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#807396 11/02/22 07:23 PM
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Hints and speculation out there of maybe the Barbarian class being added. Having never played a Barbarian in 5e, I looked up the class in the PHB. I am liking the 12 HP die. Rage looks cool and powerful - does it last long enough? Unarmored Defense - whoa, that looks interesting as you can add both your dexterity and constitution bonuses to your AC. Danger Sense gives advantage on dexterity saving throws - that looks good. Fast Movement - I always like more movement speed. Primal Paths - Berserker or Totem Warrior.

For those of you who have played a Barbarian in 5e, any advice or insights? How do they play versus, say, a fighter? Is it all about the Rage? Berserker or Totem Warrior? Let’s get the discussion started.

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Barbarians are all about that Rage and tactical use of Reckless Attack.

To be clear:
- Rage lasts until you either go a turn without taking damage or making an attack (missing count), so each use should last the whole combat
- Unarmored defense doesn't (shouldn't) stack with physical armor or mage armor.

Two things stand out to me in how Barbs might be implemented in BG3.
1.) The 'Frightened' condition in BG3 forces you to use your entire turn to run away, whereas in 5e RAW it only prevents you from moving closer to your source of fear and gives Disadvantage on attacks. Larian's implementation can be incredibly punishing for the barbarian, as going a turn without attacking can result in you leaving your Rage.

2.) The Berserker Barbarian could be great, except for the cost to Frenzy-ing: a level of exhaustion. This is incredibly punishing, and essentially limits usage of this ability to one combat per day, and afterward ALL skill checks are made with disadvantage. However, BG3: a) has no exhaustion system so far and b) allows unlimited long rests. I'm curious how Larian will implement this aspect of the Berserker...

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Originally Posted by smberg
Unarmored Defense - whoa, that looks interesting
Honestly as i have checked around, since this particular feature interested me too ...
And sadly it seems like Unarmored Defense is some kind of trap for unexperienced Barbarians ...
(Especialy in game where nothing forces you to give up your armor.)

I mean its not "bad", not really ... but it takes some time to get your ability scores high enough so you are actualy better protected than when wearing Medium Armor, WICH (again as i understand it from discusions, so feel free to corect me) dont actualy prevent you from using any Barbarian features ... that restriction apply on Heavy Armor only. O_o


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Originally Posted by mrfuji3
Barbarians are all about that Rage and tactical use of Reckless Attack.

To be clear:
- Rage lasts until you either go a turn without taking damage or making an attack (missing count), so each use should last the whole combat
- Unarmored defense doesn't (shouldn't) stack with physical armor or mage armor.

Two things stand out to me in how Barbs might be implemented in BG3.
1.) The 'Frightened' condition in BG3 forces you to use your entire turn to run away, whereas in 5e RAW it only prevents you from moving closer to your source of fear and gives Disadvantage on attacks. Larian's implementation can be incredibly punishing for the barbarian, as going a turn without attacking can result in you leaving your Rage.

2.) The Berserker Barbarian could be great, except for the cost to Frenzy-ing: a level of exhaustion. This is incredibly punishing, and essentially limits usage of this ability to one combat per day, and afterward ALL skill checks are made with disadvantage. However, BG3: a) has no exhaustion system so far and b) allows unlimited long rests. I'm curious how Larian will implement this aspect of the Berserker...

It would make sense for Raging barbs to be immune to Larian's version of Frighten

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Originally Posted by Eagle Pursuit
It would make sense for Raging barbs to be immune to Larian's version of Frighten
Berserker Barbarians already get immunity to being charmed and frightened through Mindless Rage at 6th level, so Larian would either be moving that feature to a lower level and/or to all Barbarian subclasses, or we're still left with the problem of being frightened from levels 1-5 as a Berserker and all levels as a Totem Barb.

A much more sensible fix is to change Larian's version of frighten to work as per 5e rules, though I suppose all Barbarians being immune to frightened would be better than nothing.

