Complete Barbarian Multiclass Guide for D&D 2024

Evaluating every class and subclass in D&D 2024 and how well it works as a multiclass option for the barbarian.

At a glance

Barbarian multiclassing considerations

As with any multiclassing, you’ll need to meet some small requirements. Namely, having the primary ability score for your barbarian and the class you’re multiclassing into at 13+.

Having a strength of 13+ for a barbarian isn’t hard, but some classes may be a little harder to accommodate here (or at least require a little planning). I’ve listed the requirements for each class below:

• Artificer – 13+ intelligence
• Barbarian – 13+ strength
• Bard – 13+ charisma
• Cleric – 13+ wisdom
• Druid – 13+ wisdom
• Fighter – 13+ strength or dexterity
• Monk – 13+ dexterity and wisdom
• Paladin – 13+ strength and charisma
• Ranger – 13+ dexterity and wisdom
• Rogue – 13+ dexterity
• Sorcerer – 13+ charisma
• Warlock – 13+ charisma
• Wizard – 13+ intelligence

You may also want to consider which features and capabilities will work well alongside a barbarian’s. As martial warriors, strength based martials can complement these capabilities nicely. You’ll also want to be wary of features that don’t work with your rage.

Some classes can get away with investing in an ability that isn’t core to their class. Fighters, for instance, can focus on constitution and one of strength or dexterity. Similarly, rogues only need dexterity and some constitution. This gives them space to invest in another ability score for multiclassing. Barbarians though, ideally need high strength, high constitution, and do best with high dexterity too, but can get away with a 14 and medium armor. This leaves no space for another ability score which many multiclass options may need.

Spellcasting is particularly problematic for barbarians. Not only is it hard to invest in a spellcasting ability, but you can’t cast or concentrate on spells while raging (which you’ll usually want to do in combat). There are ways around this, like taking out of combat spells, spells that aren’t reliant on your spellcasting ability or spells that last a while without concentration, but this does seriously limit a barbarian’s spellcasting capabilities and makes spellcasters a poor option for barbarians.

Evaluating multiclass options for a barbarian

I’ve generally assumed that most multiclassing won’t go beyond levels 1-3 (as the more levels you multiclass, the more you lose from your core class). This will frame most of my evaluation, but for those that want to go higher, I have given some guidance here too but I’ve paid little attention to higher level features as this would stop barbarian being your core class anymore.

Artificer

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	Thieves’ tools, tinkerer’s tools
Weapon training	None
Armor training	Light armor, medium armor, shields
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Magical tinkering
Level 2 features	Infuse item

Spellcasting

Spellcasting is always problematic for barbarians. You can’t cast spells while raging and are bound to lack the intelligence for powerful spellcasting (especially when you need to focus on strength, dexterity and constitution already).

The best advice I can give is to take spells that last a long time without concentration so you can cast them ahead of combat. Or use out of combat spells. Spells like guidance, longstrider and aid all fit this kind of approach.

Level 1

Barbarians tend to have a good dexterity so thieves’ tools proficiency is a decent option, especially if you don’t have a rogue. Magical tinkering gives barbarians something to do out of combat, though the applications are quite situational.

Level 2

Those things are both quite minor though. But at level 2 you’ll get infuse item which is probably your best early feature. You’ll need to be aware that many infusions are locked behind level advancement. This is tied to your artificer level rather than your total level so you’ll be limited to the infusions available at level 2. This also means you won’t get the enhancements some infusions get at later levels, limiting the power-scaling of your infusions.

Even so, +1 weapons, +1 shields and returning weapons are all really useful for a barbarian. As are some magical items you can create.

Level 3

If you want to go up to level 3, you’ll be able to grab one of these subclasses:

Alchemist

Subclass spells will be largely useless as their for use in combat (healing word and ray of sickness). Ray of sickness in particular is going to stack up poorly against your usual attacks.

Experimental elixir is surprisingly useful though. The effects are random, but in the 2024 rules, these can be drunk as a bonus action and it gives you a use for spell slots that won’t conflict with your rage. The possible elixirs are also universally useful. Things like healing, speed, and more durability are all great for a barbarian. I’d probably just pump all your spell slots into making elixirs and enjoy those benefits.

Armorer

Magic missile can work as a turn 1 ranged attack before you rage as it’s not reliant on your intelligence to hit or damage. Thunderwave fairs more poorly though.

