The decision between using Charge or HOTA in Diablo 4 Season 3 Barbarian builds often presents a dilemma. Many existing builds force you to focus solely on one ability, thereby missing out on the potential of the other. However, I'm here to introduce a groundbreaking solution: the hybrid Charge HOTA Barbarian build, which combines the strengths of both abilities.

Overview Of Charge HOTA Barbarian Build

This unique build empowers you to tackle all the challenges in the game, whether facing bosses or delving into dungeons, with unparalleled efficiency. By incorporating both Charge and HOTA, you maintain the devastating power of HOTA's massive hits while still benefiting from the agility and versatility of Charge.

What sets this build apart is its seamless integration into your existing skill tree, paragon board, and aspects. You won't need to make any adjustments when transitioning between different encounters. Furthermore, unlike many other builds, this one doesn't rely on rare Uber uniques or unique stones to excel.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this build is its ability to handle formidable foes like the Butcher or Malphas in nightmare dungeons or vaults without compromising the swift pace of a Charge-centric approach. For Barbarians this season, this build stands as the premier choice, offering unparalleled versatility and effectiveness.

Gameplay Loop

Let's examine the gameplay mechanics of the build, dividing it into 2 distinct sections.

Firstly, let's discuss boss encounters, where achieving substantial damage output is crucial. Our primary skill in these situations is Hammer of the Ancients, amplified by significant overpower damage bonuses to deliver devastating blows. To ensure these hits, we rely on the Banished Lord's Talisman. By expending 300 Fury, our next HOTA strike becomes an overpower.

Furthermore, the Talisman grants a substantial 120% damage boost if the overpower results in a Critical Strike. To guarantee this critical hit, we combine it with another accessible unique item, the Ring of Red Furor. Spending 100 Fury within 3 seconds guarantees a critical strike on the subsequent HOTA cast. By investing 210 Fury before engaging a boss (a manageable task in most encounters, with the aid of the skill bar), we only need to execute three consecutive Hammer of the Ancients strikes, ensuring the third strike lands as a massive overpower critical hit.

Following the setup, we activate all cooldowns, including our shouts for bonus damage, and Wrath of the Berserker for additional berserking damage, before executing three Hammer of the Ancients strikes. With gear specialized for overpower damage, and a paragon board featuring glyphs like Dominate for substantial overpower damage boosts, combined with Diablo 4 Items like the Godslayer Crown and Tibault's Will, which provide additional damage bonuses, we can stack numerous damage buffs to achieve monumental hits, even surpassing the 200 million mark.

The alternate gameplay loop involves running dungeons or vaults, where Charge takes precedence in our rotation. We sporadically use Hammer of the Ancients between charges to dispatch enemies. Charge grants us Unstoppable, complemented by Tibault's Will, providing 50 Fury and a 40% damage bonus. Power Charge reduces the cooldown of Charge by 3 seconds for each enemy hit, up to a maximum of 9 seconds. This typically results in a short 3-second cooldown between Charge uses.

However, thanks to the Marshal glyph on our paragon board, we can chain three to four charges consecutively without delay. Additionally, using our shout skill reduces non-shout skill cooldowns by 4 seconds, allowing us to maintain a continuous Charge cycle. This synergy between skills and gear maximizes our damage output with Charge, facilitated by the same skill tree, paragon board, and gear setup. The only adjustment required when transitioning between content is swapping out Godslayer's Crown for Tuskhelm Of Joritz The Mighty, capitalizing on Charge's berserking effect to achieve multiple consecutive charges and benefit from its cooldown reduction.

The beauty of this setup lies in its consistency across various content, seamlessly integrating elements of both HOTA and Charge builds. Whether facing formidable bosses like Malphas or the Butcher in vault runs, we maintain our efficacy, ensuring swift and efficient elimination.

Skill Tree

Let's delve deeper into the skill tree.

Begin by allocating 1 point into Lunging Strike and 1 point into Enhanced Lunging Strike. More than 2 points here are unnecessary, as they suffice to unlock the subsequent segment of the skill tree.

Following this, invest 5 points into Hammer of the Ancients, 1 point into Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients, and 1 point into Furious Hammer of the Ancients.

Proceed with 1 point each into Rallying Cry, Enhanced Rallying Cry, and Strategic Rallying Cry. The latter grants us benefits such as movement speed, resource generation, Unstoppable, and fortify.

Allocate 1 point into Challenging Shout for damage reduction against enemies and another point into Enhanced Challenging Shout.

Next, assign 3 points into Imposing Presence for increased life, 1 point into War Cry, and 1 point into Enhanced War Cry to trigger Berserking upon casting.

Additionally, add 1 point into Booming Voice and 3 points into Raid Leader, providing healing benefits to both allies and oneself, which significantly eases dungeon exploration.

Distribute 5 points into Charge, 1 point into Enhanced Charge, and 1 point into Power Charge.

Allocate 3 points into Aggressive Resistance to enable damage reduction, thereby enabling 2 points into Battle Fervor to attain Berserking upon Charge usage.

Proceed with 3 points into Pit Fighter, 1 point into Thick Skin to accommodate 3 points into Counteroffensive. Allot 1 point into Wrath of the Berserker, followed by distributing points among its modifiers.

