Eladrin Barbarian: The most dangerous barbarian build in epic

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Barbarus hic ergo sum, quia non intellegor ulli:
Eladrin Barbarian
00606.jpg

Major Errata, MP2 and PHB3 made it difficult for me to update the level-by-level build, but the core is unchallenged even after the May 4 rules update.

Until I find the time to update this guide, please check out the level 23 build below.

This unorthodox but highly optimized barbarian takes "inferior" choices like the "wrong" race (Eladrin), the "wrong" weapon (Greatspear) and combines optimization efforts in 7 thematic groups that all synergize well together. (Check out my thread on measuring synergy)

The ultimate goal is to create a well-rounded warrior, who is playable throughout all levels, not a one-trick pony, and wastes almost no single feat, race or class / paragon path feature, but instead makes almost every single one of them synergize with one or more of the others, deals significant damage, has early nova capabilities other barbarians lack, controls the battlefield "at-will", has many attacks outside his turn, gets 1 or 2 free attacks on a crit most of the time (rampage in heroic, Draeven Marauder in paragon), and crits at 19/20 at level 11, can ignore difficult terrain by late paragon (shifts always 2), knocks enemies prone and shoves them 2 squares away from allies with Pressing Strike and Swift Spear OA's in paragon, and optimizes charging to a point where the attack outperforms his encounter powers (under regular circumstances) in the 2nd half of each tier.

An alternative build (see details at level 21 below) that's optimized for the late paragon or epic tier heavily increases damage output and/or accuracy.

No Cheese!

The appeal of this build doesn't depend on commonly "abused" optimization tricks, like frost cheese, windrise ports, encounter/daily power recharging, hybrids, assigning elemental damage type keywords to powers, Eberron marks, and so on, which means no reasonable DM should have issues with the build. The only key feat that's not from core rulebooks (PHB, PHB 2, Martial Power, Primal Power) is Swift Spear from Dragon 378. If it's not allowed in your group the polearm gamble attack is just an MBA, which is still great. The PP Draeven Marauder is Dragon 365, which means it's pretty well established. If it's not allowed, that would be a setback, but there is always Pitfighter or Kensei (a better choice actually if critting is not that important to you). Everything is pretty old school and has survived many rounds of rule updates, and doesn't use playtest material. In other words, the build is here to stay.


The themes sorted by priority are in detail:

1) Polearm. Action Denial, Battlefield Control, Free Attacks. Mostly achieved at level 11 and 12.

There is nothing new about this, but you rarely see it on barbarians, despite them having one of the very few at-wills in the game that can be optimized with polearms: Pressing Strike. The other ones are Opening Shove (Warlord) and Footwork Lure (Fighter).

Polearm Momentum knocks targets prone whenever you push or slide them 2 squares. Polearm Gamble grants you an Opportunity Attack (OA) on enemies coming adjacent. Swift Spear slides targets of your OA's adjacent and knocks them prone.

Pulling this off requires you to let go of more damaging weapons, and to reserve the feet item slot for the quintessential Rushing Cleats throughout level 30, since they offer the only way to add one square to push AND slide effects. Alternatives or additions: Gauntlets of the Ram (hand slot), Spear Push (feat) Ring of Ramming, or Controlling Weapon. The problem with those: They don't increase slide effects, which means Swift Spear, and subsequently Polearm Gamble, is much less exciting. If you like pushing though, you can increase the effect to 6 squares by adding those 5 items/feats. It will push any monster, even gargantuan dragons, and make them fall prone (preferrably in pits or dangerous terrain.)

Mobile Warrior at level 21 allows you to shift away from the target of any attack, leaving Swift Spear OA victims in a dead spot from where they can only stand up or crawl. You can even shift away on a miss, before the target has completed it's turn, effectively ruining his turn. Add Gloves of Antipathy and you create some kind of protective aura around you.

On its next turn, the monster can't attack you directly unless it has reach. It needs to stand up (if it hasn't done so already in its last wasted turn), or move adjacent, which triggers Polearm Gamble/Swift Spear once again. If you put the monster in the right place it has no choice but to charge something if available.

This is such an effective method of battle control that your DM is going to have a serious gripe with it. But it's legal, and a lot of fun. In the reality of most games, your DM will subtly let his monsters attack you less often, perhaps not at all, if they don't have reach. Although the polearm combo is very offensive by design, since it has so much battle control and enjoys free attacks others can't get, it's also very defensive because monsters (the DM) tend to avoid you like the plague. It doesn't help against monsters with reach, so watch out. In paragon, about 459 monsters out of 1,116 have reach. In epic, the number is 305 out of 555. If you position yourself well and the DM doesn't pay 100% attention you'll get polearm gamble on a good number of enemies even of those with reach. If not, it means they attack someone else (hopefully your party tank). I recommend to come to an agreement with the DM that he can't retract movements after he is well-accustomed to your playing style.

The bottom line is, going polearm diminishes your role as damage dealing striker somewhat, but for the great benefit of the party, and for satisfying free attacks and control.

2) At-will optimization. Turn BOTH at-wills into attacks that outshine encounter powers.

Pressing Strike optimization has already been covered in the above topic. It's worth mentioning though that by adding one square to the shift (with Great Cat Hide, late paragon) this power becomes your way of moving through the fray. You now can shift 3 squares through enemies, and then push it 2 or more squares, and knock it prone. You need 3 squares in order to be effective against large creatures. I actually think that without breaking the 2 square limit, Pressing Strike becomes a frustrating power in higher levels.

Howling Strike optimization will be covered in topic 3. It can be optimized with weapons, feats, and items that increase damage and mobility options to a point where it is better than any encounter power you can find. It becomes such a great attack that you will prefer it even over Storm of Blades if you can't get combat advantage or better.

3) Charging. Very high at-will damage and teleportation/defense effects from Fey Step power. Most goals achieved at level 11

Charging can be done using the amazingly scalable Howling Strike, and Fey Charge (lvl 11) which uses fey step on a charge and doesn't expend the power when you hit. Feywild Protection (lvl 18) grants +2 to all defenses after fey stepping, meaning almost all the time.
Unstoppable charge (epic) allows further actions after charging, which means you can use fey charging for positioning through enemy lines. Overpowering charge (epic) knocks charging victims prone.
Charging Rampage turns the measle MBA into a howling strike attack, and you are not limited by surrounding monsters thanks to Fey Charge.
Howling Strike let's you move 8 during rage (and teleport more than half the way) and land a devastating blow, perhaps crit, shift 2 (in epic), knock prone (in epic) and then move on to that nasty controller in the back. Action Point.

4) Multi-attack power fueled novas. Compensating for your sacrifices in the damage department. First achieved at level 4.

This build gets Rain of Blows (3 attacks, MC fighter) at level 4 and probably keeps it forever, basically a more reliable mini version of Storm of Blades already in heroic.  Savage Growl (lvl 2 utility) adds 1d8 on each attack), which gets you a fine little standard action nova by mid-heroic. Of course you take SoB too, so in paragon you can pull off a grand nova with potentially 6 or more attacks (not counting rampage and draeven marauder free attacks.)
The "problem" is that a Howling Strike Charge usually outperforms those novas, unless you have at least CA against the target - preferrably even more accuracy boosts.

5) Mobility. You don't want to be that immobile brute that gets stuck in difficult terrain or surrounded by enemies. Achieved at level 1.

Increased mobility is important for any striker. Many barbarians don't pay enough attention to this. The Eladrin has fey step from level 1 on, and can make it "reliable" by level 11 with Fey Charge. He can move through enemy lines almost whenever he wants to (until he misses on a fey charge).
In the shifting department, Great Cat Hide (lvl 19) adds a square to any shift he makes.
With Mobile Warrior (a free shift after ANY attack roll, level 21) he aquires one of the most powerful feats in the game that is off-limits for most of his barbarian colleagues, since they will probably use DEX as their secondary dump stat, now that Hide Armor Expertise offers an irresistable reason to go for STR/CON all the way through level 30. He needs high DEX anyway for the Polearm Feats and Rain of Blows, so don't you worry. It adds to AC, Initiative and important skills. DEX is never wasted.
By level 21 you can shift 2 after every attack, which increases your mobility (obviously) but also your positioning after the Swift Spear opportunity attacks, in between multi-attack powers, to gain space for Charging Rampage, and so on. The benefits are endless, and can't be represented in DPR.

6) Critting. Free attacks are glorious. Greatly improved at level 11.

Other barbarians have rampage, you have Eladrin Rampage. By level 11 you crit on 19/20 thanks to
Draeven Marauder PP. At level 16 you also get a 2nd free attack on a crit against bloodied targets, in addition to the Rampage attack. And this free attack is NOT limited to once per round, or to barbarian powers, which means multiple crits per round give more attacks. There are other means to get the crit range, but for the spear fighter it's clearly the superior choice. You also save the epic feat slot for Spear Mastery (usually a must.) In addition, with Charging Rampage you turn those attacks into devastating Howling Strike Charge attacks, and you don't worry about OA's or enemies blocking your way, or not being able to charge anyone, because you can teleport on the charge, and you can position yourself for the charge (by end paragon).

