Originally posted by lordduskblade:
Powers - Heroic Tier: Seed of Destruction
As was the case before, I will be pointing out which powers require having a two-handed weapon, which require having two weapons equipped, and which do not require either.
Level 1, Encounter
The Barbarian Encounter list starts off with some build-specific divergence: Ragebloods will want
Desperate Fury, Thaneborns are partial to
Escalating Violence, Whirlers like
Whirling Frenzy, and Thunderborn will likely go for
Resurgent Strike.
Level 1 Encounter List
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Any Weapon:
Avalanche Strike (PHB 2) - Big damage, especially for a Rageblood, but the effective -4 to all defenses is a pretty hefty drawback.
Bloodletting (PHB 2) - It doesn't do anything special unless the opponent is bloodied, and even then it's flatly outclassed by other powers here. Not all that good.
Desperate Fury (PrP) - A nice and solid attack with an emergency reroll attached. While the reroll may cost a little of your HP, it's nothing compared to what you'll likely lose from say, Avalanche Strike's defensive penalty, for instance.
Escalating Violence (PrP) - A hit with a conditional buff for you, and a buff for your ally if you're a Thaneborn. This is actually a pretty sweet power.
Great Cleave (PHB 2) - A close burst attack with a bit of extra damage depending on how deep of a mess you're in. Solid.
Rending Strike (D 386) - A decent hit, with a teamwork-oriented extra damage + slide effect. It can be
good if you have a zone laid down by an ally you can shove the opponent into.
Resurgent Strike (PrP) - Removing adverse conditions or adding some nice THP to a solid attack.
Shout of Terror (PrP) - An MBA with a close blast 3 slowing secondary effect, as well as a decent damage bonus for Thunderborn against these targets. Serviceable enough.
Vault the Fallen (PHB 2) - Essentially a standing Howling Strike against two targets, with a shift in between. Solid.
Two-Handed Weapon:
Room for Carnage (D 384) - This reach weapon-only attack is basically an MBA with a mass push, and as such is thoroughly underwhelming.
Two Weapons:
Whirling Frenzy (PrP) - While it does have a bit of a drawback, a close burst that hits Reflex for this kind of damage this early on in your career is very nice.
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Level 1, Daily
At this level, the great majority of Barbarians are choosing between
Swift Panther Rage's no-questions-asked extra mobility,
Thunder Hooves Rage's extra damage, and
Tyrant's Rage's forced movement options.
Level 1 Daily List
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Any Weapon:
Always Falling Rage (D 380) - The initial attack is decent, if a bit low on the damage side, but a marginal repositioning effect brings this power's stock down. While the shift can be used to position yourself for another charge, there are multiple powers at this level that can do that and do it better.
Blood Bear Rage (PrP) - While I like autodamage as much as anybody, a grab action is hard to maintain without having a build that is dedicated to it, you're going to have to spend a standard action to do this to another target, and it doesn't do anything else. Nah.
Bloodhunt Rage (PHB 2) - A decent bonus to damage if you or your opponent is banged up. Simple enough, and actually rather effective.
Bloodseeker's Rage (D 380) - While very conditional, this can provide additional attacks, so it's not all bad.
Life Thane Rage (PrP) - It carries a heal, and gives out THP for allies. Rather Leader-y in outlook, but decent.
Macetail's Rage (PHB 2) - While I'm not the biggest fan of close bursts on a Barbarian (especially when the damage is this low), this one hits Reflex and knocks prone, and the THP ability makes this a solid pick.
Rage Drake's Frenzy (PHB 2) - Extra hits when you score a kill, and the entry attack comes with a conditional buff. Can be useful.
Savage Juggernaut Rage (PrP) - This power actually doesn't do anything until the first kill in an encounter, and unless you have huge amounts of enemies coming at you, it likely won't do much else either.
Skull-Taker's Rage (D 380) - Taking damage every turn for +1 to hit? Nonsense.
Swift Panther Rage (PHB 2) - Extending your shifting distance can allow you to spam charges, and that is awesome.
