Boeroer

Right? Me too! Looked it up when I searched for a term that describes that behaviour.

Bittercut's plagued by a bug whereby its blade takes your primary color instead of staying its natural color. Hence, if you pick a light-blue tint for this build variant and simply quit the inventory screen, you'll get a bluish Bittercut Sadly, there's no color in the palette that matches the turquoise of Badgradr's Barricade. You'd have to take a much darker turquoise (and that's hardly visible) or use gold. But yeah. that will work out of the character sheet. But every time I open it that greenish blade collides with the rest of the outfit - so no, not for me.

The flail only dazes occasionally and since I have already Dragon Leap (daze) and Echoing Shout (daze) or could even use Glittering Gauntlets I left the Tear out - its damage is too low for HoF.

@limaxophobiacq: Sure. Although the Binding Rope is perfect for HoF because stuck targets have lower ACC and their defenses get debuffed. Better than a belt of Eotun CON (is it that belt? Looks like it). Did yoi mean the looped rope? That's on my priest, too. I didn't take Barbaric Retaliation because this build doesn't profit much from it and it's primarily about tanking, then comes damage dealing. So my focus was on survivability first. Once you have HoF (in a party) you don't really need Barbaric Retaliation - especially when you often not even get grazed (and a miss doesn't trigger retaliation). And against fast enemies that will graze/hit you retaliation is too whimpy to make a big difference. I would take Barbaric Retaliation + Blood Thirst on a pure dps barb though.

No, he meant a single update inside the beta, not the whole beta patch itself (I guess).

Come on! All the typing and fuzz for nothing... again?

Hi Andrea - when adding the new build "The Golden Dragon" to the list - could you make it so that the authors who get mentioned are Jojobobo and me (not only me)? Thanks a lot!

