Ultimate Barbarian Build (Single-Class Munchkin)

[Revi]

Many players think that ultimate munchkin power can only be achieved with a dualclassed human [url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Dual_and_Multiclassing#Fighter.2FMage']kensai/mage[/url] or [url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Dual_and_Multiclassing#Fighter.2FThief']kensai/thief[/url]. Perhaps they're right, but you can get pretty close with a single-classed character, especially with a barbarian. The following guide shows you how. It is intended for people who want to build a single-classed barbarian to play throughout the entire saga. This is important to keep in mind, because many of the choices I suggest are only viable if you intend to start in BG1 and stick it out through TotSC, BG2 and finally ToB.

Without further ado, let's dive in.

Three mayor premises to keep in mind:

This character is all about absorbing damage, rather than avoiding it.

While a berserker or pure kensai may put out more damage, this character will have an easier time completing Insane difficulty solo or beating tough combat mods like [url='http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/']SSC[/url]/ [url='http://weidu.org/tactics.html']Tactics[/url].

This build doesn't make any claims about beating the Kensai/Mage dualclass, which, in all probability, cannot be topped.

Race
The character is an Lawful Evil [url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Half-Orc']Half-Orc[/url] [url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Classes_and_Kits#Barbarian']Barbarian[/url].

[url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Dwarf']Dwarf[/url]may be marginally better because of the +3 saving throw bonus, if you don't mind being short and bearded. You end up with slightly less Dex and Str, but cap out at 25 Str under the effects of Barbarian Rage anyway.

Specializations
are picked up in this order:

Long-Swords (Easy to obtain, strong choice throughout BG1)
Two-weapon Fighting (essential to dualwield FoA and DoEH)
Flails ([url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/flailofagesplus3.jpg']Flail of Ages[/url] and [url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/defenderofeasthavenplus2.jpg']Defender of Easthaven[/url])
Maces (Mace of Disruption)
Axes (K'logarath +4).

The rest doesn't matter. Warhammers aren't really essential because your Strength will reach 25 even without Crom Faeyr. If you skip BG1 you can skip Longswords; you can get [url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/flailofagesplus3.jpg']Flail of Ages[/url] and [url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/defenderofeasthavenplus2.jpg']Defender of Easthaven[/url] at the start of BG2.

Armor
Barbarian start out weaker than Fighters in BG1 because of their inability to wear
Plate armors. In BG2, however, this disadvantage fades away as more and more incredible
[url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/equipment/scalearmor.php']Scale armors[/url] become available.

[url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/mailofthedeadplus2.jpg']Mail of the Dead +2[/url] (AC3) is a good Chain Mail +2 handed to you for free at the start of BG2.

[url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/shadowdragonscale.jpg']Shadow Dragon Scale[/url] (AC1) is as powerful as a Plate Mail +1 and can be obtained in the Shadow Temple.

[url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/baldursgateii/equipment/images/whitedragonscale.jpg']White Dragon Scale[/url] (AC -2), obtained in Watcher's Keep, is basically a Full Plate +3, but counts as
leather armor.

Stat Stacking
[url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Half-Orc']Half Orc[/url]: +1 Str, +1 Con
This enables you to get Str and Con to 19 at character creation.

After tomes, Str and Con will both be at 20.

[url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/walkthrough/hell.php']Hell trails[/url]:
Pride, good: 20% Fire/Cold/Electric resistance
Selfishness, good: +10% MR, -1 DEX (AC hardly matters with the kind of physical res we are stacking)
Greed, good: +2 to saves
Fear, evil: +2 Con (debatable, but the Good bonus won't help against most enemies)
Wrath, evil: +2 Str
This will put Str and Con at 22.

The Machine of Lum the Mad ([url='http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/walkthrough/watchers4.php']Watcher's Keep level 4[/url]) adds +1 to all stats.
After Lum, Str and Con will both be at 23.

Barbarian Rage: +4 Str, +4 Con.
With this, Str and Con will cap at 25.

Note that unlike Berserker Frenzy, Barbarian rage does not leave you winded. The downside (as Galrean mentioned) is that it does not protect against Imprisonment. Use a green scroll of Protection from Magic for this.

Pocket Plane Challenges
For these you need to have the 'Restored Bhaalspawn Abilities' part of the [url='http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=101&Itemid=80']Unfinished Business[/url] mod installed. These abilities were meant to be in the game but didn't get implemented in time before release. The author of this mod is BioWare's Senior Designer David Gaider. Therefore, you
shouldn't feel bad about using them. It makes perfect sense that you would receive something for completing the Pocket Plane challenges, just as you did for completing the Hell trails.

