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.

[whysper]

Most Barbarians are already red in the face, a little rouge is not going to do much to woo the enemies.

[Kriogen]

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.

When you Rage (barbs Rage, not arcane spell), or are hit by Madstone Rage (boots or effect in some quests), Tenser Transformation, Bladesworn Transformation, you can't cast spells, use wands or scrolls, do traps/locks etc ... You can drink pots, but then things stop. On top of that some pots count as 'spell', can be used on others, so no Remove Curse for example (or has this been fixed?).

You become very big and powerfull, but your brains don't get enough oxygen and stops functioning

[Murgatroyd]

When you Rage (barbs Rage, not arcane spell), or are hit by Madstone Rage (boots or effect in some quests), Tenser Transformation, Bladesworn Transformation, you can't cast spells, use wands or scrolls, do traps/locks etc ... You can drink pots, but then things stop. On top of that some pots count as 'spell', can be used on others, so no Remove Curse for example (or has this been fixed?).

When you're in the middle of a fight it would be silly to be able to try and heal yourself, but between fights it's a lot easer to top yourself off with heal scrolls than wands.

Once they fix all the pots with funnels (curse, lesser restore, etc) then barbs will be able to get their own curses in VoD and ToD

[Cedwin]

The main tactic would be to kill everything, and *then* heal up. Other then drinking pots, or having someone healing you, there's no way around that while raging.

[Visty]

I'd go with 18 barb 2 pal. This gives you wand usage for in between fights, and doesn't decrease your BaB like splashing rogue would. It also gives you the Pally aura, and a lay on hands, although I don't think you can use LoH while raging either.

The main tactic would be to kill everything, and *then* heal up. Other then drinking pots, or having someone healing you, there's no way around that while raging.

which doesnt fit as you cant mix barb and pala due to aligment issues
also it would give the same umd as staying pure barb

[Cedwin]

which doesnt fit as you cant mix barb and pala due to aligment issues
also it would give the same umd as staying pure barb

Ah ****, forgot about the alignment, well, nevermind then!

Not sure why you would need to worry about UMD if the class can use wands though.

On the same line, you could go 19 barb 1 ranger for wand usage.

The 18 barb 2 rogue build has the added benefit of evasion, and a high UMD, but your BaB suffers from it.

[Stealthdog]

I'd go with 18 barb 2 pal.

[Visty]

Ah ****, forgot about the alignment, well, nevermind then!

Not sure why you would need to worry about UMD if the class can use wands though.

On the same line, you could go 19 barb 1 ranger for wand usage.

whoops, bad on my side...yes, palas can use wands just fine...but you can also take ranger, same thing then
or bard and even get umd + wandusage

[Rusty_Can]

I'd go with 18 barb 2 pal.

Erm.... Paladins must be Lawful Good, whereas barbarians cannot be Lawful. This build is not possible.

[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]

Ah ****, forgot about the alignment, well, nevermind then!
Not sure why you would need to worry about UMD if the class can use wands though.
On the same line, you could go 19 barb 1 ranger for wand usage.

At that point you might as well make it 18 barb 2 ranger.

for the loss of 1 point of DR, and mighty rage (lvl 20), you gain...

wand usage, bow strength, +2 against a favored enemy, rapid shot, and TWF. So it would be better to actually start out as 2 ranger then go into barb TWF in this manner.

Keep a bow and quiver with arrows and you never have to worry about ranged, and you will hit hard when you have to range.

[Missing_Minds]

Do the Silver Flame pots heal WF less?

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

[Cedwin]

whoops, bad on my side...yes, palas can use wands just fine...but you can also take ranger, same thing then
or bard and even get umd + wandusage

Yes, but a bard has a 0 BaB at level 1, same as the rogue. If she's not worried about that, I have seen some successful Bardbarian builds in action.