Battle Rage

Battle Rage is a Barbarian Tier 5 skill unlocked at level 14, which grants a substantial increase in damage and critical chance.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]
Battle Rage Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Barbarian
Skill Description:
Enter a rage which increases damage done by X% and increases Critical Hit chance by Y%, lasts for Z seconds.
Skill Details:
Type:	Buff
Quantity:	Cast
Effect:	Self Buff
School:	Physical
Fury cost:	Unknown
Cast time:	None
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	None
Synergies:	None
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Barbarian enters a rage during battle, hitting harder than his enemies initially thought.

Skill Design

This skill is good for times when fighting enemies with lots of hp, to speed things up or to maximize the chance of critical hits, and when combined with other passive skills in this tree, can make the Barbarian a dangerous machine without the use of signature skills like Whirlwind and Leap Attack.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Enter a rage which increases damage done by 32% and increases Critical Hit chance by 25%; lasts for 15 seconds.
• Rank 2: Enter a rage which increases damage done by 38% and increases Critical Hit chance by 30%; lasts for 18 seconds. (A)
• Rank 3: Enter a rage which increases damage done by 44% and increases Critical Hit chance by 35%; lasts for 21 seconds. (A)
• Rank 4: Enter a rage which increases damage done by 50% and increases Critical Hit chance by 40%; lasts for 24 seconds. (A)
• Rank 5: Enter a rage which increases damage done by 56% and increases Critical Hit chance by 45%; lasts for 27 seconds. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

Battle Rage benefits directly from the following traits:

• Intimidation: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
• Cruelty: Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
• Weak Spot: Increases critical strike damage.

Battle Rage may benefit from the following traits:

• Frenzied Attacks: Increases the chance to deal critical strikes and increases critical strike damage when the Barbarian is wielding two weapons.
• Thunderous Blows: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a two-handed weapon.
• Beast Hunter: Damage bonus against Beasts.
• Demonsbane: Damage bonus against Demons.
• Just...Stay...Dead!: Damage bonus against Undead.
• Massive Blow: You have a chance to hit all nearby targets with a single hit. Requires a two-handed weapon.
• Pig Sticker: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a polearm, spears or when he throws weapons.
• Die by the Sword: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding swords.
• Axe Murderer: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding axes.
• Brain Basher: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding maces.

Note: Traits will no doubt be revamped before game release.

Skill Rune Effects

• None known.

Development

Battle Rage was first seen in the BlizzCon 2008 demo. It originally increased damage by 100% and increased critical chance by 30% at rank 1. It was also placed in the Battlemaster Skill Tree.

For the BlizzCon 2009 version, the damage bonus and crit chances had been nerfed heavily, to be more balanced. It was also moved to the Berserker Skill Tree. As typical for buffs in gameplay demos, this skill wasn't used much, as Flux explained:[1]

I used this one a few times to test it out, and it worked, but I could hardly tell the difference, since monsters were dying so quickly anyway. As was the case with the Monk, the Barbarian was so strong and overpowered in the Blizzcon build that boosting him further with war cries wasn’t something many players bothered with. “Ugg too busy smash! Ugg not use stragedy!”

Battle Rage was available in the BlizzCon 2010 demo, but there are no gameplay reports detailing any use of the skill.

Previous Versions

See the Barbarian skill archive for more details on previous versions of Battle Rage and other Barbarian skills.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Battle Rage specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats