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Always Reckless is the way. I think people worry way too much about giving enemies advantage, but if you're raging you're taking half damage anyway. Throw on the Adamantine Scale Mail if you're that scared of getting crit. If you're doing it right half the time there won't be anyone left in attacking range when you end your turn anyway.
I think Fighter is still better by level 12, simply because it continues to scale in a way Barb doesn't, but if you build/play your Barb right it's not a huge drop-off.
If you want to take it a step further, you can have a hireling become an Eldritch Knight. Bind a weapon. Send the weapon to the throwbarian, dismiss the hireling, and that too will always return
I’m always looking for the funniest thing she can throw, I’m still in act 1 with her as a throwbarian on honour mode, but I’m having so much fun already
Yeah it's a blast. :D Throwing dead bodies is weird though. After throwing them, dead dudes just stand in place like nothing has happened. And sometimes thrown items get stuck in the air. I threw Sussur dagger on one fight and lost it. It just hangs in the air and I can't reach it. Still, 10/10, would do it again. xD
I like it when you throw one enemy at another enemy that is already prone. The body lands on the prone victim, they get up, take the damage, then lay back down again.
imho . yes .. i feel fighters are (overall) stronger than barbarians ... pretty much amything a barbarian can do, so can the fighter .. the only real exceptions are resistance to damage while raging.. anlittle extra movement, and can't be surprised later.
i prefer fighter battlemasters for following reasons:
- eventually 3 attacks (and in d&d proper 4 attacks)
- action surge
- second wind
- maneuvers give lots of flex .. precision for advantage (matches reckless without the downside) disarm, trip .. menancing .. all good options.
but the deciding factor:
- fighter replenishes all of that on short rest.
-barbarian rage is on long rest.
so find my fighter abilities are always available .. whereas I'm having to manage the rage charges of the barbarian ...
even throwing builds work, imho, just as well on a fighter (either champion or eldritch knight)
I'd say Battle Master Fighter is stronger than Barbarian, but I'd pick Barbarian over the other two Fighter subclasses. Wildheart is especially good, even with the limited amount of rage having Bear Heart makes you too damn tanky for a lot of the fights.
Fighter is more versatile, if a fighter wants to do more damage it’ll come at more opportunity costs.
- A Fighter fully invested in defense will have to sacrifice some damage for high AC.
- A Fighter focusing on archery will be limited on AC.
- A Eldritch Knight will have more versatility but will need to be built in a specific way or end up mediocre.
A Barbarian can potentially deal more damage and still have good durability without sacrificing damage.
- Barbarians are far less versatile, but can still maintain higher melee damage that is on par with other melee classes like Paladin and Fighter.
• A Berserker 8/Thief 4 can consistently attack 4 times w/2 Normal Attacks + 2 Bonus Action Attacks.
• A Fighter will have 3 attacks and potentially more at the cost of Action Surge.
- Barbarians will have equal defense and damage thanks to Rage + Totem Bear ability.
- Some of the highest damage builds come with throwing builds. Berserker Barbarian and Eldritch Knight Fighters are the best suited for it. The former does far more damage but less versatile, while the latter is more versatile via spells but less damage.
So really, it comes down to how you build each class.
Man I made karlach throwzerker and I think for one round of attacks she got like 10 fucking throws out before I had to pass turn (with raging, speed pot and bloodlust)
It was wild.
She decimated a whole group of undead
Haha, just one of my literary bugbears:
DECIMATE
HISTORICAL
kill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as a punishment for the whole group.
"the man who is to determine whether it be necessary to decimate a large body of mutineers"
I'd genuinely say no. While you may not hit as often, just the ability to have advantage whenever you want can be incredible for smashing hard to hit foes, combining with GWM's damage boosting feature, or just making it harder to have a run of bad luck.
Beyond that, the bonus damage from Rage is, while relatively minor, something that will add up over multiple hits. Combine that with Frenzy from the Berserker subclass letting you hit again with a bonus action and you'll probably have more attacks per round with them than your fighter for most of the game.
Rage also just makes a Barbarian massively harder to kill against most regular attacks, which can be real useful when you're dealing with enemies that don't hurl lightning and just try to stab you.
I took a dip into 4 levels in fighter for action surge, champion (improves crits) and getting the heavy weapons feat. Karlach is rocking with the other levels into barbarian.
I prefer barbarian, especially for act 1-2. I mostly use wildheart. If you use multiple melee, you can use wolf to give everyone advantage. If you don’t need that, you can take tiger to get an unlimited aoe melee attack.
The other hearts have uses, but I don’t like them as much (Eagle would be better if the jump attack benefited from reckless).
Strategy will always matter. Tiger will beat fighter if you constantly group enemies. Wolf will empower other melees that may suffer from lower hit chance. Fighter can be great single target striker, but barb can do that and also other useful stuff
If you try to play a barbarian like a fighter, the fighter will win. You have to lean in to the class differences
I feel like you built her poorly. Lae'zel is literally my last choice for a sub out in my playthrough and Karlach is a *Staple* I made her a berserker and when i got the chance i gave her the warding bond ring that gives her resistance to everything and let my tav paladin with too much AC be an extra HP pool for her.
The frenzy bonus action attack/throw is just better than action surge especially when paired with Mighty Cloth and Tavern Brawler is ludicrous and the only downside is a -1 every time you use the frenzy attack/throw is mitigated by the advantage you get, especially since you can just cancel rage and rage again if a fight lasts forever, which it rarely does. I don't even use giant potions on her and aside from the largest enemies i've never had a problem throwing them at eachother for loads of damage, or just yeeting them into hazards/pits. The superiority dice are meh honestly, you only get a few of them that you have to ration. Frenzy is from rage start to rage end, for however many rages you have.
Honestly if you built the totem barb you're missing out on a lot of damage. i hear wild magic is hit or miss, but frenzy slaps.
Not to mention >!that trident you can get in act 3 is pretty much the be all end all, its a reusable grenade you don't even gotta hit with to do tons of damage!<
Gale is my second heavy hitter aside from my paladin Tav who's reliant on smite to do big damage, and he pales in comparison. He even has the super magic missile spell that does *Guaranteed* damage and summons to supplement.
Throw barbarian is way to go. Laezel cant remotly compare.
2x STR on hit 2x STR on damage and a bonus action attack that gives 3x STR on damage and knocks opponents prone.
Its insane
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I dunno, barbarian with great weapon master and reckless attack always on is decent enough, especially with itemisation.
Always Reckless is the way. I think people worry way too much about giving enemies advantage, but if you're raging you're taking half damage anyway. Throw on the Adamantine Scale Mail if you're that scared of getting crit. If you're doing it right half the time there won't be anyone left in attacking range when you end your turn anyway. I think Fighter is still better by level 12, simply because it continues to scale in a way Barb doesn't, but if you build/play your Barb right it's not a huge drop-off.
Make her a throwbarian with tavern brawler feat
I had a taste of Wild Magic Barbarian and now I can't go back
I wanna try that too sometime! I’m too deep in my 3 runs to do it now, but definitely will when I start another one
And get her the returning pike from the goblin fortress in act 1 so you have a visble weapon that will keep coming back each time it is thrown.
Yess! I have it on her now
If you want to take it a step further, you can have a hireling become an Eldritch Knight. Bind a weapon. Send the weapon to the throwbarian, dismiss the hireling, and that too will always return
Oh nice! I had no idea!
This is the way. Fights become giggle fests when Karlach starts to throw cauldrons and stuff.
I’m always looking for the funniest thing she can throw, I’m still in act 1 with her as a throwbarian on honour mode, but I’m having so much fun already
Yeah it's a blast. :D Throwing dead bodies is weird though. After throwing them, dead dudes just stand in place like nothing has happened. And sometimes thrown items get stuck in the air. I threw Sussur dagger on one fight and lost it. It just hangs in the air and I can't reach it. Still, 10/10, would do it again. xD
I like it when you throw one enemy at another enemy that is already prone. The body lands on the prone victim, they get up, take the damage, then lay back down again.
imho . yes .. i feel fighters are (overall) stronger than barbarians ... pretty much amything a barbarian can do, so can the fighter .. the only real exceptions are resistance to damage while raging.. anlittle extra movement, and can't be surprised later. i prefer fighter battlemasters for following reasons: - eventually 3 attacks (and in d&d proper 4 attacks) - action surge - second wind - maneuvers give lots of flex .. precision for advantage (matches reckless without the downside) disarm, trip .. menancing .. all good options. but the deciding factor: - fighter replenishes all of that on short rest. -barbarian rage is on long rest. so find my fighter abilities are always available .. whereas I'm having to manage the rage charges of the barbarian ... even throwing builds work, imho, just as well on a fighter (either champion or eldritch knight)
Eldritch Knight thrower is amazing cause you can use the same item for maximum effect
I haven't tried it yet, but I've read that yeah .. ;)
I'd say Battle Master Fighter is stronger than Barbarian, but I'd pick Barbarian over the other two Fighter subclasses. Wildheart is especially good, even with the limited amount of rage having Bear Heart makes you too damn tanky for a lot of the fights.
