There's a lot to unpack when it comes to how damage works in Diablo 4. It's easy to just pick up and use whatever item has green numbers on it, but players will want to pay attention to the affixes in the gear they have to see if they fit the build they want to rock.
Thorns is another avenue for damage that doesn't show up in Diablo 4's automatic number-crunching system. This stat doesn't reflect in item comparison windows or the Attack summary in the character screen. Despite this, Thorns is a very powerful stat to have, but that's assuming players know exactly what they're getting into.
Updated on March 26, 2024 by Marc Santos: Many new players entered the world of Sanctuary when Diablo 4 officially entered the Xbox Game Pass catalog. This guide has been updated to help these new adventurers get acclimated to the game's many winding systems. Additional information was added to better explain how Thorns scale with the player's strength, and a tabled list containing class-exclusive skills that grant bonus Thorns for those who want to concentrate on making damage reflection builds.
Diablo 4: What is Thorns Damage?
Thorns in Diablo 4 is more commonly known as damage reflection or retaliation damage in other RPGs. When a monster hits the player, they receive the total amount of Thorns damage that a character has as shown in the expanded info screen multiplied by every applicable damage modifier that's available to the player.
For example, if a character has 100 Thorns and deals 50% more damage to enemies within close range, then any nearby monster that lands a successful hit will take 150 damage as per the community's damage bucket theory. What's good about Thorns damage is that it is not affected by random damage variance. Its damage will always be based on the player's total Thorns stat, multiplied by whichever damage modifier fits the criteria at the time. This makes it great for testing how multipliers work.
Thorns benefits from modifiers like Vulnerable, and it scales together with your character's main stat. If you're confused as to what these stats are, here's a refresher:
- Barbarian: Strength
- Rogue: Dexterity
- Druid: Willpower
- Sorcerer: Intelligence
- Necromancer: Intelligence
Where To Get Thorns Damage
Thorns is primarily gained by wearing gear that has the appropriate affixes. Players can normally find random Thorns rolls on chest pieces, amulets, and pants. Shields also have a chance of dropping with Thorns, but not all classes can use these items in their off-hand slots.
Razorplate is a unique chest armor piece that does nothing but provide a massive injection of Thorns. Players can get upwards of 11,000 Thorns damage just from this item alone, though this comes at the cost of reduced survivability as Razorplate does not come with damage reduction or bonus Life affixes.
Some classes have skills that passively grant them more Thorns damage. Barbarians, for example, can go all-in with a full Thorns build with Challenging Shout supported by the Outburst and Tough As Nails passives. Necromancers can do the same to some extent by using the Spiked Armor passive and casting the Iron Maiden curse while using specific items that make their minions inherit a larger percentage of their Thorns damage. Here's a more detailed breakdown of skills that grant Thorns:
|
Class |
Skill |
|---|---|
|
Barbarian |
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Necromancer |
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Druid |
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Rogues and Sorcerers do not have skills that grant them Thorns, but players can still make use of this stat on these classes provided they equip the right items. Making a Thorns build with these classes is possible but much riskier compared to the others.
Diablo 4
- Released
- June 5, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Metascore
- 88
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
