FrogReaver
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Barbarians are more than mere brutes only capable of hitting things with a big stick. They are cunning warriors. This guide is to provide ideas for creating a Barbarian that does more than just big melee damage. Here I'm focusing on mostly lower level abilities, say level 10 and below.
Reckless
You don't always have to use reckless, but when you do the advantage it grants really helps you proc Weapon Masteries.
Weapon Properties
Reach
Useful to add a little extra range, and good for tight spaces as you can attack from a back rank. Mostly useful in combination with other abilities.
Thrown
Due to reckless attack, Barbarians can use thrown weapons up to their max range and still attack without disadvantage. That's 120ft with a javelin. It receives the rage bonus to damage as well as Subclass Damage features like Frenzy or Divine Fury working with these. Tridents can also be especially effective as their Topple Mastery can really slow down an approaching melee enemy or take a flyer out of the sky.
Weapon Masteries
Sap
This combination is especially strong early game when enemies tend to have fewer attacks/fewer enemies. This can mitigate the disadvantage caused by your reckless attack from one enemy. Being attacked without advantage will mean many fewer hits. Also, most Sap weapons are one handed so you can even use a shield. And if for some reason the creature you hit with Sap doesn't attack you, it gets actual disadvantage on whoever it does target!
Push
The basic consideration is that we can push enemies off our ranged allies then move up to them such that if they want to move back and attack our allies they will take an OA. If initiative is favorable our ranged ally will also get to move away before the enemy even gets his next turn. This can be done turn after turn after turn. This is a cheap and effective way of protecting an ally. It also allows one to push enemies into dangerous zones which can also be highly effective.
Push can also be used in place of disengage in many situations, allowing you to attack and more freely move around the battlefield.
Vex
The basic idea is to start the battle with Reckless attack, then assuming your last attack hits you go into the next round with without reckless. Then repeat that every turn that you would start your next turn with advantage. If you don't have it then Reckless to start the process over. Essentially this makes you alot more defensive while keeping your accuracy really high.
Topple
Another great Mastery for keeping enemies off allies. If your alone in melee with an enemy and you topple it then it's move rate is severely reduced, meaning it will have trouble catching any ranged allies unless they were already really close. Can also help grant melee allies advantage.
Feats
Sentinel
With your advantage to hit on OA's when reckless attacking, whatever you are Opportunity Attacking is most likely going no where. Even more effective with a reach or push weapon so the enemy won't be adjacent to you when their movement is stopped.
Polearm Master
More of a damage feat, but is really interesting in conjunction with a Pike. Whatever enemy you becomes adjacent with most likely gets pushed outside your reach, meaning next turn if it moves closer to you to attack it will take another reaction attack. This also works when you push an enemy off an ally.
World Tree
Vitality of the Tree
Temp hp generation for you and allies is nice. Can make it really hard to down an ally.
Branches of the Tree
An interesting ability. One of the coolest things you can do with this is keep enemies prone (provided they were prone before their turn started and fail their save. That alone is pretty cool. It also is good at locking an enemy down besides you, but not as effective at that as Sentinel with Reckless due to the high chance to proc. However, because you can use this without relying on reckless and the subclass grants you some temp hp then you will likely be alot sturdier than the Sentinel+Reckless approach. Freeing up the feat for something other than sentinel is great. Also, this is forced movement so the same possibility of forcing enemies into zones still applies.
Wild Heart
Rage of the Wilds
One of the most flexible abilities around. The additional damage reduction types from Bear can be nice. Giving allies advantage to enemies you are near from Wolf is really good too. Either of these abilities pairs really nicely with Sentinel as well. Then there's Eagle which is basically all the combat movement you will ever need. By level 5 you can freely move around 80ft a turn with a bonus action (and when you rage). This actually gives you the speed to hit and run skirmish, especially when paired with reach/push/topple. It also lets you bust through the back ranks to whatever priority target there is. And what's really great is you can choose a different ability each rage.
