3.5 Barbarian Help - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

3.5 Barbarian Help

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
sherifflead
Sep 24, 2012 16:16:05 My DM is running a level 7 Stormwrack (D & D 3.5) campaign and I am currently trying to make a powerhouse character. I normally play the ranger/paladin character, however, this campaign I am going for the "hack n slash" character (Barbarian). So far, I have figured I would like to play a Darfellan that is, of course, one of the last of his kind. I would like for him to be a Barbarian 2/ Fighter 4/ Frenzied Berserker 1. I believe this to be a powerful character idea, yet I would like to see if I could make it more powerful. By the way, I am a weapon master (Craft [weapon] of at least 15), so I am using a specialized weapon that is basically a huge hook with a spiked chain attached to it and on the other end a balista or another piercing weapon.

Anyway, any suggestions? I am for sure wanting to be a Barbarian and for sure a Darfellan, but the any other classes I am willing to change. I just am tired of being the ranged class and am looking for a overpowered damage dealer.

Thanks.
#2
Krusk
Sep 24, 2012 19:21:43
Barb 1/Fighter 2/Ranger 3/Frenzied Berserk 1 is more powerful. You probably should ditch FB in general though. Can't make balance checks while in a frenzy, and you will probably be on a boat...

Your feats are really the important part.

Barb 1/Fighter 2/Ranger 3/Exotic Weapon Master 1[complete warrior] (Avenging Executioner 3(Complete scoundrel)/ Scarlet Corsair 10)

Weapon Master Perk is flurry of strikes. Feats include

1 - Weapon Focus

Fighter 1 - Exotic Weapon Hook Chain

Fighter 2 - Power Attack

3 - Extra Rage

6 - Leap Attack

Str > Con > Dex > Int > Wis > Cha

Keep in mind you can make a bite attack at -5 at the end of a full attack. So at level 7, your attack routine on a full attack is +5/+5/+0 + a bite at +0 + Str Mods to hit. 4 Attacks a round is nice.

You will want the lion totem barbarian from complete champion which lets you make a full attack on a charge.

You should take leap attack asap.

Ask your DM for some form of two handed weapon ranger variant class. If not, take ranged and it probably applies to cannons.

Avenging Executioner gets you some sneak attack, skirmish which counts as sneak attack, and you get some intimidation powers which can add some nice utility.

Scarlet Corsair gets full BAB, some sneak attack, and is from the book your DM said would be featured in the campaign. That last one is super brownie points. Plus some intimidation synergy, and you can probably do some sort of charging feint full attack routine.

This build also gets full BAB and a really solid number of skill points which will give you some non-combat powers.

Here is a rough explanation of ubercharger. http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6327.0 which you should probably keep in mind when picking feats.
#3
Tempest_Stormwind
Sep 25, 2012 14:24:50
My DM is running a level 7 Stormwrack (D & D 3.5) campaign and I am currently trying to make a powerhouse character. I normally play the ranger/paladin character, however, this campaign I am going for the "hack n slash" character (Barbarian). So far, I have figured I would like to play a Darfellan that is, of course, one of the last of his kind. I would like for him to be a Barbarian 2/ Fighter 4/ Frenzied Berserker 1. I believe this to be a powerful character idea, yet I would like to see if I could make it more powerful. By the way, I am a weapon master (Craft [weapon] of at least 15), so I am using a specialized weapon that is basically a huge hook with a spiked chain attached to it and on the other end a balista or another piercing weapon.

Two notes.

1) How the **** did you get 15 ranks in Craft (Weaponsmithing) at level 7?

2) We're going to need the stats on that weapon. I'm almost certain that it's not an ideal choice and will fall short of what you could get with a greatsword.

