Best Malignant Hearts for Barbarian in Diablo 4 S1

The recent patch nerfed the Barbarian to the ground. Hammer of the Ancients was the best build for Barbs at higher levels and with the damage being significantly reduced on that, it only makes sense for Barb users to head back to Whirlwind.

The Season of the Malignant looks promising so far. You can do many new builds with the classes, especially with the Malignant Hearts. The nerfs make sense to some extent as the powers we gain from the Hearts balance things out.

In this guide, we will be talking about the best Malignant Hearts for the Barbarians in Diablo 4 Season 1.

Best Malignant Hearts for Barbarian in Diablo 4 S1

There are 32 different types of Malignant Hearts so far in the game offering players a boost to either offense, defense, or helping them manage their resources.

With several nerfs the Barbs could easily be regarded as the weakest class when it comes to leveling up. They are sort of late bloomers as they really start to shine once you complete at least 2 paragon boards.

Here is what I feel Barb users should be farming for this season.

Hearts	Effects
Tempting Fate (Vicious, Offensive)	You gain 40-60% Critical Strike Damage but your Non-Critical Strikes deal 20-15% less damage.
The Dark Dance (Vicious, Defensive)	Every 5 seconds while above 60% Life, Core Skills cost 68-51 Life instead of your Primary Resource. Skills that consume Life deal 10-20% increased damage.
The Malignant Pact (Wrathful Super)	Cycle through a Malignant bonus every 20 kills: Vicious: Gain 20% Attack Speed. Devious: Core and Basic Skills have a 15% chance to fully restore your Primary Resource. Brutal: Every 21 seconds, gain a Barrier absorbing 85-102 damage.
Focused Rage (Vicious Offensive, Barbarian)	After spending 100-60 Fury within 2 seconds, your next non-basic skill’s Critical Strike Chance is increased by 20-30%.
Resurgent Life (Brutal Defensive, Barbarian)	While below 40-60% Life, you receive 50-60% more Healing from all sources.
Punishing Speed (Devious Utility, Barbarian)	Your skills have a 20-30% chance to knock down all enemies for 1.25 seconds when that skill’s attack speed is higher than 35-20%.
Ignoring Pain (Wrathful Super, Barbarian)	Incoming damage has a 5-15% chance of being ignored and instead Healing you for 17-68 Life.

• Tempting Fate- We all know how much all the classes rely on Critical Hits. Therefore Tempting Fate is a must have this Season for all the classes. However, use it only when you have above 30% overall Critical Chance along with certain Passives that also boost Crit Chance for certain Skills.  Otherwise, this heart will only lower your regular damage and you would not be able to kill enemies so easily.
• The Dark Dance- Barbs are known for their survivability. Later on in the game, your total HP would go above 9000 easily. This Heart would work wonders for Fury management, especially when you combine it with Unbridled Rage. It will give you the extra Core Skill Spam every 5 seconds. Works great with HOTA.
• The Malignant Pack- Some users might prefer this for the Fury refill but it is way too random and doe snot really help that much.
• Focused Rage- Best when you combine it with Unbridled Rage. The passive burns your Fury like it never existed and that is why we need this. If you have decent Fury regeneration aspects or passives, then you can easily increase your Crit Chance without even breaking a sweat. Combine with Tempting Fate to get the best effect.
• Resurgent Life- Although it is exclusive to Barbs, I do not feel you would need this. Maybe Hardcore users might prefer this but it does not enhance your existing build in any way.
• Punishing Speed- Knockdown is the best for clearing high-level Elites. If you combine this with the Accelerating Aspect, it will work wonders for Barb.
• Ignoring Pain- Great for Hardcore users and also regular players who are not using a Fortify build. If your main goal is to survive then this could be ideal for you. Very useful at high-tier nightmare dungeons.

Best Malignant Heart Combinations for Barbarians in Season 1?

If you are talking about the best combinations I would ask you to go for Tempting Fate, Focused Rage, and Punishing Speed with Unbridled Rage Passive and Accelerating Aspect on a Two-Handed weapon.  You can also switch Punishing Speed with Ignoring Pain later on as you run above Tier 50 Nightmare Dungeons.

Another great combo should be Focused Rage, Ignoring Pain, and The Dark Dance. We are sacrificing the Crit Damage for better survivability. However, we need to make sure that we max out Crit Damage on our Gear.

Well, there you go. These are the best Malignant Hearts for the Barbarian class in Diablo 4 for Season 1.

If you are looking for a decent Barbarian Build, check out our guide for one of the best ones. It is unique and definitely a lot of fun to play.

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