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There was a lot of fear that the Barbarian builds would not have much relevance in the Season 6 meta forDiablo 4. However, despite a large amount of nerfs, theBleed Thorns build has made a comebackand feels better than it did before. Fans of the Barbarian class will be thrilled as they get to have a strong endgame build yet again.
While it may not be as overpowered as theSpiritborn build inDiablo 4, thisbuild still has a lot of strength. It will depend on a fair number of things happening at the same time and your equipment being in tip-top shape, but once you have the necessities down there is no reason not to run aroundtanking bosses without taking any damage in return. For those who were hoping for this comeback, you will not be disappointed.
Best Bleed Thorns Barbarian Build
Features & New Key Passive
This build has come back mostly because of anew key passive for the classthat is explained by YouTuberRob2628in the above video. This build is going to be based off of his, which you can see the full breakdown of on theD4Buildswebsite. There are some familiar features in this build that you can see in other high-ranking class builds for the Barbarian, but this isspecifically a Thorns build.
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Unlike other popular builds, this onedoes not make as much use of Earthquake and Dust Demonin the same way. You are going strictly for the Thorns and want the build to be as pure as it can be where that is regarded. While it may not be as fast as some of the other builds, this one can still handle a boss without taking a lot of damage and ismeant for taking on The Pit.
What enables this build when it was not viable at the start of Season 6 is thenew key passive Barbed Carapace, which gives you more Thorns the more Fury you spend. Additionally, it lets youdeal all of your Thorns damage as physical damage to any enemieswho make the mistake of getting close to you every second for 5 seconds. This is a lethal build, particularly for clearing out the Pit, and allows you to use your Thorns for their maximum potential.
TheNeedleflare Horned Cudgelwill play off of your Thorns as well, making it a crucial piece of equipment that makes your Thorns even more important. Most of the equipment and gear will be the same way, and you should do your best to use theForgotten Souls inDiablo 4tore-roll your Enchantments to get your key stats upas high as possible.
Best Gear & Aspects For a Bleed Thorns Barbarian
All Equipment & Suggested Skills
For this one, you are going to belooking at some older gearthat you should recognize for this type of build. While there are many coolnew gear pieces inDiablo 4, the Barbarian will benefit most from those that arealready interacting with their Thorns, with a little bit of Earthquake damage on the side.
Active Skills & Runes
The active or equipped skills that you choose are also very important, as they willdetermine how your character triggers some of the passive skills. You will want to have the best ones unlocked and ranked up to ensure that this is the case. The suggested active skills are:
You will not have to worry about Gems this Season, but you will have to worry about theActive Runesthat you have on yourself or your equipment. You will want the runes you use for this build to trigger off of skills or actions you are doing already, and this will help youmake it to the end of The Pit.
The Lith/Tec combinationgives you Offering when you stand still, which you often do as a Thorns Barbarian, and that Offering triggers to give you more uses of Earthquake. Meanwhile, the Yul/Xal combination gives you Offering when you cast a skill with Cooldown, and thatgives you 20% Maximum Life when triggered, adding to your survivability. As always, you are welcome to deviate from the norm, but with multiple nerfs and a build that does not quite reach the levels of the top-tier meta, you may want to stick closer to the suggested Skills if possible.
Gear/Aspects
While there are many options for what gear and aspects you use, there are some by now familiar ones that arebest for Thorns builds. There are pieces of your gear that will play off Earthquake, but you should beaiming to emphasize your Thornsabove all else. Here are the suggested equipment pieces:
Ring 2
Ring of Starless Skies
Needleflareand Razorplateare the ones that give you the most in terms of more Thorns and more Thorns damage. With the right roll, you might also get extra Earthquakes.
Skill Tree Upgrades
The Skill Tree is based on gettingas much base damage, as much Overpower, and as much survivabilityas possible. Notably, you will not be focusing as much on the Bleed damage, although it is still part of your build in a smaller way. This is mainly because theBarbed Carapace Passive Skill is so important, so you won’t end up taking Gushing Wounds. However, there are still a few skills that deal with Bleed Damage, and more support to come in the Paragon Board.
1
Hammer of the Ancients
3
–
5
With luck, you shouldhave Fortify nearly always active, triggering massive amounts of Thorns, and being invulnerable to bosses when you have optimized this build.
Paragon Board
As for your Paragon Board, the Nodes you pick will be focused onincreasing your base damage, as well as giving you bonuses when you use your Thorns.
Blood Rage takesadvantage of the bleed damageyou will be doing and gives you even more damage potential, as well as aBerserking bonus. There are a lot of possibilities here, so feel free to experiment.
It was theRumble Glyphthat took such a big hit from the nerf, but it is a necessary glyph as it is the first one you will start with on your Paragon Board.
With that, your build should be in the best condition it can be as your Bleed Thorns Barbarian goes to take on more foes across the Eternal Realm inDiablo 4.
