which barbarian do you play?

[Samayu]

I'm guessing about 85% of barbarians are bear totem at level 3. Most of the rest are berserkers.

Am I wrong? What other paths are played? Do any suck? Is the zealot fun?

[A Fat Dragon]

If you have a Cleric in your party, then Zealot is arguably the best. And, beyond the free-revive, you can Continue your rage even after you’ve died, allowing you to basically negate dying in a fight, as long as you continue raging.

[KOLE]

Honestly, I’ll be boring and say Bear barb is just king. Resistance to everything except psychic? That’s HUGE, especially since you are the ONLY class to get a d12 for hp. No other subclass appeals to me near as much, if only because of just how strong bearbarb is. I love the flavor, and the ritual spells can really come in handy.

I’m not trying to bash anybody else’s choice. But Storm Herald seems weak IMO mechanically, though it could have been a really cool class in concept. Zealot looks good, but the flavor is too prohibitive for me. Ancestral Guardian is probably the second best, just in my own subjective opinion, and a class I could see trying to help out the party. I like making the tank run a little support too.

Ive got three builds on deck involving barb... and they’re all bear barb. That resistance is just so strong.

[suplee215]

None suck, just Bear is simple to use and most who play a Barbarian are looking for the simple option. And I play with a guy who refuses to play any character who cannot past spells and the totem one allows more. I tried to go Wolf but my DM used flanking rules that made it less effective. I also played a Battlerager that is extremely fun. While you are always getting hit due to the horrible armor AC, you don't care. You are using reckless attack anyways. I do recommend homeruling the Spiked Armor as a heavy weapon so GWM doesn't feel useless next to the guy who took polearm master alongside it and the favor of using your entire body for GWM just makes sense. I played a Zealot in one session but it's pretty fun. I also played the UA version of Ancestral Guardian that is real fun. Feels a bit more like a team member whether than the Leroy Jenkins. ALso a great tank option that rivals bear's. I never Played the storm one but it does grant some battle field control and AOE options. I do think some of the other Totems at level 3 are weak (Wolf is good though) but not too much. Eagle for bonus action dash is kinda fun, the 15 feet from elk can make a good battle field but that and tiger are just weird for the battle focus barbarians.

[suplee215]

also I love barbarians and from experience the Bear Resistance is overrated. In my experience 90% of your foes use the usual damage types and the dragon or spell caster casting fireball is more likely to target the squishies than you.

[A Fat Dragon]

Bear-Eagle-Bear is a dangerous combination, in any party.

[Wryte]

I was playing a Stout Halfling Eagle Totem Barbarian for a while before I left AL to run a homegame, and having a ball with her. Her racial ASIs gave me a starting 16 Dex and 16 Con for 18 starting AC with a shield, and at 4th level I picked up Dual Wielder to keep 17 AC while dual wielding battleaxes.

The really fun part, though, was combining Halfling Nimbleness (the ability to move through spaces occupied by any enemy larger than me) with the Eagle Totem's 3rd level effect (opportunity attacks against you are made at disadvantage). This meant that I was spinning through packs of orcs like a murderous little dervish without a finger being laid on me. Sure, my damage might have been a little behind a minmax with only a 14 in Str and inability to wield heavy weapons, but 3 Battleaxe attacks per turn made up for some of that.

[JellyPooga]

also I love barbarians and from experience the Bear Resistance is overrated.

It really is.

I'm not saying Bear Totem is utter crud, but when you get past the "OMG, that's soooo overpowered" first impression and actually start thinking about what it actually does...you realise that it's pretty rubbish compared to the other Totems. Eagle Totem, for example, gives you "Cunning Action Lite" with Bonus Action Dash AND opponents have Disadvantage on OA's...that's far and away better than being able to resist a few additional damage types that you will rarely face until you've hit at least Tier 2 play (level 6/7-ish) and even than it'll be once or twice in a day (campaign depending, of course) rather than several times in every fight. Eagle Totem, by comparison, will probably get used at least once per fight and has a high probability of being used several times per fight. Not only that, but it's also giving you the option of doing what the Barbarian does best...better. Namely, it allows you to be in exactly the most infuriating position for your opponent such that they have to deal with you first...if any Class was designed to be the "Tank" Class, Barbarian is it and Eagle Totem facilitates that role. Bear Totem...well, Bear Totem just makes you a bit tougher in niche situations. Nothing to shout about at all.

