Barbarian Playtest Experiences

[sammy]

Hello all.

A player of mine was itching to try the Barbarian, so I had him make a 4th level one, and I made a warlord of same level, to keep him around a little, so we can see him in action.

He went human, had all 3 at wills, and took great cleave, and swift panther rage.

I had a group of 6 orc minions and 4 orc raiders straight from the MM. No terrain on the battlefield.

Yes, the barbarian did great damage, thanks in part to the great axe he used, but he was target practice to the orcs. Good thing I had a warlord to help, or he would have went down quickly.

He charged constantly, and used pressing strike a good bit also. He loves it. As a DM, I see how it is powerful, but he does need a good group of allies to support him, or else he's toast.

PS- Commanders strike and a barbarian are a great combo. I kept saying "hit it again", and he just ripped it all up. Awesome.

Sammy

 

[sammy]

SIDE NOTE

We also went up 2 levels and tried another fight with hobgoblins- 3 soldiers and an archer.

We then went up 2 more levels and fought 3 Ogre skirmishers.

The barbarian shined in all of them, thanks to yours truly and his trusty warlord. The barbarians abilities to get temp hp is a great way to soak damage, like I think he should.

Temp hp's helped him a good bit. Fun class, the player loves it. I as a DM also like the way it works.

Sammy

 

[Orcus Porkus]

The temporary HP don't stack. Any new ones if greater than the old simply rewrite the old.

I wonder how many people don't follow this rule. I certainly didn't last time I played the barbarian.

 

[chitzk0i]

Regarding at-will powers:
Is it a good rule of thumb to
1) always take Howling Strike

2) take Recuperating Strike only with high CON, like a +4 bonus, and if you intend to get beaten up in the middle of melee

3) take Pressing Strike if using a reach weapon, or are low on CON, or want to be more a tactician than a defender who takes damage.

?

Howling strike is great because you can use it with swift charge and the extra damage is always nice.

When raging, Recuperating Strike gets much better. Instead of just a few, it's a whole hit's worth.

Pressing strike is great with any weapon. If there is flanking to be had, you will have it. If you're cut off from escape, you can shift through enemies. You can push one, then bug out.

Howling strike is great damage and your other two options have great utility. I'd say to pick whichever ones you want. You're good either way.

 

[Mengu]

I wonder how many people don't follow this rule. I certainly didn't last time I played the barbarian.

Cleric's Sacred Flame, Paladin's Bolstering Strike, and Infernal Warlock's pact boon are powers that work in a similar fashion. The Barbarian's Recuperating Strike is nothing new in the temporary hit point department, and does not stack with itself. I can see a few groups making the mistake, but not many.

 

[Orcus Porkus]

Warlord/Barbarian team

Here is a possible sequence with 1 or 2 warlords and 1 Barbarian:

1) Barbarian moves into position for a charge, and then attacks with Howling Strike, and hopefully hits. The Barbarian doesn't provoke OA when charging during rage. Outside rage he just eats it up. If critical, he hits again (Rampage, basic melee against any target, once per round), if it kills, he gains temp HP equal to CON and swift charges to another target (once per encounter). After the charge he shifts away with boots of adept charging, if he expects the warlord to use wolfpack tactics on him, in order to be able to charge again without prior movement. If charging is impossible, he uses recuperating strike to gain temp HP, or pressing strike to clear up a path out, or shift enemies into combat advantage. Keep in mind there are no other actions allowed after a charge.

2) Warlord A uses commander's strike if Barbarian is adjacent to a target. Commander's Strike adds the Warlord INT bonus to the Barbarian's basic attack. See 1) for possible chain reaction.

Alternatively he uses wolfpack tactics if possible (needs to be adjacent to target or ally). If wolfpack is not possible, he helps out the barbarian with healing or bonuses or does his own thing.

3) Warlord B repeats the same tactic Warlord A did, unless tactical movement is not necessary or rampage and swift charge are used up already. The chance is high that before the Barbarian's turn is up again, he did some nasty damage and hopefully multiple attacks and kills and self-healing. Temp HP's don't stack up though.

4) Repeat at 1)

The goal is to let the Barbarian make use of Rampage once per round, and the Swift Charge once per encounter. A Barbarian with a reach weapon adds even more flexibility to this scenario. He can shift after the charge to gain flexibility, and then use the free basic attacks from Commander's strike without being adjacent to a target. Of course this works with just one Warlord, I just liked the ridiculous idea of 2 warlords

 

[hvg3akaek]

Wait a minute, his temporary hitpoints were able to absorb entire attacks? He should only have a couple of temporary HP at any time. Are you letting him stack them, by any chance? Because that's against the rules.

No, he just only ever seemed to get hit when either:
(a) he had a stack of THP (from raging, an encounter power, or the like. Not from actually stacking), or
(b) something hit him with al low damage roll.

There were times when he was hit for more than the THP he had, which was why I said "hardly ever", and not "never" But, over the evening, he came out with less real damage taken than anyone else in the party, thanks to his THP. I think they work...


Will be trying the barb out at paragon levels soon, so I will see if the same thing happens then

 

[James McMurray]

Our epic game is soon to have a Barbarian / Iron Vanguard. He's looking at combining regen, temp hp, and resistance to become practically immune to hit point damage. I'll be sure to post how it works out when it happens (in a couple of weeks).

 

[vic20]

I wonder how many people don't follow this rule. I certainly didn't last time I played the barbarian.

In one of my campaigns, a 2nd level warlock managed to hover at the edge of combat slowly stacking up temporary hp, eventually hitting 70. It was pretty insane. A careful reading of the PHB and a discussion with the good people here at ENWorld straightened me out.

 

[RefinedBean]

Our epic game is soon to have a Barbarian / Iron Vanguard. He's looking at combining regen, temp hp, and resistance to become practically immune to hit point damage. I'll be sure to post how it works out when it happens (in a couple of weeks).

Heh, I'm going to do the same with my guy. Does he have any of the Armor Proficiency feats? I'm thinking I might retrain them in the paragon tier, but so far, it's been necessary to survive heroic.