You gain these by completing the challenges in the Pocket Plane in ToB.

Challenge 1, evil: Regeneration (like the cleric spell)
Challenge 2, evil: Dark Taint (a poison-type ability)
Challenge 3, evil: Hand of Murder (an OP +12 dmg boost that also leaches 12 HP per hit)
Challenge 4, evil: 25% physical dmg resistance

To download this mod, check [url='http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=101&Itemid=80']this page[/url].
For the full details about the Restored Bhaalspawn Abilities, [url='http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/bg2/media/files/bhaalpowers_read_me.txt']read this[/url].

Physical Resistance
Barbarian Class: +20% physical (Innate)
Defender of Easthaven: +20% physical (Joluv)
Hardiness HLA: +40% physical (20 rounds)
Pocket plane challenge 4, evil: +25% physical

Total: 65% flat, 105% with Hardiness.

Without Restored Bhaalspawn Abilities: 40% flat, 80% with Hardiness.

Magic Resistance
Ring of Gaxx: 10% MR
Amulet of Seldarine: 10% MR
Hell selfishness, good: 10% MR
Lum: +10% MR
Flail of Ages +5: 5% MR

This puts you at 45% MR. Not great, but if you have to choose between becoming fully resistant to physical or fully resistant to magic, physical immunity is by far the better option:

~90% of all ingame enemies deal physical dmg.
10-20% of all enemies use spells.
Most disabling spells can be resisted with Rage.
The remaining disabling spells can be bypassed with scrolls.
Damaging spells can easily be soaked.

Additional Soaking/Resistances
Belt of Inertial Barrier: 50% Magic dmg
Helmet of Defense: 20% Fire/Cold/Electric
Boots of Grounding: 50% Electric
Ring of Fire Control: 50% Fire
Hell Pride trail, Good: 20% Fire/Cold/Electric

As you can see, soaking spell dmg will no longer be a problem near the end of SoA. You reach 40% resistance to elemental dmg types and 50% resistance to magic dmg from equipment alone. Add a few green scrolls and you are easily at ~90-100%.

Final Equipment Breakdown
Helmet of Defense: 20% Fire/Cold/Electric resistance, +1 saves
Amulet of Seldarine: 10% MR, +1 saves
White Dragon Scale: -2 AC, 50% Cold
Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization: +1/2 Attack per Round, +1 THACO, +2 Damage
Belt of Inertial Barrier: 50% Magic dmg. resistance
Boots of Grounding: 50% Electric resistance
Cloak of Mirroring: Reflects spells.
Ring of Gaxx: +2 AC, +2 Saves, +20% MR, regeneration.
Ring of Fire Control: 50% Fire resistance

Weapons:
Mainhand: Flail of Ages +5 (1d6 +6 blunt dmg, +2 Acid/Cold/Fire/Poison/Electric damage)
Off-hand: Defender of Easthaven +2 (1d6+2 blunt dmg, +1 AC, +20% physical resistance)

Mods

[url='http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/']BG2 Tweaks[/url]
Adds many enhancements and improvements to the game. Includes the Bonus Merchants from the limited edition. One of these merchants, Joluv, located in the Copper Coronet, sells the Defender of Easthaven +2.

[url='http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=101&Itemid=80']BG2 Unfinished Business[/url]
Restores a lot of content that was meant to be in the game but did not get properly implemented before release. Restores Bhaalspawn abilities gained in the Abyssal Fortress Pocket Plane.

[url='http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/888-pnp-free-action-v2/']PnP Free Action[/url]
Allows you to be Hasted while under the effects of Free Action, as per Pen & Paper AD&D 2nd ed. rules. This removes the problem with Flail of Ages +5 cancelling out your improved haste spells / greater whirlwinds.

[galraen]

One minor point to make. You say Lawful Evil, but then state having Azure Edge, only good characters can use that.

PS The main weakness of Barbarian Rage is that it doesn't protect against Imprisonment. Not sure why Berserker enrage does and Barbarian and Minsc's berserk don't.

[Revi]

One minor point to make. You say Lawful Evil, but then state having Azure Edge, only good characters can use that.

PS The main weakness of Barbarian Rage is that it doesn't protect against Imprisonment. Not sure why Berserker enrage does and Barbarian and Minsc's berserk don't.

Oops, you're right!

Actually, Axe specialization isn't all that essential to this build, anyway. I can think of only a couple of situations where you absolutely *need* a ranged weapon, and a bow would do just as well in those cases.

