My first character ever which I still play is a Bugbear Barbarian with this path. It's stupidly fun to play. My DM let me flavor his rage as a hulk-out transformation and a two level dip in Hexblade Warlock as the same curse that causes him to transform.
He likes grappling multiple people to the ground while raging and biting their faces off. He's also fond of dropping down onto enemies from the ceiling. Over the course of the campaign, he's going to learn to control it.
The most fun I've had with him so far is with his second level of Warlock and taking Devil's Sight as an invocation. The party's Drow casts Darkness on him and he rolls across the battlefield as an angry black hamster ball of death.
While this Path sounds really cool, i am not so sure about the combat options for it.
First, not being able to use different natural weapons during the same rage could be kinda restricting. Since you can't always foretell, which attack would be the most useful in certain situations.
The bite is nice, giving you the possibility to heal once each turn. not much to complain here
As for the d6 claws, it lets you attack one additional time, but yet it kind of sounds underwhelming. at level 5, you can either use the claws to deal 3xd6, or you better take your normal Greataxe/Greatsword attack which either deals 2xd12 or 2x2d6. Also, while you can maybe find better, magical weapons throughout your adventure, your natural weapons never improve (except becoming magical later on)
As for the Tail, its basically a basic Greataxe + reach. While sounding nice at first, but as soon as you get something like a Greataxe +1, it becomes rather irrelevant except in a few situations where reach is required. But before this happens you probably already chose another natural weapon for your rage. Why not give it a special effect like a tailwhip knocking the target prone or maybe a poison stinger, depending what kind of tail it is? There are opportunites for more variety options.
And in the end, the natural weapons are only here when you rage, forcing you back to normal weapons, which probably were the better option to begin with.
I was thinking of creating a lizardfolk barbarian, who mainly uses his natural armor and weapons to shred through his prey with this subclass. But not using armor or weapons also means, that you can't profit from magic items of these types.
I fear, that this is one of the reasons, that this subclass could be underwhelming at higherlevels. which is kinda sad because the concept itself really is awesome.
Please keep in mind that i am quite a noob in D&D so please correct me if I wrong or tell me how this class can still shine in comparison to other subsclasses, maybe i am just looking at it from the wrong perspective?
You're not wrong. The natural weapons are, in most cases, going to be inferior to normal weapons.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
In most situations, I agree that normal weapons will probably be better than the natural ones. However, we do need to remember that they are always available (as long as you can rage).
If your party gets captured, the captors are likely to take all your equipment. However, instead of being stuck with just Unarmed Strike (or grappling or shoving), you can rage and suddenly have reasonable weapons. Allied with Unarmoured Defence, you still have a very good amount of combat power even if you've been stripped naked. I'd even argue that this is true if you've been tied up: Rage and take the tail (or bite, but tail gives Reach which is more likely to be able to reach your captors) and you have something similar to a greataxe while standing in your birthday suit, with your hands tied and bits flopping about!
Back to the original Q: Yes, it should be published officially (and will in Tasha's), but I hope they've made some tweaks.
It is true, that the natural weapons are helpful in a scenario, where the party is disarmed. Thats the time it shines.
How often such situations happen is debatable and still makes your natural weapons more of a situational "backup" plan than a core mechanic of the subclass.
I am also aware that these natural weapons makes it possible to carry a shield in one hand while grappling a target with your other hand and still be able to use your natural weapon to attack. I see no many other uses for it, however.
Besides, some races already can do that without the need of that subclass by having racial unarmed attacks. For such races, there is even less reason to pick this one except to get a bigger die one that one attack. But especially with bestial races it would have been awesome to mainly let them use their natural weapons they are born with the fullest potential and not just because their normal weapon is out of reach.
