dex barbarian

[Mike]

Since barbarians get dex/con for AC. I was thinking a dex weapon would be good.
Any suggestions on that? Any reason why it wouldn't work with a rapier and shield for example?

[Sentient_Toaster]

Unless they've changed this from tabletop, you only get the extra Rage damage or the advantage from Reckless Attack if you make the attack with strength.

[Zaris]

You would do just less dmg. Just an example:
- greatsword: 2d6+2 = 9 dmg / rapier 1d8+2 = 6,5 dmg
- dex 20 / str 20 = +5
- rage +3 dmg bonus @ lvl12, 4 hasted attacks
- bonus action is used for activating rage and i.e. frenzy attack = full weapon dmg so no weaker offhand attack is to be looked at and no offhand weapon needed either -> rapier as main weapon

1) rapier
- 4 attacks hasted @ lvl12 with 1 fenzy bonus action attack = 5 attacks
- 5x (6,5 + 5 dex +3 rage) = 72,5 dmg

2) greatsword
- 4 attacks hasted @ lvl12 + frenzy offhand = 5 attacks
- 5 * (9 + 5 str + 3 rage) = 85 dmg

-> Greatsword does ~17% more dmg (get's smaller if you wear items like +2 acid dmg ring from the Underdark somewhere or a weapon with bonus dmg on it)

For AC you will have easily (20 dex, 18 con @lvl12) :
- 10 base +5 dex + 2 armor bracer + 1 ring + 4 con = 22 and on top maybe shield 2-3, multi class lvl1 sorcerer draconic for 13 base -> 28 ac.

[Bijat]

Originally posted by Zaris:

You would do just less dmg. Just an example:
- greatsword: 2d6+2 = 9 dmg / rapier 1d8+2 = 6,5 dmg
- dex 20 / str 20 = +5
- rage +3 dmg bonus @ lvl12, 4 hasted attacks
- bonus action is used for activating rage and i.e. frenzy attack = full weapon dmg so no weaker offhand attack is to be looked at and no offhand weapon needed either -> rapier as main weapon

1) rapier
- 4 attacks hasted @ lvl12 with 1 fenzy bonus action attack = 5 attacks
- 5x (6,5 + 5 dex +3 rage) = 72,5 dmg

2) greatsword
- 4 attacks hasted @ lvl12 + frenzy offhand = 5 attacks
- 5 * (9 + 5 str + 3 rage) = 85 dmg

-> Greatsword does ~17% more dmg (get's smaller if you wear items like +2 acid dmg ring from the Underdark somewhere or a weapon with bonus dmg on it)

For AC you will have easily (20 dex, 18 con @lvl12) :
- 10 base +5 dex + 2 armor bracer + 1 ring + 4 con = 22 and on top maybe shield 2-3, multi class lvl1 sorcerer draconic for 13 base -> 28 ac.

kinda soso comparing 1h vs 2h. Also sorc draconic don´t stack with con bonus. Endgame i think is +2 gear so for dex barb ac 10 base, 5 dex, 4 con, 2 shield, +2 gloves and +1 ring will prob be used by chars with lower ac so 21 ac compared to medium str bar 17(prob 16) armor, 2 dex, 2 shield 20(21) ac. str barb can use "dex" weapons (melee) and still use str.

[Mike]

thanks for the advice, I went with Str mainly, found a +2 str cloth armor which helps a lot.
I was thinking of respeccing at level 8 to take the 2 polearm feats that everyone has been hyped about. Any reason a barb can't go that route? Free attacks and stop movement, and advantage on free attacks.

[Pathen Night]

Originally posted by Mike:

thanks for the advice, I went with Str mainly, found a +2 str cloth armor which helps a lot.
I was thinking of respeccing at level 8 to take the 2 polearm feats that everyone has been hyped about. Any reason a barb can't go that route? Free attacks and stop movement, and advantage on free attacks.

