Northlander Hewing questions

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

Hey guys, I have a few questions regarding this feat, so if someone can help I'd be grateful :

Wikia states that the feat limits your attacks to half, while in game it says it is limited to 2/3 of total attacks. Which one is correct?

How does this work in conjuction with Barbarian Rage and/or Haste?

Is it worth it, in your opinion, on a shield wielding Barbarian?

Thanks.

[Nyeleni]

2/3 is correct.

For a shield wielding char? No. You need both hands on your weapon to use this feat.

And it worked very well with my normal rage barbarian. I prefered it over whirlwind for higher con and saves with steadfast determination. But it depends on the build.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

So with normal 6 attacks per round, I retain 4 with NH activated? Does additional attack from Whirling Frenzy apply as well?

And I didn't notice anywhere that the feat only works while 2-handling?

[Valefort]

it's 2/3 rounded down, all attacks are counted so activating whirlwind frenzy won't help you there. 2/3*6 = 4, 2/3*7 = 4,66 => 4. You can go one handed, two handed, TWF, only ranged weapons do not work.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

Hm, so for a Shield-Wielding Barbarian with normal Rage it would work quite nicely, correct? It is a huge penalty with -2 AB and -2 AC but with a shield it might be useful.

[Nyeleni]

Ha, I was convinced NH would only work with two hands on the weapon. Probably because of some archaic picture in my brain. Sorry for the misinformation .

Imo Barbarians shouldn't go for AC at all. Just soak the damage and do as much yourself as you can. NH helps a lot with that. Even if you lose some attacks you keep the highest who count, and with max. dmg. you even interrupt some spellcasters sometimes.

[Calantyr]

I have a bastard sword & shield barbarian with Northern Hewing, and I think her strength is maxed for her level. Even with Hewing activated my AC is high enough that I usually only get hit on a crit, and my damage output is high enough that enemy damage resistance really isn't a factor to be concerned about.

If I recall correctly, once I max her out she'll have 52 AC (61 when Raging). Her attack bonus is between 41-64 (depending on Expose Weakness/Rage). 40-46 Damage per hit, every hit.

It's pretty solid considering it's not actually a min-max build. Hewing good. Also the bonus damage will be bludgeoning if you use a slashing weapon, so undead get wrecked.

[Sun Wukong]

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

Additional queston - does NH add 1.5x bonus STR damage when wielding two handed weapon, or just base modifier is added?

[Valefort]

Just base.

[Egg Shen]

Does it work in conjunction with flurry of blows active? Or any other modes, for that matter?

[Valefort]

Yep, works with any combat modes, the attacks from flurry are counted.

[sir_blacksoutalot]

So NH works with Shield Bash mode as well then, right?

If correct, then does it reduce the number of Shield Bash attacks? Assuming so, then 3 attacks would reduce to 2 attacks (2/3 total) with NH toggled on, and 2 attacks would become 1 attack. Is that correct?

[Valefort]

No it reduces only the number of attacks made with weapons.

[Steve]

Additional queston - does NH add 1.5x bonus STR damage when wielding two handed weapon, or just base modifier is added?

Wait a minute!

NH states: "You add your strength modifier as extra physical damage."

So, if your build would have, without NH active—let's say you're using a 1d12 weapon two-handed, no bonuses, and you have 26 STR (8 dmg)—a dmg possibility of 1d12 + 12 = 18 avg.

With NH active, would it be a) 12 + 8 = 20 per hit, or b) 12 + 12 (STR * 1.5) + 8 (as per the quote above) for 32 per hit?

If the answer is a not b, then shall I rewrite the NH wiki text to say: "You use ONLY your base strength modifier as extra physical damage (x1.5 dmg from two-handed weapons does not apply when NH is active)."