The Barbarian is back in the upcoming installment of the Diablo franchise, Diablo 4. In addition to an amazing new look, this wildly popular brawler is getting some upgraded abilities.
The perfect heavy frontline tank for any party, the Diablo 4 Barbarian class is a melee-focused big damage dealer who trusts his weapons and strength and scoffs at the power of magic. In Diablo 4, players will be able to wield even more power using the new Arsenal system.
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Barbarians are depicted as masters of Diablo weaponry, and the Arsenal system is a new mechanic designed to accentuate that. Instead of the mighty Weapons system of Diablo 3, players will use this passive ability that allows the Barbarian to have four weapons equipped at one time: two one-handed weapons and two two-handed weapons. While the Barbarian can only use up to two one-handed weapons or one two-handed weapon for each attack, the Arsenal system allows the Barbarian to swap between all the equipped weapons to use a specific tool for its particular purpose.
Barbarian skills can be assigned to each item in the Barbarian's Arsenal, which leads to a wide range of customizable options and approaches to battle. Because Barbarians carry four weapons at a time, they get more item affixes to give them boosts than other classes. There are several skills that specifically require a bludgeoning weapon, such as Maces, or slashing weapon, such as Swords. Some skills may require dual wielding or two-handed weapons. and using those skills will immediately swap the Arsenal to the most appropriate choices. This feature is intended to make the gameplay faster, less confusing, and overall more enjoyable for new and seasoned players.
The Arsenal system was added to reflect the way past iterations of the Barbarian were equipped with heavy weaponry. The class's implied weapon mastery will now be more effectively implemented in gameplay.
In addition to having the highest health and strength in Diablo, most Barbarian skills strictly deal physical damage. Red or Orange skills are the Barbarian's two distinct specializations. Warlord (Red) skills and talents generally aim for defense, party bonuses, tactical damage, bleeding, opportunity strikes, and Crowd Control. Berserker (Orange) skills go for reckless offense, maximum damage output, self-buffs, and speed. Each point of Strength increases the damage of the Barbarian’s skills, while Willpower improves Fury generation and Dexterity grants critical chance.
The skill tree is a welcomed departure from Diablo 3’s focus on specific skill builds. The Barbarian juggernaut gains skills throughout its development that fall into six main skill categories. Basic, Fury, Defensive, Brawling, Weapon Mastery, and Ultimate skills will each contain four to five abilities that will strengthen the Barbarian enough to make it to the end of his campaign in the world of Diablo.
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As of now, Blizzard has elected to keep one Weapon Mastery skill and one Ultimate skill hidden so that players can experience the joy of discovering them during gameplay. It should be noted, though, that most players won't unlock a full skill tree in a single playthrough of Diablo 4's campaign.
The Barbarian’s Basic skills will include Bash, Frey, Frenzy, and Lunging strike. Its Fury skills will include Double Swing, Hammer of the Ancients, Rend, Upheaval, and Whirlwind. Defensive skills include Challenging Shout, Ground Stomp, Rallying Cry, and Undying Rage. Brawling skills include Charge, Kick, Leap, and War Cry. Weapon Mastery skills currently include Death Blow, Primal Axe, and Rupture. Finally, the Barbarian’s Ultimate skills are set to include Call of the Ancients, Iron Maelstrom, and Call of the Berserker. To get the most out of Diablo 4, players should spend more time thinking about character stats that change how they play. Attack and Defense will be the bread and butter of any successful player.
Most items in Diablo 4 will fall into familiar categories. In order of weakest to strongest, the categories include Normal, Magic, Rare, Legendary/Set, Ancient, and Mythic. Legendary items will be just as, if not more, powerful than Set items. For the first time in Diablo history, Barbarians will be able to hold four Legendary weapons.
Runes will be featured in Diablo 4 to give players another layer of gear customization, but the only two classifications of runes are Conditions and Effects. Socketing in one Condition and one Effect will allow players a wide range of customization to create their own Legendary power.
Diablo 4 is currently in development, with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.