Barbarians have a number of builds they can go with as they're leveling in Diablo 4, but if you're looking for one that requires little effort on your part, then a bleed/thorns hybrid setup is what you need. It's a little gear-intensive, but a build that makes demons fold under the sheer weight of your aura is both hilarious and surprisingly effective.

The following build works somewhat similarly to the Spiritborn Centipede leveling build for Diablo 4. It relies on compounding Thorns with a DoT effect (Bleed, in this case) to deal copious amounts of damage to all enemies. This mainly caters to players who are yet to reach level 60, and while a completely new player can definitely try this out, they may not be able to draw its full potential unless they have certain Legendary Aspects that may be hard to to get for a first-timer.

Obducite in Diablo 4
Diablo 4: How to Farm Obducite

Obducite is a late game Masterworking materials that players will need to farm if they want to further upgrade their items in Diablo 4.

By 

Diablo 4 Barbarian Bleed Thorns Build (Season 6)

Barbarian dealing thorns damage in Diablo 4
Diablo 4 Barbarian Thorns proc

In essence, this is a Rend/Rupture and Barbed Carapace build. As far as general mobbing goes, all you have to do is shout and watch as enemies near you start taking damage. This is possible thanks to the Barbed Carapace Key Passive, which makes all nearby enemies take 100% of your Thorns damage every second after you cast an ability with a cooldown. Use Rend and Rupture to deal with elites and bosses.

Your active skill bar should look like this:

Skills (and Point Investment)

Upgrades

Flay (5/5)

  • Enhanced Flay - Flay has a 15% chance to inflict Vulnerable.
  • Combat Flay - Gain Damage Reduction and Thorns when you deal direct damage with Flay. Stacks up to 5 times.

Rend (5/5)

  • Enhanced Rend - Dealing direct damage with Rend extends the duration of Vulnerable.
  • Furious Rend - Dealing direct damage with Rend grants 5 Fury per enemy hit, up to 25 Fury.

Ground Stomp (1/5)

  • Enhanced Ground Stomp - Generate 60 Fury and has a 2-second Stun duration increase.
  • Tactical Ground Stomp - Ground Stomp is now a Brawling Skill. It deals 900% damage and inflicts Vulnerable for 4 seconds.

Rallying Cry (1/5)

  • Enhanced Rallying Cry - Grants Unstoppable while active.
  • Tactical Rallying Cry - Generates 20 Fury and grants an additional 20% Resource Generation.

Challenging Shout (1/5)

  • Enhanced Challenging Shout - Gain 20% bonus Maximum Life while active.
  • Strategic Challenging Shout - Gain Thorns equal to 30% of your Maximum Life while active.

Rupture (1/5)

  • Enhanced Rupture - Ripping your weapon out causes an explosion that deals Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. This damage scales with your Strength.
  • Fighter's Rupture - Hitting at least 1 enemy with Rupture heals you for 22% of your Maximum Life.

Putting any skill points into abilities other than Flay and Rend usually isn't worth it, as the bonuses are too small to make any meaningful difference in lower levels. Spend those points on passive skills, and if you have nothing else to spend them on, level up either Rupture first to reduce its cooldown, or Challenging Shout to improve your survivability. Make sure to get as many Altars of Lilith as you can for the free skill points.

As for your Technique slot, go with Two-Handed Sword just to squeeze out that extra bleed damage. You can also go with Two-Handed Mace if you want more Fury generation.

diablo-4-unlock-season-blessings-buffs-seasonal-journey-smouldering-ashes-battle-pass-d4
Diablo 4: How To Unlock Season Blessings (& What They Do)

Season Blessings can be upgraded throughout Diablo 4 Season 4, granting strong Seasonal bonuses through its unique Smoldering Ashes system.

By 

Important Passive Skills

The Barbed Carapace passive in D4
Diablo 4 Barbed Carapace description

Warpath, Belligerence, Outburst, and Tough as Nails are your main damage passives. Prioritize ranking them up over the others.

How to Play The Build

This build is very simple to use, but to make the most out of your abilities, keep the following things in mind.

  1. Always keep Combat Flay fully stacked for free damage reduction, bonus Thorns, and bonus damage from the Belligerence passive.
  2. Use Rend regularly to get up to 120% bonus Thorns thanks to Barbed Carapace.
  3. Challenging Shout will give you even more Thorns and damage reduction.
  4. Rupture's first hit will always Overpower, triggering the Warpath passive.
  5. Use Ground Stomp to stun, generate Fury, get rid of weak enemies, and create damage-boosting Earthquakes (with the help of a Legendary Aspect).
Leveling gear for a Bleed Thorns barb build in D4
Diablo 4 Bleed Thorns Barbarian S6 gear

Apart from getting the usual stats like Damage, Resistances, and Armor, always be on the lookout for armor pieces with Thorns damage, Damage Over Time, and Maximum Life. Use Amethysts on your weapons, Rubies on your armor, and Diamonds on your accessories. Make sure to complete bounties at the Tree of Whispers in Diablo 4 to get tons of loot and XP while leveling.

Legendary Aspects

Slot

Aspect

Amulet

Skullbreaker's Aspect

Rings

1H Weapons (Axes)

2H Bludgeoning

Aspect Of Retribution

2H Slashing (Axe)

Aspect of Inevitable Fate

Chest Piece

Iron Blood Aspect

Helmet

Aspect Of Anemia

Gloves

Weapon Master's Aspect

Legs

Aspect Of Might

Boots

Exploiter's Aspect

If you don't have all the Legendary Aspects listed above, at least get Skullbreaker, Retribution, Needleflare, and Anemia from the Codex of Power. Anemia lets you stun bleeding targets, while Skullbreaker and Retribution greatly increases the damage you deal to them. Meanwhile, Needleflare will help you deal more AOE damage by spreading Thorns around and between enemies.

Once you reach level 60, you can transition to either a full bleed build with Gushing Wounds and high crit stats, or a Berserk Thorns build with Double Swing, Death Wish Aspect, and Berserking stats. Replace your chest piece with Razorplate as soon as you get one.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
Diablo 4 Tag Page Cover Art
Diablo 4
Display card tags widget Display card system widget
Display card community and brand rating widget
9 /10
Display card open critics widget Display card main info widget
Released
June 5, 2023
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end

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
Diablo 4 Press Image 1
5 Images