Barbarian

[Teapot Salty]

Hey guys. Barbarians are awesome, but I have a few questions:

What race? I'm darting between dragonborn, half-orc and maybe half-elf.

Ability score preference. Is it str>con>dex>cha>wis>int? Or something else?

What feats to take?

Is there anything it can do that the ranger can't do better?

Thanks, and as always, go nuts.

[GPuzzle]

Dragonborn, Vryloka, Half-Orc, Genasi, Goliath and Warforged the best races for them. Dragonborn and Vryloka are the only two STR+CHA races in the game. DEX is important for Barbarians. Genasi mixes well with Firewind Blade Shenanigans. Goliath play off-defender very well. The racial PP for Warforgeds is great for charging.

Ability Score: STR, DEX, CON/CHA, WIS/CON, CHA/WIS, INT.

Feats: Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus/ Elemental Related other thing, Overpowering Charge. Other than that, nothing that isn't build dependent.

Yes. He can choose which target to kill with more ease. He can charge better. He is more mobile. He is much, much harder to kill. Barbarians have those edges above Rangers.

[masteraleph]

Human is a perfectly fine choice. Don't use Half-Elf; you don't get the strength bonus and there aren't any at-wills worth poaching, really. Genasi is great, but Genasi is great at everything (except when it's not, in which case Revenant Genasi is great at it). Any STR-DEX, STR-CHA, or potentially STR-WIS race is perfectly fine.

Regarding ability scores- Probably STR, DEX, CHA (if you're a Thaneborn) or WIS, CON, the other of CHA or WIS, and INT. STR for attacking and Fort, DEX for AC, Reflex, and initiative, and CHA/WIS for Will. The reason not to dump both of those is that you want a decent Will score, and want to be able to take Superior Will by Epic if not by Paragon. I tend to think Thaneborn is the best option because of these things (technically a hybrid barbarian is the best, but that's more advanced).

Weapon Proficiency, Expertise, Superior Will when you can, Weapon Focus (or a damage type bonus feat when you gain a way to add/change keywords). After that, it's build dependent.

Barbarians are tougher than rangers and generally more mobile. They potentially have a few powers to also let them get rid of status effects. And they can target whoever they want, because there's no Hunter's Quarry and none of the Prime Shot feats in Paragon where you need to get your allies away from you. Unfortunately, your dailies are pretty terrible.

[unwise]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the Striker mechanic of the Barbarian? Their at-wills seem kind of nasty and I like their daily powers, but what is their schtick to make them do extra damage? Their version of backstab, hunters quarry, static bonuses etc.

[GPuzzle]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the Striker mechanic of the Barbarian? Their at-wills seem kind of nasty and I like their daily powers, but what is their schtick to make them do extra damage? Their version of backstab, hunters quarry, static bonuses etc.

It's literally rolled right into their powers. They have no "feature" (well, there's Rampage, but you need to optimize around it to milk it - and it's a free action) that boosts their damage because their powers deal so much damage. I mean, Hurricane of Blades. It's nearly a Daily.

[Dimers]

Which is why the hybrid Barbarian doesn't need a line about "only works when you use a barbarian power". Of course the barbarian striker mechanic only works for barbarian powers -- because if you use anything else, you're not getting a big pile of [W]s. (Plus Rampage inherently only works on barbarian crits anyway.)

[Leewei]

Ability Score: STR, DEX, CON/CHA, WIS/CON, CHA/WIS, INT.

I agree with this stat prioritization. Str and Dex primary work well for whirling slayers. Con tertiary for rageblood or thunderborn; Cha tertiary for thaneborn.

[Teapot Salty]

Hang on, I don't see any abilities that say "you are raging now" were are they?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Hang on, I don't see any abilities that say "you are raging now" were are they?

IIRC, all the dailies are rages. When you use one, you are raging.

Grey Wolf

[Teapot Salty]

IIRC, all the dailies are rages. When you use one, you are raging.

Grey Wolf

Ohhhhh, that makes sense, are you only raging for the duration of the power?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Ohhhhh, that makes sense, are you only raging for the duration of the power?

