Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build and best skills

Learn how to make our Whirlwind Barbarian build in Diablo 4

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

Want the best Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build? Season 1 is well underway in Diablo 4 , and the Barbarian has had it rough. The recent nerfs in Patch 1.1.0 saw its power reduced significantly, as they reduced the strength of the bleed synergies that previously made it one of the best classes. However, it’s still one of the tankier options, and with the endgame now being far more deadly, that defense might appeal if you want to tackle some of the tougher late-game content during the Season of the Malignant.

In this guide, we break down the best Whirlwind Barbarian build in Diablo 4 , covering the Skills, Paragon Boards and Glyphs, Technique, Aspects, Stats, Gems, and Malignant Hearts that you’ll need. This information is current as of Patch 1.1.0, but we’ll continue to make changes as future updates arrive.

If you’re after different Diablo 4 Barbarian builds , make sure to check out our Diablo 4 Bleed Barbarian build .

What is the best class in Diablo 4? Watch this video to find out.Watch on YouTube

Best Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build

The Whirlwind Barbarian is a Diablo classic, so we absolutely had to build it in Diablo 4. This build focuses on almost-constantly using the Whirlwind skill to clear groups of enemies with ease.

Of course, using Whirlwind spends Fury, so you’ll need to use your basic builder to generate Fury between big fights, at least in the early-game. For this build, we’d recommend upgrading various shouts, such as Rallying Cry and Challenging Shout, and using them alongside Lunging Strike to get Fury fast.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build skills

Below, you’ll find a full list of the skills that you should acquire for the Whirlwind Barbarian, in order:

Lunging Strike

Lunging Strike is your builder in this Whirlwind Barbarian build, generating nine Fury with each hit. That might seem small, but the upgrades will make it heal you and possibly activate Berserking, making it a useful part of the build while levelling.

Whirlwind

Whirlwind , the signature skill in this build, does exactly what you’d expect - it causes your Barbarian to spin and swing their weapons, dealing massive AoE damage to nearby enemies. Whirlwind is the best tool in your arsenal for dealing with enemy hordes, so it’ll act as your main form of attack.

Enhanced Whirlwind is an essential upgrade, as it generates Fury whenever Whirlwind deals damage to an enemy. For the final upgrade, we’d recommend taking Furious Whirlwind, which deals some of your Whirlwind damage as Bleed so that we can make use of some pivotal Bleed effects later on.

Rallying Cry

Rallying Cry increases Fury generation by 50% when active, but the Tactical Rallying Cry upgrade will raise that even further. This is a crucial skill for the Whirlwind Barbarian, as it significantly increases the Fury gained by Enhanced Whirlwind and ensures that you won’t run out in the middle of a horde.

With Enhanced Rallying Cry, it’ll also make you Unstoppable while active. Unstoppable makes you immune to any crowd control effects, and ends any that are currently taking effect. That makes it an easy way to break out effects such as Stun, allowing you to stay in the fight.

Challenging Shout

As you might expect, Challenging Shout offers another way to boost Fury generation thanks to the Tactical Challenging Shout upgrade, which grants you 3 Fury each time you take damage while Challenging Shout is active.

That might seem risky, as it means you’re basically asking to get hit, but Challenging Shout also gives you up to a massive 56% boost in damage reduction for six seconds, making you much less likely to fall in combat.

War Cry

War Cry pairs well with Rallying Cry, boosting your attack damage so that you can kill enemies faster. This means Whirlwind will be more effective, again lowering the chance of draining your Fury before managing to clear a group of enemies.

With Enhanced War Cry, it’ll also make you Berserk for four seconds.

Wrath of the Berserker

Speaking of going Berserk, Wrath of the Berserker is your Ultimate for this Whirlwind Barbarian build, and it automatically grants you Berserking and Unstoppable for 5 seconds, while also knocking back any nearby enemies. For the next ten seconds, you’ll get a further 5 seconds of Berserking for each time you deal damage with Lunging Strike.

Easy access to the Berserking effect is incredibly useful, but Prime Wrath of the Berserker makes this even stronger by granting 20% extra movement speed (on top of the 30% bonus already offered by the Berserking effect) and +30% Fury generation. With the final upgrade, Supreme Wrath of the Berserker, every 50 Fury you spend will also increase Berserk’s damage bonus by a further 25%.

