I talked to my buddy and this is what his Barbarian will look like for our game on friday.

Human Barbarian, Hide Armor, AC 15, Feats: Weapon Proficiency (Executioners Axe if I remember right) and either Durable (for the 2 extra Healing Surges) or Toughness (for the extra 5 HP). He said he'll probably go with Durable due to number of surges spent per encunter. He'll have 29 HP which he will probably go through fast with a 15 AC.

We figure he'll probably spend 5 or so HS per encounter. At 7 HP/surge (plus the cleric bonus he'll get for 1 or 2 of the surges). 1 or 2 from the cleric, one from a Second Wind and 2 or 3 during the five minute rest. That gives him two encounters per day and he's out of HS. The third encounter that day is gonna be tough.

The Barabarian has some cool features and looks fun to play. Shifting through an enemy (shift two and go through an enemy square) may come in handy. We'll find out tomorrow night. I'll let you know how the Barbarian works out. Stats below.

STR - 18
CON - 14
DEX - 14
INT - 10
WIS - 13
CHA - 8

Time for the update...............the Human Barbarian lived. He was a fun addition to the party. Just like suspected, he did go down two of the three encounters. As for dishing out damage, the average was mid to high teens. A couple of powers did around high twenty's. I didn't think the Barbarian was "broken" when it came to it's role. I saw tahjn thought the Brabarian did slighty more than the other strikers. I felt he did about 30% or so less than the rogue, 20% or so less than the warlock and about the same as a ranger. The warlock, ranger and especially rogue are broken in my opinion, but that's for another thread.

The Barbarian's powers worked well and I thought were played well. The temp HP gained when dropping a monster definately helped. He did soak up a lot of damage due to the low AC. Especially after his encounter power (losing 4 AC). Between healing from the cleric and temp HP, he made it almost to the end of the encounter both times. I don't remember what triggered it, but the free attack (charge only) he had when dropping a monster was pretty cool. The shift through an enemy saved his butt a couple of times. Another cool trick for the Barbarian. The 3[W] encounter was appropriate for his class. I didn't think so when I first read it, but it worked well concerning the class and the -4 penalty to AC balances it out well.

Overall, I felt the damage dealt was appropriate for his class, played the "raging" get into melee part well, good addition to the party (must have at least one healer though or he'll probably go down fast), the low AC helps keep him balanced, the abilities I saw last night fit his class well and he was fun to watch. I think he'll be one of the better characters to play/watch and have in a party.

I hope this helped somewhat. I might just roll me up one to try. One of the few characters in 4e that still has that "I might die" fear factor. It makes you think a little more.