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

[jbear]

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

Wow, with Badge of the Berserker (no OA provoked by movement of the charge) and a Vanguard Weapon he is scarier than Conan himself!

 

[NMcCoy]

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.

By my understanding, "directly to the nearest square" means "there is no shorter movement that will allow you to attack the enemy". In your situation, there's a shorter path of 0 squares, so moving through the enemy's space does not fit the criteria.

The Roundabout Charge feat at Paragon would permit this, however (and is some grade-A cheese in my personal opinion when combined with Badge of the Berserker, as it means that there's no tactical way to keep you from charging besides outright immobilization).

 

[Nifft]

Wow, with Badge of the Berserker (no OA provoked by movement of the charge) and a Vanguard Weapon he is scarier than Conan himself!

If you spend your turns alternating between two targets, you are killing them slower than if you concentrate on one target. So it's not all that broken in practice.

However: it is fun as hell.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

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.

For sure. It just wasn't clear from your post whether you were aware of the extra rules or not.

By the way, the scenario you described isn't all flowers either: OAs can still be drawn from other enemies in the immediate area.

 

[jbear]

@ Nifft
Hmmm, I suppose, although hacking between 30-60 points of dmg off each target per hit should make it fairly easy for the rest of the group to mop up the wounded fairly quickly.

Agree with you on the fun. The PC's have just arrived in town and have requested that they have the chance to 'practice' in some kind of arena. Which boils down to, we're going to have a all out brawl (even i'm going to roll myself a NPC) and see who is the last standing. I'm definitely going to try and get the barbarian killed before he slaughter's everyone else.

 

[jbear]

By my understanding, "directly to the nearest square" means "there is no shorter movement that will allow you to attack the enemy". In your situation, there's a shorter path of 0 squares, so moving through the enemy's space does not fit the criteria.

The Roundabout Charge feat at Paragon would permit this, however (and is some grade-A cheese in my personal opinion when combined with Badge of the Berserker, as it means that there's no tactical way to keep you from charging besides outright immobilization).

Yeah, I kinda thought the same thing about not moving being as close as you could get too. Still with Badge of the Beserker, charging through an enemy into flanking position for a total of +4 to Attack and an extra +1d12 dmg is still pretty lethal. Especially if the co-flanker is the Cleric who has just landed Burning Brand to dish out an extra +4 to the attack!

 

[Prestidigitalis]

By the way, the scenario you described isn't all flowers either: OAs can still be drawn from other enemies in the immediate area.

What do you mean? I just reviewed the text of the item's property, and I see no indication that the immunity from OAs on the charge is limited.

 

[Nifft]

@ Nifft
Hmmm, I suppose, although hacking between 30-60 points of dmg off each target per hit should make it fairly easy for the rest of the group to mop up the wounded fairly quickly.

The usual anti-striker tactics work. Throw in a bunch of Minions to act as screeners; use difficult terrain and thing to hide behind to restrict the PC's mobility; and clump up.

Note that clumped-up antagonists make it harder on Strikers but much, much easier on Controllers.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

What do you mean? I just reviewed the text of the item's property, and I see no indication that the immunity from OAs on the charge is limited.

Errr... what? What item are you talking about? Badge of the Berserker? My reply is earlier than the mention of that item.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Errr... what? What item are you talking about? Badge of the Berserker? My reply is earlier than the mention of that item.

Your comment: Post #14
Earlier mentions of Badge of the Berserker: Posts #7 and #11

However, you have clarified that you were talking about something else, so never mind.