S-TIER | BUILD GUERRIER WHIRLING ASSAULT TITAN (@Phalanx) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

The Whirling Assault Titan is a Warrior build designed for league start, presented here in its « day 2 » version, after nerfs to leech, area of effect, and quality. Despite these adjustments, the build remains formidable: a single skill is enough to clear the entire screen. Breach, Delirium, Abyss, or Ritual — everything is handled, more often than not, with a single button.

The core of the build revolves around a semi-crit physical damage quarterstaff, paired with a surrounding « tech » (Constricting Command + area nodes). The Defy I gem linked to Whirling Assault makes the damage « lucky » and allows the skill to be cast even without sufficient mana. Since we’re playing a crit quarterstaff, every available crit node on the Warrior side is picked up: the current setup already shows 41% critical strike chance, 431% critical strike multiplier, and around 25,000 tooltip damage in the hideout.

This makes it an extremely accessible build at league start — few requirements, immediate massive damage — that nonetheless scales up to dominate pinnacle content without any difficulty. A true league start swiss army knife, both clean in clear speed and explosive on bosses.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 6 progression steps from leveling to the final endgame setup. Select a step to see the corresponding gem setup.

Act 1 Act 2 – Level 21 Level 22 – 44 Level 45 Cartes Début (T15) MIDGAME 🔴 LIVE

Act 1

6 skills • 13 gemmes

Frappe parfaitePerfect Strike

Cri infernalInfernal Cry

Fracas déferlantRolling Slam

Brise-osBoneshatter

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Acte 2 – Level 21

6 skills • 13 gemmes

Frappe parfaitePerfect Strike

Cri infernalInfernal Cry

Fracas déferlantRolling Slam

Brise-osBoneshatter

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Level 22 – 44

9 skills • 20 gemmes

Mur de boucliersShield Wall

Mur de boucliersShield Wall

Cri infernalInfernal Cry

Cri fortifiantFortifying Cry

Rugissement féroceFerocious Roar

Charge au bouclierShield Charge

Totem sismiqueShockwave Totem

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

BondissementPounce

Level 45 – Cartes Début (T15)

9 skills • 31 gemmes

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Rugissement féroceFerocious Roar

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Attrition

Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation

BondissementPounce

MIDGAME

10 skills • 35 gemmes

DilacérationShred

Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Moment de détresseTime of Need

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Rugissement féroceFerocious Roar

BondissementPounce

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

🔴 LIVE

10 skills • 36 gemmes

DilacérationShred

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Nova de givreflammeFrostflame Nova

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Rugissement féroceFerocious Roar

BondissementPounce

Berserk

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Armure de récupérationScavenged Plating

Recommended Equipment

• Weapon — Quarterstaff: a semi-crit physical damage quarterstaff. This is the core piece of the build, around which every available crit node on the Warrior side is picked up to push damage higher.
• Body Armour — The Brass Dome: the essential defensive chest armour. Massive armour value, -1 to all maximum elemental resistances, and most importantly no extra damage taken from critical strikes.
• Helmet — Constricting Command: the unique helmet that carries the build’s surrounding tech. It reduces the number of enemies required to be considered « surrounded, » which greatly amplifies damage against packs.
• Jewels: primarily crit jewels. From Nothing (diamond) allows allocating a resonance radius without connecting it to the tree, opening access to even more crit damage and skill levels.
• Accessories (amulet, gloves): prioritise maximum life and defensive stats. The amulet and gloves can be found cheaply at league start.
• General rule: maximise life on every piece. At league start, damage is already strong, so investing in survivability always pays off.

Gameplay Tips

• Clear loop : chain combos with Whirling Assault, then trigger Mantra of Destruction to amplify your attacks and gain chaos damage. Every enemy killed generates stacks of Purple Flame of Chayula — granting even more chaos damage.
• Ferocious Roar : use it regularly. It contains the linked Infernal Cry (with Tireless, Raging Cry and Lifetap), instantly granting full rage and adding fire damage.
• Near-instant warcries : thanks to warcry speed nodes (Roaring Cries, Gut Roll), your warcries are nearly instant on weapon set 2.
• Bossing loop : combos with Whirling Assault, then Tempest Bell, Mantra of Destruction and Ferocious Roar. The secret to boss damage lies in Ancestral Call I, whose clones attack the target alongside you (shotgun effect).
• Spirit gems : Herald of Ash for clear, Berserk for damage, Scavenged Plating for armour. Since Berserk drains life as rage builds up, consider adding a « -life » mod on a ring or gloves to improve sustain.
• Pinnacle swap : for pinnacle bossing, replace Magnified Area I with Rageforged I to gain even more damage.

Why the Crit Quarterstaff

The weapon choice conditions the entire build. We’re playing a semi-crit quarterstaff with a solid physical damage roll. Since the weapon brings crit, the entire Warrior branch of the passive tree is exploited to stack critical hit chance nodes and critical damage bonus nodes.

The results speak for themselves: 41% critical hit chance, 431% critical damage bonus and around 25,000 displayed damage in hideout, all achievable as early as « day 2 » of a league. Since we hit often and wide with Whirling Assault, those crits trigger constantly and turn every rotation into a damage spike.

The Surround Tech and Defy

The build’s signature is the surround tech: we combine Constricting Command with surround/area nodes on the passive tree to amplify damage when an enemy is surrounded. This is what allows a single hit to wipe entire packs.

The essential piece of this puzzle is the Defy I gem linked to Whirling Assault. It makes damage lucky (the highest value is kept out of two rolls) and, crucially, allows you to keep casting the skill even without enough mana. This maintains an uninterrupted attack rhythm — an essential condition for such fast clear.

Combo Loop and Flame of Chayula

The clear loop is simple but satisfying. We chain combos with Whirling Assault, then release Mantra of Destruction to amplify attacks and add chaos damage. Every enemy killed during this window generates stacks of Purple Flame of Chayula, which further increases chaos damage.

Every so often, we cast Ferocious Roar. Linked to Infernal Cry (with Inexhaustible, Enraging Cry, and Lifetap), it instantly grants full rage and provides bonus fire damage. Thanks to warcry speed nodes (Roaring Cries, Gut Roll), this roar is nearly instant on weapon set 2 — zero tempo loss.

Defensive Layers: Brass Dome and Survival

For defense, we rely on The Brass Dome, an outstanding league start chest armour: as much armour as possible, -1 to all maximum elemental resistances, and most importantly no extra damage taken from critical hits. It’s life insurance against the heaviest damage spikes.

The defensive profile revolves around 75% armour, elemental resistances at maximum and 50% chaos resistance, backed by a solid life pool. One thing to keep in mind: Berserk drains life as rage builds. The solution is to roll a « -life » mod on a ring or gloves to better sustain during aggressive phases. Beyond that, we look for as much life as possible on every piece of gear.

Titan Ascendancy Setup

For ascendancies, we go Titan for the damage/utility combo. Hulking Form provides a substantial damage boost and survivability, Crushing Impacts add even more damage, and Mysterious Lineage increases life.

This combination fits a league start build perfectly: you gain both raw power and durability without depending on rare items. Combined with clone bossing (Ancestral Call I), the Titan has everything it needs to go straight from leveling to pinnacle content.

Skill Tree