Becoming the lord of destruction. A sunder Barbarian build! Praise Rovagug!

[Woodoodoo]

So I made my Sunder barbarian a while back for PFS and have been slowly leveling him up. And I thought I would throw my build up here and see what people think. Bear in mind, he is very optimised but for the single goal of smashing things to dust. So I present: Gromsh (lastnamepending), Barbarian, believer of Rovagug:

lvl: 8
Race: Half orc(Gatecrasher alternate racial +2)
Class: Breaker barbarian(1/2 level to sunder damage=4. Battle scavenger +1)
Human favoured racial

Starting stats
Str 20(+2) / +5(24 at lvl 8)
Dex 14 / +2
Con 14 / +2
Int 7 / -2
Wis 11 / 0
Cha 7 / -2

Traits: Destructive blows +2 sunder
Bred for war +1 CMB

Feats/Rage powers:
1 F: Power attack
2 R: Superstition
3 F: Improved sunder
4 R: Witch Hunter
5 F: Deific obedience(Rovagug)
6 R: Spell sunder
7 F: Greater sunder
8 R: Strength surge

HP: 77
AC: A measly 20

Fort: 9
Ref: 5
Wil: 2

CMD: 28(32 vs sunder)
CMB: 18(36[33PA]. For sunder sunder damage=1d10+37 with PA)

Init: +2

Items: +1 Furious Piston Maul, +1 adamantide Breastplate, cloak of resistance +1, Belt of giant strength +2, Ring of protection +1, Headband of havoc, Gauntlets of the skilled manoeuvre.
I have about 10k gold to spend

So I just wanted to throw my sunder bonuses up here to make sure I'm not making any mistakes:
Hit +8BaB +9Str +3Weapon +2racial +3traits +4improved/Greater sunder +4deific obedience +2gauntlets +1using a broken weapon= 36(33PA)
Damage: +13 from str +3weapon +4deific obedience +4breaker archetype +4Piston Maul +1broken weapon +9PA = 38.

Now, in hindsight I probably should have gone with a high crit weapon to get a nice benefit from Sundering strike. But using a piston maul sounded WAY too awesome.

I am not sure exactly where I should go next. In terms of feats I KNOW I REALLY need Raging vitality so that Is 100% my next feat. The original plan was to dip one level of dual cursed Oracle for the lame/wrecker curse for rage cycling awesomeness. And for the fact that I will be an Oracle of Rovagug But the cumulative bonuses I get from the Barbarian are really amazing as well.
And then, there is Smashing style. OH MY GOD Smashing Style is AMAZING. If only I could somehow get improved/greater trip and/or bull rush with this build. That would be amazing. Maybe a lore warden dip? Oh wait I need 13 int for that, damn. I guess brawlers are the only ones that get to bypass the 13 int restriction?

Anyways, thanks for reading through my build and thoughts. Any advice/suggestions are welcome. Lets discuss how to become the lord of destruction!

PS: Anyone have a cool suggestion for a last name? I mostly draw blanks when naming characters.

[Ectar]

I have another feat you may be interested in.
Also, how are you proficient in the piston maul without taking exotic weapon proficiency?

I hope you didn't forget that the breaker barbarian does not ignore the damage penalty a broken weapon imposes. They can ignore the attack penalty, but before level 9 you deal less damage with a broken weapon.
Also, the breaker doesn't get a bonus on attack rolls with broken weapons, only the damage rolls.

On the plus side, you don't REALLY need improved trip and friends if you nab smashing style. You get to use your sunder CMB when making the trip or bull rush. You won't be able to grab greater trip for the attack of opportunity should you succeed. c'est la vie. Let the fighters have the tricks; you've got the raw numbers.

I think that's everything. I'm real glad I read this, since I want to make a Lore Warden smasher, and I didn't know about the deific obedience for Rovagug. Now I need to make a different backstory, but the numbers are worth it!

[Woodoodoo]

Oh shit I missed that. I guess i am fixing my weapon then. And yes I know breaker only gives half my level to damage, it is included in the calculations.

I forgot to mention as well that i purchased a Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid Which gives weapon familiarity with a chosen weapon, making it a martial weapon.