Barbarians can use armor, though with the right ability scores, this can be outstripped by their unarmored defense. Thunder gauntlets is mostly awkward to make work as it’ll be lower damage than your other weapons. With the dual wielder feat, you can make dual wielding work with another weapon with the light property. You can then make an offhand attack with your bonus action while your thunder gauntlet can then keep that enemy attacking you which is useful for a tank class. Be aware though, that you can’t use any weapon mastery properties with thunder gauntlets.

Defensive field is largely redundant as you’ll easily get temporary hit points from elsewhere, and at the levels you’ll have this, these temporary hit points will be very small. Infiltrator armorer could be used for a ranged option. It’ll be longer range than your thrown weapons, but the lack of being a strength attack roll is a problem for a barbarian.

Artillerist

Both shield and thunderwave will be problematic being cast by a raging barbarian. Eldritch cannon is a great option though, essentially meaning extra damage or healing with your bonus action. It won’t be useful in the first round of combat when you activate your rage, but often will be in subsequent rounds. Barbarians aren’t overly reliant on their bonus action so this can work.

Battle smith

Both the spells you get are problematic for a raging barbarian. Battle ready is basically pointless for them too. The steel defender is quite useful though though. Its capabilities scale with your proficiency bonus so it will get better as you level up as a barbarian. You should often be able to use your bonus action to command it to attack, but even when you can’t, it will either provide some protection to you, an ally or become a dodging target for enemy attacks.

Verdict

Artificers are nearly useless for a barbarian as a 1 level dip, and actually mean lost hit points for the effort. Getting infused items at level 2 is quite good and there are some interesting interactions with subclasses at level 3. Alchemists perform surprisingly well with a regular use for your spell slots and artillerists and battle smiths both up your damage output with bonus action attacks. I’m less inclined to recommend an armorer though.

Ultimately, I don’t think investing 2-3 levels in artificer is worth it for what you get here. There are ways to make it work though, and at least artificers have a lot of out of combat spells.

Best subclass option: Alchemist or battle smith

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Bard

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	1 skill, 1 musical instrument
Weapon training	None
Armor training	Light armor
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Bardic inspiration
Level 2 features	Expertise, jack of all trades

Spellcasting

In combat spellcasting remains problematic for barbarians because of rage and a low charisma. If you do multiclass into bard, take out of combat spells that don’t require a saving throw like minor illusion, longstrider or speak with animals.

Level 1

Bardic inspiration is great for any class that doesn’t heavily occupy their bonus action with other things. Barbarians fit this bill. However, its number of uses is tied to your charisma modifier which is already dragging down your score for more important abilities like strength, dexterity and constitution just by multiclassing with a 13. 1 or possibly 2 uses of bardic inspiration feels too little to be sacrificing a barbarian level and ability score points.

Level 2

Becoming really good at 2 skills is universally useful and jack of all trades means you shouldn’t be bad at any skills. This remains useful on a barbarian. Dexterity is probably your best asset here so stealth and sleight of hand proficiency are likely your best options.

Level 3

At level 3, you choose one of the following subclasses.

College of dance

At level 3, the features are nearly useless. Your strength should be high enough that dexterity-based unarmed strikes aren’t helpful. You also already have unarmored defense tied to better ability scores and agile strikes won’t help you much with such little bardic inspiration. At later levels, a lot of features are tied to your bardic inspiration which is challenging for a low-ish charisma barbarian.

College of glamour

Your level 3 features are heavily reliant on either using spells during combat (which you can’t do while raging) or having a high charisma (which is sub-optimal) for number of uses of bardic inspiration and number of creatures affected. This remains a problem for your level 6 features. You’ll need to hit level 14 before you get a practical feature, which is too high.

College of lore

The extra skills are useful on a barbarian. Cutting words however, will have limited uses because of low-ish charisma. For magical discoveries, you’ll need to limit yourself to out of combat spells which could be useful, but very restrictive. Peerless skill is useful, but again, few bardic inspiration dice limit your number of uses.

College of valor

At level 3, combat inspiration is good, but will have very few uses. Martial training is pointless on a barbarian. Your level 6 and 14 features are pointless as you already have extra attack and you can’t cast spells while raging.

Beyond level 3

Beyond level 3, font of inspiration could make actual good use of your spell slots by regenerating bardic inspiration uses. This could make your bardic inspiration capabilities regularly used, especially with uses recovering on a short rest.

Countercharm is useful but not huge and magical secrets is only going to be useful for out of combat spells or maybe spells you cast on your first turn before raging (like fireball maybe). If that’s the route you want to go though, you’ll get spells like that earlier with another class.

Verdict

Bardic inspiration could be the thing a class dips into bard for, but barbarians are really going to struggle to get more than 1 use of this (maybe 2 at a push). There’s so much sacrificed to get access to this in a very limited way that it just doesn’t feel worth it.

If you are committed to a bard-barian, then surprisingly, college of lore is your best option with all other subclasses having largely redundant features.

Best subclass option: Surprisingly, college of lore, but none are great

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Cleric

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None (level 1 feature can give martial weapon training)
Armor training	Light armor, medium armor, shields (level 1 feature can give heavy armor training)
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Divine order
Level 2 features	Channel divinity

Spellcasting

Again, spellcasting for a barbarian doesn’t work when raging and low wisdom makes them even less effective. Out of combat spells without saving throws are your best option like guidance, detect magic and aid.

Level 1

The protector option is useless as you’re already proficient with martial weapons and heavy armor will stop your fast movement working. Thaumaturge isn’t much better as you don’t need more cantrips and those skill checks will only be enhanced slightly by your low wisdom.

Level 2

You can use magic actions while raging (as long as they’re not spells) so this can work. However, your channel divinity relies on a high wisdom to be reasonably effective and divine spark relies on levelling up to scale its healing and damage. You shouldn’t be attempting to scale up cleric levels high (if at all) so this is only good for recovering unconscious allies, which is fine, but will take an action.

Level 3

At level 3 you get your subclass:

Life domain

The spells you get, you mostly want to be using in combat or concentrating on in combat (which is no good for a barbarian). The exception is aid which you can use ahead of combat. Disciple of life is only useful after combat if you can’t rest for some reason. You can use preserve life in combat, but it’s effectiveness will be limited by your cleric level which shouldn’t be high meaning it will scale poorly.

Beyond level 3, it’s all about healing which is most useful in combat which is a struggle for a barbarian.

Light domain

Scorching ray and burning hands are no good as they rely on combat casting and a decent wisdom. See invisibility could be useful out of combat but faerie fire is basically useless. Radiance of the dawn and warding flare could both be decent, but rely heavily on a strong wisdom which you won’t have. Improved warding flare does work just fine for a barbarian despite low wisdom.

Trickery domain

You actually get useful spells for a barbarian with lots of out of combat, stealth options. Blessing of the trickster also works just as well for a low wisdom barbarian is it does for a high level cleric and it’s a stealth thing which is useful for barbarians.

Invoke duplicity can genuinely be useful for a barbarian too. It’s not a spell and doesn’t require concentration so can be used while raging, and gives advantage on attack rolls which is very useful for you (and saves you from the disadvantages of reckless attack). Moving it with a bonus action isn’t overly problematic either. Being able to teleport to your illusion’s space can be useful too.

War domain

Magic weapon is a useful spell as it can be cast ahead of combat and doesn’t require concentration. All the other spells are challenging for you to use. Guided strike for better accuracy is great for a barbarian and bonus action attacks could be really useful. It’s just a shame they’re limited by your wisdom modifier which means 1-2 per combat at best. I’d almost suggest that going medium armor and 14 dexterity so you can invest in 16-18 wisdom could be worth it for these bonus action attacks alone. You might need to sacrifice constitution a little too, but that’s a decent damage boost.

War god’s blessing nearly becomes usable for a barbarian as it removes the concentration requirement of shield of faith and spiritual weapon. Casting these before raging means they can be maintained while you rage. The problem is the conflict with the bonus action of your rage and the bonus action of these spells. They last a minute though, so if your DM allows pre-casting spells before rushing into combat, it could work, but that is problematic still.

Beyond level 3

Beyond level 3, you get things like sear undead at level 5, though this relies on a high wisdom which you won’t have. Blessed strikes is a good option at level 7 (and enhanced at level 14). Take divine strike for better attacks as improved spells isn’t much use to you. You’ll probably struggle to get the most out of divine intervention at level 10 as well because you’re precluded from some of the best options in combat and your wisdom won’t be high enough. It could still be useful though.

Verdict

Theres not much going for a barbarian cleric with spellcasting almost pointless and many features really struggling to work alongside a barbarian’s rage. The need to invest heavily in wisdom really hamstrings this option too.

In some ways, this is a shame because the trickery and war domains can really add something to a barbarian and are about the only reason this doesn’t get the lowest score.

Best subclass option: Trickery and war domains

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Druid

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None (level 1 feature can give martial weapon training)
Armor training	Light armor, shields (level 1 feature can give medium armor training)
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Druidic, primal order
Level 2 features	Wild shape, wild companion

Spellcasting

Spellcasting remains a problem for barbarians while raging and due to their low wisdom. Grab out of combat, non-saving throw spells for some utility like guidance, longstrider and detect magic.

