The NEW Barbarian in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred - Patch 2.0
Oct. 6, 2024The NEW Barbarian in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred – Patch 2.0
In this Diablo 4 Barbarian Vessel of Hatred Patch 2.0 Guide, I’ll be helping you understand how the Barbarian Class changes for the D4 Vessel of Hatred expansion (Patch 2.0) affect it and give you an easy overview of what to expect for your builds and Gameplay.
The new expansion is adding 1 new Weapon Mastery Skill, 1 Key Passive and 4 regular passives to the Barbarian as well as a new Paragon board. On the itemization side, we’ll be getting new Uniques, and Legendary Aspects.
Before we get into the specifics ofBarbarian, let me tell you about some huge changes coming to the game itself. I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible, and we’ll have full detailed coverage of all these changes in a future video, but for now let me tell you about the most important ones.
First of all, max level has been reduced to60(from100), and players will begin receivingParagon Pointsonce they reach this level. These Points can be used by any level 60 character on your account. This not only means that you can gainParagon Pointsfor yourBarbarianwhile playing on yourDruid, but it also means that you will have an additional10 Skill Pointsto allocate into your build (from levels51-60), for a total of69 Skill PointsinPatch 2.0, up from59before.
Additionally, stats likeArmor,Health, andDamagehave been drastically reduced in order to simplify the game and make mathing easier for players. This doesn’t result in a nerfing of your character; it’s more of a backend change reflected in new numbers in yourUI. Don’t freak out if you see your weapon no longer deals the same damage—it will still be as effective as before.
And lastly, the difficulty system ofDiablo IVis changing, and there are now newTorment levelsalong with newdifficulty levels, much like there were inDiablo III. Regulardifficulty levelswill be unlocked by advancing your character, butTorment levelswill need to be unlocked through anEnd Gameactivity calledThe Pit of Artificers, which is much likeRiftsinDiablo III, where you explore randomized dungeons with aBossat the end. This shouldn’t change the way you play the game fundamentally, and hopefully allows players to customize their preferred difficulty a bit better.
TheBarbarianhas been granted a newWeapon Mastery Skillcalled“Mighty Throw,”which hurls your weapon, dealing60% Weapon Damageupon impact and sticking in the ground. Once in the ground, the weapon starts pulsating, dealing15% Weapon Damageevery second for4 secondsin a small area.
The damage is only dealt upon impact, and it takes about1 secondto activate, even when used at melee range, which seems kind of slow initially. However, having anotherAoEthat can be used at range makes for a great opener.
The enhancement increases yourattack speedby a massive25%while a thrown weapon is out, and the upgrades give you two different approaches on how to use the skill.
A new Key passive has been introduced calledBarbed Carapace.
Barbed Carapace: For every 25 Fury you spend, you gain 10%[+] Thorns for 8 seconds, up to 120%. Casting a Skill with a Cooldown grants you Unhindered for 5 seconds. During this time, you deal 100% of your Thorns as physical damage to Close enemies every second.
Barbarianshave a ton ofActiveandPassive skillsthat synergize withThorns. ThisKey Passiveopens up the possibility for many viableThorn Builds, as it directly deals damage to close enemies without requiring you to take damage yourself (which is non-ideal in most cases). The first thing that comes to mind is an improved version of theWhirlwind Barbarian, as you will be dealing damage both withWhirlwindand withThornswhile you constantly spendFuryand useShoutsto renew theUnhinderedbuff.
The otherPassive skillsare straightforward in what they do, but are a welcome addition to fix some issues that persist in stapleBuilds.
Barbarian Basic Skills remain unused for the most part as they don’t contribute much to staple builds. Increasing your overall damage after using them might create some synergies like starting with aLunging Strikeand then combining other skills for increased damage.
While 45% seems like a big buff to the ultimate damage, you still need to wait for their long cooldowns. It will be most beneficial for builds that use Ultimate as finishers in big fights.
The overpower mechanic is very fun, but you usually lack damage between the combo build-ups. This will give a nice little boost to clear off any enemies while you are building up the next overpower attack.
A passive option to quickly build up Fortify using Weapon Masteries will really help with build efficiency.
The Barbarian has had multiple buffs and nerfs to its skills since release, so if you are a returning player you will probably want to check what has changed in regard to your favorite skills and make adjustments to your builds based on those changes.
The newest patch will also bring new changes for Frenzy and Ground Stomp.
Fury Generationwas increased from4to7and damage from13%to15%. The enhanced version, which previously generated a flat3 Fury, will now instead reduce theFurycost of yourCore Skillsby25%, which is a massive buff.
TheCombat Frenzyupgrade, which previously provided damage reduction for each stack ofFrenzy, will now provide a little lessDamage Reductionbut also increase yourMovement Speed, greatly boosting mobility. Additionally, theBattle Frenzyupgrade got a1% Attack Speedincrease.
The increased mobility, combined with the reduced cost ofCore Skills, will likely giveFrenzya spot in combo-styleBuilds.
Base damagehas been increased from9.5%to20%, but the most noticeable change is on the enhancement, which now generates60 Fury(previously the complete effect of theTactical Ground Stomp Upgrade) on top of the1 secondincreasedStun Duration.
TheTactical Ground Stompupgrade will now make yourGround Stompinto aBrawling Skillthat deals800%increased damage toBossesand appliesVulnerablefor4 seconds. TheStrategic Ground Stompupgrade will now reduceUltimate Skillcooldown by4 seconds(previously2), up to12for each enemy that was hit.
While these changes are already major on their own,Ground Stompis also getting a massive buff thanks to the newLegendary Paragon Board Node“Force of Nature,”which I’ll explain later in the video.
