Walking Arsenal – Barbarian Build for Diablo 4

Build Introduction

The Kratos Barb comes back with a vengeance thanks to the new tempers added in the previous season. Do you like swinging chains around for huge damage and making the most use of the Arsenal system? If so, this is the build for you!

Strengths and Weaknesses

To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.

Build Requirements

Optional Uniques

Unbroken Chain

Ancients’ Oath

100,000 Steps

Tibault’s Will

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Aspect of Elements

Bold Chieftain’s Aspect

Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points

Skill Bar Setup for the Walking Arsenal Build (Order does not matter)

Iron Maelstrom Rallying Cry Ground Stomp War Cry Challenging Shout Steel Grasp

Follow the points allocated in the image above for the complete 59 point build. The additional 12 skill points are completed using the Renown system.

Arsenal System and Weapon Selection

For the Walking Arsenal Build, we use the two-handed axe Technique to raise our damage against Vulnerable Enemies.

Barbarians have an unique mechanic in Diablo 4 where you can assign a weapon type to certain skills. For our Walking Arsenal build, we will be assigning the following weapons to our skills. However, as the only skill we cast that uses our weapons reliably is Iron Maelstrom which uses all 3 types, this reliably gets us the bonus from our Walking Arsenal

Paragon Board

We recommend using the following Legendary nodes and Rare Glyphs to truly take this build into the endgame. Note that each Rare Glyph’s information and radius listed below is for the Level 100 version. Keep in mind, Glyph’s reach their maximum radius at 46 and unlock their Legendary bonus at 45. Let’s take a look!

Mercenaries

As you play through the campaign in Vessel of Hatred, you will unlock various NPC Mercenaries who can join you on your quest to slay demons. Each Mercenary has their own small talent tree that will give them bonuses and skills to help you. Additionally, you can assign a Mercenary that you don’t take with you as a reinforcement to jump in when you activate certain skills. Let’s take a look at how we want to set this up for this build.

We hire Varyana, the Berserker Crone:

• Core Skill: Cleave
• Core Skill Passive: Hysteria
• Iconic Skill: Bloodthirst
• Iconic Skill Passive: Bloodlust

Our Reinforcement Mercenary will be Raheir, the Shieldbearer:

• Opportunity Skill: War Cry
• Reinforcement Skill: Crater

Legendary Aspects

Below you will find all of the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for this build. Remember that all Legendary powers can be added into your Codex once you salvage or extract the item. You can still find some aspects through dungeons as you could in previous seasons but now you have the option to upgrade these affixes if you find a higher roll of that affix. Let us go over what aspects you will need.

Slot	Gems	Legendary Aspect / Unique Items	Aspect / Unique Effect
Helm	Grand Ruby	Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty	– When you gain Berserking while already Berserk, you have a [40-60%] chance to become more enraged granting x15% increased damage, 2 Fury Per Second, and 10% Cooldown reduction.
Chest	Grand Ruby	Steadfast Berserker’s Aspect	– Lucky Hit: Up to a 35% chance to gain [X] Fortify whenever you deal direct damage while Berserking
Gloves	N/A	Aspect of Elements	– You gain x[15-35%] increased damage to a set of damage types for 7 seconds. This effect alternates between two sets: Fire, Lightning, and Physical. Cold, Poison, and Shadow.
Pants	Grand Ruby	Tibault’s Will	– You deal [10-20%] increased damage while Unstoppable and for 5 seconds after. When you become Unstoppable, gain 50 of your Primary Resource
Boots	N/A	100,000 Steps	– When activating or refreshing the full Walking Arsenal key passive effect, you automatically cast Ground Stomp and gain 100 Fury. Can only occur once every 10 seconds.
Amulet	Grand Skull	Unbroken Chain	– Casting Steel Grasp reduced Iron Maelstrom‘s cooldown by [3.3-10] seconds. Enemies damaged by Iron Maelstrom deal [10-30%] less damage for 6 seconds.
Ring 1	Grand Skull	Bold Chieftain’s Aspect	– Whenever you cast a Shout skill, its active cooldown is reduced by [10-30%] per nearby enemy, up to a maximum of 50%
Ring 2	Grand Skull	Aspect of Inner Calm	– You deal x[5-13%] increased damage. Triple this bonus while standing still for 3 seconds.
2-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon	Lith and Yom Runes OR Grand Emerald	Aspect of Shattering Steel	– Steel Grasp and Iron Maelstrom launch up to 10 metal shards that deal [X] physical damage
2-Handed Slashing Weapon	Xol and Wat Runes OR Grand Emerald	Ancients’ Oath	Steel Grasp launches 2 additional chains. Enemies hit by Steel Grasp take x[40-60%] increased damage from you for 5 seconds.
Dual Wield Weapon 1	Grand Emerald	Aspect of Retribution	– Distant enemies have 10% chance to be stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal x[15-35%] increased damage to Stunned or Knocked Down enemies.
Dual Wield Weapon 2	Grand Emerald	Earthquake Aspect	– Ground Stomp creates an Earthquake damaging enemies for [X] physical damage over 10 seconds. While standing in Earthquakes you deal x[10-30%] increased damage

