Dungeons and Dragons Best Barbarian Path Tier List

The Barbarian is one of the most straightforward classes in Dungeons and Dragons. While the Fighter may be more tactical and versatile, the Barbarian is the master of hitting things very hard. Though they suffer in many skill challenges, social interactions, ranged fights, or against Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma Saving Throws, features like Rage and Reckless attack, plus the ability to naturally get 24 Strength and Constitution at level 20, mean the Barbarian excel at what they do. It is no surprise that famous Dungeons and Dragons Barbarians like Karlach, Grog, and Yasha are as popular as they are.

Like most classes, the Barbarian chooses a D&D subclass at third level. Called their Path, this choice can drastically alter how the class plays, usually by modifying Rage in some manner. However, while every Barbarian will be able to tear it up on the front lines, some of these Paths are much more powerful than others.

Related

Dungeons and Dragons Best Paladin Oath Tier List

Paladins are one of the most iconic and powerful classes in Dungeons and Dragons, but not all of its subclasses are created equally.

S-Tier: Incredible Paths With Mighty Offense and Flexible Defense

• Storm Herald
• Wild Heart
• Zealot

The Storm Herald might have been A-Tier previously, but updates from Dungeons and Dragons’ recent Unearthed Arcana jump it up to the top. The Path now lets players swap between Desert, Sea, and Tundra each Rage – all of which also received numerical buffs – meaning they can curate their Storm Aura for each battle. This is even more prevalent once they gain Fire, Lightning, or Cold resistance from this choice at level 6, and when they can share this protection with nearby allies at level 10. The subclass could see more adjustments before it is officially printed, but if it looks anything like the UA, it will stay in S-Tier.

The Wild Heart Barbarian, previously known as the Totem Warrior, still remains one of the strongest options, even after the D&D 2024 rules. The Bear Totem was nerfed to no longer give resistance to Force, Necrotic, or Radiant damage, but buffs to the Eagle Totem mean all the options are now viable in different situations. Additionally, Wild Heart Barbarians are no longer stuck with their choices; they can choose a new Rage of the Wilds and Power of the Wilds option each time they Rage, and an Aspect of the Wilds every Long Rest, meaning they are far more versatile than the Totem Warrior was.

The Zealot may be the absolute best Barbarian Path in Dungeons and Dragons. Divine Fury provides consistent high bonus damage across all levels, and Warrior of the Gods’ new self-healing feature introduced in the 2024 rules keeps them going even longer than before. They are no longer literally unkillable at level 14 as they were with Rage Beyond Death, but its replacement, Rage of the Gods is even better, as it grants flying speed, damage resistances, even the power to stop their friends from dying. Zealot doesn’t get much for non-combat encounters, but in battle, it is an offensive, defensive, and supporting powerhouse.

A-Tier: Powerful Subclasses With Solid Abilities

• Berserker
• Spiritual Guardian
• World Tree

Before the 2024 rules, the Berserker would have ended up in B or even C-Tier. However, its buffs in the new version of the Barbarian subclass in Dungeons and Dragons put it solidly at A-Tier. Gone is Frenzy’s Exhaustion and extra attack mechanic, replaced with bonus damage dice that scale with level and are multiplied on a crit, giving them the highest bonus damage potential of any Barbarian Path. What’s more, Retaliation is now unlocked at level 10, giving them a reliable way to attack three times every turn. Mindless Rage’s Charmed and Frightened immunities cover some of the class’ biggest weaknesses, but while Intimidating Presence was technically buffed, many creatures are immune to Frightened by level 14, meaning its capstone isn’t always effective.

The Path of the Ancestral Guardian appeared in the same Unearthed Arcana as the Storm Herald, albeit with a new name: Path of the Spiritual Guardian. Spiritual Protector’s defensive capabilities were reduced, but a new offensive option was added to it to compensate. Additionally, Vengeful Spirits now allows Barbarians who roll high on attack rolls to get an extra attack once a turn, which can dish out more damage than before. With buffs to Spirit Shield’s defensive option, the Spiritual Guardian Barbarian can still be an amazing tank, but can also now swing almost as hard as some of their damage-focused counterparts.

