I should note i completely respect your opinion. How is zealot the worst? "Being unkillable sort of" How is that a pain in the ass? I don't follow friend. You get psuedo immortality that even gets buffed the next level
I just don't find the mechanics all that interesting; barbarians are already difficult to kill, so all zealot really does is double down on that rather than giving you something new to do mechanically. The unkillable aspect becomes a logistical challenge for the DM because they either have to present enemies that can overcome it, otherwise the challenge is gone from their campaign, or just accept that one player character is pretty much never going to be in any real danger, and punish the rest for that instead.
Again, I'm not saying you can't make a good character from it, or that anybody's wrong for having fun playing with it, but in my mind it's the "worst" because I just don't want to play as one, and I'm not sure I'd want to DM for one either. I also just feel like it doesn't really do enough with its theme; the features individually are cool, but what do any of them have to do with being a zealot?
My point was really that there are other ways to rank "best" and "worst". If what you want is to do extra damage for free and be even harder to kill, then it's the best, but if you want a barbarian that plays differently from the base class then it's the worst. It's just different ways of looking at the same issue. Plenty of people can and will say the same of Berserker, which I personally think can be underrated (depends how it's used), but they'll give similar reasons (DM's don't want to change how they run the game to account for the exhaustion cost of frenzy, a lot of what it does is situational etc.).
TL;DR The best sub-class is the one that lets you play the character you want to play as, every other sub-class is the worst. While some may be underpowered compared to the "optimal" choice, that's rarely a problem in practice. 😉
Path of the Totem is both the best and the worst, depending on how you build it. Those Tiger options are pretty bad.
As a level 14 totem barb, I kind of have to agree with this. Other than level 3 bear, which is the whole reason I picked the subclass, all the other path features are underwhelming, especially level 10's Commune with Nature. Particularly this bit: "The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns." Not helpful. I traded Commune with Nature for Zealous Presence, which has been waaay more useful. That said, Totem barb is worth it just for level 3 bear alone. I would have been dead so many times without it.
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Well so does playing almost any caster at high levels. The more you climb the easier it gets to cheat death mechaniclly.
Zealots are cool, you get to rp your insane fanaticism over your deity, you get almost immortality at 15th level, and they are just neat.
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
I just don't find the mechanics all that interesting; barbarians are already difficult to kill, so all zealot really does is double down on that rather than giving you something new to do mechanically. The unkillable aspect becomes a logistical challenge for the DM because they either have to present enemies that can overcome it, otherwise the challenge is gone from their campaign, or just accept that one player character is pretty much never going to be in any real danger, and punish the rest for that instead.
Again, I'm not saying you can't make a good character from it, or that anybody's wrong for having fun playing with it, but in my mind it's the "worst" because I just don't want to play as one, and I'm not sure I'd want to DM for one either. I also just feel like it doesn't really do enough with its theme; the features individually are cool, but what do any of them have to do with being a zealot?
My point was really that there are other ways to rank "best" and "worst". If what you want is to do extra damage for free and be even harder to kill, then it's the best, but if you want a barbarian that plays differently from the base class then it's the worst. It's just different ways of looking at the same issue. Plenty of people can and will say the same of Berserker, which I personally think can be underrated (depends how it's used), but they'll give similar reasons (DM's don't want to change how they run the game to account for the exhaustion cost of frenzy, a lot of what it does is situational etc.).
TL;DR
The best sub-class is the one that lets you play the character you want to play as, every other sub-class is the worst. While some may be underpowered compared to the "optimal" choice, that's rarely a problem in practice. 😉
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
I had to go with Storm Herald. Every single feature is so completely underwhelming it's like not having a subclass at all.
Behind every successful Warlock, there's an angry mob.
Well, I can't disagree with that statement. Nor do i want to.
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
Agreed! For me its tied between storm herald and battlerager.
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
Path of the Totem is both the best and the worst, depending on how you build it. Those Tiger options are pretty bad.
As a level 14 totem barb, I kind of have to agree with this. Other than level 3 bear, which is the whole reason I picked the subclass, all the other path features are underwhelming, especially level 10's Commune with Nature. Particularly this bit: "The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns." Not helpful. I traded Commune with Nature for Zealous Presence, which has been waaay more useful. That said, Totem barb is worth it just for level 3 bear alone. I would have been dead so many times without it.