"Naked" Barbarian?

[Burusagi]

And by naked, I mean wearing basic clothing (because after all you can make it Fine etc for some itty bitty DR).

Is it viable? Would the increased attack/action speed allow you to survive well enough?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Again, as in your other topics, the brevity of your opening posts is harmful, since you are much too vague due to not giving enough details.

Most important, PotD or easier difficulty modes?

Do you mean a barb to engage others directly as a frontliner? Or do you want to join the fight only with a longer range melee weapon as a flanker once your more safe warriors have established a front?

For the former, you do need to invest quite a lot into Deflection, DR and healing talents, possibly at the expense of reducing Health/Endurance a bit. For the latter, you need to invest more into INT for increased Carnage range. And because of the lower Accuracy of wielding a two-handed weapon, you may also need to invest into Accuracy bonuses to hit well. Compared with a Barb using only a one-handed weapon, receiving the Accuracy bonus for that, and jumping into the fray, aided by let's say a Fighter and a Paladin. Such front barbs can aim at landing crits and using weapons that cause afflictions on crits. Even more so if using potions or receiving support.

Last but not least, various ranged attackers - including spell casters - love targeting low defense low DR characters. So, a naked Barb bears risks like a naked Rogue flanker. Have fun with the extra maintenance during combat.

[Burusagi]

I've yet beaten the game yet, so most likely a newbie run on Normal (can't find a class I like well enough to stick to). Newbie being the keyword here. Not a solo run because companion stories and stuff.

[Batbro]

In a party? Anything can work. Solo? Depends on difficulty. Solo PotD would obviously be extraordinarily difficult if not impossible, but that's always true for solo PotD.

There's plenty of decent fur armors in the game too that aren't out-of-place on a Conan-type barbarian.

The primary thing you'd be missing would be DR, but there are other ways to obtain it.
Barbarians can take the Thick-Skinned talent which gives +3 DR for Slash/Crush/Pierce. There's also various spells/scrolls, items like belts or cloaks, potions, etc. that offer various DR bonuses.

EDIT: On normal, with a party, it should be perfectly doable. Have your barbarian engage enemies AFTER your real tanks (like Eder and Pallegina). Go around for the flanking position if you can.

[Wasted_46]

yeah totally viable. fun fact: just because it's a piece of clothing you can still enchant the heck out of it and for the endgame it potentially becomes better than a leather mail.

in any case, lots of frontliners to draw the fire away.

I don't think investing *a bit* into defense is a good idea. If you draw aggro you gonna die no matter if your defense is 15 or 35. At that point I'd rather leave defenses at base, invest more into the DPS aspects of the char and find other ways to make sure he doesnt die (frontilne frontilne, and some good CC)
I'd only invest into defenses if you go with a moderately heavy armor like Wayfeyer's hide but then again thats not naked. Naked barb is a whole diffrerent category.

Lastly, consider a second row damage dealer with like Tall Grass. that's a brilliant build with carnage and it doesnt even need MIG to do his thing so you can get a more even stat spread.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

on Normal

That implies many more options then compared with PotD, for example.

[Wasted_46]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

on Normal

That implies many more options then compared with PotD, for example.

i wonder if there 's *anything* that does not work on normal. I even test my craziest builds on hard.

[Burusagi]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

on Normal

That implies many more options then compared with PotD, for example.

You overestimate my skill at this game.

You're making me blush.

I'd probably struggle on normal with the stuff people use on that difficulty.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

You overestimate my skill at this game.

Maybe, maybe not. Many players insist on adding five NPC companions to the party - for story purposes, or because they don't like playing with custom companions. And once the party is full with NPC companions, what the player character can do doesn't matter much anymore. And then Eder would do all the work - and you could retrain your Barb or equip some better armor and continue nevertheless.

[Batbro]

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

(can't find a class I like well enough to stick to)

As someone with a similar compulsive restart habit who also struggled to find a build I could stick with, a bit of advice?

