-:My First Barbarian:-

[Mr.Spark]

I've been looking for something new (for me) because up till now I've always played someone with either an Sp or Ki bar...wanted to get in on that olde fashoned face smashing -thumbs up-

...but I don't know anything about barbarians other than Hp and 'hit it till it stops moving...then hit it again'

So...this is just a 32 point first lifer...please let me know what's wrong with it and any advice you can give

Half Orc
18 Barbarian/2 Rogue

Str: 20
Dex: 8
Con: 18
Int: 6
Wis: 8
Cha: 6

Skills:
Intem
Balance
Jump (stop after 10 ranks)
Open Lock (stop after 4 ranks)
Tumble (stop after 4 ranks)

Feats:
Toughness
Power Attack
Cleave
Improved Crit: Slash
Two Handed Fighting
Improved Two Handed Fighting
--- (last feat Greater or Stunning Blow?)

Enhancements:

AB: Damage (4)
AB: Haste (1)
AB: Sprint (1)
DR (2)
Extended Rage (2)
Power Rage (4)
Power Attack (3)
Orc Fury (3)
Orc Power Rage (2)
Orc Power Attack (1)
Frenzy PrC (3)
Orc Str (2)
Sneak Attack +3 (1)
Barb Con (2)
Toughness (2)
Barb Toughness (2)

I believe thats all my AP spent right there...

Need help deciding between GTF and Stunning Blow...

Do raged barbs get enough Str to make Stunning worth taking?

(forgot to put the +5 attribute from leveling all on Str)

As for equipment...Carnifex, Marileth Chain, Madstone Boots, and Minos Legens are what I should get asap, right?
Anything else that I'll need?

Thanks in advance

[unbongwah]

If you're not going for UMD, I would skip the rogue splash; with DEX 8 your Reflex saves will be pretty poor and the barb capstone is pretty nice for a THF build.

Marilith Chain is still pretty nice, but it's not the only source of Seeker bonus these days.

If you're thinking about epic levels, bear in mind Overwhelming Critical requires Great Cleave & Weapon Focus. So what I'm thinking of doing on a pure barb is dropping the THF chain completely for the following: Power Atk, Toughness, Cleave, IC:Slash, Imp Sunder (or Stunning Blow), Great Cleave, WF:Slash, OC:Slash, epic Toughness (need base CON 18 + 3 tome).

[Mr.Spark]

I hadn't even considered epic levels...and wasn't aware OC required WF (ugh) and Greater Cleave

...I suppose I could, as you suggested, drop THF line...I mean...if we need AoE we can just cycle through our 3 cleaves, right? And I suppose THF tends to get barbs in trouble with 'do not kill so-and-so' quests, so maybe this is a better alternative?

I know seeker can be on nicer slots...but I was thinking having it on Armor is great for a 2-hander and you can spend your trinket on Greater Bold so you've got the Exceptional 2 Seeker, +1 damage, and shocking blow all to go with it

As for Evasion and rogue levels; is it really not worth it? I understand I won't be evading everything, but is the chance going to be so low in epics it hurts me in the long run?

[unbongwah]

Last time I checked, the rule of thumb was to aim for Reflex saves of 30+ by endgame to make Evasion useful; I think 35 was a good target. But it feels to me like the DCs in U14 elites are higher than they were before, so I dunno if that suffices anymore.

As for feats, the other possibility I was considering is: Power Atk, THF, Cleave, IC:Slash, ITHF, GC, WF:S, OC:S, GTHF - i.e., drop the Toughnesses and one tactics feat for THF chain. Kinda sucks to not get GTHF until lvl 24, but I don't think there's a more optimal order. I guess it depends on whether you want to be pure DPS or put a bit more into survivability.

EDIT: actually now that I think about it, you could do PA / THF / C / IC:S / ITHF / GTHF / GC / WF:S / OC:S. Just dunno if it's better to get GTHF 9 lvls sooner or OC:S 3 lvls sooner.

[SylvanPhoenix]

First, if you haven't read Shade's guide, I highly recommend it: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=296816

I built a classic horc barb with 20 Str, 16 Dex and 8 Int as I wanted a bit better skills and be able to use silver flame pots (once I did a +3 tome for base 8 stats). He's now 20/1 and I've been fairly happy with my choices. For feats I went with:

1 - Two-Handed Fighting
3 - Power Attack
6 - Cleave
9 - Improved Two Handed Fighting
12 - Improved Critical: Slashing
15 - Greater Two Handed Fighting
18 - Toughness

It was a toss up on toughness over stunning blow. I did want to have pretty good hit points so tanking would be more of an option. My DPS is great but I'm not considering how to retool with the new epic levels. I've been leaning towards staying pure barb and dropping ITHF & GTHF. So essentially this would be feat choices:

1 - Two-Handed Fighting
3 - Power Attack
6 - Cleave
9 - Weapon Focus: Slashing
12 - Improved Critical: Slashing
15 - Great Cleave
18 - Toughness
21 - Overwhelming Crit: Slashing
24 - Stunning Blow

So far I've been trying to use my cleave, supreme cleave and imagining not having great glancing blow damage. I think it'll work but I haven't done a lesser reincarnation yet.