In part two with the Githyanki in the Monastary I found gloves that set your Dex to 18 while wearing them. Useful for anyone wanting the extra AC but not wanting to focus it hard.

[The1Kobra]

BG3 doesn't follow all of the same rules as tabletop, so I did find that a DEX barbarian is plenty viable.
Main thing is, you want to combine it with rogue. So if you go Rogue/Barbarian 7/5, you can use reckless attack with finesse weapons and with the advantage from that, get sneak attack damage. It's a pretty good combo and you can still do it while raging. Go Berserker so you only take half physical damage while raging too. Decent AC, lots of damage, can serve as your lockpicker, good all around tank/rogue build.
And can still use dual handcrossbows effectively enough to handle junk mobs.

[>//The_FALCON]

why not just go full dex and con and STILL get good str though hill giant elixir?

(and i think shield disables your unarmored defense)

[Kernest]

Originally posted by PathenNightGaming:

Originally posted by Mike:

thanks for the advice, I went with Str mainly, found a +2 str cloth armor which helps a lot.
I was thinking of respeccing at level 8 to take the 2 polearm feats that everyone has been hyped about. Any reason a barb can't go that route? Free attacks and stop movement, and advantage on free attacks.

In part two with the Githyanki in the Monastary I found gloves that set your Dex to 18 while wearing them. Useful for anyone wanting the extra AC but not wanting to focus it hard.

Also, I think in early Act 3, there's another clothing armour with +2 to Con and a better secondary ability than the +STR clothing's Bull Rush.

[Kernest]

Originally posted by >//The_FALCON:

why not just go full dex and con and STILL get good str though hill giant elixir?

You could, but you'd probably have to watch your long resting to have enough elixirs.

[james]

It can work but id Highly recommend getting 3 levels of rogue for the thief subclass. the extra bonus action is vital for dual wielding builds.

[josh.auerbach88]

I've started playing a dex Barb and I think it's unique and super fun. I'm playing as Drow urchin and I've picked wild heart, and chose the eagle heart. I've 12 str, 17 dex, 16, con, 12, Wis and dumped int and cha.

I've currently got two ideas for how to finish off this build. At 6 I'm definitely getting Stallion for the temp hp whenever I dash, which I can activate as a bonus action each turn. This works as I'm looking to be the only melee in my party, but with my extra movement I'll be dashing for pretty good movement each turn of I choose to run around the battlefield. For feats or ASI's I'm considering Duelist for the addiction AC on reactions, as well as resilient Dex and shield master. I'd end with 19 AC, but have fairly ridiculous dex saves and the ability to boost my ac via Duelist. I may drop Duelist as I'm considering two multi class options.

First is swords bard. I'd get dueling fighting style for that beast +2 damage boost, and I'd gain the benefit of flourishes, especially the defensive ones. Not to mention expertise, Jack of all trades and a few more utility spells to use on top of fairy fire when I'm not raging. Nice this is I'll still be a fairly good AC tank with some cool utility while not raging, on top of being able to do a bit more outside of combat.

Alternatively I was thinking gloomstalker. Really it would increase my ability to delve into sneaking around and emerging from the shadows to obliterate enemies. This one of likely ditch the Duelist feat and opt to max out my Dex.

Honestly, I feel like going dex Barb is pretty viable if you alter your expectations of what a barb is doing. If you want to smash things and resist damage, then go basic. But if you're really looking to delve into being more of a stealth, max AC barb it is a ton of fun. Honestly feel like it'll be pretty dope focusing on shield master, high ac and just having near everything miss, and if it doesn't you're likely raging or have some other utility spells to off set it.

[I'm A Distraction!]

Late game it might be an idea to respect to a dex barbarian and use a strength weapon, anyway. You're swimming in giant elixirs that'll give you 23 or 27 strength (the later of which is more than you'd ever be possible to get if you invested in strength anyway). So why not rock the 20+ AC while doing the same damage anyway? Its what I did with Karlack at least while using the gloves of giant strength.