Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build Guide
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Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build Guide

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build Guide: In this Diablo 4 Barbarian Class Build, I’ll show you how to play a Whirlwind Barbarian, which is a melee Diablo 4 Build for the Barbarian that quickly kills large groups of enemies with the Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind. If you’ve been looking for a good Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build that focuses on slaying numerous enemies, then this guide is for you!

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build Guide

The main feature of this Diablo IV Build is the Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind, which will help pull multiple enemies toward the center of the whirlwind. Now if you’re facing ranged targets, the idea is to use Lunging Strike to reach them, followed by Rallying Cry to generate enough Fury before activating Whirlwind. Once you have them in your clutches, you should trigger War Cry to acquire Berserking in order to significantly improve your damage. These combinations of buffs will allow you to maintain Whirlwind while moving forward through any dungeon without having to worry about Fury as long as there are enemies you can hit.

Diablo 4 Build for the Whirlwind Barbarian - Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind

For Elites and Boss fights, you can activate Wrath of the Berserker for an even greater boost in damage and movement speed. Since Shout Skills have a limited duration, you should wait until War Cry and Rallying Cry are over to use your ultimate.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build Guide – Skill Distribution

Each Diablo 4 Barbarian Build is made up of the 6 Active Skills they have equipped and changing these Skills can drastically alter the way the Barbarian Class in Diablo IV plays. In this section, we’ll take a look at what Skills you should slot for the Whirlwind Barbarian Diablo 4 Build. Your Skill distribution should look something like this:

LEVEL 25 BARBARIAN SKILLS
Skill Points Spent
 Lunging Strike  1
 Enhanced Lunging Strike  1
 Battle Lunging Strike  1
 Whirlwind  5
 Enhanced Whirlwind  1
 Violent Whirlwind  1
 Rallying Cry  1
 Enhanced Rallying Cry  1
 Tactical Rallying Cry  1
 War Cry  1
 Enhanced War Cry  1
 Power War Cry  1
 Aggressive Resistance  1
 Prolific Fury  3
 Death Blow  2
 Enhanced Death Blow  1
 Wrath of the Berserker  1
 Prime Wrath of the Berserker  1
 Supreme Wrath of the Berserker  1

The above list gives you the general order to invest in Skills, but keep in mind that you should prioritize picking up new Active Skills over investing in passives, so pick up passives later if you can get new Active Skills when you level up.

Diablo 4 Barb Build – How to Handle Packs of Enemies

So there are really several different strategies to employ with this Diablo IV Build for the Whirlwind Barbarian, and these change depending on whether or not you’re facing a large group of enemies or a Boss. Let’s start with a group of enemies first, and we’ll cover how to handle Bosses in the next section.

Lunging Strike

Against multiple enemies regardless of the range, you’ll want to start by using Lunging Strike. Not only will this allow you to charge forward through the battlefield to compensate for your initial lack of mobility, but you’ll also deal moderate individual damage. The good thing about this Basic Skill is it generates enough Fury, which you’ll then use later on for Whirlwind. Next, we’ll be adding Enhanced Lunging Strike and Battle Lunging Strike, which will be useful against any type of enemy.

Diablo 4 Barbarian Build - Lunging Strike Basic Skill

Enhanced Lunging Strike heals a portion of your HP when you attack a Healthy target whereas Battle Lunging Strike inflicts Bleeding to deal damage over time (DoT). Note that both upgrades increase single-target damage, which comes in very handy for Bosses.

Rallying Cry

Another way to further enhance Fury generation and Movement Speed with this D4 Build, is by triggering Rallying Cry, especially with the Tactical Rallying Cry upgrade. This lets you automatically gain sufficient Fury to start using Whirlwind and to be able to quickly fill the gauge at the beginning of a fight. 

Diablo 4 Barb Build - Rallying Cry Defensive Skill to Increase Resource Generation

What’s more, is that with Enhanced Rallying Cry, you become Unstoppable, which essentially removes any crowd control effects inflicted on you. So for instance, if you’re Stunned or Slowed, you’ll be able to immediately break out of it in addition to receiving immunity over them. Overall, Rallying Cry is a great Skill to gain a consistent amount of Fury while protecting yourself from any impairments. It’s also a good fallback should things get too dicey on the battlefield, especially if you get stunlocked.

Whirlwind

Once you have sufficient Fury, you should aim to use Whirlwind as often as you can with this Diablo 4 Barbarian Build. This is the Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian’s bread-and-butter Skill that lets you deal massive AoE damage. To pull them toward you, you’ll need to have the Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind equipped. Once a lot of them are nearby, be sure to activate Whirlwind immediately to wipe them out. To make this Skill much more effective, you’ll want to get Enhanced Whirlwind and Violent Whirlwind.

