Best Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4: Skills, Stats, & Best Aspects

Are you looking for the best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4? You have arrived in the right place! As a Barbarian, your raw power and primal might make you a formidable force on the battlefield, capable of tearing through hordes of enemies with unmatched brutality. To ease your journey of leveling up, I am here with the best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.

Diablo 4 is throwing quite tough challenges for players since its arrival. Starting from finding the stolen crusader skulls, and Treasure Goblins to fixing glitches like ‘Login Attempt Timed Out‘, the game has been a whirlwind for gamers! Leveling build is a significant part of Diablo 4.

Throughout this guide, we will explore the key components of the best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4, including recommended skills, talents, and gearing strategies. Whether you prefer to charge headfirst into battle, cleaving enemies in your path, adopt a more tactical approach, carefully timing devastating blows, we have you covered. Let’s get started!

What Is The Best Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4?

In Diablo 4, the Whirlwind build is the most effective and best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4. This guide explains how to efficiently level up with Whirlwind. The best Barbarian leveling build will ultimately depend on your personal playstyle and preferences. It’s important to experiment with different skills, gear, and playstyles to find the combination that suits you best.

Read further and understand the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4 in detail!

All Barbarian Leveling Builds In Diablo 4: Skills, Priority & Best Aspects

In Diablo 4, the leveling process is a crucial part of your character’s growth, offering opportunities to hone your skills, acquire powerful loot, and unlock devastating abilities. With this carefully crafted Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4, you’ll be able to maximize your efficiency, making swift progress through the game’s challenges.

Have a look below and explore!

1. Active Skill Priority | Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4

During the leveling process, the active skills of a Whirlwind Barb may vary slightly from the complete endgame setup. With that in consideration, here are the seven active skills you should prioritize while progressing through the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.

Skill 1: Lunging Strike Basic Skill

Formula: Lunging Strike x1 > Enhanced Lunging Strike > Battle Lunging Strike. 

Features of Lunging Strike Basic Skill –

• It enables you to constantly jump between enemies.
• Excellent mobility and Fury Generation. 
• Very low-key damage.
• When leveling up as a Whirlwind Barb, upgrading Lunging Strike grants healing upon hitting a Healthy enemy and adds a small Bleed effect. 
• Once you reach the maximum level, you can consider replacing Lunging Strike with a defensive ability like Iron Skin. However, this switch should be made when you can sustain Whirlwinding indefinitely.

Skill 2: Whirlwind

Formula: Whirlwind x5 > Enhanced Whirlwind > Furious Whirlwind 

Features of Whirlwind –

• Whirlwind is the main focus of the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.
• Maximizes utility and damage output while draining Fury and cleaving multiple targets.
• Upgrading Whirlwind refunds Fury spent and applies a Bleed effect with a Slashing Weapon, so selecting a Two-Handed Slashing Weapon is recommended.
• Level up Whirlwind quickly to its maximum level of five as it is your best skill.
• Other skills serve as supplements and the priority is to optimize uptime for Whirlwind.

Skill3: Rallying Cry

Formula: Rallying Cry x5 > Enhanced Rallying Cry > Tactical Rallying Cry

Features of Rallying Cry –

• To supplement primary abilities, acquire Shout skills to keep them active permanently in the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.
• Rallying Cry is a crucial shout, providing increased Movement Speed and Resource Generation for you and nearby allies.
• Upgrading Rallying Cry boosts resource generation and grants unstoppable status while active.
• Shouts can be used during Whirlwind without canceling its effect, so use them freely on cooldown.

Skill 4: War Cry

Formula: War Cry x1 > Enhanced War Cry > Power War Cry

Features of War Cry –

• Core shout skill: War Cry grants a damage increase to you and nearby allies in the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.
• War Cry grants Berserking for a few seconds, enhancing Fury gain, and can increase the damage buff with at least six enemies nearby.
• Shout skills benefit both you and your allies, making the Whirlwind Barbarian valuable in group settings with buffs and utility.

Skill 5: Leap Into Challenging Shout

Formula: Leap x1 > Enhanced Leap > Power Leap. 

Features of Leap Into Challenging Shout –

• In the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4, prioritize Leap over Challenging Shout in the endgame build.
• Leap provides mobility and Fury generation, with options for reduced cooldown or generating 40 Fury upon initiating combat.
• As you near maximum level, consider switching Leap for Challenging Shout, which taunts enemies, provides damage reduction, and offers Fury and maximum life generation.
• Priority order for Challenging Shout: Challenging Shout x5 > Enhanced Challenging Shout > Tactical Challenging Shout.
• Challenging Shout allows you to tank in group content, drawing aggro away from allies and focusing it on you. Stack enemies together for Whirlwind and group synergy.

Skill 6: Call Of The Ancients

Formula: Call of the Ancients > Prime Call of the Ancients > Supreme Call of the Ancients. 

Features of Call of the Ancients –

• Call of the Ancients (CotA) is a great choice of Ultimate ability for the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.
• CotA summons three immortal warriors who deal significant damage and help carry you through the leveling process.
• CotA has augments that make it effective against large groups of enemies.
• There are three versions of CotA – Call of the Ancients, Prime Call of the Ancients, and Supreme Call of the Ancients.
• While CotA is active, it provides increased Fury Generation, damage, and Movement Speed.
• As your Whirlwind ability comes online, you can consider swapping out CotA for Wrath of the Berserker.

Skill 7: Wrath Of The Berserker

Formula: Wrath of the Berserker > Prime Wrath of the Berserker > Supreme Wrath of the Berserker.