Of course, I rarely take or consider Eagle Totem for my own characters because I almost invariably multiclass all my Barbarians with Rogue (or more accurately, I MC my Rogues with some Barbarian). For that reason, I tend to gravitate toward either Wolf (if I'm feeling party friendly) or Elk (because adding 15ft to your speed and then doubling it, from level 5 onwards, makes level 20 Monks jealous).

[Rebonack]

I ended up working with my DM to build a Faewild themed barbarian subclass. Core hook is a (nerfed) Armor of Agathies type effect that triggers upon raging. Unlike the Warlock spell, the retribution damage decays with the strength of the temp HP.

Getting a nice batch of temp HP upon raging was pretty neat. Reminded me of barbarian in older editions.

[guachi]

Wolf is absolutely amazing if it can consistently benefit two other allies.

I've DMed a party with a wolf barbarian, a gloomstalker (formerly a hunter ranger but switched with a free DM granted respec), and a Paladin. There were even times when the sorcerer would get into melee range to use shocking grasp.

[suplee215]

I ended up working with my DM to build a Faewild themed barbarian subclass. Core hook is a (nerfed) Armor of Agathies type effect that triggers upon raging. Unlike the Warlock spell, the retribution damage decays with the strength of the temp HP.

Getting a nice batch of temp HP upon raging was pretty neat. Reminded me of barbarian in older editions.

this reminds me a lot of a battlerager (be it a 14th level ability for the damage but it's also not tied to the temp hp). I wonder if the play is similiar.

[Samayu]

I tend to agree with you, Suplee and Pooga, about the Bearesistance being overrated, but only a little overrated. When I played a berserker a while back, I found a lot of fire (but at least we have advantage vs. fireballs) and necrotic pop up around level 4 to 5, and was killed by acid (black pudding?) at level 6. But maybe Out of the Abyss was atypical in that respect?

I tend to pick barbarian to go with my character concept, and that concept is never a tribal person from the wildlands. Or totems or zealotry. Last time I played Lenny, from Of Mice and Men (he just freaks out in combat, trying to protect his friends), and this time it's someone who just loves to fight, and armor doesn't fit her style. Either way, they're from civilized places, they just react to combat differently than the average person.

I don't think anybody mentioned Frenzy. The exhaustion seems like a superdrawback. Is this path effective?

[suplee215]

It's effective if used occasionally. While the exhaustion system is insane and makes not wanting to use it, the Beresker is used as the base line for insane DPS. If you are equal to or better than a frenzy berseker, your class is crazy. GWM makes it insane at high level. I also will recommend the Battlerager as a "fixed" Berseker if the DM allows it to count as a heavy weapon. You only get a 1d4 for damage but with rage that is fine. And yea, Out of Abyss uses more exotic enemies because underdark.

[Ganymede]

My elven storm herald barbarian is a wizard's academy drop-out that, unbeknownst to her, is a secret love-child of Kord. She's an avid alchemist, tinkerer, and student of the arcane, and she loves modifying her weapons and armor to help channel her inborn electrical aura.

[Rebonack]

this reminds me a lot of a battlerager (be it a 14th level ability for the damage but it's also not tied to the temp hp). I wonder if the play is similiar.

Sorta, difference between getting a chunk of temp HP upon raging vs regaining temp HP every single turn.

[djreynolds]

Berserker barbarian's mindless rage is very strong, its free immunity and allows you to not place so much emphasis on wisdom saves that can cripple you.

