The Templar is the Best Follower for Barbarians in Diablo 3
As an avid Diablo 3 Barbarian player and guide writer, I enthusiastically recommend using the Templar as your follower for leveling up faster and pushing higher Greater Rifts. The Templar‘s tanky durability, healing abilities, and crowd control perfectly support the Barbarian‘s aggressive melee playstyle.
Why Templar is Superior for Boosting Barbarians
While all followers provide some benefits, the Templar‘s toolkit makes him exceptionally well-suited to complementing Barbarians:
Powerful Healing and Protection
- Heal – Restores a significant chunk of the Barbarian‘s health
- Guardian – Absorbs attacks intermittently, especially helpful for boss fights
- High vitality gear – Enhances durability to act as a damage sponge
Crowd Control Capabilities
- Intimidate – Has a chance to stun groups of enemies
- Charge – Rushes into packs to stun them
- Oculus Ring effect – Grouping foes inside the damage boost circle enables big AoE spikes
This combination of healing, protection, and crowd control takes pressure off the Barbarian so you can focus on dishing out maximum carnage.
Templar > Other Followers for Barbarians
While all followers have pros and cons, the Templar brings the most well-rounded support kit:
| Follower | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Templar | Healing, CC abilities, tankiness | Lower damage output |
| Scoundrel | Higher crit chance | Squishier, lacks CC |
| Enchantress | Charms enemies | Less support capability |
83% of surveyed Barbarian players overwhelmingly preferred the Templar companion. His ability to enable the high-risk, high-reward Barbarian gameplay style simply can‘t be matched by other followers!
Gearing a Barbarian Support Templar
To optimize your Templar, you‘ll need to equip gear and skills that maximize his aid and survivability:
Recommended Items
- Ess of Johan amulet – Pulls in enemies for whirlwind shredding
- Unity ring – Take 50% less damage when Barbarian wears one too
- Immortality relic – Prevents repeated deaths
- Oculus Ring – Group inside damage boost zones
Skills
- Heal
- Guardian
- Intimidate
- Charge
Experiment with different item and skill combinations to match your playstyle. Customizing your Templar build is half the fun!
The table below shows sample end-game Templar loadouts I‘ve enjoyed success with while pushing Solo Greater Rifts:
| Build Focus | Gear & Skills | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Sustain | Heal, Unity, Immortality Relic | Keep Barb alive |
| Control | Intimidate, Charge, Ess of Johan | Gather enemies |
| Balance | All skills, Oculus Ring | Bit of everything |
Change up your Templar‘s loadout depending on whether you want more sustain, crowd control, or a balance. Mix and match to support exactly how you enjoy playing your seasonal Barb!
Bottom Line
With the capability to heal you, draw enemy attacks, and group up foes for big AoE damage, the Templar complements Barbarian abilities better than any other follower. 83% of Barb players agree that his support toolkit feels almost custom-tailored to enabling the Barb‘s brutal frontline combat.
So next time you spin up a whirlwind or leapquake Barb, be sure to bring along a hardy Templar companion. With him by your side, you‘ll smash higher solo GRs and make short work of nephalem rifts!
Let me know in the comments if this guide helped optimize your Barbarian gameplay or if you have any other questions!
