Optimizing Fun: A Barbarian Guide

[Crucius]

Optimizing Fun: A Barbarian Guide

Tired of playing the same old “me mad, me smash” barbarian? Does combat feel like a boxing match where all that happens is the same basic melee attack over and over? Then you’ve come to the right place. This is a guide to play a barbarian and have fun with it, at all times. This means you making some tough choices during character creation and me spouting some controversial bull just to get a lot of traffic on this post. It is of course written in a boorish humoristic tone because that seems to be a must-have for any barbarian guide. So meta.

Table of contents:
- Introduction and ramblings of a mad man who has played too much barbarian
- Ability scores
- Barbarian roles
- Weapon choice and skills
- Class features
- Subclasses
- Feats
- Multiclassing
- Races

Introduction
There are a lot of guides on the internet already, a lot regarding optimization, most with some very strong opinions. Opinions I once fell for so this guide is here to provide some counter-noise. In this guide I will attempt not to tell you what to do (which is a weird goal to set for a guide). I try not to present anything as an ultimate truth. Think of it more as advice from someone who plays barbarian a lot, to those that want to start playing it, or those that are looking for any and all bits of information on this class (don't pretend, we've all been there; binging opinion articles, reading up on every interaction of every class feature, combing through sage advice, looking for creative uses for that one thing). This is mostly for the beer-and-pretzel type games (or gin-and-salmon games for the gentleman barbarians among us), with hopefully some insights that even optimizers can enjoy. If at any point you think that the tone shifts from advisory to obligatory just think "F*ck that guy! I can do what I want!" and you'll have made me happy nonetheless. But you are not here to make me happy, you are here to read some smack about the first class in the book!

THE BARBARIAN!

Why play a barbarian?
- You like melee combat and want to excel in it. Good, because there will be a ton of it.
- You like to take risks. With this I mean in-game, not in the design stage of the character.
- You like teamplay (tank barbarians mostly). Strategizing and planning the best way to have your friends' backs. Just don't get stabbed in yours (Et tu, Brute?).

Quick pros and cons thingy (it always makes me think about inmates writing poetry):

Pros:
- Rage is a wonderfully expressive ability. No other class can display their anger or fury through such transformative means (it feels super awesome to reply with just ‘Rage’ when insulted or provoked).
- Barbarians make great tanks. Aside from the Cavalier (Fighter subclass from XGtE), barbs have the best tools to draw aggro (however the ancestral guardian subclass still beats that).
- The survivability of this class is super intense.
- It is the master of advantage (strength saves, strength checks, attack rolls, dex saves, initiative). It gets so much die manipulation, it almost puts the divination wizard to shame. Almost.

Cons:
- This class has painfully little in combat micro-choices to make. Without feats or multiclass prolonged fights can become slugfests.
- Because of that it really benefits from lots of feats just like the fighter, but doesn't get nearly as much.
- Barely any ranged capabilities, but that's what happens with a melee focused class.

The barbarian class is tailored to melee combat; it gets almost exclusively combat features during level up. This is fine and all, except that D&D isn’t all about combat. It is also about exploration, social encounters and banging every NPC that smiles at you (What? Just me?). With the barbarian’s inherent MADness (Multiple Ability (score) Dependent) it is hard to contribute outside of combat with skill checks. Conventionally a barbarian wants high strength, average dexterity and high constitution, meaning you quickly arrive at 15,14,15 with point buy which leaves you with 2 points left for a roleplay skill. It so happens to be that strength only has one skill associated with it and constitution a whopping zero skills. Athletics is great and all, but the proverb “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” does not really apply here since not everything can be solved using this skill, no matter the creativity of the player. Restrictions breed creativity, yes, but D&D is a game with concrete rules, not every problem can be tackled with raw strength. More options/choices means more creative uses for them. I’m not saying the MADness’ effect on skills is a design flaw of the barbarian. The take home message is that some effort has to be put in to make a barbarian fun out of combat and some concessions have to be made in ability score distribution. Proficiency alone is not enough to elevate a specific skill to excellence levels, so in order to really shine at times the corresponding ability score will probably have to be acceptable as well. Multiclassing into a spellcaster circumvents this a bit, as utility spells can add to an out of combat roleplay niche.

In some sense this actually is an optimization guide, but with a focus on creating as much space for roleplay. That way your character doesn’t fall behind on damage potential compared to other party members (which might feel bad), while excelling in a certain roleplay aspect decided on by you. Soren Johnson once wrote “Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game.” And this right here is why I am writing this guide. There are classes that can be optimized and still be fun, and there are players that think dealing very high damage is fun. But if you are not one of those players but still want to play the (conventional) barbarian, there is some extra legwork involved.

Optimization (or min-maxing) is a funny thing; the goal is to consistently get the highest damage output possible to make the enemies dead as quickly as possible. Note that there are two aspects to optimization; dealing high damage, but also doing it steadily. This almost always means that there is only ONE method within a character's kit to facilitate this maximum damage. Rarely are there two options that net the exact same (average) damage, that use different resources (i.e. spell slots, maneuvers etc). A point can be made regarding specific circumstances where having multiple options is beneficial (think of enemies having resistance to the preferred method's damage type), but this can be coupled to consistency as then there is a back-up/alternative so that a character is not caught with their pants down.

This means that the player severely limits him- or herself in the choices they can make with this type of character. In my opinion, while creating an optimized character is a lot of fun in its own way (puzzling together all the skills, determining what combo’s and what doesn't, plugging holes in the character), it is during the actual moment-to-moment gameplay the player will probably notice that all their choices went into character creation, rather than the gameplay. Consistency dictates that the combo works in as many situations as possible, therefore it is only in niche moments any sub-optimal options can be better. There is of course a difference between building an optimized character and actually playing it optimally, however chances are high it feels "off" when a sub-optimal choice is made, knowing the damage could have been more.

The reason this section is included in a guide for barbarians is because I noticed it when I started playing my first barbarian character. I made a bear totem warrior with high strength and constitution, and dumped the rest. I wanted to be the party tank. As a result I had no roleplay skills that someone else in the party didn't do better, I got a passive ability in the bear totem spirit, and reckless attack was always a no-brainer since I want to incentivize enemies to hit me instead of the pretty sorcerer. Most notably, I ended up with a character I was unable to roleplay due to all the stats I dumped (totally my fault, trust me, I know). I noticed the lack of choice within my character and everything felt like a total slugfest. It was only after I did some soul-searching and decided that the less optimal route is the fun route, I started having some fun with the barbarian.

The barbarian provides a great framework to build a melee warrior on. Rage is a great ability to express a character with as it brings with it a profound transformation. On a macro-scale the barbarian can be built very differently, especially with feats, but for micro-level decisions the barbarian is the worst class to play. Choices are what make D&D (or any RPG for that matter) fun, and the barbarian has almost none. Rage is more of resource management than choice, as it feels naked to enter combat without it and reckless attack is so good for the tanking-type barbarians that, as was said previously, it is a no-brainer to use.

If there is any tip I can give you with this guide, it is to take risks. The barbarian has the highest survivability of any class (damage resistance, advantage on dex saves, hit points out of the ass), it can take a beating. If the dungeon crawl is going too slow because the party wants to probe every 5 feet square for traps, just stoically walk ahead of them. Pacing is important and if the DM is capable and/or kind he or she will thank you for speeding up the sessions.

Guide to the guide:
I included some symbols behind the standard color coding used in many articles to account for those with colorblindness.
Gold (+++): The best thing. Rarely happens because fun is the best thing.
Sky Blue (++): A very good thing. This happens.
Blue (+): A good thing. This is a thing. That is good.
Black (0): This is okay. This comes from the phrase 'oll korrect' from the 1830's.
Purple (-): The bad thing. A song by the band Periphery.
Red (--): A very bad thing. Not a song. Also pretty rare. You do you boo.

[Crucius]

Ability scores (assuming point buy):
While this is a guide aimed at building a fun barbarian, that doesn't mean we should be doing preposterous things. I won't be giving anything here a rating below purple, since for the purposes of roleplay and having fun, no sacrifice is too great.

