I hate Barbarians...

[DoctorWhofan]

Well, to play them, that is. I hate the concept I have no chance of healing myself when raged or just on pots. Really. After playing Clerics all these years, it is HARD to change. I cannot even splash it with Pally, my second favourite class.

So it is time to throw out my hate, or at least attempt to.

SO THE CHALLENGE:

Build me a 32 point Barbarian, any race except halfling, with the following criteria:

Self Healing. Not off just pots. Be able to use wands.

THF...another thing I hate. I have some nice Greatswords taking up mulespace... But will except TWF

DPS. Duh.

Splashing is allowed, as long as the majority is Barbarian

have somekind of an AC for the first 10 levels or more feasible, be a cleric's nightmare of HP. (WHAT AM I SAYING???)

Middle ground geared. Shroud crafting is allowed, Titan stuff IS NOT. SO skip the Chattering ring. I hate that raid.


DIsclaimer: I like Barbarians in my parties. But unless I know them, I tend to be think they be mana soaks until proven otherwise. But I don't discriminate. I suck it up and check my supplies.

[Zuldar]

You could probably make something like this. Just splash a couple levels of rogue to get some umd.

barbarian 18 / rogue 2
human

str 46 16+6item+5levels+10rage+2ragepot+4deathfrenzy+2 tome+1enhancement
dex 17 15+2tome
con 40 16+6item+4enhancements+10rage+2ragepot+2tome
int 8
wis 8
cha 14(20) 12+2tome (+6cha item when using umd)

feats
1 two weapon fighting
h toughness
3 power attack
6 cleave
9 improved two weapon fighting
12 greater two weapon fighting
15 improved critical slashing
18 stunning blow

umd
23 ranks
5 charisma
3 cartouche
4 gh
5 skill boost
6 shroud charisma skills item
46 umd

[sirgog]

Three steps to a welf-healing Barb build:

1) Take any traditional barb build, preferably human

2) Obtain gear with decent healing amplification, and make sure all stats are 11 or higher

3) Grind 400 Silver Flame favor. Voila! One self-healing Barbarian.

[toughguyjoe]

18Barb/1Fig/1Wiz. Warforged.

Start with Max Str and Con. I suggest WIS as the next important stat.

Take Frenzied Berserker. I'm sure you hate that as well

Lets see. I'm no good with actually fleshing out a build. Here are some important parts.

Warforged Power Attack. take as much of this as you can. Keep your attack bonus as high as you cant hrough self buffing wtih pots, wands, whatever. Use your wizard level to your advantage.

Get Moderate Fort item at level seven. for a warforged barb getting rid of the crits early is a big save for both you, and whoever is healing/repairing you.

For feats, take Power attack, Cleave, THF, ITHF, GTHF, Toughness, Improved crit: your choice(or maybe stunning blow, depending on your mood), or maybe both, given your bonus fighter feat.

Skill points i usually spend in Intimidate so i can fill in if a low rent intimitank is needed.

As far as decent AC, you could always take adamantine body. I do not. I simply buff my AC with pots at low level, then give up on that and hope for displacement friendly casters in mid level quests. Heres my advice for taking less damage on a low ac toon. Learn to move. Don't be there when the monster swings. Its your best defense.

Keep your Con up with WF con enhancements. I suggest using your elvel up points on STR. your DPS will be exceptional if you get all your rages in order.

Mineral II greataxe. Self explanatory.

Docent of Defiance. Really good for the times you need it.


I'll edit and add more if i think of anything else to add to this laundry list of barbarian ****

[gizmos19]

trisa with the specs you want you could have a simpel affective barb
18/2barb /rouge
max str /max con every outher stat is a dump
THF ITHF GTHF PA IC 2x toughness


green steal hp iteam hp / cha skills bouth lighning strike

as far as ac gose DT armore shield from hound . lorriks . dont need a feet for it cuz it wount be used much
skills intim ,UMD ,and balance . open lock is ok if you got speare poins . locks and chest are low

[Kriogen]

Self healing barbarian is not possible.

When you rage you can't use most stuff that heals. If you don't rage ... its like a Bard that never sings.

OK, on paper yes, (some Barb18/Rogue2 with UMD), but ingame not. You must Rage. Theoretical yes, but ingame not practical. Just roll a Kensai Fighter18/rogue2 (evasion and umd) if you want wands/scrolls.

