Hi all I decided to post here since I'm kind of at my wits end about what I want to do with one of my campaign characters. He is an ancestral guardian barbarian also a great sword wielding tabaxi. Early on I had aims to multiclass into monk order of the open hand for extra attacks and battlefield manipulation with their flurry of blows specials.
But we recently experienced a party members death and they rolled a order of open hand monk. I originally liked the idea of going monk for a few reasons mostly using claws as tabaxi with monk damage scale and evasion from monk with barbarians danger sense.
Recent events made me realize that I need to stay on par damage wise with our eldtrich knight and our sorcerer as i am the main tank with the ability to keep my friends safe. I'm still wanting to multiclass but having trouble finding something worthy. I am not so interested in level 10 ancestral guardian barbarian features. At first I thought fighter maybe battlemaster maybe champion. But it didnt seem all that great for me a few things I already have are overlapping and clogging up my uses of action economy.
So I was wondering if you guys were in my shoes playing a strong 7ft tall tabaxi big brother barbarian keeping his pack safe what multiclass options would you consider for both flavour and usefulness without sacrificing major utility neccessary to carry his own weight in the party?
(PS: I have considered a few levels in ranger specifically hunter ranger therefore giving me a few out of battle utilities like pass without trace, animal friendship or locate object etc. What are your opinions)
Cavalier fighter is a good protector type, force people to attack you, make it hard for people to get past you.
Lots of paladin options could work, depending on your party make up.
But also, if you’re the tank, lean into being the tank and don’t worry about staying on par with damage. Let other people do damage, just concentrate on filling your role.
I believe rogue, inquisitive is a good fit. I would say you should reskin it to be less about keen deductions and more guided by the ancestors kinda thing. but i think the skills and mobility of this roguish archetype synergize well with your ancients barbarian. one issue would be finding a barbarian friendly finesse/ranged weapon for sneak attacks, but if you can rage with short sword I think that alone makes your guy a unique BA
I had been tinkering with interesting multiclass for the Ancestral Guardian...
...and I was drawn to the ranger, strangely. Specifically, the Horizon Walker.
The bonus action option to transform the barbarians damage into force damage seemed pretty sweet...it'd take 3 levels, but you'd also get a Fighting Style.
And those limited spell slots could be used for utility outside of combat, leaving rage available.
The champion fighter pairs real well with barbarians so that's always a good option.
Spell casters are generally bad pairs with barbarians because they can't carry spells while raging. You can concentrate on spells but I don't think it's worth it. Hexblade could work though. They have lots of concentration spells and plenty of spells that just last a while, like hex. They also have hexblades curse that you could still use while raging. It ups your critical range which has good synergy with brutal critical. You can take the Eldritch smite invocation and use your spell slots on that while raging. If you really wanted to multiclass but didn't want to go fighter, this could be a good option.
I would go rouge if you want to be able to disengage. Your ancestral guardian features makes enemies want to attack you but if you disengage they cant and are forced to attack your allies with disadvantage/damage resistance. Another option is war cleric or just cleric, get a bonus attack and some good barbarian friendly spells (it also fits the spiritual nature of your character) I also assume your wis is decent since you wanted to go monk.
Swashbuckler Rogue fits well. Rogue you can expertise in athletics and be a master at grappling/shoving as well as perform great feats of strength. Cunning action will allow you the best mobility when combined with tabaxi's racial feat to double your movement and barbarians fast movement. Rogue's Uncanny Dodge and Evasion works well to allow you take on spell effects or high damaging effects that is not bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing. Finesse weapons can use STR and thus you can sneak attack using Reckless attack from Barb for auto advantage. Swashbuckler is my pick for rogue because Fancy Footwork ability means you can hit someone and run away from them for free. If you attack an enemy thats engaged with an ally you can cause the enemy to have disadvantage on the attack against your ally or your ally will get attack of opportunity if they pursue you. Rakish Audacity means that if you have disadvantage on an attack for some reason and you reckless to get a straight roll you can still sneak attack if an ally isn't near the enemy. If you have a decent charisma then you can get a better initiative. Panache is similiar to the Ancestral Protectors ability in that it forces disadvantage for a minute but has other uses.
You can concentrate on spells but I don't think it's worth it. Hexblade could work though. They have lots of concentration spells and plenty of spells that just last a while, like hex.
Just wanted to let you know that you cannot concentrate on spells while raging. The only thing spell slots would be good for during rage would be Smites, as you don't have to cast them.