- Strength (+): Before you ignite your keyboards with furious typing, allow me to explain why this isn't gold (+++); I said I came here to help you create a fun barbarian, this means taking some points away from the usual pump stats and saying controversial stuff. Contrary to popular belief, the barbarian does not need the highest strength possible to be a good melee warrior. It gets a flat damage bonus from rage, and advantage with reckless attack, so it won't suck with just 14 or 16 strength. This means you can spare some points for roleplay stats, pick a race that doesn't boost the barbarians usual stats, and/or pick feats over ASI's.
- Dexterity (+/0): Dexterity is a tough one. It is a very good ability in 5e as it governs the primary saving throw against damage, initiative and, in the barbarian's case, unarmored defense. For the DPR/flanker style barbarians (see below) you will want a decent AC and therefore a decent Dex (14 max). This means that the barbarian is inherently slightly MAD, as medium armor and unarmored defense benefit from an okay Dex, and heavy armor is a no-go. It becomes better if you want a lot of Dex skills anyways, but if your roleplay skills of choice are elsewhere (Int, Wis or Cha) it makes it MAD. Danger sense picks up a lot of slack on dex saves, but high initiative is very nice since it is not a given that a rage can be pulled off before initiative is rolled. If the barbarian is late, their hp will tick down very fast and that feels very sh*tty. Dex barbs can be a thing, but rage and reckless attack only apply on strength attacks so out goes a lot of the barbarian's gifts. I like that it is sub-optimal, but I don't like that it ignores a lot the class' core abilities.
- Constitution (++/+): This determines the barbarians HP and AC so it is quite important. Con saves are often nasty so the proficiency in it is very welcome. More important for tank style barbarians (see below), and if you agree with the tanking fallacy (see below…er). AC adds to survivability but not to tankability, HP adds to both survivability and tankability. However, the flanker types can wear medium armor and move points from Con to Dex for similar AC, but trade HP for higher initiative and Dex saves/skill checks.

The roleplay stats are up next. After advocating for putting more points into them it feels stupid to give them a score, so I didn’t. Any scoring can be inferred from the text.

- Intelligence: Points in this will be going towards roleplay and nothing else. There are some good skills here, so if you want more than just your proficiency bonus on skills in this ability, you could consider putting some points here. You will also be helping in the hard-fought battle against the cliché that all barbarians have the brain power of a shoelace. Thank you!
- Wisdom: Mostly roleplay, but there are some effects on wisdom saves that can cripple a barbarian or its party (frightened and dominate effects are not fun). Note that based on these effects it can be inferred that wisdom governs mental stability more than intelligence. So if a mad barbarian is your forte (we're all mad here), consider dumping wisdom. The skills do suit a more traditionally flavored barbarian (that means it is seasoned with spicy herbs).
- Charisma: Lots of roleplay skills here, and the Berserker can use it to frighten enemies with. It represents sense of self and self-esteem, so if you want a warrior that will not move from their present plane of existence, or just a cocky bastard, this is your ability.

Barbarian roles:

- Tank: High HP, low/moderate AC, feat selection geared towards protecting allies, drawing aggro and/or preventing movement of enemies (*cough* sentinel *cough*).
- DPR/Flanker: Moderate HP, moderate/high AC, feat selection geared towards high damage or maneuverability. Basically a babysitter of the enemy wizard in the back, just chase them around.

Tanking in 5e is a bit strange. There are no direct guidelines present in the rules for how to tank, and it mostly depends on specific situations (or the DM. It depends on the DM.). This doesn't mean it is a futile endeavor; in fact there are plenty of small things that can add up to a semi-consistent tanking experience. First let's discuss the two central dogmas of tanking in 5e. For this it should be noted that tanking can almost exclusively be done in melee combat, bar providing an ally cover against ranged attacks with your body or the odd feat.

1): You tank on your HP, not your AC. An intelligent enemy/DM will attack the most opportune target. Having a high AC will not make for an attractive target (this is the tanking fallacy), the barbarian 'wants' to get hit. Well not really, it wants to be attacked, but it can take the hit. Much better than the pretty sorcerer in the back at least. Providing advantage on yourself with reckless attack is necessary to incentivize enemies into attacking the barbarian, and this even works moderately well with ranged attacks. The path of the Ancestral Guardian and the Cavalier archetype from the fighter class are clear exceptions to this dogma and can tank with high AC, not despite. They impose disadvantage on attack rolls on others, and since punishing is much more noticeable than rewarding, it is a great way to draw aggro.
2): You tank with positioning and stickiness. The rage damage resistance has a flip side. Those same intelligent enemies/DM will notice that the damage their attacks do are not as good as they could be when hitting the pretty sorcerer in the back. At this point it is important that the enemy can't just walk over to said sorcerer and tear them a new one. Opportunity attacks make the difference here; the enemy can't walk past the barbarian without risking a lot of pain. This is a thin shield however, since there is only the one reaction per round, and the enemy can decide to keep walking after taking it on the chin (this is why sentinel works as a tanking feat). Increasing the nova potential of each hit or taking the sentinel feat will help increase stickiness. Grappling is also a good way to obstruct the enemy, however this usually works best when there has been some clue that the enemy is going for the backline ("I'm coming for you, pretty sorcerer!"), otherwise you will have used one (or more) of your attacks for a grapple that ends up doing nothing, and that doesn't feel fun.

Since this is not based on hard mechanics, but on observations of (mostly) human behavior in target prioritization, it is not gospel. Sadly, there is not hard truth in this, and that is fine. It is fine to be sad once in a while. Remember, we are here to shatter the image of the macho barbarians, and the gentleman barbarian sheds a tear every now and then.

Roleplaying attacks goes a long way into drawing aggro, so creativity is king here. The pretty sorcerer's massive AoE damage doesn't discriminate, but the barbarian can make each attack very personal, even when they don't deal as much damage as that one spell. This can be a decisive factor in the "Hmmm, who shall I attack next" equation.
Weapon choice:
This does not matter, the barbarian is good with everything and it does not increase your micro-choice potential (big weapons for big style, sword and board are slightly in favor of the flanker playstyle and two-weapon fighting works well because of the flat damage bonus rage provides). Feats can restrict the weapon choice so if it is important to your character's background you can think about this in advance.

The only time it could matter is with the DPR/Flanker style barbarian with a reach weapon. This allows it to circumvent triggering opportunity attacks by staying at a leisurely 10 feet distance and subsequently backpedaling to the safety of the party tank (if there is one). It technically increases the action radius of (opportunity) attacks so even tank barbarians might like equipping polearms. Bear in mind (no pun intended) that if you want to focus on shoving enemies prone somehow you only get the advantage while being at 5 feet from the target. Same goes for that sweet paralyze crit combo with the pretty sorcerer in your party.

Skills:
You do you boo.

Okay I won’t keep it that brief. Athletics of course deserves special mention as grappling and shoving can be a core of the barbarian gameplay. This is something only (strength based) melee classes can reliably do and the barbarian excels in it when raging. It offers some more options to the basic attack action and can open up some nice strategies (with other party members).
I, personally, don’t understand the arbitrary skill restrictions most classes have, and I urge you to convince your DM to abandon it to allow for more creative variations on each class.
Unearthed Arcana had some feats that give (expertise to) a skill while also enabling some kind of special action with that skill. If you fancy one of those it is wise to take that skill and turn it into expertise, while leaving that ability score uneven so it gets boosted to an even number. Talk with your DM of course if this type of content is allowed. I think it is fine, but I’m just a random person, with an opinion, on the internet no less, so don’t let me tell you what to do. “But you are writing a guide, you are literally telling me what to do!”, to which I respond “Damn! The voices are back!”.

