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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zardnaar" data-source="post: 9895722" data-attributes="member: 6716779">So last tie I did this UI think I over rated some classes and I have run a lot more 5.5 mostly RAW in regards to things likie encounters and magic items/loot. As per usual I will be weighting towards the first 10 levels and a vibes+ experience look with impact, frequency, synergy and cost PoV. Conceptually the Barbarian is a fairly simple class. Rage and go and hit something hard. For the most part is succeeds very well at that concept. Big change is you get an extra rage after every short rest and you can sustain in between encounters. Functionally rage is essentially at ill but you may burn your bonus action to activate it. A Barbarian who can't rage is a very sad panda but its more of an exception vs a rule. Happens mostly via reaching 0 hp or flunking a save vs something that gives you the incapacitated condition. The base class is front loaded and its abilities are mostly about hitting stuff harder/more and movement bonuses. You do get an initiative boost at level 7 which is nice. I rate initiative boosts higher in 5.5. The class switches on level 3 and peaks around level 3-5. This means if your game is combat heavy and finishes by level 7 or so the Barbarian is an S tier class. However there are some significant downsides. Barbarian damage for example scales very slowly. The Berzerker and Zealot can keep up otherwise a basic fighter is catching up around level 6 or 7. You don't get a weapon style feat which kind of pigeonholes you into using a heavy weapon (you can technically use a shield or dual wield but there's not that much point TBH). If you use reckless attack you're gonna get hit and critical a lot. Your defenses are mediocre as there is no real boost to mental defenses in the base class, AC tends to be in the 15-17 range and you often grant advantage to foes. Your resistance to damage also got indirectly nerfed from 5.0-5.5. Monster damage was also boosted.  around 200/500 monsters deal P/S/B damage, the rest is a mixture or doesn't deal P/S/B to begin with. Your saving throws are also nothing special as spellcasters want constitution saves, martials want mental saves IMHO. You're not the worst however Rangers and Rogues say hi. In a real game this means that the barbarian probably gets hit a lot, gets critted a lot and goes down a lot which breaks your rage. I've seen them more or less depleted after 1-2 fights and they need to short rest and use most or all of their hit dice. This is a recurring problem from level 1 to level 13 I have noticed. On paper it looks great in reality you're getting depleted faster than most classes. Healers are not super popular and bards and clerics (or whoever) generally have better things to do than constantly heal you. The class is also a bit of a one trick pony. Mostly combat related, pigeonholed into melee, ranged attacks are poor or throw a weapon, and you probably want to use a great weapon. You can probably guess where this is going the base class is a C. I'm not a fan.Subclasses The ranking here vs other subclasses not an overall ranking. An A tier subclass is still a C tier barbarian It just means that particular subclass may be a B overall. On the plus side the subclasses are close to each other in power and there is no outright bad ones (apart from being a barbarian).Path of the Berzerker. Formally the worst Barbarian now one of the best. It doubles down on the combat pillar and peaks early as well. White room theory crafting its basically top of the line in terms of damage with a very basic build. Eg use a heavy weapon, take the great weapon master feat. I have seen dual wielding hunter rangers come close in damage however. If you want the extra damage via your frenzy however you have to use reckless attack. Its not opti0onal. This means you're taking a lot of damage and you will likely be incapacitated multiple times as 5.5 critters hit very had and you just doubled their crit chance. Functionally your AC is 12 or 13 give or take. I've seen cleave, graze and prone weapon masteries and horrific damage thrown around at level 3-5 one shotting tough creatures due to very nasty crits generally in the 2d12+4d6+8-10 range. Cleave+hew on an axe or halberd. At level 6 you gain immunity to frightened and charm effects. There is a bit of fear going around in 5.5 and this is good if somewhat situational. Level 10 is more damage as a reaction if you get hit. Level 14 30' fear effect which is nice. More damage on top of more damage and the subclass doubles down on being a one trick pony but its basically the highest damage dealer in the game at levels that matter. Everything the subclass gets is very nice to great. Its an A. S tier damage dealer whoever.Path of the Wild Heart Oh how the mighty have fallen. Formally one of the best barbarians they nerfed it from 5.0 PHB and renamed it. You used to be a