[Xetheral]

Bear totem is essential in the rare case where you're playing a Barbaian wearing heavy armor (and go with the text of the book over Sage Advice that says the intent was for all totems not to work in Heavy Armor).

Wolf totem is amazing for Grapplers.

The 6th level Eagle benefit is amazing for Warlocks with Spell Sniper/Eldritch Spear/Distant Spell.

[Mith]

I have played 1 barbarian that was Bear then Eagle (Raven). The Bear was chosen because we had a Dragonborn Paladin, and I wanted to have that option of firebreathing my position at lower level play. The general play of that campaign was usually the Barbarian and Paladin holding different "fronts" of a combat, so it worked out really well to have that extra insurance.

[MrStabby]

The bear totem is pretty good but in my experience most of the value of the extra resistances is from fire damage. Dragonborn, tiefling and similar that can resist fire damage can do great without it.

[strangebloke]

Flip through the MM. the vast majority of damage dealt is B/S/P. Bearbarian is cool, but it isn't LOL-OP. Most attack rolls in particular are B/S/P based, and due to your pathetic AC, an even higher percentage than normal of the damage you take will be B/S/P.

I played a frenzied berserker for AL for a bit. I also have a zealot that's on-deck to play at some point. They all have their merits.

Personally, I find a defensive focus a little bit less exciting.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I played a Berserker barbarian for a while. Having an extra attack on my bonus action using a great weapon - when all the TWF kids were using short swords or rapiers in their off-hand - was awesome. The thing about exhaustion is that Frenzy makes works best as a once per long rest ability. Beyond that, the penalties start racking up.

I eventually got bored with the Barbarian class as a whole; I find spellcasters more interesting to play.

[Samayu]

I agree about the once per day. The ability doesn't seem so powerful that it should be a 1/day thing. But at least you can use it a second time under certain circumstances. Like when you're desperate, or are betting you can take it easy the next day.

[Jerrykhor]

I haven't played a barbarian yet, but if i were to play one, I don't mind any of them except Storm Herald and Battlerager. Battlerager especially annoys me by being so weak and nonsensical. The non-scaling pitiful 3 damage, on a level 14 feature, is just stupidly weak. Plus, it doesn't make any sense! If you're already wearing spiked armour, why do creatures not get hurt from hitting you until you're Level 14?? As if the race restriction isn't dumb enough already.

[Sahe]

Currently playing a Feral Tiefling Storm Herald Barbarian. Her Rage is her demonic side poking through, making her eyes start to glow, her booming and hurling infernal insults at her enemies. I took Desert for additional hellish flavor. Now when she rages, her eyes appear to be on fire and little flames tingle around her mouth and nostrils as she breathes also she's like...really hot ;)

The resistance to fire I'll get later on will be a bit wasted, since I already have that, but I really do like the flavor. Maybe if I asked my GM nicely he'll give me Fire Immunity instead...that would be fun :D
If she get's that far, she's a bit of an arrow and sword sponge at the moment.

[mephnick]

I'm playing a Dragonborn Zealot right now (level 10) and it's pretty darn fun. We have a cleric in the party so I basically don't have to worry about my own safety. I recklessly attack everything and my AC is crap because I'm going to get hit anyway, but I'm a whirlwind of damage out there. The save reroll helps with my...6 WIS..

Having DM'd about 8 Barbarians so far, Bear Totem is about as overrated as Moon Druids. However, at higher levels Bear gets quite a bit better as you actually face the elemental damage that is mostly absent in the first couple of tiers. Taking half damage on Ancient Dragon breath is sort of a big deal. But before that? I'll take Eagle or Wolf over Bear any day.

Battlerager gets too little love for how good it is, the racial restriction is probably part of it. That temp HP, son.

Ancients was quite good from what little I saw, even though he rolled famously bad on his Spirit Shield every time it came up.

