The Barbarian from HELL!: D&D Build
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Today, we make a Warlock Gish or Spell Sword that's... wait for it... NOT a Hexblade. And, spoiler warning: they do fantastic damage.
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Intro:(0:00)
Character Concept:(1:11)
Librus Nocturnum:(5:34)
Level 1:(8:11)
Levels 2-6:(13:17)
Levels 7-9:(29:24)
Levels 10-13:(37:16)
Levels 14-17:(43:36)
Final Thoughts:(49:25)
Outtakes:(56:34)
Math/Graph for this episode: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Master Sustained Damage Comparison (5 tabs):
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Thanks to LudicSavant for the amazing DPR calculator! forums.giantitp.com/showthrea...)
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Развлечения
Not calling it the "Hellephant" was a missed opportunity
Hmm Hellephant and Ghoulzo, they're very confuzzle.
Genius
That pun is so on the NOSE that it provokes an opportunity attack.
I love that the name of the build is "Barbarian from HELL" I thought 'Finally, someone is going to do a fiend warlock build and prove that is a very good subclass' and Colby says "genie warlock"
The fiend warlock doesn't really do anything to your damage
@@EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE737 I mean... No but, you have to admit that the name "The Barbarian from HELL" makes you think that
Hell yes! OG opening song is back! 🤘
LOVE IT!!!!
I much prefer the other one.
@@skyhistudios3782 okay
Perfect for this build
I like both lol. This one is nostalgic but the other one is like eating a warm cookie with a bowl of ice cream
Thanks Coby!! Came to you for BG3 content and stayed for anything/everything D&D related. Keep them coming
Welcome to the tabletop! :D
I love the non conventional pairs. I would love to see you do more combos that are nearly impossible, unlikely builds are my favorites
I am wanting to play a werewolf themed Path of the Beast Gloom Stalker. Variant Human, for dual wielder since Tasha's says the beast weapon counts as a simple weapon.
I'd like to see a Reaper Barbarian Warlock Build.
Ancestral Guardian Barbarian to have the specter of death looming over everyone and causing enemies to have disadvantage on attacks against everyone but you. And the Undead Warlock for some range but really for the Form of Dread to give them the fear, temp hp and deathly appearance.
Gonna play that in my next campaign. Thankfully I rolled really good stats :D
Personally I want to try fiendlock, because the kill a foe and get temp hp sounds very fun.
That’s mean I love it
"Don't attack anyone but me, but also, don't come anywhere near me either"? Now _that_ sounds interesting and fun! 🤣
Keep in mind that form of dread still relies on you charisma modifier for the dc and it takes a bonus action so you’ll need two turns to get set up with rage as well.
I did a 9th Level Celestial Warlock/Zealot Barbarian multiclass PC in a one shot, it was so much fun. He was GWM/PAM and was casually doing insane DPS and tanking. He was so strong my DM's intended Lethal fight was won and he decided to nuke the world instead lol. RIP Jimmy from Boston, you and your Home Runner XXL saved the day.
Edit: NOBODY ELSE LIKE THIS, we have achieved perfection.
That sounds awesome. What was your level spread? And your pact item?
We need more details, that sounds so cool
I went Warlock 5/Barbarian 4. Using Half Plate and a +1 Halberd, I was making 3 GWM attacks per round, had 3 Zealot Rages per day with the increased damage per round, and had 2 level 3 spell slots thst refreshed on a short rest to keep effecitvely 30 hp worth of Armor of Agathas almost every fight. My favorite move was using the Celestial Warlocks healing which was effectively doubled because of my rage.
This was probably my favorite one shot PC ever. I also did a Undead Patron Warlock/Barbarian one shot PC that similarly kicked ass, but this was focused on debuffing, and only was like level 5 before the campaign ended (3 Undead Warlock/2 Barbarian).
@@lholliday198 I was wondering if Undead would be a better fit than genie. I may need to compare it. My concern is you wouldn't get much out of the Fear effect because of the low Spell Save DC. But the form of dread on a barbarian is pretty dang neat.
@@dbacon1975 undead is better if you stop at Warlock 5, Genie is better past that because of the passive Fly ability.
This may b e my favorite build you've done in a while. No real gimmicks, just beat the hell out of people and punish them for hitting you back. Love it!
I created him in DnD Beyond, and I plan to use him as a major NPC in my campaign. I also plan to play him if given a chance to join a game as a player.
The Barbarian from HELL!: D&D Build #147
Level 1:(see above) [barbarian 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [warlock 1 & patron]
Level 3:(@19:39) [warlock 2 & eldritch invocations (2)]
Level 4:(@20:21) [warlock 3 & pact ]
Level 5:(@21:44) [warlock 4, ASI & swap eldritch invocation]
Level 6:(@23:44) [warlock 5 & eldritch invocation (1)]
Level 7:(see above) [barbarian 2]
Level 8:(@30:56) [barbarian 3 & sub-class]
Level 9:(@35:17) [barbarian 4 & ASI]
Level 10:(see above) [warlock 6]
Level 11:(@38:17) [warlock 7 & eldritch invocation (1)]
Level 12:(@40:48) [warlock 8 & ASI]
Level 13:(@41:11) [warlock 9 & eldritch invocation (1)]
Level 14:(see above) [fighter 1 & fighting-style]
Level 15:(@45:33) [fighter 2]
Level 16:(@46:14) [fighter 3 & sub-class]
Level 17:(@48:31) [fighter 4 & ASI]
Goat
@@lawrencewhitelock1350 the "B" is not for Billie or Billy. ;-p
Literally have been waiting for this build for MONTHS. I made this as a fathomless!