Also, I just realized some people may prefer to use a ranged weapon for the first few levels, for example on a hardcore solo run. In that case, instead of going...

Long swords ** Two-weapon Style ** > Flails **

I would go with...

Long Bows ** Flails** > Two-Weapon Style ** or something like that...

Long swords are nice but they're really not that essential. You can get two Flails +1 rather easy, and you get the FoA and DoEH at the start of BG2.

[Revi]

One minor point to make. You say Lawful Evil, but then state having Azure Edge, only good characters can use that.

PS The main weakness of Barbarian Rage is that it doesn't protect against Imprisonment. Not sure why Berserker enrage does and Barbarian and Minsc's berserk don't.

That is true, but a green scroll of Protection from Magic does. In the vanilla game, not so many enemies cast Imprisonment.

[galraen]

True Revi, but that [expletive deleted] does like to dispel magic prior to casting imprisonment, similar with Elder Orbs and other liches, blighters have done for me a few times that way. Not a massive issue with most play-throughs, but if you're going for a no-save run I tend to get paranoid.

[Revi]

You are right, berserker frenzy offers better immunities. I think every class/kit has its perks (well, except for Shapeshifters, maybe). And cleverly combining classes and kits always beats single classes. This guide was just a thought experiment for myself to see how close I could get with a single class. I appreciate your feedback, it has made me think it over from a different angle again.

Dualclassing is really a rather overpowered mechanic when you compare it to any single class. I was about to say that barbarians offer an advantage over berserkers when you look at their ability to resist/absorb physical dmg, but then I realized that a berserker can, of course, dual to cleric at lvl 13 to gain both DuHM and AoF.

The Kensage or F/M can do even more; he can become completely immune to all damage (Stoneskin, PfMW, elemental protections), removing the need for any resistances on gear. You could argue he lacks the spell immunities of the zerker and barb over the BG1 portion of the game, but then of course there's the zerker/mage option to consider. But we all knew already how overpowered fighter > mage dualclasses are.

[galraen]

It is far too easy to dual-class in Baldur's Gate, not that Bioware can be blamed. To put in restrictions and make players work for it would have been extremely complicated. Yet another example of how difficult it is to create an automated dungeon master. What can be easy for a human DMing on the fly is far more difficult for a computer game developer. Really it's down to the player to 'police' her or himself, but with this aspect of the game even doing that can be difficult.

However certain dual-class options should have been excluded in my opinion, especially Kensai, the concept of Sword Saint demands that the character devotes him or herself exclusively, if a character strays then all related posers should be lost. Dualling to a mage is also far too easy. Just look at the starting age for mages, there's a reason for it, to get to the stage where a mage is ready to 'leave college' takes years of dedicated study. In fact I'd argue that having any kit precludes dual classing; the 3E approach to swapping classes is one of the reasons I rejected it in the first place, changing the rule set to placate kids with ADHD was a bad idea.

Wan't to DC to a mage? Fine, roll another character to play with for the next 4 years game time while your wannabe mage goes off to uni. That was the policy in live AD&D games I've played in anyway, and it does make sense.

[Revi]

I also play PnP AD&D 2nd ed. and I agree that in PnP games dualclassing is supposed to be much harder than simply clicking a button.

That said, I have always found it a pity that characters cannot actually gain XP through studying at a university or training as a squire or working as a locksmith or something. I mean, the DM can hand them quest XP for it, but there aren't any rules about it. I believe that this has led to the majority of players favoring combat-oriented campaigns over RP-oriented campaigns; you simply tend to level up much faster, while simultaneously getting to see more action and collecting more loot.

Although I agree about kids ruining the spirit of roleplaying games in general, I do not think it is very new. I am a member of a community of AD&D 2nd ed. players on Facebook, and even though this community consists primarily of old farts who have been playing since at least the 80's, it is clear from the discussions that almost everyone favors combat scenarios over real roleplay. So I think that this action-RP powergaming attitude is not just the product of PC RPGs like Diablo or WoW; even Gygax himself encouraged this kind of attitude by making several 'slaughterhouse' dungeon modules that were virtually unbeatable for anyone but the extreme powergamer and by organizing AD&D tournaments (thereby suggesting that roleplaying is a competitive sport, haha). At the same time, expansion books like Unearthed Arcana supported the idea of AD&D as a hunt for magical loot.

With all of this said, I am certainly not trying to excuse this kind of behavior. It is a pity when people approach the game exclusively from this angle. I forgive myself for playing this way in Baldur's Gate but I would never play this way in PnP.