7) Free attacks outside your turn. More damage, more crits, more shifts

In addition to Polearm Gamble, this build tries to snatch everything it can. Battle Awareness (lvl 2),Curtain of Steel (lvl. 7) Backlash Tattoo (lvl 9), Strikebacks (lvl 10) give you four attacks outside your turn every encounter. (If you know more sources, please let me know.) Use them at the earliest possibility, and keep those goodies all the way through level 30.

Welcome Side Effect: High Non-AC defenses

It's not the purpose of the build to have high defenses, it simply happens because you need high DEX and WIS for your polearm feats. It will pay off many times in the actual game. Other barbarians like to ignore this, until they are hit by immobilization, dazing, stunning, or dominating effects. Eladrin also get a valuable +1 to Will, and save with +5 against charm effects. Rare, but very dangerous. For example, watch out for dominating effects. Your Howling Strike at-will combined with rampage etc can outright kill an ally. The DM WILL abuse this. I certainly have done so as DM, with great pleasure.

Weapons of Choice

Vanguard (+1d8 on charge attack damage) is your preferred weapon in heroic, but it's level 3/8/13 etc, so you probably take Vicious (level 2/7/12/17 etc.) if you can't get your hand on your preferred weapon.
Thundergod replaces Vanguard in paragon, but definitely in epic if you want to keep pushing Howling Strike damage.
An interesting alternative is Tyrant's (level 8, knocks prone on crit, and deals 1d6 extra damage on all your prone targets (you have plenty) once per day for 2 rounds. Great choice if you love daily super novas.
If you like buffing your allies and yourself, an awesome choice by paragon is Dread, because the defense penalty it can inflict is simply outstanding and it scales. It's one of the few overpowered items left, since defense penalties shouldn't scale like that. I take it as long as it's available. To optimize this weapon, gather anything that gives extra attack rolls. For example, Thunder Hawk Rage (level 5) is probably a keeper throughout epic simply because you usually get a free attack once per turn that knocks prone, can trigger rampage and "Press the Advantage", and also the Dread effect. Pretty neat. With Salves of Power you can recharge this rage.

Alternative feats

Mark of Passage (I don't use it because it's Eberron, but definitely grand for this build)
Surprising Charge (I don't take it because I fear that most targets won't grant CA. With a reach weapon you don't end the charge adjacent, so unfortunately flanking doesn't work on charge. Clearly a weakness of this build. Workaround: Windrise Ports cheese, with MC Rogue and snatching Roundabout Charge. Feat costs are significant though and delay the "natural" development of this concept)
Spear Push adds another square on the push effect of Pressing Strike (see Polearm theme)
Sun Elf Grace grants another +1 to all defenses after fey stepping which stacks with Feywild Protection, until you get bloodied. Definitely a good choice if you think you get smacked too often.
Fey Step Trailblazer lets you carry an ally with you on your fey step (charge). Fun and in some situations outright awesome. If you have a bravura warlord in the group, take this feat as soon as you can. He will love the mobility and additional action, and you get nice bonuses. Also great to put the defender right in the middle of the action at the start of combat, before he acts.
Spear Mastery you'll need this in epic if you don't take Draeven Marauder PP.
Impaling Spear (MP 2) allows you to target REF instead of AC on melee basic attacks. This is an effective accuracy boost of +2 to +4 in most cases.
Barreling Charge (MP 2) allows to charge adjacent with reach weapons.
Brutal Reach (Dragon 384) allows to reroll all 1's on damage rolls. A good choice if you go for howling charge optimization a lot with all those dice, and if you can't afford Gauntlets of Destruction.

Epic Destiny options

Harbinger of Doom - if you like the gambling aspect (you can reroll 1's and the enemy gets stunned if he rolls a 1)
Punisher of the Gods - if you want more free attacks on crits (definitely fun - but you already have enough of those, no? Just kidding). Fang of the World Serpent gets you more free attacks on average by level 24.
Demigod - Everybody's default choice. You don't REALLY need the boost in another ability score besides STR. Of course the ability of spamming Hurricane of Blades non-stop at level 30 can't be beaten by anything else really. The problem is, it contradicts your build by suddenly being totally focussed solely on spamming your best mult-attack encounter power. You don't have means to increase accuracy on those, and no means to increase damage. At the meantime, everything else you have worked so hard to achieve (Fey Charge, Polearm tricks) suddenly becomes less important.
Fang of the World Serpent - great for more damage and more attacks on crits and bloodying an enemy. It compensates for your sacrifices in the damaging department. The damage boost is not limited to once per turn, so as long as you hit with a primal attack it will always boost the next attack. This includes multi-attack powers. Rain of Blows can be boosted only on the first attack unfortunately. At level 24 you get two free attacks on crits and bloodying. This means you now have at least 3 free attacks on a crit. If you picked Draeven Marauder PP and the enemy was bloodied, it's 4. Whenever you bloody an enemy, you also get 2 free attacks. With your reach weapon and Mobile Warrior shift you have an easy time overcoming the limitation of attacking the original target only once with those. Without reach and free shifting you would not be able to reach additional targets over 50% the time, I guess (very frustrating). In addition, just like the free attack from Draeven Marauder, and unlike Rampage, these free attacks are not limited to once per turn... The level 26 utility is a rare accuracy and damage self-boost. The level 30 feature is disappointing though. Critical hits from monsters are not as scary as those from PC's. You would rather develop your offense more. But on the other hand, this build is not strong on HP and AC, so while you can handle the occasional normal hit, a critical hit might put you below 0.


Regarding the claim in the subject, "most dangerous barbarian in epic" is not referring to DPR. I just think that the ability of this build to optimize multiple themes, and getting Rain of Blows early on, long before other barbarians can get their hand on Storm of Blades, makes it a contender for being "the most dangerous". The agressive variation (see level 21) is probably on par with other optimized barbarians in terms of accuracy and damage output.

Rating of level progression
Purple: Boring Level. Others advance better.
Black: Just the regular step up.
Blue: An improvement.
Sky Blue: A major boost, harvesting the fruits of optimization choices in earlier levels
Gold: Where you achieve (almost) all your optimization goals.

To understand the color code for the rating better, please check out this thread.

Please excuse some inconsitencies in the level progression (power selections etc.), it's a work in progress.
Level 1:
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Eladrin Soldier (feat) - this is where it all starts, getting proficient with the Greatspear, a +3, 1d10 spear/polearm, and +2 extra damage.

Entry Powers
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Shift 2 through enemies and push - a no brainer. And it becomes a devastating attack at level 12 with Polearm Momentum + Rushing Cleats.

Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Your bread and butter attack, getting always better until level 30

Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
If you can't charge, you better do 3(W)

Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
The steady +2 speed bonus can make all the difference. On charge attacks you now have speed 10 because Howling Strike adds another +2 while raging. That makes you the fastest guy in the party. Also shift 2 as a move action, which means you can shift in difficult terrain. Probably the best level 1 rage.

Commentary: The entry level is borderlining on being purple because of the "wrong" race choice. No boost to STR and CON, which means he loses out on accuracy, damage, and the temp HP bonus from rageblood on a kill. On the other hand, he has relatively good non-AC defenses (not to forget the racial +1 bonus to Will), and with a reach weapon he enjoys more attack options, and naturally will also get attacked less often since he keeps a distance (which in part offsets the lower HP and temp HP gain - but this is impossible to measure.) The DEX boost is not wasted because you need DEX 15 for Polearm Momentum.

What keeps this level from being purple however is the racial power Fey Step, which undoubtedly is highly useful for a mobile character, even without Fey Charge (see the golden level 11). Partly compensating for "poor" weapon choice is the racial feat Eladrin Soldier, which combines weapon proficiency and weapon focus in one feat. 1d10+2 with reach is almost like fullblade with 1d12 high crit. Another nice bonus is the free skill training from Eladrin Education. I usually pick something unusual like Thievery, if there is no Rogue in the party.

Overall, this level 1 character is highly mobile, will get hit less often, particularly with crippling effects targeting Will, and can probably get by OK with the slightly lower than average damage output.

Character Builder summary for level 1
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 1
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 17 Fort: 15 Reflex: 14 Will: 13
HP: 28 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 7

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +7, Heal +7, Endurance +5, Acrobatics +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +2, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +2, History +2, Insight +2, Intimidate, Nature +2, Perception +2, Religion, Stealth +2, Streetwise, Athletics +4

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage

ITEMS
Hide Armor, Greatspear
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 2:
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Battle Awareness (feat) - MC Fighter: Skill training from fighter skill list; Free attack if adjacent enemy shifts or attacks someone else (per encounter). Requires WIS 13.

Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off - a immediate save outside your turn is invaluable.

