Difference between revisions of "Whirlwind"

Latest revision as of 22:08, 4 November 2017

Whirlwind is a Secondary Barbarian skill unlocked at Level 20, doing damage to enemies in close proximity to the Barbarian.

It's a signature skill of the Barbarian.

Background[edit | edit source]

Whirlwind in action.

Of the Barbarian people, the Tribe of Thunder was the first to draw upon the primal forces of the weather. Tornadoes would ravage their plains as summer turned to the harvest season. The shaman of the tribe would interpret the tornadoes as an omen of evil during times of peace, and as a harbinger of great victory during wartime. Observing the strength of the whirlwind, these Barbarians learned to emulate the swirling melange of the cyclone in their attacks. As time went on and the tribes intermingled, the ability to attack in the manner of the whirlwind was passed down to all of the Barbarian people.

Whether or not the tribe has survived the destruction of the Worldstone inside Mount arreat is unknown, but it's still true that using this technique, the Barbarian becomes a cyclone of death, killing any enemies around him with great ease.

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

The following is a very quick summary. See the Whirlwind rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

Name	Stats (Hover over)	Level Unlocked
Volcanic Eruption	(Stats)	59
Dust Devils	(Stats)	24
Hurricane	(Stats)	29
Wind Shear	(Stats)	44
Blood Funnel	(Stats)	37

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

Everyone's favorite spinning, multi-hitting tornado of a skill returns in D3. Once the player activates the skill, the Barbarian starts spinning for a limited duration of time, damaging anything that comes into close proximity with the Barbarian. The Barbarian is able to move while this skill is active, making this skill very good for killing masses of monsters.

Just like the D2 skill, Whirlwind lands multiple hits to anything in the barbarian's path, and it can strike multiple monsters per use. The whirling graphic is much improved in D3, with the weapon visible tracking around in a circle, leaving a glowing light as it spins and pausing an instant when it makes contact with a hapless enemy.

Whirlwind fully runed

Video[edit | edit source]

Two videos of Whirlwind in use can be seen below, courtesy of the DiabloInc You Tube channel.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

Base Skill[edit | edit source]

The following Barbarian passives provide a benefit to Whirlwind, runed or not:

Bloodthirst - The Barbarian gains life based on the amount of damage he deals always.
Weapons Master - Provides a damage bonus when the Barbarian is wielding a sword or dagger.
Berserker Rage - Inflicts additional damage while the Barbarian is at maximum Fury.
Brawler - Increases the Barbarian's damage when he is swarmed.

Blood Funnel[edit | edit source]

The following Barbarian passives provide a benefit to Blood Funnel:

Ruthless - Increases critical hit chance and critical hit damage always.
Weapons Master - Increases critical hit chance when the Barbarian is wielding a mace or axe.

Development[edit | edit source]

The old Whirlwind.

The new Whirlwind.

Whirlwind debuted in Blizzard's WWI 2008 with the announcement of Diablo III, as a Tier 4 skill on the Berserker Skill Tree.

During the BlizzCon 2009 Diablo 3 panel, the development team showed off visual changes to the skill. With the creation of the Desert Dervish, who also use a form of whirlwind, the D3 Team found out that the Dune Dervish's whirlwind is much better looking than the Barbarian's. In order to rectify this, they improved the Whirlwind animation with more blur, and more Barbarian copies in it.

The team showed off the new Whirlwind for the Barbarian, with a demonstration of him slaughtering multiple farm animals with it. The new Whirlwind is much more intense and as the barbarian spins, dust and sand is seen being around him, also, the whirlwind seems more vicious, giving a feeling of "weight of the weapon + the speed of spinning = very hard hits" to the player.

At BlizzCon 2010, Whirlwind was one of the Barbarian's skills available in the Battle Arena. According to Flux, however, it might not be the best skill for PvP:[1]

To my surprise, about his least useful skill was Whirlwind. It was damaging, and I saw it used well a few times in short spins, but FSM help you if you tried to do a long WW in a crowded screen. The odds of getting stuck by a Slow Time or GotD, or both, or spinning into a wall, or just taking about fifty spell attacks on you way, were very high.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Whirlwind became a level 22 skill.

Beta[edit | edit source]

Whirlwind was moved to level 27 for the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Primary skill and moved to level 26. For the Beta Patch 14, Whirlwind was re-classified as a Secondary skill and dropped to level 20.

Previous Versions[edit | edit source]

See the Barbarian skill archive for more details on previous versions of Whirlwind and other Barbarian skills.

In Other Games[edit | edit source]

This skill is an updated version of Diablo II's Barbarian skill Whirlwind, which also improved the Barbarian's Attack Rating.

Media[edit | edit source]

Whirlwind can be seen in action on video here:

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

The old Whirlwind.
The new Whirlwind.
Whirlwind with every rune effect.