To the OP's point, I like the idea of horizon walker. I play a HW ranger in a game currently and being able to turn all of my damage into force for a hit has been pretty effective. Just remember it only effects the first attack that lands each turn, and does not carry over to OA's should you whiff your attacks on your turn. Also, you can cast spells like Jump or Longstrider (1st level ranger spells) before raging and the effects will continue into your range, as neither are concentration and last for the duration. Goodberries make you a durable medic should party members go down. there's a good amount of versatility in taking Ranger.
I'm running an Ancestral Guardian/Celestial Warlock. Spells like Armor of Agathys and Mirror Image are usable while you Rage and bonus action healing with Healing Light is good. Light and Sacred Flame are good for your back pocket, along with your standard Eldritch Blast and if you go Pact of the Chain, optimized healing.
I dont think those two mesh that well honestly. Your making yourself more mad with charisma and cantrips like eldritch blast arent useable while raging. It seems like your making yourself have more option but your worst at any of the options than a single class character. Armor of Agathys is great with rage damage resistance, abjuration wizard warlock still does that the best tho
Played ancestral barb 3/celestial warlock 12 in a high level one shot and there are definite synergies. I went shield and spear as a kind of valkyrie aesthetic and it worked great as a tank. Reserved 1 slot for armor of agathys and 2 for an eldritch smite for either crits or to ground non-gargantuan flying opponents with a spear throw. The ancestral guardian ability encourages foe to attack you and take AoA damage, which solves the problem of them ignoring you and resistances make it last longer which helps. The eldritch smite was rediculously useful for a barbarian while the bonus action heals gave me something to do with my bonus action when unable to use pole arm master and helped keep me up with all the extra attention you get.
Cantrips I didn't get much use of of, mainly friends/minor illusion for out of combat, invocations were either those from pacts of the blade or utility such as devil's sight which helps shore up areas of weakness in the barbarian.
how did you get this to work with rage and casting? did you cast outside of rage only? I assume eldritch smite works like pally smite so no interference with cast/rage
Aye pretty much as you say, mostly used spells outside of combat or by casting AoA when it appeared immenent. Yes eldritch smite works like pally smite but can go up to 6d8, work with ranged attacks and prone targets huge or smaller.
As an aside the DM had made some concessions to make the spear a bit more effective, by applying rage damage and reckless attack to thrown weapons. Also let me use my mystic arcanum to upcast spells which helped with making AoA more effective. But I think the build still works with out those house rules.
I dont think those two mesh that well honestly. Your making yourself more mad with charisma and cantrips like eldritch blast arent useable while raging. It seems like your making yourself have more option but your worst at any of the options than a single class character. Armor of Agathys is great with rage damage resistance, abjuration wizard warlock still does that the best tho
.
Not really. The endgame is Sorcerer 1/Barbarian 5/Warlock 14.
I started a Goliath so at Level 5, my Str is 18. Con and Dex are Decent at +2 So, upping CHA isn't a big deal as it stands. Eldritch Blast is good for when things are far or a fight isn't worth Rage. My Barbarian is Dex/Ranged anyway. I managed to get a STR Longbow so I tend to step back and support. I grant disadvantage and resistance for my allies and anything hitting me takes AOA Damage; assuming it got past the Paladin with Sentry.
Plus, bonus action healing, also at Range, is good. Standard Combat sees me start with Armor of Agathys or Guiding Bolt, then Rage. Next turn, pull out the bow and let the Ancestral Protectors do thing.
And we got a Wizard. Cleric, Paladin, Druid, Monk, Rogue and myself.
Now hear me out on this, echo knight is FANTASTIC with ancestral guardian, you can stay at range while forcing disadvantage to hit your echo you are able to use your bonus action to make another attack, and your echo can apply rage damage. Honestly I can't think of a better situation for the ancestral barb than to be able not to be in the front line, you can use your echo to grant flanking from range as well, not to mention the shadow martyr ability synergizes perfectly with what ancestral guardian is doing
Should probably mention flavor since what the classes do is VERY similar flavor-wise, you can re-flavor your echo to be basically whatever you want same as the ancestors
The champion fighter pairs real well with barbarians so that's always a good option.
I fully agree with this statement. This is actually what a friend of mine plans on playing in our upcoming campaign. Five levels of champion fighter would allow you an extra attack, higher chance of criticals which when combined with barbarians brutal critical causes you to deal more consistent amounts of large damage, and with the fighting style that you get to pick up you can now reroll your damage dice if you get a one or two. Feats like Sentinel and great weapon master would also be great for this sort of build.