Thunder Hooves Rage (PrP) - Extra damage if you're willing to take a gamble and walk through their squares. If you're not, Pressing Strike will get you that damage boost with little trouble.
Tyrant's Rage (PrP) - A dazing initial attack, and a push effect that can help set up chargespam.
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Level 2, Utility
Your first list of Utility powers has some nice choices. Although I am personally partial to the effect-ignoring
Shrug it Off, I recognize that
Combat Sprint's safe movement and the easy-to-access heal that is
Feral Rejuvenation merit some mention as well.
Level 2 Utility List
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Bounding Stride (PrP) - A speed bonus to your move once per encounter, and it gets much meatier if you are bloodied when you use it. Given that it's a plain old move, I'm not very impressive.
Bloothirsty Resurgence (D 386) - Some THP for your allies when you heal. The range is rather small, though (and you're not exactly the paragon of self-healing).
Combat Sprint (PHB 2) - A large bonus to speed, and a sizable bonus to any attacks you may provoke along the way. This is a pretty good power.
Feral Rejuvenation (PrP) - An easy-to-trigger Daily heal, with a sizable bonus to the amount healed for a Thaneborn. Sweet.
Primal Vitality (PHB 2) - This power grants you some THP, and a bit more of it on a rage. Not quite worth only being usable once per day.
Savage Comeback (PrP) - While the effect is pretty darn good, being a Daily makes it lose some luster.
Savage Growl (PrP) - Allows you to play Defender by adding a free action mark on your power (a la Fighter), and it buffs both your damage and the enemy's. A bit risky, but it can certainly be useful.
Shrug it Off (PrP) - Getting rid of a (save ends) effect before it gets a chance to do you any harm every encounter can be a great way to keep yourself in a fight, and you even a bit of repositioning as icing. A good choice now, and it gets
even better as levels go on and monsters pack more debilitating effects.
Stonebreaker (PHB 2) - While it is admittedly marginal in combat, this can be
better if you spend a large amount of time outside a fight, because the ability to solve a situation with sheer brute force can be useful on occasion.
Tiger's Leap (PHB 2) - Here's the thing about this power; you likely will need some massive Athletics optimization or a very lucky roll to beat your base speed, and it provokes OA's anyway. Nope.
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Level 3, Encounter
At this level, we have a few front-runners on the power list: Thaneborns will want
Shatterbone Strike, Whirlers will love
Whirling Step, and everyone else picks a side on the
Brutal Slam v.
Thundering Howl debate.
Level 3 Encounter List
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Any Weapon:
Blade Sweep (PHB 2) - An attack that deals a smidge of autodamage to those around you. It can be decent on a Rageblood.
Blood Strike (PHB 2) - While the condition this requires to be better is not the hardest thing to pull off, the fact that you have to rely on something to happen for this power to not be an inferior choice isn't the a good selling point.
Brutal Slam (PrP) - It hits a NAD, it deals some decent damage, it pushes, and it knocks prone. That's a pretty nice mix of effects to have for you.
Daring Charge (PHB 2) - Not only is the effect risky (and not likely to even happen if you pick the gear you're supposed to pick as a Barbarian), but this doesn't offer much damage over a Howling Strike in Heroic, and it's likely less damaging at Paragon. Skip it,
especially after Heroic.
Hammer Fall (PHB 2) - Absolutely identical to Brutal Slam... except it doesn't push. Obsolete.
Reckless Rampage (PrP) - An attack that has a move your speed action beforehand (a bit extra for Ragebloods), and gives you CA should you provoke an OA on a generic attack. I'm not impressed.
Roaring Challenge (D 386) - A neat way to fish for Rampage, and it can slap out a penalty to hit (don't worry about accuracy: even though you're using Cha on the secondary attack, you're hitting Will, so it evens out in the end).
Shatterbone Strike (PHB 2) - An attack with an AC penalty is nice to have, especially for Thaneborns, who get to apply on a bigger one (which makes the power better for them).
Thundering Howl (PrP) - A wimpy attack, but it gives you the chance to apply some modifiers against your target twice, and lays on a push as well, which is nice.
