Whirlwind Barbarian Guide

[Marcelius]

This guide is for PvP Whirlwind Barbarians, they are good damaging, but also a bit tanky...

Stats:

Base stats at lvl 99:
STR: 100 (+70)
DEX: 25 (nothing)
VIT: 505-70 = 435
ENE: 10 (nothing)

- Strength:... as low as possible, enough for gear, if you get annihilus and torch you already have a lot, I ain't guiding a Titan Barbarian, so we don't more strength than we need.
- Dexterity:... not useless, we don't use shields so no need for max block, you will have less attack rating, but raising your attack rating by increasing dexterity isn't a good way. Raven Frosts and other items will care for it...
- Vitality:...
Reason 1: a Whirlwind Barbarian needs much life, because he is melee. More life = more chance on surviving = able to take more damage = able to hit more = able to damage enemy more = more chance to win in PvP or PvM.
Reason 2: 1 Vitality point gives 4 Life... you must take profit of this!
- Energy:... this barbarian doesn't need this because he can mana steal, and other items will also increase this, keep it at base, it'll be enough for whirlwind.

*I would suggest to put points in vitality first until lvl 50... Then spare your points to reduce "no-needed" stat points... Put points in strength if you have your final gear.


Skills:
You have 110 skill points to put in...
MAX Whirlwind (cost 25 skill points: 20 for maxing and 5 for prerequisites)
MAX Battle Orders
MAX Iron Skin
MAX Shout
MAX 'Weapon' Mastery (depends on what your final weapon is)
1 in Battle Command
1 in Natural Resistance


- Whirlwind: You must max this to be a Whirlwind Barbarian, really...
- Battle Orders: Since you have put much stat points in vitality, it would be smart to max Battle Orders too, because it increases your life and mana a lot.
- Shout: Max this for huge defense... then you will have more chance to win against melee enemies, because they can't hit you easily.
- Iron Skin: same reason as Shout.
- 'Weapon Mastery': Increases damage and chance on critical strike, this is necessary for a melee-barb.
- Battle Command: Increases all skill levels, 1 point is enough, more points = more seconds Battle Command is active = waste.
- Natural Resistance: 1 point to fill that last missing resistance to max all resistances... your items will increase this skill, and the more you spend in this skill, the less effect it will have.

Tip about Increased Speed:
If you are defensive (or lame), you don't want to die a lot from casters and you don't want to use Enigma, you can put skill points in Increased Speed, this will help a lot, really, although you may hit your enemy less.


Gear:

Equipment:

Weapon: I am going to use dual-wielding...
Breath of the Dying Berserker Axe (try to find an "Ethereal and Superior")
Beast Berserker Axe

- BotD because of it's huge damage and 30 to All Attributes. Grief is also fine, but... does it works with Fortitude Enhanced Damage and Beasts Fanaticism Auras Enhanced Damage??? I don't know that's why I suggest BotD and not Grief, however I know that Grief itself has more damage.
- Beast because of that Fanaticism Aura... but Doom is also fine with that Holy Freeze Aura that slows enemies.

*Secondary Weapon:
You can find 3 to Warcries weapons in Act 5 Hell for Battle Orders. I always take a look at Malah's assortiment at Baalruns for that. If you are rich you can afford/make Heart of the Oak with Call To Arms as secondary weapon. Remember, CTAs + skills are reduced to 3 for barbarians.
If you would use Enigma, then dual HOTO is good for it's 3x2 to all skills and a lot of cast rate, which is good for tele-ing.

Helm: Arreat's Face Slayer Guard
Best helm for Whirlwind Barbarians, no doubt...
Dream and Delirium are also okay.

Armor: Fortitude Archon Plate
300% Enhanced Damage, I love this!
I think Fortitude is better than Enigma because it has more positive effect to a Whirlwind Barbarian... 300% ED is WAY better than: able to tele (it's a barb!), 2 to all skills (charms will take care of Warcries skills, others you won't need), and 75 to strength... so you can add 75 more to vitality... (the only good reason). Well that's just my opinion :D

Gloves: Steelrend War Gauntlets
60% ED... the best...

Boots: Gore Rider
Crushing Blow

Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord Mithril Coil
+ Vitality

Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
You need attributes for Steelrends and resists.

Ring: 2x Raven Frost Ring
Since I don't put anything in dexterity for this barbarian, it really needs some attack rating, to hit enemies more. Stone of Jordans and Bul Kathos' are not useful to a barbarian because it's the items that makes the difference, not the skill! You also can use Angelic Combo for attack rating... it's cheaper.
Well ok, ok you could add some more points into dexterity instead of vitality ;)
, that's your choice then.