I know op wants to play more of the protective tank, but from my understanding of 5e Sometimes the best way to protect the party is to just kill whatever is trying to hurt the party.
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Hi all I decided to post here since I'm kind of at my wits end about what I want to do with one of my campaign characters. He is an ancestral guardian barbarian also a great sword wielding tabaxi. Early on I had aims to multiclass into monk order of the open hand for extra attacks and battlefield manipulation with their flurry of blows specials.
But we recently experienced a party members death and they rolled a order of open hand monk. I originally liked the idea of going monk for a few reasons mostly using claws as tabaxi with monk damage scale and evasion from monk with barbarians danger sense.
Recent events made me realize that I need to stay on par damage wise with our eldtrich knight and our sorcerer as i am the main tank with the ability to keep my friends safe. I'm still wanting to multiclass but having trouble finding something worthy. I am not so interested in level 10 ancestral guardian barbarian features. At first I thought fighter maybe battlemaster maybe champion. But it didnt seem all that great for me a few things I already have are overlapping and clogging up my uses of action economy.
So I was wondering if you guys were in my shoes playing a strong 7ft tall tabaxi big brother barbarian keeping his pack safe what multiclass options would you consider for both flavour and usefulness without sacrificing major utility neccessary to carry his own weight in the party?
(PS: I have considered a few levels in ranger specifically hunter ranger therefore giving me a few out of battle utilities like pass without trace, animal friendship or locate object etc. What are your opinions)
Cavalier fighter is a good protector type, force people to attack you, make it hard for people to get past you.
Lots of paladin options could work, depending on your party make up.
But also, if you’re the tank, lean into being the tank and don’t worry about staying on par with damage. Let other people do damage, just concentrate on filling your role.
I believe rogue, inquisitive is a good fit. I would say you should reskin it to be less about keen deductions and more guided by the ancestors kinda thing. but i think the skills and mobility of this roguish archetype synergize well with your ancients barbarian. one issue would be finding a barbarian friendly finesse/ranged weapon for sneak attacks, but if you can rage with short sword I think that alone makes your guy a unique BA
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
I had been tinkering with interesting multiclass for the Ancestral Guardian...
...and I was drawn to the ranger, strangely. Specifically, the Horizon Walker.
The bonus action option to transform the barbarians damage into force damage seemed pretty sweet...it'd take 3 levels, but you'd also get a Fighting Style.
And those limited spell slots could be used for utility outside of combat, leaving rage available.
The champion fighter pairs real well with barbarians so that's always a good option.
Spell casters are generally bad pairs with barbarians because they can't carry spells while raging. You can concentrate on spells but I don't think it's worth it. Hexblade could work though. They have lots of concentration spells and plenty of spells that just last a while, like hex. They also have hexblades curse that you could still use while raging. It ups your critical range which has good synergy with brutal critical. You can take the Eldritch smite invocation and use your spell slots on that while raging. If you really wanted to multiclass but didn't want to go fighter, this could be a good option.
I would go rouge if you want to be able to disengage. Your ancestral guardian features makes enemies want to attack you but if you disengage they cant and are forced to attack your allies with disadvantage/damage resistance. Another option is war cleric or just cleric, get a bonus attack and some good barbarian friendly spells (it also fits the spiritual nature of your character) I also assume your wis is decent since you wanted to go monk.
Swashbuckler Rogue fits well. Rogue you can expertise in athletics and be a master at grappling/shoving as well as perform great feats of strength. Cunning action will allow you the best mobility when combined with tabaxi's racial feat to double your movement and barbarians fast movement. Rogue's Uncanny Dodge and Evasion works well to allow you take on spell effects or high damaging effects that is not bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing. Finesse weapons can use STR and thus you can sneak attack using Reckless attack from Barb for auto advantage. Swashbuckler is my pick for rogue because Fancy Footwork ability means you can hit someone and run away from them for free. If you attack an enemy thats engaged with an ally you can cause the enemy to have disadvantage on the attack against your ally or your ally will get attack of opportunity if they pursue you. Rakish Audacity means that if you have disadvantage on an attack for some reason and you reckless to get a straight roll you can still sneak attack if an ally isn't near the enemy. If you have a decent charisma then you can get a better initiative. Panache is similiar to the Ancestral Protectors ability in that it forces disadvantage for a minute but has other uses.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
Just wanted to let you know that you cannot concentrate on spells while raging. The only thing spell slots would be good for during rage would be Smites, as you don't have to cast them.
