Diablo 4 Boosting

Diablo 4 Season 12 Sanctuary has been overrun by a giant chicken. That sounds like an April Fools' joke, and indeed it was announced by the official channels on April Fools' Day - but the news is actually real.

A new world boss named Chi'Khan has descended. It brings not only new items but also unique gameplay mechanics. These new items are not mere cosmetics; they are gear pieces with special abilities, some of which still have their full potential waiting to be discovered by players.

Official Announcement

We originally thought that after Gift of the Tree event ended, the next would be March of the Goblins. But clearly, the developers had their own plans. On April Fools' Day, they released an event notice titled "A Fowl Beast Rages."

This notice didn't introduce any specific event details. It simply declared that a giant chicken would destroy everything. This is evidently a very dangerous bird of prey, because "only death awaits you," and all you can do is "run!"

This is clearly a new event, and the pleasant surprise is that they even created a new boss for it! Compared to past events that merely boosted experience points and loot drops, this April Fools' event truly deserves to be called a brand new event.

Chi'Khan

Let's talk about this new world boss, Chi'Khan. It looks like a giant chicken. Like other world bosses, it respawns every three hours, and it might even replace one of the existing world bosses.

The developers haven't specified the exact duration of this event, but based on past event lengths, April Fowl's Day should last about a week. Also, one of the achievements tied to this event is named "April Fowl's Day 2026," so if you miss it this year, it will most likely return next April Fools' Day.

Even though it's a rooster, as the announcement said, it's a massive threat. On Torment 4 difficulty, quite a few players have already been slain by this rooster - its sharp beak and claws are no joke! If you want to hunt it, the safest approach is to lower the difficulty first and get familiar with its attacks and mechanics. Otherwise, even a Barbarian will end up full of holes from its pecks!

New Unique Items

Beyond the usual loot, Chi'Khan brings several new unique items, and their effects are... special. The developers didn't design new models for these items either; they reuse generic item models, so they might only be usable during the event.

Rather than focusing on their power, players tend to treat them as amusing collectibles. No one yet knows what role they could play in builds - you can be the one to try them out.

Bow: Cluckeye

Cluckeye originates from Diablo II and has now been introduced into Diablo 4. It grants 100% critical strike damage, along with stats like Dexterity and maximum Life. Its special effect gives attacks a chance to emit three "cluck" sounds, and also a chance to shoot chickens as projectiles.

Staff: Cluckonomicon

The most eye-catching stat on Cluckonomicon is increased Shrine duration, a fairly rare affix. It also provides a new stat: Pickup Radius, which likely means automatically picking up gold, Obducite, and other Diablo 4 items. Its special ability, "Pecking loose stones grant Henlightenment," most likely refers to gaining XP.

Scythe: Eggcecutioner

Eggcecutioner provides Life on Kill and Resource on Kill, and grants bonus damage after slaying elites. Its most amusing effect is that "enemies killed have a chance to lay an egg." What exactly this egg does is still unclear - perhaps it explodes or something similar.

Polearm: Coop De Grace

Coop De Grace focuses on striking injured enemies, offering high bonus damage and critical strike chance. Its special effect grants a chance to directly execute injured non-elite enemies. In addition, it has a very quirky affix that boosts damage against poultry. Its most powerful feature: "Damaging an injured enemy has a chance to summon a flock of explosive chickens," which likely references Witch Doctor's explosive chicken build from Diablo III.

Shield: Eggis

This shield also increases damage against poultry, though not as much as Coop De Grace does. Its useful affixes include increased Barrier generation and bonus critical strike chance against feared enemies. Its special effect: upon a successful block, there is a chance to transform the attacker into a feared chicken. 

Event Rewards

After defeating the world boss Chi'Khan, you will unlock a brand new achievement: Bawk, Bawk. Additionally, free items can be claimed in the shop, including icons, nameplate templates, and various skins. From the short official video, the obtainable cosmetics include a bow, a staff, a shield, and a polearm. Even if your current class cannot use a certain weapon type, you can still get its skin.

Don't forget to visit the in-game shop, where you can claim a free title called Quake Before the Hatchling, which is also part of April Fowl's Day event.

April Fowl's event is a surprise prepared by the developers. They've only released very limited promotion for it (an announcement and a trailer, both of which are rather baffling). Many players haven't even realized that a new event has started. So how much content the developers have actually prepared remains for players to discover on their own - there might even be hidden Easter eggs.

Diablo 4 has never lacked for Barbarian players, even if their presence was somewhat overshadowed by Paladin's radiance in Season 12, and some players still prefer Barbarian's brutal and ferocious combat style.

Let's look at the most impactful Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian build in Season 12. If you're after a playstyle that can effortlessly crush The Pit 100 and deal astronomical damage to bosses, this is the build you want.

Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Gear

Gear is where the essence of Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian truly lies. With a specific combination of equipment, you'll reduce your life to a minimal threshold while stacking maximum Fury. This grants you near-invincible survivability and damage numbers that soar into the hundreds of billions.

There are two gear setups here, with the core difference being whether you have Melted Heart of Selig.

