After fighting all these darn raging barbarians myself, I'm starting to wish my main fighter was one myself. Really, which warrior can compare to the barbarian? 1. Rage bonuses (morale) to strength are VERY significant and stacks with bull's strength(enchantment) and boosts up the weakest saving throw (will). If healing is cast before it runs out, the bonus to health is great too. 2. D12 hit dice. Nuff said. 3. Doesn't start with heavy armor prof, but that feat can be taken for the minor con of reducing movement speed. Unfortunately, my fighter is lawful so i can't multiclass ino barbarian.
In ToEE, a fighter with Barbarian levels tends to be far more dangerous than a straight barbarian. Hell, a non-human barbarian can't even cleave until level 3......
Don't forget their insane damage if fighting with a great weapon. High str + Rage str bonus + high damage/crit weapon + x1.5 dmg for fighting 2 handed (+ power attack, if used) = chunky soup all over the floor. Gallagher doesn't hold a candle to barbarians.
Hmm duel wielding enchanted weapons cause more damage but you have to wait until you have the levels and the gold to do so, not to mention the feats. Fighters also get weapon specialisation(and greater weapon focus), something pure barbarians doesn't have. Raging leaves you tired as well. Powergaming 4/8lvl fighter/barbarian build?
For the ultimate melee machine, take a half-orc (+2 to Str) 1st: Barbarian, take Power Attack 2nd: Fighter, Cleave (Drop your +1 from BAB into Power Attack and leave it there.) 3rd: Barbarian, Weapon Focus: Great Sword or Great Axe 4th: Fighter, Great Cleave 5th: Fighter, 6th: Fighter, Weapon Specialization, Feat of your choice (Combat Reflexes is a good one, considering enemies like to provoke AOOs. Drop someone trying to rush past you and you can Cleave into his buddies.) 7th+ Barbarian the rest of the way (Make sure to pick up Improved Critical at 9th level) Slap Holy and Frost on your weapon of choice (or if you're using a greatsword, hold out for the Frostbrand and just slap Holy on it) once you can, give him a Belt of Strength +6 and an Amulet of Health +6 (more HP, longer rages) and watch him drop Greater Temple Ogre Cheiftans in one round of concentrated attacks and take huge chunks off the node gaurdians and Zuggy. For defense, get the Mithral Plate (drops your barbs move from 40 to 30, but gives +8 to AC, can be enchanted and allows +3 to Dex. Meaning if you max it out and have a Dex of 16 (either natural or via Gloves of Dexterity) you have an AC of 24 before other bonuses and without a shield. I really wouldn't go TWF with a barbarian. Remember to pump up both those weapons you have to spend gold and XP on each of them. Plus, TWF puts you at -2 to hit with each attack. I'd rather drop those 2 points into Power Attack for +4 to damage.
Actually, the ultimate brawler is probably something like Human or Half Orc Barbarian 1/Cleric of Kord X. Enlarge Person, Girdle of Giant Strength, Feat of Strength, Barbarian Rage, and Righteous Might all stack, allowing a single blow that's simply absurd and a sustained rain of blows that's really nasty. Also effective is a Half Orc Barbarian 6/Fighter 2/Rogue 2 with a maxed out Use Item skill. Have a cleric pass him all the clerical self-buff scrolls, including Righteous Might and watch him deal absolutely insane damage. Of course, the latest dll fix might have stopped Enlarge Person from stacking with Righteous Might, but a raging Barbarian Cleric is still a pretty tough customer. A Fighter Cleric of Cuthbert with Strength and Destruction domains can also land a single blow that's pretty impressive.
Feat of Strength should over-ride the Girdle and Righteous Might and Enlarge Person shouldn't stack. Obviously, combat buffs are going to boost things even higher, I was just looking at something that was self-contained and doesn't require any rounds spent buffing during or before the fight. I had a player playing a Fighter/Cleric/Hospitaler in the last PNP game I ran and he could out-damage the rest of the party, but it took him a few rounds of powering up to do it.
Currently, all of them stack, unless the latest DLL fix has changed that. Sure, and there's always the question of how much time you want to spend futzing around with buffs. The nicest thing about a simple Barbarian/Fighter (Rogue optional) is that you don't have to worry about him. Rage and go, and the feats will mostly take care of themselves (with a little maneuvering for the backstab if you add in the Rogue option). Two weapon fighting is also kind of interesting. Before you get enchanted weapons it's (imo) pretty much a waste; penalties to hit and damage in exchange for an extra attack when you're in close enough. Add in Quick Draw and a +3 Holy Axiomatic Keen Tiny Rapier or similar for your off hand weapon and it's a very different story; suddenly you have the option of using something two handed with reach against monsters with high DR, then switching to an extra attack with significant damage bonuses when the foe moves in close. The whole mix-and-match aspect is always a big part of the fun in D&D combat.
