You can choose one of three forms: Bite, Claws, or Tail.
Bite
When below half health, once per turn your bite can heal equal to your proficiency bonus once per turn. This was changed from the UA using the Constitution modifier... arguably allowing you to focus on strength while still scaling. (Yet, having more hit points allows your health pool to be larger and to have a larger pool eligible for healing)
If long rests are few and far between with your DM, bite offers an option to conserve rages to make it to a long rest.
Claws
Although it is a 1d6, at level 6 you are able to make three attacks on a turn, each adding your flat modifier and rage damage bonuses. Also, more attacks increases the chance of critical hits. Claws is definitely the offensive option warranting the use of reckless attack to try and get more criticals... Specifically at Level 10, you are fishing for a critical to add your 2d12 to, the third attack helps.
Tail
The damage was reduced from 1d12 (UA) to 1d8 but it was instead given a reaction to increase AC equal to 1d8 for one single attack. This reaction provides flexibility but also competes with one of the tails primary utilities, reach opportunity attacks. Also it does less damage than most reach weapons (1d10) and cannot be paired with Polearm Master.
Grappling / Shoving
So your Bite only heals at half/health; your claws as a damage option later compete with +1 and +2 weapons; and Tail only does 1d8 (vs 1d10) reach damage, competes with a defensive reaction, and is not eligible for Polearm Master. You are probably thinking, so why is this class any good and why should I not go Fighter Polearm Master / Sentinel. Grappling and shoving is where this subclass really shines in my opinion. Path of the Beast is an excellent utility/tank.
Grappling, alone, simply reduces the targets movement to zero. Pair this with shove and you and your melee allies have advantage on the prone target and the target has disadvantage against you and others that aren't prone. The target cannot stand up until it uses it's action to break the grapple (or shoves you). You have advantage without needing to make yourself vulnerable with reckless attacks... And it's better.
Bite and Tail attack free up your hands to allow you to be one of the best grapplers in the game.
One Hand Free + Shield
This allows you to be a better tank when getting up close grappling. By default, you can use your bonus action to rage, attack to grapple, and extra attack to shove. Both the grapple and shove are made with advantage due to rage. You and your melee allies will have advantage on subsequent attacks and the prone/grappled target will have disadvantage.
If you have the Shield Master Feat, you can: rage; move up within 10 feet of the target; make two tail attacks… and wait for your next turn. If the target charges you, you have your reaction to up your AC to better tank. If the target tries to move away you have reach opportunity attack. On your next turn you can: Attack, use the extra attack to Grapple, and use the Bonus Action to shove.
Two Hands Free
You can use your free action to drop your shield to grapple/shove a second target. (Corrected by Hawkwin Tenebrae). Losing an entire action is not effective and you may want to decide whether you are carrying your shield before or after combat for two hands free. If you are using tail, you can offset your shield's AC for one attack per round as a reaction to still provide some "tankiness" to enable grappling two targets and being able to still attack... but this is limited to raging. If you grapple/shove two targets, you would largely do so to benefit your melee teammates attacks and crowd control the enemies from charging your more fragile ranged teammates.
Environment Movement
If your DM includes environmental hazards (cliffs, lava, spikes, their own aoe spell, etc), then being able to grapple/shove and drag two enemies into the hazard is fantastic.
FEATS
Skill Expert (Must Have)
You must have Expertise in Athletics to utilize the opportunities with grapple in this class. It also boosts your leap option at level 6. You also may want to take Proficiency in Stealth to aid in sneaking up on enemies with wall crawling.
Sentinel
Sentinel encourages using your reaction for Opportunity attack, which competes with your Tail's defensive ability. However, having both provides flexibility and allows your Tail attack (10 foot reach) to better control the battlefield by being able to reduce a creatures movement to zero. This means you can grapple two targets and keep a third in place with your tail within 10 feet.
Shield Master
While this competes with your bonus action usage of rage, if you are out of rages or readjust your order of attacks this can make sure your bonus action does not got wasted on rounds where you are not activating rage.
MULTI-CLASS DIPS
If your campaign is at a high level of play and is going to be playing for an extended period of time at level 20, then I wouldn’t pass up on the capstone Primal Champion giving you +4 Strength/Con over 20. HOWEVER, most games play between levels 5-12… in that case you may want to take a dip in other classes. (However going straight Path of the Beast is still great... including its level 10 feature and Barbarians Relentless Rage (11) and Persistent Rage (15)).
Fighter (1-3 levels)
Fighting Style (Level 1 Fighter)
There is an option to take Superior technique allowing you one Battle Master die (recharges on a short rest) which you would likely take the Trip Attack or Grappling Attack.
There is now an option to have the “Unarmed Fighting Style.” By RAW, your Bite/Claw/Tail are not unarmed strikes, they are “natural weapons, they count as simple melee weapons.” If you grapple you get to add 1d4 once per turn to a target. This also allows you to keep that savage unarmed feel, providing 1d6 if you have a shield/weapon or 1d8 if you don't.
