Human Barbarian Help

[Bled123]

Hey guys, I am a completely new player to this game and I need some help making a human barbarian character. I heard that the human was the best race for a barbarian, but I don't see much guides on them. And since I am admittedly basic in preferring humans over other races in rpgs I'd really like to be able to build this kind of character. Any help would be appreciated!

[Chaospread]

Hi, we need some extra information.
Do you play with whole party of 5 members? With story companions?
Do you wanna play a single class Barbarian or multiclass him with another class?
Which difficulty level are you gonna play?
Anyway, human for barbarian (for fighting spirit) is a good race choice

[Bled123]

1 hour ago, Chaospread said:

Hi, we need some extra information.
Do you play with whole party of 5 members? With story companions?
Do you wanna play a single class Barbarian or multiclass him with another class?
Which difficulty level are you gonna play?
Anyway, human for barbarian (for fighting spirit) is a good race choice

I want to play with a full party(ideally with Maia, the others don't matter that much)

I'd like to do a single class Barbarian

I'm gonna go with the recommended setting of "Relaxed" since it's my first time.

Thanks for responding, btw

[Chaospread]

Ok, I try to help you even if I'm not the best "builder" here Maybe we can ask help to someone other at the the end...
So, single class Barb, Human, in a party, easy difficulty.

In a party easy dif., you can just play any kind of Barb, but if you are a very new beginner, I'll put some consideration.

About subclass, Berserker is the most powerful one, but in a party you need to pay attention to your confused status while frenzy, so perhaps you can play it when you'll be more confident with game mechanics and so on.

I've just finished a run with a multiclass Corpse Eater, it is fun in some situations, but he has a big disadvantage, so I don't recommend him.
Furyshaper is good and nice, but I don't like ward management so much, so I'd skip this.

I'd go for a "plain" bard or a Mageslayer. Mageslayer is not good in SOLO because of limitations, but in a party he is very effective as caster disabler and one limitation (no scroll or potion) is not so serious. So if you don't argue about "friend" spell resistance, go for a Mageslayer (also a cool name and a cute RPG character ).

In case of doubt --> plain Barb and you're ok.

STATS

I'd put most of point in PER (you need to hit enemies most of all) then INT (carnage area and effect duration) and MIG. Mid values for DEX, CON and RES. At low level you don't have the "problem" of MIN/MAX and almost any distribution can work. So basically this kind of stats:
MIG: 15
CON: 10
DEX: 10
PER: 15
INT: 15
RES: 10
Weapons
I like two handed Barbs, even if maybe it is not the best power player choice, it is so fun, so go for greatswords and morning stars. Keep "space" also for battle axes, you won't regret doing it
From a RPG point of view, also war hammers are good.

ABILITIES

I list some abilities I consider good for a Barb, remember that you can respec and choose the ones you like nore

• Frenzy and its upgrades
• Barbaric Blow and its upgrades
• Leap
• Heart of Fury
• Dazing Shout or Driving Roar at high levels
• Two-Handed Style
• Bloodlust
• One Stands Alone
• Blood Thirst

If you don't where to put your points at, let us know and we see what you can do.

I hope this could be a "base" to start from.

Maybe @Boeroer can point you at already made builds, or give other and more authoritative opinions... or call someone other who can help you

[Bled123]

Thanks for your help, man. I'll be sure to try these tips out and I'll take all the help I can get.

[Kaylon]

For a single class barbarian I think the best choice is the Fury Shaper - Blood Ward being arguably one of the best abilities at his disposal. If you want to benefit from the human racial ability it's probably a good idea to max constitution to have a very high health pool and be able to play with your life under 50% without fear. (I would dump RES and increase CON for that)

[Bled123]

I was watching berserk earlier and with how apparently easily influenced I am, I am now tempted to try the Berserker as a single class. So if I were to build one, what example stats should I use and what kind of party do I need?

[Boeroer]

I agree with Kaylon that the Furyshaper is the best subclass for a single class Barbarian since the Blood Wars is so very good (and the fear ward, which comes real. early if you are a single class Barb, is very good, too).

