Ah, more about half orc racial traits:
Weapon familiarity is something you can definitely trade out. It mostly just gives some martial 2 handed weapons (great ax, falchion) to classes that use simple weapons. You have those already from barbarian. Suggested trade outs for it:
Dimdweller- gives +2 bonuses to intimidate, perception, and stealth in dim light/darkness. Not great, but hey- you don't suffer in the dark due to your darkvision. much better if you are in a party that only has dark vision users, since you can get rid of lights and just get more regular bonuses.
Fey thoughts- a racial trait that the core races were given. It lets you pick two of a selection of useful skills as a class skill. In case you wanted to do diplomacy or use wands. Might not be that great with the stats that have been floating around (which means you only have 2-3 skill points, and penalties on a lot of the skills you might pick with this).
Shadow hunter- similar to above, but gives you 50% damage against ghosts and such with nonmagic weapons. Also, gives you bonuses on saves to remove negative levels. Not as useful regularly, but hey- you are trading something useless for something that is occasionally useful.
Ah, more about half orc racial traits:
Weapon familiarity is something you can definitely trade out. It mostly just gives some martial 2 handed weapons (great ax, falchion) to classes that use simple weapons. You have those already from barbarian. Suggested trade outs for it:
Dimdweller- gives +2 bonuses to intimidate, perception, and stealth in dim light/darkness. Not great, but hey- you don't suffer in the dark due to your darkvision. much better if you are in a party that only has dark vision users, since you can get rid of lights and just get more regular bonuses.
Fey thoughts- a racial trait that the core races were given. It lets you pick two of a selection of useful skills as a class skill. In case you wanted to do diplomacy or use wands. Might not be that great with the stats that have been floating around (which means you only have 2-3 skill points, and penalties on a lot of the skills you might pick with this).
Shadow hunter- similar to above, but gives you 50% damage against ghosts and such with nonmagic weapons. Also, gives you bonuses on saves to remove negative levels. Not as useful regularly, but hey- you are trading something useless for something that is occasionally useful.
Fey thoughts is good but Weapon Familiarity would be lost. Doesn't a Barbarian eventually switch to a Falchion for his weapon of choice? or does he stay at Greatsword throughout the campaign?
Spell sunder is to dispel magic. It has nothing to do with armor.
In the case of actual sunder it is not a regular use thing. There are still times when I would rather lose loot than lose my character.
Thanks for the clarification. Just wondering how does this Barbarian survive with 16-18 AC? 14-16 when Raging? He's got great saves, but his AC is hurting big league. Please help.
a barbarian isn't really built for high ac at least not at low level they are more built for high HP which allows them to live longerThanks for the clarification. Just wondering how does this Barbarian survive with 16-18 AC? 14-16 when Raging? He's got great saves, but his AC is hurting big league. Please help.Spell sunder is to dispel magic. It has nothing to do with armor.
In the case of actual sunder it is not a regular use thing. There are still times when I would rather lose loot than lose my character.
Can you help me in my other thread? :) Need your expertise.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ukjf?Invulnerable-Rager-help-me-out-with-feat- build
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The reason for pounce is to kill things before they have a chance to do anything.
Level 10
10 + 2 dex + 6 Mithril breastplate + 3 enhancement + 2 ring of prot + 2 a natural armor + 3 beast totem + 1 ioun stone.
Thats 29 ac -2 for raging.
That's going to stop attacks around 65% of the time according to the BENCH-PRESSING: CHARACTER CREATION BY THE NUMBERS blog post.
This is actually good for your group. If you have a lot of HP and DR but can be hit and you hit hard you should be drawing attacks from most intelligent opponents.
Low levels the AC can hurt but you have more hp than anyone else and if you a have the beast totem you have 2 claw attack so your damage will be higher than most.
The reason for pounce is to kill things before they have a chance to do anything.
Level 10
10 + 2 dex + 6 Mithril breastplate + 3 enhancement + 2 ring of prot + 2 a natural armor + 3 beast totem + 1 ioun stone.
Thats 29 ac -2 for raging.
That's going to stop attacks around 65% of the time according to the BENCH-PRESSING: CHARACTER CREATION BY THE NUMBERS blog post.
This is actually good for your group. If you have a lot of HP and DR but can be hit and you hit hard you should be drawing attacks from most intelligent opponents.
Low levels the AC can hurt but you have more hp than anyone else and if you a have the beast totem you have 2 claw attack so your damage will be higher than most.
You sir are a legend, could you please give me your recommended build also, always love your insight.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ukjf?Invulnerable-Rager-help-me-out-with-feat- build
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fey thoughts is good but Weapon Familiarity would be lost. Doesn't a Barbarian eventually switch to a Falchion for his weapon of choice? or does he stay at Greatsword throughout the campaign?
That is just it- human barbarians can use falchions too.
Falchions and great axes are martial weapons. Barbarians are proficient in all martial weapons. Weapon familiarity only really matters when you don't get martial weapons- such as a cleric or bard. In that case, your half orc cleric or bard could use a nice beefy falchion. But a barbarian could use one anyway (it is actually one of the best melee weapons for someone focused on str- lots of high crits)
So weapon familiarity is just redundant on a barbarian. So you might as well trade it out.
Note- There are a couple of things you can grab with half orc's weapon familiarity other than the falchion, but neither would be attractive to you. You also get 'orc' named weapons- that would be the orc double ax and the orc battering ram. The double ax is for TWF style (so nice for a ranger, but not for you) and the battering ram is a reach weapon (which has already been rejected).
Fey thoughts is good but Weapon Familiarity would be lost. Doesn't a Barbarian eventually switch to a Falchion for his weapon of choice? or does he stay at Greatsword throughout the campaign?That is just it- human barbarians can use falchions too.
