Build Help: Solo POTD Barbarian Multiclass

[Sire Of The Shadow]

im looking for some advice on a barbarian build to solo POTD w/ upscaling. Thus far I’ve been bouncing from new character to new character (think I’ve restarted 14 or 15 times). At this point I haven’t finished the game even once or started any of the new content. What I have done is hunt down most of the achievements, explore most islands, pillage every ship, and recruit every companion (and most of their quests). I’m ready for some solo OP play to finish out the game.

 

What I’m hoping is that it’s possible to create a barbarian that is unkillable and can solo all the content in the game. I prefer not to use a rogue as a multiclass choice, as I’ve already been down that route with all 3 subclasses (assassins made me feel dirty). Currently I’m leaning toward Beserker/devoted or Beserker/helwalker. I’m open to other options and looking for advice.

 

Thanks for reading,

[Metaturtle]

I dunno if I can recommend helwalker/zerker in solo since the person mostly killing you will be yourself. I think a pure barbarian performs better overall in solo though the devoted pen bonus is nice since the upscaled armor on top of potd armor is annoying.

[baldurs_gate_2]

He wants a unkillable solo barbarian and thinks about helwalker, what receives up to 50% bonus damage, based on wounds. Not a good idea. Barbarian is always squishy if you don't go for high deflection or have unbeding, but then the damage lacks compared to a marauder multiclass.

[Haplok]

I also advise against Helwalker. It will make you too squishy, particularly for solo.

 

The Morningstar Brute builds are pretty cool. Morningstar modal lowers enemy Fortitude by 25 points, Staggered you apply with hits after Spirit Frenzy another 10 and they can make good use of that with Mule Kick and later passively with Brute Force. Eventually they can apply the debuffs in aoe with Clear Out.

 

Here's one:

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/104272-class-build-william-will-breaker-12-solo-potd-brute/

 

Note I would not dump Constitution that much, particularly for solo and, like Boreorer pointed out in the comments, I'd definitely pick Mule Kick & Clear Out.

 

 

One other solid Brute build that takes advantage of a very cool weapon is Cyrus' Stormbringer:

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/105374-roleplay-build-the-stormbringer-brute-off-tankaoe-nuker-for-potd-upscaled-updated/

[Dorftek]

For a relaxed solo playthrough go with a paladin or fighter multiclass.

[Haplok]

Well, Brute IS a Fighter multiclass

[Judicator]

I'll add my vote to Brute as well. Devoted/Berserker hits hard and lands some pretty sweet crits while not giving up too much defense.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Judicator

[Clerith]

For a relaxed solo playthrough go with a paladin or fighter multiclass.

This.

 

Fighter is probably stronger at higher levels.

[coldmind]

get chanter it has perfect synergy with barb

[Manveru123]

I don't see how. Care to elaborate?

[Boeroer]

Killing your summons for Bloodlust and Blood Thirst maybe.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Boeroer

[Sire Of The Shadow]

Wow tons of reply’s! Thanks so much for the feedback.

 

I kind of knew Helwalker wouldn’t be optimal, but I was just hoping there was a way. Not to worry my heart wasn’t set on it anyways.

 

In terms of min/max. What starting stats would I need for beserker/devoted or beserker/bleak Walker?

[1TTFFSSE]

You can probably make it through if you just go generic monk/berserker and pump constitution to 20 though the start of the game up to the point you get legendary equipment can be rough.

 

People soloed the game with marauder which is very squishy too or at least as squishy as monk (generic)/berserker so it should be possible.

 

But with upcoming nerf to dual wielding it makes it harder because those build like marauder or ravager got by by having very good offense especially offense and just enough defense to survive.   

 

Paladin and fighter multi is kind of the easy choice because of the defensives. 

 

on solo zerker /multi I'd go

 

might: high to max

con: high to max

dex: base 10 or 8 with blessings, you can get away with 7/8 total actually)

perc: high to max

res: base to high

int: whatever is left

Edited August 31, 2018 by 1TTFFSSE

[Haplok]

Note that stats will vary depending on what multiclass you pick. If you choose Fighter or Chanter, I'd probably not dump Int, but try to have it high-ish. 

[coldmind]

Killing your summons for Bloodlust and Blood Thirst maybe.

 

when i played this duo i doesn`t need or focus at summoning at all : carnage, frenzy, spamming autoattack like crazy and buff yourself from chants is all you need

[Boeroer]

I agree that Berserker/Helwaker is really not optimal for solo. In a party it can work and be fun (if you make sure he gets lots of healing attention) but in a solo game... THing is the self damage of Frenzy scales with Power Level and gets influeces by MIG as well. While the Power Level scales the base damage up the immense MIG or the Helwalker + Frenzy give this increased base damage another boost - AND then comes the 50% additional damage you receive from the Helwalker passive. It's already a bit tricky to keep a high level Berserker alive - even without the Helwalker part.

