Diablo 4: Double Swing Barbarian leveling guide (Season 9)
Apart from character classes receiving several balance changes, Diablo 4 Season 9 brings a completely new way to take down the demons from hell. The new Horadric Spell adds customizable bonuses to a particular skill, making it a lot more powerful. A combination of them can make the popular Double Swing Barbarian even better.
This guide will explain what skills you can use, along with aspects and the new Horadric Spell, for a smooth levelling experience on your Barbarian using Double Swing.
Why choose Double Swing Barbarian in Diablo 4 Season 9
The new seasonal update for Diablo 4 introduces Horadric Spell, which lets you combine several effects into a single skill. One of the Catalyst and Arcana brings a strong synergy with the Barbarian, enabling you to keep the Rage and remain Unstoppable.
Paired with the ability to make enemies Vulnerable and being able to remain Berserk for the entire duration, the Double Swing setup for the Barbarian is now stronger than ever.
Skill setup for Double Swing Barbarian
The main focus of this build is Double Swing, as you’ll be spending most of the time clearing hordes of enemies. With the ability to make enemies Vulnerable, the Barbarian can chop down some of the strongest foes. Paired with new Seasonal Mechanics, you’re looking at one of the strongest leveling builds.
- Double Swing: Enhanced Double Swing - Furious Double Swing
- Rallying Cry: Enhanced Rallying Cry - Tactical Rallying Cry
- War Cry: Enhanced War Cry
- Ground Stomp: Enhanced Ground Stomp - Tactical Ground Stomp
- Leap: Enhanced Leap - Power Leap
Going Berserk will mean nothing if you don’t use external buffs to deal more damage. This is where Aspects and Passives can help you fill the gap. Aspects like Berserk Ripping are great additional damage, while Bul-Kathos synergizes well with Leap.
Unconstrained will further increase the damage you deal while Berserking, and if you can keep your HP below 65%, it will provide a permanent 30% damage reduction and keep you Berserk. Once you get the passive, lose War Cry for any other skill.
Horadric Spell setup for Double Swing Barbarian
Horadric Spells are the talk of the town for Diablo 4’s Season 9 update. These are customizable spells that allow you to combine a few different things to make your skills more powerful. If you want to know more about the new Seasonal Mechanic, check out the guide linked above.
Slot the main Catalyst in the same spot you assigned Double Swing. For this leveling build, use Cosmic Anomaly, which spawns an anomaly every five seconds. Having five anomalies will make your Barbarian Unstoppable.
Infusing the Catalyst is completely up to you, but Smoldering Ember and Nebulous Extract are two good choices to go with. The final addition will be the Arcanas for quality of life. These are:
- Reactive Ooze - The Double Swing uses Fury to cast, and the Reactive Ooze will grant increased Fury regeneration to keep your rampage going.
- Shifting Powder - Slogging through any content is never fun, and Shifting Powder will provide you with a movement speed boost.
- Bottled Wind - Being a Barbarian means jumping into a group of enemies, so the Bottled Wind will help you gain some extra defense by forming a barrier.
Recommended stats of gear
These are some of the base stat requirements you should be looking for in a piece of gear. Other stats can be random rolls, or you can go for the ones that help improve survivability. Note that going for specific stats will take time.
Double Swing Barbarian playstyle in Diablo 4 Season 9
Leap Slam into a group of enemies and activate your Rallying Cry. The combination of these two will grant you Rage and Unstoppable to activate your main skill. Using the Double Swing will activate the Horadric Spell and further boost the damage while also providing Rage to keep spamming the skill.
The build does not require any unique items to function, but having a few like the Twin Strikes or Yen's Blessing can be useful. As for the Aspects, try to get them as soon as possible because Unconstrained will be available much later.
Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features
- Diablo 4 Season 9: All changes since the 2.3.0 PTR
- Diablo 4 Season 9 release date, and everything you need to know
- Diablo 4 Season 9: All new Uniques
- Diablo 4 Season 9: All Horadric Jewels (known so far)