I play Barbarian Cleave in Diablo Immortal and I’ll tell you exactly how I run Challenge Rifts. I’ve tested this build across seasons and on April 15, 2025 I still lean on the same core ideas: hit large groups, stay alive, and use mobility to control fights. In my experience Cleave is the fastest way to clear dense packs when you set up gear and gems correctly.
Surprisingly, the build isn’t just about raw numbers; it’s about rhythm and position. You want area damage, crits, and the ability to bail when a rift turns nasty. This doesn’t always work on every map (depends on your niche), but when it clicks you’ll fly through tiers.
⚔️ Core Skills — why I pick them
Cleave is your bread and butter: wide arc, constant hits. Whirlwind keeps damage rolling while you move. Wrath of the Berserker is your window to spike, and Undying Rage buys you precious seconds when things go wrong. Sprint gives repositioning and a short damage burst; Hammer of the Ancients finishes elites fast.
| Skill | Use | Cooldown | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleave | Main AoE | — | Consistent area pressure |
| Whirlwind | Mobility + AoE | — | Makes movement damage count |
| Wrath of the Berserker | Burst | 30s | Short windows to delete elites |
| Undying Rage | Survival | 45s | Livesense when you drop low |
| Sprint | Positioning | 12s | Close gaps or exit danger |
| Hammer of the Ancients | Single target | 10s | Kill guardians quickly |
Here’s the funny part: players obsess over tiny stat gains and forget how to move. Positioning amplifies everything — hit an 8-target arc and your gems pop like fireworks.
🛡️ Gear and Legendary Gems — how I choose
I prioritize area damage, crit chance, and crit damage on most slots. Bul-Kathos’s Oath gives Whirlwind synergy that I prefer, but The Grandfather is a valid alternative if you want heavier single-target damage. Honestly, some streamers overrate Bul-Kathos in tight rifts — controversial, I know!
Gems I favor (order matters): Blood-Soaked Jade, Berserker’s Eye, Bottled Hope. Blood-Soaked Jade scales with life and your natural health pool, so it’s a high-impact buy early. Berserker’s Eye raises raw output but raises incoming damage; upgrade it only after your defenses are solid. Bottled Hope is dependable defensive value at every rank.
| Slot | Gem | Benefit | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Blood-Soaked Jade | Scaling damage | High |
| Secondary | Berserker’s Eye | Big DPS, riskier | High (timed) |
| Defensive | Bottled Hope | Damage reduction | Essential |
| Utility | Echoing Shade | Multiplier | Medium |
Tip (between us): upgrade 1- and 2-star gems first for value; leave expensive pushes for later unless you’ve got a farm plan. There are exceptions if you’re chasing a specific breakpoint.
📊 Stats and Paragon — the why behind numbers
Critical Hit Chance vs Critical Hit Damage should roughly sit near a 1:10 ratio; that yields predictable DPS scaling. Area Damage multiplies Cleave’s value against packs, so don’t skimp. Life synergizes with Blood-Soaked Jade, and All Resistance keeps elemental bursts from killing you fast. Movement Speed is surprisingly important — it’s not glamorous, but it saves runs.
Paragon focus: Vanquisher first (damage), Survivor next (life/armor), then Treasure Hunter for farming gains. Gladiator? Situational only. This order lets you push tiers faster without dying to sudden spikes.
🎯 Rotation and combat flow
Start with Sprint to close or reposition, then Wrath to open your burst. Keep Cleave as the default while using Whirlwind to reposition and Hammer of the Ancients on elites. Save Undying Rage for true emergencies (below ~30% health or one-shot affixes). Why this sequence? Because combining mobility and timed bursts gives the best sustained DPS while letting you escape danger.
“Position so your Cleave hits the most bodies — your clears will improve overnight.”
// Pseudo-rotation (easy to memorize)
Sprint -> Wrath -> Position -> Cleave (spam) + Whirlwind when moving
Hammer on elites
Undying Rage only if critical
Have you practiced enemy patterns? You should. Watching attack tells saves cooldowns and lives.
Quick rotation list
- Engage: Sprint, Wrath, position
- Sustain: Cleave primary, Whirlwind while moving
- Elites: Hammer focus
- Emergency: Undying Rage → Sprint out
One counterintuitive insight: sometimes slowing your pace — letting Wrath fall off then reapplying clean — nets higher long-term uptime than pressing every cooldown immediately. It feels wrong, but it works.
đź’Ž Upgrades, resonance, and ROI
Gem upgrades are exponential value. Blood-Soaked Jade should get the first big investment. Berserker’s Eye? Proceed cautiously. Bottled Hope scales linearly and is safe to push.
| Resonance Tier | Total | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1000 | ~8% damage |
| Tier 2 | 3000 | ~16% damage |
| Tier 3 | 5000 | ~24% damage |
Budget note: focus on low-star upgrades early. If you try to whale for 5-stars before a foundation, you’ll waste gold and time. To be fair, some players disagree — and that’s okay.
🏆 Tier progression — realistic expectations
Tiers 1–30 let you learn rotation and positioning. 31–60 force you to invest in gems and defense. 61+ requires optimized gear and near-perfect execution. This is a grind and a puzzle; every tier raises enemy HP and dangerous affixes. If you can’t meet time limits, upgrade gear and gems instead of repeating the same mistakes.
Milestones (short): 1–15 learning, 16–30 gear matters, 31–45 gem-critical, 46–60 elite strategies, 61+ min-maxing required.
Controversial take: pursuing perfect Paragon builds before learning safe play is wasted effort. You can clear many intermediate tiers with smarter movement, not more points. Some players will argue; I’ve noticed the proof in my logs.
Oddly enough, the Cleave build scales very predictably with investment — the more you fine-tune, the fewer surprises you’ll face. It’s like tuning a radio; small adjustments remove static and suddenly you hear everything clearly.
One last practical thing: experiment on April 20, 2025 weekend events when spawn patterns and rewards are generous; you’ll test upgrades faster. (Yes, test dates matter.)
Good luck. If you want, tell me your current gear and I’ll point out the one thing I’d change first — we’ll trim your grind time together.
