Diablo 4 Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Endgame Build Guide

The Barbarian in Diablo 4 has many great skills but one that has always captivated the hearts of fans is Hammer of the Ancients. Thanks to its great range and damage, it’s one of the essential kits on any Barbarian build. Whether you’re trying to level up or you’re looking for an endgame build, this is one of the core skills to have.

This is a Diablo 4 Barbarian endgame build that utilizes the Hammer of the Ancients. If you’re having trouble plowing through the forces of Lilith and Hell, then this might just be the perfect build to try out this Season of the Malignant. 

Before anything else, we’ll give you a short description of this build first.

The Ultimate Barbarian Hammer Build

The Hammer of the Ancients is a good offensive skill but it does lack the AoE needed to thin out hordes greatly. The good news is that this can be remedied by the Offensive Aspect of the Ancestral Force. Lucky for you, you can get the Codex of Power for it by competing with the Sunken Ruins in Scosglen.

This build will be specifically for Season of the Malignant. As such, picking the right Caged Hearts is very important to maximize the effectiveness of this build. Let’s talk about Caged Hearts first.

Caged Heart

1. Caged Heart of the Barber

Effect: Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within [2.0 - 4.0] seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 11%[x] per second.

This is the go-to Caged Heart for all builds in Diablo 4 Season 1. It gives you enough offense and defense to go head-to-head against the toughest enemies. The best thing about Caged Heart of the Barber is that with this build, you’ll need to position yourself at the center of mobs. The Caged Heart gives you enough protection to last as long as possible. 

2. Caged Heart of Revenge

Effect: [10.0 - 20.0]% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge, or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250%[x] and explodes, dealing up to [200 - 42,340] Fire damage to Nearby enemies.

This is nearly similar to Caged Heart of the Barber but the effect of the AoE damage is less. However, you’re getting 20% damage reduction as a compromise which is a great deal of damage mitigated on your end. It makes the tanky Barbarian, even more durable in battle.

3. Caged Heart of Focused Rage

Effect: After spending [60 - 100] Fury within 2 seconds, your next Non-Basic Skill's Critical Strike Chance is increased by [22 - 32]%[x].

Using Hammer of the Ancients constantly can drain your Fury quickly. This Caged Heart ensures that you’re going to have even more firepower as your Fury runs out. It will be a common occurrence with this build but at least, you’re getting something in return for the Fury spending.

Arsenal System Setup

With the Barbarian’s unique mechanic called the Arsenal System, you can use a specific weapon for every attack skill that you have. 

For this build, you should focus on using a Two-Handed Mace since Hammer of the Ancients requires you to use a Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapon. With this Arsenal bonus, you can get a Critical Strike Damage multiplier, on top of this build’s capacity to inflict both Stun and Vulnerable to enemies.

For your Technique Slot, you’ll need a Two-Handed Axe so you can deal even more damage to Vulnerable enemies.

Skill Allocation

Of course, the most important part of this build is the skill point allocation. While you can adjust your allocations as much as you want, following this build through and through with the right Caged Hearts and Aspects, can help maximize your damage.

1. Lunging Strike - 2 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Lunging Strike

For your Basic Attack, you’ll need to allocate two points for Lunging Strike and its Enhanced version. Aside from being a vital skill in worst-case scenarios, this will be your primary source of Fury generation. Having the Aspect of the Expectant with you can also make Hammer of the Ancients more deadly.

Luckily, you can get this Aspect from Underroot in Scosglen. In most cases, Lunging Strike will only be used when you’re out of Fury or all of your skills are in cooldown.

2. Hammer of the Ancients - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients, Furious Hammer of the Ancients

The start of the Barbarian Hammer build is, of course, the Hammer of the Ancients. This Core Skill deals damage to a concentrated area. Although the range is decent, it can be very short without the right upgrades. You’ll find yourself mostly surrounded by enemies but with Hammer of the Ancients, you can take out swarming mobs pretty easily.

The Furious Hammer of the Ancients upgrade makes this skill even deadlier if you learn how to manage your Fury well.

3. Pressure Point - 3 Skill Points

This is a vital passive to have since Hammer of the Ancients is going to be used often. With this, you can make enemies around you Vulnerable. Pressure Point improves upon Hammer of the Ancients by giving it the capacity to deal more damage to enemies on its own.

4. Ground Stomp - 1 Skill Point

For your crowd control skill, you’ll need to put 1 point into Ground Stomp. Although 1 point might not seem much, trust us when we say that it’s more than enough to Knockdown and Stun enemies in an area. Ground Stomp can control huge groups of enemies very easily, which gives you an opportunity to start spamming Hammer of the Ancients.

5. Rallying Cry - 5 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Rallying Cry, Tactical Rallying Cry

Rallying Cry is one of the most important Shouts you’ll have on this kit. With the upgrades we’re getting, you can boost your Fury regeneration, as well as your movement speed with Rallying Cry. In that regard, Rallying Cry is your most important source of Fury other than Lunging Strike.

6. Challenging Shout - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Challenging Shout, Tactical Challenging Shout

You’ll be within melee range all the time, and as such, you’ll need Challenging Shout. It’s your best defensive skill for this build. The Tactical Challenging Shout upgrade also gives you an extra means to generate more Fury as you take damage. All in all, this can help maximize your use of Hammer of the Ancients even further.

