Tag: talents

Starfall 2.0 Diablo IV Sorcerer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Starfall 2.0 Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(make the Stars fall to scorch the earth, setting your enemies ablaze, while Hydras help finish them off)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively i’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Starfall 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Fire Bolt – Hurl a flaming bolt, dealing 10.00% (X – ?) damage and Burning for 40.00% (X-?) over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Damage: Fire ; Tags: Basic, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Direct damage from Skills applies up to an additional 23% (X – ?) Burning damage over 8 seconds.
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fire Bolt – Fire Bolt pierces Burning enemies
- (2nd upgrade) Flickering Fire Bolt – Fire Bolt generates 2 Mana when hitting a Burning enemy.

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 ) Remove Fireball after you get Meteor

(active – only use this until Meteor unlocks) Fireball – Hurl an exploding ball of fire, dealing 60% (X- ?) damage to surrounding enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Core, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball for 50% of its damage.
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fireball – Fireball’s radius is increased based on distance traveled, up to 50%.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Greater Fireball – Fireball deals 10% of the Burning damage you’ve applied to enemies as additional direct damage.
(passive) Devastation – Your Maximum Mana is increased by 3/6/9.
- (upgrade) Elemental Dominance – Your Core Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage when case above 50 Mana
(passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Cooldown: 11 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Defensive, Shock
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Teleport – After Teleporting, you gain 30% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.

(active) Flame Shield – Engulf yourself in flames for 2 seconds, Burning nearby enemies for 23% (X) damage per second. While Flame Shield is active, you are Immune. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 20 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Defensive, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage. Can only happen once every 120 seconds.
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flame Shield – Flame Shield grants 25% Movement Speed while active.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Flame Shield – Flame Shield Heals you for 50% of your missing Life.
(passive) Elemental Attunement – Elemental Critical Strikes have a 5%/10%/15% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.
(passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) Hydra – Summon a 3 headed hydra for 12 seconds. Each head spits fire at a nearby enemy, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Mana Cost: 20 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Conjuration, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect After spending 300 Mana, a 5-headed Hydra spawns for 5 seconds.
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hydra – While Healthy, your casts of Hydra gain 1 additional head.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Invoked Hydra – After you Critically Strike, your Hydras gain +30% Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds.
(passive – i only put 1 point here to unlock the next passives) Align the Elements – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.
- (1st upgrade) Mana Shield – did NOT take this one
- (2nd upgrade – TOP TIER PASSIVE & MUST HAVE) Protection – Using a cooldown grants 10%/20%/30% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
(passive) Precision Magic – Your Lucky Hit Effect Chance is increased by up to 5%/10%/15%.
(passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Meteor – Summon a meteor that strikes the target location, dealing 50% (X – ?) damage and Burning the ground for 35% (X) damage over 3 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Mastery, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Lucky Hit: 3% (pre-launch patch: this % will be increased) chance for a Meteor to fall on enemies.
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Meteor – If Meteor hits 3 or more enemies, there is a 30% chance an additional Meteor falls on the same location.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mage’s Meteor – Meteor falls 30% faster.
(passive) Inner Flames – Your Pyromancy Skills deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage while you are Healthy.
- (upgrade) Crippling Flames – Lucky Hit: Your Pyromancy Skills have a 5%/10%/15% chance to Immobilize enemies for 2 seconds. This chance is doubled while you are Healthy.
- (upgrade) Devouring Blaze – You deal 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage against Burning enemies. If they are also Immobilized, this bonus is increased to 25%/50%/75% (multiplicative).
(passive) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a +5%/+10%/+15% increased duration. (Barriers absorb damage from all sources up to a specified amount.)
- (upgrade) Snap Freeze – did NOT take this one
- (upgrade) Cold front – did NOT take this one

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Inferno – Summon a fiery serpent that continually constricts the target area, Burning enemies for 295% damage over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 38% Cooldown: 45 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Ultimate, Pyromancy
- (1st upgrade) Prime Inferno – Inferno repeatedly Pulls enemies to its center.
- (2nd upgrade) Supreme Inferno – While Inferno is active, your Pyromancy Skills cost no Mana.
(passive) Fiery Surge – Killing a Burning enemy increases your Mana Regeneration by +10%/+20%/+30% for 3 seconds.
- (upgrade – only put 2 point into this one) Soulfire – After standing still for 1.5 seconds, your Pyromancy Skills cost 5%/10%/15% less Mana.
- (upgrade – did NOT take to save points) Endless Pyre – You deal increased Burning damage to enemies for each second they remain Burning, up to 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) after 5 seconds.
- (upgrade) Warmth – Every 1 second, you Heal for 0.3%/0.6%/0.9% of your Maximum Life for each Nearby Burning enemy. Healing increased to 0.6%/1.2%/1.8% from Bosses.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Esu’s Ferocity – Your Fire Critical Strike Damage is increased by 25% (multiplicative) against enemies above 50% Life. Your Fire Critical Strike Chance is increased by +5% against enemies below 50% Life. Killing an enemy with a Critical Strike grants both bonuses against all enemies for 3 seconds.

Enchantment (Class Mechanic):

I’d recommend mix-and matching two of the following Enchantments (you’ll need at least 1 point invested or from gear in the skills):

Obvious Synergies
- Meteor – Lucky Hit: 3% chance for a Meteor to fall on enemies. (my pick)
- Hydra – After spending 300 mana, a 5-headed Hydra appears for 5 seconds. (my pick)
- Flame Shield – Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage, Can only happen once every 120 Seconds.
- Fire Bolt – Direct Damage from Skills applies up to an additional 99 burning damage over 8 seconds.
Still good to try
- Frost Nova – Lucky Hit: Your Conjuration Skills have a 30% chance to unleash a Frost Nova when hitting enemies. (you’ll need to put at least 1 point into this as it’s not part of the build)
- Frozen Orb – Whenever you cast a non-basic skill, you have a 20% chance to launch a Frozen Orb at a nearby enemy.

Unique Item

Harlequin Crest (Helm)

Gain [5-8%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +2 Ranks to all Skills.

[0.245 – 0.455] Maximum Life
X% Cooldown Reduction
+[42 – 70]% Crafting Material Drop Rate
[14 – 28] All Stats

“This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king’s entire lineage.” – The Fall of House Aston

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for most Sorc builds, including this one, and I’d recommend doing this. Alternatively, here’s the full list I’d recommend for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Saphire, Amethyst . For Armor: Diamond or Skull (or in rare cases even Ruby). For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Starfall 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: *Aspect of The Protector Until The Unique goes here (see note below)
Amulet: Aspect of Three Curses
Chest: Exploiter’s Aspect
Pants: Aspect of The Unwavering
Gloves: Elementalist’s Aspect
Boots: Aspect of Fortune
Ring 1: Aspect of Shattered Stars
Ring 2: Incendiary Aspect
1H Weapon: Aspect of Ancient Flame
Off-hand: Aspect of Armageddon
2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Ancient Flame

NOTE: Use Aspect of the Protector or another Defensive / Utility aspect to your liking as a "filler" until the Harlequin Crest (a.k.a. Shako) Unique Helm drops.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes i’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 90 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown). The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 90 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 36 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage with Mastery Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Fire Damage Bonus
Fire Damage Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
Mastery Skill Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Fire Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Chance / Crit Damage with Fire Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Burning Enemies with Mastery Skills
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Burning Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Burning Enemies
Damage to Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies

High Priority

Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction
Burning Damage

Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Starfall 2.0 Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Overkiller Diablo IV Barbarian Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Overkiller Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(get MAD, Charge headfirst into combat & Overpower your foes before dealing a final Death Blow)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Overkiller) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Lunging Strike – Lunge forward and strike an enemy for 30% (X – ?) damage. Generate Fury: 9 Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic,
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Lunging Strike – Lunging Strike deals 30% (multiplicative) increased damage and Heals you for 2% Maximum Life when it damages a Healthy enemy.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Combat Lunging Strike – Critical Strikes with Lunging Strike grant you Berserking for 1.5 seconds

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Upheaval – Tear into the ground with your weapon and fling debris forward, dealing 70% (X – ?) damage. Requires a two-handed weapon Fury Cost: 40 Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core,
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Upheaval – Upheaval has an 20% chance to Stun all enemies it damages for 2.5 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Upheaval – Dealing direct damage to an enemy with a Skill that is not Upheaval causes your next cast of Upheaval to deal 8% (multiplicative) increased damage, stacking up to 10 times.
(passive) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10%/20%/30% to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
(passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) I did NOT take any Active Defensive Skills due to lack of enough skillbar slots
- (1st upgrade)
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
(passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, is increased by 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative).
(passive) did not pick other Defensive passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active 1 rank/level only) War Cry – Bellow a mighty war cry, increasing your damage dealt by 15% (multiplicative) for 8 seconds, and Nearby allies for 4 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds Tags: Brawling, Shout
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced War Cry – War Cry grants you Berserking for 4 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mighty War Cry – War Cry grants grants you 28% Base Life as Fortify.

(active 1 rank/level only) Charge – Become Unstoppable and rush forward pushing enemies with you then swinging through them for 25% (X – ?) damage and Knocking them Back. Cooldown: 17 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Brawling,
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Charge – Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain by Charge take 15% (X – ?) damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mighty Charge – Damaging enemies with Charge makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
(passive) Booming Voice – Shout Skill effect durations are increased by 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative).
- (upgrade) Guttural Yell – Your Shout Skills cause enemies to deal 8%/16%/24% (multiplicative) less damage for 5 seconds.
- (upgrade) Raid Leader – did NOT take this one
(passive 1 point/rank only) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4%/8%/12% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
- (upgrade) Battle Fervor – did NOT take this one
- (upgrade) Prolific Fury – did NOT take this one
(passive) did not pick other Brawling passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Death Blow – Attempt a killing strike, dealing 120% (X – ?) to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, the Cooldown is reset. Cooldown: 15 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Weapon Mastery,
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Death Blow – Death Blow deals 100% (multiplicative) increased damage to bosses.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fighter’s Death Blow – If Death Blow damages at least 1 enemy, gain 20 Fury.
(passive) Pit Fighter – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2%/4%/6% Distant Damage Reduction.
- (upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8%/15%/23% increased damage against Injured enemies.
- (upgrade) No Mercy – did NOT take this one
- (upgrade) Expose Vulnerability – did NOT take this one
(passive) did not pick other Weapon Mastery passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Wrath of the Berserker – Gain Berserking and Unstoppable for 5 seconds. For the next 10 seconds, dealing direct damage with Basic Skills grants Berserking for 25 seconds Cooldown: 60 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Tags: Ultimate,
- (1st upgrade) Supreme Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, gain +20% increased Movement Speed and increase Fury Generation by 30% (multiplicative)
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Prime Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, every 50 Fury spend increases Berserk’s damage bonus by 25% (multiplicative)
(passive) Wallop – Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
- (upgrade) Concussion – Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15%/30%/45% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
- (upgrade) Brute Force – did NOT take this one
(passive ) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.seconds.
(passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Unconstrained – Increase Berserk’s maximum duration by 5 seconds and increase its damage bonus by +25%.

Class Mechanic:

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-wielding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’, even any aspects slotted on them. Here are the types:

Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons on Barbarians can be either Slashing or Bludgeoning such as: Swords, Axes, or Maces. The game seems to clump all 1-Handed weapons together under the “Dual-Wielding” as far as Barbarians and their skill tags are concerned so regardless of Slashing or Bludgeoning type, a 1-Handed weapon will apparently not count as either.
The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual-Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you go for a swap-centric build

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Overkill (Two-Handed Mace)

+[31.5]% Overpower Damage

Death Blow creates a shockwave, dealing [16 – 30]% of its Base damage to enemies. Enemies who die to this effect also reset Death Blow’s Cooldown.

+[21 – 35]% Damage to Injured Enemies
+[4.5 – 12]% Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
Elite_Kill_Damage (Struck’s note: I suspect this is X% dmg after killing an Elite for X seconds)
+[2 – 4] Ranks of Death Blow

The malformed snake creatures that live in the swamps are not content with simply killing their prey. They seem to take a malicious pleasure from inflicting as much suffering as possible before death.

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for many builds, not so much for this one due to not much Barrier sources. I’ve shortlisted 5 total gems that work well with the build so pick based on your preference. I’d recommend either of those for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Saphire or Emerald. For Armor: Diamond, Skull, Saphire or Ruby. For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Overkiller) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Aspect of Might
Amulet: Exploiter’s Aspect
Chest: Weapon Master’s Aspect
Pants: Steadfast Berserker’s Aspect
Gloves: *Aspect of Inner Calm (see NOTE below)
Boots: Relentless Berserker’s Apect
Ring 1: Bold Chieftain’s Aspect (see notes for alternative choices)
Ring 2: Bear Clan Berserker’s Aspect (see notes for alternative choices)
1H Weapon: Aspect of Brawler’s Aspect
Off-hand: Edgemaster’s Aspect
2-H Weapon 1: Aspect of Encroaching Wrath
2-H Weapon 2 (see NOTE below): Aspect of Veteran Brawler

NOTE 1: Aspect of Veteran Brawler should go into the 2nd 2-Hander slot until the Overkill Unique 2-handed mace drops. After that, move it to the Gloves slot and discard the aspect there (Aspect of Inner Calm).

NOTE 2: The two Resource aspects I put for the Ring slots can me mix-and-matched with those two other resource aspects in any ways between the 4: Aspect of Echoing Fury & Aspect of Berserk Fury.

It's up to you which 2 of the 4 resource Aspects to take if you're not "feeling it" with the two I picked.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 95 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 95 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 37 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Core Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Physical Damage Bonus
Physical Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
Weapon Mastery Skill Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Physical Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Chance / Crit Damage with Physical Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Vulnerable Damage
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Damage to Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies with Core / Weapon Mastery Skills
Crit Chance/ Critical Strike Damage with Weapon Mastery Skills

+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Fury Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Strength
Resource Cost Reduction

Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Overkiller Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Volatile 2.0 Diablo IV Rogue Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Volatile 2.0 Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(did anyone say “EXPLOSIONS?!” be the bearer of bad ~~news~~ BOOMS & send your victims to the other side with traps & all kinds of explosive goodness)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Volatile 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Puncture – Throw blades a short distance, dealing 21% (X – ?) damage. Every 3rd cast Slows enemies by 2 seconds. Critical Strikes will always Slow. Requires Dual Wielded Weapons. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic, Ranged, Marksman
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Puncture – Gain 2 Energy when Puncture damages a Crowd Controlled enemy.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primary Puncture – Puncture now throws 3 blades in a spread, each dealing 35% of its Base damage. Hitting an enemy with at least 2 blades at once makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Twisting Blades – Impale an enemy on your blades, dealing 45% (X – ?) damage and making them take 8% (multiplicative) increased damage while impaled. After 1.5 seconds the blades return to you, piercing enemies for 72% (X – ?) damage. Combo Points increase damage and grant a Movement Speed bonus: 1: 58% damage & 20% Movement Speed (*MS) bonus ; 2: 72% damage & 40% *MS bonus ; 3: 86% damage & 60% *MS bonus Requires Dual Wielded weapons Energy Cost: 30 Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Melee, Imbueable, Cutthroat
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Twisting Blades – Twisting Blades deals 30% (multiplicative) increased damage when returning.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Advanced Twisting Blades – When your Twisting Blades return, your active Cooldowns are reduced by 1 second per enemy they passed through, up to 3 seconds.
(passive) did not pick any Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Caltrops – Leap backwards and throw Caltrops on the ground, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Lasts 6 seconds. Energy Cost: 21 Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Agility, Trap
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Caltrops – Enemies take 3% (multiplicative) increased damage from you each second they’re in Caltrops.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Disciplined Caltrops – You have +5% Critical Strike Chance against enemies inside your Caltrops. Double this amount against Vulnerable enemies.
(passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type:
Daggers: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies.
Swords: 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage.
Bows: 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
Crossbows: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
(passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) Dark Shroud – Surround yourself with up to 5 protective shadows. Gain 8% Damage Reduction per active shadow. Each time you take direct damage, that damage is reduced and a shadow is consumed Cooldown: 20 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Dark Shroud – Dark Shroud’s shadows have a 10% chance to not be consumed
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Countering Dark Shroud – While you have at least 2 active shadow from Dark Shroud, gain +10% Critical Strike Chance.
(passive) Exploit – You deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
- (upgrade) Malice – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
(passive) Agile – Using a Cooldown (skill with cooldown) increases your Dodge Chance by 3%/6%/9% for 2 seconds.
- (upgrade) Mending Obscurity – DID NOT INVEST into this to save points
(passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Shadow Imbuement – Imbue your weapons with festering shadows. Enemies struck by your next 2 Imbuable Skills deal damage and infect enemies for 6 seconds. Infected enemies explode on death, dealing 40% (X) damage to all surrounding enemies. If the infection expires before the enemy dies, it will deal 40% (X) damage to only that enemy. Cooldown: 9 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Imbuements
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Shadow Imbuement – You have +25% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies infected by Shadow Imbuement.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mixed Shadow Imbuement – Enemies damaged by Shadow Imbued Skills take 12% (multiplicative) increased Non-Physical damage from you for 8 seconds.
(passive) Precision Imbuement – Imbued Skills gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Critical Strike Chance.
(passive – Invested 2/3 ranks into it only to save points) Shadow Crash – Lucky Hit: Shadow damage has up to a 10% chance to Stun for 0.5/1/1.5 seconds.
- (upgrade) Consuming Shadows – Each time you kill an enemy with Shadow Damage, you generate 10/20/30 Energy.
(passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Death Trap – Place a trap that arms after 1.25 seconds. It activates when an enemy moves near, dealing 250% (X – ?) damage to enemies in the area. Cooldown: 50 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 4% Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Ultimate, Trap
- (1st upgrade) Prime Death Trap – Enemies are Pulled into Death Trap when it activates.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Death Trap – If Death Trap kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
(passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to gain 8 Energy.
- (upgrade) Second Wind – Every 100 Energy you spend grants you +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance for 5 seconds.seconds.
- (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – Non-Physical damage you deal has a +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance.
(passive ) Trap Mastery – When Poison Trap or Death Trap activates, you gain +4%/+8%/+12% increased Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable and Crowd Controlled enemies for 4 seconds.
(passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25/50/75 Energy.
(passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Victimize – Lucky Hit: Dealing direct damage to a Vulnerable enemy has up to a +30% chance to cause an explosion, dealing 23% of the original damage to them and surrounding enemies.

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much information about the 3rd Specialization of the Rogue. The 3 Specializations are the Rogues’ Class Mechanics:

Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Certain Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
Preparation – This specialization was not available during the closed beta builds of the game.

I prefer and advise using Combo Points but I liked Inner Sight during the beta too so not a bad one either for some 0 cost Skill Spams every now and then. We’ll have to wait and see about the last one.

Unique Item

Eyes in the Dark (Pants)

While Injured, Your Potion Also Grants [30%] Movement Speed for 2 Seconds

Unless it hits a Boss or Player, Death Trap will continue to re-arm itself until it kills an enemy. However, Death Trap‘s Cooldown is increased by [15 – 30]%.

[3.1 – 7.3]% Dodge Chance
+[0.07 – 0.14] Shadow Damage
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Damage to Elites
+[7 – 14]% Damage to Trapped Enemies

“And so, when the sun dipped behind the hills each night, he knew that Ashen Jack would soon be near. Watching, and waiting.” – Greenslade’s Tales, Chapter 2: “Each Long Night”

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for many builds, including this one. I’ve shortlisted 5 total gems that work well with the build so pick based on your preference. I’d recommend either of those for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Saphire or Emerald. For Armor: Diamond, Skull or Ruby. For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Volatile 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Enshrouding Aspect
Amulet: *Aspect of Unstable Imbuements OR Aspect of Volatile Shadows (see notes)
Chest: *Aspect of Cruel Sustenance OR Aspect of Siphoned Protection (see notes)
Pants: *Aspect of Cruel Sustenance OR Aspect of Siphoned Protection UNTIL the Unique goes here (see notes)
Gloves: Vengeful Aspect
Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
Ring 1: Ravenous Aspect
Ring 2: Aspect of Unstable Imbuements OR Aspect of Volatile Shadows (see notes)
1H Weapon (see NOTE below): Aspect of Corruption
Off-hand (see NOTE below): Blast-Trapper’s Aspect
2-H Weapon: Bladedancer’s Aspect

NOTE 1: You have to pick one aspect that will be discаrded once you get the Unique Pants. You can use both Aspect of Cruel Sustenance AND Aspect of Siphoned Protection only until you get & equip Eyes in the Dark. So pick whichever you feel is weaker and less worth it and discard it while putting the other one in the Chest slot.

NOTE 2: You have to pick one aspect that will be in the +50% effectiveness Amulet slot out of those two: Aspect of Unstable Imbuements OR Aspect of Volatile Shadows. So pick whichever you feel is more worth the bonus and put it on the Amulet slot while putting the other on Ring Number 2.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 94 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 94 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 41 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Core Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Shadow Damage Bonus
Shadow Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Shadow Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Shadow Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Shadow Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Vulnerable Damage
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage with Cuththroat/Imbued/ Skills
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Damage to Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies with Imbued Skills
Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills
Imbuement Potency
Shadow Imbued Skill Damage
Damage to Enemies Affected by Trap Skills

High Priority

+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Dexterity
Resource Cost Reduction

Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Volatile Rogue 2.0 Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

BIG GRIZZ 2.0 Diablo IV Druid Build [RDY-4-Launch]

BIG GRIZZ 2.0 Druid BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(this build’s got that BIG GRIZZ energy & uses two defensive skills, making it beary tanky)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (BIG GRIZZ 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Storm Strike – Electricity gathers around your weapon, dealing 20% (X-?) damage to your target and chaining to up to 3 surrounding enemies, dealing 20% less damage each time it chains. You gain 25% Damage Reduction for 3 seconds after dealing damage with Storm Strike. Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Lightning Generates: 15 Spirit
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Storm Strike – Storm Strike has a 15% chance to Immobilize all enemies hit for 2.5 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Storm Strike – Storm Strike has a 50% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Pulverize – Shapeshift into a Werebear and slam the ground, dealing 50% (X-?) damage to nearby enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Type: Shapeshifting ; Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 35
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Pulverize – Your next Pulverize will Overpower every 10 seconds while you remain Healthy.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Raging Pulverize – Enemies are Stunned for 2 seconds when they are Overpowered with Pulverize.
(passive) Predatory Instinct – Critical Strike Chance against nearby enemies is increased by +3%/+6%/+9%.
- (upgrade) Iron Fur – You gain 3%/6%/9% Damage Reduction while in Werebear form. This bonus persists for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form.
- (upgrade – did NOT take cuz it’s a Werewolf synergy) Digitigrate Gait / Lycanthropic Speed
(passive) did not pick other Spirit/Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below

(active) Earthen Bulwark – Rocks surround you for 3 seconds, granting a Barrier that absorbs 45% of your Base Life in damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 16 seconds Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthen Bulwark – Earthen Bulwark makes you Unstoppable while active.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Earthen Bulwark – Casting Earthen Bulwark grants 18% Base Life as Fortify.