Magic Items becoming available:
Lvl 3 Bestial Hide Armor +1, granting free attack after charge (daily).
Lvl 3 Vanguard Greatspear +1, +1d8 on charge attacks
Lvl 2 Vicious Greatspear +1, 1d12 crit damage
Lvl 3 Belt of Feral Might, adds STR to temp HP gained from Rageblood Vigor. Pretty good to offset your low CON
Lvl 2 Boots of Adept Charging, lets you shift 1 after every charge. A keeper.
Lvl 2 Badge of the Berserker (Neck) +1, bonus to non-AC defenses, and charge attacks don't provoke OA anymore.
Recommended gear:
Magic Hide Armor +1, Vanguard Greatspear +1, Amulet of Protection +1, Boots of Adept Charging

Commentary: A free attack outside your turn is a major improvement. Without it the level would be purple, because you MC into fighter solely to qualify for critical feats in later levels. It's blue because other barbarians take this much later, if at all (WIS 13 requirement). Getting a free attack per encounter is probably always worth a blue rating, at any level, for any melee build.

Character Builder summary for level 2
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 2
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 19 Fort: 17 Reflex: 16 Will: 15
HP: 34 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 8

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +8, Heal +8, Endurance +6, Acrobatics +8, Athletics +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +3, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +3, History +3, Insight +3, Intimidate +1, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion +1, Stealth +3, Streetwise +1

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off

ITEMS
Magic Hide Armor +1, Vanguard Greatspear +1, Amulet of Protection +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 3:
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Barbarian encounter 3: Thundering Howl - will be retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power
Magic Items becoming available:
Lvl 4 Counterstrike Guards, free attack when enemy misses (daily). Continuing our collection of free attack sources.
Recommended gear: Vanguard Greatspear +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Bestial Hide Armor +1, Badge of the Berserker +1
Commentary: You take this for the time being to kill off minions. By know you know that Howling Strike Charge is what you are best at. Pressing Strike for pushing and positioning. Rages for their effects and initial damage.
Character Builder summary for level 3
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 3
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 19 Fort: 17 Reflex: 16 Will: 15
HP: 40 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 10

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +8, Heal +8, Endurance +6, Acrobatics +8, Athletics +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +3, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +3, History +3, Insight +3, Intimidate +1, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion +1, Stealth +3, Streetwise +1

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Thundering Howl

ITEMS
Vanguard Greatspear +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Bestial Hide Armor +1, Badge of the Berserker +1
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 4:
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Novice Power - you snatch Rain of Blows from the fighter and throw out Thundering Howl
Ability score increases: +1 STR, +1 DEX
Recommended gear: Vanguard Greatspear +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Bestial Hide Armor +1, Badge of the Berserker +1, Counterstrike Guards (NEW) (heroic tier)
Commentary: Now you have what no other barbarian gets this early - three attacks in one standard action. Drawback of Rain of Blows: It doesn't trigger rampage since it's not a barbarian power.

Character Builder summary for level 4
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 4
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 13, Dex 17, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 20 Fort: 18 Reflex: 17 Will: 16
HP: 46 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 11

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +9, Heal +9, Endurance +7, Acrobatics +9, Athletics +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +4, Bluff +2, Diplomacy +2, Dungeoneering +4, History +4, Insight +4, Intimidate +2, Nature +4, Perception +4, Religion +2, Stealth +4, Streetwise +2

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Thundering Howl (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)

ITEMS
Vanguard Greatspear +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Bestial Hide Armor +1, Badge of the Berserker +1, Counterstrike Guards (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 5:
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Barbarian daily 5: Thunder Hawk Rage
Recommended gear: You get access to one Lvl. 6 +2 item. Perhaps a Grasping Weapon? If accuracy is important, this is probably the best choice.
Horned Helm is level 6 and of course you are trying to get it as soon as possible.
Boots of Free Movement is an excellent level 6 item as well.

Commentary: Thunder Hawk is the best level 5 rage. Perhaps you want to keep it forever, or take it again in epic. The reason is that the secondary attack is a barbarian power and thus provides an extra trigger for rampage once per turn. Since you crit on 19/20 by level 11 you will feel the benefit. You can also spam this power with Salve of Power if you like, since it's level 5. It's also very flexible, you can attack a target whenever you want if it's your turn and you are adjacent. With Mobile Warrior in epic this attack also triggers a shift. Which means, you shift in, knock prone, shift away, and then with reach and CA deliver more pain. Now you already got 2 rolls that might trigger rampage... The target then starts its turn in that miserable dead hole we love so much from Swift Spear already (either crawls and attacks, or stands up, and can neither charge nor attack you).

Character Builder summary for level 5
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 5
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 13, Dex 17, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 20 Fort: 18 Reflex: 17 Will: 16
HP: 52 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 13

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +9, Heal +9, Endurance +7, Acrobatics +9, Athletics +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +4, Bluff +2, Diplomacy +2, Dungeoneering +4, History +4, Insight +4, Intimidate +2, Nature +4, Perception +4, Religion +2, Stealth +4, Streetwise +2

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Thundering Howl (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Thunder Hawk Rage

ITEMS
Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Bestial Hide Armor +1, Badge of the Berserker +1, Counterstrike Guards (heroic tier), Grasping Greatspear +2
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Level 6:
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Weapon Expertise (Spear) - a classic feat tax. This level is purple for you because average builds take this important feat at level 1 or 2 already. The price you pay for having a sky-blue level 4. If accuracy is important to you early on, take it at level 2 and delay Novice Power.
Barbarian utility 6: Swift Recovery

Level 7:
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Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel - another great attack outside your turn - Nr. 2! But most barbarians will take this so no shining here

Level 8:
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Reckless Charge - one of the few accuracy boosting feats. Great for your build, because you rely on accuracy in order to keep Fey Step on Fey Charge at level 11, and you charge a lot.
Character Builder summary:
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 8
Eladrin, Barbarian
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 20, Con 10, Dex 17, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 10, Dex 13, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 23 Fort: 23 Reflex: 20 Will: 18
HP: 67 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 16

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +11, Heal +10, Endurance +8, Acrobatics +11, Athletics +15

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +6, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Dungeoneering +5, History +6, Insight +5, Intimidate +4, Nature +5, Perception +5, Religion +4, Stealth +6, Streetwise +4

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 8: Reckless Charge

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Thundering Howl (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Rage of the Crimson Hurricane
Barbarian utility 6: Savage Growl
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel

ITEMS
Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Vanguard Greatspear +2, Bestial Hide Armor +2, Badge of the Berserker +2, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======



Level 9:
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Barbarian daily 9: Serpent Fang Rage

Level 10:
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Powerful Charge - a rather boring, but classic feat, and should be retrained to something fancier, like Polearm Gamble in the next level already. Rated purple, because other charging barbarians already have this since level 4 or so, and it would be great to have a more exciting option before level 11 kicks in. Feedback is appreciated. A level that typically only happens in optimized builds.
Barbarian utility 10: Navigate Crowds

Level 11:
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Fey Charge - using fey step on charging is one of the most powerful things in the game and only useful for Eladrin that charge all the time. This would be you.
Polearm Gamble (retrained) - free attack when the baddy comes closer. Great! Regular barbarians can't get this. When was the last time you saw a Goliath with a halberd and Wisdom 15?
PP feature: Marauder Precision - crits on 19-20 with spears is almost golden by itself, very rare in paragon
PP feature: Fleet Skirkimisher - shift 3 before Action Point, not too exciting, but useful
PP encounter power: Impaling Strike - a solid 3(W) power that immobilizes

Summary: What makes this level golden is the triple whopper of Fey Charge, Polearm Gamble, and critting on 19/20, which are all great by themselves, but you also get unique synergies with your unusual race, weapon and earlier feat choices. It all pays off now, and later! It is unlikely that any other melee character will have similar awesomeness at this level. When you look at other paragon paths available for fighters and barbarians, their exciting features don't come in before level 16. Only Daggermaster for Rogues with daggers is better with 18-20 crit range.
Jagged Weapon is the only alternative for barbarians to get 19/20 crit range, but it means they can't use the other weapons - you on the other hand can pick Vanguard, Vicious, Thundergod, Dread, whatever you are lusting after. Same is true for Rending Execution Axe which gives a free attack on a crit. Not a bad choice, but it blocks the slot for other weapons. This PP feature also saves you the epic feat "Spear Mastery". Other characters have to twist their ability scores in ways they usually hate just to qualify for their epic mastery feat, if they have a chance at all. You just don't worry.

Level 12:
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Polearm Momentum - you knock targets of Pressing Strike prone, with the help of Rushing Cleats. You just turned this already great at-will into a devastating, controlling power that has qualities that are usually reserved for encounter powers. Again, most other barbarians simply can't pull this off, at least not this early. It makes this level sky blue for you.
PP utility: Exultant Withdrawal - shift 3 on a kill, can help to position for swift charge

Level 13:
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Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike). Great power, but the level is not rated golden for you because probably every barbarian gets this. For other barbarians it's the level they have been having wet dreams about. For you it's just another footstep.