You should check out the foehammer archetype as well. Seems pretty cool with smashing style.

--Edit--

Waiiiit a minute that feat is strange. It gives me my str to damage ontop of my attack? Does that even work? I believe you cant "double dip" on the same stat in damage.

[Woodoodoo]

Damn that gatecrasher feat is amazing. But it adds on even more feats that I want.

[Woodoodoo]

Neeeeeecro! So I was thinking what everyones oppinion is on the Maul of the Titans? It feels a little too powerful to justify using.
On another note my PFS Barbarian is level 10 now and it's great fun to play! I recommend sundering for everyone!

Also, do Smashing and Breaking stack? I would assume not?

[Trinam]

It's 25k for a +3 greatclub. That means 7k extra just to triple damage to inanimate objects. Also that +3 weapon would be +2 furious, so you're actually losing out on some bonus damage for anything but sunder, and the sunder damage is enough to level most anything--especially if you take the smasher rage power.

If you are hitting through literal walls, it is useful. Otherwise, not so much.

Also don't forget Raging Brutality for more smash. 1.5x str mod, WITH raging vitality's bonus buff, and when do you usually need your swift action as a barbarian?

EDIT: I think they'd stack. The smashing bonus isn't like bane and that caveat only applies to crystalline creatures.

[Azten]

It's fine until you grab Great Sunder and all the extra damage hits who ever just lost an item.

[Trinam]

--that is a suddenly very compelling argument for the maul.

Sledgehammer everything.

[Jader7777]

Word of warning, I have built an amazing sunder pro character-

Be careful of what you sunder, because winning the combat and getting phat loot are mutually exclusive with this build. Your associates may not appreciate you a lot...

[Woodoodoo]

In PFS sundering gear doesn't matter because you just get gold at the end of the adventure and don't get to keep any of the items.

Yeah the op part is the Maul+greater sunder: typically a weapon only has like between 20-40 hp and i would be doing more than 150 damage per hit.

[Trinam]

Why not sunder their outfit? Or backpack, or anything else they may be carrying? An arrow?

Pants only have 1 HP. :D

[Woodoodoo]

Yeah like I said I worry that it's too powerful. I don't want to outshine the random people I might play with on the pfs table.

[MageHunter]

Well remember, you can always sunder their bowstring, that's always +0.

[AM BARBARIAN]

BARBARIAN HAVE TWO JOBS: RIP AND TEAR.

BARBARIAN CORDIALLY RECOMMEND BE BEST AT BOTH JOBS BARBARIAN AM DOING, ALWAYS.

ALSO MAKE ALL SAVES ALWAYS AM PART OF JOB, BUT BARBARIAN SEE ASPIRING BARBARIAN ALREADY HAVE SUPERSTITION AND SPELL SUNDER. THAT AM GOOD PLAN.

SHINE ON, CRAZY DIAMOND. SHINE ON.

[Woodoodoo]

I am honored to receive advice from the great AM BARBARIAN. I guess people would probably understand when I'm using the maul to deal something like 400 damage in a turn at lvl 10.

[AM BARBARIAN]

AM VERY TRUE.

ALSO, CONSIDER 'BARBARIAN' FOR LAST NAME IF NOT ALREADY PICKED. AM NOT LIKE ANYONE REALLY PAY ATTENTION, AND IT AM MIGHTYFINE LAST NAME. BARBARIAN SPEAK FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

EDIT: AND NOT EVEN GET BARBARIAN STARTED ON CASTYS WHO AM TRYING TRIVIALIZE EVERYTHING ALWAYS AND AM TRYING LORD IT OVER PEOPLE. AT LEAST BARBARIAN HEART AM IN RIGHT PLACE. PLACE OF SMASH.

[Inlaa]

Hm... Well...

Quote:

Whenever you sunder to destroy a weapon, shield, or suit of armor, any excess damage is applied to the item's wielder.

Specifically weapons, shields, and armor. Note that.

[Trinam]

Oh, so that's why you don't just sunder pants.

[Inlaa]

That and even antipaladins know it's not polite to hit someone in the unmentionables. That's just uncalled for.

Be a real warrior and go for something more socially acceptable, like the jugular or the brainbox or the everything at once.

