Barbarian is up!!!

[zsek320]

I think WotC should make one fix for the barbarian...

Add the following to Rage...
If you are bloodied then you are considered raging for the use of powers...

This allows the use of Rage Strike at level 1 and it also gives the barbarian a reason to keep a low AC because he wants to stay at the bloodied mark so he can be more effective with his abilities...

Another thing is that the build presented thrives on Temp HP... which gives the barbarian extra survivability from attacks... he might take half or no damage from the attack

Another thing is that the barbarian presents a very interesting choice for an enemy that is marked by the defender... does the enemy attack the easy to hit thing that is dealing a ton of damage? or does it go after the defender...

In a play test the dwarf barbarian was doing just fine with a low AC of 14...

 

[Cadfan]

In a play test the dwarf barbarian was doing just fine with a low AC of 14...

The AC problem isn't that a 14 ac is low.

Its this.

There's a presumed rate of growth for your AC. As you go up in levels, you can follow two tracks. If you have heavy armor, you get new materials that provide very big boosts to your AC and which stack with your armor enhancement bonus. If you have light armor, you also get new materials, but they provide only a small boost to your AC, but if you invest in dexterity or intelligence every level that small boost plus the boost from your increased dex or int will be exactly as good as the boost that the heavy armor guys got from just their metal armor.

Barbarians are designed to use strength, then con or charisma. That means that they have a difficult choice. They can improve con or charisma, and get a big boost to their class abilities. But if they do this they can't keep up with the AC growth rate. They could instead improve dex or int, but if they do this they miss out on a bunch of good class abilities.

Imagine if your barbarian had an armor class of 11. That's what it would be like at epic tier if you continue wearing hide armor and don't put points into dex.

 

[Andor]

Well here are my (rapidly diminishing in value) 2 (low denomination coins):

4) Aside from that, the basics seem to capture the messy combat associated with the barbarian, but when you're not raging, you're a bit dull. Wizards kill minions, strikers can always do extra damage with a bit of effort, defenders get to mark, leaders help everyone out, barbarians.. get the odd extra attack?

Barbarians are always in the thick of it, they drop somebody and and charge right on to the next poor shlub. Plus they knock foes around like 9 pins with all of their 'drop a foe prone' powers. Think of them as an enraged bowling ball with an axe.

 

[Seule]

I note an interesting synergy... or the reverse I guess.
Rage ends when you hit 0 hitpoints.
Frenzied Berserkers don't drop when they hit 0 hitpoints, but instead when they fail a death save. However, they'll still drop out of Rage.
I wonder if this was intended.

--Penn

 

[Dragonblade]

The AC problem isn't that a 14 ac is low.

Its this.

There's a presumed rate of growth for your AC. As you go up in levels, you can follow two tracks. If you have heavy armor, you get new materials that provide very big boosts to your AC and which stack with your armor enhancement bonus. If you have light armor, you also get new materials, but they provide only a small boost to your AC, but if you invest in dexterity or intelligence every level that small boost plus the boost from your increased dex or int will be exactly as good as the boost that the heavy armor guys got from just their metal armor.

Barbarians are designed to use strength, then con or charisma. That means that they have a difficult choice. They can improve con or charisma, and get a big boost to their class abilities. But if they do this they can't keep up with the AC growth rate. They could instead improve dex or int, but if they do this they miss out on a bunch of good class abilities.

Imagine if your barbarian had an armor class of 11. That's what it would be like at epic tier if you continue wearing hide armor and don't put points into dex.

Excellent synopsis. Which is why Barbarians really need those heavy armor feats to survive. Of course, that breaks the genre notion that Barbarians should only be lightly armored. Hence my idea of giving them an innate AC bonus that icnreases based on tier that only applies when wearing light or no armor.

This should prevent them from being too handicapped in the AC arms race compared to other classes.

 

[Cadfan]

That would work. The loss is +3 over the course of 3 tiers, so +1 per tier would do alright.

 

[Klaus]

They wouldn't fly with me either...

I could kiss you, but I don't swing that way.

BTW, I want to send you my portfolio link. Which e-mail do I send it to?

 

[Klaus]

And how about the fact that the dragonborn's axe appears to be floating behind his right fist? It's an exciting piece, but that detail bugs me. I've noticed the same problem with closed fists in other recent Dragon and Dungeon artwork.

Also, have I forgotten or never noticed something? Are dragonborns supposed to be covered in fur? It doesn't look like part of any clothing.

I noticed the fur, too.

It's either clothing, or he's channeling some old-school berserker thing (but then the flaming image above him should've been a bear, not a dragon, right?). But that'd be more of a 4e druid's province.

 

[Felon]

The AC problem isn't that a 14 ac is low.

Its this.

There's a presumed rate of growth for your AC. As you go up in levels, you can follow two tracks. If you have heavy armor, you get new materials that provide very big boosts to your AC and which stack with your armor enhancement bonus. If you have light armor, you also get new materials, but they provide only a small boost to your AC, but if you invest in dexterity or intelligence every level that small boost plus the boost from your increased dex or int will be exactly as good as the boost that the heavy armor guys got from just their metal armor.

Barbarians are designed to use strength, then con or charisma. That means that they have a difficult choice. They can improve con or charisma, and get a big boost to their class abilities. But if they do this they can't keep up with the AC growth rate. They could instead improve dex or int, but if they do this they miss out on a bunch of good class abilities.

Imagine if your barbarian had an armor class of 11. That's what it would be like at epic tier if you continue wearing hide armor and don't put points into dex.

So, barbarians are currently in the same boat as warlocks, but tougher.

 

[Dalamar]

I would think that the AC conundrum is exactly why they have Defender HP despite being Strikers.