Level 14:
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Swift Spear - slide enemies and knock them prone on opportunity attacks when you get them the regular way, or through Polearm Gamble. Victims of your opportunity attacks will slide at least 2 squares and are knocked prone thanks to Polearm Momentum and Rushing Cleats. The DM will probably hate you for this. Don't be surprised if you don't actually see these opportunity attacks happening a lot. The DM will naturally avoid letting the monsters get closer. Polearm Gamble doesn't help against monsters with reach, but the defensive and offensive value is going to be outstanding for the rest of your career. And if you get a few extra attacks now and then, that's more than all other barbarian builds can dream of. Not rated sky-blue because it really depends on the DM how many free attacks you get.
Barbarian utility 16: Spur the Cycle (a free action once per day)

Level 15:
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Barbarian daily 15: Ancestral War Band Rage (replaces Serpent Fang Rage)

Level 16:
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Charging Rampage - using a charge on rampage is exciting, particularly because you can fey step through enemies. Builds without Fey Charge often get frustrated with this feat because there is not enough room for charging. Charging means you turn the measle MBA from rampage into a devastating Howling Strike...
PP feature: Press the Advantage - a free attack on a crit agains bloodied foes, which stacks with rampage!
From this level on you get 2 free attacks after critting a bloodied foes (one if not bloodied), and if you happen to crit again on your turn, but expended rampage already, you can attack again and again as long as the target is bloodied. We have all seen this with other barbarians, they crit again during the same turn and are mad that they can't use rampage one more time!

Level 17:
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Barbarian encounter 17: No alternative to replace the invaluable Curtain of Steel in sight, what a sucky day! One encounter slot is reserved for Storm of Blades, the 2nd one for Rain of Blows, and Curtain of Steel stays because nothing beats out-of-your-turn attacks, particularly at this level where you have so many powers to pick from for your standard actions on your turn, and usually Howling Strike charge is the best option anyway. In a way, taking Novice Power bites you in the back now. If your party lacks area attacks, take Stone-Splitting Roar, which is a nice minion auto-kill attack. All the other options are truly lackluster, not just for this build actually.

Level 18:
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Feywild Protection - a +2 untyped bonus on all defenses after fey stepping - meaning almost all the time thanks to your constant fey charging. You will notice that you start becoming the least attacked PC in the group, unless you have allies that really focus on optimizing their defenses. Watch out though, every now and then DM's can get really mad and focus fire...

Level 19:
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Barbarian daily 19: Winter Phoenix Rage (replaces Rage of the Crimson Hurricane)

Level 20:
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Deadly Rage: Better late than never. At level 21 you will get a +3 damage bonus when raging, it really is about time to take this feat. Other barbarians take this already in heroic - you have had more exciting options. Don't worry about it too much.
PP Daily: Taunting Press - an awesome power. With Polearm Momenum and Rushing Cleats you slide and knock the target prone until it dies. It works better for a true fighter with Combat Challenge and Superiority though. This power glues the enemy to you, and you toss him around like a dog playing with a rat.

The bottom line is that level 20 feels like level 10. Getting Deadly Rage that late kind of sucks, no question about it.

Level 21:
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Mobile Warrior - free shift after any attack roll (hit or miss) is crazy, just crazy. You are becoming a battlefield dancer. You can shift in between multi-attack powers as well, and with your Great Cat Hide you can shift 2 squares, which means you can shift in difficult terrain. You don't have any positioning problems anymore. You can also shift 2 back after a charge, and charge the same target again with charging rampage. Many melee guys would LOVE to have this, but they don't have the DEX because it all goes into CON for their Hide Armor Expertise exploitation, or they don't have spear, heavy/light blades, or flails. To all the executioner axe and mordenkrad wielding barbarians: Forget about it. Fullblade barbarians most likely qualify because they will also want Heavy Blade Mastery.
ED feature: Immortal Curse -  free attacks on crits against cursed target is good. But check out the other ED's I recommend (see above).

Character Builder Summary Level 21
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 21
Eladrin, Barbarian, Draeven Marauder, Punisher of the Gods
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 22, Con 17, Dex 20, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 36 Fort: 33 Reflex: 33 Will: 29
HP: 152 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 38

TRAINED SKILLS
Streetwise +16, Heal +18, Endurance +17, Acrobatics +19, Athletics +22

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +13, Bluff +11, Diplomacy +11, Dungeoneering +13, History +13, Insight +13, Intimidate +11, Nature +13, Perception +13, Religion +11, Stealth +14, Thievery +14

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 8: Reckless Charge
Level 10: Powerful Charge (retrained to Polearm Gamble at Level 11)
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Swift Spear
Level 16: Charging Rampage
Level 18: Feywild Protection
Level 20: Deadly Rage
Level 21: Mobile Warrior

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Tyrant's Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Shatterbone Strike (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Thunder Hawk Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Savage Growl
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Oak Hammer Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Enraged Surge
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Scytheclaw Rage (replaces Tyrant's Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Spur the Cycle
Barbarian encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 19: Hydra Rage (replaces Thunder Hawk Rage)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Thieves' Tools, Vicious Greatspear +5, Amulet of Protection +5, Great Cat Darkhide Armor +4, Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Horned Helm (paragon tier), Hungry Spear Greatspear +2, Potion of Clarity (level 10) (3), Flute of the Dancing Satyr (heroic tier), Belt of Feral Might (heroic tier), Strikebacks (heroic tier), Backlash Tattoo (heroic tier), Belt of Lucky Strikes (heroic tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Tyrant's Greatspear +4, Gauntlets of Brutality (paragon tier), Graceful Greatspear +4, Controlling Greatspear +4, Bloodthirsty Greatspear +4, Battlemaster's Greatspear +4, Twice-Clawed Gauntlets (heroic tier)
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More agressive build for level 21
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This variation doesn't have a very attractive level progression until it hits level 21. He pushes STR to 18 at level 1. As a result, CON is dangerously low (no Second Skin, # of surges under 10), and the Polearm Feats can't be taken at level 11. But DEX is very high and compensates a little with +5 on AC, REF and Initiative. Paragon Path is Pit Fighter for more damage (+3 on all attacks, and half-level damage on action point novas - great for your Rain of Blows / Storm of Blades sequence), but this means Spear Mastery is a must feat at level 21. Fang of the World Serpent is the epic destiny of choice, for more damage and more free attacks on a crit. This variation is a great choice for a game that starts at level 16 or 21. Kensei, which gives a +1 accuracy boost besides a +4 on damage, is a good alternative. Remember, you only keep Fey Step after fey charging if you hit. This means accuracy is even more paramount for you than for other builds. The bottom line: Draeven Marauder if you want to make progress at every level, Pit Fighter if you want to make sure your novas kill, and Kensei if you are worried about losing Fey Step.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 21
Eladrin, Barbarian, Pit Fighter, Fang of the World Serpent
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 24, Con 12, Dex 20, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 10, Dex 13, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 37 Fort: 34 Reflex: 33 Will: 29
HP: 147 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 36

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +19, Heal +18, Endurance +15, Acrobatics +19, Athletics +23

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +13, Bluff +11, Diplomacy +11, Dungeoneering +13, History +13, Insight +13, Intimidate +11, Nature +13, Perception +13, Religion +11, Stealth +14, Streetwise +11

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 8: Reckless Charge
Level 10: Powerful Charge (retrained to Polearm Gamble at Level 18)
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Feywild Protection (retrained to Spear Mastery at Level 21)
Level 14: Swift Spear
Level 16: Charging Rampage
Level 18: Polearm Momentum
Level 20: Deadly Rage
Level 21: Mobile Warrior

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Tyrant's Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Savage Growl
Barbarian encounter 3: Shatterbone Strike (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Thunder Hawk Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Oak Hammer Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Enraged Surge
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Scytheclaw Rage (replaces Tyrant's Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Spur the Cycle
Barbarian encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 19: Elder Tuskbrother Rage (replaces Scytheclaw Rage)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Thieves' Tools, Vicious Greatspear +5, Amulet of Protection +5, Great Cat Darkhide Armor +4, Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Horned Helm (paragon tier), Potion of Clarity (level 10) (3), Belt of Feral Might (heroic tier), Strikebacks (heroic tier), Backlash Tattoo (heroic tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 22:
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Unstoppable Charge - a feat that changes one of the most limiting combat rules for you. The turn doesn't end anymore after a charge. It looks great, but honestly I didn't have this for my own playtests, so try it out.
Barbarian utility 22: Emboldening Courage

Level 23 THE MOST UP TO DATE BUILD with MP2 and PHB3 material:
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Barbarian encounter 23: Again, no alternative to replace the invaluable Curtain of Steel
Perhaps it's time to play around with other choices. Perhaps retrain a rage to have a change in your life.
Character Builder Summary
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas of the Corvii, level 23
Eladrin, Barbarian, Kensei, Fang of the World Serpent
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus Greatspear
Background: Isolated (+2 to Endurance)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 23, Con 14, Dex 21, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 12, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 38 Fort: 35 Reflex: 34 Will: 30
HP: 176 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 44

TRAINED SKILLS
Insight +19, Acrobatics +20, Endurance +19, Athletics +21, Intimidate +17

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +14, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Dungeoneering +14, Heal +14, History +14, Nature +14, Perception +14, Religion +12, Stealth +15, Streetwise +12, Thievery +15

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Reckless Charge
Level 8: Deadly Rage
Level 10: Toughness (retrained to Overpowering Charge at Level 22)
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Polearm Gamble
Level 16: Impaling Spear
Level 18: Charging Rampage
Level 20: Feywild Protection (retrained to Spear Mastery at Level 21)
Level 21: Martial Resolve
Feat User Choice: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 22: Mobile Warrior

