A Beginners Guide for Diablo 3 Barbarians

Barbarians are no stranger in the world of Diablo 3. We know them to be ferocious, brutal and has that never back down spirit. They are blessed with strong physique which they use to both withstand powerful blows and destroy everything who stands in their way.

Often times, we see them in front row of the battlefield doing their crazy swings, leaps and earthshaking skills. And also, we often see them die first than the other class in Diablo 3. We can't really deny the fact that melee characters are really tough to handle as they are brawling in close quarters with tough enemies and that is why, many players has difficulty playing with Barbarian in Diablo 3.

That is why I put up a Diablo 3 Barbarian guide which will make your life a bit easier. But before anything else, I would like to say that this guide was created through various research, in-game experience playing the class, joint ideas from friends in game and ideas from other experience Diablo 3 players who shared their experience playing the class. 

Diablo 3 Barbarian Stats
Your main stat as a Barbarian is Strength and Vitality. VIT being the most important of the two as you will need tons of health points to survive this game until Inferno mode (believe me!). If you can, you want your pieces to have both stats, and preferably with sockets so you can put your Amethysts in them to get the extra VIT. The higher level you are, the better VIT scales. I wouldn’t encourage going full STR barbs as you’ll get 1 shot by anything more than 2-3 mobs on inferno and probably 4-5 mobs on hell. You won’t last against elite mobs or even blues.As the golden rule with all Diablo games go, get enough VIT so you can survive then you can do whatever you want with the rest of your options.

Diablo 3 Barbarian Leveling Guide

Normal Mode- This mode is just a walk in the park. You can easily go through different monsters and boss in the stage. Your job here is to find good gears so you won't have a problem dealing with Nightmare mode. 

Bonus Tip: You will definitely get bored as your Barbarian will be slow in motion. A great tip to speed things up is to use Leap and Charge skill for faster mobility.

Nightmare Mode- The fun starts in this mode. For first timers, it's pretty tough getting through this mode especially, when you haven't got any decent gear from the Normal Mode. From here on, all your skills that can heal you like Revenge is very useful more than ever. In addition, you must ensure that you have decent health points to sustain damage from enemies.

Hell Mode- When the going gets tough, the tough must get going! This mode isn't called Hell just for nothing. If Nightmare is fun, then this mode will be IRRITATINGLY FUN! In this mode, you have to pay attention to everything: from your positioning, to your skills and even to the mobs that you are facing againts (especially to those elite monsters which has ferocious abilities. A very helpful tip is to clear out first the small mobs which may help the elite bosses.

Inferno Mode- When you are a first timer playing Diablo 3, YOU WILL DIE IN THIS MODE, I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS! Even though Barbarian has strong physique, they can't withstand the monsters in this mode with shear strength alone. Brain is more needed than brawn in this mode! Don't go rush in killing elite mobs because I am pretty sure that you can't kill them. You have to be CAUTIOUS in every step if you want to survive this terrible stage. In my case, I really tag along with a friend as it's more fun playing Inferno with a companion and most importantly, you will have a bigger chance of not dying often times.

Leveling Tips:

Socket your Gears!

At early stage, always remember to socket your gears. In my case, early at normal stage, I will ensure that I have socket my helmet with a Ruby to make leveling much faster as it gives extra percentage of EXP right after you kill a monster. After I have reached level 60 (I'm at Hell Mode by this moment), I then replace it with Topaz with additional MF to hunt gear or LIFE %.

Killing Hell Azmodan Over and Over Again!
Once trick that I have learned in leveling faster as a Barbarian is to kill Hell Azmodan over and over again. He's VERY easy to kill and gives 105k EXP for killing him and another 105k EXP for talking to Leah in the armory. All in all, at around levels 50 through 60 you'll be getting 10% a run. A run takes no longer than 10 minutes.

Patience is a Virtue!
This is the fact: you will start off slow as a Barbarian. But, once you have polished your skills and has decent gears, you will be unstoppable! Based on experience, Barbarian can endure the pain cause by 10 or more mobs in hell/inferno mode.

Diablo 3 Barbarian Skill Build for Early Leveling

Note: This skill build is recommended from Normal Mode to mid stages of Hell Mode. It's not a good build for late stages of Hell mode up to Inferno and, it's main purpose is to make you survive while leveling fast in the early stages of the game.

Primary Skill

Frenzy with Triumph Rune- A decent skill to have especially when paired with Triumph. Frenzy will give you more attack speed while Triumph will give you the ability to steal heal 8% of your maximum life over 6 seconds if you are using Frenzy. PERFECT COMBINATION!

Secondary Skill

Hammer of the Ancients with Thunderstrike Rune- Start with Hammer of the Ancients paired with Thunderstrike rune for good damage and stun chance. Then, right after you can get Whirlwind, do get it and paired it with Blood Funnel Rune. This skill will do good damage to the enemy and the Blood Funnel Rune will restore a percent of your health when critical hit procs.

Important Note: Make sure that you have high crit because your Whirlwind skill+Blood Funnel effect success will depend on it.

Defensive Skill

Ignore Pain with Ignorance is Bliss Rune- With Ignorance is Bliss rune, the 20% damage of the enemy will be converted to Life when Ignore Pain is active. Perfect skill for survivability.

Might Skill

Revenge with Provocation Rune- This skill is needed to sustain damage. It will ensure that you will be alive even if you are facing 10-30 mobs on normal or nightmare mode.

Tactics Skill

War Cry with Invigorate Rune- War cry is to keep you healthy at all times. It gives you the defense you need along with an extra 10% hp and 300 HP per second regen. In hard situations it's all about being able to take damage and sustain.

Rage Skill

Wrath of the Berserker with Insanity Rune- This skill paired with Invigorate rune will make you hit even harder. The purpose of getting this skill and rune will be for damage, attack speed, movement and dodge.

Passive Skills

Nerves of Steel- Gives you more defense if you have tons of Vitality.

Relentless- The main purpose why I get this skill is for survivability. If your life is below 20%, your skill will cost less Fury and mostly, the damage of the enemies will be reduced by half. Talk about a total life saver!

Superstition- It will reduce non-physical damage like range and elemental attacks and it will also give you the chance to gain additional Fury.

So far with this skill build, I have walked from Normal to beyond half way of Hell Mode easily. I am at the final stages of Hell Mode and will soon be at Inferno. As I have said, this build is recommended for leveling. The next guide that I will feature here in this blog will a Barbarian guide again but, it will be a guide for surviving Inferno Mode. It will feature the best skill build to help you survive the most challenging mode of Diablo 3. So, stay tuned!

Did you find my article "Be The Top Barbarian in Diablo 3 [Leveling Guide]" helpful? If you do, then write down some feedbacks on the comment box or share your thoughts about my article. Suggestions and recommendations are also accepted.