If you’re not sure how to use these skills effectively, follow the attack pattern below:

1. Use Lunging Strike to build your Fury, if needed.
2. Activate Rallying Cry, War Cry, and Challenging Shout.
3. Activate Whirlwind and use it until all enemies are dead, or your Fury is depleted.
4. Use Lunging Strike to generate more Fury, and then Whirlwind again.
5. If you’re in a particularly tough fight, use Wrath of the Berserker and then repeat the above to quickly destroy any enemies.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build: Best Paragon Boards and Glyphs

Diablo 4’s Paragon system unlocks when you reach level 50, allowing you to spend Paragon Points to get powerful passive bonuses that greatly enhance your build.

Below, we break down the best Paragon Boards and Glyphs that you should take for this build, mapping out your journey from level 50-100. For a clearer view of how we’ve spent each and every Paragon Point, check out our Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian page on the Lothrik build calculator .

Starting Board

Take the path on the right through the rare Brawn node, and then head up to the Glyph socket and insert Territorial. Scoop up as many nearby Dexterity nodes as possible, and then path up to the left, through the rare Raw Power node, and continue up to the Board Attachment Gate. Attach the Warbringer board.

In total, the Starting Board should use 27 Paragon Points .

Warbringer

Warbringer has nodes that increase max Fury, Fury on Kill, and Physical damage that all synergise with this build, making it an obvious place to start.

Rotate the board so that the Glyph is on the lower-right side and that the Legendary node is in the center. Then, path up to the right to the Glyph and insert Imbiber. Get the rare Raw Power and Conditioned nodes, along with any surrounding magic nodes that boost physical damage or Willpower. Scoop up any remaining Willpower nodes near the Glyph, and then move to the Board Attachment Gate. Spend a few points pathing up from there to get the rare Core Reserve node, along with any Fury-based surrounding magic nodes.

To get the Legendary node, head back to the Board Attachment Gate through which you entered and path up and left through the Hungering Fury node. Move towards the center to get the Warbringer node.

In total, the Warbringer board should use 55 Paragon Points .

Flawless Technique

With Flawless Technique , rotate the board so that the Glyph Socket is on the lower side. This is our main focus here - we don’t need the Legendary node on this board. From the left side, path into the center through the rare Havoc node, getting any surrounding magic nodes, and then insert the Marshal Glyph.

Gather at least 40 points of Strength nodes, as well as the rare Heavy Blows and Brash nodes and their surrounding magic nodes, before moving to the Board Attachment Gate on the right side.

In total, the Flawless Technique board should use 39 Paragon Points .

Hemorrhage

To attach the Hemorrhage board, rotate it so that the Glyph is in the top-right corner and the Legendary node is on the lower left side. Then, head down from the Board Attachment Gate and get the rare Lacerator node, along with any other magic nodes nearby. Then, move up through the Legendary node and the rare Flayer node, once again grabbing any surrounding magic nodes before moving to the Glyph socket.

Insert the Disembowel Glyph and then get as many nearby Willpower nodes as you can to boost its effects. We’d also recommend getting the rare Butcher node, before moving up to the nearby Board Attachment Gate.

In total, the Hemorrhage board should use 57 Paragon Points .

Blood Rage

Blood Rage is our final board, and it’s another one that we’ll invest heavily into to get both the Glyph socket and Legendary node. To attach it, rotate it so that the Glyph socket is center-left and the Legendary Node is also in the center.

Start by pathing up to the Glyph socket and inserting Bloodfeeder, and then gather up at least 25 points worth of Dexterity nodes nearby. Then, spend some points moving down to the rare Craving node, and get all of the surrounding magic nodes too. Make sure to also do the same for the rare Revel node and the rare Grit node, through which you can also reach the Legendary node and the rare Enraged node.

In total, the Blood Rage board should use 47 Paragon Points .

Diablo 4 Barbarian build: Best Technique

In Diablo 4, the Barbarian has access to a unique Arsenal system. This system lets the Barbarian use multiple weapons, automatically switching between them to use your active skills. It’s a confusing system on the surface, but it actually requires very little interaction as you do not need to change weapons manually.

As you use different weapon types, you will rank up their respective Expertise. Each weapon type has an Expertise rank that you can increase with the Barbarian, and increasing the Expertise rank of a specific weapon will grant passive effects that apply specifically to that weapon.

However, when you reach level 15, you can select an Expertise to use as a Technique. When used as a Technique, the selected Expertise bonus will apply to all weapons, regardless of their weapon type.

