Best DPR barbarian

[Ekayyy]

Hi everyone,

Im looking to make a big damage barbarian. (Unfortunately i cant be a half orc) but i rolled one 18 and have a +2 racial so strength is set.

My current build path is looking like

Lvl 3 berserker
Lvl 4 gwm
Lvl 5 extra attack
Lvl 1-2-3 champion
Lvl 4 sentinel?

Basically i swing three times at lvl 5 with advantage and big +10 dmg if it lands.

In contrast theres the path of the zealot

Lvl 3 zealot
Lvl 4 PAM
Lvl 5 extra attack
Lvl 1-2-3 champion
Lvl 4 GWM

At level 9 i swing three times with a polearm but i have the zealots 1d8+half my barb level. And if i crit ill use gwm instead of the polearm 1d4 hit. Overall it seems a bit confusing

[GlenSmash!]

Berserkers can do excellent damage, but Exhaustion can be Crippling. If you use Frenzy too much you can end up swinging at disadvantage, moving at half speed and worse.

It pretty much becomes an ability I only use once per day, mostly for Boss fights.

Zealot is an interesting case. The 1d6+half your Barbarian level Radiant damage is very useful for bypassing resistances, or shutting down hp regeneration. Also it's very reliable. Getting Resurrected for no material costs is a nice bonus too.

But Zealot's best feature by far is Rage Beyond Death. A Berserker at 0 hp is doing no damage at all. A Zealot is doing as much as he otherwise would be as long as he is still raging.

[Millface]

You said it already, for the most part.

Frenzy has the most damage potential, Zealot will probably do more damage over a large period of time.

Because Barbarians can only play with STR attacks, there's not much theory crafting to do there beyond Champion. They can't really benefit from Rogue and sneak attack or Elven Accuracy for trivantage. As with most melee classes Paladin isn't a terrible pairing, but it's pretty MAD.

Damage Barbarians are almost universally Barb 5, Champion 4, Barb rest. Reckless attack and always use GWM. Donezo. That's all there really is to it. If you did want to take Paladin you'd do it after level 10, probably, and just for the ability to smite when you do land crits. Zealot's features taper off after 6, so that might not be a bad route to take if you can muster 13 CHA for the multiclass. Barring that, go the rest in fighter for a 3rd attack and another fighting style.

[GlenSmash!]

They can benefit from Rogue if you're willing to attack with a Rapier using Strength, plus stacking Resistance from Rage and Uncanny Dodge is a nice way to turn damage into 1/4 of what it originally was. But it does rule out two handed weapons. Tri-vantage is right out though.

[ciarannihill]

I think Zealot gets the nod because of PAM allowing the Bonus Action attack anyway, which is the theoretical big draw of Berserker while also getting the extra 1d6+1/2 Barb level damage once per turn.

Like at level 12 with multiple feats might look different than at level 4 with only a single feat.

[Legendairy]

How well would a warforged berserker do?

Also half orc with the orcish feats and a 3 level fighter dip land you in the high crit damage dpr.....but you need to crit.

Edit: misread the half orc, disregard that part.

[stoutstien]

eh, DPR is nice but a lot of the time it going to be over kill. that aside id say as written zealot wins for all out damage and if you really think your going to lv 20,(like 80% or more) stick pure barb. that cap stone cannot be beat. +4 str and con is +2 hit, dmg, AC and a hand full of hp.

[CTurbo]

If you can't go Half-Orc, then I'd choose Goliath

No matter which Barb path you choose, I'd go to Barb 14 because the 14th level is where all the best path features are. That's especially when the Beserker really starts being worth it with an always on Retaliation.

A Polearm Zealot is extremely damaging too with less risk. Remember that the reliable bonus attack benefits from the additional rage bonus. That's also why Barbs make some of the best TWF builds.

I also like a single War Cleric level for several reasons.

1. It gives you more things to do outside of combat and makes you much better when you're NOT raging. Great cantrips and 1st level spells.
2. It pays off more than normal to boost the Barb's biggest weakness which is Wis saves. I would personally have Wis at 16 including Res(Wis)
3. It gives you a limited bonus action attack Wis mod times per short rest. This is best for Greataxes, Mauls, and Greatswords. Not for PAM builds.

