bugbear advice

[da newt]

I'm playing a Bugbear, currently rogue 2/barbarian 2, in AL (so PHB and Volo only). My original goal was to keep his skills bugbear-y. Now I'm looking to make him more effective, but I'm not a big fan of optimization over theme - I'm looking for a nice mix. Currently his combat SOP is sneak in, rapier and shield with reach +SA, stick and move (with a heavy xbow if range is needed, and he grapples pretty well).

What advice would you give wrt where to go with this guy? I doubt he'll ever get to lvl 20, so most of his time will be in the lvl 5-15 range probably.

Surprise rounds seem to be rare in AL, so I'm thinking Barb to 5 (bear totem and extra attack) then ...

After Barb 5, should I go back to Rogue and max SA, uncanny dodge etc? Or maybe change things up and go PAM and fighter BM? Should I be looking to PAM or will S&B with SA be more viable?

Thoughts?

St 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8

[Nefariis]

between the two:

Rogue 2 / Barbarian X is better than Barbarian 2 / Rogue X

but if you game plan is to stick and move and rarely get hit, I would skip the barbarian and just go rogue.

There are a few classes like rogue/monk where delaying levels can really put you behind - so unless you plan on tanking, I wouldnt worry about it.

Truthfully though, if it were I would go either Fighter 2,3,or 5 / Rogue X or just Rogue X

PAM is incredible if you have no use of your bonus action - so if you are disengaging quite a bit or depending on what BM's you take, it might not be worth it.

So decide what you want to play, see what their bonus actions are, then decide PAM or S&B.

[MagneticKitty]

"Rogue 2 / Barbarian X is better than Barbarian 2 / Rogue X"

I don't agree. I think going heavier into rogue gives more consistent damage. You can reckless without raging. What you might do is only rage when you plan on tanking and dip in and out using disengage.

[Spacehamster]

Barb to 5 for 2nd attack and more rage, rogue to 4 to get asi and subclass, barb to 9 for brutal critical and then rest in rogue if you get that far.

[cullynthedwarf]

I Agree with the hamster, though a bit of formal training (fighter 2) isn't a bad idea for the joy that is action surge. Being able to reload your xbow the same round and shoot and then do it all again does fit your theme it just is a different way of getting there.

When ever I am having this issue, I take a look at who I want him to be at Level 20, even if I know I won't get there. And ask how did he get here? What did he do to survive? If a touch of formal training helps him be the best bad ass he can be ten it fits with your theme. I will also state I don't play in AL so I don't know if a third multi is something they would allow. If not then ignore my advice about fighter

[da newt]

Thanks. I guess my real question is PAM vs S&B w/ SA. I'm trying to figure out pro's & con's for each, then once I make a decision, it will really help me figure out classes and feats/ASIs.

Then again, maybe I can hit a sort of middle ground w. 2WF (bonus action strike, +1 AC) - not as good as PAM for DPR (especially OA and GWF), but more options than S&B with only a small hit to AC (but at the expense of a feat and mando fighter dip).

Decisions Decisions ...

[da newt]

Although I'm pretty sure PAM, GWM, Sentinel is the optimal choice (although very ASI hungry), I'm leaning towards 2WF and SA.

I've been frustrated by the 1 action to doff/don the shield (transition from Xbow to melee), and I like the visual / theme of a raging bugbear with a rapier in his good hand and a war pick or other nasty weapon in the off hand. It also makes switching to grapple / shove easier, and the +1 to AC helps make up for the loss of shield's +2 AC.

As a further idea, depending on some RAW, I may be able to take advantage of a staff of defense as my offhand weapon ... I couldn't use it's spells (unless I go AT), but +1 to AC and a 1d6 bashing stick is just like S&B AC but with an additional 1d6 bonus attack.

Staff of Defense (ADV L)
Description:
This slender, hollow staff is made of glass yet is as strong as oak. It weighs 3 pounds. You must be attuned to the staff to gain its benefits and cast its spells.
Bio:
While holding the staff, you have a +1 bonus to your Armor Class.
The staff has 10 charges, which are used to fuel the spells within it. With the staff in hand, you can use your action to cast one of the following spells from the staff if the spell is on your class’s spell list: mage armor (1 charge) or shield (2 charges). No components are required.
The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges each day at dawn. If you expend the staff’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff shatters and is destroyed.

[Chugger]

You're AL, so you can redo your stats and classes if you want, since your overall lvl is 4. At 5 you are locked in.

Stats look okay. Honestly, I'd pick all barb when you go to level five - so you arrive at level 5 as a pure barb.

You get extra attack and 3 rages, which is often enough for an AL adventuring day. Then mc into w/e.

If you wanna go GWM you can hit lvl 5 with GWM, or boost str, or take some other feat. It will be hard to work GWM tho possible w/ 16 str. You will have +6 to hit w/ prof, +7 if you take a +1 great weapon. Doin the -5 +10 thing, your plus to hit is +2. But you can reckless. This will be okay against low and medium ACs, but not high - you'll miss too much even with advantage - and by high I'm guessing somewhere in ac 18 to 21 range. You can search for the gwm algorithm - it exists here in gitp and other places - and know exactly, if you want.

You'd lose what - some skill exp and cunning action - but as bugbear w/ polearm you have 15' reach iirc. Do you really need cunning action w/ that kind of reach? If you do, by lvl 7 you can have it back.

Barb offers some nice stuff as you level up that way. Just make sure you understand what you're getting for what you're giving up. If I were mc'ing and trying to rock gwm, honestly after barb 5 I'd go fighter BM at least 4 levels, maybe 6 to get that easy ASI. Why? Precision. You can add a + 1d8 to any roll after you see it, converting misses into hits. If you've never played gwm before, you have never experienced what I'm talking about. That -5 is _deadly_, and if you don't have a plan to mitigate it, you will hate your build. You will miss miss miss all the time. But if you can mostly hit and get extra +10 to damage, you are an amazing striker. Make sure your DM can handle it (all that will happen is you'll fight harder monsters, /shrug).

[Chugger]

Almost forgot - if you're doing AL, you can try for a build that seeks a belt of giant strength - changes everything w/ GWM.

Crazy good cuz it lets you have a low actual str score but benefit from a score over 20 in str via belt.

You can ask people who run modules in your area if they'll help you - hint that you need a belt - see if they'll help you - they may say no meta, no - they might say "be at my table 3 weeks from now, make sure you're tier 2" or w/e. You can also DM a module that drops gauntlets of ogre power or belt of gi str and dm-rewardd yourself w/ the str item. If you feel you can DM. This is a bit mercenary but AL needs DMs, so it's not like you're being "horrible".