Hey everybody I've Is got a probably pretty frequently asked question. What is The best barbarian to multi class into for a light claric. If you want to know why or need some context , We're playing with a couple of new players and they seem to be afraid of taking damage sometimes. I got heals and we got a barb buuuuuut the barb is the new player. Luckily I play my cleric as a feral half dragon [Just a dragon born] So I jump on the front line more often than I should and then I should because my guy likes combat. Slowly getting knocked around faster and faster. And wanted to slow it down with rage while teaching the new players it's OK to be LOOOOW on health.
Like sfPanzer said Barbarian is really not a good match for any caster. The Barbarian's thing is Rage and while Raging you cannot cast spells or maintain concentration on spells. So if you Rage you wouldn't be able to heal your allies or keep important spells going like Bless. So you can only really benefit from one of your classes at a time. If you were a 5 Cleric/ 5 Barbarian then you would only have access to 3rd level spells and you would only have 3 rages a day. Meanwhile your pure Barbarian friend has 4 rages a day and +3 damage while raging and three of their four subclass features. And any pure casters in your party are getting to throw around 5th level spells.
I can understand wanting to be more durable but there are better ways to get it than multi-classing into Barbarian. Heck, just using spells like Bane and/or Command can go a long way towards protecting yourself and your allies. If you think you need more AC you can take a feat to gain proficiency in heavy armor. If you really want that resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage though there is Rune Knight Fighter, or if your table allows it Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter. These require more levels to get that resistance but they don't have the prohibition against casting or concentrating on spells. Blood Hunter also works well because the DC for their Maledicts can be based off of Wisdom too. Use an Amplified Blood Curse of Binding on a target and have your Barbarian friend shove the target prone. Now that target is stuck attacking at disadvantage for the next minute while you and your allies can attack with advantage if they are adjacent to the target. This is particularly nice because it lets your Barbarian friend not have to use Reckless Attacks for advantage and help them get hit less.
People say that casting classes are bad mixed with barbs, but your barb isn’t raging all the time. Adding a dip in a casting class is great for out of combat utility. If you got some good dice rolls then unarmored defence can be excellent for druids of any flavour. Take a cleric dip from knowledge domain and you can cover detect magic, identify, and expertise with 2 knowledge skills. This will free up spell selection for your other casters especially if they are bards, sorcerers, or warlocks and can’t change their spells daily. Not to mention awesome rp opportunities. Sure it isn’t the one single optimised choice, but it is plenty fun.
People say that casting classes are bad mixed with barbs, but your barb isn’t raging all the time. Adding a dip in a casting class is great for out of combat utility. If you got some good dice rolls then unarmored defence can be excellent for druids of any flavour. Take a cleric dip from knowledge domain and you can cover detect magic, identify, and expertise with 2 knowledge skills. This will free up spell selection for your other casters especially if they are bards, sorcerers, or warlocks and can’t change their spells daily. Not to mention awesome rp opportunities. Sure it isn’t the one single optimised choice, but it is plenty fun.
Yes, a Barbarian can dip into a casting class for utility as that helps shore up a major weakness of being a Barbarian. Just looking at Warlock there is a lot to be gained by a 1, 2 or 3 level dip between Otherworldly Patron, Invocations, and Pact Boon features alone.
The OP however is a cleric and was looking at dipping into Barbarian to increase their durability specifically by Raging. There are other ways of gaining similar damage resistance, or increasing your durability in other ways, that don't lock you out of all of your spells.
I agree, raging would lock you out of a lot of spells, it's definitely not recommended for all but there are a small number of spells that don't require concentration and could potentially be used such as aid or casting spiritual weapon before raging. I have a druid that started off with a level of barbarian for story reasons, The initial boost to hit points, con saving throws and weapon proficiencies were great, along with the unarmoured defence is incredibly useful, but I think I have only actually used rage twice in the last 3 or 4 months of weekly sessions.
I played a Dragonborn Sorcerer once who took levels in Barbarian for a similar reason; under normal circumstances he'd cast from range, support the party etc., but back him into a corner, or piss him off enough and he'd go into a Rage, typically using his "claws" (twin daggers).
It was characterful and fun to play, but definitely not "optimal", however what that actually means in practice depends a lot on your group and campaign. If you're not playing a super tough campaign where a sub-optimal choice is going to be a death sentence, then your first consideration should always be what is best for the character. Used strategically it could still be very effective, as a somewhat flimsy spellcaster could suddenly become a Rage monster who can take a fair bit of punishment; good to use when the party needs a distraction or just more bodies taking the hits so fewer players aren't taking it all.