Action Surge (Level 2 Fighter)
Action Surge is incredible with this build as your first round of attacks use the special attacks Grapple and Shove. This frees you up after you grapple/shove the target to 1) grapple shove a second target, 2) Grapple two targets on the first round and dash to an environmental hazard (eg. Cliff), 3) grapple/shove then use action surge to get off an attack and extra attack. There are many options and it is well worth the two level dip.
Fighter Subclasses (Level 3 Fighter)
Rune Knight
Rune Knight is fantastic! You have to inscribe the rune onto an object (“To be eligible, an object must be a weapon, a suit of armor, a shield, a piece of jewelry, or something else you can wear or hold in a hand.”). It would likely be a shield or jewelry. But once per short rest, you are able to become Large, gain advantage on strength checks, and add damage once per turn. By becoming larger, you can grapple huge creatures. This recharging on short rests also allows you to last longer when your DM stretches out long rests with many short rests in between (and you are out of those precious rages). Thematically… a large raging beast is also pretty fantastic and adds to the wild ferocity feeling.
All of the runes are great. Cloud lets you have more battlefield control. Frost allows you to be even stronger with your Athletics checks (grappling/shove). You may want to lean into Constitution if you plan on taking rune knight and going Fire Rune.
Battle Master
Battle Master is great for more Battle Master Die and Techniques.
Echo Knight
Echo Knight allows for mobility and battlefield control.
Cavalier
Cavalier may be an option if you are focusing more on claws and you don’t want to grapple… but targets will already have disadvantage by you shoving them prone. I wouldn’t recommend cavalier.
MISCELLANEOUS
At level 6, you get to choose climbing, jumping, or swimming. By default, most will choose Climbing. However, being able to switch on a short rest is incredible. Having a swim speed and breathing in water is obvious. However, the jumping solves one of Barbarians bigger weaknesses… flying creatures. If you can jump, by default, 7 feet in the air for example… if your “Jumping” allows you to add your Athletics Modifier. If you have Athletics Expertise through the Skill Master feat, and possibly the Frost Rune +2… you can very well jump your full movement speed (40 feet) into the air. This means you could leap up to 40 feet in the air, grapple a target, and pull them to the ground (you are now a cat leaping at birds).
CONCLUSION
If you just want to “attack” and crunch raw numbers, then going Fighter and taking Polearm Master and Sentinel may be more appealing. If you just want to "transform" into a beast and still cast spells... you should look at reskinning Moon Druid.
However, if you want to “control” the battle field by grappling up to two targets while still being able to attack them (bite/tail)… and give your melee teammates and yourself advantage while giving the two targets disadvantage… this may be an option for you. Also being able to crawl up surfaces is great for non-combat and combat alike. You have a ton of flexibility with this class.
Personally, I love 6 Barbarian Path of the Beast / 3 Rune Knight Fighter
I’m sure there are other ways to play Path of the Beast, but the ability to free up your hands to grapple and still pull off attacks with Bite/Tail was a must pick for me. I will add to this post when I have time but just wanted to share with anyone wondering possibilities with this Subclass.
The only problem with the Bite attack is you have to choose which form you will take before you rage. It's more like an insurance policy, and if your hit points never go below 50%, it never gets used. I suppose if you're really battered going into the next encounter you can use it.
Now let's say you have a proficiency bonus of 3, and the encounter lasts 5 rounds, and you connect with 4 bites... that's 12 points of healing. Meh, that's okay. But you potentially sacrificed a lot of damage dealing to get those 12 hit points back.
I prefer the tail attack with Sentinel locking down up to 3 enemies (2 grapple + 1 sentinel). If you just want damage, then the Claws provide you an additional 1d6+7 damage and opportunity to crit... but you lose out on the grapple/shield or 2x grapple... which allows you to get advantage without having to allow advantage on yourself with reckless attack while giving the enemy disadvantage.
In your example, Bite only gives back 12 points of healing... for a Barb against slashing/piercing/bludgeoning that's 24 effective hit points. At levels 5-8 (proficiency +3), that's not bad. Its not level 3 Celestial, Path of the Chain Warlock (max self-healing) / x Fighter levels of healing (Second Wind) good... but its flexible. Also, if your DM is running 6 encounters with 2 short rests in between long rests... if you are running reckless attacks and you are out of rages, you are going to be taking some damage. If I knew it was going to be awhile before I could take a long rest, I may conserve my rages and hit dice (short rest) until I was below half-hp to make it last.
That's kind of the point of me writing this... is the value is in the grappling/shoving utility. If you don't plan on grappling, I'd be looking at Fighter with Sentinel/Polearm Master or if you want a spell caster, re-flavor Circle of the Moon Druid. But I don't think there is a better grappler than Path of the Beast Barbarian.
