Tyben's Guide to Barbarians
Jheron gripped his humongous seashell covered axe in his
hand and roared in rage as the evil half-elf completed his
evocation.
It was an ambush!
As a mass of writhing vines, as if guided by one mind, rose
from the ground to restrain him, his vision turned red,
filtered by the rage boiling up in the normally peaceful
minotaur. Muttering arcane words bursting with necromantic
power, Jheron unleashed his enervation at the mounted
assassin. The treacherous assassin doubled over in pain
across his horse as his face drained pallid white as the
Minotaur’s potent spell started to drain the life from him.
Before the enraged minotaur could release his fatal magic
again, the half-elf, in a sibilant hiss, released his own. A
faint magenta mist of necromantic energy coalesced around
the chanting goliath and penetrated the skin. The chanting
ended and the only sound became the dry and evil laughter of
the assassin, echoing through Vospire’s town square.
Silence! How treacherous!
Jheron’s rage ignited, his bull side completely overwhelmed
him and the rage of his progenitors overtook him. Bellowing
soundlessly, his rock-solid muscles strained in effort
against the restraining plants. The assassin smirked and
readied his Decara Lance. With a surge of strength, the
barbarian wrenched valiantly at his bonds. The cobbled
pavement of the street burst and cracked as the vines
uprooted from the ground they came.
The evil half-elf’s eyes widened. Jheron flexed again,
shaking off the dying vines. With a kick to his mount’s
flank, the assassin lunged towards the raging minotaur,
lance extended, ready for the kill. Metal smashed against
metal as Jheron, with an ease born of comfortable
familiarity and instinct, deflected the lance blow
harmlessly with his shield.
The shield clattered to the ground, dropped as Jheron took
up his axe in two hands. With a sickening crunch, the
barbarian buried his axe into the returning horse’s leg.
Rolling acrobatically to avoid the incoming lance, Jheron
rose to his feet holding his axe in front of him with both
mighty hands. Careless of the danger to it, the cavalier
urged his mount on for another pass. There was a clang and
another brutal crunch. The barbarian skillfully parried the
lance, knocking it harmlessly wide, then proceeded to bury
the axe within the poor horse’s chest.
Moving fast, the cavalier dropped his lance and rolled out
of the way of his dying mount’s fall. Coming up from his
dive though, the cavalier drew his Dementor’s blade and
noticed that the barbarian’s axe was lodged in the carcass
of the dead mount.
Smiling evilly, the assassin said, “I see you’re unarmed. I
shall have my fun with you.”
The two warriors circled each other, the assassin keeping
his sword between him and the seven-feet of muscle. With a
series of quick lunges, the assassin came at the minotaur.
Jheron deftly sidestepped a slash and dodge out of the way
of an ensuing lunge. Seeing an opening he quickly stepped in
and smashed his opponent in the face with his immense fist.
Momentarily dazed, the would-be killer staggered back,
trying to clear his vision.
Jheron followed up with another brutal bash, sending his
opponent flying across the pavement of the square. The
assassin landed on the pavement in an unconscious heap,
sword skittering across the cobbles to land a few feet away.
As the red mist of rage withdrew from his vision, Jheron
dusted off his hands and sighed silently.
“It’s going to be such a pain digging my axe out of that
thing,” thought Jheron, “Oh, well, such is life.”
Barbarians are one of the oldest professions in Alyria.
These men and women are nomadic tribesmen who seek out
adventure by journeying across the realms of Alyria. Although
many mistake barbarians for raving-mad berserkers, this is not
the case. A true barbarian is a master of not only offense,
but also of defense. Often they find employment as mercenaries
or hired adventurers, which sometimes gives them a bad name.
Although not as educated or ‘elite’ as the other fighters of
Alyria, barbarians make up for this with their raw power and
mobility. While others fumble with their mounts, a barbarian
and his axe will always be ready to fight.
AXE
Dragnar, the dwarven barbarian, polished his many-notched
battleaxe. Many an unsuspecting giant had fallen to it.