 

I actually liked a Corpse Eater on my first solo attempt with a barb. The +2 power level from certain food is great and the occasional healing and rage regain are nice as well - while the increased rage costs aren't too severe because you use a lot of auto-attacks when soloing anyway. I mainly used rage for Frenzy and Savage Defiance.  

[Boeroer]

 

Killing your summons for Bloodlust and Blood Thirst maybe.

 

when i played this duo i doesn`t need or focus at summoning at all : carnage, frenzy, spamming autoattack like crazy and buff yourself from chants is all you need

 

And which buffing chants synergized particularly well with a barbarian in your opinion?   

[Clerith]

^ Corpse Eater solo with max Con is LEGIT.

[Boeroer]

I guess so. Sadly I didn't finish it due to a complete system breakdown.

[mant2si]

Berserker/(Priest of Wael/Skaen) pretty fun option, until Arcane Veil or Escape give you +50 deflection and you have +50% healing buff and Robus inspiration

Edited August 31, 2018 by mant2si

[coldmind]

 

 

Killing your summons for Bloodlust and Blood Thirst maybe.

 

when i played this duo i doesn`t need or focus at summoning at all : carnage, frenzy, spamming autoattack like crazy and buff yourself from chants is all you need

 

And which buffing chants synergized particularly well with a barbarian in your opinion?   

 

 

any what can increase your defences such as boost your deflection at chanter lvl 4 or that give you 10 fort and will from the start and there`s many more. with troubadour you can stack it through the fight and gave no problem to soak up damage.

[Boeroer]

That's right and nice - but that's not really a special synergy with the barbarian, is it? Anyways... Chanter/Barb is surely a good combo.

 

Maybe Soft Wind is kind of special with a solo Berserker: help to heal your self damage while adding raw damage to Carnage's one.

 

The nicest synergy of Berserker/Chanter for me is indeed that if you kill your summons with your confused attacks you trigger Bloodlust and Blood Thirst. Wear the Woedica necklace and you quickly get +4 to MIG and RES, too.

 

Damaging AoE spells (like White Worms) do trigger Staggered from Spirit Frenzy. Which is really nice. I wonder if this also works with the damaging chants. Did somebody test this? 

[coldmind]

summon time cast is too long instead of it you already would do a few strikes with carnage dealing up more damage. triggering bloodlust or blood thirst through summons make sense for me when you fight small group of enemies or mini-boss fights.

[whimper]

In terms of min/max. What starting stats would I need for beserker/devoted or beserker/bleak Walker?

I'm running a solo PotD Berserker/Devoted right now, using a slightly different stat spread than 1TTFFSSE recommended:

 

Mig: Max

Con: Flat

Dex: High

Per: High

Int: Max

Res: Flat 

 

My reasons:

 

--I kept Might and Intellect high to (1) maximize Carnage damage (since Might is one of the few things that influences Carnage damage) and area of effect, and (2) to maximize healing from Unbending and Constant Recovery (increasing both duration and magnitude of the healing they provide).

 

As Boerer noted, a high Might increases the Frenzy damage. But since Unbending returns damage dealt (and the Voidward ring helps to minimize it in the meantime), the increase in damage just increases how much Unbending returns. It's been working well so far, anyway.

 

--I've kept Constitution and Resolve flat and relied on stacking armor instead for defense (though I try to keep all of my defenses decent). This is a decent way to go (IMHO) because this class combination is pretty friendly to high armor rating builds.

 

(The Barbarian's Thick Skinned ability offers a nice passive AR-boost, and (given the testing done by other people on this board) it appears that the benefits of the Fighter's Armored Grace ability depend on how heavy your armor is, with the heaviest armors getting the most recover reduction from this ability, giving you an incentive to wear heavy armor.) 

 

--Perception is pretty great, so it could be that Perception should be even higher. But the Berserker already has a number of hit-to-crit boosters, making Perception increases less valuable from the point of "percentage increase to expected damage" than it would be for most builds.

 

(I.e., many builds get a large chunk of their expected damage from low-probability crits. And the 1% increases from Perception boosts can increase the magnitude of that probability substantially, because that probability is so low. So the resulting increase in expected damage from boosting Perception, percentage-wise, is relatively high. Whereas if you already have a very high chance of getting crits for other reasons (Berserker Frenzy, Barbaric Blow, Bloody Slaughter, Disciplined Strikes) then Perception increases don't increase crit chances by as much, proportionally speaking.)

 

__________

 

Anyway, it's been working pretty well so far!

Edited August 31, 2018 by whimper

[whimper]

...of course, it goes without saying that different considerations apply to the Berserker/Bleak Walker combo!