I prefer the tail attack with Sentinel locking down up to 3 enemies (2 grapple + 1 sentinel). If you just want damage, then the Claws provide you an additional 1d6+7 damage and opportunity to crit... but you lose out on the grapple/shield or 2x grapple... which allows you to get advantage without having to allow advantage on yourself with reckless attack while giving the enemy disadvantage.
In your example, Bite only gives back 12 points of healing... for a Barb against slashing/piercing/bludgeoning that's 24 effective hit points. At levels 5-8 (proficiency +3), that's not bad. Its not level 3 Celestial, Path of the Chain Warlock (max self-healing) / x Fighter levels of healing (Second Wind) good... but its flexible. Also, if your DM is running 6 encounters with 2 short rests in between long rests... if you are running reckless attacks and you are out of rages, you are going to be taking some damage. If I knew it was going to be awhile before I could take a long rest, I may conserve my rages and hit dice (short rest) until I was below half-hp to make it last.
That's kind of the point of me writing this... is the value is in the grappling/shoving utility. If you don't plan on grappling, I'd be looking at Fighter with Sentinel/Polearm Master or if you want a spell caster, re-flavor Circle of the Moon Druid. But I don't think there is a better grappler than Path of the Beast Barbarian.
I'm not big on grappling, so I don't know the mechanics very well. How can you grapple two targets simultaneously? Doesn't the tail only give you one attack? I mean like you can do a 1 weapon attack and 1 tail attack after level 5.
Grappled by itself just reduces the creatures speed to 0. However, combine Grapple with Shove, then you have a prone creature with 0 movement speed. To stand up requires using 1/2 of your total movement speed. If the creature's speed is 0, it cannot stand up.
On the creature's turn, it can either burn its action to break the grapple (or shove to break the grapple); or it can make an attack at disadvantage being prone. Any melee creatures attacking the prone creature get advantage.
Grappling requires a free hand. Normally, this would require you have a free hand and the other hand have a shield (can't attack) or a weapon. By having a Tail or Bite, you free up both of those hands to either have a Shield/Grapple or 2xGrapple.
Combine this with Raging (Advantage on Athletics Checks) and if you take the Skill Master Feat with Expertise in Athletics... it will be Extremely difficult for the creature(s) to break the grapple.
This allows you to be a tankier barbarian... normally to get advantage on your attacks you would take Reckless Attack... but that allows all other creatures to have advantage on you. Grapple/prone allows you to have 1) advantage; 2) not have advantage on attacks against you; and 3) the enemy has disadvantage on attacks against you.
The bite/tail is a simple weapon... you can attack twice with it when having extra attack.
For me, the biggest barrier to grappling/shoving is the amount of damage you give up doing it. Before level 5, you give up all of it. After (for a Barbarian at least) you're still giving up half. In a lot of cases it's simply better to kill things faster. Just look at how monsters are built - every single "grabby" monster in the game has its grapple as a rider on an attack so they get to do both. Forced movement is the same. Because unless you're a high level fighter the opportunity cost is very high. Certainly when you need it, grappling can be incredibly useful. But making a build centered around grappling in 5e typically means you are sacrificing some effectiveness for your character concept.
The Beast's claw attacks tip the scales for me though. You can grapple or shove and still put out 66% of your damage. That's what I'd use for a grappler. As you say, if you just want damage, this wouldn't be the ticket. But it's a middle path that doesn't give up as much damage for the sake of utility.
grapple shoving also has a weakness against targets that teleport through misty step or other like abilities. Which some things can get as racials or part of certain subclasses or classes. Depending on the DM it may also give them an ac bonus because your over top of them so your giving them partial cover.
The tail also works well as a defensive option while you still wield giant weapons in your hands. Which seems to be forgotten throughout all of this. So you can still be making weapon attacks with your weapon while having the tail as well. Same as with the bite technically.
For me, the biggest barrier to grappling/shoving is the amount of damage you give up doing it. Before level 5, you give up all of it. After (for a Barbarian at least) you're still giving up half. In a lot of cases it's simply better to kill things faster. Just look at how monsters are built - every single "grabby" monster in the game has its grapple as a rider on an attack so they get to do both. Forced movement is the same. Because unless you're a high level fighter the opportunity cost is very high. Certainly when you need it, grappling can be incredibly useful. But making a build centered around grappling in 5e typically means you are sacrificing some effectiveness for your character concept.
The Beast's claw attacks tip the scales for me though. You can grapple or shove and still put out 66% of your damage. That's what I'd use for a grappler. As you say, if you just want damage, this wouldn't be the ticket. But it's a middle path that doesn't give up as much damage for the sake of utility.
