Frenzied Berserker and then what?

[Tyger]

I am putting together a character for a massively stupid one shot over the top high powered game (he's going to be a Half Earth Elemental, Feral, Mineral Warrior Minotaur with 20 class levels) and am at a bit of a loss what to finish the character off with.

Thinking Fighter 4 (for feat help) / Barbarian 2 / Frenzied Berserker 10 / ????? 4.

The goal is to max out the Power Attack (obviously) via FB abilities, Leap Attack, Shocktrooper, etc, etc.

I was taking a peak at the Runescarred Berserker, for a bit of spells, but the feat requirements are steep, particularly when you factor in that he'd only get level 2 spells.

Any thoughts are appreciated. As well as any ideas on the templates. Any WotC 3.5 book is in, and we have houseruled away the Minotaur's RHD (like I said, its a stupidly overpowered game - the other players are a Tainted Scholar, a IoSFV/Incatatrix, a Wildmage/Planeshifter, etc etc.) so cut lose!

Thanks in advance on this one.

[Jornophelanthas]

What about Warblade? Combat Maneuvers combine well with melee class features, a d12 hitdie is a good thing to have during insane frenzies, and the class provides some perks otherwise achieved by the Fighter class too.

For completeness, I should mention that this class can be found in Tome of Battle.

[Eldariel]

You really should get more Runescarred Berserker or some source of casting; if it's as stupidly overpowered as you're saying, chances are things can simply be immune to damage with magic. Being able to cast AMFs gives you at least little hope. RSC 9 over Frenzied Berserker would work out.

I actually threw together a build I dubbed Ur-Barbarian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176941) that could be quite useful for you. If you cut Deepwarden (and AC; FotF could be cut too), you could fit more Frenzied Berserker. Something to think about, at any rate.

[Tyger]

You really should get more Runescarred Berserker or some source of casting; if it's as stupidly overpowered as you're saying, chances are things can simply be immune to damage with magic. Being able to cast AMFs gives you at least little hope. RSC 9 over Frenzied Berserker would work out.

I actually threw together a build I dubbed Ur-Barbarian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176941) that could be quite useful for you. If you cut Deepwarden (and AC; FotF could be cut too), you could fit more Frenzied Berserker. Something to think about, at any rate.

Now that is a nice build... bears worth looking into.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Use the Dungeoncrasher ACF for Fighter, from Dungeonscape. Get the feat Knock-Back in RoS, and get at least six fighter levels. Include one or two levels of Exotic Weapon Master to get Uncanny Blow and maybe the trip trick, and use a one-handed exotic weapon in two hands, such as a Kaorti Resin (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a) Scimitar (18-20/x4!). Use Wolf Totem Barbarian (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) to get Improved Trip instead of Uncanny Dodge, and you can still use the lion spirit ACF in CC with that to get Pounce instead of fast movement. Take Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown), so every attack that hits will have a chance of knocking your opponent prone (and granting an extra attack via Improved Trip) and knocking them back into a wall or other solid object for tons of extra damage. The trip trick from Exotic Weapon Master will give you a +2 to each trip attempt, since your weapon is can already be used to make that trip attempt. You should also get Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) instead of the normal Rage, and be sure to take Extra Rage and Extend Rage.

Take Shock Trooper of course, and get Leap Attack. Due to the wording of the errata (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a) on Leap Attack, that it increases your bonus damage from using Power Attack by 100%, it doesn't count as a multiplicative effect. Therefore, FB Power Attack grants +4 per -1 two handed, so -20 to hit would be +80 damage, then Leap Attack increases that by 100% so it would be -20 to hit for +160 damage, and none of that has been multiplied yet. Get a Valorous weapon and it deals double damage when you charge, so +320 damage. Note that a critical hit is another multiplier, so x2 for Valorous plus a x4 crit would be x5 total. If you have enough feats, you'll be able to get Weapon Focus/Specialization and Melee Weapon Mastery (PH2), in which case you could also try to get Slashing Flurry (PH2) to get even more attacks.

[grimbold]

i find that bear warrior from masters of the wild is a good PrC

[Eldariel]

i find that bear warrior from masters of the wild is a good PrC

It's been updated in Complete Warrior. That said, that doesn't seem to be the direction this build is going towards.

[Tyger]

Use the Dungeoncrasher ACF for Fighter, from Dungeonscape. Get the feat Knock-Back in RoS, and get at least six fighter levels. Include one or two levels of Exotic Weapon Master to get Uncanny Blow and maybe the trip trick, and use a one-handed exotic weapon in two hands, such as a Kaorti Resin (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a) Scimitar (18-20/x4!). Use Wolf Totem Barbarian (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) to get Improved Trip instead of Uncanny Dodge, and you can still use the lion spirit ACF in CC with that to get Pounce instead of fast movement. Take Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown), so every attack that hits will have a chance of knocking your opponent prone (and granting an extra attack via Improved Trip) and knocking them back into a wall or other solid object for tons of extra damage. The trip trick from Exotic Weapon Master will give you a +2 to each trip attempt, since your weapon is can already be used to make that trip attempt. You should also get Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) instead of the normal Rage, and be sure to take Extra Rage and Extend Rage.

