Guide to Barbarian Feats

By Nuitaran



The href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=138">barbarian
is a difficult class to plan Feats for. While it can be
tempting to go for all the Two Handed Fighting Feats and equip the
biggest Greataxe you can find, a barbarian is already lacking in the
area of armor class due to his inability to use heavy armor. Until you
get some serious damage reduction, sticking with a shield is your best
bet. I would recommend to most barbarians keeping to the Weapon Focus,
Shield Mastery, and Critical Hit Feats to truly become the best tank
you can be. At any rate, in order to help you spend less time worrying
about Feat plans and more time playing the game, I have taken on
researching all of the Feats available to barbarians.



We have rated the Feats below based on our experience as to which are
going to be most helpful and useful. Feats are rated on a scale of 1-5
with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. A rating of 1 or 2 means
the Feat is pretty much useless to a barbarian and one that you
probably want to avoid. A rating of 3 indicates that the Feat can be
used with some careful planning, or with certain class combinations. We
reserve a rating of 4 only for those Feats that are almost necessary
picks for certain types of builds or class combinations. A rating of 5
designates the best of the barbarian Feats and ones players should
seriously consider for any DDO Build involving barbarians.



To help you navigate the many Feats, just click on
the range of Feats below to move to that spot in the guide:

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1. Acrobatic
2. Alertness
3. Athletic
4. Bullheaded
5. Cleave
6. Combat Expertise
7. Discipline
8. Dodge
9. Exotic Weapon Proficiency
10. Great Cleave

11. Great Fortitude
12. Greater Two Handed Fighting
13. Greater Two Weapon Fighting
    
14. Greater Weapon Focus
15. Improved Critical
16. Improved Feint
17. Improved Precise Shot
18. Improved Shield Bash
19. Improved Shield Mastery
20. Improved Sunder

21. Improved Trip
22. Improved Two Hand Fighting
23. Improved Two Weapon Fighting
24. Iron Will
25. Lightning Reflexes
26. Luck of the Heroes
27. Many Shot
28. Mobility
29. Negotiator
30. Nimble Fingers

31. Point Blank Shot
32. Power Attack
33. Precise Shot
34. Precision
35. Quick Draw
36. Rapid Reload
37. Rapid Shot
38. Resilience
39. Resist Poison
40. Sap

41. Self Sufficient
42. Shield Mastery
43. Shot on the Run
44. Skill Focus
45. Slicing Blow
46. Snake Blood
47. Spring Attack
48. Stealthy
49. Stunning Blow
50. Toughness

51. Tower Shield Proficiency
    
52. Two Handed Fighting
    
53. Two Weapon Blocking
    
54. Two Weapon Defense
    
55. Two Weapon Fighitng
    
56. Weapon Finese
    
57. Weapon Focus
    
58. Whirlwind Attack
    

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cellspacing="2">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(212, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">1. Acrobatic

Official Text: "You have excellent body awareness and coordination. You
receive a +2 bonus on Jump checks and Tumble checks."



Comments: This can easily be made up for with skill points. With
limited Feat selection, there are better options out there.



Rating: 1
2.
Alertness

Official Text: "You have finely tuned senses. You receive a +2 bonus on
Listen checks and Spot checks."



Comments: Leave the Listening and Spotting to the Rangers and the
Rogues.



Rating:
1
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(212, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">3. Athletic

Official Text: "You have a knack for athletic endeavors. You receive a
+2 bonus on Balance checks and Swim checks."



Comments: Balance is becoming increasingly important in DDO thanks to
the overuse of Trip by enemies, but doesn't warrant a Feat slot. A good
Swim Skill is good for anybody, but items of Water Breathing are far
too common to make this boost to the Swim Skill worthwhile.



Rating: 1
4.
Bullheaded

Official Text: "You are exceptionally headstrong and difficult to sway.
You receive a +1 on all Will saves and +2 bonus on Intimidate checks."



Comments: This could actually come in handy for a Barbarian. Will saves
will certainly be an area they will always lack, and if you are a
frequent user of Intimidate this might be a viable choice. Make sure it
fits in with your limited feat selection first.



Rating:
3
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(212, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">5. Cleave

Official Text: "Activate this ability to attack one or more enemies in
an arc in front of you."



Prerequisite: Power Attack



Comments: This should be left to the Fighters. In the future it might
become a prerequisite for Epic Level Critical Hit feats, but that is a
long time in coming and not worth wasting limited feats on.



Rating: 1
6. Combat Expertise

Official Text: "While using Combat Expertise mode, you trade your
attack bonus for extra AC. Casting a spell ends this mode."



Prerequisite: Intelligence 13



Comments: If Improved Trip isn’t in your plan, this feat shouldn’t be
either. The tradeoff in Attack Bonus makes most fighters ability to
land hits less reliable than my bowels.



Rating:
2
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(212, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">7. Discipline

Official Text: "You are difficult to distract with spell or blow. You
receive a +1 on all Will saves and +2 bonus on Concentration checks."



Comments: Look to Bullheaded for something far more useful to a
Barbarian.



Rating: 1
8.
Dodge

Official Text: "Grants you a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class."



Prerequisite: Dexterity 13



Comments: There's never anything wrong with Dodge as getting hit less
means staying alive longer. It also leads to spring attack, a feat that
I personally swear by. If this one fits into your plan it’s a must
have. Barbarians are a little gimped on the AC front due to the lack of
Heavy Armor. This can help make up for that.



Rating:
4
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(212, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">9. Exotic Weapon Proficiency

Official Text: "You do not suffer a -4 attack penalty for using one or
more of the exotic weapons."



Prerequisite: Base Attack Bonus +1, STR 13 for Dwarven Waraxe or
Bastard Sword



Comments: This one will largely come down to personal choice. If you
are going to be a Slashing Weapon focused fighter it might be a great
choice. Having a d10 damage on a single handed weapon is pretty
significant, but powerful Bastard Swords and Dwarven Axes, although
more common recently, are still fairly rare. Some people will be
content swinging Longswords and Battleaxes. If you desperately want
that upgraded damage die, consider a Dwarf Barbarian who gets Dwarven
Axes for free.



Rating: 3
10.
Great Cleave

Official Text: "Activate this ability to attack one or more enemies in
a wider arc than Cleave."



Prerequisite: Cleave, Base Attack Bonus +4



Comments: Forget this one for now. Go back and pick it up when we reach
Epic Levels and it will lead to Overwhelming Critical, and maybe even
Devastating Critical.



Rating: 1