Before level 5 (extra attack), shove/grapple takes too much to setup... especially without feats like Shield Master, Tavern Brawler, or the Battle Master Techniques Grappling Strike or Trip Attack. These feats allow the "built-in" option you are discussing. I can appreciate though if your goal is to single target focus with raw damage... but if a target has a high AC and you need to give your teammates advantage or to create distance from the casters who may be concentrating... it depends on the group. If its just a group of fighters/paladins... kick in the door and start smashing things to bits. The primary benefit is taxing the enemies action economy as well... when grapple/shoved, the enemy has to burn its entire action to either try and break free or suffer through disadvantage on its attacks with advantage against it.
grapple shoving also has a weakness against targets that teleport through misty step or other like abilities. Which some things can get as racials or part of certain subclasses or classes. Depending on the DM it may also give them an ac bonus because your over top of them so your giving them partial cover.
The tail also works well as a defensive option while you still wield giant weapons in your hands. Which seems to be forgotten throughout all of this. So you can still be making weapon attacks with your weapon while having the tail as well. Same as with the bite technically.
Teleport would be a problem for melee whether or not you are grappling them. If they were shoved prone when they misty-stepped, they are still prone when they appear after the teleport. If they have 30 movement speed... they teleport 30, use 15 to stand up, and move 15 more... they are 45 ft away... a Barbarian has 40 movement... so unless that creature is going to dash... the shove may have kept them within next turns distance for the Barbarian.
Grapple/Shove is annoying for ranged teammates using attack spells (vs saving throws) or ranged attacks... so in that case I would just grapple/attack.
You can use your free action to drop your shield to grapple/shove a second target.
It requires an action to doff a shield. It is not a free action. PHB 146.
Ah, good to know. I thought it was just an action to don a shield. I knew it was an action to don/doff armor. You learn something everyday, thank you! I'll change it.
A workaround would be to pick Loxodon (trunk) or Simic Hybrid (Grappling appendages) if your allowed to pick GGTR races with your DM to still maintain the shield. Thanks again.
Currently Playing a grappling tortle beast barbarian with shield mastery and it is a blast. One thing people often don't mention is that you don't really need to attack recklessly with this build because you are already gaining advantage from your opponent being prone. A barbarian with 19 AC+d8 on reaction is very very difficult to take down, especially when you don't have advantage against them. Last session I tanked 90% of the attacks and only got hit once.
Monikar that build is fire. Sounds like so much fun to play. I love the idea of a fast tortle with a climb speed. Oh man.
I love that the tail offers the ability to build a true AC tank out of a barbarian. Having more than resistance as defense is nice and reckless attacks can always be pulled out when you want to guarantee finishing someone off.
Currently Playing a grappling tortle beast barbarian with shield mastery and it is a blast. One thing people often don't mention is that you don't really need to attack recklessly with this build because you are already gaining advantage from your opponent being prone. A barbarian with 19 AC+d8 on reaction is very very difficult to take down, especially when you don't have advantage against them. Last session I tanked 90% of the attacks and only got hit once.
How are you managing to attack them while prone? Shield Master shove can only be done after all of your attacks have been made.
Nothing in the rules stops you attacking while prone. In fact, it says you have disadvantage on attack rules while prone, so you can definitely attack while prone.
However, there's also nothing I know of in the rules which says that you must be prone while grappling someone who is prone. You can grapple someone, shove them prone, but remain standing yourself RAW.
Polearm master feat with a spear/quarterstaff works well with the claw beast mode. Or a double scimitar and f you can swing it.
1st round. bonus action rage/move. Claw 2-3 times with your action and extra attack. 3 attacks for 1d6+str mod+rage bonus.
2nd round+. Attack once with staff/spear/double scimitar with action, attack with claw to get two more attacks, bonus action for polearm/double scimitar second attack. 4 attacks using str mod and rage bonus. 1d8 or 2d4 for spear/quarterstaff because versatile or double scimitar, 1d6 per claw, 1d4 for bonus action.
can even be a strength based elf now and ignore the double scimitar feat for non dex builds.
Polearm master feat with a spear/quarterstaff works well with the claw beast mode. Or a double scimitar and f you can swing it.
1st round. bonus action rage/move. Claw 2-3 times with your action and extra attack. 3 attacks for 1d6+str mod+rage bonus.
2nd round+. Attack once with staff/spear/double scimitar with action, attack with claw to get two more attacks, bonus action for polearm/double scimitar second attack. 4 attacks using str mod and rage bonus. 1d8 or 2d4 for spear/quarterstaff because versatile or double scimitar, 1d6 per claw, 1d4 for bonus action.
can even be a strength based elf now and ignore the double scimitar feat for non dex builds.
Polearm Master doesn't give you the extra attack unless you "only" attack with the polearm.
"When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon."
Thanks, never paid attention to the “only” before. Double scimitar it is I suppose.
