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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Mar 2018

    Default Barbarian ASI advice

    Hi there,

    I知 currently in the midst of my first 5e campaign playing a bear totem Goliath barbarian, wielding a greataxe, and was looking for some advice as I approach my first ability score improvement. I rolled pretty decently for stats, and with my racial increases, I知 at 18 strength, 15 con, and 13 dex.

    Here痴 my question. Do I:
    1. Increase my strength to 20
    2. Increase con to 16 and dex to 14 so I get the bump to AC (currently at 15, thanks to a breastplate my character made from a Mammoth skull), initiative, and con modifier
    or
    3. Take the Great Weapon Master feat

    The rest of my party is a rogue, a cleric, a druid, and a warlock, so while I知 not the only one who can do damage and take hits, I知 definitely doing the most of both. They all seem like good options, but this is my very first campaign, so I知 aware that there痴 something I might be missing. The advantage I get with Reckless Attack makes GWM much more interesting, but those stat bumps would certainly be nice. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2016

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Short answer: 2

    Long Answer: Two

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    A State of Confusion
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Longer answer:

    Having 20 Strength feels (and is) awesome, and you're right about the synergy between GWM and Reckless Attack. However, if you are serving as the party's primary tank, an extra +1AC and +1HP/Lvl protects the entire party, rather than making just you better at killing things. The casters are all going to bump spellcasting stats, which makes them better at helping you kill things, so if you can buy them another round to cast, you may be helping yourself more than being a little more accurate or damaging. Not to mention how good that initiative boost is! If you go first, you get your choice of positioning, and you hit first. That's great stuff!
    Avatar by Threeshades.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    OldWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Jul 2015

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Agreed, in a situation where you're the only "dedicated" tank in your group, Getting to 16 Con and 14 Dex is most valuable. Also, 14 Dex lets you have up to 17 AC in medium armor. That's a DC bonus equal to 20 Con 14 Dex with Unarmored Defense.
    Last edited by Blood of Gaea; 2018-03-17 at 10:39 AM.
    Reality is relative, and there is an exception to every rule.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

    Join Date
    Jul 2015

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    I am in need of advice as well. playing a zealot Barbarian, 18 STR, 14 CON and DEX, 10 everything else, already have GWM, and using a glaive for my weapon. And currently wearing Scale Mail given by my character's benefactor. Almost at level 8, and my options for now seem to be:

    1. Bump STR to 20.
    2. Bump DEX to 16. Extra AC, better initiative, better DEX save
    3. Bump CON to 16. Extra HP, better DEX save
    4. Take Polearm Master because...Polearm Master?

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    A State of Confusion
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Atalas View Post
    I am in need of advice as well. playing a zealot Barbarian, 18 STR, 14 CON and DEX, 10 everything else, already have GWM, and using a glaive for my weapon. And currently wearing Scale Mail given by my character's benefactor. Almost at level 8, and my options for now seem to be:

    1. Bump STR to 20.
    2. Bump DEX to 16. Extra AC, better initiative, better DEX save
    3. Bump CON to 16. Extra HP, better DEX save
    4. Take Polearm Master because...Polearm Master?
    As long as you're wearing that scale mail, you don't actually gain AC by going to 16 DEX, because medium armor caps DEX bonus to AC at +2 unless you have MAM, which you don't really want. Your options to increase AC are more or less limited to Half Plate and heavy armor proficiency... Which also isn't great because your ability scores are all even.

    I'd also say that adding another attack that benefits from your 18 STR and also your rage bonus is probably better than 20 STR, especially since you also get extra attacks from the reach AoOs. Therefore PAM is probably better than +2 STR.

    So, more damage, More HP (and CON save boost), or more Initiative (and DEX save boost). I'd probably take one of the first two, but which one is kind of role dependent.
    Avatar by Threeshades.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    OldWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Jul 2015

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    For a Zealot I would probably go with PAM, the subclass already gives some amazing options defensively and you can always get a bump next ASI.
    Reality is relative, and there is an exception to every rule.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Mar 2018

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Thanks for the advice, everyone! It痴 been fun playing this character!

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BarbarianGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2014

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    As a self-styled professional Barbarian, and master of all things R4G3!!! I will offer my advice, along with some questions to help give better answers to fit your situation.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ukala View Post
    Hi there,

    I知 currently in the midst of my first 5e campaign playing a bear totem Goliath barbarian, wielding a greataxe, and was looking for some advice as I approach my first ability score improvement. I rolled pretty decently for stats, and with my racial increases, I知 at 18 strength, 15 con, and 13 dex.
    First off, welcome to 5e. You made a great choice in Race/Class combinations. Outside of Half-Orc and the God-Like V. Human, Goliath is about the most Barbarian race in all of 5e.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ukala View Post
    Here痴 my question. Do I:
    1. Increase my strength to 20
    2. Increase con to 16 and dex to 14 so I get the bump to AC (currently at 15, thanks to a breastplate my character made from a Mammoth skull), initiative, and con modifier
    or
    3. Take the Great Weapon Master feat
    To answer this, I sort of need to know a bit more.

    a) Did you create this character to primarily be the speed bump that your enemies have to get through before they can attack your squisky caster friends, or
    b) Did you create him to be a hulking R4G3-Monster that smashes the puny stuff without remorse?
    ((Or c) A little bit of both? You indecisive monster!!))