References[edit | edit source]

BlizzCon 2009 Heroes and Monsters Panel
BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
Barbarian Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:IconWhirlwind.png|left]]
-'''Whirlwind''' is a Secondary [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 26, doing damage to enemies in close proximity to the Barbarian.
+'''Whirlwind''' is a Secondary [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 20, doing damage to enemies in close proximity to the Barbarian.
 It's a [[signature skill]] of the Barbarian.
@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 <br><br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
-[[File:New_Whirlwind2.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Whirlwind in action]]
+[[File:New_Whirlwind2.jpg|thumb|200px|Whirlwind in action.]]
 Of the [[Barbarian]] people, the [[Tribe of Thunder]] was the first to draw upon the primal forces of the weather. Tornadoes would ravage their plains as summer turned to the harvest season. The shaman of the tribe would interpret the tornadoes as an omen of evil during times of peace, and as a harbinger of great victory during wartime. Observing the strength of the whirlwind, these Barbarians learned to emulate the swirling melange of the cyclone in their attacks. As time went on and the tribes intermingled, the ability to attack in the manner of the whirlwind was passed down to all of the Barbarian people.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
-==Skillrune Effects==
+==Skill Rune Effects==
 The following is a very quick summary. See the [[Whirlwind rune effects]] page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
-<skill class="Barbarian">Whirlwind</skill>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<th>Icon</th>
+<th>Name</th>
+<th>Stats (Hover over)</th>
+<th class="inc_js_sortable inc_sort_desc">Level Unlocked</th>
+</tr>
+<tr id="">
+<td>[[File:runea.png]]</td>
+<td class="name">[[Volcanic Eruption]]</td>
+<td>
+[https://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind#a+ (Stats)]</td>
+<td>59</td>
+</tr>
+<tr id="">
+<td>[[File:runeb.png]]</td>
+<td class="name">[[Dust Devils]]</td>
+<td class="name">
+[https://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind#b+ (Stats)]</td>
+<td>24</td>
+</tr>
+<tr id="">
+<td>[[File:runec.png]]</td>
+<td class="name">[[Hurricane]]</td>
+<td class="name">
+[https://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind#c+ (Stats)]</td>
+<td>29</td>
+</tr>
+<tr id="">
+<td>[[File:runed.png]]</td>
+<td class="name">[[Wind Shear]]</td>
+<td class="name">
+[https://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind#d+ (Stats)]</td>
+<td>44</td>
+</tr>
+<tr id="">
+<td>[[File:runee.png]]</td>
+<td class="name">[[Blood Funnel]]</td>
+<td class="name">
+[https://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind#e+ (Stats)]</td>
+<td>37</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
 ==Skill Design==
@@ Line 25: / Line 75: @@
-==Whirlwind Video==
+===Video===
 Two videos of Whirlwind in use can be seen below, courtesy of [http://www.youtube.com/Diablo3Inc the DiabloInc You Tube channel].
@@ Line 42: / Line 92: @@
-===[[File:IconAlabasterSmall.png|30px|link=Alabaster]] Blood Funnel===
+===[[File:IconMedRuneE.png|30px]] Blood Funnel===
-{{clear-left}}
 The following [[Barbarian passives]] provide a benefit to [[Blood Funnel]]:
 * [[Ruthless]] - Increases [[critical hit]] chance and critical hit damage always.
@@ Line 62: / Line 111: @@
 <blockquote>''To my surprise, about his least useful skill was Whirlwind. It was damaging, and I saw it used well a few times in short spins, but FSM help you if you tried to do a long WW in a crowded screen. The odds of getting stuck by a [[Slow Time]] or [[Grasp of the Dead|GotD]], or both, or spinning into a wall, or just taking about fifty spell attacks on you way, were very high.</blockquote>
-Skill tiers were removed for the [[July 2011 Press Event]], and Whirlwind became a level 22 skill, but soon jumped to level 27. The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]], and Whirlwind was classified as a Primary skill and moved to level 26.
+Skill tiers were removed for the [[July 2011 Press Event]], allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Whirlwind became a level 22 skill.
+===Beta===
+Whirlwind was moved to level 27 for the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Primary skill and moved to level 26. For the [[Beta Patch 14]], Whirlwind was re-classified as a Secondary skill and dropped to level 20.
 ===Previous Versions===
 See the [[Barbarian skill archive]] for more details on previous versions of Whirlwind and other Barbarian skills.
 ===In Other Games===
@@ Line 75: / Line 125: @@
 <!--
 ==Trivia==
-Fun facts. If you add a trivia fact, also add the it to the Category:Trivia.
+''Hide this section unless there really is some trivia about the skill. Add the skill to the [[:Category:Easter Eggs|Easter Eggs]] category as well if the article contains Easter Egg information.''
 -->
 ==Media==
@@ Line 96: / Line 146: @@
-<!--
-==Related Links==
-List any links that would be useful for further reading on this particular skill. Try to avoid double links with the "References" section below.
--->
 ==References==
 * [[BlizzCon_2009_Panel:_Diablo_3_Heroes_and_Monsters|BlizzCon 2009 Heroes and Monsters Panel]]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report]
-* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
-* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ Barbarian Active Skills] -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ Barbarian Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
-{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Barbarian}}
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Barbarian|secondary}}
 [[category:Barbarian skills]]
 [[category:Active skills]]

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(U) = Unfinished				Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree