In this guide we cover the iconic Whirlwind Barbarian, also known as the WW Barb. Though this build is not the fastest for everything, it is very well rounded.
With the main source of our damage being Physical Damage from Whirlwind and Magic Damage coming from Berserk, the majority of the game is unlocked to us.
Common places to farm in with this build are The Chaos Sanctuary, The Pit, or Travincal for the Council Members that drop an abundance of items. There are plenty of gear options for this build, but it is quite item dependent from the start.
The Mercenary is a great asset for this build, breaking Physical Immunity from monsters with Decrepify from The Reaper's Toll.
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Barbarian Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.
Chill Gameplay ✔
Can Be Very Tanky ✔
Plenty Of Gearing Options ✔
Easy To Learn Difficult To Master ✔
❌ Gear Dependent
❌ Repetitive Gameplay
❌ Can Feel A Bit Clunky
❌ Slow Against Physical Immunes
Sunder Charm Setup
Patch 2.5 introduces a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Bone Break, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need Grim Ward and a source of Decrepify. Equip The Reaper's Toll on your Mercenary.
Counteract the negative effect of Bone Break with Crown of Ages.
Terror Zones
The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build on the Starter or Budget setup. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.
Best
✔ Travincal - Quick Access, Council Members
✔ Frigid Highlands - No Immunities, Quick Access, Eldritch
✔ Nihlathak's Temple ONLY - No Immunities, Quick Access, Pindleskin
✔ Pit - No Immunities, Many Elite Groups
✔ Tristram - No Immunities, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups
Worst
❌ The Tower Cellar - Trash Mobility, Immunities
❌ Arcane Sanctuary - Trash Mobility, Immunities
❌ Blood Moor + Den of Evil - Low Density, Few Elite Groups
❌ Burial Grounds + Crypt + Mausoleum - Low Density, Few Elite Groups, Trash Mobility, Slow Access
❌ Act 2 Sewers - Trash Mobility, Few Elite Groups, High Physical Damage
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. finditem
2. Grim Ward
3. Battle Command
4. Battle Cry
5. increasedspeed
6. naturalresistance
7. leap
8. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Whirlwind
2. blade Mastery
3. Battle Orders
4. Find Potion
5. Berserk
Damage
Utility
Attributes
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Do not allocate any Stat Points into Energy. Mana costs are covered by “x% Mana Stolen per Hit” or “+x Mana after each Kill” on gear.
Essentials
Gear Options
Farming Spots
Mercenary
Playstyle
Breakpoints
Hardcore
Build Variants
Setup
The Elite Set Immortal King has been used for Whirlwind Barbs for ages. It is fairly cheap with the most expensive items being Immortal King's Soul Cage.
It is not the best setup out there but it is very well rounded and your character glows, what more could you ask for! We have a decent amount of damage, + to Skills, and survivability with everything that the full set grants us. Use Bone Break instead of Sharp Grand Charm of Maiming to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Might Aura Desert Mercenary provides us with a significant boost to our Physical Damage attacks.
The Reaper’s Toll has a chance to cast Decrepify on striking, which slows your enemies down, increases any Physical Damage dealt to them, and even breaks Physical Immunities. Andariel's Visage and Fortitude Sacred Armor fill in everything else he needs, from damage to survivability.
Skills
The Skill Tree has some changes to it with the main Weapon Mastery always depends on the Weapon used. In this case, we use Mace Mastery:
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. finditem
2. Grim Ward
3. Battle Command
4. Battle Cry
5. increasedspeed
6. naturalresistance
7. leap
8. leapattack
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Whirlwind
2. Mace Mastery
3. Battle Orders
4. Find Potion
5. Berserk
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Summary
- Put enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to wear gear and any remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
- Keep your Battle Command, Battle Orders, and Shout buffs up at all times.
- Use Teleport and Leap Attack to move around obstacles.
- Utilize Grim Ward in confined areas to deal additional damage.
- Position yourself well during combat staying and beware of Mana Burn monsters, dangerous amounts of mobs, enemy movements Auras.
- Small triangles for big single target DPS and large sweeping movements against danger.
- Always remember that you CANNOT use Potions while spinning!
- Have fun!
We hope you enjoy the build! We also hope that you are immune to being dizzy because this build is all about spinning to win! It can be very satisfying to both phase in and out of mobs while dealing damage to them.
Good luck!
Credits
Reviewed and Updated by Teo1904
Original Author BTNeandertha1
Changelog
- 22 September 2022
Updated to Patch 2.5 - Added Sunder and Terror Zone sections - Added Gear Options - Added Sunder to Playstyle - Added Sunder Charm Suggestion in variants - 15 April 2022
Updated to Patch 2.4 - Changed Skills - Adjusted Gear Options - Added Grim Ward Playstyle Change - Rework all the Build Varients - Took out some extra Mana Burn warnings - Summary rewording for Grim Ward