Level 3 Dwarf Barbarian, Ancestral Guardian. 17 STR|13 DEX|16 CON|10 INT|12 WIS|8 CHA Currently 14 AC/39 HP
So I was really excited when I got this weapon as was everyone else at the table, me and the DM even started going over feats I could maybe take to benefit the new addition especially with another party member giving me their +2 shield after getting a +3 one from a loot roll.
Until I got home and began to dig into things. Just to note I believe this is an Adventure League setting we just call it something else. Crawford is terribly contradictory and conflicting with his rulings regarding thrown weapons, but without digging up every iteration of the question I'd probably just have to try and go off of RAW which... while contradictory suggests I can't use the main benefit of this thing with my core class abilities: Rage and Reckless Attack.
This bummed me out, a lot and also made me realize I've been using my javelin and handaxes wrong too. But I might still be able to make some use out of it, given my Level 3 Ancestral Guardian ability does not state it must be done in melee range.
My AC will be very high at 18 with the shield, my to hit will be far better with the Dwarven Thrower and damage only a single point lower than the battle-axe I've been using. I'd like to get to use this thing, but am just unsure of what direction to go with the character now.
Edit:
Having a chance to think over things, I'm pretty sure that dipping into Fighter is gonna be a requirement to squeeze more damage out of this thing at higher levels. 2d8 Thrown base damage so with my current modifiers that's 2d8+3+3. If I dip one into Fighter and get Duelist that's 2d8+3+3+2 and if I were to get Battle Master with two more levels into Fighter using a maneuver which also damages the enemy would be 2d8+1d8+3+3+2.
With my STR where it is, I'd be able to get to 20 STR very quickly so it might be good to hold off on any dipping until at least 8. I'd be putting getting Brutal Critical, my 10th lvl Path feature and Relentless Rage for three levels doing this though. The end result would be 2d8+1d8+5+3+2 at Level 11 and I'd be able to do that twice on a turn if I wanted to expend 2 superiority dice at a time.
So I was really excited when I got this weapon as was everyone else at the table, me and the DM even started going over feats I could maybe take to benefit the new addition especially with another party member giving me their +2 shield after getting a +3 one from a loot roll.
Until I got home and began to dig into things. Just to note I believe this is an Adventure League setting we just call it something else. Crawford is terribly contradictory and conflicting with his rulings regarding thrown weapons, but without digging up every iteration of the question I'd probably just have to try and go off of RAW which... while contradictory suggests I can't use the main benefit of this thing with my core class abilities: Rage and Reckless Attack.
This bummed me out, a lot and also made me realize I've been using my javelin and handaxes wrong too. But I might still be able to make some use out of it, given my Level 3 Ancestral Guardian ability does not state it must be done in melee range.
My AC will be very high at 18 with the shield, my to hit will be far better with the Dwarven Thrower and damage only a single point lower than the battle-axe I've been using. I'd like to get to use this thing, but am just unsure of what direction to go with the character now.
Edit:
Having a chance to think over things, I'm pretty sure that dipping into Fighter is gonna be a requirement to squeeze more damage out of this thing at higher levels. 2d8 Thrown base damage so with my current modifiers that's 2d8+3+3. If I dip one into Fighter and get Duelist that's 2d8+3+3+2 and if I were to get Battle Master with two more levels into Fighter using a maneuver which also damages the enemy would be 2d8+1d8+3+3+2.
With my STR where it is, I'd be able to get to 20 STR very quickly so it might be good to hold off on any dipping until at least 8. I'd be putting getting Brutal Critical, my 10th lvl Path feature and Relentless Rage for three levels doing this though. The end result would be 2d8+1d8+5+3+2 at Level 11 and I'd be able to do that twice on a turn if I wanted to expend 2 superiority dice at a time.
Last edited: