Multiclass barbarian caster ideas?

[samcifer]

So I was considering, should my currect draconic sorc 1/evo wix x(currently wiz 8) dies, I was considering playing a bear totem barbarian who is also a caster of some non-concentration spells for damage and a few utility spells.

As far as race, I was thinking that Variant human would be best for flexibility, but can't decide on which caster class would work best. Healing would be nice, but there are few options that provide both healing/cleansing abilities as well as 'blaster'-oriented attack spells. As far as Barbarian goes, I love the high hp and resistances to damage and want to finally have some melee options. I might stop leveling Barbarian as early as lv. 3 once I get the bear's expanded resistances while raging (raging prevents concentrating on spells, hence wanting to avoid concentration spells.)

Anyone have some suggestions?

[GlenSmash!]

So I was considering, should my currect draconic sorc 1/evo wix x(currently wiz 8) dies, I was considering playing a bear totem barbarian who is also a caster of some non-concentration spells for damage and a few utility spells.

As far as race, I was thinking that Variant human would be best for flexibility, but can't decide on which caster class would work best. Healing would be nice, but there are few options that provide both healing/cleansing abilities as well as 'blaster'-oriented attack spells. As far as Barbarian goes, I love the high hp and resistances to damage and want to finally have some melee options. I might stop leveling Barbarian as early as lv. 3 once I get the bear's expanded resistances while raging (raging prevents concentrating on spells, hence wanting to avoid concentration spells.)

Anyone have some suggestions?

Rage prevents casting spells too, so it's pretty rough. still it can be done.

Bear Totem 3 /Fiend Bladelock X is a great one that combines Bear Totem resistance with Fiend Temp HP, and will have plenty of out of combat uses for spells, or just want to hang back and blast on occasion.

[Foxolicious]

1 word bardbarian however you can't cast any spells while raging so that might change how u approach this build
However cutting words does not count as a spell
Smash all the people with your bag pipes, lute or drum you can take tavern brawler to use these as improvised weapons

[JackPhoenix]

Moon druid. While most druidic buffs require concentration, you could be a doublebear! That also summons bears when he's not angry.

Look for ways to contract lycantrophy to becone triplebear.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/8/88/User_Rynn_Ty_Vil_Signature.png/550px-User_Rynn_Ty_Vil_Signature.png

[samcifer]

Moon druid. While most druidic buffs require concentration, you could be a doublebear! That also summons bears when he's not angry.

Look for ways to contract lycantrophy to becone triplebear.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/8/88/User_Rynn_Ty_Vil_Signature.png/550px-User_Rynn_Ty_Vil_Signature.png

Haha. In the last campaign we had a moon druid who multi-classed into bear totem barbarian.

[samcifer]

Damn, missed that on rage. It seems specifically designed to be incompatible with spellcasting. I really wanted it for the resistances, which was the main point of going barbarian. :(

[GlenSmash!]

Damn, missed that on rage. It seems specifically designed to be incompatible with spellcasting. I really wanted it for the resistances, which was the main point of going barbarian. :(

Yup. Still it works as a switch hitter.

I have a Barbarian/Ranger that casts hunters mark and shoots arrows until he loses concentration, then Rages and Recklessly Attacks. It's MAD, and nowhere near optimized, but it's fun.

[samcifer]

Yup. Still it works as a switch hitter.

I have a Barbarian/Ranger that casts hunters mark and shoots arrows until he loses concentration, then Rages and Recklessly Attacks. It's MAD, and nowhere near optimized, but it's fun.

Well, another idea I had was to go Eldritch Knight Fighter and take blade Ward as a cantrip. I could still get an attack and have the resistances.

[MagneticKitty]

I'd go ranger or druid.
Ranger has healing and pass without a trace, great tracking and survival skills, some arrow attack spells

Or barb 3-5 / moon druid x
Cast spells till you run out, then hulk up and bear rage. Especially great if enemy melee thinks they've pinned down a caster in close combat. Play a small race for bonus points. Ghostwise halfling and you can be a raging telepathy bear

Another option is blood Hunter (matt mercer home brew). You can turn into a were bear with resistances and combine that with a caster.

[CTurbo]

I have played a Ranger/Barbarian and it was a fun character. Yes you cannot cast any spell while you are raging but you're not raging all the time so the spells are still useful to you. ESPECIALLY out of combat where the regular Barbarian has little to do.

I have seen Moon Druid Barbarians be similarly successful too so the idea is not a horrible one.

One of the days, I'm going to play a Wizard Barbarian just for fun. It'll need to wait for a chance to roll some good stats though, but the idea is to attempt to play him like a pure wizard, but if/when he get's attacked, he loses his temper and rages for the rest of the battle.

