[CLASS BUILD] The Golden Dragon (barbarian tank)

[Boeroer]

"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...

 

 

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The Golden Dragon

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Difficulty: PotD v. 3.03

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Class: Barbarian

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Race: Pale Elf

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Background: Old Vailia - Colonist

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Stats (character creation):

MIG: 18  

CON: 03 

DEX: 04 

PER: 16

INT: 19

RES: 18

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Skills: Stealth 0, Athl. 4, Lore 6, Mech. 0, Surv. 14  

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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 ®

 

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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

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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.

 

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Variant A: The Golden Dragon with Godansthunyr

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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

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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?

 

Edited April 16, 2017 by Boeroer

[Ben No.3]

Yesss!! Thanks

The tears flail should probably be listed under weapons though

Edited October 28, 2016 by Ben No.3

[limaxophobiacq]

I'm a bit surprised at no Barbaric Retaliation + Blood Thirst, it seems like you'd would do a lot of extra damage that way on such a slow attacking barbarian.

 

For those less fashion conscious, might this be a good setup?:

 

 

(I like to leave the binding rope on a priest because as long as priest isn't disabled no one else stays disabled for long)

[AndreaColombo]

 

Also: Bittercut's green stain doesn't look so great with all that turquoise, so I took Resolution instead which also works really well

 

 

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

[Boeroer]

@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.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

Yesss!! Thanks

The tears flail should probably be listed under weapons though

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.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Boeroer

[JerekKruger]

"Illeism" well I just learnt a new word.

[limaxophobiacq]

@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.

 

Oh, I got them mixed up. Yeah its Eotun, Binding Rope is certainly better, I don't really have good track of all the stronghold adventure reward items.

Edited October 28, 2016 by limaxophobiacq

[Boeroer]

 

 

Also: Bittercut's green stain doesn't look so great with all that turquoise, so I took Resolution instead which also works really well

 

 

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.

[Boeroer]

"Illeism" well I just learnt a new word.

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

[Dr <3]

Nice work! But why pale Elf?

[Ben No.3]

 

"Illeism" well I just learnt a new word.

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

 

Heh, finally years of latin enable me to pretend to be knowledgable.

If I am not mistaken, it Comes from the latin "ille", meaning he

 

ADDED: Most famous user of this is Cesar

Edited October 28, 2016 by Ben No.3

[JerekKruger]

Heh, finally years of latin enable me to pretend to be knowledgable.

 

If I am not mistaken, it Comes from the latin "ille", meaning he

 

 

I wish I had years of latin, stupid British education system getting rid of the teaching of dead languages *grumble grumble*.

 

That seems like a likely route, and I guess that's also where the French "il" for he comes from.

[Ben No.3]

 

Heh, finally years of latin enable me to pretend to be knowledgable.

 

If I am not mistaken, it Comes from the latin "ille", meaning he

 

 

I wish I had years of latin, stupid British education system getting rid of the teaching of dead languages *grumble grumble*.

 

That seems like a likely route, and I guess that's also where the French "il" for he comes from.

 

I would guess so... ultimatly French originates in latin

You are welcome for turning your build thread into a linguistic discussion Boeroer

Edited October 28, 2016 by Ben No.3

[JerekKruger]

Yeah sorry 'bout that Boeroer. The build looks great, I might steal bits of it for my tankier Barbarian play through.

 

Also if you ever stop making PoE builds you should totally go into the fashion industry

[Jojobobo]

I love it, great job developing the idea! I really like the combo of damaging Bittercut plus Dragon's Maw Hof, switching to a fully defensive mode with Captain Vicollo's Anger and Little Saviour when you need it - it's certainly a neat trick and not something I would have thought of. It's also nice to make effective use of both weapon slots, so many builds just really focus on one so to be using both routinely is quite an advanced style of play.

 

I think with me playing solo all the while there's a lot of items I don't include in my builds, like the Cloak of Comfort and Binding Rope, but the build is definitely better for their inclusion. Again, great work in fleshing out an idea that I only really sketched the bare bones of.

[Ben No.3]

Yeah sorry 'bout that Boeroer. The build looks great, I might steal bits of it for my tankier Barbarian play through.

 

Also if you ever stop making PoE builds you should totally go into the fashion industry

DONT YOU DARE suggest him to stop playing PoE... We need him amongst the other big brains of this subtopic Edited October 28, 2016 by Ben No.3

[Boeroer]

I love it, great job developing the idea! I really like the combo of damaging Bittercut plus Dragon's Maw Hof, switching to a fully defensive mode with Captain Vicollo's Anger and Little Saviour when you need it - it's certainly a neat trick and not something I would have thought of. It's also nice to make effective use of both weapon slots, so many builds just really focus on one so to be using both routinely is quite an advanced style of play.

 

I think with me playing solo all the while there's a lot of items I don't include in my builds, like the Cloak of Comfort and Binding Rope, but the build is definitely better for their inclusion. Again, great work in fleshing out an idea that I only really sketched the bare bones of.

You're most welcome.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

Nice work! But why pale Elf?

Because it's one of the races which can have a golden skin tone, it gives you elemental endurances (which is not bad for a tank) and I wanted to achieve a bit of an asian look (Golden Dragon chinese restaurants everywhere )

[Dr <3]

Totally fair

[JohnYaya]

How would you level a character like this?  He seems awfully squishy until he gets a good number of those abilities.  Looks like a crapload of fun once you get them though.

[Raven Darkholme]

Hm, wanted to try solo barb for some time, you think soloing Bog dragons would work with a barb?

[Boeroer]

How would you level a character like this?  He seems awfully squishy until he gets a good number of those abilities.  Looks like a crapload of fun once you get them though.

He's not. With a large shield, barbaric yell and thick armor he's not too squishy at the beginning, even with 3 CON. I would also take Veteran's Recovery as the first talent. It's better than Constant Recovery (without Rapid Rec.) and adds a lot of endurance. I also pump survival to 8 in order to get +40% healing received. Since the deflection with a large shield and maxed RES is good you mostly catch grazes if you get hit at all. Thick armor will catch most of that damage and what remains as MIN damage will get healed by Veteran's Recovery. No, not squishy. Once you get Weapon and Shield Style (next talent I'd pick) you can easily take the role of the main tank.

 

You can start with higher CON of course and retrain later. Because later you def. don't need CON at all. Remember: with 3 CON a barb has quite the same endurance as a fighter with 10 CON. And a fighter with 10 CON and a shield is not squishy.

But I encountered no problem with 3 CON right from the start. Alse keep in mind that this was not a solo run. When soloing I would use more CON - mostly because of fortitude.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

Hm, wanted to try solo barb for some time, you think soloing Bog dragons would work with a barb?

You can always use scrolls with a bit more lore - with high PER and INT they should work fairly well. And with Munacra Arret you can charm one of them three times (one is immune). It gets fairly easy then. I soloed them with a dual wielding barb and it worked.

[Raven Darkholme]

Ok thx.