New to D&D and Need Help Building A Barbarian.

[- Craig -]

Hello Folks, my names Craig and I've only just recently started playing Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. I've already had a few gaming sessions with a local role-playing group and I'm really starting to get into it, unfortunately most of the rules just go over my head, but it's still a good laugh and a lot of fun. I've been playing a War-forged Artificer alongside my fellow role-players who are playing a Human Paladin, Elven Bard, Pixie Shaman and a Dragon-born Warlock. However the Dungeon Master has suggested that since I really want to run up and bash things to death during an encounter, that I might be better of playing a Barbarian, Monk or Ranger. So he gave me a quick look at each class and their powers, and in the end I decided to go with the Barbarian, I like the rage concept. Now while the Dungeon Master is a font of wisdom and has been nothing but helpful, I can't help but sense that my constant questions and need for help are wearing him thin. I know that the campaign we're doing right now is rather big and so far we've been moving along fairly quickly which I feel is putting additional pressure on the Dungeon Master. So to that end I went to the local library and rented out the Players Handbook's 1-3 for 4th Edition in hopes of building a Barbarian and saving the Dungeon Master from going through it with during our next session in a weeks time. So I'm looking through the Handbook's now and unfortunately I can't really tell the good from the bad. I know that other members of the party are very role-playing savvy and have had hands on experience with Dungeons and Dragons for years now. It seems that they've min-maxed their characters, know all the little tricks and they seem to have an uncanny knowledge to whenever the Dungeon Master is up to something.

So with all that in mind, I would very much like to build a hard as nails, unstoppable Barbarian that can pull his own weight, and I would like to ask the seasoned Veterans of EN-World to help me out.

Additional Information
The Barbarian Starts at level 10
Starts With a Free Magic Executioner's Axe

 

[Neonchameleon]

As long as you make sensible looking choices you are near certain to end up with a good character in 4e. But there is a class that's every bit as "Get in your face and smash" as a Barbarian and designed to be incredibly easy to play with no daily powers to worry about. That class is the Slayer (in Heroes of the Fallen Lands) although for minimal rules, the other essentials martial classes (Hexblade, Thief, Knight, Scout) are also pretty good.

The normal Barbarian's Handbook can be found on the WotC boards and is pretty good at steering you to and away from powers. If you're building with a theme in mind and follow that guide you should do pretty well.

 

[S'mon]

Following my own failed attempt to make a decent PHB2 barbarian, my advice would be: be sure to max out your to-hit chance. My STR 18 dwarf barbarian with a maul and ATT +6 at first level just did not cut it. You're a Striker, if you ain't hitting, you're not doing anything. You need STR 20, preferably a +3 proficiency bonus weapon (eg fullblade), and preferably another +1 from an expertise feat like Master of Arms.

 

[The Human Target]

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
level 10
Dwarf, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might Option: Rageblood Vigor

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 20, CON 18, DEX 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 13

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 16, CON 14, DEX 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 13


AC: 21 Fort: 22 Ref: 20 Will: 18
HP: 92 Surges: 12 Surge Value: 23

TRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +11, Athletics +14, Intimidate +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +4, Bluff +6, Diplomacy +6, Dungeoneering +7, Endurance +10, Heal +5, History +4, Insight +5, Nature +5, Perception +5, Religion +4, Stealth +6, Streetwise +6, Thievery +6

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Dwarf Racial Power: Dwarven Resilience
Barbarian Feature: Swift Charge
Barbarian Feature: Rage Strike
Barbarian Attack 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian Attack 1: Recuperating Strike
Barbarian Attack 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian Attack 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian Utility 2: Combat Sprint
Barbarian Attack 3: Blood Strike
Barbarian Attack 5: Frost Wolf Rage
Barbarian Utility 6: Combat Surge
Barbarian Attack 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian Attack 9: Stone Bear Rage
Barbarian Utility 10: Deny Death

FEATS
Level 1: Toughness
Level 2: Weapon Expertise (Axe)
Level 4: Dwarven Weapon Training
Level 6: Improved Rageblood Vigor
Level 8: Lightning Reflexes
Level 10: Iron Will

ITEMS
Magic Execution axe +2 x1
Throwing hammer x2
Hide Armor x1
====== End ======

Using only the 3 PHBS., which for a rageblood barbarian is absolutely fine.

Simple, powerful, pretty tough, pretty well balanced.

Wasn't sure exactly what you meant by "Starts With a Free Magic Executioner's Axe" so other than the basics I left it blank.

