Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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No sense in getting into why I did this. The question is what should I do now?
What is the easiest but best path forward now that I have already dipped?
Feats: Sentinel and Mage Slayer
Stats: 20, 14, 14, 12, 14, 12
(I can elaborate or answer more questions if necessary.)
Interesting. So far that seems like an effective protector btw your guardians & Sentinel. From here it kinda depends on what you want to be able to do? What challenges are you facing? And what is more important to you, etc? (My suggestions are assuming 2024 base class).
Barbarian: You kind of have the meat of both the Barbarian class and the AG sublcass. I haven't played the 2024 Barb that far yet, but on paper I am not super impressed by what it has past level 8. Most of it is fairly simple: boost to Rage bonus at 9, one more Rage at 10 plus for you Augury/Clairvoyance (how good is this?), then Relentless Rage, etc. So are you being dropped to 0 a lot? Do you want to use Brutal Strike's control features enough to sacrifice Advantage on your attacks? Do you need more than 3 rages? Higher level Brutal Strike features are certainly more attractive (13 & 17), and your AG's damage feature at 14 is cool. I guess you'd sustain d12 hit dice as well.
Fighter: The new Fighter seems pretty strong and offers a lot at its early levels. I think Barb/Fighter multiclasses are very common. You're one Fighter level away from Action Surge, which is massive. Tactical Mind gives a simple way to make that important skill check you need to land. Then getting a Fighter subclass next seems to offer so much: Champion is simple but capitalizes on your Advantage attacks for more crits; Battlemaster gives all kinds of beloved tactical options (arguably better than Barb's Brutal Strike); Rune Knight grants some cool damage & protection abilities, etc. The Fighter gets you a feat/ASI in just 3 levels instead of 4 Barb levels (since you're at Fighter 1), and then you'd get another feat 2 levels after that at Fighter 6. Fighter 9's Indomitable would be huge in helping you make critical saves, if you get to level 18.
Feats: I think it's flavor to taste since you've maxed your STR and have Mage Slayer. Assuming your using a Heavy weapon, Great Weapon Master may still worth taking even though your STR is maxed out? The bonus dmg at this point would be +4 per hit, plus the Hew for when you crit or drop an enemy, which should be often. Resilient WIS if you're getting targeted with more tough WIS saves than your Mage Slayer can handle. But with your even stats, I'd also look at several origin feats: Alert for Initiative; Tough for HP; Lucky for Adv on saves; Musician to grant your party Inspiration; and some newer ones: Portal Jumper gain a damage Resistance plus a cool light teleport ability; Zhentarim Ruffian gives a dmg bonus to Opportunity Attacks but is probably only worth it if you have Inspiration access to use the other initiative bonus. And of course, raising your CON or even DEX would be useful.
I think the clearest value would be getting at least 3 more levels in Fighter to get: Action Surge, a Fighter subclass, and an ASI/feat. And I'd probably do that first. And then evaluate if you want Fighter levels 5-11 or Ancestral Guardian Barb levels 9-15. Just my take.
I appreciate it, thanks!
it is 2024 rules, although we started with 2014. Also, we aren’t making it to level 20 apparently. Not sure which level though.
That’s kind of what I was originally thinking about Barbarian. I didn’t think I would really use those abilities, nor do i completely understand them. Fighter just seems easier to understand.
I’m actually running sword and board (another long story, but can’t beat an AC of 21 currently), so GWM isn’t really an option. I could look into either more original feats or maybe more Con. If i really wanted more health, I should have stuck with Barbarian though.
Anyway, I appreciate your input! It’s giving me a gameplan. Thanks!
Of course! Curious:
What weapon are you using?
And do you tend to start you rage the first turn of combat? Or do you have your rage on before combat (now that it lasts 10 min)?
Battleaxe currently, but I’m looking for an upgrade and am open to trying something else… as long as it goes with my +1 shield.
As for when I rage… I didn’t realize i could do that now before combat. Now I’m trying to think back as far as when I could have raged sooner. Then again, i really have nothing else to do with my bonus action currently.
If you have a lack of bonus action options, you could consider switching your weapon of choice to a Spear or Quarterstaff and pick up Pole Arm Master as your next feat choice. It would give you a good way to weaponize your bonus action while retaining the shield.
As far as where to go with your classes, I would recommend taking some more levels of Fighter. The next few levels of Fighter give you some very nice additions to your toolkit. Action Surge is always welcome on a frontliner. Tactical Mind is helpful outside of combat for crucial skill checks. If you take Battlemaster as a subclass, it will give you some options to be more versatile in combat. Commander's Strike is a great boon if you have a Rogue in the party so they can get a second Sneak Attack in a round. Bait and Switch or Maneuvering Attack are both nice ways to get a squishy party member out of danger. Disarming/Menacing/Pushing Attack all add some nice extra effects to your own strikes.
Cool, yeah 10-min rages is a new perk of the 5.5/2024 Barbarian. It may not always be doable or wise to Rage if it's not clear combat is imminent, but if you're doing a dungeon crawl or can tell combat is likely coming up, it frees up your bonus action for the first round. So you can look for feats and/or class/subclass features that make good use of your BA.