The Blood Ward works with any sort of damage the party deals, even damage over time. It gives the whole party (if inside the AoE of the ward) - especially those members with a lot of damage output - a "passive" healing capability which stacks with any other source of healing.

On the Barbarian himself it works very well with Barbaric Retaliation and Battle Axes + Bleeding Cuts (the battle axe modal) because the Bleeding Cuts last a long time and they do stack - so the Blood Ward will grant you a constant stream of healing ticks from the damag over time you will cause with your axes. The Barbaric Retaliation will trigger attacks with the axes (+Bleeding Cuts) that have no recovery, so the added recovery time from the modal becomes less of a problem. 

The Barbarian's attributes don't influence the accuracy, AoE etc. of the ward by the way.

You can use a Priest's Withdraw spell on a ward (it counts as an ally) and thus prevent its destruction by enemies. It will still work its magic but will be totally safe so you needn't fear the debuff of loosing a ward.

Like Kaylon also said I value high CON on human barbs. The single class Barb has the biggest health pool of all classes, so the added percentage from CON means a very big chunk of health in absolute numbers, making the Barb more sturdy, less prone to go down, yet being able to operate under 50% health without too much risk. For a SC Barb with high CON 50% health can be about the same as other characters' 100% health. Low RES fits a Furyshaper thematically I think. It also means even lower Will defense for the Furyshaper (who already gets a malus as a subclass). Fortunately low Will isn't as bad as having low Fortitude (which usually prevents the most nasty disables). Frenzied Barbs with high starting CON and decent MIG have an exceptional Fortitude defense. 

 

Edited June 23 by Boeroer

[Bled123]

6 hours ago, Boeroer said:

I agree with Kaylon that the Furyshaper is the best subclass for a single class Barbarian since the Blood Wars is so very good (and the fear ward, which comes real. early if you are a single class Barb, is very good, too).

The Blood Ward works with any sort of damage the party deals, even damage over time. It gives the whole party (if inside the AoE of the ward) - especially those members with a lot of damage output - a "passive" healing capability which stacks with any other source of healing.

On the Barbarian himself it works very well with Barbaric Retaliation and Battle Axes + Bleeding Cuts (the battle axe modal) because the Bleeding Cuts last a long time and they do stack - so the Blood Ward will grant you a constant stream of healing ticks from the damag over time you will cause with your axes. The Barbaric Retaliation will trigger attacks with the axes (+Bleeding Cuts) that have no recovery, so the added recovery time from the modal becomes less of a problem. 

The Barbarian's attributes don't influence the accuracy, AoE etc. of the ward by the way.

You can use a Priest's Withdraw spell on a ward (it counts as an ally) and thus prevent its destruction by enemies. It will still work its magic but will be totally safe so you needn't fear the debuff of loosing a ward.

Like Kaylon also said I value high CON on human barbs. The single class Barb has the biggest health pool of all classes, so the added percentage from CON means a very big chunk of health in absolute numbers, making the Barb more sturdy, less prone to go down, yet being able to operate under 50% health without too much risk. For a SC Barb with high CON 50% health can be about the same as other characters' 100% health. Low RES fits a Furyshaper thematically I think. It also means even lower Will defense for the Furyshaper (who already gets a malus as a subclass). Fortunately low Will isn't as bad as having low Fortitude (which usually prevents the most nasty disables). Frenzied Barbs with high starting CON and decent MIG have an exceptional Fortitude defense. 

 

Thanks @Boeroer, @Kaylon,  and @Chaospread for the advice. I decided to go with a Berserker. Interestingly enough I found only one build that was for a single class berserker: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=ukrainian&id=1445712988&searchtext=Cerca+tra+le+guide+di+Pillars+of+Eternity+II%3A+Deadfire

But it didn't have human as a race, so I wasn't sure how effective playing as a human with that build would be. But I did find that there seem to be more multiclass builds with the Berserker as a subclass than single class ones, so I think I may just end up choosing one of those even if single class is typically recommended to new players. Now the issue is choosing which one to use. I'm still gonna play with companions and in relaxed difficulty.

