Barbarian vs Fighter, help me choose

[jarlaxlecq]

As i mentioned in a previous quote i'm looking to put together a good warrior for my group. As we are going to be relatively low level and the members of group are a rogue and sorc or cleric i'm going to need to be the Tank. With that in mind i'm going to go Either Fighter or Barbarian. I didn't choose Paladin as i don'twant to be restricted to a LG Alignment. A Ranger just wont have the Hps i need, same thing with the Monk. One thing about the Fighter class is it lets you design pretty much any type of fighter you want but since i'm looking for a large muscle bound Conan Type any reason i shouldn't just go Barb? Not just in a Hack and Slash case but in General use and versitility I know people mentioned Dwarf leading to a dwarven defender its just that i'm not a huge fan of Dwarfs and would rather not pick one of those.
If anyone has an intersting Fighter or barb Build. We're using 3.5 rules, Core Books and FR. Rolling for our scores.

 

[Darklone]

Polearm barbarian is a good tank at low levels. Best build for that would be a barbarian who multiclasses into Fighter

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Why not do both? In a new game I gearing up to play I am going with a Half-Orc Warrior. The plan is to go back and forth between them both. I'll have the improved speed, skills, hit points, and rage of the Barbarian and the bonus feats of the Fighter. I'm taking my first level in Barbarian since that first level is where the 2 extra hit points, rage, and movement bonuses are going to come in handiest. For the next two levels I'll be taking Fighter so I'l have another feat at 2nd level and two more at 3rd level. I really can't see any reason to go for a PrCl with that combo... he'll be tough enough.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Have you rolled the stats yet? Hard to do a proper building thing without them.


I like barbarians... straightforward in a fight, but still really effective... IMO, the extra skills make for a more interesting out of combat time. If there's no ranger/druid, then taking survival gives you a nice niche to be the expert in.

The uncanny dodge and fast move can be really useful abilities. I've found them to be real lifesavers occasionally. Rage is great.

IMO, taking a variety of weapons is good for barbarian. Big Axe for raging. Sword+Board for small fights. Spear for charging. Etc.


Fighters make much better specialists and are definitely the way to go for any kind of complex fighting style... even with something straightforward they're probably more effective.


Depends what you want and what style of campaign it is...

 

[Dark Jezter]

In 3.0, there was very little reason to take more than 5 levels in barbarian. In 3.5e, the barbarian edges out the fighter when it comes to melee combat power.

A 3.5e barbarian in rage using power attack with a greatsword/greataxe is a very dangerous combatant indeed.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Careful not to become a one trick pony like most 3.0 Barbarians... Rage is nice but it shouldn't be your only and major ability. If you don't have 13 Int the number of feats available to Melee Types drops and these include some of the "improved" this or that feats.

I agree with the previous posters that mixing classes helps... now if you don't need as many feats just go full barbarian and get some DR.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

IME the straight barbarian gets an incredible edge, if you make it to 16th-level... since you can now get Indomitable Will! That, plus Iron Will, effectively gives you two good saves instead of one if you're not surprised or out of rages.

Of course, you still need to worry about Otiluke's resilient sphere and sunburst but they're not fatal - the first one even makes you immune to attacks and since you have Uncanny Dodge, rogues may have to work a bit harder to sneak attack you when you're blinded. (They'd be smart to at least stay at range and shoot you.)

 

[Ace]

As i mentioned in a previous quote i'm looking to put together a good warrior for my group. As we are going to be relatively low level and the members of group are a rogue and sorc or cleric i'm going to need to be the Tank. With that in mind i'm going to go Either Fighter or Barbarian. I didn't choose Paladin as i don'twant to be restricted to a LG Alignment. A Ranger just wont have the Hps i need, same thing with the Monk. One thing about the Fighter class is it lets you design pretty much any type of fighter you want but since i'm looking for a large muscle bound Conan Type any reason i shouldn't just go Barb? Not just in a Hack and Slash case but in General use and versitility I know people mentioned Dwarf leading to a dwarven defender its just that i'm not a huge fan of Dwarfs and would rather not pick one of those.
If anyone has an intersting Fighter or barb Build. We're using 3.5 rules, Core Books and FR. Rolling for our scores.

My advice is to do both--

I like going

Barb 1

Fighter 1

Barb 2

Fighter x

this combo gives you Uncanny Dodge (keep you dex bonus) extra HP and skills, +2 to Fortitude saves (you will be slowed slightly on Will and reflex but no matter with all the extra combat feats available you can just spend your level 3 and 6 feat on Iron Will and Lightning Reflexes) Rage and a +10 to movement (works in magic plate if you go that way) at the cost of roughly a feat worth of development

 

[Salad_Shooter]

I'd also vote for doing both. Start with the barbarian to get the higher HP at 1st level. I'm currently running a barbarian that I'm planning on bumping over to fighter in a few hundred XP. The barbarian makes a good tank, with d12 hit die, and the rage is always good when pressed. Take levels in fighter a bit later (I'm third level, currently) to grab the massed feats the fighter gets. Then start hunting PrCs.

 

[Impeesa]

Another vote for both! I'm just starting out in a new campaign, my long-term plan for my character is a build of barb 1/ftr 4/holy liberator 3/frenzied berserker 10 (ECL 2 race for large size and str bonus). I got the idea for the HL dip from the WotC boards, cha to saves and immunity to charm/compulsion effects is very nice for a berserker type.

--Impeesa--