What are barbarians good at?

[aqeelus]

Well, a bit squishy is fine and constant recovery and unbending will solve that issue 

 

I've never tried tempest so how will it play? Will it be a full nuke caster rather than melee focused? 

[brasilgringo]

I like the idea from Boeroer of Furyshaper/Fury ... just in my experience if this is a solo build, your wards will die too quick for fury to be worth it.  If it is not solo and you can keep the heat off the wards, go for it.

[MortyTheGobbo]

I've acquired Willbreaker and Patinated Plate, so I can get Rekke and Konstanten into those builds. I don't have any unique battleaxes, though. Maybe some regular superb ones will do.

[MortyTheGobbo]

Right, I forgot Barbaric Retaliation is only available on level 19. So this build won't work yet, because Konstanten is 2,5 levels behind me. Without BR he's just a very slow dual-wielder. Maybe I'll just put him in lighter armor until he's level 19. Like Bloody Links.

Edited February 2, 2019 by MortyTheGobbo

[peolone]

Variant 4: Bloody Backlash

 

Patinated Plate (Juggernaut), Thick Skinned, Blunting Belt, Blood Storm, Blood Thirst, HoF, Bloodlust,Blood Surge, Barbaric Retaliation, Panther's Leap. Dual Battle Axes (Oathbreakers also works) or Willbreaker or Saru-Sichr, Sanguine Sword. Cast Blood Storm, jump in and let them hit you while you hit them. Dual Battle Axes are best. Recovery will not matter with retaliation. Will not matter with HoF. If somebody dies: Blood Thirst. And so on. Whirlwind of Bleeding Cuts. Nice Variant: Grave Calling + Scordeo's Edge with Blade Cascade.

 

 

The Pulverizer works like a super easy AI bot, too. Needs no special gear. Not much works with Driving Roar. But the hat is nice since it gives +5 ACC.

 

What subclass do you suggest for playing this one? Berserker looks kind of squishy. Maybe Corpse-Eater ?

[Boeroer]

I used Serafen, so vanilla. Berserker with Savage Defiance can still be good. He gets +2 AR from his Frenzy which can be very important. You will get crit a lot so you need all the AR you can get. Maybe don't push MIG so high.

 

Furyshaper could also be good. With Blood Ward you would at least get back some good health with every Retaliation + Carnage.

 

By the way: Retaliation also works with ranged weapon (no reload) e.g. Hand Mortars or so.

 

When fighting against Kith/Wilder Corpse Eater is nice. You can retaliate while doing Flesh Communion. But against all others...

[peolone]

As for the equipment (besides what you have already suggested), I'm thinking about the Ragged Cloak: it could fit nicely in this build. One could also wear Ngati's Girdle for another effect on being crit... and maybe get Hylea's Talons for another bleed effect on top of that of the axes...

 

What would be the ideal stats for such a build? I'm guessing: dumped RES, ok MIG and INT, high CON to survive damage and high PER to hit the attackers. It should be also better not to dump DEX, right? Since Barbaric retaliation comes very late in the game and I don't want to completely useless before that...

Edited February 10, 2019 by peolone

[Boeroer]

Yes, that is correct. Don't 'minmax' everything towards retaliation right from the start. Else it will get supertedious before reaching the higher levels.

[Jayd]

Bumping this because I've been having a lackluster time with Serafen as pure Barb and was hoping for more insight. I was using him as a dual-wielder with what I thought were decent enough weapons for the level. He felt like he wasn't doing too much and when I looked at the damage report I saw that he was just under 20,000 damage while my SC Forbidden Fist monk had above 55,000 and Konstanten (SC Skald) had about 45,000. My can't-hit-sh*t Herald tank had about 10K and support druid Tekehu had just under 15K.

 

Sorry for all the numbers but that puts into perspective how bad Serafen was doing compared to my two other dps. Keep in mind, however that Serafen joined a bit later than the others so the numbers aren't quite as bad as they look, but they definitely shouldn't be so low.

 

Looking at suggestions in this thread I've decided to try him as a two-hander build with Willbreaker and LD Voulge. Haven't tried it out just yet but I was wondering if anyone had had a similar experience and whether they were able to diagnose the problem and fix it. At the moment I suspect the issue is accuracy, which I'm hoping will be fixed by Body Blows + Brute force. Does that sound right? Have people had good experiences with dual-wielding barbs early/mid-game (potd-upscaled)?