In terms of what the best sub-class might be, it depends how high a level you're likely to reach; Barbarian is a very front-loaded class, its best feature (Rage) comes in at level 1 with two uses, so there's no requirement to go further than that. 2nd-level gives you Danger Sense (advantage on DEX saves is rarely bad) and Reckless Attack is your tanking feature to draw enemy attacks by dishing out more damage while being easier to hit in return, but this might not be necessary for you if your focus is simply durability (rather than proper tanking).
If you do go to level three though, then there are various options:
Path of the Ancestral Guardian: This a great tanking option as it lets you effectively force an enemy to attack you (unless it's willing to take disadvantage instead). So if your plan is to primarily Rage when your allies are in danger, i.e- you want to draw fire, then this could be a good pick.
Path of the Beast: This is the one I would have picked if it had existed at the time, since it has the option of a built in claws attack (complete with extra attack). If you're a half dragon then the tail option is also good thanks to reach and an AC boosting reaction (and you can combo it with the "daggers as claws" option when you want more attacks or to emphasise being feral).
Path of the Berserker: This is a tricky one as a pure class, but for a multi-class that may not be Raging often, Frenzied Rage is a perfectly good option, as it lets you make a full extra bonus action attack every round (after the first). Probably not the most interesting for a multiclass though.
Path of the Storm Herald: Nice thematically but probably won't scale well enough as a multiclass (numbers are just too low at higher levels).
Path of the Totem Warrior: This is a great multiclass due to the free ritual spells, and the range of options. Bear Totem turns your Rage into full resistance to all damage except psychic, which is incredibly valuable if durability is your main focus (though keep in mind that up close your most likely to be taking damage that your Rage resists already), Eagle Totem lets you mostly ignore opportunity attacks (more mobility), Elk gives you more speed (situational, depends how well your DM handles combat areas), Tiger lets you jump (similar issue to Elk), and Wolf gives your allies advantage on targets next to you, so potentially a big team support bonus.
Path of the Zealot: Easy extra damage, being easier to raise from the dead probably isn't much use if you're mainly a cleric, as you would normally be the one doing the raising.
Path of Wild Magic: Bit silly, bit random.
My top recommendation is usually Totem Warrior, especially for a multiclass, with Bear Totem for maximum durability, or Wolf Totem to boost your allies vs. adjacent enemies; it's just a flexible sub-class for building around, which probably makes it the most optimal in many cases. Otherwise you've got Ancestral Guardian for being more tanking (protecting others), or Beast for more primal. That's just my recommendations anyway.
I've omitted Battlerager because officially it's dwarves only, plus it's not amazing at 3rd-level; I maintain that it's not as bad as people make out, but even if the spiked armour appeals to you I don't think you'd get a lot out of it as a multiclass.
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Spiritual Weapon doesn’t use concentration so Bonus Action SW round 1 with melee attack with action, Rage round 2, Not ideal since round two the SW sits idle. But doable. Take whatever subclass of Barbarian that fits your character
You won't need to worry about the sub class in barbarian unless you devote 3 levels to it. Raging prevents you from healing them so instead of growing they will rely on you more. You could probably accomplish what you want with the Heavily Armored feat for extra AC for you AND spells like LV1 bless (concentration) and LV2 aid (NOT concertation extra hp lasts 8HR!). Tell them they can be true heroes (who die anonymously for your god) Always remember blinding flash to protect then and yourself from damage.
You could probably accomplish what you want with the Heavily Armored feat for extra AC for you
Do you mean instead of levels in Barbarian? Because Rage doesn't work with heavy armour.
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Hey everybody I've Is got a probably pretty frequently asked question. What is The best barbarian to multi class into for a light claric. If you want to know why or need some context , We're playing with a couple of new players and they seem to be afraid of taking damage sometimes. I got heals and we got a barb buuuuuut the barb is the new player. Luckily I play my cleric as a feral half dragon [Just a dragon born] So I jump on the front line more often than I should and then I should because my guy likes combat. Slowly getting knocked around faster and faster. And wanted to slow it down with rage while teaching the new players it's OK to be LOOOOW on health.
Like sfPanzer said Barbarian is really not a good match for any caster. The Barbarian's thing is Rage and while Raging you cannot cast spells or maintain concentration on spells. So if you Rage you wouldn't be able to heal your allies or keep important spells going like Bless. So you can only really benefit from one of your classes at a time. If you were a 5 Cleric/ 5 Barbarian then you would only have access to 3rd level spells and you would only have 3 rages a day. Meanwhile your pure Barbarian friend has 4 rages a day and +3 damage while raging and three of their four subclass features. And any pure casters in your party are getting to throw around 5th level spells.
