Amrûnril
Adventurer
To help keep the discussion of the UA8 playtest packet organized, here is a thread for discussion of the revised Barbarian. To begin, here are my thoughts on some of the features:
Rage: Maintaining rage as a bonus action was a good addition, and it's elegantly presented here. With the reduced risk of losing rage during combat, I'm less convinced of the need for additional uses through short rest recovery and persistent rage.
Weapon Mastery: This is a great feature for Fighters, as the class focused on representing trained weapon users. I'm glad to see it removed for Monks, who often focus on unarmed fighting, and I'd also be inclined to remove it from the Barbarians, who tend to focus on instinct over training. I'm not opposed to barbarians gaining access to this through a subclass or feat, but I'd rather keep this as primarily a Fighter ability than treat it as a default feature for warrior classes.
Primal Knowledge: I'm still not convinced of the thematic rationale for this ability. I also dislike further emphasizing class associations with specific ability scores (there's no reason an instinct-based warrior should be discouraged from emphasizing dexterity or wisdom over strength), but I recognize this is a lost cause as far as the 2024 rules are concerned.
Brutal Strike: I like these new options. The level 9 options in particular seem like they could be helpful in dealing with mobile opponents, especially since as far as I can tell there's nothing preventing the Barbarian from using them with thrown weapons. I'm a bit surprised by the removal of Brutal Critical, which I wasn't aware of any complaints about.
Path of the World Tree: I'm not convinced this is a good fit for the PHB, but my concerns are more about the theme being overly specific than about any of the features these revisions are analyzing. I think this would be a good subclass for a future setting book or Xanathar's/Tasha's equivalent.
Rage: Maintaining rage as a bonus action was a good addition, and it's elegantly presented here. With the reduced risk of losing rage during combat, I'm less convinced of the need for additional uses through short rest recovery and persistent rage.
Weapon Mastery: This is a great feature for Fighters, as the class focused on representing trained weapon users. I'm glad to see it removed for Monks, who often focus on unarmed fighting, and I'd also be inclined to remove it from the Barbarians, who tend to focus on instinct over training. I'm not opposed to barbarians gaining access to this through a subclass or feat, but I'd rather keep this as primarily a Fighter ability than treat it as a default feature for warrior classes.
Primal Knowledge: I'm still not convinced of the thematic rationale for this ability. I also dislike further emphasizing class associations with specific ability scores (there's no reason an instinct-based warrior should be discouraged from emphasizing dexterity or wisdom over strength), but I recognize this is a lost cause as far as the 2024 rules are concerned.
Brutal Strike: I like these new options. The level 9 options in particular seem like they could be helpful in dealing with mobile opponents, especially since as far as I can tell there's nothing preventing the Barbarian from using them with thrown weapons. I'm a bit surprised by the removal of Brutal Critical, which I wasn't aware of any complaints about.
Path of the World Tree: I'm not convinced this is a good fit for the PHB, but my concerns are more about the theme being overly specific than about any of the features these revisions are analyzing. I think this would be a good subclass for a future setting book or Xanathar's/Tasha's equivalent.
