I played an elven barbarian Methos a long time agoe. When I last played barbarians were great for pvp and my questions are how do they do now? With the way people can attack you with no pointing and things like snipe how well do barbarians do these days in player vs player combat? I know lots of roars and zerks have been implamented and I would love to know what some of the newer tactics that are being used today by world combat loving barbs.
MACDOUGALLW3
JUASON
Re: Been gone a while
05/24/2007 01:07 PM CDT
Hmm, well in the past few years it seems all guilds have learned new tricks for combatting each other. Barbarians as a whole have significant advantages when hunting mages below their circle - just because of how Barbarian magic resistance can scale.
The skillsets, extra stance points and medium sized arm worn shields let them carry somewhat more defenses than the other guilds as well. I know a reasonably well trained circle 40 barbarian can maul a reasonably well trained circle 60 WM in melee combat for example (without abilities on either side). The ability to dual load bows and perform whirlwinds can also present a bit of advantage in the right situations.
Now onto abilities. While mages have spells, barbarians have roars, dances and berserks. If a barbarian has really really good charisma, they can often incapacitate their target with several roars and make short work of them. But the same can be said of a skilled mage with web, mind blast or ice patch. Both magic users and barbs can "buff up", but barbs can do it near instantly - so they have an advantage when suprised. These buffs, while less versatile perhaps than a combination of spells, can significantly bonus the barbarian's ability to kill their opponent.
It really all depends on your playstyle. Train a ranged weapon and your shield. Do that and you can't go too wrong. High circle mages can still get the jump on you, so work stealths hard and be ready to zerk stone if caught off guard. DR is really a first-hit-at-range-wins kind of game. Not even the recent combat tweaks did much, if anything, to change that. So really work that bow and shield! You'll thank me later.
http://www.drplat.com - The DragonRealms Platinum Community Website. Be sure to vote DragonRealms as your #1 MUD!
The skillsets, extra stance points and medium sized arm worn shields let them carry somewhat more defenses than the other guilds as well. I know a reasonably well trained circle 40 barbarian can maul a reasonably well trained circle 60 WM in melee combat for example (without abilities on either side). The ability to dual load bows and perform whirlwinds can also present a bit of advantage in the right situations.
Now onto abilities. While mages have spells, barbarians have roars, dances and berserks. If a barbarian has really really good charisma, they can often incapacitate their target with several roars and make short work of them. But the same can be said of a skilled mage with web, mind blast or ice patch. Both magic users and barbs can "buff up", but barbs can do it near instantly - so they have an advantage when suprised. These buffs, while less versatile perhaps than a combination of spells, can significantly bonus the barbarian's ability to kill their opponent.
It really all depends on your playstyle. Train a ranged weapon and your shield. Do that and you can't go too wrong. High circle mages can still get the jump on you, so work stealths hard and be ready to zerk stone if caught off guard. DR is really a first-hit-at-range-wins kind of game. Not even the recent combat tweaks did much, if anything, to change that. So really work that bow and shield! You'll thank me later.
http://www.drplat.com - The DragonRealms Platinum Community Website. Be sure to vote DragonRealms as your #1 MUD!
LUXORTH
Re: Been gone a while
05/27/2007 09:32 AM CDT
Abilities that should be your best friend in PvP:
Roars:
Lash of Torment or Banshee's Wail (lash works much better if you can pull it off)
Slash the Shadows (for those pesky hiders)
Dancing:
Dragon, if you can keep it up, for BMR, and overall bonuses
Eagle, if you need the ranged bonus (ranged is king)
Zerks:
Stone (if hit with FRB, or MB)
nightmare (to make roars more effective)
Weapons:
All i can say is that Ranged is King in PvP contests. Personally, i prefer short bow for the 1 second load from the quiver with a Nisha, and with enough ranks it doesn't matter that longbow hits harder.
If you need anymore tips you can look for me on AIM, TFAchilles. Altho i'm sure there are people in prime that could give you more advice.
Q: If practice makes perfect and nobody is perfect, why practice?
A: To be better than everyone else.
Roars:
Lash of Torment or Banshee's Wail (lash works much better if you can pull it off)
Slash the Shadows (for those pesky hiders)
Dancing:
Dragon, if you can keep it up, for BMR, and overall bonuses
Eagle, if you need the ranged bonus (ranged is king)
Zerks:
Stone (if hit with FRB, or MB)
nightmare (to make roars more effective)
Weapons:
All i can say is that Ranged is King in PvP contests. Personally, i prefer short bow for the 1 second load from the quiver with a Nisha, and with enough ranks it doesn't matter that longbow hits harder.
If you need anymore tips you can look for me on AIM, TFAchilles. Altho i'm sure there are people in prime that could give you more advice.
Q: If practice makes perfect and nobody is perfect, why practice?
A: To be better than everyone else.
