Welcome to the Leapquake Barbarian Specialized Build Guide! This build got some much needed attention in Season 4 with the addition of Tempered affixes. For the main Leapquake variant described in this guide, this means two things: increased Earthquake duration and supplemental damage via Dust Devils (which, ironically, is also our main damage source).
The bad news? Well, it takes a lot of investment to really get this build to shine, mainly in the cooldown reduction department. Its best Aspects are also not immediately available from the Codex of Power, and of course, the required Tempers are not unlocked until later in the endgame. Additionally, the build suffers from a bit of clunkiness; animation cancelling is required to avoid being stuck after smashing into the ground, and Leap in general is not controller-friendly in the slightest.
If you are able to work around its downsides though, Leapquake can be one of the fastest clearing builds in the game for speedfarming with its unmatched mobility and respectable damage output.
Our Specialized Builds are Endgame builds with specific requirements and purposes. In order to play them, you are expected to already have specific items and effects 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:
- Wasteland Augments.
- Sandstorm Augments.
- Certain Legendary Aspects, primarily:
- Giant Strides.
- Bul-Kathos.
- Devilish.
- Fierce Winds.
- Uniques:
- Ramaladni's Magnum Opus.
- Cooldown Reduction:
- Leap needs a reduction of about 60% for continuous use.
Gear, Skill Tree, and Paragon
Paragon
See below for the selected Paragon Boards, Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Hurricane Druid. Note: The Paragon Boards below are the final setup with no steps.
Level 15 Glyphs required: Ambidextrous, Exploit, Ire, Rumble, Territorial, Twister, Undaunted
Season 4 - Loot Reborn
In Season 4, the Season Theme revolves around helping out the Iron Wolves. Compared to past themes, this one does not offer any borrowed power as the entire game has been redesigned with new itemization and crafting options, increasing player power substantially across the board. Instead, you can gather reputation similar to the Vampire Bounty Board from Season 2 to unlock rewards that supercharge your leveling journey to 100 with extra items, crafting materials and eventually even a Resplendent Spark to craft an uber unique.
We recommend to 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 4 guide for more information.
Gameplay
- The gameplay for this build is very simple: Leap. Use Leap and cast Shouts. That's the build.
- Iron Skin has very low downtime with this setup and can be cast practically all the time. It gives a huge chunk of damage reduction and Unstoppable, as well as a massive amount of life regeneration while active.
- Call of the Ancients can be used on big packs and Bosses for some extra damage when needed.
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:
- Giant Strides: Enables Leap to be used continuously against one or more targets.
- Bul-Kathos: Gives Leap the ability to create Earthquakes.
- Devilish and Fierce Winds: These let us spawn Dust Devils with our skills. Weirdly enough, this is where most of our damage comes from despite the build being Earthquake themed.
- Uniques:
- Ramaladni's Magnum Opus: Deceptively buffs Earthquake and Dust Devils damage.
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet: Because Leap has a high base Lucky Hit Chance, the Bleed pops from this item are not uncommon and can add a lot of extra damage. The added Cooldown Reduction is also a nice touch.
- Other:
- Most importantly, this build requires the Wasteland Augments and Sandstorm Augments sets of Tempering Recipes to really shine. Without them, the build is not really functional. At a bare minimum, it is not recommended to play the build without first unlocking these.
- Cooldown Reduction:
- A lot of effort needs to be put into reducing the cooldown of Leap so that it is able to be cast without delay, even if it has no target. Getting it under 5 seconds at a minimum is the goal, since Leap's cooldown begins as soon as it is cast and the skill itself has an animation time of approximately 0.7 seconds. With this amount of reduction it will reset completely when it hits a single target (if it doesn't kill it), and almost completely if it whiffs and hits nothing.
FAQ & Mechanics
Why does my Leap have such a long animation?
Giant Strides didn't reset my Leap cooldown.
Earthquake Duration, and why it is bad (but also good).
Why points in Frenzy?
Why Two-Handed Sword Expertise?
Ramaladni's Magnum Opus
...Dust Devils?
Credits
Written by snail
Reviewed by snail