New Barb

[Mav145]

I am currently playing a level 16 ranger and I am closing in on 32-pt builds. My first build will be a barbarian. I am thinking that it will be a human that wields a greataxe or a warhammer. One big reason is that I will need to craft 2 rapiers and a bow for my ranger and I could get by with one warhammer/great axe for the barbarian. Plus, I think it will be more fun.

Can you guys make some arguments for warforged or dwarf rather than human? I was really liking the extra feat that humans get.

Here is what I am thinking:
STR - 18
DEX - 10
CON - 18
INT - 8
WIS - 10
CHA - 8

What should I pour the skill points into? Jump, balance, and ??????????.

Also, what gear should I be collecting for the barbarian. I can go to the AH and buy stuff for the lower levels but what end-game gear set-ups should I be looking for? I know about the frenzied bezerker set in Mod 9.

Thanks for all your help.

[BlackSteel]

a warforge will do 6 more damage a swing, and have stronger glancing blows (in base damage and in effects) over a human

its about the difference of having bard songs or not

the human on the other hand is more easily healed

[boldarblood]

I am currently playing a level 16 ranger and I am closing in on 32-pt builds. My first build will be a barbarian. I am thinking that it will be a human that wields a greataxe or a warhammer. One big reason is that I will need to craft 2 rapiers and a bow for my ranger and I could get by with one warhammer/great axe for the barbarian. Plus, I think it will be more fun.

Can you guys make some arguments for warforged or dwarf rather than human? I was really liking the extra feat that humans get.

Here is what I am thinking:
STR - 18
DEX - 10
CON - 18
INT - 8
WIS - 10
CHA - 8

What should I pour the skill points into? Jump, balance, and ??????????.

Also, what gear should I be collecting for the barbarian. I can go to the AH and buy stuff for the lower levels but what end-game gear set-ups should I be looking for? I know about the frenzied bezerker set in Mod 9.

Thanks for all your help.

Build looks just fine, will be more than adequate. You really can not go wrong with Dwarf, Human or WF. The pros and cons of each can be debated forever. For skills I like jump, balance, spot.

[Shade]

Hi check my guide here for lots of info:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=116814

Note: Warhammer = 1handed wep. I thikn you mean maul -2hander, since your talking about a twohanded - greataxe.

Stats - 18 con is overkill imo.. I have 4 capped barbs.. 3 have 16 con and 1 has 18 con starting.. I don't find the extra con matters much. Also all are wf/dwarf so.. its like 14/16 con on human.

Drop some con and add to dex/wisdom for saves, it will help allot more then a the con.

[VKhaun]

End game you want to be WF. Twice, if not three times as many healers behind you. WF no body feat gives you all the feats you need. PA+Cleave, Stunning blow, THF line. Dwarf works, and would probably be smoother to play up the ranks, receiving full heals.

Don't go human unless you already know ahead of time that you want something specific from an extra feat pick. You'd be better off lowering your con and bumping your intelligence on a dwarf/WF then going human for skills, because the dwarf and WF will make up for it in comparison to humans with their racial con enhancements and starting bonuses. Not to mention the damage differences the human can never make up.

With 30str+ that's +10 jump by itself. An arcane jump buff of +30 will more then cap you (no more height is gained past 40). I would say do balance, intimidate, and UMD, unless you just love jumping around enough to not want to count on the buff. Listen is a skill NO ONE does and I think it is a barbarian class skill. You might even do that for some cool messages and hints in dungeons, and it may be worthwhile for something one day.

[Shade]

With 30str+ that's +10 jump by itself. An arcane jump buff of +30 will more then cap you (no more height is gained past 40). I would say do balance, intimidate, and UMD, unless you just love jumping around enough to not want to count on the buff. Listen is a skill NO ONE does and I think it is a barbarian class skill. You might even do that for some cool messages and hints in dungeons, and it may be worthwhile for something one day.

It's fairly easy for a barb to hit 40 without a buff... And often u just can't get a wiz/sorc/ranger to give u the buff.. And with barbs needing so many buffs, its nice to have one u can elimnate from the list.

30 str is not a barbs endgame str. lvl16 u should be looking at around 40. lvl20 frenzied, u can get a good 60+. Max str is around ~76.
So 40 str = +15.. +15 item, 30.. all u need is 10 ranks to max it. I recommend 13-15 tho so you can have some leeway for debuffs and only use +13 item (ff boots of jump +13 is best item for RR15)

UMD? Dwarf and WF barb can't even hit a respectable UMD without sacrifcing too many item slots to be worth it. CHA is the dump stat, and its not a class skill. Not worth it unless you get rog lvl. (that said I put a few rank on my newest barb.. cuz he has 4 pnts per lvl, so i got my jump and spot fairly high anyways... Not seeing much point to it, but maybe ill find a nice puregood wep i need to equip (my barbs arent good aligned).. If ur good aligned, eh,, dunno if theres any point - ull barely hit 20 with a shroud item + titan glove.

[Demoyn]

Can you guys make some arguments for warforged or dwarf rather than human? I was really liking the extra feat that humans get.

Dwarves and warforged both get more hit points and longer rages than humans.

Dwarves also get an enhancement line that focuses on axes, thus they'll have a two higher attack and two higher damage per swing than humans (unless you use that extra feat on weapon focus, then it's only one attack and two damage better).

Warforged get an enhancement line for a better power attack than humans, thus they'll be at three less attack and six better damage than a human (or five less attack and four better damage than a dwarf).

Either way, both dwarf and warforged are better than a human for a pure barbarian. On the other hand, if you splashed two levels of fighter on your barbarian the human would be worth arguing for, since you'd increase your strength (I do not suggest this with mod 9 changes looming).

[Shade]

The races all have there pros and cons. I have always found it very hard if not impossible to sway someone into selecting a different race then what they initial decide on.. The actaul differences are fairly small, and somewhat balanced after all the ehancement changes over the years.
Human/Dwarf and WF are great barb choices.
Hell even Halfling and Elf can make decnet ones with the right builds.. Only one i'd suggest against is Drow.

Only big loses to human are mainly the Con, axe enhancements (vs dwarf) or power attack enhancements + great weapon enhancements (WF)..

Mod9 brings a new requireing to Barbs who want the upcoming PrC - the cleave feat.. A feat otherwise not worth taking... As such the Humans extra feat starts to look a little nicer.

It does provide a real benefit.. As it gives you the ability to take both heavily debated end feats instead of just 1: Toughness and Stunning Blow. The toughness will make up the difference in con fpr hp (-2 base con, -2 enhancement = 4 or 40 hitpoints at 20) toughness = ~23 + Generally 20-40 enhancements.

But not the DPS differences or extra bonuses (like WF immunities, or Dwarf saves)

Interesting that the human will end up with more HP then the old hitpoint kings - on a standard max DPS build.

[Mav145]

I was thinking human just so I could fit all the feats in that I need/want. I am going to stay pure barbarian so that I can get the capstone benefits. I had read the arguments about toughness and I was thinking that I would get both with human.

Honestly, is the six less damage vs. WF and the the two less damage vs. Dwarf really that big of a deal. I see swings in my damage on my ranger from 29 to 87 damage. Are you going to miss a few points of damage?

The attack bonus I really don't understand. Can you elaborate?

Thanks for the help.