I heard from leaks, that this subclass even will receive a nerf in tasha, reducing damage of the weapons and restricting the healing. Not sure if it is true, but if it is, it pretty much removes the only reasons to use it. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
I love the concept, and I'll probably give it a serious look if I ever decide to make a barb. I do think the natural weapon options should have had a power bump around lvl 10 or so.. Perhaps giving each a secondary effect or simply giving them a +1 or something.
Personally I like the idea of this mad scientist character who injects themselves with a serum which turns them into some kind of beast for a short period... Biggest roadblock being you'd probably want a decent int ontop of your agil, con and str which is pretty MAD.. But may the right skills would work alright... With some homebrew I'd ask my DM to switch my physical and mental stats when raging.. but that's obviously quite a step.
It is true, that the natural weapons are helpful in a scenario, where the party is disarmed. Thats the time it shines.
How often such situations happen is debatable and still makes your natural weapons more of a situational "backup" plan than a core mechanic of the subclass.
I am also aware that these natural weapons makes it possible to carry a shield in one hand while grappling a target with your other hand and still be able to use your natural weapon to attack. I see no many other uses for it, however.
Besides, some races already can do that without the need of that subclass by having racial unarmed attacks. For such races, there is even less reason to pick this one except to get a bigger die one that one attack. But especially with bestial races it would have been awesome to mainly let them use their natural weapons they are born with the fullest potential and not just because their normal weapon is out of reach.
I heard from leaks, that this subclass even will receive a nerf in tasha, reducing damage of the weapons and restricting the healing. Not sure if it is true, but if it is, it pretty much removes the only reasons to use it. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
Well, you have decent sources, because they did make those modifications; however, they didn't nerf it completely, and I think the changes are actually much better. The healing came down on the bite, but I love the flexibility of the tail AC reaction - that's going to come in really handy and is better than just some extra damage (d12 vs. d8 tail attack). Also, I like that the level 14 Call the Hunt provides allies with extra damage instead of situational reckless attacks (don't want squishy support characters having disadvantage against them after a strike). Plus, they added some additional skill proficiencies and 1/2 movement speed at level 7, which pairs with Feral Instinct nicely (kind of like a watered down Gloom Stalker).
Overall, I'd say the official Path of Beast is excellent, and I'm excited to try out the new mechanics.
As for the d6 claws, it lets you attack one additional time, but yet it kind of sounds underwhelming. at level 5, you can either use the claws to deal 3xd6, or you better take your normal Greataxe/Greatsword attack which either deals 2xd12 or 2x2d6. Also, while you can maybe find better, magical weapons throughout your adventure, your natural weapons never improve (except becoming magical later on)
You made a very important mistake here in forgetting the damage from the rage and the ability scores. The comparisson is not 3d6 vs 2d12 but 3x(d6+Str+rage) vs 2x(d12+Str+rage). At level 5 with 16 Str this translates to 3d6+15 vs 2d12+10 which averages out to 25.5 vs 23. If you want to be cheeky, you can also opt for 1 greataxe attack combined with 2 claw attacks for 2d6+1d12+15 damage averaging out to 28.5 damage. So yeah, claws definitly give you a damage benefit. I do agree that, once you get very strong magical items, this difference disappears. Still, it is important to remember that you can only use your level 10 feature with those natural weapons and that feature does pack quite the punch.
If you want to be cheeky, you can also opt for 1 greataxe attack combined with 2 claw attacks
I don't think you could...
"Each of your hands transforms into a claw, which you can use as a weapon if it’s empty."
As a greataxe is 2 handed, neither claw is empty. Unless you are trying some connivance such as dropping the greataxe after the first attack, or making the first attack and then letting go with one hand. In that case, it is going to be very DM dependent: I think I'd either say no or call a check for it. Something like: Make a dex check, DC 15(?). On a success, you can do it this time, on a failure you fumble and cannot make any more attacks this turn.
I think you could probably get away with Battleaxe plus 2 claws. As it says you can use them as a weapon if empty, that would logically follow you can still hold things with them. Therefore you could hold a single handed weapon in one claw, make your first attack with that, your second with a claw, then "one additional claw attack", for a total of 2d6+1d8+15 = 26.5 average.