The basic "overpowered melee damage" approach is basically Power Attack + a two-handed weapon + anything that multiplies this. The classical "ubercharger" approach has Improved Bull Rush + Shock Trooper (so your charge + Power Attack strikes will hit at their full base attack bonus), Leap Attack (increases your damage multiplier), Pounce (gives you multiple attacks on a charge), and ideally a valorous weapon around level 8 or so (a +1 ability that doubles charge damage). Note that Strength helps, but is minor: the real strength of the berserker is Improved / Supreme Power Attack, and that's not always worth the cost in feats.

Here's the rough sketch that I would use. Note that the usual way of getting Pounce involves dropping Fast Movement, which is something that a speed-20 Darfellan might not want to do.
17/10/14/13/10/8 starting ability scores.
Barbarian - Power Attack, [Complete Champion Lion Totem substitution for Pounce]
Barbarian
Fighter - Improved Bull Rush, Extra Rage
Fighter - Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whatever the hell that hook blade is), +Intelligence
Fighter
Fighter - Leap Attack, Shock Trooper
[Anything]
(No matter what, your next level is +Strength. +Int at 4 helps get the Charge-based skill tricks in Complete Scoundrel; these can let you charge when otherwise you would be unable to charge.)

That last level can be anything with a full base attack; your best choice at this point is probably Warblade. d12 HD, full base attack, and advanced combat maneuvers that support damage and mobility - that's ideal. It also helps put the Intelligence modifier to work and gets you access to Wall of Blades and Punishing Stance/Leading the Charge (the former lets you block attacks, the latter adds a bit of extra damage to all your attacks), plus a couple other maneuvers, such as Battle Leader's Charge.

Your wealth is probably entirely invested in either a +1 Valorous weapon or a +1 weapon and a Strength booster; I'd suggest the former. Leftover change goes into gear that keeps you alive.

To illustrate what I mean, here's the numbers on a greatsword.
Average CR 7 opponent: ~87 HP, AC 18.
Your total attack bonus: +7 base +3 Strength +1 enhancement = +11, or +13 while charging. Shock Trooper lets you keep this bonus with full Power Attack. This is without Rage.
Note that on a charge, you can Pounce, so you attack twice (+13/+8) and can follow it up with a bite (+8). However, the bite's a light weapon and won't benefit from Power Attack, so it's ignored for here.
Chance to hit: 75% on the first hit, 55% on the second.
--Specifically, these are 7.5% chance of a critical hit and 67.5% chance of a normal hit on the first attack, and 5.5% chance of a critical hit and 49.5% chance of a normal hit on the second attack.
Greatsword Average damage: [2d6+4 (Strength) +1 (enhancement) +28 (Power Attack + Leap Attack)] *2 (Valorous) = 80 average damage on a normal hit. On a critical hit, this is instead 120.
Therefore, your expected damage on a charge is (7.5+5.5)%*120+(67.5+49.5)%*60 = 85.8 expected damage against an AC 18 opponent. (Note that this is within a few hit points of their average HP.)

Thus, a plain ol' greatsword is quite capable, without Rage, of basically one-shotting anything you want with this. Note that this also doesn't use maneuvers; if you were in Punishing Stance or Leading the Charge, and using Battle Leader's Charge, you'd see your damage go up by about 14 on each possible hit. Your hook blade has to outperform this to be considered optimal.

However, that is not to say the hook blade isn't a passable choice: you can use a two-handed weapon of any sort and work just fine like this. (We were joking about Weapon Proficiency: Bench in another thread....). That's why I left the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat in there.

Please observe that the majority of the damage is coming from Power Attack + multipliers. It is NOT coming from the weapon itself, nor is it coming from your Strength.
#4
The_Fred
Sep 25, 2012 15:44:07 The Craft is probably an overall mod (L7 = 10, +2 tools, +Int... +3 Int is a fair amount for a Barbarian, though. You didn't take Skill Focus, did you?)