Two-Handed Weapon:
Longstrike Charge (D 384) - A charge with more weapon damage than Howling Strike, plus a rider for a bit more damage. Decent enough when you get it, though likely
worthless after Heroic.
Two Weapons:
Whirling Step (PrP) - You get the ability to apply some mods twice on one target while only having to roll one attack, and it can even autodamage another opponent once if you're in the right position (that, and you get to shift around). An excellent power for Whirlers.
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Level 5, Daily
At this level, Barbarians have an awesome power in
Rage of the Crimson Hurricane, which offers some nice autodamage benefits. That said, there are a couple of powers that can give it a run for its gold pieces.
Level 5 Daily List
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Any Weapon:
Ambusher's Rage (D 380) - While shifting as a minor action is neat, the restriction on it is kind of a killjoy.
Ancient Berserkers' Rage (PrP) - Every turn, you gain a hefty buff against any adjacent enemy. The one problem with that is that keeping enemies adjacent is easier said than done. If you can find a way to keep them close consistently, it's
excellent; otherwise, it's
garbage.
Clawfoot Berserker Rage (PHH 2) - While the "revenge" style benefit this power grants has a conditional trigger, the benefit is strong enough to make this power a pretty solid choice.
Earthquake Dragon's Rage (D 380) - While it seems like a nice effect at first glance, it's party unfriendly, and range 5 means you're very likely to hurt your guys. Nope.
Frost Wolf Rage (PHB 2) - The entry attack can be a little meatier if the enemy decides to make an "OA" of sorts against you (I'm not really enthused by that trade in most circumstances), and you get to give out a bit of damage when you get hit. Average.
Longstrike Slayer Rage (D 384) - The entry attack is a reach attack for decent damage, and it provides a modest damage bonus against targets who are not adjacent to you. Solid, if a bit odd.
Rage of the Crimson Hurricane (PrP) - The entry is a close burst with some ongoing damage (eh), but the effect is a real good one, since dealing damage equal to your highest ability score modifier all around you will result in an increase in your single-target damage while helping you do multi-target damage. That said, it doesn't work as well with multiattack powers as it used to, but those come later on for you anyway.
Razor Wind Rage (PrP) - While this does some formidable enhancement to your Rampage class feature, criticals are very luck-dependent at this stage of the game, and as such you could stand to gain pretty much nothing from this power apart from the normal rage benefits.
Silver Phoenix Rage (PHB 2) - While the entry attack is not all that impressive, regeneration 3 and an emergency heal button are very good benefits to have.
Thunder Hawk Rage (PHB 2) - A dazing entry attack, and the ability to knock an enemy adjacent to you prone every turn. While there are a few nice benefits to this, the attack does conflict with Rampage for the free action attack of that turn, which makes its stock dip a little.
Tiger's Claw Rage (PrP) - While the entry attack is pretty plain, the rage benefit makes you a heck of a lot more consistent by making sure you get most of your At-Will damage across, regardless of what side the d20 feels like showing you.
Vengeful Storm Rage (PHB 2) - It's a close burst for some so-so damage, and the effect is a tiny bit of damage for adjacent enemies every turn. I'm not a fan of this power.
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Level 6, Utility
At this fairly competitive level, you can either go for the do-over button that is
Combat Surge, or you can pick up more insurance against getting pinned down in the form of
Run Rampant.
Laugh it Off and
Loss of Will may also be an option you could consider in the early game, though I would eventually retrain either into one of the first two. I like
Combat Surge the most here, but it's not a huge edge.
Level 6 Utility List
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Climber's Claws (PrP) - How many times will you really need to climb up things at extra speed during combat? Not enough to justify this power choice, I'd bet.
Combat Surge (PHB 2) - A reroll while raging is a very nice power by default, and it gets
even better later on when you pick up those big multi-attacking powers that serve Barbarians so well; you want to make sure all of those hit their target.
Indomitable Shift (PHB 2) - An average shift with some THP attached. Only being usable once per day is not worth this kind of benefit.
Instinctive Charge (PHB 2) - A decent self-buff Utility to throw yourself into combat and get your damage across.
