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Diablo IV Barbarian Class Impressions
Diablo IV
Publicado
28/12/2022 a las 13:07
por
Tharid
Earlier this month, we were able to try out the Barbarian class in Diablo IV, one of the most iconic and original class archetypes in ARPG history. The gritty melee brawler has evolved quite a bit over the last 25 years of the Diablo franchise - so we take a deep look at Diablo IV's version of the children of Bul-Kathos.
Barbarian Class Overview Barbarian Skill Overview
Barbarian Class Gameplay & Combat In Diablo IV
Barbarian fans will get their kick out of Diablo IV's gameplay and combat. Original abilities like Whirlwind or Leap will please the crowd coming from Diablo II and Diablo II: Resurrected, while skills like Rend or Hammer of the Ancients cover the Barbarian fantasy of Diablo III.
However, Diablo IV's development team also added multiple new gameplay layers to the Barbarian class experience. Most importantly, the Barbarian Class Mechanic called the Arsenal System dives deep into the class fantasy of the Barbarian as a true master of all melee weapons. They are able to equip multiple weapons simultaneously and use them based on their skill loadout. For example, Bash requires a Bludgeoning weapon, fueling the idea of bashing the enemies' heads in while also stunning them. In addition, using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon will increase Bash's stun duration.
Bash
Generate Fury: 10
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Physical Damage
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Requires Bludgeoning Weapon
Bash the enemy with your weapon, dealing 31% damage.
After bashing enemies 4 times, your next Bash will Stun for 1.25 seconds,
this increases to 2 seconds if using a Two-Handed weapon.
Now back to the Arsenal System: Whenever a Barbarian uses a certain weapon, they gain Expertise which will level up the weapon's ranking in the Arsenal. Using a one-handed axe, for example, will increase Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. As a result, choosing versatile skill loadouts will reward players with different Arsenal powers, promoting build diversity. In addition, Barbarians will need to keep an eye out for different weapon drops instead of just using one weapon type if they want to fully optimize their character, adding another layer to itemization and character progression.
During early class testing in Blizzard's Press Build, the amount of surgical combat gameplay stood out. Yes, mindlessly whirlwinding through a pack of mobs still works perfectly fine - but you can also decide to run a more sophisticated build that relies on different new aspects of Barbarian combat design. For example, we were deeply impressed by the early damage potential of a Bleed-centric build. Not only did the raw damage numbers feel great but Blizzard also tried to provide Barbarians with creative options to deal substantial single-target damage - something that the class has struggled with both in Diablo II and III.
Thanks to the new health bar UI in Diablo IV, players are able to see the damage portion of damage-over-time effects like Bleeds, so it feels great to stack up Bleeds while navigating around a boss encounter or a big monster group. We would have loved to try out Gushing Wounds - one of the four final Skill Tree passives - which creates a big bleeding explosion whenever you kill a bleeding enemy but didn't have enough Skill points, so we can only imagine how well a fully-fledged Bleed build could work in Diablo IV.
The one thing that Barbarians lack in the early leveling stages is movement. Both Leap and Charge have very high cooldowns in their base versions. Support skills that add movement speed like Rallying Cry felt great on their own, but giving up a whole skill slot for it definitely was a tough choice. However, one could argue that Diablo IV tries to limit fast movement early on to increase the amount of immersion and visceral combat gameplay, so we hope to see more movement options added with Aspect powers or Unique item modifiers later in character progression.
Barbarian Skill Tree Highlights In Diablo IV
As already said, the Barbarian's skill toolkit caters to Diablo audiences and class fans of all kinds. One of our skill tree highlights was Death Blow, one of the three Weapon Mastery skills. This frontal cone AoE ability already has a relatively low cooldown of 15 seconds. However, killing an enemy with Death Blow resets its cooldown, enabling and promoting a "killing blow"-centric playstyle.
Death Blow
Cooldown: 15.0 seconds
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Physical Damage
Attempt a killing strike, dealing 126% damage to enemies in front of you.
If this kills an enemy, the Cooldown is reset.
A great re-imagination of a famous skill in Diablo IV and yet another of our skill tree highlights is Call of the Ancients, one of the three Ultimate skills. You literally summon the three Ancients with it - Talic, Korlic, and Madawc - and they all use their signature abilities from Diablo II. The ability oozes class identity, fulfilling the fantasy of the Barbarian as part of Bul-Kathos' ancient bloodline.
Call of the Ancients
Cooldown: 50.0 seconds
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Physical Damage
Call upon 3 Ancients to aid you in battle for 6 seconds.
Korlic leaps at enemies, dealing 80% damage and swings his
weapons in a frenzy, dealing 30% damage per hit.
Talic spins in a whirlwind rapidly attacking enemies for 50% damage.
Madawc upheaves the ground, dealing 150% damage.
Barbarian Class Flavor In Diablo IV
We can safely say that Blizzard successfully brought the typical Barbarian flavor to Diablo IV. However, if you take a closer look at the class toolkit and the fine details of each ability, fans will notice that one theme definitely dominates Barbarian class fantasy: Weapon mastery.
The combination of the Barbarian's Unique Class Mechanic, the Arsenal System, and the ability to use different weapons for different skills transports a new feeling of purpose like in no other Diablo game before. Especially in the beginning, both approaches to varied weapon usage heavily promote character customization and build diversity, making the early leveling phase a very fun and exciting adventure even for Barbarian connoisseurs.
Needless to say, Diablo II has tried to promote specific weapon gameplay with different weapon mastery talents over twenty years ago - but Diablo IV brings it to a whole new level. Adding class-specific design layers is one of the new core features of Diablo IV. Unique Class Mechanics and the lack of class-agnostic customization through things like set items catalyze a feeling of true class identity, and the Barbarian is a prime example of exactly that. Much like Diablo III back in the day, Diablo IV tries to deliver the raw Barbarian class flavor - and does a much better job, not least because of the decision to include multiple new layers of class-exclusive character customization.
As a result, Barbarian players will experience this aforementioned feeling of purpose in Diablo IV's much darker version of Sanctuary. They want and need to become masters of all weapons in their arsenal to defeat the unstoppable legions of Hell - and we can't wait to get into more gameplay to further experience the Barbarian class fantasy in Diablo IV!
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