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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Danceofmasks" data-source="post: 4723410" data-attributes="member: 70765">Well, starting with 16 dex and pumping it eventually out ACs plate.Remember the barbarian's agility scales by tier ... so they're even-ish in paragon, and dex eventually gets ahead in epic. But ... that's assuming you pump dex always ... see,  barbarian is one of those classes that actually benefits from splitting their stat bumps .. alternating str/dex and str/con for instance.Every point of AC + Ref helps, sure .. but so does every point of secondary stat .. IMO AC + Ref > any benefit from a secondary, but all benefits are sufficiently yummy. Actually, I like the thaneborn bonuses (from cha) a lot more than the rageblood (from con) ... so for a plate barbarian, i'd probably go cha. The ridiculous boosts to hitroll alone more than makes up for any lack of defense ... and particularly if teamed up with a hitroll boosting leader, can more than make up for a relative lack of offensive feats. Especially those dragonborn ... they like having a couple extra points of con (ok, who doesn't, but them more so) ... so plate could very well be optimum. Those rageblood ... a few extra points of damage on encounter powers and possibly a few more temp hp? Likely not worth the feat investment ... 'cos feats can = moar killing power instead.Especially if improved rageblood vigor is taken, it's effectively 6 temp hp vs 8 temp hp per kill. The cost of investing 3 more feats ('cos everyone takes spec, right?) in AC translates into 5 AC over hide in heroic normally, but factor in agility and a modest dex, and it may not look worth the cost.MW plate adds (approximately) +3 per tier, whilst agility + MW hide adds +2.5 per tier ... since you get +1 dex at L11 and L21.For a barbarian that puts half their stat bumps in str/dex and str/con, the bottom line is still just 2 or 3 AC behind plate. Actual examples of my str/dex rageblood builds:Half-orc .. Str 20 Dex 15 Con 13 ... AC 16, for maximum hitroll .. lv 18 stat bump goes in str/conGolaith .. Str 18 Dex 16 Con 15 ... AC 17, more balanced .. str/dex all the way I like *cough* hitting1) Weapon Expertise (Axe or Heavy Blade)2) Improved Rageblood Vigor4) Weapon Proficiency (Fullblade); Retrain Weapon Expertise if necessary6) Weapon Focus (Heavy Blade) or Goliath Greatweapon Prowess8) Deadly Rage10) Powerful ChargeAnd ... I'm having trouble finding room for racial feats!The way I see it, having expertise and improved vigor early will be equivalent (depending on party and tactics) for raw survivability to armor feats ... plus, killing stuff faster = fewer attacks coming your way. Here, I'm having trouble justifying a str/con build ... 'cos unlike thaneborn, the bonuses off con just aren't worthwhile.Just a comparison of high end AC (ignoring common bonuses):+14 (plate)+5 (Hide), +3 (Agility), +6 (22 dex for the half-orc. 24 for goliath)What's more, barbarians do so much damage per hit anyhow, I'd choose +1 hitroll (fullblade) over +1.5 damroll per [W] (executioner axe). Assuming of course you want the appropriate weapon mastery feat.</blockquote>

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