Welcome to the Death Blow Barbarian Specialized Guide! This build got a major overhaul in Season 5 with the addition of The Third Blade, which essentially makes it a spammable Core ability by removing its natural cooldown. On top of its exceptionally high base damage, it also gets its own signature Unique, Overkill, which significantly boosts its damage and gives it a decently sized linear shockwave directly in front of it. Unfortunately, much of the power provided to this build is not unlocked until much later in the game, which makes it strictly an endgame concept; once it all comes together though, it is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Our Specialized Builds are lategame builds with specific requirements and purposes. In order to play them, you are expected to have a level 100 character and all of the listed items available. To get there, we recommend you use one of our existing lvl 50-100 Endgame Build Guides.
Requirements for this build to function:
- Temper Manuals:
- Barbarian Recovery.
- Certain Legendary Aspects, primarily:
- Starlight.
- Uniques:
- The Third Blade.
- Overkill.
- Crown of Lucion.
- Ring of Red Furor.
- Tibault's Will.
- Ramaladni's Magnum Opus (for dual-wield setups).
Gear, Skill Tree, and Paragon
[Speedfarm / Pit 61+]
[Mythic / Pit 101+]
Gear
- The combination of The Third Blade and Crown of Lucion give Death Blow a base 100 Fury cost, which is essential in making this build function smoothly. It's important to not lower this cost through Resource Cost Reduction on gear.
- Ring of Red Furor makes it so Death Blow will deal a boosted Critical Strike on every cast. Because of this, we avoid Critical Strike Chance rolls on gear.
- Starlight in combination with Invigorating Fury will refund Fury and heal us whenever we cast Death Blow.
- The Giant Strides + Earthquake combo gives us added mobility, offense, and defense alongside Rumble as long as we stand in Earthquakes. Tempered Earthquake Duration and Size make this strategy feel more comfortable.
- Yen's Blessing with a single cooldown (Rallying Cry) enables an essentially permanent Movement Speed, Fury Generation, and Unstoppable buff.
- Ramaladni's Magnum Opus gives us a damage multiplier that is limited by our Fury pool.
Skills
- Death Blow is our main damage skill and is set to be used with our dual-wielded weapons.
- Leap is our mobility skill and a means to generate Earthquakes in order to benefit from their related bonuses. It is set to Two-Handed Mace for its Walking Arsenal buff.
- Rupture is used for a large attack speed increase and Decimator activation.
- Rallying Cry is used in combination with Yen's Blessing to keep all of its effects up nearly permanently.
- Wrath of the Berserker can be used on Bosses for some extra damage. It maxes out its effect very quickly due to the large amount of Fury we are spending.
- For speedfarming, Charge is a great option for pure mobility. Otherwise, Steel Grasp is another solid choice for grouping up enemies. Just avoid using any skill with a cooldown so that Yen's Blessing doesn't accidentally activate it.
- Expose Vulnerability in combination with The Third Blade makes it so Death Blow constantly applies Vulnerable after it hits an enemy twice.
Paragon
See below for the selected Paragon Boards, Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Death Blow Barbarian. Note: The Paragon Boards below are the final setup with no steps.
Level 15 Glyphs required: Ambidextrous, Ire, Rumble, Territorial, Undaunted, Wrath
Gear
- Banished Lord's Talisman is the centerpiece of this build, as it allows us to deliver a beefed up Overpower hit on every other attack. It comes with some amazing stats on it as well, all of which help us in some way.
- We can't really fit Harlequin Crest or Tyrael's Might into this setup, so Doombringer is an excellent way to make up the loss of defense. The huge amount of Maximum Life that it gives is also calculated into the damage formula for Overpower, so it benefits us offensively as well.
- The Grandfather is a massive stack stick that also just straight up doubles our damage, since Ring of Red Furor ensures that we always deal Critical Strikes.
- Accelerating gives us some more Attack Speed, which is always welcome. In content that involves standing still often, Inner Calm is another solid choice.
