ThoughDiablo 4launched less than a week ago, its players have already made several unorthodox builds such as a Barbarian character whose primary damage comes from Thorns. Despite the Barbarian nerfs inDiablo 4, the spin-to-win class of theDiablofranchise shines brightly in its latest entry. Thefirst Hardcore character inDiablo 4to reach Level 100is a Barbarian, and though its lack of any ranged abilities outside Upheaval makes the Barbarian suffer in certain endgame content, players are finding creative ways to work around the limitations.
From a safe and steadyHammer of the Ancients buildto the more single target-focused Bleed build, Barbarian players have plenty of options on how to tackle endgame content inDiablo 4such as Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons. However, for the laziest players in theDiablocommunity, there exists a build that asks nothing of the Barbarian, and yet offers a screen full of monster corpses and good loot.
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Created by WillyWanker_69, the Thorns Barbarian only has one directive for players who seek to perfectly execute its rotation: keep calm. to make the build viable,Diablo 4players need to obtain the Razorplate, a Unique chest armor piece that provides up to 9734 Thorns to the wielder, and the Needleflare legendary aspect which causes 40% of Thorns damage as an additional Area of Effect. Though the build can further be improved with legendary aspects such as Death Wish, Razorplate and Needleflare are the pair that make the magic happen.
As seen in the video, the Thorns Barbarian lets players enjoy a casual stroll through the wastelands of Sanctuary, with event monsters hopelessly dying to their own attacks.Taking down Strongholds inDiablo 4without moving a muscle may seem counter-intuitive to the class fantasy of the Barbarian, but it cannot be denied that Thorns is a very effective build to run in the early era ofDiablo 4.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen if the Thorns Barbarian will continue to thrive in higher-level content, but paired with a Whirlwind loadout, it has the potential to be an insanely fun way to tackle thechallenges ofDiablo 4. The mitigation provided by Thorns could best be described as passive-aggressive, and given the constancy of Whirlwind, as well as the buffs gained through Wrath of the Berserker, it seems like a natural way to further expand the build.
Diablo 4is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
