When to rage effectively?

[demon_jr]

Last game session, I raged for the first time in a long while.

I had forgotten how much useful this ability was.

My question is how do you determine what point during the battle to rage or are there times when you rage outside of battle?

A factor for me is how I want to fight during a battle.

I like to use wands and use the "feint" option quite often during a fight. I am not sure if raging prevents this, but if I am raging, I am mainly going to just be swinging like crazy (full-attack) and not try anthing fancy.

Another factor is the duration of the battle.

My rage lasts 9 rounds, but there have been some battles that have lasted longer than that. I don't want to rage at the start of battle and then become fatigued while the battle is still going on.

Another factor is the "final boss element".

Also, I don't want to waste a rage on some "scrub" or "random encounter", but sometimes it's hard to tell with the encounter. I don't mind so much nowadays since I can rage 3 times per day now. I prefer to rage when it is the "final boss" or at least one of his lieutenants or second-in-commands.

 

[zorlag]

MotW feats

Masters of the Wild has some very useful feats for people with rage ability. Destructive rage for those moments you just must SMASH something like door to pieces. Extra Raging to ease up your mind about having only one rage per day (It gives you 2 extra per day)... Check it out.

Z.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Yup, not being able to rage 4/day sucks. There's an easy way around it.

You might not even know when you're fighting a boss, BTW, but if you are having trouble killing things, use that rage.

Even if you don't have that rage when you face the boss, you killed the lackeys much more quickly (and so suffered less damage and less resource loss) putting you in a better position to smack down the boss.

If you know you are facing the boss, rage as soon as you are able to get a full-round attack. If you rage, you may kill your opponent before the rage is over. If not, the penalties aren't that big.

I don't think you can use magic items while raging; feinting is probably up to the DM (I would say no).

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

You can't use the Expertise feat, cast spells, or do anything that requires concentration.

If I were a DM, I would allow use of command word activated items--boots of speed, flaming swords, scabbard of keen edges, etc. I would also allow use of potions (it's pretty important for a high level barbarian to be able to gulp down a few cure potions before his rage ends and he loses enough hit points to put him at -20).

Scrolls are definitely out though.

I think wands and staves would be as well.

My rule would probably follow something like this: if it requires spellcasting ability to use, it can't be used while raging. If it doesn't, it can be.

I don't think you can use magic items while raging; feinting is probably up to the DM (I would say no).