Does the Barbarian's Howling Strike Stack with the Horned Helm

[jbear]

So the barabarian's howling Strike At Will power does 1[W] + 1d6 +STR dmg... and can be used on a charge (giving a +1 to Atk). The Horned Helm gives +1d6 on a charge. So do they Stack into 1[w] +1d6+ STR +1d6? That's mighty powerful especially as my Barbarian/Paladin Hybrid has a Beserker Weapon (+1d6 when bloodied)... and with Bless Weapon he's doing +1d6 Radiant damage and Crits 18-20 with a hich Crit Great Axe.... so a Crit looks like 1d12+ 1d6+ 6 +1d6 +1d6 (radiant) +1d12(+1d6 if Bloodied) = 2d12 + 3d6 +6 !!! At Will.

Am I calculating something wrong? Actually, I think i may have missed a +1d6 Crit for the +1 Berserker Weapon (apart from it having a +1d12 high crit property for being a Great Ax)

What do you think?

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

So the barabarian's howling Strike At Will power does 1[W] + 1d6 +STR dmg... and can be used on a charge (giving a +1 to Atk). The Horned Helm gives +1d6 on a charge. So do they Stack into 1[w] +1d6+ STR +1d6? That's mighty powerful especially as my Barbarian/Paladin Hybrid has a Beserker Weapon (+1d6 when bloodied)... and with Bless Weapon he's doing +1d6 Radiant damage and Crits 18-20 with a hich Crit Great Axe.... so a Crit looks like 1d12+ 1d6+ 6 +1d6 +1d6 (radiant) +1d12(+1d6 if Bloodied) = 2d12 + 3d6 +6 !!! At Will.

Am I calculating something wrong? Actually, I think i may have missed a +1d6 Crit for the +1 Berserker Weapon (apart from it having a +1d12 high crit property for being a Great Ax)

What do you think?

I can't follow everything you're talking about, but I can confirm that the Horned Helm stacks with Howling Charge - absolutely no reason why it shouldn't.

 

[mneme]

Bless weapon only lets you crit against creatures vulnerable to Radiant -- though with the right prestige class, that could be everyone eventually.

Everything untyped stacks with everything -- so yeah, you're doing buckets of damage on a charge--but remember that getting out of the charge to charge again may be nontrivial.

Also, remember that non-crit damage is maximized on a crit. A crit on a charge with a horned helm does do 5(str)+1(weapon)+12(W)+6(HS)+6(Bless)+6(Horned Helm)=36+d12+d6 damage (d12 for high crit, d6 for +1 weapon; everything else is maximized).

 

[Nifft]

Yes, they stack. Barbarians are Strikers, they're supposed to do a lot of damage, and Charging is practically an Encounter power -- you can't do it every round, sometimes you can't do it at all.

Get a Vanguard magic weapon. Then you'll deal an additional +1d8 on a charge, your crit will be +1d8 per plus (rather than just +1d6 per plus), and you'll have an awesome Leader-like daily power which lets your whole party enjoy your Charge.

Cheers, -- N

 

[jbear]

Thanks and wow! We're talking about a 4th level Barbarian here... that's pretty impressive damage, most creatures bloodied in one hit.

He has Boots of adept Charging so he can Shift away 1 to set up his next charge. Even then, it's not always so difficult to charge: Min. 2 squares of movement right?

His Cleric has the Solar Enemy Channel Divinity Feat, so she can give 5 radiant vulnerability to anyone, and he'll be picking up Luck Domain to be able to crit on 19-20 with his Sacred Strike. A nasty piece of work. I have no problem with his Massive damage dealing, faster combats is the upside to it.

My question arose when I was checking the Character builder. On his Melee Basic Attack the +1d6 of the horned Helm appears when used on a charge. Yet, Howling Strike, that can also be used on a charge doesn't bear the same annotation.

Anyway, my question has been answered. My monsters can rightly resume trembling.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

He has Boots of adept Charging so he can Shift away 1 to set up his next charge. Even then, it's not always so difficult to charge: Min. 2 squares of movement right?

There's more to the movement rules for charging than that. For instance, when you charge, each square you move MUST take you closer to the target of your charge. Take a look at PHB p.287.

 

[Walking Dad]

Take a look at the Badge of the Berserker. This will get you more possible charges.

 

[MrBeens]

Bless weapon is a daily, so that combo only works once per day.

 

[jbear]

There's more to the movement rules for charging than that. For instance, when you charge, each square you move MUST take you closer to the target of your charge. Take a look at PHB p.287.

Yes I know, I also make it have to be in a fairly straight line. But imagine: Barbarian charges in and shifts away one as a free action thanks to his Boots of Adept Charging. The Target does not shift into the Barbarian because he has a Fighter marking him waiting for just that to happen. So now without even provoking an OA next turn the Barbarian uses his move action to distance himself from the Target. He puts himself in line so that he can flank when he uses his Standard Action to Charge back in... and then Shift away as a free action.

I don't think there is anything in the rules that states you can't use your move action to position yourself correctly before a charge.

 

[jbear]

Bless weapon is a daily, so that combo only works once per day.

Once a day for the entire battle. Nothing to be sniffed at. Not to mention the handy use of Salves to recharge a daily. Again, I'm not complaining about the massive damage. I was just making sure i had the right end of the stick.

I think anyone will agree that very few characters can compete with a +2 to hit at-will attack (+1 from the charge, +1 from Bless Weapon) with an 18-20 crit chance with a high crit weapon (+1d12+1d6 on a crit) doing 1d12 +3d6 +6 (+1d6 when bloodied which he can provoke for two rounds with his Beserker Weapon) not to mention the +5 dmg for Vulnerability to Radiant Dmg (minimum +10 vs Undead if the are caught by Solar Enemy Encounter Power) all at level 4, even if it is once a day for the entire battle.

Say the optimum conditions are met: Crit on a charge against an undead creature that has been tagged by the Clerics Solar Enemy power, with Bless Weapon activated while Bloodied: 52 dmg + 1d12 +1d6 or in otherwords 54-68dmg

Enough to Kill a lvl 5 Wraith even though it's insubstantial or a lvl 4 Ghoul even though its a soldier of the same level as the barbarian. Heck, you don't even need Boots, that sucker's toast. The dead don't make opportunity attacks. Charge the next one!

Hey, what if he took the Lvl 1 Thunderhoove's Rage from Primal Power? He can now move through enemy squares. He can either charge past his fighter ally into flanking position moving in a straight line with no need for manuevering at all, passing through the enemy square for a total of +4 for the attack and add another +1d12 dmg to the attack! If the enemy takes th OA while marked by the fighter, bang he gets hit again!

Here's an interesting question, although I suspect the rule about moving to the nearest enemy square on a charge may cover this. Can the Barbarian charge from one side of the target to the other passing through the Targets square, hence moving 2 for the charge, in a straight line to what remains technically still the closest square ...? Neh, now I'm just getting silly.