7. War Cry - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced War Cry, Power War Cry

War Cry will serve as your main offensive shout. This can help increase your damage significantly. Using Power War Cry is a smart choice with this build as you’ll always be surrounded by enemies, meaning your damage is enhanced even further.

8. Booming Voice - 3 Skill Points

This build will have three Shouts that you can alternate with. Having Booming Voice is a smart choice as it means all of your buffs are going to be useful for even longer periods.

9. Raid Leader - 3 Skill Points

This is another ability that will benefit your Shouts. Being at the forefront of the battle means that you’ll have your health drained a lot of the time. If you’re running out of potions to use, you can use any of your Shouts to replenish your health even for a bit. You’ll be healed for as long as your Shout’s effects are active so it’s a perfect combo with Booming Voice.

10. Swiftness - 3 Skill Points

Being quick on your feet is important to get out of trouble a lot easier. For this build though, it’s a good way to start kiting enemies so that they pool around you and make each use of Hammer of the Ancients more impactful.

11. Aggressive Resistance - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to get to the next passive skill. Still, there’s decent damage reduction provided with this passive.

12. Prolific Fury - 3 Skill Points

As this build is very Skill-heavy, you’ll need all the chances for Fury regeneration. Prolific Fury gives just that, as you’ll also be Berserking most of the time with this build. With Prolific Fury, it’s possible to have a steady stream of Fury regeneration.

13. Pit Fighter - 3 Skill Points

Again, you’ll be within melee range of enemies a lot of the time. Pit Fighter helps you deal even more damage in these cases. As an added bonus, you get damage reduction from enemies from afar. These defensive and offensive capabilities help you last longer even in the hardest Nightmare Dungeons.

14. Thick Skin - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to get to the next passive skill.

15. Counteroffensive - 3 Skill Points

This build alone gives you a lot of opportunities to build Fortify on your Barbarian. If you have the right gear that maximizes your Fortify even further, Counteroffensive is the passive ability that takes your damage to a whole new level. If you’re able to increase your Fortify even further, that’s a chance to deal really heavy damage.

16. Heavy Handed - 3 Skill Points

Throughout this build, you’ll only need Two-Handed Weapons. As such, you’ll need Heavy Handed as a means to increase your damage even more. 15% extra Critical Strike Damage is a lot to add.

17. Wallop - 3 Skill Points

Like Heavy Handed, this benefits the weapons that you’re going to use for this build as well. Wallop benefits Bludgeoning weapons like Maces by increasing your damage against Vulnerable or Stunned enemies.

18. Concussion - 3 Skill Points

With Wallop and Heavy Handed, the last passive you need to maximize the damage with your Two-Handed Mace is Concussion. Having this passive increases the chances of Stunning enemies with your Bludgeoning weapon’s skills. In this case, it makes the Hammer of the Ancients even more dangerous. 

19. Unbridled Rage - 1 Skill Point

Unbridled Rage is a serious double-edged sword. The damage boost it provides Hammer of the Ancients is impressive. However, it doubles the Fury cost as well. The good news is that you have a ton of opportunities to increase your Fury regeneration with your passive and active abilities.

Gameplay

As with most Barbarian Builds, the Ultimate Barbarian Hammer build sees you right at the heart of the action. In fact, it would be wise to get the aggro of all enemies on the field as much as you can first. Once you’re at the center of the action, you can start spamming Hammer of the Ancients to start dealing damage.

If you’re having trouble with the amount of enemies surrounding you, you can use Ground Stomp to incapacitate as many of your enemies as possible. This should give you enough time to start killing the other enemies in the area first. It would be better if you focus on killing the downed enemies first as you have increased damage against them.

For your Shouts, you should use them in this order preferably: Challenging Shout, War Cry, and Rallying Cry. This is a good way to start buffing up your Barbarian before engaging in heavy fights against Elites and mobs. You can use your Shouts as needed though so don’t focus on this order.

Aspects

Although there are a few required Aspects for this build, farming for them won’t be hard as there’s a Codex of Power for the most necessary ones you need.

• Aspect of ‍Ancestral Force in Sunken Ruins (Scosglen)

• ‍Aspect of Berserk Ripping in Mournfield in (Dry Steppes)

• Aspect of ‍Disobedience in Halls of the Damned (Kehjistan)

• ‍Aspect of Echoing Fury in Siroccos Caverns (Kehjistan)

• ‍Aspect of Numbing Wrath in Heathen's Keep (Hawezar)

• ‍Aspect ofRetribution in Abandoned Mineworks (Kehjistan)

• ‍Aspect of the Expectant in Underroot (Scosglen)

• ‍Aspect of Unrelenting Fury in Hallowed Ossuary (Fractured Peaks)

• ‍Edgemaster’s Aspect in Oldstones (Scosglen)

• ‍Ghostwalker Aspect in Broken Bulwark (Scosglen)

• ‍Might Aspect  in Dark Ravine (Dry Steppes)

• ‍Protector Aspect  in Lost Archives (Fractured Peaks)

• ‍Rapid Aspect in Buried Halls (Dry Steppes)

Hammer Away

The Ultimate Barbarian Hammer build is one of the best builds you can use against huge mobs. Hammer of the Ancients is definitely one of the best skills that the class has right now. It’s definitely the best Core Skill. With the right Aspects and the Caged Hearts above, you’ll be unstoppable in the endgame.