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Savage Reach
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Tyrant's Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Agile Recovery
Barbarian encounter 3: Rippling Blades (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Ancient Berserkers' Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Combat Surge
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Flying Serpent Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Snap Out of It
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Hunting Lion Rage (replaces Tyrant's Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Insightful Riposte
Barbarian encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 19: Desert Wind Rage (replaces Ancient Berserkers' Rage)
Barbarian utility 22: Battle Lust
Barbarian encounter 23: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier), The Raven Queen's Shroud (level 3), Creeping Gatevine (heroic tier) (3), Potion of Vitality (paragon tier) (2), Vicious Greatspear +5, Eladrin Ring of Passage (paragon tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Stone of Earth (paragon tier), Magic Stalkerhide Armor +5, Gauntlets of Blood (paragon tier), Brooch of Vitality +5, Great Cat Stalkerhide Armor +5, Horned Helm (paragon tier), Belt of Sonnlinor Righteousness (heroic tier), Strongheart Tattoo (heroic tier), Fey Strike Tratnyr +1
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Level 24:
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Second Skin - a great boost to AC and you finally lose the dreaded penalty on skill checks. You would take this earlier, but CON 17 happens at level 24 for you.
ED feature: Devourer of Fate - +5 on saving throws against effects from cursed target, death save

Level 25:
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Barbarian daily 25: Stone Tempest Rage (replaces Thunder Hooves Rage)

Level 26:
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Martial Resolve - roll more saves against the most hated conditions
ED utility: Repel Legions - you become some kind of warlockish nightmare to your enemies for the whole encounter

Level 27:
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Barbarian encounter 27: Hurricane of Blades (the only power worthy to replace Curtain of Steel. The level is not rated better simply because all barbarians are going to take this. You don't stand out

Level 28:
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Primal Resurgence - practically a 4th rage

Level 29:
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Barbarian daily 29: Rage of the Primal Beast (replaces Ancestral War Band Rage)

Level 30:
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Overpowering Charge - knocks target prone on a charge. Great for you because you are not adjacent. If knocking prone has lost the appeal for you by now, I don't blame you. You can always take Robust Defenses.
ED feature: Bringer of Doom - deal maximum damage whenever hitting cursed target.

Character Builder Summary Level 30
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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas, level 30
Eladrin, Barbarian, Draeven Marauder, Punisher of the Gods
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Background: Geography - Mountains (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 24, Con 17, Dex 22, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.


AC: 47 Fort: 40 Reflex: 40 Will: 35
HP: 206 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 51

TRAINED SKILLS
Streetwise +21, Heal +23, Endurance +23, Acrobatics +26, Athletics +29

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +18, Bluff +16, Diplomacy +16, Dungeoneering +18, History +18, Insight +18, Intimidate +16, Nature +18, Perception +18, Religion +16, Stealth +21, Thievery +21

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 8: Reckless Charge
Level 10: Powerful Charge (retrained to Polearm Gamble at Level 11)
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Swift Spear
Level 16: Charging Rampage
Level 18: Feywild Protection
Level 20: Deadly Rage
Level 21: Mobile Warrior
Level 22: Unstoppable Charge
Level 24: Second Skin
Level 26: Overpowering Charge
Level 28: Primal Resurgence
Level 30: Martial Resolve

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Thunder Hooves Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 3: Shatterbone Strike
Barbarian daily 5: Rage of the Crimson Hurricane
Barbarian utility 6: Swift Recovery
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Serpent Fang Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Navigate Crowds
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Ancestral War Band Rage (replaces Serpent Fang Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Spur the Cycle
Barbarian encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 19: Winter Phoenix Rage (replaces Rage of the Crimson Hurricane)
Barbarian utility 22: Emboldening Courage
Barbarian encounter 23: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 25: Stone Tempest Rage (replaces Thunder Hooves Rage)
Barbarian encounter 27: Hurricane of Blades (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 29: Rage of the Primal Beast (replaces Ancestral War Band Rage)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Thieves' Tools, Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Hungry Spear Greatspear +2, Potion of Spirit (level 10), Potion of Clarity (level 10) (3), Flute of the Dancing Satyr (heroic tier), Boots of the Fencing Master (heroic tier), Dread Greatspear +6, Belt of Feral Might (heroic tier), Great Cat Elderhide Armor +6, Horned Helm (epic tier), Twice-Clawed Gauntlets (epic tier), Ring of Action Reversal (paragon tier), Ring of Ramming (paragon tier), Iron Armbands of Power (epic tier), Torc of Power Preservation +6, Rage Torc Tattoo (paragon tier)
RITUALS
Passwall, Phantom Steed, Water Walk
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Thanks for reading, please help making this build better.
- Draeven Marauder gives you crits on 19/20 in paragon. You also get a 2nd free attack on a crit against bloodied targets, in addition to the Rampage attack. And this free attack is NOT limited to once per round, or on primal powers, which means multiple crits per round give more attacks. That's just golden isn't it? And they said the old Storm of Blades was broken.


A rending axe would grant you recursive crits too, and not against bloodied targets. You'd also sport a high crit executioner's axe for massive 3[W] extra each crit. Going jagged at paragon if you crave for that rampage 5% more.

I can't believe you just claimed Draeven Marauder's features match up to the old Con mod attacks Storm of Blades. My mind boggles at your ignorance, seriously. How about Storm of Blades that on a crit generates two mainhand hits and three offhand attacks, out of which one offhand attack could generate a new mainhand attack. All this while you're rolling twice for each attack and critting on 18-20. Every encounter at lv 14. How does that sound? "Golden?"

- Charging can be done using reliable Fey Step (Fey Charge)


First of all, it's not reliable. Reliable means you don't expend it if you miss. Fey Step doesn't get expended if you HIT with a Fey Charge. You're also missing a very critical part of every feycharge build: Eladrin Swordmage Advance. ESA lets you make a melee basic attack when you Fey Step (during a Fey Charge) before doing your charge damage. That's how the damage stacks up. If you want to avoid OAs, just pick a Badge of the Berserker and be done with it.


- Unstoppable charge is a must feat for this build. First of all, nobody can question anymore that you can use your free actions after a charge. But you can now use charging for better mobility options: Howling Strike let's you move 8 during rage (and teleport more than half the way) and land a devastating blow, perhaps crit, haha, shift 2, and then move on to that nasty controller in the back. Action Point, bam.


Is "haha" a free action?


- Main attack is Howling Strike, which outperforms all encounters and some dailies, thanks to various extra dice from the power and horned helm.


Ugh, no it doesn't. Howling Strike's piddly xd6 damage doesn't compare to encounter powers like Daring Charge, Thunderfall, Shoulder Slam, Crater Fall, which get your normal charge bonuses too.


Alternative powers: Rain of Blows through multiclassing
Alternative items: Vanguard or Dread Greatspear.


Vanguard or Thundergod weapons are good, and dear god - pick some equipment like Fleece of Renewal + Charger's Headdress, Frost Charger Bracers, Marauder's Armor, etc.

Stop dropping superlatives, son. This build is mediocre at best.

P.S. Please, for God's sake's, take that embarrassing "the most dangerous barbarian build in epic" title away if you can.
Had a bad Christmas?
I have some issues with the build I'd like to discuss with you as well (in a much less abrasive manner, though ).

Even post-errata, Storm of Blades is by far the best Encounter power at Level 13, and I agree with the above poster in that Thunderfall is worth a slot in this build (though I'd take it at L17; there is literally no reason for any build to not take Storm of Blades).

I don't like your Rage choices, either; Rage of the Crimson Hurricane is a great choice at L5 over Tiger Claw Rage, and Desert Wind Rage IMHO is horrible; just about any rage at that level would improve your character.

And I have to agree with the other poster; unless you posted it in sarcasm, this quite simply isn't the most dangerous Barbarian in Epic.
Had a bad Christmas?



On a scale of 1 to 10, how well can you take criticism after toting your build as the best ever?

The thing with Howling Strike is, it can optimized in a way that it outshines almost all other options, including rage attacks (not counting the effect of the rage.)
I think it's a mistake, if you already optimized charging, to take any encounter powers that work on a charge. Those precious slots should be reserved for more diverse options.
It's true that charging encounter powers are better than Howling Strike though, I definitely erred there. But as I said, they are much less preferrable because of Howling Strike.

As for Storm of Blades, I have played so many encounters with barbarians, I must say that the power is getting on my nerves a little. Too often the first attack is a miss, and that creates this nagging feeling of having wasted it, which I don't like. I know mathematically that's nonsense.

