WW deals little damage to them so you’ll need to try another skill to knock them down. Monsters with the dreaded PI identifier, Physical Immunity, make a tough tree to saw down. Unfortunately this means the WW Barb has trouble finding more DPS later on. The WW skill has only one damage synergy in Weapon Mastery. This forces most players to just stock up on potions and Mana Leech items to spam WW. Spending points in Energy is mostly a waste on WW Barbs. On the other hand, a WW Barb is mana intensive. This, combined with his easy customization, starts to make sense out of the crazy number of Barbs in Ladder games. Secondly, a WW Barb can solo Normal/Nightmare with little supervision and has a lot of options for the late game. The Weapon Mastery skill is the only skill that amps the damage on WW, and since you’re a Barbarian, it can be any weapon you want. Firstly, he has a multitude of sub-builds because he only has to max Weapon Mastery and WW for damage. While spinning to win through a mob of bad guys it’s easy to see why a WW Barb is so popular. Take the iconic Barbarian build out for a spin and see for yourself! This build is strong in a party or solo, from PvM to PvP. It simply takes away the ability to solo farm every level at every difficulty. In no way does this diminish a WW Barb’s ability to farm. There is a glitch (still!) that can cause some of your WW Barb’s attacks to not hit.

This classic uses the ability to ignore unit collision with the Whirlwind attack animation, making your Barbarian a spinning top of death. When combined with Lance Guard's Faster Hit Recovery, the returned damage can in fact be a way for a physical fighter to gain an upper hand if hit an enemy will be too busy flinching from the returned damage after hitting the character to properly fight back.įind the right combination of items, and you can deal over 90% Deadly Strike and have a nice Faster Hit Recovery versus your enemies.The Whirlwind Build is probably one of the most famous builds in Diablo 2 from the beginning to now. Coldsteel Eye, Gore Rider or others), a physical fighter could have an extremely high chance of inflicting a Deadly Strike regularly, and dealing large amounts of damage.īesides its offensive bonus, Lance Guard returns 47 damage back to attacking enemies. When combined with other equipment that increases Deadly Strike (e.g.

While its normal counterpart, Swordback Hold, increases chances of Open Wounds, Lance Guard increases chances of Deadly Strike. Like most shields of the Spiked Shield line, Lance Guard is meant to be of more offensive than defensive use.

Lance Guard is a unique Barbed Shield from Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

Diablo 2 lod deadly strike