D&D 5E The Barbarian has been Nerfed YET AGAIN. Where is Thick Hide?

[dd.stevenson]

Fairness, give-and-take, not-being-a-jerk, etc. The class has lost something in EACH AND EVERY PACK. I've been somewhat good natured about it till now, this latest pack is a bridge too far. I'm probably going to change character classes because of it.

Are you play testing in a home campaign? Is this some kind of organized play deal?

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Fairness, give-and-take, not-being-a-jerk, etc. The class has lost something in EACH AND EVERY PACK. I've been somewhat good natured about it till now, this latest pack is a bridge too far. I'm probably going to change character classes because of it.

I don't understand. It's a playtest. All classes have gained and lost features all over the place throughout development. Some abilities have been moved around, hence you don't get your increased speed yet. Damage has been reduced across all classes, hence you have less rage damage. Your accuracy is less than that of a fighter because you can rage and hit far more often anyway. Feats have been completely changed so you could in fact get the benefits of multiple old feats with just a single new feat. Try playing your character and then tell us that it's not viable - you're better than a fighter in raw melee combat, you just don't have any tricks. I don't understand how you can take this personally when it's a playtest.

 

[BASHMAN]

For what it's worth, the barbarian in our game was roundly considered to be overpowered by everyone in the group, including the guy playing the barbarian. The running joke every time he attacked was "Hey dude, can you sense the nerf bat following you around? Cuz it's obviously coming. Holy crap."

Not that I want the class to be nerfed into oblivion. But it seemed clear to me that the barb was going to get scaled back. I wouldn't really have expected much in return. Very curious to see how he stacks up in our next session. Still looks effective to me.

AD

Did your barbarian wear armor? If so, the impact of this latest packet will not be nearly as severe as it would be for one that did not.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I was disappointed to see Thick Hide get removed. The shirtless Conan-style barbarian should be supported, at least as an option. I think a feat is needed at least.

You can always just wear a hide armor codpiece. Mechanics do not equal image. It's time someone takes a positive spin on the "chainmail bikini effect".

 

[Plaguescarred]

I hope Thick Skin makes its way back. It gave Barbarians an incntive to go about in loincloth, which is a staple of its genre.

 

[jadrax]

I hope Thick Skin makes its way back. It gave Barbarians an incntive to go about in loincloth, which is a staple of its genre.

yeah, it was the only feature of the play test Barbarian Class I actually liked.

 

[keterys]

Did your barbarian wear armor? If so, the impact of this latest packet will not be nearly as severe as it would be for one that did not.

So put on some armor. Feel free to pretend you're not wearing it, to match your character concept, but if the class is (now) designed to wear armor, then not wearing armor isn't a real option.

 

[TwoSix]

So put on some armor. Feel free to pretend you're not wearing it, to match your character concept, but if the class is (now) designed to wear armor, then not wearing armor isn't a real option.

Or simply provide them feedback that you feel that "armorless barbarian" should be a viable and supported concept, and the loss of Thick Hide negates the concept.

 

[the Jester]

Fairness, give-and-take, not-being-a-jerk, etc. The class has lost something in EACH AND EVERY PACK. I've been somewhat good natured about it till now, this latest pack is a bridge too far. I'm probably going to change character classes because of it.

The point of the playtest isn't to make a given class the best evar, or to keep it on par with what it has been if it has been overpowered. It's to find the balance point at which the class is balanced against other pc options.

As far as barbarian-in-a-loincloth goes, I really hope that they don't put an ability in that gives you an AC equal to the fighter in heavy armor. Barbarians should be terrifying monsters that do buttloads of damage but are easy to hit. They need less defense and more recovery abilities, IMHO.

 

[BASHMAN]

So put on some armor. Feel free to pretend you're not wearing it, to match your character concept, but if the class is (now) designed to wear armor, then not wearing armor isn't a real option.

And then I try to swim/use stealth and...