I've houseruled Berserker and Storm Herald a bit so I can't really tell you how they play RAW, but I'd assume RAW Berserker is a bit underwhelming in a game with feats.

[Daphne]

Bear Totem is about as overrated as Moon Druids.

Moon Druid is really good at low levels though.

[strangebloke]

Moon Druid is really good at low levels though.

And bear is good at high levels. But neither one of them is really overpowered over all tiers of play.

[smcmike]

I play barbearian for the simplicity. I was tempted by wolf totem, since I’m in a big party, but most of them aren’t melee, and my character is a tough, not a leader or a tactical genius. Frenzy barbarian seems underrated, but I don’t want to deal with exhaustion. I don’t have Xanathar’s - otherwise I might have considered those versions more carefully - but I like that the bear totem can be fluffed as a completely non-magical action hero.

[GlenSmash!]

I've played Berserker and Bear Totem. Bear Totem resistance came into player very little at low levels, but probably would see more impact at high levels. I haven't played Wolf or Eagle, but I've seen them played very well. An Eagle grappler can use that bonus action dash to drag enemies through spike growths, or the the edge of a cliff or ledge, or window and shove them out. Never tried Elk and Eagle totem.

Berserker's biggest benefit is immunity to Fear and Charm while Raging, and Retaliation is a very reliable use of a reaction, too bad it comes online so late.

I'm planning on playing a Zealot next. It encourages a Reckless style of play that I really like. I may change the fluff though.

Ancestral Guardians intrigues me too. It's way of marking and punishing enemies lends itself to being the most Tanky of Barbs.

Battlerager is one that I would like to play, but find disappointing. It's limited to low AC in Spiked armor, and some of it's more interesting abilities are static, instead of scaling. It's a bit of a bummer.

Storm Herald hasn't piqued my interest yet.

[the secret fire]

Of course, I rarely take or consider Eagle Totem for my own characters because I almost invariably multiclass all my Barbarians with Rogue (or more accurately, I MC my Rogues with some Barbarian). For that reason, I tend to gravitate toward either Wolf (if I'm feeling party friendly) or Elk (because adding 15ft to your speed and then doubling it, from level 5 onwards, makes level 20 Monks jealous).

I tend to do this, as well, although my current favorite character is a Goblin Rogue 1/Eagle Totem Barbarian 8. You end up having all of the parts of Cunning Action without needing Rogue 2. Took Mobile as the first feat. He's a nasty little bugger, and an excellent scout.

[Asmotherion]

Bear Totem is the most straight Forward.

Elements is a personal thing really, but I don't expect it to get a lot of love.

The one with the Ancestor thingy and Zealot seem nice in their respective roles I suppose. That said, hard to compete with a fair and sqare Bearbarian

All totems are fine really, but level 3 Bear is kinda what everyone who plays a Barbarian wants to get: Simple mechanics that keep you alive wile you go full Tank/Agressive on opponens, and look as intimidating and mad as possible (without thinking of the consequences, unless you're against a mind flayer).

[mephnick]

.
Battlerager is one that I would like to play, but find disappointing. It's limited to low AC in Spiked armor, and some of it's more interesting abilities are static, instead of scaling. It's a bit of a bummer.
.

AC is pointless for a Barbarian and Battlerager's Temp HP is great. Hell run an AC of 12 as a Barb, who cares? Especially as a Dwarf.

I think BR may be the most underrated subclass in the game.

[GlenSmash!]

AC is pointless for a Barbarian and Battlerager's Temp HP is great. Hell run an AC of 12 as a Barb, who cares? Especially as a Dwarf.

I think BR may be the most underrated subclass in the game.

That is a fair point about AC, and one I've made myself about Barbs before.

I've found the the BR's Temp HP, which would be about 3-5 for most of the games I play and has a hard max of 7 to be fairly low compared to other sources of it.

Hmm wait, do you get that temp HP every round you Reckless Attack? 3-5 Temp HP essentially refreshing every round is better than I thought.

