Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Leveling Guide
Last Updated:March 15, 2025|Changelog
Welcome to the Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Leveling Guide! This is a fan-favorite skill that returns to the franchise for Barbarians. HotA is usable in every situation, and has no real drawbacks with the right gear and gameplay technique.
Starting in Season 4, Hammer of the Ancients no longer directly scales its damage from having a large Fury pool, and instead gets an increased Critical Strike Chance. This is actually great early on, since we don't have many efficient ways of increasing this stat. It's also important to keep in mind the effect of Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients. At 10 stacks, this greatly improves your Fury generation.
Once we get the Legendary Aspect Ancestral Force, Hammer of the Ancients receives much needed area of effect. This setup manages to easily clear groups of enemies with many high-damage abilities like Ground Stomp, Mighty Throw and Iron Maelstrom.
The few weaknesses HotA has are easily overcome with the right build. On top of all that, it has incredible endgame potential due to the resource generation bonus it gives and the built-in multiplier after a successful Overpower. Most importantly, many seasoned Barbarians swear it is the most fun core skill of them all.
Constantly changing between abilities to deal devastating damage creates the most engaging Barbarian gameplay early on. Swap between Bash and Hammer of the Ancients to deal tons of damage with Earthstriker's Aspect.
This guide takes you all the way to Level 60 so you can blast the endgame. Let's get started!
This build guide takes you up to level 60 and gets you started for the early Endgame on Torment 1 difficulty. If you're looking for Endgame guides, check out our Barbarian Guides section!
Check out our Leveling Builds Tier List to see how this build compares to others.
Witchcraft Powers
Season 7 is the Season of Witchcraft. It features two separate borrowed power mechanics in the forms of Witchcraft Powers and Occult Gems. Both Seasonal mechanics are unlocked and improved by new NPCs found at the Tree of Whispers after collecting resources from Headhunt Zones, Seasonal areas similar to Helltide that appear across Sanctuary.
There are 25 Witchcraft Powers, 6 of which can be equipped at a time. Each Power belongs to one of four Schools (Eldritch, Growth & Decay, Psyche, and Lost), tags that promote synergies within themselves and with Occult Gems. Each School has a single Unique Witchcraft Power, only one of which can be equipped at a time. These Unique Powers max out and gain an additional effect at rank 5, while the other Powers max at rank 21 and gain their bonus effects at various levels. To unlock and improve Witchcraft Powers, defeat Headrotten or complete Whispers within the Headhunt Zones to collect Restless Rot. Lost Powers are an exception, requiring you to randomly encounter a Forgotten Altar in Dungeons to unlock them.
Best-in-Slot Witchcraft Powers
- Wave of Woe - This Power allows us to deal damage every time when we hit an enemy with our skills. Despite the fact that it deals minor damage, it will allow us to fully benefit from the mere fact of inflicting Eldritch based damage.
- Shaken Soul - Barbarians usually go out of their way to apply Vulnerable consistently. That's why this Power is perfect in combination with Wave of Woe. It allows us to make every enemy we hit with any ability Vulnerable.
- Purging Touch - Thanks to Witching Hour, Hammer of the Ancients becomes an Eldritch Ability. Once leveled, this Power becomes a multiplier against all enemies.
- Aura of Misfortune - Our bravery and face-to-face combat will be even more rewarding with this Aura. Every enemy around us may miss their attack and at the maximum rank, we will receive a lovely movement speed bonus.
- Aura Specialization - The AoE is nice but the Critical Damage Multiplier that comes with levels is even better.
- Vengeful Spirit - Overpower damage is based on current and Fortified Life, and the intermittent immunity provided by this Power is great for maximizing it.
Alternate Witchcraft Powers
- Piranhado - This power can be used as an alternative way to group mobs. Keep in mind that you require Hex and Aura to summon it.
- Hex of Shattering - The Damage Reduction is great and it is the most consistent way to apply a Hex when paired with Wave of Woe. Use it instead of Purging Touch if you want to slot Piranhado for better clearspeed.
Occult Gems
Rarely, Headrotten Bosses appear with a still-attached Fugitive Head stolen from the Tree of Whispers. Slay these enemies and return the Heads to Gelena to unlock and upgrade Occult Gems. These Gems are socketable in Jewelry and each provide +160 Armor and +8% Resistance to All Elements. More importantly, each Occult Gem grants a unique effect that synergizes with your equipped Witchcraft Powers to provide a variety of Offensive, Defensive, and Utility-based bonuses.
Best-in-Slot Occult Gems
- Hungering Void - There is no better feeling for Barbarians than closing distance to their foes. And there is no better way of closing this distance than pulling a whole screen of monsters to you!
- Witching Hour - This Gem allows you to gain the Eldritch tag for the first Core Skill you cast every second. Keep in mind that it require three or more Eldritch Witch Powers to work.
