Diablo 3's Patch 2.6.4 brought significant changes to Raekor's Set bonus damage which now increases the damage of Fury spenders by up to an astounding 27500%! This is one of the highest damage bonuses out of all Diablo 3 sets, and on top of that, it's one that can be easily reached within a matter of seconds and selected Fury Spenders can be spammed with the set's full benefit.
This is currently the best Barbarian Build for Season 16 and Patch 2.6.4, which is apparently slightly better than Charge Barb based on the Immortal King's and Raekor sets combined. I guess we will have to see over the course of the Season how it ends up.
To check the full list of our Best Diablo 3 builds visit: The Best Diablo 3 builds by Odealo
Table of contents
General information
The entire build is based on The Legacy of Raekor set which provides the following bonuses:
The Legacy of Raekor is a truly fitting set for a Barbarian. It's fully oriented on raw DPS, and unlike the majority of sets in Diablo 3, it grants no defensive bonuses. Luckily, Barbarian class offers various items and defensive skills that are more than enough when pushing High-level Greater Rifts.
The gameplay mechanics for HotA Raekor are rather simple, but spamming skills mindlessly will not bring you good results (yes, for some builds it does :) ). First of all, you need to accumulate stacks for the 6 piece bonus, by Charging into enemies with your Furious Charge. After you have 5 Stacks ready, you should use your Hammer of the Ancients for maximum damage. You can lower the stack count versus thrash, as you won't need the entire bonus ready for weaker enemies, but that heavily depends on your current gear, Paragon level, and the difficulty level you are playing currently (or the Tier of Greater Rift). You should adjust it for maximum clear speed.
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Recommended items
Equipment | |
Head - Raekor's Will Stat priorities: 1) Critical Hit Chance 2) Strength 3) Increased HotA damage 4) Vitality (if you can't roll HotA damage) 5) Secondary res. Socket: |
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Chest - Raekor's Heart Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All elemental resistances 4) Reduced damage from elites/Secondary res. Sockets: (replace with Rubys if you feel comfortable with having less all res.) |
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Pants - Raekor's Breeches Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All elemental resistances Sockets: (replace with Rubys if you feel comfortable with having less all res.) |
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Gloves - Raekor's Breeches Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Critical Hit Chance 3) Critical Hit Damage 4) Area damage% / Vitality 5) Attack speed 6) Secondary res. |
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Boots - Raekor's Striders Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All elemental resistances 4) Increased HotA damage |
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Pauldrons - Raekor's Burden |
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Bracers - Bracers of the First Men Stat priorities: 1) Critical Hit Chance 2) Fire damage% 3) Strength 4) Life on Hit 5) Vitality 6) Secondary res. Special power: Hammer of the Ancients attacks 50% faster and deals 375-500% increased damage |
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Amulet - Traveller's Pledge Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Critical Hit Damage 3) Critical Hit Chance 4) Fire damage% 5) Strength (Part of the Endless Walk set) Set bonuses:
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Ring - Compass Rose Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Critical Hit Chance 3) Critical Hit Damage 4) Area damage% 5) Strength 6) Vitality (Part of the Endless Walk set) |
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Ring - Convention of Elements |
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Belt - Pride of Cassius Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All elemental resistances 4) Life gained per Fury spent 5) Life% Special power: Increases the duration of Ignore Pain by 4–6 seconds |
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Weapon 1/2 - Little Rogue Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) High average damage 3) Damage% 4) Strength 5) Attack speed% Sockets: (Part of the Istvan's Paired blades set) Set bonuses:
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Weapon 1/2 - The Slanderer Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) High average damage 3) Damage% 4) Strength 5) Attack speed% Sockets: (Part of the Istvan's Paired blades set) |
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Bonus Items for Season 16 (thanks to built-in Ring of Royal Grandeur power) |
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Chest - Aquila Cuirass Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All Elemental Resistances 4) Reduced damage from elites Sockets: (replace with Rubys if you feel comfortable with having less all res.) Special power: While above 90–95% of primary resource, all damage taken is reduced by 50% |
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Kanai Cube powers | |
The Gavel of Judgement Hammer of the Ancients deals 600–800% increased damage and returns 25 Fury if it hits 3 or fewer enemies |
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Magefist Fire skills deal 15–20% more damage. |
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Band of Might After casting Furious Charge, Ground Stomp, or Leap, take 60–80% reduced damage for 8 seconds |
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Legendary Gems | |
Bane of the Trapped
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Bane of the Stricken
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Esoteric's Alteration
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Recommended skills
Active Skills | |
Hammer of the Ancients |
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Furious Charge Rush forward, knocking back and dealing 600% damage as Physical Battering Ram Damage type changes to Fire and the damage is increased to 1050% Core ability in every Raekor build. It used to transition fast between groups of monsters, as well as generate charges for the 6 piece Set bonus |
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Wrath of the Berserker Enter a berserker rage which raises the following attributes for 20 seconds: Critical Hit Chance, Attack Speed, Dodge Chance, and Movement Speed Insanity Increases damage dealt by an additional 50% Your core utility ability. It grants terrific bonus damage and damage reduction. Should be used against Bosses and tougher packs of monsters. |
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Threatening Shout Shout, reducing damage done by nearby enemies by 20% for 15 seconds Demoralize Affected enemies become taunted by the Barbarian Good defensive utility skill. It reduces monster's damage and makes it easier to group them up for your big hit with Hammer of the Ancients |
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Battle Rage Enter a rage which increases Player's damage by 10% and Critical Hit Chance by 3%. The buff lasts 120 seconds Bloodshed Deal 20% damage of your recent critical hits to enemies within 20 yards radius every second Battle Rage provides very high bonus damage and should be up all the time |
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Ignore Pain Reduce all damage taken by 50% and gain Immunity to all control-impairing effects for 5 seconds Ignorance is Bliss While under the effect of Ignore Pain, you will be healed for every point of Fury spent Mandatory defensive skill for this build. It grants a very high defensive bonus which is critical when playing Raekor's set |
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Passive Skills | |
Ruthless You deal 40% extra damage to enemies below 30% Life |
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Brawler Increases your damage by 20% if there are at least three enemies within 12 yards |
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Boon of Bul-Kathos
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Berserker Rage You deal 25% extra damage while near maximum Fury (approximately 95% and up) |
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We hope you will enjoy this build as much as we did. And see you soon in the world of Sanctuary.
If you have any ideas how we could improve this build, or if you believe the Immortal King's Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian is not suitable for this title please let us know in the comments below.
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