If you want to be cheeky, you can also opt for 1 greataxe attack combined with 2 claw attacks
As a greataxe is 2 handed, neither claw is empty.
The thing is that nothing says you can't hold 2 handed weapons with 1 hand, you just need to hold it with 2 hands to attack with it. You can compare it to an eldritch knight being able to cast somatic spells like shield even though he is wielding a greatsword. Of course you can still call for further restrictions, that is your freedom as DM, but they won't be RAW.
Edit: While looking for ruling on a different topic i just stumbled upon this errata for the phb: "Two-Handed (p. 147). This sentence has been changed to “This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it" Another example of this in use is being able to grapple someone while still holding on to your greatsword. You just can't use the greatsword to consequentially bash in their brains (although if my players asked me, i would probably let them do a pommel smash for 1d4 bludgeoning damage)
Hmmm... you're right. It doesn't seem like it should be, but then again many of the similar rules seem wrong too, so I shouldn't be surprised. Thanks for pointing it out.
Path of the Beast is really cool. I'm realizing that what I had initially written off as a damage based subclass thanks the extra claw attack is becoming more and more of a versatile tank as I understand its abilities.
Basic, but importantly, you get to choose which weapon you grow when you rage. I think the key to a good beast barbarian will be finding builds that can use each of them effectively depending on the situation. What are we working with:
Bite: I think the use case on this is pretty clear. It's worse at defense than the tail and worse at offense than the claw. But it is a fantastic tool when your DM is trying to exhaust you over the course of multiple encounters. Perfect for the fight after the fight, when you haven't had time to rest, and need to output damage while healing so that you don't fall behind in meaningful actions and avoid death. This is the most niche natural weapon and it's easy to fit its use into the build without support.
Claw: I like this ability a lot because it works with a shield or a two-handed weapon. This represents two gears of your offensive kit. Two-handed weapon + claw for when you value all out offense over defense, and claw + shield when you want a nice mix of both. The fact that the claw represents two different fighting modes means it's the most versatile natural weapon of the bunch. Making the most out of the claw means carrying a shield and two-handed weapon, but because you are incentivized to split your attacks between sword and claw weapon feats are not optimal and an unnecessary pick up.
Tail: I think this ability easily takes the most work to set up well, but also ends up being the defining characteristic that sets the beast barb apart from other barbs. This is the first barb sub that gets the tools to be a classic AC tank, as opposed to a resistance tank ala totem warrior. medium armor/unarmored defense + shield + tail reaction is a legitimate level of AC stacking. More than any other barb sub you will be very judicious with your use of reckless attack, as you gauge the importance of your AC. It's also a reach weapon which is just fantastic. Allows you take advantage of the barb's high speed to perform hit and run tactics while staying out of reach from enemies without reach. But my favorite aspect of this natural weapon is that it allows you to have an active weapon and shield while keeping a hand free for grappling. A loxodon can pull this off but is a ridiculous looking elephant person that can't get reach weapon + shield unless it uses a whip and it's trunk doesn't pull double duty as a defensive measure the way the tail is your weapon and second shield at the same time. Combining these qualities on one active loadout is sweet. To work the tail you need a shield (already in the kit), medium armor (or high dex and con if unarmored) and athletics proficiency. So actually not all that much set up work either.
I think this ends up combining into a really fun character that has multiple approaches to combat in a shell that doesn't require any feats and has the room for stat boosts if you want to go unarmored.
Claw: I like this ability a lot because it works with a shield or a two-handed weapon. This represents two gears of your offensive kit. Two-handed weapon + claw for when you value all out offense over defense, and claw + shield when you want a nice mix of both.
Are you suggesting that you get a free off-hand claw attack if you are wielding a weapon two-handed? That is not the way I interpret the text:
Once on each of your turns when you attack with a claw using the Attack action.
