How's the barbarian beta working out?

[Felon]

I've got a player who wants to rebuild his 3.5 dwarven barbarian, and another player suggested he use the DDI preview barbarian. I like to see players experiment, so I figured what the heck.

So, has anyone else playtested it? Please discuss your findings.

 

[Rechan]

we playtested it briefly. There was some confusion actually; the player playing it was using Howling Strike as a basic attack (and coupled with Commander's Strike, it was yikes) rather than simply at the end of a charge.

 

[deadsmurf]

It's basically pretty balanced, a dwarf barbarian will play really well I think.
It also can be a very simple class to play. I had a brand-new to D&D player come into my last game who said she just wanted to hit things, so I made up a Barbarian for her, it went fairly well and she was able to get most of the mechanics by the end of the session (we didn't have a huge amount of time to let her read the PHB or explain everything fully) so I would consider it a success.
Just make sure they know since it's a playtest they will likely need to rebuild slightly when the PHB2 comes out.

 

[Felon]

we playtested it briefly. There was some confusion actually; the player playing it was using Howling Strike as a basic attack (and coupled with Commander's Strike, it was yikes) rather than simply at the end of a charge.

Hmm. So here's a thought: would it work for a warlord to ready an action to use Commander's Strike once the barbarian charges? Seems like that would pass muster.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hmm. So here's a thought: would it work for a warlord to ready an action to use Commander's Strike once the barbarian charges? Seems like that would pass muster.

No, I don't think so. A charge allows you to make a basic attack, but a basic attack is not a charge.

 

[True_Blue]

I have a player currently playing a 12th level barbarian/frenzied berserker and she loves it.

Howling Strike is definitely great. The rages are mostly pretty neat too, she's learned to start them at the beginning of the encounter if she can.

The Barbarian does a lot of damage, it definitely makes her happy to see all of it being done by her. I would suggest this class a lot, it just looks very fun to play.

 

[Rechan]

It also can be a very simple class to play.

I would disagree that it's simple. There's lots of things you need to track (when you drop characters, when you crit, being bloodied increases stats, raging increases your numbers, etc).

Also, you have to be aware of tactics; when to charge into the thick of it, when to fall back, etc, otherwise you will get swarmed and killed.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I loved playing mine before he died. Not my fault. The swordmage lightning lured a chillborn zombie beside me and killed me.

Loved the class. You can find some good discussions of it, in which I participated, in both General and Rules in ye olde pages of ENWorld (ie probably page 10 or 20 or so).

 

[Felon]

No, I don't think so. A charge allows you to make a basic attack, but a basic attack is not a charge.

So? Commander's Strike lets an ally use a basic attack. If the ally has a power that he can substitute for a basic attack, then he should be able to use it as well. The warlord readying for the barbarian to make his attack allows the condition for using Howling Strike.

 

[darjr]

Had a barbarian in one of the games I ran. I was a little intimidated, until I realized that it was a striker and I could lean on the weakness of strikers in general. The big encounter power would lay out a pile of damage, but then I'd have the baddies target him mercilessly, except where the fighters locked em down. Darn fighters.