(active) Blood Howl – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and howl furiously, Healing you for 20% of your Maximum Life. Cooldown: 15 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Howl – Kills reduce the Cooldown of Blood Howl by 1 second.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Innate Blood Howl – Blood Howl also generates 20 Spirit.
(passive) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your Non-Physical Resistances by 5%/10%/15%.
- (upgrade) Vigilance – did not take to save points
(passive) did not pick other Defensive passives to save points

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11 ) I did NOT take a companion BUT if you want to sacrifice one of the Defensive skills, I recommend the skills & upgrades below

(active) DID NOT TAKE a Companion active due to using already full skillbar
(1st upgrade)
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
(passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points

Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Hurricane – Form a hurricane around you that deals 97% (X-?) damage to surrounding enemies over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Cooldown: 20 seconds Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Hurricane – Enemies who are damaged by Hurricane are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)Savage Hurricane – Enemies affected by Hurricane deal 20% less damage.
(passive) Crushing Earth – Earth Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized or Knocked Back enemies.
- (upgrade) Stone Guard – While Fortified for over 50% of your maximum Life, your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage.
- (upgrade) Safeguard – Critical Strikes with Earth Skills Fortifiy you for 2%/4%/7% Base Life.
(passive) did not pick any other Wrath passives to save points but there are some worth considering

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Grizzly Rage – Shapeshift into a Dire Werebear for 10 seconds gaining 20% (multiplicative) bonus damage and 20% damage reduction. Damage bonus is increased by 3% each second while in this form. Kills extend the duration by 1 second up to 10 additional seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
(1st upgrade) Prime Grizzly Rage – You are Unstoppable when Grizzly Rage is active.
(2nd upgrade) Supreme Grizzly Rage – Gain 8% Base Life as Fortify per second while Grizzly Rage is active.
(passive) Defiance – Nature Magic skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
- (upgrade) Natural Disaster – Your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Your Storm Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
- (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Circle of Life – Nature Magic skills that consume Spirit restore 1%/2%/3% of your maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Resonance – Nature Magic Skills deal 2%/4%/6% (multiplicative) increased damage. Triple this bonus if an Earth Skill is the next Skill cast after a Storm Skill, or a Storm Skill is the next Skill cast after an Earth Skill.
(passive) Defensive Posture – Increases the amount of Fortify you gain from all sources by +5%/+10%/+15%.
- (upgrade) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for 6%/13%/19% Base Life.
- (upgrade – only invested 1 point due to lack of points) Nature’s Resolve – 5%/10%/15% chance when struck to Fortify you for 4% Base Life.
- (upgrade) Unrestrained – Reduce the duration of control impairing effects by 3%/6%/9%. Triple this effect while you have Fortify for over 50% of your maximum Life.
(passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Ursine Strength – Gain 20% (multiplicative) additional maximum Life while in Werebear form and for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form. While Healthy, deal 30% (multiplicative) increased damage.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category + maybe 1 more from another. I’d advise getting the following 2 for now.

Eagle Category, Scythe Talons: +5% Critical Strike Chance.
Eagle Category, Avian Wrath +30% Critical Strike Damage.

Unique Item

Insatiable Fury (Chest Armor)

Werebear form is now your true form, and you gain +2 Ranks to all Werebear Skills.

+[0.07 – 0.14] Physical Damage
+[21 – 42]% Overpower Damage
[7 – 14]% Damage Reduction while Fortified
+[0.07 – 0.14] Armor

When the Days of Ash began, the great druid Nafain reminded his disciples that nothing, not even the loss of their humanity, was too great a sacrifice to protect Túr Dúlra from Astaroth’s flames.

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for many builds, including this one. I’ve shortlisted 5 total gems that work well with the build so pick based on your preference. I’d recommend doing for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Saphire, Ruby or Emerald. For Armor: Diamond, Skull, Saphire, or Ruby. For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (BIG GRIZZ 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Stormshifter’s Aspect
Amulet: Ballistic Aspect
Chest: *Earthguard Aspect OR Exploiter’s Aspect OR Symbiotic Aspect (see note below)
Pants: Mending Stone
Gloves: Aspect of The Ursine Horror
Boots: *Symbiotic Aspect OR Exploiter’s Aspect (see note below)
Ring 1: Aspect of Retaliation
Ring 2: Mangled Aspect
1H Weapon (see note below): Aspect of Natural Balance
Off-hand (see note below): *Shockwave Aspect (see note below)
2-H Weapon (see note below): Aspect of Natural Balance

NOTE 1: Get rid of 1, keep 1 in the boots, and use temporarily the other between: Earthguard Aspect OR Symbiotic Aspect OR Exploiter’s Aspect. This is a tough choice to make and it's up to you which one you like most to keep in the Boots and which one you want to use until the Unique. We'll need to empty this slot for the awesome unique eventually. You can have 1 here & the other in the Boots before you get the Unique Chest. I'd go Earthguard in the Chest as temp and Exploiter's in the Boots

NOTE 2: You may wanna consider putting Crashstone Aspect in the Off-hand slot or maybe put Aspect of The Rampaging Werebeast there

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 92 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 92 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 37 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Critical Strike Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Core Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Earth/Lightning Damage Bonus
Earth/Lightning Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Earth/Lightning Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Earth/Lightning Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Earth/Lightning Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Vulnerable Damage
Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Strike Damage with Nature/Earth/Shapeshifting/Storm Skills
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Damage to Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage while Fortified

High Priority

+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Spirit Generation / Regeneration / On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Willpower
Resource Cost Reduction

Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the BIG GRIZZ 2.0 Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Reaping Army 2.0 Diablo IV Necromancer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Reaping Army 2.0 Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(control an Army of Undead and get bonuses based on the number of summoned Minions)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively i’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Reaping Army 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Decompose – Tear the flesh from the enemy, dealing 30% (X) damage per second and forming a usable corpse with the flesh every 2.5 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Generates: 7 Essence per second Damage: X ; Tags:
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Decompose – If an enemy dies while being Decomposed, you gain 10 Essence.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Acolyte’s Decompose – You and your Minions deal 10% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies who are being Decomposed.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Sever – A spectre of you charges forward and attacks with its scythe for 42% (X) damage then returns to you and attacks again for 21% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Essence Cost: 20 Damage: X ; Tags:
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Sever – Sever damages enemies along its path for 25% of its damage.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supernatural Sever – Sever deals 2% (multiplicative) increased damage for each Minion you have upon cast.
(passive) Hewed Flesh Lucky Hit: Your damage has up to a 4%/8%/12% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.
(passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Core passives to save points

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Corpse Explosion – Detonate a Corpse, dealing 75% (X-XX) damage to nearby enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Damage: X ; Tags:
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse – Corpse Explosion’s radius is increased by 15%.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Blighted Corpse Explosion – Corpse Explosion becomes a Darkness Skill and, instead of exploding, releases a vile miasma dealing 110% (X-?) Shadow Damage over 6 seconds.
(passive) Grim Harvest Consuming a Corpse generates 3/6/9 Essence.
- (upgrade) Fueled by Death You deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
(passive) Skeletal Warrior Mastery Increase the damage and Life of your Skeletal Warriors by 15%/30%/45% (multiplicative).
(passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Macabre passives to save points

