After weeks of enduring the weak state of the Barbarian, I was convinced that the Whirlwind skill would finally receive a buff. You even announced that all core skills would be buffed during the Campfire Chat—yet Whirlwind was conspicuously absent.
I thought, Maybe they haven’t decided how much to buff Whirlwind yet, which is why it wasn’t mentioned. But when I read the patch notes, I was genuinely disappointed (and surprised in a negative way).
It’s well known that many players want to play “spin-to-win” and have been asking for a Whirlwind buff since Season 2. And yet, it’s the only core skill that continues to be ignored during balancing updates. This feels almost provocative, as no reasons for this decision were given—just silence. To us Barbarian players, it feels like a slap in the face.
I’d really like to understand the reasoning behind this decision, because otherwise, it’s hard to make sense of it. And I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way.
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I do everything you complain can’t be done and have been doing it since season 5. I have no idea what paragon settings you use, which affixes or whatever you have applied. But I can promise you that Whirlwind and barbarian absolutely kicks butt if one knows how to use the game properly in season 6 and season 5. I think the reason they didn’t “buff” it to your satisfaction is that it already works great when operated properly.
I kill torment 4 Bosses in 3 or 4 seconds using it channeled and normal. Enough said.
Lol lies. Whirlwind’s damage is terrible. You have to use Quakes and Dust Devils which is where the damage comes and even then, it isn’t that great. Please post your Pit 150 clear with WW.
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Looks like they already baked in this idea WW = dust devils. I doubt we will ever see a viable pure WW build without the dust devils.
I chuckled when I saw that tiny buff to Gohr’s Devastating Grips. What is the point of that 10% increase? almost feels like a mockery.
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What pit are you clearing as WW?
I’m currently clearing up to 90 and expect that I might be able to push 95 once i get
- my glyphs from 93 to something closer to 100 +
- I get a few more paragon points to boost my max life
- I get a 2h and 1h each with GA Str AND GA Crit damage w/ correct tempers and masterworks
All that and I MAY clear up to 95. I believe it was pit 100 that blizz said they want to be their baseline of what everyone should be able to achieve. So yes, WW damage (which currently comes from Dust Devils and Earthquakes) does need buffing. I suspect most players havent invested as much time and obtained the gear I have as a WW barb and from what i’ve read on the barb forums, a lot strugle to pass Pit 65…
Edit: Almost forgot I also need a perfect Earthquake aspect, currently running it at 27%
I think you’re missing the point. Most people want WW buffed so that WW is the damage dealer, not the quakes and DDs.
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I understand that, that’s why I added the bit in parenthesis. Was directed to the person I was replying to who does not seem to understand that. 
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If blizzard wanted to buff Core skills they could of just buff Unbridled Rage. But instead choose to buff individual Core skills. Blizzard is shying away from Core skills for the time being. Core skill has the spot light for a whole year by now.
HoTA was. Core Skills as a whole, not so much.
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Dust devils/earthquakes are not whirlwind. People need to understand this.
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I’ll see how it goes,I’m playing Hota/Cota leap slam build. Slam helps but i don’t swap weapons so the aspect does nothing. The aspect is to make MT stronger,they just trying to sell the new build.Core skill are useless on Barb the tiny buff does nothing.
I think in general without buffs on the key passives not much will change. In my opinion they were just nerfed too hard. In retrospect you could even say unnecessarily nerfed.
I would have especially liked to see the restoration of Gushing Wounds. Since the nerf, all blood builds are basically uninteresting.
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Ya I had 4 homespun that got Pit 100 season 4(last time I played) One Bleed build ,One Double Swing,One Hota/Cota and a WW build all barley got it done. No more multipler and ya they nerfed way to hard. They had the Spark for season journey Mythics where easier to get but no more . I don’t know what these Dev’s are thinking Tbh.
I have 68k attack power, 3.4k strength, 100 pct crit, 3.2k crit damage. 300 pct berserk dmg. There are all maxed out. How is it that WW won’t let me get to T4 or beyond Pit 60? ]
There must be some hidden layer which subtracts power from me when I WW…? There is NO other explanation.
There isn’t. WW base damage is too low. Doesn’t matter if you double your attack power from here, your WW damage is still weak.
Something that I’ve come to realize is that WW doesn’t just need a simple “buff” to be viable, it would need a dedicated rework of them looking at it and how it reacts with mechanics and aspects.
Specifically, a skill does NOT work based on just its base damage alone, it has to have multipliers via aspects and uniques to increase it, hence why Ramaldi is so reccomended for WW. but Blizzard has instead gone all in on Twisters and quakes as how WW is intended to be played, where WW’s damage is actually negligible and its all from the natural disasters you’re spewing out.
We’d need another 1 or 2 aspects that are dedicated to (x) multiplying WW or making it work in a different manner to use instead of Twisters in order to properly make a WW centric playstyle work, as well as possibly another method of scaling our damage since we can’t overpower.
I would reccomend that the grasping whirlwind glyph be baked into the skill baseline to help make room for this.
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I’m getting sick of hearing “skill issue” in response to legitimate grievances. It’s worse than hearing nothing at all.
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I dont care where the damage comes from as long as Whirlwind build is powerful. I actually think the Dust devil are cool and since the beta I had wanted to play a Whirlwind build that has cool screen effects, give me lightning and dust devil and we’re really talking now.
Unfortunately Whirlwind has really only been playable in season 4 and to a lesser extent season 5.
The problem is he is mistaking his own enjoyment for the class performing well.
Killing random T4 bosses quickly does not say much.
Can a WW barb clear pit 100+? That I would say is were the bar should be. Currently I am close to being able to clear pit 95. I’ve seen 2 other WW barbs who can clear 100. So it’s possible… but only just barely. Takes an obscene amount of gearing.
I would love for one day to be freed from having to wear all the mythics and uniques possible in order to make a WW build decent.
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