D&D 5E Berserker Barbarian good or needs fix? What Fix?

[GameOgre]

Is the Berserker Barbarian broken? Everyone seems to dislike it due to the exhaustion issue. Is it really that bad? How have you fixed it in your game? Or is this something you only see on message boards and in peoples home game it's not so much a issue?

In my game almost every time Barbarians have picked Totem but the one time someone was going to pick berserker I was fine house ruling the exhaustion away and limiting it to 1 per short rest but the player still went totem.

Also it's strange that with so many people talking about how bad berserker is, we have yet to see any sort of fix for it.Well unless it is simply something that seems broken but isn't a issue in game.

 

[jaelis]

The exhaustion seems kind of bad to me. What if you had to make a DC 10 Con save to avoid gaining the exhaustion, with the DC increasing by 5 every time you do it (resetting at a long rest)?

 

[Yunru]

The exhaustion mechanic means that you only really want to be using your Frenzy 1/day. Which is sucky compared to the other subclasses.

My fix was to give them another feature at third level "Font of Stamina" that removes a level of Exhaustion after each Short Rest.

 

[discosoc]

I think it's aged better than expected. The exhaustion thing sounds really bad, but I think people tend to forget that the barbarian doesn't have to Frenzy every time he rages. Instead, that feature should be saved for the "boss fight" of the night. Mindless Rage also sounds underwhelming, but it basically means you don't have to worry about your WIS save (or the Resilient feat) anymore, which is pretty powerful. Intimidating Presence is a great tactical option that can force a whole bunch of OA's with a properly coordinated group, and works well with Frenzy (so you still get your bonus action attack). Lastly, Retaliation means your barbarian is almost always going to have a favorable action economy.

Basically, a Frenzy Barbarian that takes GWM has access to a ton of crit-fishing attacks, and is a total offensive juggernaut once or twice per session. They still make for a top-tier melee fighter the rest of the time.

So what's the problem? Well, Totem Warrior has the 3rd level "bear" option that grants damage resistance while raging, and I've found that is an incredibly popular and attractive ability to have, and I think a lot of people just dive into it as a result. Plus, the Frenzy line is deceptively aggressive, so unless the player understands the importance of WIS saves or the Frightened condition, it might very well seem like a useless path.

I don't think it's mechanically unbalanced or broken, in the slightest.

 

[Ketser]

Although i haven't had any barbarians in my games, i have felt that making the frenzy cost an additional use of rage is probably the simplest and best solution to fix the issue. At level 3 it pretty much means that you can only get one frenzy per day, evolving in the end into 3 frenzies per day, at the cost of normal rages. It gives the player choice of being more durable most of the encounters or pushing his combat ability (with the durability) in select encounters. You might do less frenzies than the book version, but at least you don't get any penalties from doing it.

The only real issue comes up in level 20 where barbarian gets unlimited rages per day, but its more a case if you ever get there and then you just need to decide how many times its smart to allow a lvl 20 berzerker to frenzy instead of raging.

Speaking of the frenzy ability, its one of the places where the issues with the exhaustion mechanic start popping up. I like the 6 level exhaustion mechanic, but its balefully obvious that they basically took their best idea how to make exhaustion scary, but just clumsily forced it into game at the last minute. It seems that the idea of frenzy causing exhaustion was probably made before they finished the exhaustion mechanic and so we have the issues withs the classic 3.x style barbarian option.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

It was built to be a "big fight" PC--if you are on your way to fight a dragon and you run into some goblins, rage but don't frenzy. The sorcerer is the magic version of this--if you are on your way to fight a dragon and you run into some goblins, just use cantrips, because you want to convert you low level spell slots into SP's to cast more high-level spells in the dragon fight. That notion has proven quite unpopular in 5e.

A simple change for the berserker is to swap out the 14th level ability (the one that lets you use your reaction to make an attack when someone hits you, which I think is the 14th level ability--it's been a while since a midlevel berserker has shown up at my table) for frenzy (which you get at 14th level). You get the much of the benefit of frenzy (you get more chances to swing your ax), and swap out a harsh penalty (exhaustion) for a relatively lesser one (getting hit, which the barbarian might suffer anyway). By 14th level, exhaustion may not be as big a problem.

 

[cmad1977]

Exhaustion is
A: not that bad unless you start accruing 3,4 levels of it.
B: a good thing as it adds an important decision for the berserker to make.

None of the Frenzy Barbarians I've played with have gripes about exhaustion. They take it as a cost of doing business. Really bloody, violent and effective business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Caliban]

People don't like it because it's main ability - a bonus action attack with your main weapon, comes at a cost (a level of exhaustion).

Now, you don't have to use the Frenzy, you can just Rage normally and not accrue any exhaustion.

If you only use the Frenzy ability once per day, your next Long Rest takes care of it.

It only becomes a problem if you want to Frenzy more than once a day, or you are gaining levels of Exhaustion from other sources.

The only way to get rid of exhaustion levels faster is by using the Greater Restoration spell - which costs a 5th level spell and 100 gp.

One way to somewhat ameliorate the downside is by taking the Acolyte background - then you can get an NPC cleric to cast it on you once per day for only 100 gp (the material component cost). But that requires you to be adventuring near the church so you can stop by between combats.

 

[Xeviat]

I haven't seen Berserker picked. The first Barbarian I saw was a level 5 totem with bear. He didn't pick Berserker because he picked GWM and was already getting a bonus action attack sometimes. The barbarian is strapped for bonus actions, so he didn't go for it.

The second Barbarian was a battlerager. He's given up a bit of AC for an always on bonus action 1d4+Str attack. It's been working very well for him so far, but we've had a lot of fights with things that go down in one hit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ketser]

Exhaustion is
A: not that bad unless you start accruing 3,4 levels of it.

Actually already 2 is pretty bad, because it halves your speed. Fast movement might help a bit, but IMHO not enough.

Depending on DM/adventure/group the disadvantage on ability checks can become really cumbersome. Have a bit more ability check rich environment and it can become an issue, especially if your barbarian falls of a cliff or drowns because saving the rest of a party in a tough fight.