I need a suggestion or two.

[Wrathraven]

Nothing needs more than a point until then anyway.

Bash and a point in pole arm mastery will suffice, with a little Taunt now and again to get the missile opponents within arm's reach.

Taunt is for wussies, REAL Barbs use Leap Attack :) And by 30, I usually have my Mastery near-maxed, because like you said, you just need a point for prereqs and warcries that only need a point anyway. IMO, the decision comes after you've maxed mastery, in choosing which skill you plan to use as your primary attack. But then again I'm not one of those guys who likes to max Battle Orders, so I tend to have more points to work with