The other option was to go with 2 levels of fighter to make up the lost feats. I think for now I'll stick with pure and if I decide the loss of ITHF and GTHF is too rough, I'll get a LR+3 to add in the fighter levels. Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Sylvan

[SylvanPhoenix]

I didn't respond to everything in your first post so here's a follow-up.

As for is your strength good enough for Stunning Blow, I'd think so but I haven't played all elite content yet to know for sure. So far I've found it quite useful. My unraged/unbuffed Str is 38 right now and I get into the high 50s when buffed. I still have some epic gear to get so I'm not done increasing my strength on this build yet.

Here's a breakdown of what you could easily attain:

20 base
+2 racial enhancements
+2 tome
+5 level ups
+6 item
+2 ship buff
+2 capstone

39 unraged with basic gear/ship buffs

As for gear, you're on the right track. Here are my other recommendations:

Pick up Deneith Heavy Chain as soon as you can. It's a great armor for lvl 5-12.

Get someone to craft a +4 holy silver great[axe|sword] of evil outside bane. It'll help you with shroud and is a pretty good weapon until you make your lit2.

Crimson Chain was great and I got that at lvl 12. I know many swear by the DT armor but I just couldn't bear the grind there. I was able to get the Epic Cavalry Plate the last time the Cove was open and it's a pretty good set that I'll likely only replace with Epic Deneith Heavy Chain and Cormyrian Red Dragonscale Breastplate (though I'm not sure how soon I'll have enough to make this!).

I also really liked using the Silver Flame Talisman when I didn't have someone to buff me with death ward/prot from evil or I had to fight beholders that would strip off those buffs.

As for seeker, there's plenty of places you can get it. I got a greater bold trinket early on and almost always have it on. There's of course, the blood stone but that may not be something you have access to. The ring of the stalker is good source that you can easily get and wear until you get your ToD rings. You can make it at whatever level you're at and it'll be something. It also has manslayer and ethereal too. Finally there's the new Lenses of the Woodsman which look awesome if you don't have your GS HP goggles yet.

BTW, once you can run King's Forest, getting the Purple Dragon Gauntlets rocks. 30% healing amp, +7 Str is pretty darn nice. I earned 5 PDK commendations with a group in one evening while we did the Battle for Eveningstar chain. Add in your ToD Frenzied Beserker Ring slotted with +2 Str and you should get +10 to Str from gear. There's also the chance for +8 Str as well as +3 Exception Str with the new gear though I haven't got any yet.

Cheers,
Sylvan

[Mr.Spark]

First, if you haven't read Shade's guide, I highly recommend it: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=296816

Cheers,
Sylvan

Thank you for the link
I'll definitely look into the guide, I'm sure it will help

I am currently thinking about sticking with 18/2 ...but honestly i may splash fighter instead of rogue
I am also considering dropping THF completely since EpicD grants all 3 under certain conditions (haven't really looked into it)

As for feats, i am thinking

Power Attack
Toughness (Barb Past Life for TR1+)
Cleave
IC: Slash
Great Cleave
Stunning Blow/Imp Sunder (not sure yet)
WF: Slash

OC: Slash
(idk yet, gonna look through epic feats)

I have no idea what feats i'd choose at this point if I were to splash 2 Fighter

As for items, he'll obviously need:
Carnifex, 3Pos GS Maul (3rd tier heal amp), Min2 GS GAxe (3rd tier Con), ECloak of Night, Marilith Chain, G-Bold Trinket...

What else is advised?

[Feithlin]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't think Overwhelming Critical adds more dps than gTHF.
For my dwarven Barb 18/ Fighter 2, I took:
* THF, iTHF, gTHF
* Cleave, gCleave to cycle more easily between the cleave, now that supreme cleave has a longer cooldown
* PA
* Toughness
* Stunning blow
* iSunder

For the epic feats, I think I'll take eToughness and still unsure for the last. SB is stronger than OC imo, so to apply for OC, I would have to swap iSunder for WF: slashing. I may as well skip OC though. Maybe put another eToughness. I would have taken iTrip if it didn't require CE...

[SylvanPhoenix]

I am currently thinking about sticking with 18/2 ...but honestly i may splash fighter instead of rogue
I am also considering dropping THF completely since EpicD grants all 3 under certain conditions (haven't really looked into it)


Under his guide Shade has a legendary build for the 18/2 (fighter level) approach. It doesn't include the new epic feats but it's probably worth looking closely at if you go that way.



As for items, he'll obviously need:
Carnifex, 3Pos GS Maul (3rd tier heal amp), Min2 GS GAxe (3rd tier Con), ECloak of Night, Marilith Chain, G-Bold Trinket...


One thing I'd point out is many are advising not to build the min2 anymore. I'm going to use the epic antique greataxe as my primary DR breaker. Lit2 seems to still be the ideal weapon once you get it for most content. Epic sword of shadow I think still reigns as king DPS but it'll take quite a while to get everything for that.

You'll want to get your ToD sets (Frenzied Beserker and Shinto Monk) when you can. Those really stack up your DPS. I for sure will complete the Frenzied Beserker set and then keep working on the monk set.

Cheers,
Sylvan