I think this ends up combining into a really fun character that has multiple approaches to combat in a shell that doesn't require any feats and has the room for stat boosts if you want to go unarmored.
I really like the concept behind this build but I can't get past the fact that it doesn't scale well. Great a lower levels but does healing for 4-5 hp on a d8+STR bite at lvl 15-20 really that impressive? Unless your DM is really inventive with magic claw and tail weapons, you will eventually fall behind the curve.
Contrast this with something like the Zealot that at lvl 3 gets an extra d6 plus 1/2 your barb level each round on the first attack - no save required unlike the lvl 10 ability of Beast.
The beast deserved to have the damage scale up, and it unfortunately doesn't.
Claw: I like this ability a lot because it works with a shield or a two-handed weapon. This represents two gears of your offensive kit. Two-handed weapon + claw for when you value all out offense over defense, and claw + shield when you want a nice mix of both.
Are you suggesting that you get a free off-hand claw attack if you are wielding a weapon two-handed? That is not the way I interpret the text:
Once on each of your turns when you attack with a claw using the Attack action.
I should have been more clear. Once you reach 5th level and get extra attack you will want to have a good two-handed weapon. You can hold a two-handed weapon with one hand and taking a hand on/off is free. So you attack once with the weapon, take a hand off, and then claw, which triggers the second claw attack. Or vice versa, starting with the claw attacks and then putting a hand on your weapon to finish the combo with a weapon attack.
You're absolutely right, but I'm just not worried about its scaling to those levels. I don't think I've played a campaign past level 15 since the 3.5 days and that was a short lived mess. I really don't think much about how classes play at those levels. I prefer to focus on builds that can be played from low levels (1-3) and have a strong early-to-mid progression with a nice capstone around 10-12.
I think beast barb is also a very multiclass friendly sub, which could alleviate those concerns depending on the build. Six levels is a solid package, and branching out from there might be the way to go if you know you're going to high levels. It might be the way to go even if you're ending around level ten. Imagine slapping sentinel and 4 levels of Echo Knight on this thing.
I think an aspect of the natural weapons is being overlooked. You can hold something like a greatsword with one hand, you just can't attack with one hand. As long as you have a free hand you can use your claws, for example. Let's say at level 5 you have 18 strength and 2 attacks.
Attack one with a greatsword or other 2d6 weapon = 2d6 + 4 ASI + 2 Rage damage.
Do a claw attack for 1d6 + 4 + 2, and then another claw attack for 1d6 +4 + 2 damage.
If you attack with your greatsword twice, you're hitting for a total of 4d6 +8 ASI + 4 Rage (26 average)
With 1 greatword + 2 claw attacks, you're hitting for 4d6 +12 ASI + 6 Rage (32 average)
You can also go claw & board instead of sword & board. Level 5, two attacks:
Sword: 2d8 + 8 ASI + 4 Rage (average 21 damage)
Claw: 3d6 + 12 ASI + 6 Rage (average 28.5 damage) <--- This is more than 2 attacks with a greatsword. And you're holding a shield!
The extra damage is even more pronounced prior to getting your second attack, because you can now make double the attacks, instead of 50% more attacks. Granted, when you start getting magic weapons, feats and the like, your normal weapon damage can eventually win. But it's still pretty cool. If you ever end up being stripped of all your gear and stuck in a cell.... with Unarmored Defense and some good natural weapons, I can't think of any other class or subclass I would rather be.
Just clarifying with everything we know.
Ok
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My first character ever which I still play is a Bugbear Barbarian with this path. It's stupidly fun to play. My DM let me flavor his rage as a hulk-out transformation and a two level dip in Hexblade Warlock as the same curse that causes him to transform.
He likes grappling multiple people to the ground while raging and biting their faces off. He's also fond of dropping down onto enemies from the ceiling. Over the course of the campaign, he's going to learn to control it.