It's easy to miss. I thought the same thing as you until someone else pointed it out to me. Another rout is a heavy weapon like a Greatsword + Great Weapon Master. Using reckless attack (and 3 attacks) I calculated you crit on 26.5% of your turns, which triggers a full bonus action attack (as opposed to the 1d4 PM gives you). Additionally, you get a full bonus action attack every time you kill something.
In short, with GWM you get bonus action attacks a LOT.
Luckily my DM allows Dual Wielder to apply to the claws as well. This'll be fun! I don't think I'll be grappling a whole lot though. Not the kind of character I'm going for. Level 7-8 I'll be going for a quick Fighter dip for the Two-Weapon fighting style and Action Surge. Perhaps later another level for either Champion for more Crits or for something more fancy (Echo Knight or Cavallier I guess).
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
Ok. probably all of this has been exhaustively said but realizing it is still kind of great. So, when I plug the numbers in on Ludics DPR calc. for that one fight, with no bonuses, a Longtooth shifter at lvl 14 against AC21 is doing nearly 60 dpr. it's not too shabby for the most survivable class in the game and to never be disarmed. I actually play in games where disarming is a thing that enemies do because they aren't just stupid, so that can be pretty huge. Lets say most of the time, yeah, you use a Glaive with PAM and take the tail option but when you really need to tear into someone, you can hit those claws and teeth. Then add in the lvl 10 enemy attack or 2d12 psychic.
Using mobile with the claws could be incredible also. after level 6 you can make those 3 (or 4) attacks and run through the battlefield without anyone being able to take OA's then just run up the damn wall. Hitting up to 4 different enemies in one turn. It works great with the grappling idea too. hit one, move to another, grab one, drag him up the wall, hitting another enemy on the way and drop the grappled one with a free action.
Form Of The Beast
You can choose one of three forms: Bite, Claws, or Tail.
Bite
When below half health, once per turn your bite can heal equal to your proficiency bonus once per turn. This was changed from the UA using the Constitution modifier... arguably allowing you to focus on strength while still scaling. (Yet, having more hit points allows your health pool to be larger and to have a larger pool eligible for healing)
If long rests are few and far between with your DM, bite offers an option to conserve rages to make it to a long rest.
Claws
Although it is a 1d6, at level 6 you are able to make three attacks on a turn, each adding your flat modifier and rage damage bonuses. Also, more attacks increases the chance of critical hits. Claws is definitely the offensive option warranting the use of reckless attack to try and get more criticals... Specifically at Level 10, you are fishing for a critical to add your 2d12 to, the third attack helps.
Tail
The damage was reduced from 1d12 (UA) to 1d8 but it was instead given a reaction to increase AC equal to 1d8 for one single attack. This reaction provides flexibility but also competes with one of the tails primary utilities, reach opportunity attacks. Also it does less damage than most reach weapons (1d10) and cannot be paired with Polearm Master.
Grappling / Shoving
So your Bite only heals at half/health; your claws as a damage option later compete with +1 and +2 weapons; and Tail only does 1d8 (vs 1d10) reach damage, competes with a defensive reaction, and is not eligible for Polearm Master. You are probably thinking, so why is this class any good and why should I not go Fighter Polearm Master / Sentinel. Grappling and shoving is where this subclass really shines in my opinion. Path of the Beast is an excellent utility/tank.
Grappling, alone, simply reduces the targets movement to zero. Pair this with shove and you and your melee allies have advantage on the prone target and the target has disadvantage against you and others that aren't prone. The target cannot stand up until it uses it's action to break the grapple (or shoves you). You have advantage without needing to make yourself vulnerable with reckless attacks... And it's better.
Bite and Tail attack free up your hands to allow you to be one of the best grapplers in the game.
One Hand Free + Shield
This allows you to be a better tank when getting up close grappling. By default, you can use your bonus action to rage, attack to grapple, and extra attack to shove. Both the grapple and shove are made with advantage due to rage. You and your melee allies will have advantage on subsequent attacks and the prone/grappled target will have disadvantage.
If you have the Shield Master Feat, you can: rage; move up within 10 feet of the target; make two tail attacks… and wait for your next turn. If the target charges you, you have your reaction to up your AC to better tank. If the target tries to move away you have reach opportunity attack. On your next turn you can: Attack, use the extra attack to Grapple, and use the Bonus Action to shove.
Two Hands Free
You can use your
freeaction to drop your shield to grapple/shove a second target. (Corrected by Hawkwin Tenebrae). Losing an entire action is not effective and you may want to decide whether you are carrying your shield before or after combat for two hands free. If you are using tail, you can offset your shield's AC for one attack per round as a reaction to still provide some "tankiness" to enable grappling two targets and being able to still attack... but this is limited to raging. If you grapple/shove two targets, you would largely do so to benefit your melee teammates attacks and crowd control the enemies from charging your more fragile ranged teammates.Environment Movement
If your DM includes environmental hazards (cliffs, lava, spikes, their own aoe spell, etc), then being able to grapple/shove and drag two enemies into the hazard is fantastic.
