Cleaving down hordes of demons in Diablo 4 is always a grand time. What's not fun is being on the receiving end of a chain stun leading to your untimely end. It's difficult to keep track of all the special mobs and dangerous puddles when there are too many elements on the screen. When you're not in the mood to kite and dodge, skills with high burst damage can end your problems before it even begins.
Burst damage is amazing while leveling your character, but it will eventually become lackluster on tougher enemies. However, with the proper set-up, builds, and compounding effects, the best skills for high burst damage can remain relevant and viable all the way until the end.
8 Fireball
For the pyromaniac Sorcerers out there, Fireball is still a valid core skill, provided you're willing to invest in a specialized build. Casting Fireball launches a fiery projectile that explodes on contact, applying Fire damage to nearby foes. Fireball has many passives to increase its initial critical chance and damage, especially with the Esu's Ferocity Key Passive.
The Staff of Endless Rage unique staff will launch additional Fireball projectiles, creating a chaotic but ultimately satisfying burst of numbers and explosions. While the Fireball's burst will eventually lose out to more efficient builds in higher tiers, nothing is stopping you from blowing up everything on screen until you get there.
7 Death Blow
Despite the Barbarian's one-trick reputation for shouting and spinning at Mach speed, they actually boast an impressive build diversity. One fun build centers around empowering Death Blow to execute your enemies with a meaty overhead slap, resetting its cooldown, and doing it all over again.
Death Blow is versatile because it can function as your generator since it can reliably provide fury. Its burst damage is an excellent finisher after softening up enemies with Bleed or Whirlwind.
6 Penetrating Shot
The Rogue ditches its fast-paced play style for a more methodical one centered on Penetrating Shot. The ability plants a Rogue in place as they charge up a single piercing shot that deals additional damage the more enemies it passes through. Add in Combo Points, one of Rogue's specializations, and you already have reliable burst damage without a fully realized build.
Condemnation doubles down on magnifying Penetrating Shot's damage using Combo Points. The unique dagger causes your core skills to hit harder when spending three Combo Points, even adding a mechanic to instantly earn three Combo Points for a positive loop.
5 Ice Shards
What Sorcerers lack in damage compared to other classes, they more than make up for it with their vast array of crowd control. Ice Shards is a core skill that barrages enemies with multiple sharp shards, dealing more damage to Frozen enemies. The Avalanche Key Passive also boosts Ice Shards' damage, doubling that chance against Vulnerable enemies.
Frost Sorcerers have easy access to Frozen and Vulnerable through Frost Nova. All these status effects plus damage amplifiers like Glass Cannon all add up for Ice Shards to burst enemies down.
4 Hammer Of The Ancients
Hammer of the Ancients proves that the most straightforward way is often the most effective, bashing enemies with one strong slam. Then it's a matter of stacking multiple effects to turn it into a colossal slam. The Furious Hammer of the Ancients passive enhances its initial damage based on the amount you had before using it. Add Barbarian legendaries like Aspect of Limitless Rage, Aspect of Ancestral Force, and Edgemaster's Aspect to completely pancake foes.
Hammer of the Ancients is also a powerful ability for a PvP-oriented build. When built correctly, you can zoom around the Fields of Hatred, threatening to take anyone's Seeds of Hatred.
3 Corpse Explosion
Corpse Explosion can weaponize the bodies of your fallen foes to erupt, dealing massive AoE damage. The ability scales well into the endgame due to the increased mob density, and you can often lure enemies back to previous corpses to create an endless loop of fresh and exploding bodies.
The Necromancer's unique items, Black River and Howl from Below, further increase the burst potential. The unique scythe can consume five corpses for more damage and a larger radius, buffing up the volatile skeleton summoned when equipped with the unique gloves. From the start of your adventure to Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons, Corpse Explosion's impressive burst damage is always a welcome addition to your build.
2 Pulverize
The versatile Druid has many spells and options available to them. But it is equally rewarding to ignore all that, transform into a savage bear, and delete packs of enemies with one slam. A Pulverize Druid is famously a one-trick build, but it will do its job without any problems. Enhanced Pulverize will add in a guaranteed Overpower proc every twelve seconds.
Aspect of the Ursine Horror and Shockwave Aspect supplements Pulverize by adding lingering damage and a much-needed mid-range shockwave. If that's not enough, the Earthen Might Key Passive can cause all your attacks to become guaranteed critical strikes for a few seconds.
1 Bone Spear
No other ability in Diablo 4 comes close to the single-target burst damage from Bone Spear. The core skill shoots out a single Bone Spear that pierces enemies and can even break into three shards when upgraded. The ability's numbers are already amazing on the base level, boasting serious damage and critical strike chance from the Paranormal upgrade. Then add Splintering Aspect and Aspect of Serration for an incomparable burst that deletes mobs, world bosses, and even Uber Lilith herself.
The Ossified Essence Key Passive adds a small level of Essence management to the build, as your Bone skills will hit harder when your Essence is above half. All that's left is to bring defensives like Bone Storm, and you're all set to obliterate enemies in the highest tiers of the game.