Not as good if your Leader is a Warlord with Combat Leader, since the initiative bonus will not stack with the default initiative boost, which means this power is virtually obsolete the second the Warlord gets Combat Commander.
Laugh it Off (PHH 1) - You take a bit less damage from an attack, but that's not what you're here for; you're here for the out-of-turn buff to hit and damage you can get every fight.
Loss of Will (PHB 2) - A penalty to hit against an enemy who missed you? Sounds good to me.
Primal Charge (PrP) - The vast majority of times, a move action and the charge speed will be enough to get you where you need to go, so it's a pretty unnecessary power.
Relentless Surge (PrP) - A decent batch of THP for a minor action. Simple, but effective.
Run Rampant (PrP) - Mobility denial conditions can make doing your job harder; use this power to stand a very good chance of getting rid of them. Gets
better later on, when these conditions become more common and your Strength makes it easier for you to make the save against them.
Snarling Defiance (PrP) - Chops the damage of an incoming attack in half, and gives you +2 to hit against the enemy responsible. Though the fact that it's a Daily makes it a bit weaker, it's still a solid choice.
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Level 7, Encounter
At this level, the dominant choice is the out-of-turn wallop that is
Curtain of Steel. If for some reason you don't want that,
Fearsome Smash looks good on a Thaneborn, and a Whirler can live with
Slash and Slash Again.
Level 7 Encounter List
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Any Weapon:
Blood Sacrifice (PrP) - A generic attack against Fortitude that can deal some solid extra damage if you're willing to take some of it. It can be useful.
Curtain of Steel (PHB 2) - This power has a lot of things going for it; it's got big damage for an Encounter power, it happens outside your turn, it's easy to trigger, and Thaneborns get extra accuracy on it. A truly excellent choice.
Fearsome Smash (PrP) - While the trigger is not as generous as Curtain of Steel and neither is the damage, it can provide a penalty to attack rolls against you (a pretty nice one if you're a Thaneborn, too), which is still a pretty good effect to have around.
Feast of Violence (PHB 2) - The risk this attack requires to be truly worthwhile could get you into pretty deep trouble. Skip this.
Great Shout (PHB 2) - A rather plain attack, but an area penalty to attack rolls can be a strong benefit, even if it looks kind of weird on a Barbarian.
Harbinger of Doom (PrP) - A rather weak attack, but it lays on mass vulnerability to all damage. It's
better if you have a way of hitting multiple opponents simultaneously and thus exploiting that vulnerability, or if you have fellow Strikers in the party, especially if they can multiattack.
Looming Threat (PrP) - Overriding your Defender's mark is of rather dubious value, especially if the enemy's turn lies somewhere between yours and his, but it can set you up pretty decently. Still, it's a weak power unless you fulfill the conditional targeting clause, and that makes me not like it.
Tide of Blood (PHB 2) - The attack itself is quite vanilla, and the extra damage feature is not all that good, even if you're a Rageblood. Skip this.
Wheat to the Scythe (D 386) - A close burst that knocks prone and gives you a little HP and a push if you're a Thaneborn. Still, the pitiful damage holds it back somewhat.
Two-Handed Weapon:
Devastating Leverage (D 384) - By the time this power shows up, a Polearm Barbarian should be knocking people prone with any attack that slides anyway; if the pieces haven't materialized for you yet, this is
better, but you should retrain it as soon as the combo comes together.
Two Weapons:
Slash and Slash Again (PrP) - A generic hit, that offers a turn's worth of a Rain of Steel-esque effect. Pretty cool for Whirlers.
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Level 9, Daily
At this level, I am partial to
Oak Hammer Rage's control power, or to
Rage of the Death Spirit's Defender-esque quality combined with a very welcome accuracy boost. If you're not into either,
Serpent Fang Rage can allow you to increase your accuracy another way, and
Stoneroot Rage will make you tougher.
Level 9 Daily List
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Any Weapon:
Black Dragon Rage (PHB 2) - Another rage that can help you get free combat advantage, and this time it blinds everyone around you. That said, it ends during your turn (so no CA for your buddies), and you have no guarantees regarding the enemy staying adjacent here. Still a pretty good power, since blind means no OA's for charging in headfirst every turn.