So I would go Barb 14 or 15, Champion 3 or 4, and then War Cleric 1 or 2

You really only need 2 feats. Your offensive feat(GWM or PAM) and Res(Wis)

[GlenSmash!]

One thing to note. A Zealot wanting to get that extra 1d6+BarbLevel/2 damage once per turn would have to look real hard at taking the -5 to attack from GWM. Especially at times when radiant is the better damage type. So if you do go Zealot with GWM next levelI would try to get the Radiant damage first and consider -5/+10 on subsequent attacks. I'm currently playing a Zealot in SKT and will probably grab GWM next level so this is my plan.

Also while Resilient Wisdom is great on the Barbarian ( I took it as my V Human feat on my current Barb), Lucky can really shore up those Wisdom saves too.

[Ekayyy]

Thx for the input guys.

It seems like zealots PAM GWM is winning after your second feat

Polearm is 1d10 and a greatsword is 2d6.

So for attack and extra attack the frenzy barb has 3more dpr

For the bonus attack its 1d4 vs 2d6
A difference of 4.5

So the dpr cost of using polearm vs a greatsword is 7.5
However, the zealot is 3.5 + barb/2
So at level 6 youre only 1 dpr behind but you dont have to use frenzy(exhaustion isnt a big deal but you also cant easily afford more than one exhaustion per day)
If you dont frenzy the zealot waay out dprs the berserker

However this requires PAM, but meh pam also gives u a reaction attack. Overall its a shame that berserker isnt such a huge damage king

[JakOfAllTirades]

Has anyone ever written up a Smiting Barbarian? You may not be able to cast spells when raging, but there's no rule I know of against using a spell slot to Smite while raging.

Maybe I should look into that....

[Legendairy]

I think I’ve seen a thread or two on smiting rages. Also warlock with Eldritch smite and armor of agythas is nice. But I dunno how much multi classing is involved for OP.

[Ekayyy]

Im a huge fan of multiclassing,
Barb 1 /warlock x is pretty common
Otherwise for warlock i figured after level 5 the frontloaded benefits fall off until brutal criticals
Barb 5/warlock x

I was originally thinking barb 5 berserker to swing 3x with GWM. This would peak my dpr at around 40. With small gains all the way to 20 (brutal crit adding 1hd, rage going to 3).

Only problem is id have few rages and warlocks armor of agathys is only 10thp at lvl 3,

To make a smiting barbarian id have to go
Barbarian 5 paladin 2 full caster x

[Citadel97501]

Well Warlock 1 or 2, Barb 5, Paladin 2 or 3, Warlock x, is very effective as your short rests will refill your smite smashing you can use charisma instead of strength allowing for more AC or spell casting. However about the time you get to Barbarian 5, your going to ask yourself why did I take these instead of Warlock 2, Paladin 6, the rest back into Warlock.

[GlenSmash!]

If going that deep into Warlock I'd just grab thirsting Blade instead of taking Barb to 5.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

Well Warlock 1 or 2, Barb 5, Paladin 2 or 3, Warlock x, is very effective as your short rests will refill your smite smashing you can use charisma instead of strength allowing for more AC or spell casting. However about the time you get to Barbarian 5, your going to ask yourself why did I take these instead of Warlock 2, Paladin 6, the rest back into Warlock.

IF we're only looking for pure DPR then most barbarians will fall behind those optimal builds. Also if you dont use STR for the attacks you lose the rage dmg bonus. What makes up for the lack in DPR is the dmg resistance, at will advantage(which will improve realistic DPR), and rage damage.

One of my new favorite builds is the Zealot. The thing not mentioned above is that they can be resurected for free. So while everyone else needs to be more carefull you're just standing in the badies face killing anything in reach. At higher levels you can become nigh unkillable with Rage Beyond Death.

Side note: IMO PAM is much better than beserker BA. Especially at higher levels where 3 dmg/round is nothing, but exhuastion can be crippling.

[GlenSmash!]

Side note: IMO PAM is much better than beserker BA. Especially at higher levels where 3 dmg/round is nothing, but exhuastion can be crippling.

Indeed. If was playing a Berserker I'd still seriously consider taking PAM as I'm only going to Frenzy when I'm reasonably sure I'm going to get a long rest right after.

side ntoe: Zealots also get Zealous Presence, which while of limited use, I'll still take over Intimidating Presence.