One call-out worth noting. This build gets the benefit of +1 weapon from the Improved Pact Weapon Invocation. You mention in a lot of your artificer builds that they looks stronger mechanically because you don't normally give +1 or better magic weapons in your calculations. I think this build has a similar power bump. +1 to hit is just a strong damage increase at any tier of play.
Great video as always!! :) One thing you did not mention for the giant barbarian is that you not only become large but your reach increases by 5 feet which means you can use your trunk to grapple a creature 10 ft away so they are stuck to be hit by your polearm while they cannot even hit you xD
One of my favorite things on the internet is when people back into saying "I wish this 5e thing was more like 4e" without knowing it.
In this instance, I'm talking abt spell durations which comes up around 17:30. My man here refers to the bg3 model, but 4e used the simplified and considerably more (intentionally so) vague and gamey term "encounter power" and "daily power."
Made it really obvious how often you were supposed to use a thing, and was much cleaner and more elegant. The wording often even said "until the end of the encounter" or "until you complete an extended (long) rest."
The result was much more balanced powers, spells, and abilities.
Ooooooh I can't wait to dig into this one. I'm always fascinated by Barb dips for our favorite little niches. As someone who really likes it when my PC is able to cover all the ground and options I want, builds like these or Bladesinging Armorers or Bladesinging Arcane Tricksters (not always Bladesingers, but I know Colby has my back haha) really allow to you be a living Jack of all trades and open up some awesome creativity and in the moment improvisation. GISH'S FOR LIFE!!!
Yus!!! Gimme dat Helllephant rage build! Nice work Colby!
If you’re looking for more Dungeon Dudes inspiration, you could make builds based on the Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim subclasses! They have some really nice *monk* subclasses 😉
In BG3, I did something similar. Armor of Agathys, Bear Aspect Wildheart Barbarian, The Skinburster halberd. Adamantine Scale Mail.
Bear aspect cuts all, but psychic. Adamantine reduces all damage by 1. Skinburster from Gith Creche, gives Force Conduit (BSP damage reduced by 1 per turn of Force Conduit [Max 7] after 5 stacks, all attacks that hit you deal 1d4 force damage in a 3m radius). You can build stacks faster if you take Tiger aspect and cleave. Combine with a Abjuration Wizard teammate. Tank mode.
Edit: Fleshmelter cloak also adds 1d4 acid if you get hit.
People sleep on the Barbarian Warlock because of the same problem a lot of people think hangs up most spellcasting multiclasses; the idea that it's MAD. Fact is, some of the best spells in the game don't use your spellcasting modifier, don't have concentration, and have long durations or out of combat utilities. My favorite multiclass I've played yet is the Barbarian Warlock going Celestial pact. You can use your bonus action to heal yourself or your allies in combat while raging, you can utilize Armor of Ag and Eldritch Smite, both of which do not use your charisma at all, and with so many invocations that aren't just spells, or are even good out of initiative spells, you expand your Barbarians abilities beyond "Fight good". I chose to get rid of Pact of the Blade in favor of 5 Barbarian and went Pact of the tome for the invocation that gives me ritual casting. It was very strong and I was proven to be an unstoppable absolute unit.
Tell me your build but with exact setup please!
@@DUES_EX You want to be a Zariel Tiefling. We're going Tiefling for a different reason that you might think, but we'll get there. You want smites for when you aren't going to rage, but the +1 strength is key. If using Tashas rules where you can reallocate the stats, PYF
Pure Barbarian offers more defense, pure warlock offers more offense, so what you're looking to get out of this build is support and sustainability. In general burst damage is more effective in 5e so expect to fall behind in short fights, but in long fights, this build will shine, so cater to your table, it may not be the build for you.
First level should be in Warlock, we won't need Barbarians constitution save as we won't really be concentrating on spells that much, you'll be sturdy enough to fail con saves and be fine, and you'll have a decent con score anyway, but wisdom will need a bit of help, so take first level there. Pick celestial.
Point buy, you'll want 13 str, 14 dex, 15 con, 8 int, 10 wis, 12 Cha. After racial bonus this should be 14 strength and 14 Charisma, if you want you can make Con 13 and strength 15 if you want to aim at higher damage over defense, both are good but I designed mine to be a tank because our table tends to favor long drawn out battles over quick 2-3 round spouts. Cater to your needs, here. Either way, we want Con at an odd number for reasons.
Level 2 pick Barbarian. You will want shields and unarmored defense. Few barbarians want shields because they usually use GWM for more damage. You can stiill do that here, but I chose shield and sword for the look. I'm a sucker for the sword and board. Not to mention, your feats will be contested, so I didn't want to add another feat to struggle to get.
Level 3 continue into Barbarian. Reckless Attack is good, Danger sense is good. Nothing to say here.
Level 4, pick your Barbarian path. I chose path of the Ancestral Guardian to funnel attacks to me. Right now, Armor of Ag isn't doing much, but it will be soon. Most tank Barbarians go Bear totem, but we're going to have something else to help with our defenses.
Level 5, go second level Warlock. You get invocations now, we have 2 choices, devil's sight is always good, I changed one of mine at level 3 so pick a filler, but one of them you'll want to stick with, but none of them are really impactful for gameplay long term, so PYF.
