I'm wondering if it'll be better to dip into Barbarian or Wizard.
The character is a level 4 Stout Halfling Rune Knight with Great Weapon Fighting and Great Weapon Master (Great Sword/Maul). I'm considering taking Savage Attacker at Fighter at 6 or 8, with +2 Strength at the other.
Barbarian would be nifty because of Rage, obviously, but also because of Danger Sense at level 2. More importantly, for my halfling, Reckless Attack would let me overcome my Disadvantage with Heavy Weapons when Giant's Might is unavailable. Assuming I take Barbarian to level 3 (Is there any reason not to subclass with this dip?), I would probably take Ancestral Guardian for the sweet tanking potential or Totem Warrior for Bear's resistance to nearly all damage. The wolf is a slight draw, for the rogue, but I'm not sure that outweighs Bear here.
Alternately, I could dip into Wizard and take that to level 2. I was looking at Chronurgy. Two rerolls with Chronal Shift basically anywhere I want them seems pretty strong, and it can help with my Heavy Weapon issue when I'm out of Giant's Might uses. Initiative is always fun, too. Then there are useful cantrips too, of course, and up to four uses of Shield and/or Absorb Elements per day which is pretty strong too. There are some level one spells that can give me advantage, too.
I looked at War Magic, and Arcane Deflection also looks pretty strong, but you can't use it to help your friends as you could with Chronal Shift. It looks like there isn't much of a downside to Arcane Deflection for a fighter, either, who only has a very limited number of spell slots anyhow. Both Wizard subclasses seem fun and useful.
Which dip do you guys think would be better for my little halfling rune knight, Barbarian or Wizard?
I guess what to do all depends on the character and situation/roleplay, or if going for mechanics, it just depends what you're after/favour. Any of what you've said could work well.
A few questions and note:
Is the D12 really worth it? A longsword in 2 hands is D10 and no disadvantage?
I'd say Runeknight 7 is good. Allows two great runes (you get an extra at 7th AND can change a previous one, so can get both 7th level runes if you want) and the ability to force rerolls on attacks (prevent crits! to self/ally) could be very strong!
Do you have the stats to multiclass (or is that not being used?) even, are you allowed if an 'optional' rule :)
* Barbarian will always make a really strong fighter (and tougher, though the Hill rune at 7 does similar and is 1/short rather than 2/long rage) - no heavy armour or rage doesn't work!
* Wizard - look at divination too, it could be better :) no range, just can see (so maybe less good against invisible characters) but you KNOW if they roll will fail or succeed, and depending on the rolls, could guarantee a crit, (or a miss)
Others that are good:
* Warlock hexblade, can curse 1/short is great too! (crits on 19-20, extra damage) - maybe use cha if need be - or on ranged?
I checked on Reddit, too, and folks over there encouraged me to just stick with RK to get those good benefits faster and also not loose out on level 20 extra attack....if we get that far ;).
As for d12, I went with 2d6 weapons to get that little boost from great weapon fighting on top of great weapon master, but you’re right there’s nothing stopping me from using a longsword or versatile weapon that’s not Heavy when necessary to avoid disadvantage.
As for MAD concerns... I don’t think it’s a problem for this character? My GM allows us to roll for stats, once, and if we don’t like what we get we can choose point buy. Well, uh, my stout halfling is stereotypically lucky. He’s sitting at 18/16/16/16/16/12.
I’m honestly still kind of staring at the level 3 bear rage longingly, but I do see the wisdom of sticking with fighter all the way, too.
Edit: Either way, I don’t want to dip more than 3 for barbarian or 2 for wizard (or maybe some other caster). I want that second use of runes at 15, and a second use of action surge and indomitable at 17 seems really useful.
I always think the fighter is great as a single class but if you wanted to multiclass a dip into barbarian makes one hell of a good grappler. Seeing as how you can become large, you can grapple huge creatures. Not bad!
Runeknight + potion of giants grown + skill mastery (athletics) adv grapple checks to grapple any size creature in the game. or if you want to go wizard enlarge spell.
So question, (maybe I missed it quickly reading through) but how are you taking advantage of gwm or gwf? I ask because as a halfling you have disadvantage on all attacks made with heavy weapons since heavy weapons are considered basically hard to handle for small creatures (which your race is considered).
Rune knight gets a lot of great bonus action abilities that could compete with rage for your bonus actions. Barbarian rage can also be a bit redundant, since you already get damage reduction from the Hill Rune at level 7, and advantage on strength checks from giant's might.
I'd probably with the wizard dip. Ranged cantrips and spells in general are useful. And if you dip 3 levels, you can get enlarge/reduce to make you big enough to wrestle gargantuan creatures.
Yes, Rune Knight lets you get around the whole small guy with a too-big weapon mechanic a couple times between rests. I think I've been convinced to stick with Fighter instead of dipping into barbarian, but dipping for some wizard is still rattling around in my brain. I'd have a +3 spellcasting modifier without spending any AIS, so it could be useful, maybe.
Yes, Rune Knight lets you get around the whole small guy with a too-big weapon mechanic a couple times between rests. I think I've been convinced to stick with Fighter instead of dipping into barbarian, but dipping for some wizard is still rattling around in my brain. I'd have a +3 spellcasting modifier without spending any AIS, so it could be useful, maybe.
I'd stick with RK all the way. Not only is it a class you don't need to multiclass since all of its abilities are really useful, you also really don't need anything from wizard or barbarian. You will have more use of the Lucky feat than anything from a multiclass. In fact, it's almost cheesy how effective you will be. Hafling's luck will more or less remove any natural 1s from when you fight with disadvantage and if you add Lucky to that? Well, the people who complain that Elven Accuracy is broken are probably crying right now. :P
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I'm wondering if it'll be better to dip into Barbarian or Wizard.