"Let's go to the Golden Dragon and ask for protection." "Why should we go to a fancy exotic restaurant? How are they supposed to... Ahhh - THAT Golden Dragon! Right!" - Two shop owners who got bullied by thugs - Menu of the day: Appetizer: a fresh shout served with an echo First course: fiercest barbarian yelly Main course: sliced heart of fury with a taste of hunt Dessert: sweet minor fatigue, served with a bit of anger - Menu card of The Golden Dragon - The Golden Dragon is the wild, unconventional, but also posh counterpart to a usual bodyguard – distinguished by his frightening and threatening presense and his recklessness and his predilection to substitute raw aggression for discipline, but also by his showy style and his bravado. Lacking the accuracy and strong deflection of a fighter, the Golden Dragon makes up for this through intimidation, savagery and abilities tailored for repelling groups of enemies. The Golden Dragon is a challenge to deal with on a battlefield, though he is vulnerable if his nice shiny armor gets splattered with gore too much. The Golden Dragon loves to show off and uses illeism - usually referring to himself as "The Golden Dragon". Some say this man wasn't even born, but created by two animancers who realized their ideas of a perfect bodyguard... =================================== The Golden Dragon =================================== Difficulty: PotD v. 3.03 -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Barbarian -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Pale Elf -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Old Vailia - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats (character creation): MIG: 18 CON: 03 DEX: 04 PER: 16 INT: 19 RES: 18 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Stealth 0, Athl. 4, Lore 6, Mech. 0, Surv. 14 -------------------------------------------------------------- Abilities (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) Elemental Endurance (a) Barbaric Yell (!) Heart of Fury (!) Threatening Presence One Stands Alone ® Dragon Leap (!) Savage Defiance (!) Thick-Skinned Echoing Shout ® Talents Veteran's Recovery (!) Weapon & Shield Style (!) Stalwart Defiance ® Superior Deflection ® Spirit of Decay Weapon Focus: Ruffian Accurate Carnage Bear's Fortitude ® --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended): Weapon set 1: Bittercut (*legendary, *corrosive lash, *durgan refined) & Dragon's Maw Weapon Set 2: Captain Viccolo's Anger (*corrosive lash) & Little Savior Boots: Fenwalkers Head: Liripipe of Thinking Armor: The Golden Scales (*Durgan Reinforced) Neck: Cloak of Comfort Belt: Binding Rope Rings: Ring of Deflection, Ring of Protection Hands: Siegebreaker Gauntlets Quick slots: stuff ----------------------------------------------------------------- First of all - the basic idea for this build popped out of Jojobobo's head in a threat about barb tanks some months ago. We discussed some things and afte a while agreed that I would post the build (if it's viable) while he wanted to follow some different build ideas in detail (look at his Silver flash chanter build!). So, thanks Jojobobo for all the input! Your ideas proved to be very viable: this was the best main tank I ever played so far. Some people may know that I absolutely loath those pure tanks who can only soak damage and do nothing else - well, this is not one of those. Thanks to Heart of Fury and Bittercut, ombined with certain bashing shields, this "tank" did TWICE as much damage as my dps wizard in the same party - while being VERY sturdy even with dumped CON (more on that later). The main idea of this build is not only to stack defenses, but also to debuff enemies' ACC values. This not only helps our barbarian to tank better, but it's also benefical for our whole party's survival. Although he's slow, he should also be able to dish out good damage per hit. This is important for carnage and esp. later for HoF (attack speed doesn't matter there). When thinking about lowering enemies' ACC, things like dazing (-10 ACC and also -2 PER which leads to -12 ACC overall), frightened (-10 ACC) and so on come to mind. A barbarian can lower enemies' ACC in an AoE with abilities like shouts & leap, via items with auras, via spell binding or scrolls and also via carnage: ACC debuffing abilities: - Barbarian Yell frightens in a faily big AoE (-10 ACC) - Barbarian Shout terrifies in a really huge AoE (-20 ACC) - Dragon Leap dazes in an AoE which size is comparable to carnage's (-12 ACC) - Echoing Shout dazes in a ridiculously long AoE line (-12 ACC) - Threatening Presence causes sickened in a quite small AoE when you don't move. PER gets reduced. (-1 ACC) ACC debuffing via carnage: - Glittering Gauntlets daze on hit (-10 ACC) - Captain Viccolo's Anger causes Minor Fatigue on hit (-10 ACC) - Lost Thayn's Reach causes interfering on hit (-5 ACC) ACC debuffing via aura: - Executioner's Hood's Intimidating Presence causes frightened in a quite small AoE and has reduced ACC (-10 ACC) - Redfield's Harbinger aura causes -3 ACC in a quite small AoE (-3 ACC) ACC debuffing via spells/scrolls: - Elryn's Jacket has a spell chance of Eyestrike that blinds (-29 ACC) - Stuck via Binding Web or Binding Rope (-5 ACC) - Forgotten Tear of the Beloved has a daze spell chance (-10 ACC) Maybe I forgot something. Of course you could also use a weapon with overbearig or stun to lower enemies ACC to 0 if you crit - because disabled foes can't hit you. Based on this, I developed the barb you see above. Of course not all the things I mentioned above stack. So I tried to develop a char which isn't too micro-intense, can stack a good amount of ACC debuffs without too much fuzz, who is sturdy and - maybe most important - looks nice. At the same time there are only two bashing shields that are good with carnage & HoF: Badgradr's Barricade and Dragon's Maw. This limits the style options significantly I'd say. Here you see the outcomings. Let's talk about how I do encounters with him at lvl 16: 1.: The barb enters combat and then casts Echoing Shout, prefarably if a priest buffed his ACC. Enemies who run towards him get damaged and dazed: -12 ACC. 2.: The barb casts Stalwart Defiance - I know, why start healing right from the start? Well, because it also gives you +10 to all defenses and the start of the combat usually is the time where a main tank needs defenses the most. Think about the opening salves of Lagufaeth, wizards and stuff. His defeses are now +10. 