Level 6 go third level warlock. Now you have second level spells, your bread and butter is Armor of Ag, it's only 10 temp hp at level 6 which kinda sucks, but you're a Barbarian! Enjoy it. Now this is also where I went pact of the Tome. THIS IS NOT OPTIMIZED. This was a flavor choice I decided to go with. Pact of the blade is objectively better. I, however, wanted to be a little different. Cantrip choices were guidance, resistance, and pressy. I gave up an invocation and chose Book of Ancient Secrets. Rituals were Find Familiar, Identify, and Comprehend languages. Importantly, we now have 4 healing lights, able to dish out a couple d6's, but we're capped at 2 per turn due to our charisma. Kinda sucks, but remember, you're an Ancestral Guardian, you reduce all allies damage, have decent HP, and temp HP from armor of ag. The next couple levels are the weakest the build has unless you went pact of the blade, which I did not. But having a familiar and the Cure Wounds spell was very useful when I wasn't yet raging. This build may not want to rage on round 1, so do keep that in mind.
-From this point forward, if you went pact of the blade just go warlock, you do not need more Barbarian levels, just change invocations to Blade invocations (Extra attack, Eldritch Smite)
7th level go Barbarian, get a feat. This is why we wanted Tiefling and odd number con. Grab yourself Infernal Constitution. You now resist Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, fire, cold, and poison damage. Gaining 1 con brings you up to an even number, meaning a higher modifier, netting 7 more HP and 1 more AC.
8th level grab that extra attack. Barbarian gives a bit of extra movement is... neat.
9th level go back into Warlock, for your ASI determine what your party needs more. Increase healing light to 3d6 in 1 turn? Boost your charisma. Party needs a touch more damage? Go into Strength (not a huge damage boost, but a 5% accuracy boost goes a long way)
10th level I chose Far Scribe for my next invocation. Sending is an S tier spell in campaigns that have a lot of party splitting or far travel.
Going forward your warlock levels just give invocations and spells. 6th level warlock adds Radiant damage to your resistances. No invocations stick out until level 14, the 9th level invocation Gift of the Protector. In case disadvantage and damage resistance to your entire party wasn't enough.
Spell setup is interesting. No GFB, can't cast while raging. No reason to take Eldritch Blast, you're going to rage. Pick whatever you like, doesn't really matter too much. Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, and other such ones are useful.
Cambat wise all you need is Armor of Ag. Celestial can pick Cure Wounds, so do it. In an emergency you can drop your rage and cure wounds, through your familiar if you do what I did. Hex is a waste of space on this build. Unseen Servant is nice... But as far as level 1 spells go, there aren't many that are outstanding. Comprehend Languages is good in the right game.
Second level spells, Lesser Restore, Darkness (Especially if you picked Devil's Sight) Invis, Misty Step, all good choices.
3rd level Counterspell is okay, but not going to get much mileage out of it. Never bad, though. Revivify for emergencies, Thunder Step makes for a really cool image when you teleport into someones face and then enter a rage. Fact is, though, you need to consider the Armor of Ag tax, you're always 1 spell slot down in combat, and probably an action unless you had a chance to cast it sooner.
Now you resist Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, Fire, Cold, Poison, and Radiant damage. You have armor of Ag on these resistances. The first target you hit has disadvantage to hit everyone but you, when it does they take half damage (Warding Bond, but better). While in a rage, you can bonus action heal yourself or your allies by 2d6 a round (unless you opt into higher Charisma). The tome version (2 less levels of Warlock) at level 12 has a 20 hp/dmg Armor of Ag and 8d6 healing to give out with 109 hp on average rolls.
The stronger Blade pact version has 5 more to its armor of ag and 2 more healing dice as well as Eldritch Smite for an in combat use of that additional spell slot.
The best thing about this is how many subclasses work!
Fey and A guardian, Fiend and Beserker, Celestial and Zealot, and all of them are strong!
My favorite builds are the gishy ones, and the unusual pairings. Needless to say, I absolutely love this one. Great work, Colby!
I am playing this build in our campaign. My character is a 'half-dragon' (in flavor, it is custom lineage mecanically) and I am re-flavouring everything from Efreeti to be a red dragon-like feature. Fireball is my breath, the lvl 6 fly is due to my dragon wings, etc. I have no need to grapple to ensure people are hitting me, this happens pretty much automatically. It is an awesome build.
Always been curious to see how a war-barian would work ever since Tulok made one for his Ganondorf video.
I'm thinking of running a War Cleric/Barbarian next
@OttoEwen that sounds cool, too!
I've been playing an Ancestral Rune Knight for a little over a year now in one of my campaigns. Was starting to feel burned out on a pure marshal build. Got inspired by this video! Talked to my GM, and I'm gonna switch it up.
Currently level 14.
My build:
Ancestral Barbarian - 5
Rune Knight - 3
Genie Lock - 6
Decided on more levels in Barb to get the extra movement with extra attack. Plus, more D12 hit dice is always nice.
This also opens up taking Pact of the Chain instead of Blade. Coupled with Gift of the Ever-living ones and Voice of the Chain Master Evocations. My Party (Sorcadin, Cleric/Druid, and myself) will be happy with finally having a good scout via the Imp, and max dice heals on the tank (Me) + Life Domain will be busted lol.
Mostly, though, I am looking forward to having more options outside of combat through spells and the familiar. Should bring some life back into playing my character again.
Hi Colby, thanks for the video!