And for the record, no matter what you end up playing, I don't think a barbarian or any other class needs a 20 in their prime ability score to start out.

 

[TwoSix]

Hopefully you have some access to DDI, otherwise this is mostly useless. This is a pretty basic Slayer, with a little Barbarian flavor. I tried to give him as few bells and whistles as possible without being too generic. A lot of passive feats, and abilities to keep him moving.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Craigslayer, level 10
Half-Orc, Fighter (Slayer)
Slayer Weapon Specialization Option: Brutal Axe
Half-Orc - Orc Birth (+2 to Athletics)
Theme: Iron Wolf Warrior

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 22, CON 11, DEX 18, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 10

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 18, CON 11, DEX 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 10


AC: 25 Fort: 23 Ref: 19 Will: 17
HP: 80 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 20

TRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +14, Athletics +18, Endurance +12, Intimidate +12

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +4, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +5, Dungeoneering +5, Heal +5, History +4, Insight +5, Nature +7, Perception +7, Religion +4, Stealth +9, Streetwise +5, Thievery +9

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Iron Wolf Warrior Attack: Iron Wolf Charge
Half-Orc Racial Power: Furious Assault
Multiple Class Attack: Power Strike
Fighter Utility: Berserker's Charge
Fighter Utility: Battle Wrath
Fighter Utility: Mobile Blade
Fighter Utility 2: Sudden Sprint
Athletics Utility 6: Mighty Sprint
Iron Wolf Warrior Utility 10: Savage Resurgence

FEATS
Level 1: Axe Expertise
Level 2: Iron Will
Level 4: Thirst for Battle
Level 6: Weapon Proficiency (Execution axe)
Level 8: Battle Berserker
Level 10: Berserk Vitality

ITEMS
Magic Execution axe +2 x1
Magic Scale Armor +2 x1
====== End ======

 

[Henry]

My STR 18 dwarf barbarian with a maul and ATT +6 at first level just did not cut it. You're a Striker, if you ain't hitting, you're not doing anything. You need STR 20, preferably a +3 proficiency bonus weapon (eg fullblade), and preferably another +1 from an expertise feat like Master of Arms.

S'mon, what the heck was your DM throwing at you?? Most critters in 4E at levels 1 to 3 have about a 14 to 16 AC, except for the toughest solos and such.

Craig, you'd of course want to make sure your DM was OK with the Slayer class from D&D essentials, but he or she should know that the classes in 4E essentials was designed to be compatible side by side with the other 4E classes. The options might not all mesh from book to book, but in a party with a Barbarian and a slayer side by side, one's not going to drastically outshine the other overall. The slayer is as noted also REALLY easy to play.

Don't have my books handy or I'd try to lend a hand in a build, sorry.

 

[Neonchameleon]

S'mon, what the heck was your DM throwing at you?? Most critters in 4E at levels 1 to 3 have about a 14 to 16 AC, except for the toughest solos and such.

Cursed dice I assume. Although if this was the only DM I've shared with S'mon, he did things like raise a Maw Beast (brute)'s AC by 4 because we were all hitting the brute too easily.

 

[Herschel]

Day-um, I'm generally never a fan of "buying" a pre-racial 18 as the opprtunity cost is generally too high. Barbarians are tricky due to potential AC issues. You either need a good DEX (or INT) or a way to get in to heavier armor, you want some CON and you want a Will stat so you're not stun/dominate-bait. Sometimes a party's worst enemy is a low-will Barbarian who ends up charging his own party way too often. The Slayer is a good, simple choice if you don't mind the linear build.

 

[S'mon]

S'mon, what the heck was your DM throwing at you?? Most critters in 4E at levels 1 to 3 have about a 14 to 16 AC, except for the toughest solos and such.

Well the other PCs were mostly 3rd level, I guess it was scaled for them. I think the zombie dragon was a pre-errata solo.

 

[S'mon]

Cursed dice I assume. Although if this was the only DM I've shared with S'mon, he did things like raise a Maw Beast (brute)'s AC by 4 because we were all hitting the brute too easily.

It was Al. I don't think my rolling was too bad; I did demolish the 2nd encounter as that was the one where I raged. That was a fun 30 minutes. But I was useless vs the infinite minion spawning arcane puzzle trap (encounter #1) and against the zombie white dragon (encounter #3), both of which ran for ca 2.5 hours. #1 was frustrating, #3 was boring.