Better tank: Fighter or Barbarian?

Remove all ads!

I've playe through this game a couple of times with the classic one party setup. 1 fighter, 1 paladin, 1 cleric, 1 rougue, 1 sorceror, 1 wizard.

I figure I should try some of the other classes to explore things a bit. So I've used a barbarian half orc as my main tank. Thing is, he gets killed quickly. Rage makes him easier to hit, and his armor is a lot weaker. And it's not as if he's killing the monsters any quicker than my old fighter. I miss having that heavilly armored fighter... or is it that I am using the barbarian in a wrong manner?

 

Hmm, interesting. Usually, the barbarian's inferior Ac is compensated by his higher hit points. In other words, he gets hit more often in battle but he survives longer. Also, the barbarian is usually able to avoid a few more damage types than the figher due to uncanny dodge etc.

If you want a heavily armoured barbarian then simply give him a fighter level.

 

You can also just take armor feats for the barbarian if you don't want to mix classes.

But if your barbarian has 16 dex, you might get the same AC casting mage armor on him.

Half plate has AC +7.
Armor spell + 3 dex bonus is also AC +7. Add a cat's grace spell for even better AC.
My cleric had this combination for most the game. He didn't get hit more often than the fighter.

Maybe the barbarian's faster speed is the reason. Since he moves faster than the other party members he can easily get surrounded in enemy territory while the enemies' attacks were divided among the party members earlier since your fighter wasn't faster than the rest and the paladin stood beside him.

Changing the script might help if this is the case.


Rage seems in fact to be pretty crappy.

+4 str seems useless unless this doesn't add to bull's or champion's strength (does it ?)
The temporary HP gain is too short to be useful, the AC loss is bad and so is the fatigue afterwards.

Damage reduction might help later.

What are your barbarian's/ex-fighter's stats ?

 

I agree with kmonster, rage doesn't help much. Early in the game you might benefit against the tougher boss types with the damage bonus, but the downsides, getting hit more often then being fatigue, seem to hurt more than help. Maybe at the end of screen battles, where you can rest/heal it makes sense. Mid game on, just cast bull's strength on him, other 2nd level spell probably are not doing you much help anyway.
Getting back to the topic, a believe tank is defined as the front man willing to be targeted for attacks and can take some hits, either through high AC and/or HPs. Yes, you want your tank to be able to hit back, but this is not his primary role. So fighter, with better armor options should make a better tank. Or go with the DG monk/ illusionist decoy.

 

Yeah, it would seem my definition of tank is a little different. I liked the guy who could give the hits and take them as well. The barbarian philosophy seemed to be that the best defense is a good offense. So I was hoping I'd see him hack like crazy and kill faster, weaker AC notwithstanding.

The stats I gave my barbarian were more like my fighter's. MAxed out on strength and constitution, didn't give too much on dexterity. My fighter was a melee kinda guy and his armor kept his AC down, not his dex. PErhaps I shoulda put more points for dexterity with my barbarian. We'll see....

 

Lvel 2 cleric spell Remove Fatigue can make the rage ability much more useful!

 

The barbarian's advantages are rather defensive ones. Compared to the fighter he's the better tank.

He can wear the same armors as a fighter efficiently, he just has to take the feat.

The higher HP, the damage reduction and the immunity to flanking helps more for survival than all the fighter's extra feats.

The fighter feats help more in the offense, he can do more damage than the barbarian.

So barbarians are better tanks while fighters deal out more damage.

 

Of course, one can always go for the rather common Barb X/Ftr 4 multiclass combo to try to get the best of both worlds.

 

Something else to consider is if you're gonna let a tank, regardless of class, wildly charge into the enemy, rather than hold his position in the party's combat formation, you are exposing that tank to being surrounded and overwhelmed by superior enemy numbers.

If you like to charge into battle, it helps to have at least one other tank there to cover the lead tank's back.