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

[Warmaster Horus]

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.

I have it the other way. Barbarian to 4th and Fighter the rest. I want those extra attacks.

 

[transtemporal]

Personally, I don't mind pure barb for the constant +2 attack/+2 damage. I have a feeling that's consistently better than one nova round and 4d8 (battlemaster) per short rest and ~2 damage from great weapon style.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Personally, I don't mind pure barb for the constant +2 attack/+2 damage. I have a feeling that's consistently better than one nova round and 4d8 (battlemaster) per short rest and ~2 damage from great weapon style.

Comparing the two options to one another: at Barb 20 you get +2 attack/damage/AC. At Barb 5/Battlemaster 3 you get Precise Strike. Don't think of it as +4d8 damage per short rest, think of it as +4d8 to hit per short rest, which offsets GWM to give you a fairly consistent +10 to damage. Arguably the flat +2 at Barb 20 is better, but there's something to be said for not having to wait 12 extra levels to get it, which may not ever even happen.

Frankly, the barb capstone had better be better than Battlemaster 3 or something would be severely broken!

 

[transtemporal]

Comparing the two options to one another: at Barb 20 you get +2 attack/damage/AC. At Barb 5/Battlemaster 3 you get Precise Strike. Don't think of it as +4d8 damage per short rest, think of it as +4d8 to hit per short rest, which offsets GWM to give you a fairly consistent +10 to damage. Arguably the flat +2 at Barb 20 is better, but there's something to be said for not having to wait 12 extra levels to get it, which may not ever even happen.

Frankly, the barb capstone had better be better than Battlemaster 3 or something would be severely broken!

Yeah true. And how often do groups play to 20?

 

[famousringo]

Frankly, the barb capstone had better be better than Battlemaster 3 or something would be severely broken!

I'd say about half the capstones are less interesting than multiclassing. Y'know, the ones that give you a few extra class feature points on combat start or short rest. I refer to them collectively as "The Power of Napping."

So lame, I can only conclude that the designers were trying to push those classes into multiclassing.

 

[Mistwell]

Druid 2. Then grapple like mad, as a raging bear!

 

[procproc]

I have it the other way. Barbarian to 4th and Fighter the rest. I want those extra attacks.

If he's already Barb 4, waiting another 5 levels to get an extra attack sounds like a bad course of action, IMO.

Personally, I'd probably plan to do something like Barb 5/Ftr 4/Rog 5 and then see whether or not the campaign is over by then. If not, tack on some extra levels of any of those classes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

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

Good point. There are some pretty nice non-concentration defensive spells though, like Mirror Image and Blink. Anyway, I didn't mean to suggest that you use all of those options simultaneously in every fight. GWM + Reckless Attack + Rage and Uncanny Dodge against Iron Golems and other big hitters in order to attrit them faster than they attrit you; GWM + Blur + Shield against swarms of mooks in order to kill them off at minimal resource cost; Mirror Image as appropriate when you know combat is imminent.

But good point, thanks for highlighting it.

 

[PnPgamer]

Where does barbarian get +2 to attacks?

 

[daddystabz]

We just made level 5 so now I am a 5th. lvl Barbarian. I want to play all the way to 20. Do you all think it would be more advantageous overall given that I want to play to 20 to just simply stay Barbarian all the way rather than dip into Fighter as well?