Hey all. We're starting a new campaign and I'm thinking of building the above character. I've settled on minotaur for the race and plan on taking enough levels in Barbarian to get the extra attack (so i can use the horns more frequently). Everything else will be the Lurker in the Deep warlock. I've selected a glaive weapon and may or may not go for the PAM feat.
The game is going to be more roleplay focused, hence why I want the warlock for the charisma focus. The three stats I'm focusing on are Str, Con, and Cha. I really want to keep some levels in barbarian over fighter to tie into backstory and some roleplay, but keeping rages saved for the most part for appropriate times (end/mid of battles etc.). I'd possibly be open to considering Hexblade over Lurker, but backstory wise (and especially since minotaurs are associated with Greek culture and therefore some sailing) I'd prefer the Lurker. I have no preference to a particular Barbarian path.
Is there anything I should be considering with this?
EDIT:
We’re starting at level 3, so I’ve got 2 levels in warlock and 1 in barbarian. The barbarian choice is more for story than synergy. The stats as stands are
15, 10, 13, 10, 10, 16
Dex I’m ignoring in favor of medium armor. I may not end up taking PAM just to minimize bonus actions. I’m hoping for level 5 eventually (probably switch to taking some levels in barbarian for a bit when story allows for it, the class is meant to tie into backstory) just to have the full extra attack so I can utilize the horns better as otherwise I’m just stuck shoving people away with them as a bonus action, without any damage, unless I dash for my action instead of attack.
Just keep in mind you only get one bonus action no matter how many attacks you have. If you use your PAM for the blunt end strike you won't be able to use your horns as well. Not sure what you are thinking in regards to armor if any but if you are focusing on Str/Con/Cha you wont have the benefit of Dex helping you out (yes you still get the unarmored from Con if you go that route).
Since you won't have access to heavy armor (and wouldn't want it since you can't rage in heavy armor) you'll want at least 10 in dex to prevent the penalty to AC. With medium armor, you can max at 14 to get the max +2 dex bonus. Outside of that, there is an invocation that gives a quasi extra attack in case you don't want to go to barb 5, though barb 3 would be the minimum I'd go to. Fast Movement at barb 5 might be enough to entice you to stick with that plan.
Find out how far your campaign is supposed to go with your DM, find out how far into Warlock you'll need to go to get your desired levels there and then make your decision on barbarian 3, 4, or 5 based off that.
Just be careful. It's a risky route, Barbarians need more stats than usually with their str, dex & con. Throw in cha for the warlock & you may be stretched too thin.
Also as said, a lot of builds struggle for their bonus action use. You seem to be filled, the off hand PAM attack, entering rage, your minotaur charge and shove attacks, the hex spell (though cant be done while raging) & especially with lurker, their tentacle attack..
I'm sure you're also aware that barbarians cant cast or even concentrate on pre-cast spells so multiclassing into any sort of caster isnt so synergistic.
Just be careful. It's a risky route, Barbarians need more stats than usually with their str, dex & con. Throw in cha for the warlock & you may be stretched too thin.
Also as said, a lot of builds struggle for their bonus action use. You seem to be filled, the off hand PAM attack, entering rage, your minotaur charge and shove attacks, the hex spell (though cant be done while raging) & especially with lurker, their tentacle attack..
I'm sure you're also aware that barbarians cant cast or even concentrate on pre-cast spells so multiclassing into any sort of caster isnt so synergistic.
Dex isn't a requirement for any of their key abilities, assuming armor instead of unarmored defense. If subclass abilities run off of it, you could avoid that subclass or those options. Medium armor maxes out at +2 bonus, so anything over 14 wouldn't help AC and would "just" be used for skills and initiative. Danger Sense would help the dex save.
As for synergy, it all depends on what play style you wanted to play. If you wanted to put your stats into dex, str, con, and cha (because you rolled well on 4 stats?), you could be a blaster with EB knocking enemies around and have no armor to give the impression of being a squishy caster. However, the round that enemies got within your movement radius (perhaps after fast movement at 5 and mobile feat were added) or after a creature tries to hit you, you could spend a turn calling your pact weapon to your hand and bonus action rage and then go berserk on them. Classic bait and switch. If you go hexblade, you can even key your damage of charisma until get your strength higher at a later level (get it to 16 initially for multiclass and reasonable rage damage bonus, then max charisma for base damage on weapon attacks and EB).