Haha, that's great. I love the Hulk flavor and biting their faces off on the ground. What a beast!
The most fun I've had with him so far is with his second level of Warlock and taking Devil's Sight as an invocation. The party's Drow casts Darkness on him and he rolls across the battlefield as an angry black hamster ball of death.
While this Path sounds really cool, i am not so sure about the combat options for it.
First, not being able to use different natural weapons during the same rage could be kinda restricting. Since you can't always foretell, which attack would be the most useful in certain situations.
The bite is nice, giving you the possibility to heal once each turn. not much to complain here
As for the d6 claws, it lets you attack one additional time, but yet it kind of sounds underwhelming. at level 5, you can either use the claws to deal 3xd6, or you better take your normal Greataxe/Greatsword attack which either deals 2xd12 or 2x2d6. Also, while you can maybe find better, magical weapons throughout your adventure, your natural weapons never improve (except becoming magical later on)
As for the Tail, its basically a basic Greataxe + reach. While sounding nice at first, but as soon as you get something like a Greataxe +1, it becomes rather irrelevant except in a few situations where reach is required. But before this happens you probably already chose another natural weapon for your rage. Why not give it a special effect like a tailwhip knocking the target prone or maybe a poison stinger, depending what kind of tail it is? There are opportunites for more variety options.
And in the end, the natural weapons are only here when you rage, forcing you back to normal weapons, which probably were the better option to begin with.
I was thinking of creating a lizardfolk barbarian, who mainly uses his natural armor and weapons to shred through his prey with this subclass. But not using armor or weapons also means, that you can't profit from magic items of these types.
I fear, that this is one of the reasons, that this subclass could be underwhelming at higherlevels. which is kinda sad because the concept itself really is awesome.
Please keep in mind that i am quite a noob in D&D so please correct me if I wrong or tell me how this class can still shine in comparison to other subsclasses, maybe i am just looking at it from the wrong perspective?
You're not wrong. The natural weapons are, in most cases, going to be inferior to normal weapons.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
In most situations, I agree that normal weapons will probably be better than the natural ones. However, we do need to remember that they are always available (as long as you can rage).
If your party gets captured, the captors are likely to take all your equipment. However, instead of being stuck with just Unarmed Strike (or grappling or shoving), you can rage and suddenly have reasonable weapons. Allied with Unarmoured Defence, you still have a very good amount of combat power even if you've been stripped naked. I'd even argue that this is true if you've been tied up: Rage and take the tail (or bite, but tail gives Reach which is more likely to be able to reach your captors) and you have something similar to a greataxe while standing in your birthday suit, with your hands tied and bits flopping about!
Back to the original Q: Yes, it should be published officially (and will in Tasha's), but I hope they've made some tweaks.
It is true, that the natural weapons are helpful in a scenario, where the party is disarmed. Thats the time it shines.
How often such situations happen is debatable and still makes your natural weapons more of a situational "backup" plan than a core mechanic of the subclass.
I am also aware that these natural weapons makes it possible to carry a shield in one hand while grappling a target with your other hand and still be able to use your natural weapon to attack. I see no many other uses for it, however.
Besides, some races already can do that without the need of that subclass by having racial unarmed attacks. For such races, there is even less reason to pick this one except to get a bigger die one that one attack. But especially with bestial races it would have been awesome to mainly let them use their natural weapons they are born with the fullest potential and not just because their normal weapon is out of reach.
I heard from leaks, that this subclass even will receive a nerf in tasha, reducing damage of the weapons and restricting the healing. Not sure if it is true, but if it is, it pretty much removes the only reasons to use it. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
0.
The number of times in my life my characters have been captured where I had to rely on unarmed attacks to escape.
I love the concept, and I'll probably give it a serious look if I ever decide to make a barb. I do think the natural weapon options should have had a power bump around lvl 10 or so.. Perhaps giving each a secondary effect or simply giving them a +1 or something.