If your DM allows you to customize your background (2 skills, 2 languages/tools and a feature from the backgrounds list) it is my advice to take tools over languages every time. This gives your character an instant niche will providing a pseudo proficiency in various skills that you would/could otherwise not have. See Xanathar’s Guide to Everything for more concrete guidelines as to what tools apply to what skills under specific circumstances. Don’t dismiss languages immediately though, especially when creating a character together with someone else. You might have shared history and, in that case, speaking each other’s languages can add to the flavor immensely.
Class features:
- Rage (+++): This is the thing to play barbarian for. Express emotions by physically altering how the character plays. This does not mean that rage is always anger. Many have postulated that rage can also be seen as a heightened combat state, one of pure focus and adrenaline. This is great as it allows for a much broader spectrum of character types and roleplay besides the obvious scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-rage barbarian. Rage makes shoving and grappling extra viable and this can be a great way of single target CC (Crowd Control) (in case you are new to this; the prone condition, inflicted via the shove action, can be remedied by using half your movement. However, the grappled condition states that your speed is 0. Therefore, a prone and grappled creature can never get up until the grappled condition is removed). Damage resistance is a super strong ability and the barbarian’s best friend. No heavy armor or spellcasting allowed. The advantage on strength saves feels a bit redundant since the barbarian already is proficient in them, but now it truly is an unshakable pillar of complex emotions. A rage can be lost/wasted by not adhering to the specific conditions that apply (should have read the terms and agreements), which adds some complexity to the barbarians play style, but not a whole lot sadly. It disincentivizes doing anything else more than it adds to the tactical side of things, which is a shame. Making a skill check with your precious action is playing with fire as it cannot be guaranteed that you take damage this round (especially without going reckless to incentivize enemies attacking you). Luckily daddy Crawford sage advised that grappling and shoving is an attack so at least that can be done without risk of losing the rage. Bonus points for creatively disguising skill checks as attacks (opening a door -> smash the wood). Rage also gives a flat damage bonus that scales on higher levels. It may not look like much, but for optimization’s sake, every time you see a flat damage boost given to something (this applies beyond the barbarian class of course), think about maximizing the number of attacks you make. Two-weapon fighting or the Berserker subclass allow to get more mileage out of the rage damage bonus. The barbarian also gets more rages per day at higher levels. When considering multiclass it is good to know what kind of game the DM is trying to run; the DMG advises for 6-8 combat encounters per adventuring day. However, from experience, most games will see fewer, somewhere between 2-5 depending on the difficulty. This means that three rages are often more than enough when the DM is not strict on those guidelines, which allows for better multiclass (read: at earlier levels).
- Unarmored defense (+): While it has the potential to bring the barbarian’s AC higher than medium armor ever can, in reality there are not that many ability score points to spare to realize this. To be on par with decent medium armor, one would need 18 constitution plus 14 dexterity. Therefore, medium armor will be slightly better most of the time. This is also nice in midnight ambush situations where no armor is donned. This does not mean the barbarian has to fight bare-chested, I see it more as natural fortitude that applies under any piece of clothing. This actually gives the barbarian (and monk for that matter) the potential to be the best dressed class! Great for social situations where armor is not allowed.
- Reckless attack (+++) for tank style, blue (+) for flanker style: On demand advantage on strength-based melee attacks; so higher hit chance, higher crit chance and never disadvantage on an attack. The tradeoff here is that enemies have advantage back on any attack roll for the rest of the round. Great for incentivizing enemies to attack the barbarian, but not so great for trying to fly under the radar while smashing the backline. Tanking style barbarians will find that this ability is almost always on, unless there is another source of advantage presented, and maybe then still to draw aggro away from the pretty sorcerer. Sadly, even though it works an entire round, it doesn’t work on reaction attacks, so opportunity attacks are not made with advantage (very sad because tank types would love this).
- Danger sense (++): While the description may be a little vague, the ability is as follows: You have advantage on dexterity saving throws unless you are blinded, deafened or incapacitated. Dex saves usually cause a lot of damage when failed so this adds immensely to the barbarian’s survivability. While not explicitly stated, it could be seen as a ‘spidey sense’ so a cool DM could be convinced to incorporate this in the barbarian’s kit (uncanny feeling about a person or imminent trap triggering for example).
- Extra attack (+): Lemme smash! Twice! “Wait again with this bullsh*t?! Why is this not sky blue (++) or gold (+++)?” Let me explain: when you take an action to do a skill check in combat, you forego not one, but two attacks, and that hurts. On the other side; two times the damage and one turn shove-grapple combos! This is still some very sick ****! Also remember, if you feel like there is not a whole lot of choice or variety in your attack, having two of them is not going to make it much better. Most guides tell you not to multiclass before reaching level 5 because it is such a massive damage spike (which is very true), but if you are bored because every combat feels like the same slugfest, trading inconsequential blows with the enemy until either one is dead, it might be better to change that with a multiclass sooner rather than later.

Here is some advice:

If you have a build/combo/theme in mind, find the shortest way to do what you want, and worry about doing that thing as good as possible later. This also applies to the choice between feats and ASI’s. Feats give extra choice, ASI’s give extra power.

For example I multiclassed to Battlemaster fighter to expand my attack options and I did so before reaching level 5 in barbarian. I didn’t care about power, I cared about fun. I was able to do what I wanted, and when I reached level 5 in barbarian I was able to do it even better.

In another example I multiclassed from an Oath of Conquest paladin to barbarian waiting until after the aura of conquest came online on level 7. It is such a core ability to the playstyle, while reckless attack only complements the wrathful smite to set it all up.

It helps to identify each ability in your build and see what pieces are vital, and what pieces make it easier to execute.
Be able to do it first, be able to do it well second.
- Fast movement (+): Movement determines whether a melee class can attack or not so this is not something to be sneezed at. A free upgrade to movement is never wasted because it allows for better positioning. Slightly better for flanker type barbarians, as they can more easily reach exposed targets.
- Feral instinct (+): If your barbarian’s dexterity is low, this is a super sweet buff. Advantage on initiative will make a big difference. As said previously, initiative most likely determines when a rage is pulled off which reduces damage taken significantly. Not being surprised takes care of this also.
- Brutal critical (-): It’s a passive ability, one that triggers only rarely and while it feels beastly to roll more dice, it is explicitly worded to add only one die more. So when wielding a greatsword or maul it only adds 1d6, therefore it implores using a big single die weapon. It’s a good ability, but a bit painful to only get this when spellcasters get a whole new suite of spells to choose from.
- Relentless rage (++): Laugh in the face of death, and then kick its teeth in! This goes really well with the ‘take risks’ tip I gave earlier. Resets on a short rest, which is the first thing the barbarian gets that goes on a short rest.
- Persistent rage (0): It’s okay. Losing a rage kinda sucks, and this protects you from it. However, at this level the barbarian will have 5 rages per long rest, which is more than there are combats in a day usually, unless the DM strictly follows the guidelines in the DMG. It also prevents a DM from shutting down the barbarian’s rage which could lead to interesting moments or intense story beats.
- Indomitable might (+): An almost instant success on skill checks? Hell yes! *checks notes* oh. Only on strength. It’s still cool, makes grapples and shoves super viable and bursting through walls and doors a breeze.
- Primal champion (+): It’s so strong! But so boring! SOOO STRONG. SOOO BORING. Arguably one of the strongest capstones of any class, even though it’s a bit uninspired. At this level the barbarian gets infinite rages, which makes persistent rage a bit redundant, but still nice anyways to have that security.

I don’t know where to put this exactly, but I guess here is fine. Keep in mind that the barbarian (and a lot of melee classes) can only attack AC. Why is this a problem?

Let’s say you play the pretty sorcerer and an enemy has high dexterity and saves on your Erupting Earth spell. That sucks, but then you cast a spell that targets the enemies’ strength save as you deduct that it’s probably low.

If an enemy has high AC, there are no alternatives to target. Sure, there is a metagame of advantage and disadvantage to be played, but that doesn’t feel as satisfying as noticing and exploiting a weakness in the enemies’ stat block. Some subclasses have features that ask for saving throws, so if you like tactical wit, you might want to read those with extra care.

[Crucius]

Subclasses:
Barbarians walk paths, lonesome at first, with friends later on. It literally implies character development. Paths usually look like this:

- Level 3: Core feature. Works with rage, which makes this feature the most important one when deciding which subclass to play.
- Level 6: Flavor/minor buff feature. Usually gives the subclass a bit more of a distinct characteristic.
- Level 10: ???. No clue what the common thread here is, but they vary wildly in usefulness/power. Usually not too strong.
- Level 14: Gamechanger. Massive spike in power, some abilities literally change the playstyle of the subclass.

Path of the Berserker (-):
I’m having trouble recommending this subclass. It’s strong in the combat department, but literally at the cost of skills and that is its most egregious flaw in my opinion. It doesn’t help that Path of the Zealot has comparable DPR (until the retaliation feature comes online), while getting features that are arguably just as good.

