Misc
HOW TO WHIRL?
Firstly, have ww on right click. Yes thats just about the only regulation.
Click Whirling::Simply click at the ground beyond your intended target-the barb will go off in a spinning attack & any targets within range on the way to that point will be checked on & get hit.,move on to the next target(s) by clicking beyond them ..
Hold Down Whirling::
1.Click on the ground beyond the target(s) & hold the mouse button down,barb will whirl to it & while he is getting there,
2. Place the mouse button(held down) on a spot which draws up a line allowing you to hit maximum no.of monsters on the way back.
3.This allows you to autowhirl-the barb will automatically restart his whirl in the direction you have the mouse button held down. Just wave around the button(always held down) in zig-zags patterns-& do it stratigically-your aim is to draw whirlpaths for the big guy which will allow him to hit maximum number of enemies each whirl.
4. Against bosses use the same tactic but in addition just shorten your whirl to minmize excess whirltime. So like above click on the ground just beyond the boss,hold the button down & start drawing imaginary short lines across the boss(be quick with your fingers)-the big guy will whirl two & fro very quickly, this cuts down on the boss fight times greatly.
5. Same strategy vs players,once you catch up with them,you can inflict a lot of pain,it requires skill but well worth it,use the same tactic as bosses & whirl in nicely cut short tight triangles,it will put them into hit recovery,the triangular whirling is to prevent them for escaping the hitlock circumfrence.If mastered, it is a devastating tactic against any class.
WHIRLING STRATEGIES:
Landmowing:
Applications: Gerneral purpose ww.
This is your basic bread & butter whirling,you use the hold down whirling-hitting maximum no.of targets per whirl is the idea, you dive right into the midst of packs thereby maximising dmg spread.
Skirting:
Applications: Medium/Larger monsters.with dangerous mods like manaburn or a nasty champ pack like frenzy minos.
Requirements: Range4+ weapon, base runwalk is benefial as well.
This is how you use the superior range of 2handers to your advantage:
Use the standard click method-(dont hold mb down)since you will need to readjust your position.
1. Against large/medium monsters that you come across,you have the option of making a sucker out of them with your range advantage. In simple words; The idea is to lineup clever whirlpaths such that you wiff through the edges of the pack, getting the better of them with your range & not attaining a scratch. Howver its simpler said than done, here are some tips that hould help
First & foremost,you must know when to use it-dont just try to do it against everything,you are better of landmowing them to maximize hits. Use them against larger foes-its easy to do against them.
Try to herd them up by adjusting your position,if your mercenary is a tank,let him act as the bait, whirl in squares & triangles on the edges,try to group them nicely & draw whirlines parallel to them.Just try to imagine a circumfrence & pretend you are fencing it,& you will find it grows smaller & smaller,so play along. Use the terrain to your advantage wherever possible(pics below).Hitting without getting hit is the idea.I cant help you much on this,the tactic like is best mastered by practice.
Drag:
Applications: Fast moving aggressive AI monsters (demon rogues,flayers,stygian dolls etc) with dangerous mods manaburn(in particular) or a nasty champion pack like frenzy minos .
Requirements: Range4+ weapon, base runwalk(crucial),no cold damage(crucial)-no cannot be frozen mod..
This is something new-& doing this will also help you master fighting skill in some pvp battles against smiters & other melee classes.The idea here in pvm is to try & use the monsters aggressive AI,fast speed against them & to escape unhurt when confronting them particularly the dreaded stygian dolls.
Agressive AI monsters charge you at the very sight, simply: (use normal clicking,dont hold mb down)
1. Turn around the other way,wait till they are in point blank range &
2. Whirl away from them,use medium length whirls,have base runwalk & do not pack up on any cold damage,or they wont keep up with you. Its also worth noting that being frozen increases the effectiveness of this technique many folds,it slows you down making it easier for them to keep up with you-so avoid cbf mod if possible
3. The monsters fast speed,coupled with your own hoggy whirl speed,will cause them to repeatedly re-enter your check radius & get hit multiple times.
This is an excellent tactic to use when facing dangerous monsters-particualarly manaburn & stygian dolls or any dangerous pack that is better not dealt with head on- This is also your training ground for some pvp battles.
z Pied Piper:
Applications: All range monsters except gloams.Reduces the disadvantage of using lower range cb weapons as well.
Requirements: 1 point taunt-if you dared to defy my earlier orders.
An offshot of dragging which has no such requirements & can be used to devastating effect against range monsters.
This technique is based on taunt,almost entirely. Range monster hurt in 1.10- & its tough on your life ball to approach & take them on their firing ground. So why not turn the tables?
Taunt causes all normal monsters except some special ones like oblivion mages to stop what they are doing & get into melee range.So how:
1. When you come across such range packs-start taunting them 4-5 at a time &
2. Take a step back if they get near you -taunt the remaining ones if any &
3. Fall back,move around sideways a bit & wolla-you have them coming at you in a nice juicy queue-whirl them like no tomorrow.
PAIN ZONES:
Your barb isn’t invincible,he’d get pwned in some areas real quick if you dont know what you are doing. Following are those situations & notes on how to counter them.These are areas where you need to play cleverly, thats the fun with ww barbs, you can use strategy & avoid ugly circumstances as clean as a whistle.
Manaburn:
The biggest pain for ww barbs, monsters with this mod burnout your mana either instantly or gradually(some wraiths) emptying your mana,therefore stripping you of ww. Why this becomes a problem for 2handers is that their offense is their defense,the’ll survive nicely as long as the keep fighting,but once they stop in midst of packs,loosing out all mana-death is swift & painful.
Before going further, it is worth noting that mb is either a default mod of some monsters like wraiths or it is applied on the unique as a special mod & which also grants that mod to his pack.
So how do you counter them? Actaully the ways are many,its simple & after reading this you’d wonder why this appears under pain zones. Its true often the most complex of problems have the simplest of solutions.
1.For default mb mod monsters(except gloams)-take them one at a time.Disperse them with howl & call them back in one at a time with taunt & then zerk or conc them.
For unique mb packs: (this should be trickier)
1. Your first action is to evade-untill you decide the next action. It means when you whirled across a pack & you discovered they are mb, move away to safety & drink a blue.
2. Ferry back & howl,the pack will be reduced to the unique,kill him quickly with zerk & run & catch up with his fleeing buddies & whirl them,.
There are other ways around as well:
1.Use long whirls & draw clever whirl lines allowing you to hit nearby non mb monsters-if present-an easy yet effective solution.
2. If you have dtm & you are fighting a mb pack which is not far of from a non mb range pack of archers or bolt mages,you can use dtm,if they manage a few hits on you you can continue fighting the mb pack.
TIP: Always make your first whirl on a unique pack a long whirl – this will eliminate the risk of getting swarmed by a nasty mb surprise.
Evasive manueavers: Lets say you happen to get stuck in midst of a mb pack & you are being gangbanged & howl isnt working what do you do? two ways out.
1. Drink a purple & immidiately cast warcry & whirl away to safety.
2. Switch to normal attack,as soon as you leech back some mana,whirl away to safety.
A necro curse that returns all melee physical damage(even leap attack) dealt back to the attacker. The prime threat for all barbs.I chose to place manaburn ahead due to the recurring nature of that.Iron maiden is limited to chaos sanctuary & Baalway (hell).
It is cast by oblivion mages,who also have lower resists,decripify up their sleevs.They are surrounded by melee oblivion knights,but there is a bigger threat in chaos sanctuary than iron maiden & that is…. mana burn. 
<= The curse is ironmaiden,learn to identify that,the wraith just above & the oblivion mage is on the far right.
Most know ironmaiden can be countered by using zerk,since it is a magical damage which doesnt reflect back to you-simple & effective solution but wait… what if you get manaburned by a wraith while zerking? You default to a normal attack-which is physical & you die.
This is the safest sequence you should & must follow in chaos sanctuary:
1. Howl away the manaburners asap,to make way for safe zerking.
2. Howl away the oblivion knights(melee) & other monsters.
3. Your prime targets are the oblivion mages,thats the ultimate threat,all others are built on that & if you remove the platform everything built on it upto the manaburn threat crumbles.Oblivion mages can cast decripify apart from im,which means you take more damage,swing slowly with zerk & deal less damage. This is why you should eliminate them first.Since if you try & fight the other more numerous monsters,you are leaving yourself open to curses,which is increasing the danger for you & you are unncesserily prolonging a fight which can be made simple if you take out the prime danger.Clear the area & zerk them asap.
4. Then take the wraiths on,with zerk one at a time using taunt. Move on to the knights & melee monsters(always zerk)
Its worth noting, that you must always use zerk in chaos sanctuary regardless of that the active curse is,subsequent curse overrides the previous & it is cast from far away,you cant even see the mages & suddenly those dreaded red lines make their appearance.
