Starting a Human Barbarian for Frenzied Berserker

[WeiQuinn]

So I rolled up a new Human Barbarian to try out Frenzied Berserker when Mod 9 rolls out. I have a nice collection of Greataxes for him to use, so I'm going Two Handed Fighting.

The feats I'll be taking are Power Attack, the THF line, Cleave, Improved Critical: Slashing and Toughness... that leaves one feat open. I was thinking of Great Cleave but am open to suggestions... anything better than Great Cleave?

Starting stats are as follows

Str 18
Dex 12
Con 16
Int 10
Wis 8
Cha 8

[Vivanto]

Stunning blooo




.... or...

go wf for the extra thf enhancements.

[Monkey_Archer]

Stunning blow is a good choice for barbs...
I like having both cleave and great cleave on my fighter as well though...

Since you will get Supreme cleave for FB 2 i dont think great cleave will be nearly as useful as stunning blow.

[Shade]

Yea stunning blow for sure. Given berserkers exceptional strength, it will be quite an awesome feat. It's like THE reason to go human, since you can get toughness + it. Otherwise you really should go Dwarf or WF.

Cleave and Greatcleave both suck. Supreme cleave which your getting for free SHOULD be far superior to greatcleave (not even implemented yet so cant say).. If it isn't , Turbine messed up.

Stats:
There fine except the 8 wis.. Willsave is important.
I'd go 9 int/wis, then 1 tome em to 10. If you do have a +2 int tome for lvl1, maybe 8 int, 10 wis.

[WeiQuinn]

The only reason I have Cleave is because its a pre-req for Frenzied Berserker.

I'll pick up Stunning Blow and I was planning on picking up the increased will save while rageing enhancements. He's only level 2, so I can re-roll him yet (just gotta get me a few tomes...)

[BlackSteel]

the will save while raging enhancements dont stack with the common buff greater hero. unless u take the full line, which would net u only plus one over the spell.

useful at low levels, nto so much later on.

[WeiQuinn]

Thats good to know! Guess I have a re-roll in my future...

[Shade]

the will save while raging enhancements dont stack with the common buff greater hero. unless u take the full line, which would net u only plus one over the spell.

useful at low levels, nto so much later on.

Actually quite the opposite is true.

At low levels, it does nothing if you have drank a heroism potion or got the buff..

By level 20, the base will rage is 4, same as GH.. As such the enhancements bring it above 4, meaning each point always have an effect, even with GH active.

So your will save will suffer at low lvls, at high you respec to fit them in and generall will suffice.

[mediocresurgeon]

Not an answer to your question:
a) I'd drop your dex and int to 8 and increase your con to 18. No point in having any dex if you are THF. Also, not sure why you want 6 skill pts per level. All you really need is Jump and Balance, maybe Intimidate. Human will get all 4 skill pts per level with int 8, so you'd even have extra skills to screw around with.

b) Shade is correct in the Will save department. At high levels, even a 6 wisdom barbarian has no problem making will saves while raged.

c) Unless you wanted the extra healing amp (which I hear is very valuable in mod 9 content), it is probably better to go Warforged on a barbarian (for power attack enhancements and glancing blow improvements).

Answer to your question:
01) Toughness
01) Two Handed Fighting
03) Power Attack
06) Improved Two Handed Fighting
09) Improved Critical: Slash (respec once you get a Mineral II)
12) Greater Two Handed Fighting
15) Cleave
18). ???

This leaves 1 or two feats left over. Stunning Blow is a strong choice, particularly if you have a Maladroit/Weighted 5% Maul. Great Cleave and Cleave are of less use to a THF character because Cleave and Great Cleave do not work with Glancing Blows, and they are slow attacks. No barbarian can have too many HP, so Toughness might also be a good pick if you decide to respec Improved Critical, but your second Toughness is less important than your first.

[Shade]

Not an answer to your question:
a) I'd drop your dex and int to 8 and increase your con to 18. No point in having any dex if you are THF. Also, not sure why you want 6 skill pts per level. All you really need is Jump and Balance, maybe Intimidate. Human will get all 4 skill pts per level with int 8, so you'd even have extra skills to screw around with.

b) Shade is correct in the Will save department. At high levels, even a 6 wisdom barbarian has no problem making will saves while raged.

Dex = Reflex save dude. Actaully far more important then willsave. Absolutely do not skimp on dex.

The 6 wisdom thing is also wrong and not what I said. None of my barbs start 6 or 8 wis. My WF one has the weakest, and started 10. He fails willsaves very often if I don't put on my belt of tongue (something most barbarians will not be using)

18 con is massive overkill. I have 4 barbarians, none have started with max con, all have way more then enough hitpoints with no toughness feats. (they range from 523-680 hitpoints)

[mediocresurgeon]

Dex = Reflex save dude. Actaully far more important then willsave. Absolutely do not skimp on dex.

The 6 wisdom thing is also wrong and not what I said. None of my barbs start 6 or 8 wis. My WF one has the weakest, and started 10. He fails willsaves very often if I don't put on my belt of tongue (something most barbarians will not be using)

18 con is massive overkill. I have 4 barbarians, none have started with max con, all have way more then enough hitpoints with no toughness feats. (they range from 523-680 hitpoints)

To each their own. My suggestions were just that--ideas to be considered by the OP. I started my barbarian with 18 str/20 con and I have never regretted the decision, or that my saves are slightly less than those of barbarians which have their stats spread around a little more than my build.

My apologies if you feel I have misquoted you; it was not my intention.