- Level 3: Frenzy (-/--): Kick your rage into froth-in-mouth-overdrive; Bonus action attack, now that is a strong opener for a subclass. This comes online before anyone gets an extra attack which is probably why it gives an exhaustion when using it. I love the risk/reward choice it gives on every rage the barbarian enters. Now there are a few problems with it; Exhaustion. This is a problem. Disadvantage on skill checks might not hurt the classic barbarian as much, but damn does it suck to… well… suck (no not like that, get your mind out of the gutter). Keep in mind that rolling initiative is a dexterity skill check so technically the disadvantage counts on that too. Furthermore, most combats last 3-5 rounds, which means that the berserker only gets 2-4 bonus action attack since the first turn is used for raging violently (see this (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/93183/how-many-rounds-does-the-average-combat-encounter-last)). This ability becomes stronger the longer combats last, but that’s DM dependent and hard to gauge during character creation. A similar experience can be had by fighting with two weapons, albeit at a lower DPR. Another (very small) downside is that it only allows to make a weapon attack, not a shove, as a bonus action, so it’s not super versatile.
- Level 6: Mindless rage (++): Being frightened sucks yo! Holy moly. Unless your barbarian has a high wisdom to pass the repeat save it is crippled hard. The barbarian can get around disadvantage with reckless attack but not being able to move closer makes the difference between all the damage or none at all. Charmed can be devastating (dominate person for instance) so this also protects the party in some way. The only downside is that it’s a passive ability, except maybe during some niche social situations where a rage can be used by the barbarian to come to its senses momentarily to warn the party.
- Level 10: Intimidating presence (+/0): Being frightened sucks yo! So inflict it onto enemies. This works well for a barbarian with a high charisma. While it is nice to finally have an alternative to ye olde attack action, the problem is that it takes the entire action to do, and can be extended using, you guessed it, an action. Locking down an enemy means locking down the barbarian (that’s one intense staring contest). It’s not complete garbage because this has some solid use outside of combat but is kinda overshadowed by the Menacing feat released in Unearthed Arcana. That one uses only one of the attacks rather than the whole action but does cost a feat so yeah… choices.
- Level 14: Retaliation (++): Any damage an enemy does to the barbarian evokes a slap on the wrist. With a greataxe. To the face actually. Recommended for babysitters (this is a metaphor, don’t go around slapping babies). This ability doesn’t specify the source of the damage, only that the barbarian has to be within 5 feet to dole out a punch. The only downside is that there is only the one reaction per round.

Path of the Totem Warrior (++/+):
A subclass with sub-choices, therefore it’s hard to give it a concise rating. Can be built pretty versatile. However only the level 3 and level 14 features are worth mentioning so this subclass works excellent if multiclass is on your mind. Note that it is possible to mix and match, so going bear at level 3 doesn’t equate to picking bear at every other level. Bonus points for coming from a clan with a chimeric animal as a totem.

- Level 3: Spirit seeker (+/0):
You might say “HAH! A niche ability, spells nonetheless, with minimal combat utility, this is perfect!”, to which I say “Maybe!”. The fact that these spells are rituals is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for being always freely available, a curse for taking 10 minutes to cast and therefore ruining any chance of spontaneity. I have been playing this as an ‘at will’ cast to talk with the ranger’s pet panther, instead of doing the ritual thing every time, and no-one has caught on yet because it doesn’t break the game. It is hard to foresee a situation where it would break the game, but I have no doubt the comment section will snarkily provide one.
- Level 3: Totem spirit:
Bear (+): The funny part about this sub-subclass is that fancy schmancy damage types become more prevalent at higher levels. At lower levels the enemy roster is not really comprised of dragons or spellcasters. Furthermore, there is a difference between active tanking and passive sponging; With reckless attack the barbarian can only draw in attack rolls, and more often than not those will deal physical damage (bludgeoning, piercing or slashing). I gave this a blue (+) rating to counter the general consensus that this is the no-brainer option of the five totem spirits. As I said previously, resistance is very strong, but this is one of the most boring choices, as it does not change the barbarian playstyle whatsoever. Geared more towards tanking style barbarians, but widely applicable to any playstyle/build.
Eagle (+): Can be used to zip past the front line onto the backline and pound the living daylights out of it. However, the dash is a bonus action, the same bonus action that is used to rage. So that’s about as far as a strong combat opener goes. Where bear halves damage taken, the eagle has the potential to prevent all damage by staying out of range (of course not when the enemy has ranged attacks). Baiting out reactions on opportunity attacks with disadvantage is a nice trick and could really help your party. Grappling and dragging enemies away (30 ft movement with the dash) could be really funny. Works well for flanker types, but not so much for tank barbarians.
Wolf (++): Depends on party composition but this ability is one of the more active choices. This is not an ability you choose for yourself; this is the ability to tell your friends about during character creation because it’s a gamechanger, especially for a rogue. There is no golden number of melee classes in a party to warrant taking this, but it goes without saying that taking this while knowing that there will be no other melee classes is a bit foolish. Positioning will be king with this sub-subclass. It leans more towards tanking style barbarians since they like to be close to their party members but that is by no means a hard rule.
Elk (0): Similar to the eagle, but more straightforward and dare I say it, more boring. Eagle is the better choice, hands down.
Tiger (-): Barring a highly specific flavor or a DM that is known for wild multi-leveled battlefields, this is one to shy away from. The fly spell comes soon and completely outshines this.
- Level 6: Aspect of the beast:
More like flavor of the beast am I right? These feel a bit lackluster when compared to other subclass features at this level.
Bear (+): roleplay as a barbarian. Period. While it might seem redundant at first, it actually means that feats of strength are easier to pull off without expending a use of rage.
Eagle (+): roleplay as a barbarian to whom nothing escapes its gaze. Not in distance, nor in shade.
Wolf (-): roleplay as a ranger, I guess. While it is cool to relentlessly chase someone, this will hardly ever happen without the party present and they don’t get this bonus. Yes, separation from the party could lead to some interesting moments and the barbarian can easily take any punishment that might occur, but tread with caution. If you are playing a stealthy barbarian this becomes black (0).
Elk (0): roleplay as a horse. Well, actually an elk then. It’s pretty cool but traveling is most likely not such an arduous activity to warrant taking this. It counts for friends as well so that’s a bonus. However, as LudicSavant pointed out, it says you can travel at a normal pace while still retaining the benefits of traveling at a slow pace, so it becomes everything the Wolf brings, but for the entire party and more widely applicable.
Tiger (+/0): Yay for skill proficiencies, nay for them being the blandest most cliché skills possible. If your DM can be convinced that according to the rules stated in PHB p. 126 “If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead” you can take two duplicates and turn them into any skill, this becomes blue (+) instead. Still, getting skill proficiencies is a bit more generic than getting a specialized feature from one of the other four options.
- Level 10: Spirit walker (0):
This is all you get at this level. Oh yeah, some HP as well. Divination magic is really good, don’t get me wrong, but this spell is very niche. It gets worse when there is a ranger or druid in the party that occupy the niche of nature-lover much more strongly than the barbarian can. Okay, I’ll admit, I’m biased, it’s probably stronger/more fun than I give it credit for. See this as a reminder that guides are subjective articles which present no inherent objective truths.
- Level 14: Totemic attunement:
Bear (++) for tanking style, purple (-) for flanker style: This is compelled duel in overdrive. The ultimate barbarian tanking ability. Great for when the pretty sorcerer is getting styled upon and you can swoop in for the rescue.
Eagle (+): Mobility to the max. Works great in tandem with eagle totem spirit for 80 ft leaps. At this level it is great to be able to attack flying creatures, where otherwise they would be completely safe from attacks. Be cautious of height since you fall at the end of your turn. Or not. You have resistance to the falling damage anyways and HP out of the ass by now. Bonus points for positioning yourself above an enemy to deal the falling damage to it as well (discuss this with your DM).
Wolf (+): Great combo material, as the prone does not have a saving throw. However, for that reason I think that the elk is slightly more fun and thus I rated it higher, but this is a very close second. The combo could be reckless attack hit, bonus action prone, second attack grapple. Pretty snazzy. It is a bonus action though so only on turns 2 and onwards. If you are the type that wants to go for the same totem each time (as the book seems to want), then this feature is weirdly redundant with the wolf totem spirit feature, as the prone advantage is the same as advantage from the wolf spirit.
Elk (++): Any ability that turns movement into a weapon is worth the read. A solid alternative to reckless attack without making it completely obsolete. Works slightly better on flanker types as they tend to focus down one target. Literally in this case. Same combo as wolf is possible to lock down enemies, but without giving enemies advantage on you with reckless attack, while doing slightly more damage. It is risk vs reward, which I like. Bonus action means it is not usable as an opener move.
Tiger (0): Finally, the tiger gives something substantial. Strangely enough this works best with eagle or wolf totem spirit. Eagle lets you move more freely while wolf lets you zip from enemy to enemy, bringing along your entourage of death, hopefully killing the target before it’s your turn again. Bonus action again so no luck during the first round.

Path of the Battlerager (+):
Dwarves only. Now that’s racist. This subclass is okay. Lot’s of passive or uninspired features gained, but the spiked armor is quite juicy. It’s made 100% for combat, with most roleplay coming from your interpretation of the niche these types of dwarves fulfill in their society. The increased damage output, survivability, movement and also punishing enemies when attacking it, makes this subclass lean more towards a flanker type barbarian, especially one that pins down singled out targets.