I know this is a D&D build but it actually works wonderfully on BG3, especially given that:
- Hellish Rebuke works while Raging
- Charisma-based attacks get bonuses from Rage
- Extra attacks from Pact of the Blade and Barbarian stack
So a Warlock 7 / Barbarian 5 is very viable.
This is one of the most interesting builds you have ever done in my opinion. I have always wanted a way to utilize spellcasting on a barbarian. I have even considered Hombrewing a subclass that allows a barbarian to channel their rage into actual spellcasting, but this build makes it seem good both in flavor and in combat. Great work, Colby!
My cousin has an Undead Warlock / Zealot Barb and its one of the coolest builds i have ever seen. The immunity to Fear really makes you sticky in the Frontline. Even with a mediocre CHA, you're still going to land the fear effect from Form of Dread pretty reliably because youre making 3 attacks per turn. I do love these Barb Multiclass builds.
So glad you are collaborating with the Dungeon Dudes! The one shots you did with them were some of my favorites.
It's like a Superhero team up!
One of the best commissioned art pieces in a long time!
Goliath' Stone's Endurance and Fathomless' Guardian Coil help keeping up your AoA a lot!
Amazing, amazing build! I really enjoyed it. The way that you avoid rage+spellcasting limitation and still did a solid character is soo creative. Thanks for sharing it.
I'm actually making something really similar to this rn for a high level Halloween one shot! I'm really leaning into the spooky vibes, so I'm doing a Dhampir Ancestral Guardian Barb 4 / Undead Patron Lock 12, also focusing on armor of agathys and peppering in eldritch smite.
I'm really hoping my DM will let me have my greatsword be a dancing sword so I can use my bonus action to smack enemies with a flying sword while I use my action to bite them >:3 (picturing Alucard meets Striga)
Thanks for the ideas Colby! This litterally couldn't have dropped at a better time lol.
Loved this build. My first ever D&D build was a gish, though I didn't know the term back then. It was a long time ago back in AD&D.
One thing to note about Barbarian/Warlocks in BG3 is that you can go all the way to Barbarian 5 in order to get extra attack as it stacks with the extra attack you get from pact of the blade as well!
Yes but you don't get the third attack unless your weapon is your pact weapon, and if it is, it relies on Charisma for hits and damage :/
True, but if you max out charisma you can still use reckless attack and get the extra rage damage despite using charisma, at least in BG3.
I *LOVE* this build. I have been thinking about a barblock for a while, and I honestly didn't realize how well the fire shield spell synergizes! I had also tinkered around with the loxodon's trunk in some builds before, and I think I will absolutely be playing this character in the future!
Great video! Love the BG3 conversion at the end. Even if you stop those videos, doing the short conversions at the end of the videos is pretty cool. I envision some of us will continue playing that game between our real DnD sessions! It's that little fix while we wait for the main event!
Love these build videos. I started BG3 without knowing a thing about D&D and was overwhelmed, not having a clue what to do.
Right now i'm about to finish a dark urge gloomstalker run and your videos help so much to understand how the game works.
Also I'm working on a 'Escanor' build (from Seven Deadly Sins):
The 1st is 5lvl fighter 5lvl wizard 2lvl paladin and more on the roleplay side.
The 2nd is 6lvl fighter 5lvl warlock (the fiend) but i don't know what to do with the 12th level yet.
You start with 2 lvl into fighter and stats into strenght, then 5 lvls of warlock with a respec into charisma after pact of the blade.
...the goal is to dominate the battlefield with your fire ('sun') abilities, defestating two handed attacks and your menacing presence.
As i don't really have people to talk to about this kind of stuff maybe there are some people here willing to theorie craft with me.
...and maybe this build idea even makes it into a video 😊
Really interesting idea. Found you randomly and like the level of detail you go into and the mechanics that you go through more than others. I may have to try this in BG3.
Eldritch smite would be very powerful on this character. Prone plus grapple means they can't stand up. Works on a huge creature and no matter the form of your pact weapon with a to hit instead of a save. Dragon bombing the party? Change your pact weapon to a javelin and blow it out of the sky!
Loving the dungeon dude videos! Once you’re through the backlog, I’d love to see a build maximizing the find greater steed spell through bards magical secrets!
Hey Coby!
I just want to tell you, that this kind of character performes quite well in actual play and is real FUN! I basically play a very similar character since one year, 37 sessions, from level 2 to level 8.
The build, if you are interested:
I went with the more tanky route and chose goliath as a race. (Also fits the barbarian - fantasy and leads to a fire and ice flavor with the genie warlock). The Stone endurance feature makes AoA stick a lot better, leading to a lot of potential damage dished out.
Started with Str 16 - Dex 14 - Con 14 - Wis 11 - Int 8 - Cha 13
Took one level in Barbarian for the medium armor (you don't get it when multiclassing into Barb) and Martial weapons. And only levels in Genie Warlock afterwards. Noteable decisions:
Level 3 +Devils Sight (Darkvision was very problematic for the Party, we lost our Ranger in the night.) +Fiendish Vigor.
Level 4: - Fiendish Vigor, +Improved Pact Weapon.
Level 5: +Great Weapon Master and now use a 2 handed weapon primarily. On earlier levels, I used sword and board.
Level 6: +Thirsting blade.
