Whirlwind

Whirlwind is a Barbarian Tier 6 skill unlocked at level 20, doing damage to enemies in close proximity to the Barbarian.

It's a signature skill of the Barbarian.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Whirlwind
Used by:	Barbarian
Enabled at:	Clvl 20
Skill Description
Swirl in a cyclone, delivering multiple attacks to everything in his path with each hit doing X% of weapon damage.
Type:	Direct Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Fury
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Critical strikes confuse enemies, forcing them to attack their allies for a short time.
Crimson rune:	Shoots bits of rock and gravel in every direction, dealing area effect damage.
Golden rune:	Reduced Fury cost.
Indigo rune:	Barbarian spawns smaller whirlwinds which deal direct damage.
Obsidian rune:	Provides the barbarian with immunity to immobilizing effects.

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 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

• Rank 1: Hit all targets in path for 100% of normal weapon damage on each hit.
• Rank 2: Hit all targets in path for 120% of normal weapon damage on each hit. (A)
• Rank 3: Hit all targets in path for 140% of normal weapon damage on each hit. (A)
• Rank 4: Hit all targets in path for 160% of normal weapon damage on each hit. (A)
• Rank 5: Hit all targets in path for 180% of normal weapon damage on each hit. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Trait Synergies

Whirlwind benefits directly from the following Barbarian traits:

• Intimidation: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
• Cruelty: Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
• Weak Spot: Increases critical strike damage.

Whirlwind may benefit from the following traits:

• Frenzied Attacks: Increases the chance to deal critical strikes and increases critical strike damage when the Barbarian is wielding two weapons.
• Thunderous Blows: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a two-handed weapon.
• Beast Hunter: Damage bonus against Beasts.
• Demonsbane: Damage bonus against Demons.
• Just...Stay...Dead!: Damage bonus against Undead.
• Massive Blow: You have a chance to hit all nearby targets with a single hit. Requires a two-handed weapon.
• Pig Sticker: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a polearm, spears or when he throws weapons.
• Die by the Sword: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding swords.
• Axe Murderer: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding axes.
• Brain Basher: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding maces.

Note: The current trait list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.

Skill Rune Effects

The following rune effects for Whirlwind are known:

• Crimson Rune - Shoots bits of rock and gravel in every direction, dealing area effect damage.

• Indigo Rune - Barbarian spawns smaller whirlwinds which deal direct damage.

• Obsidian Rune - Provides the barbarian with immunity to immobilizing effects.

• Golden Rune - Reduced Fury cost.

• Alabaster Rune - Critical strikes confuse enemies, forcing them to attack their allies for a short time.

The video below demonstrates these runes' effects.

Development

The old Whirlwind.

The new Whirlwind.

Whirlwind debuted in Blizzard's WWI 2008 with the announcement of Diablo 3. It is pretty much identical to the Diablo 2 Whirlwind, except requiring Fury to use.

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.

Previous Versions

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

In Other Games

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

Media

Whirlwind can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: WWI 2008
• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
• Runestone Effects on Whirlwind

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Whirlwind specific gallery contents

• 

  The old Whirlwind.

• 

  The new Whirlwind.

• 

  Whirlwind with every rune effect.

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Heroes and Monsters Panel
• BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report