Death Blow
Barbarian Build for Diablo 4
Last Update: June 29, 2023
| Build notes: |
June 29, 2023
-Build created |
Build Overview
Death Blow is a Weapon Mastery Skill that is one of the simplest ones you can choose. It simply deals a lot of damage with a high Lucky Hit Chance of 50%. The 15-second Cooldown can be refreshed by killing an opponent, which is easy to do with just one swing, but there are multiple other enhancements that would allow you to constantly use it on bosses as well. The mediocre range of Death Blow shall be enhanced with Overkill Mace to create Shockwaves and pull all the enemies into a single spot. Select Whirlwind with the Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind to achieve it. Using Whirlwind and Death Blow consecutively will ensure the enemies are Vulnerable due to the Expose Vulnerability passive. You can add to that Lungking Strike to cause Bleeding/to Heal, and you're set up for a Walking Arsenal Key Passive that magnifies your damage after swapping weapons for 3 different ones at least once every 6 seconds. There are many more Glyphs or Passives that can enhance your performance after weapon-swapping so that's another benefit of this build.
Please keep in mind, that the following Guide explains the basic variant of the build, without diving into all alternative variants that may utilize different utility skills for various benefits. This will be obviously updated as we have a chance to test out this build properly in the actual game.
You can also check our other Diablo 4 Builds
 Pros |
 Cons |
| able to deal high damage |
has a short range |
| enemies are constantly Vulnerable, Slowed, and sometimes even Stunned |
uses three different damaging skills constantly |
| uses Shouts which makes for a valuable party member |
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Skills
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LUNGING STRIKE [1/5]
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One of the three damaging Skills, it deals however very low damage. It's used to Heal and inflict Bleeding which has a utility purpose.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced Lunging Strike [1/1] - Damaging a Healthy enemy will Heal your character for 2% of its maximum Life.
- Battle Lunging Strike [1/1] - Lunging Strike causes Bleeding for 5 seconds.
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WHIRLWIND [1/5]
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Whirlwind, after selecting appropriate modifiers, will grant you Fury and inflict Bleeding. With the Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind, it shall also full enemies close to you.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced Whirlwind [1/1] - Each Hit against an enemy grants you Fury, or 4 Fury against Elites.
- Furious Whirlwind [1/1] - If used with a Slashing Weapon, it inflicts Bleeding for 5 seconds.
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RALLYING CRY [1/5]
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Use it to increase your Movement Speed by +30% and Resource Generation by x40% for the next 6 seconds.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced Rallying Cry [1/1] - Makes the character Unstoppable as the Shout is active.
- Strategic Rallying Cry [1/1] - Using Rallying Shout Fortifies the character for 10% of its Base Life. During its duration, taking or dealing damage Fortifies you for 2% of Base Life.
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CHALLENGING SHOUT [1/5]
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Taunts all nearby enemies and provides you with a 40% Damage Reduction for 6 seconds.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced Challenging Shout [1/1] - Maximum Life is increased by x20% during Shout's duration.
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WAR CRY [1/5]
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It simply increases Damage by x15% for 6 seconds.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced War Cry [1/1] - Using it also grants Berserking for 4 seconds.
- Power War Cry [1/1] - Using it near at least 6 enemies increases your damage by an additional x10%.
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DEATH BLOW [5/5]
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The main damaging ability with a 15-second Cooldown, which you can reset by killing an enemy. You should be able to use it on every pack of enemies. Death Blow deals extremely high Damage and has a 50% chance for a Lucky Hit.
Modifiers:
- Enhanced Death Blow [1/1] - Death Blows now deals x100% increased damage to Bosses.
- Warrior's Death Blow [1/1] - After hitting an enemy, gain Bersering for 3 seconds.
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Passive Skills
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BOOMING VOICE [3/3]
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| Shouts' Skill Effect Duration is increased by x24%. |
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RAID LEADER [3/3]
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| Shouts Heal allies for 3% of their Maximum Life each second. |
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SWIFTNESS [3/3]
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| Increases Movement Speed by +12%. |
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AGGRESSIVE RESISTANCE [1/3]
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| While Berserking, so very often, you gain a 3% Damage Reduction. |
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PIT FIGHTER [3/3]
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| You deal x9% increased Damage to Close enemies, and take x6% Reduced Damage from Distant ones. |
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NO MERCY [3/3]
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| It grants +9% increased Crit Chance against Slowed, Stunned, or Immobilized enemies, which they are very often. |
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EXPOSE VULNERABILITY [3/3]
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| It's an extremely important passive. After dealing damage with Death Blow, your next Whirlwind hit makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. Always use these two skills one after another, with Lunging Strike too. |
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HAMSTRING [1/3]
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| Bleeding you inflict on enemies makes them Slower by 10%. |
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THICK SKIN [1/3]
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| Taking damage Fortifies you for 0.4% of Maximum Life. It's not much, but it has to be picked up anyway to progress further. |
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DEFENSIVE STANCE [3/3]
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| Damage Reduction gained while Fortified is increased by +6%. |
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COUNTEROFFENSIVE [3/3]
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| If you're Fortified for over half of your Maximum Life, you deal x12% increased damage. |
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HEAVY HANDED [3/3]
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| Critical Strike Damage is increased by x12% as you're wielding a 2-hand weapon. |
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WALLOP [3/3]
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| Skills using Bludgeoning Weapons deal x15% increased damage to Vulnerable or Stunned enemies. Use such a weapon with Death Blow. |
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CONCUSSION [3/3]
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| Skills using Bludgeoning Weapons have a 30% Chance to Stun for 3 seconds on Lucky Hits. This chance increases to 45% with a 2-hand weapon. |
Key Passive
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WALKING ARSENAL
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| Increases damage by x10% for 6 seconds for each type of Weapon you've used - 2h Slashing, 2h Bludgeoing, or Dual-Wielded. If you have all 3 bonuses active, gain additional x15% increased damage. Use a Slashing weapon for Whirlwind, two weapons for Lunging Strike, and Bludgeoning Weapon for Death Blow. |
Technique
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Two-Handed Sword Expertise
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| It causes you to deal x15% increased Damage to Vulnerable enemies. Enemies should be permanently Vulnerable. |
Items
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Here's the stat priority list. Focus on Cooldown Reduction, Rank to Death Blow, Critical Strike modifiers, and Lucky Hit Chance. For defensive stats, seek Armor, Max Life, and Damage Reduction. Your target should be nearly constantly Slowed, Bleeding, Vulnerable, and Stunned. Use the unique Overkill as the Two-Handed Mace.
- Helm - Death Blow Rank → % CDR → % Max Life → % DMG to Close
- Chest Armor - % Lucky Hit Chance → % DMG Reduction from Close → % DMG Reduction from Bleeding
- Gloves - % Crit Chance → Death Blow → % Crit Chance
- Pants - % DMG Reduction → % Max Life
- Boots - % Move Speed → All Stat → Dodge → % Elemental Res
- Amulet - % CDR → Death Blow → % Resource Cost Reduction → % Elemental Res
- Rings - % Crit Chance → % Crit DMG → % Vulnerable DMG
Chose Emerald Gem in a Weapon slot for more Critical Damage against Vulnerable enemies. Use Sapphire Gem in your Armor for damage reduction while you're Fortified. For the Jewelry, choose Skull for the increased Armor.
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RECOMMENDED UNIQUE ITEMS
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Harlequin Crest (Helm) - A very popular choice for many various builds. It grants Maximum Life, Cooldown Reduction, extra Skill Ranks, Crafting Material, and Stats.
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+Maximum Life
+Cooldown Reduction
+Crafting Material Find
+All Stats
+Gain [10.0 - 20.0%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +4 Ranks to all Skills.
