Build Guide
The Whirlwind Barbarian isn't going anywhere. There haven't been many changes, but one new 2.3 item really pushes the Wrath of the Wastes set over the top. The new Patch 2.3 bracers: Bracers of the First Men, allows anywhere between 75-100% Increased Attack Speed after hitting with Hammer of the Ancients. Keeping your BK weapons and Wastes set in place and adding those bracers means that you can hit the vaunted 3.33 APS breakpoint for maximum WW ticks and Dust Devil ticks. If you don't have much luck with the IAS on the bracers, simply pull the power from the bracers into Kanai's cube and it will put use 100% IAS when using it in the cube. If you have a nicely rolled pair and can hit the break point with them, then utilizing Hexing Pants of Mr. Yan as Kanai's passive can be huge to your damage overall.
__
The breakpoints are as follows(credit to Reddit):
1.25 aps = 4.0000 WW ticks / sec & 2.6087 DD tornadoes / sec
1.66 aps = 5.4545 WW ticks / sec & 3.5294 DD tornadoes / sec
2.00 aps = 6.6667 WW ticks / sec & 4.2857 DD tornadoes / sec
2.50 aps = 8.5714 WW ticks / sec & 5.4545 DD tornadoes / sec
3.33 aps = 12.000 WW ticks / sec & 7.5000 DD tornadoes / sec
__
So 100% of 1.67 APS = 3.34APS. That's what you're shooting for. Doing the math to hit the maximum breakpoints on your WW and DD ticks is vital. So stopping to hit with Hammer of the Ancients to grant that IAS every 3 seconds will have your Tornadoes and Dust Devils doing crazy damage. Remember, with IAS you're able to cast skills faster, so utilizing it right at that 3 seconds while you still have the IAS bonus will mean you get in and out of danger quicker when stopping to attack. IF you're having trouble with IAS on your gear or your bracers are close to 100% and you don't want to put them in Kanai's cube, using the Gogok of Swiftness as a legendary gem can help supplement attack speed and also help cooldowns as needed. Alternatively, running with an Obsidian Ring for CDs isn't a bad option as well once seasonal items are available.
__
I'm sure other combinations with the Focus/Restraint will also be viable, as well as other ring combinations with Kanai's cube opening up many possibilities, including using the Obsidian Ring in your jewelry slot. This is a WIP, but it's doing a LOT of damage on the PTR currently and is topping at mid 60's in GRs already. Hammer of the Ancients can be use with basically any rune, including the Cold rune for chilling to save yourself in key moments. Rolling Thunder just allows for quicker clears of trash mobs. Overpower is something I'm testing to be able to have increased Crit Chance, however there's plenty of options here. Pride of Cassius with Ignore Pain can be effective for high GRs as well, however a String of Ears allows for decent survivability. Swapping several things out is completely possible with the Belt or Overpower skill slot. Some combination of Furious Charge combined with this is also possible. Again, PTR is there for testing, so let's see what else we can come up with.
Hey there. First off nice and easy to read guide, good jerb. I have a question about the snapshot after hammer of the ancient.
Wouldn't you only want to do it once when WotB is up and keep it like that w/o spamming hammer?
with no fury generator hw can u keep up with ur fury
the BK weapons regen fury and weapons master regens 2 fury every time you hit a mob with a mighty weapon
I have been testing this setup... and checking the Attacks per Second when procc'd. I am confused because something isn't adding up correctly. I removed my Gogock to make sure I saw only the proc from the bracers.
I pop up the character screen and also the details and show an attacks per second of 1.72... I have a pair of the bracers with 92% IAS on them.
I smack a mob with Hammer of the Ancients and the Attacks per Seconds jumps to 2.91.
I switch out the BK weapons with an alternate pair that both have 7% AS and now show an attack per second of 1.84. When the bracers proc I get 3.12 attacks per second showing in the details pane.
Even the lower of the 2 at 1.72... multiplied by 1.92 (to show the 92% increase) should be over 3.30... and the second instance with 1.84 should be over the breakpoint at 3.53....
So... the video explains that at 100% the displayed attacks per second should double.. but this is not the case. Am I missing something?
My match shows that the 92% bracers are actually increasing BOTH setups by 69%... (the calc'd increase numbers are not identical beyond 2 decimal points for both setups... but 1.69 is close enough to see I'm not getting 92% more but 69% instead... if I had 100% bracers.. it would not double.
If that were the case one would need only 1.665 attacks per second... doubled to 3.33 for the breakpoint.
I just switched rings out both with 7% AS.... My APS went to 2.03... but procc'd bracers only rise to 3.31... a 63% increase.
Bracers are being nerfed... ;(
Blue post confirming this:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/18301001050#14
If the right purpose was to create a new pair of bracers that are instant salvage fodder... then job accomplished. HotA will not become part of any competitive build.
Bracer was nerferd. This build is no longer effective.