Season 1 Thorns Barbarian Endgame Build

This is a Season 2 Thorns endgame build for Barbarian in Diablo 4 (D4) that focuses on Thorns and Frenzy's deadly combination to deal significant damage while having extremely high survivability. Read on for the complete list of Vampiric Powers, Skills, and Aspects you need and how to play the build for Season 2 and Abattoir of Zir (AoZ).

Thorns Build Strengths and Weaknesses

Build Strengths

Insanely High Survivability

This build boasts remarkably high survivability due to the presence of Thorns and numerous defensive options applied. All of your skills have been chosen and tweaked to further boost your toughness, which will allow you to absorb as much damage as you can in order to take advantage of Thorns.

Extremely Easy-to-Use

This build is the easiest one to use out of all Barbarian builds due to the fact that you'll only ever need to press one button to clear everything in your path. You even have the option to just literally stand still and let enemies kill themselves upon attacking you.

Build Weaknesses

Struggles in Higher Tiers of Abattoir of Zir

The only downside of this build is that it falls short when clearing higher tiers of the Abattoir of Zir Dungeon, where damage is prioritized over survivability. Since only Frenzy can utilize meta stats like Overpower and Critical Strike Damage, you'll lack AoE burst damage.

Thorns Build Overview

Build Summary

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Skills

Aspects & Uniques

Stats & Gems

Build Overview and Summary
Whirlwind		Tier: Focus: PVE Playstyle: Solo and Party
Active Skills
Passive Skills

Build Overview and Summary
Whirlwind		Tier: Focus: PVE Playstyle: Solo and Party
Aspects and Uniques
Doombringer (One-Handed Sword) Harlequin Crest (Helm) The Grandfather (Two-Handed Sword) Tibault's Will (Pants) Aspect of Disobedience (Amulet) Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind (One-Handed Sword) Edgemaster's Aspect (Ring) Aspect of the Expectant (Gloves) Aspect of Limitless Rage (Two-Handed Mace) Bold Chieftain's Aspect (Ring) Relentless Berserker's Aspect (Boots) Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind (Chest)

Build Overview and Summary
Whirlwind		Tier: Focus: PVE Playstyle: Solo and Party
Stat Priorities			Recommended Gems
・Cooldown Reduction ・Critical Strike Damage ・Strength ・Lucky Hit Chance ・Fury Regeneration ・Damage Reduction ・Armor ・Maximum Life ・Damage while Berserking			Royal Emerald (Weapon) Royal Ruby (Armor) Royal Diamond (Jewelry) Tempting Fate (Vicious) Revenge (Brutal) Creeping Death (Wrathful)

This build focuses on the synergy of Thorns and Frenzy to deal swift and consistent damage against any type of enemy. You'll find numerous defensive Skills, Aspects, Paragon Nodes, and Vampiric Powers found within the set-up, which will allow you to absorb and return damage effectively with Thorns.

On top of that, this build also possesses extremely high attack speed that will allow Frenzy to shred every opponent you'll encounter. This is perfect for those who want to use the easiest-to-use Barbarian build that can handle high-difficulty content within the game.

Thorns Build Breakdown

Skill Progression

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Active Skills

Skill		Upgrade Path
Frenzy (5 Points)	→	Enhanced Frenzy	Combat Frenzy
Iron Skin (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Iron Skin	-
Rallying Cry (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Rallying Cry	-
Challenging Shout (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Challenging Shout	Strategic Challenging Shout
War Cry (1 Point)	→	Enhanced War Cry	-
Wrath of the Berserker (1 Point)	→	-

Passive Skills

Thorns Passives
Imposing Presence (3 Points)				Martial Vigor (3 Points)				Outburst (3 Points)
Tough as Nails (3 Points)				Booming Voice (3 Points)				Raid Leader (3 Points)
Guttural Yell (3 Points)				Aggressive Resistance (3 Points)				Swiftness (3 Points)
Pit Fighter (3 Points)				Thick Skin (1 Point)				Counter offensive (3 Points)
Duelist (3 Points)				Tempered Fury (3 Points)				Unconstrained (1 Point)

