Good Multiclass options for a Barbarian

[The Souljourner]

Straight barbarian, bar/ranger or bar/fighter are all good paths. I'd stay away from multiclassing into a spellcaster... it doesn't really fit the barbarian image, and the loss of BAB isn't worth the benefits. I definitely disagree with those that say a level of rogue is worth it... 1d6 damage is minimal, you lose hitpoints and a BAB for it, and you don't even get to do 1d6 all the time. That's 3.5 damage some of the time when you could be power attacking for 2 extra damage, and be further along with the barbarian class abilities.

-The Souljourner

 

[Scion]

I would suggest multiclassing with barbarian

Failing that however, going for a very interesting build I would suggest druid. That sort of build though is generally more like Barb 1/Druid X and possibly one of the prc's from something like complete warrior.

Bear warrior also works nicely.

 

[Thanee]

I like my ranger/barbarian/rogue, altho she's more a fighty rogue than a rogueish barbarian.

Bye
Thanee

 

[jarlaxlecq]

What would be the benifits of Ranger? the skills? or is it the free feats? 2 weaponn fighting wouldnt be much of a benefit as i want to power attack for 1.5X damage. Plus i can visualize someone in my head fighting with a sword or an axe or a double sword, but not a double axe. I'm thinking i'll just go barb, or barb and a few levels of Figter.

 

[Tyrol]

What would be the benifits of Ranger? the skills? or is it the free feats? 2 weaponn fighting wouldnt be much of a benefit as i want to power attack for 1.5X damage. Plus i can visualize someone in my head fighting with a sword or an axe or a double sword, but not a double axe. I'm thinking i'll just go barb, or barb and a few levels of Figter.

A ranger offers Favored Enemy, Tracking, wild empathy, reflex saves, great skill points and very useful class skills, (and thats only through a couple of levels)... If you plan to go the 2-handed melee route and wouldn't use 2-weapon fighting feats, using the Combat Style feats for ranged attacks could make you more versatile. Favored Enemy can potentially be awesome, depending on your choice and campaign (human is often a good one).

Personally, I just finished creating a Dwarven Barbarian with a very detailed background and explanation. (Very very abbreviated background: the character has a major vendetta against orcs, who killed every last one of his kin. Decimated, the character went into a freak rage after witnessing the latter part of family's death. He's formed a mental block of the event, and has isolated himself in the wild for 50 years. He's lived off the land, avoiding human contact when possible, while hunting down any orc he could get his hands on. Nothing seems to quench his pain.) A single level of ranger would fit in perfectly with the character concept (favored enemy, tracking, wild empathy, etc.) and I've been trying to negotiate with my DM for a way to have that single level of ranger not cause me Multiclass Exp penalty :\ We start at character level 3, but I'm planning to advance only in Barbarian. According to the PHB I'll start taking Multiclass Exp penalty as soon as I turn Barb 3 / Rng 1.

Any thoughts on how I might avoid this? Initially the DM suggested I could change to favored class barbarian, but has since changed his mind.

 

[Thanee]

The ranger is more of a background thing (you can look the character up here). She was a hunter in her tribe, so ranger/barbarian makes sense. But now she is walking amongst the civilized lands, so she has shifted her focus and now continues to advance as a rogue. As I said, she's more of a rogue, than a barbarian, but the warrior class levels do add a lot of fighting capabilty to the rogue.

I initially wanted to play a barbarian/rogue, but it made no sense to start out as a rogue (because of the background), and we all know, that you almost have to get the first level as a rogue to make decent use of those skills, so technically the ranger offers the missing link here and fits in nicely, granting a good amount of skill points as well.

In general barbarian and ranger mix well, because both are nature oriented fighters. It's mostly the skills and stuff like Track and Wild Empathy then, the fighting styles are not very useful for a barbarian (well TWF might be, but one big weapon seems more suitable for them).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dark Jezter]

As Ridley's Cohort said, don't underestimate the power of a straight, unmulticlassed barbarian. A high level barbarian with damage reduction, greater rage, uncanny dodge, etc. can be quite frightening in combat.

 

[Darklone]

I have a bbn2/rgrX in another game... Perfect BAB, Extra Rage gives me what I want, he's crazily mobile and can outsneak and find any rogue. And nothing keeps him from Power Attacking.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

If you like 2handed weapon style try a frenzied berseker you can do a lot of damage The FB are my favorite prestige class for a barb.

 

[jarlaxlecq]

If you like 2handed weapon style try a frenzied berseker you can do a lot of damage The FB are my favorite prestige class for a barb.

I'd want an amazing will save and some loaded dice before i'd go Frenzied Berserker