[galraen]

primarily of old farts who have been playing since at least the 80's

So maybe we've met!

[Revi]

Quite possible This board here seems to be more or less dead, by the way... I guess most people still playing BG have transitioned to the BG:EE forums.

[galraen]

The whole site is more or less dead, too many changes that a lot of people didn't like, and I guess forums in general are too passé for the younger generation.

[Tricky]

Yeah, social networking sites is where it's at for the youngings. But usually those aren't a good place for gamers to find help for specific problems. I think people are generally starting to get better at finding the information they need and the relevant sites and companies are getting quite good at providing it. Honestly, the only company that doesn't and remains stuck in the '90s is Valve. Regardless, the digital generation is starting to mature.

Also, if people have a problem with a game, more often than not we simply end up redirecting them to a more appropriate place to ask their questions, like the Bethsoft forums for Skyrim or Deadlystream forums for KOTOR. Those are super busy. That takes away a lot of traffic, because people get more out of settling there than here.

Still, GB remains a pretty good waystation for Baldur's Gate info. Thanks to you old timers.

[Philos]

I resemble that old timer. I much prefer the 2nd edition myself. Although I guess I'm included in the "old farts" as well as I started playing back in the 80's too. In fact I started with the 1st edition.
But back to topic, if damage absorption is a prime goal, I would recommend a dwarf over the half orc. Reason being that a dwarf can begin BG1 with a 19 Constitution and "spoiler alert"
** get it raised to 20 with the Tome of Manual Health found in the nerid (?) cave. **
With a 20 Con the character will auto-regenerate hit points (slowly) and not need as much healing. That can be from an early point of BG1 . Also with the added Con point gained at Watcher's Keep a Barbarian PC should be a walking tank.

[galraen]

Half-orcs also can start with 19 Con actually. I've decided to give this a spin as I just completed ToB and have nothing better to do, baseball season being over for me.

[Revi]

While I've been convinced to give the Dwarf Berserker another try by your comments. It's really an incredible kit for a solo playthrough, with it's high number of attacks per round, immunities to practically all disabling spells, heavy damage output, great HP and great AC. While the barbarian may be able to stack higher physical res, I realize now that a berserker always keeps a rather significant AC advantage over the barb thanks to the fact that the berserker's enrage actually improves your AC while the barbarian rage gives an AC penalty. That and the Imprisonment issue you mentioned are reasons enough for me to give the solo berserker another shot.

Thought about trying a human berserker13/cleric for a while, until I realized that Enrage already grants most of the immunities you'd want and more or less functions as a mini-DuHM. Throw some potions or a belt in the mix and you can simulate the effect of DuHM pretty well. Adding to this the fact that both Hardiness and Greater WW are absolutely awesome buffs to have, I finally gave in and rolled a dwarf berserker.

Not sure how it will hold up vs. Melissan though; I worry about the much lower physical resist of this character against her bizarre melee damage.

[Revi]

I resemble that old timer. I much prefer the 2nd edition myself. Although I guess I'm included in the "old farts" as well as I started playing back in the 80's too. In fact I started with the 1st edition.
But back to topic, if damage absorption is a prime goal, I would recommend a dwarf over the half orc. Reason being that a dwarf can begin BG1 with a 19 Constitution and "spoiler alert"
** get it raised to 20 with the Tome of Manual Health found in the nerid (?) cave. **
With a 20 Con the character will auto-regenerate hit points (slowly) and not need as much healing. That can be from an early point of BG1 . Also with the added Con point gained at Watcher's Keep a Barbarian PC should be a walking tank.

The reason to roll dwarf over half-orc is the bonus to saves that dwarves, halflings and gnomes recieve (the 'shorty' saving throw bonus. The reason to roll Half-orc is +1 Str. Arguably, [url='http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#.22Shorty.22_Saving_Throws']getting up to +5 to saves[/url] is better. Half-orcs and dwarves can both have 19 Con at character generation, so they can both reach 20 quite easily.

[Philos]

True, I had meant to mention the saving throw bonus but forgot. Oddly looking back I realized I haven't played a Half Orc before. Just didn't realize they can start with a 19 CON too.

[galraen]

Half-Orcs are seriously over-cheesed in this game compared with what they should be.

[Tenser]

All new stuff is. Sorcerer is OP, Monk is OP, Halforc is OP.

But IMHO its no biggie. The best class is still Fighter/Mage multiclass and that one is already in the vanilla game.

[galraen]

Notsure what you mean by new stuff. Monk is old stuff, and in many ways was nerfed in the Baldur's Gate series.