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) DID NOT TAKE a Corruption active due to using 2 minions on the skillbar
- (1st upgrade)
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
(passive) Skeletal Mage Mastery – Increase the damage and Health of your Skeletal Mages by 15%/30%/45% (multiplicative).
(passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) DID NOT TAKE a Summoning active due to using 2 minions on the skillbar
- (1st upgrade)
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
(passive) Reaper’s Pursuit – Damaging enemies with Darkness Skills increases your Movement Speed by +5%/+10%/+15% for 3 seconds.
- (upgrade) Crippling Darkness – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
- (upgrade) Gloom – When you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, they take 2%/4%/6% (multiplicative) increased Shadow Damage from you and your Minions for 2 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
- (upgrade) Terror – Darkness Skills deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) bonus damage to enemies who are Slowed, and 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) bonus damage to enemies who are Stunned or Immobilized. These bonuses stack and apply to Shadow Damage dealt by your Minions.
(passive) Necrotic Carapace – When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for 2%/4%/6% Base Life.
(passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Army of the Dead – Call forth the deep buried dead. Volatile Skeletons emerge over the next 7 seconds that explode when around enemies, dealing 30% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 54% Cooldown: 90 Seconds. Damage: X ; Tags:
- (1st upgrade) Prime Army of the Dead – When Army of the Dead’s Volatile Skeletons explode, they have 15% chance to leave behind a Corpse.
- (2nd upgrade) Supreme Army of the Dead – Army of the Dead also raises your Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages.
(passive) Bonded in Essence Every 5 seconds, your Skeletal Priest’s Healing will Heal your skeletons for 20%/40%/60% of their Maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Death’s Defense Your Minions can’t lose more than 75%/50%/25% of their maximum Life from a single damage instance.
(passive) Golem Mastery Increase the damage and Life of your Golem by 15%/30%/45% (multiplicative).
(passive) Inspiring Leader After you have been Healthy for at least 4 seconds, you and your Minions gain +4%/+8%/+12% Attack Speed. (seems to need a point in Death’s Defene to unlock this)
- (upgrade) Hellbent Commander Your Minions deal 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) increased damage while you are near them.
(passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Kalan’s Edict – After you have not taken damage in the last 3 seconds, your Minions gain +15% Attack Speed. While you have at least 7 Minions, this bonus is doubled.

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about taking as many summons as possible without sacrificing any of them for passive bonuses. I’d advise taking all minions for this build and the types + upgrades are: Skeletal Skirmishers: Upgrade 1 + Shadow Mages: Upgrade 2 + Bone Golem: Upgrade 2 (OR Iron Golem – Sacrifice):

Skeletal Skirmishers + Upgrade 1 so that we get and extra minion to boost the damage of Sever and other things that scale from the number of minions
- Description: You can raise an additional Skirmisher
Shadow Mages + Upgrade 2 is a good dps increase & goes especially well with Minion Attack Speed bonuses
- Description: Shadow Mages fire an additional shadow bolt every 6th attack.
Bone Golem + Upgrade 2 will let big boi tank for us and keep the aggro away from us oftentimes. Alternatively, if you want even more DPS, Iron Golem – Sacrifice can help
- Description: Your Golem gains 10% maximum Life and the amount of Thorns they inherit from you is increased from 30% to 50%.

Unique Item

Ring of Mendeln (Ring)

[6 – 35]% Cold Resistance
[6 – 35]% Shadow Resistance

While you have 7 or more Minions you gain: Lucky Hit: Up to a 10% chance to empower all of your Minions, causing the next attack from each to explode for N Physical damage.

+[4 – 10]% Lucky Hit Chance
+[7 – 14]% Minion Attack Speed
[17.5 – 31.5]% Maximum Minion Life
+[0.14 – 0.28] Thorns

The signet of Mendeln ul-Diomed, the founder of the Priests of Rathma and the first Necromancer, was lost for over 3,000 years. The immense power over death held within, however, has not diminished.

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for many builds, but this one doesn’t do much barrier. I’d recommend doing for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Amethyst or Emerald. For Armor: Skull, Amethyst or Emerald. For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Reaping Army 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Viscous Aspect
Amulet: Aspect of Empowering Reaper
Chest: Blood Getter’s Aspect
Pants: Aspect of Hardened Bones
Gloves: Cadaverous Aspect
Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
Ring 1: Aspect of Frenzied Dead
Ring 2: *Aspect of Reanimation Until *The Unique goes here
1H Weapon: Unyielding Commander’s Aspect
Off-hand: Rotting Aspect
2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one):Unyielding Commander’s Aspect

NOTE: Aspect of Reanimation is a great choice for Until The Unique goes on that 2nd ring slot. Alternatively, you can put another Resource generation or Offensive Aspect such as: Aspect of Flesh-Rending, Requiem Aspect, Hulking Aspect, Edgemaster's Aspect, Aspect of Inner Calm

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 99 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 99 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 38 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Critical Strike Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Core Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Shadow Damage Bonus
Shadow Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Shadow Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Shadow Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Shadow Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
+ % Minion Damage
+ % Damage to Enemies affected by Shadow DoT
+ % Minion Resistance to All Elements
+ % Minion Attack Speed
+ % Maximum Minion Life

High Priority

Amplify_Damage_From_Pets_Per_Player_Percent (Struck’s note: my guess is this is + % Minion Damage based on the player’s % Damage)
Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes From Your Minions Have up to a 5% Chance to Reduce Enemy Damage Dealt by X% for N Seconds
+ All Stats
Damage while Healthy
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Close Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Essence Generation
Essence Regeneration
Essence On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction

Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Reaping Army 2.0 Necromancer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Chaining Thunder 2.0 Diablo IV Sorcerer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Chaining Thunder 2.0 Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(be the Master of Thunder & Storms that shocks & electrifies enemies while zapping around the map)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively i’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Chaining Thunder 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Arc Lash – Unleash arcing lightning that shocks enemies in front of you for 42.00% (X- ?). Every 10 times Arc Lash swipes, it Stuns all enemies hit for 2 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 30% Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Basic, Shock
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Arc Lash – If Arc Lash’s initial swipe Critically Strikes, it swipes and additional time.
- (2nd upgrade – no point invested here but it’s my pick of the 2) Glinting Arc Lash – Hitting a Stunned enemy with Arc Lash reduces your Cooldowns by 0.25 seconds.