Level 1

Speak with animals is a useful utility spell. Knowing druidic is hugely situational though. Primal order is mostly redundant too. Warden gives you nothing as you already have these proficiencies and with magician, you don’t really need to know more spells. A slight boost to arcana or nature is fine, but you won’t have the wisdom to really make this effective.

Level 2

Wild shape is a really good utility option. You can use it for scouting and investigating just as easily as a standard druid can. You won’t get a flying form until you can grab 8 levels in druid though, which is a huge investment. Tiny and innocuous creatures will be good here for scouting and stealth. The alternative is finding a familiar with the wild companion feature which can also be useful.

I wouldn’t expect wild shape to be useful to you in combat though. Your natural attacks will be superior.

Level 3

At level 3, druids get their subclasses:

Circle of the land

The spells are really all combat spells that you’re going to struggle to get any use out of no matter the environment. Land’s aid is possible while raging, but relies on a strong spell save DC (which you won’t have) and scales poorly without investing lots of levels in druid.

At higher levels, you have nature’s recovery which is all about casting extra spells (which isn’t much use for a barbarian). Nature’s ward is useful for the resistances and immunities but is a lot of levels in druid to invest. Nature’s sanctuary could also be useful but again requires heavy investment in druid levels which just isn’t optimal.

Circle of the moon

It feels like circle forms should have great synergy with a barbarian because features like rage can work while in wild shape. But I think if your core class is barbarian, then what you can do as a barbarian outperforms what you can do while wild shaped other than in very specific configurations or with lots of levels of druid.

However, I think this will work the other way round, where a moon druid takes a level 1 dip into barbarian for rage. Of course there’s still conflict here. No spells while raging and 2 bonus actions required to set this all up, but wild shape can be done ahead of combat and you can’t cast spells in wild shape form (mostly) anyway.

It’s worth noting that things like circle form AC is tied to wisdom, as is increased toughness at level 6 and moonlight step at level 10. But moonlight step will work while raging as it’s not a spell.

Circle of the sea

The only spell you get at level 3 with this subclass that might be any good is shatter for a first round AoE damage dealer before you rage. But even then, it relies on a decent wisdom which will be a struggle.

Wrath of the sea could have made a great bonus action attack, but it relies heavily on wisdom for the saving throw and the damage. It will eventually grant things like a swim and fly speed as well as resistances, but without a high wisdom, it’s problematic.

Circle of the stars

Guidance as a spell works fine for a barbarian, but guiding bolt needs a higher wisdom than you’ll have. Starry form is no good for a barbarian. A low wisdom and lack of combat spellcasting (as well as a propensity for melee combat) make the benefits pretty slim or non-existent. At least cosmic omen at level 6 is useful, but it’s really not enough for so much investment in druid levels.

Beyond level 3

At level 5 wild shape uses become easier to recover which is good, but as you’ll likely use it for out of combat utility, it’s not really needed. Elemental fury and improved elemental fury are both useful for extra damage, but it’s a heavy investment to get to this point.

Verdict

As a full spellcaster, you’d mostly want to be multiclassing into druid for some spellcasting prowess, but barbarians struggle here. Wild shape works well as a utility option, but not really for combat. This is a little better for a moon druid, but really not good enough, especially as you’ll be tied into early wild shape forms at higher levels.

Best subclass option: Circle of the moon

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Fighter

Hit dice	d10
Hit points	1d10 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	Martial weapons
Armor training	Light armor, medium armor, shields
Spellcasting	No
Level 1 features	Fighting style, second wind, weapon mastery
Level 2 features	Action surge, tactical mind

Level 1

Barbarians don’t get a fighting style so this is immediately very useful. For example, if you want to go with an unarmed grappler build, you might want the unarmed fighting style for the extra damage it will give. Dueling will make a sword and shield build more viable and great weapon fighting and thrown weapon fighting might also be obvious choices for a barbarian.

Second wind is handy for your durability (and those healed hit points count for double against physical attacks while raging). You already get weapon mastery, but my understanding of this is that it stacks so you get 3 more options. It’s not needed, but can be handy.

Level 2

Action surge is excellent meaning you can take the attack action again (or some other action I suppose). Once you hit level 5 in barbarian, this will mean 2 more attacks.

you also get tactical mind for more reliable ability checks. It’s decent enough if you’re using stealth for instance, but not hugely important for a barbarian.

Level 3

At level 3 you get one of the following subclasses.

