Looking for a list of Diablo 4 Barbarian skills and talents so you can theory craft ahead of launch? The Barbarian is a solid fan favourite, and Diablo 4 promises plenty of brutal executions and bulging biceps. While we already have some expectations of how this class will perform, it also means that any tweaks, changes, or new skills and talents are a little bit more exciting.
The Diablo 4 release date is swiftly approaching, and we’ve got plenty of details on the five Diablo 4 classes we can expect to choose from when creating our character. We’ve also received some hints that there could be some new classes on the horizon as well. Without further ado, here is everything we know about the Barbarian class so far.
When reading this breakdown of the Diablo 4 Barbarian skills and talents, it’s important to note that the numerical figures attached to each skill are a placeholder for comparison’s sake. Depending on other factors, many of those numbers will change, but these stats provide vital context as to how powerful each skill may be.
Diablo 4 basic skills
Basic skills are going to be your left-click attack. They’ll generate fury for you to use on your Fury abilities (which we explore further down). It’s going to be the thing you use most in combat, so arguably the most important slot to think about. The numbers in these examples aren’t static – they’re just the ones seen in the demo from BlizzCon 2019 and are good for comparison’s sake.
Bash
Generates nine Fury. Bash the enemy with your weapon, dealing physical damage. It has a 20% chance to stun for 0.5 seconds. Requires a bludgeoning weapon and scales with the Berserker skill.
Flay
Generates nine Fury. Flay the enemy, dealing physical damage and inflicting Bleeding over six seconds. Requires a slashing weapon and scales with the Warlord skill.
Frenzy
Generates five Fury. Unleash a rapid flurry of blows, dealing physical damage with each pair of hits. Your attack speed is increased by 20% for three seconds up to 60%. Requires dual-wielded weapons and scales with the Berserker skill.
Lunging Strike
Generates nine Fury. Lunge forward and strike an enemy for physical damage. Scales with the Warlord skill.
Fury skills
A familiar face to previous Diablo players, this is the push and pull aspect of being a Barbarian. Surprisingly, it requires a lot of management of resources and thinking ahead to what ability is most useful in that situation. Fury is a resource you generate through your basic skills. Fury skills will spend the fury you generate, so it’ll be good to pay attention to not only your needs but your party’s needs as well.
Rend
Costs 25 Fury. Cleave enemies in front of the Barbarian, dealing physical damage and inflicting Bleeding for physical damage over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon and scales with Berserker skill.
Hammer of the Ancients
Costs 20 Fury. Slam your hammer down with the fury of the Ancients, dealing physical damage to a concentrated area. Requires a two-handed bludgeoning weapon and scales with Warlord skill.
Double Swing
Costs 25 Fury. Sweep your weapons from opposite directions, dealing physical damage with each weapon. Enemies caught in the centre are hit by both. Requires dual-wielded weapons and scales with Warlord skill.
Upheaval
Costs 30 Fury. Tear into the ground with your weapon and fling debris forward dealing physical damage. Requires a two-handed weapon and scales with Berserker skill.
Whirlwind
Costs five Fury per second. Rapidly attack nearby enemies for physical damage per tick. This skill is channelled, can be cast on the move, and scales with the Warlord skill.
Defensive skill
Defensive skills can also generate Fury, although the cooldown on these skills makes it more of a secondary source. These skills are good for buffing yourself and your team, if you so choose to have one, and are generally pretty versatile.
Rallying Cry
Generates ten Fury and has a cooldown of 20 seconds. Bellow a rallying cry, granting all allies Unstoppable, making them immune to crowd control. It also grants them 15% increased movement speed, and 15% reduced damage taken perks for six seconds. This skill breaks Crowd Control effects and can be cast while under Crowd Control. Scales with the Warlord skill.
The keyword ‘Unstoppable’ means that all control-impairing effects are removed or prevented.
Ground Stomp
Generates six Fury and has a cooldown of 15 seconds. Smash the ground, stunning nearby enemies for four seconds. Scales with the Berserker skill.
Undying Rage
This passive move activates when you take fatal damage. This grants you five additional seconds to fight for your life. Killing an enemy in time will revive and heal the Barbarian. This effect has a cooldown of 175 seconds.
Using this passive means sacrificing a slot for the chance to survive whatever is killing you. We’ll have to see if the sacrifice is ever worth it.
Challenging Shout
This skill has a 25-second Cooldown. Once activated, fortify yourself for eight seconds and taunt nearby enemies for eight seconds. During this time, you generate five additional Fury when hit.
The ‘fortify’ keyword means that characters will take 30% decreased damage until all of their fortified health is removed.
Brawling skill
Barbarians love to get up close and personal with their enemies, and the Brawling skill is excellent at showing that off. All these skills are close combat specialties.
Kick
Has a 20-second cooldown. Kick an enemy for physical damage and knock them backwards. On collision, enemies in the area take additional physical damage. Scales with the Berserker skill.
War Cry
“Generates 11 Fury and has a cooldown. Bellow a mighty war cry. You and nearby allies deal 3.6% increased damage per nearby enemy for ten seconds, up to 50%.”
Leap
“Has a 15-second Cooldown. Leap forward and slam downward, dealing physical damage on impact. Scales with the Berserker skill.
