He's a small race Barbarian. The DM gave me a free feat in the beginning and decided to keep the heavy weapon disadvantage on small races. Point buy and the campaign ends around level 13-14.
I decided to take Polearm Master and wield a spear and shield instead of going dual wield.
Would it do me any good to multiclass to fighter for 1 level to get Dueling or should I just stick to pure Barbs? The guaranteed +2 to damage seems very enticing.
Well What i Think you should consider is the Lance, it is an might fine weapon, with large damage and since it lacks the heavy property you can weild it without disadvantage if you keep your social distance with the enemy, and best of all it gives you an excuse to get a mount, and due to your small size a lot more mounts Will be available to you compared to your silly and big companions.
It would even work with your plans of shield usage, considering that early on a +2 to damage is the same as your rage bonus and that the main benefits of polearm master is granting more attacks (assuming you disregard my first advice) then one level in fighter is defenetly a Good option, even if it means you fall one level behind for your abillity score increases later on
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Personally, I'd use the free feat to get dual wielder and do a 1-3 level dip into fighter for Two Weapon fighting. This will let you get a third attack that is better than a d4 with disadvantage.
If you go to 3rd level in fighter, I'd pick champion or battlemaster. Improved critical is a nice add on to Brutal Critical.
True, my bad. So rarely do we see spear being used. Its honestly criminal how it is treated as a weapon in dnd, considering it is known as the King of the Battlefield.
Yes, and the added AC from a shield is nothing to sniff at either. I guess the only other real factor to consider would be brutal critical, but that is a mid-game problem.
With spear+dueling, at level 6 (1 fighter/5barb, +2 strength for asi) you can expect to be doing a minimum of 27 damage (assuming hits) vs 21 from dual wielding. The average damage of S+D would be 33.5 vs 37.5 with dual wielding, though. The smaller damage die of your main attacks and especially the bonus action attack do factor in. There are several advantages to using a spear and shield, however, and damage is NOT the only thing to consider.
Yeah, the shield really helps, especially in those easy encounters that might pose a problem if they hit and I'm not raging. I also have good damage with lance while mounted on a mastiff.
I would personally go with a 3-level fighter-dip for Dueling, Second Wind, Action Surge and Champion for improved Crit-range. That way, you still get your first Brutal Critical and a flat +2 to damage, as well as the ability to really smash when it counts. Having the free Feat gives you room to focus on your ASIs, improving your STR and CON should be your major goals imho.
All that being said, the multiclass makes the most sense at 6, after you get the extra attack.
If you aren't married to Polearm-Master, I would personally consider taking Sentinel and going for a Versatile Weapon - in that case, you don't even lose anything to bigger races with 1h+Shield.
I need some advise on my current Barbarian
He's a small race Barbarian. The DM gave me a free feat in the beginning and decided to keep the heavy weapon disadvantage on small races. Point buy and the campaign ends around level 13-14.
I decided to take Polearm Master and wield a spear and shield instead of going dual wield.
Would it do me any good to multiclass to fighter for 1 level to get Dueling or should I just stick to pure Barbs? The guaranteed +2 to damage seems very enticing.
Thanks for the advise
Well What i Think you should consider is the Lance, it is an might fine weapon, with large damage and since it lacks the heavy property you can weild it without disadvantage if you keep your social distance with the enemy, and best of all it gives you an excuse to get a mount, and due to your small size a lot more mounts Will be available to you compared to your silly and big companions.
It would even work with your plans of shield usage, considering that early on a +2 to damage is the same as your rage bonus and that the main benefits of polearm master is granting more attacks (assuming you disregard my first advice) then one level in fighter is defenetly a Good option, even if it means you fall one level behind for your abillity score increases later on
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Sure.. even though I'd take more than one level of fighter.
Personally, I'd use the free feat to get dual wielder and do a 1-3 level dip into fighter for Two Weapon fighting. This will let you get a third attack that is better than a d4 with disadvantage.
If you go to 3rd level in fighter, I'd pick champion or battlemaster. Improved critical is a nice add on to Brutal Critical.
I don't get disadvantage with PAM because spear is not heavy.
True, my bad. So rarely do we see spear being used. Its honestly criminal how it is treated as a weapon in dnd, considering it is known as the King of the Battlefield.
Yeah, with spear and dueling, I have a higher minimum and slightly lower max damage. It goes the other way around with dual wielding.
Yes, and the added AC from a shield is nothing to sniff at either. I guess the only other real factor to consider would be brutal critical, but that is a mid-game problem.
With spear+dueling, at level 6 (1 fighter/5barb, +2 strength for asi) you can expect to be doing a minimum of 27 damage (assuming hits) vs 21 from dual wielding. The average damage of S+D would be 33.5 vs 37.5 with dual wielding, though. The smaller damage die of your main attacks and especially the bonus action attack do factor in. There are several advantages to using a spear and shield, however, and damage is NOT the only thing to consider.
Yeah, the shield really helps, especially in those easy encounters that might pose a problem if they hit and I'm not raging. I also have good damage with lance while mounted on a mastiff.
It would be funny watching a faery race taking Barbarian class.... (( too OP in my opinion, xD ))
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
I would personally go with a 3-level fighter-dip for Dueling, Second Wind, Action Surge and Champion for improved Crit-range. That way, you still get your first Brutal Critical and a flat +2 to damage, as well as the ability to really smash when it counts. Having the free Feat gives you room to focus on your ASIs, improving your STR and CON should be your major goals imho.
All that being said, the multiclass makes the most sense at 6, after you get the extra attack.
If you aren't married to Polearm-Master, I would personally consider taking Sentinel and going for a Versatile Weapon - in that case, you don't even lose anything to bigger races with 1h+Shield.
If you are making a small barbarian, you could make it dex based and use a shield for the sky high AC you get that way.