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Truthfully don't get your hopes up for the a normal class for any class in d&d 5e. Larian tailors them and uses 5e more of a guideline than actual rules.

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Originally Posted by fallenj
Truthfully don't get your hopes up for the a normal class for any class in d&d 5e. Larian tailors them and uses 5e more of a guideline than actual rules.

Exactly. I'm not expecting true ANY class. If we get them, I'll be super pleasantly surprised, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Visible disappointment 😞 already. I'm literally crying and shaking due to the lack of true classes in this game... So much so that I'm no longer excited about what classes they release. Sad panda noises... 😔

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Originally Posted by GM4Him
Originally Posted by fallenj
Truthfully don't get your hopes up for the a normal class for any class in d&d 5e. Larian tailors them and uses 5e more of a guideline than actual rules.

Exactly. I'm not expecting true ANY class. If we get them, I'll be super pleasantly surprised, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Visible disappointment 😞 already. I'm literally crying and shaking due to the lack of true classes in this game... So much so that I'm no longer excited about what classes they release. Sad panda noises... 😔

Probably going to rely on mods to make the game actually d&d based lol grin , lost interest in caring.

Last edited by fallenj; 12/02/22 12:27 AM.
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Originally Posted by fallenj
Originally Posted by GM4Him
Originally Posted by fallenj
Truthfully don't get your hopes up for the a normal class for any class in d&d 5e. Larian tailors them and uses 5e more of a guideline than actual rules.

Exactly. I'm not expecting true ANY class. If we get them, I'll be super pleasantly surprised, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Visible disappointment 😞 already. I'm literally crying and shaking due to the lack of true classes in this game... So much so that I'm no longer excited about what classes they release. Sad panda noises... 😔

Probably going to rely on mods to make the game actually d&d based lol grin , lost interest in caring.

I wonder to what extent the mods are going to be able to make the experience true 5th ed though?

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@andreasrylander if its like any other solid community, really really well. Just have to see.

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Originally Posted by andreasrylander
Originally Posted by fallenj
Originally Posted by GM4Him
Originally Posted by fallenj
Truthfully don't get your hopes up for the a normal class for any class in d&d 5e. Larian tailors them and uses 5e more of a guideline than actual rules.

Exactly. I'm not expecting true ANY class. If we get them, I'll be super pleasantly surprised, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Visible disappointment 😞 already. I'm literally crying and shaking due to the lack of true classes in this game... So much so that I'm no longer excited about what classes they release. Sad panda noises... 😔

Probably going to rely on mods to make the game actually d&d based lol grin , lost interest in caring.

I wonder to what extent the mods are going to be able to make the experience true 5th ed though?

Going to try to make this comment on topic as it may be slipping.

There is already an active modding community working away on the game and that is without the official modding tools even being released yet. We will no doubt have customizable 5e(RAW) mods that will allow us to tailor the game more to our individual desires. I expect anything Larian decides to change on barbarians will be "fixed" for us just as they are "fixing" the rest of the game.

I personally am fine with holding off playing till a bit after release and giving time for the more polished/finished mods to come out.

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Originally Posted by fallenj
@andreasrylander if its like any other solid community, really really well. Just have to see.

Oooh! Hope! I like that feeling =)

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by smberg
Unarmored Defense - whoa, that looks interesting
Honestly as i have checked around, since this particular feature interested me too ...
And sadly it seems like Unarmored Defense is some kind of trap for unexperienced Barbarians ...
(Especialy in game where nothing forces you to give up your armor.)

I mean its not "bad", not really ... but it takes some time to get your ability scores high enough so you are actualy better protected than when wearing Medium Armor, WICH (again as i understand it from discusions, so feel free to corect me) dont actualy prevent you from using any Barbarian features ... that restriction apply on Heavy Armor only. O_o

Trap is harsh, but it's true you don't necessarily want to dress down your Barbarian. Unlike Monks, Barbarian's Unarmored Defense seems to be there to give the option of living the barely-clothed Barbarian fantasy, rather than being something you'll always want to take advantage of. Barbarians get medium armor proficiency and, while both armoured and unarmoured Barbarians are basically viable, the armour tends to be better for them outside of high-level gameplay (which we might not see in BG3).