Setup with Melted Heart of Selig

• Helm: Crown of Lucion
• Chest armor: Mantle of Mountain's Fury
• Gloves: Aspect of Limitless Rage
• Pants: Tibault's Will
• Boots: 100,000 Steps
• Amulet: Melted Heart of Selig
• Ring 1: Ring of Starless Skies
• Ring 2: Aspect of Anger Management
• Bludgeoning weapon: Aspect of Ancestral Force
• Slashing weapon: Aspect of Earthquakes
• Dual wield weapon 1: Sabre of Tsasgal
• Dual wield weapon 2: Ramaladni's Magnum Opus

Setup without Melted Heart of Selig

• Helm: Crown of Lucion
• Chest armor: Mantle of Mountain's Fury
• Gloves: Aspect of Earthquakes
• Pants: Tibault's Will
• Boots: 100,000 Steps
• Amulet: Battle Trance
• Ring 1: Ring of Starless Skies
• Ring 2: Aspect of Anger Management
• Bludgeoning weapon: Aspect of Ancestral Force
• Slashing weapon: The Grandfather
• Dual wield weapon 1: Sabre of Tsasgal
• Dual wield weapon 2: Ramaladni's Magnum Opus

Melted Heart of Selig is the cornerstone of this build's survivability. Damage taken is first absorbed by your primary resource - Fury - rather than your health pool. Additionally, it reduces your maximum life by 75%.

You'll want to keep your life total low to maximize the damage-transfer effect of this amulet. With the build boasting an enormous Fury pool, that resource effectively acts as a massive shield. As long as your Fury isn't depleted, you're nearly invincible.

Crown of Lucion received significant improvements in Season 12, making it a go-to for any build that spends resources, as it provides a multiplicative damage boost. Meanwhile, Ring of Starless Skies grants up to 50% increased damage while you're spending your primary resource, along with a 50% reduction in resource cost - perfect for offsetting the increased consumption from Crown of Lucion.

The remaining gear pieces either offer damage multipliers based on resource spending or provide valuable resource generation; both are indispensable to this build.

Runes

If you find yourself struggling with Fury generation in the open world, the following rune combinations can help resolve the issue.

• Ahu + Lum
• Igni + Lum
• Zan + Lum
• Bac + Lum
• Lith + Lum

Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian Skills

Active Skills

• Frenzy (rank 1): Enhanced Frenzy and Combat Frenzy
• Hammer of the Ancients (rank 5): Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients and Furious Hammer of the Ancients
• Call of the Ancients(rank 1): Prime Call of the Ancients and Supreme Call of the Ancients
• War Cry (rank 1): Enhanced War Cry and Power War Cry
• Ground Stomp (rank 1): Enhanced Ground Stomp and Strategic Ground Stomp
• Mighty Throw (rank 1): Enhanced Mighty Throw and Fighter's Mighty Throw
• Steel Grasp (rank 1)

Before engaging in combat, be sure to activate Walking Arsenal key passive as outlined below. If your Fury is running low, you can follow Ground Stomp with Hammer of the Ancients to quickly refill it.

Every 4 to 5 seconds, you'll want to generate an earthquake and then detonate it with Hammer of the Ancients to maintain the 100% damage bonus from the chest armor.

Use Mighty Throw roughly every 15 seconds to keep Sabre of Tsasgal's buff active. Throughout the fight, keep Call of the Ancients on cooldown and maintain its benefits.

Passive Skills

• Warpath (rank 3)
• Tempered Fury (rank 3)
• Imposing Presence (rank 3)
• Martial Vigor (rank 3)
• Pit Fighter (rank 3)
• Slaying Strike (rank 3)
• Thick Skin (rank 1)
• Counteroffensive (rank 3)
• Aggressive Resistance (rank 3)
• Heavy Handed (rank 3)
• Brute Force (rank 3)
• Wallop (rank 3)
• Booming Voice (rank 3)
• Outburst (rank 1)
• Walking Arsenal (rank 1)
• Invigorating Fury (rank 1)
• Defensive Stance (rank 3)
• Tough as Nails (rank 1)

To maximize your damage output, you'll need to activate skills like War Cry to gain damage bonuses. While this demands some attention, the resulting damage boost is nothing short of staggering. Several key passives also contribute significant increases.

• Heavy Handed: Increases critical strike damage when using two-handed weapons.
• Brute Force: Overpower attacks deal additional damage when using two-handed weapons.

Walking Arsenal is a crucial passive for this build and must be set up correctly. By dealing damage with two-handed blunt weapons, two-handed slashing weapons, and dual-wielded weapons in succession, each grants a 15% damage bonus for 15 seconds. When all three bonuses are active simultaneously, you become Unstoppable and gain additional attack speed.

To activate these benefits, simply rotate through Frenzy (activating dual-wield), Mighty Throw (activating two-handed slashing), and Hammer of the Ancients (activating two-handed blunt).

To ensure these bonuses trigger, configure your skills as follows:

• Hammer of the Ancients: Set to Two-handed Mace
• Frenzy: Set to Dual Wield
• Mighty Throw: Set to Two-handed Slashing

This build delivers immense damage, but its gear requirements are demanding and its skill rotation is intricate. As such, it's recommended only for those aiming to climb the leaderboards in The Pit.