Ruthless

Ruthless

Ruthless is a simple but effective damage passive that punishes weakened enemies. As soon as a foe drops into the lower part of its health pool, you deal noticeably more damage to it and close out the fight faster. It is a pure offensive tool with no defensive upside.

The slot pays off above all where you reliably bring targets into the low-health range and then want to finish them quickly – for instance against single targets like elites or bosses that survive for a while. In builds that already wipe everything out in a split second, the value is smaller, since enemies barely linger in the relevant health window. As a cheap, always-on damage bonus, Ruthless still remains a solid pick for offensive barbarians.

When the 30% threshold kicks in

The 40% bonus only applies to the last stretch of the health bar, specifically everything below 30%. Against enemies that fall to a single hit anyway, you never reach that phase. Against Rift Guardians and tough elites, though, that final stretch takes a while, and that is exactly where Ruthless shortens the fight.

Because the passive unlocks as early as level 10, it is one of the first damage passives available while leveling and mainly helps there against bosses.

Pairing with other damage passives

Ruthless often sits next to Rampage and Berserker Rage, and all three have different conditions: Rampage grows with every enemy you kill, Berserker Rage depends on your own Fury being nearly full, and Ruthless on the target's health. They therefore cover different phases of a fight, with Rampage shining in dense packs and Ruthless against the stubborn single target at the end.

Boon of Bul-Kathos shows up in this company because it shortens the cooldown of Wrath of the Berserker. The berserker state raises critical hit chance and attack speed among other things, and Battle Rage stacks further damage and critical hit chance on top. With Seismic Slam as area damage, you push whole groups below the threshold where Ruthless takes over.

by eRnstl