Barbaric Disciple v2: 28 barbarian/ 2 bard/ 10 rdd

[thedomicron]

This is my take on a str tank. wanted to go a little less conventional (think fighter/wm/rogue) the goals are high ab, good dmg reduction (achieved through LL barbarian bonuses) and decent saves. in short, i want a build that can jump right in swinging w/out too much worry of death.

race: pretty much any race that adds str will do, the more the merrier. so of course, battlerager and stinger are perfect. i'd have to say that stinger can get better damage because it can use tower shield + 2h weapon, but battle ragers get a better stat spread and better bonus feats. as for non-secret subraces, i think that troll would be the best large sized but really all you're looking for is high str and high con w/ as little intelligence penalty as possible.

level progression: lvl 1-21 barbarian, lvl 22 bard, lvls 23-32 rdd, lvls 33-39 barbarian, lvl 40 bard

skills: put 8 to lore asap, max discipline every level, on bard levels max umd and raise tumble to 40, dump the rest wherever you please

stats: max strength and put majority of the remainder into constitution, saving a couple points for intelligence, if you need them, i highly suggest you get at least enough for discipline, tumble and umd.

while leveling put all points into str

Pre-Epic Feats:
luck of heroes (start)
toughness (start: if you are battlerager you get this for free)
weapon focus
improved critical
heavy armor proficiency
blind fight
lightning reflexes
iron will

Epic Feats
epic weapon focus
mighty rage
epic prowess
armor skin
great strength 1-3
epic reflexes
epic will

Legendary Level Feats
great strength 4-10

Final Stats
at level 40, this build provides +21 to strength and plus 2 to constituton, charisma, and intelligence. at level 60, this build provides a total of +42 to strength without gear, and plus 4 to constitution, and dex. (from the barbarian bonuses in LL).

Damage Reduction: barbarian control class in LL grants .5% physical dmg immunity for every str modifier including items. assuming 22 starting str this build gives an innated 16.5 (dunno if it rounds up or truncates) physical dmg immunity, which stacks with gear. at the very least, you want to aim for 25% from armor, 10 from cloak, and 10 from bracers. then you will want the highest x/- for slashing, bludegoning and piercing.

Pros: high enough attack bonus to hit regularly, high hp, 16% physical immunity, immunity to fire.

Cons: lack of evasion creates a reliance on gear later on to take the bite off of powerful spells like meteor swarm etc.

well guys here it is, i'm implementing this build now w/ battlerager, so i'll post notes on how its coming along. its still a work in progress so i appreciate any input!

[Spawn]

Dont drop armor skin, 2 ac helps to much

[thedomicron]

updated

[versengeteriks]

been making one of these for a while. and since i dont have many URraces I used minotaur. Didnt plan quite as well as yours tho! was planning to post if i ever hit 60 but you beat me to it.

at Lvl 45 i have 64 str with a +12str item. My ab is normally over 70 due to Gmw and/or wpn enhancement. Using Scythe as main but i dont have a good one so resort to Freyas fists when hitting crit immune creatures.

Took str at every opportunity so already have GStr 10 at lvl 45. So im not sure really what to go for now but prolly con as mine is 20 atm. might take terrifying rage but not sure its worth it.

111ac with my best kit available. can suvive most places with a hotch potch of resistance items, of course not requiring Fire items helps!

I do really love using him but he is highly kit reliant. Insta death on Implosion and living sand in desert.

In hindsight i woulda taken more Con sooner. Plus i have no idea if there are any secrets or even if they are worth taking for a Mino Barbarian. if u know of some and you spot me in game with "Deep" lemme know.

trix

[thedomicron]

i have a mino version of this build and decided for this version to drop the epic dr and instead take the epic saving throw feats. those are worth taking, imo, because of implosion and sands and such in the desert.

sadly, as a str based tank, we expect to be hit more often, increasing our chance of being sanded and such regardless of our saves. constitution can definately help with raising your fortitude, and there are several items which can provide immunity to implosion. if you don't have that, try to find items with greater spell mantle. i'm not sure how well GSM scrolls would work, but it might be worth asking a wizard to scribe some for you.

i decided to use greatsword, so that i could deal more consistent damage regardless of their immunities to crit.

i would suggest against terrifying rage, but that's because i think there are better feats to take

[thedomicron]

my battlerager variant of this build has hit immo and is starting to level. ab is good, but this char is extremely gear dependant, so you'll need to get the tags early. i have no ur rings for the guy, but once i get the illithid tag i'll be able to get 100% immunity to 3 of the elements and 75% to the other two using the pentative shield and 2 75/50 immunity rings. once i hit level 55 i'll be able to hit 100% on four and 75% on the fifth.

ab is not a problem, but right now saves are still low. its important to be aware of what to expect wherever you are, so that you can work to buffer against the hardest hitting spells. as a str tank, always keep plenty of potions with you.

so far, everything is as i expect, futher updates once i hit 50

[chainlink]

If you get some Boots of the Bastion (25 resist to all 5 elements) and two rare rings Chillfang's Binder and Glacier's Death Knell (if I remember correctly) you'll be good to go for all 5 elements. Alternatively just get the boots that you're missing the resistance to. I would guess the kit I outlined in my Dragon's Sting build would cover you for most current eventualities. Is it not better to get levels of Bard and Weapon Master in before 20 to improve saves overall?