- Killing Wind - Since we use a number of Eldritch Witch Powers in this build, there is no way we are leaving this one out of the equation. Extra movement speed and Critical Strike chance are always welcome.
Alternate Occult Gems
- Vile Phylactery - Possibly the strongest Gem in the game since it denies a killing blow against us. Use it in combination with Poison Frog Servant if you ever feel like dying too often.
- Wicked Pact - Best option for the beginning of your journey this season! Cheap option to boost Eldritch powers like Wave of Woe.
Occult Gems are very strong early on due to their bonuses to Armor and Resistance to All Elements. Use them even if their power does not match your build.
Learn more details about the season theme in our full Season Guide.
Skills & Gameplay
Getting Started
To start off we have to put 2 points into Basic Skills to unlock the Core Skill section. Bash generates the most Fury from all Basic Barbarian abilities and grants Fortify.
Hammer of the Ancients
Hammer of the Ancients is the centerpiece of this build. You can add an additional shockwave after you acquire Ancestral Force, which significantly extends its Area of Effect. Make sure to hit enemies near full Fury to take advantage of Furious Hammer of the Ancients. While leveling, we will try to maintain a 2:1 rotation of two Bash to each Hammer of the Ancients. To easily achieve this, we need to make use of extra Fury from Furious Impulse and assign our One-Handed weapons to Bash.
Rallying Cry
Rallying Cry is a Shout skill that is incredibly useful before we fix our Fury problems. Later on we will use Iron Maelstrom in its spot since we will not need as much Fury generation anymore with Relentless Armsmaster.
Ground Stomp
Ground Stomp with its upgrade, Tactical Ground Stomp, deals tons of damage and also applies Vulnerable effect on enemies. Consider it your single target ability to deal with Elites and Bosses.
Leap
We'll be using Leap for some added mobility and additional Fury generation. With enough ranks, it has a relatively low cooldown and can be used frequently as a traversal tool.
Iron Maelstorm
After reaching Walking Arsenal, we will want to add points to Iron Maelstrom. It is a very powerful, screen-wide ability that will help us to quickly get rid of group of monsters.
Key Passive
We finally pick up our Key Passive skill Walking Arsenal, which has great synergy with Relentless Armsmaster. We activate this ability by assigning each of our skills different weapon types and using them in combat. While all parts of this passive are active, we get a substantial boost to our damage and attack speed, as well as a ton of Fury generation. All of these things combined drastically speed up our leveling process and help alleviate any resource issues that may be present early on.
Final Journey to Level 60
At this point, most of the key synergies are unlocked and the gameplay loop is almost complete. As you level up, you unlock a lot of extra points that go into various offensive and defensive passives or max out certain skills. Check out the skills progression above to see where to put your points as you go, but feel free to deviate from the order displayed as necessary. For example, if you need extra defense or healing, you may pick up Iron Skin instead of Mighty Throw.
Check out our Renown Guide to unlock all your additional Skill Points efficiently.
Barbarian Arsenal System
The Arsenal System allows Barbarians to use a specific weapon for every attack skill, each granting different Bonuses. The Technique Slot grants us 1 additional Arsenal Power of our choosing for every attack. The Weapon Expertise bonus we get from our currently equipped weapon and the Weapon Expertise bonus we get from the Weapon Technique slot stack with each other.
Unlocking the Arsenal System
The Arsenal System automatically unlocks when you reach Level 5. Opening the Expertise tab (Shift + C) shows all the different weapon types and their bonuses when using them. The Technique Slot unlocks at Level 15 via the Masters of Battle quest in the Dry Steppes which is very easy to complete. Simply walk northeast of town, kill some enemies, then walk west to a cave to slay the beast. After returning to town the Technique Slot will be yours!
How the Arsenal System Impacts Leveling
Our choices are simple to make while leveling as Hammer of the Ancients. Remember that you must have a weapon leveled up to at least 1 before it can be equipped in the Technique Slot!
Weapon type - Hammer of the Ancients can only be used with a Two-Handed Mace.
We assign Bash our One-Handed weapons. We do to this to proc Furious Impulse by using Bash and Hammer of the Ancients back and forth. Bash requires a Bludgeoning weapon so make sure that you are using at least one One-Handed Mace.
We assign our Two-Handed Slashing weapon to Leap and Mighty Throw to meet the requirements to fully benefit from Walking Arsenal.
Weapon Technique - One-Handed Mace Expertise is a good choice while leveling because it will provide extra damage against Stunned enemies. We will eventually change to Two-Handed Axe technique when we have a reliable way of applying Vulnerable to our enemies.