Features of Wrath of Berserker –

• Wrath of the Berserker is a powerful shout that provides various benefits to the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4.
• Benefits of Wrath of the Berserker include damage, Movement Speed, Fury Generation, Berserking, Unstoppable, and buffs to Berserk.
• There are three versions of Wrath of the Berserker – Wrath of the Berserker, Prime Wrath of the Berserker, and Supreme Wrath of the Berserker.
• Call of the Ancients is the key ability while leveling, so use it frequently to create a burst window for Whirlwinding.

2. Passive Skill Priority | Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4

Once you have acquired most of your active skills and enhancements in the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4, it’s important to complement your Whirlwind build with essential passive abilities. These passives not only enhance active skills but also contribute to your survival.

Incorporating these passives will further empower your abilities and increase your chances of staying alive during combat. Have a look below!

Passive Skills	Ranks Leveled	Effect
Pressure Point	3/3	Your skills have a chance to apply Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Booming Voice	3/3	Increases your Shout skill duration.
Guttural Yell	3/3	Your Shout skills cause enemies to deal less damage for 5 seconds.
Raid Leader	3/3	Your Shouts heal allies for a percentage of their maximum health.
Aggressive Resistance	1/3	Damage reduction while Berserking.
Prolific Fury	3/3	Increased Fury Generation while Berserking.
Pit Fighter	3/3	Increased Damage to close enemies and reduced damage taken from distant ones.
Hamstring	1/3	Applies a Slow effect to enemies afflicted by your Bleeds.
Heavy Handed	3/3	Increased Critical Strike Damage when using a Two-Handed weapon.
Tempered Fury	1/3	Increased Maximum Fury.
Invigorating Fury	3/3	Heal for a portion of your maximum health after spending 100 Fury.
Unbridled Rage	1/1	Massively increases the damage of your Core Skills, but also doubles their Fury cost.

3. Expertise Priority | Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4

The expertise mechanic of the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4 bestows various passive abilities based on the type of weapon wielded by the character. As you continue to employ a particular weapon, your proficiency with it grows, amplifying the associated bonus. Upon reaching level ten, each weapon unlocks an additional passive ability.

Have a look below and explore the expertise priority of the Barbarian leveling build.

Features of Expertise Priority –

• Completion of the Masters of Battle class quest in the Dry Steppes unlocks the Technique slot, providing a passive bonus from a weapon even when not actively using it.
• The Whirlwind Barbarian has the choice between Two-Handed Sword and Two-Handed Axe.
• Opting for the Two-Handed Sword grants a Bleed effect to all attacks, increasing the value of each tick of Whirlwind.
• While the Two-Handed Sword choice is powerful, the ideal build involves using a Two-Handed Sword as the primary weapon, freeing up the Technique slot for the Two-Handed Axe.
• The Two-Handed Axe is passive and increases damage against Vulnerable targets, offering another excellent passive ability.
• When leveling, prioritize the weapon that provides the highest DPS and stats.
• Adjust the Technique slot accordingly, utilizing the Two-Handed Sword passive if not wielding one to maintain the application of Bleeds, but otherwise sticking with the Two-Handed Axe.

4. Stat Priority | Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4 

In the Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4, strength will be your major stat. So aim to always give things with strong main stat boosts priority. Higher Armour will also offer a significant defensive advantage.

Your key stats to watch out for are:

• Vulnerable Damage
• Critical Strike Chance
• Critical Strike Damage
• Cooldown Reduction
• Fury Cost Reduction 
• Maximum Fury

When building your Whirlwind character, focus on the core skills. During the leveling process, prioritize using whatever gear you find without worrying about min-maxing every stat or holding onto lower-level equipment. In general, higher-level items tend to be stronger, so you’ll have ample opportunity to optimize your stats in the endgame. Sometimes, it’s worthwhile to use certain Legendary items even if they have lower stats, as their unique passive effects can be incredibly powerful.

To optimize your Whirlwind build, follow these gem recommendations –

1. Armor:

• Socket Sapphires into your Armor pieces. The increased uptime on Fortified will provide significant defensive benefits.

2. Jewelry:

• Place Skulls into your Jewelry sockets. Armor scales exceptionally well throughout the game, enhancing your overall defense.

3. Weapon:

• For your Weapon, prioritize Emeralds. They grant a substantial Critical Damage boost against Vulnerable targets, particularly potent when playing in a group setting.

5. Best Aspects | Barbarian Leveling Build In Diablo 4

Acquiring all the best Aspects for your Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4 is quite a challenge. However, you can farm specific dungeons to obtain certain Aspects and add them to your Codex of Power.

Have a look at the best aspects of Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4 –

Aspect Name	Power	Dungeon Name	Zone
Protector	Barrier when damaging Elite enemies.	Lost Archives	Fractured Peaks
Dire Whirlwind	Stacking Crit Chance on Whirlwind.	Garan Hold	Scosglen
Ghostwalker	Increased Movement Speed while Unstoppable.	Broken Bulwark	Scosglen
Edgemaster’s	Increased Skill damage depending on your current Primary Resource level.	Oldstones	Scosglen
Echoing Fury	Your Shouts generate Fury every second while active.	Siroccos Caverns	Kehjistan
Disobedience	Stacking Armor upon dealing damage.	Halls of the Damned	Kehjistan
Berserk Ripping	Deal Additional Bleed damage while Berserking.	Mournfield	Dry Steppes
Numbing Wrath	Fury generated while at maximum Fury grants Fortify.	Heathen’s Keep	Hawezar

That is all about the best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4!

Wrapping Up

The best Barbarian leveling build in Diablo 4 involves careful consideration of weapon choice, gem selection, and strategic gearing. While acquiring all the ideal Aspects may require dedicated farming, adding them to your Codex of Power will further enhance your Barbarian’s capabilities. With this optimized build, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle the challenges that await you in the world of Diablo 4.

Frequently Asked Questions