The subsequent focus should be on 3 key passives, facilitating substantial damage output: 3 points into Heavy Handed for Critical Strike damage, 3 points into Wallop, and 3 points into Brute Force for increased overpower damage.

Lastly, the pivotal passive for this build is Unbridled Rage, chosen to enhance the impact of HOTA strikes.

Gear & Aspects

Let's discuss our gear and aspects in more detail.

Starting with your helmet, the Godslayer Crown is ideal for boss encounters, granting a significant 60% increase in damage when engaging bosses. However, for dungeon runs, I highly recommend swapping to the Tuskhelm of Joritz. This alternative offers enhanced damage, increased Fury generation, and cooldown reduction, particularly beneficial during Charge sequences and Berserking phases. Additionally, this change provides added damage reduction through increased ranks of Aggressive Resistance.

For the chest piece, opt for the Juggernaut aspect, providing substantial armor. Since Charge offers excellent mobility, evade stats are unnecessary. Focus on acquiring stats such as damage reduction from nearby enemies, total armor, and maximum life, aiming to maximize total armor to reach the armor cap.

Choose Aspect of the Element for gloves, granting a significant 30% bonus to physical damage every 7 seconds, synergizing well with both Charge and HOTA. Prioritize stats such as Hammer of the Ancients damage, Critical Strike chance, overpower damage, and strength.

Tibault's Will is ideal for pants, offering Fury generation and a 40% damage increase upon ability usage, granting Unstoppable. This synergizes with Charge, Rallying Cry, and Wrath of the Berserker, providing additional Fury and damage.

For boots, consider the Ghostwalker aspect for enhanced movement speed while Unstoppable. Prioritize armor rolls with movement speed and three resistances to ensure adequate defense, aiming for around 60% resistance across all damage types.

Your amulet should feature a high roll on the Banished Lord's Talisman, targeting as close to 112% overpower damage as possible. The Ring of Red Furor guarantees Critical Strike chance, while the second ring with Aspect of Unrelenting Fury refunds Fury upon HOTA usage, enhancing efficiency.

Weapon selection is crucial. Your two-handed bludgeoning weapon, utilized during Charge sequences, benefits from the Wallop passive. Always equip a two-handed mace for HOTA. Prioritize overpower damage, damage while berserking, and strength, ensuring a balanced distribution of stats.

Consider the Aspect of Ancestral Force for HOTA damage on your two-handed mace and Aspect of Limitless Rage for increased damage on your two-handed axe. The Aspect of Ancestral Charge on one-handed weapons enhances Charge, summoning ancients to charge alongside you, while the Edgemasters aspect boosts damage at maximum Fury.

Use Rubies for maximum life bonus on armor and overpower damage bonus on weapons, except for the amulet and rings where resistance gems are preferred. Aim for the two-handed axe technique for increased damage against vulnerable enemies, synergizing with glyphs on the paragon board to ensure enemy vulnerability.

Paragon Board

Let’s examine the paragon board briefly, providing a concise overview of the desired unlocks and their optimal order.

Commence by allocating the Marshal glyph to your first slot. This glyph holds paramount importance in facilitating the functionality of our build, thus prioritizing its swift acquisition is essential. Subsequently, introduce the Bone Breaker board, pivotal for delivering substantial blows via overpowering enemies. Leveraging this legendary node, we manifest overpower strikes every 12 seconds, underscoring the significance of accumulating overpower damage bonuses.

Proceed to unlock the Blood Rage legendary node, underscoring the centrality of damage while berserking in our build’s efficacy. This node effectively augments such damage by 25%, amplifying its potency. Disregard the bleed aspect; its omission does not hinder the advantageous effects of enhanced berserking damage. Integrate the Crusher glyph to bolster mace-induced damage and overpowering potential.

Transition to the Carnage board, embedding the Ire glyph to fortify damage while berserking and procure a 10% reduction in damage incurred during such states. Subsequently, deploy the Warbringer board, embedding the Exploit glyph to render adversaries vulnerable, thus capitalizing on our axe technique.

Return to acquire the Decimator board, embedding the Dominate glyph. This step underscores the importance of accessing every willpower node to amass a formidable reservoir of overpower damage. The culmination of these efforts yields overpower damage in excess of 400%, pivotal in achieving substantial numerical outputs. Conclude by securing the Hemorrhage board, integrating the Brawl glyph to amplify charge damage by 18%.

Seneschal Construct

It is highly advisable to level from 50 to 100 in Nightmare Vault rather than regular dungeons or the overworld. This allows for simultaneous leveling of your stones.

Opt for Flash of Adrenaline with Tactical Support, Duration Support, and Initiative Support to maintain a consistent damage bonus. Utilize Tempest with Swift Support, Resource Support, and Safeguard Support to ensure rapid firing of your Tempest every 0.7 seconds, bolstering Fury generation and enhancing damage reduction.

Fury generation holds significant importance as it activates our Aspect of Limitless Rage, providing a substantial 60% damage boost. While unique stones can enhance the build, they are not indispensable.

Uber uniques further amplify the build’s effectiveness. Consider substituting the Harlequin Crest helmet for the other recommended options across all content. Replace our legendary ring with the updated Ring of Starless Skies, as it also reduces resource costs. Additionally, opt for the Grandfather sword instead of the two-handed axe in our slashing slots. However, integrating these changes could potentially escalate damage output to an excessive 400 to 500 million, surpassing practical requirements.