Best Barbarian Builds in Diablo 2 Resurrected

Over 20 years after it was initially released, Diablo II has made its return. This has, of course, led to an influx of players interested in rekindling their love for finding the best synergies and techniques to make in their quest to defeat Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo himself. In the list below, we cover some of the best builds for Barbarians, the most abrasive of all the classes.

Best Barbarian Builds

Barbarians are all brawn. They dive into the heat of battle and buff their teammates with war cries, boosting everyone's attack. Barbarians are known to deck themselves out with the strongest weapons and gear. They are also known to deal consistently high damage with every swing. Players who like fighting and don't stop until every mob is destroyed often pick Barbarians as their main.

Equipment

One important thing to note about equipment is that choosing the right kind almost always depends on the player's methods rather than the build itself. Since loot is randomly generated when you slay enemies, it is always best to equip gear that best suits your needs rather than searching for specific items. However, we listed the items below that best suit the Barbarian class overall. If different gear is recommended for a specific build, it will be mentioned in the Additional Notes for that build.

• Helm: Arreat's Face or Guillaume's Face
• Armor: Chains of Honor or Enigma
• Gloves: Dracul's Grasp or Laying of Hands
• Belt: Thundergod's Vigor or Verdungo's Hearty Cord
• Boots: War Traveler
• Shield: Stormshield
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidescope or Highlord's Wrath
• Rings: Raven Frost, Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band, or Stone of Jordan

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Dragoon

Dragoon Barbarians focus on the Leap and Leap Attack skills to dive into battle and deal massive damage quickly. These Barbarians are not great in PvP but are powerful forces against monsters and tend to a horde of enemies before other players even have a chance to help.

• Skill Points
  • Leap Attack: 20
  • Leap: 20
  • Battle Orders: 20
  • Weapon Mastery: 20
• Stat Points
  • Strength: Enough for equipment.
  • Dexterity: Enough for equipment and a 75% block chance if using a shield.
  • Energy: Base level, if possible.
  • Vitality: Dump almost all your stat points in Vitality.
• Added Notes
  • Apart from the required points mentioned above, one point should be dropped in many other skills as prerequisites or to just provide buffs and debuffs at their most basic level. If you're going to sink extra points in something, it should be Iron Skin.
  • Since this build tends to be in the midst of battle a lot, it's best to use a one-handed weapon with a shield and 75% chance to block. Two-handed weapons are nice but leave you open for taking a lot of damage.

Whirlybarb

This is perhaps one of the most well-known builds apart from the Paladin's Hammerdin build. Whirly Barbs focus on the use of the Whirlwind ability to dash in quickly and out of combat while dealing damage and are known to cleave through even the toughest hordes of enemies. The one weakness a Whirlybarb has is that it is somewhat weak against large groups of mobs immune to physical attacks.

• Skill Points
  • Whirlwind: 20
  • Weapon Mastery: 20
  • Battle Orders: 20
  • Shout: 20
• Stat Points
  • Strength: Enough to wear desired items (may require you to look at the minimum requirements of the items you want ahead of time).
  • Dexterity: Enough to wear desired items and 75% block chance if you're using a shield.
  • Energy: Keep at base level.
  • Vitality: Dump almost all your stat points in Vitality.
• Added Notes
  • Whirlwind has the largest mana requirement out of any Barbarian builds, but it's best to get your Mana from Mana Leech or items/skills that increase Mana.
  • To work around being weak against Physically Immune mobs, it's a good idea to put several points in Berserk when you finish up the required skills above.
  • Gear
    • Weapon Mods: Breath of the Dying is almost always the best option. Doom is good for Axes and Polearms. Death or Oath are good for swords.

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Berserker

Berserker is to the Barbarian class as The Hulk is to The Avengers. He gets really angry and smashes things with reckless abandon. The biggest weakness this build has is its lack of defense, but the ability to do massive amounts of damage before the enemy even really realizes what's happening overrides that problem.