Carver's Raging Glory (D 380) - A solid damage bonus when you drop a target. Unless you're fighting a healthy-sized batch of minions or the standards are rather weak, you probably won't get much mileage out of this.
Flying Serpent Rage (PrP) - An immediate reaction attack with a huge shift attached is excellent, though I'm not all too sure how often this trigger is actually coming up (getting charged? Really?). The rider allows for chargespam, which is always nice. If you can find the trigger for it is consistent enough for you use it when you actually want to, it's an
excellent power.
Frenzied Beast Rage (PHH 2) - Taking damage to deal it back to enemies adjacent to you, plussome interest. The real thing holding it back is that is costs an action to do so (isn't the fact that I'm taking damage enough?).
Oak Hammer Rage (PHB 2) - One of the sweetest control powers on the Barbarian's list, knocking enemies prone every turn is great setup for your allies, and it even a little extra damage if you decide to attack multiple times per turn. That is an excellent power to have.
Rage of the Battle Tyrant (PrP) - The entry attack imposes some spiffy vulnerability, and it allows you to reposition allies as you attack. Kind of Leader-y, but some of you don't mind that.
Rage of the Death Spirit (PrP) - While it is a bit risky (mass marking can bring some heat your way), getting +2 to hit against any enemy within 2 squares of you is an excellent ability to have, and the mass marking can help you function as a Defender-substitute.
Rage of the Primal Banshee (PrP) - The entry attack is pretty plain, and the counter-charge effect is kind of marginal (and ironic, considering what you do for a living). Not my pick.
Serpent Fang Rage (PrP) - Combat advantage for you and all your allies when you hit someone with an attack. That's a pretty cool ability to have.
Stone Bear Rage (PHB 2) - A decent attack that gives you some resist all as an effect. Serviceable enough.
Stoneroot Rage (D 380) - More resist all than Stone Bear Rage for the vast majority of characters, and the entry attack packs a (save ends) slow along with the same damage.
White Tiger Rage (PHB 2) - The entry attack is an immobilize, which is sweet, but slowing enemies is a rather tame control effect considering knocking prone At-Will is here too. That said, the ability to do it
en masse makes it solid enough.
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Level 10, Utility
At this level, though they face fierce competition from the
Reactive Surge Endurance Skill Power, Barbarians have some native options as well:
Enraged Surge can help you turn a miss into a buff,
Heart Strike offers some nice extra damage for the Thaneborn in the audience, and
Wellspring of Renewal gets you free THP and the ability to shrug off a mark.
Level 10 Utility List
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Barbaric Instinct (PrP) - Lessening the effect of adverse conditions is nice, but this is a Daily, which lowers its stock a bit.
Barbaric Offering (PrP) - A saving throw when you bloody or drop an enemy is relatively easy to trigger and a pretty solid benefit to have, and the bonus for a Thaneborn makes it
better for them.
Deny Death (PHB 2) - It's a Daily, but it buys you an extra turn, just when you need it the most, and that can't be a bad thing.
Enraged Surge (PrP) - Missing is part of life for most Barbarian builds; this is one of the ways you can cope with it. The extra sweet part is that it doesn't cost an action, either.
Heart Strike (PHB 2) - A stance for extra At-Will damage on Thaneborn Barbarians is a nice toy for them.
Howl of the Alpha Wolf (PrP) - Moving yourself and your allies about, for the cost of a move action. This is some pretty sweet movement,
especially if you drop someone before triggering it.
Mountain Roots (PHB 2) - Forced movement isn't the worst thing that can happen to you (since it likely sets you up to charge back in anyway), but this Stance has use (and it comes up outside your standard action, too).
Totemic Scarification (PrP) - While I'm all for extra offense on a Barbarian, +1 to hit for -2 to defense is just not worth it, especially considering it's only on one encounter per day. I wouldn't.
Wellspring of Renewal (PHB 2) - Drops off marks against you, and the THP can be nice to have.
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