Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maxxim 05-15-07, 04:55 PM	I'm looking for some variation for a new barbarian, regarding weapon choice. I've been thinking of a few options so far: - spiked chain. with combat reflexes and enlarge person (he has good dex), there is room for plenty of AoOs and general damage dealing. - long axe (complete adventurer). I just saw a thread below on this, and it sounds cool. Treat it as a reach weapon for a round by power attacking for -3, or use it as a regular axe otherwise. Not sure of any drawbacks to this though. - TWF with dwarven waraxe/handaxe. At level 6, I'd take Oversized Two Weapon Fighting and switch to 2 dwarven waraxes while avoiding the extra -2 penalty. Would allow for more attacks, but I'm losing 2 on every attack. I'm not sure about any of these, since I'd have to wait until level 3 for power attack no matter what I chose. But I'm tired of just saying, "well it's a barbarian. Get a greataxe..." Anyone have any other interesting, high damage or high #/attacks weapon combinations to suggest?
Roscoe_Greenbottle 05-15-07, 04:57 PM	maul and a warhammer with TWF
Watchman 05-15-07, 05:07 PM	What's wrong with a longsword ? That's what a better part of real barbarians used if they only could afford it. Then pull the Gaesatae approach to combat. Strip yourself naked save for helmet and sword-belt tops, drug yourself up to the eyeballs on some strange herbal concotion that basically kills your ability to feel pain, and charge the other guy screaming at the top of your lungs like the drug-crazed maniac with a bad attitude and plans to die gloriously surrounded by dead enemies that you are. :D The Celts had some strange warrior cults. Gives "hardcore" a whole new meaning.
Xavorin 05-15-07, 06:51 PM	I've seen a couple Barbarians with scythes, and it seems like a pretty good set-up to me, especially if you get Improved Critical as a feat. 19-20/x4. I'd get it!
pres_man 05-15-07, 06:55 PM	Use a dwarven spear-axe. Nice two-weapon fighting when you want it, and two-hand fighting when you want. Also the spear end is nice when you might have to fight in water, while the axe end is nice when facing zombies and such.
CryoSilver 05-15-07, 06:58 PM	If you're going to TWF with a barbarian, it's worth it to use a double weapon so you can still get a x2 ratio with Power Attack and X1.5 Strength to damage for using a 2 handed weapon.
NerdNumber1 05-15-07, 07:15 PM	Good-old orc double axe. No orcish barbarian would choose any other double weapon (dwarven spear-axes are for shorty dwarves*). *This is not my oppinion, but what many orcs might think.
LoneStranger 05-15-07, 07:24 PM	Goliath Greathammer out of Races of Stone. Tack feats like Improved Critical on it (as the obvious example) and go to town on the enemies.
Whisper_Swiftblade 05-15-07, 07:26 PM	why not a spear? or trey a throwing weapon based build, that might be fun.
Rulebook 05-15-07, 08:16 PM	its fun to have a composite greatbow with a bonus so high that you can only use it when you're raging and whatnot.
bondious 05-15-07, 09:25 PM	How about a greatsword, a la Conan? (or was he using a bastard sword?) Halberd's are pretty cool, and I've always liked the Heavy Flail.
RavenDrake 05-15-07, 09:25 PM	I had a barbarian in my campaign who took Improved Unarmed Strike and Superior Unarmed Strike(from Tome and Blood, gives your character a progressivly increasing unarmed strike damage) and few other unarmed combat feats and wore a spiked breastplate. With Enlarge from the Wizard, plus his rage, he would grapple with foes and literally crush them to death. Additionally, unarmed strikes count as light weapons for TWF, PLUS, you can Power Attack with Unarmed Strikes(though you don't get the 2:1 benefit that Two-handed weapons get). While two-weapon fighting with unarmed strikes in this way is feat intensive, it may be worthwhile...
jaelis 05-15-07, 09:30 PM	Armor spikes, a spiked shield, and spiked gauntlets. And didn't complete scoundrel stat spiked boots? And don't forget the blood spiked charger feat in PHB II
DinwathSereglin 05-15-07, 09:57 PM	Goliath Greathammer out of Races of Stone. Tack feats like Improved Critical on it (as the obvious example) and go to town on the enemies. 3d6/x4 crit, two-hander.