tank that was resistant to everything except psychic damage while raging. Now you don't get force, radiant, necrotic and psychic damage sigh. Generally at each level you pick some aspect from an animal. A few of these are a bit underwhelming eg level 6 (all of them) and level 10. The wolf ability at level 3 however is very nice. Level14 Falcon is fantastic but its very late and heading towards theory craft territory. At level 14 why are you not playing a Fighter, Paladin or possibly a Monk is also another thing. Your damage is also low by Barbarian standards. In effect you're a bit tankier than other barbarians mostly vs elemental damage but yeah. Nothing is bad as such though and even the mediocre abilities1`q are exactly that but there is 2/4 of them and at level 6 the disappointment is real IMHO. Overall its a B-. None of the subclass abilities shore up your defenses (read mental saves) though.Path of the World Tree. Last time around I thought this was one of the better ones but I think I over rated it. This barbarian is a bit odd as it adds control aspects to the Barbarian. How good that is though is situational or relies on party synergy. At level 3 you gain temporary hi points. Not many but you also grant an ally extra hit points as well minimum 2d6 (3d6 at 9). With how hard 5.5 monsters hit its not really many but it may keep you up an extra hit and its a fine ability. At level 6 however things get very interesting. You can teleport foes around at the start of their turn and their speed is reduced to 0. Unfortunately its a strength save which isn't a great save to target but you can functionally spam it every round. It shuts down melee opponents (decent ranged attacks are a bit more common in 5.5). This ability is really good and I have see it used in the right party with a Cleric or Druid going for a walk with an emanation. Situationally an I win button if a cliff or lava is around. Level 10 you get battering roots. this adds push or topple effect on top of any other weapon mastery your weapon has. Level 14 teleport effect very nice but it does arrive very late. Overall a B+ a lot of your abilities are situational/party depended and saving throw dependent and none of the help out on important barbarian weaknesses beyond a modest HP boost. I suspect this class is a lot of fun in the right party/group (read tactical players who like using zone effects) Path of the Zealot. In 5.0 one of the better Barbarians. It benefits from general Barbarian buffs. Much like the Berzerker and Barbarians in general it also peaks early. At level 3 you get Divine Fury and Warrior of the Gods. Extra damage radiant or necrotic that is not reliant on reckless attack. Advantage is more common than 5.0 so having the option to use it is great. Warrior of the gods gives you an extra 4d12 (5d12 lvl 6 nice)minimum dice to use. Combined with not having to use reckless attacks you're a lot more durable than the Berserker while damage is close. Level 6 you can reroll a flunked save with a small bonus equal to your rage. The bonus is small but rerolls are always nice. Frequency is once per rage but its better than once per day. No so reliable later on when saves are hitting DC 15-20 but its better than anything else the other barbarians get in terms of defense (except Berzerker fear immunity lower frequency). Saves are fairly common even outside combat.  Zealous presence is a nice party buff and depending on how you day is going you probably have a spare rage or two to use it 2 or 3 times. Recharge is only a short rest away. Rage of the gods is also really at 14 flying plus resistance plus restore an ally. Overall everything the Zealot gets is good to great. Bit less damage than a Berzerker but a lot tougher, versatile and a bit of support to the rest of your p[arty and a critical defensive boost. By barbarian standards I would put this one in the S tier and no lower than a A (downgrade Berzerker to an A- or B+ if you do). The base class is a C but you have 2/4 subclasses that a good to very good and 1 that is decent. However you are still a one trick pony dragged down by being pigeonholed into that one trick (hit stuff hard at melee), get KO'ed a lot and one class that is party synergy dependent and a meh one that is still OK at least. 3/4 being good  is a win but its not overwhelming and yeah you're still a barbarian but I'll upgrade the C to a C+ (B- if you're generous and World Tree may be better in right game). More damage isn't hard to do in 5.5 and there is other similar classes that do more damage and have other options or are less prone to ending up prone and incapacitated. Its a reasonably simple class to run however and I see newbies taking it a lot, doing comparatively well with it and having a alot of fun so that is also a win so its also better on those types of games. Upgrade the rating a whole step (eg B to a B+) if you're doing combat heavy games eg a dungeon crawl.</blockquote>

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