Patch 2.4 Barbarian Skill Changes: Barbarian Builds

Check out the Diablo II: Resurrected Barbarian skill changes in Patch 2.4! We break down the Warcries, Combat Masteries, and Combat Skills updates to help you build the ultimate Barbarian.

Hey there! Patch 2.4 brought some pretty sweet changes to the Barbarian in Diablo II: Resurrected, especially to his skills. If you're looking to fine-tune your Barbarian build or just curious about what's new, you've come to the right place. We're going to walk through the updates to his Warcries, Combat Masteries, and Combat Skills so you know exactly how they've been tweaked.

Warcries

A lot of these changes are about making the tooltips clearer and some skills a bit more potent or efficient.

• Howl: Good news, the tooltip now actually shows you the Radius, so you know exactly how far your Howl will reach.
• Battle Cry: Similar to Howl, the Radius is now displayed on the tooltip. Handy for planning your crowd control!
• War Cry: This one got a nice damage buff, about 30% more damage! Plus, the mana cost per level is lower now (0.75 instead of 1), making it more spammable. And yep, the Radius is now shown on the tooltip too.
• Shout: The duration baseline has been bumped up from 20 seconds to 30 seconds, matching Battle Orders. More uptime on that defensive buff! The tooltip also now shows the Radius.
• Battle Orders: Just like Shout, the tooltip will now display the Radius.
• Battle Command: This one also gets a duration boost, going from 5 seconds to a much more useful 30 seconds, matching Battle Orders. The Radius is also now visible on the tooltip.
• Grim Ward: The baseline Radius has been increased, and it now also slows enemies and makes them take more damage! Plus, it gets a synergy from Find Potion, adding +5% to the Damage Taken debuff per level. Pretty neat for debuffing groups of enemies.

Combat Masteries

These masteries are getting some serious love, especially regarding their Attack Rating bonuses and what weapons they affect.

• Sword Mastery: It's been renamed to Blade Mastery and now includes daggers in its effects, not just swords. The base Attack Rating bonus is up to 40% (from 28%).
• Axe Mastery: Base Attack Rating bonus increased to 40% (from 28%).
• Mace Mastery: Base Attack Rating bonus increased to 40% (from 28%).
• Polearm Mastery: Base Attack Rating bonus increased to 40% (from 28%).
• Spear Mastery: Base Attack Rating bonus increased to 40% (from 28%).
• Throwing Mastery: This one got a lot of attention! The base Attack Rating bonus is now 44% (from 30%). It also has a chance to not consume quantity, going up to 55% at level 20. Critical strikes with throwing weapons now replenish quantity, and there's a chance to pierce!

Combat Skills

Some of your core combat skills are seeing significant changes, affecting how they feel and perform in battle.

• Whirlwind: When you target an enemy with Whirlwind, your Barbarian will now move to the enemy's initial position and stick there; it won't track them if they move. Also, Whirlwind will now perform even if you target adjacent enemies, instead of just doing a basic attack.
• Leap: You'll notice the baseline minimum distance is increased, and the leap motion itself is 75% faster. It also has a minimum jump height and duration now. The tooltip now shows the Knockback Radius.
• Leap Attack: Similar to Leap, the motion speed is up by 75%, and it has a minimum jump height and duration. The damage baseline has been significantly increased from 100% to 200%, and the Attack Rating baseline from 50% to 100%, with Attack Rating per level also increasing from 15% to 20%. A big addition is that your Barbarian now deals extra physical damage to surrounding enemies within 4.6 yards when landing, and this AoE damage scales per level. The Leap synergy bonus now applies to this AoE damage too. Just a heads-up, the mana cost is slightly increased from 9 to 10. Like Whirlwind, Leap Attack will now perform even when targeting adjacent enemies.
• Berserk: The synergy for this skill has changed from Shout to Battle Orders.
• Double Throw: This skill now has a damage bonus, starting at 16% baseline and increasing by 8% per level.
• Frenzy: It's gained a synergy from Increased Stamina, adding +0.4 Seconds per Level to its duration.

These changes should give you plenty of new ways to approach your Barbarian builds in Patch 2.4. Experiment with them and see what works best for you!