[Sahe]

AC is pointless for a Barbarian and Battlerager's Temp HP is great. Hell run an AC of 12 as a Barb, who cares? Especially as a Dwarf.

I think BR may be the most underrated subclass in the game.

HOW? Maybe it's just that I've had two evenings in a row where I haven taken almost a 100 damage on Levels 1 to 3 and killed nothing in return, but if almost the entire rest of the group didn't have at least one healing spell each, I would've had to make a new character by now.

[alchahest]

at level 1-3 taking 100 ish damage is not safe for anyone.

I've played bearbarian from 1 to 18 (so far!) and having massive piles of hit points and resistance to all but psychic makes a very, very noticeable difference. especially near a paladin - taking quarter damage from most save for half things is huge for staying alive.

[GlenSmash!]

I don't think anybody mentioned Frenzy. The exhaustion seems like a superdrawback. Is this path effective?

Berserker can be effective, but you have to resist the urge to Frenzy too much. Remember you can Rage without going into a Frenzy.

On my Berserker I would Frenzy about once per long rest, so that long rest could remove the level of exhaustion. Sometimes things got bad and I would Frenzy a second time, but that's about it.

[Samayu]

Berserker can be effective, but you have to resist the urge to Frenzy too much. Remember you can Rage without going into a Frenzy.

On my Berserker I would Frenzy about once per long rest, so that long rest could remove the level of exhaustion. Sometimes things got bad and I would Frenzy a second time, but that's about it.
I played a berserker for a few levels once, and that's how I played it. But at the time I hadn't picked up on a lot of optimization. So I was just curious if people found Frenzy to be underpowered at once-per-day.

Also, curious how were you thinking of refluffing the zealot?

I just had the idea to refluff the ancestor spirits as killer bunny spirits...

[the secret fire]

AC is pointless for a Barbarian and Battlerager's Temp HP is great. Hell run an AC of 12 as a Barb, who cares? Especially as a Dwarf.

I think BR may be the most underrated subclass in the game.

You mean Barbarian/Rogue? I agree.

[suplee215]

The AC on the Barbarian that uses reckless attack (which as a battle rager is all the time because +3/5 hp a turn is insane, if a battle lasts 5 turns that is 25) all the time is useless and the Battle Rager wants to be hit at level 14. I do think the static abilities are a downside along with RAW not counting spiked armor as a heavy weapon. personally I think making magical spike armor add damage equal to the bonus (such as a +1 attack/damage armor gives +1 to retribution) fixes this nicely

[the secret fire]

Of all the totems, and all the barbarians generally, in my experience, the strongest is Wolf Totem. Granting advantage like that to the rest of the melee in the party is very powerful. Works very well with Rogues, fighters, monks, paladins, hexblades and minion-mancers. Imagine a wolf totem barbarian fighting alongside a necromancer. Yikes!

[GlenSmash!]

I played a berserker for a few levels once, and that's how I played it. But at the time I hadn't picked up on a lot of optimization. So I was just curious if people found Frenzy to be underpowered at once-per-day.

Also, curious how were you thinking of refluffing the zealot?

I just had the idea to refluff the ancestor spirits as killer bunny spirits...

Rather than having a zealots power come from a worshiped diety, the Zealot could be cursed to never enter Valhalla, all he wants is a glorious death but those darn Clerics keep bringing him back. Or he might not even be aware of the gods blessing or curse.

Or his power comes form Divine Ancestry. An Aasimar Zealot that's a bit like Hercules of legend.

Looking at the mechanics, a zealot is easy to resurrect, does radiant or necrotic damage, and becomes very hard to kill. That's pretty easily re-fluffable stuff.

[Daithi]

I played a berserker for a few levels once, and that's how I played it. But at the time I hadn't picked up on a lot of optimization. So I was just curious if people found Frenzy to be underpowered at once-per-day.

Also, curious how were you thinking of refluffing the zealot?