I can understand wanting to be more durable but there are better ways to get it than multi-classing into Barbarian. Heck, just using spells like Bane and/or Command can go a long way towards protecting yourself and your allies. If you think you need more AC you can take a feat to gain proficiency in heavy armor. If you really want that resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage though there is Rune Knight Fighter, or if your table allows it Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter. These require more levels to get that resistance but they don't have the prohibition against casting or concentrating on spells. Blood Hunter also works well because the DC for their Maledicts can be based off of Wisdom too. Use an Amplified Blood Curse of Binding on a target and have your Barbarian friend shove the target prone. Now that target is stuck attacking at disadvantage for the next minute while you and your allies can attack with advantage if they are adjacent to the target. This is particularly nice because it lets your Barbarian friend not have to use Reckless Attacks for advantage and help them get hit less.
Warding Bond is the only reason I would ever dip in barbarian as a Cleric. But it doesn't seem to offer anything in your case
People say that casting classes are bad mixed with barbs, but your barb isn’t raging all the time. Adding a dip in a casting class is great for out of combat utility. If you got some good dice rolls then unarmored defence can be excellent for druids of any flavour. Take a cleric dip from knowledge domain and you can cover detect magic, identify, and expertise with 2 knowledge skills. This will free up spell selection for your other casters especially if they are bards, sorcerers, or warlocks and can’t change their spells daily. Not to mention awesome rp opportunities. Sure it isn’t the one single optimised choice, but it is plenty fun.
Yes, a Barbarian can dip into a casting class for utility as that helps shore up a major weakness of being a Barbarian. Just looking at Warlock there is a lot to be gained by a 1, 2 or 3 level dip between Otherworldly Patron, Invocations, and Pact Boon features alone.
The OP however is a cleric and was looking at dipping into Barbarian to increase their durability specifically by Raging. There are other ways of gaining similar damage resistance, or increasing your durability in other ways, that don't lock you out of all of your spells.
I agree, raging would lock you out of a lot of spells, it's definitely not recommended for all but there are a small number of spells that don't require concentration and could potentially be used such as aid or casting spiritual weapon before raging. I have a druid that started off with a level of barbarian for story reasons, The initial boost to hit points, con saving throws and weapon proficiencies were great, along with the unarmoured defence is incredibly useful, but I think I have only actually used rage twice in the last 3 or 4 months of weekly sessions.
I played a Dragonborn Sorcerer once who took levels in Barbarian for a similar reason; under normal circumstances he'd cast from range, support the party etc., but back him into a corner, or piss him off enough and he'd go into a Rage, typically using his "claws" (twin daggers).
It was characterful and fun to play, but definitely not "optimal", however what that actually means in practice depends a lot on your group and campaign. If you're not playing a super tough campaign where a sub-optimal choice is going to be a death sentence, then your first consideration should always be what is best for the character. Used strategically it could still be very effective, as a somewhat flimsy spellcaster could suddenly become a Rage monster who can take a fair bit of punishment; good to use when the party needs a distraction or just more bodies taking the hits so fewer players aren't taking it all.
In terms of what the best sub-class might be, it depends how high a level you're likely to reach; Barbarian is a very front-loaded class, its best feature (Rage) comes in at level 1 with two uses, so there's no requirement to go further than that. 2nd-level gives you Danger Sense (advantage on DEX saves is rarely bad) and Reckless Attack is your tanking feature to draw enemy attacks by dishing out more damage while being easier to hit in return, but this might not be necessary for you if your focus is simply durability (rather than proper tanking).
If you do go to level three though, then there are various options:
My top recommendation is usually Totem Warrior, especially for a multiclass, with Bear Totem for maximum durability, or Wolf Totem to boost your allies vs. adjacent enemies; it's just a flexible sub-class for building around, which probably makes it the most optimal in many cases. Otherwise you've got Ancestral Guardian for being more tanking (protecting others), or Beast for more primal. That's just my recommendations anyway.
I've omitted Battlerager because officially it's dwarves only, plus it's not amazing at 3rd-level; I maintain that it's not as bad as people make out, but even if the spiked armour appeals to you I don't think you'd get a lot out of it as a multiclass.
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.
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Spiritual Weapon doesn’t use concentration so Bonus Action SW round 1 with melee attack with action, Rage round 2, Not ideal since round two the SW sits idle. But doable. Take whatever subclass of Barbarian that fits your character
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You won't need to worry about the sub class in barbarian unless you devote 3 levels to it. Raging prevents you from healing them so instead of growing they will rely on you more. You could probably accomplish what you want with the Heavily Armored feat for extra AC for you AND spells like LV1 bless (concentration) and LV2 aid (NOT concertation extra hp lasts 8HR!). Tell them they can be true heroes (who die anonymously for your god) Always remember blinding flash to protect then and yourself from damage.
Do you mean instead of levels in Barbarian? Because Rage doesn't work with heavy armour.
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.