D&D 5E Ultimate Barbarian....should I multiclass?

[daddystabz]

Our local D&D 5e group just leveled up to lvl 5 last night and I play a Human Barbarian in that game. To build the ultimate melee beast do you think I should stay Barbarian all the way or do you think it would be advantageous at some point to multiclass?

If so, when should I and what should I multiclass into?

 

[famousringo]

Well, any multiclassing at all means you'll never get that ceiling-busting level 20 stat boost. One of the best level 20 abilities, IMO.

On the other hand, that's a long way off and many campaigns never go that far. A few levels of fighter to pick up Great Weapon style and more criticals is a pretty nice idea. Or if dual wielding is your thing, you could dabble in ranger, get two weapon style, hunters mark and some utility.

 

[daddystabz]

Do you think it is worth it to stay Barbarian all the way?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Do you think it is worth it to stay Barbarian all the way?

What kind of barbarian are you? Frenzy or beast totem? What kind of game do you play? Level-appropriate fair fights or lots of crazy deadly stuff and weird terrain? How much of the game is about combat? Is it mostly indoors or outdoors? What parts of the game do you find most fun?

5E isn't really about character optimization. It can be worth it to stay barbarian all the way, swinging your Great Weapon Mastery halberd all over the place with Reckless Attack, and since you were attracted to barbarian in the first place it may make sense to stick it out. If you do decide to multiclass I'd suggest Rogue, maybe Arcane Trickster if you have the Int for it, since Reckless Attack + sneak attack + (Danger Sense + Evasion) + (Rage + Uncanny Dodge) + Mirror Image/Blur/etc. all adds up to some pretty nice synergies.

 

[famousringo]

Yeah, the way the game's built, they're all good options. In the short term, multiclasing fighter might be a nice way to be more effective when you aren't raging, but in the long term, barbarians can pretty much rage all day long. Ranger being a nice choice to increase your effectiveness out of combat without really sacrificing effectiveness in combat.

They're all good melee. It's all a question of how you want to fight. Or what do your feel your character is lacking now?

 

[daddystabz]

I'm a frenzy Barb.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Yeah, the way the game's built, they're all good options. In the short term, multiclasing fighter might be a nice way to be more effective when you aren't raging, but in the long term, barbarians can pretty much rage all day long. Ranger being a nice choice to increase your effectiveness out of combat without really sacrificing effectiveness in combat.

They're all good melee. It's all a question of how you want to fight. Or what do your feel your character is lacking now?

As far as multiclassing options go, I would avoid classes that get Extra Attack, because you already have it from Barbarian and it doesn't stack, so there's an anti-synergy there. The thing that makes Rogue tempting is that it scales in a completely different way than barbarians do, and most of its best stuff comes by level 7 or so, so Barbarian 5/Rogue 7 is actually a pretty complete and fun combo already. (It does have an offensive anti-synergy with Great Weapon Mastery because no finesse weapons are also heavy weapons.) Besides, Conan was a Barbarian/Rogue[1].

[1] Yes I know, arguably he was just a straight-up Outlander Champion Fighter with Stealth proficiency from being human.

I'm a frenzy Barb.

Okay. You can keep being a frenzy barb, and intimidate people with your sheer presence and muscular thews and unstoppable will (Relentless Rage, etc.), or you can branch out in a completely different way and add Dexterity-based Rogue skills and illusion spells/assassination/whatever to your arsenal. Do you want to be a bear or a panther? If bear, stick with barbarian. If panther sounds more fun, consider a Rogue multiclass.

 

[famousringo]

IF you're frenzied, and since you say you want to be the "ultimate melee beast," IMO you want to maximize the power of your bonus attack. That means a big two-handed weapon, and if you multiclass at all, get a few levels (probably not to level 5 for reasons mentioned by emdw45) of fighter for Great Weapon fighting and double the crits.

Roguebarian can work, sure, but it's probably something to build from the start, and not pick up on a whim at level 5. Cunning Action and finesse weapons don't suit frenzy very well, IMO.

 

[transtemporal]

...(Rage + Uncanny Dodge) + Mirror Image/Blur/etc. all adds up to some pretty nice synergies.

Can't cast spells or maintain concentration while Raging though, remember.

 

[kerbarian]

The build that looks strongest to me is Barbarian 5, then Fighter 4, then go back to Barbarian. This assumes Great Weapon Mastery, and you can use the -5/+10 with Reckless Attack on almost every attack (except high-AC targets).

There are lots of reasons for multiclaasing Fighter, but Battle Master is the biggest one. You have extremely high-damage attacks but only an average chance to hit (-5 but with Advantage). Whenever you miss, you can use the Precision Attack maneuver to probably turn it into a hit -- it's like a free attack.

Second wind, Great Weapon Fighting, and (especially) Action Surge are also all very strong and fit perfectly with the Barbarian's role. Level 4 of Fighter is just to stay in long enough to get the stat boost.

After that, Mindless Rage and Feral Instinct are great reasons to come back to Barbarian.