[Elric Galad]

Driving Roar is arguably the best ability for SC Barbarian.

It really does a crapload of damages, pushing and interrupting and can be spammed.

Dazzing Shout isn't bad though.

[Boeroer]

Single Class Berserker isn't that common because the Berserker Frenzy gives you Tenacious. It helps with a lot of offensive abilities (be it a damaging spell or weapon attack). Berserker also grants you a nice melee crot chance that can be combined with other classes "on crit" effects (for example Monk's Swift Flurry). 

Also the self damage of the Berserker tends to scale very steeply. Picking a multiclass that can counter the damage - or at least make the character more sturdy - are more popular than SC.

But as @Elric Galad said Driving Roar or Dazing Shout are excellent. And they profit from the Berserker's Tenacious Frenzy, too. You really want high CON and a good healer in the party though. Also make sure to take Blooded. It works with every form of direct damage (so with Driving Roar etc., too) and it helps you to see when you are under 50% health. It also stacks with Humans' racial ability "Fighting Spirit". Human is a good choice for a Berserker because you will be under 50% health a lot and so Fighting Spirit will kick in a lot, too.

A Berserker under 50% health with Blooded and Fighting Spirit will deal really nasty AoE damage with Driving Roar. 

Those shouts do target the enemies' fortitude defense. So imo it's beneficial to take Spirit Frenzy over Blood Frenzy. Spirit Frenzy will daze on any hit (Driving Shout included) and that means -10 fortitude for the enemy. Makes the following shouts a lot easier to hit. 

Here's a test with Serafen as Barb at level 20 with Driving Roar (and Blood Thirsty as well as the Blood Surge ability to regain some Rage after kills):

Edited June 27 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

If you want to stay bloodied (under 50%hp) as a berserker you will need Reckless Brigandine upgraded with Into the Breach - it gives armor bonus based on your health and you can always check your life that way. The rogue street fighter benefits also a lot from being bloodied and has great synergy with the berserker, if you decide to multiclass.

PS. The best method to stay bloodied is to use potions (you can control their potency with alchemy) and the AI (when near death use automatically a heal potion) - and every time you go under 25% hp heal back restore just under 50% of your life.

[Chaospread]

11 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Spirit Frenzy will daze on any hit (Driving Shout included) and that means -10 fortitude for the enemy

Doesn't Spirit Frenzy "stagger" on hit? For the purpose of -10 CON is the same, but it could be an issue with MIG resistance enemy.

[Bled123]

On 6/28/2024 at 4:52 AM, Boeroer said:

Single Class Berserker isn't that common because the Berserker Frenzy gives you Tenacious. It helps with a lot of offensive abilities (be it a damaging spell or weapon attack). Berserker also grants you a nice melee crot chance that can be combined with other classes "on crit" effects (for example Monk's Swift Flurry). 

Also the self damage of the Berserker tends to scale very steeply. Picking a multiclass that can counter the damage - or at least make the character more sturdy - are more popular than SC.

But as @Elric Galad said Driving Roar or Dazing Shout are excellent. And they profit from the Berserker's Tenacious Frenzy, too. You really want high CON and a good healer in the party though. Also make sure to take Blooded. It works with every form of direct damage (so with Driving Roar etc., too) and it helps you to see when you are under 50% health. It also stacks with Humans' racial ability "Fighting Spirit". Human is a good choice for a Berserker because you will be under 50% health a lot and so Fighting Spirit will kick in a lot, too.

A Berserker under 50% health with Blooded and Fighting Spirit will deal really nasty AoE damage with Driving Roar. 

Those shouts do target the enemies' fortitude defense. So imo it's beneficial to take Spirit Frenzy over Blood Frenzy. Spirit Frenzy will daze on any hit (Driving Shout included) and that means -10 fortitude for the enemy. Makes the following shouts a lot easier to hit. 