3.: Then he yells his finest yell and causes frighten all around him in a big AoE. Best thing, again, would be to yell after your ACC got buffed by a fellow priest or so. The enemies' ACC is debuffed by additional 10 points. 3.: He jumps into the place with Dreagon Leap where he will hit most enemies with his HoF. If there were enemies without dazing, now they usually are dazed and even more damaged. 4.: He triggers HoF with Bittercut + Dragon's Maw, dealing tons of damage with the high dmage of bittercut and Taste of the Hunt from Dragon's Maw, not only diond raw damage but also completely healing (if even neccessary). Most of the time this means death for all enemies in range. It's awesome. 5.: If enemnies survived, he switches to "full tank mode" with Captein Viccolo's Anger & Little Savior and causes Minor Fatigue via carnage while buffing his and fellows' defenses via herald enchantment: -10 ACC of enemies, +5 to all our defenses, add. +5 to deflection. If you want, you can take Brbaric Shout, too. It#s a very strong debuff and totally fits the theme, I also had it for some time. But I realized I seldomly used it because usually the yell was enough. It doesn't stack with frightened and is per rest - so thought I'd take something else instead. All the debuffs and defense buffs stack, meaning we will have the equivalent of up to +47 points to all defenses - on top of your already great deflection and other defenses (which are balanced). This can be buffed further by any deflection or defense buff: the things the barb does stack with everything which is a great plus. So, for example a Circle of Defense would lead to +62 to all defenses (if you add up ACC debuffs and defense buffs). YOu could even buff deflection further with Shields for the Faithful - stacks! This is also the reason why I could easily dump CON to 3: you seldomly get hit. And even if: survival bonus (+60% healing) combined with Veteran's Recovery and Taste of the Hunt lead to full endurance all the time. And even with 5 CON (3 base + items) this barb has as much endurance as a fighter with 10 CON. Of course the early game is a more challanging this way. And sure, fortitude is a bit low - that's why I took Bear's Fortitude so that my defenses may be balanced. Of course you will meet enemies that are immune to dazing of frightening - but it's not very common that enemies are immune to both. And even then those encounters are not the toughest ones, so it doesn't matter at all. By the time you get HoF you can have Badgradr's Barricade, which works perfectly well with this build. In fact I'd say for offense it's even better than the Dragon's Maw - so it's a matter of taste. Down below I will also add a variant of this build with Badgrad'r Barricade. I took it until I got Dragon's Maw. Before the WHite March I used a large shield without bash with a common sabre - and thanks to the high PER it worked quite well for me. Because Dragon's Maw has this special look, for me the only armor that fits to it are the Golden Scales. And since now everything's golden, I had to put on th Liripipe of Thinking, because it's the only headgear with an enchantment that looks cool with this outfit. Of course there are better helmets out there - but I can't play when I must always fear that the dyrwooden style militia may arrest me because of fashion crimes. --- Variant A: The Golden Dragon with Godansthunyr ------------------------------------------------------------------ When using Godansthunyr, you can skip Spirit of Decay and take Vulnerable Attack instead. It also works well with HoF and it looks really badass with the shield and armor. Variant B: Veildancer ---------------------------- When using Badgradr's Barricade until the end things get difficult with your outfit. You can either use a generic armor that can be dyed (crucible knights' plate looks nice) or you choose the monk's robes from the Abbot of the Abbey of the Fallen Moon. It's ok to have lower DR. Thick Skinned + Second Skin will give you +5 to physical damage and you will be faster. It's a bit more dps and a bit less sturdyness (while still being very sturdy). You could swap a bit MIG for CON if you want, but I tried it with the original stats and it works fine. Too bad there are only unenchatned helmets that look cool with this outfit - but on the other hand: the game is so easy later on that you can favour style over power, right? This doesn't look as a golden dragon at all - hence the alternative name. Also: Bittercut's green stain doesn't look so great with all that turquoise, so I took Resolution instead which also works really well - with Thrust of Tattered Veils you'll do crush damage, so the singe damage type isn't too bad. And annihilation with HoF is nice of course. Here you can also skip Spirit of Decay and use Vulnerable Attack or something else you like - Penetrating SHot works with Thirst of Tattered Veils without slowing you down in melee - this can also be a good pick. Or Gallant's Focus maybe?