Made by Marcelius

Thanks guys for critisizing my guide, it helped a lot...

[barb_king]

hmmm for pvp id go upped gores instead of treks....dnt get me wrong treks are nice but with that extra cb, ds and ow ww barbs own more.......and if ur gonna use hoto+cta to bo then u wont have to put a point in battle command seeing as the cta gives battle command...id use 2xhoto 4 my shout weaps anyway....balances out ur shout....and MAX SHOUT before ironskin trust me....not only does it give more def to YOU but ur PARTY aswel....i also think maras is a terrible choice 4 pvp ww baba.....wheres the ar? highlords would be better than that coz of gfg ds not to mention light res, but then so would metal grid 4 its nice res AND ar and defence.......but then u want to maximize ur ar against smiters at times right?? which refers us allllll the way back to little angelics :) ww babas gotta keep angelics in stash at least but naw not maras for me....i hope that helps a bit....

oh u might wanna get a coa to help wit ur dr seeing as u wont be using an ss shield...

[Todd]

errr Botd isnt one of the BEST opts. Buts its an okay one

Heres the thing If your using Fort Have alot of money I recomend you go

Greif and Beastz Best opt to max your damage Greifz hidden damage plus Beastz Fanta Aura CB Op Str and Dex=Tasty

I Used the Z for the Zerker Becouse beast can only be used in Axes and Hammers I think. And
You can increase the damage with mastery of axes for them Both


Now If Omni was still here he Could totally explain this better but Since the mods deleted his Thread explainin why then YOUR ****ED

Anyway Greif and SS are the Main way to go for Wep/Shield Greifz hidden damage+the DR and Blockrate of Stormshield=Awesome

Angelics are the way to go Raven for the cold but for auradin it useless Like previously stated use Gores they dont NEED to be upped but if they are meh Higher Str Vs. Higher Def.

Maras?MARAS? Meh not a good chioce..


Why Dracs? Dracs is only good for the Str and I think Open wounds? Life Tap wont work Mid Whirl

Anyway Just some Critism for your guide

[Barloc]

Omni has quit D2 indefineatly. Crimson was able to contact him, and that's what he explained to me. So I don't think we'll see him in the near future.

FYI: The damage shown on the character screen isn't acurate in some cases a.k.a the "LCS" (Lying Character Screen). This makes it very confusing for folks trying to
determine differences in weapon damage when using this as the guide.

Griefs +damage is not displayed and the benefits of ed% armour like fort and and ed%
bonuses like Beast's Fanatasism aura will not show the true benefits, but you do indeed
receive all.

In any case, if you just look at the 2 hot weapons, ebotdz and griefz, and take a look at just the damage numbers on the weapons themselves, you should realize that the worst
possible roll for a griefz vs a perfect ebotdz, griefz still wins.

The reason for using Beastz with Griefz is due to the additional damage given to the grief weapon from the aura, which is even greater then a Grief+ebotd or ebotdz+ebotdz.

As far as the above guide goes-

I would disagree with Iron skin over shout,

#1 since shout gives more def starting out at level 1 (100% vs 30%).

#2 Shout increases the time duration of Battle Orders - bonus.

#3 Shout synergises with Berzerk, a very usefull skill vs physical immunes and oblivion
knights casting IronMaiden on you in the chaos and baal's throne.

#4 Yes, shout can give party defense, and raise your mercs def- this is a bad thing?
PvM and PvP-team's suggest otherwise.


On gloves, steelrends are nice and all, but you need huge str to equip. not a great
choice for a Vita build, especially if you want to take off enigma and put on a fort.
On the other hand, Drac's equip easy and the str actually helps. The OW damage is the
main reason to bother putting them on, for a ww barb since you get 533 damage dealt over 8 seconds even after all pvp penalties.

FYI: +vitality items, +BOCL life items are NOT affected by BO bonus. Items that add +life, and of course items that allow you to put more pure points into vita will be affected.

3 out of 10 on guide, as a guide, since it leaves out alot, you ask questions in it and its not original - at all.

[Marcelius]

hoto sucks, little to no damage

I use HOTO to tele, not to whirl with it lol...

Omni has quit D2 indefineatly. Crimson was able to contact him, and that's what he explained to me. So I don't think we'll see him in the near future.