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Chain Lightning – Unleash lightning that deals 42% (X-?) damage and chains and chains between Nearby enemies and you up to 6 times. Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Mana Cost: 35 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Core, Shock
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Chain Lightning – Chain Lightning gains a +3% increased Critical Strike Chance per bounce.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Greater Chain Lightning – When Chain Lightning Critically Strikes, it has a 25% chance to form a Crackling Energy.
(passive) did not pick any Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Cooldown: 11 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Defensive, Shock
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mystical Teleport – For 4 seconds after Teleporting, Crackling Energy deals 40% (multiplicative) more damage.
(passive) Elemental Attunement – Elemental Critical Strikes have a 5%/10%/15% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.
(passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) Lightning Spear – Conjure a crackling spear of lightning that seeks out enemies for 6 seconds, dealing 15% (X – ?) damage per hit. Lucky Hit Chance: 35% Cooldown: 20 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Conjuration, Shock
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Lightning Spear – After Critically Striking, Lightning Spear has a 5% increased stacking Critical Strike Chance for its duration.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Invoked Lightning Spear – Lightning Spear Stuns enemies for 2 seconds when Critically Striking.
(passive – i only put 1 point here to unlock the next passives) Align the Elements – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.
- (1st upgrade – not a must have but I maxed it) Mana Shield – Every time you spend 100 Mana, you gain 5%/10%/15% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – TOP TIER PASSIVE & MUST HAVE) Protection – Using a cooldown grants 10%/20%/30% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
(passive) Precision Magic – Your Lucky Hit Effect Chance is increased by up to 5%/10%/15%.
(passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active – did not invest points into it but good to consider) Ball Lightning – Conjure a ball of lightning that slowly moves forward, continually zapping enemies for 18% (X -?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Mana Cost: 50 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Mastery, Shock
(1st upgrade – no need to get upgrades if only getting it for the Enchantment) Enhanced Ball Lightning – Ball Lightning’s damage rate is increased by 200% of your Attack Speed Bonus.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Wizard’s Ball Lightning – If an enemy is hit at least 4 times by a cast of Ball Lightning, a Crackling Energy is formed. Can only happen once per cast.
(passive) Static Discharge – Critical Strikes with Shock Skills have a 5% chance to form a Crackling Energy.
- (upgrade) Shocking Impact – Every time you Stun an enemy, you deal 15%/30%/45% Lightning Damage to them. [this is further boosted by the Unique Item]
- (upgrade) Regenerative Conduit – Crackling Energy restores 4/8/12 Mana upon pickup.
(passive) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a +5%/+10%/+15% increased duration. (Barriers absorb damage from all sources up to a specified amount.)
- (upgrade) Snap Freeze – did NOT take this one
- (upgrade) Cold front – did NOT take this one

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Unstable Currents – Lightning surges within you for 10 seconds. Whenever you cast a Shock Skill, a random Core, Conjuration, or Mastery Shock Skill is also cast. Cooldown: 70 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Ultimate, Shock
(1st upgrade) Prime Unstable Currents – Unstable Currents increases your Attack Speed by +25% while active.
(2nd upgrade) Supreme Unstable Currents – While Unstable Currents is active, Crackling Energy continually pulses and consumes no charges.
(passive) Coursing Currents – Hitting enemies with Shock Skills increases your Critical Strike Chance by +1%/+2%/+3%. Resets upon getting a Critical Strike.
- (upgrade- did NOT take to save points) Conduction – Critical Strikes with Shock Skills increase your Movement Speed by +3%/+6%/+9% for 3 seconds.
- (upgrade) Electrocution – Enemies deal 5%/10%/15% less damage for 5 seconds after being Critically Struck by your Shock Skills.
- (upgrade) Convulsions – Lucky Hit: Shock Skills have a 3%/6%/9% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Overflowing Energy – Crackling Energy hits 1 additional enemy. Each time Crackling Energy hits an enemy, your Shock Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 0.1 seconds, increased to 0.25 seconds against Elites.

Enchantment (Class Mechanic):

I’d recommend mix-and matching two of the following Enchantments (you’ll need at least 1 point invested or from gear in the skills):

Obvious Synergies
- Chain Lightning – Chain Lightning forms automatically after spending 100 Mana. (my pick)
- Lightning Spear – Absorbing Crackling Energy has a 10% chance to conjure a Lightning Spear. (my pick)
- Arc Lash – When you use a Cooldown (skill with cooldown), enemies around you are Stunned for 0.5 seconds.
- Ball Lightning – Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have a 25% chance to spawn a static Ball Lightning. (you’ll need to put at least 1 point into this as it’s not part of the build)
Still good to try
- Frost Nova – Lucky Hit: Your Conjuration Skills have a 30% chance to unleash a Frost Nova when hitting enemies. (you’ll need to put at least 1 point into this as it’s not part of the build)
- Hydra – After spending 300 Mana, a 5-headed Hydra spawns for 5 seconds. (you’ll need to put at least 1 point into this as it’s not part of the build)

Unique Item

Esadora’s Overflowing Cameo (Amulet)

[4 – 25]% Resistance to All Elements Upon collecting Crackling Energy, there’s a 10% chance to release a lightning nova, dealing N Lightning Damage.
+[7 – 14]% Non-Physical Damage
Damage_CracklingEnergy (Struck’s note: I’m 99% sure this is +X% Damage With Crackling Energy)
+[1 – 2] Ranks of the Shocking Impact Passive
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Movement Speed

The only thing more potent than Esadora’s magic was her endless hatred of humanity. As she lay dying, the pale amulet around her neck drank in both.

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for most builds, including this one, and I’d recommend doing this. For this build some people may prefer Skulls or Saphires in the weapons or even Skull in Jewelry.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Chaining Thunder 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Exploiter’s Aspect
Amulet: *Aspect of Shared Misery Until The Unique goes here (see note below)
Chest: Aspect of Fortune
Pants: Aspect of The Unwavering
Gloves: Aspect of the Unbroken Tether
Boots: *Aspect of Shared Misery (see note below)
Ring 1: Aspect of Splintering Energy
Ring 2: Prodigy’s Aspect OR Aspect of The Umbral is a great alternative but only REALLY good with Aspect of Shared Misery in the builds
1H Weapon: Aspect of Overwhelming Currents
Off-hand: Stable Aspect
2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Overwhelming Currents

NOTE: After the unique goes on the Amulet slot, Shared Misery goes in the Boots slot. Before that use a filler in the Boots. My choice will be Charged Aspect. OR keep Shared Misery in the Boots then in the Amulet put Accelerating Aspect if you can manage the mana drain all that attack speed will cause. Alternatively, for the Amulet move the Splintering Energy there and use Aspect of The Umbral in the 1st Ring instead of it.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes i’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 97 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

LVL 97 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 39 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Critical Strike Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Core Skills
Damage with Crackling Energy
Lightning Damage Bonus
Lightning Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Damage vs Crowd Controlled Enemies
Cooldown Reduction
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Lightning Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Lightning Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Lightning Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Resistance to All Elements
Attack Speed

Higher Priority

+ All Stats
Damage while Healthy
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Close Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Damage vs Stunned Enemies
Damage vs Slowed Enemies
Damage vs Immobilized Enemies
Mana On Kill
Mana Generation
Mana Regeneration
Barrier Generation Bonus
Damage Reduction with an Active Barrier
Lucky Hit Chance with an Active Barrier
Lucky Hit Chance
Movement Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction

Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Chaining Thunder 2.0 Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Hemomancer Diablo IV Necromancer Build

Hemomancer Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV

(the Hemomancer will bleed you dry and consume your vitality to keep themselves Healthy)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Necromancer Class called Hemomancer. (you can call it Mrs. or Ms. bones if suits you better

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Hemomancer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

The images you see are PLACEHOLDERS due to lack of any real skill icons leaks for the Necromancer class. I will replace them once the Beta starts and I can screenshot the actual icons.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Hemorrhage – Burst an enemy’s blood, dealing 25.00% (X-XX) damage. Hemorrhage has 20% chance to form a Blood Orb. Blood Orbs heal you for 15% of your maximum Life when picked up. Generates: 7 Essence Damage: Physical
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hemorrhage – After picking up a Blood Orb, your next Hemorrhage also hits nearby enemies and grants 2 additional essence per enemy hit
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Initiate’s Hemorrhage – Hemorrhage grants X Fortify each time it hits and enemy, and had a 1.5% chance per enemy hit to Fortify you.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Blood Surge – Draw blood from enemies, dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing 50.00% (X-?) damage. Blood Surge’s nova damage is increased by 10% (multiplicative) per enemy drained, up to 50% (multiplicative). Essence Cost: 30 Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Surge – Blood Surge heals you for 1% of your maximum Life per each enemy drained, up to 5%.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supernatural Blood Surge – Each time an enemy is hit by Blood Surge’s nova, you are Fortified for X.
(passive) Unliving Energy – Your maximum Essence is increased by 3.
- (1st upgrade) did not pick to save points
(passive) Reconstitution – Your damage has up to a 4% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took two Macabre active skills

(active) Blood Mist – Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for 3 seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 50.00% and you periodically deal 1.75 (X-X) damage to enemies, healing for 100% of the damage dealt. Cooldown: 19 Seconds.
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Mist – Blood Mist’s Movement Speed penalty is reduced to 20%.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Blood Mist – Blood Mist leaves behind a Corpse every 1 second.
(passive – only put 1 point here to unlock the upgrade) Grim Harvest – Consuming a Corpse generates 3 Essence.
- (upgrade) Fueled by Death – You deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
(passive – only put 1 point here & it’s optional) Necrotic Carapace – When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for X.