• Skill Points
  • Berserk: 20
  • Battle Orders: 20
  • Weapon Mastery: 20
  • (Using a Shield) Shout: 20
  • (Not using a Shield) War Cry: 20
  • Howl: 20
  • Whirlwind: 1
  • Battle Command: 1
  • Increased Speed: 1
  • Iron Skin: 1
  • Natural Resistance: 1
  • (Using a Shield) Taunt: 1
• Stat Points
  • Strength: Enough to wear desired items (may require you to look at the minimum requirements of the items you want ahead of time).
  • Dexterity: Enough to wear desired items and 75% block chance if you're using a shield, otherwise ignore.
  • Energy: Keep at base level.
  • Vitality: Dump almost all your stat points in Vitality.
• Added Notes
  • Focus hard on ramping up Berserk, Battle Orders, and Shout. Disperse points to Weapon Mastery and Howl evenly.
• Gear
  • Weapon Mods: Breath of the Dying is almost always the best option. Doom is good for Axes and Polearms. Death or Oath are good for swords.
  • Gloves: Steelrend

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Frenzy

This is another popular build for the Barbarian due to its versatility of use. Frenzy Barbarians go far and are almost always a crucial element to a team in the late game. Frenzy Barbarians also fit the classic Barbarian vibe with dual-wield weapons and lots of hacking and slashing.

• Skill Points
  • Frenzy: 20
  • Weapon Mastery: 20
  • Battle Orders: 20
  • Double Swing: 20
  • Taunt: 20
  • Berserk: 1
  • Howl: 1
  • Shout: 1
  • Battle Command: 1
  • Natural Resistance: 1
  • Iron Skin: 1
  • Bash: 1
  • Double Throw: 1
  • Stun: 1
  • Concentrate: 1
• Stat Points
  • Strength: Enough to wear desired items.
  • Dexterity: Enough to wear desired items.
  • Energy: None.
  • Vitality: Base value.
• Added Notes
  • Stack Crushing Blow, Critical Strike, and Open Wounds mods as best you can, as these are crucial to make this build reach its maximum potential.
  • This build is known to be weak against mobs immune to physical damage, so exercise caution when you're around them.
  • This build is one of the best builds to use for people that play Solo if you find gear that helps you cleave through enemies immune to physical damage.

Immortal King

An Immortal King Barbarian can be costly, but it's a great build for a Barbarian if you can get the gear. It's a simple setup that focuses more on the gear you use to buff your character, as well as a strict path of skill point allocation. The biggest downside to this build is the required stat points in Strength to equip the necessary gear, but it ends up being worth it closer towards the late game.

• Skill Points
  • Whirlwind: 20
  • Mace Mastery: 20
  • Shout: 20
  • Battle Orders: 20
  • Concentrate: 9
  • Increased Stamina, Iron Skin, Increased Speed, Natural Resistance, Howl, Battle Command, Bash, Leap, Stun, Leap Attack, Berserk: All 1 Stat Point.
• Stat Points
  • Strength: Enough to wear desired items and then 15-20 extra for safety Focus on getting gear that boosts the Strength stat.
  • Dexterity: None.
  • Energy: None.
  • Vitality: Dump almost all your stat points in Vitality.
• Additional Notes
  • The Immortal King Barbarian has strict skill, stat, and gear requirements. For this build, ignore the gear listed above, as the strength of this character lies entirely on what you wear. You should not deviate from the list below unless you haven't obtained the gear.
    • Helm: Immortal King's Will
    • Armor: Immortal King's Soul Cage
    • Weapon: Immortal King's Stone Crusher
    • Secondary Weapons: +3 Warcry Skills Or +3 Call to Arms
    • Amulet: Metalgrid
    • Ring: Raven Frost, Carrion Wind Or Bul-Kathos Wedding Band
    • Belt: Immortal King's Detail
    • Gloves: Immortal King's Forge
    • Boots: Immortal King's Pillar
    • Charm: Hellfire Torch
    • Charm: Annihilus
  • Since this set is based on your gear, it's best to obtain the gear with other characters first and just save it to your stash. It is nigh impossible to get this build efficiently until you have a lot of the gear listed above.
  • Many players consider this build to be a game in and of itself. It's not the best build and the time investment makes many players consider it to not be worth it. However, we opted to include it in this list because it is still a great build that will carry you through Hell difficulty, and is a great way to show off veteran status in the game.

Ultimately, the best build for you depends on your play style. However, the builds above are tried and tested by many players with experience in the game. If you have any builds that you think should be mentioned, tell us in the comments below!

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