[MagneticKitty]

For your wizbarian You should do abjurer for temp hp. And armor of agytha

[Rusvul]

Reminds me of a fun build I saw Malifice suggest to someone a few years ago. It only has one level of Barbarian, but it's technically a barbarian caster. It's described in more detail here, (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19989972&postcount=8) but the gist of it is as follows:

Level 1-3 is Druid. Take Circle of the Moon so you can be a bear.
Level 4 is Barbarian. Now you can rage while you bear!
Levels 5 and 6, take Ancients Paladin. Smite + Rage + Bear. Fun!

After that, more Druid, with Barbarian levels to taste. I've wanted to play it for a long time now but I haven't gotten the chance. Not sure it's quite what you're looking for, but it bears mentioning, I figure.

[Grear Bylls]

I like Bard-barians. Very strong, thematic, and good out of combat spells. Inspiration is fun

[Seekergeek]

If it is open to you an order of the Lycan blood hunter has a similar mechanic (and flavour IMO) to rage without the spellcasting restrictions. Might be worth a look - the most recent version is on dndbeyond if I’m not mistaken.

[Mitchellnotes]

I'd throw my hat in for the barbarian/fiend bladelock. Id start barb 1, then go lock 5 picking up GWM, barb 2, and then from there go with your hearts desire. Id probably eventually end either Barb 4/Lock 16 or Barb 3/Lock 17. Just like a rogue barbarian, the classes mesh well. Warlocks work great with short rests, but barbarian provides some great abilities on a long rest as well (rages).

Fiendlock works great for this bc the spell list provides a number of great spells that dont require concentration. Command, blindness, and fireball all scale well. Additionally, the THP from fiend (and armor of agathys) scale well with rage, and you have nice options for barb paths. Zealot, bear, and ancients all have nice benefits.

If you start half elf, you can start with 16 str, 16 cha, 14 dex, and 12 con. The lower con is less than ideal, but you get a lot of thp to bolster it. Also, eldritch smite can be used while raging, which is anothr good use of slots.

[samcifer]

I have played a Ranger/Barbarian and it was a fun character. Yes you cannot cast any spell while you are raging but you're not raging all the time so the spells are still useful to you. ESPECIALLY out of combat where the regular Barbarian has little to do.

I have seen Moon Druid Barbarians be similarly successful too so the idea is not a horrible one.

One of the days, I'm going to play a Wizard Barbarian just for fun. It'll need to wait for a chance to roll some good stats though, but the idea is to attempt to play him like a pure wizard, but if/when he get's attacked, he loses his temper and rages for the rest of the battle.

Yeah, go several sessions without using it, then when a foe gets close enough, cast rage.

DM: What do you mean you cast Rage? You're a wizard.

Player: Who multiclassed into Bear Totem Barbarian.

DM: *&%^$*#&$%@!

[Desteplo]

Barbarian eagle totem lvl6
War cleric lvl 14

Go for the melee advantage party

[MagneticKitty]

Yeah, go several sessions without using it, then when a foe gets close enough, cast rage.

DM: What do you mean you cast Rage? You're a wizard.

Player: Who multiclassed into Bear Totem Barbarian.

DM: *&%^$*#&$%@!

I think this only works if you're starting with Barb and have never used it yet..

Barb bladesinger wouldn't be bad

[Laserlight]

Yeah, go several sessions without using it, then when a foe gets close enough, cast rage.

DM: What do you mean you cast Rage? You're a wizard.

Player: Who multiclassed into Bear Totem Barbarian.

DM: *&%^$*#&$%@!

I had a cleric 1/wiz X who used a jeweled 2H warhammer as his staff, and my tempest cleric's longsword is taller than her height ("I'm not swinging this with little girl muscles, I'm hitting with storm god power!") so she when she'd out of combat, she usually holds it by the ricasso as if it were a staff.

[Quoxis]

Barbarian warlock - cast armor of agathys (no concentration) as an action, rage as bonus action, run straight to the frontline and never leave melee.
AoA gives you temporary hp, damages opponents if they hit you in melee AND profits from your rage resistances. Bonus points if you tempt opponents by using reckless attack.

Barbarladin - divine smite is a magic-less feature, so you can use it while raging. Best used by getting a few levels in bard or warlock for spell slots and spell-less features (like most sorcerer-related stuff).

[Vogie]

Best ones to do with Barbarian are ones you can use in some form while Raging. This typically comes as a smite ability. So

Blade Warlock - Via the Eldritch Smite Invocation
Paladin - Divine Smite class feature
Bard - Technically you're not using spells, but the bardic inspiration (and the per-college twists on BI) can be used while raging.
Bladesinger Wizard - If you happen to be a non-armored barbarian with a 1 handed weapon, this is an option. That doesn't happen much, but technically it works
War Wizard - When your rage suppresses all casting, the downside of Arcane Deflection is very, very small. Also, Initiative bonus! Both regular and ritual casting.
Knowledge, Life, Trickery, or Forge Cleric - Bonuses at the ready! The Channel Divinity: Preserve Life is an interesting thing, as it allows you to heal, at range, while raging.

