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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 4503187" data-attributes="member: 65726">I've run a few playtest encounters for a dragonborn barbarian at 1st level and at 6th level. I gave him chainmail (Eladrin Chain at 6th level) because there is no reason not to. Weapon of choice was a Maul because I wanted to stick with PHB weapons, but Full Blade is probably the best weapon for the barbarian since they don't seem to have as good a hit chance as the rogue or ranger. At 6th level, Powerful Charge and Dragonborn Frenzy were kind of no brainer feats. I debated between weapon focus and toughness, went with weapon focus to enforce the striker side of the character, should have gone with toughness in hind sight. My initial impression is that the Barbarian charges in first dishes out some good damage, and goes down fast. The semi-defender properties of the Barbarian were obvious due to the fire he tends to draw in early combat. But his durability is not as great as it looks on paper. He had the worst AC, Reflex and Will defenses in the party. The Warlord and Paladin were constantly having to heal him because of it. Due to powers like Great Cleave and Blade Sweep, he likes to be in the thick of things, but can't really take the heat, especially if facing enemies that target reflex. Also when he is surrounded, taking something down doesn't trigger Swift charge in a very useful manner, since all the opponents are around him already. I think he should be allowed to make a basic attack with it, if he can't charge. Allowing the Barbarian to use his Con (or Cha) bonus to AC instead of Dex or Int, would go a long way for improving his survivability. I would also change the class bonus to defenses from a +2 Fort, to +1 Fort, +1 Refl. When he rages, his survivability increases quite a bit, but that's a limited resource. I would much prefer to see raging tied to spending an action point rather than a daily power. There is no reason the barbarian shouldn't be raging every other encounter. I like Rampage, lets him really shine when he gets a crit. However, it's perhaps more appropriate as a feat. Inexorable Shift turned out to be an incredible power in one of the encounters, when the barbarian dove into a mix of minions and brutes gaining 6d10+6 temporary hitpoints, eventhough those hitpoints did not last long, that was the one encounter where the Barbarian didn't need as much healing. I've also noticed the barbarian shines more in encounters where there are numerous minions and weaker creatures, compared to encounters where there are few tougher opponents (reminiscent of the warlock in this aspect). I like the design of the barbarian, but I feel it needs some tweaks to make it more fun for the player in a wider set of situations, while keeping it balanced. I think it will be very difficult to keep it balanced with the rogue and two-weapon ranger because of all the defender benefits the barbarian gets. I'm rather glad their bonus damage doesn't work like sneak attack or hunter's quarry. The DPR of a barbarian should hopefully fall somewhere between that of a greatweapon fighter and a rogue. Also because their basic attacks are so powerful, Barbarians (much like greatweapon fighters) pair up well with Warlords.</blockquote>

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