[baldurs_gate_2]

Bumping this because I've been having a lackluster time with Serafen as pure Barb and was hoping for more insight. I was using him as a dual-wielder with what I thought were decent enough weapons for the level. He felt like he wasn't doing too much and when I looked at the damage report I saw that he was just under 20,000 damage while my SC Forbidden Fist monk had above 55,000 and Konstanten (SC Skald) had about 45,000. My can't-hit-sh*t Herald tank had about 10K and support druid Tekehu had just under 15K.

 

Sorry for all the numbers but that puts into perspective how bad Serafen was doing compared to my two other dps. Keep in mind, however that Serafen joined a bit later than the others so the numbers aren't quite as bad as they look, but they definitely shouldn't be so low.

 

Looking at suggestions in this thread I've decided to try him as a two-hander build with Willbreaker and LD Voulge. Haven't tried it out just yet but I was wondering if anyone had had a similar experience and whether they were able to diagnose the problem and fix it. At the moment I suspect the issue is accuracy, which I'm hoping will be fixed by Body Blows + Brute force. Does that sound right? Have people had good experiences with dual-wielding barbs early/mid-game (potd-upscaled)?

Heart of Fury makes them good against mobs. But you need a priest with BDD to prevent him from dying constantly. Even more if you use frenzy and the raw damage ticks in. Spirit Storm is very good for CC, it works very often.

[Theosupus]

I had tons of fun with the fanatic.  The hit to crit from the barb w/ "on crit" items and the defenses from the paladin made a great combo.

[Enoch]

 

Bumping this because I've been having a lackluster time with Serafen as pure Barb and was hoping for more insight. I was using him as a dual-wielder with what I thought were decent enough weapons for the level. He felt like he wasn't doing too much and when I looked at the damage report I saw that he was just under 20,000 damage while my SC Forbidden Fist monk had above 55,000 and Konstanten (SC Skald) had about 45,000. My can't-hit-sh*t Herald tank had about 10K and support druid Tekehu had just under 15K.

 

Sorry for all the numbers but that puts into perspective how bad Serafen was doing compared to my two other dps. Keep in mind, however that Serafen joined a bit later than the others so the numbers aren't quite as bad as they look, but they definitely shouldn't be so low.

 

Looking at suggestions in this thread I've decided to try him as a two-hander build with Willbreaker and LD Voulge. Haven't tried it out just yet but I was wondering if anyone had had a similar experience and whether they were able to diagnose the problem and fix it. At the moment I suspect the issue is accuracy, which I'm hoping will be fixed by Body Blows + Brute force. Does that sound right? Have people had good experiences with dual-wielding barbs early/mid-game (potd-upscaled)?

Heart of Fury makes them good against mobs. But you need a priest with BDD to prevent him from dying constantly. Even more if you use frenzy and the raw damage ticks in. Spirit Storm is very good for CC, it works very often.

 

Priest also very helpful for ACC boosts, as Barbarians don't have any of those built-in like Fighters or Monks do. 

[Boeroer]

 

Bumping this because I've been having a lackluster time with Serafen as pure Barb and was hoping for more insight. I was using him as a dual-wielder with what I thought were decent enough weapons for the level. He felt like he wasn't doing too much and when I looked at the damage report I saw that he was just under 20,000 damage while my SC Forbidden Fist monk had above 55,000 and Konstanten (SC Skald) had about 45,000. My can't-hit-sh*t Herald tank had about 10K and support druid Tekehu had just under 15K.

 

Sorry for all the numbers but that puts into perspective how bad Serafen was doing compared to my two other dps. Keep in mind, however that Serafen joined a bit later than the others so the numbers aren't quite as bad as they look, but they definitely shouldn't be so low.

 

Looking at suggestions in this thread I've decided to try him as a two-hander build with Willbreaker and LD Voulge. Haven't tried it out just yet but I was wondering if anyone had had a similar experience and whether they were able to diagnose the problem and fix it. At the moment I suspect the issue is accuracy, which I'm hoping will be fixed by Body Blows + Brute force. Does that sound right? Have people had good experiences with dual-wielding barbs early/mid-game (potd-upscaled)?

Heart of Fury makes them good against mobs. But you need a priest with BDD to prevent him from dying constantly. Even more if you use frenzy and the raw damage ticks in. Spirit Storm is very good for CC, it works very often.