- Level 3: Battlerager armor (sky blue) (++): This feature gives a polearm master type bonus action attack with the spiked armor. Rage damage applies on this too, so this is very good. Doesn’t give exhaustion levels unlike some other Path that gives bonus action attacks *cough*. Nice little bonus damage on grappling, something a barbarian is already naturally gifted in. Note that this feature doesn’t give the barbarian the spiked armor, they have to find it. It’s best to tell your DM ahead of time that you are taking this subclass so they can incorporate finding the armor in the world/story. That way the barbarian doesn’t have to pull the armor out of his ass (boy, that’s gotta hurt! Where else did you think they were hiding it all this time?).
- Level 6: Reckless abandon (+): It’s not a lot of temp HP, but it refreshes every round basically, so it will save HP in the long run. Quite strong, quite boring as well. Unless you really play the reckless attack metagame, then you get some more tactical choices out of this.
- Level 10: Battlerager Charge (0): Comes online quite late and is an inferior eagle spirit. It’s okay.
- Level 14: Spiked retribution (+): The damage is not very high, but it doesn’t use a reaction to dish out, so every hit hurts the enemy. It’s a passive feature, but it might change the playstyle to a bit more gung-ho aggressiveness by using reckless attack more if you used that sparingly until now.

Path of the Ancestral Guardian (+):
The ultimate tanking subclass. Debuffs enemies and prevents damage on allies. Never anything bad here, it even has some roleplay features in there.

- Level 3: Ancestral protectors (++): It modifies the barbarian’s attacks, which is a huge boon in the fun department. This makes you think about your turn order, which is a cool aspect; only the first creature you hit gets the debuff. Most barbarian subclasses unload all attacks onto one target, but with this one it’s a bit of a shame to ‘accidentally’ kill the target that just got debuffed. Just in case reckless attack wasn’t enough to draw aggro, with this the enemy has virtually no choice but to attack you. This subclass benefits from polearms or the mobile feat so they can dish out the debuff and smack someone else. It gives allies resistance from attacks from the debuffed enemy which is really strong. The downside is that it doesn’t protect allies from spells or other effects, but spirit shield picks up the slack in that department at level 6.
- Level 6: Spirit shield (+): Prevents damage to allies at range, and not by a little bit either (just yell ‘Spirits!’ when you roll poorly, just like Tarquin Victus did in Mass Effect 3). It also doesn’t specify what types of damage or what dealt it, nor is it on some kind of resource. It uses a reaction so there is a tactical choice to be made between this and increased stickiness with opportunity attacks (which is a good thing, choices are good things). The only downside is that it doesn’t scale very well.
- Level 10: Consult the spirits (+): Divination magic is strong and the flavor of these spells match really well with the subclass. The good thing is, it regenerates on a short rest, even though you can only cast one of the spells per rest, not both. The spells are 2nd and 3rd level, so nothing too fancy sadly. Still, cool flavor to meditate and ask the spirits for information.
- Level 14: Vengeful ancestors (++): Just as 4d6 damage reduction is not intense at this level, neither is 4d6 damage, but together it is a pretty damn good feature. It’s guaranteed damage (no save or attack) and chances are high that the full 4d6 are used to soak an attack at this level, so solid damage overall. Granted, the chance that an opportunity attack is triggered is usually lower than that a friendly is damaged and this feature really makes you think about which damage to soak to maximize return damage.

Path of the Storm Herald (0):
Sounds flashy; the power of the elements in an aura around the barbarian. However, in reality the features are good, but seldom great. At least you can swap them each level. It does allow for great elemental flavor (think of a genasi) or even aura stacking with scourge aasimar or a paladin multiclass. Pro-tip: taking up a mount means increasing the effective size of the aura from 24 (5*5-1) squares to 32 (6*6-4) squares.

- Level 3: Storm Aura:
Desert (-): Flat fire damage that increases at higher levels. Friendly fire is on (yes pun intended) and fire damage is one of the more resisted ones (source (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/103213/what-are-the-most-and-least-resisted-damage-types)). My problem with this ability is that beyond positioning and triggering the ability it’s execution is pretty passive, namely the flat damage which is boring. Rolling dice is part of the D&D experience, it is part of the engagement with the game, no matter how insubstantial it might seem. The benefit of flat damage, in this case at least, is that it cannot miss nor can creatures pass their saving throws for no damage. This means that it is a free DC10 constitution save on concentration for enemy spellcasters. Works best if this barbarian is in the thick of combat to target as many enemies as possible.
Sea (0): Be a walking tesla coil (Red Alert games anyone?). This is better in the way that you actually have to roll for damage besides triggering it, as well as the flexibility of asking a Dex save, where otherwise all the barbarian targets is AC. Works best for flanker types. There is a fun combo here with Tempest Cleric’s thunderous strike.
Tundra (+): Similar to the reckless abandon feature of the battlerager but also works for allies. Obviously works better for tanking style barbarians surrounded with a lot of allies (the exact opposite of the desert I guess).
- Level 6: Storm Soul (+): All terrains give their respective damage resistance (even outside of rage) and a cool out-of-combat trick intended to make this barbarian look like a badass. Nothing cantrips can’t do, so the damage resistance carries this feature.
- Level 10: Shielding Storm (+): The barbarian shares its damage resistance with its friends, but only while inside the rage aura. This leans heavily towards tundra at this point as it synergizes well. It at least picks up the slack in the desert department, but it’s still not great to scorch friendlies.
- Level 14: Raging Storm:
Desert (0): Similar to the berserker’s retaliation, except the enemy takes no damage on passing the saving throw. To waste an entire reaction for zero damage is a scary prospect to me and I foresee it would ruin my night quite often. It’s strong, but save-or-suck, and boy, would it suck.
Sea (0): Again save-or-suck, but the teamplay possibilities make it better. Still, it smells like an inferior tripping attack maneuver and that doesn’t sound like it should be a level 14 barbarian feature. Also uses your reaction.
Tundra (0): Save-or-suck once more, but it at least doesn’t use your reaction. Locking an enemy in place is pretty good, although the range is short so positioning is key.

Path of the Zealot (++):
Fight for a cause and don’t let up. Xanathar’s implies that cause should be a god, but creativity demands more! Fight for anarchy, against the institutions that oppress! Fight for your king, against the hordes that invade these lands! Fight for life, and laugh in the face of death!

- Level 3: Divine Fury (+): Nothing too flashy but very strong. This damage puts berserker barbarians to shame (sourcy vitamin water (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?604802-Berserker-is-balanced-with-Zealot-without-exhaustion-from-Frenzy)). Only the first hit receives the bonus damage so as soon as extra attack comes online and you want to hit multiple enemies there is some tact to it. It’s both a die (yay for crits) and flat damage so the best of both worlds. Works only on your turn so it doesn’t apply to reactions sadly. It would greatly increase the tanking ability by making your opportunity attacks very dangerous to trigger. Not Sky blue (++) because it’s a pretty boring addition to the barbarian, but its sheer power makes it really solid.
- Also level 3: Warrior of the Gods (0): remember when I said “that cause should be a god, but creativity demands more”, well I can’t talk my way around that anymore. Either way, this barbarian will not die. Adrian Carton de Wiart levels of will not die. Of course this requires someone that has resurrection spells, but if so, this allows for maximal risky plays.
- Level 6: Fanatical Focus (++): Indomitable while raging. Very very good, since a charm or frighten is much more crippling than actual damage. Since it’s ‘per rage’ instead of ‘per short rest’ it gets bonus points for seeing rages in a different light; In this case one could, hypothetically, choose to drop the rage and enter a new one if the combat demands it.
- Level 10: Zealous Presence (++): “Pep-talk”. Even though it can’t be used on the same turn while raging, a good use is actually on the second turn, where everyone is in position and any repeat-saving throws can be made with advantage. The range is ridiculous…ly awesome!
- Level 14: Rage Beyond Death (+++): That whole death thing some players are worried about. It ain’t happenin’ here. Carry some goodberries or have one healing word caster in the party and death is not coming. Ever. Makes Warrior of the Gods and Relentless rage a bit redundant, but a nice fall back to have just in case.

[Crucius]

Feats:
It’s an optional rule, but a necessary one to give many barbarians the cherry on top in terms of gameplay. This might be a combat feat, a roleplay feat to make skill checks stand out more, or anything really; it is surely more interesting than increasing an ability score. This is of course all build dependent, so I won’t give any real ratings, nor will I inflate this article more by listing every single one of them. Things to look for in (combat) feats: a lot of barbarian subclasses only use their bonus action to rage (Ancestral guardian, Totem warrior and Zealot), therefore a feat that gives a bonus action option makes each turn much more dynamic and tactical. That way it isn’t just smack once or twice and chill. Another way to enhance gameplay, as I mentioned before, is to make each attack have a choice. Great weapon master is the perennial barbarian feat and with good reason. Extra damage, a meaningful choice to make with EACH attack, and the occasional bonus action. Martial adept does this nicely as well. Sentinel is great for positioning and tanking gameplay, while mobile is great for flanker types. Polearm master makes great use of the rage damage by maximizing attacks per round, as well as deter enemies from approaching. Racial feats as well as skill proficiency feats can hammer home flavor tremendously and are worth the read.

