking prowess, but those who master this build can rest assured that they will always have a party looking for their talents.
NEXT: Diablo 3: The Best Solo Classes Ranked From Worst To Best