Reckless
You don't always have to use reckless, but when you do the advantage it grants really helps you proc Weapon Masteries.
Weapon Properties
Reach
Useful to add a little extra range, and good for tight spaces as you can attack from a back rank. Mostly useful in combination with other abilities.
Thrown
Due to reckless attack, Barbarians can use thrown weapons up to their max range and still attack without disadvantage. That's 120ft with a javelin. It receives the rage bonus to damage as well as Subclass Damage features like Frenzy or Divine Fury working with these. Tridents can also be especially effective as their Topple Mastery can really slow down an approaching melee enemy or take a flyer out of the sky.
Weapon Masteries
Sap
This combination is especially strong early game when enemies tend to have fewer attacks/fewer enemies. This can mitigate the disadvantage caused by your reckless attack from one enemy. Being attacked without advantage will mean many fewer hits. Also, most Sap weapons are one handed so you can even use a shield. And if for some reason the creature you hit with Sap doesn't attack you, it gets actual disadvantage on whoever it does target!
Push
The basic consideration is that we can push enemies off our ranged allies then move up to them such that if they want to move back and attack our allies they will take an OA. If initiative is favorable our ranged ally will also get to move away before the enemy even gets his next turn. This can be done turn after turn after turn. This is a cheap and effective way of protecting an ally. It also allows one to push enemies into dangerous zones which can also be highly effective.
Push can also be used in place of disengage in many situations, allowing you to attack and more freely move around the battlefield.
Vex
The basic idea is to start the battle with Reckless attack, then assuming your last attack hits you go into the next round with without reckless. Then repeat that every turn that you would start your next turn with advantage. If you don't have it then Reckless to start the process over. Essentially this makes you alot more defensive while keeping your accuracy really high.
Topple
Another great Mastery for keeping enemies off allies. If your alone in melee with an enemy and you topple it then it's move rate is severely reduced, meaning it will have trouble catching any ranged allies unless they were already really close. Can also help grant melee allies advantage.
Feats
Sentinel
With your advantage to hit on OA's when reckless attacking, whatever you are Opportunity Attacking is most likely going no where. Even more effective with a reach or push weapon so the enemy won't be adjacent to you when their movement is stopped.
Polearm Master
More of a damage feat, but is really interesting in conjunction with a Pike. Whatever enemy you becomes adjacent with most likely gets pushed outside your reach, meaning next turn if it moves closer to you to attack it will take another reaction attack. This also works when you push an enemy off an ally.
World Tree
Vitality of the Tree
Temp hp generation for you and allies is nice. Can make it really hard to down an ally.
Branches of the Tree
An interesting ability. One of the coolest things you can do with this is keep enemies prone (provided they were prone before their turn started and fail their save. That alone is pretty cool. It also is good at locking an enemy down besides you, but not as effective at that as Sentinel with Reckless due to the high chance to proc. However, because you can use this without relying on reckless and the subclass grants you some temp hp then you will likely be alot sturdier than the Sentinel+Reckless approach. Freeing up the feat for something other than sentinel is great. Also, this is forced movement so the same possibility of forcing enemies into zones still applies.
Wild Heart
Rage of the Wilds
One of the most flexible abilities around. The additional damage reduction types from Bear can be nice. Giving allies advantage to enemies you are near from Wolf is really good too. Either of these abilities pairs really nicely with Sentinel as well. Then there's Eagle which is basically all the combat movement you will ever need. By level 5 you can freely move around 80ft a turn with a bonus action (and when you rage). This actually gives you the speed to hit and run skirmish, especially when paired with reach/push/topple. It also lets you bust through the back ranks to whatever priority target there is. And what's really great is you can choose a different ability each rage.
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The vex tactic is certainly a defensive concept for a Barbarian. It's a way to reckless attack less so the enemy doesn't attack you with advantage so often. I'd probably pair it with a subclass that grants extra damage.