[Legendairy]

This is why I say warforged berserker! They ignore the effects of exhaustion. I think it’s nothing to scoff at, a barbarian/champ fighter can get crits often and a good amount of dice while not suffering from exhaustion they can use it as much as possible.

[GlenSmash!]

This is why I say warforged berserker! They ignore the effects of exhaustion. I think it’s nothing to scoff at, a barbarian/champ fighter can get crits often and a good amount of dice while not suffering from exhaustion they can use it as much as possible.

Umm Warforged only ignore Exhaustion from lack of sleep. It provides no advantage when Frenzying.

You don’t need to sleep and don’t suffer the
effects of exhaustion due to lack of rest, and
magic can’t put you to sleep.

[ciarannihill]

Well Warlock 1 or 2, Barb 5, Paladin 2 or 3, Warlock x, is very effective as your short rests will refill your smite smashing you can use charisma instead of strength allowing for more AC or spell casting. However about the time you get to Barbarian 5, your going to ask yourself why did I take these instead of Warlock 2, Paladin 6, the rest back into Warlock.

I mean except that Rage doesn't benefit attacks made with Cha and you can't use Reckless Attack for them either -- two of your core abilities as a Barbarian. Plus that build only has access to a single feat compared to 2, which makes for a pretty big difference in DPR as it stands (Zealot Barb 10 has PAM and GWM at that point). Also I think you underestimate the power of a pure Barbarian pretty substantially.
If you're going base Barbarian, unless you know you're stopping at, say, level 10 or so I think it's worthwhile to just stick with single classing. The capstone is unbelievable and you become nearly impossible to take down unless it's a TPK situation anyway.

[Legendairy]

Umm Warforged only ignore Exhaustion from lack of sleep. It provides no advantage when Frenzying.

You don’t need to sleep and don’t suffer the
effects of exhaustion due to lack of rest, and
magic can’t put you to sleep.

Son of a! I missed that I suppose, disregard!

[Ekayyy]

Indeed. If was playing a Berserker I'd still seriously consider taking PAM as I'm only going to Frenzy when I'm reasonably sure I'm going to get a long rest right after.

side ntoe: Zealots also get Zealous Presence, which while of limited use, I'll still take over Intimidating Presence.

Thats exactly it you both summed it up.

At level 4 a gwm barbarian can hit with a greatsword for weapon+str+rage)+gwm for 7+5+2+10 dealing 24 dmg.

A berserker can do this twice for 48 damage and at level 5 extra attack brings this to 72 if you land three hits swinging with a +3 with advantage.
This damage is insane. Even a hold person smite crit is less at 11d8 for an average of 49.5
However, A berserker barb Is capped out at this point. Life doesnt get much better.
He could get PAM to hit with bonus attacks without exhausting but at this point youre basically playing as a base class and no matter what you cant muscle past two frenZys a day on our own as a barbarian youd even be better off as a battle rager at that point.
Thus, berserker 5 seems like the sweet spot to multiclass.

In contrast, A zealot barb at level 4 would likely get PAM to swing for an avrg of 2.5+5.5+str plus smite 5.5damage and also hopefully getting a reaction attack. Later he will get GWM and outperform the berserker by not exhausting himself,

So really it seems to come down to
A) staying zealot pure barb
B)What multiclass at level 5 helps the berserker stay on top.
Naturally people suggest champion but again it doesnt push you ahead of a zealot doing the exact same and taking GWM at 4.
Some people suggest divine soul to cast non concentration buffs mirror image and dispel exhaustionlater on. Similar and more HD option would be land druid or a forge cleric. Forge dip also gives you a +1 weapon.
Maybe one of the cleric or wizard schools has something to help anyway thats where its stuck basically, fighting off exhaustion to keep dropping those 3 big greatsword gwm hits with advantage

[JakOfAllTirades]

Well Warlock 1 or 2, Barb 5, Paladin 2 or 3, Warlock x, is very effective as your short rests will refill your smite smashing you can use charisma instead of strength allowing for more AC or spell casting. However about the time you get to Barbarian 5, your going to ask yourself why did I take these instead of Warlock 2, Paladin 6, the rest back into Warlock.