BugHunter 05-15-07, 10:16 PM	I'm looking for some variation for a new barbarian, regarding weapon choice. - long axe (complete adventurer). I just saw a thread below on this, and it sounds cool. Treat it as a reach weapon for a round by power attacking for -3, or use it as a regular axe otherwise. Not sure of any drawbacks to this though. Anyone have any other interesting, high damage or high #/attacks weapon combinations to suggest? The drawback with the long axe when used for reach is rogues or other sneak types can tumble and avoid the AoO. This can be bad if the rogue has a buddy using a reach weapon of their own and they can flank you for SA. There is also the Fullblade from A&E damage is 2d8 with a 19-20/x2 critical.
Silverthumb128 05-15-07, 11:28 PM	I know it sucks, but I do love me some Greatclub. Heavy Flail's also a great choice(but I love bludgeoning weapons). If you've got a couple feats to burn, go for Superior Unarmed Strike. Berserk fists of fury, yes please. :D
Xavorin 05-16-07, 02:59 PM	3d6/x4 crit, two-hander. Wait... Is the Goliath Greathammer a large weapon, and thus a medium creature could wield it but with a -2 penalty? 'Cause I'd have to agree that this would be the perfect weapon for a Barbarian.
Orcdoubleax 05-16-07, 03:21 PM	I've seen a couple Barbarians with scythes, and it seems like a pretty good set-up to me, especially if you get Improved Critical as a feat. 19-20/x4. I'd get it! but then you would have to roll d4's. I hate rolling d4's
Orcdoubleax 05-16-07, 03:27 PM	why not a spear? or trey a throwing weapon based build, that might be fun. I love a nice returning spear, barbarian or not.
chiefcastor 05-16-07, 03:34 PM	Halberd with improved trip.
Johnny_Angel 05-16-07, 06:35 PM	maul and a warhammer with TWF I second the maul. What's better than wielding a giant sledgehammer?
Mulkr 05-16-07, 06:57 PM	Heres my favorites: Morningstar and heavy, and heavy spiked wooden sheild. Man, thats fun. Shortspear and sickle with some ungodly kind of awful armor, maybe spiked, padded armor. Oh, and don't forget to buy spiked, locked guantlets. 5 distance, returning throwing axes and an orc double axe. Scythe with backup dual sickles. Fear the raging reaper. DO IT! Trident and spiked, heavy steel sheild, and chainmail. Orc. Waraxe and handaxe combo. Backup battleaxe and throwing axe. Orc double axe for special occasions. And of course, you can yell "axes are for punks!" If you have an intellegence of 3. Oh, and I like that reaper one best.
Watchman 05-16-07, 07:03 PM	Oh, and don't forget to buy spiked, locked guantlets.Inquiring minds want to know: how the fig are you managing those without assistance ? :confused: I can just see the headlines: "Lone hero wins battle, starves." :P
Darth Sephiroth 05-16-07, 07:12 PM	At the moment I've got an NPC Half-Minotaur Goliath Barbarian/Frenzied Berzerker in a game with a Sizing, Balanced, Heavy Fullblade. He's also got Monkey Grip and a pendant that increases his size by two categories when raging. Its a scary combination for a barbarian
DinwathSereglin 05-16-07, 08:06 PM	Wait... Is the Goliath Greathammer a large weapon, and thus a medium creature could wield it but with a -2 penalty? 'Cause I'd have to agree that this would be the perfect weapon for a Barbarian. L and Exotic, IIRC. Goliaths have Powerful Build and therefore are not party to the -2 penalty.
