D&D 5E What is the perfect Fighter/Barbarian multi-class balance?

[Li Shenron]

My favourites are Fighter20/Barbarian0 and Barbarian20/Fighter0.

 

[Horwath]

At 11th or 12th level, maybe 3 levels of champion fighter are good with barbarian for crit fishing. Combine it with half or and maybe polearm master feat/great weapon master and you have a crit machine with 3 attacks per round with rage bonus. And once per short rest 5 attacks per round.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

20 levels of necromancer.

 

[S'mon]

If you are going to be playing a lot at level 20 then Barb-20 is unbeatable. Most campaigns don't play a lot at level 20.

For organic progression in a typical campaign you want to go Bbn-5 or Ftr-5 right away, then multiclass. You might just about get away with delaying Extra Attack if you get a reliable bonus attack - TWF or polearm master.

Building up to level 20 I think Barbarian-9/Fighter-11 looks the most fun; barbarian raging while action surging for 6 reckless greatweapon attacks FTW.

15th level I'd want to have my 11 Fighter levels & 4 barbarian levels. That means going Fighter first 1-5, so 7th level I'd want 5 Fighter levels & 2 barbarian levels.

OTOH I suspect 3-5 levels of Fighter & the rest Barbarian is probably optimal across the bulk of play, unless you're an Eldritch Knight wanting more spell slots to spam Shield. Fighter seems a lot more front loaded than Barbarian to me; Barbs are good across all levels while Fighter has long troughs punctuated by big boosts at 11 & 20.

 

[sla034]

I'd feel terrible about taking level 5 in one if I was going to take level 5 in the other. Picking up that level would be functionally dead. So, if you were playing by the rules and weren't getting permission to let them stack, I'd go with Fighter 4/Barb 16. The extra ASI/Feat would be nice, especially if I'm not going to get my 24 Str/Con.

It's no surprise that these two classes mesh well with each other to kill things. So strictly thinking about a level 20 character, and not taking account of how we got there, what do you think the best balance would be?

Fighter1/Barb19 - Gets you a fighting style, second wind, and heavy armor proficiency. Probably not worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter2/Barb18 - Adds Action Surge. Much better than just the single Fighter dip. Possibly worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter3/Barb17 - Adds Martial Archetype. Both Champion and Battle Master add extra goodness to a mostly Barb build. Probably worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter4/Barb16 - Only if you really want that ASI/feat plus a small boost to your second wind. Otherwise, not any better than just 3/17.

Barb1/Fighter19 - Gets you limited rage + unarmored defense. Probably not worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb2/Fighter18 - Adds Reckless Attack and Danger Sense. meh probably not worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb3/Fighter17 - You get a Primal Path. Good synergy with fighting. Possibly worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb4/Fighter16 - Only if you really want the extra ASI/feat. Hard to recommend.
Barb8/Fighter12 - See below + Only if you REALLY need that extra ASI/feat. But you gave up Brutal Critical and -1 to rage damage to get it.
Barb9/Fighter11 - Probably my vote for best combination. 3 attacks per round plus most of the Barbarian goodness is hard to beat.


I feel like a build of mostly Barbarian levels is typically better with the exception of the 11-12 levels of Fighter. I can't think of any other notable combinations.

What do you think?

In which order would u level barb9/fighter11. Like first leveling up ur fighter side or first leveling up ur barbarian side? Just wondering what would be most the best way to play this.

 

[sla034]

It's no surprise that these two classes mesh well with each other to kill things. So strictly thinking about a level 20 character, and not taking account of how we got there, what do you think the best balance would be?

Fighter1/Barb19 - Gets you a fighting style, second wind, and heavy armor proficiency. Probably not worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter2/Barb18 - Adds Action Surge. Much better than just the single Fighter dip. Possibly worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter3/Barb17 - Adds Martial Archetype. Both Champion and Battle Master add extra goodness to a mostly Barb build. Probably worth losing the Barb Capstone.
Fighter4/Barb16 - Only if you really want that ASI/feat plus a small boost to your second wind. Otherwise, not any better than just 3/17.

