Making the Most out of the Ancestral Guardians Babrarian

[GlenSmash!]

I'm a big fan of the Ancestral Guardians Barbarian. I like how it punishes enemies for attacking its allies instead of itself with Ancestral Protectors, Spirit shield, and Vengeful Ancestors, in addition to the old Barbarian classic of Reckless Attack.

So what feats and multiclasses help the old Spirit Barbarian protect his comrades? I think Brawny to help with grappling and shoving, or a rogue dip to do the same. A couple of levels in fighter for action surge, maybe? Any other ideas?

[Kane0]

Well Sentinel and Polearm Mastery look like good picks for total lockdown, as well as the Tunnel Fighting Style (damn thing is OP though).
Ancestral Barbarian 6 / Fighter 12 / Rogue 2 would probably be a good all round build that includes expertise for grappling and 6 ASIs for feats. The Knight Fighter really doubles down on the sticky tank theme and removes the need for sentinel.

[GlenSmash!]

Well Sentinel and Polearm Mastery look like good picks for total lockdown, as well as the Tunnel Fighting Style (damn thing is OP though).
Ancestral Barbarian 6 / Fighter 12 / Rogue 2 would probably be a good all round build that includes expertise for grappling and 6 ASIs for feats. The Knight Fighter really doubles down on the sticky tank theme and removes the need for sentinel.

All good points. Thanks.

I'd personally like a free hand for Grappling, so I would wouldn't go for PM myself, but that's my choice for not wanting to use a quarterstaff one-handed. And I agree that Tunnel Fighting is OP. It blows action economy right out of the water.

Sentinel and Spirit Shield both compete for a reaction, but having both would allow me to consider what's more important, locking down movement or reducing an ally's incoming damage.

I had forgotten about the Knight subclass. I really liked it's stickyness, but got bogged down by the name. There didn't seem much about it that was very Knightly to me, apart from Born to the Saddle, which i didn't think was very good. I think the name was supposed to remind people of a 4e Knight, but I can't be sure, i never played 4e. It's too bad that Rapid Strike comes so late as it would work well with Reckless Attack.

Also I notice that the the Knight's Implacable Mark has quite the overlap with the Ancestral Guardians Ancestral Protectors. I hadn't seen that before.