FYI: The damage shown on the character screen isn't acurate in some cases a.k.a the "LCS" (Lying Character Screen). This makes it very confusing for folks trying to
determine differences in weapon damage when using this as the guide.

Griefs +damage is not displayed and the benefits of ed% armour like fort and and ed%
bonuses like Beast's Fanatasism aura will not show the true benefits, but you do indeed
receive all.

In any case, if you just look at the 2 hot weapons, ebotdz and griefz, and take a look at just the damage numbers on the weapons themselves, you should realize that the worst
possible roll for a griefz vs a perfect ebotdz, griefz still wins.

The reason for using Beastz with Griefz is due to the additional damage given to the grief weapon from the aura, which is even greater then a Grief+ebotd or ebotdz+ebotdz.

As far as the above guide goes-

I would disagree with Iron skin over shout,

#1 since shout gives more def starting out at level 1 (100% vs 30%).

#2 Shout increases the time duration of Battle Orders - bonus.

#3 Shout synergises with Berzerk, a very usefull skill vs physical immunes and oblivion
knights casting IronMaiden on you in the chaos and baal's throne.

#4 Yes, shout can give party defense, and raise your mercs def- this is a bad thing?
PvM and PvP-team's suggest otherwise.


On gloves, steelrends are nice and all, but you need huge str to equip. not a great
choice for a Vita build, especially if you want to take off enigma and put on a fort.
On the other hand, Drac's equip easy and the str actually helps. The OW damage is the
main reason to bother putting them on, for a ww barb since you get 533 damage dealt over 8 seconds even after all pvp penalties.

FYI: +vitality items, +BOCL life items are NOT affected by BO bonus. Items that add +life, and of course items that allow you to put more pure points into vita will be affected.

3 out of 10 on guide, as a guide, since it leaves out alot, you ask questions in it and its not original - at all.

3/10 :(... and now? what would u give ? :)

[Barloc]

I gave you help already, and you've made some edits. Are you asking for more help? Or are you looking for a new rating xx/10?

[safetypro]

OK sorry, I'm a bit confused by this:
Armor: Fortitude Archon Plate
300% Enhanced Damage, I love this!
I think Fortitude is better than Enigma because it has more positive effect to a Whirlwind Barbarian... 300% ED is WAY better than: able to tele (it's a barb!), 2 to all skills (charms will take care of Warcries skills, others you won't need), and 75 to strength... so you can add 75 more to vitality... (the only good reason). Well that's just my opinion

If you are rich you can afford/make Heart of the Oak with Call To Arms as secondary weapon. Remember, CTAs + skills are reduced to 3 for barbarians.
If you would use Enigma, then dual HOTO is good for it's 3x2 to all skills and a lot of cast rate, which is good for tele-ing.

I use HOTO to tele, not to whirl with it lol...

On one hand you state that you should use Fortitude because you are a Barb! and that 300% ED is more important then tele...then you say to use HOTO in addition to CTA if you are rich...then you say you use dual HOTOs to tele. Which Armor is it you recommend?

Secondly, what would a Barb with maxed Shout and Battle Orders use a CTA for when he'd get much more bang for the buck with +3 Warcry sticks? Seems like a waste of good runes if you ask me.

[sumenerson]

OK sorry, I'm a bit confused by this:






On one hand you state that you should use Fortitude because you are a Barb! and that 300% ED is more important then tele...then you say to use HOTO in addition to CTA if you are rich...then you say you use dual HOTOs to tele. Which Armor is it you recommend?




simple. if you decide you want to tele over more damage its just an added bonus of using hotos, or if you like pvm too, nigma for tele,

so, fort = pvp

nigma = pvm

[Barloc]

On one hand you state that you should use Fortitude because you are a Barb! and that 300% ED is more important then tele...then you say to use HOTO in addition to CTA if you are rich...then you say you use dual HOTOs to tele. Which Armor is it you recommend?

Both armors are good for pvp/pvm, and I would carry both, depending on who you duel,etc. Running around with fort on works vs some classes, others will eat you alive. It's better in some cases to play aggresive and close in on the kill by using teleport, which makes hoto pointless, since you don't want to tele to someone with your hoto's out-:eek:.


Secondly, what would a Barb with maxed Shout and Battle Orders use a CTA for when he'd get much more bang for the buck with +3 Warcry sticks? Seems like a waste of good runes if you ask me.

agreed

[Ayliffe]

Omni has quit D2 indefineatly. Crimson was able to contact him, and that's what he explained to me. So I don't think we'll see him in the near future.