Gloams:
Easily the most dangerous normal monsters in the game. their horrible lightning hurts in hell,the first ones appear in act 3 as willow wisps, then in act iv plains of despair & in act v wolrdstone keep 2,throne & icy cellars.
Even with max resists you can see your life ball dropping at jaw dropping speed. Having lower resists & ventuting nearby is suicide,it doesnt take them long to tear you up regardless. So what is the best counter? Taunt? wrong, taunting them for a ww barb is taking a further step to suicide.
All gloams have the attribute manaburn as their default mod, however their lighning attack doesnt burn mana, its only their melee attack & it does soo instantly-it blows.Taunting them wiil cause them to use their melee attck & you’ll be robbed of your mana instantly, meaning you have to restort to conc/zerk with manapot working desperately on the sides & you cant use warcries due to the low mana..That also means you are standing still during the entire excersise making it easier for other gloams nearby to target you. Death will be swift. The best procedure is:
Howl! Howl! Howl! : Howl them like crazy & then whirl them from their behinds as they flee,dont stop for once.Use long whirls to hit other targets on the way & avoid stopping in their fleeing paths which you will end up blocking causing them to use their melee.
Try to put on lightning absorb gear in late act v for the extra safety.
Spotting general danger:
There is a thin line that separates bravery from foolishness or death.Learn to asses the capability of your barb,you are not invincible,there is always so much he can handle. Try to take one pack at a time,avoid rounding up the entire map or you will get yourselves in ugly situations & death can strike before you even think about retreating. Gathering up monsters,you only run the risk of stacking & applying dangerous auras to more & more enemies,the situation quickly spins out of control(no pun intended).
GENERAL GAMEPLAY:
Always have bc,bo & shout active.
Always use offensive warcries whenever you sense danger or whenever you feel it can help you kill quickly.
Always cast battlecry on bosses,powerful & hardy foes like frenzy minos.
Always taunt all range attackers(except gloams)
Use warcry when surrounded.
Use howl premptively to alienate the unique in a dangerous aura pack & kill him.Use it alongwith taunt for select killing.
Heal whenever necessary,dont wait for your life to drop to a low level.
Maintain high levels,avoid rushing through the acts except when you are rushing. A high comparative level means a better cth monsters & a functioning howl.
Dont run when being followed or when monsters are nearby,walk.Running brings down your defense to 0,though it doesnt show it on the character screen.
Always have a 4*2 inventory slot empty,you never know what drops.
Always try to explore new whirl styles,ww is an immensely enjoyable & customizable skill, throw in some strategy into the mix. Its your game,play it as you will, I am just a guide.
RECOMMENDED SHORTCUT KEY PLACEMENT:
Q: Battle commands
W: Battle orders
E: Shout
A: Howl
S:Taunt
D:Battle cry
F: Warcry
Z: Zerk
X: Whirlwind
C: Concentrate
FAQ:
1. What do I socket in my ik maul?
Ans:IK Maul : 2 open sockets-
Base weapon speed: 10
40% ias on weapon-effective speed: 10-40 = -30
As u can see it is currently at the second last ww bp, to get those 2 more checks/sec, it has to hit lwbp of -60.
To get there u need another 30% ias,so 2 x ias jewels or 2 x shael runes or a combo of both gets the job done.
2. Why dont skills like static from my crecent moon legend sword or lifetap from my draculs trigger when i am whirling?
Ans:Those are chance to cast skills, emphasis cast. You cant cast while in whirling,since you are not stationary, have you seen a sorc shooting orbs while running? So quite simply, chance to cast skills wont trigger in ww whether it is attack,striking or struck, since it requires you to be stationary.
3. Does crushingblow,openwounds & pmh etc..work with whirlwind?
Yes,those are attack mods & not skills that need casting.
4. If I wield to death cleavers,each giving 66% deadly strike, does that mean I’ll get more that 132% deadly?
Ans: No. On-weapon Attack mods are not shared between weapons. Only the offweapon sources of attack mods transfer to both weapons. Individual attack mods on weapon are restricted to that weapon & will only kick in when that weapon hits & they dont stack. That applies to everything like ow,cb,ds,target flee,freezes target,ele dmg etc.But stats & auras do stack,for e.g: wielding two beast weapons will give you a level 18 fana aura.
5. What is the best ww barb build?
The reason I went into such detail in fleshing out minute weapon setup specs & grading them was to provide you with multiple choices, I have rated them in many criterias including affordability(courtesy Dahmer-eur nl). take your pick & choose something that suits your style/affordability etc…
