What are the best feats for a barbarian?

[Nazhkandrias]

True that, and that's a really cool image--that feat combo is the perfect way to represent that style of fighting. For extra style points, since the enemy hits you anyway, ditch all armour and clothing and just wear war paint!

:\ Umm, terribly sorry, but I must recommend against that one part. That's the domain of the BoEF...

 

[Nifft]

Leadership.

One barbarian is nasty. A group of barbarians is a HORDE!

"Check out the horde on Brad!"
"Thog want horde. Thog wish Charisma not dump stat."

-- N

 

[Rystil Arden]

:\ Umm, terribly sorry, but I must recommend against that one part. That's the domain of the BoEF...

And, y'know, the actual Celts?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I made a Level 14 Half-Orc Barbarian for a PbP and took the following feats.

Power Attack
Improved Unarmed Strike
Improved Grapple
Improved Critical
Dodge

I had a Falchion as my main weapon so Improved Critical meant that I had a threat range of 15-20.

Power Attack is an obvious choice. I needed Improved Unarmed Strike to get Improved Grapple. Improved Grapple may or may not be useful, depending on what creatures you come up against. You should be able to beat most humanoids in a grapple, provided you have a reasonable strength. If you are going to face a lot of really strong monsters then these 2 feats might be better spend elsewhere.

If you do decide to take Improved Critical, see if you can get some Oil of Bless Weapon. If you threaten while this on your weapon, the crit is automatically confirmed. For it's price it is well worth the money.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Nazhkandrias]

And, y'know, the actual Celts?

I know, I just couldn't resist.

 

[RangerWickett]

But now it can hit the Barbarian automatically on a full Power Attack. For instance, a Full Power Attacking Young Adult dragon has only +8 to hit (because it just Power Attacked for 19), and lower on its not claw attacks (maybe +6 with Multiattack). It's a CR 10 opponent, so we'll make RW's Barbarian level 10, which means he Shock Troopered for 10, leaving him at his regular AC - 18. Let's be generous and say that the Barbarian has 26 AC normally. So the dragon would barely ever hit with that Power Attack (needs 18 for claws, 20 else). Now that AC is 8. Free hits except on a 1.

A 10th level barbarian with a 26 AC? The heck? I suppose if you put all your money in defenses (you are supposed to have about 49k in money at 10th level), sure. You could have +3 mithral full plate (19,500), +1 animated heavy shield (9,330), +2 ring of protection (8,000), +2 amulet of natural armor (8,000), and gloves of dexterity +2 (4,000), with a starting Dexterity of 14. You end up with an AC of 31 (+11 armor, +3 shield, +2 deflection, +2 natural, +3 dexterity).

Of course, when I made a character with those feats, I had a Dexterity of 8, wore no armor, and liked to have the party wizard enlarge me. With my base AC of 9, at 6th level I could be large (-1 from lower Dex, -1 from size), charge (-2), be offensive (-4), and recklessly raging (-4), while combat bruting (-6). My AC reached -9. *grin*

Of course, with a falchion I had a +18 attack bonus (+6 base, +1 weapon, +4 base strength, +1 enlarged strength, -1 size penalty, +3 rage, +2 reckless, and +2 charge), and dealt 2d6+25 damage (large falchion, +1 weapon, +6 base strength, +1.5 enlarged strength, +4.5 raged strength, and +12 power attack).

At 10th level with the character, I would have spent my money on my weapon, on potions of flying and enlarge, and a belt of strength and amulet of health. And lots of potions of cure light wounds.

 

[AnonymousOne]

"Check out the horde on Brad!"
"Thog want horde. Thog wish Charisma not dump stat."

-- N

Priceless.

 

[Rystil Arden]

A 10th level barbarian with a 26 AC? The heck? I suppose if you put all your money in defenses (you are supposed to have about 49k in money at 10th level), sure. You could have +3 mithral full plate (19,500), +1 animated heavy shield (9,330), +2 ring of protection (8,000), +2 amulet of natural armor (8,000), and gloves of dexterity +2 (4,000), with a starting Dexterity of 14. You end up with an AC of 31 (+11 armor, +3 shield, +2 deflection, +2 natural, +3 dexterity).

Of course, when I made a character with those feats, I had a Dexterity of 8, wore no armor, and liked to have the party wizard enlarge me. With my base AC of 9, at 6th level I could be large (-1 from lower Dex, -1 from size), charge (-2), be offensive (-4), and recklessly raging (-4), while combat bruting (-6). My AC reached -9. *grin*

Of course, with a falchion I had a +18 attack bonus (+6 base, +1 weapon, +4 base strength, +1 enlarged strength, -1 size penalty, +3 rage, +2 reckless, and +2 charge), and dealt 2d6+25 damage (large falchion, +1 weapon, +6 base strength, +1.5 enlarged strength, +4.5 raged strength, and +12 power attack).

At 10th level with the character, I would have spent my money on my weapon, on potions of flying and enlarge, and a belt of strength and amulet of health. And lots of potions of cure light wounds.

Yeah, I said I was being very generous with the 26 (you can actually hit 26 by spending half your cash--just reduce all those bonuses to +1 and lose the Dex item, but what Barbarian spends half their cash on defense? No real Barbarian!).

It's a pretty awesome image, though with that kind of AC, the trouble comes when the enemy survives the initial charge, or if the GM allows the Improved Combat Expertise feat, the trouble might start coming before that (that dragon has 45 AC if it ICEs for full, and it can easily afford to do that and full Power Attack against AC -9 )

 

[Nazhkandrias]

"Check out the horde on Brad!"
"Thog want horde. Thog wish Charisma not dump stat."

Don't we all love Thog? His singing is astounding...

"If you wanna be Thog's lover, you gotta get with Thog's friends..."

"Thog free! As free as the wind..."

Charisma might not actually be his dump stat... or he might have a couple of ranks in Perform (karaoke).

But, I digress... Yeah, a full-offensive Barbarian certainly fits the archetype, but it doesn't have to be that way. What with the increased Con from Rage and d12 HD, a Barbarian could conceivably be an excellent tank. Just throw in Heavy Armor Proficiency, and you're only missing out on Fast Movement. You're basically a Fighter with cooler abilities, a bigger Hit Die, and a badder attitude!

And please, don't neglect the Dex-based Barbarian! Str isn't everything, an archery build is a force to be reckoned with! Yes, your Rage won't boost your Dex, but that only increases accuracy. If you have 16 Str and 18 Dex, carry two Composite Longbows - one at a +3 Mighty, the other a +5 Mighty. Use the +3 one most of the time, and whip out the +5 for your Rages! You're looking at Greataxe-ish damage with good accuracy from 110 feet away!

 

[Nifft]

Charisma might not actually be his dump stat... or he might have a couple of ranks in Perform (karaoke).

Actually the only thing we're sure of is Int is his dump stat. Given how often he up-stages Nale, I'll bet he actually has a decent Charisma bonus.

Cheers, -- N