Best Diablo 2 Barbarian Class Build in Ladder Season 5

The Barbarian class is best known for its unrivaled power when it comes to elite hunting or sniping to find unique items in Diablo 2, especially as a single player. With all the abilities at its disposal, this class is a loot-farming monster, and with the right build, it becomes even better. 

So in this guide, we're going to break down our pick for the best Barbarian class build in Diablo 2 Resurrected for Ladder Season 5, the Berserk Barbarian, and go over what makes it such a powerful and resourceful class. We'll also take a look at the gear it needs, explain its strengths and weaknesses, and much more.  

Update on 9 October 2023: We've updated the best Barbarian build in Diablo 2 Resurrected Ladder Season 5.

Is The Barbarian A Good Class in D2R Ladder Season 5?

The Berserk class is no slouch when it comes to damage and being able to withstand quite a bit of punishment in tense situations, but where it stands out is as a loot-manufacturing beast.

Taking advantage of the ideal loot tables of every unique creature in the game, it excels at pulling in tons of gear and unique resources with its "Howl" and "Find Item" abilities, making this the class to take into battle if you want to get some real treasures for your efforts. 

As stated before, it isn't a slouch, though; with the Berserk ability that deals magic damage to any enemy it hits and skills like Iron Skin that makes it tanky, it's a solid class to take into heated battles.

However, it does fall short in the more intense boss battles and is highly weapon dependent, so our build will focus on strengthening those weaknesses in Diablo 2 Resurrected Ladder Season 5. 

Best Diablo 2 Barbarian Build Season 5: Berserk Barbarian

Because the Barbarian class would not benefit at all from the new Sunder Charms implemented in the game, our build focuses on increasing its magic damage output as well as beefing up its defenses, making it last longer on the field. With the Concentrate ability, we can boost our physical damage and attack strength with our chosen weapon, as well as the Natural Resistance ability that grants an increase to all resistances depending on your level. 

Blade Mastery and Increased Speed also give us passive damage and attack rate boosts, along with a faster run/walk speed, letting us position ourselves better on the field. To get more in-depth, below we've broken down each skill and slot item; you'll need to create the optimal Berserk Barbarian class. 

Berserk Barbarian Gear and Sockets in D2R Season 5

Berserk Barbarian Skills in D2R Season 5

Which Mercenary To Use With Diablo 2 Berserk Barbarian Build

As with most builds in Diablo 2, the Mercenary of choice is the Act 2 Desert Mercenary, which can be hired from Greiz. Its Might Aura can weaken enemies immune to magic damage (our main source of damage), and its Jab ability can pick off enemies that stray from your line of sight. 

The Mercenary should be equipped with the Insight Polearm for its high mana regeneration to help you with dealing out more attacks. As well as the Guillaume's Face helm and Treachery armor to improve the Mercenary's damage while completely avoiding sources of Cold Damage. 

As always, be aware that until you have the bare minimum of equipment suggested in this guide, the Mercenary is difficult to keep alive. To directly feed them a healing potion from your belt, press shift + 1/2/3/4. Keep in mind that you can drag healing potions over the portrait. Additionally, the Mercenary obtains additional Resistances from antidote and thawing potions.

Any of the Mercenary NPCs in each Act can be used to restore your Mercenary if they do die away in combat. This does have an escalating price with a maximum of 50,000 Gold, so consider that when determining if the Mercenary is needed for your next battle. 

Alternative Diablo 2 Barbarian Builds - Ladder Season 5

As with all builds in Diablo 2 Resurrected Ladder Season 5, there are some good alternatives out there for players to explore and try out, but we recommend the Berserk barbarian for its all-around usefulness and loot benefits. Though if you do want to try some other builds, below is a list of alternative Barbarian builds you can try courtesy of the fantastic Maxroll website. 

• Whirlwind Barbarian
• Gold Find Barbarian
• Frenzy Barbarian
• War Cry Barbarian
• Support Barbarian

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