Yet another multiclass build.

[Spacehamster]

Thinking about a sword & board barbarian multiclass containing 16 levels zealot barb, 3 levels gloom stalker and 1 level rogue.

Race half orc
Starting ability scores: 16/14/14/9/14/8
Background: Sailor

Level as follows:
5 barb(take shield master or +2 STR if you do like us and give everyone a level 1 feat), followed by 1 rogue(stealth skill and expertise in athletics and perception), 3 gloom stalker(dueling style and any skill you see fit) finish off with rest in barb get your STR maxed and take any feat or ASI you see fit.

At first round in combat you rage and start beating up a target with your rapier and get a 3rd attack from gloom stalker, following rounds you bonus action shield bash opponents to the ground with expertise and advantage and continue to beat them up with advantage. Seems simple yet efficient and decent damage with rage + dueling + zealot extra damage + 1d6 sneak attack. Should also be playable every level on the way which is a bonus.

Thoughts?

[Tikkun]

As you have a DEX of 14 and will be using a rapier, I suggest adding the Defensive Duelist feat to your repertoire. This feat allows you to add your proficiency bonus to your AC as long as you wield (i.e. hold) a finesse weapon. I know you will be raging but every little bit of AC helps.

[Biggstick]

What are you picking up the Ranger levels for with this character? You could simply play a Barbarian/Rogue, which is a very well regarded multi-class.

Think about it. You're going 5 levels into Barbarian (a solid start), then a 1 level dip into Rogue for Expertise (smart play on any martial character), and then going 3 levels of Gloom Stalker for what? I see a Fighting style (which comes at Ranger 2), which you could instead pick up with a single level dip into Fighter. I see a couple spells, but as a primary Barbarian you're probably not using these spells in combat. Really the only positive I'm seeing in going the three levels of Ranger is Gloom Stalker's psueod-invisibility in darkness. Is that really better then more levels in Barbarian or Rogue?

Personally, I'd recommend grabbing 3 levels of Rogue over levels in Ranger. You're picking up one of the best abilities for a Barbarian in Cunning Action. I can't oversell the value of this thing on a Barbarian, as having Cunning Action + Rage means you're never going to be wanting for a bonus action again. On top of that you're picking up additional Sneak Attack dice for every odd level, which not only makes your attacks against a prone enemy more effective, they make your off-turn attacks even scarier. This opens up your desire to grab a reaction attack somehow, and I'd recommend Sentinel. And lastly is an archetype choice. There is a ton of flavor available to each of the archetype choices, and it's really dependent on what you are looking to add to your character.

If you really want that Fighting Style, you can grab 2 levels Rogue (for Cunning Action) and 1 level of Fighter, and then decide to go from there (which would be PC level 8). The higher levels in Barbarian are great, and 6th level Barbarian is usually nice if you're starting to not have enough Rages to get through your normal adventuring day (as you go from 3 Rages to 4 Rages per long rest).

Anyways, I'm curious as to what exactly you want to add Ranger levels to this build for? What's it contributing to the character?

[Spacehamster]

What are you picking up the Ranger levels for with this character? You could simply play a Barbarian/Rogue, which is a very well regarded multi-class.

Think about it. You're going 5 levels into Barbarian (a solid start), then a 1 level dip into Rogue for Expertise (smart play on any martial character), and then going 3 levels of Gloom Stalker for what? I see a Fighting style (which comes at Ranger 2), which you could instead pick up with a single level dip into Fighter. I see a couple spells, but as a primary Barbarian you're probably not using these spells in combat. Really the only positive I'm seeing in going the three levels of Ranger is Gloom Stalker's psueod-invisibility in darkness. Is that really better then more levels in Barbarian or Rogue?

Personally, I'd recommend grabbing 3 levels of Rogue over levels in Ranger. You're picking up one of the best abilities for a Barbarian in Cunning Action. I can't oversell the value of this thing on a Barbarian, as having Cunning Action + Rage means you're never going to be wanting for a bonus action again. On top of that you're picking up additional Sneak Attack dice for every odd level, which not only makes your attacks against a prone enemy more effective, they make your off-turn attacks even scarier. This opens up your desire to grab a reaction attack somehow, and I'd recommend Sentinel. And lastly is an archetype choice. There is a ton of flavor available to each of the archetype choices, and it's really dependent on what you are looking to add to your character.

If you really want that Fighting Style, you can grab 2 levels Rogue (for Cunning Action) and 1 level of Fighter, and then decide to go from there (which would be PC level 8). The higher levels in Barbarian are great, and 6th level Barbarian is usually nice if you're starting to not have enough Rages to get through your normal adventuring day (as you go from 3 Rages to 4 Rages per long rest).

Anyways, I'm curious as to what exactly you want to add Ranger levels to this build for? What's it contributing to the character?

Extra attack on first round of combat aka the most important turn in combat where the battle is often decided? ;) higher initiative as well, another skill, dueling fighting style and so on the list is long. :)

[Biggstick]

Extra attack on first round of combat aka the most important turn in combat where the battle is often decided? ;) higher initiative as well, another skill, dueling fighting style and so on the list is long. :)

I mean, if the focus is the first round of combat, going with the Assassin archetype would be ideal to increase damage output on the first round of combat. As far as higher initiative, Wisdom is a tertiary for this character, as STR/CON definitely has a higher value, making the overall initiative bonus rather small.

An additional skill proficiency is always welcome in my book, as is the fighting style.

In my mind, you're spreading yourself rather thin on levels, and I guess I don't really see the value in going that many levels in three different classes.

Here's another question. When does this build come online? What's the ideal level for this build? Starting the 5 levels of Barbarian means your character's early identity with a party will be taken care of, as you'll be a big strong Barbarian capable of shoving enemies prone and hitting them with a Rapier (quite a strange weapon choice for a Half Orc imo). After that, where does the character's identity lead them? Is there a certain point in which you say, "This is it. This is exactly where I wanted this character to be when I designed their path."

Tbh, playing a Half Orc with 5 levels in Barbarian is going to be strong really no matter what you tack on top of it. You can really go anywhere, and with that as your "baseline," your character will be a strong one.

[PeteNutButter]

One of the main problems with Barbarians is their post level 5 features are pretty weak often resulting in situations where you are better off going into a different class. 1-4 levels in fighter and ranger offer more than the majority of the post level 5 barbarian features. Since you're using a rapier, you can throw on rogue levels for more and more scaling damage.

Something like Barbarian 5/Ranger 4/Fighter 4/Rogue 7 is actually very viable, despite its mess, and will probably do a lot more at nearly every level of play than a pure barbarian would. Even at level 20, when the barbarian gets his cool 24 strength, the MC build will manage more DPR.