Death Metal - a Swashbuckling Barbarian Dwarf

[Fhtagn]

I am somewhat intrigued by the idea of a somewhat durable, swashbuckling barbarian/bard with huge crit multipliers, good hp and at least some group utility. He does not have to solo EE, but should be able to contribute well in 2-3 man parties. That being said, I am pretty much clueless when it comes to current endgame equipment (or current endgame, for that matter.)
So, as a first shot at a decent build on these premises (and I do realise there are probably several glaring mistakes and/or oversights):


Death Metal (working title)
11/5/4 Bard/Barbarian/Fighter
Chaotic Good Dwarf


Level Order

1. Bard . . . . . .6. Barbarian . . .11. Bard. . . . . .16. Bard
2. Bard . . . . . .7. Barbarian . . .12. Bard. . . . . .17. Bard
3. Bard . . . . . .8. Barbarian . . .13. Bard. . . . . .18. Fighter
4. Barbarian . . . 9. Fighter. . . . 14. Bard . . . . . 19. Fighter
5. Barbarian . . .10. Fighter. . . . 15. Bard . . . . . 20. Bard


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt. . .32pt. . .34pt. . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .----. . .----. . .----. . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16 . . . 16. . . .+6. . . .4: CON
Dexterity . . . 11 . . . 12 . . . 14 . . . 14. . . .+6. . . .8: CON
Constitution. . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18 . . . 18. . . .+6. . . 12: CON
Intelligence. . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . 16: CON
Wisdom. . . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8 . . . .8. . . .+6. . . 20: CON
Charisma. . . . 11 . . . 13 . . . 13 . . . 14. . . .+6. . . 24: CON
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: CON

Skills
. . . . .Bd Bd Bd Bn Bn Bn Bn Bn Fi Fi Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Fi Fi Bd
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4 .5. 6 .7. 8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Perform . 4. 1. 1. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . . .5 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .½. . .3 .23
UMD . . . 4. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . .1 .5 .4 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . 1 .2 .23
Balance . 4. 1. 1. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . . .1 .3 .1 .4 .1 .½. . . . 20
Tumble. . 4. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .1 .4 . . . . . 13
Heal. . . 2. ½. ½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ .½. ½ . . . . . ½. 1. . . . ½ .½. 1. 10
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .20. 5. 5. 3 .3. 3 .3. 3 .2. 2 .6 .6 .6 .6 .7 .7 .7 .3. 3 .7
. . . . .20. 5. 5. 3 .3. 3 .4. 4 .2. 2 .6 .6 .6 .6 .7 .7 .7 .3. 3 .7


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.3. . . . : Force of Personality
.6. . . . : Power Attack
.9. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
.9 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
10 Fighter: Shield Mastery
12. . . . : Improved Shield Mastery
15. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18. . . . : Extend Spell
19 Fighter: Cleave
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Great Cleave
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Empower Healing Spell
28 Destiny: Lasting Inspiration


Spells

Expeditious Retreat, Master's Touch, Focusing Chant, Feather Fall
Blur, Invisibility, Rage, Heroism
Displacement, Haste, Good Hope, Cure Serious Wounds
Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement, Cure Critical Wounds



Enhancements (80 AP)

Dwarf (18 AP)

Dwarven Toughness, Dwarven Constitution, Dwarven Toughness II, Dwarven Constitution II, Dwarven Toughness III
Axe Training, Dwarven Armor Mastery II
Axe Training
Axe Training
Axe Training, Throw Your Weight Around


Swashbuckler (16 AP)

Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge
On Your Toes II, Tavern Shanties II
Fast Movement, Double Strike Boost III
Skirmisher


Frenzied Berserker (37 AP)

Die Hard, Frenzied Toughness
Extra Rage III, Die Harder III, Athletics III
Blood Tribute III, Extra Action Boost III, Sprint Boost III
Blood Trail III, Supreme Cleave III, Constitution
Constitution
Focused Wrath II, Accelerated Metabolism, Tantrum


Occult Slayer (9 AP)

Weapon Bond
Extend Rage II, Ear Smash III
Knockout III



Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
Imp. Power Attack, Constitution
Critical Damage III, Constitution
Anvil of Thunder, Constitution
Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz, Headman's Chop


Twists of Fate (18 fate points)

Primal Scream (Tier 1 Fury)
Legendary Shield Mastery (Tier 2 Sentinel)
Reign (Tier 3 Fatesinger)



This is a repost from the bard forum, in which I only edited in an actual build a few days after the initial post. I also believe this might be a better place for this.
I very much hope for input, scalding criticism, encouragement and whatever else you can offer - after all, I would very much like to make this guy work.

[Thoden]

Edit-- I see your spell selection and see why you parked it at 11 bard. Not sure how bad you need 4 levels of fighter though, if you aren't using the enhancements. Do you have to have that extra feat? You could go 13 bard/2 fighter/5 barb for 5th level bard spells (GH) if you hate scrolling like I do, or go 12 bard/6 barb/2 fighter for the barb level 6 core (which looks nice, although not a barb player).

Just my thoughts : )

[Fhtagn]

Edit-- I see your spell selection and see why you parked it at 11 bard. Not sure how bad you need 4 levels of fighter though, if you aren't using the enhancements. Do you have to have that extra feat? You could go 13 bard/2 fighter/5 barb for 5th level bard spells (GH) if you hate scrolling like I do, or go 12 bard/6 barb/2 fighter for the barb level 6 core (which looks nice, although not a barb player).

Just my thoughts : )

Thank you for those
All valid points to be sure. I am still unsure as to the last two levels - I need 2 fighter, but I could probably do without the extra feat - Force of Personality or Empower Healing would be the most likely feats to go then, I guess?
So far, I'm Bard 3/Barb 1/Fighter 1, and I still have two +5 hearts, so I can still adapt. There's a reason I'm asking for input

[unbongwah]

T5 FB is generally considered weaker than T5 Ravager, particularly if you're not THF, but I'm presuming you know that. I would really try to add barb 6 for Frenzy; Vicious + 5 Melee Power is kind of a no-brainer, IMHO.

Why so much base STR & CHA if you're going the TYWA route? If you have Harper, I might suggest boosting INT so you can add KtA; not sure what I would drop to squeeze it in. Then use one of your spare feats to take Insightful Reflexes; without Evasion and with the MRR nerf, that would be helpful, IMHO. I'm also not clear on why you backloaded your Cleave feats; or, for that matter, why you skipped Momentum Swing + Lay Waste.

EDIT: since you can't use healing spells / SLAs while Raged, I would consider ditching Emp Heal and adding Consecration + Sacred Ground to your Twists for heals instead.

[cru121]

also gonna recommend barbarian 6, pick up third cores from FB and OS

droppable enhancements:
Dwarf Tough III
Tantrum - too long cooldown, seems meh?
Swash: down to 12 AP (ditch action boost)

7 AP
Consider:
1 AP for FrB 3rd core
2 AP for OS 3rd core
4 AP perhaps for Haste Boost (Kensei) or pick up boost from LD and use AP somewhere (1 con in warchanter, perhaps PRR/MRR in OS..., 1-3 AP in vanguard,..)

[unbongwah]

My inclination for Enhancements : 18 APs dwarf (TYWA), 36 APs FB (Focused Wrath + Raging Blows), 14 APs SB (three cores + Skirmisher + Elegant Footwork), with remaining APs into Ravager or OS. For healing I would twist Sacred Ground + Consecration, same as most barbs; Legendary SM is 3rd Twist, 4th slot (if you have one) can be Primal Scream.