Stop focusing so much on your PC's build and focus more on the "team-building." By all means, get into your roleplaying, get a good handle on your character, care about your decisions, but you've got a whole party to play!

You're playing with story companions. Get into them too. Care about how you're building them and who you're bringing along on your adventures. Give them specialized roles and focus in combat on executing the gameplan AS A PARTY. Everyone should always have SOMETHING to do.

Micromanaging everyone (at whatever level you're comfortable with) will do wonders. You're less likely to get bored of your own build as quickly when you're also playing everyone else's simultaneously. It also gives you a kind of "free trial" for classes you might want to use in another playthrough, and a feeling for how they work in practice.

After numerous failed-starts of my own, my latest playthrough is a Priest, not because it's my favorite class to play, but because it allows him to be the glue that holds my whole party together (and to be able to use companions I like a lot more than Durance).

[Burusagi]

I'm really liking Barbarian so far, really. Their innate AoE "cleave" seems to put them above most other melee damage dealers. Plus, trope-wise, Barbarians have always been a favourite of mine in any game. And I haven't seen a companion Barbarian at all, so it would be bringing something unique to the party.

Althouuuuugh it is really tempting to try and roll a melee Ranger of some kind (if it works at all) in honour of my favourite NPC companion of all time.

... and yeah, a Priest of Magran would be fun too, if only for the promise of extra interaction with Durance - he's my favourite companion in this game so far. Kinda put off by the fact that they seem to be more akin to squishy Wizards rather than the battle-hardened Clerics of DnD though.

[BALONEYPWNY]

I love how Barbarians work in this game. I'm doing a POTD run with one at the moment. If you like Carnage, just wait until you get Heart of Fury - It's crazy good.

Melee Ranger does work. Swift Aim and Stunning Shots both work for melee attacks, FYI.

[Cutlass Jack]

Honestly everything works on normal if you're not going solo. Build for fun. Pick companions to cover your weak points.

I'm doing an unarmed barbarian on my current run. Having lots of fun punching out herds of enemies at once. I keep a two-hander in slot two purely for visual purposes that they can't be bothered to draw. Kind of a tribute to an incredibly cheesy old fantasy film I remember where the hero had a completely rediclous sword he never used. (The Sword & the Sorcerer)

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

I'm really liking Barbarian so far, really. Their innate AoE "cleave" seems to put them above most other melee damage dealers.

Carnage gets more accurate as you level up, and together with Accurate Carnage eventually it will get more accurate than your normal attacks.

Nevertheless, Barbarian is more of a boring class. The really only fun stuff is crit based builds with Prone weapons like We Toki, Tall Grass, The Hours of St. Rumbalt, enchanted The Temaperacl - or similar ones.

What is more fun already early is offensive Fighters with extra Knock-down, later Charge and investments into doing crits, too, so they become really fearsome warriors with weapons like above.

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

Plus, trope-wise, Barbarians have always been a favourite of mine in any game. And I haven't seen a companion Barbarian at all, so it would be bringing something unique to the party.

The White March --> http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Maneha

Originally posted by Alcohol Fueled Brewtality:

... and yeah, a Priest of Magran would be fun too, if only for the promise of extra interaction with Durance

Don't hope for much. NPC companions in Pillars of Eternity don't add much, and once they are done with their personal quest, they are mostly like custom adventurer companions. What hurts the most is that almost all of them - except Grieving Mother, I think - adjust to the player's Reputation/Disposition all the time.

[BALONEYPWNY]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

I'm doing an unarmed barbarian on my current run. Having lots of fun punching out herds of enemies at once

Nice! I'm wondering how good that would be with a Cipher's Reaping Knives...

[Burusagi]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

What hurts the most is that almost all of them - except Grieving Mother, I think - adjust to the player's Reputation/Disposition all the time.

Aww really? I'm probably screwing up the birdlady Paladin real badly on most of my savefiles then...