Diablo 4 Barbarian Build – Crusher
Jun. 15, 2023Diablo 4 Barbarian Build – Crusher
Diablo 4 Barbarian Build – Crusher: In this Diablo 4 BeginnerBarbarianBuildGuide, I’ll show you how to play a Crusher Barbarian, which is a melee-focused Diablo 4 Build that deals huge burst damage by swapping from oneWeaponto the next. If you’ve been looking for a Diablo 4 Beginner Barbarian Build that is aimed at World Tiers 1 & 2, and one that Bleeds enemies dry while crushing them relentlessly, then this Diablo 4 Build Guide is for you!
Also, be sure to check out ourDiablo 4 WikiandInteractive Mapif you need help finding specificAltars of Lilith,Dungeons, orSide Quests!
The general strategy with thisDiablo IV Beginner Buildis to either jump into a group of regular enemies withLeapandRallying Cryor round them up first, activateFlayto inflict Bleeding Damage Over Time (DoT), and then useHammer of the Ancients. Unlike the otherClasses, Barbarians start off with 0 resources so you need to build this up.
The great thing about Leap is you instantly gain a sizeable chunk of Fury as long as it hits an enemy, which happens all the time, thanks to thePower Leapupgrade. The same is true for Rallying Cry so these two combined are reliable at allowing you to trigger your crushing blow, which is Hammer of the Ancients. You’ll notice that there’s also Flay because, in the early game, you need a way to soften your targets. Otherwise, it’ll take a while before you finish them off since you don’t have access to manyLegendary Aspectsyet.
When fighting againstElitesandBosses, you’ll primarily make use of theCall of the Ancients Ultimate Skillbecause this not only summons 3 Ancients to aid you in dealing huge damage but also restores a portion of your Fury, allowing you to once again run the engine of attacking with Hammer of the Ancients.
Each Diablo 4 Barbarian Build is made up of the 6 Active Skills they have equipped and changing theseSkillscan drastically alter the way the Barbarian Class in Diablo IV plays. In this section, we’ll take a look at what Skills you should slot for the Crusher Diablo 4 Build. Your Skill distribution should look something like this as you go beyond Level 25:
The above list gives you the general order to invest in Skills, but keep in mind that you should prioritize picking up new Active Skills over investing in passives, so pick up passives later if you can get new Active Skills when you level up.
So there are really several different strategies to employ in this Diablo IV Build for the Crusher Barbarian, and these change depending on whether or not you’re facing a large group of enemies or a Boss. Let’s start with a group of enemies first, and we’ll cover how to handle Bosses in the next section.
Flay is this Crusher Diablo 4 Barbarian Build’s Basic Skill that inflicts Bleeding DoT. This is essential to be able to weaken and beat enemies faster. For the upgrades, you’re better off unlockingEnhanced FlayandBattle Flay. Enhanced Flay considerably boosts the chances of applyingVulnerable, especially since you’re wielding 2 Two-Handed Weapons. Doing so will increase your damage by 20%. Meanwhile, Battle Flay raises the Bleeding DoT taken by targets, making it easier to destroy them.
The passive that’ll help you here isEndless Fury. This makes it so that when using Flay, you generate 15% more Fury with a Two-Handed Weapon. So you’ll want to make sure to equip a Two-Handed Axe to deal sufficient Slicing Damage.
Hammer of the Ancients is the bread-and-butter Core Skill of this Crusher D4 Barb Build in that it’s used to deal massive blows to kill and crush enemies. Because of this, you’ll invest all 5 points into it as well as gain access toEnhanced Hammer of the AncientsandFurious Hammer of the Ancientsupgrades. Not only do you gain more Fury but you also deal more damage the higher your resources are.
To further improve its effectiveness, you’ll need theAspect of Ancestral Force, which makes it so that Hammer of the Ancients quakes outwards dealing a percentage of its damage to enemies. This is an incredible aspect since it spreads out the impact of the Skill, letting you attack more of them in one go. Another aspect to look out for, although it’s not mandatory at this stage, is theEdgemaster’s Aspect. This increases the damage of Hammer of the Ancients based on the current level of your Fury so if it’s maxed out, then your damage output would be higher.
The Aspect of Ancestral Force can be obtained by finishing theAncient Reservoir DungeoninHawezarwhile the Edgemaster’s Aspect is acquired by completing theOldstones DungeoninScosglen.
Rallying Cry with theTactical Rallying Crymodifier is another decent option to generate Fury on top of Flay. And thanks to theEnhanced Rallying Cryupgrade, you can get out of sticky situations by making this Crusher D4 Barbarian BuildUnstoppable, thereby removing any crowd control effects you may have had prior to activating Rallying Cry.
Leap is a Brawling Skill that allows you to easily close the gap between you and your foes to crush them with your Bludgeoning Weapon. As mentioned earlier, Power Leap helps in gaining a large portion of your Fury so you can definitely trigger it to then follow through with Hammer of the Ancients.