Regarding "most dangerous build in epic", well I think I was drunk when I wrote that subject, but I maintain that it's more dangerous than the common "highest DPR" build, because damage is not everything. With the Greatspear you have accuracy and access to some awesome feats the axe cows don't get, like Mobile Warrior for example. There is danger in those feats, but you can't easily quantify it, like calculating the average damage of Storm of Blades.
Sorry, but I have to go with the snarky opposition here.  Everything he said in his post (more or less) is absolutely correct, and there's only one thing more powerful than DPR.  That thing is denying standard actions.  Your build is not more dangerous than pure DPR.
On the CO IRC, generally as TorpedoFish.
Vain? Me? NEVER.
57223408 wrote:
You're the straightest shooter I know on these boards. You don't mince words about your opinions, and I respect that about you. The whole fiasco you described in the last State of the CO Forum was particularly enlightening (and kind of disappointing with regards to how they see us).
56868168 wrote:
Ah, Tsuyo. When your post isn't one sentence long full of asterisks, you have much wisdom to share with us .
From the IRC:
(19:52) RuinsFate: You know, I was gonna agree with something PalOn said... but I think I'm just gonna through my lot in with tsuyo's sudden train-wreck grade interjection. (01:45) Nausicaa: yes your rage is a righteous rage :D (01:45) Nausicaa: righteous rage of torpedo
My sci-fi writing.
First of all I'm grateful for the comments on the build. I haven't gotten too much feedback here for my Eladrin Barbarian builds, so anything is welcome, particularly comments that help improve it. Just keep in mind please, this is just a game, no need to act like I hurt your feelings by posting a polearm barbarian.

Anyway, you can modify this build further by using Windrise Ports to MC into Rogue and get more charge abuse (Roundabout Charge, Surprising Charge, yadayada). I posted the build somewhere, but I'm not interested in it anymore because I'm just tired of builds that depend on obviously broken material and that's not allowed in our group anyway, and will probably get nerfed if not this month, then probably next month.

I think that the claim "nothing beats DPR except denying standard actions" is not describing the reality of the actual game. The issue at hand is that only a few aspects of the game can truly be described in an arithmetic way, by calculating probabilities to hit and cause  damage, for example (DPR.) Almost everything else depends on a lot of factors that defy those methods.

For instance, the wizard in our group consistently outshines everybody else in terms of destruction, confusion, and supremacy on the battlefield, and all this without any cheese, from frost to white lotus. His "DPR" is a joke. OK he is a controller and DPR shouldn't count anyway, but my point is it's not possible to compare his impact mathmatically to others. It's just evident in actual gameplay. A lot of factors play a role, clever choice of powers, experience of the player, general wits, and the right feat for the right situations.

The Eladrin Barbarian makes use of the polearm "cheese" (combo of Polearm Gamble with Polearm Momentum, and recently added: Swift Spear). You don't see many polearm strikers, the reason being that Mordenkrad/Fullblade/Execution Axe are generally considered superior. This stems from DPR calculations. But who wouldn't agree that DPR is not the only defining factor? I've played this Eladrin Barbarian in many sessions in all tiers. He gets all the glory all other barbarians get (like the rampage + swift charge sequence we all love) plus he gets fey charging mobility and defense bonuses, and the polearm benefits (defense: monsters are scared to come closer, offense: if they are not scared they get whacked. Both options are welcome.)
With a spear he can snatch Rain of Blows, which can now be considered better than Storm of Blades since it's lower level, and SoB got the nerf hammer.

The bottom line is, you take "inferior" options, like spear, and a race that has not much to offer in terms of brutality, and some feats that are usually reserved for weasely rogues or glaive cheese abusers, and the result is something that's very unique and powerful in the actual game.
I think that the claim "nothing beats DPR except denying standard actions" is not describing the reality of the actual game.


In the actual game, the most effective way to minimize your resources spent is to make sure the enemies attack as little as possible.  The list of ways to do that, in order of preference, goes like this:

1) Take their standard actions.  Generally, this means stunlocking them.
2) Kill them.

Everything else you do is a means towards an end.  Put it another way: A build that can stun infinitely but can't damage or slide anyone would be overpowered.  A build that can't stun or slide but deals lots of damage would be... well, you know how that's treated.  A build that could slide but not kill or stun would be totally and utterly worthless.
On the CO IRC, generally as TorpedoFish.
Vain? Me? NEVER.
57223408 wrote:
You're the straightest shooter I know on these boards. You don't mince words about your opinions, and I respect that about you. The whole fiasco you described in the last State of the CO Forum was particularly enlightening (and kind of disappointing with regards to how they see us).
56868168 wrote:
Ah, Tsuyo. When your post isn't one sentence long full of asterisks, you have much wisdom to share with us .
From the IRC:
(19:52) RuinsFate: You know, I was gonna agree with something PalOn said... but I think I'm just gonna through my lot in with tsuyo's sudden train-wreck grade interjection. (01:45) Nausicaa: yes your rage is a righteous rage :D (01:45) Nausicaa: righteous rage of torpedo
My sci-fi writing.
Check out Boots of the Mighty Charge Dragon 281.  +2 charge speed and you can use an encounter power (such as Storm of Blades) on a charge attack.  Nothing like adding your horned helm, and thundergod weapon damage 3 times in a round.  Its an item daily power.

Theziner 
First of all I'm grateful for the comments on the build. I haven't gotten too much feedback here for my Eladrin Barbarian builds, so anything is welcome, particularly comments that help improve it. Just keep in mind please, this is just a game, no need to act like I hurt your feelings by posting a polearm barbarian.



The problem is not you making a polearm barbarian, the problem is you making a mediocre polearm barbarian and filling your post with falsehoods to try and make it look like it's the best thing ever. I hope you understand casual players read these boards too, and after reading your post some uninformed DM might ban Draeven Marauder because it's stronger than unnerffed Storm of Blades according to Charop. Do not breed misconceptions, because everyone suffers from it.

That said, this build would be stronger as a fighter|barbarian/swordmage, capitalizing on charge items.
Check out Boots of the Mighty Charge Dragon 281.  +2 charge speed and you can use an encounter power (such as Storm of Blades) on a charge attack.  Nothing like adding your horned helm, and thundergod weapon damage 3 times in a round.  Its an item daily power.

Theziner 



I like that item, the problem is, in order for Swift Spear to work with Polearm Momentum on opportunity attacks you need to add 1 square to the slide, and that only works through Rushing Cleats, if I'm not mistaken.
I updated the build, and also made it go until level 30.
I like this build a whole lot better. Props.
Suggestions for the build:

Strikebacks: +1 on OAs for Polearm Gamble, easy MBA attack if adjacent enemy hits you
Tyrant's Greatspear: knocks prone on critical, daily minor: +1d6 per plus against prone, blinded, restrained, or helpless enemy until the end of your next turn
Vault the Fallen (enc 1): multiattack power, easy shift 1 to facilitate disengaging from clumped enemies
Savage Growl: easy +1d8 damage (per attack?)
Tyrant's Rage: targets Will, produces dazed effect, push 1 all adjacent enemies as minor action while raging (+1 with Rushing Cleats?)
Oak Hammer Rage: knock targets prone on a melee hit.  gets really nifty multi-target proning attacks with RoB and Vault the Fallen.  Good with Polearm Gamble, Strikebacks, Battle Awareness and CoS.

Lay them ALL flat on their backs!




 
Suggestions for the build:

Strikebacks: +1 on OAs for Polearm Gamble, easy MBA attack if adjacent enemy hits you
Tyrant's Greatspear: knocks prone on critical, daily minor: +1d6 per plus against prone, blinded, restrained, or helpless enemy until the end of your next turn
Vault the Fallen (enc 1): multiattack power, easy shift 1 to facilitate disengaging from clumped enemies
Savage Growl: easy +1d8 damage (per attack?)
Tyrant's Rage: targets Will, produces dazed effect, push 1 all adjacent enemies as minor action while raging (+1 with Rushing Cleats?)
Oak Hammer Rage: knock targets prone on a melee hit.  gets really nifty multi-target proning attacks with RoB and Vault the Fallen.  Good with Polearm Gamble, Strikebacks, Battle Awareness and CoS.

Lay them ALL flat on their backs!

 



Thanks for the suggestions. I'll work the Strikebacks into the build. I just love free attacks outside the turn, I want this build to collect as many as possible. Nothing beats interrupting the DM with something that hurts.

Tyrant's weapon: Doesn't beat Vanguard for a charge oriented build in my opinion, and I hesitate to have everything leading to a monster being prone. Also, this build has lower than average damage, and Vanguard helps to compensate on most attacks.

Vault the Fallen: It's a good alternative to Avalanche Strike. A matter of taste perhaps. I just like to have one power that has some oomph when Howling Strike Charge doesn't work.

Savage Growl: I don't like any powers that depend on the DM to work.

I agree that both Tyrant's and Oak Hammer Rage are superior in general, but I found that in my playtests that I was simply not adjacent to enemies most of the time (due to the reach weapon and also pushing a lot.) And unfortunately those rages depend on enemies being adjacent...
Eh, what?

I'm unaware of any changes to Oak Hammer Rage that requires your target to be adjacent to you to get them prone.  All it says is that if you hit a target with a melee attack, they get prone - easy control for a Polearm build, IMO.

Tyrant's Rage IS for a charge build.  Before you get Polearm Gamble, it's possible for enemies to get adjacent to you.  Tyrant's pushes them away, setting up the move and the charge after.  It's also possible that the push 1 on this works with Rushing Cleats and then Polearm Momentum.  It's ridiculously broken that way, but who knows, right?

