Barbarian Playtest Poll

Shroomy

Adventurer

• Oct 5, 2008

• #1

I'm kind of cranky today, since everyone one of my teams lost this weekend, but the day has the potential to be redeemed by the release of the Barbarian in tonight's Dragon update. There's been a lot of speculation about the Barbarian's role, so I thought I'd start a poll to see what everyone thinks with less than 8 hours to go.

Bonus points to anyone who guesses what Primal powers are called.

 

Last edited: Oct 5, 2008

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Wonka

First Post

• Oct 5, 2008

• #2

I'm gonna guess striker with defender undertones.

EDIT: To guess the name of their powers, I think they will be called primal "rages". Just seems to obvious to not use

 

Last edited: Oct 5, 2008

Shroomy

Adventurer

• Oct 5, 2008

• #3

Wonka said:

I'm gonna guess striker with defender undertones.

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Yep, I agree with you. High damage, light armor, lots of mobility, it seems like striker to me.

BTW, I'm going to go with Primal "rites."

 

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Wonka

First Post

• Oct 5, 2008

• #4

Shroomy said:

Yep, I agree with you. High damage, light armor, lots of mobility, it seems like striker to me.

BTW, I'm going to go with Primal "rites."

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Yeah, thats how I see the barb going, with bonuses when raged, which wil probably happen while hes bloodied. To clarify, I think the barb will kinda be the opposite of a fighter: fighter is a primary defender with secondary striker capabilities, while the barb will be primary striker with secondary defender capabilities.

And yeah, rites sounds pretty good too.

 

D

Drakhar

First Post

• Oct 5, 2008

• #5

My guess would be a light armor high hitpoints striker, whose additional damage works like Sneak attack but is triggered by the enemy hitting you not CA.

I doubt that they would use Rages or Rites for the name of Primal powers, as it has to make sense for both Barbarians and Druids as well as the other primal classes.

 

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Wonka

First Post

• Oct 5, 2008

• #6

Drakhar said:

I doubt that they would use Rages or Rites for the name of Primal powers, as it has to make sense for both Barbarians and Druids as well as the other primal classes.

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Thats a very good point, for whatever reason I was thinking the power names were based on class, not power source. But double checking my PHB it definitely seems they are based on the power source. So that puts rages right out. However, I think "rites" can still work for a barbarian and a druid.

 

Shroomy

Adventurer

• Oct 5, 2008

• #7

Wonka said:

Yeah, thats how I see the barb going, with bonuses when raged, which wil probably happen while hes bloodied. To clarify, I think the barb will kinda be the opposite of a fighter: fighter is a primary defender with secondary striker capabilities, while the barb will be primary striker with secondary defender capabilities.

And yeah, rites sounds pretty good too.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the barbarian being primarily a striker with secondary defender capabilities is the way I would lean. BTW, one of the reasons why I started this poll, was that over on RPG.net, it seems the consensus is leaning towards the Barbarian being a Primal defender, but overhere, it seemed to be Primal Striker. I was just curious to see what everyone else thought in an easy way.

 

I'm A Banana

Potassium-Rich

• Oct 5, 2008

• #8

Primal striker with a bucket of hp and otherwise low defenses.

His job? Get hit, go crazy, take out everyone he can get his axe into.

Unlike the warlock or the rogue or the ranger, he won't focus on not getting hit. He wants to get hit. Because then he can hit even harder. He won't mark anyone, but with the damage output, he will probably be a big target for the enemies anyway, just like the Striker usually is. The difference is that he'll take the punishment and give out more.

Also, possibility that he's not actually primal, but instead martial. But maybe not. If he's primal, I'd expect some animal-themed super-powers at the higher levels. Turning into bears and summoning phantom wolves and the like.

 

Shroomy

Adventurer

• Oct 5, 2008

• #9

Kamikaze Midget said:

Also, possibility that he's not actually primal, but instead martial. But maybe not. If he's primal, I'd expect some animal-themed super-powers at the higher levels. Turning into bears and summoning phantom wolves and the like.

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Oooh, shiny....I'm pretty sure they will have the Primal power source since they are appearing in the PHB2 (which covers Arcane, Divine, and Primal heroes), but I like this idea. I'm not sure about full on shapechanging, but the ability to grow claws, or grab enemies in a bear hug, or have a spirit animal totem.

 

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Cadfan

First Post

• Oct 5, 2008

• #10

Defender. Definitely.

A barbarian's role in 3e, at least thematically, was charging straight down the center line, wading into a pile of enemies, thrashing everyone within reach with a very large weapon, and taking a lot of hits but not caring. That's a defender.

Even if the Barbarian does more damage than a fighter, and is more maneuverable, it will still be a defender.