The newest patch will also bring changes toHamstring,Slaying StrikeandUnconstrained
This was a must-have for mostBarbarian Builds, as you would get a guaranteedSlow effecton healthy enemies by just applyingBleed(triggering all theSlow Damagemodifiers). The updated version feels like a massive nerf, providing a15% chancetoSlow HealthyandInjured enemiesby70%each time they deal damage. While the effect is stronger and can now be applied to injured enemies, it removes the guaranteed trigger that made it so popular.
Similar to Hamstring, a must-have on most Barbarian builds thanks to its flat damage to injured enemies, Slaying Strike has had its damage reduced from 8% to 5%, a massive and flat nerf.
ThisKey Passiveoriginally enhancedBerserking, increasing its duration by5 secondsand providing a flat60% damage bonus. The new version maintains the60% damage bonusbut replaces the5-secondduration increase with an always-activeBerserkingthat includes a25% Physical Damage Reduction Bonusas long as you are below65% life.
This change opens up the possibility for manyglass-cannon buildswith aHigh Risk/High Rewardfocus aroundFortify,Barriers, andBerserking.
In2.0, players will now only be able to equip5 Paragon Boardsat a time, including your base board, so you cannot just ninja through a board for one node and out really quickly. Instead, players will need to utilize their boards wisely. However, eachClasshas gained a new board, for a total of9 Boards(up from8), and someRare Nodeshave changed. On top of that, players can now earn a total of300 Paragon Points(up from200), which should allow for a serious power increase across allBuilds.
Glyphshave also seen a significant change. They now no longer improve via experience but instead level up by completing levels ofThe Pit of Artificersand trying to improve them at the end, much like inDiablo III. The higher level of Pit you complete, the higher chance you have of improving yourGlyph.Glyphsalso now go up to level100, further expanding their power, and the higher level they are, the more difficult it becomes to improve them without going to higher and higher levels inThe Pit of Artificers.
There were several changes made to theBarbarian Paragon Board,
Grit(replacing Flayer Flayer)
Flayer(replacing Bloodbathed)
Enraged(replacing Grit)
Grit(replacing Wrath)
Berserker(replacing Brash )
Brash(replacing Berserker)
Arrogance(replacing Destroyer)
Destroyer(replacing Arrogance)
Bludgeoner(replacing Vigor Vigor)
Vigor(replacing Bludgeoner Bludgeoner)
Wild Force(replacing Brash)
Brash(replacing Wild Force)
Conditioned(replacing Brute Force)
Guarded Advance(replacing Conditioned)
Iron Strength
The newParagon Boardfor theBarbarianis called“Force of Nature,”and itsLegendary Nodeis directly tied toGround Stomp, as it greatly enhances theEarthquakesyou create by using it in combination with theEarthquake Aspect.
As a reminder, theEarthquake AspectenhancesGround Stomp, creating an earthquake on the ground that dealsphysical damageover4 secondsand increases the damage you deal by30%while you stand on it.
The node reads:Your Earthquakeshave a75% chanceto spawn aDust Devilevery second that deals180% Weapon damage.Earthquake damageis increased by30% of your Damage vs Closebonus, up to a maximum of150%.
The rare nodes for this board are
With the complementary changes toGround Stompit will make it an amazing tool against bosses and elite packs combining multiple effects and buffs into a single skill:
As an alternative toGround Stomp,Earthquakescan also be created by using theAspect of Bul-Kathos, which creates an earthquake on the place where you land with your leap, but instead of providing Increased Damage, it provides damage reduction (You can use both, and they stack).
Overall I think that this board is a great addition to theBarbarianarsenal and I will definitely be trying out some possible builds once the expansion hits.
Remember that theCodex of Powerwas changed in Season 4, and now storesLegendary Aspectsof the highest roll you’ve obtained for that particular Aspect. You can also use the Codex of Power as many times as you want on items provided you have the gold and materials. If you have not played in awhile, you should probably head over to your storage pull items you’ve been saving for a rainy day, and Salvage many of them as soon as possible at the Blacksmith in order to unlock higher rolls at the Codex of Power and free up space.
The following Aspects were changed with the latest patch
Two new aspects which are very straight-forward have been disclosed for the Barbarian:
Aspect of Shattering Steel– Offensive Aspect:
Aspect of the Flaming Rampage– Offensive Aspect
Unique Item
Ugly Bastard Helm– Unique Helm
Affixes:
Effects
The helm seems amazing and obviously aimed for a Fiery Berserking build, which I will most likely be making if I ever get my hands on this.
TheBarbarianwas the first class I heavily invested in when playingDiablo IV, and it was because of how amazing it felt to decimate enemies with brute force. I’m sure most of theBarbsout there share the same excitement to just go all out, shout, and charge into enemies with our full arsenal, and theVessel of Hatredexpansion will provide us with even more tools to achieve that goal.
The newMighty Throwskill and theGround Stompupdates will allowBarbariansto effectively deal with big crowds of enemies without relying on small, precise finishers like we used to.Barbariansthat like to fight face to face will now have a legitimate option to useThornswithout having to rely solely on enemies attacking them, and those who enjoy the thrill of low health in combination with theFortifymechanic will be able to achieve this goal with the overhaul of theUnconstrainedKey Passive.
I think that the new changes toParagon Boardsand the increased amount of availableSkill Pointswill open up a lot of new possibilities and viableBarbarian Builds.
So that rounds up our introduction to the2.0 BarbarianinDiablo IV. I’m very excited to try all these changes and explore many new builds, including some old ones that were not possible at the time. As always, you can find our builds on the blog atfextralife.comand make full use of our interactive map and wiki to keep track of where to get all items! We’ve already been working, and the expansion content is shaping up nicely.
Will you be playing aBarb? Or are you going to be going full on intoSpiritborn? Let us know in the comments below.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
