How the engine works
Charge with the Battering Ram upgrade deals Fire damage, stuns what you hit and leaves a burning trail that lasts 3 seconds. That trail is where almost all of your damage comes from, not the impact. So the loop is: Charge through the pack from a distance, turn round, Charge back across it. Chainscourged Mail resets Charge every time you use it, so there is no cooldown to wait for. You scale damage over time and how long it lasts, mainly with Wanton Rupture and later Shattered Vow, which executes an enemy once Burning covers its whole health bar. There is no Core skill and no Fury to manage. You simply stay near full Fury for Edgemaster's and Ramaladni's.
Who it's for
Players who want something fast and cheap. It needs exactly one unique to work and is one of the quickest Barbarian builds through open content, with pushing and bossing setups available once you have the gear.
- Rating
- S to A-Tier
- Difficulty
- Easy — awkward movement
- Key stat
- Damage Over Time multiplier
- Must have
- Chainscourged Mail
The bar
One attack and five buffs. Charge is the only damaging skill on the bar, and that is deliberate: it is what lets Chainscourged Mail reset it instantly. There is no Key Passive.
Rank 15 with Battering Ram, Distance Damage Bonus (up to 22% by distance) and Enemy Damage Bonus (5% per enemy pushed, up to 20%). Assign it to your Two-Handed Slashing weapon. It gives 5 Fury per enemy hit. Aim between the edge of your screen and the target, in medium-length lines.
Press — constantlyRank 15 with Booming, Fortify and Potency. Press it about every 4 seconds for the movement speed. In the finished build it drops to rank 4.
Keep it upRank 15 with Mighty Roar, Ferocity and Duration Increase. Damage, Berserking and attack speed.
Press — on cooldownRank 15 with Bawl, Damage Bonus and Duration Bonus. Here it is played defensively: a lot of damage reduction. Use it on cooldown, or save it for the dangerous pull.
Press — on cooldownOne point with Retaliation, Weaken and Maximum Life. It raises your Maximum Life and Weakens enemies that hit you. Press it whenever it is ready.
Press — on cooldownRank 4 at first, 15 in the finished build, with Full Throttle and Berserking. The cooldown is very long early on, so pick your fights. Cooldown Reduction and Rage of Harrogath fix that later.
ElitesPassives
There is no Key Passive and no passive nodes. Points go into Charge, the three Shouts, Iron Skin and Wrath of the Berserker.
Arsenal and Technique
Assign Charge to the Two-Handed Slashing weapon, which is your polearm and later Shattered Vow. Put the Two-Handed Axe in the Technique slot. Its Expertise is more damage to Vulnerable enemies, and the build stacks Vulnerable damage on gloves and jewellery to match. The pushing setup adds a second skill on the dual-wield pair purely to force weapon swaps for Earthstriker's.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Technique slot: Two-Handed Axe | More damage to Vulnerable enemies, growing with Expertise level, plus Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable enemies at rank 10. |
| Charge on Two-Handed Slashing | The polearm carries Wanton Rupture, and later becomes Shattered Vow. This is the weapon to upgrade first. |
What to wear
One unique is compulsory and everything else in the starter version is a legendary aspect. That is what makes this the budget Barbarian.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Chainscourged Mail | Pants, despite the name. Casting a damaging Brawling skill disables it; when every damaging Brawling skill on your bar is disabled, they all come back with cooldowns refreshed. With Charge as the only one, that means Charge resets itself every time. Without it Charge has a 17 second cooldown. | Mandatory |
| Shattered Vow | Polearm. Longer damage over time, an execute once Burning covers the whole health bar, and Berserking. The first item to upgrade to Mythic. | Mythic |
| Fists of Fate | Gloves. Random damage on every hit. As a Mythic it averages out at roughly a 95% multiplier, which makes it second in the upgrade order. | Mythic |
| The Furnace | Two-handed mace. Third in the Mythic order. It replaces the legendary mace carrying Crushing. | Mythic |
| Ramaladni's Magnum Opus | One-handed sword. You never spend Fury, so this is close to free: about 180 Fury is a 90% multiplier, and about 240 in the finished build is 120%. | Core |
| Leoric's Crown | Helm. It boosts the Soul Splinters socketed in it. Don't wear it without Splinters; use Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty until you have them. | Mythic |
| Rage of Harrogath | Chest. Dealing damage over time has a chance to cut your cooldowns by 1 second, and your trails tick on everything. This is what brings Wrath of the Berserker back quickly. | Recommended |
| Godslayer Crown | Unique charm. It pulls distant enemies in, which here means into your burning trails. | Charm |
Before they drop
There is no version of this build without Chainscourged Mail, so don't respec until it drops. Play Whirlwind until then. Once you have the pants, the rest is legendaries: Overheating on the helm, Disobedience on the chest, Edgemaster's on the gloves, Battle Fervor's on the boots, Heavenly Strength on the amulet, Conceited and Bold Chieftain's on the rings, Cut to the Bone and Vanquishing on the dual-wield pair, Wanton Rupture on the polearm and Crushing on the two-handed mace.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Wanton Rupture Aspect | Polearm, and later the amulet's extra aspect. It raises both damage over time and its duration, so it works as a double multiplier. Your most important aspect. |
| Aspect of Overheating | Helm. 20–30% more Fire damage, and a 10% chance to gain Overpower when you kill a Burning enemy. |
| Battle Fervor's Aspect | Boots. Your main way of staying Berserk early on. You trigger it just by using Charge. |
| Aspect of Disobedience | Chest. Dealing damage over time gives stacking damage reduction, up to 30 stacks. Your trails keep it full. |
| Conceited Aspect | Ring. More damage while you have a Barrier. The Que rune supplies the Barrier. |
| Aspect of Cut to the Bone | Dual-wield. Damage over time deals more to Vulnerable enemies. |
| Vanquishing Aspect | Dual-wield. More damage to Incapacitated enemies, and Charge stuns everything it hits. |
| Aspect of Anger Management | Boots in the finished build, replacing Battle Fervor's. If you only have room for one utility aspect, this is the one. |
Chainscourged's damage bonus needs a second skill
The pants also give Brawling skills more damage for each disabled skill. With Charge alone that bonus never applies, because Charge is re-enabled at once. You only get it by adding a second damaging Brawling skill, which is what the pushing setup does with Steel Grasp. Don't expect it from the standard bar.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damage Over Time multiplier | Gloves, amulet, rings, chest and Ramaladni's. Tempered on weapons and gloves in the finished build. |
| 2 | Vulnerable Damage multiplier | Gloves, amulet and rings. |
| 3 | Fire Damage multiplier | Gloves and jewellery, and every transfiguration. |
| 4 | Ranks to Charge | Boots. Ranks to Brawling skills on the pants. |
| 5 | Maximum Fury | Chest and Ramaladni's. More Fury is more Ramaladni's damage. |
| 6 | Cooldown Reduction | Helm, and tempered on jewellery. It is for Wrath of the Berserker. |
| 7 | Maximum Life and Strength | Strength everywhere. Life on armour and on all four weapons. |
| 8 | Damage Over Time Duration | Shattered Vow. |
Hard targets
There is no hard breakpoint for this build — follow the order above. The one figure worth watching is your Fury pool, because of Ramaladni's: about 180 Fury in the middle of your gearing and about 240 when finished.
Tempering & masterworking
Early on, temper Resolve stacks on armour, Damage per Overpower Stack on weapons, gloves and amulet, the Lucky Hit temper that restores Fury on rings, and Movement Speed on boots. In the finished build, switch to Damage Over Time on weapons and gloves, Maximum Life on armour and Cooldown Reduction on jewellery. Every transfiguration should be Fire Damage. Use Kullean Tuning Prisms to put Wanton Rupture and Overheating on the amulet.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Rubies everywhere, in weapons as well as armour.
- Runewords early: Moni + Que and Cir + Qua. Que gives the Barrier that Conceited needs, and Qua is movement speed.
- Runewords later: Bac + Que and Yul + Jah. For pushing, swap Jah for Lac so Challenging Shout casts itself. Against the Echo of Mephisto, keep Jah: it lets you skip the wave at the start of phase 3.
- Soul Splinters: Hellfire, the Black Soulstone and Pain. In the finished build Pain and Hellfire go in Leoric's Crown. Add Anguish if you use Sescheron's Fury, to offset its slower casts, and Lies for farming.
- Charms: there are two ways to run the set. Five pieces of Berserker's Crucible casts a random Shout every 5 seconds and feels smooth. Four pieces of Sescheron's Fury with two of Crucible, on the Seal of the Diamond Mind, hits harder but feels clunkier. Stay on Crucible for farming and switch only when you push.