I just had the idea to refluff the ancestor spirits as killer bunny spirits...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a samurai display with a samurai helmet in the shape of a bunny (https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/aa/web-large/DP219907.jpg).

NOBODY wants to fight the bunny samurai. I mean, how much would it suck if you got killed by the bunny samurai? And, if you defeated the bunny samurai you get zero credit no matter how big or skilled the guy is because he is the dude wearing a bunny helmet.

So yeah, barbarian zealot with killer bunny spirits, absolutely.

[Maelynn]

My Dwarf Barbarian went Berserker, simply because it fitted best with his background and personality.

Scrom Barleybeard is a well-respected Master Brewer (guild artisan background). He's a decent and likeable guy, but had some... 'anger management issues'. At some point the clan strongly suggested he'd go on an ehm, well let's call it a business trip, to work on his temper. That's why he left the mountain and started adventuring.

He enjoyed the adventuring life, and even forged a friendship with the Elf in his party (who had the flaw 'alcohol problem', so she started out by hating him, then seeing him as her drinking rival, then learning to appreciate his beer- eh, I mean him, until finally they became buddies). The only question was whether he really wanted to harnass his temper... or embrace it and learn to channel it? By going Berserker, he seems to have opted for the latter.

[jas61292]

I like all barbarians in general, but I'm particularly a fan of the berserker. Mindless Rage and Retaliation are two of the best features of any barbarian path, in my opinion, and frenzying is just plain fun.

That being said, I understand it's actual usefulness is highly dependant on the table rules. My group has made the decision that most of the most popular combat feats are overpowered, and we do not allow them. So, with those off the table, Frenzy becomes the damage king, sometimes being more than worth the extra exhaustion. In games that allow those feats, however, it is instead a decent once per day trick.

However, regardless of table rules, those higher level features always make berserker a strong choice. It's easy to focus too hard on just the level 3 abilities, but if you can reasonably expect to get there, Mindless Rage is quite possibly the single best barbarian subclass feature, giving a blanket immunity to one of the class's biggest weaknesses. Where other subclasses are using valuable ability score points and/or feats to protect their mind, the berserker can instead do, well, whatever they please. Personally, I like investing in my Charisma to make the level 10 feature actually a usable option. It may never be great, but with a secondary or tertiary ability score being put in charisma, rather than wisdom, it becomes a situational useful option, rather than complete garbage. Also, I will just say from experience, playing a hulking barbarian with super good persuasion is quite fun.

[DaveOfTheDead]

I know I had a DMPC path of the ancestral guardian barb in a short-lived CoS campaign (2 sessions?) due to lack of players. I also had a homebrew Frostrager barb as an NPC that was fun.

Currently I'm playing a bear totem barbarian/GOO warlock in a LMoP campaign. Storm Herald is also interesting to me.

[Waffle_Iron]

My favorite 5e character to date was a Wolf totem/ Thief. She was a great team player. Wolf totem, sentinel, expertise in athletics. She was hard to ignore, which was just fine, as Con was her primary stat, even over strength.

[MeeposFire]

For me the one big change I make to battle ragers is that I make the spiked armor as a special add on to any armor so that way I do not need to worry about adding an additional armor only for one character ever. This also lets battle ragers wear no armor or whatever armor they like and still get their bonuses which I think has been more fun.

[GlenSmash!]

For me the one big change I make to battle ragers is that I make the spiked armor as a special add on to any armor so that way I do not need to worry about adding an additional armor only for one character ever. This also lets battle ragers wear no armor or whatever armor they like and still get their bonuses which I think has been more fun.

I like the idea too.

It supports a an unarmored barb wrapped it spiky chains as much as the traditional Gutbusters of Forgotten Realms lore.

[Mith]

I like the idea too.

It supports a an unarmored barb wrapped it spiky chains as much as the traditional Gutbusters of Forgotten Realms lore.

I am picturing a Heavy spiked chain that is wrapped around the weilder to provide armour.