[Trinam]

Dirty Trick is exactly for unmentionable hitting though...

Did nobody give the party rogue the memo?

[Red Metal]

No, because doing dirty tricks is the barbarian's job

[Woodoodoo]

I am kind of lost as to what rage powers I should be getting after lvl 10. I know beast totem is the general "cookie cutter" power but I want to pick something more unique.

[Trinam]

Smasher lets you ignore hardness, dealing bonus damage to the weapon (particularly if it's magical, their hardness is... hard)

Also there's Come and Get Me. You get to make an attack...which could be Sunder. With Combat Reflexes, you could Sunder a lot of weapons in one round. And don't forget eater of magic for the re-roll of a save, or Ghost Fighter (or whatever it's called) to beat the face off of ghosts.

[Inlaa]

I imagine that taking Guarded Stance at level 12 = +3 Dodge AC and so = really darned good for you. Alternatively, if you were playing Unchained, you'd get 4 Dodge AC from taking Guarded Stance at level 12.

No Escape means exactly what it says on the tin. If an enemy tries to Withdraw from you, you can just use an Immediate Action to double move after them. For a beast of destruction, that sounds very fitting.

[Woodoodoo]

I just noticed Unexpected strike as well. Wow, they step into your square and you sunder their weapon.

[Trinam]

Also a good one, yeah!

[Reduxist]

AM BARBARIAN wrote:

AM VERY TRUE.

ALSO, CONSIDER 'BARBARIAN' FOR LAST NAME IF NOT ALREADY PICKED. AM NOT LIKE ANYONE REALLY PAY ATTENTION, AND IT AM MIGHTYFINE LAST NAME. BARBARIAN SPEAK FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

EDIT: AND NOT EVEN GET BARBARIAN STARTED ON CASTYS WHO AM TRYING TRIVIALIZE EVERYTHING ALWAYS AND AM TRYING LORD IT OVER PEOPLE. AT LEAST BARBARIAN HEART AM IN RIGHT PLACE. PLACE OF SMASH.

THAT IS WHY SPELL SUNDER + STRENGTH SURGE IS 'A THING'.

[Woodoodoo]

Really my sunder bonus is so ridiculously high that most of the time strength surge is total overkill.

[Trinam]

It's still useful to have as a defensive option imo, just to say 'nah' to the colossal octopus trying to grapple you.

[James Risner]

Trait bonuses don't stack so ditch bred for war.

Take Destroyers Blessing feat for infinite rage.
Take Gate Breaker for additional str to sunder.

Remember Piston Maul costs 25 gp a day or similar. Unless you have free stuff per scenario it's probably best to get a different weapon.

Also Deific obedience( Rovagug) costs 10 gp a day plus it doesn't say "including Sunder" like so many other similar so you might get resistance on using it for Sunder attempts.

I ran into table variance on smashing and breaking working together.

Maybe take 2 levels of cavalier for power attack (gendarme) and improved sunder (order of sunder) to fit in more feats?

[Woodoodoo]

This character is already level 10 and i have been playing him since lvl1. Bred for war is a trait bonus to CMB, Destructive blows is a trait bonus to sunder checks. Deific obedience for Rovagug gives you a bonus to attack and damage on inanimate objects. You don't deal damage when you make a strength check to snap a chain or break a door, I think that clearly this leaves no doubt that it works for sunder hits.

I think I would rather take gate breaker or smashing style for now before destroyers blessing since i pretty much never run out of rage(although that might change since I will be rage-cycling alot more now). But I somehow completely forgot about destroyers blessing so it's good to know about.

Yes I know that it costs a little to use the piston maul and deific obedience but In a stroke of genius my barbarian took Craft: Claymaking and is able to use that as a day job(PFS) to craft statues of sarenrae which hilariously and at least normally supplements the deific obedience cost.

[James Risner]

Your CMB is +1 trait (bred) and +2 trait (destructive) so only the 2 matters.
Both are added to your CMB as Sunder is a type of CMB.

This is different than +4 morale to strength which turns into str typed bonus to CMB plus morale bonus to attacks (cmb is an attack)

For reference I've played two sunderers up in PFS so I've spent a lot of time on table variances and I avoid the things I've seen variance.