Multiclass:
As it stands right now, in most games (where the DM doesn’t adhere to the 6-8 combat encounters per day), the barbarian does not offer much past the levels 3-6. While the level 14 ability is almost always strong, getting there is not guaranteed. As of writing (dec-2018), most published campaigns do not go beyond level 15. Therefore, dare I say it, the barbarian provides a good defensive chassis for a multiclass character. Multiclassing is an optional rule, but it is the easiest way to add more layers to the barbarian and more importantly is a good source for choices (read: fun).

As for advice for multiclassing; other martial classes mesh naturally with the barbarian (even rogue as sneak attack works with reckless attack, as long as you use a finesse weapon to attack using strength), but most guides advise against multiclassing into a spellcaster, in which there is a grain of truth. But it’s a matter of perspective, if out-of-combat utility is what you seek then a spellcaster has much to offer. Flavor comes first, so even if for example a barbarian-warlock is ‘sub-optimal’, if an immortal voodoo critmeister zealot hexblade is your thing then absolutely go for it! Barbarian rage is like a panic button for spellcasters, and starting as a barbarian has the benefits of starting with a lot of HP, as well as starting with the often coveted Con-save proficiency. Sure, fighter offers similar benefits without being as restrictive with spellcasting, but if you don’t mind playing a modal build the barbarian offers substantial boosts the fighter does not. The heavy armor proficiency will be missed, but gish-builds that value hit chance will love reckless attack and rage damage resistance in a pinch. Unarmored defense is a lot better than the 10+dex AC that sorcerers and wizards get, as Con is often high-ish for passing concentration saves. Look out for spells that don’t require concentration (Armor of Agathys, Mirror Image, Warding Bond, Spiritual Weapon, Fire Shield, hell even Mage Armor could be nice). I’m not saying just MUST multiclass with a spellcaster, I’m saying you CAN multiclass with a spellcaster. At least you’ll surprise everyone at the table this way.

When looking to optimize fun, a key factor could be ability regeneration. For this it is important to label classes as a short-rest class or a long-rest class. The barbarian is definitely a long rest class as no features regenerate on short rests. It is wise, but not mandatory at all, to combine the barbarian with a short rest class for maximum ability usage during an adventuring day. To quickly summarize: the short-rest classes are fighter, monk and warlock. The rest are long-rest classes of which the following have some key abilities that regenerate on a short rest: bard (bardic inspiration), cleric (channel divinity), druid (wild shape), paladin (channel divinity), wizard (arcane recovery). Rogues are special as they have zero abilities that need to regenerate on a rest. Literally zero.

Races
I won’t rate these as they have the most impact on the flavor and style of a build, so anything is viable if you want it to be. Even if they don’t boost the barbarian’s primary stats, they boost a roleplaying stat or add tremendous flavor to whatever idea you came up with. So instead I will list the benefits of each race while trying to minimize judgement. All races listed on D&D beyond are present.

Dragonborn: Proud, strong and with a breath weapon as an alternative to attacks, which scales off of Con. Also gives a damage resistance.
Dwarf: Mad HP or big boosts to conventional barbarian stats. Required for battlerager. Win every drinking contest.
Elf: Geez there are a lot of subraces here. Weapon proficiencies are redundant but lots of flavorful features to be gained, such as a cantrip or extra movement. Eladrin and Shadar-Kai deserve special mention as their teleports aren’t spells but abilities, so perfect for barbarians with little to do in their bonus action.
Gnome: Clever little buggers. Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they’re not fierce. Gnome cunning saves a barbarian’s ass big time. Works well with a toolkit proficiency from a background. Small bois, so no heavy weapons if that’s your thing.
Half-elf: A boost in a roleplay stat while still being able to assign points to primary attributes, I’ll take it. Extra skills are also never wasted.
Halfling: Babyrage. With lucky the barbarian becomes the ultimate die manipulator (yeah yeah I know portent exists). Brave is also really sweet because frightened sucks yo! Also small bois, so no heavy weapons.
Half-orc: This basically gives the level 9 and level 11 features right from the start. An excellent race to use when multiclassing because of the redundancy the higher levels in barbarian will give. Free skill. Nothing wasted.
Human (variant, of course): As I said before, most barbarians love feats but don’t get so much. There is no shame in taking this… okay maybe a little bit.
Tiefling: Spells! Sweet! That means choices. Hellish rebuke is a lot of fun on a barbarian, at least when not raging. So perfect for a messed up initiative roll when the barbarian gets hit before rage. There is that one variant that gives flight that can be used to great extent. Other variants depend on flavor of the character.
Aarakocra: Live short, die young, leave a pretty corpse. Big flying speed that gets improved with fast movement. Unarmed attacks are cool for them bar brawls. Thematically goes well with Eagle totem, but mechanically not so much. Sounds like a male member, so prepare for silly jokes.
Genasi: Cool elemental flavor. Mechanically the earth and fire are the most interesting; no difficult terrain (on earth and stone) and damage resistance together with some cool spells respectively.
Goliath: For the really strong barbarians. Hardy and tough as well. Damage reduction as a reaction and extra gym-power. Free skill.
Aasimar: True divine judges walking the earth. Healing powers, damage resistance and an epic transformation ability. This race is one of my all-time favorites, and totally not bad for a barbarian as well.
Bugbear: Everything is a reach weapon. Great for flanker types. They are kinda evil though, so be prepared for some serious stink eye coming your way from NPCs.
Firbolg: Protectors of nature. Thematically fits well with totem barbarians. Mechanically not too bad either because of the spells and abilities they get.
Goblin: Big nova potential as well as a nice bonus action option. Great for flanker barbarians. Still 30 feet speed despite being a small race, but still no heavy weapons. Evil though. Or Nott.
Hobgoblin: Saving face is the only thing this race gives that is substantial, and while it is pretty good, the rest is pretty meh.
Kenku: Bumblebee levels of communication, which could be a real turnoff for roleplay (that’s the transformer, not the fat bee). Super unique flavor, with a lot of ‘racial historical baggage’ to work with when coming up with a backstory.
Kobold: If being a dragon’s b*tch is your kink, then go for it. Otherwise the penalty to strength combined with the redundant features are not enough to make this a solid choice in most cases. Either way they’re small so you know… no heavy weapons. Granted there is a great underdog story to be told here if the main villain is a dragon.
Lizardfolk: Description states they are like dragonborn, but from swamps. Real athletic warrior types. They get *inhales* swimming speed, a natural weapon, an artisan skill that complements killing enemies and works in tandem with a tool proficiency, limited underwater breathing, two skill proficiencies, natural armor that works better for flanker types than unarmored defense (high dex low con) and a vampire-esque bonus action attack once per rest *exhales*. Dayum.
Orc: Very similar to half-orc. The biggest difference is the bite out of a possible roleplay stat (-2 INT) and it swaps survivability and crit damage for bonus action dashes and powerful build. Evil. Half-orcs can borrow inspiration for symbolism and culture from this class description in Volo.
Tabaxi: Gotta go fast! For that impulsive life. Non-(bonus) action speed increase is super sweet, and the natural weapons and skill proficiencies are icing on the cat shaped cake.
Triton: They came from the sea! Noble warriors, with a sense for justice. Swims really well, and gets some pretty nice spells, even though they all require concentration. Talk to sea critters like a true Disney princess. Also, cold damage resistance!
Yuan-ti pureblood: Hiss hiss, this is snek. Aztec jungle style snek. Give grappling a fun coil-flavor (depending on how humanoid you think this race is). Pretty dark lifestyles these snakes have, very psychopathic. Poison immunity, decently useful spells (yes it’s poison spray, but as a barbarian you can actually use it to some extent, give those d12’s some love), and, of course; Magic resistance for maximum survivability. This is the ability you’ll want to discuss with your DM because DAMN.
Tortle: Take your home with you and never take root anywhere. Short lifespan. Natural weapons, limited underwater breathing (but not swimming), skill proficiency and a static AC of 17 which saves room for precious ability points to be attributed elsewhere. Enter a defensive mode to ‘tank’ hits on AC by just lying there.
Gith: A rebellious race of psionic warriors, in evil or neutral flavors; The Githyanki give a tool or skill as well as some mobility spells, while the Githzerai give charmed and frightened protection as well as the shield and detect thoughts spells.
Changeling: This race has an interesting take on the individual and society. Deception heavy roleplay. Change appearance at will, two skill proficiencies and a tool, and a reaction to impose disadvantage by doing a Scooby Doo face reveal. Lots of roleplay features, so very nice!
Kalashtar: Includes a soul-mate (everything is a threesome now). This pseudo-psionic race makes for great barbarians; Wis save advantage using a reaction, resistance to psychic damage (bear totem for all the resistances), telepathic communication and advantage on a social skill.
Shifter: MORE TRANSFORMATIONS! As a bonus action though. But the temp HP is always nice, even one round later. Beasthide gives more survivability, longtooth gives a natural weapon, swiftstride gives mobility and wildhunt allows for tracking and gives advantage on Wis checks. Gives two skill proficiencies in total.
Warforged: Mr Robot. These guys can do a ton of things, mostly non-biological things like not breathing or eating. The race alone is like a class. Envoy gives tools, juggernaut gives a natural weapon and powerful build and skirmisher gives speed and stealth. It doesn’t state that it makes you a construct so healing spells still work (sageadvice says so as well).
Centaur: “Are you a man, or a mouse?” Tribal warriors with four legs. Key features are that they are fey rather than humanoid (so no hold person, but yes hold… fey? You get the drift), they can do a charge bonus action attack with their natural weapon (oh yeah, they get a natural weapon), a skill proficiency and horse life things that increases carrying capacity but make climbing harder.
Loxodon: The doot dudes. They have a face snake that can do wacky stuff. Other things include powerful build, advantage against charmed or frightened, natural armor geared towards tank style barbarians (12 + con mod), and keen smell. Pretty ehh… unique stuff.
Minotaur: It’s aMAZEing. That was lame, I’m sorry. Brawly race with a dash charge attack and natural weapons. Gets a skill proficiency but nothing too special unless the flavor really speaks to you. Reading up on Greek mythology could help getting inspired. The bonus action shove is really nice to create space between you and the enemy so overall favors flanker type barbarians.
Simic hybrid: If your DM allows it, changing into this race halfway through the campaign due to plot reasons could be really epic. They are all about adaptation and transforming the physical body. The animal enhancements are the key features of this race and have some pretty useful features in there for a barbarian.
Vedalken: Galaxy brains. They get a free skill and tool proficiency, which also gets a d4 bonus every time you roll for them. Advantage on mental saves is… well… mental! It’s good, is what I’m saying. Also limited water breathing capabilities.