Warlock 1 and 2 have their benefits, but if you're thinking of a smiting build, you'll need warlock 5. OTOH, if you're getting smite from the paladin class, you might not need warlock at all.

[GlenSmash!]

I've seen the Barb3/Warlock X build throne around here before. Fiend pact or Armor of Agathys temp HP gets more mileage with resistance, plus you get utility and ranged options a standard Barb wouldn't have.

The big drawback is lack of total rages for the adventuring day.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

Thats exactly it you both summed it up.

At level 4 a gwm barbarian can hit with a greatsword for weapon+str+rage)+gwm for 7+5+2+10 dealing 24 dmg.

A berserker can do this twice for 48 damage and at level 5 extra attack brings this to 72 if you land three hits swinging with a +3 with advantage.
This damage is insane. Even a hold person smite crit is less at 11d8 for an average of 49.5
However, A berserker barb Is capped out at this point. Life doesnt get much better.
He could get PAM to hit with bonus attacks without exhausting but at this point youre basically playing as a base class and no matter what you cant muscle past two frenZys a day on our own as a barbarian youd even be better off as a battle rager at that point.
Thus, berserker 5 seems like the sweet spot to multiclass.

In contrast, A zealot barb at level 4 would likely get PAM to swing for an avrg of 2.5+5.5+str plus smite 5.5damage and also hopefully getting a reaction attack. Later he will get GWM and outperform the berserker by not exhausting himself,

So really it seems to come down to
A) staying zealot pure barb
B)What multiclass at level 5 helps the berserker stay on top.
Naturally people suggest champion but again it doesnt push you ahead of a zealot doing the exact same and taking GWM at 4.
Some people suggest divine soul to cast non concentration buffs mirror image and dispel exhaustionlater on. Similar and more HD option would be land druid or a forge cleric. Forge dip also gives you a +1 weapon.
Maybe one of the cleric or wizard schools has something to help anyway thats where its stuck basically, fighting off exhaustion to keep dropping those 3 big greatsword gwm hits with advantage

Yes it will look like the GWM Berserker will out damage the PAM Zealot before level 8. However the Beserker can only Frenzy once a day as a LR will only reduce exhaustion by 1.

The only other way to reduce exhaustion is a lvl5 spell which isnt available til lvl9. So for one combat the GWM Beserker will do more damage, after that the PAM Zealot will take the lead.

The only way for the Beserker to keep up is either have a dedicated caster for Greater Restoration, or get PAM at which point you might as well not be a beserker.

[GlenSmash!]

Berserker does have my farvorite level 6 ability out of the Barbarian Paths. Mindless Rage shores up some scary Barbarian weaknesses.

[Citan]

You said it already, for the most part.

Frenzy has the most damage potential, Zealot will probably do more damage over a large period of time.

Because Barbarians can only play with STR attacks, there's not much theory crafting to do there beyond Champion. They can't really benefit from Rogue and sneak attack or Elven Accuracy for trivantage. As with most melee classes Paladin isn't a terrible pairing, but it's pretty MAD.

Damage Barbarians are almost universally Barb 5, Champion 4, Barb rest. Reckless attack and always use GWM. Donezo. That's all there really is to it. If you did want to take Paladin you'd do it after level 10, probably, and just for the ability to smite when you do land crits. Zealot's features taper off after 6, so that might not be a bad route to take if you can muster 13 CHA for the multiclass. Barring that, go the rest in fighter for a 3rd attack and another fighting style.
That is an impressive display of not really understanding classes strengths honestly.
You should take time to look onto forum about Barbarian / Rogue dual-classes, you will learn interesting things.

Elven Accuracy could also work through Hexblade Warlock, although obviously you lose the rage bonus damage, which is a significant deal at higher levels, not so much at low ones.

----
@OP
If you want to play a 90% melee character (which is indeed what Barbarian is about)...
1. Archetype choice:

Berserker is fine if you know there is someone in party that will get Greater Restoration as soon as possible AND is willing to use it regularly.
OR if you're ready to have the extra attack consistently only one encounter per day.

For a pure Barbarian, Zealot is probably your next best choice.

What could work to for a end-goal planning is Totem, since level 14(s Elk/Tiger are interesting. But it's far-strechted so lets put that aside.

So let's say Zealot.
As a non-Bear Barbarian, you have two big problems and one smaller one.

1. Mobility: a Barbarian that cannot reach his target is a useless Barbarian.
If you don't think someone can boost you regularly with Longstrider Fly or Haste, serve yourself and pick two or three levels in Rogue for at least Cunning Action, Expertise in something and possibly archetype benefit (Thief the easiest, but anything may work really).
Or if you want to mix more utility keep some CHA/WIS to dip into Bard or Druid.

2. Resilience: you may be a Barbarian, but if you are really too reckless you'll drop. There is no sure-way to guarantee living, it's all about reading the situation. Things like ally's Warding Bond / Inspiring Leader will help, you may want to pick Mobile for added mobility and "harming Disengage".
Or you may go the "Sure-to-kill" way and pick targets that you know could be killed in one or two rounds with your help (or alone), and go for maximum accuracy to use GWM against even high-AC targets, but this usually requires a hefty multiclass with Paladin and Warlock: from what I feel it's too painful to build for what you are looking for.
Or just trust yourself that you will accurately position to maximize the balance between offense and defense (a Barbarian that is down is a useless Barbarian). Possibly taking Battlemaster instead of Champion, or aforementioned Mobile feat, or Polearm Master feat on top of GWM, to keep people wanting to attack you while actually preventing them to do so.

3. Flyers: not much you can do here really without heavy multiclassing or concept rework, which is obviously out of the question.
So either you admit it's a big flaw and live with it.
Or you want to mitigate it a bit and then I'd suggest grabbing Archery from Fighter if/when you dip into it. Paired with a 14 DEX for medium armor, you won't have to feel shameful compared to other martials.

To finish in general classes that are good to dip with Barbarian depending on stats (more or less in descending order of easiest/most benefit ratio but I'm writing this fast so it's probably missing many things):
Rogue, Fighter, Paladin, Druid, some Cleric, Bard, Warlock, Monk.

[ciarannihill]

That is an impressive display of not really understanding classes strengths honestly.
You should take time to look onto forum about Barbarian / Rogue dual-classes, you will learn interesting things.

Elven Accuracy could also work through Hexblade Warlock, although obviously you lose the rage bonus damage, which is a significant deal at higher levels, not so much at low ones.

Barb/Rogue is not just strong, but very fun to roleplay a brutish thief who uses their muscles more than their subtlety for their goals. :smallsmile:

I think if you're dipping Hexblade for Elven Accuracy IMO Fighter (personal favorite is Samurai for this type of build) is generally a better class to work with than Barbarian because you sacrifice so many of the best core abilities from Barb, but as with most things in 5E it's totally doable. You're not going to ruin your character doing it.


I would probably stick with Barbarian primary until level 5 or so regardless, those first levels are super powerful and Extra Attack is such a huge power level increase it's difficult to justify delaying it (not impossible) and even if you can usually only for a level or 2 at most.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

[snipped]
So let's say Zealot.
As a non-Bear Barbarian, you have two big problems and one smaller one.

1. Mobility: a Barbarian that cannot reach his target is a useless Barbarian.
If you don't think someone can boost you regularly with Longstrider Fly or Haste, serve yourself and pick two or three levels in Rogue for at least Cunning Action, Expertise in something and possibly archetype benefit (Thief the easiest, but anything may work really).
Or if you want to mix more utility keep some CHA/WIS to dip into Bard or Druid.

2. Resilience: you may be a Barbarian, but if you are really too reckless you'll drop. There is no sure-way to guarantee living, it's all about reading the situation. Things like ally's Warding Bond / Inspiring Leader will help, you may want to pick Mobile for added mobility and "harming Disengage".
Or you may go the "Sure-to-kill" way and pick targets that you know could be killed in one or two rounds with your help (or alone), and go for maximum accuracy to use GWM against even high-AC targets, but this usually requires a hefty multiclass with Paladin and Warlock: from what I feel it's too painful to build for what you are looking for.
Or just trust yourself that you will accurately position to maximize the balance between offense and defense (a Barbarian that is down is a useless Barbarian). Possibly taking Battlemaster instead of Champion, or aforementioned Mobile feat, or Polearm Master feat on top of GWM, to keep people wanting to attack you while actually preventing them to do so.