The weapon is probably not mechanically sound either way, but sounds pretty flavourful. If you are dual-wielding it, however, then you want TWF (which needs 15 Dex) and ideally the later feats (which need even more Dex)... It also screws with Power Attack since I'm not sure, if the off-hand counts as light, if you can even PA with it at all, let alone the damage (overall damage bonus from Str or PA is the same at first, but not once you get iterative attacks).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sherifflead Sep 24, 2012 16:16:05	My DM is running a level 7 Stormwrack (D & D 3.5) campaign and I am currently trying to make a powerhouse character. I normally play the ranger/paladin character, however, this campaign I am going for the "hack n slash" character (Barbarian). So far, I have figured I would like to play a Darfellan that is, of course, one of the last of his kind. I would like for him to be a Barbarian 2/ Fighter 4/ Frenzied Berserker 1. I believe this to be a powerful character idea, yet I would like to see if I could make it more powerful. By the way, I am a weapon master (Craft [weapon] of at least 15), so I am using a specialized weapon that is basically a huge hook with a spiked chain attached to it and on the other end a balista or another piercing weapon. Anyway, any suggestions? I am for sure wanting to be a Barbarian and for sure a Darfellan, but the any other classes I am willing to change. I just am tired of being the ranged class and am looking for a overpowered damage dealer. Thanks.
#2 Krusk Sep 24, 2012 19:21:43	Barb 1/Fighter 2/Ranger 3/Frenzied Berserk 1 is more powerful. You probably should ditch FB in general though. Can't make balance checks while in a frenzy, and you will probably be on a boat... Your feats are really the important part. Barb 1/Fighter 2/Ranger 3/Exotic Weapon Master 1[complete warrior] (Avenging Executioner 3(Complete scoundrel)/ Scarlet Corsair 10) Weapon Master Perk is flurry of strikes. Feats include 1 - Weapon Focus Fighter 1 - Exotic Weapon Hook Chain Fighter 2 - Power Attack 3 - Extra Rage 6 - Leap Attack Str > Con > Dex > Int > Wis > Cha Keep in mind you can make a bite attack at -5 at the end of a full attack. So at level 7, your attack routine on a full attack is +5/+5/+0 + a bite at +0 + Str Mods to hit. 4 Attacks a round is nice. You will want the lion totem barbarian from complete champion which lets you make a full attack on a charge. You should take leap attack asap. Ask your DM for some form of two handed weapon ranger variant class. If not, take ranged and it probably applies to cannons. Avenging Executioner gets you some sneak attack, skirmish which counts as sneak attack, and you get some intimidation powers which can add some nice utility. Scarlet Corsair gets full BAB, some sneak attack, and is from the book your DM said would be featured in the campaign. That last one is super brownie points. Plus some intimidation synergy, and you can probably do some sort of charging feint full attack routine. This build also gets full BAB and a really solid number of skill points which will give you some non-combat powers. Here is a rough explanation of ubercharger. http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6327.0 which you should probably keep in mind when picking feats.
#3 Tempest_Stormwind Sep 25, 2012 14:24:50	My DM is running a level 7 Stormwrack (D & D 3.5) campaign and I am currently trying to make a powerhouse character. I normally play the ranger/paladin character, however, this campaign I am going for the "hack n slash" character (Barbarian). So far, I have figured I would like to play a Darfellan that is, of course, one of the last of his kind. I would like for him to be a Barbarian 2/ Fighter 4/ Frenzied Berserker 1. I believe this to be a powerful character idea, yet I would like to see if I could make it more powerful. By the way, I am a weapon master (Craft [weapon] of at least 15), so I am using a specialized weapon that is basically a huge hook with a spiked chain attached to it and on the other end a balista or another piercing weapon. Two notes. 1) How the ** did you get 15 ranks in Craft (Weaponsmithing) at level 7? 