Hex wouldn't play into that build as much, but Armor of Agathys could be interesting, particularly combined with bear totem resistances. If there was an ability that reduced damage like HAM (not an option since it's mutually exclusive with rage), that could give AoA some more juice and allow you to keep your AC a little lower for hits to come through, the damage to be resisted and reduced in some order (got to check if is resisted first and then reduced or reduced and then resisted, haven't rechecked it since initial thought was HAM and I didn't bother once it became clear it didn't work with rage and I transitioned away from barb on the AoA build). This would leave the hit that triggers AoA's damage clause while limiting or eliminating the damage from that hit. I'd have to flesh out the rest of the build through research and playtesting, but that idea sounds really fun and interesting to me and it's just one example of how they could be synergistic. Others do exist, but the classic warlock caster trope doesn't mesh well with rage.
Been looking over at Minotaur traits and such. There’s some things that I think have been misquoted in here. Dr me edit the original post as well for this....
Just keep in mind you only get one bonus action no matter how many attacks you have. If you use your PAM for the blunt end strike you won't be able to use your horns as well. Not sure what you are thinking in regards to armor if any but if you are focusing on Str/Con/Cha you wont have the benefit of Dex helping you out (yes you still get the unarmored from Con if you go that route).
Since you won't have access to heavy armor (and wouldn't want it since you can't rage in heavy armor) you'll want at least 10 in dex to prevent the penalty to AC. With medium armor, you can max at 14 to get the max +2 dex bonus. Outside of that, there is an invocation that gives a quasi extra attack in case you don't want to go to barb 5, though barb 3 would be the minimum I'd go to. Fast Movement at barb 5 might be enough to entice you to stick with that plan.
Find out how far your campaign is supposed to go with your DM, find out how far into Warlock you'll need to go to get your desired levels there and then make your decision on barbarian 3, 4, or 5 based off that.
We’re starting at level 3, so I’ve got 2 levels in warlock and 1 in barbarian. The barbarian choice is more for story than synergy. The stats as stands are
15, 10, 13, 10, 10, 16
Dex I’m ignoring in favor of medium armor. I may not end up taking PAM just to minimize bonus actions. I’m hoping for level 5 eventually (probably switch to taking some levels in barbarian for a bit when story allows for it, the class is meant to tie into backstory) just to have the full extra attack so I can utilize the horns better as otherwise I’m just stuck shoving people away with them as a bonus action, without any damage, unless I dash for my action instead of attack.
Hey all. We're starting a new campaign and I'm thinking of building the above character. I've settled on minotaur for the race and plan on taking enough levels in Barbarian to get the extra attack (so i can use the horns more frequently). Everything else will be the Lurker in the Deep warlock. I've selected a glaive weapon and may or may not go for the PAM feat.
The game is going to be more roleplay focused, hence why I want the warlock for the charisma focus. The three stats I'm focusing on are Str, Con, and Cha. I really want to keep some levels in barbarian over fighter to tie into backstory and some roleplay, but keeping rages saved for the most part for appropriate times (end/mid of battles etc.). I'd possibly be open to considering Hexblade over Lurker, but backstory wise (and especially since minotaurs are associated with Greek culture and therefore some sailing) I'd prefer the Lurker. I have no preference to a particular Barbarian path.
Is there anything I should be considering with this?
EDIT:
We’re starting at level 3, so I’ve got 2 levels in warlock and 1 in barbarian. The barbarian choice is more for story than synergy. The stats as stands are
15, 10, 13, 10, 10, 16
Dex I’m ignoring in favor of medium armor. I may not end up taking PAM just to minimize bonus actions. I’m hoping for level 5 eventually (probably switch to taking some levels in barbarian for a bit when story allows for it, the class is meant to tie into backstory) just to have the full extra attack so I can utilize the horns better as otherwise I’m just stuck shoving people away with them as a bonus action, without any damage, unless I dash for my action instead of attack.