Battle master

Combat superiority gives you some decent extra effects on your attacks and some extra damage too. It’ll work well with your high strength too. An extra tool and skill proficiency is a minor bonus.

It’ll take to level 10 to increase the size of your superiority die which is too much and the level 7 feature is fine, but not worth pushing higher than level 3 for.

Champion

The most barbaric of the fighter subclasses does quite well with more likely criticals at level 3. Advantage on initiative rolls is pretty good and having this on athletics checks works nicely for a barbarian too.

All of the champion’s later level features fit a barbarian nicely with an additional fighting style, regular heroic inspiration and even more likely critical hits. If you want to go this route though, you’ll need to make fighter your main and dip into barbarian for rage.

Eldritch knight

The most problematic subclass for a barbarian. Spellcasting is basically useless in combat and war bond is mostly just flavour and situationally useful. At later levels, swapping attacks for spells also makes little sense for a barbarian as it conflicts with your rage. I’d avoid this one.

Psi warrior

Psionic powers are decent on a barbarian, but their effectiveness is a little more limited with a low intelligence (which is likely for a barbarian). At later levels, things like temporary flight, removing charmed and frightened conditions and knocking prone are all good options for a barbarian, but probably aren’t worth the level cost.

Beyond level 3

Extra attack is pointless on a barbarian unless you hit level 5 in fighter before barbarian or invest to level 11 for another extra attack. Tactical shift can be useful though as you move round the battlefield. Indomitable makes you more resilient against saving throws which is definitely useful and tactical master gives you more flexibility on weapon mastery uses.

Verdict

Fighters make a natural multiclass option for barbarians. They share the same ability score priorities, have natural synergy and usefulness with features and there’s useful features to pick up at every level from 1-3 making a 1, 2 or 3 level dip in fighter useful. Champion and battle master make the best picks for subclasses, and I’d definitely avoid eldritch knight, but otherwise, this is a strong multiclass option.

Best subclass option: Battle master or champion

Multiclass potential: 5/5

Monk

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None
Armor training	None (unarmored defence as level 1 feature)
Spellcasting	No
Level 1 features	Martial arts, unarmored defense
Level 2 features	Monk’s focus, unarmored movement, uncanny metabolism

Level 1

Unarmored defense is useless for a barbarian as you already have a version of this that uses a more appropriate ability score (constitution instead of wisdom) and they don’t stack. But, if you want to have more of a monk focus, you could sacrifice some durability to invest in wisdom and still get a decent AC. This is a bit of a sacrifice though and depends how far you want to take your multiclass in monk.

Just be aware that to get the most out of a monk, you can’t be wearing armor so will need to rely on unarmored defense.

Martial arts is useful though. Even at level 1, you now get unarmed strikes that deal 1d6 damage. This is equal to the unarmed fighting style you’d get with a level 1 dip in fighter. However, you also get the option of an unarmed strike with your bonus action. It’s important to note that the wording states you can use dexterity instead of strength for these attacks, not that you must. This means you can use your strength and continue to get the benefits of things like rage.

Level 2

Monk’s focus will make even better use of your bonus action with more attacks for things like disengaging or dashing. Flurry of blows though is likely to be your main use of this for the extra attacks.

Unarmored movement does stack nicely with your faster barbarian movement which is handy. Uncanny metabolism is a nice way to get extra uses of focus points and some extra hit points healed.

Level 3

At level 3, monks get deflect attacks which works nicely for a barbarian to reduce some of the substantial damage they’re probably taking. They also choose from the following subclasses.

Warrior of mercy

Hand of harm and hand of healing can be used with any unarmed attack so this is useful. The lack of wisdom is only a minor issue as you still make the attack with your strength or dexterity, it just reduces the damage or healing output slightly. The proficiencies are fine, but not that important for a barbarian.

Enhanced harm and healing at later levels does work for a barbarian, but requires significant sacrifice of barbarian levels.

Warrior of shadow

Darkness and minor illusion are only useful for a barbarian outside of combat. Having darkvision is fine but this isn’t a lot at level 3.

Teleportation and free strikes are useful at later levels, but it’ll be harder to manipulate darkness in combat without being able to use the darkness spell.

Warrior of the elements

Extra reach is really good but barbarians tend to want to keep enemies close and by having a 15ft reach (but only when you make an unarmed strike) you’re not really managing this too much. This works better on a monk main with a dip in barbarian rather than a barbarian main.

Push on hits and elemental damage types is definitely good. However, this will only work for unarmed strikes and not any weapons you happen to be using.

