The Whirlwind build for the Barbarian has historically been one of the most popular builds in the Diablo franchise among any class. With a goal to get enough Fury to sustain the skill for as long as possible, it's natural to wonder if Diablo 4 allows such a build to thrive.
Diablo 4: Best PvE Barbarian Build (Patch 1.0.3)
Barbarians are more than just shouting supports and leapers in Diablo 4 and can easily tank and carry in tough instances when needed.
The answer to this question is a positive one. There are plenty of Barbarian builds in Diablo 4, but not all of them are good or will work in the long run. Although Whirlwind can't be channeled forever, it can work in bursts to clear even elite groups of mobs before running out of steam.
Updated on May 20, 2024 by Marc Santos: Diablo 4 Season 4 came with a massive overhaul to how loot works. Many of the sub-stats found in items have been replaced with new ones, some being more streamlined while others being more specialized. Not only that, but the game also received a number of new Legendary Aspects that have made more builds viable. This Best Whirlwind Barbarian guide has been updated to reflect the current Season 4 meta by using improved Dust Devils while taking advantage of the new Tempering system.
Skill Tree
|
Active Skills |
Points |
|
Combat Lunging Strike |
3 |
|
Violent Whirlwind |
7 |
|
Tactical Rallying Cry |
7 |
|
Tactical Challenging Shout |
3 |
|
Mighty War Cry |
3 |
|
Wrath of the Berserker |
3 |
|
Passives |
Points |
|
Pressure Point |
3 |
|
Endless Fury |
3 |
|
Booming Voice |
3 |
|
Guttural Yell |
3 |
|
Swiftness |
3 |
|
Pit Fighter |
3 |
|
Thick Skin |
3 |
|
Tempered Fury |
1 |
|
Invigorating Fury |
3 |
|
Unconstrained |
1 |
|
Weapon Technique |
2H Mace |
Bind Lunging Strike to either your 2H Mace/Axe, and assign Whirlwind to your one-handed weapons. Use 2H Mace in your technique slot for improved Fury generation via Lucky Hit procs.
This remains a Shout-focused build that uses Whirlwind as its main damaging ability. Lunging Strike is only here to generate Fury and help get the Berserk effect in Diablo 4. Start every fight by walking up to the middle of a pack then using all of your Shouts. Once all buffs are active, start spinning, and watch the demons crumble.
Diablo 4: Best PvP Barbarian Build (Patch 1.0.3)
When it comes to mobility and defense, few classes can compete on the Fields of Hatred when a well-built PvP Barbarian shows up.
Lunging Strike, War Cry, and the Blood Rage Legendary Paragon Node will be the player's main ways to go Berserk. While Berserking, they'll enjoy bonus damage as well as extra damage reduction and Fury generation via Aggressive Resistance and Prolific Fury.
As for the Key Passive, you can swap Unconstrained for Unbridled Rage if you think you have the Fury generation to compensate for the doubled resource cost. Otherwise, stick with Unconstrained so you can have better uptime on Berserk.
Gear
|
Slot |
Aspect/Piece |
|
Helm |
Relentless Berserker |
|
Chest |
Disobedience |
|
Gloves |
Berserk Ripping |
|
Pants |
Tibault's Will |
|
Boots |
Metamorphosis |
|
Amulet |
Dust Devil's |
|
Ring |
Vocalized Empowerment |
|
Ring |
Bold Chieftain |
|
Two-Handed Bludgeoning |
Edgemaster's |
|
Two-Handed Slashing (Axe) |
Fierce Winds |
|
One-Handed |
Dire Whirlwind |
|
One-Handed |
Ramaladni's Magnum Opus |
|
Priority Item Stats |
|
With the new aspect system, players have a ton of freedom to take the piece of gear they find with the best stats and then add their favorite effect to it. Increasing potion efficiency helps out a bit but these aspects are game-changing.
Dust Devil's Aspect is your main tool for generating Dust Devils. As long as you're spinning, you'll be constantly spewing out tornadoes that deal massive damage thanks to gear stats and the Fierce Winds Aspect.
Early on, it might be a wise idea to use an ideal leveling build for Barbarians in Diablo 4 until the necessary gear is acquired. After getting access to the Aspect of the Bold Chieftain and Aspect of Vocalized Empowerment, Fury generation should be enough to allow players to spin as much as they'd like with only occasional and very brief breaks against world or dungeon bosses.
Season of Loot Reborn renamed Aspect of Echoing Fury to Aspect of Vocalized Empowerment.
For Uniques, Ramaladni's Magnum Opus is great for Whirlwind due to the ability's snapshotting trait. This means that if Whirlwind is first cast while at maximum Fury, it will enjoy the full bonus of Ramaladni's Magnum Opus even as your current Fury decreases.
Paragon Boards
|
Board |
Paragon/Legendary Nodes |
Glyph |
|
Start |
Iron Strength, Raw Power |
Marshal |
|
Blood Rage |
Enraged, Blood Rage, Revel |
Twister |
|
Carnage |
Berserker, Fierce, Enraged |
Ambidextrous |
|
Warbringer |
Hungering Fury, Raw Power, Core Reserve, Guarded Advance |
Bloodfeeder |
The paragon boards and glyphs can be a bit tough to figure out. It's a matter of adjusting the boards so that they snake properly. Ideally, players should focus on unlocking Legendary and Glyph Nodes first before getting the yellow Rare Nodes.
Diablo 4 - How to Beat Astaroth
Diablo 4 players can beat Astaroth with ease by using this helpful boss guide.
As of Season of the Construct, the Marshal Glyph now reduces the cooldown of non-Shout skills by 4 seconds, making it great for reducing the downtime of Wrath of the Berserker, which is tagged as an Ultimate skill.
Blood Rage is going to be one of your main ways of getting the Berserk buff outside of Lunging Strike and War Cry, so get to that Legendary Node as soon as you can. Meanwhile, even though we'll take the Carnage board, the build will skip its Legendary Node because Whirlwind is not affected by attack speed. The Carnage board is here for its Glyph slot and other Berserking-related bonuses.
Take Warbringer and its Rare Nodes for better survivability and Fury generation. Feel free to take this before Carnage if you're having trouble managing your primary resource.
Diablo 4
- Released
- June 5, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
