While much of the focus in Diablo 4 can be on destroying your enemies, it is important to consider how you'll be staying alive. In end-game content, you will encounter very powerful foes who can easily wipe you out if you are not properly prepared with a good defense. Fortify can help protect against being quickly bursted down by reducing damage intake and can be pretty easy to access, especially on certain classes.
RELATED: Diablo 4: Barrier Generation Explained
This guide will explain exactly how the Fortify mechanic works, why you'll want to consider getting some, and the best ways to acquire and empower its effect.
The Fortify mechanic acts as a ten percent damage reduction when your current life is equal to or lower than your Fortified Life total. Fortify builds up from the bottom of your health and can ascend to your maximum life. Visually, this is displayed as a bright red section of your Life Orb that can eventually completely overlay the original, darker shade of red.
Fortify will slowly deplete over time but will also diminish when you lose Fortified Life. Health increases such as a Health Potion will not replenish any Fortified Life, meaning you will have to rebuild your Fortify level after depletion to reactivate its effect.
The main competitor with Fortify is Barrier, which acts as an on-demand shield. This works oppositely in that it will deplete before your current life total, as opposed to after it. While this may sound better than a delayed damage reduction, you can typically generate larger amounts of Fortify than Barrier. When combined with effects that increase the potency of Fortify, it can act as a pivotal defensive stat.
Fortify does not work in the same way as Barrier, in that it will not prevent death, only reduce damage taken.
While ten percent damage reduction may not seem very impactful, it can be quite easy to proc, depending on your chosen class. Barbarians, Druids, and Necromancers will excel at generating Fortify via their skills and Aspects, whereas Rogues and Sorcerers may want to rely more on Barrier, as the only ways for them to gain Fortify are via items with the 'Chance when struck to Fortify life' stat.
The Fortify skills available to each class are:
Barbarian
Bash, Iron Skin, Rallying Cry, War Cry, Thick Skin.
Druid
Earth Spike, Earthen Bulwark, Maul, Debilitating Roar, Trample, Grizzly Rage, Natural Fortitude, Thick Hide, Defensive Posture, Nature's Resolve, Safeguard.
Necromancer
Hemorrhage, Blood Surge, Bone Prison, Drain Vitality, Necrotic Carapace.
As you can see, Druids have a multitude of abilities that generate Fortify, especially ones that involve morphing into a Werebear. Builds such as Pulverize naturally include these skills, making them inherently tanky.
Alongside simply generating Fortify, there are a few stats that help enhance its potency:
Synergizing with these stats is the interaction between Fortify and Overpower. A special hit that takes your current normal and Fortified life pool values before adding them to your next attack, Overpower can be a great way for tankier builds to dish out some heavy burst damage.
Building up a large Fortify will aid your Overpower damage, but you don't have to be Fortified to trigger it in the first place.
To further increase the strength of Fortify, you will want to socket Sapphires into your Armor items. They will increase your Damage Reduction while Fortified by three percent (at Royal quality), a significant increase when you have all five sockets with this effect.
NEXT: Diablo 4: Every Necromancer Key Passive, Ranked