To the OP's point, I like the idea of horizon walker. I play a HW ranger in a game currently and being able to turn all of my damage into force for a hit has been pretty effective. Just remember it only effects the first attack that lands each turn, and does not carry over to OA's should you whiff your attacks on your turn. Also, you can cast spells like Jump or Longstrider (1st level ranger spells) before raging and the effects will continue into your range, as neither are concentration and last for the duration. Goodberries make you a durable medic should party members go down. there's a good amount of versatility in taking Ranger.
For tanking, pally who can grant the aura of protection that helps with saves. Aiding your team. Conquest or vengeance maybe
I'm running an Ancestral Guardian/Celestial Warlock. Spells like Armor of Agathys and Mirror Image are usable while you Rage and bonus action healing with Healing Light is good. Light and Sacred Flame are good for your back pocket, along with your standard Eldritch Blast and if you go Pact of the Chain, optimized healing.
I dont think those two mesh that well honestly. Your making yourself more mad with charisma and cantrips like eldritch blast arent useable while raging. It seems like your making yourself have more option but your worst at any of the options than a single class character. Armor of Agathys is great with rage damage resistance, abjuration wizard warlock still does that the best tho
.
Played ancestral barb 3/celestial warlock 12 in a high level one shot and there are definite synergies. I went shield and spear as a kind of valkyrie aesthetic and it worked great as a tank. Reserved 1 slot for armor of agathys and 2 for an eldritch smite for either crits or to ground non-gargantuan flying opponents with a spear throw. The ancestral guardian ability encourages foe to attack you and take AoA damage, which solves the problem of them ignoring you and resistances make it last longer which helps. The eldritch smite was rediculously useful for a barbarian while the bonus action heals gave me something to do with my bonus action when unable to use pole arm master and helped keep me up with all the extra attention you get.
Cantrips I didn't get much use of of, mainly friends/minor illusion for out of combat, invocations were either those from pacts of the blade or utility such as devil's sight which helps shore up areas of weakness in the barbarian.
how did you get this to work with rage and casting? did you cast outside of rage only? I assume eldritch smite works like pally smite so no interference with cast/rage
Aye pretty much as you say, mostly used spells outside of combat or by casting AoA when it appeared immenent. Yes eldritch smite works like pally smite but can go up to 6d8, work with ranged attacks and prone targets huge or smaller.
As an aside the DM had made some concessions to make the spear a bit more effective, by applying rage damage and reckless attack to thrown weapons. Also let me use my mystic arcanum to upcast spells which helped with making AoA more effective. But I think the build still works with out those house rules.
Nice
Not really. The endgame is Sorcerer 1/Barbarian 5/Warlock 14.
I started a Goliath so at Level 5, my Str is 18. Con and Dex are Decent at +2 So, upping CHA isn't a big deal as it stands. Eldritch Blast is good for when things are far or a fight isn't worth Rage. My Barbarian is Dex/Ranged anyway. I managed to get a STR Longbow so I tend to step back and support. I grant disadvantage and resistance for my allies and anything hitting me takes AOA Damage; assuming it got past the Paladin with Sentry.
Plus, bonus action healing, also at Range, is good. Standard Combat sees me start with Armor of Agathys or Guiding Bolt, then Rage. Next turn, pull out the bow and let the Ancestral Protectors do thing.
And we got a Wizard. Cleric, Paladin, Druid, Monk, Rogue and myself.
Now hear me out on this, echo knight is FANTASTIC with ancestral guardian, you can stay at range while forcing disadvantage to hit your echo you are able to use your bonus action to make another attack, and your echo can apply rage damage. Honestly I can't think of a better situation for the ancestral barb than to be able not to be in the front line, you can use your echo to grant flanking from range as well, not to mention the shadow martyr ability synergizes perfectly with what ancestral guardian is doing
Should probably mention flavor since what the classes do is VERY similar flavor-wise, you can re-flavor your echo to be basically whatever you want same as the ancestors
in summary 10 Barb 10 Fighter for easy wins.
Twins who share a body and don't know who is the living and who is the spirit
I'm currently looking at Rune knight for this myself.
I fully agree with this statement. This is actually what a friend of mine plans on playing in our upcoming campaign. Five levels of champion fighter would allow you an extra attack, higher chance of criticals which when combined with barbarians brutal critical causes you to deal more consistent amounts of large damage, and with the fighting style that you get to pick up you can now reroll your damage dice if you get a one or two. Feats like Sentinel and great weapon master would also be great for this sort of build.
I know op wants to play more of the protective tank, but from my understanding of 5e Sometimes the best way to protect the party is to just kill whatever is trying to hurt the party.