Quote Originally Posted by LudicSavant View Post
I'm still gonna post the other 4 builds I mentioned, but it's a bit delayed since... I maaaay have written up the guide-length post, only to accidentally click off the reply page. Whoops. But here's another build to tide you over that I think you'll like. Please let me know what you think!

The Ancestral Nightmare is a flexible tank that, unlike the vast majority of Barbarians, allows you to lock down opponents in both melee and at range. It can grapple multiple opponents at a time while still wielding a sword and shield, or it can circumvent the usual limitations for thrown weapons to harass people with javelins while providing allies with Resistance, Disadvantage to be hit, damage reduction, and damage retribution… all at the same time.

Build 8: The Ancestral Nightmare (Javelin Master / Grappler Tank)


Simic Hybrid Ancestral Guardian Barbarian 16 / Battle Master 3 / Rogue 1
Stats (Point Buy): 16 Str / 14 Con / 14 Dex / 13 Wis / 10 Cha / 8 Int
ASIs: Max Strength, Resilient (+1 Wisdom), Lucky
Sample Maneuvers: Commander’s Strike, Precision Attack, Tripping Attack
Expertise: Athletics, one other skill of your choice

A problem and a solution:
If you want to use throwing weapons, you can only draw one object a turn without cutting into your action economy, which creates a problem for those with Extra Attack. This usually makes Barbarians sad, because they’re hungry for ranged options.

If you want to be a grappler, you can’t normally use a shield or a two-handed weapon because you need to keep a hand free to grab your opponent. This too usually makes Barbarians sad, because they want to shove someone, grapple then, and then beat the bejesus out of them, while simultaneously being as efficient as possible in sponging damage.

Simic Hybrid solves both of these problems by making you into a tentacle monster at level 5.

While these limbs can’t actually throw your javelins, they can hold a bundle of ‘em, which is good enough because switching items between your limbs is a non-action. And they can grapple multiple people at a time while leaving both hands free for sword and board. And not only that, but you get what is essentially Tavern Brawler as a bonus feat, which means we don’t have to spend our precious ASIs looking for something to do with our bonus action.

On top of your extra limbs, Simic Hybrid also gives you Darkvision, ideal stats, and a selection of useful mobility skills (Manta Glide will let you convert falling distance into speed boosts, Climbing speed will help you drag your grappled people up walls and then drop them for damage and prone, swimming will… uh… be relevant in an aquatic campaign).

At range: You throw two weapons complete with Rage and Dueling bonuses, and your target is harassed by your ancestors. This means that if they want to target anyone else in your party, they have to deal with Resistance and Disadvantage and damage reduction from Spirit Shield and guaranteed damage from Vengeful Ancestors. Heck, at that point you can just put yourself out of range, since you’re the only one they can attack for full value.

Once you have your fighter levels, you also have the option of using Commander’s Strike to hand the local Rogue an off-turn Sneak Attack, further boosting your ranged DPR. And of course Action Surge.

Either way, you’re much better off than pretty much every other Barbarian who finds themselves stuck out of melee range for a turn.

In melee: You’re a superior grappler, able to grab multiple enemies (with Advantage, and later Expertise), shove ‘em to the ground, and still wail on them while wielding a shield. And your ability to perform at range means that you can do things like nail someone on one side of the map with a javelin (making them the target of your Ancestral Protectors) then lock down a second foe near you.

The Rogue dip is primarily to pick up Expertise, which will give you some non-combat utility and make your grapple/shove checks basically guaranteed (scaling as high as +17+Advantage).

The Battle Master levels are because… well, how do I put this. The Barbarian chassis kinda forgets to scale its damage much in the later levels. And while this build’s main job isn’t being a DPR factory, it’s nice to be able to unload from time to time. Battle Master will give you a decent burst damage option and some extra tools via maneuvers. Don’t forget that thrown javelins count as “melee weapons” for Dueling, so you can do your burst from range if you like.

Your nova damage at tier 4 works out to 86.9 DPR vs AC 19 (4 attacks with Action Surge, Advantage from Reckless Attack, any damaging maneuver if you hit or precision attack if you miss), 100.9 DPR with Vengeful Ancestors (plus 14 DPR of damage reduction to the ally, for a total 114.9 average damage shift in your team’s favor, plus Resistance and Disadvantage of course). You can push this higher with Commander’s Strike depending on your team composition, and also by using your Lucky rerolls (though I generally would save those for saves or the like). Your rage damage without maneuvers or Action Surge is 34.5, or 48.5 with Vengeful Ancestors (plus 14 DPR of damage reduction to the ally, for a total 62.5 average damage shift in your team’s favor).

For perspective, a tier 4 Bear-barian entering rage and using GWM with Advantage has only 37.7 DPR, or 46.3 at exactly level 20 (from the capstone). And they don’t have a shield, and can’t do their thing at range, or while grappling someone, and don’t dramatically reduce damage to their allies. See the difference?

Like all shover/grappler builds, the Ancestral Nightmare synergizes very well with a team that can put down hazards like Spike Growth, Create Bonfire, Wall of Fire, Spirit Guardians, Silence, etc. In fact, you do so even more than usual given your ability to grapple multiple people at a time. Drag ‘em all into the hazards! Get enlarged (via a spellcasting ally or Potion of Growth) to shove/grapple the Huge foes, too!


Variants/Notes:
  • While the Simic Hybrid is by default a Ravnica race, it fits easily enough into other settings as some variety of mutant or other. For example they make a decent stand-in for the Half-Daelkyr race from previous editions of Eberron.
  • Commander’s Strike is very much party composition dependent. If you don’t have someone who would be a prime beneficiary in your party (such as a Rogue that wants an off-turn sneak attack), then switch it out for a different maneuver.
  • You can mix up the order you take the classes to taste; just make sure you don’t delay your Extra Attack. An example would be Barb 6 > Rogue 1 > Fighter 3 > Barb 16
  • If you have the rolls for it, it’s possible to get an exceptional AC as a Barbarian via having 20 Dex and Con.
  • Alert is an alternative to Lucky. With +7 Initiative and Advantage, you’re all but guaranteed to go first. Lucky is a bit more versatile, and you can still negate surprise using Rage / Feral Instinct.
  • Simic Hybrids also make good Zealots. Probably merits a separate build post.
  • You can use this with GWM instead of sword and board, too. You'd have to sacrifice Lucky and a shield, but it'll boost your peak nova damage vs AC 19 from 86.9 DPR to 112.3 DPR (plus possibility of Vengeful Ancestors). However note that you're less likely to activate Vengeful Ancestors if you're a better target, and that this won't help your ranged attacks, and you'll be more vulnerable to saving throws and crits, and using your natural attack -> grapple combo will cut into your DPR more, and if you've got a Rogue or the like in the party you can just use Commander's Strike instead.
Awesome build. One minor note is that you don’t get the rage damage bonus on thrown weapon attacks. But still, a very effective build.