The Barbarian's Whirlwind skill is one of the most iconic abilities in Diablo 4. It deals excellent damage in the endgame while simultaneously keeping players mobile, making it an amazing choice for speed-farming dungeons.
There are a ton of ways to build a Whirlwind Barbarian in Diablo 4—this includes a hybrid Thorns setup that's surprisingly strong at both farming and pushing this medium-tier Nightmare Dungeons. It also makes for some hilarious moments in PvP if built properly. Here's how to set it up.
Diablo 4: Whirlwind Thorns Barbarian Build Main Skills
Skill | Points |
Enhanced Lunging Strike | 2 |
Violent Whirlwind | 7 |
Tactical Rallying Cry | 7 |
Tactical Iron Skin | 7 |
Strategic Challenging Shout | 3 |
Supreme Wrath of the Berserker | 3 |
Whirlwind is this build's main damage dealer, though the Thorns bonus provided by Strategic Challenging Shout can potentially outpace the Core Skill's DPS output. Both work together to deal tremendous amounts of damage while striking a middle ground between offense and defense.
Tactical Iron Skin is an excellent panic button that blocks damage while restoring health. With the Iron Warrior Aspect, it also grants additional damage resistance and a few seconds of Unstoppable, making it the perfect choice for a Thorns-oriented build.
Wrath of the Berserker gives players the damage they need in boss fights. This will greatly increase the DPS of Whirlwind while also triggering all the bonuses that Berserking gets from the Paragon Boards and Aspects. Players can swap this out for War Cry if preferred.
Passive Skills
Skills | Points |
Imposing Presence | 3 |
Outburst | 3 |
Tough as Nails | 3 |
Swiftness | 3 |
Aggressive Resistance | 3 |
Booming Voice | 2 |
Pit Fighter | 3 |
No Mercy | 3 |
Hamstring | 1 |
Tempered Fury | 1 |
Invigorating Fury | 3 |
Unconstrained | 1 |
Two-Handed Mace Expertise | - |
Outburst and Tough as Nails are essential for making Thorns scale into the late game. The former increases Thorns damage based on the Barbarian's maximum health while the latter increases Thorns damage by a percentage while making it inflict bleed.
The rest of the passives revolve around general offensive and defensive bonuses. Take Unconstrained to increase the uptime of the Berserking buff while also making it more potent. Unbridled Rage is a viable option, but it will force players to manage their Fury more carefully. Pick whichever works best with whatever items are available.
As for the Expertise Weapon Technique, Two-Handed Mace will help players sustain their Fury while using Whirlwind with a Two-Handed Sword. Swap these around if the equipped Two-Handed Mace has better damage stats.
Gear and Aspects
Offense | Defense | Utility |
Death Wish (2H) | Disobedience | Wind Striker |
Dire Whirlwind (2H) | Might | Bold Chieftain |
Edgemaster (Amulet) | Iron Warrior | Berserk Fury |
Limitless Rage | ||
Expectant | ||
Needleflare |
Much of the Aspects here will cater toward Whirlwind and its ability to snapshot stats. Make sure to hit enemies with Lunging Strike and start spinning above full Fury so Whirlwind does the most damage. Death Wish and Needleflare will finish off monsters that are already damaged, resulting in faster clears without having to rely on Unbridled Rage.
Thorns will primarily scale off of gear stats and passive skills. Make sure to wear items that give Maximum Life and Thorns Damage to greatly increase the amount of damage reflected after getting hit.
Ideally, players should have a Two-Handed Sword equipped for the Technique bonus and more Critical Strike Damage. Bind Whirlwind to whichever 2H weapon deals more damage, but make sure to change the Technique bonus in the Expertise window so as not to miss out on any bonuses.
Paragon Boards
As usual, place the Exploit Glyph on the first Paragon Board to make all enemies Vulnerable for a short duration after getting hit by any attack.
Take the Blood Rage board and its Legendary Node first for a chance to become Berserk after killing a bleeding enemy. This will be the player's primary source of Berserk outside of Wrath of the Berserker. Then, take nodes that increase damage against bleeding enemies and slot in the Disembowel Glyph for a chance to reduce the cooldowns of Rallying Cry, Challenging Shout, and Iron Skin whenever a bleeding target expires.
Next, take the Carnage board and path towards its Glyph Socket and the nodes that increase damage while Berserking. Attack speed bonuses don't appear to work on Whirlwind, so taking the Legendary Node here might be a waste.
Weapon Master is another good board for its Hunter Killer node and its Strength-rich Glyph Socket, which can be used for the Marshal Glyph. Warbringer is also great for generating Fortify in Whirlwind builds, and its socket can accommodate Dexterity-based Glyphs like Wrath and Territorial.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.