The character is a level 4 Stout Halfling Rune Knight with Great Weapon Fighting and Great Weapon Master (Great Sword/Maul). I'm considering taking Savage Attacker at Fighter at 6 or 8, with +2 Strength at the other.
Barbarian would be nifty because of Rage, obviously, but also because of Danger Sense at level 2. More importantly, for my halfling, Reckless Attack would let me overcome my Disadvantage with Heavy Weapons when Giant's Might is unavailable. Assuming I take Barbarian to level 3 (Is there any reason not to subclass with this dip?), I would probably take Ancestral Guardian for the sweet tanking potential or Totem Warrior for Bear's resistance to nearly all damage. The wolf is a slight draw, for the rogue, but I'm not sure that outweighs Bear here.
Alternately, I could dip into Wizard and take that to level 2. I was looking at Chronurgy. Two rerolls with Chronal Shift basically anywhere I want them seems pretty strong, and it can help with my Heavy Weapon issue when I'm out of Giant's Might uses. Initiative is always fun, too. Then there are useful cantrips too, of course, and up to four uses of Shield and/or Absorb Elements per day which is pretty strong too. There are some level one spells that can give me advantage, too.
I looked at War Magic, and Arcane Deflection also looks pretty strong, but you can't use it to help your friends as you could with Chronal Shift. It looks like there isn't much of a downside to Arcane Deflection for a fighter, either, who only has a very limited number of spell slots anyhow. Both Wizard subclasses seem fun and useful.
Which dip do you guys think would be better for my little halfling rune knight, Barbarian or Wizard?
I guess what to do all depends on the character and situation/roleplay, or if going for mechanics, it just depends what you're after/favour. Any of what you've said could work well.
A few questions and note:
Is the D12 really worth it? A longsword in 2 hands is D10 and no disadvantage?
I'd say Runeknight 7 is good. Allows two great runes (you get an extra at 7th AND can change a previous one, so can get both 7th level runes if you want) and the ability to force rerolls on attacks (prevent crits! to self/ally) could be very strong!
Do you have the stats to multiclass (or is that not being used?) even, are you allowed if an 'optional' rule :)
* Barbarian will always make a really strong fighter (and tougher, though the Hill rune at 7 does similar and is 1/short rather than 2/long rage) - no heavy armour or rage doesn't work!
* Wizard - look at divination too, it could be better :) no range, just can see (so maybe less good against invisible characters) but you KNOW if they roll will fail or succeed, and depending on the rolls, could guarantee a crit, (or a miss)
Others that are good:
* Warlock hexblade, can curse 1/short is great too! (crits on 19-20, extra damage) - maybe use cha if need be - or on ranged?
* Paladin for smites!
* Cleric (war?) for extra bonus attacks?
So many great dips! I love multiclassing! :)
I checked on Reddit, too, and folks over there encouraged me to just stick with RK to get those good benefits faster and also not loose out on level 20 extra attack....if we get that far ;).
As for d12, I went with 2d6 weapons to get that little boost from great weapon fighting on top of great weapon master, but you’re right there’s nothing stopping me from using a longsword or versatile weapon that’s not Heavy when necessary to avoid disadvantage.
As for MAD concerns... I don’t think it’s a problem for this character? My GM allows us to roll for stats, once, and if we don’t like what we get we can choose point buy. Well, uh, my stout halfling is stereotypically lucky. He’s sitting at 18/16/16/16/16/12.
I’m honestly still kind of staring at the level 3 bear rage longingly, but I do see the wisdom of sticking with fighter all the way, too.
Edit: Either way, I don’t want to dip more than 3 for barbarian or 2 for wizard (or maybe some other caster). I want that second use of runes at 15, and a second use of action surge and indomitable at 17 seems really useful.
I always think the fighter is great as a single class but if you wanted to multiclass a dip into barbarian makes one hell of a good grappler. Seeing as how you can become large, you can grapple huge creatures. Not bad!
Single class fighter all the way!
Or a rogue dip for sneak attack damage and to make better use of some of the skill boosts that come from the runes.
Runeknight + potion of giants grown + skill mastery (athletics) adv grapple checks to grapple any size creature in the game. or if you want to go wizard enlarge spell.
So question, (maybe I missed it quickly reading through) but how are you taking advantage of gwm or gwf? I ask because as a halfling you have disadvantage on all attacks made with heavy weapons since heavy weapons are considered basically hard to handle for small creatures (which your race is considered).
He is using the Rune Knight's Giant's Might to get bigger and any other time just accepting the disadvantage.
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
Rune knight gets a lot of great bonus action abilities that could compete with rage for your bonus actions. Barbarian rage can also be a bit redundant, since you already get damage reduction from the Hill Rune at level 7, and advantage on strength checks from giant's might.
I'd probably with the wizard dip. Ranged cantrips and spells in general are useful. And if you dip 3 levels, you can get enlarge/reduce to make you big enough to wrestle gargantuan creatures.
Ahh ok thank you
Yes, Rune Knight lets you get around the whole small guy with a too-big weapon mechanic a couple times between rests. I think I've been convinced to stick with Fighter instead of dipping into barbarian, but dipping for some wizard is still rattling around in my brain. I'd have a +3 spellcasting modifier without spending any AIS, so it could be useful, maybe.
I'd stick with RK all the way. Not only is it a class you don't need to multiclass since all of its abilities are really useful, you also really don't need anything from wizard or barbarian. You will have more use of the Lucky feat than anything from a multiclass. In fact, it's almost cheesy how effective you will be. Hafling's luck will more or less remove any natural 1s from when you fight with disadvantage and if you add Lucky to that? Well, the people who complain that Elven Accuracy is broken are probably crying right now. :P