Skill Progression Breakdown

Recommended Skill Progression
Lv.2	Lv.3	Lv.4	Lv.5
Frenzy	Enhanced Frenzy	Combat Frenzy	Frenzy
Lv.6	Lv.7	Lv.8	Lv.9
Frenzy	Frenzy	Rallying Cry	Challenging Shout
Lv.10	Lv.11	Lv.12	Lv.13
Iron Skin	Enhanced Rallying Cry	Enhanced Iron Skin	War Cry
Lv.14	Lv.15	Lv.16	Lv.17
Enhanced War Cry	Enhanced Challenging Shout	Strategic Challenging Shout	Frenzy
Lv.18	Lv.19	Lv.20	Lv.21
Outburst	Outburst	Outburst	Tough as Nails
Lv.22	Lv.23	Lv.24	Lv.25
Tough as Nails	Tough as Nails	Booming Voice	Wrath of the Berserker
Lv.26	Lv.27	Lv.28	Lv.29
Raid Leader	Raid Leader	Raid Leader	Swiftness
Lv.30	Lv.31	Lv.32	Lv.33
Swiftness	Swiftness	Pit Fighter	Pit Fighter
Lv.34	Lv.35	Lv.36	Lv.37
Pit Fighter	Unconstrained	Duelist	Duelist
Lv.38	Lv.39	Lv.40	Lv.41
Duelist	Imposing Presence	Imposing Presence	Imposing Presence
Lv.42	Lv.43	Lv.44	Lv.45
Martial Vigor	Martial Vigor	Martial Vigor	Thick Skin
Lv.46	Lv.47	Lv.48	Lv.49
Counter offensive	Counter offensive	Counter offensive	Tempered Fury
Renown Skill Points (Lv50 Onwards)
R1	R2	R3	R4
Tempered Fury	Tempered Fury	Aggressive Resistance	Aggressive Resistance
R5	R6	R7	R8
Aggressive Resistance	Booming Voice	Booming Voice	Guttural Yell
R9		R10
Guttural Yell		Guttural Yell

Technique Slot

A crucial Expertise to get more Berserking uptime through the Blood Rage Legendary Node. This will give you a 10% chance to get Berserking for 5 seconds if you kill a Bleeding Enemy, which can be consistently achieved with the Two-handed Sword Expertise.

Arsenal System and Techniques Guide

Best Vampiric Powers

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Vampiric Power Cost	Effect Explanation
Metamorphosis 2 2 2	When you Evade you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 4 seconds. Enemies along your path take 160% Physical damage and are inflicted with Vampiric Curse. This will allow you easily counter Crowd Control effects through the activation of Unstoppable whenever you dash.
Moonrise 6 0 0	Hitting an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining 160% Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds. Perfect for increasing the damage and attack speed of Frenzy. On top of that, this will give you a significant Movement Speed bonus for more mobility.
Ravenous 3 0 0	Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to increase your Attack Speed by 40% of your Total Movement Speed for 6 seconds. This will boost your Frenzy's attack speed even further, increasing your clearing speed through higher overall damage.
Undying 0 0 1	Casting Skills heals you for 3% Life. Double this bonus while below 50% Life. This will allow you to heal a huge amount of health significantly fast when paired with Frenzy's insane attack speed.
Sanguine Brace 0 1 1	When you kill an enemy, Fortify for 6% of your Base Life. While you have more Fortify than half of your Maximum Life, you gain 8% Critical Strike Chance. This will give you added toughness through Fortify and a consistent additional Critical Strike chance.
Total Pacts Required 11 | 3 | 4