Barb1/Fighter19 - Gets you limited rage + unarmored defense. Probably not worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb2/Fighter18 - Adds Reckless Attack and Danger Sense. meh probably not worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb3/Fighter17 - You get a Primal Path. Good synergy with fighting. Possibly worth giving up the Fighter Capstone.
Barb4/Fighter16 - Only if you really want the extra ASI/feat. Hard to recommend.
Barb8/Fighter12 - See below + Only if you REALLY need that extra ASI/feat. But you gave up Brutal Critical and -1 to rage damage to get it.
Barb9/Fighter11 - Probably my vote for best combination. 3 attacks per round plus most of the Barbarian goodness is hard to beat.


I feel like a build of mostly Barbarian levels is typically better with the exception of the 11-12 levels of Fighter. I can't think of any other notable combinations.

What do you think?

What would be the best order to level barb9 fighter11. To be most effective in combat in the early levels just to not fall behind my party. Like first leveling barb or fighter, or just doing it proportionally.

 

[Charlaquin]

What would be the best order to level barb9 fighter11. To be most effective in combat in the early levels just to not fall behind my party. Like first leveling barb or fighter, or just doing it proportionally.

If you’re set on doing Fighter 11, Barbarian 9, I would probably recommend doing all of Fighter first and then all of Barbarian. That way you get as many ASI levels and Extra Attack levels as early as possible.

 

[sla034]

If you’re set on doing Fighter 11, Barbarian 9, I would probably recommend do all of Fighter first and then all of Barbarian. That way you get as many ASI levels and Extra Attack levels as early as possible.

Thank you very much! Kinda new to DND so any help is appreciated!

 

[Charlaquin]

Thank you very much! Kinda new to DND so any help is appreciated!

No problem!

One thing to keep in mind is that most games don’t end up going all the way to 20th level. Groups fall apart for boring out of game reasons like scheduling, and a lot of published adventure paths only go to 10th or 11th level. So while taking 11 levels in Fighter and then 9 in Barbarian may be the most efficient full 20-level build in theory, it may not end up being the best option for you if it means you never actually get to play a the character you wanted because the game ended before you could get any levels in Barbarian.

The main things to consider when multiclassing are what features of each class are most important to you, and how long you’re willing to delay milestones like ASI levels and Extra Attack levels to get them. Since you said you don’t want to fall behind the rest of your party in terms of damage, you’ll probably want to avoid delaying those important levels if at all possible. So you might consider going 5 levels in one class to hit the 4th level ASI and 5th level Extra Attack and then switching so you start getting the features from your other class sooner. It really depends on your priorities though. Why do you want to play a Fighter/Barbarian multiclass specifically?

 

[sla034]

No problem!

One thing to keep in mind is that most games don’t end up going all the way to 20th level. Groups fall apart for boring out of game reasons like scheduling, and a lot of published adventure paths only go to 10th or 11th level. So while taking 11 levels in Fighter and then 9 in Barbarian may be the most efficient full 20-level build in theory, it may not end up being the best option for you if it means you never actually get to play a the character you wanted because the game ended before you could get any levels in Barbarian.

The main things to consider when multiclassing are what features of each class are most important to you, and how long you’re willing to delay milestones like ASI levels and Extra Attack levels to get them. Since you said you don’t want to fall behind the rest of your party in terms of damage, you’ll probably want to avoid delaying those important levels if at all possible. So you might consider going 5 levels in one class to hit the 4th level ASI and 5th level Extra Attack and then switching so you start getting the features from your other class sooner. It really depends on your priorities though. Why do you want to play a Fighter/Barbarian multiclass specifically?

I wanted to try multi-classing for the first time and tried to read up on each class and see which could fit a barbarian and the rest of my party. I found two classes i thought could be cool with barbarian fighter and paladin. Then i saw my character sheet and 10 charisma on a paladin barbarian multi-class might be a little weak. So then i thought hm ye I'll go fighter and built a background around that. So summed up i thought barb fighter could be cool to roleplay and had abilities that fit well together.