Mounted Lion Totem Barbarian

[Snig]

I was considering a mounted archer build but now I am leaning more toward a mounted melee build to better take advantage of my wild cohorts attacks.

I was thinking a mix of Ranger / Barbarian might be a good place to start? Here are some ideas

- Take Lion Totem Barbarian ACF to gain Pounce and use it while mounted (allowed?)
- Take the Mounted fury feat that allows my mount to rage with me.
- I was thinking of taking Ranger with archery combat style to give me the option to be decent at archery if needed, also access to some decent spells. (not sure if rage will hinder this)
- There are also some Ranger ACF from dragon magazine called Mounted-Combat Style or Strong Arm Style that would give me great feats in place of archery ones.

Anyhow these are some of my ideas. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Most characters who use mounted charging will kill everything within reach of where they end a given charge, so the mount usually doesn't get an opportunity to attack. Plus the weapon of choice is a lance, which is a reach weapon, so the mount won't even be close enough to attack the target of the charge unless it too has reach.

Use Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) instead of Rage to get an extra attack. Say you visited the Otyugh Hole in CS to get Extend Rage for 3,000 gp without spending a feat on it, and pick up Extra Rage at least once.

The Ranger spell list isn't that great for a mounted charger, the Paladin list is better suited to that. I'd actually recommend going single-classed Druidic Avenger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druidVariantDruidicAve nger) plus Deadly Hunter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid) with Wild Cohort for this character. You'll get plenty of buffs for melee combat, Rage which can still be substituted for Whirling Frenzy, most of the Ranger class features, and enough spells and abilities to still be useful outside of combat.

[Snig]

So rather then a mounted a build you are recommending a build where I shapeshift?

Not really what I was looking for but I guess I could consider it?

Any other opinions on my OP?

P.S. My DM has banned lances from doing double damage on a charge stating that its OP. I tend to agree.

I don't want to pigeon hole myself into being JUST an uber charge monkey, I like the idea of doing other things in combat (ranged, fighting with mount, etc.) rather then just charging round after round.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

So rather then a mounted a build you are recommending a build where I shapeshift?

Not really what I was looking for but I guess I could consider it?

Any other opinions on my OP?

P.S. My DM has banned lances from doing double damage on a charge stating that its OP. I tend to agree.

I don't want to pigeon hole myself into being JUST an uber charge monkey, I like the idea of doing other things in combat (ranged, fighting with mount, etc.) rather then just charging round after round.

That build doesn't shapeshift, the Deadly Hunter ACF I linked trades Wild Shape for Monk AC and some Ranger class features.

[Snig]

Ok I've been thinking some more about the Druidic Avenger. But wouldn't I be better off going regular druid and take a dip in barbarian and keep my animal companion, rather then going with a wild cohort?

[IdleMuse]

Ok I've been thinking some more about the Druidic Avenger. But wouldn't I be better off going regular druid and take a dip in barbarian and keep my animal companion, rather then going with a wild cohort?

Pretty much no; delaying your spellcasting and ALL your other class features by a level by dipping is worse than spending a feat and slightly lowering the quality of your companion.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Ok I've been thinking some more about the Druidic Avenger. But wouldn't I be better off going regular druid and take a dip in barbarian and keep my animal companion, rather then going with a wild cohort?

It depends on what type of companion you're going to get. If you're sticking with a riding dog that looks like a wolf, then a wild cohort will only have one less HD, natural armor, and Str/Dex than an animal companion would get. If you're going to get a 'level -3' companion and use Natural Bond to negate the penalty then you can't do that with wild cohort and will need to keep the animal companion. I'd rather avoid losing any levels of spellcasting if possible.