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Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus (Chest Armor) - Iy synergizes extremely well with Lucky Hits and Bleeding. It grants Physical Damage, Crit Chance against Elites, Damage Reduction from Bleeding enemies, Thorns, and a Chance to reduce Cooldowns when inflicting Bleeding.
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+Physical Damage
+Physical Critical Strike Chance against Elites
+Damage Reduction from Bleeding Enemies
+Thorns
Lucky Hit: Up to a [20 - 40%] chance to reduce the Cooldowns of your Non-Ultimate Skills by 1.5 seconds when you inflict Bleeding on Elites.
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Overkill (Two-Handed Mace) - Use this Mace with Death Blow. It deals significant Damage to Injured enemies and upgrades Death Blow by increasing its Rank, and with a Shockwave which is a major improvement.
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+Overpower Damage
+Damage to Injured Enemies
+Critical Strike Chance against Injured Enemies
+Damage on Elite Kill
+Ranks to Death Blow
+Death Blow creates a shockwave, dealing [24 -38%] of its Base damage to enemies. Enemies who die to this effect also reset Death Blow's Cooldown.
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CODEX OF POWER
Legendary Aspects
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Mandatory/Heavily recommended Aspects
- Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind would be an excellent addition. It makes Whirlwind pull enemies to you so that they can all be killed with a single shockwave from Death Blow.
- Aspect of Encroaching Wrath is used to deal up to 100% increased damage with Death Blow after spending 100 Fury.
- Weapon's Master Aspect grants an additional charge for a Death Blow and makes your Lucky Hits very likely to Stun an enemy for 2 seconds, similar to Concussion.
Optional Aspects
- Aspect of Echoing Fury grants you Fury Generation each second per Shout that's affecting you.
- Luckbringer Aspect increases Lucky Hit Chance by up to 20% while you have all the Walking Arsenal's bonuses active.
- Bold Chieftain's Aspect. Using a Shout reduces its Cooldown per nearby enemy. You can reduce its Cooldown by up to 6 seconds this way.
- Egemaster's Aspect increases the damage of a Skill the more Fury you had while casting it.
- Exploter's Aspect increases your CCs Duration by 20%. Unstoppable enemies receive increased damage instead.
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Paragon
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1st Board - Starting Board
Nodes - Allocate the Magic nodes around the Glyph socket.
Glyphs - With Might you will deal x8% increased Damage with 2h Weapons.
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2nd Board - Decimator Board
Nodes - Allocate Strength nodes around the Glyph socket. Get the Legendary node to apply Vulnerability more often.
Glyphs - Ire makes you take less damage from Elites, and increases your damage while Berserking.
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3rd Board - Hemorrhage Board
Nodes - Allocate Dexterity around the Glyph socket. The legendary node may be useful if you can consistently apply Bleeding.
Glyphs - Mortal Draw is good with weapon-swapping. It has a chance to cause Skill's Damage to Strike Critically when doing so.
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4th Board - Bone Breaker Board
Nodes - Pick up all the Magic nodes around the Glyph socket. The Legendary node is good if you can Overpower enemies.
Glyphs - Marshal is good if you're using 3 or more Shouts. Each time you Shout, the other Shout's Cooldown gets reduced by 1.2 seconds.
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5th Board - Weapon's Master Board
Nodes - Purchase all the Willpower around the Glyph socket. The legendary node generates 3 Fury each time you swap a weapon.
Glyphs - Undaunted grants Physical Damage Reduction per Fortify.
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END NOTE
This is the beta version of our Death Blow Barbarian Build for Diablo 4. The game has just launched so we expect all of the Guides will require constant updates when we get to test all the builds properly. Make sure to check out the Guides regularly to keep track of all the changes!
If you have any Build requests, please post them in the Comments section below. We will be happy to cover your most requested builds in the future! Also, we hope that you have found this guide useful and informative. Also, we will be happy to receive constructive criticism that will help us improve our future work, so don't hesitate to give us your feedback.
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Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment
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