So haven't played barbs in a while

What are people running as the barb "meta". I often find almost every barbarian playable so i have a hard time picking one or the other, what's a bg look like now ?

 

Theyre so cool. They barely have race synergy tho lol. Theyre just a bunch of good units with the same race to trigger race based ablities and spells. They could by tortuns, it would all be the same.

Then again, idk if this is a problem necessarily

 

- Its a problem. Incite is too powerful to add much more at this current time. I'd like to propose several more options but unfortunately Barbarians have gotten a lot of attention in the form of racial tweaks but they never hit the mark (imo). I would roll out a simultaneous change to incite paired with several other spell adjustments to add barbarian clauses, as well as more splashed champ based synergy.

 

Here's my Barbarian Boost Beast deck:



Most are Race: Beast, the Houndmasters have Commander: Beast (+2 damage), drive and barfs out cheap meat and the Sarnghavian Herder has Boost Beast (+5 MAX HP) and Invigorate. This battlegroup has three Warchiefs, some range, I like Savage Shieldman for Defender and Block 2, shroud and flanking. You could add Aria/NCP or Barbarian Shaman for heals/cleanse. Ayla/Huntress's boar pet is a beast, and she provides good range. I included the Fury of the Storm for alt range damage. Zedin is the Stone Clan Chieftain, Pitfighter for Blood Clan Chieftain, and I use Storm Clan on Bastion. Carrier Squire might not be worth it, he can be replaced by Aria or Shaman for heals.

 

I like both bgs you posted so far although i don't like getting too much into barbarian/beast as once you do that you start focusing more on the beasts. I love shield man but for some reason always take barbarian guardian because of nexus aura. Pit fighter is definitely very underrated though, extremely tanky yet i don't see people running barbs use him a whole lot.

 

Badly want to get some Terraformers in this deck but cant figure out what to drop. I deploy everything regularly.

 

I dont post much but you should do the math for incite compared to other targeted AP gen. It barely beats out Invig level 2 at 5 instant ap before you factor in the downsides. ( race restriction/range and not being bale to store ap)

Invig 2= 8 AP over 3 turns at the cost of 4 at range 2 for any champion on the board. Synergy with rebuke to force damage and a few other abilities.

Incite = 5 ap instantly and an additional 4 over the next 2 turns for a total of 9 over 3 turns for 3 ap at range 1( actually a big deal for placement/movement as I have to move 1 space closer, so it really is 4 ap as well) just for barbarians and cant store ap ( so need to hit at least 8spd to not need additional ap gen to double tap)

The issue isn't Incite in its current form but that Barbarian is a race instead of a class ( or at least sub race tag) so you end up hitting things like the new Truthseeker which can already self buff speed to 8 and teleport so throwing an additional +2 speed/9ap over 3 turns is a lot stronger then when you target say a barbarian commander or Huntress. Sure in a full barbarian BG the race restriction is mute but it does impact design of the BG which is a big deal.

Thats just Invig too, I would suggest comparing it to other targeted AP gen( Warcry/AOE AP gen are harder to directly compare) or theme/race specific abilities and it doesn't really stand out. I know it adds damage but thats not what breaks the ability or even really matters at this point as its so easy to buff damage in the game . Anyway, just wanted to post that before you go off and nerf something again when its not understood correctly.

 

Incite Rage is 5 ap and +4 damage... It is definitely way too powerful.

Yes not being able to store ap is a big downside but look at the Pirahnids, they're still insanely good with berseker so i'm sure it's easier to work around Berserker for 5 turns.


@Markoth Pfft drop those Wild Chieftains. They aren't Paladins/Shamans/Priests!

Blaspheme!

 

again compare it to other theme/race specific active abilities and its really not. It WAS OP when it was 8 instant ap but at 5 its really not. The damage is also meh when you cant store Ap so correct positioning negates more then 1 attack a turn. Its not exactly hard to get + damage in theme or game as a whole but to each their own.

to edit: I'm not saying its not good. Im simply giving evidence its NOT OP in its current form.

 

I thought terra former's were an auto include always ? No shield man =(, i run into the same problems as barbs just have so many good units. Why the holy blade of valdac?

 

Great equip. Spot alt-damage, Inhibited, Dot, AoE heal. All wrapped up in a neat little package for 30 nora.

 

Do you get the bonus from Holy Arnaments when picking it up?

 

That is a wonderful question though wording suggests yes.

 

- I said "if" Barb spell clauses, equipment and more champ based synergy is added...incite will need a tweak likely due to its power. Also the damage incite gives is a factor... Despite other sources of damage increase available. It is not super op mode right now nor did I say it was.... But it is still and if tweaked could be potentially added to another champ. As it is now, 2x chieftains will always be needed even if they were more inefficient then they are already

 

I'm just going to ignore that you said it was a big problem and it currently excludes much more race synergy being added, because that is apparently not what you meant to say.... but yes, try to brush the comments aside because they do not agree with your view point.

Anyway.... As already stated its not even the strongest active racial ability, or strongest AP gen ability in the game ( unless you want to argue that it is?). What it is, is a strong single target ap gen/buff that is barely better then invig 2 for ap gen ( debatable with instant vs over time ap) which is balanced for its restrictions and weakness. You would have to give evidence of incite being a balance issue or impact design which from the most recent barbs ( even ignoring the paladin ones, which is the true issue) doesnt seem to be the case.

If the +4 damage from berzerker is somehow an issue now, that should only show you that the ability as a whole has been brought into line pretty well. Considering since its inception it was the ap gen that was the balancing issue.

 

- I will be glad to give evidence of incite being a balance issue once the "hypothetical" things are added (which probably will never happen) that I paired incite with in my "hypothetical" discussion. Then me and you can have a real debate at that point.

- It's been a pleasure bantering with you again. And by banter I mean ...you over-defending the faction when it is not even under attack. You can state a million times that it's not the strongest active racial...which has nothing to do with my stance ....I am not asking for it to be nerfed in its current. But dig in anyway.

p.s. It's all in my original post slick..."it's a problem" = if barbarians get more champ based synergy and Barb clauses added to runes then incite would likely need a tweak. Just reality, or were you one of those people that believed nora miner and war cry didn't limit design space?

 

- Yeah I've been really excited about the new hybrid options. Here is mine.


- Watcha think? I'm trying to make it faster....although it weakens a lot of aspects of paladins/barbs I know. I just can't slow build up ... my own barb agenda interferes with my rationality. This deck is stronger with B.Guardian, B.Commander and things like S.Shieldman but I just can't stomach the slow roll.

- I also will prolly drop holy light and pride...just forcing them in now for that "perfect" scenario.... likely will slide in an earthshaker or medal of valor for kill turns.

 

I try to like Isran but Barb Commander does her job better. How are you liking NC Avenger?




I actually really like Holy Light. I fear that once people get used to playing against it that they'll position against it. Regardless it's pretty much relic-mania right now.

I was using Soul Reaver for spot cleanse and branded but due to space I had to cut it.

 

I large part of my "win-con" revolves around Bastion enabling. Barb Guardian and Squire (Swap and Action Potion) have led to a ton of 3-5 round wins.

Notes about Medal of Valor: If you disarm it it doesnt transfer to an enemy. If the enemy kills your unit equiped with medal with the unit that will recieve it he will get a Battle Leader proc. Medal goes on cd as soon as the enemy aquires it so if you get it back its possible to have 2 medals equipped to your units with only 1 in your battlegroup.