Playtesting the 4.0 Barbarian

[haldir]

Not sure you have to have a Insider account (it's free right now) but they(Wiz) just put up the Dragon Mag..err article err ah hell whatever it's called now 4.0 Barbarian playtest

 

here the link to the pdf

 

Dragon #368 Playtest 4.0 Barbarian

[spiritual_exorcist]

Well, I have to say, that is one heck of a damage dealing Class, and to be honest, it might not allow the battlefield control that a fighter has in the defender role, but the Berserker isn't going to have any problems in the damage soaking department. I'm fairly impressed to be honest. The class looks fun to play, you'll constantly be running a fine line between dealing, taking, and healing damage when involved in combat. There doesn't appear to be any class that can come close to touching the barbarian in the damage dealing department at low level, which I suppose is the way it should be.

[haldir]

I agree with the damage dealing. I've always thought the barbarian should be higher then the fighter damage-wise. I only glanced at the article, but eventually I wanna take a good look at it.

 

(BTW I love that artwork of the dragonborn clan, that is a sweet shot!!)

 

RM

[Deguello]

I agree with the damage dealing. I've always thought the barbarian should be higher then the fighter damage-wise. I only glanced at the article, but eventually I wanna take a good look at it.

 

(BTW I love that artwork of the dragonborn clan, that is a sweet shot!!)

 

RM

 

My observations are:

 

Can deal more melee damage than defnders he lacks the soak of the other defender classes. In fact he would be fourth on the list of defenders as far as dealing with soak. Yes a high con zerker has lots of healing surges but when does he have time to use them. He's only good while he is standing and has a target. Not a defender and has no battlefield control.. While most enemies are in trouble if they are within reach ..everyone else is relativly safe. Defenders dealing damage is third on the list of importance. first battlefield control and secondary soak. A true defender doesnt need to do damage he just needs to be able to take it long enough for a striker to get involved

 

The striker aspect. He does dish out the damage.. but hes more of a gap fighter he's only going to stop one group of individuals.. and only as long as his hitpoints hold up.. he really can't pause to surge. He is a very low thought process fighter.. Great for little kids. (my eight year old, for example loves the barbarian because he is involved).. Bounce from one adversary to another and dish out the damage. As a striker he creates problems for a group.. first he pretty much has to have someone buff him constantly.. because he does deal so much damage adversaries will debilitate him often initially. (he lacks his own defensive capability) Leaving him like an albatross around the parties neck..

[spiritual_exorcist]

But the Barbarian doesn't have to pause to surge nearly as often as you suggest due to powers and abilities like feral might, and Recouperating Strike . The Barbarian has many chances to gain temporary hitpoints that should help make up for their lack of armor in theory. I'm not saying they won't take a beating, but at the same time I think they could be used with a fair bit of finesse in that Striker Role.

 

I'm still convinced they could make a quality edition to the party that can support it.

[Mengu]

Unfortunately, extra hit points (temporary or otherwise), are not a substitute for bad AC. At high levels, if the Barbarian does not invest in some serious armor proficiencies, he tends to be hit very often, which means he tends to spend half the battle blinded, dazed, weakened, slowed, immobilized, stunned, or otherwise under some ongoing effect which prevents him from doing his job as either defender or striker. In certain encounters, this can make playing the barbarian extremely boring.

 

I like everything else about the barbarian. He just needs to have more AC. The best solution is to allow the Barbarian to use his constitution or charisma bonus as an AC bonus while in light armor (instead of intelligence or charisma). Since constitution and charisma are secondary stats, he still won't quite get the AC of a fighter, but he will have a more respectable AC than his current incarnation.

[spiritual_exorcist]

So you're saying that unlike other strikers who will have high dex, and therefore better AC, the Barbarian is in a situation that prevents him for optimizing his AC as Dex is likely to at best be their third or fourth highest priority ability score; which makes sense. That being said, there needs to be some fine line that sets the barbarian apart from the other strikers in that he can't dish out the damage, have a large number of hit points, and expect to still carry the same AC as other more deft strikers, or a heavily armored defender. I guess we can only hope playtesting actually matters and the results give us a class that is worthwhile and enjoyable.

[Mengu]

There are already a number of factors that separate the Barbarian from other strikers. The barbarian:

 

1. Does not dish out as much damage as the rogue or ranger

2. Must rely more on melee and being next to targets, than the rogue, ranger, and warlock

3. Doesn't have as many enemy controlling effects as the rogue or warlock to reduce his chances of being attacked.

 

As for the defender comparison, the barbarian:

 

1. Would not have as high an AC as a defender who wears heavy armor, even using a secondary stat for AC.

2. Does not have the ability to mark

3. Does not have as many ways to stop enemies from engaging allies.

 

So I think they found a sweet spot where the Barbarian sits right between striker and defender roles, and a bit of AC bonus will not change that, while it will make the Barbarian more fun to play at mid and high levels because he won't be locked down as badly.