D&D 5E Xanathar's I love the new Barbarian subclasses

[FrogReaver]

I think the new Barbarian subclasses are some of the most mechanically well done. No longer must I feel as if my Barbarian has to be a boring bear totem Barbarian. Now I have 3 other spectacular options.

Ancestral Guardian -
Get's a ton of really good abilities that help your party members stay alive.

Storm Herald -
Get's various aura effects while raging. This is my least favorite of the new barbarian classes but it's still a solid choice. I do feel there is a slight annoyance issue with desert as it's damaging aura isn't ally friendly.... So watch out if you choose that one!

Zealot -
Everyone loves hard hitting Barbarians and this one takes the cake! It also has some nice thematic abilities later.

 

[Charlaquin]

The Zealot Barbarian not requiring material components to resurrect just makes me think it would be cool to play one as this ancient champion of their god, who has been resurrected countless times in times of great need. Kind of like the Arbiter in Halo if instead of just a title and armor they actually just kept bringing the same dude back to life.

And imagine it from his perspective. “You’ve been resting peacefully for the past hundred years. But today? Today you open your eyes again - the eyes of your old body in the material plane. Around you are the walls of a temple to the god you’ve died countless times in service to. The symbols are familiar, but the architecture is new. Probably younger than you are. The Cleric who resurrected you informs you that he regrets having to bring you back in such troubled times, but in this, your people’s darkest hour, they had no other recourse but to call upon the eternal champion once again.”

*sigh* “What do you need me to kill this time?”

 

[Chaosmancer]

I love the changes they made to the Zealot, I've had one in my campaign for a while, and he never took the "save but lose your rage until you rest" option or the "use your action to give everyone advantage for a turn" option.

Making those just rereoll one save per rage and a bonus action means he might actually do things with those abilities. Though, losing the aura damage hurts a little bit, but it also does allow the storm herald to be more unique so I like the change

 

[FrogReaver]

I'm honestly surprised ancestral guardian isn't getting more love. At level 3 it basically locks one enemy onto himself which is good since he will have resistance and a good ac from medium armor and a shield. At level 6 he gives the party a ton of "free" damage mitigation with his reaction. This can be used every single turn you are raging.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

The only one that's kinda meh to me is Storm Herald, and that's not because it's bad. It's because every other Barbarian Archetype is so good.

 

[Iry]

I'm honestly surprised ancestral guardian isn't getting more love. At level 3 it basically locks one enemy onto himself which is good since he will have resistance and a good ac from medium armor and a shield. At level 6 he gives the party a ton of "free" damage mitigation with his reaction. This can be used every single turn you are raging.

Ancestral Guardian is absolutely hilarious if you are playing a Barbarian Archer.

 

[pukunui]

While the ancestral guardian is mechanically pretty good, I just find the whole concept uninteresting. There's nothing there that screams "Play me!"

The storm herald and zealot, on the other hand, both appeal to me more. I do feel like the storm herald could've been fleshed out more with another terrain type or two, but otherwise it's pretty good. I'm playing alongside a dwarven storm herald with the sea type at the moment, and it's been pretty fun having him be able to zap people with lightning. The player's also looking forward to having a dwarf who can breathe underwater. (We just hit 6th level.)

The zealot is probably the one I'd want to play most, were I to play a barbarian again.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I struggle to decide which one I'll play first. Ancestral Guardian, Sea Storm Herald (my favorite of the three Storm options), or Zealot.

 

[Istbor]

Oh, I will totally be playing around with a Zealot Barbarian on Roll20. Seems fitting for his character, and the mechanics are interesting to me.

The others are also well done. Though, I agree with some sentiment, that nothing in the Ancestor path really screams "Play me!" to me as a person.

 

[FrogReaver]

Oh, I will totally be playing around with a Zealot Barbarian on Roll20. Seems fitting for his character, and the mechanics are interesting to me.

The others are also well done. Though, I agree with some sentiment, that nothing in the Ancestor path really screams "Play me!" to me as a person.

Ancestral Guardian + Mobile feat would be really fun.