Frenzied Bearserker

[FuzzyDuck81]

Edit: I've made amendments since originally coming up with this build, check below from #6 onwards for an updated version

Some of the starting stats might be a little off, at work on break atm so can't check with the live character. Will fill in specifics of enhancements later.

Mainly for a laugh because I wanted to play a really big & angry bear He has up to level 7 spells so can cast a decent number of buffs & heals for himself & the party as well as having the automatic passive HP regeneration too plus the +2 crit multiplier while raging, some nice AoE attacks & good durability.

Human or PDK
13 druid, 5 barb, 2 fighter
Starting stats: 16/8/14/14/16/8, levelups all in STR
Tomes: Mine had +7's across the board since it was a TR, but none are essential for feat requirements etc.
Feats:
Power attack
Cleave
Quick Draw
Natural fighting x3
Quicken
Empower Healing
Improved Critical: Slashing
1 extra... could be another IC, depends on preferences.
Epic feats I haven't gotten to working out yet


Enhancements:
Frenzied berserker: 1st 2 cores & up to tier 5 with focussed wrath, faster metabolism & tantrum
Nature's protector: 1st 4 cores & the rage line, beast awakened, stance stuff for defences but not threat boosts
Occult Slayer: extended rage
Vanguard: to get missile shield (ignoring a ranged attack of whatever power every 2 sec is just really nice)
Racial: 1st tier healing amp

A variation could be to go with 15 druid & 5 barbarian so you have access to level 8 spells & ditch 2 of the feats, maybe cleave since momentum swing doesn't work in animal form & the extra IC then throw some more investment into wisdom for a relatively effective earthquake spell & access to Heal as well as an extra level 7 slot allowing you to take relentless onslaught, regenerate & mass greater vigor. This would also free up some APs from vanguard as above to put somewhere else like Ear Smash.

[unbongwah]

I think Crit Rage is better than tier-5 FB for the +2 crit range which also increases the proc rate of Essence of the Shrike. Problem is AP cost: 34 Ravager (Crit Rage) / 23 NP (Beast Unleased) / 21 NW (+1 crit multiplier) which only leaves 2 APs (plus any racial PLs).

[FuzzyDuck81]

I think Crit Rage is better than tier-5 FB for the +2 crit range which also increases the proc rate of Essence of the Shrike. Problem is AP cost: 34 Ravager (Crit Rage) / 22 NP (Beast Unleased) / 21 NW (+1 crit multiplier) doesn't leave a lot of APs for other things.

I'm not too fussed about essence of the shrike; yeah some temp SPs are nice but I have a ton of SP pots gathered over the years that I simply never use even on my nuker cleric, so it's not really an issue

I did look into going tier 5 ravager for the build & the crit range is nice, but I like seeing the big numbers & even using "only" a basic x2 multiplier weapon it'd now be x4 on crits, plus blood strength scales with barbarian level which at only 5, wouldn't have anywhere near as much effect as accelerated metabolism which is a flat 3d6 scaling with melee power & healing amp. There's also the option for the extra +1W I guess, though that constant dripfeed of healing is nifty - I like to build lots of passive effects into my characters to save me the hassle of thinking about them.

Having said that, in an unrelated note I did make a barbarian a while back that combined multiplier boost from 1 enhancement line with a threat boost from another... a deep gnome frenzied berserker using shortswords & light picks, getting the threat boost from the racial line that lil gal was a lot of fun to run

[unbongwah]

I'm not too fussed about essence of the shrike

Just noticed your initial AP spread doesn't include the +1 crit multiplier from Nature's Warrior. If you're going druid 12+ and you aren't getting a crit multiplier bonus elsewhere, it's kind of a no-brainer to take, IMO. [It stacks with Crit Rage and Focused Wrath, so either way you'd want it on a bearbarian.] And now that EotS is tier-3 instead of T4, might as well grab it on the way.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Just noticed your initial AP spread doesn't include the +1 crit multiplier from Nature's Warrior. If you're going druid 12+ and you aren't getting a crit multiplier bonus elsewhere, it's kind of a no-brainer to take, IMO. [It stacks with Crit Rage and Focused Wrath, so either way you'd want it on a bearbarian.] And now that EotS is tier-3 instead of T4, might as well grab it on the way.