:eek: :confused: :(

His guides were soo goddamn good...

[lord of angels]

I like whirlybarbs there fun and good when fighting mobs but they really suck when it comes to summonmancers with points in iron maiden

[saracen85]

i'm on the same page with barloc on what the guide lacks.
anw, here are the things that i like to add as well..

there's not much flexibility in your gear selection.. i'm pretty sure there are other weapon choices that works well with ww, ie eth oath, death cleaver etc..

i don't really know why dream and delirium are recommended as well. the holy shock from dream won't really help your damage. delirium is more for pvm, and i'm pretty sure you don't want to turn into a fetish mid-duel.

a good guide will always explain which breakpoints to look out for, be it fhr, fbr, fcr or ias. yours lacks all..

[lord of angels]

I agree with what he says apart from the fact that I'd normally go delirium over shako or other +2 skill headwear mainly because if it's in a carnage helm or any of those "barbarian" masks you can get bonuses from before it was socketed as well as the +2 that it receives from when it's the runeword. though i do agree it is quite a pvm runeword but when i've used it for pvp it's worked quite well for me in my opinion it's the best PvE helm that is fixed :P and whats wrong with turning into a fetish in a duel it would be quite cool to fight as a fetish

[Ayliffe]

simple. if you decide you want to tele over more damage its just an added bonus of using hotos, or if you like pvm too, nigma for tele,

so, fort = pvp

nigma = pvm

sorry this is way off,

Nigma is your main armor for a pvp bvc.

The Strength it gives is nice, along with the ability to teleport = priceless for a bvc.

http://forums.d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=2867800

read this guide, its the god of all bvc guides.

[Omnicide]

Hm...seems like a "cookie cutter" BvC...

I agreewith Barloc as far as the order of maxing goes...Shout before Iron Skin...always.

Your reasoning as to why you add points into Increase Speed is horrible. People aim for 115-125 FRW in order to manage short WW desyncs. You can't do that without Enigma and those points into Inc. Speed will be useless.

You make a guide...and then ask questions for your own selections? Red light.

Yes, Fana from Beast works with your other weapon.

In the war between BotD and Grief...BotD=more life/less damage, Grief=more damage/less life. At least that's how I sum it up.

Recommending Doom, at all, for your offhand weapon...no. Most you'd accomplish is BMing.

I never liked the HotO/CTA combo...lose two points in shout for one point in BO. I realize it's a BvC but...eh...go for the WC weapons. They own HotOs by far.

Teleing with HotOs in PvP is bad news...you tele and then switch and WW. It's an extra step that can be avoided.

Rends are NOT the best in a barb...Dracs>>>>>>Rends because 60% ED is nothing compared to 25% OW.

I can understand Mara's for the BvC aspect but...you could use a Highlord's and increase your killing potential by so much. Highlords/dual Ravens vs low def characters. I'd only consider Mara's if I wanted to stack Cold res. Dual Angelics>both. Huge AR and a huge life gain that Mara's can't even compare to.

Anyway...I can't say much about this guide. It just doesn't offer anything that any other guide can't. Plus the one that Luis pasted over here does a lot better job at making a BvC (which this is since it's a dualie). 3/10, like Barloc said.

@Barloc...Hey. ;D Plus a lot of people talked to me on AIM asking for help...so my patience wore thin with people and I just started blocking them and probably Crimson. ._.;

Edit: I also want to add that a player building/playing defensively isn't lame, by any means. It's a play/build style and it works for some people better than others. For a vita barb, I would think you'd understand the value of being a defensive player...since the offensive types of barbs are dexabarbs and titanbarbs. Plus, I'm a defensive player and many here would say my old barb guide was pretty damn good.

[Ayliffe]

I'm a defensive player and many here would say my old barb guide was pretty damn good.

Vouch

[ElPolloLoco]

errr Botd isnt one of the BEST opts. Buts its an okay one

Heres the thing If your using Fort Have alot of money I recomend you go

Greif and Beastz Best opt to max your damage Greifz hidden damage plus Beastz Fanta Aura CB Op Str and Dex=Tasty

I Used the Z for the Zerker Becouse beast can only be used in Axes and Hammers I think. And
You can increase the damage with mastery of axes for them Both

Arent griefz consideres bad mannered for pvp?