Death Blow is the Crusher Diablo IV Barbarian Build’s alternative way of finishing off enemies due to the huge damage you deal. The reason why it’s used to kill them is to be able to reset this Weapon Mastery Skill’s cooldown, letting you activate it over and over again. What makes Death Blow all the more effective against Bosses is theEnhanced Death Blowupgrade so you can deal 100% increased damage. Meanwhile, the other modifier you need isFighter’s Death Blowto gain more Fury.
The passives you’ll want to take under the Weapon Mastery Skill Tree arePit FighterandExpose Vulnerability. Pit Fighter raises your damage against close targets while reducing the damage you take from distant enemies whereas Expose Vulnerability makes it so that your next activation of Hammer of the Ancients, right after using Death Blow, applies the Vulnerable effect on your targets. This is a very potent Skill since it lets you take advantage of Vulnerability without only relying on Flay to do so.
When you reach a high enough level and have enough Skill points, you should consider investing in theUnbridled Rage Key Passive. This is going to significantly raise the damage of Hammer of the Ancients at the cost of spending much more Fury.
However, Fury management shouldn’t be a concern with how the current Crusher Diablo 4 Barb Build is designed since you have a ton of Skills to help you generate this resource as efficiently as possible. As a result, you’ll be able to destroy enemies quicker regardless if they’re regular targets or Elites and Bosses.
Boss fights are handled quite similarly in this Diablo 4 Crusher Barbarian Build, but some key differences exist. You’ll employ the same Skill rotation but this time, you’ll account for your Weapon Technique and include Call of the Ancients into the mix to aid you in combat.
At Level 15, the Barbarian will gain access to a Priority Quest, which will have them travel toDry Steppes. Once completed, you’ll unlock a Weapon Technique slot. This makes it so that you can equip a Technique of your choice to level up its corresponding Weapon Expertise Effect that will provide significant bonuses to your Build. You’ll want to slot the Two-Handed Axe Expertise after it reaches Rank 1 in order to raise your damage against Vulnerable targets.
Call of the Ancients is your Ultimate Skill that allows you to summon Korlic, Talic, and Madawc. All these Ancients deal damage differently and provide you with certain benefits due to theSupreme Call of the Ancientsupgrade. Korlic specializes in attacking enemies withFrenzy, which replenishes Fury; Talic attacks withWhirlwind, which inflicts crowd control by Slowing them down; and Madawc usesUpheavalto Stun them in place. While this Ultimate is active, you gain increased Attack Speed and damage thanks toPrime Call of the Ancients.
Next, you’ll want to chase after theAspect of Ancestral Echoes. This makes it so that onLucky Hitwhile Call of the Ancients is on your Action Bar, damaging enemies with Leap will have a huge chance to summon another Ancient to execute the same Skill, allowing you to kill enemies quicker. You can obtain the Aspect of Ancestral Echoes by completing theAncient Reservoir Dungeonin Hawezar.
For this Diablo 4 Crusher Barbarian Build, you should be on the lookout for gear that gives bonuses such asStrength,Willpower, All Stats, Maximum Fury, Strength, Ranks of Leap,Vulnerable Damage, Basic Skill Damage, Damage to Close Enemies, Core Skill Damage, Damage to Slowed Enemies, Damage to Stunned Enemies,Maximum Life, Damage Over Time, and Fury Cost Duration.
For the other passives later on, you’ll want to maximizeFurious ImpulseandWallop. Furious Impulse lets you gain additional Fury every time you swap Weapons. It’s easy to do since you have Skills, which use a Two-Handed Mace and a Two-Handed Axe. Next is Wallop, which amplifies your damage against Vulnerable or Stunned enemies with Leap or Hammer of the Ancients.
When it comes to the other Legendary Aspects, the ones that you need at this point in the game are theAspect of the ProtectorandAspect of the Expectant. The Aspect of the Protector can easily be obtained by completing theLost Archives DungeoninFractured Peaks. This lets you conjure aBarrierthe moment you attack an Elite or Boss.
On the other hand, the Aspect of the Expectant enhances the damage of Hammer of the Ancients by building it up with Flay. As such, not only do you gain enough Fury over time, but the damage you end up dealing with your Core Skill becomes lethal. And thanks to the Edgemaster’s Aspect, you’re going to boost this even more. The Aspect of the Expectant is acquired by finishing theUnderroot Dungeonin Scosglen.
Be sure to check out ourDiablo 4 Wikifor any other questions you have about the game and theBuildspage if you are looking for more Diablo IV Builds, as well as ourUltimate Beginner GuideandBest Class to Play Guideif you are looking for more Diablo 4 content!
Reiku
Writer at Fextralife. I enjoy playing RPGs, narrative-driven games, and platformers. Outside of gaming, I like watching meaningful movies and reading sci-fi and dystopian books.
