Frustrated with Barbarian paragon paths. If you MC you are always better off

[Orcus Porkus]

I find it tremendously annoying that the barbarian PP all suck. OK they are not totally terrible, but for STR based melee characters there are plenty of PP in other classes that are way better. Even some Avenger PP are better. For MC fighters you get access to good PP like Dreadnought, Pit Fighter, Kensei that all help to improve your role as damage dealer.
The barbarian PP's on the other hand make you look like a bear or like a fool (frenzied berserker - you are stunned if you don't attack every round).
I just hope that Primal Power will solve this problem.

 

[Flipguarder]

Hmmm... Idk I like them. As a Warden, I was actually thinking about MC barbarian PP for a while.

 

[Turtlejay]

I liked Frenzied Berzerker. . .

Seriously though, you are right. The same was the case with the core classes before the power books for them came out. I didn't like any of the core ranger PP's or Wizard PP's, but they have some good options now. Primal Power will be released and end your pain, but unfortunately you don't have much option until then.

Since Paragon Paths have a lot to do with flavor, and the direction you want your character to go, I am not sure what kind of debate we can have about them here. Certainly a good chunk of people probably choose one for mechanical benefits alone. In that case, what Paragon Paths are good for a Barbarian? You have obviously looked at some of them, which direction will you take? Besides Frezied Berzerker (which is great)?

Jay

 

[Orcus Porkus]

Kensei alone beats all barbarian paths. You get a +1 to attack rolls, and +4 to damage.
Or Dreadnought, which makes you a really tough bastard, and save automatically against hindering conditions, like immobilized.
Or Warpriest, which gives + half your level on damage during action point (think Storm of Blades)
Or Oathsworn, which lets you roll 4d20 on Storm of Blades attacks when using AP.
Or Stone Keeper, which adds 1(W) on AP attacks (again, great for Storm of Blades).
Or Draeven Marauder, an awesome choice for Greatspear barbarians. Crit on 19/20 in paragon (think Rampage).
And so on and on.

 

[Flipguarder]

Yeah, Kensai is just an overpowered PP. Do me a favor, look at the Warden PP and tell me the barbarian PP are all too weak.

 

[Orcus Porkus]

Horned Champion looks OK to me. Works well with Polearm Gamble/Momentum, hahaha.

 

[Victim]

There's also your racial PP. Adroit Explorer hasn't been bad for my barbarian. The 11 'power' gives me another shot of the fantastic Curtain of Steel. Barbarians can get bloodied pretty easily, so the attack bonus then helps.

 

[Obryn]

Yeah, if I were running a Barbarian, I'd think hard about MCing to Fighter to pick up Dreadnought.

Dreadnought really is just that good.

-O

 

[Mengu]

Some paragon paths are considerably more powerful than others, and some are junk. I hope this is not a new discovery. Most avengers and wardens are also better off multiclassing for a different paragon path. Even shamans get more from certain cleric PP's. I'm not sure you can blame any single class or PP for this. It's just that there is a general imbalance with PP's.

Having said that, not everyone goes for more powerful, some just want a certain utility or power from a PP, and pick it up as a way to round out their abilities. So even some of the junkie PP's may serve a purpose.

I'm not sure if we will see many more PP's that are on the high end of the power curve, other than what's already published. They are a bit gun shy at this point. So I wouldn't expect miracles from Primal Power. Kensei or Dreadnought will likely forever be two of the better PP's for a barbarian.

 

[keterys]

I seem to recall that my barbarian was disatisfied with the options and was planning on doing Iron Vanguard, since it looked fun. Apparently I should doublecheck some of these other paths just in case (though I'm not that interested in Kensei intrinsically, since it's not that interesting except maybe the daily, just powerful)