To put some numbers on it. Let's say you're playing to type and are picking races with STR/CON boosts: Human, Shield Dwarf, Half-Orc, potentially Half-Elf. You could start with 16 Str, 14 Dex, 16 Con. This gets you 15 AC, and unlike Monks you can wear a shield to boost your AC higher. It's decent enough, on par with a Chain Shirt. But certainly you can find medium armour that does more, especially if you don't care about disadvantage on Stealth checks. (As it stands you could nick Lae'zel's Half-Plate, 15+2 AC, right off the bat.)

One thing that might be interesting, is if we ever get any magic clothing with Barbarian- or Monk-themed effects. So far we have some robe magic items, but of course Poisoner's Robes aren't much use to your average Barbarian! ("When the wearer casts a spell that deals Poison damage...")

Last edited by Lavaeolus; 12/02/22 07:08 AM.
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Originally Posted by Lavaeolus
Poisoner's Robes aren't much use to your average Barbarian! ("When the wearer casts a spell that deals Poison damage...")
I dunno ...
Sure there can be better bonuses, but on the other hand IF Larian extend its use so it will work for any posion damage ...
Imagine you will play your barbarian as Dual Wielder ... poison your weapons ... and just bcs you have this robe, that poison damage is effectively doubled ... that isnt exactly "bad" either. Especialy in case this is your only possible bonus. laugh

Anyway i hope we shall move the right way and Ragzlin will drop his "armor" for Barbarians. :3
At least that design seems perfect.


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If the robes aren't gonna get restricted to monks and spellcasters in the future, it'd be pretty amusing (and a little disheartening, perhaps) to see min-maxy Dexterity + Constitution barbarians wearing expensive silks all caked in blood and mud along with a shield and a scimitar or something.

Last edited by Brainer; 13/02/22 07:37 AM.
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Originally Posted by Brainer
it'd be pretty amusing (and a little disheartening, perhaps) to see min-maxy Dexterity + Constitution barbarians wearing expensive silks all caked in blood and mud
They might be barbarians, but it doesn’t mean they don’t dress well :hihi:

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Class aside, I'm still hoping to see "caster robes" that don't look like nightdresses/bathrobes.


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Originally Posted by Brainer
If the robes aren't gonna get restricted to monks and spellcasters in the future, it'd be pretty amusing (and a little disheartening, perhaps) to see min-maxy Dexterity + Constitution barbarians wearing expensive silks all caked in blood and mud along with a shield and a scimitar or something.
Is that a thing? Barbarians fencing in robes?

Using finesse weapons under rage seems like a Monty Python scene.

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Looking forward to making a Barbarian PC when they introduce the option to pick a harder difficulty setting.
Originally Posted by smberg
Berserker or Totem Warrior? Let’s get the discussion started.
Totem Warrior, the Berserker doesn't even come close.
It is one of the most powerful subclasses in general and I'll be on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how Larian balances that one out. Barbarian Totem Warrior description
You don't have to be experienced in D&D to know that this is overpowered, the Bear totem should get you through most of the fights with ease.

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Originally Posted by S2PHANE
Looking forward to making a Barbarian PC when they introduce the option to pick a harder difficulty setting.

Totem Warrior, the Berserker doesn't even come close.
It is one of the most powerful subclasses in general and I'll be on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how Larian balances that one out. Barbarian Totem Warrior description
You don't have to be experienced in D&D to know that this is overpowered, the Bear totem should get you through most of the fights with ease.

Yes, the bear totem spirit is OP. I DMed the Descent into Avernus campaign and we had one of those in the team. It essentially doubles the HP while raging, making a 20 CON dwarven barbarian nearly unkillable once he reaches 5-6th level.

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