(active) Bone Prison – Unearth a prison of bone with X Life that surrounds the target area for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 20 Seconds.
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Prison – Gain 3 Essence each time an enemy hits your Bone Prison.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Dreadful Bone Prison – Fortify for X for each enemy trapped by Bone Prison.

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 ) DID NOT pick a Corruption skill but you can remove Bone Prison and pick Iron Maiden

(active 1) Iron Maiden – Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Iron Maiden take 10.00% (X-XX) damage each time they deal direct damage. Lasts 10 seconds. Essence Cost: 10 Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden no longer costs Essence. Instead, gain 5 Essence for each enemy Cursed. Does not work with enemies already cursed with Iron Maiden.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Iron Maiden – Heal for 5% of your maximum Life when an enemy dies while afflicted with Iron Maiden.
(passive) did not invest into Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Corpse Tendrils – Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage to them. Cooldown: 11.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse Tendrils – Enemies who are in range of Corpse Tendrils are Slowed by 50% before being pulled.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Corpse Tendrils – Enemies slain while Stunned by Corpse Tendrils have a 25% chance to drop a Blood Orb.
(passive) Blood Begets Blood – While below 50% Life, you receive 10% more healing from all sources.
- (upgrade 1 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Tides of Blood – Your Blood Skills deal 5% increased (multiplicative) Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
- (upgrade 2) Coalesced Blood – Blood Orbs heal you for 15% more.
- (upgrade 3 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Drain Vitality – Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to 25% chance to Fortify you for X.
- (upgrade 4) Transfusion – Blood Orbs also heal your Minions for 15% of the amount.
(passive) did not invest into Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Blood Wave – Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals 90.00% (X-XX) damage and knocks enemies back. Cooldown: 50.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Prime Blood Wave – Blood Wave Slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds.
(2nd upgrade) Supreme Blood Wave – Blood Wave leaves behind 3 Blood Orbs as it travels.
(passive- ONLY PUT 1 LEVEL here to save points & to unlock the upgrade) Stand Alone – Increases Damage Reduction by 6%, reduced by 2% for each active Minion.
- (upgrade) Memento Mori – Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by 20%.
(passive) Golem Mastery – Increase the damage and Life of your Golem by 15%
(passive) did not invest into Ultimate passives to save points but there are some nice options

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Rathma’s Vigor – Increase your maximum Life by 10%. While Healtthy, you deal 25% (multiplicative) increased damage

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about doing as much shadow dmg hits as possible and focuses on ranged DPS. Sacrificing our melee minions might make it hard by not having a “tank” but it also boosts our dps in a lovely way. As for the types I picked, I’d recommend as follows:

Skeletal Reapers + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
- Description: Your critical strike chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
Shadow Mages + Sacrifice is a lovely build synergy
- Description: Your maximum essence is increased by 15, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
Iron Golem + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
- Description: You deal 30% (multiplicative) increased critical strike damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Hemomancer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Aspect of Potent Blood
Amulet: Aspect of Shared Misery
Chest: Fastblood Aspect
Pants: Aspect of Might
Gloves: Aspect of Pummeling
Boots: Aspect of Grasping Veins
Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
Ring 2: Aspect of Bursting Bones
1H Weapon: Aspect of Retribution
Off-hand: Blood-bathed Aspect
2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Retribution

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Hemomancer Necromancer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Butcher Diablo IV Barbarian Build

Butcher Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV

(flay the skin off of their bones and bleed them dry)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Barbarian Class called Butcher.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Butcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & differ from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Flay – Flay the enemy, dealing 9.58% (X – ?) damage. Inflicts 80.48% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Damage: Physical Generate Fury: 9 Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flay – Flay has a 10% chance to make the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Double this chance when using a Two-Handed weapon.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Battle Flay – When Flay deals direct damage to an enemy, they take 10% (multiplicative) increased Bleeding damage for the next 3 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Rend – Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing 23.00% (X – ?) damage and inflicting 183.96% (X) Bleeding over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Damage: Physical Fury Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 33%
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Rend – Dealing direct damage with Rend extends the duration of Vulnerable on enemies by 2 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Rend – Direct damage with Rend grants 4 Fury per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 20 Fury.
(passive – NOT INVESTED INTO IT but good to consider) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
(passive) Endless Fury – Basic Skills generate 5% (multiplicative) more Fury when using Two-Handed weapons.
(passive) did not pick any other Core Passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Challenging Shout – Taunt nearby enemies and gain 40% (multiplicative) Damage Reduction for 10.4 seconds. Cooldown: 16.0 seconds
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Challenging Shout – While Challenging Shout is active, gain +20% bonus Maximum Life.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Tactical Challenging Shout – While Challenging Shout is active you gain 3 Fury each time you take damage.
(passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, Bosses, and Players is increased by 4% (multiplicative).
(passive) did not pick any other Defensive Passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) Charge – Become Unstoppable and rush forward pushing enemies with you then swinging through them for 47.91% (X – ?) damage and knocking them back. Cooldown: 17.0 seconds Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Charge – Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain by Charge take 28.74% (X – ?) damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Power Charge – Reduce Charge’s Cooldown by 3 seconds if it Knocks Back an enemy into terrain.
(passive) Booming Voice – Shout skill durations are increased by 30% (multiplicative).
- (upgrade) Raid Leader – did not pick to save points
- (upgrade) Guttural Yell – Your Shout Skills cause enemies to deal 8% (multiplicative) less damage for 5 seconds.
(passive) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
- (upgrade) Battle Frenzy – did not pick to save points
- (upgrade) Prolific Fury – did not pick to save points
(passive) did not pick any other Brawling Passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Rupture – Skewer enemies in a line, inflicting 13.65% (X – ?) damage then rip your weapon out, damaging enemies for their total Bleeding amount receiving all Bleeding damage from them. Requires a slashing weapon. Cooldown: 15.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Weapon Mastery Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Rupture – If an enemy dies while being skewered by Rupture, then reset its Cooldown. Enemies who survive take 20% (multiplicative) increased Bleeding damage for the next 8 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Warrior’s Rupture – Killing enemies with Rupture increases your Attack Speed by +20% for 4 seconds.
(passive – only put 1 point to unlock the upgrades) Pit Fighter – You deal 3% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2% Distant Damage Reduction.
- (passive – did not put any points here) No Mercy – You deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage against Immobilized, Stunned, or Slowed enemies.
- (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the next upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8% increased damage against Injured enemies.
- (passive – only put 1 point to save points) Expose Vulnerability – Dealing direct damage with a Weapon Mastery skill causes your next Core Skill to make enemies Vulnerable for 1.5 (multiplicative) seconds.
(passive – did not pick but worth considering) Thick Skin – Each time you take direct damage gain X Fortify.
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Counteroffensive – While Fortified for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage.
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.
(passive – only put 1 point to save points) Hamstring – Your Bleeding effects Slow enemies by 10%
- (passive) Cut to the Bone – Your Bleeding effects deal 6% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable Enemies.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Call of the Ancients – Call upon 3 Ancients to aid you in battle for 6 seconds. Korlic leaps at enemies, dealing 80.00% (X – ?) damage and swings his weapon in a Frenzy dealing 30.00% (X – ?) damage per hit. Talic spins in a Whirlwind rapidly attacking enemies for 50.00% (X – ?) damage. Madawc Upheaves the ground, dealing 150.00% (X – ?) damage. Cooldown: 50.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Ultimate
(1st upgrade) Prime Call of the Ancients – While Call of the Ancients is active, gain +10% bonus Attack Speed and 10% (multiplicative) increased damage.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Call of the Ancients – Each of the Ancients gains additional power: Korlic: You gain 10 Fury each time Korlic damages an enemy with Frenzy. Talic: Enemies are Slowed by 50% for 1 second when damaged by his Whirlwind. Madawc: 30% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds when using his Upheaval.
(passive – did not pick but worth considering) Tempered Fury – Increase your Maximum Fury by 3.
- (upgrade) Furious Impulse – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Invigorating Fury – Heals you for 2% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
(passive – did not pick due to using Slashing) Wallop – Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
- (upgrade – did not pick due to using Slashing) Concussion – Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
(passive) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
- (upgrade) Brute Force – Your Overpower deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon *NOTE: It seems that unlocking this skill upgrade requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
(passive) did not pick any other Ultimate Passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Gushing Wounds – Killing a Bleeding enemy creates an explosion that inflicts 11.55% (X) Bleeding damage over 3 seconds.