Diablo IV Build for the Barbarian Class - Whirlwind Core Skill

The reason why it’s best to be surrounded by multiple targets is that you’ll want to keep your Fury generation up at all times. The more of them you damage, the more Fury you end up saving thanks to Enhanced Whirlwind, allowing you to keep Whirlwind active at all times. The trick is to keep spinning and to avoid hitting isolated enemies, otherwise, you’ll waste the resource you should’ve gained. Meanwhile, Violent Whirlwind is there to maximize the damage you deal until this Core Skill ends.

War Cry

War Cry is another Shout Skill that further increases your damage output, and more so when you take Enhanced War Cry. Enhanced War Cry instantly grants Berserking to considerably boost your damage and Movement Speed. You’re going to need a lot of mobility for this Whirlwind Build to not only attack enemies but also create breathing room if you need to.

Diablo IV Build for the Barbarian Class - War Cry Brawling Skill

Now with War Cry, you have the option of going for Power War Cry or Mighty War Cry. Between the two though, I would go for Power War Cry since you’ll always be surrounded by mobs. And because of this, you’ll get a huge damage bonus. The quicker these groups are cleared, the lesser chances of you dying. However, if you find it challenging to survive, then you’re better off choosing Mighty War Cry to take in less damage.

Barb Build for Boss Fights

Boss fights are handled a bit differently with this Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build because you usually cannot kill something easily by continuously keeping Whirlwind up. For this reason, we have to change our tactics a bit.

Death Blow

The key to Boss fights with this Diablo 4 Barbarian Build is to alternate between triggering Whirlwind and Death Blow. Even though you’ll still follow nearly the same sequence of Skills above you’ll be activating Death Blow in between, particularly because of Enhanced Death Blow. Doing so will increase your single-target damage against Bosses where you might not be able to use Whirlwind as much as you like.

Diablo IV Build for the Whirlwind Barbarian - Death Blow Weapon Mastery Skill

In instances where you have to defeat both the Boss and its minions, Death Blow really comes in handy. Every time you kill an enemy, this Weapon Mastery Skill’s cooldown resets, allowing you to use it more often. And lastly, if the Fury you generate isn’t adequate, then it would benefit you to invest 1 point into Fighter’s Death Blow to gain about 20 Fury every time an enemy is hit.

Wrath of the Berserker

Wrath of the Berserker is perfect for this D4 Build when used in combination with both upgrades, Prime Wrath of the Berserker and Supreme Wrath of the Berserker. When cast, you’ll gain Movement Speed, Fury Generation, Berserkering, and Unstoppable. Because of these, you’ll be able to destroy tougher enemies when Whirlwind and Death Blow aren’t enough.

Diablo IV Build - Wrath of the Berserker Ultimate Skill to Gain Berserking and Unstoppable

Berserker will gain 25% bonus damage for every 50 Fury spent, which we’re constantly using because of Whirlwind. The buff only lasts for 5 seconds, but you can use Lunging Strike to refresh its duration. This Basic Skill will also be useful in inflicting Bleed and whittling down the Boss’s Health in addition to momentarily escaping precarious situations. 

Final Tips

For this Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Build, be on the lookout for Strength, Dexterity, +Rank to Active Skills, +1 to Whirlwind, +1 to Lunging Strike, and Fury Cost Reduction. All of these bonuses will benefit you, so definitely prioritize them. This is one of the most powerful Diablo IV Builds of the Barbarian Class due to how quickly you’ll clear mobs of enemies.

Since you’re going to activate Berserk frequently, remember to also invest in Aggressive Resistance, mainly to gain access to Prolific Fury. So every time you enter this powerful state, your Fury increases, which will allow you to maintain Whirlwind longer. What we’re going for here is a 90%-100% Whirlwind uptime in order to shred as many enemies as possible.

Prolific Fury Passive Skill to Increase Fury Generation

Lastly, a Legendary Aspect that can help with defeating Bosses is the Aspect of Berserk Ripping. This allows you to inflict part of your damage as Bleeding when you’re Berserking, letting you deal with them more efficiently. So be on the lookout for it. Moreover, Amulets give you an extra 50% power of the Aspect as well, so make sure to put the Aspect of Berserk Ripping there.


Be sure to check out our Diablo 4 Wiki for any other questions you have about the game and the Builds page if you are looking for more Diablo IV Builds, as well as our Getting Started Guide and Best Class to Play in the Beta Guide if you are looking for more Diablo 4 content!

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