FEATS
Skill Expert (Must Have)
You must have Expertise in Athletics to utilize the opportunities with grapple in this class. It also boosts your leap option at level 6. You also may want to take Proficiency in Stealth to aid in sneaking up on enemies with wall crawling.
Sentinel
Sentinel encourages using your reaction for Opportunity attack, which competes with your Tail's defensive ability. However, having both provides flexibility and allows your Tail attack (10 foot reach) to better control the battlefield by being able to reduce a creatures movement to zero. This means you can grapple two targets and keep a third in place with your tail within 10 feet.
Shield Master
While this competes with your bonus action usage of rage, if you are out of rages or readjust your order of attacks this can make sure your bonus action does not got wasted on rounds where you are not activating rage.
MULTI-CLASS DIPS
If your campaign is at a high level of play and is going to be playing for an extended period of time at level 20, then I wouldn’t pass up on the capstone Primal Champion giving you +4 Strength/Con over 20. HOWEVER, most games play between levels 5-12… in that case you may want to take a dip in other classes. (However going straight Path of the Beast is still great... including its level 10 feature and Barbarians Relentless Rage (11) and Persistent Rage (15)).
Fighter (1-3 levels)
Fighting Style (Level 1 Fighter)
There is an option to take Superior technique allowing you one Battle Master die (recharges on a short rest) which you would likely take the Trip Attack or Grappling Attack.
There is now an option to have the “Unarmed Fighting Style.” By RAW, your Bite/Claw/Tail are not unarmed strikes, they are “natural weapons, they count as simple melee weapons.” If you grapple you get to add 1d4 once per turn to a target. This also allows you to keep that savage unarmed feel, providing 1d6 if you have a shield/weapon or 1d8 if you don't.
Action Surge (Level 2 Fighter)
Action Surge is incredible with this build as your first round of attacks use the special attacks Grapple and Shove. This frees you up after you grapple/shove the target to 1) grapple shove a second target, 2) Grapple two targets on the first round and dash to an environmental hazard (eg. Cliff), 3) grapple/shove then use action surge to get off an attack and extra attack. There are many options and it is well worth the two level dip.
Fighter Subclasses (Level 3 Fighter)
Rune Knight
Rune Knight is fantastic! You have to inscribe the rune onto an object (“To be eligible, an object must be a weapon, a suit of armor, a shield, a piece of jewelry, or something else you can wear or hold in a hand.”). It would likely be a shield or jewelry. But once per short rest, you are able to become Large, gain advantage on strength checks, and add damage once per turn. By becoming larger, you can grapple huge creatures. This recharging on short rests also allows you to last longer when your DM stretches out long rests with many short rests in between (and you are out of those precious rages). Thematically… a large raging beast is also pretty fantastic and adds to the wild ferocity feeling.
All of the runes are great. Cloud lets you have more battlefield control. Frost allows you to be even stronger with your Athletics checks (grappling/shove). You may want to lean into Constitution if you plan on taking rune knight and going Fire Rune.
Battle Master
Battle Master is great for more Battle Master Die and Techniques.
Echo Knight
Echo Knight allows for mobility and battlefield control.
Cavalier
Cavalier may be an option if you are focusing more on claws and you don’t want to grapple… but targets will already have disadvantage by you shoving them prone. I wouldn’t recommend cavalier.
MISCELLANEOUS
At level 6, you get to choose climbing, jumping, or swimming. By default, most will choose Climbing. However, being able to switch on a short rest is incredible. Having a swim speed and breathing in water is obvious. However, the jumping solves one of Barbarians bigger weaknesses… flying creatures. If you can jump, by default, 7 feet in the air for example… if your “Jumping” allows you to add your Athletics Modifier. If you have Athletics Expertise through the Skill Master feat, and possibly the Frost Rune +2… you can very well jump your full movement speed (40 feet) into the air. This means you could leap up to 40 feet in the air, grapple a target, and pull them to the ground (you are now a cat leaping at birds).
CONCLUSION
If you just want to “attack” and crunch raw numbers, then going Fighter and taking Polearm Master and Sentinel may be more appealing. If you just want to "transform" into a beast and still cast spells... you should look at reskinning Moon Druid.
However, if you want to “control” the battle field by grappling up to two targets while still being able to attack them (bite/tail)… and give your melee teammates and yourself advantage while giving the two targets disadvantage… this may be an option for you. Also being able to crawl up surfaces is great for non-combat and combat alike. You have a ton of flexibility with this class.
Personally, I love 6 Barbarian Path of the Beast / 3 Rune Knight Fighter
I’m sure there are other ways to play Path of the Beast, but the ability to free up your hands to grapple and still pull off attacks with Bite/Tail was a must pick for me. I will add to this post when I have time but just wanted to share with anyone wondering possibilities with this Subclass.
