Whirlwind and 2 1 handers? + other barb questions

[FatherFat]

I played D2 back in the day from 00-02. It's been a while and I have some questions about barbs and WW. Ive read lots of guides, but I can't seem to find any of this info, so here goes:

1. Is whirlwinding with 2 1 handers (lets say dual BOTD axes) good? I recall hearing somewhere that they changed WW and it works with 2 1 handers now where both of the weaps hit and damage is added up. If this is not the case then I must be confused with the WoW patch that allowed WW to hit from 2 1 handers instead of mainhand only.

2. Range, is there range just like before where a lance/polearm was 5 range, 2 hand mace 3, etc? I think I saw somewhere that all meele range is the same now?

3. Whirlwind breakpoints, I am planning on using ebotdz in main hand and death zerker in offhand, will I achieve WW breakpoint with the offhand axe?

4. IAS items that are not on the weapon directly. I have read somewhere in a guide that even if you have a 20 % IAS ammy, 10 % IAS belt, etc, those items do not affect the IAS WW. Is this true?

Thanks

Also forgot to ask, I read in guides that people put 1 point into double swing when going WW? Does double swing affect WW with 2 1 handers?

[lumpor]

1. Dunno, someone else will have to answer that.

2. Whirlwind has no change in wep range as far as I know. the arreat summit lists all weapon ranges. Longest range is owned by mancachers, ghost spears, war pikes, cryptic axes, giant threshers and all the exceptional and normal versions. they all have range 5.

3. Check the german calculator

4. Werewolves, werebears, assasins and barbarians are affected wether ias is on the weapon or not. I think weapon ias or off-weapon ias doesn't matter for whirlwind. Not sure though

5. DOn't know about it

[FatherFat]

Ya they list range on Arreat summit, so it must be valid wit the current patch. I don't know why someone told me range is all the same. Still Im happy at least the zerker axe I have is range 3 compared to my IK mauls 2 range.

Id love the other answers! lol where are the barbematicians?

[Omikron8]

for close combat (within range 3) something like 2x botd eth zerkers will do more damage than an eth botd great poleaxe (or 2 handed weapon of your choice) because ithey can hit more often

[FatherFat]

for close combat (within range 3) something like 2x botd eth zerkers will do more damage than an eth botd great poleaxe (or 2 handed weapon of your choice) because ithey can hit more often

Alright cool, so, are they affected by IAS like high warlords ammy? Is there even a point in getting IAS gear and jewels to socket the helm with? For WW that is.

Also does the 60 % IAS on the botd boost the Death offhand speed? Or is that the other way around?

Also what about double swing etc?

[Omikron8]

base speed of weapons (eg. 0 for zerker axe) and the IAS on the weapon ONLY are the only sources of IAS that will affect your weapon

this is why for a 2 hander an ethereal great poleaxe is ideal as it exactly hits the -60 breakpoint (0 - 60) for whirlwind, for 1 handers your only 6 socket choices are colossus blade, zerker axe or war spike, the zerker axe is picked because it has the best average damage for it's speed

as for offhand whirling i believe there is some averaging of the weapon speeds, or at least there was back in 1.09

[FatherFat]

base speed of weapons (eg. 0 for zerker axe) and the IAS on the weapon ONLY are the only sources of IAS that will affect your weapon

this is why for a 2 hander an ethereal great poleaxe is ideal as it exactly hits the -60 breakpoint (0 - 60) for whirlwind, for 1 handers your only 6 socket choices are colossus blade, zerker axe or war spike, the zerker axe is picked because it has the best average damage for it's speed

as for offhand whirling i believe there is some averaging of the weapon speeds, or at least there was back in 1.09

Damm that was my fear. So basically my death zerker axe offhand is terrible for dual wield whirlwinding? Does anyone know if the speeds get averaged out or if the mainhand benefits from offhand stats/vice versa?

[Yorathg]

Arreat Summit provides some good information on this: Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/barbarian-combatskills.shtml)

To save you a bit of time:

# In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Whirlwind is affected by weapon speed as follows. After you click to start your Whirlwind attack, the game checks for a hit on a target in range at the 4th and 8th animation frames (recall that the game runs at 25 frames per second). After the first two "free" hit-checks, the frames elapsed in-between subsequent hit-checks will depend on your weapon speed. Note: increased attack speed from items outside your weapon DOES NOT affect whirlwind - only the speed of the weapon itself counts. The dependence on weapon speed is obtained by subtracting your weapon's increased attack speed (IAS) to its base weapon speed (the number between square brackets listed in the weapons section of the Arreat Summit) and checking where the number you obtain fits in the following table [see AS for table]



When dual-wielding, both weapons try to score a hit against the target. In other words, the game does a hit-check for each weapon. Since both weapons are given the chance to score a hit, the damage done over time is roughly the sum of the damage of both weapons, which is comparable to the damage done whirling with a two-handed weapon. The effect of weapon speed in dual-wielding Whirlwind is as follows. While a target is in range, one of the weapons' speed is constantly used to calculate the next hit-check frame. If there's no target in range, the game will alternate between weapon speeds to calculate the next hit-check frame. The best way to make sure you have maximum Whirlwind speed when dual-wielding is to use weapons that both reach the final breakpoint, like for instance a Lightsabre phase blade and a colossus blade with 40% IAS.