I also think this is the best guide i have ever seen because it is well formatted, gives detailed explanations, and is easy to read, and is not to lengthy or to short just right. Awsome job keep it up!!!!:)

[dainbramage]

Ya might want to read the date these were posted.. way to resurrect a 6-month old thread.

Yuqing's guide is better than luis' one, for the record.

[theOG22093]

Ya might want to read the date these were posted.. way to resurrect a 6-month old thread.

Yuqing's guide is better than luis' one, for the record.

Ya please tell me who the hell pulled this one out of the 6month old closet? Good ****ing god. A bvc WITHOUT leap?

[Sgt-Tancred]

I would say that forty is an ok choice for pvm build but not for pvp. U say that its so imprtant to only but a small amount of points in str , with enigma u dont n to waste 1 point in str. Tele is the perfect way of pvp with a barb, if u cant tele u can NEVER take down a caster.

[Omnicide]

Fort's damage/defense>>>Enigma in melee.

Enigma is only really needed vs casters...but you can take them down with Fort, too. It's not impossible.

[mephiztophelez]

BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAH

i lol at this "guide"

[2.0]

Hm... why doesn't the Integer defense on Enigma work like grief's integer damage... for a massive boost?

[Omnicide]

Grief is ladder only, they always get crazy bonuses. ):

I have a reason somewhere in my brain...but it's not resurfacing. I've answered this question before. Dx

[dainbramage]

Hm... why doesn't the Integer defense on Enigma work like grief's integer damage... for a massive boost?

cause +750 defence on armours which have a base def of up to ~600 is much less significant than a 400 increase on weapons which have a base damage of ~50 average.

For the record, they do actually work exactly the same way...

[2.0]

Meh, makes sense. lol.

[Omnicide]

Yeah that. >_>;;

[mephiztophelez]

Hm... why doesn't the Integer defense on Enigma work like grief's integer damage... for a massive boost?

LOL

it works EXACTLY the same, as dain said.

which is yet another reason to LOL at guides that "demand" archon enigmas...... complete waste of strength, gogo mageplate!

[September 28, 1987]

I would say that forty is an ok choice for pvm build but not for pvp. U say that its so imprtant to only but a small amount of points in str , with enigma u dont n to waste 1 point in str. Tele is the perfect way of pvp with a barb, if u cant tele u can NEVER take down a caster.

Have you ever "actually" dueled?

Baiting does work against casters and fairly well at that. Play defensive, they WILL play offensive and come after you. You control the deck.

They'll come after you and it's only certain classes/types that not having an Enigma will kill you with.

They invented Widowmaker & Leap for a reason and countless other ways to go about it.

[mephiztophelez]

Have you ever "actually" dueled?

Baiting does work against casters and fairly well at that. Play defensive, they WILL play offensive and come after you. You control the deck.

They'll come after you and it's only certain classes/types that not having an Enigma will kill you with.
/vouch.

my barb tends to do pretty well against druids and hammys and other tele-bomb specialists with the fort setup he's built for. i do particularly well against hammerdins, and thats generally with a rather pithy 5.4k life setup (unless i prebuff before picking up the widowmaker), and all without teleport. even the most defensive hammys will eventually get bored (or whittled away by GA's and OW) and telebomb you. just try and be whirling when they land. oh, and NEVER stand still.

high fcr necs, sin's and sorks tho, forget it, they'll POUND me. along with decent bowa'zons, unless i throw an eni on.

but then again, my barb is built PURELY for bvb (need bloody lvl 97 for increased speed......), so beating anything else is always a bonus.

[Omnicide]

/vouch.

my barb tends to do pretty well against druids and hammys and other tele-bomb specialists with the fort setup he's built for. i do particularly well against hammerdins, and thats generally with a rather pithy 5.4k life setup (unless i prebuff before picking up the widowmaker), and all without teleport. even the most defensive hammys will eventually get bored (or whittled away by GA's and OW) and telebomb you. just try and be whirling when they land. oh, and NEVER stand still.

high fcr necs, sin's and sorks tho, forget it, they'll POUND me. along with decent bowa'zons, unless i throw an eni on.

but then again, my barb is built PURELY for bvb (need bloody lvl 97 for increased speed......), so beating anything else is always a bonus.Chain vouch. O:

I did pretty damn well when I had no enigma for my barb. Sure the faster casters were a bit hard...but I'd just try my damndest to avoid their fire and eventually they'd make a mistake and tele on me...and I'd be whirling. Enigma isn't as make or break as people think. I think I did pretty well without Enigma or Widow. xD