Introduction

Whenever people talk about the Barbarian, one unique feature always stands out: the class can equip four weapons at once. These include:

One Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon
One Two-Handed Slashing weapon
Two One-Handed weapons

This system opens up far more build possibilities than any other class. Barbarians can:

Equip more Unique items
Imprint more Legendary Aspects

However, this also explains why Barbarians often have lower individual item scaling compared to other classes. Most classes only equip a single two-handed weapon, so their Aspects and Unique item values are tuned higher for balance. Otherwise, Barbarians would easily overpower every other class due to having four weapon slots.

In short, the Arsenal System provides both advantages and trade-offs.

This guide will walk you through the Barbarian’s class mechanic—the Arsenal System—to help new players fully understand how the class works.

1. How to Assign Weapons to Skills

Unlike other classes, many Barbarian skills are tied to a specific weapon type.

By default, the game will auto-assign a weapon.
Some skills are locked to a specific type. For example:
- Hammer of the Ancients → only works with Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapons

How to Change Weapon Assignment

Keyboard & Mouse:

Press S to open the Skill menu
Hover over the skill
Click the Middle Mouse Button (press, not scroll) to cycle weapon types

Controller:

Open the Skill menu
Press Left Stick (L3)
Select the skill and switch weapon assignment using the prompted button

2. Weapon Expertise & Selection

All classes benefit differently from weapon types. For example:

Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapons → highest base damage, slowest attack speed
One-Handed Swords → fastest attack speed, lowest base damage

For Barbarians, thanks to the Arsenal System, weapon choice matters even more because each weapon type grants additional bonuses (Weapon Expertise).

Weapon Expertise Bonuses

One-Handed Axe

Increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies
Lucky Hit: chance to increase Attack Speed
Dual-wielding axes → bonuses doubled

One-Handed Sword

Gain Fury when hitting Crowd Controlled enemies
Gain Attack Speed when killing enemies
Dual-wielding swords → bonuses doubled

One-Handed Mace

Increased damage to Stunned enemies
Lucky Hit: chance to Stun and gain Berserking
Dual-wielding maces → bonuses doubled

Two-Handed Axe

Increased damage and Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable enemies

Two-Handed Sword

Direct damage applies Bleeding
Deals additional Bleed damage over time

Two-Handed Mace

Lucky Hit: chance to generate Fury
Increased Critical Strike Damage

Polearm

Increased Lucky Hit Chance
Increased damage while Healthy

Example

When using Lunging Strike:

If assigned to a Two-Handed Mace →
Gain bonus Critical Strike Damage + Lucky Hit Fury generation
If assigned to a Two-Handed Axe →
Gain bonus Crit Chance and damage vs Vulnerable enemies

Extra Expertise Slot

Barbarians can also select one additional Weapon Expertise bonus that applies without equipping that weapon.

Example:

Using Hammer of the Ancients (Two-Handed Mace)
Selecting Polearm Expertise

You gain:

Two-Handed Mace bonuses AND
Polearm bonuses (Lucky Hit Chance + damage while Healthy)

⚠️ Important Rule:
If your selected Expertise matches the weapon used by the skill, you do NOT get double benefits. So always choose a different weapon type for the extra Expertise slot.

Skill Tree Weapon Variants (DLC Update)

In the Vessel of Hatred expansion, the Barbarian skill tree adds weapon-based modifiers:

Example – Leap:

Dual-wield → grants Berserking
Two-Handed Mace → grants Overpower stacks
Two-Handed Slashing → grants additional Ferocity effect

3. How to Quickly Level Weapon Expertise

After finishing the campaign or early progression, you may notice many Weapon Expertises are not maxed out.

Here’s the fastest way to level them:

Steps

Prepare one of each weapon type (Skip those already maxed)
Switch to World Tier 1 (lowest difficulty)
Go to the Training Grounds in Kyovashad
Spawn 5 normal training dummies
Use skills that can swap to any weapon like:

Whirlwind
Lunging Strike

Continuously attack the dummies → You’ll see Weapon Expertise levels increase rapidly
Once one weapon type is maxed. Equip a new weapon. Switch skill assignment and then repeat the process

Continue until all Weapon Expertises are max level