Whirlwind

Whirlwind is a Tier VI skill from the Barbarian's Berserker Skill Tree, doing damage to enemies in close proximity to the Barbarian. It's a signature skill of the Barbarian.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]
Whirlwind Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Barbarian
Skill Description:
Swirl in a cyclone, delivering multiple attacks to everything in his path with each hit doing X% of weapon damage.
Skill Details:
Type:	Direct Damage
Quantity:	% of weapon dmg./sec
Effect:	Circular AoE
School:	Physical
Fury cost:	1 Orb
Cast time:	Instant
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	Unknown
Synergies:	Berserker Skill tree, High Dmg. Weapons
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

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 mיlange 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 Design

Everyone's favourite 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.

Skill Rank Table

(legend (A) = Assumed)

• Rank: 1/5
  • Hits for 100% weapon damage.
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb.
• Rank: 2/5
  • Hits for 120% weapon damage. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb.
• Rank: 3/5
  • Hits for 140% weapon damage. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb.
• Rank: 4/5
  • Hits for 160% weapon damage. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb.
• Rank: 5/5
  • Hits for 180% weapon damage. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb.

Synergies

General Synergies

• Weapons with high damage will make this skill much stronger, especially at higher levels (assumed).

Skill Rune Effects

• None known.

Development

The old Whirlwind.

The new Whirlwind.

Whirlwind was revealed in Blizzard's World Wide Invitational in Paris, along with the announcement of Diablo 3. It is pretty much identical to the Diablo 2 Whirlwind, except requiring Fury to use.

During the BlizzCon's 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 (Secret Cow Level?). 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.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures
• Whirlwind-specific gallery contents

• 

  The old Whirlwind.

• 

  The new Whirlwind.

References

• Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• BlizzCon 2009, Diablo 3 Heroes and Monsters panel.