D&D (2024) Tier List. Barbarian Review and Ratings.

Every ability they have is good. Compare level 6 ability to say Berzerker or Wildheart. Zealot on is also situational.

World Tree is the only one guaranteed to fore in combat.
Wildheart 6 honestly isn't bad - you can switch between the three options on a long rest. Swim would be a waste of a pick because it's situational but having a back pocket swim speed for that rare adventure is useful.
 

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Wildheart 6 honestly isn't bad - you can switch between the three options on a long rest. Swim would be a waste of a pick because it's situational but having a back pocket swim speed for that rare adventure is useful.

Campaign depending but I think I would pick swim as well.
 



Does it let you climb verticle surfaces though?
If a surface can be climbed, you can move at your full speed and don't need to make skill checks. Most walls, trees etc can be climbed. It lets you move like a cat/squirrel/raccoon/Beast from the X-men.

It doesn't work on ceilings and smooth surfaces, you need Spider Climb for that.
 

If a surface can be climbed, you can move at your full speed and don't need to make skill checks. Most walls, trees etc can be climbed. It lets you move like a cat/squirrel/raccoon/Beast from the X-men.

It doesn't work on ceilings and smooth surfaces, you need Spider Climb for that.

Thats what I figured.
 

Campaign depending but I think I would pick swim as well.
The point is that with the Wild Heart (unlike Totem Warrior) you don't choose on a character basis. You choose on a daily basis in character. Climb is kinda useful but easily used while swim is really useful on the rare times you need it.

But with just a little planning you can work out when the Swim days will be in advance 80-90% of the time. So if you get it vaguely right you spend an average of four days in five with climb giving you 80% of a climb speed and you can take your Trip To The Isle and Visit To The Underwater City with a swim speed giving you 80% of the benefits of swim speed.
 

The point is that with the Wild Heart (unlike Totem Warrior) you don't choose on a character basis. You choose on a daily basis in character. Climb is kinda useful but easily used while swim is really useful on the rare times you need it.

But with just a little planning you can work out when the Swim days will be in advance 80-90% of the time. So if you get it vaguely right you spend an average of four days in five with climb giving you 80% of a climb speed and you can take your Trip To The Isle and Visit To The Underwater City with a swim speed giving you 80% of the benefits of swim speed.

Point.
 

So it's a new edition and I thought it's tier list time. The lists are my subjective opinion assuming a reasonable degree of optimization. It is not most damage or specific build tier list. Damage is important espicially on the "strikers" but a class can still get a high rating. S tier is the best followed by A,B,C, and D. B is a good rating btw. The tier lists compare the archetypes against each other not class vs class.

I also evaluate lower level abilities ahead of higher level ones for obvious reasons. Level 1-7 I value the most level 13 is approaching theoretical territory, 15+ is definitely in theoretical territory. 70% of games level 1-7, 10% above level 10, 1% 15+ according to wizards. A high level tier list would look different feel free to do one.

Barbarians are fairly easy to rate. Melee and something cool while raging. More damage is always important but as long as the something cool while raging is competitive with more damage they can still score a high rating. With changes to the base class rage is almost an at will or every combat ability espicially since it now recharges on a short rest.

My ratings are influenced by the youtubers Treantmonk and Dungeon Dudes, Reddit, my own opinions and powergamers whose opinions I respect. Treantmonk is more white room, Dungeon Dudes put more value on higher level abilities I lean towards more practical levels.

Overall the base Barbarian is well designed at its niche and is almost B tier all by itself. Unlike some of the other classes there's not to much variation in the archetype power levels. I wouldn't argue to hard if all of them were rated A tier. Great job here WotC. Might be the best designed class (and I'm not the biggest fan conceptually of the Barbarian).

Tier Ratings

Berzerker A tier
Wild heart B+
World Tree S tier.
Zealot A tier.

Conclusion

By level 14 all of the Barbarians are great and the gap between them is marginal. I could rate all of them A tier.The base class is also very strong. The worst Barbarian is still a Barbarian. Wildheart is the weakest due to comparatively mediocre level 6 and 10 abilities.
 

Interesting to me that Zealot is not mentioned in the Mt. Olympus pantheon of tanks now. HD-based Bonus Action healing @ HD 12. Then Resistance to B/P/S. You get ALOT of mileage out of that self healing with rage accounted for. On playtest, I have run sword & board Zealy that actually picks & chooses when to Reckless. Also, human taking prof. Jeweler tools + knowledge Arcana can easily craft periapt of wound closure to double HD based healing. Now you are talking about high AC, good saving throw ability, ok dmg - wolverine-like character without reliance on healing support.
 

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