My Barbarian envies the Tempest Fighter

[Obryn]

Eh? There's lots of stuff with Resist All. And lots of ways to get it.

Nothing that says Resist Weapon - but the Grick is close.

 

[DracoSuave]

Not to mention, Resist Weapon doesn't do exactly what you might think it does. It's not the same as Resist Untyped damage.

The first affects weapon powers, regardless of damage type, the other affects typeless damage, regardless of accessory.

Swordmages and Eldritch Blasting warlocks could certainly tell you how that affects them.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Don't forget, also, that the Tempest fighter doesn't have all those neat abilities that grant extra attacks or charges that the Barbarian does.

 

[Obryn]

Banning the armbands of iron power and their ranged equivalent tend to help a lot, too...

I completely agree with this, and have done so.

I have less objection to the items that give you +2 to basic melee/missile attacks, so those stick around, but the Iron Armbands and Bracers of Archery (I think) are simply gone.

-O

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I had forgotten about the errata on Dual Strike.

Hmmm. So now you lose out on the focus fire, and it's useless if you can't get next to two creatures. On the other hand, you don't waste the second attack if the first one downs the creature. Definitely a nerf though.

Still, if the Dual Wielder faces a single foe, or can only get next to one foe at a time, there is nothing to stop him from using Brash Strike with the d12 end of the Urgrosh. That's still a pretty big hit. The only thing missing relative to the Barbarian is the d6 from Howling Strike or the uber-shiftiness of Pressing Strike... Okay, that's actually a lot to give up.

Thank you for making my Barbarian's rainbows shiny again!

 

[DEFCON 1]

This is one of the problems that creep up when following the "wishlist" method of treasure distribution in the DMG. Character creation is not just "best class for the concept"... but now it also seems to involve finding the best combo of class plus an entire list of specific magic items that best suits. The fact that you plan out a character based around knowing you are getting w, x, y, & z items (practically) automatically, then you get the problem the OP has.

His character concept is not a question of barbarian vs tempest... as he himself says, it's barbarian vs Iron Armbanded, Bloodclaw Urgroshed, Dwarven Weapon Trained, Dual Striking Tempest Fighter. And speaking personally, that just kinda rubs me the wrong way. I am not a fan of character reward being an integral part of character build. I certainly understand how the game has evolved to this point, and why it is a legitimate question for a lot of players who are building characters... but I still can't help feeling a bit squirmy when I hear about it. My problem, obviously... I just wish it hadn't gotten to this point is all.

 

[deleteme123456]

You can use it adjacent to only one creature, but you might as well make a melee basic or your other at-will, unless you have reason to suspect that after the first attack you might be adjacent to a different creature.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

His character concept is not a question of barbarian vs tempest... as he himself says, it's barbarian vs Iron Armbanded, Bloodclaw Urgroshed, Dwarven Weapon Trained, Dual Striking Tempest Fighter. And speaking personally, that just kinda rubs me the wrong way.

She, not he. But your point is pretty much what I was trying to get at. The static bonuses skew things horribly.

[I initially wrote more, but stupid ENWorld logged me out before I hit "Submit Reply". Grrrr.]

 

[Herschel]

Well, keep the recent updates to Dual Strike in mind if you're looking into this. Tempest Fighters' at-will ability to deal massive damage to a single target was substantially nerfed in July. Thank goodness!

-O

Not only that, but I would argue the class has MORE appeal now (at least for me) that it's not just an "I do damage" look but actually as an at-will way to mark multiple foes.

 

[Eldorian]

Banning the armbands of iron power and their ranged equivalent tend to help a lot, too...

I'd like to ban all static bonuses granted from items. Definitely the ones that add to damage, like the Iron Armbands, Radiant weapons, staff of ruin, etc.