The only problem with the Bite attack is you have to choose which form you will take before you rage. It's more like an insurance policy, and if your hit points never go below 50%, it never gets used. I suppose if you're really battered going into the next encounter you can use it.
Now let's say you have a proficiency bonus of 3, and the encounter lasts 5 rounds, and you connect with 4 bites... that's 12 points of healing. Meh, that's okay. But you potentially sacrificed a lot of damage dealing to get those 12 hit points back.
I prefer the tail attack with Sentinel locking down up to 3 enemies (2 grapple + 1 sentinel). If you just want damage, then the Claws provide you an additional 1d6+7 damage and opportunity to crit... but you lose out on the grapple/shield or 2x grapple... which allows you to get advantage without having to allow advantage on yourself with reckless attack while giving the enemy disadvantage.
In your example, Bite only gives back 12 points of healing... for a Barb against slashing/piercing/bludgeoning that's 24 effective hit points. At levels 5-8 (proficiency +3), that's not bad. Its not level 3 Celestial, Path of the Chain Warlock (max self-healing) / x Fighter levels of healing (Second Wind) good... but its flexible. Also, if your DM is running 6 encounters with 2 short rests in between long rests... if you are running reckless attacks and you are out of rages, you are going to be taking some damage. If I knew it was going to be awhile before I could take a long rest, I may conserve my rages and hit dice (short rest) until I was below half-hp to make it last.
That's kind of the point of me writing this... is the value is in the grappling/shoving utility. If you don't plan on grappling, I'd be looking at Fighter with Sentinel/Polearm Master or if you want a spell caster, re-flavor Circle of the Moon Druid. But I don't think there is a better grappler than Path of the Beast Barbarian.
I'm not big on grappling, so I don't know the mechanics very well. How can you grapple two targets simultaneously? Doesn't the tail only give you one attack? I mean like you can do a 1 weapon attack and 1 tail attack after level 5.
Grappled by itself just reduces the creatures speed to 0. However, combine Grapple with Shove, then you have a prone creature with 0 movement speed. To stand up requires using 1/2 of your total movement speed. If the creature's speed is 0, it cannot stand up.
On the creature's turn, it can either burn its action to break the grapple (or shove to break the grapple); or it can make an attack at disadvantage being prone. Any melee creatures attacking the prone creature get advantage.
Grappling requires a free hand. Normally, this would require you have a free hand and the other hand have a shield (can't attack) or a weapon. By having a Tail or Bite, you free up both of those hands to either have a Shield/Grapple or 2xGrapple.
Combine this with Raging (Advantage on Athletics Checks) and if you take the Skill Master Feat with Expertise in Athletics... it will be Extremely difficult for the creature(s) to break the grapple.
This allows you to be a tankier barbarian... normally to get advantage on your attacks you would take Reckless Attack... but that allows all other creatures to have advantage on you. Grapple/prone allows you to have 1) advantage; 2) not have advantage on attacks against you; and 3) the enemy has disadvantage on attacks against you.
The bite/tail is a simple weapon... you can attack twice with it when having extra attack.
For me, the biggest barrier to grappling/shoving is the amount of damage you give up doing it. Before level 5, you give up all of it. After (for a Barbarian at least) you're still giving up half. In a lot of cases it's simply better to kill things faster. Just look at how monsters are built - every single "grabby" monster in the game has its grapple as a rider on an attack so they get to do both. Forced movement is the same. Because unless you're a high level fighter the opportunity cost is very high. Certainly when you need it, grappling can be incredibly useful. But making a build centered around grappling in 5e typically means you are sacrificing some effectiveness for your character concept.
The Beast's claw attacks tip the scales for me though. You can grapple or shove and still put out 66% of your damage. That's what I'd use for a grappler. As you say, if you just want damage, this wouldn't be the ticket. But it's a middle path that doesn't give up as much damage for the sake of utility.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
grapple shoving also has a weakness against targets that teleport through misty step or other like abilities. Which some things can get as racials or part of certain subclasses or classes. Depending on the DM it may also give them an ac bonus because your over top of them so your giving them partial cover.
The tail also works well as a defensive option while you still wield giant weapons in your hands. Which seems to be forgotten throughout all of this. So you can still be making weapon attacks with your weapon while having the tail as well. Same as with the bite technically.
Before level 5 (extra attack), shove/grapple takes too much to setup... especially without feats like Shield Master, Tavern Brawler, or the Battle Master Techniques Grappling Strike or Trip Attack. These feats allow the "built-in" option you are discussing. I can appreciate though if your goal is to single target focus with raw damage... but if a target has a high AC and you need to give your teammates advantage or to create distance from the casters who may be concentrating... it depends on the group. If its just a group of fighters/paladins... kick in the door and start smashing things to bits. The primary benefit is taxing the enemies action economy as well... when grapple/shoved, the enemy has to burn its entire action to either try and break free or suffer through disadvantage on its attacks with advantage against it.