Personally I like the idea of this mad scientist character who injects themselves with a serum which turns them into some kind of beast for a short period... Biggest roadblock being you'd probably want a decent int ontop of your agil, con and str which is pretty MAD.. But may the right skills would work alright... With some homebrew I'd ask my DM to switch my physical and mental stats when raging.. but that's obviously quite a step.
Well, you have decent sources, because they did make those modifications; however, they didn't nerf it completely, and I think the changes are actually much better. The healing came down on the bite, but I love the flexibility of the tail AC reaction - that's going to come in really handy and is better than just some extra damage (d12 vs. d8 tail attack). Also, I like that the level 14 Call the Hunt provides allies with extra damage instead of situational reckless attacks (don't want squishy support characters having disadvantage against them after a strike). Plus, they added some additional skill proficiencies and 1/2 movement speed at level 7, which pairs with Feral Instinct nicely (kind of like a watered down Gloom Stalker).
Overall, I'd say the official Path of Beast is excellent, and I'm excited to try out the new mechanics.
You made a very important mistake here in forgetting the damage from the rage and the ability scores. The comparisson is not 3d6 vs 2d12 but 3x(d6+Str+rage) vs 2x(d12+Str+rage). At level 5 with 16 Str this translates to 3d6+15 vs 2d12+10 which averages out to 25.5 vs 23. If you want to be cheeky, you can also opt for 1 greataxe attack combined with 2 claw attacks for 2d6+1d12+15 damage averaging out to 28.5 damage. So yeah, claws definitly give you a damage benefit. I do agree that, once you get very strong magical items, this difference disappears. Still, it is important to remember that you can only use your level 10 feature with those natural weapons and that feature does pack quite the punch.
I don't think you could...
"Each of your hands transforms into a claw, which you can use as a weapon if it’s empty."
As a greataxe is 2 handed, neither claw is empty. Unless you are trying some connivance such as dropping the greataxe after the first attack, or making the first attack and then letting go with one hand. In that case, it is going to be very DM dependent: I think I'd either say no or call a check for it. Something like: Make a dex check, DC 15(?). On a success, you can do it this time, on a failure you fumble and cannot make any more attacks this turn.
I think you could probably get away with Battleaxe plus 2 claws. As it says you can use them as a weapon if empty, that would logically follow you can still hold things with them. Therefore you could hold a single handed weapon in one claw, make your first attack with that, your second with a claw, then "one additional claw attack", for a total of 2d6+1d8+15 = 26.5 average.
The thing is that nothing says you can't hold 2 handed weapons with 1 hand, you just need to hold it with 2 hands to attack with it. You can compare it to an eldritch knight being able to cast somatic spells like shield even though he is wielding a greatsword.
Of course you can still call for further restrictions, that is your freedom as DM, but they won't be RAW.
Edit:
While looking for ruling on a different topic i just stumbled upon this errata for the phb:
"Two-Handed (p. 147). This sentence has been changed to “This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it"
Another example of this in use is being able to grapple someone while still holding on to your greatsword. You just can't use the greatsword to consequentially bash in their brains (although if my players asked me, i would probably let them do a pommel smash for 1d4 bludgeoning damage)
Hmmm... you're right. It doesn't seem like it should be, but then again many of the similar rules seem wrong too, so I shouldn't be surprised. Thanks for pointing it out.
Path of the Beast is really cool. I'm realizing that what I had initially written off as a damage based subclass thanks the extra claw attack is becoming more and more of a versatile tank as I understand its abilities.
Basic, but importantly, you get to choose which weapon you grow when you rage. I think the key to a good beast barbarian will be finding builds that can use each of them effectively depending on the situation. What are we working with:
Bite: I think the use case on this is pretty clear. It's worse at defense than the tail and worse at offense than the claw. But it is a fantastic tool when your DM is trying to exhaust you over the course of multiple encounters. Perfect for the fight after the fight, when you haven't had time to rest, and need to output damage while healing so that you don't fall behind in meaningful actions and avoid death. This is the most niche natural weapon and it's easy to fit its use into the build without support.
Claw: I like this ability a lot because it works with a shield or a two-handed weapon. This represents two gears of your offensive kit. Two-handed weapon + claw for when you value all out offense over defense, and claw + shield when you want a nice mix of both. The fact that the claw represents two different fighting modes means it's the most versatile natural weapon of the bunch. Making the most out of the claw means carrying a shield and two-handed weapon, but because you are incentivized to split your attacks between sword and claw weapon feats are not optimal and an unnecessary pick up.
Tail: I think this ability easily takes the most work to set up well, but also ends up being the defining characteristic that sets the beast barb apart from other barbs. This is the first barb sub that gets the tools to be a classic AC tank, as opposed to a resistance tank ala totem warrior. medium armor/unarmored defense + shield + tail reaction is a legitimate level of AC stacking. More than any other barb sub you will be very judicious with your use of reckless attack, as you gauge the importance of your AC. It's also a reach weapon which is just fantastic. Allows you take advantage of the barb's high speed to perform hit and run tactics while staying out of reach from enemies without reach. But my favorite aspect of this natural weapon is that it allows you to have an active weapon and shield while keeping a hand free for grappling. A loxodon can pull this off but is a ridiculous looking elephant person that can't get reach weapon + shield unless it uses a whip and it's trunk doesn't pull double duty as a defensive measure the way the tail is your weapon and second shield at the same time. Combining these qualities on one active loadout is sweet. To work the tail you need a shield (already in the kit), medium armor (or high dex and con if unarmored) and athletics proficiency. So actually not all that much set up work either.
I think this ends up combining into a really fun character that has multiple approaches to combat in a shell that doesn't require any feats and has the room for stat boosts if you want to go unarmored.
Are you suggesting that you get a free off-hand claw attack if you are wielding a weapon two-handed? That is not the way I interpret the text:
Once on each of your turns when you attack with a claw using the Attack action.
I really like the concept behind this build but I can't get past the fact that it doesn't scale well. Great a lower levels but does healing for 4-5 hp on a d8+STR bite at lvl 15-20 really that impressive? Unless your DM is really inventive with magic claw and tail weapons, you will eventually fall behind the curve.
Contrast this with something like the Zealot that at lvl 3 gets an extra d6 plus 1/2 your barb level each round on the first attack - no save required unlike the lvl 10 ability of Beast.
The beast deserved to have the damage scale up, and it unfortunately doesn't.
I think an aspect of the natural weapons is being overlooked. You can hold something like a greatsword with one hand, you just can't attack with one hand. As long as you have a free hand you can use your claws, for example. Let's say at level 5 you have 18 strength and 2 attacks.
Attack one with a greatsword or other 2d6 weapon = 2d6 + 4 ASI + 2 Rage damage.
Do a claw attack for 1d6 + 4 + 2, and then another claw attack for 1d6 +4 + 2 damage.
If you attack with your greatsword twice, you're hitting for a total of 4d6 +8 ASI + 4 Rage (26 average)
With 1 greatword + 2 claw attacks, you're hitting for 4d6 +12 ASI + 6 Rage (32 average)
You can also go claw & board instead of sword & board. Level 5, two attacks:
Sword: 2d8 + 8 ASI + 4 Rage (average 21 damage)
Claw: 3d6 + 12 ASI + 6 Rage (average 28.5 damage) <--- This is more than 2 attacks with a greatsword. And you're holding a shield!
The extra damage is even more pronounced prior to getting your second attack, because you can now make double the attacks, instead of 50% more attacks. Granted, when you start getting magic weapons, feats and the like, your normal weapon damage can eventually win. But it's still pretty cool. If you ever end up being stripped of all your gear and stuck in a cell.... with Unarmored Defense and some good natural weapons, I can't think of any other class or subclass I would rather be.