Level 8: +Tricksters Escape +Ghostly Gaze -Improved Pact Weapon (found a +2 Maul)
Final spells: Armor of Agathys, Fire Shield, Fireball, Fly (move Allies out of combat!), Invisibility, Shadow of Moil (sometimes I missjudge, how many fights we will have and don't have rages left. So this is a backup, that I can get during a short rest), Thunderstep, Tongues
The mains strategy is simple: Cast Armor of Agathys before combat, if the resource management allows, also cast fire shield. Rage and attack; if not possible due to distance, activate genie flight and dodge to preserve AoA THP. Rage and attack as soon as enemy is within range. Use stone endurance reaction to reduce damage only if AoA is up. Try to stay in melee.
In normal fights, AoA triggers at least once, the rest gets wasted in AOE and ranged attacks. But we also have fights against melee types with many melee attacks, in these cases AoA triggers at least three times, but I already had combats, where one Armor of Agathys triggers 6 times! Overall I can really recommend this build, though it shines in shorter adventuring days.
I’ve always liked this build because Armor of Agathys and Rage. Warlock lets you cast spells at highest spell level each combat with enough short rests. Warlocks have so few spell slots that you want just one or two buff spells then fight.
This video has inspired me to test out the following build in BG3:
Fiendlock (pact of blade) 8-9
Barbarian 1-2
Wizard (Abjuration) 2
This allows us to stretch the 20-25 thp from AoA really far thanks to rage and arcane ward straight damage reduction of 5(minimum)
Update: this works incredibly well. However, I'm not content with this exact level breakdown. The arcane ward needs more wizard levels to be effective in its maximum rating. I recommend 5 warlock, 5 wizard, 2 barbarian, I think, for a final break down. This gives you 15 thp/AoA damage, resistance to all physical damage, and a maximum arcane ward of 10, reducing all damage by a flat 10 after resistance. And you recharge this easily by casting AoA, Armor of shadows invocation, and spamming whatever adbjuration spells you have. Then casting shield throughout combats is enough to keep your ward topped off.
Pair this with the Warlock robes from wylls patron (for killing karlach) and commander Zrell's shield of the absolute, and you have two fire/ice shields a day, to pair with your two rages a day. Grab Polearm Master, Lighting jabber or Nyrulna, and go nuts.
Barblock was my buddies first character build that we took to 20. It was solid, and as DM eventually for rule of cool sake I allowed him to cast eldritch blast while raging. (Im writing this in the 1st 5 minutes so if youre saying this later on then hell yeah!)
After watching notes: I love how this build has such a different feel! Such a cool way to showcase build diversity!
Just to let you know, spud the king, actually made this build in baldurs gate 3 in their latest video, and credited you for the inspiration for it.
This is great. I'm currently running a similar build. Where it differs is I'm playing a variant Tiefling with the winged feature and instead of Genie, I went Celestial with Pact of the Chain to use the self healing and the Gift of the Ever-living Ones invocation to max out healing. It makes me very versatile, especially considering I'm also playing a Giant Barbarian with it (Ooo, and I picked up Infernal Constitution for more resistances).
Been coming here as a BG3 player, happy to see more DnD content as well! Hopefully will inspire me to finally get a campaign going. Thanks for the content!
I had an interesting concept for a Path of the Giant Barbarian, with some multiclassing.
The concept is a warforged that is found and pieced together by some giants, a relic of a long forgotten war. The giants did their best, and replaced or substituted what they could, but the reanimated automaton has still got a few short circuits.
Use the Warforged race and the Giant Foundling background, and pick your favourite for the Giant type for the Strike of the Giants feat (I like either Frost or Fire)
Start as an Artificer for the first two levels to get some sweet, sweet infusion. Take scale mail and your favourite weapons (even if you don't have proficiency just yet), and my favourite infusion is enhanced weapon and enhanced defence.
Take 6 levels in Barbarian for Path of the Giant and Elemental Cleaver, plus the follow up of the Frost or Fire Giant feat.
Then take 4 levels in Fighter. Second wind, fighting style (definitely throwing weapons), action surge, and a feat or ASI. Take the Champion subclass in order to get critical hits on 19 as well as 20.
And then for any levels above 12, pick your favourite.
For armour, assuming scale mail you get an AC of 14 +2 (14 DEX) +1 (warforged) +1 infusion = 18. Bump it up to 19 if you have half plate.
Then assuming 18 STR, you get +9 to hit (+4 STR +4 Proficiency +1 infusion), and throwing a great sword will hit with 2d6 weapon + 1d6 elemental cleaver + 1d6 Frost giant/1d10 Fire Giant +4 STR +2 rage +2 thrown weapon fighting style +1 infusion for a total of 4d6+9 for 1 hit per round (3d6+9 for not using the Giant Strike). And using reckless, you have advantage on attacks and critical hit on a 19 or 20, which will increase the damage up to a base of 6d6+9.
Which I think is pretty nice
Such a good build. I can definitely see this paring so well with one of my favorite Treantmonk builds, from a good while back, His Frostbane Barbarian.
I'd personally go with Goliath for the lineage, since Stone's Endurance is a great pairing with Armor of Agathys. Reducing damage from an attack by d12+Con could potentially squeeze out another one or two more hits out of the spell.
I'd also consider shifting a bit of focus from Constitution to Charisma and going Undead Warlock, since Form of Dread works as both a secondary soft rage on long adventuring days, or a boost to Rage on tough fights, particularly once you get Grave Touched and you can deal 2d12+Strength necrotic damage with your Greataxe when you have Form of Dread active.
The old intro music just brings me back to your first videos. Man I’ve been watching for a long time. Thanks for all you do and the endless entertainment!