List of Vampiric Powers and Pacts Explained

Aspects and Affixes

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Best Weapons

Weapon	Aspects and Affixes
Two-Handed Mace	Needleflare Aspect Thorns damage dealt has a (20-40)% chance to deal damage to all enemies around you. ・+X% Overpower Damage (Inherent) ・+X% Damage While Berserking ・+X% Vulnerable Damage ・+X All Stats ・+X Strength
Two-Handed Sword	The Grandfather Increases your Critical Strike Damage by (60-100%). The other properties of this weapon can roll higher than normal. ・+X% Critical Strike Damage (Inherent) ・+X% Damage ・+X Maximum Life ・+X All Stats ・Ignores Durability Loss
One-Handed Sword	Ramaladni's Magnum Opus Skills using this weapon deal (0.2-0.4)% increased damage per point of Fury you have, but you lose 2 Fury every second. ・+X% Critical Strike Damage (Inherent) ・+X% Damage with Dual-Wielded Weapons ・+X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+X Maximum Fury ・+X Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% Chance to Restore Primary Resource
One-Handed Sword	Doombringer Lucky Hit: Up to a (15-25)% chance to deal Shadow damage to surrounding enemies and reduce their damage done by 20% for 5 seconds. ・+X% Critical Strike Damage (Inherent) ・+X% Core Skill Damage ・+X% Damage ・+X Lucky Hit: Chance to Heal ・+X% Maximum Life

Best Armor

Equipment	Aspects and Affixes
Helmet	Harlequin Crest Gain (10.0-20.0)% Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +4 Ranks to all Skills. ・+X Maximum Life ・+X% Cooldown Reduction ・+X% Resource Generation ・+X All Stats
Helmet	Razorplate Gain (XX) Thorns.
Gloves	Death Wish Aspect Gain (XX) thorns while Berserking. ・+X% Critical Strike Chance ・+X% Attack Speed ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・+X All Stats
Pants	Aspect of Disobedience You gain (0.25-0.50)% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to (66)%. ・While Injured, Potion Grants X% Max Life as Barrier (Inherent) (Inherent) ・+X% Total Armor ・+X Maximum Life ・+X Thorns ・+X% Damage Reduction
Boots	Ghostwalker Aspect While Unstoppable, and for 4 seconds after, you gain (10=25)% increased Movement Speed and can move freely through enemies. ・Evade Grants + X% Movement Speed for 1 Second (Inherent) ・+X% Movement Speed ・+X% Damage Reduction While Injured ・+X% Elemental Resistance ・+X All Stats

Best Jewelry

Jewelry	Aspects and Affixes
Amulet	Battle Trance Increase Frenzy's maximum stacks by 2 . While you have maximum Frenzy, your other Skills gain (10-20)% increased Attack Speed. ・+X% Resist All (Inherent) ・+X% Basic Skill Damage ・+X% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies ・+X Maximum Fury ・+X Ranks to Frenzy
Ring	Edgemaster's Aspect Skills deal up to (10-20)% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. ・+X% Resist All (Inherent) ・+X% Element Resistance (Inherent) ・+X Maximum Fury ・+X% Critical Strike Chance ・+X% Damage While Berserking ・+X Maximum Life
Ring	Bold Chieftain's Aspect Whenever you cast a Shout Skill, its Cooldown is reduced by (XX) seconds per Nearby enemy, up to a maximum of 6 seconds. ・+X% Resist All (Inherent) ・+X% Element Resistance (Inherent) ・+X Maximum Fury ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・+X% Damage While Berserking ・+X Maximum Life

You also have the option to use the Melted Heart of Selig Uber Unique to reach almost an undying state; however, keep in mind that although this would insanely boost your survivability, it would also decrease your Frenzy's damage by a significant amount.

Best Gems

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Gem Type	Effect Explanation
Royal Topaz (Weapon)	+20.0% Basic Skill Damage Aside from Thorns, this build focuses on dealing Basic Damage through Frenzy, which will be greatly improved by slotting in Topaz gems.
Royal Ruby (Armor)	4.0% Maximum Life Having more Maximum Life directly translates to having higher survivability. Furthermore, due to the Outburst skill passive, you gain a certain amount of Thorns based on your Maximum Life.
Royal Diamond (Jewelry)	5.0% Resistance to All Elements Maxing out elemental resistances is crucial to surviving various elemental attacks from enemies.

If you have specific resistance affixes in your Pants and Boots, you can replace the Diamond gems placed in your Jewelry and slot in more specific resistances coming from Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Topaz, or Sapphire gems.

You will be able to gain a total of around 21.5% resistance to all elements at World Tier 4 if you decided to equip Royal Diamonds in all your Jewelry slots.