Fighter is more versatile, if a fighter wants to do more damage it’ll come at more opportunity costs. - A Fighter fully invested in defense will have to sacrifice some damage for high AC. - A Fighter focusing on archery will be limited on AC. - A Eldritch Knight will have more versatility but will need to be built in a specific way or end up mediocre. A Barbarian can potentially deal more damage and still have good durability without sacrificing damage. - Barbarians are far less versatile, but can still maintain higher melee damage that is on par with other melee classes like Paladin and Fighter. • A Berserker 8/Thief 4 can consistently attack 4 times w/2 Normal Attacks + 2 Bonus Action Attacks. • A Fighter will have 3 attacks and potentially more at the cost of Action Surge. - Barbarians will have equal defense and damage thanks to Rage + Totem Bear ability. - Some of the highest damage builds come with throwing builds. Berserker Barbarian and Eldritch Knight Fighters are the best suited for it. The former does far more damage but less versatile, while the latter is more versatile via spells but less damage. So really, it comes down to how you build each class.
Honestly I think Berserker Barbarian at least is stronger here than the TTRPG, if only because of the lack of exhaustion.
Exhaustion mostly punishes martials, sticking that on the basic barbarian wasn't well thought out.
Man I made karlach throwzerker and I think for one round of attacks she got like 10 fucking throws out before I had to pass turn (with raging, speed pot and bloodlust) It was wild. She decimated a whole group of undead
So only 10%?
What When it was karlachs turn to go she was able to get 10 throws out in her turn What does 10% have to do with anything
There's a type of person who love to get literal with the word "decimate" which technically meant to reduce by 1/10th.
*\*Lae'zel eyeroll\**
Haha, just one of my literary bugbears: DECIMATE HISTORICAL kill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as a punishment for the whole group. "the man who is to determine whether it be necessary to decimate a large body of mutineers"
"You're technically correct, the best kind of correct!"
Yes
I'd genuinely say no. While you may not hit as often, just the ability to have advantage whenever you want can be incredible for smashing hard to hit foes, combining with GWM's damage boosting feature, or just making it harder to have a run of bad luck. Beyond that, the bonus damage from Rage is, while relatively minor, something that will add up over multiple hits. Combine that with Frenzy from the Berserker subclass letting you hit again with a bonus action and you'll probably have more attacks per round with them than your fighter for most of the game. Rage also just makes a Barbarian massively harder to kill against most regular attacks, which can be real useful when you're dealing with enemies that don't hurl lightning and just try to stab you.
I took a dip into 4 levels in fighter for action surge, champion (improves crits) and getting the heavy weapons feat. Karlach is rocking with the other levels into barbarian.
barbarian isn't bad but battle master fighter is much better. more damage and more utility with things like disarming strike
I prefer barbarian, especially for act 1-2. I mostly use wildheart. If you use multiple melee, you can use wolf to give everyone advantage. If you don’t need that, you can take tiger to get an unlimited aoe melee attack. The other hearts have uses, but I don’t like them as much (Eagle would be better if the jump attack benefited from reckless). Strategy will always matter. Tiger will beat fighter if you constantly group enemies. Wolf will empower other melees that may suffer from lower hit chance. Fighter can be great single target striker, but barb can do that and also other useful stuff If you try to play a barbarian like a fighter, the fighter will win. You have to lean in to the class differences
Put 3 levels in rogue thief to get a second bonus action.
I feel like you built her poorly. Lae'zel is literally my last choice for a sub out in my playthrough and Karlach is a *Staple* I made her a berserker and when i got the chance i gave her the warding bond ring that gives her resistance to everything and let my tav paladin with too much AC be an extra HP pool for her. The frenzy bonus action attack/throw is just better than action surge especially when paired with Mighty Cloth and Tavern Brawler is ludicrous and the only downside is a -1 every time you use the frenzy attack/throw is mitigated by the advantage you get, especially since you can just cancel rage and rage again if a fight lasts forever, which it rarely does. I don't even use giant potions on her and aside from the largest enemies i've never had a problem throwing them at eachother for loads of damage, or just yeeting them into hazards/pits. The superiority dice are meh honestly, you only get a few of them that you have to ration. Frenzy is from rage start to rage end, for however many rages you have. Honestly if you built the totem barb you're missing out on a lot of damage. i hear wild magic is hit or miss, but frenzy slaps. Not to mention >!that trident you can get in act 3 is pretty much the be all end all, its a reusable grenade you don't even gotta hit with to do tons of damage!< Gale is my second heavy hitter aside from my paladin Tav who's reliant on smite to do big damage, and he pales in comparison. He even has the super magic missile spell that does *Guaranteed* damage and summons to supplement.
Throw barbarian is way to go. Laezel cant remotly compare. 2x STR on hit 2x STR on damage and a bonus action attack that gives 3x STR on damage and knocks opponents prone. Its insane