Take Shock Trooper of course, and get Leap Attack. Due to the wording of the errata (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a) on Leap Attack, that it increases your bonus damage from using Power Attack by 100%, it doesn't count as a multiplicative effect. Therefore, FB Power Attack grants +4 per -1 two handed, so -20 to hit would be +80 damage, then Leap Attack increases that by 100% so it would be -20 to hit for +160 damage, and none of that has been multiplied yet. Get a Valorous weapon and it deals double damage when you charge, so +320 damage. Note that a critical hit is another multiplier, so x2 for Valorous plus a x4 crit would be x5 total. If you have enough feats, you'll be able to get Weapon Focus/Specialization and Melee Weapon Mastery (PH2), in which case you could also try to get Slashing Flurry (PH2) to get even more attacks.

I think I just had a special moment.

[Eldariel]

Just don't fall into the trap of trying to maximize your damage to the exclusion of everything else. Once you can deal ~500 damage a turn, you should be set. Once you get to 1000 damage a turn, it's literally quite pointless to keep going. Simple fact of the matter is that you don't need that much damage. Most things have HP maybe in the 500s. Few things get into the 1000s and not much higher than that. Either way, it's dead in one round if you get to deliver the damage; that one Shambling Mound exposed to electricity for too long isn't going to be that big a deal in the grand scheme of things and most things won't probably bother pumping their HP ridiculously. The key is getting to deliver the damage.

Even something as simple as Regeneration+Non-Lethal Immunity renders you immune to damage (Shapechange, for example, makes that trivial to acquire). E.g. Delay Death+Beastland Ferocity (or hell, your very own Deathless Frenzy) allows you to ignore any amount of damage. Something like Contingent Resilient Sphere or Wall of Force or Forcecage makes you quite unable to actually reach your target. Contingent Teleportation makes life even harder; hard to hit someone 6000' away (but he's quite able to hit you back or act through a proxy). Of course, AC pumping is very possible too, so that's something to be aware of. And that's before getting to truly stupid stuff like Astral Projections and the like that enable acting without being present.

That's why I'm suggesting focusing away from pure damage; it should be trivial to get to at least 500 damage a turn and after that, what you need is not more damage, but means to get through various defenses to deal the damage. Anti-Magic Field is a good starting point. It covers a decently large number of defenses, and it's not like you'd that much out of anything but magic items anyways (and when you do want to use them, don't activate an AMF; quite simple). Then you can work from there to get something done.

[AustontheGreat1]

Well, your large size so I might suggest War-Hulk (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20030914a). It doesn't progress BAB, but it gives +2 strength at each level. It basically, removes your ability to use any skills that use mental stats (treating you as if you had no ranks in them, except Intimidate.) Then it gives you some abilities that let you attack multiple squares and toss rocks.

[Godskook]

I think I just had a special moment.

Pshh.

You're not allowed to have special moments until you put *flight* on your Frenzied Berserker. Anything that could be gimp-killed by grease is not an effective ECL 20+ build.

[Tyger]

Pshh.

You're not allowed to have special moments until you put *flight* on your Frenzied Berserker. Anything that could be gimp-killed by grease is not an effective ECL 20+ build.

760,000 GP worth of magic items. Flight's easy. With the Mineral Warrior template, I don't think you can have "inherent" flight, as the template specifies that you lose any flight speed.

[Godskook]

760,000 GP worth of magic items. Flight's easy. With the Mineral Warrior template, I don't think you can have "inherent" flight, as the template specifies that you lose any flight speed.

I'm not sure that that is a good plan, considering how many myriad ways there are to deprive one of his magic items. What're you going to do if you hit an AMF with a non-magical grease-equivalent in it?(Yes, they exist)

Non-Ex flight might be survivable for the party wizard, but for a Frenzied Berserker? That sounds like a death sentence to me.

(Remember, you're level 20, which means *EVERYONE* knows your name. If a simple combo of Marbles+AMF puts you down hard and ruins your main combo, they're all going to know.)

[Zeofar]

I'm not sure that that is a good plan, considering how many myriad ways there are to deprive one of his magic items. What're you going to do if you hit an AMF with a non-magical grease-equivalent in it?(Yes, they exist)




Jump :smallcool:

[Dusk Eclipse]

Or the feathered wings grafts.(Fiend Folio)... IIRC about 20 K, non magical unlimeted flight, that you can adquire AFTER you become a mineral warrior.

[Tyger]

Or the feathered wings grafts.(Fiend Folio)... IIRC about 20 K, non magical unlimeted flight, that you can adquire AFTER you become a mineral warrior.

Now that is a damned fine option. A hit to CHA based skills is nothing to this monster. And he's already evil, so dealing with devils is a piece of cake!

Great reminder. I wanted these for my bard in another game, but that hit to Diplomacy was too much to bear.