Whirlwind is rough without either the Bold Chieftan’s aspect or the Marshal Glyph’s secondary effect. Both is obviously preferred, but at least one is almost essential to make the build function in higher tiers. I waited to even attempt switching over to WW until I had enough paragon levels for a fully-powered Marshal Glyph, and it helped a lot.
Yeah, Diablo games hit a good sweet spot— mechanically engaging enough to make moment to moment gameplay feel dynamic , but not so engaging that it’s too difficult or overwhelming for inexperienced gamers like my wife. Diablo 3 was one of the first handful of games she learned how to play during the COVID lockdown (after Animal Crossing, of course 😂)
I always start a new Diablo game with spin2win Barbarian, so that’s what I’m doing to start with; I’ll probably switch to Sorcerer or Necromancer for the season. My wife is doing a Pulverize Druid, and we’ve both been enjoying it! We put hundreds of hours into D3 together, so we’re just happy to have something fresh but familiar to dig into.
As far as the trailer goes, I like that there’s new quests and story to go with it, but it’s hard to get too much from it without any significant gameplay reveal. The description the devs gave sounds interesting though!
Still grinding my way through the endgame of Diablo IV with my wife. Starting to slow down though, just in time for Pikmin 4 to keep things fresh next week!
The Pillars of Eternity games provide some of what you’re looking for, as they’re heavily inspired by the old Baldur’s Gate games (which were themselves built on D&D).
Whirlwind build definitely isn’t particularly good for leveling, unfortunately. To be most effective, you really need access to the paragon board + a few pieces of gear/aspects. I’m following this guide, so you can keep a look out at least:
https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/whirlwind-barbarian-guide
I switched to spin2win after level 50 and never looked back. I know it isn’t as strong has HotA builds in the long run, but it’s just so satisfying when you get your cooldowns reduced enough to tear through packs. Currently lvl 72 and having a blast slowly working my way up the nightmare dungeon ladder (most recently ran a 30).
That was me for most of my playtime so far, and then BOOM! Two nightmare dungeons in a row he showed up and wrecked my shit before I could even get going.
Head for The Continental Hotel and hope the rules hold up.
Whirlwind Barb has been fun (trying to maximize spin uptime while unloading tons of damage), but optimizing it and maximizing the fun is way too dependent on a ring drop that I have yet to find (Bold Chieftan).
Sweet. It already looked like a breath of fresh air after the NSMB rehashes, but if it’s getting it’s own direct, Nintendo must have really put a lot of love into this one. Can’t wait!