Late game barbarian advice

[DrWormMD]

Our campaign has been in progress for close to two irl years now and most of the party just hit level 17. Playing a barbarian, I did very well from level 1 to about level 12. At that point, I started to be outclassed by most of the other party members and started to struggle in encounters with high CR enemies. Everything was fine then because I understand that the barbarian is an early game powerhouse who drops off in the later levels and I was glad that the rest of the party was getting their chance to shine.
Now we’re at level 17 and I am HILARIOUSLY useless in almost all of our fights. One hold monster, confusion, or similar type of spell puts me out of commission for a majority of the fight with impossible (for me) save DCs. I can’t engage at a range or evade easily, and I don’t have too many movement options, so I typically am able to be focused down very quickly.
Like I said, I get that I’m supposed to be weaker this late in the game, but I’m lucky to get more than a few swings in at this point. It’s frustrating to say the least, andstarting to affect my enjoyment of the game. Does anyone have any advice for me on how to be able to contribute more in combat? Am I already fulfilling the barbarian’s late game role by simply being a wall of HP and eating debilitating spells early in combat? Should I just resign myself to getting thrashed and trashed like that in every encounter?

[Stygofthedump]

Honestly at LV17 I'm guessing the whole system breaks down. But If I were to guess i'd say you need more magic item options.

[MeeposFire]

Unfortunately it sounds like you could really use resilient wisdom to help protect you against some of these effects but being that you are level 17 unless your DM allows for a partial rebuild to let you take that instead of an ASI we would have to look elsewhere (or wait until level 19 but who wants to do that?).

What does the rest of the party look like? Perhaps they may be able to hep.

[LudicSavant]

Since you're already level 17 I'm not sure how much power you have to go back and avoid throwing all your build resources into trap options such as those recommended by some of the forum Barbarian guides (a few of them seem to be written with the "all the enemies will just walk up to you and use weapon attacks" mindset, which results in characters that get totally thrashed by enemies that use other tactics).

Given this, one of the routes that is likely to produce the biggest immediate benefit will be looking for new ways other members of the party can synergize with you. Unfortunately I can't give a lot of specific advice on that since I'd have to know the specific builds of both you and the rest of the party. Besides looking for new party action combos, if you have the option to go out and buy magic items (or otherwise deliberately acquire specific ones you want), there are a few that can help make you suck less compared to casters and the like. But again to pick the best options for you, specifically, I'd need more information.

[GlenSmash!]

As much as people like to laud the typicla GWM feat for Barbarians when I was choosing a level 1 feat for my current Zealot it was between Resilient (wisdom) or Lucky. I went will resilient to help round out that 13 Wisdom I had. I might still get Lucky later on, and that's will Zealot's getting a re-roll on failed saves once per rage at level 10.

Barbarians are good and dealing damage and taking damage, and if you are Stunned or otherwise stuck you are doing neither of those.

Somewhat of an aside: This is why I think Half-elves are underrated as Barbarians. Immunity to the Sleep spell shores up an easy way an NPC would have had for knocking you out of a Rage.

So do you have resilient wisdom or lucky? Do you have a Paladin in the party you can stand next near?

[JakOfAllTirades]

It sounds to me like your team (I'm using that word intentionally here) isn't supporting you very well. When he's not shut out of the fight, a 17th level barbarian WILL wreck some serious face, and your team should be well aware of how important it is to keep you in the fight.

Do you spellcasters ever think about helping you out? Is the bad guy out of your reach? At 17th level, casting a Fly spell on you should be easy for them. Difficult terrain? Freedom of Movement should also be an easy fix. And they should absolutely be counterspelling those Confusion and Hold Person spells so that their heavy hitter isn't out of the action.
(FFS, my party's Wizard started using Counterspell to protect the front-liners as soon as he got the spell at 5th level!)

Ranged combat is a bit harder to remedy; Barbarians generally rely on thrown weapons for ranged attacks, and 5E seems to hate thrown weapons in general. There's no fighting style or feat support to improve thrown weapon fighting, so you're stuck throwing javelins for base damage plus Strength, and you can't rage while doing so. You're probably just better off finding a way to get into melee faster, either via spells or magic items.

Speaking of which, do you have any magic items? At 17th level, I'm guessing your party has a few. Are any of them of the movement enhancing variety? If someone else in the group has an item that could help you, maybe you could offer them a trade. Failing that, I'd start looking for an item elsewhere and start figuring out how you're going to acquire it; cash payment or swapping an item for it. (Winged boots, Wings of Flying, whatever.)

Also, are you proficient with Wisdom saves? Whatever your 16th level ASI/Feat choice was, it probably should have been Resilient (Wisdom), unless your DM isn't allowing feats. If you don't have this feat already, talk with your DM about replacing one of your existing feats with it, because you seriously need it.

[GlenSmash!]

Ranged combat is a bit harder to remedy; Barbarians generally rely on thrown weapons for ranged attacks, and 5E seems to hate thrown weapons in general. There's no fighting style or feat support to improve thrown weapon fighting, so you're stuck throwing javelins for base damage plus Strength, and you can't rage while doing so. You're probably just better off finding a way to get into melee faster, either via spells or magic items..

I've chucked a far amount of Javelins with my Barbarians over the years, and I still pick up a Longbow as soon as a I can. 14 Dex + Proficiency to hit is not too shabby, and even at disadvantage due to long range it's better than not being able to engage in combat at all. It's also sufficient to keep a Rage going.

Bonus, It works with a Zealot's Divine Fury!

[MaxWilson]

*snip*

Other posters have said most of what I'd want to say already but I did want to congratulate you, Dr. Worm, on how good you've been getting on the drums.

[Deathtongue]

One hold monster, confusion, or similar type of spell puts me out of commission for a majority of the fight with impossible (for me) save DCs. I can’t engage at a range or evade easily, and I don’t have too many movement options, so I typically am able to be focused down very quickly. By level 17, you should definitely have some way to boost your WIS saving throw. Having CON and WIS saving throw proficiency after level 10 is IMO is not negotiable unless you're a CHA-heavy paladin.

That said, it also sounds like you're not getting the support you need from your party. On my Evoker wizard, I always keep Protection from Evil and Good, Dispel Magic, Greater Invis, Thunder Step/Dimension Door, Fly, and Haste prepared. Not just for myself, but for the melee party members.

[MaxWilson]

That said, it also sounds like you're not getting the support you need from your party. On my Evoker wizard, I always keep Protection from Evil and Good, Dispel Magic, Greater Invis, Thunder Step/Dimension Door, Fly, and Haste prepared. Not just for myself, but for the melee party members.

Not to mention Counterspell.

[Aaron Underhand]

I would seriously attempt some analysis of what had happened in the previous 20 encounters.

Then redo, assuming you had greater invisibility cast on you. An awful lot of spells cannot target an unseen character. That one spell may well put you mostly back in the fights..

[JakOfAllTirades]

I would seriously attempt some analysis of what had happened in the previous 20 encounters.

Then redo, assuming you had greater invisibility cast on you. An awful lot of spells cannot target an unseen character. That one spell may well put you mostly back in the fights..

Hadn't thought of that one. Excellent advice for buffing a heavy hitter.

And I hope this thread is helpful to the OP.