Axe is part of a barbarian’s strength. As the only
profession to master its use, barbarians rely on its massive
damage to help beat their opponents into submission. Although
axe is a very damaging weapon, it’s not always as accurate as
a mounted warrior’s weapon, therefore it may be necessary to
wear some accuracy boosting equipment and/or to ‘combat aim
torso’ if you seem to be missing too much.
OTHER WEAPONS
“Haha! Ya can no gemme now!” taunted the evil orc from across
the river. Peanut took in the cut rope bridge and the taunting
orc-bandit across the river. Bursting into motion, she threw
the axe from over her shoulder. The orc’s smug smile got a new
part that day.
Axe may well be a barbarian’s best weapon, but that doesn’t
mean that it’s always the best weapon for the job. Barbarians
have six other weapons available to them: Dagger, Halberd,
Spear, Sword, Throwing Axe, and Throwing Spear. Although not
very useful early on, Dagger can be utilized with backstab
skill when a barbarian gains a thief class. Halberd and Spear
are useful weapons to have when you are in the back rows of a
formation. Sword is a good all-around weapon to use when you
run out of axes to use. Throwing Axe and Spear can be good for
when you can’t use bash (back row in a formation, or using a
2-handed weapon) and you’d like to do extra damage against an
opponent without wasting spell power.
BASH
The bard started to play a magically charged tune on his
viola. Seizing the chance, Hoff leaped forward and knocked the
distracted musician over the head with his shield. Losing
concentration, the bard’s song backfired, sending him up in a
pillar of flame as the magical energies backlashed and surged.
“So much for music,” Hoff thought.
One of the biggest advantages after Axe that barbarians hold
is bash. This skill takes 250 stamina and an equipped shield
to use (minotaurs can bash without one as a racial ability).
Bash is best used at the beginning of the round because of the
momentary lag it causes. If mistimed it can cause the loss of
attacks and defenses. Despite this, bash does a large amount
of damage and has a small chance to backfire spells and a very
large chance against songs. This skill is best used to counter
bardic songs or to deal massive damage to an opponent in a
relatively quick amount of time. The counter against bash is
that it can’t be used while webbed or in the back row of a
formation.
BATTLE RAGE
As the fight wore on, sweat ran down the face of the mighty
Barbarian. Suddenly a rage flew through her opponent and she
felt the slash of a sword slice through her body. “If only I
could get that angry!” thought Caillean as Mordred greeted her
once again.
One of the newest proficiencies available in Alyria. Battle
Rage is an offensive skill that activates during lengthy
combat and increases the damage that can be done.
DEFENSES
Rigo hunched behind his shield as the attacking Archon Hunter
finished it’s casting. A roar of fire erupted from the
Ithrix’s fingers and spilled across the space between them,
growing in size, flowing over the hunched minotaur and his
shield. With a spring, Rigo rose and smacked the hunter over
the head with his shield. Boy was he glad he’d gone to the
lesson on shield blocking at the Sigil Fighting Academy.
Barbarians have three defenses available to them: Dodge,
Parry, and Shield Block. Dodge is the most used defense. It
activates against both hand to hand and weapon using
opponents. Parry is useful against opponent using weapons that
you are most familiar with. While Shield Block can be used
against weapon using opponents, it has the added benefit of
blocking some projectile spells.
COMBAT SKILLS
Gnosh the orc parried Prophet’s axe and wound up to
counterattack. Prophet quickly sliced Gnosh in the gut and the
leg and laughed as his opponent fell to the ground. “Dumb
Orc,” he said as he sheathed his axe.
The combat skills that barbarians have at their disposals
include: Bash (see above), Enhanced Damage, Hand to Hand,
Second Attack, and Third Attack. These skills, with the
exceptions of Hand to Hand and Bash, are passive in nature.
They activate naturally when you enter into combat. Enhanced
Damage, like it’s name suggests, increases the amount of
damage you do when you hit your opponent. Second and Third
Attack each provide an extra attack with your weapon when they
activate. Hand to Hand is similar to a weapon skill, however
it helps to determine how much damage you do with an unarmed
attack.
FAST HEALING
Solus stabbed Wildsoul in the back and followed up by bashing
him in the back of the head with his dented shield. “Die
archon!” he screamed. Wildsoul shrugged off the attacks and
clawed the poor human across the face.