3. Flyers: not much you can do here really without heavy multiclassing or concept rework, which is obviously out of the question.
So either you admit it's a big flaw and live with it.
Or you want to mitigate it a bit and then I'd suggest grabbing Archery from Fighter if/when you dip into it. Paired with a 14 DEX for medium armor, you won't have to feel shameful compared to other martials.

To finish in general classes that are good to dip with Barbarian depending on stats (more or less in descending order of easiest/most benefit ratio but I'm writing this fast so it's probably missing many things):
Rogue, Fighter, Paladin, Druid, some Cleric, Bard, Warlock, Monk.

Just a couple thoughts on the problems you brought to light.

1.Mobility: This is a problem for all melee combatants not just Barbarians. Only Rogues and Eagle totems can get around this without expending resources. All Barbarians get +10ft movement at lvl5 to help with this, and if you take Eagle instead of Bear you loose out on alot of damage resistance.

2.Resilience: Yes a Bear totem resists almost all damage, but even without bear you still have more health than others classes and resistance to the most common type of damage in the first ten levels. That aside tesilience is an issue for all classes, everyone has at least one low save. Plus casters are going to want to keep their meat shield up to protect them, least they become the primary target.

3.Flyers: This is kind of the same as point 1. This affects all melee combatants, not just barbarians. Barbarians are prof with all weapons so handaxe, javelins, or a bow will solve this.

So while the problems you listed are valid, they affect all melee not just Barbarians.

[Ganymede]

The best DPR barbarian is probably a barbarian attacking a Rakshasa with a magic rapier.

[rbstr]

Using Hexblade to change from Strength to Charisma for attacks just seems silly. You can't Reckless attack, you don't get the rage damage bonus. You don't actually reduce MAD at all, you still need dex/con + attack stat. You can't cast spells while raging...There's just not synergy there.
IMO stay away from Smite. You're not gonna have enough slots and you're gonna put off good higher-level features. Particularly if you go Zealot...putting more levels into Zealot gives you reliable damage.

Adding some Rogue to get to cunning action does make a lot of sense since you get to dash and use strength to and gain sneak attack with finesse weapons.

[N810]

If you are going Berserker I recommend taking Sentinel,
if an enemy swings at an ally next to you boom extra attack.
if an enemy tries to run from you and you hit them, boom now their speed is zero.
combine this with retaliation at lvl 17 and them you are also getting a hit on an enemy every time they hit you as well.

[Man_Over_Game]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the number of encounters expected with your DM.

Due to the sustained damage of the Zealot, it performs a lot better over several encounters in a day, but a lot of DM's I've played with utilized 1-2 fights per long rest, and most of those were RP focused DM's.

Try to figure out what your DM does the most. If you're only going to have one fight every day, then the Berserker is going to be your best bet, hands down, due to Frenzy.

[N810]

Ps. don't forget that berserkers can rage without frenzying.

[stoutstien]

Could ask dm if u can frenzy without the exhaustion. It's an unnecessary hamstring to another wise solid sub class

[LudicSavant]

The Berserker does not have an especially good DPR in a real game, for several reasons.

1) They cannot use their bonus action attack on the turn they enter Frenzy. In a high DPR party (read: One that ends combats fast) this means they might actually get outdamaged by other Barbarian archetypes, even if they aren't Exhausted.

2) If they're using Frenzy, they'll quickly accrue exhaustion, and can only lose 1 point of exhaustion per day (e.g. if they rage twice, they need 2 long rests to get back up into fighting condition).

Either A) You don't use Frenzy and don't do any more damage than a Barbarian with no archetype at all, B) you only use it when you want to "go nova" in the last encounter of the day (and a Zealot can nova harder, particularly at mid-high levels), or C) You have a considerable negative impact on your output over the course of a full adventuring day due to accrued Exhaustion.

3) They are highly susceptible to lots of control effects (at least not charms and frightens, though).

4) They have no "party combo" DPR (such as the Zealot's level 10 ability, or the Wolf Barbarian's 3 or 14).

5) Warforged still get Exhausted by Frenzy. They're only immune to Exhaustion caused by a lack of rest.

[Citan]

Just a couple thoughts on the problems you brought to light.