Gear & Stat Priorities
To get started as a Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian, always use your highest DPS Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon. Your other weapons are simply stat sticks, so their DPS is secondary. Otherwise, follow the priority list below. While you don't have all of the desired temper manuals available, simply try to get anything useful on your gear until you acquire the right ones. For example, % Damage, Damage to Close, Vulnerable Damage, etc. all work as long as you activate their conditions. Likewise, you can temper multiple defensive options such as Resistances, Life, Armor to fill gaps in your survivability. Tempering low level gear is relatively cheap and the results can be very impactful!
Tip: For the early game, Elemental Surge Weapon Tempers are very powerful due to their high base damage, especially if you are twinking. If you find these, you may want to keep imprinting them on your weapons for an easy time.
Legendaries & Uniques
The Codex of Power is a collection of Legendary Aspects you can imprint onto Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist. They unlock after completing specific Dungeons located around Sanctuary or salvaging items with these powers. Check out our Map Tool to locate these Dungeons.
For leveling, there are a few powers that can significantly help us if we have the funds to imprint them. In addition, keep an eye out for powerful Unique items you may find for this or other builds.
Must-have Dungeon unlocks
- Ancestral Force (Sunken Ruins - Scosglen)
- Earthstriker's (Maugan's Works - Hawezar)
- Relentless Armsmaster (Calibel's Mine - Scosglen)
Nice-to-have Dungeon unlocks
- Retribution (Abandoned Mineworks - Kehjistan)
- Bul-Kathos (Light's Refuge - Hawezar)
Other useful Aspects (drop/gamble)
- Blood Boiling
- Anger Management
- Incendiary Fissures
- Executioner's
- Earthquakes
- Limitless Rage
- Bear Clan Berserker's
What to Gamble
| Offensive | 1h Weapon, Offhand |
| Defensive | Helm, Chest, Pants |
| Utility, Mobility | Boots |
| Resource | Rings |
Great Uniques for this build
- Ring of Red Furor
- Banished Lord's Talisman
- Yen's Blessing
Jackpot Drops
As you level up, you may get lucky and find some great random drops. Some of these can massively amplify your power and speed up the leveling by switching to another build. Keep in mind that there are many more Aspects and Uniques that can be useful to multiple builds; this just lists some of the most impactful ones. While we usually recommend starting with Endgame Builds at level 60, you often can make them work earlier with these drops:
Build-defining Combinations
- Executioner's + Incendiary Fissures + Tec (enables the Endgame Earthquake Barbarian)
- Dust Devil's + Fierce Winds + Berserking Finesse (enables the Endgame Whirlwind Barbarian)
- Moonrise + Adaptability + Shard of Verathiel (enables the Endgame Bash Barbarian)
- Rage of Harrogath + Ring of the Ravenous (enables the Endgame Rend Barbarian)
- The Third Blade (enables the Endgame Mighty Throw Barbarian)
Learn more details in our articles covering the Codex of Power and Unique Items.
Runes
You can have up to two Runewords in your setup, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them in Two-Handed Weapons if your build calls for them, otherwise place them into your Armor pieces to replace normal gems. The Whirlwind Barbarian focuses on the following combos:
Best in Slot
- Bac + Tec - Moving around will cause you to spawn Earthquake that deal massive damage.
- Tam + Gar - Attacking with your Hammer of the Ancients will grant you more Critical Strike Chance.
Alternative choices
As long as you haven't unlocked the final setup or found the top Runes, you can also benefit from these options:
- Moni - Very strong replacement for Bac, especially early on. Lunging Strike has a mobility tag which makes it very easy to use with this Rune. Change Bash to Lunging Strike for this combination to work properly.
- Cir - Generates offering with Bash spam.
- Wat - Spawns Decrepify to lower the damage dealt by enemies around you.
Learn more about Runes and how they work in our dedicated Runewords Overview and Runewords Tier List.
Mercenaries
Mercenaries are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and assist you in battle. There are 4 separate Mercenaries to choose from, each with their own skill trees and abilities. You can have one hired (permanent) mercenary during solo play and a reinforcement who assists you from time to time in certain situations.
Hired: Varyana
She provides us with guaranteed Overpower hits. Earth Breaker is also an area Ability, so she can help us get rid of hordes of enemies. She also aids us with Reprisal to kindly remind enemies to not get too close.
Reinforcement: Raheir
We choose Bastion to be used while we are injured. This will usually result in us surviving a lot of hits that would be deadly otherwise.
Learn more about Mercenaries and how they work in our dedicated Mercenaries Overview.
How To Level
In Diablo 4, you can level by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, completing Helltide activities, grinding Dungeons, clearing Strongholds, fighting in the Undercity of Kurast or interacting with the Seasonal Mechanics. While there are many ways to level up in Diablo 4, not all of them are equal.
Campaign Leveling
- For your first character in Diablo 4, completing the Campaign provides all the background lore information but is not necessary.
- The Campaign is the slowest way to level, but it's worth experiencing the Campaign and Diablo 4's storyline at least once.
