First barbarian-any good?

[somenewnoob]

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testbarb
Level 20 Chaotic Good Warforged Male
(2 Fighter / 18 Barbarian)
Hit Points: 358
Spell Points: 0

BAB: 20/20/25/3030
Fortitude: 18
Reflex: 10
Will: 4

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 18 25
Dexterity 16 18
Constitution 16 18
Intelligence 8 8
Wisdom 6 6
Charisma 6 6

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 5 14.5
Bluff -2 -2
Concentration 3 4
Diplomacy -2 -2
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle -2 -2
Heal -2 -2
Hide 3 4
Intimidate -2 -2
Jump 8 30
Listen -2 -2
Move Silently 3 4
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform n/a n/a
Repair -1 -1
Search -1 -1
Spot -2 -2
Swim 4 7
Tumble 5 14.5
Use Magic Device n/a n/a

Level 1 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting

Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh

Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Oversized Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Selected) Toughness

Level 4 (Barbarian)

Level 5 (Barbarian)

Level 6 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Blow

Level 7 (Barbarian)

Level 8 (Barbarian)

Level 9 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting

Level 10 (Barbarian)

Level 11 (Barbarian)

Level 12 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting

Level 13 (Barbarian)

Level 14 (Barbarian)

Level 15 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons

Level 16 (Barbarian)

Level 17 (Barbarian)

Level 18 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Fortification

Level 19 (Barbarian)

Level 20 (Barbarian)



Thoughts or suggestions? Was planning on being a dual khopesh wielding barb.

Also, what are the must have feats for a barb?

[Dulcimerist]

I would recommend taking Improved Critical at level 9.

This looks like a fun build!

[augie]

Improved fortification is absolutely worthless. Get another Toughness or something else. Any other feat is an improvement over Improved Fort.

The rest seems fine as it's a pretty common build.

*edit* And don't end your skills at a .5 number. A skill of 14.5 is no better than 14. Put a full point into something else to even them out.

[somenewnoob]

So grab that at 9 and the other twf feats later.

I think it sounds fun too, this is only my 2nd toon, so I've still got some things to learn. This is what I would have wanted my current fighter to be if I "knew then what I know now"

[Asketes]

you need to drop improved fortification otherwise you will never get healed and your name will quickly be passed around as not to be grouped with.


it's very easy to get your WF to 100% fort without that feat, and you'll be able to get healed then.

[somenewnoob]

Improved fortification is absolutely worthless. Get another Toughness or something else. Any other feat is an improvement over Improved Fort.

The rest seems fine as it's a pretty common build.

*edit* And don't end your skills at a .5 number. A skill of 14.5 is no better than 14. Put a full point into something else to even them out.

Gotcha, thanks!

For that other feat, is slashing weapon focus worth it, or power attack? Or just grab another toughness.

[Rusty_Can]

Improved fortification is absolutely worthless. Get another Toughness or something else. Any other feat is an improvement over Improved Fort.

I would go further and state that Improved Fortification is actually a liability ......

Thoughts or suggestions? Was planning on being a dual khopesh wielding barb.

Also, what are the must have feats for a barb?

- Dump Improved Fortification and OTWF (your attack rolls will be fine);
- Get Power Attack and Cleave, required for Frenzied Berserker PrE.

[Asketes]

you are missing feats for your Frenzied Barbarian prestige, which will be essential to any real barbarian.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Frenzied_Berserker_enhancements

you need to have power attack and cleave within the first 3 feats you take.. (lvl 6 is the first level you can take tier.

drop imp fort and oversized twf for the two required feats for the PRE (prestige enhancement line)


your attack bonus will be plenty high enough

[augie]

Didn't even see that you didn't have Power Attack. That should be the replacement. You'll want to take it far earlier than 18 though.

[unbongwah]

Check out Shade's barb guide and in particular his TWF barb build. A few general comments:

• Stay pure barb for max DPS; only take a ftr 2 splash if you really want those two extra feats. [Note: some insist that barb 18 / ftr 2 is better TWF DPS than pure barb, but Shade says otherwise; when it comes to barbs, I'll trust his word. ]
• If you're definitely taking a +2 DEX tome, then start base DEX 15 and put the extra pts somewhere else. The only reasons to start DEX 16 on a TWF build are (A) you can only afford a +1 DEX tome and/or (B) you really want ITWF ASAP (lvl 6) w/+1 DEX tome.
• You don't have Power Attack & Cleave; every melee char should have PA and you need Cleave to take Frenzied Berserker PrE. You can delay them if need be - FB I is kinda meh for TWF barbs IMHO - but you definitely want FB at some point.
• NEVER take Improved Fortification; it makes you "immune" to positive energy (i.e., Cure & Heal spells) for Heavy Fortification, which is easily replicated with a min. lvl. 9 item (among others).
• OTWF is a weak feat; drop it.

So, if you do go with barb 18 / ftr 2, I recommend for feats: TWF x3, PA, Cleave, khopesh, Imp Crit Slash, Toughness, & Stunning Blow.

[somenewnoob]

I appreciate all the feedback!

Without the oversize twf feat and the khopesh feat , (pure barb-for power attack and cleave) is it better to do something like longsword/shortsword for the weapons?

[trashstack]

Well I gotta say I prefer splash than pure on a twf barb. Unlike the somewhat feat-starved thf barbs, twf barbs are SUPER feat-starved.

To build a twf barb you need:
Cleave(prereq for frenzy bezerker enhancement line)
TWF
ITWF
GTWF
IC slash
Power attack (any serious dps melee need this feat, and PA defines barb the class)

Shade can build a pure twf barb because he uses dwarf, a race with inherent exotic weapon feat. On other races, unless your going to use scimitars, khopesh will cost you the last feat.

However there are at least 4 other feats that are really sweet for twf barbs:
Stunning blow
Toughness
OTWF: Most of the time you don't need it. However if you plan to eventually do epics without always relying on casters and stunners, this feat = 10% dps. Especially on a WF, with no to-hit enhancements but additional PA line, and with no uber gears in its first life.
Quickdraw: Barbs have some nice abilities to activate during combat, say Frenzy, Death frenzy, Uncanny dodge, Haste/Damage boosts, etc. From my experiences activating these all at once will indeed cost you a few seconds, which is actually a bit annoying in a heated combat.(That buggar twf fighter has quick draw and haste boost so he landed 5 attacks during your reactivation!!!!! One of those was a crit!!!!>:O Hell no!!!!)

Another facter is twf tends to benefit more from haste boosts than thf. Some people love it. Some people say pfft. It's up to you but my feeling is a quick-drawed Horc twf barb with 8~9 haste boost I per shrine is a really, really decent dps, burst or sustained.