Best Early Barbarian Whirlwind Build in Diablo 4

Leveling up a Barbarian character in Diablo 4 can feel rough. Much of the class’ abilities are slow and take time to ramp up, and they usually need to manage their primary resource more than other classes do. However, thanks to the many improvements the game has received since launch, the Barbarian leveling experience can be as smooth as butter with the right skills and items.

The following build turns Barbarians in Diablo 4 into a walking blender using Whirlwind supported by effects that greatly improve Fury generation and effiiciency, letting players spin to their hearts’ content as they power-level their way to the endgame.

Related

Diablo 4: Stats Explained

There are four major stats and several minor stats in Diablo 4, and players will want to know what each of them does to level with a plan.

Best Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian Leveling Build

Whirlwind is known for being inefficient in the early game. It drains Fury like crazy, and the damage it deals against bosses is usually sub-par for its resource cost. However, with this setup, you’ll be able to fly through the early leveling stage without having to worry much about either of those issues.

There are a few ways to build around Whirlwind early on, and the one you pick mostly depends on what Legendary Aspects are available to you:

• Aspect of the Relentless Armsmaster greatly improves Fury Generation while reducing Fury Costs of abilities while all three Walking Arsenal bonuses are active.
• Aspect of Starlight restores large chunks of your Primary Resource every time you heal or Overheal a certain amount of health.
• Slaking Aspect gives you a chance on Lucky Hit to gain Fury whenever you hit a Bleeding enemy

Which Aspect Should You Pick?

You can either adapt to whatever RNG gives you, or if you have the option to choose between these three, then here’s what you need to consider.

• Relentless Armsmaster forces you to use the Walking Arsenal passive. This means you will constantly be rotating between Whirlwind and two other skills bound to your other weapons. In exchange, you get a Fury Generation and Efficiency effect that’s strong and consistent.
• Starlight only works if you can heal yourself constantly, which shouldn’t be an issue considering how Life on Hit/Kill has become more available due to the big Season 11 changes. You can easily get Life on Hit/Kill by equipping two flails.
• Slaking Aspect is great regardless of which of the previous two Aspects you choose. Always have it on while leveling.

Damage Aspects

Of course, you’ll need to beef your damage up if you want to do Penitent difficulty. Try these out when you get them:

• Aspect of Anger Management increases your damage and makes you Berserk when you have over 50% Fury, but you will drain 3 Fury per second.
• Edgemaster’s Aspect snapshots its damage bonus to Whirlwind, which means you get the full damage bonus on Whirlwind even as your Fury drains while you’re using it.
• Dust Devil’s Aspect makes Whirlwind leave Dust Devil tornadoes, damaging enemies while increasing the damage they take.

Out of these three, we recommend keeping Aspect of Anger Management on your Gloves at all times, then put the other two on your 1H weapons. Doing so lets you freely upgrade your 2H Bludgeoning and 2H Slashing weapons without having to constantly reapply Legendary Aspects.

Recommended Gear

Equip the damaging Aspects on your 1H weapons and gloves, and keep your Fury Generation Aspects equipped at all times. Then, upgrade your remaining gear pieces as you get new items.

For this build, use either your 2H Bludgeoning weapon or a Polearm. The former gives Barbarians a chance to restore Fury on Lucky Hit, while the latter increases your Lucky Hit Chance and Damage to Healthy Enemies. Both of these only work on Barbarians thanks to the class’ Weapon Expertise mechanic.

Skill Build

The skill setup above is for a build that uses Unconstrained instead of Walking Arsenal. This means that you won’t be able to use Relentless Armsmaster if you want to use this exact list. If you do want to use Relentless Armsmaster, replace War Cry with Fighter’s Death Blow.

To play this build, all you need to do is generate a bunch of initial Fury with Lunging Strike and Ground Stomp, then go to town on your enemies with Whirlwind. The Lucky Hit effects from all your gear and other effects will make Whirlwind sustain itself.

What About Passive Skills?

As previously mentioned, you can take Unconstrained for more consistent damage and an overall simpler playstyle, or you can go with Walking Arsenal for better Fury Generation. Either way, you’ll be blowing through Penitent and early Torment content like a force of nature with this build.

Other important passives include:

• Endless Fury and Belligerence for extra Fury Generation and bonus damage when using Lunging Strike
• Aggressive Resistance and Prolific Fury for Damage Reduction and Fury Generation while Berserking
• Pit Fighter and No Mercy for damage, defense, and crit chance.
• Heavy Handed for bonus crit damage with 2H weapons
• Heavy Hitter for stronger Dust Devils

Of course, there are many more passives that are important, but you can save those for after you get the ones listed above.