At later levels, you get an AoE damage dealer that isn’t a spell so you can use it while raging. The damage scales with your martial arts die, but because of levels in barbarian, this will scale worse as a result. A fly and swim speed are quite good, but 11 levels of monk is a hefty price to pay.

Warrior of the open hand

Essentially weapon mastery effects on your flurry of blows is handy for a barbarian. At later levels, you can heal yourself. This will be smaller with your lower wisdom, but still decent. At level 11 you can do a bit more with your focus points and your bonus action, but 11 levels is a lot for the kind of hit and run capabilities that barbarians don’t really need.

Beyond level 3

Beyond level 3, slow fall is situationally very useful, extra attack at level 5 is redundant as you already have this. You do get stunning strike at level 5 though which will work with strength attacks. This is the same with empowered strikes at level 6 letting you use force damage. Evasion is great for more durability while acrobatic movement is workable for a barbarian that doesn’t use a shield.

Sadly, these do come at later levels that become harder and harder to justify sacrificing your usual barbarian levels for.

Verdict

Multiclassing into monk can be a great option with more attacks being the main draw and improved unarmed strikes if you want to go with a grapple build. The challenge is in distributing those ability scores. The high demands on strength, dexterity, constitution and wisdom make a barbarian-monk multiclass really hard to optimise.

If you stick to a 1 or 2 level dip, you can forego a strong wisdom, but you’ll also have limited focus points to use your flurry of blows.

Realistically, I think you take a dip into monk if you want to increase damage output at the sacrifice of some durability

Its a good multiclass option, but a little complex too and requires some careful planning to make work.

Best subclass option: Warrior of mercy

Multiclass potential: 4/5

Paladin

Hit dice	d10
Hit points	1d10 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	Martial weapons
Armor training	Light armor, medium armor, shields
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Lay on hands, weapon mastery
Level 2 features	Fighting style, paladin’s smite

Spellcasting

You get spellcasting at level 1, but this is useless while raging. The best thing to do here is grab some out of combat spells that don’t require saving throws. This doesn’t give you many options as paladin spells are mainly for in combat effects but detect magic and detect evil and good are probably your best choices here.

Level 1

Some light healing from lay on hands gives you an easy way to recover allies from 0 hit points with just a bonus action. Weapon mastery means 2 extra weapons you’ve mastered. This is decent, but 2 was probably enough anyway, but I guess this gives you a little more flexibility.

Level 2

You get a fighting style which is useful for a barbarian. For upping their damage output. Sadly, divine smite is now a spell and not a feature so this won’t work with a barbarian’s rage.

Level 3

At level 3 you get channel divinity which can be used while raging. Divine sense is an out of combat use of this and is fine, but not something to invest levels in paladin for.

You also get your subclass.

Oath of devotion

You’ll get 2 spells you can’t maintain while raging in protection from evil and good and shield of faith which is pointless. Sacred weapon is better, but its extra damage relies on a high charisma which you’ll struggle to achieve.

If you choose to go for 7 paladin levels, your aura will grant immunity to the charmed condition which is useful, but a heavy investment.

Oath of glory

Inspiring smite is basically useless for a barbarian as it relies on casting divine smite which you can’t do while raging. Guiding bolt and heroism are equally problematic as in combat spells. Peerless athlete works for a barbarian, but it’s only situationally useful.

Aura of alacrity can be useful for it’s extra move speed for yourself and allies, but that’s a big level investment to access this.

Oath of the ancients

Nature’s wrath works really well for a tanky class like a barbarian for restraining the enemies you’ve dived into. Of your spells, ensnaring strike won’t work with your rage, but speak with animals is an out of combat spell so will work for you.

If you make it to level 7, your aura gains a few resistances which is great for you and allies.

Oath of vengeance

Hunter’s mark and bane both require concentration in combat so don’t work with rage. Vow of enmity does work nicely though for advantage on attacks against a single enemy.

If you get to level 7, relentless avenger will stop enemies getting away from you, which is exactly where you want them.

Beyond level 3

At later levels you’ll get extra attack at level 5 but this is useless as a barbarian already gets this. You’ll also get faithful steed which could be useful, but barbarians are fairly quick already.

Aura of protection works well for any frontline warrior, but it relies heavily on a high charisma which will be challenging for you. Aura of courage and radiant strikes are much more useful for a barbarian, but you’ll need to invest 10-11 levels in paladin to get to these.

Verdict

Despite both classes being quite tanky, there’s a surprising lack of synergy between them. Spellcasting is obviously problematic and this is exacerbated by the paladin’s lack of out of combat spells.

