Townopolis
2008-12-27, 05:35 PM
I'm interested, always, in defenders who are nigh impossible to kill. Now I tried this once with an all-high-defenses paladin, and he got brutally... brutalized by damage auras and ongoing damage from monster at-wills... anyway.
I'm looking at the battlerager, and thinking battlerager fighter/dreadnought/undying warrior would be pretty bloody sexy, but how does the battlerager fare as a tank's tank?
First off, I'd like to hear what people who've played a battlerager think of the build, how well does the mechanic work. Also, how well do invigorating powers work without the battlerager class feature?
Now, for a little theory, when I build a battlerager, I'm going to be optimizing defensively, so warhammer and shield. I'll want to raise my strength pretty high, and get a decent constitution too. On the other hand, I still think high-defenses across the board are important, and so I'll want to invest a bit in dexterity and wisdom.
So, with a warhammer, chainmail, and a heavy shield, let's look at races.
Human
+2 Strength, +1 to all defenses save AC, +1 at-will, bonus feat.
Always a solid choice, human raises my defenses, lowering my incoming damage. The extra at-will allows me to take tide of iron and cleave. Human doesn't really boost the central aspects of the build, but rather shores up its major weakness (low defenses) and adds some versatility. The bonus feat could also be spent on Improved Vigor, filling in for +2 con (although I'd probably take IV anyway, so it's still just a bonus feat slot).
Minotaur
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
Aside from these, the Minotaur's other racial features aren't horribly useful, still the bonuses while charging aren't to be sneezed at, and with the right feats it could make a very sticky defender (opportunity gore, goring shove, shield push... oh my). Still, it seems to actually lag behind human.
Orc
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, Warrior's Surge
A little better at boosting the core concept, Warrior's Surge is yet another way to heal myself during a fight, I hesitate to rate this above minotaur due to the other bonuses (and feats) the bull gets, but still, this is somewhat more useful to the build.
Longtooth Shifter
+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, Longtooth Shifting
Worse in stats than any other, +2 to wisdom is effectively 2 stat points less than +2 constitution (since wisdom doesn't really need to be raised above 14, but raising constitution as high as possible is good). However, the real pull of the longtooth, is their encounter ability. As the character progresses, he will gain more and more ways to slow down his loss of HP, allowing him to potentially stay bloodied but not unconscious for a very, very long time. Regeneration is another way to do this, and a form of healing that takes no surges. It is also a pretty reliable damage boost.
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At this point, I am called away by errands, but I will leave this up for whatever comments you wish to leave, evaluations of races, suggestions for builds, or experiences you've had with the battlerager in practice.
I'm looking at the battlerager, and thinking battlerager fighter/dreadnought/undying warrior would be pretty bloody sexy, but how does the battlerager fare as a tank's tank?
First off, I'd like to hear what people who've played a battlerager think of the build, how well does the mechanic work. Also, how well do invigorating powers work without the battlerager class feature?
Now, for a little theory, when I build a battlerager, I'm going to be optimizing defensively, so warhammer and shield. I'll want to raise my strength pretty high, and get a decent constitution too. On the other hand, I still think high-defenses across the board are important, and so I'll want to invest a bit in dexterity and wisdom.
So, with a warhammer, chainmail, and a heavy shield, let's look at races.
Human
+2 Strength, +1 to all defenses save AC, +1 at-will, bonus feat.
Always a solid choice, human raises my defenses, lowering my incoming damage. The extra at-will allows me to take tide of iron and cleave. Human doesn't really boost the central aspects of the build, but rather shores up its major weakness (low defenses) and adds some versatility. The bonus feat could also be spent on Improved Vigor, filling in for +2 con (although I'd probably take IV anyway, so it's still just a bonus feat slot).
Minotaur
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
Aside from these, the Minotaur's other racial features aren't horribly useful, still the bonuses while charging aren't to be sneezed at, and with the right feats it could make a very sticky defender (opportunity gore, goring shove, shield push... oh my). Still, it seems to actually lag behind human.
Orc
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, Warrior's Surge
A little better at boosting the core concept, Warrior's Surge is yet another way to heal myself during a fight, I hesitate to rate this above minotaur due to the other bonuses (and feats) the bull gets, but still, this is somewhat more useful to the build.
Longtooth Shifter
+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, Longtooth Shifting
Worse in stats than any other, +2 to wisdom is effectively 2 stat points less than +2 constitution (since wisdom doesn't really need to be raised above 14, but raising constitution as high as possible is good). However, the real pull of the longtooth, is their encounter ability. As the character progresses, he will gain more and more ways to slow down his loss of HP, allowing him to potentially stay bloodied but not unconscious for a very, very long time. Regeneration is another way to do this, and a form of healing that takes no surges. It is also a pretty reliable damage boost.
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At this point, I am called away by errands, but I will leave this up for whatever comments you wish to leave, evaluations of races, suggestions for builds, or experiences you've had with the battlerager in practice.