Alright, so I decided to give this Barbarian Whirlwind thing a shot today. Always heard people yelling “spin to win” and figured, why not? Seems simple enough for someone like me who just picked up the game.
The Starting Mess
Hopped on my level 70 Barbarian, fresh out of the campaign. Grabbed the two-handed mighty weapon from my stash because it looked big and mean. Slapped on whatever gear I had lying around – mostly yellow trash with some vitality and strength, you know the deal.
Ran into a Rift on Normal difficulty. Hit that Whirlwind button and started spinning. Felt pretty good at first, just shredding through little guys. Then bumped into an Elite pack. Big mistake. Got frozen solid, then electrocuted, and boom. Dead. Real fast. That “dominating fast” part felt like a lie. Fellas, what should I do?
Hitting the Books (Well, Google)
Okay, clearly just pressing spin ain’t gonna cut it. Looked up some beginner guides for this Whirlwind Barb. The big takeaways?
- Need specific stuff: Apparently just having Whirlwind isn’t magic. You need gear that actually works with it. Sounds obvious now, but hey, live and learn.
- Spin needs fuel: Whirlwind drains Fury like crazy. You need ways to get that Fury back constantly while spinning. Forgot about that completely.
- Sets are key: Everyone screams about the Wrath of the Wastes set. Like, it’s mandatory. Need 5 or 6 pieces of that sweet, sweet green gear.
The Grind Begins
Back to the grind. Knew I needed to farm some Rifts and Greater Rifts for better loot. Started low, like Torment I, just trying to survive longer than a minute against Elites.
- Priority One: Survive! Started focusing on getting better stuff for toughness. Found pieces with All Resistance and more Armor. Also kept an eye out for gear that increased my max Life – a bigger health pool buys precious seconds.
- Finding the Core Bits: Slowly, slowly, green pieces started dropping. First the shoulders, then the boots. Still felt clunky though. Fury kept running out mid-spin, and damage was still kinda wimpy against tougher mobs.
The Turning Point (Getting the Good Stuff)
The real game-changers started showing up:
- The Bul-Kathos Swords: Finally got one! Didn’t have the pair yet, just the one mighty weapon. But holy cow, the difference! The Fury generation jump was insane. Could spin for way longer without stopping. Started actually thinking maybe this could work.
- Ambo’s Pride: This dropped soon after. This axe… it’s weird. It makes your Whirlwind basically apply Rend? And Rend does bleeding damage? Suddenly trash mobs just melted faster than ice cream in July. Big damage boost right there.
- Lamentation Belt: This one makes your Rend stronger? Pairs with Ambo’s Pride perfectly. Big damage gets bigger.
Also finally got the full 6-piece Wastes set bonus. Damage reduction while spinning? Yes please. Extra Whirlwind damage? Hell yeah.
Putting It All Together & Smashing Higher
Equipped all this new shiny loot. Went back into a Rift, bumped it up to Torment VI. Spun into a massive pack.
It. Was. Glorious.
No Fury problems. Health dipping? Pop War Cry for armor or Threatening Shout to weaken them. Elites? They crumpled way faster than before. Went from struggling on T1 to absolutely dominating T6 in one play session. Could even dip my toes into T10! The speed! The constant movement! This is what people meant by “spin to win”. Cleared a Greater Rift level 55 without too much sweat, compared to the 20 I struggled with before.
Final Thoughts (For Now)
This build is crazy fun once you get the core gear. That initial frustration of dying constantly? Totally worth it when you finally become that unstoppable blender. Still gotta farm for the second Bul-Kathos sword and better rings (looking at you, Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac), but the power spike was insane. It does dominate fast… once you actually find the pieces it needs. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more Elites to shred.