Optimizing my Dragonborn Thaneborn Barbarian

[ourchair]

So... I'm trying to build my first ever campaign striker (having only played the defenders and a handful of wizards) and as such I'm going for a Dragonborn Barbarian.

Naturally this means I'm a Thaneborn Barbarian, so I'm thinking of playing him as an 'American Psycho'. All the pretty-boy veneer that a Dragonborn can muster while having calculated outbursts.

Any mechanical considerations I should be looking at? I'm worried that a DEX 10 means he's out of luck trying to use feats to enhance the use of blades, and his CON certainly isn't going to scale as much as his STR and CHA, making hammer feats a little harder to get.

Furthermore, a tertiary CON means less hit points, which is what he should be using to soak up damage taken from his naturally low AC and Reflex. However, I'm willing to make a few sacrifices, between an expectedly high Fortitude and Will. I'm just worried I'm overlooking something.

Lastly, what weapon would best suit a Thaneborn build?

 

[Aulirophile]

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Dex should be what nearly all your stat boosts go to, regardless of which type of Barbarian you're trying to be, so you can stay in Hide. Given that, Mastery feats are in no way difficult to qualify for.

Post #15 has sample builds, one of which is a Dragonborn Thaneborn. You'll see what I mean. It isn't updated to include Essentials and some other options that exist now, but is otherwise solid and a good starting point. I'd recommend ripping the stat allocations wholesale, at the very least.

 

[ourchair]

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Dex should be what nearly all your stat boosts go to, regardless of which type of Barbarian you're trying to be, so you can stay in Hide. Given that, Mastery feats are in no way difficult to qualify for.

Post #15 has sample builds, one of which is a Dragonborn Thaneborn. You'll see what I mean. It isn't updated to include Essentials and some other options that exist now, but is otherwise solid and a good starting point. I'd recommend ripping the stat allocations wholesale, at the very least.

LOL, I read this one but I guess I kind of didn't mention it because I felt like it didn't go into build strategies (particularly ability spread configurations per build) as well as the other Handbooks have, and instead opted to simply make feature selection recommendations.

I kinda wish I could get away with the CHA 18, if only to max out powers like Shatterbone Strike.

 

[Destil]

You can do 18 Str/18 Cha, but you'll pretty much need to take chainmail (and ideally scale) armor feats.

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

You can do 18 Str/18 Cha, but you'll pretty much need to take chainmail (and ideally scale) armor feats.

This. I've seen a Str/Cha Thaneborn in hide armor at Level 8, and it's not pretty. Get Con 13 and go for heavy armor, and consider taking Heavy Armor Agility (from the Heroes of X books) to make up for reduced mobility.

I'd probably make him an axe user as well, the axe feats need less Con than the hammer-related ones if I'm not mistaken. A halberd would be a good backup weapon in case you're immobilized or otherwise unable to reach your target.

EDIT: Have a look at the alternate racial power, Dragonfear, if you've got access to DDI. It's quite fitting for the leader-secondary Thaneborn.

 

[ourchair]

Thanks for the suggestions.

So based on those it's

a) rely on moderate CON to support axes and heavy armor, or I'm going to have b) sacrifice a bit of CHA to get DEX.

Incidentally, my party (I'm the one who DMed them for five levels) consists of a

1) Gnome Fey Pact Warlock MC Rogue: Sneak of Shadows
2) Kobold Quick Battlemind
3) Dwarf Battlerager Fighter
4) Gnome Sun Warpriest (Essentials)
5) Halfling Centered Breath Monk

other members who have appeared in past sessions and will appear in future ones are:

5) Dwarf Pursuit Avenger
6) Gnome Enchanter Mage (Essentials)

Part of my indecision is based on the uncertainty of whether to focus on the damage output or take the minor in buffing that is the Thaneborn style.

 

[Herschel]

With two defenders you could skip Con and boost Dex say 18 Str, 16 Dex, 15 Chr post-racial, boosting Str/Chr to 19/16/16 "now". Your Dex will fall behind a bit but you won't have the abysmal AC/Reflex to deal with.

As for weapons I prefer Tridents, swords and Glaives for battle leader types.

 

[ourchair]

With two defenders you could skip Con and boost Dex say 18 Str, 16 Dex, 15 Chr post-racial, boosting Str/Chr to 19/16/16 "now". Your Dex will fall behind a bit but you won't have the abysmal AC/Reflex to deal with.

Wait I'm a little confused, so you mean pre-racial STR 16, DEX 16, CHA 13? And pre-stat bump, yes?

 

[Herschel]

Yes.

 

[Destil]

I'd say go with 16 Str, 16 Cha, 13 Con, 11 10 8 and take chainmail and scale as your first two feats, if you were eying 18 Cha for the Thaneborn kickers. Dragonborn get a bit of a bonus from Con, if you make it to epic 15 is enough to qualify for some Axe related feats, and your AC will be higher. Reflex defense will suck but you Will will be a lot higher than most front-line types.