Fast Healing is a passive skill that is a measure of your
knowledge and use of healing techniques and a reflection of
your ability to shrug off wounds. This skill doesn’t activate
while in combat, however it does up your healing rate when you
are standing, resting, or sleeping.
MAGICAL ITEMS
Riia faced the Ancient Ariel and gripped her octarine wand.
After blocking it’s fireball she reposted by barking the
command phrase for the wand. Pzzssst! A bolt of lightning
jumped from the wand a smacked into the Ariel, disintegrating
it into a puddle of unrecognizable ooze.
Magical Items is a skill that reflects your ability to use
magical wands, orbs, staves and scrolls. You activate it with
the ‘use’ command. Although this skill can be good early on to
help provide you with magical abilities before you learn a
mage or cleric craft, it later loses much of its appeal
because of a lack of higher-powered items to use.
Barbarians are probably the simplest fighter class to play.
However, although they may be the simplest in comparison the
other fighting professions, it still can be a rather
complicated experience to someone new to the class.
The main attribute of a barbarian is strength. A first class
barbarian should gain a bonus of three strength when he first
creates his character. When you level you should gain ‘level
betters’ randomly based on your class’s main attribute,
strength. Other important attributes as you level include
wisdom and vitality. Wisdom is responsible for how many
practice sessions you gain at a level, therefore it’s
recommended that you boost your wisdom to its maximum when you
level in order to take full advantage of the level gains.
Vitality controls how much stamina and hit points you gain
when you level. Because of this, it is an important attribute
to fighter classes in general. The three important attributes
when fighting are: Strength, Agility, and Courage. Strength,
the prime attribute of barbarians, affects how much damage you
do with your weapon, how well you bash, and how well you
struggle against webs. Agility affects if you will hit your
opponent or they will hit you in combat. Courage is important
because it affects how well you bash and how well you struggle
against webs. Every fifteen levels you should gain an
attribute bonus randomly. If the bonus happens to be your
primary attribute, strength, you will get two points of it,
instead of the normal one point.
When deciding on what skills to practice at a trainer, it’s
best to have an idea of how you plan to play your character in
the future. This may affect what skills you train and when you
train them (remember, not all skills have to be trained, nor
should they be if you don’t plan to ever use them). Here is a
sample of a prioritized list of things to train:
- Axe
- Dodge
- Second Attack
- Third Attack
- Enhanced Damage
- Battle Rage
- Shield Block
- Bash
- Fast Healing
- Spear/Hand to Hand/Dagger
- Parry/Sword/Magical Items
While you play a barbarian, be sure to keep in mind what you
are fighting. Try to match the best weapon/defense against
your opponent. Much of this is evident in the equipment you
choose to use. When you are leveling, you should keep your
combat attributes (see above) at their peak. However, when you
are about to obtain a level, you should switch to equipment
that will give you the best leveling bonuses.
As the main weapon of barbarians, it might be useful to know a
few of the different axes that are available throughout first
class:
| Practice Axe |
1 |
| Cavern Axe |
5 |
| A Hand Axe |
10 |
| A Meat Cleaver |
14 |
| A Sigil Axe |
35 |
| An Elite Battle Axe |
45 |
| A Battle Axe |
50 |
| Axe of Dreams |
53 |
| The Axe of the Dead |
65 |
As the main attribute of barbarians, it might also be helpful
to know of a few different items that can help to boost the
strength attribute:
| Giant’s Platemail |
50 |
4 |
| Blood-smeared Apron |
35 |
2 |
| Octarine Pendant |
10 |
2 |
| A Bloodstone Pendant |
36 |
2 |
| A Python Guard Ring |
42 |
2 |
| A Berserker Helm |
50 |
3 |
| A Codpiece of Power |
20 |
2 |
When choosing your equipment, also keep in mind that some
equipment benefits your style of play more than others. As a
fighter who can’t cast spells yet, you should probably value
hit point, armor rating, and stamina boosting items more than
spell power boosting ones. Also keep in mind that axe as a
weapon is less accurate than other weapons used, therefore it
might be prudent to wear some accuracy boosting equipment.