Good suggestions from Sequilonis. Polearm Master is a classic way to weaponize your BA would give you a 2nd way to weaponize your Reaction. Plus the extra reach is always nice, and it could give a +1 to DEX, so you don't miss out on a stat bump. Pairing that with the Battlemaster would likely be pretty effective, mainly because you could mostly choose Maneuvers that don't use your BA, though it wouldn't be bad if you chose some that would give you another strong option. For help analyzing Battlemaster Maneuvers, you could search youtube for some breakdown videos. Lots of good options.
Another solid way to use your BA would be to take the Rune Knight subclass. It can also appear complex, but mainly you get 3 different features right at level 3: two Rune choices and Giant's Might. Giant's Might uses your BA to activate and lasts one minute. It gives a solid damage bump, and its size increase for you would make it a bit easier to trigger Sentinel, since you'd take up 4 squares instead of 1. Of the two Runes, I'd say for sure Fire Rune again for extra damage and cool lockdown option and one of the other 3 (Cloud or Stone, though both make use of your Reaction).
I think those 2 subclasses offer the most. I'd say Polearm Master's probably best with Battlemaster, though Battlemaster would be fine without it too. If you took Polearmaster (and got a +1 bump to DEX), you could think about another DEX feat to round out your DEX. If you went Rune Knight, I'd focus on other feats since your BA will already be pretty full. In fact, raising your CON would be helpful since your save DCs are based off your CON. Both subclasses are fun options.
Also what is your species?
I guessI could go Polearm Master even though my strength is maxed out. Not sure it really helps much to have more dexterity than 14 on a Barbarian, but I guess it doesn’t hurt.
As for Battle Master though, it’s kind of like why I don’t want to continue with Barbarian: fancy moves I don’t really understand or don’t think I can remember in a pinch.
Right now I’m leaning more towards the Champion fighter. It’s not as exciting, but it will get the job done for me at this stage of my time playing DnD.
…I may as well partially confess, when I first had hesitations of continuing with Barbarian due to not grasping the later level moves and limited feats, I read Echo Knight worked really well, but now ai’ve learned how complex and unclear the rules are with them.
If I could start over, I’d go farmer background instead of soldier and go straight Barbarian and ASI’s, but as a friend told me that’s just part of the game and I should be more focused on having fun rather than doing everything perfectly. So, now I’m just making due with what I’ve got.
Totally. I think you’ve got a fun & strong build that is very helpful for your team. Ancestral Guardians is one of the most impactful Barb subclasses the way it protects your party.
Champion pairs well with the Barb’s reckless attack. Just remember to look for those 19s to crit! Polearm Master works great here because now you’re attacking 3 times on your turn, so that’s 3 times you’re rolling 2 d20s with your expanded crit range! Champion also has a cool little mobility boost when you crit.
The +1 to DEX would help if you then took another DEX feat at Fighter 6, like Resilient DEX or Fairy Trickster. Extra DEX is never bad, even if you don’t get more AC due to Medium Armor. More DEX helps with Initiative, saves, two very key things. But you could also pick something else at Fighter 6 and not worry about the stat. Polearm Master is a strong & fun choice regardless.
Ok good to know. Thanks!
Oh! And to answer your last question: I picked a Variant Feral Tiefling. It’s a neat story: I was maining Warlock with Pact of the Chain and wanted to order an imp figure online. My dad ended up doing it for me, but also paid me back for something by ordering some of the “you also might be interested in” items. These included what he didn’t realize were flight stands and two winged tiefling figures. So, i ended up looking at classes that could work with a winged tiefling and figured i can wear medium armor and still fly. Thus i went Barbarian and ended up acquiring half-plate.
You can fly? Sweet. You've addressed one of the main weaknesses of martials at higher levels: being able to reach your target if they're flying/elevated. That's a very solid build as is. The Fighter levels or whatever else you do will be gravy, IMHO.
Also you do have something for your Bonus Action already: Second Wind to recover some HP (2 uses). That scales with your Fighter level. When you get Action Surge next level, I think you'll really be feeling that: 4 attacks instead of 2 (more crit chances & more application of your Rage bonus). And that comes back on a Short Rest, as does 1 use of your Second Wind. Not bad. Then after that you get the Champion subclass for crits on 19, plus that movement bonus: "immediately after you score a Critical Hit, you can move up to half your Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks." Then a feat at Fighter 4: if Polearm Master switch weapon to Spear. Between that and Sentinel, you should be hitting enemies with your Reaction more often than not.
Then nothing at Fighter 5 (since you already have Extra Attack), but another feat at 6: either round out that DEX with a DEX feat or pick whatever addresses a weakness or sounds fun. Then at Fighter 7, Champion gets to add a 2nd Fighting Style! Not sure what you picked for your first one, but the standouts for your build to me would be either Defense or Dueling, since they both add solid benefit and work with your playstyle. If you get to Fighter 8, another feat.. Enjoy.
Okay, I have a plan in place… i think.
I took dueling as my first fighting style. I planned to add defense if i went Champion Fighter.
Thanks again!