Gems

Listed below are the best gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage	Grand Ruby for increased Strength	Grand Skull for increased armor. If you are lacking resistances use Grand Diamond

For your jewelry, it may be necessary to change the Grand Diamond for another gem for a specific type such as Grand Sapphire to ensure all of your resistances are capped at 70%. Mix in resistance gems and Skulls to make sure your resistances are capped and your armor is 1000 or more.

Runes

Runewords return from Diablo 2 in Vessel of Hatred! You are limited to two Runewords across your gear and it requires two sockets in the same item. So this limits Runewords to either Helm, Chest, Pants, or Two-Handed Weapons. We generally recommend them in both of your Two-Handed Weapons for Barbarian. Let’s jump in.

Runes	Rune Effects
Lith	Gain 25 Offering: Stand still for 0.3 seconds
Yom	Requires 500 Offering: Cooldown 5 seconds, Evoke the Druid’s Petrify stunning enemies and generating 100 primary resource
Xol	Gain 150 Offering: Evoke a power from another class
Wat	Requires 100 Offering: Cooldown 1 second, Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify slowing enemies and reducing their damage and letting you execute them

Which Elixirs Should You Use?

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats, and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Use an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Elixir of Destruction which increases your Overpower damage. Craft the highest Elixir of Destruction you can.

Return to the Alchemist again every 5 to 10 levels to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.

Gear Choice and Stat Priority

Below are the affixes to prioritize on gear. Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. Tempering Manuals and their recommended affixes are provided in the second column, and the bolded yellow affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. Be sure to check our Tempering and Masterworking guides for more details about these topics.

Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Strength 3. Maximum Life	1. Ground Stomp Size Wasteland Innovation 2. Maximum Life Worldly Endurance
Chest	1. Strength 2. Maximum Life 3. Needed Resistance	1. Needed Resistance Natural Resistance 2. Maximum Life Worldly Endurance
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Strength 3. Attack Speed	1. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse 2. Ground Stomp Size Wasteland Innovation
Pants	1. Strength 2. Maximum Life 3. Armor	1. Needed Resistance Natural Resistance 2. Maximum Life Worldly Endurance
Boots	1. Movement Speed 2. Strength 3. Maximum Life	1. Movement Speed Natural Motion 2. Earthquake Size Barbarian Innovation
Amulets	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Attack Sped 3. Movement Speed	1. Iron Maelstrom Cooldown Reduction Ultimate Efficiency — Barbarian 2. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Attack Speed 3. Strength	1. Iron Maelstrom Cooldown Reduction Ultimate Efficiency — Barbarian 2. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse
2-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon	1. Strength 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Maximum Life	1. Chance for Iron Maelstrom to hit twice Weapon Augments 2. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse
2-Handed Slashing Weapon	1. Strength 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Maximum Life	1 Chance for Iron Maelstrom to hit twice Weapon Augments 2. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse
Dual-Wield Weapons	1. Strength 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Maximum Life	1. Chance for Iron Maelstrom to hit twice Weapon Augments 2. Damage While Iron Maelstrom is active Demolition Finesse

Rotation and Playstyle

This build requires a bit of finesse to make sure we’re maintaining our Walking Arsenal buff. Let’s run our skills down.

• Use Ground Stomp to do damage and spawn earthquakes.
• Steel Grasp to grab enemies in, make then vulnerable and berserk yourself.
• Spam Iron Maelstrom as much as possible for big damage and maintaining Walking Arsenal.
• Use your three shouts War Cry, Rallying Cry, Challenging Shout to survive and for resource generation, unstoppable and damage.

Uniques and Mythic Uniques

Below you will find information on Uniques and Mythic Uniques that are useful for this build. Moreover, if you are interested in target farming Mythic Uniques, check out our How to Farm Mythic Uniques guide.

Uniques

Below you will find the unique items useful to this build to provide more damage for specific abilities or overall utility.

• Tibault’s Will – Despite the nerfs to this item in Patch 1.4 this is still a powerful option to take for some added damage and a damage reduction.
• Unbroken Chain – This new neck introduced in season 5 maintains its power for builds using Steel Grasp so our maelstrom hits even harder. A must have for this setup.
• 100,000 Steps – These boots were kind of a joke in the community for a long time for how bad they were. Reformed in season 5 and now rising up in Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred, these boots are perfect for this setup and finally have a chance to shine.
• Ancients’ Oath – Another unique that wasn’t particularly powerful now revamped and ready for Vessel of Hatred this two-handed axe grants this build a ton of powerful benefits. Another must have.

