Soul Knife/Ancestral Guardian Barbarian

[TheHutz]

Hi All,

Kicking around the possibility of the title multiclass. Seems like a very tanky and annoying PC to deal with. Strength based thrown weapons that generate sneak attack and also force disadvantage on the enemy that was attacked, unless they attack you. I know there's some action economy issues with rage, cunning action, and the bonus action soul knife attack. I also won't get the rage damage bonus using the knives from range. Besides that what other anti-synergies am I missing here? Can this build wear a shield and still use the bonus action attack? Any other thoughts about what works and what doesn't?

Thanks for the help.

[ZRN]

The biggest anti-synergy with soulknife seems to be that the weapon is very weirdly worded so you can't actually use it more than once per round with Extra Attack. And I'd say no to the shield question since you need a free hand for the extra dagger attack.

[TheHutz]

Thoughts on a better rogue subclass to go with this concept of forcing enemies to attack you (without disadvantage) while being very elusive? Phantom's damage upgrade seems like it could be useful and fits the theme.

Edit - I know in this case I'll have to use a rapier.

[Unoriginal]

The biggest anti-synergy with soulknife seems to be that the weapon is very weirdly worded so you can't actually use it more than once per round with Extra Attack.

I would go Beast Barbarian to handle that, myself.

One attack with the psi blade, one extra with the claws, and a third with the claws.

[ZRN]

Thoughts on a better rogue subclass to go with this concept of forcing enemies to attack you (without disadvantage) while being very elusive? Phantom's damage upgrade seems like it could be useful and fits the theme.

Edit - I know in this case I'll have to use a rapier.

Okay, looking through the list of published subclasses:

Scout gets Skirmisher (basically half-speed disengage as a reaction when an enemy approaches). Potentially very useful for this tactic!

That's basically the best defensive option, but Mastermind kind of plays into the "support from range" motif.