Diablo 4 Learn about the Barbarian's unique mechanics, the Barbarian Specialization, and the Weapon Switching Guide.
Barbarian, thanks to a variety of weapons Diablo 4It can destroy hordes of enemies in . Still, each piece of gear provides its own blessings, and you'll also want to learn how the whole system works. Here's our Diablo 4 Barbarian Specialization and Arsenal Weapon Switching guide to help you with the unique quirks of the class.
Diablo 4 Barbarian Specialization mechanics and Arsenal Weapon Swap
We've divided our Diablo 4 Barbarian guide into several sections to explain each mechanic in detail. First, let's talk about how the class's Arsenal Weapon system works.
Diablo 4 Barbarian Arsenal Weapon Switching Guide
Diablo 4 Barbarian features the Arsenal system that allows the class to equip four weapons at once:
- Several one-handed weapons for dual use – namely, one-handed axes (slicing), swords (slicing), and maces (forging).
- A two-handed club weapon—that is, two-handed maces and hammers.
- A two-handed slashing weapon—that is, two-handed axes, swords, and polearms.
Most of the class's active/usable skills tend to have a necessary weapon in mind. For example, Flay needs a slicing weapon (i.e. one-handed/two-handed or two-handed slicing). Meanwhile, Whirlwind can use any Arsenal weapon (i.e. two-handed, two-handed bludgeoning, or two-handed slicing). However, something like Frenzy is for dual use only, meaning that two-handed weapons will not be used.
Barbarian Weapon Switching Guide in Diablo 4
As a Barbarian in Diablo 4, simply use skills to switch weapons. When a skill is activated the game will automatically switch to the required weapon. Therefore, if you use Double Swing, it will hit enemies with your two-handed weapons. Then, if you continue with Hammer of the Ancients, it will automatically use your two-handed bludgeoning weapon.
But there is one more caveat to consider: You can manually change Barbarian weapons depending on skill. To do this, you need to open the Skill Assignment panel. You can press the “S” key on your keyboard or go to the abilities menu and press the left joystick (“L3”) on your controller.
Then hover over a specific skill with various armament options (eg Whirlwind, Lunging Strike, Flay, and others). By default, the “Auto-Select” option selects the strongest available weapon you equip. However, if you press the middle mouse button or the “X” button on the controller, you can switch to other types. This allows you to use your two-handed weapons for Whirlwind instead of two-handed.
Specialization system
So why would you want to trade weapons as a Barbarian in Diablo 4? There are several reasons for this. First, some skill upgrades and passives provide bonuses depending on the weapon type. A good example is how Flay has a 10% chance to make an enemy vulnerable (two-handed/one-handed), but this is 20% if you're using a two-handed weapon.
The second reason is due to the Diablo 4 Barbarian Expertise system, which you can access by opening the character panel and going to the relevant tab. Essentially, each weapon type has its own buffs, and these buffs increase the more you kill with them, and it depends on what skills you use. Here is an example:
- Frenzy uses your two-handed weapons. Let's say you have a one-handed sword and a one-handed mace, and you kill a simple Skeleton with just Frenzy. This means that both your one-handed sword and your one-handed mace earn Specialization points.
- Now let's say you slapped Skeleton a few times with Frenzy, but then you came back with Whirlwind. You will gain Specialization for your one-handed sword and one-handed mace (Frenzy), as well as your active two-handed weapon (Whirlwind).
The Diablo 4 Barbarian Specialization system digs deeper as you'll get cumulative bonuses for each weapon's level, as well as a flat bonus when you reach level 10 with it.
Therefore, this mechanic provides more focus and specification when it comes to builds. You probably won't worry too much about this as you level up, especially since you change your gear parts frequently. But when you have the ideal weapons for the build you prefer, it will become very important for the endgame. In any case, here are the Specialization bonuses for each weapon:
one-handed weapons
- axis
- Increased critical strike chance against injured enemies (i.e. below 35% HP).
- Rank 10 – Lucky Strike; critical strikes have a 6% chance to grant +55% attack speed for two seconds.
- maces
- Increased damage against stunned enemies.
- Rank 10 – Lucky Strike; Up to 1,5% chance to go berserk for 10 seconds when hitting a stunned enemy.
- swords
- Lucky Strike; Chance to gain extra fury when you hit a crowd-controlled enemy.
- Rank 10 - +15% attack speed for three seconds when you kill a crowd-controlled enemy.
two-handed weapons
- axis
- Increases damage dealt to defenseless enemies (i.e., take +20% more damage).
- Rank 10 – +10% increased critical chance against defenseless enemies.
- polearms
- Bonus Lucky Hit chance.
- Rank 10 – +10% increased damage while healthy (i.e. 80% or more HP).
- swords
- A certain percentage of the damage you deal is applied as bleeding.
- Rank 10 – +30% increase in bleed damage for five seconds after killing an enemy.
- maces
- Lucky Strike; +2 chance to gain rage every time you hit an enemy.
- Rank 10 – Increased critical damage by +15% against stunned and defenseless enemies while berserk is active.
weapon techniques
Diablo 4 features Barbarian, Expertise, and Arsenal Weapon Swap mechanics. Apart from these, there are Techniques that unlock with a quest when you reach level 15. Unfortunately, this quest takes place in the northwest part of the map, near the Dry Steppes. Since this area is not part of the beta, we would teleport whenever we tried to travel there.