Yes, or until the end of the encounter (whichever comes first). Some DMs I have had have allowed me to keep a power going, though, if I forgo the 5 minute break (others, only if the whole team skipped it).

I have never played barbarian, but I believe the dailies have special length conditions (like "until you stop being bloodied") and the like. SOmeone with easy access to the manuals might give you a good example.

Grey Wolf

[Leewei]

Ohhhhh, that makes sense, are you only raging for the duration of the power?

Correct. Rages are very similar to Stances. They last until End of Encounter, until you voluntarily end it, or until you are unconscious. These powers have the Rage keyword. Some paragon paths also provide a daily Rage power.

[Zaq]

As an aside, most high-op Barbarians ignore their Rage powers, because the Rage powers themselves tend to be underwhelming. Very few of them are multi-hit, and in 4e, multi-hit powers are pretty much the One True Path to Power for darn near every striker out there. You're generally much better off using multi-hit encounter powers instead of lackluster daily powers, regardless of the secondary effects of those daily powers. You're going to kill more things faster (thereby fulfilling your role as a striker) by focusing on strong encounter powers. Don't be fooled by "if you're raging, xyz happens" riders on your at-wills; you don't want to be using at-wills until you're out of encounter powers anyway, so spending actions to boost those at-wills is still not a winning trade until, at a minimum, turn 3 or turn 4. (By the same token, feats that only work when you're raging are not generally a great idea.)

I know that it flies in the face of what you expect from a Barbarian, but in 4e, Rage powers are almost always traps. You can smash faces in much better with strong encounter powers, no Rage required.

[Inevitability]

I have never played barbarian, but I believe the dailies have special length conditions (like "until you stop being bloodied") and the like. SOmeone with easy access to the manuals might give you a good example.

They don't. Dailies last until the end of the encounter or for 5 minutes, whatever comes first. No exceptions.

[eggabubu8e]

So I play Barbarians a lot, I really love them and think they are great, but it's got some traps to it. Just to mention it, don't go thaneborn, or any +cha race for barbarian, it traps you into wanting to take powers that have this weird sudo leader effect and that's not what the barbarian does, it charges. Now I'm not saying thaneborn can't charge, but Whirlers and Ragebloods do this better. And the choice between the Whirlers and Ragebloods is the choice between having Dex being your secondary vs. Con being your secondary. Also, aside from generic builds, there is a really funny combo you can make by hybriding Cleric and taking Weapon of the Astral Flame + Thunder Hawk Rage(Grab a Axe and Headsmans Chop for extra fun). Races I tend to stick to are Bugbear, Half-Orc, Goliath, Warforged, and Minotaur.

[Laserlight]

As an aside, most high-op Barbarians ignore their Rage powers, because the Rage powers themselves tend to be underwhelming. Very few of them are multi-hit, and in 4e, multi-hit powers are pretty much the One True Path to Power for darn near every striker out there. You're generally much better off using multi-hit encounter powers instead of lackluster daily powers, regardless of the secondary effects of those daily powers. You're going to kill more things faster (thereby fulfilling your role as a striker) by focusing on strong encounter powers. Don't be fooled by "if you're raging, xyz happens" riders on your at-wills; you don't want to be using at-wills until you're out of encounter powers anyway, so spending actions to boost those at-wills is still not a winning trade until, at a minimum, turn 3 or turn 4. (By the same token, feats that only work when you're raging are not generally a great idea.)

I know that it flies in the face of what you expect from a Barbarian, but in 4e, Rage powers are almost always traps. You can smash faces in much better with strong encounter powers, no Rage required.

If you optimize for it, your At Will Howling Strike can be pretty nasty. Take a vanguard gouge and horned helm, MC into Fighter for Surprising Charge, if you get CA you're doing something like 4d6b1 + 1d8 + 2d6 plus your static bonus.

[GPuzzle]

I think I reached 16d6b1 once with Howling Strike using a Warforged Barbarian without much optimization. Horned Helm, Thundergod Weapon, Warforged Juggernaut, Gouge, Surprising Charge... And I think that's it. Oh, and those hand items that make you reroll all 1s.

It was nasty.