Frenzied berserker: 35 AP (didn't take tantrum after all)
Nature's Protector: 31 AP
Occult Slayer: 4 AP
Vanguard: 8 AP
Racial: 3 AP (including +1 tome)
That's 81 total

First up a minor correction, beast awakened (the cast-while-raged thing) is 23 AP not 22, undying beast is a prereq. for it. Losing it from the build would kinda negate most of the point of the build too, the whole idea is full casting capabilities while raging - incidentally, cocoon works while raging with it (but not without, have already seen that on a pure barb) presumably since it's a primal destiny & counts as druid spellcasting, though other ones are still blocked, tested just now with the CMW & soundburst SLAs from exalted angel.

Essence of the shrike costs 11/12 AP & the 4th nature's warrior core for the extra +1 multiplier would be 21 AP

I could free up 4 from nature's protector without losing one of the greater stance bonuses so while i could fit shrike in, i'd lose out on the vanguard stuff - if i'd gone with the 15/5 alternative build, where more SP for casting would come in handy, i'd totally take that approach - but even trimming out the occult slayer & racial APs too, I'd only have 18 AP, not enough for the 4th nature's warrior core - to get some extra critical bonus which would fit in with those AP would require either scourge aasimar or gnome, since that'd be 17 AP in the racial tree for it, but would mean you're limited to a specific set of weapons.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Updated version of this build, taking it in a slightly different direction as the game has changed since it's initial concept.

Starting with a bare-bones outline. So long as you have the requirements below, you can make this work on a first life character & any past lives & associated benefits will just be a boost.

Requirements:
Falconry universal enhancement tree
Druid class

Class Split:15 druid & 5 barbarian

Tomes: not required for the basic build
Past lives: not required for the basic build

Race
Any non-iconic will work for the basic build though I advise against warforged due to armour issues & aasimar since the bond can't be active with animal form so wouldn't be able to benefit from healing hands at all which IMO is one of aasimar's biggest draws. A razorclaw shifter iconic could work with only minor adjustment to levelling order.

Stats: WIS & CON nice & high on creation, the rest don't matter all that much.. so balance them out a bit, some STR for carrying capacity, some INT for extra skillpoints. CHA & DEX don't really matter.

Levelling order: 1st 3 levels as druid to let you take the natural fighting line ASAP, then more or less personal preference.

Feats:
Heroic: Quicken Spell, Natural Fighting (x3), Improved Critical (Slashing, unless you prefer a different specific weapon). That's 5 out of the basic 7, which leaves at least 2 more heroic feats up to personal preference.
Epic: A lot of leeway here for personal preference & what's available thanks to destinies. I'd consider Overwhelming Criticals & Dire Charge the essential ones.

Enhancements:
Frenzied Berserker 35 AP - 1st 2 cores, cracking attack(x3), extra rage (x3), body blow (x3), blood tribute (x3), Supreme Cleave (x3), blood trail (x3), +1 CON (x2), Crazy Strike (x3), Exhausting Blow (x3), Focused Wrath (x2), Accellerated Metabolism, Tantrum
Nature's Protector 27 AP - 1st 4 cores, rage of the beast (x2), bloody claws (x3), enchanted defense (x3), Primal Beast (x2), sharp claws, enduring beast (x2), savage roar, ursa's heart (x3), undying beast, beast awakened(see note below), ursa's spirit (x3)
Falconry 12 AP - 1st core, out in nature (x3), (1 other tier 1 of whatever), Killer Instinct I, (3 more in tier 2, eg. meticulous weaponry), Killer Instinct II
That makes a total of 74 AP spent, leaving some leeway for some flexibility depending on preferences & any racial abilities you want.

Important note, beast awakened only allows the ability to cast druid spells while raging - this extends to SLAs from primal destinies, most notably rejuvenation cocoon, however SLAs from many others won't work & unfortunately this includes the epic spell mass frog, which IMO should be typed as a primal spell, hopefully that will change in the future.

Depending on exact levelling order & personal preferences you may need to reallocate your APs on multiple occasions.. my approach is to concentrate on Nature's Protector first to get the spellcasting access while raging & get most of the druid levels first with a single barbarian level for run speed & expanded weapon proficiencies then add the remaining barbarian levels at 16 to 20 & simply run T5 nature's protector until I take the final barbarian level at 20 & redo the enhancements to the final split for epic levels.