Teleport would be a problem for melee whether or not you are grappling them. If they were shoved prone when they misty-stepped, they are still prone when they appear after the teleport. If they have 30 movement speed... they teleport 30, use 15 to stand up, and move 15 more... they are 45 ft away... a Barbarian has 40 movement... so unless that creature is going to dash... the shove may have kept them within next turns distance for the Barbarian.
Grapple/Shove is annoying for ranged teammates using attack spells (vs saving throws) or ranged attacks... so in that case I would just grapple/attack.
It requires an action to doff a shield. It is not a free action. PHB 146.
Ah, good to know. I thought it was just an action to don a shield. I knew it was an action to don/doff armor. You learn something everyday, thank you! I'll change it.
A workaround would be to pick Loxodon (trunk) or Simic Hybrid (Grappling appendages) if your allowed to pick GGTR races with your DM to still maintain the shield. Thanks again.
Currently Playing a grappling tortle beast barbarian with shield mastery and it is a blast. One thing people often don't mention is that you don't really need to attack recklessly with this build because you are already gaining advantage from your opponent being prone. A barbarian with 19 AC+d8 on reaction is very very difficult to take down, especially when you don't have advantage against them. Last session I tanked 90% of the attacks and only got hit once.
Monikar that build is fire. Sounds like so much fun to play. I love the idea of a fast tortle with a climb speed. Oh man.
I love that the tail offers the ability to build a true AC tank out of a barbarian. Having more than resistance as defense is nice and reckless attacks can always be pulled out when you want to guarantee finishing someone off.
How are you managing to attack them while prone? Shield Master shove can only be done after all of your attacks have been made.
Nothing in the rules stops you attacking while prone. In fact, it says you have disadvantage on attack rules while prone, so you can definitely attack while prone.
However, there's also nothing I know of in the rules which says that you must be prone while grappling someone who is prone. You can grapple someone, shove them prone, but remain standing yourself RAW.
Polearm master feat with a spear/quarterstaff works well with the claw beast mode. Or a double scimitar and f you can swing it.
1st round. bonus action rage/move. Claw 2-3 times with your action and extra attack. 3 attacks for 1d6+str mod+rage bonus.
2nd round+. Attack once with staff/spear/double scimitar with action, attack with claw to get two more attacks, bonus action for polearm/double scimitar second attack. 4 attacks using str mod and rage bonus. 1d8 or 2d4 for spear/quarterstaff because versatile or double scimitar, 1d6 per claw, 1d4 for bonus action.
can even be a strength based elf now and ignore the double scimitar feat for non dex builds.
Polearm Master doesn't give you the extra attack unless you "only" attack with the polearm.
"When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon."
Thanks, never paid attention to the “only” before. Double scimitar it is I suppose.
It's easy to miss. I thought the same thing as you until someone else pointed it out to me. Another rout is a heavy weapon like a Greatsword + Great Weapon Master. Using reckless attack (and 3 attacks) I calculated you crit on 26.5% of your turns, which triggers a full bonus action attack (as opposed to the 1d4 PM gives you). Additionally, you get a full bonus action attack every time you kill something.
In short, with GWM you get bonus action attacks a LOT.
Luckily my DM allows Dual Wielder to apply to the claws as well. This'll be fun! I don't think I'll be grappling a whole lot though. Not the kind of character I'm going for. Level 7-8 I'll be going for a quick Fighter dip for the Two-Weapon fighting style and Action Surge. Perhaps later another level for either Champion for more Crits or for something more fancy (Echo Knight or Cavallier I guess).
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
Ok. probably all of this has been exhaustively said but realizing it is still kind of great. So, when I plug the numbers in on Ludics DPR calc. for that one fight, with no bonuses, a Longtooth shifter at lvl 14 against AC21 is doing nearly 60 dpr. it's not too shabby for the most survivable class in the game and to never be disarmed. I actually play in games where disarming is a thing that enemies do because they aren't just stupid, so that can be pretty huge. Lets say most of the time, yeah, you use a Glaive with PAM and take the tail option but when you really need to tear into someone, you can hit those claws and teeth. Then add in the lvl 10 enemy attack or 2d12 psychic.
Using mobile with the claws could be incredible also. after level 6 you can make those 3 (or 4) attacks and run through the battlefield without anyone being able to take OA's then just run up the damn wall. Hitting up to 4 different enemies in one turn. It works great with the grappling idea too. hit one, move to another, grab one, drag him up the wall, hitting another enemy on the way and drop the grappled one with a free action.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137390-weretouched-beasthide
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137424-weretouched-longtooth
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137431-weretouched-razorclaw
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137461-weretouched-swiftstride
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137646-weretouched-wildhunt