Sorry, Barbs *must* Rage. When you Rage, no hjeel. Barb is like a F1 car. Goes **** fast, but needs a full team of mechanics.

[Shamurai]

Grr, when is ddowiki coming back up! I checked the Compendium about Barbarians... What is this about not able to heal while raging. I don't know anything about barbs, can someone explain this? Can they really not be healed while they rage... if this is true what will high UMD give them if they can't use a heal scroll while raging.

Please enlighten me.

[gizmos19]

Self healing barbarian is not possible.

When you rage you can't use most stuff that heals. If you don't rage ... its like a Bard that never sings.

OK, on paper yes, (some Barb18/Rogue2 with UMD), but ingame not. You must Rage. Theoretical yes, but ingame not practical. Just roll a Kensai Fighter18/rogue2 (evasion and umd) if you want wands/scrolls.

Sorry, Barbs *must* Rage. When you Rage, no hjeel. Barb is like a F1 car. Goes **** fast, but needs a full team of mechanics.

this is true . YOU CANT CAST WHILE RAGEING . but you can after 2min or so . and then you heal up self buff up and rage and do it again

[spifflove]

18/2barb /rouge
max str /max con every outher stat is a dump

Do not dump dex or wisdom. Now at the cost of insightful reflexes you can move points from dex into intelligence.

max str
1 point per point buy into con
rest in dex and wisdom

Especially on a 2 rogue build because without dex evasion will not work.

[tc12]

Do not dump dex or wisdom. Now at the cost of insightful reflexes you can move points from dex into intelligence.

max str
1 point per point buy into con
rest in dex and wisdom

Especially on a 2 rogue build because without dex evasion will not work.

I'd go Dwarf for 18 barb /2 ro 2WF. The evasion just fits so well the DEX spend needed for 2WF anyway. And the +5 spell defense Dwarves get make you're evasion much more reliable, and can make up for a low starting WIS. INT to match the skills you want to maintain, besides max UMD you could easily maintain a decent Open lock score as a help when you solo. That Dwarvest get up to 16 CON with 1:1 point buy, along with racial CON enhancements is nice too.

[gizmos19]

Do not dump dex or wisdom. Now at the cost of insightful reflexes you can move points from dex into intelligence.

max str
1 point per point buy into con
rest in dex and wisdom

Especially on a 2 rogue build because without dex evasion will not work.

sorry i am real late on this one. every one pls read her specs on what she want's to play .
a THF . that can heal up a bit inbetween rounds .. mass amounts of HP great sord user .
simpel as that

[rimble]

Three steps to a welf-healing Barb build:

1) Take any traditional barb build, preferably human

2) Obtain gear with decent healing amplification, and make sure all stats are 11 or higher

3) Grind 400 Silver Flame favor. Voila! One self-healing Barbarian.

Yeah, because of the Rage mechanics, even Wand or Scroll healing gets difficult. It's gotta be the pots.

Do the Silver Flame pots heal WF less?

[Missing_Minds]

Do the Silver Flame pots heal WF less?

No clue. No one has ever posted how well it works on them.

[SpanishBlueEyes]

I have a barb and barb is my fav class. But i hardly ever rage. I use my rage for that extra to hit per swing on long fights such as boss's and such. i do have power attack on all the time and with my green steel min 2 GA on a crit without raging i am getting 230. I dont knock people who rage all the time as it can help out in their dps if they are a splash of some sort, but i built mine to be major dps without rage. And you can just get rage cast on you or a pot and still be able to use a wand. And once you are lvl 17 barb you can dismiss your rage so you can heal if need be. I think it is great you are trying a barb and i wish you luck.

[Cedwin]

I have a barb and barb is my fav class. But i hardly ever rage. I use my rage for that extra to hit per swing on long fights such as boss's and such. i do have power attack on all the time and with my green steel min 2 GA on a crit without raging i am getting 230. I dont knock people who rage all the time as it can help out in their dps if they are a splash of some sort, but i built mine to be major dps without rage. And you can just get rage cast on you or a pot and still be able to use a wand. And once you are lvl 17 barb you can dismiss your rage so you can heal if need be. I think it is great you are trying a barb and i wish you luck.

Really? Do you not have the FB prestige enhancements? That adds another +1 to your crit multiplier at level 12, then another +1 at 18 while raging. So a x4 GS weapon would do some serious crit damage while raging with FB at level 18+.

Not to mention all of the other added benefits like increased str, con, hitpoints and saves.