You can do it with an unenchanted torch and a large shield - then it's not overpowered.

Cool - but the picture of your character gives me instant eye cancer.

When most enemies die right after the first attack, then there's nobody left to leech from with the second.

If your ACC is high enough (e.g. if you have a fighter with Disc. Barrage) then wielding a single weapon with overbearing (We Toki) is really effective. None of the dragons is immune to prone - they only have resistances which you can overcome with high ACC and debuffs. Last playthrough I always charged in with a fighter and prone-locked the dragon. With a fighter that's easy of course because he can also have 3 Knockdowns per encounter which only have to graze. I can't remember if any of the dragons is immune to stun. If not, then a custom Cladhaliath would be even better. It can stun on crit and also get coordinating which will give you +9 ACC compared to other weapons. Another nice "weapon" for most dragon fights is high ACC + Munacra Arret. A paladin with Sworn Enemy and Zealous Focus can crit with a charm. The dragon will get controlled for over 20 secs with decent INT. Charmed enemies suffer from hefty debuffs.

Is it so that the left hand hits first with HoF? Never tested that to be honest. I think sometimes there are "hidden" buffs on enemies which also get affected by Spelltongue. Remember when Deprive the Unworthy or Arcane Dampener removed the immunities of enemies? I think it's something like that. Loren Tyr would know. My last experience was that Spelltongue steals durations from all enemies, but sometimes very little amounts (esp. when I see no active buffs) and sometimes huge amounts. But I didn't use it too much lately.

Clear Out won't work I guess. It doesn't use your weapons, but has it's own AoE base damage. In fact, it's completely independent from any weapon you wear - it also works if you have ranged weapons equipped (also see the looters in Whitestone Hollow that do Clear Outs with their crossbows). So I think it doesn't care for the Spirit Lance's AoE effect. So I guess we're stuck with Knockdown 1/encounter. Nice addition to AoE Envenomed Strike and Sever the Soul (untested), but nothing too spectacular if we can't find anything else.

Why two?

Ouuh! You are right - good find. I totally overlooked the watcher abilities. Hopefully it works with Citzal's Spirit Lance.

Yes, but it's very rare to steal Citzal's Spirit Lance. Most of the time you steal really crappy spells. A wizard could cast Citzal's Spirit Lance at will - and Knockdown he can get via Girdle of the Driving Wave. Ican't think of any other special attack you can get via items... is there any (besides those Siegebreaker Gauntlets with Clear Out)?

Hi! I just discovered that Citzal's Spirit Lance + Knockdown allows you to prone in an AoE. I have a fighter called "The Leaping Frog" with Acuan Giamas (spell stealing morning star) and when I fought against High Arcanist Ysly I stole the lance and did some Knockdown with it. Funny thing! I suppose this also works with a wizard + Girdle of the Driving Wave. It's "only" 1/encounter, but still. I think Envenomed Strike also works in an AoE with the lance - like with implement's blast. Sadly, Runner's Wounding Shot does not. Glittering Gauntlets should also daze in an AoE with the lance. I see a build coming up.

You are already dazing with Dragon Leap, so you don't need the flail actually

Yes - but that thing is two handed. Besides that it's a great piece of equipment.

That is true. But nobody says that you can't do both. Normally a character who is good at scoring crits also has a high interrupt value because of high PER.

It works with "healing received" bonuses from things like belt of bountiful healing and survival.

The mages with Brynlod's bounty use it - and for them it worked quite well (ouch). Or maybe that was Major Arcane Reflection? Can't remember...

The wizards were hard. But in the end I wiped the whole bounty away with stacking those pulsing spells like Chillfog and so on. Always works.

You can reduce the will defense with a frightening or even terrifying yell/shout and Threatening Presence. With those two the zyphyr aura will hit most of the time. But yeah - the weapon is too slow to lock enemies comletely with interrupts. If you have a party, a better setup is to use a chanter who wields it and also chants "Thick grew Their Tongues". Then use a wizard with Expose Vulnerabilities/the Golden Gaze together with an interrupt barb who aims for 0 recovery with that dual warhammer setup or Vile Loner's etc. You will stack a lot of concentration debuffs and both wizard and barb can then interrupt-lock enemies in an AoE.