D&D 5E Dwarven Battlerager Build

the_move · Apr 5, 2016

Tavern Brawler is actually pretty good for a grappler. You get half an ASI. If you use a shield, it then also can function as your weapon. With the Shield Master feat any dex save forced by spells/effects that affect only you will be done with your shield's AC bonus on top. With a magic shield +1 that would be +3 to your save on top of your dex mod and Danger Sense. But the real deal is you can completely negate the damage of any dex save spell/effect, provided that you succeed on the save and have your reaction available. Again, Danger Sense makes this feat so very neat.

However since this won't work out until lvl 8, you can still go for the battleaxe or warhammer first.

GarrettKP · Apr 5, 2016

the_move said:
Tavern Brawler is actually pretty good for a grappler. You get half an ASI. If you use a shield, it then also can function as your weapon. With the Shield Master feat any dex save forced by spells/effects that affect only you will be done with your shield's AC bonus on top. With a magic shield +1 that would be +3 to your save on top of your dex mod. But the real deal is you can completely negate the damage of any dex save spell/effect, provided that you succeed on the save and have your reaction available. Remember Danger Sense?

I understand the use of the feat. But as I've said before I'm not sure I'm going to be using a shield. And frankly I wouldn't be using an ASI on a feat until level 12 at earliest. Gonna get strength maxed first.

At that point is it worth it? That means I am not getting Tavern Brawler until what 16? I could just go Battleaxe and get the benefits of my maxed strength since I can't make full use of the shield for my grapple build until much later levels that I may not even make it to in game.

Those are the biggest reasons why I've veered away from using a shield with this build.

the_move · Apr 5, 2016

If your campaign will go that far and you run into a lot of (evocation) spell casters, or lots of accurately hitting mobs you might consider upping your survivability like this...especially when your party has no capable main healer.

GarrettKP · Apr 5, 2016

the_move said:
If your campaign will go that far and you run into a lot of (evocation) spell casters or lots of frequently hitting mobs you might consider upping your survivability like this...especially if your group has no capable main healer.

That's fair. If we get there I'll look harder at it. The party composition is fairly standard but the subclass choices make it quite different. We have a Purple Dragon Knight, a Bladesinger, A Swashbuckler, A Lore Bard and my Battlerager.

If you can't tell, this is a Forgotten Realms campaign with a bunch of realms fans, hence the three realms specific classes. Even the Lore Bard is very realms heavy with the colleges.

Looking at it we don't have a dedicated healer. The Purple Dragon Knight helps a little and Reckless Abandon gives me access Temp points every turn (I suspect I'll make the most of them since I'm gonna be sitting on top of opponents often, making me the easiest target).

And the Bard can heal a little. But otherwise we will be buying a lot of potions and such.

the_move · Apr 5, 2016

The PDK might instead become a Paladin of the Crown. The PDK is nice late game, but the 'ramp up' is too strenuous imho. Rallying Cry is a great emergency measure (if one or more companions are down to 0HP), Royal Envoy is a waste, since you have a bard and too bad it's the lvl 7 deal, Inspiring Surge is great at lvl 17, yet somewhat lackluster before that, and Bulwark is nice but again a little late at lvl 15.

The Bard has access to Healing Word (good combat heal at low levels) and can fetch Aura of Vitality (very good off-combat heal), too. Bards actually can become great dedicated healers.

GarrettKP · Apr 5, 2016

the_move said:
The PDK might instead become a Paladin of the Crown. The PDK is nice late game, but the 'ramp up' is too strenuous imho. Rallying Cry is a great emergency measure (if one or more companions are down to 0HP), Royal Envoy is a waste, since you have a bard and too bad it's the lvl 7 deal, Inspiring Surge is great at lvl 17, yet somewhat lackluster before that, and Bulwark is nice but again a little late at lvl 15.

The Bard has access to Healing Word (good combat heal at low levels) and can fetch Aura of Vitality (very good off-combat heal), too. Bards actually can become great dedicated healers.

I'm not in the business of telling other players to play something different. I'm sure he will be happy playing a PDK.

As for the Bard, I hope that's a road he considers. Right now his whole backstory is that he's on a quest to retrieve the 7 Bardic Instruments to help restore the colleges in Fearun, and since each helps with charm spells he's currently leaning towards specializing in charms.

the_move · Apr 5, 2016

He needn't have every charm spell, yet Dissonant Whispers is nice to have with strong melee characters, who know how to position themselves. And it's a lvl1 bard spell. When you have none of those left he can use any higher one and that will also increase the psychic damage dealt.

GarrettKP · Apr 5, 2016

the_move said:
He needn't have every charm spell, yet Dissonant Whispers is nice to have with strong melee characters, who know how to position themselves. And it's a lvl1 bard spell.

Yes it is. But I am not in charge of his character so I don't have much say on it. I'm sure he will do what is best for his concept.

I'm more worried about deciding how I wanna play this Grappler Battlerager.

the_move · Apr 5, 2016

Well, there isn't much you can do, in case of optimization, since the 'pure' barbarian is a somewhat straightforward class with 5 ASIs, no spells to choose from (wouldn't work with rage anyway), and Battlerager demands a dwarf.

The only thing I can give you is, check on how much damage you'll have to take for your group as a whole. Since the PDK will most likely have a higher AC than you and the Swashbuckler with Cunning Action will always try do dance into safety chances are that the majority of monsters might often pick on you simultaneously.

Provided I am right with my assumption and you end up as the primary meat shield you should consider first getting the feats and get your Str boosted to 20 later on. Advantage on Str checks (rage) will help you a lot with grappling, so you won't be failing that hard, even with a +5 to +7 in Athletics.

BurgerKingMan · Apr 5, 2016

I really like the tavern brawler feat at level 4 it opens up some nice options if you are creative. If you rip a nice branch off of a tree you can call it an improvised quarter staff then you can attack with a d8 and grapple as a bonus action while still keeping your strength progressing nicely This also opens up the polearm master as an option later on to improve your stick-swinging skills. Or maybe your barbarian plays too much dead rising and likes to make his own weapons. Nails in a solid piece of wood could be classified as a morning star. If your party has members that don't have darkvision you could use a lit torch as an improvised club and the extra fire damage gives you a psuedo d6 damage die. Also this feat is great for when you are stuck in situations without your usual gear.

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