- To play Seasonal Content you need to have completed or skipped the Campaign.
- If your account is below Rank 4 Renown in each zone, focus on completing your Renown.
- This only needs to be done once per realm (Softcore / Hardcore).
- After finishing the campaign, you should focus on earning experience in Helltides by combining Helltide activities with Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers or completing Gathering Legion Events.
- Strongholds provide a big boost of experience for little time investment. Make sure to clear all of them after around level 40.
Seasonal / Alt Leveling
- Complete the Seasonal Questline in order to progress your Seasonal Journey to unlock additional Legendary Aspects and work on your Seasonal Powers.
- If your account is below Rank 4 Renown in each zone, focus on completing your Renown.
- This only needs to be done once per realm (Softcore / Hardcore).
- Complete the Dungeons needed for any Legendary Aspects from your Codex of Power.
- From level 1-60 you should focus on earning experience in Helltides by combining Helltide activities with Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers or completing Gathering Legion Events.
- Strongholds provide a big boost of experience for little time investment. Make sure to clear all of them after around level 40.
- If you're playing an Alt, make sure to use Tempers and Leveling Caches crafted from the Alchemist to speed up your progression.
- Find the most efficient way of leveling your character in detail with our Speed Leveling Guide.
Tips and Tricks
- Don't Imprint Your Weapon
- It is a better idea to put your best Offensive Aspect on your Amulet, which will usually not be replaced as often as your Weapon.
- Compare Your Items
- Press Shift to activate item comparison. Use this build guide's Stat Priorities section to identify potential upgrades.
- Choose an Easy Difficulty
- Ideally, start on Hard difficulty for the extra XP modifier, then try to go higher when it's way too easy. If that slows you down noticeably, it's better to stay on a lower difficulty.
- Use Your Materials
- There's no point in holding on to your gold or materials for later. Use everything to speed up your journey to 60. If you're twinking, make sure to craft the Allowance Caches from the Alchemist at level 20 and if available, equip your Mythic Uniques at level 35 to make the leveling a breeze.
Speedrun Route
- If you're looking to min/max your time spent on the way to 60 instead of following a generic guideline, you need to use a specific strategy.
- This usually includes farming certain activities up to a specified level and then switching to other tasks while gathering XP in high density areas and pushing the difficulty as high as you can.
- We update this strategy seasonally in our Speed Leveling Guide.
Endgame Transition
As you approach level 60 with the Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian, you unlock higher item power gear that represents a massive jump in character power. This is a good time to refresh your setup with new tempers and imprints.
At level 60, Paragon Levels and The Pit unlock. Work towards Tier 20 to enter Torment 1, where the Endgame begins. Focus on overcapping your Armor (1000+) and Resistances (70%+) as you receive some penalties to your character's stats:
- -250 Armor per Torment difficulty
- -25% All Resistances per Torment difficulty
At this point, your setup should look roughly like this before you dive into min/maxing with Uniques, Mythics & Masterworking. With better gear, more levels and Glyphs, you can push further and eventually unlock higher difficulties for increased rewards.
This step marks the end of the leveling guide. Below is the Paragon setup to get you started in Torment difficulty, but ideally, you should now transition towards the endgame version of this build or choose another of your liking.
Paragon & Glyphs
Carefully check your Paragon Boards to ensure correct board rotation. Glyphs go from a radius of 3 to 4 at level 15 and from 4 to 5 at level 46. Some of them cannot be activated before reaching these thresholds! Progress through The Pit to rank up your Glyphs.
Use the slider to see progression steps. At around Paragon 200, leveling slows down significantly and all important Rare clusters, Legendary nodes and Glyph sockets should be unlocked. Afterwards, you can min/max your build with minor tweaks and by picking up additional smaller nodes.
Some Glyph position swaps, board changes and other pathing adjustments may occur as you unlock your full potential. The setup displayed by default is the final version of the build before spending additional points that do not significantly impact your character's power.
Glyph Leveling Priorities
To Level 15
- Wrath
- Dominate
- Crusher
- Territorial
- Ire
To Level 46
- Wrath
- Dominate
- Crusher
- Territorial
- Ire
There are a total of 328 Paragon Points. After reaching level 60, you gain up to 300 Paragon Levels, 24 from Renown and 4 from Altars of Lilith. Check out our dedicated in-depth guides to learn more about Paragon Boards and Glyphs.
Video Guide
Summary
The Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian is a fun to play leveling build that scales very well into the lategame.
- Spread destruction with the use of four separate damage abilities!
- Focus on scaling generic damage modifiers instead of skill-specific effects to boost your damage.
- Stun enemies with Ground Stomp to stay safe and increase your damage!
- Gather Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed & Overpower Damage on your gear.
- Show demons that you have the biggest... mace!
Credits
Written by Kondyss