Even in Season of Witchcraft, the Barbarian in Diablo 4 might feel like a very slow class to level up with. Most of its abilities are slow by design, but they hit extremely hard compared to other classes. However, there are a few builds for the Barbarian that goes against this convention by being much quicker in terms of both kill speed and mobility.

The following is a Diablo 4 Barbarian build meant specifically for leveling up in Season 7. While it will work just fine in future seasons, it relies on one particular Season of Witchcraft power to turbocharge its clear speed.

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Diablo 4 Season 7 Barbarian Leveling Build

Diablo 4 Barbarian leveling build in action for season 7
Diablo 4 Season 7 Leveling Build gameplay

This is a variation of the Bleed Thorns Barbarian build that caters more towards general mob clearing than boss killing. It is extremely efficient at dealing with large hordes of monsters at once, though it does slow down when fighting against major bosses with big health bars. It doesn't require any Uniques to work, though it will need some very specific Legendary Aspects before it can start rolling.

Active Skills

Bleed Thorns Barbarian in the Pit in D4 Season 7
Diablo 4 Bleed Thorns Season 7 Pit

Skill

Upgrade

Flay

Combat Flay

Rend

Furious Rend

Challenging Shout

Strategic Challenging Shout

Rallying Cry

Strategic Rallying Cry

Rupture

Fighter's Rupture

Wrath of the Berserker

Ultimate Wrath of the Berserker

You'll get bonus Thorns when you have max stacks of Combat Flay and whenever Challenging Shout is active. Pop Wrath of the Berserker before fighting a big elite pack or boss, and Rallying Cry when you get hit with crowd control. For general combat, make sure to keep Combat Flay's stacks up at all times, and use Rend and Rupture to clear big groups.

You only need to max out Rend and Wrath of the Berserker. Use your spare points for Passive Skills or more levels for whichever Active Skill you prefer.

Passive Skills

The Barbed Carapace passive in D4
Diablo 4 Barbed Carapace Passive

Outburst and Tough as Nails will increase your Thorns significantly, especially once you get enough Maximum Life to benefit from Outburst. The rest of the passives are here for general stat boosts to offense, defense, and quality of life.

Gushing Wounds is the preferred keystone passive since you'll be dealing a lot of Bleed damage. This makes it so that your Bleed effects scale with crit stats. By choosing this, you'll be able to use items with crit chance and crit damage — if you decide to swap builds later using Diablo 4's new Armory system, your pre-existing crit items won't go to waste.

If you don't care for crit stats, change Gushing Wounds to Barbed Carapace.

Season of Witchcraft Powers

The Vengeful Spirit witch power in D4 Season 7
Diablo 4 Vengeful Spirit power

Season 7 offers players 25 different powers to choose from courtesy of the witches serving the Tree of Whispers. For this build, we'll be using the following:

Power

Effect

Aura of Siphoning

Poisons all enemies near you. When upgraded, Aura of Siphoning heals you when it deals damage.

Shaken Soul

Eldritch powers apply Vulnerable to enemies. When upgraded, this effect is also applied by Psyche and Growth & Decay powers at half the duration.

Aura of Misfortune

Non-boss enemies are slowed. When upgraded, you gain movement speed, and attacks from nearby enemies have a chance of doing nothing.

Hex of Whispers

Every 5 seconds, inflict Hex of Whispers on your next instance of damage. The target takes Shadow Damage and passes the Hex to another target.

Soul Harvest

Gain bonus Primary Core Stat for each enemy near you when you use a Cooldown.

Vengeful Spirit Savant

Summon a Vengeful Spirit every X seconds, lasting for Y seconds. The spirit absorbs all damage you would otherwise take.

Once you start the endgame, you'll be able to craft Occult Gems from Gelena near the Tree of Whispers. When that time comes, use the following:

  • Cornucopia: Gain x30% more Thorns, Life, and Fortify.
  • Friend of the Bog: Gain Primary Core Stat, Max Life, and Unhindered.
heir of perdition on a black backgroup, tree of whispers interposed behind
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Gear and Stats

The Vehement Brawler's Aspect in Diablo 4
Diablo 4 Vehement Brawler's Aspect

All Legendary Aspects and gear pieces for this build will revolve around improving both Thorns and Bleed damage one way or another. Farming gear in Diablo 4 is a lengthy process, and depending on how much you've played, getting the optimal items might take a while.

This Aspect setup, when paired with the Season of Witchcraft powers above, enables the following effects:

  • You are always Berserking.
  • You are always Fortified.
  • You always have boosted movement speed.
  • Enemies are always Vulnerable.

Legendary Aspect

Preferred Stats

Helmet

Aspect Of Might
  • Armor
  • Max Life
  • Cooldown Reduction
  • Thorns

Chest Armor

Aspect Of Disobedience
  • Armor
  • Max Life
  • Elemental Resistance
  • Thorns

Gloves

Aspect of Anger Management
  • Max Life
  • Attack Speed
  • Damage over Time

Pants

Undying Aspect
  • Max Life
  • Armor
  • Elemental Resistance
  • Thorns

Boots

Craven Aspect
  • Max Life
  • Movement Speed

Amulet

Aspect of Inevitable Fate
  • Damage
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

Ring 1

Aspect Of The Umbral
  • Damage
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

Ring 2

Aspect Of Berserk Fury
  • Damage
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

2H Bludgeoning

Needleflare Aspect
  • Strength
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

2H Slashing

Death Wish Aspect
  • Strength
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

1H Weapon 1

Aspect Of Burning Rage
  • Strength
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

1H Weapon 2

Vehement Brawler's Aspect
  • Strength
  • Damage over Time
  • Max Life
  • Vulnerable Damage

Paragon Boards

The Ire Glyph in D4
Diablo 4 Ire Glyph

Diablo 4's Paragon Board system lets players make meaningful progression even after they hit the level cap. Paragon bonuses vary from minor stat boosts to effects rivaling Legendary Aspects. For this build, we'll be using the following (upgrades are required for some Glyphs fully work):

Board

Glyph

Recommended Nodes

Starting

Ire

Tenacity, Raw Might

Hemorrhage

Territorial

Hemorrhage, Flayer

Carnage

Disembowel

Carnage, Recuperate, Berserker
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Diablo 4
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9 /10
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Released
June 5, 2023
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

ESRB
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
Engine
Proprietary Engine
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play
All platforms
Cross Save
All platforms
Franchise
Diablo
Number of Players
1-2 players
Steam Deck Compatibility
Verified
Genre(s)
Action RPG, Hack and Slash
How Long To Beat
26 Hours
X|S Optimized
Yes
PS Plus Availability
N/A
File Size Xbox Series
158.25 GB
Local Co-Op Support
1-2 players (console only)
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty
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