Building a Frenzied Berserker/ Bear Warrior for an Epic Level Game

[Seripham89]

So my DM had the idea of doing a fast progression Epic Campaign with the idea that if we can finish with our original characters, those lucky few will be made into the major Gods of a new pantheon.
I wanted to play a juggernaut of nature, the natural foil of the lawful wizard. I just had some questions.

Is it better to have the highest possible strength bonus or lowest LA? Should I get spell resistance/ saving throws vs magic from items or should I take a few levels in a class like Occult Slayer. Does beastskin armor only work with wild shape as druids use it or can Bear Warrior's use it as well? Lastly, I was thinking it might be good to add War Hulk as a third prestige Class.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Vortenger]

Generally, unless LA buydown is in play, there's very few templates or races worth paying an LA for. for a Bear-barian, I think only Feral (SvSp) would be applicable. Beastskin, as written applies only to Wild Shape. Bear Shape functions as Polymorph, so no dice without the DM okay (I don't think its unreasonable). Items are easier to use than spending precious feats or class levels (gp is cheap, feats and levels are not), though Occult Slayer is quite good. If you're okay with a 'frozen bear of the north' theme, here's a build you may like

Arctic Human

Barbarian (Whirling Frenzy, Lion Totem, Trapkiller) 1-4
Fist of the Forest 5-7
Bear Warrior 8-12
Warshaper 13-16
Frostrager 17-20

You will need extra rage, but when raging you gain the following:

Large Bear Shape, -1 to hit, -1 to AC
Str +20, Dex +2, Con +12, NA +6, reach
+1 attack on Full Attack, +1 more with unarmed
Fast Healing 2, Immune: Stun & Crit.
Gain Claw/Claw/Bite, move action to increase size
add +1d6 cold to all unarmed attacks

Unarmed Attack: Human form 1d10+Str. Bear Form: 3d8+Str
9 attacks per round, +2 if using a doubled up Gloves of the Balanced Hand (recomended.), +1 more if you can squeeze in Snap Kick (I couldn't.).

[Eldariel]

I strongly recommend Runescarred Berserker [Unapproachable East] for an epic game. In epic, having access to some basic magic is basically a fundamental prerequisite for functioning and Runescarred Berserker is one of the better options to that end on your line of work.

Your Frenzy will probably stop their activation (you could discuss with your DM about e.g. a feat to use Runescars in Frenzy specifically) but you can use the spells before the Frenzy anyways. The Runescarred Berserker spell list includes Polymorph so you could skip out on Bear Warrior if you feel so inclined, though the benefits are still obvious.

[Vortenger]

Eldariel's suggestion is much stronger in epic. More of a 'zerker god than a nature one, I think. But much stronger.