mflayermonk
First Post
What percentage of Barbarians are bear totem? It seems like 90%.
D&D 5E (2014) Barbarian
- Thread starter shadowoflameth
- Start date
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lowkey13
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Wik
First Post
the group I GM for has a bear barbarian. What's awesome is, mechanically, she's a half-orc... but in the actual campaign, she's an awakened bear. Like, literally. A cross between Chewbacca and Baloo from the jungle book, she named her bear "Chewbaloo", because obviously.
The thing about the class is... it's different than the barbarians in other editions. In those games, barbarians are huge damage dealers that are often fairly easy to take down in a few rounds due to low AC. In 5th, they still have the low AC... but they're tanks. And they don't deal a whole helluva lot of damage, not compared to other front liners. So, our bbn player, who normally plays the main damage dealer (it's what she likes doing) is having a rough time playing what is essentially the front line. She doesn't like taking damage too often... and so rarely uses reckless attack. Which can be problematic.
Ultimately, the bbn is a great class... just different from other editions.
The thing about the class is... it's different than the barbarians in other editions. In those games, barbarians are huge damage dealers that are often fairly easy to take down in a few rounds due to low AC. In 5th, they still have the low AC... but they're tanks. And they don't deal a whole helluva lot of damage, not compared to other front liners. So, our bbn player, who normally plays the main damage dealer (it's what she likes doing) is having a rough time playing what is essentially the front line. She doesn't like taking damage too often... and so rarely uses reckless attack. Which can be problematic.
Ultimately, the bbn is a great class... just different from other editions.
G
Guest 6801328
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The combo I want to see is a 1/2 Orc GWM Great Axe berserker barbarian supported by a Diviner Wizard.
1) Haste the Barbarian
2) Hold Person/Monster, with Portent to guarantee a failed saving throw.
3) Laugh while Barbarian gets really stupidly huge criticals (as high as 6d12 + 21, four times a round, with no magic items...that's an average of 240 DPR) over and over. On multiple rounds with extra Portents and/or some dice luck.
4) Recover from Exhaustion on huge mound of treasure.
1) Haste the Barbarian
2) Hold Person/Monster, with Portent to guarantee a failed saving throw.
3) Laugh while Barbarian gets really stupidly huge criticals (as high as 6d12 + 21, four times a round, with no magic items...that's an average of 240 DPR) over and over. On multiple rounds with extra Portents and/or some dice luck.
4) Recover from Exhaustion on huge mound of treasure.
Bawylie
A very OK person
I played Kanati Uwohali in Iserith's Actual Play Transcripts. You can read for yourself how it played.
Essentially, robust, muscular, fast, a real flexible powerhouse. I went for a tank-like build and it was phenomenal.
I really enjoyed it, particularly more than the 3rd ed barb, because the rage mechanic was so fluid in use, requiring very little calculation.
No frills. 16 str, 14 Dex, 16 con. AC 15 or 17 w/shield. Eagle totem. I wasn't the biggest damage on the scene, but I held my own, and my lockdown was clutch.
Essentially, robust, muscular, fast, a real flexible powerhouse. I went for a tank-like build and it was phenomenal.
I really enjoyed it, particularly more than the 3rd ed barb, because the rage mechanic was so fluid in use, requiring very little calculation.
No frills. 16 str, 14 Dex, 16 con. AC 15 or 17 w/shield. Eagle totem. I wasn't the biggest damage on the scene, but I held my own, and my lockdown was clutch.
Kithas
First Post
Berzerker can be really good! What I would advise against is doing more than one frenzy a day, on a long rest you get your level of exhaustion back so no long term problems. ofc save it for the BBEG but using a great weapon getting a swing every bonus action is just awesome, and the 14 ability is great too!
Barbarians are a personal favorite of mine.
Are you multiclassing? I would advise either paladin(divine smite while raging!) or Ranger Hunter(all their stuff is passive so it works while raging, plus entangling strike is a great cc if you arent ragin)
Barbarians are a personal favorite of mine.
Are you multiclassing? I would advise either paladin(divine smite while raging!) or Ranger Hunter(all their stuff is passive so it works while raging, plus entangling strike is a great cc if you arent ragin)
If he doesn't listen, then to hell with him.
I love Barbarians in 5E. It's my favorite class. I am currently playing a Mountain Dwarf Berserker w/ the Great Weapon Master feat who supplements his income by "wrastling bears" on the side. As others have pointed out, I try to use the Frenzy ability only once per day, preferably towards the end of the day. The ability to shrug off charm and fear effects while raging is a huge plus for Berserkers, as is the Retaliation ability. I have great staying power, thanks to damage resistance, and great damage potential, thanks to the combination of Reckless Attack, GWM, Rage, Retaliation, and Frenzy. I love to use Reckless Attack in conjunction with the GWM -5 to hit / +10 to damage. The only Totem Warrior ability I really envy is damage resistance to everything except psychic. On the other hand, Totem Warriors are easy fodder for domination effects that I'm generally immune to.
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