Love the concept of this multiclass 😊 you can select any subclasses and it will generally work, mechanically and flavorwise.
My favourite version of this build is Tulok the Barbrarian's take on Carmilla from Castlevania. Undead Warlock makes an amazing Barbarian multiclass Gish.
Barbarian from hell and then not a fiend warlock? Blasphemy! On a more serious note, love the build! I put something similar in the comments of Dungeon Dudes' Barbarian video, where they gave the Barbarian/Warlock a D tier, which I vehemently disagreed with. That was a bit more of a Barbarian with Warlock lvls, but indeed the same idea with Armour of Agathys to both buff tankiness and damage output. As always, you are focussing on the damage reports, but the best part of multiclassing these 2 over pure barbarian imo is the massive utility that warlocks have, there are so many cool invocations and spells that work outside of combat.
I love your content. Thank you for this fun build!
Inspired by it, I thought about the a build "All about chains (and fire)"
Grappling Rune Knight (Fire and PYF)+ Fiend Lock, Dragonborn (Fizban Chromatic)
Make yourself immune to Fire and grapple or hold in place (e.g. fire shackles) in Bonfire or later Wall of Fire.
Pact of Chain Familiar for thematic reasons --> Pseudo-Dragon can help with Poison (disadvantage on enemy grapple escape) or Imp could use a Ring of Spellstoring (e.g. with Bain or something)
Pick a Whip as weapon (purely for esthetic reasons) and be the dragon from hell!
Cantrips like Lightning Lure and Mind Sliver might fit well
I’ve got this on my to do list, actually :)
Oh my goodness! I played this for a 10th level one-shot a few months ago and it’s SO FUN! It ends up feeling like an Eldritch Paladin, of sorts. Very cool class.
Finally 😌 requested that combo. Loving to see it ❤️
Great build!
Played something very similar for a one shot, went full in on the "thornlock" concept by being a battlerager dwarf with spiked armor. It was super fun, and actually really powerful despite taking a (nearly) useless barbarian subclass. I've tried the build again, this time only taking 2 levels of barbarian and going Goliath instead of dwarf. Fun fact! You don't actually need to be damaged for AoA to trigger, only to get hit. That means you can reduce incoming damage to 0 with Stone's Enduance and still deal the offender your full chunk of AoA damage! It's awesome :)
> "I just have yet to find the ability within myself to refuse that man... when he makes a request."
Oh My!
When I saw the preview yesterday, I started thinking what subclasses it could use, and I really liked the fact that this should work with so many different options. Warlock mentioned Fiend or Genie, and you mentioned several for barbarian. An option I really liked the idea of for Barbarian, though it probably wouldn't be as strong, would be Beast barbarian just to really go into this primal frenzy and it would be terrifying. This giant burning elephant in a lycanthropic frenzy was an incredible image in my head.
I'm playing this build in a (living) world discord server and it's been a lot of fun. I'm not ever picking fighter as my second class or third class. Warlock just adds so much to my Barb. Eventually six level spells. Thanks for the video, Colby.
Big agree on simpler spell durations. One thing i like about cinematic rpg systems is that effects usually last until the end of a scene. Larion did a good job of making it work almost the same way with D&D's day / rest system.
Hey Colby, long time listener first time caller. Just wanted to see if you had considered the other features you get from giant barbarian, like Elemental cleaver at LVL 6 that adds a D6 to every attack and the extra 5 feet of reach, giving you 15' reach with a halberd or a glaive. Pairs great with pole arm master and smacking foes who try to sneak around you to get to your team. And then there is the fact that with Elemental Cleaver your weapon (whatever it is) gets the thrown property. You can boomarang a great sword 20' which thematically feels awesome to chuck a flaming great sword across the battlefield, past the astonished faces from friend and foes alike. You would be trading off some of your spell power to take another three levels in Barb, but if you skipped the Rune Knight it would still be super powerful.
I've built this with a battle master and Hill Giant strike for a more push or knock prone battlefield controller. Super fun! Now though I really want to try this pairing though. Thanks for the great videos and have a wonder filled day!
This kinds of reminds me of my silliest build- a Githyanki (for martial weapon proficiency) single-class Clockwork Soul Sorcerer that consigned CHA to being the third or fourth ability score, loaded up on STR and CON, spent all my sorcery points on wards, and swapped some random spell for Armor of Agathys updated using my highest level spell slots, then self-casted Haste, and charged in with a greatsword.
Hell yeah. I used to play a tiefling noble that was a fiend warlock beast barbarian. It was a ton of fun. I love the idea of tiefling barbarians giving into their demonic rage.
Have played this combo before and its great! So glad to see your take
This is literally the build I was going to try and request. So happy. So cool. Great job.
Ok hear me out here, Battlerager Barbarian 6 / Fiendlock X. That gives you 3 easy ways to generate Temp HP. Reckless Abandon at Barb 6, Dark One's Blessing from Fiend 1, and Armor of Agathys pre combat. So, start with the AoA and apply the others as needed or when available after it runs out. With Rage halving most of that damage you will have incredible resiliency to damage.
I made this as a fathomless a while back trying to maximize use of armor of Agathas by using the defensive reduction provided by the tentacle. I think it’s really important to highlight that your damage early is much better then your damage late. If something hits you with a multi attack, you can blow them sky high with AOA alone, which means your damage is fairly front-loaded which is really good in dnd.
