Barbarian Impressions: Zulu

“The barbarians. Mighty warriors whose strength and ferocity are a match for any foe, whether slavering beast or foul demon. Tall, broad, and rippling with muscle, the barbarian can bear a heavy weapon too large for a commoner to lift, or wield two full-sized armaments—one in each hand—with wickedly lethal purpose. In the wild and monstrous lands of Sanctuary, there is nothing more frightening than a barbarian with a dry blade.”

Diablo 3’s Barbarian fulfills the archetype well. Completely at home in the center of combat, the Barbarian forgoes finesse in favor of sheer brute force. While the idea of the Barbarian is straightforward, the class is anything but bland. Spells like Cleave and Whirlwind fulfill the status quo, while others like Seismic Slam and Earthquake take the Barbarian’s staggering displays of power to the next level.

The Barbarian video released a few weeks back on the Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise site shows off most of these spells with some of their fancier rune variants, such as the Giant’s Stride Earthquake rune that spews magma beneath your feet. Earthquake, Whirlwind and Seismic Slam appear throughout the video, mostly because these are the most visually impressive abilities the Barbarian has, but also because they display what the Barbarian does so well: make your jaw drop.

From the moment you log into your newly created Barbarian, you can feel the power behind the Barbarian’s attacks. The very first spell you get, Bash, causes the screen to shake every time it’s used, and enemies killed by the ability go flying for fifty feet or more. This holds true for most strike-based abilities in the Barbarian’s arsenal. The animations themselves are pretty, but the animations are backed up by an undeniable sense of firepower, which is a feeling that I didn’t get from any other class in the beta.

Once you get Cleave and Frenzy, Bash gets overshadowed. Bash is a slow, hard-hitting attack that exists mainly for its knockback or stun chance when runed. During my time in the beta, Bash’s secondary effect was totally unnecessary, but given the fact that the beta was so easy that all you needed is damage output, it’s not that surprising. Where Cleave and Frenzy outperfom it in damage, Bash makes up for in utility. I can definitely see it being used a lot in PvP and knockback/control builds.

All of the Barbarian’s secondary abilities were awe-inspiring, with the exception of Rend. Rend is an area-of-effect bleed that does considerable damage, but isn’t so rewarding in the visual department and therefore less appealing. That being said, I used the ability heavily on the Skeleton King, since its damage over time synergized well with the Cleave rune that causes enemies to explode when killed with it. Together, Cleave and Rend make a powerful AoE damage combination, if you’re willing to forgo flair and utility for damage.

The Barbarian’s defensive spells in the beta, Ground Stomp and Leap, were both very useful. Ground Stomp was great for briefly reducing damage taken and keeping enemies standing still for AoE, but when surrounded, it doesn’t offer any respite past its duration. As a result, I heavily used Leap. Without Leap, the Barbarian felt prone to getting stuck in large groups, which will undoubtedly be a problem in higher difficulty modes.

In general, the Barbarian plays the same at early levels as it does at later levels, which says a lot about how hard Blizzard worked to create a feeling for the class. The first impression you get from the Barbarian is the right one, and I have to say the Incredible Hulk-style gameplay drew me in much more than I expected. Prior to my beta experience, I was dead-set on Monk. But since smashing things is so satisfying, I have to say the Barbarian is edging its way toward number one.