The plan for my own ultimate version of this once my racial completionist project is complete is a wildhunt shifter, making use of their racial ability to cast while raging (which works on all spells) to give them extra flexibility with destiny abilities & dropping beast awakened (see note above) as superfluous. I'll also be taking howl of terror in the racial tree for additional crowd control. The missing 2 heroic feats will be taken up with completionist & extend spell & my planned loadout of epic feats will be overwhelming criticals, toughness, holy strike/guardian angel (not decided which, i like the convenience of having effects like ghost touch built in), blinding speed (convenient build-in again), mass frog, dire charge, scion of celestia (possible I'll change it but I like the extra HP & healing spell boost for self & allies) & epic toughness. For other APs, i'll also add in conditioning from falconry for extra HP, probably trueseeing too, then just see what I feel like for any remaining ones. Epic destiny setup might vary depending on content but the general approach will be to run in fury of the wild, twisting energy burst, balanced attacks, a dance of flowers & regeneration cocoon.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Okay, following some discussions about barbarians with a guildy, I decided to try occult slayer instead of frenzied berserker for this build. I ditched everything in that tree then in OS I took everything in tier 5 with the exception of One Spirit, since there simply weren't enough APs & the build has self healing spells anyway - okay the FB version technically doesn't need accelerated metabolism for healing either, I know

After some testing, the build works great as either version though there are some differences. OS has more HP & general defensive power, crits-wise you'll get +1 threat range but -1 multiplier vs. FB except for on 19-20. Overall damage is a little lower since you won't have cracking attack in your attack rotation to benefit from crazy strikes' +2W on subsequent attacks, however driving force means you can have higher melee power when it's active. Metalline can be a useful bonus for DR bypassing depending on your weapon choice (my own character uses legendary vulkoors edge & giant's platter for the set bonus so it already has metalline). OS also has less uses of rage available per rest which might become an issue in longer content but seems fine at the moment.

I'm going to play with the occult slayer version some more to get a better feel for how it performs in different quests, but overall it seems like just a matter of personal preference really - if you want the big numbers & not having to worry about self healing between fights, go FB, if you want a little more durability, extra crowd control & better performance against spellcasters go OS.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Ok, pretty much figured out the final build once i've got the racial completionist finished too;

Wildhunt shifter, high WIS & CON, remainder in STR (encumbrance & hit/damage in lower levels) & INT (skillpoints)
+8 tomes in all stats, +2 racial tome, +1 universal tome, also a bunch of skill tomes but can't remember specifics. Has heroic, racial & epic completionist though still many heroic & epic past lives remaining to get, if/when I can be bothered.

Enhancements:
racial 16AP (15 come from racial PLs & tome)- 1st 2 cores, extend shifting x3, hardy shifting x3, natural armour x3, maul, empowered by nature x1, wild magic
frenzied berserker 33AP -1st 2 cores, extra rage x3, cracking attack x3, die harder x3, athletics x3, body blow x3, blood tribute x3, sprint boost x3, +1 constitution x2, crazy strike x3, focused wrath x2, accelerated metabolism
Nature's Protector 25AP - 1st 4 cores, rage of the beast x2, bloody claws x3, enchanted defence x3, Primal Beast x2, sharp claws, enduring beeast x2, savage roar, ursa's heart x3, undying beast, Ursa's Spirit x3
Falconry 22 AP - 1st core, out in nature x3, practiced accuracy x2, killer instinct 1, killer instinct 2, diving attack strike x3, meticulous weaponry x3, conditioning, eyes of the eagle, coordinated strike, expose weakness

Feats list, not in any specific order:
Quicken Spell, Natural Fighting (x3), Improved Critical Slashing, toughness, completionist, extend spell, overwhelming criticals, epic toughness, mass frog, dire charge, holy strike, scion of (celestia/arborea/limbo, haven't decided for sure) & empower healing/maximise/knight's training depending on what weapon I end up using or if I want to boost healing/energy burst more.

I know there's a couple of alternative enhancements & feats that might prove more practical such as howl in the racial tree for the debuff, maybe exhausting strike in FB & raging blows instead of accelerated metabolism would be a further DPS boost, but frankly the build already has enough things to activate without me having to keep track of more & I like having passive effects built in wherever possible, this makes gearing much easier & also means I don't have to pay as much attention to self healing in smaller scraps & between fights.

Gear-wise I haven't got that much specific stuff figured out yet, though it's going to be a 1hander & shield approach & i already have the dethek runestone shield to help make up the damage difference a bit vs. a 2hander. Still have the limitation on non-metal armour so initial thought is the bronze dragonscale & maybe go Hruits set for the extra WIS & spell DCs to boost earthquake & mass frog, then also try and fit in 4 pieces from the feywild winter set.

Not a real master build in any single role, but has a nice amount of melee damage, tactical attack & spell-based crowd control, self & group healing & buffs, an AoE instakill & can take a few hits. Not a main tank but put in the middle of a crowd of mobs & watch the carnage