- Fortress is the best defensive option on our Chest Armor. The real priority here though is getting as many ranks of Invigorating Fury as needed to allow continuous use of Death Blow. If Fury is ever an issue, Undying or Weapon Master's can help. The "% Healing Received" affix is also another consideration.
Skills
- Unbridled Rage is the most noticeable change when it comes to skills. This passive doubles our Fury consumption, but allows us to Overpower 50% of the time when we attack.
- Because we Overpower so often, Violent Hammer of the Ancients can be utilized in this setup as an extra damage multiplier. Use it once (or twice to make sure) every 5 seconds to keep the buff active.
- This version of Death Blow uses a Two-Handed Mace, so the Wallop, Heavy Handed, and Brute Force passives are all taken in order to boost our damage.
- As mentioned earlier, Invigorating Fury is necessary (along with Starlight) to keep up with our huge Fury costs.
- Without Rupture and Unconstrained, Call of the Ancients is the better Ultimate for damage output.
Paragon
See below for the selected Paragon Boards, Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Death Blow Barbarian. Note: The Paragon Boards below are the final setup with no steps.
Level 15 Glyphs required: Crusher, Ire, Might, Territorial, Undaunted, Wrath
Season 5 - Infernal Hordes
In Season 5, the Season Theme brings your hero back into the bowels of Hell, in the Infernal Hordes endgame activity. You're first introduced to Hellbreach Dungeons, miniature Horde-like micro-dungeons that teach you the new mechanics and rewards systems. As you slay more powerful Demons and Bosses, you're rewarded with the new Reputation progression that comes with amazing rewards. These include Crafting Materials, unlocking Season's Journey tiers and even the coveted Resplendent Spark, needed to craft a mythic unique.
Follow the seasonal questline until you unlock the Reputation system, check which rewards suit you most and then follow your regular leveling path. To learn more, check out our full Season 5 guide for more information.
Gameplay
- Leap into battle to activate Earthquake-related gear bonuses and the Rumble Glyph.
- Smash everything to bits with Death Blow.
- Rupture can be used at any time for an Attack Speed injection and Decimator activation.
- Invoke the Wrath of the Berserker in dicey situations and against Bosses for a power spike.
- Use Charge, in combination with Leap, to stay mobile between encounters.
- Rallying Cry refreshes itself when it is on cooldown due to the effect of Yen's Blessing. It will need to be cast manually whenever it is off cooldown.
- When playing Overpower variant:
- Use Hammer of the Ancients until it Overpowers (one or two attacks, depending on how much Fury has been spent on Banished Lord's Talisman).
- This should optimally be done every 5 seconds to keep the damage buff from Violent Hammer of the Ancients active.
- Cast Call of the Ancients as needed, typically against groups of Elites and Bosses.
- If there is ever a time when Fury is slightly lacking to be able to cast Death Blow, use Leap as a back up generator.
Gear and Stat Requirements
These builds require specific Aspects, Uniques, Uber Uniques, and Affixes on your gear to perform their primary function. Only deviate from the list below after you have fully learned the intended gameplay style and strategies.
- Legendary Aspects:
- Starlight.
- All variants.
- Bul-Kathos.
- Leapquake variant only.
- Earthquake.
- Leapquake variant only.
- Giant Strides.
- Leapquake variant only.
- Starlight.
- Uniques:
- The Third Blade.
- Overkill.
- Crown of Lucion.
- Ring of Red Furor.
- Tibault's Will.
- Yen's Blessing.
- Ramaladni's Magnum Opus.
- Leapquake variant only.
- Banished Lord's Talisman.
- Overpower variant only.
- Other:
- This build requires the Barbarian Recovery Temper Manual to unlock + Ranks to Invigorating Fury on gear, which is necessary to make the build function properly.
- It also uses the Earthquake Duration, Leap Cooldown Reduction, Brawling Cooldown Reduction and Death Blow Tempers, but they aren't necessarily required to play the build.
FAQ & Mechanics
No Encroaching Wrath or Limitless Rage?
Fury Issues?
Credits
Written by snail
Reviewed by wudijo