I wanted to do a few more builds that weren't from League of Legends, but I also received a suggestion to use an ancestry from the Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse book that came out. I do have other plans for builds from that book but was waiting for some other things to come out before I did so. After starting this build, I did realize that I was building another barbarian after I did a build for one last week. Sorry about that! It's worth noting that this build and the gear for it is picked in a vacuum without consideration for what adventure it may be in, so certain options might be better in specific situations.
With that out of the way, let's get into the build for Hogger from World of Warcraft/Heroes of the Storm!
HOGGER
CHARACTER Hogger
SOURCE World of Warcraft/Heroes of the Storm
GOAL Hogger is a gnoll chieftain of the Riverpaw Pack, first featured in the game World of Warcraft though I based this particular build off of his appearance in Heroes of the Storm because it offers me a better baseline to work with. In his Heroes of the Storm incarnation, he is a melee bruiser, a class focused on survivability with high damage output, who wields a flail. Instead of mana, Hogger’s abilities are simply on a timer, but he can gain Rage through taking or dealing damage, which can decrease the cooldowns or add other effects to his abilities. His passive is Loot Hoard, which has to be activated, and throws a pile of junk onto the battlefield, dealing damage, knocking enemies away, and becoming terrain that drops healing meat when it expires or is destroyed. His first ability is Staggering Blow in which he swings his weapon in a wide arc, dealing damage to enemies and knocking them back. If they collide with terrain, they take additional damage and become stunned. His second ability is Ez-Thro Dynamite, which allows him to toss a bundle of lit dynamite that detonates, damaging and slowing enemies. With Hogg Wild, he spins around wildly, bouncing off of terrain and dealing damage in an area around him. Finally, Hogger can choose one of two ults – the first is Hoardapult, which launches an empowered Loot Hoard and Hogger along with it, damaging and slowing enemies. This Loot Hoard lasts longer than usual and periodically produces meat. The other option for his ult is Shockwave, which sends out a shockwave that damages and stuns enemies.
LEVEL 1 Unsurprisingly, we’re gonna start where we always do, with our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. Part of the reason I picked Hogger for a build was that I wanted to use some of the ancestries featured in Paizo’s latest sourcebook, Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse. From that book, we have access to the gnoll ancestry and the great gnoll heritage, which gives us 10 HP from our ancestry instead of 8 as well as a circumstance bonus on Athletics checks to Trip or Shove creatures, which is handy for this build. Gnolls automatically come with a boost to Strength and Intelligence as well as a flaw to Wisdom, but they also get a free boost that we’ll be applying to Dexterity. Our first ancestry feat will be Crunch, which increase the damage of a gnoll’s natural jaws attack to 1d8 and gives it the grapple property, meaning that we can have a foe grappled while wielding our flail.
At their core, Hogger’s Riverpaw pack seem to be raiders and I think a good way to reflect that is through the bandit background. This gives Hogger another pair of boosts – the first will go to Charisma while the second is a free boost that will be applied to Strength. The bandit background also makes Hogger trained in Intimidation and a terrain lore skill based upon where he operated. In this case, we’ll say Elwynn Forest, which will give him Forest Lore. Finally, we get a skill feat from our background, which will be Group Coercion, allowing him to Coerce a group of people with greater ease.
I tossed the idea around a bit, but to reflect his rage and because it’s otherwise a decent fit, I settled on barbarian for Hogger’s class, going with the unfortunately unexciting fury instinct. As a barbarian, we receive an automatic boost to Strength, but then also receive four free boosts separate from that, which we’ll add to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom (Str 18, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12). Barbarians are automatically trained in Athletics, and we’ll also become trained in Deception, Society, Survival, Stealth, and Thievery – mostly skills that I think would reflect his past. For our first class feat, we’ll pick out Raging Intimidation to get us an extra skill feat and the ability to Demoralize while we’re raging, which is always handy as a third action.
LEVEL 2 I like taking Quick Jump as an early skill feat because it helps out with the action economy in a pinch. Our class feat might seem an odd choice and is the sole reason I made his Intelligence as high as I did, but the Alchemist Dedication makes us trained in Crafting, gives us Alchemical Crafting, and the ability to make temporary alchemical items with reagents. Between Alchemical Crafting and the Alchemist Dedication itself, we receive a total of eight formulas, which I advise using to learn the following: lesser alchemist’s fire, lesser bestial mutagen, lesser frost vial, lesser juggernaut mutagen, lesser quicksilver mutagen, lesser redpitch bomb, lesser smokestick, and minor elixir of life. Obviously, the lesser alchemist’s fire simulates his Ez-Thro Dynamite though if you want the slowing effect of it, you can use a lesser frost vial instead. Meanwhile, the meat dropped by his junk piles are functionally minor elixirs of life due to their healing properties. The rest are formulas for items that felt appropriate for or useful to him.
Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3 The first of our skills to receive an increase, Athletics will reach expert proficiency at this level so that we can more easily shove around and bully others. We’ll enhance our tankiness and survivability, which we do need because of the lowered AC of a raging barbarian, with the Toughness general feat, gaining 1 extra HP per level.
Gear: +1 war flail, ring of discertion, rhythm bone
LEVEL 4 As a reflection of the actual meat that Hogger eats, I thought it’d be fun to take the Seasoned skill feat since we’re now trained in Crafting though this could also be good to make a few more serious items here and there. From the alchemist archetype, we can use Basic Concoction to gain a 1st or 2nd-level alchemist feat. Quick Bomber is the latter and it will allow us to draw and throw a bomb as a single action, which will mesh better with some of the other feats we take down the line.
Gear: golden legion epaulet, +1 war flail, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), ring of discretion
LEVEL 5 We’ll use the ability boosts from this level to increase our Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma (Str 19, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14). This time, we’ll increase Intimidation to expert proficiency. Our 2nd ancestry feat is Pack Hunter, giving a us bonus on checks to Aid allies and giving allies a bonus to Aid us. This is mostly a reflection on his place in the Riverpaw pack while giving him another useful thing to do with his third action instead of simply attack at a -10.
Gear: +1 striking war flail, golden legion epaulet, coyote’s cloak, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), ring of discertion, rhythm bone
LEVEL 6 With the slight focus on Intimidation we’ve developed, we’ll pick up Terrifying Resistance to help bolster our saves against creatures we’ve Demoralized. There’s two feats I like for this level and both work with the idea of Hogger’s ability one way or another. Swipe covers the wide arc of Staggering Blow and synergizes well with Hogger’s weapon choice, the war flail, while Brutal Bully takes advantage of his heritage’s bonus to Tripping and Shoving while replicating the effects of Staggering Blow when it knocks an enemy into terrain. Personally, I’d take Brutal Bully because we take other feats that mimic the knockback effect of Staggering Blow elsewhere in this build, but I did want to bring up this suggestion.
Gear: +1 hide armor, +1 striking war flail, demon mask, golden legion epaulets, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), necklace of knives
LEVEL 7 Unfortunately, managing our skills gets a little rough at this level. Athletics is going to take a backseat since it has our highest stat bonus and we’ll be increasing Crafting to expert proficiency. As with most martials, we’ll be taking Fast Recovery for our general feat, allowing us to rest more effectively and recover from ailments quicker.
Gear: ring of the ram, +1 hide armor, necklace of fireballs I, +1 striking war flail, golden legion epaulet, coyote’s cloak
LEVEL 8 Since Reflex is our weak save, we’ll take Rapid Mantel so that we can use Athletics to Grab an Edge. With that increase to Crafting, we can pick up Expert Alchemy, so that we can make more powerful alchemical items.
Gear: boots of bounding, ring of the ram, herd mask, +1 hide armor, +1 striking war flail, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9 We’ll put our skill increase to Stealth, reaching expert in it, so that we can gain the Pack Stalker ancestry feat, which gives us Terrain Stalker – Forest and allows us to extend its benefits to our allies. I really like this for Hogger as it can be flavored as him leading his troops in ambushes.
Gear: +1 resilient hide armor, boots of bounding, necklace of fireballs II, ring of the ram, necklace of fireballs I, +1 striking war flail
LEVEL 10 We’ll apply the ability boosts for this level to Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 20, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16). From the Intimidation skill, we’ll pick up Lasting Coercion so that those we Coerce follow our commands for longer. We’ll go back to the barbarian feats to pick up Knockback, reflecting another part of Staggering Blow with the way that it knocks foes backwards.
Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient hide armor, greater rhinoceros mask, boots of bounding, ring of the ram, +1 striking war flail
LEVEL 11 Again, we’ll be taking an increase to Crafting to raise it to master proficiency. Going the typical build route for our general feats, we’ll pick up Diehard.
Gear: +2 striking war flail, armbands of athleticism, grievous weapon rune, +1 resilient hide armor, necklace of fireballs II, boots of bounding
LEVEL 12 We’ll pick up Powerful Leap for our skill feat to expand the range of our leaps. We’ll make use of our increase to Crafting to gain Master Alchemy, increasing the level of items that we can make with our reagents. This will be the last feat we take from the Alchemist Dedication.
Gear: +2 resilient hide armor, +2 striking war flail, greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, thundering weapon rune, greater rhinoceros mask
LEVEL 13 We have Crafting where we want it at, so we’ll look towards Intimidation now with this skill increase, raising it to master. Part of the reason I’m choosing this increase here rather than Athletics is that we can take the Laughing Gnoll ancestry feat to gain Battle Cry for free, giving us a chance to make a foe frightened before combat even begins. This ancestry feat does grant other effects, but they’re unfortunately already covered by Intimidating Glare.
Gear: +2 greater striking war flail, +2 resilient hide armor, greater alchemist goggles, greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, grievous weapon rune
LEVEL 14 With the Intimidation sub-theme we have going on, we’ll grab Terrified Retreat so that we can send foes running if we roll high enough for our Demoralize attempts. We’ll be able to mimic his Hogg Wild ability with Whirlwind Strike, lashing out at every foe around us.
Gear: greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking war flail, fortification armor rune, +2 resilient hide armor, greater demon mask, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking)
LEVEL 15 We’ve reached the maximum Dexterity bonus that our armor will allow us to have, so we’re gonna switch up our ability boosts at this level a bit and gain boots to Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 21, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 18). We’ll finally increase our Athletics to master proficiency. Then we’ll take Incredible Initiative as our general feat so that we gain a bonus on our initiative rolls, increasing the chance we’ll go earlier in combat.
Gear: +2 greater resilient hide armor, greater ring of the ram, hellfire boots, +2 greater striking war flail, greater alchemist goggles, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking)
LEVEL 16 With that increase in Athletics, we’re gonna take a feat that seems a little silly but one that I do have legitimate reasons for taking - Wall Jump is going to be reflective of how he bounces off of walls when using his Hogg Wild, even if he can’t exactly use it in conjunction with Whirlwind Strike. Continuing the line of Knockback is Awesome Blow for our class feat, which lets us hit somebody and then Shove and Trip them – both of which will get the effects of Brutal Bully separately.
Gear: necklace of fireballs VI, +2 greater resilient hide armor, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking war flail, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17 Since we have a higher ability bonus to Athletics over Intimidation, we’ll increase the latter next though switch around these choices at your leisure. Our final ancestry feat will be Sensitive Nose, giving Hogger an imprecise sense in the form of scent in regards to his numerous voice lines about smelling others.
Gear: +3 greater striking war flail, necklace of fireballs VI, greater thundering weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide armor, greater ring of the ram, hellfire boots
LEVEL 18 To help Hogger find his prey in the dense forest, we’ll take Experienced Tracker as our skill feat, allowing him to move at full speed while tracking though at a penalty. It might be a bit late in the game, but I would suggest taking whatever wasn’t taken at 6th level. The other option I would suggest taking here is Unbalancing Sweep as it allows us to affect multiple enemies with Shove or Trip without taking MAP, covering the wide range of his Staggering Blow.
Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking war flail, 16, necklace of fireballs VI, +2 greater resilient hide armor, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19 Last but certainly not least, we’ll use our final skill increase to pump Athletics up to legendary proficiency. Our last general feat will be Incredible Scout, allowing us to provide our allies with a higher bonus to their initiative checks when we use the Scout exploration activity. My intent is to have this reflect his time working with his pack.
Gear: +3 greater resilient hide armor, belt of giant strength, 17, +3 greater striking war flail, necklace of fireballs VI, greater thundering weapon rune
LEVEL 20 Four final ability boosts will see us pumping up our Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom (Str 22, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18). This increase to Intelligence gives us an extra language as well as the trained proficiency in Nature to reflect the time he’s spent in the forest. Given his criminal occupation, it makes sense to give him the Streetwise skill feat, even if it is a bit late. For our capstone class feat, we’ll pick up Quaking Stomp to represent his Shockwave though this hits in an area around us rather than in a line.
Gear: +3 major striking war flail, +3 greater resilient hide armor, inexplicable apparatus, belt of giant strength, headbands of translocation, speed weapon rune
CONCLUSION While I wasn't exactly able to mimic Hogger's Loot Hoard, though maybe I could have with Oversized Throw, I'm happy with how this came out. Staggering Blow is achieved through a couple of different abilities such as Awesome Blow and Unbalancing Sweep, his Ez-Thro Dynamite and the meat from his hoard comes from his Alchemist Dedication, and Hogg Wild is covered by Whirlwind Strike. I chose to go with his Shockwave ultimate, mimicked by his Quaking Stomp. Now that I think about it more, I kinda wish I had included Oversized Throw but am not quite sure where I would fit it in.
Be sure to let me know what you think of the build!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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