The Rend Barbarian build in Diablo 4 is one of the most satisfying and fun ways to play the Barbarian class. Thanks to the Vessel of Hatred expansion and Season 6 updates, this build has gained prominence for its unique playstyle that focuses on damage over time (DoT) through Bleed effects, combined with explosive burst damage. Here's a complete guide on how to craft the most powerful Rend Barbarian build for Season 6, covering skills, gear, Paragon, glyphs, and more.

Key Concepts of the Rend Barbarian Build

The Rend Barbarian is primarily focused on Bleed damage, which is dealt with over time, making your enemies slowly die as you apply the Rend skill and use Rupture to trigger explosions. This build revolves around the Critical Strike and Vulnerable damage synergies to maximize the Bleed damage from Rend and enhance it with Rupture and Overpower effects.

Key Synergies

Vulnerable Damage: The Hemorrhage Paragon node increases your Bleed damage based on Vulnerable damage bonuses.

Critical Strike: The Gushing Wounds Key Passive boosts Bleed damage on Critical Strikes, and it grants an extra 70% Bleed damage when you land a Critical Strike.

Overpowering Bleeding Enemies: Exploding Bleeding enemies with Rupture causes additional damage, leveraging your Overpower chance.

Best Skills for the Rend Barbarian Build

To maximize the potential of this build, you need to carefully select and invest in the right skills. Below are the recommended skills for your Rend Barbarian in Season 6:

Rend (Core Skill)

The heart of your build, Rend deals massive Bleed damage over time to enemies. It's the skill you'll be using to apply damage to groups of enemies.

Rupture (Core Skill)

Use Rupture on Bleeding enemies to explode them, dealing devastating damage. This skill should be used after Rend to trigger massive bursts of damage.

Challenging Shout (Defensive Skill)

Increases your survivability by taunting enemies and reducing the damage they deal. A critical part of keeping enemies focused on you while you deal damage over time.

Rallying Cry (Utility Skill)

Boosts your attack speed and grants Berserk. Essential for maximizing your offensive potential while sustaining Bleed damage.

Steel Grasp (Control Skill)

Pulls enemies towards you and applies Vulnerable, making them easier to target with your other skills and boosting your Bleed damage.

Call of the Ancients (Ultimate Skill)

Provides massive burst damage and a powerful Berserk proc. Use it whenever it's available to deal high amounts of damage to large groups.

Best Arsenal Setup for Rend Barbarian

The Arsenal mechanic in Diablo 4 allows you to equip different weapons with different skills, enhancing the effectiveness of your build. For the Rend Barbarian, you want to focus on maximizing your damage output and resource generation:

Dual-Wielded Swords or Maces

Assign Rend and Rupture to your dual-wielded weapons. Maces or Swords increase attack speed and deal bonus damage to crowd-controlled enemies, synergizing with your Challenging Shout and Steel Grasp.

Two-Handed Axe in the Technique Slot

Equip a Two-Handed Axe in the Technique slot. This boosts your damage against Vulnerable enemies, which synergizes with your Steel Grasp and Rend.

Best Rend Barbarian Skill Rotation

To maximize your damage and keep your resources flowing, the following skill rotation will ensure that you apply Bleed damage and cause maximum explosions:

Rallying Cry: Use this to activate Berserk and gain bonus attack speed.

Challenging Shout: Taunt enemies to focus them on you while providing additional defensive bonuses.

Steel Grasp: Pull enemies in and apply Vulnerable to maximize Bleed damage.

Rupture: Trigger Overpower your Bleeding enemies, causing massive explosions of damage.

Rend: Spam Rend on the group of enemies to apply consistent Bleed damage.

Rupture: Use Rupture again for the final explosion of damage after the Bleed ticks have been applied.

Call of the Ancients: Use whenever available for huge spikes of damage.

Best Legendary Aspects for the Rend Barbarian Build

Legendary Aspects can significantly boost your build's effectiveness. The following aspects are highly recommended for the Rend Barbarian:

The aspect of the Berserker: Grants an additional damage bonus while Berserk is active, synergizing perfectly with your Rallying Cry.

Aspect of Rupture: Increases the damage of Rupture, making Bleeding enemies explode for even more damage.

Aspect of Earthquake: Trigger Earthquakes when using specific skills, increasing your overall damage output.

The aspect of Damage Reduction: Reduces damage taken while you have Vulnerable enemies nearby, improving your survivability in tough fights.

Best Paragon Boards for Rend Barbarian Build

Once you hit Level 60, the Paragon system becomes available, allowing you to further fine-tune your build. Here's the recommended Paragon Board progression for the Rend Barbarian:

Starting Board: Focus on basic stats, including Strength and Critical Strike bonuses.

Blood Rage: Boosts Bleed damage and Critical Strike damage, making it a core board for this build.

Warbringer: Increases your damage against Vulnerable enemies, enhancing your Rend damage.

Decimator: Increases your damage to Bleeding enemies, which synergizes well with Rend.

Hemorrhage: Unlocks the Hemorrhage node, increasing bleeding damage based on your Vulnerable damage bonus.

Best Glyphs:

Rumble (Level 100, Starting Board): Increases damage and crowd control effectiveness.

Ambidextrous (Level 100, Blood Rage): Increases damage while dual-wielding weapons.

Wrath (Level 100, Warbringer): Increases damage to Vulnerable enemies.

Challenger (Level 100, Decimator): Boosts Bleed damage on affected enemies.

Ire (Level 100, Hemorrhage): Increases Critical Strike damage for Bleeding enemies.

Best Mercenaries for Rend Barbarian

For your Mercenary, you should hire Raheir for the Ground Slam and Bastion combo, which gives you both offensive and defensive buffs while slowing enemies. This will ensure enemies remain close and vulnerable to your Rupture explosions.

Additionally, Aldkin is a great choice for Reinforcement, as his Field of Languish will help to slow and reduce damage from enemies pulled in by Steel Grasp.

Best Gear and Runewords for the Rend Barbarian Build

As you approach the endgame, the Rend Barbarian will rely on Uniques and specific Runewords to maximize its damage output. Key pieces of gear include those that increase Vulnerable damage, Bleed damage, and Critical Strike chance.

TamTec Runeword: Use this Runeword to trigger Earthquakes that boost your overall damage.

Earthquake-related Legendary Items: Focus on gear that produces Earthquakes when using certain attacks.

Best Rend Barbarian PvP Build for Diablo 4 Season 6

The Rend Barbarian build is effective in PvP, especially against melee classes that rely on close combat. The damage over time from Bleed makes it tough for enemies to escape or recover. However, you might struggle against ranged attackers, like Rogues or Sorcerers, as they can keep their distance.

In PvP, try to engage melee builds early with Challenging Shout and Steel Grasp to ensure they stay within your range. Rupture can decimate them if they're already Bleeding. If facing ranged enemies, it might be beneficial to consider a different Barbarian build for more mobility.

Conclusion

The Rend Barbarian build in Diablo 4 Season 6 is one of the most exciting and powerful ways to play the Barbarian class. By focusing on damage over time through Bleed and using Rupture to explode enemies, you can clear hordes of monsters with ease. With the right gear, Paragon boards, and glyphs, you'll be unstoppable in both PvE.

For those looking to further enhance their experience, Diablo 4 gold and Diablo 4 items play a crucial role in acquiring the best gear, Legendary Aspects, and Unique items for your Rend Barbarian build. By investing in these resources, you can unlock the full potential of your character and ensure you're ready for the challenges that await in Diablo 4 Season 6.