need some help...

[Bashfyl]

ok... I stopped playing for quite a bit (been back for a while but not playing my tanks)... my batman is pointless, my fighter doesn't have enough hp to hack it in higher level stuff.... been playing a caster and i've been ok.. but wanna pick up a greataxe and start bashin' skulls again without getting pwned.... I've learned AC below, like, high 50's is basically like running around naked, and you need lot's of HP to survive... since the merge i can't make any new toons where i have stuff to twink 'em up at all, so.......
- I'm hoping for a basic 28 point non-tomed, non-uber-equipment-having barbarian build with high HP and DPS (my AC will never hit any impressive number so i won't bother much trying to get that up). probably WF or dwarf... please help! (like i said... essentially nothing: no tomes, no +6 stat items... assume maybe one or two +4 stat items and one +1 tome at higher levels)... look at it like this: you're going back to a year and a half ago when you had nothing either =)
leaning toward WF to avoid post-rage fatigue... but lack of healability might make the low levels rough.. and the mid levels... i dunno... any advice/build ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Xzanthos]

This is Shade's build, I just started new to the game about a month and a half ago, I'm currently level 10 and it seems to be working well for me.

Here, slightly updated for 4.2:
Module 4 has some nice updates to barbarian so here is how the new maximum DPS build looks:

Dwarf (+2 con, more hp, more rage, axe enhacements, awesome race)
Barbarian Level 14
Alignment: Chaotic Good or True Neutral. Minor advantages to each, with chaotic good being slightly better for weapon selection, or true neutral for PvP.

(28 point build, add to con or wis for 32)
Str 18 (40 Raged at lvl14/1750 favor tome) (44 Dual madstone)
Dex 12 (Mines at 20 - black dragon helm +5, tome +3)
Con 16 (34 Raged as setup) (modified enhance + dual madstone = 44)
Int 8 (Doesn't matter)
Wis 10 (No reason to get a negative here, at 16 with +5 item +1 tome)
Cha 6 (Not that important, tho 6 cha does mean you get helpless to cha damage from time to time)

Feats:
1 - Two Handed Fighting
3 - Power Attack
6 - Improved Two Handed Fighting
9 - Improved critical
12 - Greater Two Handed Fighting

Old Enhancements for reference:
Action Boost V
Extend Rage V
Extra Rage III
Power Rage IV

New Enhancements:
Rank - Progression
Level 1
1 - 1 [barbarian] - Damage Reduction Boost I
2 - 2 [barbarian] - Power Attack I
4 - 4 [dwarf] - Axe Damage I
Level 2
6 - 5 [barbarian] - Extend Rage I
7 - 6 [barbarian] - Extra Rage I
8 - 7 [barbarian] - Sprint Boost I
9 - 8 [barbarian] - Power Rage I
Level 3
12 - 10 [dwarf] - Constitution (Dwarven) I
14 - 12 [barbarian] - Damage Reduction Boost II
Level 4
17 - 14 [dwarf] - Axe Attack I
19 - 16 [barbarian] - Extend Rage II
Level 5
22 - 18 [barbarian] - Power Attack II
24 - 20 [barbarian] - Power Rage II
Level 6
29 - 24 [dwarf] - Axe Damage II
Level 7
33 - 27 [barbarian] - Damage Reduction Boost III
Level 8
37 - 30 [barbarian] - Extend Rage III
39 - 32 [barbarian] - Constitution I
Level 9
44 - 36 [barbarian] - Damage Reduction Boost IV
Level 10
49 - 40 [barbarian] - Extend Rage IV
Level 11
52 - 42 [barbarian] - Critical Rage I
54 - 44 [barbarian] - Extra Rage II
Level 12
56 - 45 [barbarian] - Hardy Rage I
59 - 48 [barbarian] - Power Attack III
Level 13
64 - 52 [barbarian] - Critical Rage II
Level 14
68 - 55 [barbarian] - Power Rage III
69 - 56 [dwarf] - Spell Defense I
( Note I didn't really optimize the order in which you take these, tho this order is fairly decent)

New enhancements results module 4.0 vs 3.3:
Much Higher DPS - Critical rage II and Barbarian Power attack fixed so it does +6 damage
More Hp - Up to 410 raged, or 466 dual madstone (+6 con and GFL item)
Saves - +1 fortitude, -1 will, -1 vs traps
Rage - Roughly the same length, but less uses of it, 6 vs 7
Boosts - Same DR boost, Sprint boosts slightly slower, but still crazy fast compared to other classes. 5 each for total of 10 uses, vs 5 before. No damage boost, still awesome DPS tho thanks to critical rage. Boosts lock each other out during use so you can't combine them, tho they don't use up each other now so you can use all ur DR boosts, and then still have the sprint boosts to get back to the shrine quickly to reset em.

