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Sleet Storm wrote:

How in the world is the Wild Stalker Barbarian+?

And where does it get "most" of the Ranger class abilities.

Lets analyze the Wild Stalker shall we:
Rage -3 thats in itself a Problem beacause the better Rage Powers all have a Minimum Classlevel.
No Greater Rage at all.
Fewer Hitpoints
Loses Favoured enemy.
Loses Combat Style.
Loses Hunters Bond.
Loses Quarry.
Loses Improved Quarry

Now what does he get in eychange:
Track O_o
Endurance as a Bonus Feat wow this is getting better and better
Lowlight Vision Barbarian can get
Perception Bonus well thats something I guess
Favoured Terrain Barbarian can get
Evasion well thats at least something
Wild Talents Those are s#+! Rage Powers are way better

So what the Wild Stalker does is give a weaker rage without DR and all that barbarian archetype stuff, in exchange for a Perception Bonus, Evasion and here it comes .........Track.
Oh and you get +2 Skill Points.
I´m not saying this can´t make a decent character, It probably can because it´s somewhat of a Barbarian.....just weaker.

Actually. . .

A Wild Stalker, in comparison to a Barbarian, loses:
Damage Reduction.
Trap Sense.
Greater/Mighty Rage.
Tireless Rage.
Improved Uncanny Dodge.
Two rage powers.
Six rounds of rage.
One less hit point a level.

What does that boil down to? Lose a few small bonuses to hit and damage (neither of which really matter, since to hit bonuses scale faster than AC, and +2 or 3 damage is paltry), lose a hit point every level (also unimportant, since most hit points are gained through Con bonuses, and you have a d10 anyways). Improved Uncanny Dodge is a very situational ability, which amounts to essentially gaining +2 AC every once in a blue moon. Six rounds of rage is worth one feat, and Damage Reduction is near-useless in the small amounts provided by the Barbarian class.

So, honestly, you aren't missing much.

On the other hand, you gain:
Low-light vision/ perception bonuses.
Four bonus feats.
Track.
Wild Empathy.
Endurance.
Woodland Stride.
Evasion.
Favored Terrain.
Quarry.
Camouflage.
Improved Evasion.
HiPs.
Improved Quarry.
Master Hunter.
Good Reflex save.
Two more skill ranks a level.
4th level spells (this is the big one).

While Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Endurance, and Track are all pretty situational, they are at least, free bonuses. The extra good save, combined with Evasion and Improved Evasion, means you are less vulnerable to any wizard who's idiot enough to even use blasting spells, so you gain increased combat longevity in magic duels. Favored Terrains, Camouflage, and HiPs all provide nice bonuses when called for, but those aren't the meat of the Wild Stalker. Bonus feats are bonus feats. The best thing, however, the thing that makes the Wild Stalker objectively better than the regular Barbarian, and arguably the Ranger, is the access to 4th level spells and extra skill points. The boost in versatility just from those two things is massive, allowing actual contribution outside combat, which is where the real power in 3.x comes from.

tl;dr: the versatility of spells and skills, plus extra skills, bonus feats, and other out-of-combat options, makes the Wild Stalker a straight upgrade over a regular Barbarian.


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brassbaboon wrote:

"Balance" between people who swing sticks at one another, and people who manipulate the warp and weave of the universe itself is a fool's goal.

Look at 4e if you don't believe me.

You know, I think that is fundamentally untrue. Limiting casters to certain schools and allowing melee more options in and out of combat actually does allow for some resemblance to balance.