Alright, so yesterday I decided to try out this Whirlwind Barb thing for Diablo 3. Everyone keeps saying it’s braindead easy and fast, perfect for someone like me wanting to mindlessly grind after work. Sounded good, time to give it a spin.
Dusting Off the Barbarian
First things first, I needed a Barbarian. Logged in, clicked on my seasonal character – yep, good ol’ level 70 Barb covered in dust. Checked his gear. Total garbage. Literal trash. Like, stuff I picked up months ago during a random bounty run. No set pieces, nada. Time to fix that.
Scrounging for Gear Pieces
Hit up Kadala first, dumped all my blood shards gambling for the core stuff:
- Wrath of the Wastes set: This was the big one. Spent ages trying for the helmet and boots. Chest piece dropped randomly from a rift guardian – lucky break!
- Bul-Kathos weapons: Gambled like crazy for one-handers. Got one ancient mighty weapon from Kadala, then spent countless Death’s Breaths upgrading rare mighty weapons in the cube. Took way too many tries to get the second sword.
- Band of Might ring: God, this was painful. Burned thousands of blood shards. Eventually gave up and started doing lower-level Nephalem Rifts quickly for Death’s Breaths. Used the cube to upgrade rare rings. Must’ve done it like twenty times before the damn ring popped out.
Took me most of an hour just grabbing whatever crap I could. Salvaged mountains of useless yellows and blues.
Throwing Skills On The Barb
Got some gear slapped on – still missing pieces, but enough to try it. Opened the skills tab. Totally blanked on what to pick. Quick check online for the basic setup:
- Whirlwind: Hurricane rune – picks stuff up, okay useful.
- Battle Rage: Swords to Ploughshares – heals me? Sweet, needed that.
- Wrath of the Berserker: Insanity rune for way bigger damage when pissed off.
- Charge: Merciless Assault – get stacks, charge for free.
- Ground Stomp: Wrenching Smash – pulls enemies together. Sounds handy.
- War Cry: Invigorate rune – more toughness, health too? Yes please.
Passives felt pretty standard: Ruthless, Boon of Bul-Kathos, Rampage, Berserker Rage. Just plugged ’em in.
First Spin Test Drive
Jumped into a Torment level I could handle. Held right-click for Whirlwind… and my guy started spinning like a damn top! Super basic. Hold one button, occasionally hit Battle Rage or Wrath to keep buffs up. Used Charge to zip around and Ground Stomp when monsters felt spread out.
Cleared a Nephalem Rift like butter. Like, ridiculously easy. Started bumping up the Torment levels, trying to see where he could handle. The speed was nuts. Running through packs, everything just exploded into loot showers. Died a couple times being greedy – forgot to use my shout for toughness or stood in fire. But generally? Smashed through.
Tweaking and Feeling Stronger
After getting more pieces (finally completed Wastes set, found a decent Amulet, got the stupid Band of Might cubed), things clicked harder:
- Cube choices were obvious: Lamentation belt for double Rend damage? Duh. Skull Grasp ring for more Whirlwind hurt? Slapped that on. Messerschmidt’s Reaver helped with Wrath cooldown big time.
- Paragon points went into Movement speed first (gotta go fast!), then dumped main stat, critical chance, critical damage, life – all the good stuff.
- Started keeping an eye on Fury. Barely dipped below full while spinning.
Went into a Greater Rift tier that used to scare my Wizard. Held right-click, held down Force Move, occasionally pressed other keys. Cleared it with like 4 minutes to spare. Felt ridiculous. No crazy aiming, just spinning around sucking everything in and turning it into bloody chunks and loot. Best part? Definitely relaxing. Easy farming machine.
End Result
This Whirlwind Barb? Exactly what it says on the tin. Fast? Insanely fast. Easy? Yep, mostly hold down Whirlwind and run. Made the whole gear grind feel less like a chore and more like a power trip. Took some patience getting the gear pieces (especially the weapons and ring!), but once setup? Total beast for crushing through enemies and grabbing loot without breaking a sweat. Not some super technical build, just pure spin-to-win chaos. Big fan now. Gonna be farming like this all season.