The Barbarian is one of the trickier classes to level early in Diablo 4. They don’t have the strongest early game kit, but they make up for that later with some powerful endgame builds. It’s just a matter of finding the right set-up to get them through until they can thrive. For this guide, we’ll be going with a Diablo 3 favorite to build around Rend as the Core skill for The Barbarian to get us through the early game of Diablo 4.
The Best Leveling Build for the Barbarian in Diablo 4
Rend used to be an effective AOE bleed machine in Diablo 3. While never the best endgame build, it was excellent for leveling and speed clearing easier content. This function and use case have carried over to Diablo 4. Once the build is up and running, it is able to clear whole packs of enemies by gathering them and taking them out with one big, Bleed-inflicting swing. Keep in mind that this build is designed to clear easier enemies fast, so playing on World Tier 1 is recommended all the way through until you need to clear the Capstone Dungeon at level 50.
Aspects
For this leveling build, no Aspects are needed. It functions perfectly fine without any extra imprints. That said, some Aspects that you might get on gear as drops can be incredibly useful. The only caveat here being for 2H Weapons; if you find a new, higher DPS weapon, swap it out, even if it has a nice Aspect on it. The extra DPS is always worth it for this build.
The best Aspects to keep an eye out for are as follows:
The Bold Chieftain’s Aspect can enable shout spamming. Best used on a Ring, this Aspect will carry you through the leveling process. If you find it on a suboptimal piece of gear, it will be worth extracting and imprinting onto a good ring to use for the rest of the leveling process.
The Aspect of Limitless Rage is another great one that will help massively with Fury generation. Echoing Fury is an alternative Aspect if you find that one instead.
Protector Aspect for defensive bubbles and Conceited Aspect for a damage boost while shielded are two Aspects that go hand-in-hand and have great synergy with this build.
Gearing
You don’t want to stress over gearing too much while leveling, as you’ll be constantly finding new gear (and half of them will be upgrades), so simply swap in whichever piece is a higher item level with better stats as you get them. The main things to look out for are gear like Gloves with the +Ranks of Rend stat line for big damage boosts. A 2H Weapon with Damage to Bleeding Enemies is also an excellent stat line to be hunting for as well.
Gems
For Gems, you’ll want Amethysts in your Weapons Sockets for a sweet damage over time boost to make your Bleeds stronger, Rubies in your Armor Sockets for solid Life stacking, and Skulls in your Jewelry Sockets for good flat Armor stats.
Skill Build
Lunging Strike will be the main Basic skill used to generate Rage to spend on getting our Rends out and applying Bleeds. It also helps with closing gaps between enemies, which is incredibly useful. We’ll be using two shouts: Rallying Cry to generate Fury and help us get around quicker as well as War Cry for a nice damage boost.
Next, we need something to help with Elites and Bosses, as Barbarians can have trouble with single target enemies, so we take Killing Blow and Call of the Ancients. Both of these skills will provide more burst potential and help us deal some hefty damage when needed. For the full skill tree build, you can find it here—simply click on the second tab (Skill Tree).
Arsenal System
This is not too important to worry about when leveling. All you need to do is use the best Weapon that you have available at any given time regardless of Expertise with that weapon. That being said, in general the best Technique power is the 2H Axe Expertise, so do use that when able.
That’s the best early game leveling build for the Barbarian class in Diablo 4. This build will help you to get through the early game and up to level 50 quicker than other builds without requiring any Aspects, which is nice. If you’re leveling up a Barbarian, consider giving this build a try! And if you’re looking for more advice on making it through the game, take a look through our comprehensive set of guides.
