Barbarian build help!

[Erberor]

So, I need to make a new character for a game due to a tpk that may or may not have been entirely the fault of one party member because he didn't listen when we told him to run from the Mind Flayer. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

Anyway, I'm thinking I'll go with a Half-Orc bear totem barbarian, with the outlander background. We're starting at level 4, and we're using the elite (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) stat array. This is what I'm thinking for my ability scores:

STR: 16 (14 base+2 racial)
DEX: 12 or 13
CON: 16 (15 base+1 racial)
INT: 8
WIS: 12 or 13
CHA: 10

So, my question is, what feat should I take, if any at all? And, for that matter, what should I be taking at later levels?

It's probably worth noting that the character concept DEMANDS that my weapon be a quarterstaff. I'm considering asking the DM about some kind of heavy staff, but I'm not overly hopeful about that.

[pcamp88]

Polearm master would be a nice boost to your damage output since you're going totem, the extra attack also gains your rage bonus damage. AFAIK it's considered "sub-optimal" to grab a feat before getting your main attack stat (strength in your case) to 20, but you'll do just fine if you want to grab polearm master to start with.

Otherwise if you're interested in multiclassing, Barbarians can benefit greatly from three levels of Fighter with the Champion archetype. The doubled crit range pairs well with the bonus dice you get on critical hits from being a half orc and a Barbarian.

[Blood of Gaea]

Polearm master would be a nice boost to your damage output since you're going totem, the extra attack also gains your rage bonus damage. AFAIK it's considered "sub-optimal" to grab a feat before getting your main attack stat (strength in your case) to 20, but you'll do just fine if you want to grab polearm master to start with.

Otherwise if you're interested in multiclassing, Barbarians can benefit greatly from three levels of Fighter with the Champion archetype. The doubled crit range pairs well with the bonus dice you get on critical hits from being a half orc and a Barbarian.

+1 to this, is likely the best option for you.

[bid]

So, my question is, what feat should I take, if any at all? And, for that matter, what should I be taking at later levels?

It's probably worth noting that the character concept DEMANDS that my weapon be a quarterstaff. I'm considering asking the DM about some kind of heavy staff, but I'm not overly hopeful about that.

- You will need 2 ASI to cap Str.
- You may want 1 ASI for Dex14 and AC17 from medium armor to improve from AC16 (medium) or AC14 (unarmored)
- You could use 2 ASI to cap Con, but only if you are low on hp
- You may want to take resilient (Wis)
- You may want sentinel or polearm master.
That's 8 possibilities while you only have 5 to take.

If you go tank, I would take sentinel first (level 4) to immobilize runners. I feel this is more important than the extra DPR from polearm master.
Then I would cap Str (levels 8 and 12), resilient (Wis) (level 16) and end with Con or Dex (level 19).
If you plan on resilient (Wis), start Wis13. Otherwise got 16 14 14 8 12 10 for best AC.

Since you are stuck with quarterstaff, does that exclude shield?
If it does, try to refluff glaive as a bludgeoning extra-large quaterstaff and consider polearm master.


If you MC fighter, you need 4 or 6 levels not to lose any feat. I would recommend dueling style with a shield refluffed somewhat.

[Erberor]

Alright, thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm going to wait until I know a little bit more about my role in the party before I commit to anything though. I'll ask about "longstaff" and see where that takes me, something equivalent to a glaive, but bludgeoning seems more than fair.