Some bonus action healing and a fighting style are the best your going to get here, but a fighting style can be grabbed through fighter with just a 1 level dip (instead of 2). Some of the subclasses are overly reliant on smites to be of much use too.

Best subclass option: Oath of vengeance

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Ranger

Hit dice	d10
Hit points	1d10 + con modifier
Proficiencies	1 skill
Weapon training	Martial weapons
Armor training	Light armor, medium armor, shields
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Favoured enemy, weapon mastery
Level 2 features	Deft explorer, fighting style

Spellcasting

As mentioned already, barbarians don’t do well with spellcasting so pick up some out of combat spells if this is the route you intend to go. Goodberry, longstrider and speak with animals can all work for a barbarian.

Level 1

Favoured enemy is basically useless for a barbarian unless you’ll be engaging in combats without using your rage (which generally isn’t recommended) as it’s a concentration spell. You’ll pick up a couple of weapon masteries which you don’t need but extra options can be handy I guess. Barbarian’s get very little from a ranger at level 1.

Level 2

You gain an expertise in a skill and learn 2 languages. Expertise is quite useful. A fighting style is also really handy for barbarians as they lack these so will increase your combat capabilities a bit. Just be aware that if you want a fighting style, multiclassing just one level in fighter will also get you this. At least level 2 is of some use to a barbarian.

Level 3

At level 3 you get to choose a ranger subclass.

Beast master

A beast companion works well for a barbarian. You don’t have too much to occupy your bonus action, which results in an extra attack and some extra combat support on most turns. Later features are all about improving your beast companion, but there’s little point going beyond level 7 here (and even that’s very high and I don’t think worth it) as those later features rely on spellcasting.

Fey wanderer

An extra D4 on attacks is decent. It will mean hitting multiple targets to maximise on the extra damage, and you likely won’t get the damage boost at level 11. Charm person isn’t great for a low wisdom barbarian. You do get proficiency with a face skills and a bonus to charisma checks equal to your wisdom modifier. The problem here is your wisdom and charisma are probably relatively low so the gains are likely to be minimal.

If you make it to level 7, then advantage of on charmed and frightened saving throws is useful, but attempting to apply that to others is challenging without a high wisdom.

Gloomstalker

An extra 10ft movement in the first round of combat is useful. You also get extra damage on some attacks, but the number of times you do this is limited by your wisdom modifier which is likely not high. Similarly, the increase to your initiative roll is limited due to your lower wisdom. Disguise self is an out of combat spells so has some uses as does darkvision and invisibility in darkness from creatures with darkvision.

If you make it to level 7, you get advantage on wisdom saving throws which are some of the most common.

Hunter

Hunter’s lore relies on using Hunter’s mark which barbarians will struggle to do. Hunter’s prey is much more useful for a barbarian and is a source of regular extra damage.

If you get to level 7, defensive tactics will make you more resilient which is definitely handy for a tank.

Beyond level 3

If you choose to increase levels beyond 3, you’ll get extra attack at level 5 (which is useless as you already have this). At level 6 though, your movement speed will increase 10ft and you’ll get a climb and swim speed. You’ll have to wait until level 9 to gain 2 more skill expertise. At level 10 you can give yourself temporary hit points, but how often you can do this will be tied to your wisdom modifier which will likely be low.

Verdict

Like with a paladin, it’s hard to look past the fact that for most things you’re getting, you might as well have just multiclassed into a fighter. You do get a fighting style and there are out of combat spells you can grab and subclasses provide extra damage at level 3. But there’s so much that’s wasted on a barbarian too, like in combat spells (especially the focus on Hunter’s mark) and requirements for high wisdom to make the most of features.

Sadly, this means that a ranger is hard to recommend for a barbarian multiclass. Especially as level 1 is basically useless for you. The only good thing I can say here is it’s a little better than multiclassing into a paladin, but not by a lot.

Best subclass option: Hunter

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Rogue

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	1 skill, thieves’ tools
Weapon training	None
Armor training	Light armor
Spellcasting	No
Level 1 features	Expertise, sneak attack, Thieves’, weapon mastery
Level 2 features	Cunning action

Level 1

2 skill expertise are useful and mean you can fashion yourself into a scout or backup rogue.

Sneak attack is really interesting on a barbarian. The main restriction that applies specifically to a barbarian is the need to use a finesse weapon. Finesse weapons can use strength or dexterity for attacks. To benefit from certain barbarian features (like rage damage bonuses) you need to use strength on the attack. This means that sneak attack can work for a barbarian making a strength attack, but with limitations on the weapons you use.