Thank you for reading, I hope you learned some stuff, not only about the barbarian, but about the game and about the process of character creation. If you disagree with anything I've said, I'm open for a civil conversation in this thread. If you have any insights I may have missed I would love to hear them, since I am still learning about this game, and that probably won't ever stop.

Cheers.

[McSkrag]

Thanks for putting the guide together.

Do you have any examples of barbarian builds you think are particularly fun to play?

[Crucius]

I didn't include any builds as to not toot my own horn, and allowing readers to retain creativity without me robbing them of a 'aha'-moment.

But since you asked, I am a strong proponent of making each individual attack matter. Without implying any unique flavor, a purely mechanically fun build would be Barb X/Battlemaster 3-4 with short rest maneuvers and an 'ultimate button' in action surge, Barb/Paladin for out-of-combat spell utility and in-combat smite choice on each attack, or Barb X/Rogue 5 for insane survivability (quarter damage on a big hit) and expertise in important roleplaying skills with sneak attack for quite potent damage. For pure barbarian I would say Wolf totem for fun with friends and positioning, or ancestral guardian for maximizing strategic planning in-combat and a useful reaction. I haven't played it, but an Earth Genasi barbarian coupled with an Erupting Earth casting pretty sorcerer friend could do some interesting things with difficult terrain and crowd control.

As for out-of-combat, being the party 'Face' is a lot of fun, since rage is such an emotional ability. You could act reasonable and decisive, until deeply offended, and fly into a rage. Once you get a reputation, NPC's can tread carefully not to upset you and stay in your good graces. A diplomat has to represent the strength of their clan, or otherwise it comes across as weak. Being well versed is not anti-barbarian, it is just a different role in barbarian society (thank you random Krogan diplomat in Mass Effect 2).

Also, don't underestimate tool kits when carving out a niche for your character. For example; using the Mason's Tools demolition ability from XGtE and saving up for an adamantine weapon would allow for breaching doors and walls and... entire castles tbh. So it has in-combat utility as well.

[berserker7878]

I didn't include any builds as to not toot my own horn, and allowing readers to retain creativity without me robbing them of a 'aha'-moment.

But since you asked, I am a strong proponent of making each individual attack matter. Without implying any unique flavor, a purely mechanically fun build would be Barb X/Battlemaster 3-4 with short rest maneuvers and an 'ultimate button' in action surge, Barb/Paladin for out-of-combat spell utility and in-combat smite choice on each attack, or Barb X/Rogue 5 for insane survivability (quarter damage on a big hit) and expertise in important roleplaying skills with sneak attack for quite potent damage. For pure barbarian I would say Wolf totem for fun with friends and positioning, or ancestral guardian for maximizing strategic planning in-combat and a useful reaction. I haven't played it, but an Earth Genasi barbarian coupled with an Erupting Earth casting pretty sorcerer friend could do some interesting things with difficult terrain and crowd control.

As for out-of-combat, being the party 'Face' is a lot of fun, since rage is such an emotional ability. You could act reasonable and decisive, until deeply offended, and fly into a rage. Once you get a reputation, NPC's can tread carefully not to upset you and stay in your good graces. A diplomat has to represent the strength of their clan, or otherwise it comes across as weak. Being well versed is not anti-barbarian, it is just a different role in barbarian society (thank you random Krogan diplomat in Mass Effect 2).

Also, don't underestimate tool kits when carving out a niche for your character. For example; using the Mason's Tools demolition ability from XGtE and saving up for an adamantine weapon would allow for breaching doors and walls and... entire castles tbh. So it has in-combat utility as well.


Very good post, can you do the same with fighter please? because i'm a fighter-barb not barb-fighter thk

[LudicSavant]

If you disagree with anything I've said, I'm open for a civil conversation in this thread. If you have any insights I may have missed I would love to hear them, since I am still learning about this game, and that probably won't ever stop.

Cheers.

A couple quick notes (might offer more when I have more time).

For the level 6 ability, you rate Wolf as black for a stealthy Barbarian... the same as Elk. And it really shouldn't be, since one is essentially a buffed, more versatile version of the other. It's one of the few cases where an ability is made almost entirely obsolete by another.
Wolf: "Hey, I can move stealthily at a Normal pace instead of a Slow one!"
Elk: "I, and my entire party, moves at the speed of your Fast pace when moving at their Slow pace, and retains all the benefits of a Slow pace, including but not limited to moving stealthily."
Wolf: "Oh. Well then."

Basically, anything you can roleplay with the Wolf ability, you can do with the Elk too. And then some.

Also, you claim "you tank with your HP, not your AC, because enemies will attack the most opportune target." The trouble with this reasoning is that a character with 500 effective hit points against your attacks isn't any more or less opportune if they got that way through high hp + damage resistance or via high AC. A genuinely intelligent enemy isn't going to be fooled by the fact that you're an HP tank instead of an AC tank. They can tell that you're not the most opportune target either way.

A more accurate formulation of the "tanking fallacy" would be that you cannot simply rely on being durable (whether that's via HP, AC, mirror images, whatever), you must also have some method of leveraging your durability to help your teammates. A truly effective tank is one that either cannot be ignored, or is sufficiently costly to ignore.

[Crucius]

A couple quick notes (might offer more when I have more time).

For the level 6 ability, you rate Wolf as black for a stealthy Barbarian... the same as Elk. And it really shouldn't be, since one is essentially a buffed, more versatile version of the other. It's one of the few cases where an ability is made almost entirely obsolete by another.
Wolf: "Hey, I can move stealthily at a Normal pace instead of a Slow one!"
Elk: "I, and my entire party, moves at the speed of your Fast pace when moving at their Slow pace, and retains all the benefits of a Slow pace, including but not limited to moving stealthily."
Wolf: "Oh. Well then."

Basically, anything you can roleplay with the Wolf ability, you can do with the Elk too. And then some.

I didn't interpret it like that, that's a nice catch! That definitely puts the elk above the wolf for sure, I'll make the adjustment, thank you! Learned something new today!


Also, you claim "you tank with your HP, not your AC, because enemies will attack the most opportune target." The trouble with this reasoning is that a character with 500 effective hit points against your attacks isn't any more or less opportune if they got that way through high hp + damage resistance or via high AC. A genuinely intelligent enemy isn't going to be fooled by the fact that you're an HP tank instead of an AC tank. They can tell that you're not the most opportune target either way.