As a barbarian, combat will become important to you sooner or
later. Remember to pay attention to what is going on while you
are in combat. Sometimes, good eyes can save you. Try to know
what is happening at all times and be ready to respond quickly
in the best way possible. Every problem has a solution.
Against an opponent that uses projectile attacks, quickly
switch your defense to auto or shield block by using the
‘combat defense’ command. Against an opponent that bites,
change to dodge. By reacting quickly you can present the best
solution to each problem and greatly increase your chances of
success. To this end, it may be a good idea to use aliases
(help alias for more information) to help you to respond
faster. Any command that may be hard to type quickly or that
you use often in battle should likely be aliased to something
intuitive and easy to type quickly. If you are using a client,
you may want to make passive triggers to help highlight
important information such as when you are webbed or when you
break webs. Most clients will also give you options to make
extended aliases and macros that can further increase your
response speed.
Against mobiles (mobs) preparation and experience will carry
the fight. Most mobs are predictable, allowing the use of
certain tactics to overcome them. As a player becomes more
advanced, they should be able to create their own strategies
to deal with specific mobs and types of mobs. A few tips when
fighting NPCs include:
Remember that you can usually flee against NPC opponents.
You will heal better while sleeping and without haste on and
soon be able to go back at your mob opponent.
Against mobs that cast spells, you can flee to avoid being
hit by their spell. However, remember not to come back into
the room before the spell is finished.
Some casting NPCs can be bashed fairly easily to disrupt
their castings and possibly even backfire them.
NPCs that are blind cannot initiate combat or target spells.
Cans of grue can be used to cast the blind spell and flaming
weapons have a chance of blinding the victim via smoke.
Silence can be used similar to blindness. A silenced mob is
restricted to only a few spells that it can cast.
Keep in mind that some NPCs have vulnerabilities,
immunities, and resistances. Try to test a few different
weapons and damage types to see which ones work the best.
Certain types of mobs share similar abilities. For instance:
most dragon mobs are immune to bash and breathe some time of
elemental damage.
The two types of Player vs. Player combat that a first class
barbarian should know about include: Offensive and Defensive.
An offensive fight would be one in which you are prepared and
are trying to defeat an opponent. The focus of the fight is to
inflict as much damage as possible to your opponent, while
taking as little as possible. As a barbarian, there are really
only two ways to inflict damage between the combat rounds. The
first is by using well-timed bashes. The second is by the
intelligent use of magical items. There is a vast array of
magical items available for first class barbarians. Of those
items, some will do more damage against certain opponents than
others. By knowing your opponent’s race and class, you can
better match items against them, for instance an Octarine Wand
(lightning bolt) is useful against Dwarves because of their
racial vulnerability to lightning damage.
The second part, taking less damage can be harder to achieve
than the first. Much of this is done before a fight though. By
using potions you can gain some spell affects that will
enhance your Armor Rating (AR). This will enable you take more
damage. To check your current AR, type ‘equipment’. Other
potions and items can be used to give you beneficial spells
like sanctuary, which gives a 20% damage reduction. These
affects are rather important because they enable you to
survive longer. During a fight, potions of cure blindness can
be useful if you happen to become blind somewhere during the
fight. Blindness is a very disabling affect that will reduce
your accuracy and agility greatly, thereby making you a much
less effective combatant.
In a defensive fight against another player, you are the one
being attacked, usually by someone stronger than you. The
focus of this fight should be survival. If you happen to not
be webbed or blind, the best chance you have is to flee
towards the nearest non-pk room or to use the ‘recall’
command. If your attacker starts to cast a spell, that is your
signal to flee and put some ground between you and them. While
they are casting the spell, they will not be able to chase
you. However, some assailants will follow you while you are
under the lag from fleeing and attack you again before you can
move or recall. Against people like this, you can either try
to chance it and just keep fleeing towards safety or you can
try to distract them so that they can’t follow you as quickly
next time you flee. One magical item that is good for this is
the Can of Grue that can cast the blindness spell at the
target. While your opponent is blind and unable to see, you
can try to flee.
