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Raekor Set Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian build - Diablo 3

Raekor Set Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian build - Diablo 3

The best Barbarian build for Season 16 and Patch 2.6.4 in terms of solo GR pushing

HotA Raekor
Barbarian Build
Diablo 3 Patch 2.6.4

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

Raekor Set HotA Barbarian

Table of contents

  1. General information
  2. Recommended items
  3. Recommended skills

General information

The entire build is based on The Legacy of Raekor set which provides the following bonuses:

  • Furious Charge refunds a charge if it only hits one enemy (2/6 pieces)
  • Furious Charge gains the effect of every rune and deals 1000% increased damage (4/6 pieces)
  • Every cast of Furious Charge grants a stacking effect that increases the damage of the next Fury-spending attack by 5500% per stack. Every cast of a Fury-spending attack consumes up to 5 stacks (6/6 pieces)

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.


All Legendary and Set items can be quickly obtained via Item Farming and Multiboxing services which are offered by regular players on Odealo

Recommended items

Equipment

Raekor's Will
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: 
Raekor's Heart 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.)
Raekor's Breeches 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.)
Raekor's Wraps 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.
Raekor's Striders Boots - Raekor's Striders
Stat priorities:
1) Strength
2) Vitality
3) All elemental resistances
4) Increased HotA damage
Raekor's Burden

Pauldrons - Raekor's Burden
Stat priorities:
1) Strength
2) Vitality
3) All elemental resistances
4) Area damage%
5) Life%

Bracers of the First Men 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
Traveller's Pledge 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:
  • While moving, all damage taken is reduced by up to 50%
  • While standing still, all damage dealt is increased by up to 100%
Compass Rose 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)
Convention of Elements

Ring - Convention of Elements
Stat priorities:
1) Socket
2) Critical Hit Chance
3) Critical Hit Damage
4) Area damage%
5) Strength
Special power:
Gain 150–200% increased damage to a single element for 4 seconds. This effect rotates through the elements available to your class in the following order: Arcane, Cold, Fire, Holy, Lightning, Physical, Poison

Pride of Cassius 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
Little Rogue 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:
  • Every cast of a skill that spends primary resource grants 6% increased damage, Armor and attack speed for 5 seconds. This effect stacks up to 5 times
The Slanderer 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)
Bonus Items for Season 16
(thanks to built-in Ring of Royal Grandeur power)
Aquila Cuirass 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%
Kanai Cube powers
The Gavel of Judgement The Gavel of Judgement
Hammer of the Ancients deals 600–800% increased damage and returns 25 Fury if it hits 3 or fewer enemies
Magefist Magefist
Fire skills deal 15–20% more damage.
Band of Might Band of Might
After casting Furious Charge, Ground Stomp, or Leap, take 60–80% reduced damage for 8 seconds
Legendary Gems
Bane of Trapped Bane of the Trapped
  • Increases damage done to enemies under the control-impairing effects by 15%
    Upgrade: +0.3% additional damage per Rank
  • Gain an aura that slows the movement speed of enemies within 15 yards by 30% (Requires Rank 25)
Bane of Stricken Bane of the Stricken
  • Each attack you make against an enemy increases the damage it takes from your attacks by 0.8%
    Upgrade: +0.01% damage per Rank
  • Gain 25% increased damage against Rift Guardians and bosses (Requires Rank 25)
Esoteric's Alteration Esoteric's Alteration
  • Gain 10.0% non-Physical damage reduction. Upgrade: +0.5% damage reduction per Rank
  • While below half Life, your resistances to Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, and Arcane are increased by 75% (Requires Rank 25)

Recommended skills

Active Skills

Hammer of the Ancients

Hammer of the Ancients
A massive hammer smashes enemies in front of the Barbarian for 535% damage as Physical. Hammer of the Ancients has a 1% increased Critical Hit Chance for every 5 Fury the Barbarian currently has
Smash
Increases damage dealt to 640% and damage type changes to Fire

Your main DPS skill. Simply spam it to kill enemies

Furious Charge 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
Wrath of the Berserker 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.
War Cry 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
Battle Rage 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
Ignore Pain 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
Passive Skills
Ruthless Ruthless
You deal 40% extra damage to enemies below 30% Life
Brawler Brawler
Increases your damage by 20% if there are at least three enemies within 12 yards
Boon of Bul-Kathos

Boon of Bul-Kathos
Reduces the cooldown of the following skills:

  • Earthquake: by 15 seconds
  • Call of the Ancients: by 30 seconds
  • Wrath of the Berserker: by 30 seconds
Berserker Rage Berserker Rage
You deal 25% extra damage while near maximum Fury (approximately 95% and up)


Odealo is a trading platform for players of MMO games. It is an open marketplace for Item Farming, Power Leveling and Boosting services in Diablo 3.

 

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.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment.