# Weapon for Goliath Barbarian



## Atzilla (Jul 13, 2009)

Hi folks,
i need help with my barbarian. I cannot decide which weapon i should take.
Here is my build so far:

_Goliath, Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 18, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 16, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12.


AC: 15 Fort: 16 Reflex: 12 Will: 12
HP: 33 Surges: 12 Surge Value: 8

TRAINED SKILLS
Nature +7, Endurance +8, Athletics +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics, Arcana -1, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering, Heal, History -1, Insight, Intimidate +1, Perception, Religion -1, Stealth, Streetwise +1, Thievery

FEATS
Level 1: 

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Devastating Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Recuperating Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Bloodhunt Rage

ITEMS
Hide Armor

_For Paragorn i want to go Stoneblessed. I'd like to use a fullblade for the +1 to hit, but i can't get heavy blade mastery without raising dex and dropping con.
So i better use executioners axe or mordenkrad?
Any other suggestions?
Please help me!


----------



## Klaus (Jul 13, 2009)

Executioner Axe. High damage die, high crit, brutal.


----------



## wolff96 (Jul 13, 2009)

Mordenkrad.  If you're a Goliath, it's pretty much the best way to go, since you're going to have the Con to pick up all the hammer feats.

It has all the advantages of the axe, Hammer Rhythm is incredible, and that "Brutal 1" on a weapon that rolls 2d6...  well, let's just say that I know of more than one DM that has house-ruled it for being broken.


----------



## Dreadite (Jul 13, 2009)

Fullblade still has what I consider to be THE best weapon property pre-Vorpal though:  "of Summer".

Property 1d8 fire damage on hit?  Hurrah!


----------



## Eldorian (Jul 14, 2009)

The warforged barbarian I made dropped his Con down, and upped his Dex, and uses the Fullblade instead of the Mordenkrad.

More dex = more init, more ref, more AC, and more stealth.  I think it was worth it over the con.


----------



## SigmaX0 (Jul 14, 2009)

I'm making a very similar character for our next campaign, a Goliath Barbarian.  Was thinking of MCing Fighter for Iron Vanguard or Dreadnought for Paragon though. (Similar to Lord Dusk Blade's Barbarian Bruiser build on char op forums)

I'm going to be the party's pseudo defender, so I think boosting Con is going to be vital for me, if you're playing alongside a real defender you could probably get away with Dex more easily.

I'm going with Mordenkrad, Hammer Rhythm will be great at lvl 11 because i'll be pumping Con all the way.  Consider Avalanche Strike at level 1 (encounter), with a Mordenkrad gives an average damage of 32 on a hit (assuming your stat-array)

Both that and Executioner's seem like solid choices though.  However, do you gain the benefit of Goliath Greatweapon Prowess with superior weapons?


----------



## Llamas Notsheep (Jul 14, 2009)

If you're going with con, pick up the Mordenkrad for sure.  Hammer rhythm is spectacular.  Exe axe is always one of the best options, but if you have the con for the hammer feats, might as well grab it.  You miss out on high crit, but hammer rhythm will more than make up for it (especially since you're not going with a crit fishing build).

If you decide to go with dex, though, fullblade is amazing.  +3 prof, high crit, and heavy blade opportunity is one of the best feats around.  For barbs, with their exceptionally high [W] attacks, fullblade does begin to fall a little bit behind because it doesn't have any brutal.  But being able to use recuperating strike or pressing strike on an OA is a beautiful thing


----------



## Eldorian (Jul 14, 2009)

SigmaX0 said:


> I'm going to be the party's pseudo defender, so I think boosting Con is going to be vital for me, if you're playing alongside a real defender you could probably get away with Dex more easily.




1 more healing surge and 2 more HP vs 1 more AC, Ref, and Init?  I pick the latter for a defender backup.

Con isn't the defender stat it used to be, unless you've got con modifier to healing surge value from something.

18 16 14 8 13 10 were my starting stats, its not like Con has been dumped there.

Hammer rhythm IS awesome though, I'll give you that.  My build, however, is a crit fishing build, with a jagged weapon in paragon.


----------



## Shin Okada (Jul 14, 2009)

It depends highly on your party's configuration, but Greatspear is another good and interesting option because this is one of the best reach weapon.

You are a striker, not a defender. Your role is to inflict damages to opponents and not to lock some opponent in a place. While you are tough, your AC is not so great. So, if your party have some defenders or other high-AC characters, it is not a bad idea to have melee reach. You can attack opponents from safer place. You can attack something you cannot attack without reach. And it is better to have reach when an opponent has threatening reach. If you want, you can eventually have reach 3 by choosing PHB2 Goliath paragon path,


----------



## Eldorian (Jul 14, 2009)

Shin Okada said:


> It depends highly on your party's configuration, but Greatspear is another good and interesting option because this is one of the best reach weapon.
> 
> You are a striker, not a defender. Your role is to inflict damages to opponents and not to lock some opponent in a place. While you are tough, your AC is not so great. So, if your party have some defenders or other high-AC characters, it is not a bad idea to have melee reach. You can attack opponents from safer place. You can attack something you cannot attack without reach. And it is better to have reach when an opponent has threatening reach. If you want, you can eventually have reach 3 by choosing PHB2 Goliath paragon path,




Reach means you can't charge into flanking, but it also means you can walk away after charging easier, so it's give and take.


----------



## SigmaX0 (Jul 14, 2009)

Eldorian said:


> 1 more healing surge and 2 more HP vs 1 more AC, Ref, and Init?  I pick the latter for a defender backup.
> 
> Con isn't the defender stat it used to be, unless you've got con modifier to healing surge value from something.




To be honest i'm not even going to try and avoid any attacks   Boosting Con with this build also boosts my temp HP gain, and eventually my regen (Winter Phoenix).  My last character had Con 7 so i'm looking forward to playing an unstoppable monster!  My Goliath actually has Dex 14 anyway


----------



## Llamas Notsheep (Jul 14, 2009)

14 dex is plenty to pick up HBO, but not sword mastery (unless you pump dex, etc.).  So, a fullblade would be a very viable option.  With monster con, though, it's hard to pass up on hammer rhythm and massive [w] damage from the mordenkrad.


----------



## DracoSuave (Jul 14, 2009)

Mordenkrad does average damage of 8 per hit.
Goliath Greatweapon + Maul does average damage of 9 per hit.

Until you get your full compliment of encounter and daily powers, Goliath Greatweapon and a maul is the best way to go.


----------



## keterys (Jul 14, 2009)

Does Goliath Greatweapon stack with weapon focus? Cause if it doesn't then as long as you have the spare feat, you're better off with Mordenkrad.

Which is kinda shame, since I hate 2d6b1, especially as your Ws get high... at least for certain players... but hey


----------



## SigmaX0 (Jul 14, 2009)

Doesn't stack since they're both a feat bonus.  But Goliath Greatweapon says it gives proficiency with all simple and martial melee weapons, and a bonus to damage with those weapons, technically excluding superior weapons.  Though this seems a little backwards to me.


----------



## keterys (Jul 14, 2009)

Well, it saves you a feat if you don't have one spare... or if there isn't a superior weapon you want to use (perhaps you're using a glaive or halberd). 

All said, I'd say the blame lies more with dwarven + eladrin training than the goliath one... but I have different opinions on how strong feats should be than others


----------



## Obryn (Jul 14, 2009)

DracoSuave said:


> Mordenkrad does average damage of 8 per hit.
> Goliath Greatweapon + Maul does average damage of 9 per hit.
> 
> Until you get your full compliment of encounter and daily powers, Goliath Greatweapon and a maul is the best way to go.



Honestly, I'd get both SWP and WF assuming you can spare the feats.   Barbarians use enough multi-[W] powers that superior weapons pay off.

-O


----------



## Eldorian (Jul 14, 2009)

Llamas Notsheep said:


> 14 dex is plenty to pick up HBO, but not sword mastery (unless you pump dex, etc.).  So, a fullblade would be a very viable option.  With monster con, though, it's hard to pass up on hammer rhythm and massive [w] damage from the mordenkrad.




Yeah, I bumped it once at 8th, and planning on giving dex another bump at 28th.  For the crit feat.

And the mordenkrad doesn't give you a ton more damage than fullblade.  Only 8 vs 6.5 on average, and fullblade does strictly more on crits.


----------



## DracoSuave (Jul 14, 2009)

Obryn said:


> Honestly, I'd get both SWP and WF assuming you can spare the feats.   Barbarians use enough multi-[W] powers that superior weapons pay off.
> 
> -O




Once you get your compliment of powers going, i'd be inclined to agree.  I'd go with straight up GGF to get you through the "at-wills all the time" early game.


----------



## keterys (Jul 14, 2009)

Yeah, was just making a slightly oddball character for an upcoming game and... I'm so strapped for feats that I'll probably use GGF until mid-Paragon.

Maybe longer, cause at that point I'm starting to consider just using a polearm


----------



## Atzilla (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanks for your help.

I'll take the Mordenkrad: 
I thinkg all 3 of the weapons have pros and cons, they seem really equal to me: +1 to hit vs +1 average damage per die; Hammer Rythm vs high crit and so on.


----------



## DracoSuave (Jul 16, 2009)

To be fair, with a Goliath Barbarian, you really can't go too wrong.  Put large weapon in hands.  Send towards enemies.  Destroy.  Repeat.


----------

