Whirling Defense

Spin your axes around you to attack nearby foes. — In-game description

Animation

Whirling Defense

Profession

Ranger (skill list)

Weapon

Off hand axe

Activ. type

Channeled

Game link

API

12639

“

30.25¼  25  

Whirling Defense

Spin your axes around you to attack nearby foes.

 Damage (12x): 2,904 (7.92)^?

 Damage (12x): 1,932 (5.28)^?

 Resolution (4s): Incoming condition damage decreased by 33%.

₁₂ Vulnerability (10s): +12% Incoming Damage, +12% Incoming Condition Damage

₁₂ Vulnerability (6s): +12% Incoming Damage, +12% Incoming Condition Damage

 Number of Targets: 5

 Duration: 5 seconds

 Attack Radius: 180

 Reflection Radius: 150

 Combo Finisher: Whirl

— In-game description

Related traits

Marksmanship

• Wolfsong — Canine Beast abilities apply vulnerability and reveal nearby enemies. You deal additional increased strike damage against vulnerable enemies.
• Farsighted — Ranger weapon skills deal increased strike damage. Damage is further increased for foes above the range threshold.

Skirmishing

• Quick Draw — When swapping weapons, gain quickness. The next ranger weapon skill you use will recharge faster.

Nature Magic

• Bountiful Hunter — You deal increased strike damage for each boon affecting you. Your pet deals increased strike damage for each boon affecting it.
• Fortifying Bond — When you gain a boon, it is shared with your pet.

Beastmastery

• Honed Axes — You and your pet gain ferocity. Axe skills gain reduced recharge, and you gain additional ferocity while wielding an axe.

Soulbeast

• Oppressive Superiority — Deal increased damage to foes at a lower health percentage than you. Conditions you apply to foes at a lower health percentage than you last longer.

Notes

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Whirling Defense.

• Movement interrupts channeling.
• This skill is affected by Quickness and Slow.

Version history

For a detailed skill history, see here.

Patch	Changes
May 11, 2021	The Retaliation boon has been renamed Resolution.
March 31, 2020	Updated the description of this skill. Increased the number of targets from 3 to 5.
February 25, 2020	Competitive content update: (Competitive split) Reduced power coefficient per strike from 0.66 to 0.44. Reduced vulnerability duration from 10 seconds to 6 seconds.
December 12, 2017	Increased damage by 15%.
November 07, 2017	Increased damage by 15%.
April 19, 2016	The active portion of this skill has had its speed increased by 50% and will now scale with quickness. The damage per strike has been increased by 100%.
August 25, 2015	This skill now triggers multiple whirl finishers over its duration instead of just one.
July 28, 2015	Increased the reflection radius to 150.
September 09, 2014	Fixed a bug that caused the projectile reflection from this skill to last longer than its animation.
April 15, 2014	Added a skill fact for number of targets: 3.
December 10, 2013	Updated the skill facts to be more precise, adding a separate radius for attack and reflection.
July 23, 2013	This skill now grants 4 seconds of retaliation for the duration of the skill.
May 28, 2013	Now strikes targets at a similar range to all other melee skills. Now increases the reflecting range when the Off-Hand Training trait is equipped.
November 15, 2012	This skill was updated so that it interacts better with combo fields.
August 28, 2012	Game release: Whirling Defense has been added to the game.