HotA Barbarian Gets Hammered Down Before Diablo 4 Season 4

The Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian has been one of the best builds for two seasons straight and now we know what nerfs are about to hammer it down in Season 4. With the release of the PTR for Diablo 4 Season 4, there is an entire patch notes post with around 10,000 words. Class changes are part of the notes and the HotA Barbarian is set to have critical strike chance increases instead of flat damage.

All Barbarian Nerfs in Diablo 4 Season 4 So Far

Barbarians will lose their 10% damage reduction, Hammer of the Ancients won’t have flat damage stacks, Charge will do less damage, and cooldowns will be longer on select abilities. Some of these changes may be tuned before Season 4 goes live, but this is the general direction. HotA has stayed at the top for too long.

Barbarian Changes Listed:

• Barbarian’s 10% innate Damage Reduction has been removed.
• Legendary powers that require Call of the Ancients to be equipped no longer have that requirement.

Skills

Charge

• Damage reduced from 250% to 180%.

Power Charge

• Cooldown Reduction per Target Hit reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
• Cooldown Reduction for hitting a Boss reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.
• Maximum Cooldown Reduction reduced from 9 to 6 seconds.

Furious Hammer of the Ancients

• Previous – Hammer of the Ancients deals 1%[x] increased damage for each point of Fury you had when using it.
• Now – Hammer of the Ancients gains 2%[+] increased Critical Strike Chance for every 10 Fury you had when using it.

Violent Rend

• Rend’s Damage against Vulnerable enemies increased from 12%[x] to 25%[x].

Rupture

• The initial damage dealt from Rupture is now guaranteed to Overpower.

Call of the Ancients

• Korlic Leap damage increased from 104% to 156%.
• Korlic Frenzy damage increased from 39% to 59%.
• Talic Whirlwind damage increased from 65% to 98%.
• Madawc Upheaval damage increased from 195% to 293%.

Kick

• Range of damage increased from 2.2 meters to 3 meters.
• Additional damage when enemy is knocked into a wall increased from 70% to 105%.

Power Kick

• Damage per 10 Fury consumed increased from 20% to 25%.

Passives

Unbridled Rage

• Bonus damage reduced from 135%[x] to 100%[x].

Weapon Expertise

Polearm Expertise

• Lucky Hit chance increased from 10%[x] to 15%[x].
• Damage while Healthy increased from 10%[+] to 15%[x].

Two-Handed Mace Expertise

• Fury gain increased from 2 to 5.
  • Previous – You deal 15%[x] increased Critical Strike damage to Stunned and Vulnerable enemies while Berserking.
  • Now – You deal 15%[x] increased Critical Strike damage while Berserking.

Two-Handed Axe Expertise

• Vulnerable Damage reduced from 15%[x] to 10%[x].

One-Handed Axe Expertise

• Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies increased from 5%[+] to 10%[+].

Paragon

Marshal Glyph

• Cooldown reduction reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.

Blood Rage Legendary Node

• Damage increased by Berserking bonus reduced from 25% to 10%, and caps at 30%[x] damage bonus.

Crusher Glyph

• Additional Bonus: Overpower damage reduced from 30%[x] to 20%[x].

Dominate Glyph

• Bonus Overpower Damage per 5 Willpower reduced from 39.9% to 14.9% at Glyph level 21.
• Additional Bonus
  • Previous – After not Overpowering for 30 seconds, your next attack will Overpower.
  • Now – Every 30 seconds, your next attack will Overpower.

Seething Glyph

• Additional Bonus: Fury gain on enemy kill increased from 3 to 5.

If you want to wait to try out the new content until Season 4 officially drops, take on the Gauntlet instead of some great gear in Diablo 4.