Sometimes I feel like folks forget that things like a potion of increased size are fairly common, and more importantly affordable. Scrolls are another viable option, as are wands. As long as you're willing to stock up, you can shave down the need for strenuous multiclassing just to get 1 particular spell. All in all though, cool build.
I don't know if you've already done this, but it would be great to get a video on your process for optimizing a build, you're decision process from level to level, and how you go about identifying synergies that are on theme, but not immediately apparent, especially when it comes to multi-level or long term synergies ❤
I swear I have been thinking about making a character exactly like this for 2-3 weeks cause I don’t have any dnd experience beside playing bg3 it’s was stumping me on what to do. Then I remember you Colby and low and behold you make a vid with the class build and character design that almost matches what I envisioned. Thanks man for making to help give me an idea on how to do it!!
I think one of the invocations you should take that was a pick your favourite should be the Eldridge blast invocation that pulls enemies towards you. Most of the encounters I've been in recently has had enemies that we're out of range without dashing so that will cost you your action to move closer but if you instead use your movement then action Eldridge blast pull them towards you then bonus action rage you have a better chance I'm getting to them next turn and they've already been damaged. In addition eldritch blast scales with total level not warlock levels so it gets stronger as we level other areas. Or if there's flying enemies or enemies in trees or high places weekend eldritch blast pull them down for fall damage or for flying enemies you can still help despite them not being in weapon range.
My two favorite dual classes so far are both Drow. The first is a male Drow Hunter/Rogue with a little fighter being neutral to good and the second is a Drow...female(in Drow culture the Females rule) Cleric/Paladin of Loth, evil without Urge...that way you can be more slick & crafty about your evil...example I used her to get the Druids and Teiflings in fighting(killing all their leaders, including Goblins except Minthara and killed her during the battle) and set up the goblin attack and letting them clash to wipe out all three groups. Of course she murdered Shadow heart and took the artifact at the start and flirted with all the males NPC to slide them towards evil. Having Gale read the Thayan book of Necromancy helps with that. I hope you all are having as much fun as I am playing this game.
This seems like a nice "designated shaman of the warrior tribe" build too, very flavorful as always
Thornlock is my #1 thematic character inspiration source. So this is a great build!!!! A++ Colby!
Something that may be important, that I don't think was addressed, was that just because a creature that you have grappled by your trunk dies, that doesn't mean they have to be dropped. You could just keep their body grappled, use it as a meat shield, and get +2 AC bonus.
I kinda liked Warbarian for a name, tbh.
I do love the idea of tying this characters build somehow to the Tower of the Elephant Conan story. Altered to fit the campaign as necessary, of course, but with enough key elements to be readily apparent to any readers of REH. I think the vessel could be the Heart of the Elephant or perhaps a ring with a fragment of the gem, and since loxidon’s (relatively) rare in campaigns use the stats but play it as a sort of reincarnation of the ‘elephant’ to the barbarian tribe of the man who helped free him.
Kind of a wonky reactionary idea for a backstory but it’s a start. Definetky wanna flesh it out and wouldn’t have thought of it without this build idea, so many many thanks to you, sir!
You might not be able to grapple in BG3, but throwing enemies gives a similar feel. You're repositioning enemies and knocking them prone, as well as doing damage. Not a bad trade off. Also, if you do 5 levels of pact of blade warlock and 5 levels of barbarian, you can attack 3 times with your pact weapon. Although at this point in BG3 you have to use charisma with your pact weapon, so you could recreate this build with charisma as the primary since rage bonus damage and reckless attack work on non-strength attacks.
Oh and amazing build! Small note, though I agree Path of Giant deserves it's own video, they DO get a damage boost in Elemental Cleaver, but it is less than Zealot long term though has more damage type options.
Two barbarian-warlock builds?!? Looks like you are onto something. Fun way to mix spell casting onto a class that otherwise looks incompatible with spells.
I actually have a similar build in mind for a future campaign: an Aarakocra with levels in Bear Totem Warrior Barbarian and Fathomless Warlock - the goose build. My patron is the Goose Mother from MTG and I use my resistances to make _armor of agathys_ twice as effective.
Nice build Colby. But I see one tiny issue with cloud rune. The attack that triggers has to be a melee attack from an enemy within 5ft for both. So you'd need an ally and an enemy within 5ft of you. Not impossible for sure, but it is a limit to keep in mind
RAW this it would likely only work for both of the enemy were in melee range of you. That said, I’d be shocked if most DMs didn’t allow it regardless of positioning: you’re using a limited resource to *intentionally* take a hit that could have been directed at another enemy? Ya sure, it can proc your spells because it’s both cool and probably still sub-optimal :)
I liked the idea of 3 warlock and 17 barb, two handed pact weapon (I know the str rage thing but it’s for flavor) maxing charisma
The idea is going the berserker bc they get the intimidating presence which if you have +5 charisma the dc for it is 18 because it scales with charisma
Now it’s sadly a hexblade but only because of the hex blade curse for the 19-20 to crit and that’s why its 17 barb because barb at 17 gets full brutal critical so it somewhat balances the lack of str damage
Flavor is it’s a 1v1 specialist, frenzy let’s you attack with your bonus action so once the hex is on someone you can reckless strike for advantage (two dice rolls so more chance to crit) then the bonus action for attacking as well it’s a crit machine and if you go orc you can add one more dice on crits
Purely for flavor not optimized but a theory craft I wanna do
Your Dungeon Dudes inspired videos are some of my favorite videos of yours. I hope you make some crossover videos with them in the future 😀
5 or 6 Barbarian Tiefling Giant or Totem subclass with infernal constitution (or Variant Human or something else) and 15 Fiend Warlock or Celestial with the Gift of the Ever-Living Ones Eldritch Invocation, either your party heals you for maximum every time or you heal yourself after rage ends for max. Either way you have tons of temp HP all the time and only taking half the damage almost always.
