djl
07-20-2012, 02:34 PM
What is everyone's general opinion on which ED is better for a Barbarian, assuming you have three twists with a total of 11 points spent (either 1 t3 and two t1s or two t2s and one t3-- either way it comes out to 9 points earned minimum with a +2 tome, which is not unreasonable for someone looking for a good-quality build).
FOTW has amazing burst DPS on its side, with the ability to easily crit for over 6k damage and probably the easiest Moment to charge up. Also, it has Sense Weakness which is incredibly powerful especially when paired with Stunning Blow or a weapon that can Earthgrab a target. It's a t4 ability so it is very costly to twist, too.
LD has huge crit multipliers (realistically, 8x for a barbarian with a greataxe) and the ability to chain Boosts endlessly with effectively no cool-down. Additionally, Momentum Swing + Lay Waste are very awesome abilities that can be easily chained with a Barbarian's required feats of Cleave and Supreme Cleave.
With both EDs, the Brace for Impact ability from Unyielding Sentinel seems like a good ability to twist because of monsters' ability to bypass even 100% fortification. This is especially true if you use/twist Tunnel Vision (which I plan to do: 1D12 weapon damage -- meaning it is added to your attack on the front end and multiplied by criticals -- and +3 intimidate is very difficult to pass up, especially in a T1 slot. If you pick it, you lose 10% fort so unless you plan to waste a precious item slot on an exceptional fort item, Brace seems necessary). So that leaves two Twists remaining.
If you use FOTW, the twists are pretty difficult to choose. Legendary Tactics seems hard to pass up, as with the extra feat slots from Epic Levels almost everybody will pick up at least one of Stunning Blow/Improved Sunder. So that leaves one last Twist. For that, it's a tough decision between Momentum Swing, Haste Boost, and Improved Power Attack. I think of all three, Haste Boost would do the most good because it would give a minimum of five extra offense action boosts to use during a long fight. I dunno, this is a very hard choice indeed.
If you use LD, the twist choices are just as difficult. Obviously, it would be nice to twist in Sense Weakness as that is an incredibly powerful ability-- probably the most powerful ability for melees out of any of the EDs. Unfortunately, as stated it is a t4 ability which means at minimum you are going to be spending 10 points for just the one ablility. Is it worthwhile to use that many fate points on one ability? That's really a personal decision.
One possible solution is to drop the 3rd fate slot and instead earn one extra point (for a total of 10 points and a +2 tome for 12) so that you have one t4 and one t1. In that case, you would likely be sacrificing both Tunnel Vision and Brace for Impact as one is not as useful without the other. In that case, I would choose Primal Scream for the last Twist because +5 strength and con is extremely nice to have. If you do not want Sense Weakness then the choices are more obvious: Tunnel Vision, Primal Scream, and Brace for Impact.
All things considered, both EDs have their definite pros and cons. FOTW does not need Sense Weakness twisted in but it also lacks the amazing abilities Lay Waste and Momentum Swing which can be used an unlimited amount of times; however, it does get Adrenaline Overload which provides massive damage but with a limited amount of uses. Even with Fury Eternal, you won't have nearly enough charges to use it with as much frequency as you can use LW/MS so that narrows the gap in power between the two Destinies considerably. Also, even though the Moment on FOTW seems a little easier to charge and at first glance it looks like it provides far more damage than Master's Blitz, if you are able to kill more than one monster to reset it then more than likely you will end up dealing more overall damage with Master's Blitz. So, going back to the original question that opened this thread: which Destiny do you prefer on a barbarian?
FOTW has amazing burst DPS on its side, with the ability to easily crit for over 6k damage and probably the easiest Moment to charge up. Also, it has Sense Weakness which is incredibly powerful especially when paired with Stunning Blow or a weapon that can Earthgrab a target. It's a t4 ability so it is very costly to twist, too.
LD has huge crit multipliers (realistically, 8x for a barbarian with a greataxe) and the ability to chain Boosts endlessly with effectively no cool-down. Additionally, Momentum Swing + Lay Waste are very awesome abilities that can be easily chained with a Barbarian's required feats of Cleave and Supreme Cleave.
With both EDs, the Brace for Impact ability from Unyielding Sentinel seems like a good ability to twist because of monsters' ability to bypass even 100% fortification. This is especially true if you use/twist Tunnel Vision (which I plan to do: 1D12 weapon damage -- meaning it is added to your attack on the front end and multiplied by criticals -- and +3 intimidate is very difficult to pass up, especially in a T1 slot. If you pick it, you lose 10% fort so unless you plan to waste a precious item slot on an exceptional fort item, Brace seems necessary). So that leaves two Twists remaining.
If you use FOTW, the twists are pretty difficult to choose. Legendary Tactics seems hard to pass up, as with the extra feat slots from Epic Levels almost everybody will pick up at least one of Stunning Blow/Improved Sunder. So that leaves one last Twist. For that, it's a tough decision between Momentum Swing, Haste Boost, and Improved Power Attack. I think of all three, Haste Boost would do the most good because it would give a minimum of five extra offense action boosts to use during a long fight. I dunno, this is a very hard choice indeed.
If you use LD, the twist choices are just as difficult. Obviously, it would be nice to twist in Sense Weakness as that is an incredibly powerful ability-- probably the most powerful ability for melees out of any of the EDs. Unfortunately, as stated it is a t4 ability which means at minimum you are going to be spending 10 points for just the one ablility. Is it worthwhile to use that many fate points on one ability? That's really a personal decision.
One possible solution is to drop the 3rd fate slot and instead earn one extra point (for a total of 10 points and a +2 tome for 12) so that you have one t4 and one t1. In that case, you would likely be sacrificing both Tunnel Vision and Brace for Impact as one is not as useful without the other. In that case, I would choose Primal Scream for the last Twist because +5 strength and con is extremely nice to have. If you do not want Sense Weakness then the choices are more obvious: Tunnel Vision, Primal Scream, and Brace for Impact.
All things considered, both EDs have their definite pros and cons. FOTW does not need Sense Weakness twisted in but it also lacks the amazing abilities Lay Waste and Momentum Swing which can be used an unlimited amount of times; however, it does get Adrenaline Overload which provides massive damage but with a limited amount of uses. Even with Fury Eternal, you won't have nearly enough charges to use it with as much frequency as you can use LW/MS so that narrows the gap in power between the two Destinies considerably. Also, even though the Moment on FOTW seems a little easier to charge and at first glance it looks like it provides far more damage than Master's Blitz, if you are able to kill more than one monster to reset it then more than likely you will end up dealing more overall damage with Master's Blitz. So, going back to the original question that opened this thread: which Destiny do you prefer on a barbarian?