Overview of Barbarian Skills in Diablo 3

Among the various classes of Diablo 3, the Barbarian evokes the most admiration among the game’s fans. And it is not hard to see why. Barbarians are still the epitome of destruction and are simply one of the best ways to get leveling rather quickly in Diablo 3.

At the same time however, there is a limit to the number of whirlwinds, leaps or other skills you can perform as a Barbarian. This is because in Diablo 3 the erstwhile mana is longer available in plenty to fuel all those skills and powers. Instead, Barbarians now need to focus on Fury, which can be generated by inflicting as well as sustaining damage.

The Barbarians possess certain skills that are Fury guzzlers and some others that help regenerate Fury. There are also some additional utility skills. The skills which generate Fury can be used quite easily to cause casualties. But if your aim is more towards banishing entire hordes of enemies then skills that consume massive amounts of Fury will need to be called upon.

Skills That Generate Fury

• Bash – This is the most basic skill when a Barbarian is battling against enemy forces. You will derive a huge bonus from the damage inflicted by a Barbarian when he decimates his/her target. And since it scales with the speed of your attack; the faster you wield your weapon, more is the destruction you will cause.
• Cleave – An entire group can be destroyed with a single swing. The targets which are struck first bear the brunt of the attack while those surrounding it suffer lesser damage. Fury is built based on the number of targets that are struck. A highly effective way of gaining Fury, the Cleave only fall shorts when compared to the Bash in terms of both Fury generation and damage.
• Leap Attack – This move involves the Barbarian building up a fair amount of Fury before unleashing a raft of attacks in a single sequence. The Fury is generated only if your leap strikes the enemy.
• Ground Stomp – The classic tactic of quaking everybody towards damage, the Ground Stomp isn’t as destructive like the other moves but possesses a three second stun.

Skills That Spend Fury

• Hammer of the Ancients – A sort of Barbarian BAM, this manoeuvre does a great job of causing instant and massive damage. It also manages to hit a fair number of enemies and also comprises of some decent animation. Simply put, it’s a great way to spend lots of Fury on the enemy boss.
• Threatening Shout – A loud cry by the Barbarian that reduces the damage being inflicted by enemies, this is a very handy skill that can be called upon when being mobbed by opposing forces.
• Battle Rage – Adds more oomph to your damaging and hitting abilities when activated. One of the better skills to have though it certainly falls back when compared to other flashier skills.
• Weapon Throw – The name is quite self-explanatory but the surprising thing is its impact, which is supposedly greater than that of the Hammer of the Ancients. Downside is that only one target can be taken on at a time.
• Rend – The skill enables you to mutilate enemies close-by in a time period of three seconds. An extremely useful skill though when using it against tougher opponents, care must be taken to keep it going all the time.

Abstract Abilities

• Revenge – This ability or skill comes to your rescue when you are under attack and unleashes a massive retaliation while regenerating your own health.
• Ignore Pain – This ability provides a kind of shield against oncoming damage upto a period of five seconds.
• Overpower – Used when things go out of hand, this ability’s highlight is the amount of AoE damage it can cause.

You can find a full list of Barbarian abilities on the official site. In order to understand how to best combine them into powerful combos and if you want to learn the best builds check this beginners barbarian guide. That should help you out when deciding which abilities are best for PvE or PvE, boss killing or leveling.