The stats may not roll in that favor, but what're people thoughts on Invocations etc (Armor of Agy is a must) and the usefulness of this build. It works for story but is it having my cake and eating it too?
My main want is a decent Frontline fighter with the ability to be a utility when not raging.
As sfPanzer says we really need to know more about what you actually want out of this multiclass.
Personally I wouldn't go with all three, and I'd think about how many levels in Warlock are really necessary to achieve what you're hoping for. For example, Hexblade Warlock could pair nicely with Barbarian as Hexblade's Curse lets you double your critical hit chance against a target (as well as gain some extra damage) which could combine with Brutal Criticals if you get that high in Barbarian, but you only need a single level in Warlock for that. You also don't need the 2nd level for Mage Armor if you can either just use the Barbarian's Unarmored Defence, or wear medium armour.
Barbarian/Fighter is a classic combo, and it could still work with only a single level Warlock dip, but again it depends what you want out of Fighter; you only need two levels for a fighting style and Action Surge, so you could go Fighter 2/Warlock 1 and not lose as much progress on Barbarian.
But yeah, this sounds like a combo where the place to start is your character concept; who are they and how do they fight? That will inform which toolkits you need to use to build it.
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A bunch of story stuff lead to this idea; mainly being frontline fighter in a party of utilities, while also maintaining the joy I find casting.
However I do see the pitfalls! Perhaps Warlock Barb for some Agythys and Mirror Image in battle IF NEEDED and then some Invocations like Mask of Many Faces to keep my Roleplaying side sated.
I have a Barb/Lock, and love it... although I think that adding Fighter to the mix would be one too many. Barbarian can handle all of the front line action you need, and depending on what flavor of Lock you go with, you can bring all sorts of goodness (or badness...) to the table.
What is going to kill you is that Barbarians can't cast spells or concentrate while raging, which means no blade cantrips and no Hex. If they could use these your damage would be on par with someone who had extra attack, but without it you will be far behind.
Barbarian does not work with casting, so if you want to be a front line tanks that casts, Barbarian should not be in that equation.
Really the best casting tank is a single class bladesinger. That will outdo any other tank that can cast, and outdo most martials as a tank as well and it is a full caster.
If you don't like bladesinger a straight EK or an EK multiclassed with any caster would make a good tank caster and you can use levels to dial how much martials vs how much caster. Also because they get blade cantrips you *can* multiclass at level 3 and still not fall that far behind on damage.
Armor of Agathys Barbarian/lock was one of the most fun builds I've tried! It takes only 1 level of barbarian to make it work if you want to get the most out of AoA. At 6th level through invocations I had a +1 weapon and extra attack. You can also combine it with Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master if you take another level in Barbarian for the Reckless Attack at 7th level.
Barbarian/fighter is a classic multiclass since you greatly benefit from second wind, action surge and battle maste maneuvers
Is this a bad idea?
I'm thinking Wild Magic Barb 3 lvls, Echo Knight Fighter 3 lvls and Warlock 3 lvls..
The stats may not roll in that favor, but what're people thoughts on Invocations etc (Armor of Agy is a must) and the usefulness of this build. It works for story but is it having my cake and eating it too?
My main want is a decent Frontline fighter with the ability to be a utility when not raging.
Delaying extra attack might be very painful.
As sfPanzer says we really need to know more about what you actually want out of this multiclass.
Personally I wouldn't go with all three, and I'd think about how many levels in Warlock are really necessary to achieve what you're hoping for. For example, Hexblade Warlock could pair nicely with Barbarian as Hexblade's Curse lets you double your critical hit chance against a target (as well as gain some extra damage) which could combine with Brutal Criticals if you get that high in Barbarian, but you only need a single level in Warlock for that. You also don't need the 2nd level for Mage Armor if you can either just use the Barbarian's Unarmored Defence, or wear medium armour.
Barbarian/Fighter is a classic combo, and it could still work with only a single level Warlock dip, but again it depends what you want out of Fighter; you only need two levels for a fighting style and Action Surge, so you could go Fighter 2/Warlock 1 and not lose as much progress on Barbarian.
But yeah, this sounds like a combo where the place to start is your character concept; who are they and how do they fight? That will inform which toolkits you need to use to build it.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Understood, thanks for all your input.
A bunch of story stuff lead to this idea; mainly being frontline fighter in a party of utilities, while also maintaining the joy I find casting.
However I do see the pitfalls! Perhaps Warlock Barb for some Agythys and Mirror Image in battle IF NEEDED and then some Invocations like Mask of Many Faces to keep my Roleplaying side sated.
Thanks!
I have a Barb/Lock, and love it... although I think that adding Fighter to the mix would be one too many. Barbarian can handle all of the front line action you need, and depending on what flavor of Lock you go with, you can bring all sorts of goodness (or badness...) to the table.
What is going to kill you is that Barbarians can't cast spells or concentrate while raging, which means no blade cantrips and no Hex. If they could use these your damage would be on par with someone who had extra attack, but without it you will be far behind.
Barbarian does not work with casting, so if you want to be a front line tanks that casts, Barbarian should not be in that equation.
Really the best casting tank is a single class bladesinger. That will outdo any other tank that can cast, and outdo most martials as a tank as well and it is a full caster.
If you don't like bladesinger a straight EK or an EK multiclassed with any caster would make a good tank caster and you can use levels to dial how much martials vs how much caster. Also because they get blade cantrips you *can* multiclass at level 3 and still not fall that far behind on damage.
Armor of Agathys Barbarian/lock was one of the most fun builds I've tried! It takes only 1 level of barbarian to make it work if you want to get the most out of AoA. At 6th level through invocations I had a +1 weapon and extra attack. You can also combine it with Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master if you take another level in Barbarian for the Reckless Attack at 7th level.
Barbarian/fighter is a classic multiclass since you greatly benefit from second wind, action surge and battle maste maneuvers