PEACH Barbarian|Fighter/Avenger/Draeven Marauder

[darkbard]

Greetings, folks! This is the first time I've posted a character build thread here, but, what with the closure of the WotC boards, where so many CharOp minds made their homes for so long, there is a first time for everything!

In any event, I'm looking for some feedback on this striker character, who is in a party with a Shaman|Cleric leader, Rogue striker, Starlock controller, and Cleric|Fighter/Warden defender. The leader has excellent enabling powers, particularly those that grant charge attacks and the like. Basic strategy is crit fishing via multiple attacks (RoB and SoB), coupled with Avenger's Oath of Enmity feature. Currently the character is just at the brink of 7th level, but I'm looking to plan for the future. I'm particularly interested if any of the former WotC regulars (MwaO, zathris, Noctaem, etc.) whom I sometimes see posting here these days have any input.

We play with inherent bonuses, so the gear is about 1/2 of what might be expected for this level, but the DM sticks closely to our wish lists in recompense.

Many thanks!

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Torqu, level 14
Half-Orc, Barbarian/Fighter, Draeven Marauder
Hybrid Talent Option: Barbarian Armored Agility
Inherent Bonuses
Auspicious Birth (Auspicious Birth Benefit)
Theme: Ironwrought

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 22, CON 12, DEX 20, INT 9, WIS 16, CHA 11

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 16, CON 11, DEX 15, INT 8, WIS 14, CHA 10


AC: 30 Fort: 32 Ref: 29 Will: 26
HP: 115 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 28

TRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +16, Athletics +18, Perception +15, Religion +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +6, Bluff +7, Diplomacy +7, Dungeoneering +10, Endurance +10, Heal +10, History +6, Insight +10, Intimidate +9, Nature +10, Stealth +11, Streetwise +7, Thievery +11

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Ironwrought Attack: Inevitable Strike
Half-Orc Racial Power: Furious Assault
Fighter Attack: Combat Challenge
Avenger Feature: Oath of Enmity
Barbarian Attack 1: Howling Strike
Fighter Attack 1: Brash Strike
Barbarian Attack 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian Utility 2: Shrug It Off
Fighter Attack 3: Rain of Blows
Barbarian Attack 3: Thundering Howl
Fighter Attack 5: Brutal Advance
Fighter Utility 6: Kirre's Roar
Fighter Attack 9: Jackal Strike
Fighter Utility 10: Defensive Advance
Draeven Marauder Attack 11: Impaling Strike
Draeven Marauder Utility 12: Exultant Withdrawal
Barbarian Attack 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Desperate Fury)

FEATS
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Gouge)
Level 2: Disciple of Divine Wrath
Level 6: Superior Will
Level 8: Two-Handed Weapon Expertise
Level 10: Thirst for Battle
Level 11: Improved Defenses
Level 11: Icy Heart [retrained from Silvery Glow]
Level 12: Hybrid Talent
Level 14: Headsman's Chop

ITEMS
Frost Gouge +1 x1
Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier) x1
Ring of Giants x1
Bestial Earthhide Armor +3 x1
Boots of the Mighty Charge x1
Lesser Badge of the Berserker +1 x1
Belt of Vim (heroic tier) x1
====== End ======

 

[MwaO]

Some notes:
Okay, I think when building a Barbarian|Fighter, you need to decide a couple of things:
Am I going for Fort/Ref Defense? Then I need a starting Dex of post-racial 16+ and always boost Str/Dex. If I want Superior Will? Then I need a starting Wis/Cha of post-racial 15.
Am I going for Fort/Will Defense? Then I need to not worry about Dex and put my Hybrid Talent feat into Fighter Armor.

You seem to be doing a mix of those which is leaving you with a really bad AC until Paragon. Which makes Kirre's Roar less useful, especially given Ironwrought. I'd pick up Glowering Threat over Kirre's Roar to give the other Defender's marked targets a real problem in who they attack.

No Cunning Stalker or Lasting Frost?

With the charge options, Trip Up is a really good Fighter 7 instead of Thundering Howl at higher levels.

Not a big fan of Brutal Advance given you already have multi-attack options and very low numbers of minor attacks. Rain of Blades is easy to distribute damage.

 

[darkbard]

Thanks, Mommy, for the considered advice. When I first put this character together, it was recommended I not worry much about defense (thus the delayed Improved Defenses and generally poor defenses in Heroic) since enemies should be dropping with frequency around me. And that's been true to an extent, but my play style and low defenses do mean I warrant most of the leader's healing attention (along with the defender, of course). To obviate splitting the stat bumps between Dex and Wis (one time), do you suggest I just simply swap the starting Dex and Wis scores? Remember, I do need a 15 in both for Rain of Blows and to qualify for Superior Will, as you note.

I'm reluctant to wear scale armor because movement is such a big part of this character's schtick, but if you think this is absolutely foolhardy, I'm perfectly willing to consider otherwise.

Glowering Threat over Kirre's Roar makes good sense given what you say here.

Feats are so tight on this build! I can see Lasting Frost over Headsman's Chop, although between my own proning attacks and the defender's mark of storm/lightning weapon/rushing cleats build, prone enemies are aplenty, and the defender is a wood elf, so she's often going early in the round. Given that, would you make the switch? Over what would you prioritize Cunning Stalker?

I've gone back and forth a dozen times over Brutal Advance vs. Rain of Steel, but I had not considered Trip Up.

I suppose my biggest concerns are about the character's defenses vs. mobility/range. We started play at 6, the game went on hiatus for about a year, and we just recently started up again, so I have no more than a handful of encounters to judge how serious these issues may be over the next several levels.

In any event, thanks muchly for the response; it's good to be able to continue conversations with you even after WotC closed their boards down.

 

[MwaO]

It isn't that it is necessarily foolhardy - simply that you're a melee PC who has essentially a base AC of 15 from 8-10th because you're trying to do too much. If I were going to do that, I'd look at Elf as a starting race - you get a move of 7, you can have a Str 16, Dex 18, Con 11, Wis 15 for a base AC of 17 in Hide Armor, and then always raise Str/Dex. Yes, Str gets dinged, but you have Elven Accuracy to compensate. If you want to do Heavy Armor, then Human with its extra feat again gets you that accuracy+AC and you can go 16/14/14/13 to get both Rain of Blows/Superior Will going by 8th.

I think one of the things to ask yourself is how often are you actually seeing Daze/Stun in play - one of the very common things to happen in optimized play is that everyone has Superior Will, so the DM simply stops putting them into encounters. If everyone but you has it, it may be one of those herd immunity things where you can simply not have it and still won't see Daze/Stun in play.

Lasting Frost - Rain of Blows & Storm of Blades don't prone and set up Lasting Frost. You don't want to wait to use your triple attacks.

No problem at all!