[Grear Bylls]

Barbarladin - divine smite is a magic-less feature, so you can use it while raging. Best used by getting a few levels in bard or warlock for spell slots and spell-less features (like most sorcerer-related stuff).

Ah yes, I'm getting around to try out this Bard combo soon. Seems quite fun

[Maxilian]

If UA is an option, you could go with Rune Master, most of its abilities are not spells per se, so can be used while raging, Like all the fire rune abilities, all the stone runes abilities minus Earthen step, all wind rune abilities minus Wind Walker and all Ice Rune abilities minus Winter's Howl)

[NaughtyTiger]

cleric 3 gives you spiritual weapon. bonus action attacks + no concentration. cast as a bonus action round 1, rage as bonus action round 2.
gives you a shaman vibe.

[Xetheral]

Get at least six levels in Barbarian for Eagle totem, then go Warlock (any patron/pact) and pick up Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, and Eldritch Spear. Take the Spell Sniper feat.

You can now see and shoot targets 600' away with no penalty. Trying to close that distance (10 rounds of dashing, 20 if you stage a fighting retreat) would be suicide for most creatures, but any who manage to close to melee get to discover the hard way that you're also a Barbarian....

High perches with long, uninterrupted sight lines are your friend. Add Eldritch Smite, Kiss of Mephistopheles, and/or Repelling Blast for added hilarity.

[samcifer]

cleric 3 gives you spiritual weapon. bonus action attacks + no concentration. cast as a bonus action round 1, rage as bonus action round 2.
gives you a shaman vibe.

I used that on my Divine Soul sorc. Was fun to use as I made it take the form of an overweight sassy black woman I named 'Big Mama'.

[samcifer]

Get at least six levels in Barbarian for Eagle totem, then go Warlock (any patron/pact) and pick up Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, and Eldritch Spear. Take the Spell Sniper feat.

You can now see and shoot targets 600' away with no penalty. Trying to close that distance (10 rounds of dashing, 20 if you stage a fighting retreat) would be suicide for most creatures, but any who manage to close to melee get to discover the hard way that you're also a Barbarian....

High perches with long, uninterrupted sight lines are your friend. Add Eldritch Smite, Kiss of Mephistopheles, and/or Repelling Blast for added hilarity.

My divine soul sorc had mc-ed into Hexblade for some melee options, but I never once made use of it and kept forgetting the hexblade curse. I did, however, get to HB 2 and took Eldritch Blast and Spear for amazing range. Sadly the character died before I could take a feat, but love the idea of 600' range on my EBs. I might bring him back for a future campaign, but go Fiend or Celestial instead of Hexblade.

[Vogie]

Add Eldritch Smite, Kiss of Mephistopheles, and/or Repelling Blast for added hilarity.

Eldritch Smite only works on Bladelock attacks, not EB.

I never knew if Kiss of Mephistopheles would work with Eldritch Spear... as Fireball only has a 150ft range. EB normally has a 120ft range, so without spear, spell sniper, or both, it never mattered.

[PeteNutButter]

Warding Bond.

It's a 2nd level cleric spell so you can get it in just 3 levels of cleric or divine soul sorcerer if preferred. The cleric route also offers channel divinities that work while raging. Cast it on your other front-line buddy, and they will be your friend for life. They take half damage and you take a quarter of it (while raging). A quarter of the damage is totally lost and due to rounding only every 4 damage points is fully received by the caster (you the barbarian). That means for a 2nd level spell slot you are almost making your rage work for your buddy as much as it is for you, for a full hour (or until you get separated).

That is at least the RAW and RAI: https://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/11/04/warding-bond/

[Xetheral]

Eldritch Smite only works on Bladelock attacks, not EB.

I never knew if Kiss of Mephistopheles would work with Eldritch Spear... as Fireball only has a 150ft range. EB normally has a 120ft range, so without spear, spell sniper, or both, it never mattered.

Eldritch Smite was suggested for it's synergy with Reckless Attack, not Eldritch Blast. And I see no reason why Kiss of Mephistopheles wouldn't work with Eldritch Spear... Kiss requires you to center the Fireball on a target hit by Eldritch Blast, which strongly implies that it lets you center the Fireball on such a target.

[Vogie]

Eldritch Smite was suggested for it's synergy with Reckless Attack, not Eldritch Blast.

My bad - it was proceeded with "High perches with long, uninterrupted sight lines are your friend" and 2 invocations that effect EB.

