Post by Wids on Feb 21, 2018 16:54:17 GMT -5
I know...Falteine's a long, long way from reaching the Epic Levels. All of my characters are, really. But I find that it's best to start planning your build early, rather than getting up to Level 18 and realizing, "Oh, if I'm going for an Epic Facepuncher build, I'm going to need these three pre-Epic Feats...which I do not have yet. Oops."
So Falteine just picked up Cleave at Level 6, despite my strong temptations to take Resist Poison because of all the ale-drinking she does. "Come on, scorpion! Poke me guts with yuir strongest chap! I just downed twenty o' Luiren's Best! My liver can take it!" So anyway, Cleave is one stepping stone on the road to Overwhelming Critical, which also shares a high Strength requisite with one of the Barbarian's Epic Rage Feats, Thundering Rage. So Thundering Rage and Overwhelming Critical go hand in hand, particularly in terms of versatility; if I decide to arm Falteine with a warhammer, a battle axe, a dwarven war axe or some other weapon with a higher Critical Multiplier, Overwhelming Critical has me covered. And if I arm her with a scimitar, a longsword, a bastard sword, a kukri or some weapon with a broader Critical Threat range, Thundering Rage has me covered. And deafening those bothersome enemy spellcasters is always a bonus.
On the other hand, if I starve Falteine's Strength a little so I can give her Constitution some more love, then I might end up going the Mighty Rage route instead. It's nice that Mighty Rage doesn't replace Greater Rage, so Falteine would get extra Rage buffs from going this route; she could use Greater Rage for a dungeon's lieutenants and minibosses while saving Mighty Rage for the big bosses. A +4 bonus to her Will Saves would be handy against those pesky spellcasters (because hey, that 1 extra point of Will could spell the difference between victory and defeat), and those whopping +8 bonuses to Strength and Constitution could help her chew through all but the toughest of baddies.
Terrifying Rage is neither here nor there, as there are no Ability requisites to it. Falteine's going to get it eventually; I've been dumping Skill Points into Intimidate so it's 1 point shy of maximum for her Level right now. But the earliest that any Barbarian can take Terrifying Rage is Level 24 anyway, so I'm not exactly scrambling to get Falteine's grippy little hands on it.
So from your perspective — or in light of your own experiences with Epic Barbarians, perhaps — which would be the better way to go?
So Falteine just picked up Cleave at Level 6, despite my strong temptations to take Resist Poison because of all the ale-drinking she does. "Come on, scorpion! Poke me guts with yuir strongest chap! I just downed twenty o' Luiren's Best! My liver can take it!" So anyway, Cleave is one stepping stone on the road to Overwhelming Critical, which also shares a high Strength requisite with one of the Barbarian's Epic Rage Feats, Thundering Rage. So Thundering Rage and Overwhelming Critical go hand in hand, particularly in terms of versatility; if I decide to arm Falteine with a warhammer, a battle axe, a dwarven war axe or some other weapon with a higher Critical Multiplier, Overwhelming Critical has me covered. And if I arm her with a scimitar, a longsword, a bastard sword, a kukri or some weapon with a broader Critical Threat range, Thundering Rage has me covered. And deafening those bothersome enemy spellcasters is always a bonus.
On the other hand, if I starve Falteine's Strength a little so I can give her Constitution some more love, then I might end up going the Mighty Rage route instead. It's nice that Mighty Rage doesn't replace Greater Rage, so Falteine would get extra Rage buffs from going this route; she could use Greater Rage for a dungeon's lieutenants and minibosses while saving Mighty Rage for the big bosses. A +4 bonus to her Will Saves would be handy against those pesky spellcasters (because hey, that 1 extra point of Will could spell the difference between victory and defeat), and those whopping +8 bonuses to Strength and Constitution could help her chew through all but the toughest of baddies.
Terrifying Rage is neither here nor there, as there are no Ability requisites to it. Falteine's going to get it eventually; I've been dumping Skill Points into Intimidate so it's 1 point shy of maximum for her Level right now. But the earliest that any Barbarian can take Terrifying Rage is Level 24 anyway, so I'm not exactly scrambling to get Falteine's grippy little hands on it.
So from your perspective — or in light of your own experiences with Epic Barbarians, perhaps — which would be the better way to go?