Just keep in mind you only get one bonus action no matter how many attacks you have. If you use your PAM for the blunt end strike you won't be able to use your horns as well. Not sure what you are thinking in regards to armor if any but if you are focusing on Str/Con/Cha you wont have the benefit of Dex helping you out (yes you still get the unarmored from Con if you go that route).
Since you won't have access to heavy armor (and wouldn't want it since you can't rage in heavy armor) you'll want at least 10 in dex to prevent the penalty to AC. With medium armor, you can max at 14 to get the max +2 dex bonus. Outside of that, there is an invocation that gives a quasi extra attack in case you don't want to go to barb 5, though barb 3 would be the minimum I'd go to. Fast Movement at barb 5 might be enough to entice you to stick with that plan.
Find out how far your campaign is supposed to go with your DM, find out how far into Warlock you'll need to go to get your desired levels there and then make your decision on barbarian 3, 4, or 5 based off that.
Just be careful. It's a risky route, Barbarians need more stats than usually with their str, dex & con. Throw in cha for the warlock & you may be stretched too thin.
Also as said, a lot of builds struggle for their bonus action use. You seem to be filled, the off hand PAM attack, entering rage, your minotaur charge and shove attacks, the hex spell (though cant be done while raging) & especially with lurker, their tentacle attack..
I'm sure you're also aware that barbarians cant cast or even concentrate on pre-cast spells so multiclassing into any sort of caster isnt so synergistic.
Dex isn't a requirement for any of their key abilities, assuming armor instead of unarmored defense. If subclass abilities run off of it, you could avoid that subclass or those options. Medium armor maxes out at +2 bonus, so anything over 14 wouldn't help AC and would "just" be used for skills and initiative. Danger Sense would help the dex save.
As for synergy, it all depends on what play style you wanted to play. If you wanted to put your stats into dex, str, con, and cha (because you rolled well on 4 stats?), you could be a blaster with EB knocking enemies around and have no armor to give the impression of being a squishy caster. However, the round that enemies got within your movement radius (perhaps after fast movement at 5 and mobile feat were added) or after a creature tries to hit you, you could spend a turn calling your pact weapon to your hand and bonus action rage and then go berserk on them. Classic bait and switch. If you go hexblade, you can even key your damage of charisma until get your strength higher at a later level (get it to 16 initially for multiclass and reasonable rage damage bonus, then max charisma for base damage on weapon attacks and EB).
Hex wouldn't play into that build as much, but Armor of Agathys could be interesting, particularly combined with bear totem resistances. If there was an ability that reduced damage like HAM (not an option since it's mutually exclusive with rage), that could give AoA some more juice and allow you to keep your AC a little lower for hits to come through, the damage to be resisted and reduced in some order (got to check if is resisted first and then reduced or reduced and then resisted, haven't rechecked it since initial thought was HAM and I didn't bother once it became clear it didn't work with rage and I transitioned away from barb on the AoA build). This would leave the hit that triggers AoA's damage clause while limiting or eliminating the damage from that hit. I'd have to flesh out the rest of the build through research and playtesting, but that idea sounds really fun and interesting to me and it's just one example of how they could be synergistic. Others do exist, but the classic warlock caster trope doesn't mesh well with rage.
Been looking over at Minotaur traits and such. There’s some things that I think have been misquoted in here. Dr me edit the original post as well for this....
We’re starting at level 3, so I’ve got 2 levels in warlock and 1 in barbarian. The barbarian choice is more for story than synergy. The stats as stands are
15, 10, 13, 10, 10, 16
Dex I’m ignoring in favor of medium armor. I may not end up taking PAM just to minimize bonus actions. I’m hoping for level 5 eventually (probably switch to taking some levels in barbarian for a bit when story allows for it, the class is meant to tie into backstory) just to have the full extra attack so I can utilize the horns better as otherwise I’m just stuck shoving people away with them as a bonus action, without any damage, unless I dash for my action instead of attack.