If you are trying to make a Whirlwind Barbarian build in Diablo 4 and are interested in dealing the most damage, then you must be wondering if attack speed affects Whirlwind and its damage output. I answer just that in this Diablo 4 guide and cover what you need to know.
Diablo 4: Does Attack Speed Affect Whirlwind?
Simply put, your attack speed does not impact Whirlwind. Gear attack speed stats do not change the tick rate for Whirlwind. Weapon APS, on the other hand, does affect it. This means that a one-handed weapon deals 22% more damage when compared to other weapons such as a two-handed mace, for example. To improve the damage output of your Whirlwind barbarian build, you should also look into other factors such as critical rate and area of effect.
It is worth mentioning that while attack speed does not directly increase the damage of Whirlwind, it can help hit certain breakpoints that can cause additional damage ticks. These can increase the damage done.
Other Factors That Contribute To Whirlwind’s Damage
If you want to increase your Whirlwind damage and look into other damage sources than attack speed then you can look into getting bonus damage from skills. Rend and Frenzy, for example, can help you increase the damage of your Whirlwind skill. You should also look into your critical hit chance stat and increase it to deal more consistent critical hits. This will translate to bigger damage numbers more often. So when you decide on the gear and weapons that you should be using you should pay attention to stats such as attack speed, critical hit chances, area damage, and skill damage.
Furthermore, there are runes that you can use to make Whirlwind more effective. The Slaying Strike rune, for example, increases your damage against enemies that have low health. Similarly, the Blood Thirst rune makes enemies bleed when you hit them with Whirlwind. So there is more than one way of making your Whirlwind more effective and you can look into all of them to find the perfect balance.
Best Whirlwind Barbarian Build
For an effective Barbarian Whirlwind build in Diablo 4, I recommend focusing on Fury, Cooldown Reduction, Weapon Damage, Damage while Berserking, Critical Strike Damage, Vulnerable Damage, and Damage from Stuns. You can check out the complete build here, which details everything from the skills that you should use to the paragon points that you need to invest in.
So, does attack speed affect Whirlwind in Diablo 4? The short answer is no. This is what you need to know regarding the matter. You can also check out our article on how you can check Diablo 4 server status.