Vanguard only gets you +1d8 per attack, and only on charge attacks.  As a damage source it's unreliable.  If you use Avalanche or any of the Rages or what not, Vanguard doesn't work.

Tyrant's is for nova power.  It works with Savage Growl.

It goes like this:

Attack with Oak Hammer Rage, enter rage
Attack with Howling Strike on charge, knock enemy prone, it doesn't die
Free Action: Savage Growl, +1d8 per attack
Minor Action: Tyrant's Weapon, +3d6 per attack
use AP
Extra Action: Rain of Blows: 3 attacks, 1d10+1d8+3d6+13 each (at level 11)

Next turn (both Tyrant and Savage still Active)
Whatever attack: +1d8 damage

Savage Growl essentially gives you 2 turns of +1d8 damage against 1 target on whatever attack you make - better for multiattack builds, IMO.

The charging component of this build is ordinary and relatively unremarkable.  It's essentially movement + Fey Charge + the usual charge suspects.  Even optimized that way, it will never be remarkable for damage.  However, maxing out the damage with the multiattack powers while emphasizing the control aspects creates a unique creature: a Controller Barbarian with significant spike damage potential.

You can still keep Fey Charge and the Horned Helm.  It will still make the build charge-ish.

You are right with Oakhammer Rage, I confused it with Thunderhawk Rage.
The rage is definitely a great choice - for any barbarian. Perhaps the best.

Regarding Vanguard not delivering a reliable damage boost: This build charges a lot, whenever possible, already in Heroic. The 1d8 becomes pretty reliable. Waiting for the crit is not reliable. You can go through whole encounters without ever critting. Although this is a critfisher build, I don't want it to put all apples into the crit basket, and also not all apples into the prone basket. But for a crit-proning variation your ideas are top choice, definitely. In epic I've had a lot of fun with the dread weapon, it can be pretty devastating if the group works well together.
It's not actually a crit-fisher build, and my suggestions don't go anywhere, really.  I'm just suggesting options to optimize what's there.  The only things that go towards crit-fishing is Oath of Enmity, and Tyrant's Weapon is as much crit-benefit as it is nova material.  Regardless of whether you hit anything with a crit, once a day, you WILL use Oak Hammer Rage, and with that rage, getting people prone demands nothing more complicated than hitting them.

Moreover, if you get Rushing Cleats and move Polearm Momentum down, you can prone people with Pressing Attack and hit them that way with Tyrant's daily - including Tyrant is not a crit-fisher choice but a multi-attack boost choice, which this build emphasizes with Rain of Blows and Storm of Blades and Hurricane of Blades.  Savage Growl operates along the same lines.

Note that even with these changes, you still have Howling Strike, and you still have Fey Charge, and Reckless Strike, even Horned Helm - it's still a fantastic thing to charge a lot, but not putting everything into charging via Vanguard means that when you use RoB (which you actually spent a feat on), you get some sizable returns.  This allows this charge build the capability to pull a damage nova at relatively early levels when it's required.

In return, you lose out 4.5 damage on a charging hit (or about 1.15 DPR or thereabouts).  It's a very favorable trade, IMO.

Still, it's only a suggestion.  If you don't like it, then don't use it.  I just want to make it clear that Tyrant's Weapon is not for crit-fishing.  It's for +10.5 damage per hit when the opponent falls prone (which can be managed several ways).

 
I think that the claim "nothing beats DPR except denying standard actions" is not describing the reality of the actual game.


In the actual game, the most effective way to minimize your resources spent is to make sure the enemies attack as little as possible.  The list of ways to do that, in order of preference, goes like this:

1) Take their standard actions.  Generally, this means stunlocking them.
2) Kill them.

Everything else you do is a means towards an end.  Put it another way: A build that can stun infinitely but can't damage or slide anyone would be overpowered.  A build that can't stun or slide but deals lots of damage would be... well, you know how that's treated.  A build that could slide but not kill or stun would be totally and utterly worthless.



Putting the enemy in a situation where they cannot attack, or where to attack would invite retaliation (see #2), follows into #1 - limiting enemy choices is, after all, the entire point of the defender and controller types and is a valid strategy.

I'd go a step further and say we know, mathmatically, that at say level 12 at-will DPR of 25 means an enemy will be alive for 5 rounds before you kill them.  You have to raise DPR by 6.25 to get it down to 4 rounds, and to kill it in 3 rounds you need a DPR of 41.66~ - basically, at early paragon tier (even mid paragon) you would be very hard pressed to squeeze out that extra DPR - while bearing in mind that any DPR between those goalposts is, essentially, wasted damage (of course it is not, as we are optimizing in a vacuum here and ignoring the rest of the party, but its quite possible for their numbers and yours to also be out of sync and give us the eternally bad situation of a monster with 1 HP left on its turn).

So, what am I getting at?  If you can deny the enemy options on its turn, for example a polearm build that knocks a size medium, reach 1 enemy prone, and then shifts 1 square away - well, that enemy gets to crawl adjacent to you on its turn (provoking from polearm gambit again), or stand up and do nothing/try to charge someone else.  Basically, the choice becomes, eat a striker basic attack, which reduces the round count needed to kill it by about 1 (less, obviously), or make some kind of non-optimal action.

This doesn't really get into what it can or cannot do at Epic, but in my opinion this style of build (you can do similiar with a fighter of course) really controls the flow of battle in Paragon.
OP, if you're around, can you please make a post clarifying where you put your stat points each level, or update the level's that get stat bumps (8,14,18,24,28) saying which stats you pump.  You did it for level 4 and then not again.  It looks like at some point your putting two in con, but you don't say when, and the rest are going in dex.
It's time to overhaul this build a little bit, now with MP2 and PHB3 out. I haven't found time to go through the level by level analysis with the new material, and also after having played this character in a real campaign now at level 22.

Here is the current build.

A couple of insights from gameplay:

The build suffers a little from lower strength than normal for barbarians. To compensate, the best choice for paragon path is Kensei, because it not only adds 4 damage, but also a +1 to hit. No other PP can really compete with that.

The AC is very high, actually higher than any non-Dex barbarian can go after Hide Armor Expertise got nerfed. Now all the minotaurs went back to chainmail training, which leaves them 2 or 3 points behind this build.

Regarding at-wills: The new "Savage Reach" from Dragon 384 replaces Pressing Strike, since sliding is so much better than pushing. Pushing is not wanted most of the time in actual combat - the enemy is best positioned where he is right now (flanking etc.). While raging you slide two so Polearm Momentum triggers without any items. You can slide him 2 squares back into the square from where he started, and knock him prone.

Rain of Blows deals a little more damage on average than Storm of Blades, which is great. The basic idea of this build to have 2 encounter powers that can deal 3 attacks on one target each has definitely worked out.

I also give him some survival powers, like Third Wind and Last Stand. Martial Resolve increases the fun for you immeasurably, rolling saves at the start of your turn.

Re. ability scores: I realized the best starting scores are
Str 17, Con 12, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.

You always increase STR and DEX, except for level 8, where one point goes to WIS so you qualify for the polearm feat.

Polearm Gamble: I'm happy when the DM lets it happen once per encounter. I'm on the verge of training it out. But it's must take feat IMO in paragon, until you see more and more monsters with reach, or the DM gets tired of it.
 
Fang of the World Serpent is great because of the level 24 feature granting 2 free attacks. I look forward to it.

You take Reserve Maneuver to get rid of Kensei's stupid Master Strike, and take Fearsome Smash instead, to get another power that triggers outside your turn. Worth a feat.

Please note our group gives out Expertise for free. Also, the sequence of the feats here is not optimized for going level by level. For example, Reckless Charge and Novice Power should come in heroic already.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas of the Corvii, level 22
Eladrin, Barbarian, Kensei, Fang of the World Serpent
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus Greatspear
Background: Isolated (+2 to Endurance)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 23, Con 14, Dex 21, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 12, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 39 Fort: 34 Reflex: 34 Will: 29
HP: 165 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 41

TRAINED SKILLS
Dungeoneering +19, Acrobatics +20, Endurance +19, Intimidate +17, Athletics +21

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +14, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Heal +14, History +14, Insight +14, Nature +14, Perception +14, Religion +12, Stealth +15, Streetwise +12, Thievery +15

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Strike and Shove (retrained to Reserve Maneuver at Level 12)
Level 6: Surprising Charge (retrained to Spear Mastery at Level 21)
Level 8: Hafted Defense
Level 10: Deadly Rage
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Polearm Gamble
Level 16: Novice Power
Level 18: Reckless Charge
Level 20: Barreling Charge
Level 21: Martial Resolve
Feat User Choice: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 22: Overpowering Charge

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Savage Reach
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Reserve Maneuver: Fearsome Smash
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Tyrant's Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Agile Recovery
Barbarian encounter 3: Shatterbone Strike
Barbarian daily 5: Ancient Berserkers' Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Shrug It Off
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Flying Serpent Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Third Wind
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Hunting Lion Rage (replaces Tyrant's Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Combat Surge
Barbarian encounter 17: Shoulder Slam (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power) (replaces Shatterbone Strike)
Barbarian daily 19: Desert Wind Rage (replaces Ancient Berserkers' Rage)
Barbarian utility 22: Last Stand