Falchions and great axes are martial weapons. Barbarians are proficient in all martial weapons. Weapon familiarity only really matters when you don't get martial weapons- such as a cleric or bard. In that case, your half orc cleric or bard could use a nice beefy falchion. But a barbarian could use one anyway (it is actually one of the best melee weapons for someone focused on str- lots of high crits)
So weapon familiarity is just redundant on a barbarian. So you might as well trade it out.
Note- There are a couple of things you can grab with half orc's weapon familiarity other than the falchion, but neither would be attractive to you. You also get 'orc' named weapons- that would be the orc double ax and the orc battering ram. The double ax is for TWF style (so nice for a ranger, but not for you) and the battering ram is a reach weapon (which has already been rejected).
Thanks Lemeres!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seems like for the last 5 years whenever someone asks for Barbarian advice he gets the same advice. Some of which is good (Reckless abandon, Superstition), some of which not soo good (Two handed weapon deals most damage...that honor goes to natural weapons). Anyways Paizo has actually released a number of good Barbarian options recently that add new tricks or can work as well or better as the gold standard options.
As a replacement for Superstion I find this rage power rather interesting, particularly good for fate's favored half orcs as they start with decent saves in all departments and can best benefit from rerolls:
Ymeri’s Pyre (Su): The barbarian visibly burns with an
inner flame that consumes all impurities affecting her.
Each round that the barbarian rages reduces the duration
of negative spells and effects inflicted upon her as if
2 rounds had passed; this has no effect on the duration
of such effects against other creatures. Once per day,
the barbarian can expend 5 rounds of rage to attempt
a new saving throw against each nonpermanent effect
currently affecting her. Each successful saving throw ends
the related effect, and she can choose not to make a save
against an effect.
From the same book we also have this sexy little once per day trick availabe from level 2 onward:
Kelizandri’s Tide (Su): When the barbarian rages,
enemies find it difficult to escape the vortex of her fury.
As a full-round action while raging, the barbarian can
attempt a single combat maneuver check against each
creature within 10 feet of her. If her roll equals or exceeds
a creature’s CMD, she moves that creature 5 feet closer
to her. Once per day after attempting this maneuver, she
can attack each adjacent creature as a free action as if
using the Whirlwind Attack feat. If she has the Whirlwind
Attack feat, she can also use it as a free action in this way
one additional time per day.
If you are looking to make use of pounce be sure to find ways to make charging more reliable.
http://www.archivesofnethys.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Barbarian%2 0Deepwater%20Rager
or via the Eratic charge rage power.
|
|
Natural attacks do more damage but the struggle to deal with dr and hardness makes them a poor recommendation far a new player.
Cool suggestions. Ymeri’s Pyre the duration decrease is a bit weak but the reroll is amazing! I would say it synergies well with superstitious and does not need to replace it. Thanks for bring that book to my attention.
Kelizandri’s Tideis not particularly useful. At level 6 you need 3 enemies 5 or 10 ft away to get 3 attacks (to match what you get hasted). Then you leave the enemy in a position that makes it easier for them to 5ft and full attack instead on move and get a single attack. It's better to delay take a single attack from one enemy and full attack yourself and let the others take a move and single attack.
Deepwater rager is great for charging. I like dragon style. Erratic charge is underwhelming imho. If 5ft helped get pasted and enemy it will leave you taking an aoo, or it help not have to take an aoo, in that case you could have charge the person you are running past. If a teammate is the problem and 5ft would solve it so would saying "move 5 ft north".
|
Kelizandri’s Tideis not particularly useful. At level 6 you need 3 enemies 5 or 10 ft away to get 3 attacks (to match what you get hasted). Then you leave the enemy in a position that makes it easier for them to 5ft and full attack instead on move and get a single attack. It's better to delay take a single attack from one enemy and full attack yourself and let the others take a move and single attack.
Oh, the things you could do with a Greater Trip/Vicious Stomp build (whose primary problem isn't being able to trip, but having opponents fall adjacent to him rather than simply in his threat-range).
And: Whirlwind Attack is the capstone of a feat-chain four steps deep, and this rage power gives it to you once per day without having to take any of them.
(Sure beats waiting until your 13th-level feat slot for CaGM.)
1) 5' into position while Enlarged; deploy Kelizandri’s Tide.
2) Make combat maneuver checks versus (note: these are not attacks; just checks to see who's eligible). Everyone who is beaten is drawn adjacent.
3) Unleash KT-granted Whirlwind Attack, converting each attack into a trip attempt.
4) Each successful trip triggers two AoOs, one from Greater Trip, the other from Vicious Stomp.
5) Anyone still alive, on their turn, triggers another AoO when attempting to stand up.
~ ~ ~
The most difficult aspect is generating enough AoOs in one's build to properly exploit it. Size increases (which help tripping) decrease DEX, which costs an AoO).
I can see it working in barbarian[urban]2 chassised builds who've secured a finesse mechanism (although going -2 to attacks via DEX rather than STR while Enlarged is onerous...builds exploiting a different maneuver to generate AoOs, such as from feinting, may have better success).
|
|
A similar thing could be done with enlarge and a reach weapon greater trip and vicious stomp. Throw some longarm bracers have a fortuitous weapon. Unless combat has a lot of opponents the power does not really helping you much or you have one fight a day.
How many people come into the same characters threatened range each day?
Dex penalties don't effect aoos. Penalties act like damage damage.
Kelzandir's Tide is just a nice little trick with next to no investement. The two main reasons whirlwind attack suck are
a) too many feats invested.
b) applicable too rarely.
For a two handed build this can easily grant you 3 to 4 attacks at your highest BAB once per day when fighting a horde of pesky things. At higher levels (once you get your third iterative) this becomes far less interesting so you can retrain it out...
Also it's pretty cool...