Johannixx 05-17-07, 11:53 AM	I'd suggest taking a one-handed exotic weapon like the bastard sword, thinblade or dwarven waraxe, and then doing a level of Exotic Weapon Master. That way, when two-handing that weapon, you get 2x your Strength bonus. With barbarians, that's a major increase in damage output (easily surpassing Weapon Specialization) that doesn't get negated by immunity to crits. Just think, your average 20-Str barb will be dealing +14 damage during a rage, just from Strength alone! Boo-yah!
Silverthumb128 05-17-07, 12:09 PM	I can just see the headlines: "Lone hero wins battle, starves." :P Hi, Mr Watchman, my name is a full-fisted fork. :D
ShinAkuma2 05-17-07, 12:44 PM	The drawback with the long axe when used for reach is rogues or other sneak types can tumble and avoid the AoO. This can be bad if the rogue has a buddy using a reach weapon of their own and they can flank you for SA. ...This is true whether you've got a reach weapon or not.
RobbyPants 05-17-07, 12:56 PM	You could go with the usual super-power-attacking-two-handed-weapon barbarian build (always a classic). But switch out the greataxe with a falchion. Along with Keen or Improved Crit, you'll threaten on a 15+. And when you crit, all of that super power attack damage gets multiplied too.
Darth Sephiroth 05-17-07, 08:52 PM	L and Exotic, IIRC. Goliaths have Powerful Build and therefore are not party to the -2 penalty. Goliath Barbarians have Mountain Rage, they lose powerful build, but gain a size increase. They can use Monkey Grip at that point, but it is normally superceeded by Powerful Build
Nom 05-18-07, 01:41 AM	Nothing stops a barbarian using sword and board, although it makes Power Attack less attractive. Try the Spring Attack chain instead. (A level of barbarian is a really good idea for anyone interested in Spring Attack)
DinwathSereglin 05-18-07, 07:59 PM	Nothing stops a barbarian using sword and board, although it makes Power Attack less attractive. Try the Spring Attack chain instead. (A level of barbarian is a really good idea for anyone interested in Spring Attack) Don't forget Leap Attack. Doubling Power Attack damage is a nice way to make up the strength bonus difference in one-handers vs. two-handers.
Saiyamantis 05-18-07, 09:21 PM	If you want to do two-weapon fighting, I'd suggest using kukri. With Improved Critical, you'll be threatening crits on over a quarter of your rolls, which is especially nice with a barbarian's high strength. If you want something meatier, you could try a scimitar or falchion. And if you want to be ridiculous, why not play en elven barbarian wielding a courtblade from Races of the Wild? 1d10/18-20, and eligible for both Power Attack and Weapon Finesse (although you'll probably never need the latter).
Zalakhiel 05-19-07, 06:33 AM	Imo if you want to do something different, combine a trident with a net. Throw the net at your poor foes and stab them to death! Or for something really horrific, why don`t you try out the Full-Blade??? :P
FreAkOuTRG 05-19-07, 06:55 AM	Imo if you want to do something different, combine a trident with a net. Throw the net at your poor foes and stab them to death! Hehe, done it (though with a fighter, not a barbarian). Quite nice really. Harpoon, anyone?
Fabius Maximus 05-19-07, 09:16 AM	I had a barbarian in my campaign who took Improved Unarmed Strike and Superior Unarmed Strike(from Tome and Blood, gives your character a progressivly increasing unarmed strike damage) I did this with my current barbarian character, except that he uses an Poleaxe (glaive stats) and Combat Reflexes. He lets the axe fall if he rages and uses only his body as a weapon. By the way: Superior Unarmed Strike is in the Tome of Battle.
Gavinfoxx 05-19-07, 06:07 PM	Heavy Flail Maul Warmace Dwarven Waraxe Of these, I would choose a Maul. X3 crit, great two handed weapon... oh and always use a hand and a half weapon two handed!
BelainDefenderofJerusalem 05-19-07, 06:12 PM	i've always wanted to play a dwarven barbarian with a spiked chain
Plastic Sun 05-19-07, 06:17 PM	Try twin daggers, or bare hands.
Eatable_Dice 05-19-07, 11:18 PM	Falchion, as said above...you will only have trouble with undead and constructs, but the rest is critical fest.