Build: A Thimbleful of Rage

[Eldamir]

There is considerable DPS synergy between ranger and barbarian these days - and even if the Developers change (nerf) Critical Rage, the combination of having the Tempest Enhancement and triple rage are still very potent.

With that in mind, I am going to probably going to reroll my thimbleful of rage (again). This time, I'll be going the 6Rgr/14Brb route with 10 barbarian levels currently - if critical rage is changed in the future, her damage potential will still be pretty competative.

This is a 32-point build - if you don't have 32-points available and want to try this, shave 2 points off of con and 3 points off of str (dropping the starting stats by 1) and put the 'extra' point wherever you want.

UPDATE 1/2/09 - Updated for lvl16 capped feats and gear. With Mod9 upon us and the loss of the Critical Rage enhancements, I wanted to revisit this build somewhat. The feat prereq's for Frenzied Berzerker II (of the 3 that are going to be introduced, this sounds most likely to fit her playstyle) while keeping Tempest I. Granted, we haven't seen details yet on Occult Slayer or Ravager, so I may change my mind yet again before Mod 9 arrives. I would like to take 2 rogue levels for evasion at 17-20, but with the feat requirements for both Tempest and Frenzy Berzerker, at least 1 fighter level is needed. And since, I have to take one fighter level, I might as well take 2 since neither Barb 13 or Ranger 7 give me much of a benefit.
I will probably do a final update once we have full disclosure on mod9. To-date, Anjila is a lean, mean killing machine. The damage output by with a 40 str and hasted tempest is really hard to beat - especially with a rogue at her back :D Given how well she performs right now, I can see why the developers are removing critical rage.


Update 12/15/09 - At lvl19 with 12b/6r/1f, Anjila is still pretty potent DPS - with the addition of all the silly combat numbers, she's often still watching numbers fly by as long as a full minute past the end of combat on bosses. For the future of this build, I will want to finish out a few equipment items (i.e.get the gnawed ring from ToD, finish 60 shrouds and make a hp/guard/hp cloak (maybe all fire?)). Also, if we ever get greensteel deconstruction, I'll rebuild her rapiers as Khopeshi and switch Improved Critical: Piercing for Khopesh

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Lvl20 Halfling Female (12 Barbarian / 6 Ranger / 2 Fighter) -32pt
Spell Points: 72 (7 Ram's Mights per rest - more than enough most times)

Stats
Base Points Base Tome Lvl Enh Buff Rage Final mod
STR 6 16 16 2 5 1 10* 14 48 19
DEX 10 6 16 2 0 0 4 n/a 22 6
CON 8 10 16 2 0 2 7** 15 42 16
INT 8 8 0 0 n/a 8 -1
WIS 8 8 1 0 0 6 n/a 15 2
CHA 8 8 0 0 n/a 8 -1
*+2 Rams Might , +2 Exc Str, +6 Item
** +6 Item, +1 Exc Con


Feats and Class Levels:
Classes Raise Base Feats Ftr/Rgr Feats
1 Ranger 1 Dodge Favored Enemy: Giant
2 Barbarian 1
3 Ranger 2 Mobility
4 Ranger 3 STR
5 Ranger 4
6 Ranger 5 Spring Attack Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
7 Ranger 6
8 Barbarian 2 STR
9 Barbarian 3 Improved Critical: Piercing Weapons
10 Barbarian 4
11 Barbarian 5
12 Barbarian 6 STR Greater Two Weapon Fighting
13 Barbarian 7
14 Barbarian 8
15 Barbarian 9 Power Attack
16 Barbarian 10 STR
17 Barbarian 11
18 Fighter 1 Toughness Cleave
19 Barbarian 12
20 Fighter 2 STR Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Enhancements:
Halfling Cunning II
Halfling Guile II
Halfling Luck (Reflex) I
Halfling Luck (Will) II
Racial Toughness II
Barbarian Constitution I
Barbarian Constitution II
Barbarian Frenzied Berzerker II
Barbarian Power Attack I
Barbarian Extend Rage III
Barbarian Extra Rage III
Barbarian Hardy Rage III
Barbarian Power Rage IV
Barbarian Sprint Boost I
Barbarian WillPower II
Barbarian Toughness IV
Fighter Strength I
Fighter Haste Boost I
Ranger Energy of the Wild I
Ranger Favored Damage II
Ranger Tempest I


Spells:
1st - Rams Might, Jump


Numbers:
Saves:
Saves: Fort Rflx Will
37 21 19
Barbarian 12 8 4 4
Fighter 2 3 0 0
Ranger 6 5 5 2
Stat Bonus 0 16 6 2
Barbarian Rage 3 n/a n/a 3
Halfling Luck 1 1 1 1
Halfling Luck(Enh) 1 2
Resist Item +4 4 4 4
Rage Potion / Spell ON n/a n/a 1


Hit Points:
Bare Max
Hit Points 709 803
Heroic Durability 20 20
Argonessen Favor 10 10
Constitution Bonus 320 320
Barbarian 12 144 144
Fighter 2 20 20
Ranger 6 48 48
Toughness 22 22
Racial Toughness 20 20
Class Toughness 40 40
Aid OFF 18
Virtue OFF 20
Insp Greatness OFF 20
Greater Heroism OFF 16
False Life (Spell) OFF 20
False Life (Item) Grtr 30 30
Shroud Item II 15 15
Minos Legens ON 20 20


Armor Class:
Barbarian AC sucks .. really, it does. As you level up, Elven Chain (or mfp if you've got it) will help, but by end game, go with some dragon-touched guards and call it a day

Attack / Damage:
+Dmg
Attack 37 37 42 42 47 32/23
BAB 20 20 25 25 30
AB: Strength 19 19 19 19 19 19/9
Weapon Bonus +5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Halfling Size 1 1 1 1 1 n/a
Two Weapon Fighting -2 -2 -2 -2 -2
Power Attack -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 6


Skills:
An 8 Int doesn't leave much room for skills. Throw points at Jump with a sprinkling of spot, tumble intimidate and/or balance on the ranger levels if you have the inclination.

Potential equipment slots:
RagDoll
Armor DragonTouched Leather (Improved Regen 10% / Crushing Wave Guard / Freezing Ice Guard)
Shield n/a
Goggles Shroud Lightning II guards
Helmet Minos Legens
Necklace Shroud N/P (Immunities / hp)
Trinket BloodStone
Cloak Greater Resists / Resistance +4*
Belt Knost's Belt
Gloves Shroud Triple Water guards
Boots Madstone Boots
Ring1 Ring of Resonance
Ring2 Gnawed Ring (+6 STR / +1 Exc Con / +2 Exc STR)* / Featherfall / Ring of the Djinn
Bracers Levik's Bracers

This build is not very gear intensive, other than wanting a bloodstone, madstone boots and two shroud rapiers for optimum DPS.
*Will be converted to a Shroud HP/guard mixed item after 10 more shrouds.
**No ToD ring yet :(

Cons::thumbdown:
- Rage will prohibit you from casting Rams Might as often as might be desired :(
- AC sucks - you're a barbarian, it's not supposed to be uber :D
- No Critical Rage - Replaced with Frenzied Berzerker I and II
- Tempest prereqs means there's no room for Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, Toughness or Power Attack - Nullified by lvl20 increases

Pros::smile_ok:
- Halfling Ladies squeak when they get hit and when they rage! (its fun for everyone all the time!)
- Good (for a barbarian) Saves - all beholder saves are 20+ when raging (Will drops to 15 when not raging)
- Self Healing via wands - save money on pots! (this benefit will taper off somewhat as you level up and get more hit points and are raged more of the time)
- Dual Tempested tier III shroud rapiers means there's ALOT of damage going on - currently have mineral II and earth build but am considering the addition of a Lightning II rapier at some point.

[Eldamir]

And I just remembered that I ate the Str/Dex/Con tomes on Anjila 2.0 the other night .. really need to start farming the vale quests again :D

[Vic]

I must say I'm a fan of this build style. From what I've seen Anjila is a true mini-murder-machine.

I think it's somewhat similar to Jin using the Ranger/Barbarian synergy. Truth be told I wasn't expecting it to work out so well. Just splashing one Barb level has been very nice on Jin. Being able to double/tripple rage + Ram's makes my Dex-a-holic ranger rock pretty hard (and flip Str levels).

I'm sure enhancement points are tight like they are on most multiclass characters, but Halfling Cunning (http://compendium.ddo.com/index.php/Enhancement:Halfling_Cunning_III) coupled with Spring Attack/Tempest is pretty nice. Jin can wheel around a pack of mobs, or jump over them, and stick a shortsword up their cracks on a 2.

[Eldamir]

with some finessing of her current build, I might be able to avoid the reroll .. would end up 9barb/6rgr/1ftr at 16 .. with a lvl20 split of 13/6/1.

Then assuming we go into epic levels, the 14th crit rage enhancement would give you what the above build gets at 20.

lots of assumptions about the future - both in this build and in the Anjila recovery..

[Rommalb]

I know I have a WIS tome or two lying around, let me see tonight if I have a Dex one as well or not. All 3 of my toons have burned through all the tomes they can and now Im just starting a library

[lostinjapan]

Lvl16 Halfling Female (10 Barbarian /6 Ranger) -32pt


I have one already in progress...almosy identical (except for level progression)

Lilgiant, halfling female currently at 3 ranger/3 barbarian. :D

Thiefsssesss, theysss ssstolesss itsss from usss! :p

[Galvis]

Boozn is already lvl 10 with this build... except he is WF and there is no Tempest... and He's a Str Build..... and ........ Nevermind they are nothing alike.

I think I'm going to post the build in House T so yall can get a look at it, and let me know what you think. I only have it planned till lvl 16 so far.

[Vic]

I only have it planned till lvl 16 so far.
Over the years Eld and I have gone back and forth about building for the current level cap or building for 20. I sided on building for cap and now have the "opportunity" to level up another cleric... and another bard... and another caster.

I think it's time to cede the point to Eld. Do yourself a favor folks, think about 20 when you build. :D

[Eldamir]

The only thing you really can't count on by planning for lvl20 is what crazy enhancements the devs put in the game - or take out. This build centers around 2 controversial enhancements, but I have the feeling that even without either Tempest or Crit Rage, this could become a real powerhouse of a character.

One of its plusses is that it's not terribly gear intensive -- if you get a bloodstone, or raid loot, great, but the build stands on its own without any of those (although a +/- shroud item and madstone boots would be very useful)

[Eldamir]

I've got Anjila set up with Improved Critical: Piercing at the moment; originally, it was intended that I'd switch back to iCrit:Slashing once I hit lvl15 and could use the Green Steel Khopeshi (and could take the feat).

However, with the introduction of GS Rapiers, I've been kinda considering staying Piercing since that lets me use both DPS and puncturing seamlessly. So, I was fooling around in JJFlanigan's Weapon Compare tool today and was very surprised to see how close the DPS is between the two weapon-sets (using the feat set of this build - gTWF, no oTWF)



http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h311/eldamir/DDO/hastedrapiersvskhopeshi.jpg

[Eldamir]

I updated the feat selections in the OP to reflect a piercing spec.

An update on the build at lvl13.95 (just a tiny bit short of lvl14 after her first Reaver run last night). I've been very impressed with her damage output - even though she's going for puncturing most of the time right now since her DPS weapon selection is somewhat limited while leveling up, she utterly destroys mobs between double rage, tempest and haste.

As mentioned, Anjila has been wielding a +3 frost rapier of puncturing and a +4 acid silver shortsword of puncturing lately and is a real killing Machine. Like all barbarians, she doesn't doo nearly as well without a Cleric on an IV-drip (or at least someone who can UMD Heal and/or Rez scrolls :)
Her basic DPS weapons are somewhat lacking - +3 Shocking Burst Scimitar and +2 Acid light mace of pure good but I've been holding out on laying out money for something good on the principle that in another 1.05 levels she'll be dual wielding Mineral I Rapiers (assuming i get 2 more signet stones, a bucket of vale ingredients and another large horn before she turns 15 and hits the shroud for the first time).

[Eldamir]

spamming my own thread.. nice..

anyways, assuming that they don't change Critical Rage in the next mod (although I suspect they will), Khopesh might still be the way to go since the Khopesh..

This image is of the tool with Critical Rage II active and is showing significantly better results for the Khopesh pair..
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h311/eldamir/DDO/hastedrapiersvskhopeshi-critrage.jpg

I hate this confusion! Better communication would help immensely and save me a ton of ingredients -- since I'm not going to wait til 2009 (or whenever) to craft shroud weapons for her!


edit: if they do change crit-rage in mod8 (folks are taking lvl14/17 for the two enhancements over on the rumor boards), I might even pick up a couple of levels of rogue for evasion :) since I've already screwed myself out of both Tireless Rage (brb17) and Mighty Rage (Brb20)

[Eldamir]

Warning: Thread Necro!

UPDATE: Updated for lvl16 capped feats and gear.

With Mod9 upon us and the loss of the Critical Rage enhancements, I wanted to revisit this build somewhat. The feat prereq's for Frenzied Berzerker II (of the 3 that are going to be introduced, this sounds most likely to fit her playstyle) while keeping Tempest I. Granted, we haven't seen details yet on Occult Slayer or Ravager, so I may change my mind yet again before Mod 9 arrives. I would like to take 2 rogue levels for evasion at 17-20, but with the feat requirements for both Tempest and Frenzy Berzerker, at least 1 fighter level is needed. And since, I have to take one fighter level, I might as well take 2 since neither Barb 13 or Ranger 7 give me much of a benefit.

To-date, Anjila is a lean, mean killing machine. The damage output by combining a 40 Str and Hasted Tempest is really hard to beat - especially with a rogue at her back:evil:. Given how well she performs right now, I can see why the developers are removing critical rage.
I'm moving towards guard gear for her. I have dragontouched leather with Freezing Ice guard and am working on getting Magma Surge guard for her Tempest rune.
Also over the next couple of weeks, I'll run her 20th shroud and pick up an essence of cleansing. From there, I'll make Lightning II goggles to Tier II with Tier III coming at some point after I finish some of Brizavin's projects and an Existential Stalemate necklace. These two items will give her Blindness and Disease Immunity, 25 hitpoints, Minor Good Guard, Lesser Lightning Guard, Lightning Storm Guard (1-2% chance of 600+ lightning strike), Wisdom +6, +10 Haggle and Diplomacy. At some point in the future, I might take a third tier on the ES necklace for Greater Regeneration (+1hp/15sec) and Concordant Opposition (chance of temp hp/sp on hit)


I will probably do a final update once we have full disclosure on mod9.

[Aegnor]

Warning: Thread Jack!

This is why I think I will always play a Wiz. No real equipment issues to deal with. Just throw the damn spell! I just can't seem to get my head around all the things to remember (nor do I seem to have the inclination to try that hard).

God love ya, Eld for being so good at this stuff! :eek:

[Eldamir]

Ahh, but Aeg .. Anjila is a very easy character to equip. Just add weapons and point her in the direction of the mobs..
For extra blending, add a dallop of haste..

[Eldamir]

Finally completed the Lvl 20 update for Anjila.