The Path of the World Tree is a brand-new Barbarian subclass introduced in D&D‘s 2024 Player’s Handbook. It can grant allies Temporary Hit Points while raging using Vitality of the Tree, and lock down a battlefield with Branches of the Tree and Battering Roots. Its level 14 capstone also gives it a Misty Step-like blink while raging, and a longer-range group teleport as well, granting it surprising mobility at high levels. The major thing holding the World Tree Barbarian back from S-Tier is its lack of any damage bonuses.

B-Tier: Solid Choices That Are Missing Something

The Path of the Giant is similar to D&D’s Rune Knight Fighter, but for the Barbarian class. Unfortunately, it isn’t nearly as strong as its counterpart. While it can still grow to Large or Huge sizes with Giant’s Havoc, a lot of its features are spent adding support for throwing weapons. This does cover one of the Barbarian’s main weaknesses, but despite some bonus damage using Elemental Cleaver, and the ability to do a “Fastball Special” with Mighty Impel, it is pulled in too many directions to compete with Paths found in higher tiers.

The Path of the Juggernaut is the only subclass on this list that isn’t official, instead appearing in Critical Role’s Tal’dorei Campaign Setting Reborn. Like the eponymous X-Men villain, the Path of the Juggernaut is all about becoming an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Thunderous Blows and Hurricane Strike knock creatures around, and Spirit of the Mountain, Resolute Stance, and Unstoppable make them impossible to Grapple, Stun, Paralyze, Frighten, knock Prone, or move against their will. Unfortunately, between the small damage bonus that only affects Construct creatures and objects, and their single-minded defensive capabilities, they can struggle against certain opponents.

C-Tier: Great Options That Fall Off At Higher Levels

The Path of the Beast is an ideal Barbarian subclass for those seeking to play a Werewolf or other shapeshifter, as they can attack with deadly bites, claws, or spiny tails. The Path gets some awesome bonuses to damage, mobility, and support, and can even force enemies to attack each other. Unfortunately, the Beast suffers from the same issue as D&D’s Soulknife Rogue: most of its features require the Barbarian to use natural attacks, meaning they lose out on half their features when wielding magic weapons, limiting their options in high-level play.

The Path of Wild Magic Barbarian is perfect for fans of Dungeons and Dragons’ Wild Magic Sorcerer, but who want to smash things. Its core mechanic activates a Wild Surge that produces unexpected effects while Raging, though it gets more controllable at level 14. That said, Wild Magic effects don’t scale with level, meaning the small damage they deal becomes negligible as they reach higher tiers of play. Bolstering Magic is a great ability, as it can restore Spell Slots to spellcasters or give buffs to others, but it simply isn’t enough to carry the subclass.

D-Tier: One Of the Worst Subclasses In D&D History

Image via Wizards of the Coast

Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide is renowned as the worst Dungeons and Dragons sourcebook of all time, in no small part due to its wildly unbalanced subclasses. However, among them all, the Battlerager Barbarian stands at the absolute bottom – indeed, it may actually be the worst subclass in the entire game.

The entire Path is focused around using special Spiked Armor as a weapon. While it does grant a bonus attack using this armor, it is locked to a trivial amount of damage, plus a little bit more when landing a grapple. A paltry amount of Temporary Hit Points each turn at level 6, the ability to dash as a bonus action at level 10 (Wild Heart Barbarians can do this and Disengage at the same time seven levels earlier), and an underwhelming capstone that deals a measly 3 damage to melee attackers are bad enough, but the reliance on subpar armor means they can’t even use Unarmored Defense, one of the D&D Barbarian’s core defensive features. Barbarians should steer clear of the Battlerager unless they want to challenge themselves to make a character in spite of its glaring weaknesses.

Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons

Original Release Date

1974

Designer

E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson