++ A Diablo II, Path of Diablo, Whirlwind Barbarian Guide by Menthur ++ ++

04/11/2017 ++ ++ VERSION 1 ++ ++ Live Stream https://www.twitch.tv/menthur ++

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/menthur ++

++ Gameplay Video, Level 93 // Short Video About Gameplay Gameplay Video

++ Leveling Process up to Level 30-ish

Start Leveling your Barbarian with Frenzy & Cleave. Try to get a Jewel with Splash
Damage as soon as possible so your Frenzy can hit multiple targets. In some cases
Cleave will still clear faster, but keep in mind that Cleave will always require a
little bit more resource management than Frenzy (Mana Pots). Put points into Frenzy
until it's not worth it anymore (% dmg). Put 1 point into Leap for mobility
reasons. You can also put points into Cleave as you see fit, because Frenzy
benefits from Cleave (%dmg). Additionally, put 1 point each into Howl, Shout,
Battle Orders and Battle Command. Then max out One Handed Mastery.

++ Stats

As a Whirlwind Barbarian you will only need to put skill points into Strength and
Vitality. Early on focus on Vitality first. Remember to only put enough points into
Strength so you can use your gear, because some gear will require more Strength. So
try to plan ahead (Tip: Steel and Malice on Flails will require both 41 Strength!)
Don't need more Strength? Good, keep pumping Vitality!

++ Early Runewords & Gear While Leveling

Since you're going with Frenzy/Cleave I would recommend finding fast one handers
with damage modifiers, because soon enough you will be ready to use two runewords
to craft your first sets of powerful weapons. So just go with any weapon with
maximum damage output and Faster Attacks until you can craft the stuff listed
below.

Farm the Countess on Normal Difficulty for Runes until you get:

2x El
2x Eth
1x Tal
1x Ith
1x Tir

You will need those Runes to craft 2 of your early powerful weapons with the
Runewords Steel (Tir, El), Malice (Ith, El, Eth) and your first Body Armor Stealth
(Tal, Eth). Malice is going to reduce your life every few seconds. Don't worry, you
cannot die in town! I recommend getting a 2 and a 3 Socket Flail from Fara in ACT
II.

Level Requirements: Steel lvl 13, Malice lvl 15, Stealth lvl 17 Strength
Requirements: Steel 41, Malice 41, Stealth (Depends on Armor you choose. Choose
wisely!)

As for the rest of your gear: Anything which gives you life, resists, attack
rating, movement speed, life leech, mana leech.

++ Respeccing from Frenzy into Whirlwind LVL 30

Note: Path of Diablo uses Diablo 2 Classic Whirlwind mechanic, means the Attack
Speed of your gear does not matter at all! You can ignore it totally.
When you hit lvl 30 you can spec into Whirlwind! YES! That's exactly what we want.
Keep in mind it only makes sense to spec so early into Whirlwind if you already
have a very nice 2Hander, preferably Bonesnap (LVL 24). If you do, then let's
respec.

Put 1 point into each skill you are going to use! Then max out Whirlwind first.
After that, max out 2 Handed Weapon Mastery and Battle Orders. Max out Shout
finally. If you realize you haven't been lucky with Resistance gear to enter the
next Difficulty Level, you can put a few points into Natural Resistance, but a
total of 3 points into NR should be enough, even for endgame. Don't forget 1 point
into Leap for mobility!

++ General Info About Gear

You want to look out for these stats on your gear:

Life
Resistance
Strength
Attack Rating
Life Leech
Mana Leech

Especially Attack Rating will be very important, because you will always be short
on Attack Rating with Whirlwind. Make sure you have enough. Try to get Charms with
Attack Rating on them. Once you can wield the IK Maul (LVL 76), consider slotting 2
Perfect Amethysts for some additional Attack Rating.

Once you have specced into Whirlwind you want to use a very high damage 2 Hander.
Try to get your hands on Bonesnap early on (LVL 24). Bonesnap will almost triple
your damage, it will have some Crushing Blow and nice Cold and Fire Resistance.
After that you should try to get Bloodtree Stump (LVL 48) for some really nice All
Resistance, Strength, +2 Masteries (The Mace Mastery display is a bug in PoD,
because there is no Mace Mastery in PoD anymore).

I recommend going for a full Immortal King's Set mid to early endgame. Please keep
in mind that some of the IK Set Pieces require a minimum level of 76 (Maul, Armor).
Finding the IK Armor will be the toughest one, since the drop rate is very low. But
keep farming. Eventually it will drop. Of course, there is always the trade
website. Also remember the IK Armor requires a lot of Strength (232)! So plan
ahead! A Raven Frost Ring is definately a must-have. Even early on. Try to get one
as soon as possible (LVL 45). The Cannot Be Frozen ability will accompany you to
the rest of your days, and it's just overpowered.

Read here about the level requirements for each piece and the set bonuses:
https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Immortal_King

++ Skill Tree When Maxed Out

This is how your Skilltree should look like when maxed out:

20 Whirlwind
20 Weapon Mastery
20 Battle Orders
20 Shout
1 Battle Command
1 Increased Speed
1 Iron Skin
1 Natural Resistance
 1 Leap
1 Find Item

The rest of your points you can distribute as you see fit. For example Natural
Resistance or Iron Skin. I'd personally max out Iron Skin as well for really late
endgame though. But that's just me.

++ How To Use Your Shouts

Always start your rotation by using Battle Command first, because BC will increase
the Skill Level of the next shouts. It should be like this:

1. Battle Command (+1 to Skill Levels)

2. Battle Orders (Increases Life, Stamina and Mana for you and your Party)
3. Shout (Improves Defense for you and your Party)

++ Mercenary Equipment

Early on just equip any item that will increase the merc's defenses and damage. You
can also craft a Stealth armor for your merc, too. See above (Early Runewords &
Gear While Leveling). Remember to safe any rare or good magic 2 Hander weapon
(Spear etc) for ACT II, because you want to change your merc in ACT II.

Your Endgame Merc Setup should look like this:

ACT V Merc for Might Aura (Barbarian Merc Hell Yeah!)

Lawbringer Runeword for Weapon (Legend Sword)
Treachery Runeword for Armor (Wyrmhide for example, pick one with high defense
but low Strength requirements)
Helm either Crown of Thieves with 1 Socket (Melee Splash + Attack Speed Jewel)
or Steel Shade (Fire Absorb and insance Life on Hit)

Endgame Merc Setup Video Clip

++ Endgame Gear

Now the real deal starts. The real endgame gear. Although you can do most of the
content easily with a full IK Set, you still want to consider changing your gear
for more than trippling your damage.

Weapon:

Look for an Etherial War Pike with 6 Sockets and craft Breath of the Dying
Runeword. Why War Pike? It has the highest range (+6) for a weapon and you can hit
mobs before they can even close in to you. Pretty damn powerful for farming
anything (Chaos Sanctuary, Cow Level etc).

Breath of the Dying is the most powerful overall Runeword for farming with a
Whirlwind Barbarian. Don't worry, the Zod Rune will make your Etherial weapon
Indistructable.

Armor:

Craft Fortitude on a high defense Archon Plate. You will get 300% Increased Damage,
some very nice Resistances and + Life. The +5% to max Lightning Resistance is just
perfect for Uber Mephisto aswell.

Helmet:
I recommend Arreat's Face with a socket, or if you are lucky with 3 Sockets (You
might need to corrupt it). Put an Enhanced Damage Jewel into the socket for some
additional Damage. If you have 3 sockets, you can go with more damage or with some
Magic Find (Topaz) or Life (Ruby) Gems.

You can also use Guillaume's Face for that extra Deadly Strike and Crushing Blow.
Try to corrupt here again for some Sockets!

Gloves:

Laying of Hands are pretty decent gloves for that extra 350% damage to Demons which
makes CS runs pretty fast and easy. If you use them, try to corrupt them for some
extra Life on Hit. There are some nice alternatives though. Steelrend for more
damage or Dracul's Grasp for more Life Leech and Strength.

Remember: Whirlwind will not trigger the Life Tap on your Draculs.

Boots:

I use Gore Rider which I corrupted with some extra All Resistance (8%). Those have
some Crushing Blow, Deadly Strike, and Chance of Open Wounds. I personally believe
these boots are the best choice. Alternatives are: War Traveler for some extra
Magic Find, Damage and Vitality.

Belts:

Verdungo's Hearty Cord is what I am using for my usual farming routes. The belt is
giving you some nice Damage Reduction and Life. If you have Verdungo's you won't
need any other belt, unless you wanna do Uber Runs, then I recommend changing the
belt to Thundergod's Vigor. The Lightning Absorb is essential for the Uber Mephisto
fight. See Uber Tristram section for more information.

