Help with Barb Survivability

[Cuchilo]

Hi all,

I have recently returned to the game after 6 years away and just played around with my first TR. Have based it on the Red Sonja build by Aviya. It was great fun levelling up to 20, even with every heroic quest being on elite, no problem at all. Silver Flame pots were more than adequate for self healing, my old greensteel items were massive, the dps was awesome. Now I've hit epics.... Survivability is WAY down. I can handle epic normal with a bit of a struggle. On epic hard, I get to make a few swings then have to leap out of combat and frantically suck pots to stay alive. Epic elite is just a deathfest.

Currently: Barbarian18/Ranger1/Fighter1/Epic4
AC 51 (50 raged and barkskin pot)
Hp 738 (978 raged)
Dodge Chance 13% (Max)
Defense Chance at level 30%
PRR 28
MRR 15
DR 6/-
Saves 37/26/23 (45/26/30 raged)

I am wearing Whisperchain for the Ethereal/Blur defense

Currently I'm trying to stay in medium armor, should I be looking to utilise my 1 level of fighter splash and switch to heavy?
What else can I do to improve my survivability?

Thanks in advance!

[unbongwah]

With the recent changes to PRR and the addition of MRR, I definitely think you should upgrade your armor to med or hvy. Hvy provides more MRR & PRR, med has higher MDB which means higher Dodge cap. An EE Ring of Shadows is probably your best option for replicating your Ghostly + concealment bonuses.

This may be counter-intuitive, but you may want to consider Div Crusader as your primary ED: Consecration + Sacred Ground provides a lot of healing for not a lot of SPs; and the dmg bonuses from Crusade and Celestial Champion stack with barb bonuses like Crit Rage. And unlike, say, Rejuv Cocoon, I don't believe Consecration is typed as an SLA, which means you can use it while Raged (or in an anti-magic field). Just slot a Devotion item or augment somewhere and maybe pickup some Pos Spellpower from DWS.

[Gljosh]

With the recent changes to PRR and the addition of MRR, I definitely think you should upgrade your armor to med or hvy. Hvy provides more MRR & PRR, med has higher MDB which means higher Dodge cap. An EE Ring of Shadows is probably your best option for replicating your Ghostly + concealment bonuses.

This may be counter-intuitive, but you may want to consider Div Crusader as your primary ED: Consecration + Sacred Ground provides a lot of healing for not a lot of SPs; and the dmg bonuses from Crusade and Celestial Champion stack with barb bonuses like Crit Rage. And unlike, say, Rejuv Cocoon, I don't believe Consecration is typed as an SLA, which means you can use it while Raged (or in an anti-magic field). Just slot a Devotion item or augment somewhere and maybe pickup some Pos Spellpower from DWS.

No Remorse helps a lot as well, that is the "enemies with a stack of purification give an amount of HP equal to cr upon being slain" core ability.

[Tilomere]

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...aged-epic-barb

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...d-Soul-4-Rogue

These two threads outline solutions for EE healing.

Also your PRR and MRR are low. Try the gaurdian ring from stormhorns or an augment from GH. Or a shield. Upgrade to plate. Probably also a deception/improved deception combo.

Then there is always the stopgap of playing in US and using renewal on yourself to stay alive until you can handle EE and are set up properly. Just don't rage. Defensive destinies exist to keep you alive when you need.

[fmalfeas]

I am wearing Whisperchain for the Ethereal/Blur defense

Currently I'm trying to stay in medium armor, should I be looking to utilise my 1 level of fighter splash and switch to heavy?
What else can I do to improve my survivability?

Thanks in advance!

You do know that Whisperchain is Light armor, right? Terrorweb Chitin Breastplate, Restored Elfcraft Plate, or the medium version of Restored Giantcraft or Dragoncraft would net you more PRR, and aren't difficult at all to come by. Also, the +24 prr/mrr ring from the Stormhorns end rewards (even the ML19 heroic one has the +24) would make a large difference. You can get Blur + Ghostly from many sources, including Ring of Shadows.

[goodspeed]

You do know that Whisperchain is Light armor, right? Terrorweb Chitin Breastplate, Restored Elfcraft Plate, or the medium version of Restored Giantcraft or Dragoncraft would net you more PRR, and aren't difficult at all to come by. Also, the +24 prr/mrr ring from the Stormhorns end rewards (even the ML19 heroic one has the +24) would make a large difference. You can get Blur + Ghostly from many sources, including Ring of Shadows.

Ya id say if you didnt have the saves to make evasion useful. You could easily jack urself up to a 50% dmg reduction on spells with mrr and should be able to climb up to at least 43% dmg reduction as easily to. Probably more then that once they start releasing items with add ons for them both. The new epic necro 4 pack has some really nice items that help toward it.

Other then that their was a thread I saw once about using a dwarf racial tree for spell resistance and saves and defense as a barb. Seemed to work out pretty well in the videos. Lot of gear insensitivity along with build points.

[adrian69]

I know this post is over a month old, but for those with the same problem Barbarians will be getting a pass in the upcoming U24 update. I haven't read any class specific changes, but the trees are being reworked.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...serker-Changes
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...Slayer-Changes
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...avager-Changes

The changes in Ravager and OC look good. FB is being changed very little atm it seems

[Blackheartox]

What im doing atm as pure dwarf barb is that i took harmor prof as feat and wearing black scale heavy plate til 28 where il swap to shadowplate with dr.
I have full prr plifes so reduce the number by 36, but il end up around 200ish prr, lotsa mrr.
Coupled with being a full con based dwarf, a 20% amp encrusted, 30% amp iron mits and 10% amp twist from exalted i honestly doubt that i wont be able to survive in blitz on iconic and silver flame pots alone.

It takes some gear, but you can get whatever tod ring and slot in 20% amp.
Only issue in that setup is sacrifice of 1 twist slot.
Depends how you feel toward that

[painkiller3]

the 30/DR from the shadow plate makes a difference as does having 100+ PRR (50%+ damage resist). i have a 20 barb/8 epic dwarf and it's amazing how well spell resistance works (even in EE). with the SR keeping stuff from CCing you, the blur/ghostly keeping things from hitting in the first place, the 50%+ damage reduction from PRR and 30+DR from shadow plate, barbs are a lot more survivable than they used to be. put the time in and get the silver flame favor...the pots are not that expensive, and the -10 to all stats doesn't affect CON (your damage with a dwarf barb). the armor changes have made barb survivability a LOT easier

[Qhualor]

Yeah I know people won't like this, but one thing just really bothers me. A barb wearing full plate is just plain wrong. I'm hesitant to craft one on my barb because I think the devs will make a change down the road.