Mythic Uniques

Here you will find the mythic unique items that are useful to this build. If an mythic unique is NOT listed here, it is not useful to this build and does not provide any meaningful increase or effect.

• Harlequin Crest – The most sought after helm in all Diablo 4. If you’re one of the fortunate ones to acquire this, it boosts all of your skills which for this build is a huge boon and provides some more cooldown and damage reduction.
• Tyrael’s Might – The most powerful chest in the game, bar none. If you’re lucky enough to find one equip it right away. It provides more resists than you’ll need while adding tons of movement, damage reduction and some cool holy bolts as the cherry on top of this awesome pie.
• Heir of Perdition – The new helm on the block. While not as immediately strong to this build as Harlequin Crest it remains worth listing here in case you get this one first. Equip it as soon as you get it and only replace it with a Shako.

Season 6: Season of Hatred

Like previous seasons, Season 6 comes with a new faction to gain reputation with the Zakarum Remnants. Additionally, throughout the world you will find regions afflicted with Mephito’s hatred. Within these regions are massive demons called ‘Realmwalkers’ which after spawning and charging up begins to walk in search of sacred ground. While walking in this phase the Realmwalker’s are invulnerable but fearsome Bloodbound Guardians spawn to protect it. Slay them to remove chunks of the Realmwalker’s health. Once it reaches its destination it will spawn Hatred Spires which you can kill to finally attack the Realmwalker itself. Once slain it leaves behind a portal to a Seething Realm.

Within the Seething Realm you can offer up certain materials at Realm Gates to determine the reward once you complete the dungeon within the realm. These realms also offer a new currency, Seething Opals. A new type of Elixir that provides a 15% experience increase along with another bonus for 30 minutes. The experience bonus from a Seething Opal, stacks with the experience bonus of normal Elixirs allowing you to level even faster!

There are 5 types of Seething Opals:

• Seething Opal of Equipment which causes enemies to drop additional equipment for 25 Murmuring Obols.
• Seething Opal of Materials which causes enemies to drop extra herbs and crafting materials for 5 Murmuring Obols.
• Seething Opal of Gold which causes enemies to drop extra gold for 1 Iron Chunk.
• Seething Opal of Socketables which causes enemies to drop additional gem fragments and rarely, Runes, for 3 Angelbreath.
• Seething Opal of Torment Challenges which causes enemies to drop extra Artificer’s Stones and occasionally Boss Summoning Materials or Infernal Compasses for 200 Sigil Powder.

Note that the Torment Challenges Opal is only available beginning in Torment 1 difficulty and beyond and is not available in earlier difficulties. While this season does not offer any direct power increase to characters it provides extra loot and bonuses to find the most powerful items and materials to strengthen your character for their journey into Vessel of Hatred!

Advanced Information

Below, you will find every additional piece of information you need to know for a more in-depth look at this build.

Mechanics and Playstyle

This build is very straight forward. To proc our Walking Arsenal we simply cast through our Iron Maelstrom ultimate skill. With us being able to have 5 ranks of this skill before items, this makes this awesome “kratos” ultimate even better. Rotate through your shouts to benefit from Bold Chieftain’s Aspect.

The big key here is the Earthquake Aspect. We need to be standing in the quakes to benefit from their multiplicative damage bonus. Ground Stomp will cause the quake, and then Steel Grasp will drag enemies into it where we’ll finish them off with the maelstrom and move on to the next group. Much simpler than past iterations of this build setup while maintaining all the fun and power of the “Kratos Barb” that has been popular since Season 1.

Paragon

We recommend using these Legendary nodes and Rare Glyphs to truly take this build into the endgame. Note that each Rare Glyph’s information listed below is for the Level 100 version. Keep in mind, you only need to level a glyph to level 46 to get the maximum radius expansion and the new legendary bonus.

Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes	Effects
Ire	– For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal [1.3%] increased damage while Berserking. – Additional Bonus once 40 Strength has been purchased within the Glyph’s radius: While berserking you take 10% reduced damage from Elites. – Legendary Bonus: You deal [X]% increased damage to Close Enemies
Marshal	– Grants [+25%] bonus to all Magic Nodes within range – Additional bonus once 40 Strength has been purchased within the glyph’s range: After casting a Shout Skill, the activate cooldown of every other non-shout skill is reduced by 2 seconds. – Legendary Bonus: Increases your damage by [X%]
Challenger	– Grants [+25%] bonus to all Magic Nodes within range – Additional bonus once 40 Strength has been purchased within the glyph’s range: You deal 8% increased damage while wielding One-Handed Weapons – Legendary Bonus: Increase your damage to Elites by [X%]
Exploit	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [2%] increased damage to Vulnerable targets – Additional Bonus after 25 Dexterity points are purchased within the glyph’s range: When an enemy is damaged by you, they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy – Legendary Bonus: Increase your damage to Vulnerable targets by [X%]
Rumble	– For every 5 Strength purchased within range, your Earthquakes deal [13.2%] increased damage. – Additional Bonus once 40 Strength has been purchased within the glyph’s range: You deal 10% increased damage to Bosses and Crowd Controlled enemies for each active Earthquake up to 50% – Legendary Bonus: Increase Earthquake damage by [X%]
Carnage	– While Berserking, Critical Strikes increase your Attack Speed by +2%, up to +16% for 6 seconds
Blood Rage	– Killing a Bleeding enemy has a 10% chance to grant Berserking for 5 seconds. Your damage is increased by x10% of your Damage While Berserking Bonus, up to x30%
Decimator	– Each time you make an enemy Vulnerable, your damage is increased by 10% for 5 seconds. Overpowering a Vulnerable enemy grants an additional x10% bonus for 5 seconds
Force of Nature	– Your Earthquakes have a 75% chance to spawn a Dust Devil every second that deals 200% damage. Earthquake damage is increased by 30% of your Damage to Close Enemies, up to a maximum of 150%

Starting Board

1. Start by heading left and grabbing Tenacity and then moving up through the magic nodes.
2. Unlock the Glyph socket and slot in Ire.
3. Take a small detour down and right to grab Brawn and a few magic nodes.
4. Pick up both Raw Power and Iron Strength rare nodes and enough Strength nodes to fully unlock the Ire bonuses.
5. Head out of the board at the north and connect the Blood Rage board.

Blood Rage

1. Rush up to the glyph socket and slot in Marshal.
2. Pick up enough Strength to unlock the bonus, and then head out right through Wrath.
3. Turn north and path to the board’s name, the legendary Blood Rage node.
4. Make a short detour south to grab Restorative and a few health increasing nodes.
5. Exit the board to the east and connect the Decimator board.

Decimator

1. Our first step is to take a short detour south and grab Brawn .
2. Head up and right to the glyph socket and slot in Challenger .
3. Grab the rare node Destroyer and then pick up as many Strength nodes nearby as we can.
4. Next head south and grab the board’s namesake Legendary Node Decimator.
5. Make a short detour west to pick up Arrogance and a few magic nodes nearby.
6. Finally march south and exit the board connecting the Force of Nature board here.

Force of Nature

1. Start by heading south and left, be sure to grab Alloyed and a few magic nodes nearby.
2. On your way down also make a northern detour to grab Tenacity and then the board’s namesake node Force of Nature.
3. Keep heading east and unlock the glyph socket and slot in Exploit and grab as much Dexterity nodes nearby as we can to activate its bonuses.
4. Go south from the socket and snap up Raw Power and some nearby magic nodes.
5. Finally head east and connect the Carnage board.

Carnage

1. Begin by marching north and east and pick up Brash.
2. Take a short detour south and grab the Legendary node Carnage.
3. Head towards the glyph socket through Fierce and once unlocked, slot in Rumble.
4. Grab up as many Strength nodes nearby as you can and make sure you grab the rare node Berserker and some nearby magic nodes.

Concluding

At this point you will have many paragon points remaining. Grinding to maximum paragon in Vessel of Hatred is a huge endeavor and will take many hours. This guide will get every board and every important bonus but is not comprehensive for every point. How you spent these last few points is largely up to you. We recommend you grab any rare nodes or stat nodes near your glyphs that weren’t already taken. You should have plenty of points to pick up everything on these 5 boards that could give you some sort of advantage. If you’re one of the hardcore grinders that manages the feat of paragon 300, you deserve every bit of power you’re gaining! Congrats!

Obol Gambling

A final point on acquiring gear in Season 6 and beyond is using your Obols to target farm specific slots instead of randomly spending them on random drops. Similar to Kadala in Diablo 3, you can use Obol vendors in town to try and get what you’re missing. With the expansion when a level 60 Character spends Obols, all gear from that vendor will be 750 item power, the highest non-ancestral power allowing you to fill out gear with the affixes or Legendary Aspects you need while also having a small chance to grant Ancestral item power 800 gear.

Check out our Obol Gambling Tool Guide HERE

Changelog

• October 3rd 2024: Build updated for Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred
• August 3rd 2024: Build updated for season 5 and patch 1.5.0
• May 7th 2024: Ownership of page transferred, guide restructured, updated for Season 4
• March 5th 2024: Updates for Patch 1.3.3.
• January 21st 2024: Season 3 speculative changes.
• October 27th 2023: Build Creation Season 2.