The tanking fallacy was an internal discussion more than a hard rule, but I agree, leveraging yourself as a better target is key. That you can subsequently take the hit is a nice bonus. That AC is the determining factor for who to attack depends on the DM of course, so this dogma doesn't always fly. It is just one of the methods one can use to determine aggro. I give the exact counterpoint myself that the damage resistance (and as you state the high HP) is again a reason NOT to attack a specific target, which makes life hard. That's why I think that as is, the barbarian is a good tank, but not great. Ancestral guardians or the cavalier fighter really force the enemy to attack you. The first one by neutering enemy damage, the second one by threatening with extra damage if they do attack an ally.


A more accurate formulation of the "tanking fallacy" would be that you cannot simply rely on being durable (whether that's via HP, AC, mirror images, whatever), you must also have some method of leveraging your durability to help your teammates. A truly effective tank is one that either cannot be ignored, or is sufficiently costly to ignore.

There could be some truth in your statement that damage output determines effective tankiness (I assume this is what you mean by being costly to ignore). If the aggro formula would be something like [effort]*[threat] where effort is how easy it is to dispatch (comprised of AC, HP and a bit of positioning) and threat is damage/status output of that target, it would stand to reason that lowering effort while increasing threat is the way to go. Sadly these type of hard numeric judgements are best left to a videogame, because if a DM has to do it for each enemy NPC each round things start to slow down hard. As you will know, in reality it's usually a gut instinct who to attack, so positioning/taunting (in the enemies face) and being an opportune target will be the easiest to spot.

[LudicSavant]

I didn't interpret it like that, that's a nice catch! That definitely puts the elk above the wolf for sure, I'll make the adjustment, thank you! Learned something new today!

NP!


The tanking fallacy was an internal discussion more than a hard rule, but I agree, leveraging yourself as a better target is key. That you can subsequently take the hit is a nice bonus. That AC is the determining factor for who to attack depends on the DM of course, so this dogma doesn't always fly. It is just one of the methods one can use to determine aggro. I give the exact counterpoint myself that the damage resistance (and as you state the high HP) is again a reason NOT to attack a specific target, which makes life hard. That's why I think that as is, the barbarian is a good tank, but not great.

An individual DM is capable of any "dogma" as you put it, but when determining what a genuinely intelligent enemy would do, that's just a question of whatever would be most rewarding given the information available to the enemy.

That said, neither having a high AC nor having a high HP and damage resistance should stop you from being an effective tank. See below.


There could be some truth in your statement that damage output determines effective tankiness (I assume this is what you mean by being costly to ignore).

Not quite. There are a lot of ways to make it costly to ignore you. Punishing an enemy with damage is but one of many available possibilities.

For example, if you have an accurate OA and the Sentinel feat, an enemy cannot move away from you without access to special movement abilities (and even then, those abilities often have meaningful costs; for example if an archmage Misty Steps away from you, they can't cast another spell that turn). And if they try to fire ranged weapons past you without moving, they'll do so with Disadvantage. In either case, their action becomes more costly due to your presence, offsetting the difference in durability between you and your ally. Therefore, whether the enemy decides to attack you, or try to go for your ally, they're suffering either way.

Remember:
The less effective tank says "It's the DM's decision who to attack. If they decide not to attack me, that's just too bad."
The master tank says "The enemy will be put in a disadvantaged position whether they decide to attack me or not."

This is true in pretty much any game where your opponent is controlled by a human and the game still has a tanking role. Doesn't matter whether it's Overwatch, League of Legends, Guild Wars PvP, whatever. The basic concept is the same in all of them.

For example, imagine if Reinhardt in Overwatch got a crazy buff and had his hit points doubled. He wouldn't suddenly become a turtle who could simply be ignored, since he'd still be exerting offensive pressure, blocking enemy shots with his shield, CCing people, breaking through enemy formations, performing zone control, and the like. The enemy could choose to ignore him, but they'd be basically losing the game while doing so. They would have to find some way to push him out of the way or lock him down or something.

The problem with "the turtle" isn't exactly that they're too durable, it's that they don't make it costly enough to ignore them to really leverage that durability, and that they might have spent resources that they should have spent blinging their shell out with Blastoise cannons or tractor beams on a handful of extra HP or AC.

[GlenSmash!]

Nice. I mostly play barbarians, as I find them to be very fun. I'm currently playing a Zealot in Storm King's thunder.

One cool thing to note is that Divine Fury works on ranged attacks, which is very useful when you are on a horse and don't want to get hit by a Fire Giant's Greatsword multiple times a round.

So grab use that Longbow Proficiency that all Barbarian's get and that 14+ Dex I recommend every Barbarian get, and plink away with Radiant damage.

[Crucius]

Nice. I mostly play barbarians, as I find them to be very fun. I'm currently playing a Zealot in Storm King's thunder.

One cool thing to note is that Divine Fury works on ranged attacks, which is very useful when you are on a horse and don't want to get hit by a Fire Giant's Greatsword multiple times a round.

So grab use that Longbow Proficiency that all Barbarian's get and that 14+ Dex I recommend every Barbarian get, and plink away with Radiant damage.

Yes! That's true! Ancestral Guardian also works well with ranged weapons if you really need the debuff on that one enemy across the battlefield near your pretty sorcerer! There is hope for ranged weapons on barbarians still!

[Crucius]

Not quite. There are a lot of ways to make it costly to ignore you. Punishing an enemy with damage is but one of many available possibilities.

For example, if you have an accurate OA and the Sentinel feat, an enemy cannot move away from you without access to special movement abilities (and even then, those abilities often have meaningful costs; for example if an archmage Misty Steps away from you, they can't cast another spell that turn). And if they try to fire ranged weapons past you without moving, they'll do so with Disadvantage. In either case, their action becomes more costly due to your presence, offsetting the difference in durability between you and your ally. Therefore, whether the enemy decides to attack you, or try to go for your ally, they're suffering either way.

Remember:
The less effective tank says "It's the DM's decision who to attack. If they decide not to attack me, that's just too bad."
The master tank says "The enemy will be put in a disadvantaged position whether they decide to attack me or not."

This is true in pretty much any game where your opponent is controlled by a human and the game still has a tanking role. Doesn't matter whether it's Overwatch, League of Legends, Guild Wars PvP, whatever. The basic concept is the same in all of them.

For example, imagine if Reinhardt in Overwatch got a crazy buff and had his hit points doubled. He wouldn't suddenly become a turtle who could simply be ignored, since he'd still be exerting offensive pressure, blocking enemy shots with his shield, CCing people, breaking through enemy formations, performing zone control, and the like. The enemy could choose to ignore him, but they'd be basically losing the game while doing so. They would have to find some way to push him out of the way or lock him down or something.

The problem with "the turtle" isn't exactly that they're too durable, it's that they don't make it costly enough to ignore them to really leverage that durability, and that they might have spent resources that they should have spent blinging their shell out with Blastoise cannons or tractor beams on a handful of extra HP or AC.

I see your point, in that case any non-ancestral/non-sentinel barbarian would be the less effective tank in your comment, while the ancestral guardians or sentinel'd up barbs would be the master tanks?

Can we then make a distinction between hard- and soft-tanking? Where hard-tanking imparts a disadvantaged position on the enemy, whereas soft-tanking is more the roleplaying aspect of tanking (standing at the frontline, being able to tank because of high AC/HP, basically daring to 'tank' hits)?

[Corran]

I see your point, in that case any non-ancestral/non-sentinel barbarian would be the less effective tank in your comment, while the ancestral guardians or sentinel'd up barbs would be the master tanks?
Another simple way to keep the focus on you, is to ensure you deal good damage. That is enough to make enemies prioritize your character highly enough. It's true that beating the barbarian is not the most efficient way if you want to neutralize him, but for some enemies it's all they've got (ie to try and reduce the barbarian's hp to 0). A high strength score, reckless attack, extra attack and the GWM feat, all of these are ways to increase dpr, which in turn will often be enough to keep enemies focused on you.

[Ganymede]

I don't know... this guide, while awesome, still feels kinda incomplete without the Path of the Gloambound (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/239278/Path-of-the-Gloambound) in there.

[DrowPiratRobrts]

Kobold: If being a dragon’s ***** is your kink, then go for it. Otherwise the penalty to strength combined with the redundant features are not enough to make this a solid choice in most cases. Either way they’re small so you know… no heavy weapons. Granted there is a great underdog story to be told here if the main villain is a dragon.


Hahaha, I wrote a whole guide on a Kobold Dex-Barb once for fun. I turned out really liking it. I'm still not convinced that it isn't the best full barbarian build in the game.