Different take than my own (I made a totem barbarian who got fooled by a fiend and is convinced that the "lion spirit is the king of all spirit animals"), but I love both your results and the flavor for this character! I hope you don't mind me saying, but your flavoring of a build can, at times, be a bit sketchy and hard to believe, happy to say that this one is spot on. Great work, keep it up!
I love the flavor of this build! I will definitely try this build on my next character!
I just want to give a little warning about the Genie’s Vessel! It is a "extradimensional space" witch will not combine well with a bag of holding, a handy haversack or a portable hole, unless you like to take a trip to the astral plane!
I had an idea for a barbarian sorcerer both with the wild Magic subclass. I thought it would be fun to have my spells be more focused on like instinct. He throws up a shield when he gets attacked or his rage burned so hot it sets his sword on fire or he throws a fireball
I would also propose a Homebrew feat titled rage casting; you may cast a spell while raging the spell must be an attack spell and you cannot concentrate on spells. And if that is too powerful then you could limit it to a certain number of times per day
Thanks for the video, i really like idea of combination barbarian with casters
I just want to throw out one more potential name for this build. "Like a barb out of hell". Great stuff as always
Perfect!
Currently playing: Dragon Sorcerer 1, Fiend Warlock 5, Tiger Barbarian 6 and I gotta say.. it's one of the most fun experiences I had in the game yet (although the build really clicks at around lv8).
Oh, right, barbarian doesn't have to make attacks with STR to use Reckless Attack in BG3 :)
I've been screaming from the mountaintops about this type of build for about a year now, and in the last 3-4 months, I've seen at least a few youtubers talk about the wonders of the Barb-lock (Im not claiming credit btw, just an observation) Had a similar and fun thematic build that is similar. Go Zealot Barbarian/Undead Warlock Gem Dragonborn with your patron being a Dracolich. Get Concentration free flight by level 5 (like Colby's build but sooner). Can do very similar damage in that sweet spot of levels 8-13 as Colby's build (no fire shield however, but for most of your career, Grave Touched is going to be better than the bonus DMG from Genie's Wrath). Cool usable spells for a Barb too. And if you added the Dragon Fear Half feat (which can boost choice of STR/CON/CHA) you can be a fairly potent battlefield control too. And with the right invocations and spell choices, plus a single level of shadow sorcerer, you could give yourself about 4-5 different ways to bounce back from zero hitpoints in any given fight 🤣
I've loved this concept, I usually go barbarian 5/warlock 15 for the extra hit points and it frees up an invocation since you don't need thirsting blade anymore. Plus you get the 3rd spell slot and could take eldritch smite for more burst damage. If you want a super support tank you go ancestral guardian with celestial for bonus action healing light.
I never post, but I really enjoyed this build and had something I thought you might enjoy. You may not have considered, is the ability for blade locks to summon a weapon doesn't preclude oversized weapons. That makes Path of The Giant really awesome for the earlier access to large size, but might need reconsideration of the fighter options. Maybe Battle Master as an alternative there.
I'm literally working on a build like this right now nice thanx
One of my fave builds in a while. Really cool vibe!
Hey Homelander, nice build. Weird end, singing and bloopers so much fun 😂.
I don't like gimmicks like the elephant race, but munchkin damage builds can be so fun. I do feel it shows the poor game design sometimes, all the front loaded classes and how weak a poorly designed character is comparatively.
DM-ing V:tM now, but when I get back to DnD I'll probably make a custom homebrew overhaul that lets you design your own multiclass character.
In addition to a main class (warrior, expert, caster) you get to pick a level in one of the other two every odd level. On even levels you get a level in "mystic" which will be a mix of psion and a measure of your supernatural status. You get benefits similar to racial ones or the passive abilities monks and druids get, like resistances and longevity.
The frontloaded classes will be replaced by sets of feats with prerequisites and a special feat every fifth level. Instead of having weak low levels every adult starts at 4th and most people are higher. The setting will be planescape, underdark, dark sun or a mix of them. At 10th level you can start to advance into an advanced beings like genies or outer planar beings, completing this transformation at 20 (and possibly advancing with the Planeswalker/Demigod levels 21-30, but reserved for NPC's normally).
The Problem with Fiend Warlock in BG3 when using Armor of Agathys is that you automatically override the Temp HP and cancel the spell whenever you kill an enemy, so you have to try and not do that If you want to keep the spell up. It honestly sucks so much cause I love that spell and that subclass
Ah that’s what keeps happening!
My favorite barb/warlock build is zealot/celestial. It has the same bonuses but having those celestial dice aren’t a spell and can be used in rage and with blessing of the everliving ones those d6s are just 6hp. So with rage, each die is effectively 12hp in rage
Thanks for this build especially! I once was planning out a tiefling thrown out by his former master desperate to get back.
I would have gone Warlock/Barbarian as well but I really got stuck on when to take which class and for how long.
Personally I would still probably start out as a warlock to get those saving throw proficiencies in the otherwise weak spots of barbarians.