1.Mobility: This is a problem for all melee combatants not just Barbarians. Only Rogues and Eagle totems can get around this without expending resources. All Barbarians get +10ft movement at lvl5 to help with this, and if you take Eagle instead of Bear you loose out on alot of damage resistance.

3.Flyers: This is kind of the same as point 1. This affects all melee combatants, not just barbarians. Barbarians are prof with all weapons so handaxe, javelins, or a bow will solve this.

So while the problems you listed are valid, they affect all melee not just Barbarians.
You bring a valid critic, but you kinda missed the scope of it.
Contrarily to Barbarian, which loses 90% of its added value when melee is impossible...

- Fighter can switch to longbows (DEX) or thrown weapons (STR), without any loss of efficiency (archetype features work equally well independantly of attack type).
- Even "worse" for Rogues.
- Monk can try and use environment (walls, trees and such) plus great speed boost plus Dash to ensure except against high flyers they can get into melee most of the time (granted, whether it's always the good tactical choice is a different thing ^^).
- Paladins only require melee for smiting really, they can otherwise use ranged attacks like Fighters (STR ones could even use longbows with Bless).
- Rangers are like, the "switch at any time" kind of guys.
Then you have all casters that have spells and cantrips, some of which can be used one way or another by martials with decent mental stat. Which Barb cannot do since ragint blocks all magic.

Barb is really the only one crippled in essence when he cannot make melee weapon attacks while currently enraged because all goodies are tied up to melee like a prisoner is tied to wall with a steel chain. ^^
That's why it's even more important to ensure that at least on the ground you can do what you know best as often as possible.

Of course, it also depends on party and campaign: with a buffer to cover occasional needs, you don't need to strain yourself. If you play a mainly underground campaign, you should usually fight in cramped enclosed areas so you don't even ask yourself whether enemies are in reach... ^^

As many things, the flaws I pointed out have a signficant YMMV component in them, but it seemed to me useful to put it in light precisely for that reason, so OP can check with friends and decide how to build in full awareness (or as close as possible anyways). :)


Using Hexblade to change from Strength to Charisma for attacks just seems silly. You can't Reckless attack, you don't get the rage damage bonus. You don't actually reduce MAD at all, you still need dex/con + attack stat. You can't cast spells while raging...There's just not synergy there.
IMO stay away from Smite. You're not gonna have enough slots and you're gonna put off good higher-level features. Particularly if you go Zealot...putting more levels into Zealot gives you reliable damage.

Adding some Rogue to get to cunning action does make a lot of sense since you get to dash and use strength to and gain sneak attack with finesse weapons.
Errm, I'm sorry you are wrong on several accounts here. :)

What's correct is:
- you lose Rage bonus damage.
- you don't benefit from Reckless Attack.
Honestly?
Those are things you completely don't care about at that level.
Why? Because...

1. You still get advantage on STR checks, with proficiency and decent STR you have a high chance of succeeding in Proning target (1 level of Rogue or be Half-Elf for Prodigy feat for Expertise will even you never lose that challenge).
And there are often friends to help generate advantage too (Faerie Fire, Blindness, Shoving friend, etc).
2. With Elven Accuracy and comparable CHA, you are comfortable enough with hitting chances to use the -5+10 against all targets with AC <17 even at low level.

So comparing with the lost features...
a) -2 (start) -4 (end) +10: net win.
b) auto-advantage: this one is more costly if you have to find another way to generate advantage yourself. You'd trade 1d10+STR+Rage for advantage. So for a lone GWM feat user, the cost is indeed high. Ways to circumvent/reduce would be Battlemaster (Precision or Trip) and... Basically it? I feel I miss something but not sure.

That holds true only for GWM though. For any other kind of Barbarian (and especially the tanky kind) Elven Accuracy is a very worthy feat as long as you know why you want to build around it. :)

For a sword and board Zealot especially, since its bonus damage is once per turn only, the opportunity cost of going Hexblade is very low: just one level is enough. As a result you are as tanky as hell, and you can simply pick either Polearm Master (although a bit cheesy as always with a shield off-hand) or Shield Master (much better if DM ignores the stupid useless nerf).

And when you pair that with a precast upcast Armor of Agathys (if you dual-class Warlock/Bard for any reason), enemies will fear you. ^^

AND it also means you get a good cantrip for when raging would be useless anyways (read: flyers).