Barbarian (Diablo III)

The Barbarian was the first of five classes to be confirmed in Diablo III. They play similar to the previous Diablo II Barbarian, with a few skills from that game carried over to the third installment.

Lore

Main article: Children of Bul-Kathos

File:EscudoB.png

Barbarian icon

For ages, the Barbarians dwelling in the shadow of Mount Arreat were shaped to be as strong and unyielding as stone. Immense in size and unmatched in ferocity, they were charged from birth with a duty passed through generations: to protect the sacred mountain.^[1] and the Worldstone within. When their homeland was shattered and the Worldstone destroyed, many Barbarians lost faith.^[2] They became aimless, haunted by their past, traveling from place to place without honor or direction.

But not all Barbarians have given up their vigil. Some still honor the harsh snows of Arreat's summit and prowl the outskirts of its crater. They recall being handed axes and spears at an age when city children were clinging to their toys...and they burn with shame at the failure of their people. These Barbarians strive to find a new purpose for themselves in a changed world, and they will crush any who stand in their way.

Among these Barbarians is one who searches for hope. Through the evil that has taken hold of Sanctuary, this Barbarian sees a means to rekindle the Barbarian culture, and give them a reason to fight. Only in the midst of combat does this Barbarian truly feel alive. A peerless combatant, this Barbarian may appear to lack finesse, but is renowned for their weapons expertise. Strong and noble, fearless and resolute, the Barbarian is a warrior to the core.^[1] Yet the Barbarian grew weary of battle that were once craved. But with the sight of a fallen star, the Barbarian was drawn to Tristram, hoping to find what they had long sought—a foe worthy of their blade.^[3]

Gameplay

The Barbarian class is based on physical strength, which stems from his/her connection to the Ancients. Thematically, the Barbarian is based around earth and might.^[4]

As the Barbarian is a class specializing in brutal melee combat, all who choose to play as one will gain +30% built-in damage reduction, before all other factors are counted in.

Skills

Barbarian-Fury-Resource — All Barbarian skills stem from Fury

The Barbarian's skills are very similar to the Barbarian from Diablo II, only much more primal, savage and in a way more spiritual. Some of the crowd-control skills like Grim Ward are missing but it can be seen that the skill trees are divided into three distinct play-styles (read builds) with the Juggernaut being especially liked by the fanbase because of the overall coolness of the name as well as the great variety of all-purpose skills in the tree.

Unlike their previous incarnations, the barbarian now uses Fury and Stamina (the Barbarian equivalent of Mana) for their skills. These new mechanics are detailed below.

Barbarian Skills

Primary Skills
Bash • Cleave • Frenzy • Weapon Throw
Secondary Skills
Hammer of the Ancients • Rend • Seismic Slam • Whirlwind • Ancient Spear
Defensive Skills
Ground Stomp • Leap • Sprint • Ignore Pain
Might
Overpower • Revenge • Furious Charge • Avalanche
Tactics
Threatening Shout • Battle Rage • War Cry
Rage
Earthquake • Call of the Ancients • Wrath of the Berserker
Passive Skills
Pound of Flesh • Ruthless • Nerves of Steel • Weapons Master • Inspiring Presence • Berserker Rage
Bloodthirst • Animosity • Superstition • Tough as Nails • No Escape • Relentless
Brawler • Juggernaut • Unforgiving • Boon of Bul-Kathos • Earthen Might • Sword and Board • Rampage

New Skill Mechanics

It may be noted that in the original gameplay video, the Barbarian had a different colored Mana orb in the interface when compared with the blue orb of the Witch Doctor's, which was the same color as the Diablo II orb. The Barbarian's orb was more greenish-blue than a perfect blue color. In BlizzCon, when players actually got to play the Barbarian, it was found that the Barbarian's mana was in fact, Stamina, the new energy type that leads us to believe that different classes may have different energy sources, but the Witch Doctor has Mana as his energy source.

Further in its development, the energy source was called Fury as seen in the Skill descriptions and has remained so ever since. Fury is handled differently from other classes where it begins at zero, and is generated using certain skills such as Bash so it can fuel others like Whirlwind. When not in battle, the Barbarian's Fury globe will typically dwindle to back to zero.

Development

During development of Diablo III, it was originally intended that the Barbarian be the same individual as the one from Diablo II. However, it was later decided that the Diablo III heroes should be unique to the game itself, and thus the characters were made separate.^[5]

"Overthrown" Statue

Slideshow Collectibles exclusive Helmed Barbarian Statue

On July 29, 2008, during the San Diego Comic Con, Blizzard unveiled the "Overthrown" Statue.^[6] It presents the Barbarian standing atop a defeated Diablo.^[7] There are two versions available for pre-order: one with a horned helm and one without. They are still not finished and are yet to be painted, but the retail versions will be.^[8] They are 18" or 457.2mm in height, 12.5" or 317.5mm in width and 13" or 330.2mm in diameter and weight 15 pounds or 6.8 kg and both cost 300 $.^[9]^[10] They are the first of the Diablo III Premium Statue series of statues.^[7]