2) We're going to need the stats on that weapon. I'm almost certain that it's not an ideal choice and will fall short of what you could get with a greatsword. The basic "overpowered melee damage" approach is basically Power Attack + a two-handed weapon + anything that multiplies this. The classical "ubercharger" approach has Improved Bull Rush + Shock Trooper (so your charge + Power Attack strikes will hit at their full base attack bonus), Leap Attack (increases your damage multiplier), Pounce (gives you multiple attacks on a charge), and ideally a valorous weapon around level 8 or so (a +1 ability that doubles charge damage). Note that Strength helps, but is minor: the real strength of the berserker is Improved / Supreme Power Attack, and that's not always worth the cost in feats. Here's the rough sketch that I would use. Note that the usual way of getting Pounce involves dropping Fast Movement, which is something that a speed-20 Darfellan might not want to do. 17/10/14/13/10/8 starting ability scores. Barbarian - Power Attack, [Complete Champion Lion Totem substitution for Pounce] Barbarian Fighter - Improved Bull Rush, Extra Rage Fighter - Exotic Weapon Proficiency (whatever the hell that hook blade is), +Intelligence Fighter Fighter - Leap Attack, Shock Trooper [Anything] (No matter what, your next level is +Strength. +Int at 4 helps get the Charge-based skill tricks in Complete Scoundrel; these can let you charge when otherwise you would be unable to charge.) That last level can be anything with a full base attack; your best choice at this point is probably Warblade. d12 HD, full base attack, and advanced combat maneuvers that support damage and mobility - that's ideal. It also helps put the Intelligence modifier to work and gets you access to Wall of Blades and Punishing Stance/Leading the Charge (the former lets you block attacks, the latter adds a bit of extra damage to all your attacks), plus a couple other maneuvers, such as Battle Leader's Charge. Your wealth is probably entirely invested in either a +1 Valorous weapon or a +1 weapon and a Strength booster; I'd suggest the former. Leftover change goes into gear that keeps you alive. To illustrate what I mean, here's the numbers on a greatsword. Average CR 7 opponent: ~87 HP, AC 18. Your total attack bonus: +7 base +3 Strength +1 enhancement = +11, or +13 while charging. Shock Trooper lets you keep this bonus with full Power Attack. This is without Rage.** Note that on a charge, you can Pounce, so you attack twice (+13/+8) and can follow it up with a bite (+8). However, the bite's a light weapon and won't benefit from Power Attack, so it's ignored for here. Chance to hit: 75% on the first hit, 55% on the second. --Specifically, these are 7.5% chance of a critical hit and 67.5% chance of a normal hit on the first attack, and 5.5% chance of a critical hit and 49.5% chance of a normal hit on the second attack. Greatsword Average damage: [2d6+4 (Strength) +1 (enhancement) +28 (Power Attack + Leap Attack)] 2 (Valorous) = 80 average damage on a normal hit. On a critical hit, this is instead 120. Therefore, your expected damage on a charge is (7.5+5.5)%120+(67.5+49.5)%*60 = 85.8 expected damage against an AC 18 opponent. (Note that this is within a few hit points of their average HP.) Thus, a plain ol' greatsword is quite capable, without Rage, of basically one-shotting anything you want with this. Note that this also doesn't use maneuvers; if you were in Punishing Stance or Leading the Charge, and using Battle Leader's Charge, you'd see your damage go up by about 14 on each possible hit. Your hook blade has to outperform this to be considered optimal. However, that is not to say the hook blade isn't a passable choice: you can use a two-handed weapon of any sort and work just fine like this. (We were joking about Weapon Proficiency: Bench in another thread....). That's why I left the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat in there. Please observe that the majority of the damage is coming from Power Attack + multipliers. It is NOT coming from the weapon itself, nor is it coming from your Strength.
#4 The_Fred Sep 25, 2012 15:44:07	The Craft is probably an overall mod (L7 = 10, +2 tools, +Int... +3 Int is a fair amount for a Barbarian, though. You didn't take Skill Focus, did you?) The weapon is probably not mechanically sound either way, but sounds pretty flavourful. If you are dual-wielding it, however, then you want TWF (which needs 15 Dex) and ideally the later feats (which need even more Dex)... It also screws with Power Attack since I'm not sure, if the off-hand counts as light, if you can even PA with it at all, let alone the damage (overall damage bonus from Str or PA is the same at first, but not once you get iterative attacks).