Barbarian/Rogue Quarterstaff build

[gwonbush]

Back to your original build, if you are fine with the old-school path of Barbarian healing (SF pots, other players, gallons of cure serious) , you might go for 11 Barb/6 rogue/3 fighter over 12/6/2. This allows you to pick up defensive stance and item defense (really useful with sticks that love breaking) from Stalwart with your spare AP.

[unbongwah]

Barb Rage + defensive stance are a no-go, unfortunately; so a ftr splash would just be for extra feats & any Kensei enhs he wanted.

If you're moving away from barb 18 / rog 2 due to AP shortage, maybe consider barb 12 / rog 5 / druid 3 instead; which gets you Shillelagh, Ram's Might, and Fatal Harrier. 32 APs in Acro (Staff Spec), 13 APs in NW (Fatal Harrier), leaving 35 APs to spread among the barb trees.

[Thrudh]

If you're moving away from barb 18 / rog 2 due to AP shortage, maybe consider barb 12 / rog 5 / druid 3 instead; which gets you Shillelagh, Ram's Might, and Fatal Harrier. 32 APs in Acro (Staff Spec), 13 APs in NW (Fatal Harrier), leaving 35 APs to spread among the barb trees.

I thought about this, and I really would like to do it... but armor is an issue... Is dragonscale the only armor a druid can wear and stlll cast spells?

Plus Shillelagh only works on wooden quarterstaffs, right?

[gwonbush]

Barb Rage + defensive stance are a no-go, unfortunately; so a ftr splash would just be for extra feats & any Kensei enhs he wanted.

If you're moving away from barb 18 / rog 2 due to AP shortage, maybe consider barb 12 / rog 5 / druid 3 instead; which gets you Shillelagh, Ram's Might, and Fatal Harrier. 32 APs in Acro (Staff Spec), 13 APs in NW (Fatal Harrier), leaving 35 APs to spread among the barb trees.

Duh. Wow, I'm silly. Still, item defense is a lifesaver for any quarterstaff user on long quests. High attack rate combined with low hardness means your stick needs repairing constantly.

[Thrudh]

There is little to no gain with more rogue levels. The abilities have a long cool down and are not really that hot (in acrobat).

I still think that 30% extra damage on helpless (No Mercy) is worth something... That's a pretty strong passive ability... especially for a barb tactics build who stuns and uses earsmash a lot.

And +7 to hit/+9 to damage from all the Acrobat Staff Training makes up some ground on the 18/2 barb/rogue staff build...

I think if you're going to go with staffs on a barb, 5 levels of rogue is the way to go... Too tough to fit in staff stuff, Ravager, AND death-frenzy on a 18/2 barb/rogue... Give up Death Frenzy, and make up some of that DPS using Acrobat stuff...

[unbongwah]

I thought about this, and I really would like to do it... but armor is an issue... Is dragonscale the only armor a druid can wear and stlll cast spells?

http://ddowiki.com/page/Druid_equipment

Plus Shillelagh only works on wooden quarterstaffs, right?

Correct. About half of the good named staves aren't wood, unfortunately, inc. Sireth; but it still works with Stout Oak and Elemental Bloom.

[Thrudh]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Druid_equipment

Ugh... Not a great list there...

Not worth losing 2-3 feats for druid (with it's limitations) I don't think...