    If you intended to be a 'Tank' whose main job if to be constantly punched in the face instead of your party, then I would suggest splitting the ASI into Dex/Con, and saving a combat Feat such as GWM for 8th or later (if at all).

    If you just want to Hulk Smash everything that isn't your party, take GWM, because thats about as Hulk Smash as you can get.

    If your undecided, or want to be good at both, changing up your style with something like Polearm Mastery, Sentinel, or Shield Mastery and going Axe and Board all have their own pros/cons when combined with your party.

    The main thing, is that regardless of your intentions, assuming you will make it to 20th level, and don't multiclass out of Barbarian, you want your Strength and Constitution to reach 20 before then, to gain the maximum benefit from the Capstone and some of the super high level features leading up to then.

    Personally, I would suggest the Polearm Mastery or Shield Mastery options, your personal damage will go down slightly per hit, but the gains with your Bonus Actions or Reactions far outweigh them, as well as the benefits your party gains.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ukala View Post
    The rest of my party is a rogue, a cleric, a druid, and a warlock, so while I知 not the only one who can do damage and take hits, I知 definitely doing the most of both. They all seem like good options, but this is my very first campaign, so I知 aware that there痴 something I might be missing. The advantage I get with Reckless Attack makes GWM much more interesting, but those stat bumps would certainly be nice. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
    Can you say what build each party member is using? If theres a higher amount of melee, I would definitely recomment Shield Mastery. Knocking an enemy Prone then having your party dog-pile them with Advantage is a great way to shoot through encounters quickly.

    If your Rogue is melee, he will love Advantaged Sneak Attacks, if your Cleric is melee or uses Spiritual Weapon a lot, he will benefit from Advantage and once he learns Spirit Guardians, Proning enemies inside of it will extend the time they are inside of it, upping his damage. If your Warlock is Blade Pact/Hexblade, Proning a target he curses/Hexes with trigger his crit chance much more, and burst stuff faster. If the Druid is Moon Circle, the two of you can tag team stuff, proning/shoving constantly and put enemies exactly where you want them to be.

    If you want to stick with a Greataxe, and eventually get GWM, I would say do it now, then at 8th level bump your Dex/Con, then from there, max Strength at 12, then Max Con with the final ASIs. Ofcourse, Magic Items can alter this, if you get a Giant's Strength Belt, swap it to maxing Strength last, as you dont need to use the ASI until it would be the only option.

    Hope this helps.
    I Am A: Neutral Good Half-Orc Fighter/Barbarian (2nd/1st Level)

    Ability Scores:
    Strength-16
    Dexterity-16
    Constitution-17
    Intelligence-17
    Wisdom-16
    Charisma-13

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Mar 2018

    Default Re: Barbarian ASI advice

    Thanks for the advice! I created two characters when we started this campaign, and let everyone else chose their characters first, and when I saw that we had a tiefling rogue, dragonborn warlock, human cleric, and gnome druid, I decided that the party needed me to play a goliath barbarian more than the other character I created, a gnome invention wizard.

    I really like the flavor I've got with this character- she comes from a mountain clan that has a sort of vision quest rite of passage, where they learn to harness the wild power of nature into a heightened physical and mental state- I just wanted a way to explain exactly what a barbarian "rage" actually was, and give it a history, rather than having her just sort of lose her temper twice a day. On that vision quest, she killed a mammoth, the clan's deity, and made a breastplate from the skull, and a greataxe from a scapula, with a tusk for a handle. That greataxe has such enormous significance to her that I'll be sticking with that as my weapon, which does mean that I can't use a shield. She does have a habit of ripping doors off their hinges for the party to hide behind as we enter a room, though.

    I was really tempted by the Polearm Master/Sentinel route, and if my character gets killed (which my DM keeps cheerfully threatening to do), I'll probably use a Samurai Fighter wielding a glaive as a replacement.

    One of the other posters made a good point, that the rest of my party is able to cause more and more damage as we level up, so I'm mostly there to be a target and soak up hits while the rest of my party launches spells and daggers.
    Last edited by Ukala; 2018-03-20 at 03:33 PM.

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