Quote:
Originally posted by Jim:
For this excercise, I'm ignoring AC, since these warriors will punch through most armour/shield combos anyway by this level.
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And that, I feel, is a mistake, because AC is where the Berserker shines, and where the Barbarian really eats it. I'm not arguing with your combat numbers, Jim, but the combat differences are actually less than you suggest. A Level 19 Warrior will indeed have a bitchin' THAC0, sure, but not so bitchin' that your AC becomes completely irrelevant.
Apart from this, Barbarians get
crap for armor. A Berserker has great armor shoved in his face, as soon as you take out Mencar Pebblecrusher. If you want something enchanted, stroll on over to the Guarded Compound. In Chapters 4-5 alone, there's the Doomplate+3, Gorgon Plate+4, and the Armor of the Hart+3....not to mention the Drow Full Plate+5. If you picked Barbarian, however.....well, you can wear the Mail of the Dead until you swing by Bodhi's pad and pick yourself up some Ashen Scales, or go kill a Shadow Dragon and wear that, or if you want to wait for the Main Plot, you can
sacrifice a pair of Boots of Speed for the Jester's Chain that makes you look like a clown, or wait even longer, until Chapter 6, for the Crimson Chain or the Human Flesh.
For another point, Plate and Full Plate both have way better AC Modifiers than Chain, Splint or Leather. (What does the Shadow Dragon Scale count as? Leather Armor with the AC modifiers of Splint Mail?) So if, instead of Axes, your hypothetical antagonists were wielding Warhammers, the outcome would be very different.
For my final point, the Berserker's Rage further
improves his AC, while the Barbarian's actually
weakens it.