Arsenal (Class Mechanic):

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-weilding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’. Here are the types:

Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons are Slashing and can be Swords, Axes, or Maces (strange why the 1H Maces are clumped together with Swords & Axes under Slashing and not listed as Bludgeoning maybe the information I found is incorrect… hopefully 1h Maces are not Slashing)
The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you got for a swap-centric build

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Butcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Aspect of Shared Misery
Amulet: Aspect of Pummeling
Chest: Aspect of Anemia
Pants: Aspect of Numbing Wrath
Gloves: Relentless Berserker’s Apect
Boots: Wind Striker Aspect
Ring 1: Aspect of Echoing Fury
Ring 2: Aspect of Unrelenting Fury
1H Weapon: Aspect of Berserk Ripping
Off-hand: Aspect of Veteran Brawler
2-H Weapon One (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of Retribution
2-H Weapon Two (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of The Dire Whirlwind

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Butcher Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

Bladestorm Diablo IV Barbarian Build

Bladestorm Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV

(SPIN your way to Victory while being a speedy critmonster with this spin2win setup)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Bladestorm) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & differ from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

(active) Lunging Strike – Lunge forward and strike an enemy for 51.74% (X – ?) damage. Critical Strikes with Lunging Strike grant you Berserking for 1.5 seconds. Lunging Strike deals 30% (multiplicative) increased damage and Heals you for X Life when it damages a Healty enemy Damage: Physical Generate Fury: 5 Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Lunging Strike – Critical Strikes with Lunging Strike grant you Berserking for 1.5 seconds
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Battle Lunging Strike – When using a Slashing weapon, Lunging Strike has a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

(active) Whirlwind – Rapidly attack enemies nearby for 27.68% (X – ?) damage. Damage: Physical Fury Cost: 20 per seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 20%
(1st upgrade)Enhanced Whirlwind – Gain 1 Fury each time Whirlwind deals direct damage to an enemy, or 6 Fury if the enemy is Stunned.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Whirlwind – After using Whirlwind for 2 seconds, Whirlwind deals 30% (multiplicative) increased damage until it is cancelled.
(passive – NOT INVESTED INTO IT but good to consider) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
(passive) Endless Fury – Basic Skills generate 5% (multiplicative) more Fury when using Two-Handed weapons.
(passive) did not pick any other Core Passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

(active) Rallying Cry – Bellow a rallying cry, granting allies +30% increased Movement Speed, and 50% (multiplicative) increased Resource Generation for 7.8 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Rallying Cry – Rallying Cry grants Unstoppable while active.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Tactical Rallying Cry – Rallying Cry grants 25 Fury. You gain +50% increased Resource Generation from Rallying Cry
(passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, Bosses, and Players is increased by 4% (multiplicative).
(passive) did not pick any other Defensive Passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

(active) Leap – Leap forward and slam downward, dealing 62.28% (X – ?) damage and Knocking Back nearby enemies on impact. Cooldown: 17.0 seconds Damage: Physical
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Leap – If Leap doesn’t damage any enemies, its Cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Power Leap – If Leap damages at least one enemy, gain X Fury.
(passive- I did invested into but may want to skip it) Booming Voice – Shout skill durations are increased by 30% (multiplicative).
- (upgrade) Raid Leader – did not pick to save points
- (upgrade) Guttural Yell – did not pick to save points
(passive – I ONLY put 1 point to unlock the Fury upgrade) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
- (upgrade) Battle Frenzy – did not pick to save points
- (upgrade) Prolific Fury – While Berserking, Fury Generation is increased by 6% (multiplicative).
(passive) did not pick any other Brawling Passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

(active) Death Blow – Attempt a killing strike, dealing 126.00% (X – ?) to enemies in front of you. If this kills an enemy, the Cooldown is reset. Cooldown: 15.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Weapon Mastery Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
(1st upgrade) Enhanced Death Blow – Death Blow deals 100% (multiplicative) increased damage to Bosses.
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fighter’s Death Blow – If Death Blow damages at least one enemy, gain 20 Fury.
(passive – did not pick but worth considering) Thick Skin – Each time you take direct damage gain X Fortify.
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Counteroffensive – While Fortified for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage.
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.
(passive) did not pick any other Weapon Mastery Passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

(active) Wrath of the Berserker – Gain Berserking and Unstoppable for 5 seconds. For the next 10 seconds, dealing direct damage with Basic skills grants Berserking for 25 seconds Cooldown: 60.0 seconds Tags: Ultimate
(1st upgrade) Supreme Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, gain +20% increased Movement Speed and increase Fury Generation by 30% (multiplicative)
(2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Prime Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, every 50 Fury spend increases Berserk’s damage bonus by 25% (multiplicative)
(passive – did not pick but worth considering) Tempered Fury – Increase your Maximum Fury by 3.
- (upgrade) Furious Impulse – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
- (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Invigorating Fury – Heals you for 2% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
(passive) Wallop – Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
- (upgrade) Concussion – Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
- (upgrade) Brute Force – Your Overpower deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon *NOTE: It seems that unlocking this skill upgrade requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
(passive) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
(passive) did not pick any other Ultimate Passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

(passive) Unbridled Rage – Core Skills deal 135% (multiplicative) increased damage, but cost 100% (multiplicative) more.

Arsenal (Class Mechanic):

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons are Slashing and can be Swords, Axes, or Maces (strange why the 1H Maces are clumped together with Swords & Axes under Slashing and not listed as Bludgeoning maybe the information I found is incorrect… hopefully 1h Maces are not Slashing)
The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you got for a swap-centric build

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Bladestorm) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Helm: Aspect of Shared Misery
Amulet: Aspect of Pummeling
Chest: Aspect of Anemia
Pants: Aspect of Numbing Wrath
Gloves: Relentless Berserker’s Apect
Boots: Wind Striker Aspect
Ring 1: Aspect of Echoing Fury
Ring 2: Aspect of Unrelenting Fury
1H Weapon: Aspect of Berserk Ripping
Off-hand: Aspect of Veteran Brawler
2-H Weapon One (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of Retribution
2-H Weapon Two (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of The Dire Whirlwind

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Bladestorm Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)