Barbarian is a rather standard profession that provides the
basic combat skills. Because of this, there are a lot of
options open to them for later professions. The other classes
are broken into three categories: Mage, Thief, and Cleric. The
order in which the other professions are undertaken depends on
your own preferences, however for the sake of expediency and
clarity, the mage classes will be focused on first. The mage
professions available include: Wizard, Monk, Psionic, and
Ranger.
Wizard- Wizards are a group of spell casters that focus on a
wide range of powerful magics. They have the largest spell
list and most diverse set of spells. They are a good choice
for a barbarian who is interested in gaining more magical
power that can be used for multiple means. As one of the most
powerful mage professions available, the wizard class would be
a good, solid choice. Because of practical considerations, all
Barbarian/Wizards should also go Priest.*
Monk- Monks are a scholarly mages, mainly interested in
increasing their knowledge of the arcane arts. However, unlike
wizards, they not only focus on some aspects of wizardly
magic, but also on some clerical magic and on martial combat.
Although they may not have some of the fancier spells that
wizards have, they provide a good foundation of offensive and
defensive magics, as well as some very nice skills, foremost
of which is herbalism, the knowledge and use of herbal
mixtures to produce magical affects. Because of practical
considerations, all Barbarian/Monks should also go Druid.
Psionic- Psionics are a very distinct type of magic user. They
focus on the powers of the mind. Their spells are casted
silently, immune to the affects of silence, and require no
reagents other than the occasional focusing crystal. Psionics
have a small number of spells available to them compared to
the other mages. However this is countered by the fact that
those spells do not have to be memorized, are casted silently,
don’t require reagents, are unaffected by the web filter, and
cost less than their equivalents. Psionics also gain a few
spells that are specific only to them. Because of practical
considerations, all Barbarian/Psionics should also go Priest.*
Ranger- Rangers are jacks-of-all-trades. They have a very
large spell and skill list, the largest of any classes.
Rangers have a mixture of spells from the Wizard class and
skills from the Rogue class. Rangers are a good choice for
someone who would like a large set of abilities and options
early in their playing experience. However, this becomes a
double-edged sword at higher levels because other class paths
gain the same abilities, making Rangers lose a lot of their
uniqueness. That having been said, they do provide both the
herbalism and the riding skill. Because of practical
considerations, all Barbarian/Rangers should go Priest and
Bard.*
*Priest and Shaman are used interchangeably since they
are so similar and are mutually exclusive classes.
The next most important class path choice for a barbarian is
the Thief profession. Keep in mind though, that a barbarian’s
Thief class can be dictated by the person’s choice in Mage
class.
Rogue- Rogues are the assassins and burglars of the thieves.
They have a large skill set which would go well with most
class paths. Barbarian/Wizards and Barbarian/Monks would
benefit most by going Rogue. Because of practical
considerations, all Barbarian/Rogues should not go Ranger.
Bard- Bards are musicians and adventurers who have learned to
create magical affects through their music. Although they have
some of the basic skills that Rogues have, they lack some of
the more advanced ones such as: Throwing, Snare, Track, and
Evasion. Bards are a good addition to barbarians who would
like to have a larger option of spells instead of the larger
skill set that Rogues provide. Barbarian/Psionics would
benefit greatly from the addition of the bardic songs to their
smaller psionic spell list.
A barbarian’s Cleric profession should be chosen to match and
compliment the Mage class of the barbarian. The two Cleric
classes available to barbarians include: Priest (Shaman) and
Druid.
Priest (Shaman)- Priests are holy-men who are attuned to the
Powers. They have decided to use their God-given spells for
both missionary works and for developing their own knowledge
and wisdom of the world. Priests have a large array of healing
and defensive spells that should help them to protect
themselves and others from harm. Like most other spell
casters, they must seek out and find their spells in scroll
form to be able to scribe them in a book for later use.
Although Shamans are very similar to Priests, they are more in
touch with the natural elements of the world. Because of this,
they lose the Priest’s ‘Word of Recall’ spell. However, they
also gain the spells: Faerie Fire, Thunderstorm, and Ice
Storm. Because of practical considerations, all
Barbarian/Priests should not go Monk.
