Min/maxing a human barbarian

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'd switch his con and dex scores; barbs need a lot of hps to survive. And when he rages, he'll be takin -2 to ac anyway. Also, switch int and cha; extra skill points are useful, being a charasmatic barbarian isn't (unless you want to do some kind of leader, or a lot of rp, but you said min/max).

I admit, for min-maximum switching Int and Cha is better (unless he considers Leadership as a feat ) - but personally I would enjoy playing charismatic barbarians. Okay, you may be a bit dumb (but not with these stats), but you are cool (if you want) and strong.
You are the type of barbarian that rescues the virgin from the cultist priest and, well... Well, Eric`s grandma and so, but.. Well, I guess it shouldn`t take too long till the cultists lose any interest in the young woman...

Unfortunately, my Eberron barbarian is an Orc (using 25 point buy) - no way to pull this off.
(My OA Barbarian had a better charisma, but there weren`t enough cultist out there...)

I think you can min-max a Barbarian best for great damage output. All that is required then is Power Attack and maybe later Improved Critical. Might be interesting to test a Mounted Barbarian, but without a special mount (like that of a paladin), this might be to difficult to pull off.

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Darklone]

Plan towards these strange tactical feats in CW... Combat Brute? You'll get +3 to damage per -1 to hit while charging IIRC.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Can do lots with equipment. I definitely buy some more stuff at the start.

Get javelins, spiked gauntlets, a warhammer and a wooden shield. Best 30 or so GP you'll ever spend.

I say warhammer because it's cheap and great against a typical early villan - skeletons. Lots of weak low level creatures (goblins, kobolds, bandits) will be 'overkilled' by your 2 handed weapon - save that for the big beasties and take the +2 AC from the shield... you'll really appreciate the difference during the first level or two.

Javelins as they're cheap, apply full strength, you get a 20' range increment, you can back off and still fight if you get beaten up and you never know when you need ranged stuff.

Spiked gauntlets in case you are suprised, disarmed or grappled.

Don't forget rope and a 10' pole.


And like others have said - Power attack, Cleave and swap Con for Dex - reckon it'll be better in the long run.

Reading this has made me want to play some low level stuff for a while!

 

[rrealm]

Great Axe will do, on average, .5 less damage than the Greatsword. The average value on 2d6 is a 7, while the average on a 1d12 is 6.5.

A crit from a greatsword averages 14 points of damage while a greataxe critical averages 19.5. A greatsword statically crits twice as often as a greataxe too but remember that not just the weapon's base damage is doubled or tripled.

A +1 greatsword will do an average of 8 or 16 while a +1 great axe will do an average of 7.5 or 22.5 points of damage.

A +1 greatsword and a 12 or 13 strength (+1 mod) will do an average of 9 or 17 while a +1 great axe and a 12 or 13 strength (+1 mod) will do an average of 8.5 or 25.5 points of damage.

throw power attack (for just 1 for now) in the mix along with the +1 weapon and a weak strength (for a barbarian) and you get the following:
greatsword: 11 or 22
greataxe: 10.5 or 31.5

Now since you actually have a strength of 17 (+3 mod) your numbers will be much closer to this with a +1 weapon and a PA for 1:
greatsword: 13 or 26
greataxe: 12.5 or 37.5

Keep in mind though that a greatsword crits twice as often (19-20 instead of just a 20). Some food for thought.

 

[rrealm]

Can do lots with equipment. I definitely buy some more stuff at the start.

Get javelins, spiked gauntlets, a warhammer and a wooden shield. Best 30 or so GP you'll ever spend.

I say warhammer because it's cheap and great against a typical early villan - skeletons. Lots of weak low level creatures (goblins, kobolds, bandits) will be 'overkilled' by your 2 handed weapon - save that for the big beasties and take the +2 AC from the shield... you'll really appreciate the difference during the first level or two.

Javelins as they're cheap, apply full strength, you get a 20' range increment, you can back off and still fight if you get beaten up and you never know when you need ranged stuff.

Spiked gauntlets in case you are suprised, disarmed or grappled.

Don't forget rope and a 10' pole.


And like others have said - Power attack, Cleave and swap Con for Dex - reckon it'll be better in the long run.

Reading this has made me want to play some low level stuff for a while!

Great suggestions. I did most of those myself when I played my barbarian although I took a warhammer and javalin to have the ablity to dish out different types of damage to counter DR. Granted, not many low CR creatures have DR but hey -

And yes, swap dex with con. You'll need the HPs. Remember though, if you use javalins in melee, you suffer a -4 penalty to hit. Some people forget about this.

The only problem I've had while wearing spiked gauntlets was one time I wanted to knock someone unconsios instead of doing lethal damage to them. I had to take the gauntlets off to do so which wasn't a big deal since we were not in combat but had we been, I would have to deal lethal damage, take a -4 to hit, or give up my AoO.

 

[rrealm]

You might want to look at the Holy Liberator prestige class to get rid of that pesky fatigue problem. Or you could take Extend Rage. Nothing more pathetic than a fatigued barbarian.

What class feature allows for him to get rid of the fatigue problem?

 

[sledged]

What class feature allows for him to get rid of the fatigue problem?

The Remove Fatigue (Su) class feature.

 

[DarkMaster]

Min-Maxing Barbarian with High STR and DEX how about using a chain as your two handed weapon ?
then try to get those feats combat reflex, power attack, cleave and you are all set
the power attack, cleave with 10' reach is always fun to play

 

[rrealm]

The Remove Fatigue (Su) class feature.

I still can't find a holy liberator with that feature. I've been looking in Defenders of the Faith. Is there another book I should look in? Complete Divine?

 

[sledged]

I still can't find a holy liberator with that feature. I've been looking in Defenders of the Faith. Is there another book I should look in? Complete Divine?

No, no, keep looking in the Defenders of the Faith. It's there, and whatever you do, stay away from the Complete Divine.