Amulet:

Pretty straight forward: Try to get Highlord's Wrath for Uber Runs for that extra
Deadly Strike, Mara's for more skills and resists. Personally, I was not lucky, and
couldn't find Highlord's yet, so I am going with a rare +1 Barb, Strength, Life,
All Res and some MF amulet.

Rings:

Raven Frost is a must-have. Get it! And get it as soon as possible. For your
secondary Ring slot you want either a Dwarf Ring, Bul-Kathos or a Wisp. But a very
good Rare Ring can do here aswell. Make sure you have some Leech, Life, Strength
and Resists when you go for a rare version.

Charms:

Attack Rating
Life
Resistances
Maximum Damage
Barbarian Skills
Faster Hit Recovery
Faster Run/Walk

++ Endgame Runewords

--- Yourself: ----- Breath of the Dying (VEX, HEL, EL, ELD, ZOD, ETH) -----
Fortitude (EL, SOL, DOL, LO)

--- Your Merc: ----- Lawbringer (AMN, LEM, KO) ----- Treachery (SHAEL, THUL, LEM)

++ Farming Routes

These areas are worth farming.

ACT I
The Pit Level 1 and Level 2
The Countess
Andariel
The Secret Cow Level

ACT II
Lost City -> Trap Door -> Ancient Tunnels

ACT III
Travincal (High Council) / Use Find Item Skill on the Corpses

ACT IV
Chaos Sanctuary including Diablo

ACT V
Frigid Highlands (Eldritch, Shenk)
Harrogath, Anja's Red Portal (Pindleskin)
Halls of Pain to Halls of Vaught (Nihlathak)
Worldstone Keep Level 2 and 3

++ Uber Tristram

With the endgame gear setup which I described in this guide you can easily farm
Uber Tristram. Keep in mind that Mephisto casts a very high level Conviction Aura
that reduces your resistances by 125%. Ouch! Be prepared for that! Make sure you
have your Thundergod's Belt on and preferably the Wisp Projector for some
additional Lightning Absorb.

Uber Mephisto is the scariest of them all. Try to lure him away from the rest of
his evil brothers and solo him down. His HP pool is rather low compared to Diablo's
or Baal's. Once Mephisto is down the other ones should be a cake walk, but try not
to fight them together. Lure them away and kill them one by one. Although it's
certainly managable to engage Baal and Diablo and kill them together, it will take
a bit longer.

Uber Tristram Run YouTube

++ Diablo Clone

For Diablo Clone fight, which is the most difficult fight in the game you will need
to get rid of your Breath of the Dying setup. Craft a Death Runeword (HEL, EL, VEX,
ORT, GUL) and get a Stormshield. You will need that extra Crushing Blow and Deadly
Strike which BotD just does not provide. Good luck!

++ Tips / Tricks

Leave the area and return to refresh any vendor's inventory! You do not
need to leave game! Or get a friend to help you out. Make him/her open a TP to town
and use his/her TP to quickly leave and enter town
 You can respec a total of 3 times in each difficulty level: Normal,
Nightmare, Hell. If those three respec options are not enough, don't worry, you can
farm Respec Tokens as many as you want and respec with those tokens, too. So, don't
be scared to f*** up your skilltree. Experiment a bit, if you want to.

Use your Show Items key to Whirlwind smoothly. I have bound that key to
Space and just rest my hand on Space and can smoothly Whirlwind. The advantage is,
I will never miss any drops ;)

While leveling with Frenzy, you can hit a mob on your way to get your
movement speed buff. That way you can reach your destination a little bit faster.

Use your Move Only skill on your Left Mouse Button. This way you can move
easily without attacking accidently and getting stuck in Mobs.

Don't click on the mobs if you want to Whirlwind. Always try to click a
little bit behind the mobs so you can whirlwind through them!

When you are trying to kill a Boss with whirlwind try to whirlwind by
drawing a triangle with your whirlwind while the boss is in the middle of the
triangle.

Couldnt find an Etherial War Pike with 6 Sockets? Don't worry. Try to get
one without sockets and just use any Socket Quest in ACT V to get max (!) Sockets
on your Eth War Pike! Voila! The difficulty level where you use your socket quest
doesn't matter!

You can use Battle Command twice to increase the duration of Battle
Command!

Create Mule Characters and name them properly (like Helm_Mule, Ring_Mule
etc) so you can organize your items. That will make looking for a specific item way
easier and faster, especially when trading!

If you have troubles getting your hand on a ZOD Rune, try to trade for 2
Cham Runes. They are usually cheaper and you can put those two Cham Runes into your
cube and craft a ZOD yourself!