Druid- Druids are clerics that draw their powers from the
elements found in nature. Druids cast their spells through
‘invoking’ and ‘evoking’ different elements. Invocations are
defensive in nature and encompass a variety of defensive
affects and abilities that can’t be used on others. Evocations
are mostly offensive in nature and can be used to do multiple
things. Druidic spells also don’t require the use of
memorization or scribing, they can be cast as soon as you gain
the Spell Complexity Comprehension (SCC). However, the bane of
the Druid is the slow affect, which cause druidic spells to
cast slower, usually over rounds. Because of practical
considerations, all Barbarian/Druids should go Monk.
Barbarians at first glance seem to be simple people to play.
When the word comes to mind, the first thought is of a
brutish, roaring, hulking powerhouse holding a huge two-handed
weapon and wearing lots of animal skins. Although you can
roleplay a barbarian that way, that’s not the only option, nor
the one that might give you the most enjoyment.
Like most things in life, there are many shades of gray in
roleplaying. Although trying to play a stereotypical and
clear-cut role may be interesting, if everyone did it, it
would quickly become unoriginal and hackneyed. It’s probably
best for you to create your own persona for your character.
The easiest way to start this is to write a character
background. By doing this, you can quickly outline a guide for
how your character would react to certain situations, based on
his past experiences. Add in some spontaneous changes of
decision during the game, and your persona will quickly become
unique.
For those that have trouble with this idea, here are some
examples of different ways to express a barbarian:
Stereotypical Brute - Raised in the wilds by your nomadic clan,
at the age of five, you killed your first goblin. By the time
you were fifteen you were killing giants daily. Your life
goals include killing lots of ‘mean thingies’, drinking lots
of alcohol, and generally eating a lot of meat.
Noble Warrior - Although nomadic barbarians, your parents
raised you to be the best person you could be. It would’ve
been easy to give in to others’ expectations of you being a
barbarian and to become a savage brute, but your parents
taught you better than that. You seek to prove that you’re a
noble person, every bit as worthy and honorable as any knight
to walk Alyria. To this end, you seek out adventure to help
others and to build a reputation for yourself.
Ruthless Mercenary - Most people don’t understand you. They see
you as evil. However, you know the truth about yourself.
Survival is your game and you’re good at it. Morals hold
people back; you just deny yours when you need to survive.
Nothing gets in your way…for long.
Peaceful Defender - You weren’t always a real fighter. Simple
hunting, gathering, and sparring were your life. All that
changed after your tribe was butchered by a marauding band of
giants. Now, haunted by memories of your past and trying to
make-up for your failure, you seek to defend others, like your
lost tribe, who might not be able to defend themselves. Maybe
if you save enough people, you’ll finally find solace and lay
the ghosts of your tribe to rest.
Raging Berserker - Most people would describe you as polite,
surprisingly cultured and urbane. Most people haven’t seen you
in battle. You relish combat. Sometimes you don’t notice it,
sometimes you do and don’t care, but when you get into the
heat of battle, you become another person. What scares you is,
you’re starting to loose control. Yes, you perform better
raging, but lately you’ve been finding it harder and harder to
come back. You fear a time when you might not be able to come
back at all.
The rough looking men and women gathered around the funeral
pyre, forming a loose circle of bodies. From the west came the
sonorous call of a ram’s horn, rolling over the fog-shrouded
moors.
Bourn on the shoulders of four barbarians a wooden litter,
covered by a linen shroud, entered from the east. Behind it
came a somber dressed, ancient tribal shaman holding himself
up with his oak staff.
“All hail Balzac!” yelled a voice from the north.
A roar went up from the surrounding barbarians in answer, “All
hail Balzac!”
From the south a man bearing a burning torch came, approaching
the pyre with the litter now on top. In a somber voice, the
shaman intoned, “Let us remember the past and speak of his
great deeds as Balzac crosses to the life here after.”
All through the evening and into the sunset the funeral pyre
burned. And as the fire burned, the circle of barbarians
recounted Balzac’s many exploits and adventurers, from the War
of Light and Dark to his resurrection of Clan Avenger.
By the next morning, the people were gone and all that was
left was a large pit of embers, releasing a coil of smoke into
the moors’ sunrise.