Here's a test with Serafen as Barb at level 20 with Driving Roar (and Blood Thirsty as well as the Blood Surge ability to regain some Rage after kills):

I think I might go with the brute build you mentioned somewhere else here. Or if I feel like I can handle sacrificing survivability for more damage, I can try a witch?

Edited June 29 by Bled123

[Boeroer]

On 6/28/2024 at 10:13 AM, Chaospread said:

Doesn't Spirit Frenzy "stagger" on hit? For the purpose of -10 CON is the same, but it could be an issue with MIG resistance enemy.

Yes sorry. Got the words mixed up because of Driving Raor/Dazing Shout etc. I guess.

On 6/29/2024 at 7:29 PM, Bled123 said:

I think I might go with the brute build you mentioned somewhere else here. Or if I feel like I can handle sacrificing survivability for more damage, I can try a witch?

I like the Witch multiclass, but a Brute has more staying power (if both Berserker) and also the Berserker's confusion can get into the way of Cipher powers (because foe-only spells will cause friendly fire and so on). But the Berserker's confusion can also be used to cast certain cipher powers in unexpected ways (like casting Amplified Strike on an enemy instead of an ally and causing damage twice that way, anchoring Ectopsychic echo to an enemy instead of an ally...).

Personally my most favorite Berserker combo is Berserker/Helwalker with the Saru Sichr Morning Star - but it needs a lot of attention. 

Edited June 30 by Boeroer

[Bled123]

Yeah, so the berserker is pretty fragile it seems. So I guess that the brute is the way to go. I wonder how good berserker could be compared to the other classes/subclasses without those drawbacks.

[Boeroer]

Berserker has strong upsides (Tenacious & Hardy instead of Strong & Fit as well as 30% melee hit-to-crit conversation) and also strong downsides (Confusion, self damage, hidden health bar).

The downsides can be somewhat circumvented or weakened though (become resistant to INT afflictions or getting an INT inspiration removes Confusion, using indicators such as Blooded for the health bar and stacking health, healing and damage resistance against the self damage). 

Of all downsides the self damage is the most impactful one - because it cannot be negated easily and completely without a lot of fuss. However, like with almost all downsides in this game, you can often use it to your advantage.

Examples: (moderate) self damage in combination with the Wound Trait (Monk) gives you a lot of wound resources while you are frenzied. That's why I love Berserker/Monk. You never run out of wounds as long as you can frenzy. 

Self damage can help you to go under 50% health in order to unlock certain abilities (Streetfighter passive, Blooded, humans' Fighting Spirit, Llengrath's Safeguard etc.). Without the need of enemies attacking you. 

To me strong advantages/disadvantages are a lot more interesting than mild ones (see Sharpshooter Ranger for example: that's not very exciting imo).

Brute: Berserker/Devoted (as long as he picks the right weapon type with multiple damage types or combined a single dmg weapon with unarmed attacks, picking Monastic Unarmed Training) can be a strong combo because you will have stacked +4 PEN via Tenacious+Devoted's weapon choice, the self healing will counter the self damage a bit for some time (Unbending will help, too) and Berserker crit conversion will add to Disciplined Strikes and make the improved crot dmg of the Devoted occur more often. 

Frenzy+Bloodlust in combo with Armored Grace and Mob Stances is also great in order to have high AR with relatovely little recovery. Blood Thirst with Mob Stance is a very potent combo against weaker mobs. You kill one: you will automatically attack the next one AND you'll have 0 recovery after your next regular attack. Usually that means the next enemy will be dead very quickly, too. And so on...

But watch out: a confused Brute will cleave into your party members (besides hitting them with Carnage, too). You might knock them out very quickly. If you use the Battle Axe Amra with Riven Gore you might even destroy them (permanently killing them) with a Cleave from Mob Stance.  

Things like an upgraded Modwyr or the enchanted Devil of Caroc Breastplate can completely prevent that (they will remove confusion instantly).

Edited July 3 by Boeroer