As I've seen in other posts, an un-raged barbarian is just a gimped fighter with no AC.

[Shamurai]

aaaah I misunderstood this was about self healing, which is "hard" to do while raging, but they can still be healed by others... duh I shoulda got that! But does drinking a pot end the rage?

Re: Healing during a fight ~ Lay on Hands has kept me fighting on MANY MANY occasions! I love it!

[Cedwin]

aaaah I misunderstood this was about self healing, which is "hard" to do while raging, but they can still be healed by others... duh I shoulda got that! But does drinking a pot end the rage?

Re: Healing during a fight ~ Lay on Hands has kept me fighting on MANY MANY occasions! I love it!

No, drinking pots doesn't end rage, but the pots you can drink only return around 20-30 hitpoints, unless you have some healing amp items/enhancements. At level 15, my barb has around 500 hitpoints... that takes a LOT of potions to fill up.

The silverflame potions are nice, but you have to do some major favor grinding to use them, and when you do use them, you have to stand around and wait for the side effects to wear off.

[Emili]

Yeah, because of the Rage mechanics, even Wand or Scroll healing gets difficult. It's gotta be the pots.

Do the Silver Flame pots heal WF less?

Yes Silver Flame Pots heal WF for a little less, You can take Healers friend though to even it up a little.

Sirgog, suggested human for a reason... -> stacking healing amp up to the 180-200% + range easier. Turns two or three csw pots into an heal scroll as far as hp regen basically, also when a cleric does hit you with a heal spell, the more observant ones notice it lands for double their norm.

1.) FB - is the best dps you get out of a barb, a level 20 death frenzied is just crazy in game with how quick it may kill mob... tactical play like stuns and trips land well and even the glancing with procs now produces enough dps that mob are just falling dead left and right. Even using regular rage on a FB seems nearly double the output of the old crit rage barbs to me.

2.) Healing Amp - is funny, my DR is probably average for a Barb but in shroud part one I'll eat a tasty ham and death frenzy on portals and the clerics never notice am doing damage to myself, but healing the few points it's doing back by myself. In mass cure groups of melee you're more then topped during battles.

3.) Will saves - Barbs have great will save for a melee when raged, while not like a cleric, FvS, pally, monk they may get awful close to some especially buffed up some. It's a lot harder to put significant will save on a figher or rogue, you need to splash there to come close to what a raged barb can pull off.

4.) Dr - toss a 500hp 50+ac ranger in midst of 10 trash mob and do the same with a 650hp 20ac barb - if you did a testing - the difference is almost the same, the ranger's ac is not quite high enough to matter and is getting grazed down 1-3 hp with every mob around and taking a direct hit once in a while (the ac ranger needs more gear to get into the 60 mark to count)... the bard is taking every direct hit but grazing does nothing because DR covers it. It just about equals out.

In the thick - among melee the barb plays a little differently, you expect to take damage... but there are ways of actually mitigating and even avoiding quite a bit of it when you're a high-to-max dps melee build with little AC. Tacticals, and movement and one thing people do not see or think about often... i.e. you may have complete agro so stand behind the 74ac pally you're groupped with - you now are sporting a shield even though your hands are holding a GS min II greataxe - the shield is the pally. The mob on a regular attack is swinging at you but the pally is in the way.

[Missing_Minds]

Yes Silver Flame Pots heal WF for a little less, You can take Healers friend though to even it up a little.

So standard 50% reduction before healing amps along with all of the negative stuff that happens for a time?

Sirgog, suggested human for a reason... -> stacking healing amp up to the 180-200% + range easier. Turns two or three csw pots into an heal scroll as far as hp regen basically, also when a cleric does hit you with a heal spell, the more observant ones notice it lands for double their norm.

How are you getting healing amp that high? What am I missing?

non WF base (100%) + human (30%) + finger necklace (10%) + greensteel weapon (30%) = roughly 170%. Only monks can get higher, but she's not doing a monk.

WF base (50%) + WF healer friend (25%) + finger neclace (10%) + docent of blood (10%) + greensteel weapon (30%) = roughly 125%

now I'll grant you, the math is NOT that simple, (infact it is flat out wrong. Much like division by zero.) but it gives the idea.

[MichaelBerea]

you may have complete agro so stand behind the 74ac pally you're groupped with - you now are sporting a shield even though your hands are holding a GS min II greataxe - the shield is the pally. The mob on a regular attack is swinging at you but the pally is in the way.

LOL That just about made my day, thank you.