 

Serafen is a vanilla Barb. There is no raw damage when he uses Frenzy.

 

Also a non-Berserker Barb is not too squishy and will not die contantly - especially not with Savage Defiance which makes him rather sturdy once you reach certain levels where the higher starting endurance has more impact (Serafen las lowish CON though, so give him 1 or two CON items).

 

 It sounds as if you were confusing Barb with Berserker..?

 

@Jayd: which char level is Serafen currently on? Due to his stats he's not minmaxed for anything but some builds work better than others. For example once you reach PL9 you should totally skill him towards "The Bloody Mess":  Blood Storm, Blood Surge, Bloodlust, Blood Thirst and Driving Roar. Acina's Tricorn works with Driving Roar. That would be the "ranged" variant. Backup weapon can be his mortars or whatever ranged.

 

Melee variant is basically the same but also use Brute Force -  jump in using Panther's Leap, then Willbreaker & Heart of Fury + Body Blows, then Dazing Shout non-stop. Wear the Bloody Links - just because of the name. You can also pick Blooded on this one, the +25% dmg also works with the shout. Once your endurance drops a lot you can trigger Savage Defiance. If you have a lot of Rage left due to Blood Surge use HoF from time to time - the Willbreaker's enchantments "The Mind makes Real" and "Battered Mind" work very well with the shout which shakens enemies (=RES affliction). Int this one also Spirit Tornado can make sense. Depends though on how often he goes down without it.  

 

The melee variant is more risky and you don't do as much dps most likely (base dmg of Dazing Shout is lower than Driving Roar) but at the same time you debuff Fortitude (Dazed + Body Blows = 35) and also Will (Willbreaker + Shaken) which might be great for your party members.

 

I personally like Driving Roar better - it's less dependend from items and it also knocks enemies down. Once you are "in a frenzy" with Blood Thirst they won't get up again.

The second variant is better if you not only want to do dmg but also debuff - and if you already skilled Serafen for Morning Star etc. and don't want to retrain.

 

Before getting to PL9 one must maybe accept that Serafen with a Morning Star is not your best dmg dealer but more of a fortitude debuffer/dmg dealer hybrid. You can't measure the effect he has on party's damage if he lowers enemies' Fortitude by 35 constantly - but I guarantee with the right party members it can be very useful.

 

If you want to maximize Carnage dmg you have to pick Monastic Unarmed Training, Accurate Carnage and all the speedups you can get. Also bonus INT and AoE bonuses are necessary. In general a Barb is better against tight groups, so something like Dazzling Lights from stealth followed by Pull of Eora are very good to improve a Barb's performance.

 

If you want to maximize HoF I would pick Battle Axe in main hand (+ Bleeding Cuts) and Scordeos Edge with Adaptive + Blade Cascade in offhand. I think... Circumventing the recovery malus of Bleeding Cuts with HoF is pretty nice while doing a lot of raw DoT. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Boeroer

[Verde]

How is the Furyshaper as a single? It's been fun as a multi from my experience.

[Boeroer]

It's fun with a chanter who has the Old Siec chant. The blood ward and Old Siec stack. I added a Steel Garrote/Wizard with Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff just to toy around with draining: also stacks.

[Jayd]

Since switching to two-handed, I think Serafen is doing better damage. But more importantly he's been acting like a "dive" off-tank. Just smack him in the middle of a mob to disrupt and stick some, while my monk flagellant paths a squishy. My main tank either pushes up to support them or holds back to support Tekehu and Konstanten while they cast. So far it's been fun and effective, though I haven't had many difficult fights yet. (is the fire dragon on upscaled considered hard at ~lvl17? cuz it was fairly easy for me and I don't know whether to be proud)

[Theosupus]

Since switching to two-handed, I think Serafen is doing better damage. But more importantly he's been acting like a "dive" off-tank. Just smack him in the middle of a mob to disrupt and stick some, while my monk flagellant paths a squishy. My main tank either pushes up to support them or holds back to support Tekehu and Konstanten while they cast. So far it's been fun and effective, though I haven't had many difficult fights yet. (is the fire dragon on upscaled considered hard at ~lvl17? cuz it was fairly easy for me and I don't know whether to be proud)

-I've typically found every fight either too easy or too hard; I've yet to find a grey area in any of my play-throughs.