Paragon Board Setup

Jump to a Section!
Summary		Skill Progression		Vampiric Powers
Aspects & Affixes		Gems		Paragon

Starting Board (Exploit)

Focus on getting defensive node for the The Starting board to get additional survivability right from the beginning.

• Exploit (Glyph): Exceptional Glyph that will allow you to apply Vulnerable to enemies and deal more damage to them.
• Tenacity (Rare): Grants maximum Life and Armor to increase defense.
• Iron Strength (Rare): Provides Strength and Armor for added toughness.

Blood Rage (Ire)

The Blood Rage board provides the most important Legendary Node among all boards. The Blood Rage Legendary Node will give you a significant damage multiplier, which scales off your Damage while Berserking Stat.

• Ire (Glyph): Exemplary source of Damage while Berserking stat.
• Enraged (Rare): Additional Damage while Berserking.
• Revel (Rare): Gives additional damage to Bleeding Enemies, which works with the Two-Handed Sword Expertise.
• Grit (Rare): Provides additional survivability through Damage Reduction from Bleeding Enemies.

Carnage (Tears of Blood)

The Carnage board is taken for its Legendary node and for slotting in the new Tears of Blood Glyph. This is a perfect fit to get more Damage while Berserking stat, which would add up to the Blood Rage Legendary Node's damage multiplier.

• Tears of Blood (Glyph): The best offensive Glyph due to the insane amount of additional damage it gives.
• Berserker (Rare): Provides Damage while Berserking stat to further boost the Blood Rage Legendary Node's multiplier.
• Fierce (Rare): Grants more Damage while Berserking stat.
• Brash (Rare): A defensive node that will increase your tankiness through Damage Reduction from Close enemies.

Warbringer (Marshal)

The Warbringer board will be used primarily for its Glyph Slot. This board has a great layout, allowing you to easily slot in a Strength-scaling Glyph.

• Marshal (Glyph): Great for more Shout uptime through Cooldown Reduction.
• Conditioned (Rare): Gives Strength and resistance to all elements.
• Raw Power (Rare): Grants Strength and additional Physical Damage.
• Core Reserve (Rare): Provides additional Maximum Fury, which boosts the damage multiplier given by the Ramaladni's Magnum Opus Unique.

Bone Breaker (Territorial)

The Bone Breaker is also mainly taken for its Glyph Slot. This is a great board for the job due to the closeness of the slot to the Board Attachment Gate.

• Territorial (Glyph): Great Glyph that provides additional Damage to and Damage Reduction from Close enemies.
• Vigor (Rare): Grants higher survivability through Damage Reduction while Healthy.

Weapons Master (Undaunted)

The Weapons Master Board is a the last board that is taken for its Glyph Slot in this build. This is perfect due to the small amount of points needed to slot in and activate a Willpower-scaling Glyph.

• Undaunted (Glyph): Provides additional Damage and Damage Reduction while Fortified.
• Iron Strength (Rare): Grants Armor for added toughness.

Flawless Technique

The Flawless Technique board is the last board for this Glyph and it is primarily taken for its Legendary Node, which can provide a significant amount of Critical Strike Chance.

• Cold Resilience (Rare): Provides Cold Resistance for additional survivability against enemy Cold damage.

Thorns Playstyle

Thorns Build Tips
Recommended Openers and Rotations Cycle Through Your Buffs

Recommended Openers and Rotations

Opener and Skill Rotation

Cycle Through Your Buffs

All your other skills, aside from Frenzy, are buffs that can increase your damage and allow you to survive sticky situations. Except when fighting bosses, it's best to use them one by one to make sure that you have a constant buff going on.

Diablo 4 Related Guides

Build Guides and Tier List

All Season 3 Leveling Builds

All Class Builds

All Classes
Barbarian		Druid		Sorcerer
Rogue		Necromancer		Uber Lilith Builds

All Barbarian Builds

List of Builds
Barb Leveling (Leveling)	Double Swing (PVE)	HotA (PVE)
Rend Bleed (PVE)	Thorns Barbarian (PVE)	Upheaval (PVE)
Walking Arsenal (PVE)	Whirlwind (PVE)