This is a standard melee attack. Nothing especially exciting about the ability, but likely to be useful getting rid of some bigger enemies you may encounter. Good for both engaging in combat, and disengaging if you need to.
Charge
Rush forward and push enemies, then swing through them for physical damage. Scales with the Berserker skill.
Weapon Mastery
Considering that this is Weapon Mastery, and we don’t know a whole lot about the weapons in Diablo 4 as of yet, these skills are more of a mystery – we’re even missing one. Two-handed slashing weapons seem to be the Barbarian focus so we’ll be watching out for any of those on the horizon.
Primal Axe
“Recharge: 20 seconds. Throw your weapon with a chain attached, dealing 53-65 and pulling in enemies. Deals physical damage.”
Rupture
Slot three has ‘Rupture’. “Cooldown: 10 seconds. Skewer enemies in a line, inflicting 1053 bleeding over 3 seconds. If an enemy dies while bleeding, the cooldown is reset. Requires a two-handed slashing weapon. Deals physical damage.”
Death Blow
“Cooldown: 15 seconds. Attempt a killing strike, dealing 85-104 to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, the cooldown is reset. Requires a two-handed slashing weapon. Deals physical damage.”
Mystery Slot
This slot wasn’t filled in the demo, and therefore we don’t know what is going to be here when the game eventually comes out. Perhaps it’s unlockable later on, but for now, it’s just a mystery.
Ultimate
Ah, the ultimate. Frightening up close, but always with a hefty cooldown compared to the rest of your skills. Again, we’re missing one of the slots in the demo, so we’re curious about what’s being hidden from us.
Wrath of the Berserker
Generates 30 Fury and has a 60-second Cooldown. Go Berserk for 15 seconds. Every 20 Fury you spend increases the effects by 25%. Berserk increases the damage by an additional 25% and movement speed by 30%. Scales with the Berserker skill and is a Shapeshifting skill.
Call of the Ancients
Has a 75-second Cooldown. Call upon the ancients to aid you in battle for 12 seconds. They deal physical damage, scale with the Warlord skill, and are summons.
Iron Maelstrom
Has a 50-second Cooldown. Whirl your weapon around on a chain, continually dealing massive physical damage. Requires a two-handed weapon and scales with the Warlord skill.
Mystery slot
Yet another slot we don’t know the contents of. Because we don’t know when Diablo 4 is coming out, it’s uncertain when this will be revealed.
Talent Tree
The talent tree is where you spend your points to level up specific parts of your build. Right now the Barbarian talent tree has two sides to it, with these talents listed. The guide goes through the tree as it appears, so in progression order.
Left side
- Swiftness: Movement speed is increased by 3% (five ranks).
- Endless Fury: Fury generation is increased by 2% per point (five ranks).
- Defy Pain: When you Evade, you gain 4% damage reduction per point for one second (five ranks).
- Fierce Brawler: Attack speed is increased by 2% per point while using one-handed weapons. Critical strike damage is increased by 6% per point while using two-handed weapons (five ranks).
- Blood Thirst: Enemies bleed for 4% of your critical strike damage per point over five seconds (five ranks).
- Quick Impulses: While moving, your damage reduction is increased by 4% per point. (five ranks)
- Slaying Strike: Increases damage by 8% per point against enemies below 30% health (five ranks).
- Cut to the Bone: Stunning an enemy increases bleeding damage they take by 4% per point for three seconds (five ranks).
- Battle Frenzy: Using a Brawling skill grants Berserk for one second per point. Duration increases with additional points (five ranks).
- Momentum: Hit Effect: Up to a 20% chance to generate five Fury. Fury generated increases with additional points (five ranks).
- Gushing Wounds: Bleeding effect deal 45% more damage (one rank).
- Unstoppable Force: Berserking grants Unstoppable and 15% increased damage (one rank).
Right side
- Endurance: While out of combat, gain four Life per point per second (five ranks).
- Martial Vigour: Damage reduction is increased by 4% per point (five ranks).
- Booming Voice: Shout durations are increased by 10% per point (five ranks).
- Thick Skin: Non-physical damage reduction is increased by 5% per point (five ranks).
- Concussion: Enemies struck by your Brawling skills are slowed by 10% per point for five seconds (five ranks).
- Master of Arms: After using your Weapon Mastery skill, your next Fury skill is free and deals 5% increased damage per point (five ranks).
- Slam: Up to a 3% chance per point on hit to knock enemies down (five ranks).
- Guttural Yell: Your Shouts cause enemies to deal 10% less damage per point for five seconds (five ranks).
- Close Quarters Combatant: You deal 3% increased damage per point to enemies within melee range, but take 1% more damage per point from enemies outside of melee range (five ranks).
- Combat Prowess: Damage increased by 2% per point against immobilized, stunned, or slowed enemies (five ranks).
- Unbridled Rage: Fury skills deal 130% more damage but cost 100% more Fury to use. (one rank)
- Walking Arsenal: Using a different weapon increases your damage by 8% for eight seconds, up to 32% (one rank).
And those are all the skills and talents we have seen so far for the Barbarian class in Diablo 4. If you prefer to chop and change between different classes, we also have the lowdown on the Diablo 4 Druid class, Necromancer class, Sorceress class, and Rogue class skills, so you can prioritise which one to play first. In the meantime, check out our list of the best PC games if you’re looking for something to tide you over before the Diablo 4 launch date.