- Charm affixes: a seal with +1 Charm Slot first, then ranks to Brawling or Martial skills, then Fire and Lightning resistance.
Paragon
Start board with Brawl, then Warbringer with Exploit, Hemorrhage with Undaunted, Blood Rage with Disembowel and Carnage with Executioner. Rush all five boards with level 1 glyphs first, which takes about 151 points. Glyphs should reach level 50 at around 219 points, level 100 at 263 and level 150 at 346. Level them in this order: Brawl, Exploit, Undaunted, Executioner, Disembowel. Challenger is a fine placeholder on the Start board early. For pushing, Exploit becomes Challenger and Undaunted becomes Might.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Brawl | Start board. Charge is a Brawling skill. Level it first. |
| Exploit | Warbringer. Swap to Challenger for pushing. |
| Undaunted | Hemorrhage. Swap to Might for pushing. |
| Executioner | Carnage. |
| Disembowel | Blood Rage. Level it last. |
Mercenary
Hire Subo with Molotov, Scorched Earth, Snipe and Incendiary Bolt. His Seeker ability reveals the map, and Molotov with Scorched Earth raises your damage over time. Reinforce with Varyana, Bloodthirst triggered by Charge, for attack speed. If you need more defence, use Aldkin with Field of Languish instead.
From fresh 70 to finished
Nothing happens until one pair of pants drops. After that it is the cheapest Barbarian build to finish.
Reach 70 and farm as Whirlwind. Do not try Charge without the pants: a 17 second cooldown is not a build.
Respec the day the Mail drops. Charge to 15, Wrath of the Berserker at rank 4, the eleven aspects listed above, Two-Handed Axe in the Technique slot, five pieces of Berserker's Crucible and Moni + Que with Cir + Qua. This already farms quickly.
Rage of Harrogath brings Wrath back far more often, Ramaladni's turns your unused Fury into damage, and Wyrdskin, as gloves or as a charm, keeps enemies Vulnerable and Weakened. Take Wrath of the Berserker to rank 15.
Shattered Vow first, then Fists of Fate, The Furnace, Ramaladni's, Leoric's Crown once you have Splinters for it, and Rage of Harrogath. Anger Management replaces Battle Fervor's on the boots, and Wanton Rupture and Overheating move onto the amulet.
For pushing, add Steel Grasp in place of Challenging Shout, use the Lac rune, add the Writhing Aspect for damage that ramps over 10 seconds, and swap two glyphs.
The rotation
It is mostly here for speed. War Cry, Challenging Shout and Iron Skin go out whenever they are ready.
Start from near the edge of your screen and line the pack up so a single Charge passes through as many enemies as possible. Medium-length lines are ideal.
Cross your own trail. Enemies standing in overlapping trails melt.
Short Charges on top of a target roughly halve your damage over time and can deal none at all. If you are too close, run out first.
Early on its cooldown is long, so save it for elites and bosses.
Nothing on the bar needs it. A full bar is Edgemaster's and Ramaladni's at full value.
On bosses
You can lay several trails across the arena before a boss even spawns, so it starts the fight already burning. After that, keep Charging in long lines through it, not in short hops under it. For the pushing setup, cast Steel Grasp first so it is on cooldown when you Charge. If bosses are not dying quickly, lower the difficulty; this build is tuned for speed first.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- Very fast. Your attack is also your movement skill.
- Simple to play, with no Fury management at all.
- Cheap: one unique and a set of common aspects.
- Charge stuns everything it touches, and Disobedience keeps your damage reduction stacked.
Where it struggles
- Completely dependent on Chainscourged Mail. There is no substitute.
- Can feel clunky. You are always lining up the next run.
- Terrain is your enemy: walls, doors, tight corridors and uneven ground stop Charge early, and you can get stuck.
- Damage arrives over a few seconds, not in one hit.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Playing it without Chainscourged Mail. Charge has a 17 second base cooldown. The pants are the build.
- Short Charges on top of the target. The trail is the damage, and a short hop barely lays one.
- Wearing Leoric's Crown with no Splinters in it. It only boosts what is socketed. Use Tuskhelm until then.
- Expecting Chainscourged's damage bonus on the standard bar. It needs a second damaging Brawling skill.
- Switching to Sescheron's Fury too early. The bigger number comes with slower casts, and the build feels worse for it.
Not for you? The other Barbarian builds: Whirlwind · Hammer of the Ancients.