For your Technique, we’d recommend selecting the Two-Handed Sword Expertise , which turns up to 20% of the damage you deal into Bleed damage. Bleed is incredibly powerful in Diablo 4, and granting 20% of the damage dealt by skills such as Whirlwind the Bleed effect will make you rip through enemies far faster.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build: Best Aspects

As you explore Side Dungeons or find Legendary Gear in Diablo 4 , you will gain access to Aspects . These are Legendary effects that you can apply to almost any piece of Gear, making them far stronger and more in line with your build.

Below, you’ll find the Aspects that we’d recommend using for this Whirlwind Barbarian build:

• Aspect of Grasping Whirlwind (Legendary - random drop): Whirlwind peiodically pulls enemies to you.
• Aspect of Berserk Fury (Legendary - random drop): You gain 3 Fury per second while Berserking.
• Aspect of Berserk Ripping (Mournfield - Dry Steppes): Whenever you deal direct damage while Berserking, inflict 20-30% of the base damage as additional Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
• Rage of Harrogath (Unique Chest - random drop): Lucki Hit: Up to a 20-40% chance to reduce the cooldowns of your non-Ultimate skills by 1.5 seconds when you inflict Bleeding on Elites.
• Aspect of Limitless Rage (Legendary - random drop): Each point of Fury you generate while at Maximum Fury grants your next Core skill 1% increased damage, up to a total of 15%.
• Gohr’s Devastating Grips (Unique Gloves - random drop): Whirlwind explodes every 2 seconds and after it ends, dealing 16-26% of the total base damage dealt to surrounding enemies as Fire damage.
• Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind (Garan Hold - Scosglen): Whirlwind’s Critical Strike Chance is increased by 3-8% for each second it is channeled, up to 9-24%.
• Aspect of Disobedience (Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan): You gain 0.25-0.5% increased armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 15-30%.
• Edgemaster’s Aspect (Oldstones - Scosglen): Skills deal up to 10% increased damage based on your available Fury when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Fury.
• Aspect of the Expectant (Underroot - Scosglen): Attacking enemies with a basic skill increases the damage of your next Core skill by 5-10%, up to 30%.
• Penitent Greaves (Unique Boots - random drop): You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal 7-10% more damage to Chilled enemies.
• Bold Chieftain’s Aspect (Legendary - random drop): Whenever you cast a Shout skill, its cooldown is reduced by 1-1.9 seconds per nearby enemy, up to a maximum of 6 seconds.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build: Best Stats

For our Whirlwind Barbarian, we’d suggest focusing on gear that raises your Strength stat, as this will increase your damage. This will affect all skills, including Whirlwind, and help you kill enemies slightly faster. It’ll only be a small increase, but that still means bigger damage numbers and, ultimately, faster kills.

Secondly, we’d opt for gear that boosts your Willpower , as this will raise your Fury generation. We’ve already covered this a lot in the skills section above, but it never hurts to have a little more Fury coming your way from all sources. More Fury means more time spent Whirlwinding in crowds of enemies, and that’s where our Barbarian build thrives.

Finally, look for Gear with Cooldown Reduction and Fury Cost Reduction , as you want to use your Shouts and Whirlwind as often as possible. The less time waiting for cooldowns to end or Fury to regenerate, respectively, the more time you can spend spinning through hordes of enemies.

Image credit:Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build: Best Gems

Gems are items that you can slot into gear for additional effects, and we can use them in our Whirlwind Barbarian build to push survivability even higher.

In your weapons, we’d recommend using Skulls for increased Life on kill. That’ll help you regain some life as you slaughter the denizens of hell, keeping you up in those tough Nightmare Dungeons.

If there are empty sockets available in your armor, use Rubies to increase your maximum Life. Like above, this will help you tank more hits and ensure that you don’t drop in pivotal moments.

Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build: Best Malignant Hearts

Malignant Hearts are the big new mechanic in Diablo 4 Season 1, and they introduce a new set of powers that you can take advantage of to get a power spike for your build. However, they can only be placed into Infested Jewelry Sockets, meaning that you can have a maximum of three equipped at any time.

Below, we’ll list the best Malignant Hearts for the Whirlwind Barbarian:

• Focused Rage : After spending 100-60 Fury within 2 seconds, your next non-basic skill’s Critical Strike Chance is increased by 20-30%.
• Ignoring Pain : Incoming damage has a 5-15% chance of being ignored and instead Healing you for 17-68 Life.
• Revenge : 10-20% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge, or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250% and explodes, dealing up to 1360-2040 Fire damage to nearby enemies.

That wraps up our Diablo 4 Whirlwind Barbarian build guide. If you’re looking to try more classes, take a look at our Diablo 4 Rogue builds , Sorcerer builds , Druid builds , and Necromancer builds .

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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