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Horned Helm (heroic tier), Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier), The Raven Queen's Shroud (level 3), Thieves' Tools, Creeping Gatevine (heroic tier) (3), Potion of Vitality (paragon tier) (3), Vicious Greatspear +5, Eladrin Ring of Passage (paragon tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Stone of Earth (paragon tier), Magic Stalkerhide Armor +5, Brooch of Vitality +4, Belt of Raging Endurance (heroic tier), Fey Strike Tratnyr +2, Gauntlets of Blood (paragon tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======



For those who care, here is an interesting hybrid fighter|barbarian version for level 22.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
level 22
Eladrin, Barbarian|Fighter, Kensei, Demigod
Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus Greatspear
Hybrid Talent: Barbarian Armored Agility
Divine Spark: Divine Spark Strength
Divine Spark: Divine Spark Dexterity

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 25, Con 16, Dex 21, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 14, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 39 Fort: 35 Reflex: 34 Will: 29
HP: 172 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 43

TRAINED SKILLS
Dungeoneering +19, Athletics +22, Acrobatics +20, Intimidate +19

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +14, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Endurance +13, Heal +14, History +14, Insight +14, Nature +14, Perception +14, Religion +12, Stealth +15, Streetwise +12, Thievery +15

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 4: Longhand Student
Level 6: Hafted Defense
Level 8: Toughness
Level 10: Powerful Charge
Level 11: Polearm Gamble
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Fey Charge
Level 16: Deadly Rage
Level 18: Hybrid Talent
Level 20: Barreling Charge
Level 21: Spear Mastery
Level 22: Overpowering Charge

POWERS
Hybrid at-will 1: Cleave
Hybrid at-will 1: Howling Strike
Hybrid encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Hybrid daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Hybrid utility 2: Shrug It Off
Hybrid encounter 3: Rain of Blows
Hybrid daily 5: Hounding Longarm
Hybrid utility 6: Settling the Score
Hybrid encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Hybrid daily 9: Flying Serpent Rage
Hybrid utility 10: Defensive Resurgence
Hybrid encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Hybrid daily 15: Hunting Lion Rage (replaces Swift Panther Rage)
Hybrid utility 16: Giant's Stride
Hybrid encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Hybrid daily 19: Strike of the Watchful Guard (replaces Hounding Longarm)
Hybrid utility 22: Last Stand

ITEMS
Magic Stalkerhide Armor +5, Magic Greatspear +5, Amulet of Protection +4
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======


Taking Kensei is worth missing out on 10 levels of 19-20 crit range?  I understand if you were building the character for epic, then you can take Kensei and just spend a feat on Spear Mastery, but if I played a build like this, I'd be starting at 11, and quite possibly never getting to Epic.  Kensei seems min/maxed for epic play, but much worse for 1-30.
There is more to the build than crit-fishing. It's definitely a gamble, one way or the other. I personally hate missing more than anything. A +1 to hit is very valuable to make sure Storm of Blades goes all the way, the rages deal full damage, and so on.
I would say, if you have a lot of sources for to-hit bonuses, like a warlord for example, go for Draeven Marauder. If you are pretty much on your own most of the time, go for Kensei.
Funny, I built something similar, but I was trying to rum away from the feycharger build. I kinda stumbled upon the Draconic Polearm Fighter (pure fighter first, but with variations later, Hybrid Barbarian included).

I use Talenta Sharrash (prof +3, 1d8 damage, High Critical) and the combination: Long Hand Student + Polearm Gamble + Polearm Momentum + Spear Push + Heavy Blade Opportunity + Draconic Arrogance. This way, every time I make an attack due to Polearm Gamble, I use the power Cleave - roughly, at lvl 17 (as a pure fighter with PP Kensei), I can Cleave as OA with +26 attack roll (Power Attack and Waistband of the Grappler already in!) with a damage of 1d8+39 damage, plus a push of 3 squares and prone effect.

The normal Cleave attack roll is +26, damage 1d8+21 (8 for 1/2 lvl, 7 STR, 3 prof, 4 enhancement, 1 fighter weapon talent, 1 kensei, 2 expertise), and damage 1d8+21 (7 STR, 4 enhancement, 4 kensei, 4 armbands, 2 focus). Due to Longhand Student, when you use Cleave with a 2H polearm or spear, you push the target 1 square, and that activates Draconic Arrogance (when you push or knock a target prone, you deal damage equal to your STR modifier).
Now we get -2 attack roll / +6 damage from power attack, and -2 attack roll / +5 power bonus to damage from Waistband of the Grappler. With Combat Superiority, you get a bonus to OA rolls equal to WIS modifier (+2), and we use Helm of Opportunity (paragon), so we can make up for the loss of attack bonuses. - 1d8+21 (normal) +6 (Power attack) +5 (Waistband) +7 (Draconic Arrogance) = 1d8+39

It's just an alternative for those who want the avoid the feycharger (or if your DM didn't allow it). My latest modification in this build was adding Multiclass Warden, and Sudden Roots.
I think optimizing OA's, particularly on Polearm Gamble, only works in theory. In "real" life, DM's will increasingly avoid your OA's the better they are becoming. So in essence, what you thought is a great offense optimization is actually improving your defense indirectly, by encouraging your enemies to approach your (weaker) allies instead. So I take Polearm Gamble for the fun of it, but nothing else will be wasted in that direction.
So now after Fey Charge got "nerfed" and the swordmage feycharge imploded, the Eladrin Barbarian Charger is suddenly higher up on the interest scale.
The change of the charging rules also made the Greatspear wielding barbarian a stronger option than before, because the annoying limitations are history, and also the fix with Barreling Charge is not necessary any longer - which frees up a feat slot.
The preferred paragon paths Kensei (for when you don't get much buffing from allies) or Draeven Marauder (if you like crit fishing and have a leader who buffes your accuracy) have not been changed by the May 4th rules update.
Impaling Spear allows this guy to use his MBA (on rampage, polearm gamble or other OA's, or charging) by targeting Reflex, which is invaluable. It's like a +6 to hit occasionally, which makes it worthwhile to use the MBA instead of Howling Strike on charge attacks against elite soldiers for example. On polearm gamble, you always attack Reflex, and you will notice that you hit much more often than before. It's like having the fighter's WIS bonus.
All in all, the Eladrin Barbarian looks better than ever IMO.

Here is my current build from an actual campaign that's going until level 30.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Elwyndas of the Corvii, level 23
Eladrin, Barbarian, Kensei, Fang of the World Serpent
Build: Rageblood Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Kensei Focus: Kensei Focus Greatspear
Background: Isolated (+2 to Endurance)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 23, Con 14, Dex 21, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 12, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 38 Fort: 35 Reflex: 34 Will: 30
HP: 176 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 44

TRAINED SKILLS
Insight +19, Acrobatics +20, Endurance +19, Athletics +21, Intimidate +17

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +14, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Dungeoneering +14, Heal +14, History +14, Nature +14, Perception +14, Religion +12, Stealth +15, Streetwise +12, Thievery +15

FEATS
Level 1: Eladrin Soldier
Level 2: Battle Awareness
Level 4: Novice Power
Level 6: Reckless Charge
Level 8: Deadly Rage
Level 10: Toughness (retrained to Overpowering Charge at Level 22)
Level 11: Fey Charge
Level 12: Polearm Momentum
Level 14: Polearm Gamble
Level 16: Impaling Spear
Level 18: Charging Rampage
Level 20: Feywild Protection (retrained to Spear Mastery at Level 21)
Level 21: Martial Resolve
Feat User Choice: Weapon Expertise (Spear)
Level 22: Mobile Warrior

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Savage Reach
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Tyrant's Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Agile Recovery
Barbarian encounter 3: Rippling Blades (retrained to Rain of Blows at Novice Power)
Barbarian daily 5: Ancient Berserkers' Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Combat Surge
Barbarian encounter 7: Curtain of Steel
Barbarian daily 9: Flying Serpent Rage
Barbarian utility 10: Snap Out of It
Barbarian encounter 13: Storm of Blades (replaces Avalanche Strike)
Barbarian daily 15: Hunting Lion Rage (replaces Tyrant's Rage)
Barbarian utility 16: Insightful Riposte
Barbarian encounter 17: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)
Barbarian daily 19: Desert Wind Rage (replaces Ancient Berserkers' Rage)
Barbarian utility 22: Battle Lust
Barbarian encounter 23: Curtain of Steel (replaces Curtain of Steel)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Rushing Cleats (heroic tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier), The Raven Queen's Shroud (level 3), Creeping Gatevine (heroic tier) (3), Potion of Vitality (paragon tier) (2), Vicious Greatspear +5, Eladrin Ring of Passage (paragon tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Stone of Earth (paragon tier), Magic Stalkerhide Armor +5, Gauntlets of Blood (paragon tier), Brooch of Vitality +5, Great Cat Stalkerhide Armor +5, Horned Helm (paragon tier), Belt of Sonnlinor Righteousness (heroic tier), Strongheart Tattoo (heroic tier), Fey Strike Tratnyr +1
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question, where are you getting Rituals from at level 30?
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