[thedomicron]

the boots of bastion are the last bit of gear (besides ur rings) that i'm still trying to get my hands on haha

as for the bard and rdd levels before 20, will saves are the only ones that should end up below 60 (unless i've miscalculated) and i went for the best ab i could get.

also the bard level at 40 is for maxing umd @ tumble

[iggy]

i went with pixie as a subby it's only lvl 20 at the mo so i'll update ya when i finish him

[fragment]

Gotta comment on this

I feel I must warn off newbs to do a barb build Don't do as I did. Go play a dexer.

I'm relatively newb to the whole game and decided I'd just do the half-orc barbarian/cheese rogue, as I expected it to be easy to play and thought you can't make *that* many mistakes with the character build.

Although I concentrated on defensive capabilities and did not take AB-increasing feats, that couldn't be further from the truth. A barbarian build is not for newbies. While he does OK as a Lolth and Immo helper he gets owned in the desert.

Enough talk, barbaric Pros and Cons from a newb perspective:

Pros:

- can gmw himself with mighty rage
- terrifying rage is fun! ... when it works
- the large amounts of hitpoints saved my ass more than once
- high innate damage reduction -> no physical damage
- easy to play up to immo run
- impressive toon with shapestrong rage

Cons:

- barbarians don't get many feats, this hurts badly, to the point that the offensive capabilities of the barbarian cannot be used
- low saves -> desert ownage, I always end up petrified, so effectively you have to take all will/reflex increasing feats
- low AC (99 with some immo gear) -> desert ownage, while I don't get physical damage the magical damage the devariels do nibble me to death - I think AC 110 is absolute minimum to make it work

Regarding the build,

- 30 barbarian levels are a must for shapestrong rage (barb secret)
- 21 con is a must for terrifying rage

I consider every barb without these a cheese barb OTOH this was very expensive feat-wise to reach with half-orc.

Toon: Vrug

Regards.

[thedomicron]

i appreciate your comments, first of all though, 30 barbarian levels are NOT a must. i am level 49 right now and definately don't miss shapestrong. i've sacrificed it for the extra 12 str which translates to 6 more ab and 3% more dmg immunity. if had chosen stinger with this build i would be able to use large weapons just like shapestrong

i will admit this is a very gear dependant build, so it's a bit difficult to assemble a winning set of equipment. instead of putting feats into terrifying rage, which is bugged, i went with the saving throw feats, to help survivability.

furthermore my ac is about 116, w/out a druid/cleric around.

while i feel your pain about a first char growing pains in hg, i think that this build wouldn't be the best for first chars on this server, but i don't think "make a dexer" is the only way to go. as some of the hg players know i'm a huge str-based melee fan. and i think that str based offers the most variety when building a new char, esp a first char at hg.

for a first char, the goal is to learn the pre-epic area and get a good feel for the game before hitting LL-areas. str based chars are perfect first chars because they have high ab, do good dmg, have good hp, and aren't punished much for not having conceal/low saves. when they hit LL areas, str chars are still viable but more expensive, meaning they can (after familiarizing themselves) build their 2nd char, whatever it may be and then focus more on the LL areas.

[stonewarrior]

My first toon on HG is a Barbarian following the same level distribution as thedomicron's though the feats I choose are much different (primarily b/c of not realizing the importance of saves, AC or AB later on. lol). I am enjoying the build a lot though in the desert (the only LL area I have frequented) the damage I dish out is minimal compared to the mage firework displays. I have been able to get my AC up to 111 (a wide assortment of gear) and my AB up to 57 (Crystaline Battleaxe) prebuffed. I have also tried to find / equip items which give universal saving throw bonuses and am finding I am having a much easier time staying alive in the desert because of this. All of that said I would agree with thedomicron that a dexer build isn't necessarily "the way to go". Rather, I think it is more important to find a character / build in which you have fun playing.

There will always be someone bigger or badder or just all around better. Watching the casters on HG often makes me want to give one a shot but ultimately I know I have more fun rushing in as a tank (though AA's are also fun). After all someone needs to keep the hordes busy long enough for the casters to unleash their special brand of hell.

Peace, John.

[thedomicron]

i'd definately suggest you build a caster. mine was fun to level and was very instrumental in me getting a nice base of items and such. they're pretty easy to equip and are very versatile.

that being said, i definately prefer melee to casters, though both are fun.

[stonewarrior]

When playing Baldur's Gate I would typically play a Sorceror but with NWN I suppose it is the volume of spells as well as the spells being very different that has kept me from trying one out. That said, in party play it might be less daunting as you would not be soloing but by choice. I think if I were to stray from the mainly melee / tank types I would first want to try a Shifter...though not until I can get a solid subrace to use.

Peace, John.

[thedomicron]

the hgepics page has a shifter build whihc makes use of lizardfolk, which is not secret and should work just fine. they are also very easy to equip. i have a shifter and a mage and i love them both. make what you want, but its nice to have a really solid proven character build in order to learn the area and get some gear to help you with your next ones.