-I'm sure It comes down to my own willingness to build a custom companion and equipment template for certain fights though, so I do it to myself.

-I started playing theme based characters instead of min/maxing in order to add some challenge and the same thing happened, either too easy or too hard.

[Boeroer]

Usually I find the Fire Dragon to be a wussy.

[Jayd]

Alright, so things have been going great with Serafen now. Still not as much damage as my monk (who went from great to absurd with Whispers) or Konstanten (solid since day 1), but he does dive tanking amazingly. I'm finding dive tanking much more effective than the intuitive "turtle up behind the tank" strat. By starting a fight by sending Serafen righting smack into the middle or backline of enemies, I get to control the field instead of just desperately trying to not get swarmed. 

 

As described earlier in the thread, Panther's Leap (why would anyone ever use Dragon?) -> Spirit Tornado -> Dazing shout is an incredible combo. Dazing Shout is easily one of the best tanking abilities in the game. In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and say the best to see if anyone can prove me wrong.

 

I'd say this is what Barbarians are specifically good at. I don't know any other class that could pull this off quite as well. They can do other cool stuff as shown in this thread too, of course, but they seem to be designed to stand in the middle of a mob and take damage while dishing it back out.

[asnjas]

Bashing, Yelling and @#$%ing

[Ormag]

AoE dps and one shotting whole packs of mobs, especially as a brute (barb + fighter)

[Boeroer]

Dazing Shout (and Driving Roar) are very strong, yes.

[Cannabat]

Say I use mule kick on an enemy not yet affected by body blows, with with morning star and with the morning star modal on.

 

Do I get the ACC bonus on that mule kick, or do I need to hit the enemy once before to get the fortitude debuff and then use mule kick?

[Boeroer]

Before. First comes the attack roll for physical dmg, then additional effects.

[abstrack]

Lvl 20?

 

Variant 1: The Pulverizer

Put on the Tricorn.

Pick Blood Storm, Bloodlust, Blood Thirst, Blood Surge and Driving Roar.

Try to target groups of foes. Once fight starts just roar enemies to pieces. Bonus points if they stand near a wall. It's foe-only and doesn't care for INT (Konstanten has only 10).

 

Proof:

 

 

 

 

We those dmg numbers? Yeah... that's a totally unoptimized Serafen doing it. Konstanten would do equally well.

 

 

 

Variant 2: Knocks Fort

 

Willbreaker, Body Blows, Ring of Ov + Ring of Ov., +INT gear, Aloth's armor, Spirit Tornado, Bloodlust, Blood Storm Thirst, Blood Surge, Heart of Fury, Panther's Leap.

Leap into crowd, do Spirit Tornado, do HoF with Body Blows, leave for your nuker to target crowd with whatever fort spell suits you. Enemies will be Dazed, Terrified, then Staggered and under the effect of Body Blows which results in -45 -35 Fortitude and -20 -10 Will (and more because Willbreaker does lower Will as well per hit). Very good at debuffing while dealing damage. You can also use Blood Storm and Barbaric Shout instead of Spirit Tornado. But the latter is safer.

 

Variant 3: Heart of Lightning

Dual mortars and same procedure as Knocks Fort. But Blood Storm. Put on Heaven's Cacophony, cast Avenging Storm. Cast Blood Storm. Jump in and do HoF with Mortars (Powder Burns). Bonus points if somebody did cast Combusting Wounds first.

 

Variant 4: Bloody Backlash

 

Patinated Plate (Juggernaut), Thick Skinned, Blunting Belt, Blood Storm, Blood Thirst, HoF, Bloodlust,Blood Surge, Barbaric Retaliation, Panther's Leap. Dual Battle Axes (Oathbreakers also works) or Willbreaker or Saru-Sichr, Sanguine Sword. Cast Blood Storm, jump in and let them hit you while you hit them. Dual Battle Axes are best. Recovery will not matter with retaliation. Will not matter with HoF. If somebody dies: Blood Thirst. And so on. Whirlwind of Bleeding Cuts. Nice Variant: Grave Calling + Scordeo's Edge with Blade Cascade.

 

 

The Pulverizer works like a super easy AI bot, too. Needs no special gear. Not much works with Driving Roar. But the hat is nice since it gives +5 ACC.

Holy **** Boeroer!! :D

 

The Pulverizer is awesome, can he solo the PotD upscaled? Items and stats? Ty!