However, it is worth noting that Kiss o' Mephistopheles requires Fiend Patron, which is the patron that probably works best with a barbarian for in-combat uses. And if you're able to use KoM, why not opt for Mace of Dispatcher? You can get it by 3 instead of waiting until 5, and it knocks things down just as well.


However, if UA is available and you want to try something new, Seeker Patron with the Star Chain would be an interesting option. A Barbarian that has access to Augury and advantage on Intelligence checks, and the ability to get resistance to everything, would be pretty cool (too bad shielding aurora isn't a reaction). Path of the Seeker gives always-on faux-freedom-of movement as well.

[samcifer]

My bad - it was proceeded with "High perches with long, uninterrupted sight lines are your friend" and 2 invocations that effect EB.

However, it is worth noting that Kiss o' Mephistopheles requires Fiend Patron, which is the patron that probably works best with a barbarian for in-combat uses. And if you're able to use KoM, why not opt for Mace of Dispatcher? You can get it by 3 instead of waiting until 5, and it knocks things down just as well.


However, if UA is available and you want to try something new, Seeker Patron with the Star Chain would be an interesting option. A Barbarian that has access to Augury and advantage on Intelligence checks, and the ability to get resistance to everything, would be pretty cool (too bad shielding aurora isn't a reaction). Path of the Seeker gives always-on faux-freedom-of movement as well.

Well, not in this campaign. The DM insists only upon box-printed content (so no US stuff) and 5d6 best 3 for stat-rolling with one complete re-roll if you get crud the first time and too bad if it happens both times.

[CTurbo]

Do you have your stats yet? 5d6 drop lowest usually yields really high rolls.

[sambojin]

Playing as a Firbolg makes for a bit of fun magic barbarian'ing. +1Str still gives you an easy 16Str from point buy, and the short rest spells are great. +2 Wis is just plain handy.
With 5d6/drop-2 stat rolling, those stat bonuses will be incredible for you. Regardless of if you want to MC into Int/Wis/Cha magic classes.

Disguise self lasts an hour and is non-concentraition, so you can look like whatever you want while you're frothing like a loony (and look like you're armed with what you want too). Actually takes an action to see through, not a "well, duh!" free roll. Make yourself 6'4" tall at character creation (the minimum Firbolg height), so you've got a massive range of disguises on hand, which is any humanoid between 7'4" and 3'4" tall. So pretty much everyone.

See magic is something that you never care about if you drop through raging. But it's damn handy to have on-call for loot grabbing and problem detection.

Popping invis is your combat "spell". Do it after you've attacked for the turn. It's your shield spell. Disadvantage to attacks against you AND resistance vs nearly everything makes you one tough SoB to take down as a bearbarian, and levels out damage spikes perfectly. You really don't care how many things attack you for one round. And, if they can't see you, they might not be able to attack/cast spells at you anyway, without at least a perception roll to do so. Only 1/short rest, for one round, but it's friggen amazing.... Works when raging too!


That's without a multiclass. I would personally pick Divination wizard for 2-4 lvls for magic if I wanted to MC on top of that, which gives you plenty of options with Portent, cantrips and spell choice (and a surprising amount of slots with Arcane Recovery too. Between 4-9 of them a day, even with an ASI if you MC to 4th. That's plenty of spell'y goodness. Got extra cash? Scribe a scroll, or buy one and chuck it in your spell book. Don't? Ritual cast your way to short rest glory. And wizards have plenty of good non-concentration spells, that don't even really need high Int). Three levels is "optimal" due to slots/lvls with Arcane Recovery and not being a super deep dip, but four gets you an ASI, which is also optimal for any Barb. Two just doesn't quite give you enough, even with Portent screwing/saving people twice a day. Probably MC after Barb 5, because two attacks is ALWAYS optimal in a melee build.

Or just 1-3lvls of cleric. Use Bless when you're not raging. It is your anti-armour/plus-to-saves Rage. Yes, it has one turn of action use windup, but it rages three people, so totally worth it. You get other stuff too, but pick whatever cleric you like the look of. It's irrelevant. You just got two-six extra rages a day. Ones that stack with with GWM really well. And guidance to un-dumb/plus-initiative you and your party. Arcana Cleric is nice if you go Firbolg, just to get Wis based Wizard cantrips (thus very good illusions and a decent vs AC attack cantrip). But any are good. Have fun!

[samcifer]

Do you have your stats yet? 5d6 drop lowest usually yields really high rolls.

Yeah, you'd think, but on my current character (I'm theorizing possible future characters should my wizard die) my highest rolls were a 15 and 2 14s. :(

For now I'm looking into possible builds. Actually, I'm beginning to consider a non-caster build I'll address in another thread.