Equipment:
Carniflex, Later upgrade to the Sword of Shadows. This will be your main weapon as they both deal insane damage and critical often.
Greataxe (+5 ideally early on, you deal such insane dmg and have such massive to hit that later on you won't even have much need for a +5 weapon)
Bursting Greataxes (these rule at mid lvl especially if you use them on monsters with vulnerabilitis to those elements, you'll want to find at least +3 versions)
Greater Bane Greataxes (these are the best DPS for the end game lvl14++)
Mithral Fullplate (Hard to get, but even +3 is as good as +5 Full plate)
Important equipment to attain by level 12:
Reavers Ring (fear imunity, very important on a moderate willsave char)
Fragment of the silver flame (dominate imunity)
Proof against poison item (belt usualy works good)
Disease Imunity Item (belt again, mummy rot sucks)
Blindness Ward item (I use the dragon googles, but any old set will do, ones with +spot are really nice tho)
+4 Strength gloves (might wanna replace the deleras ones if possible to keep your dex up)
Heavy Fortification Item (Do black anvil mines, collect some ore, get your necklace)
Set of potions always: 100 rage, 100 lesser restore, 100 remove curse, couple remove fear, couple protection vs energy. Have these in a quick to access hotkey as youll want to restore your rage and power it back up with a rage pot after each cycle.
Rage, Sheild, Devine favor,Devine power, haste clickes (these really increase your power during short boss battles, but cant be maintained to long rage length - this should be less of a problem in mod5 with dismiss rage)
By level 14:
+6 stat items, should have at least Str and Con, ideally wis too. Recommend black dragon helm for dex to free up other slots.
Some raid loot, hard to say you should have it by then, but you should have at least 1 or 2 helpfull items. Reaver stuffs pretty easy to get currently.

Any other improved/greater resist cloaks/rings you can get. Otherwise ask the cleric, you need those buffs to do well.

Skills:
Spot
Jump
Few ranks of heal
Rank or 2 of tumble/swim

Spot:
Crossclass skill, but very much worth it. Like the class video says, barbarians make good scouts.. Well they dont really, but they are best for running into stealthed enemies and traps if you don't have a rogue. So seeing the stealthed enemies is a huge asset. This works quite well if you get the FF/+spot item from like Co6. Youll also noticed the odd trap or secret door, even in high level quest. Even finding most of the trap boxes in module3 for the rogues lately as I got my spot up to 25.
- Note in mod 5 listen *should* work the same and is a class skill. However listen items are harder to get and on worse slots then spot (spot google vs listen hat - hats good for dex, googles not really important for anything cept truesight, which is raid item only mainly useful for PvP and castable by wiz and clr for PvM)

Jump:
As a frontline combatant, your primary job is to run really fast and jump over the enemies frontline combatants.. To kill there clerics and wizards in the back ranks. So many barbarians don't realise how huge this is. Trust me, its HUGE.

Tumble: Lets you move faster when under the effects of a bad spell like slow or that nasty white dragons ice freeze effect.

Swim: Lets you swim faster. Really only useful in 1 quest: The Crucible, but still good to have.. As a strength build char why not get high str based skills. I only put a few ranks but I have over 30 buffed.

Balance: It's an important skill but note you don't need a whole lot of ranks of this, as you can pick up the invaders ring for +13 and get a bit of dex + greater herosim for over 20, which will make 95% checks in PvM.. You may wish to have this really high for PvP tho.

No intimidate? :
Your a low AC deathdealer, you do not want agro, you want the enemy dead before he makes you dead.

NewUltimate DPS stats (vs elite dragon):
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8...ot01432em1.jpg

Thoughts on the build at lvl14 in module 4:
Barbarians keep getting stronger and stronger. Almost to the point now where I think were kind of overpowered vs fighters. I have not only the maximum DPS, but also the best tank for all new content. Only thing that really matters in the big boss fights (like the new dragons on elite) is DR and saves, the build has that maxxed for the enitre fight (minus cooldown), along with a ton of HP and max DPS. They cleave through your AC and hit for 200 non-crits, I doubt many fighters or palladins can tank them well..

Tho keep in mine I have maxxed out my character with allot of raid loot items.
I swing a sword of shadows with 40+ strength, critical on a 13 and deal 52-200 damage per hit. My hitponts are around 400-466, Ac boosts to 50+ in optimal conditions, generaly it sits at about 20.

Ac is variable depending on what i want to do, usualy sits in the 20-30 range but can quickly swithc to tank mode.. Really make it for it with DR. 5 DR all the time, and 15 DR when i get in trouble to make me extremely resistant to damage.

The gianthold content is all relatively low AC. So the new barbarian power attack rules vs it. Talking +16 damage, with -8 to hit.. Uber. Even with that large penalty to hit and constantly moving without spring attack I still hit pretty much 100% vs anything aside from a elite purple named-boss.

Greater two handed is an incredible feat, gota try it to see how much extra damage you dish out with it.

Also a excellent build for PvP too. Straight up melee combat, no other build can withstand the onslaught from a barbarian this strong. Even the maximum AC combat expertise fighter/palladin hybrid cannot survive this. 50+ ac is not a problem to cut through. Pure fighters get straight up wrecked, tank barbarians get cut down almost as quick, rangers and rogues dont stand a chance, no one can outrun a barbarian. Clerics can generally hold and command this build onto its but fairly easy, but the funny thing is, after that they try to melee you, and if you were smart enough to get your DR boost on, they won't be able to damage you, even held. Well played wizards and sorcerers can hold/kill you instantly, but you can do the same to them so it comes down to who reachs who first. In tavern brawls, this means they get killed before they even know your there. In deathmatch you gota be careful.

[Bashfyl]

ah thanks much.. seems like a rather good build... i'll test it out