My suggestion would be to go with a rapier and shield for the extra protection, or go for a dual wielder so you get your extra attack(s) in and compensate for the lost damage from not wielding a two handed weapon. A shortsword and scimitar are probably best here.

Sadly, the damage scaling on sneak attack is poor when you’re not investing heavily in rogue levels. A fighting style can get you a similar or greater amount of extra damage per round so this only becomes more worthwhile than dipping into fighter if you intend to take 3 in levels in rogue (and even then, fighter is probably better, but it depends what you want from your multiclass).

You also get the situationally useful Thieves’ cant and a couple of weapon masteries which aren’t needed as you already have 2, but could be useful.

Level 2

You get cunning action at level 2. Dash as a bonus action is great for making up ground between you and enemies, but doing this in the first round of conflict (which is most likely) means delaying activating your rage. Disengage is also useful for getting to the parts of combat you need to be in.

Level 3

Steady aim is a handy way to gain advantage and to ensure you get your sneak attack. Both aspects are useful for a barbarian.

You also choose from the following options for your subclass:

Arcane trickster

Definitely your worst option as barbarians can’t cast spells while raging. All their features revolve around spellcasting too so unless you desperately want some out of combat spells, arcane trickster is basically useless (and you should probably have taken a level in bard or some other full caster instead).

Assassin

Assassinate works great on a barbarian. Early turns and extra damage from your sneak attack plus advantage on both your attacks (not just the one an average assassin would have).

The other features are more about disguise and deception which isn’t really a barbarian’s forte though steady aim won’t restrict movement at level 9 which is useful, but not worth the levels.

Soulknife

Telepathy and more reliable skills are decent if no one else has telepathy or if you’re operating as the main skill character in the party.

Psychic blades is much more interesting. It’s the longest range thrown weapons you can get with a 60ft short range that you can use with your strength (but will also work with your sneak attack). Vex is a good option for helping land your sneak attack and a bonus action attack is useful too.

One thing to be aware of is that the psychic blades don’t work with extra attacks. This means when you hit level 5 in barbarian, you can’t make 2 attacks with psychic blades with your attack action. However, there’s nothing stopping you drawing another weapon for the extra attack and using that instead.

Teleportation and more reliable attacks are useful at level 9, but probably not worth the level investment unless you’re really keen on other rogue features (or better sneak attacks). There may even be a compelling case to take 5 levels in barbarian and everything else in rogue, especially if you want to play a thrown weapon wielder…

Thief

Thieves get to pick locks and disarms traps as a bonus action which is situationally useful. What’s more useful is being able to use a magic item with your bonus action. Obviously the usefulness of this depends on the magic items you have, but it does mean you can attack with your action and use a magic item in the same turn.

This allows for the possibility of barbarians using spell-like effects while raging. For example, if you use a necklace of fireballs, it doesn’t require casting a spell, just hurling a bead which results in a fireball. You’ll have to be careful with your magic item choice though. Many magic items do require you to “cast” the spell though, like a wand of magic missiles, so this isn’t a way to get around spellcasting.

Level 3 will also get you a climb speed (which is decent) and dexterity based jumping (which is less useful for a barbarian).

Going up to level 9 in Thief isn’t worthwhile for a barbarian. Supreme sneak is generally just problematic to make work for a barbarian that should usually be front and centre of an attack rather than skulking around.

Beyond level 3

At level 5, cunning strike will give your sneak attacks more effects to cause problems for your enemies. Uncanny dodge and evasion will make you more resilient (important for a tank). Evasion stacks with danger sense meaning it’s even easier for you to completely avoid damage from dexterity saving throw effects (like fireball). If you reach level 7, reliable talent will make you really reliable at skill checks. All of this is pretty good on a barbarian, if a heavy investment in levels.

Verdict

Rogues work decently well with a barbarian. You can work around sneak attack fairly well, but the increased damage remains limited when just dipping a level or 2 into the class. A bigger dip into rogue can be worthwhile for the extra sneak attack damage and some strong resilience features too.

Best subclass option: Assassin or soulknife

Multiclass potential: 3/5

Sorcerer

Hit dice	d6
Hit points	1d6 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None
Armor training	None
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Innate sorcery
Level 2 features	Font of magic, metamagic

Spellcasting

We’ve been over this before, but barbarians and spellcasting don’t mix well. You’ll only really be able to cast spells outside of combat and ones that don’t require a saving throw are best. Things like minor illusion, detect magic and invisibility can work, though sorcerer’s are very much built for combat spells.

Level 1

Innate sorcery is an enhancement to your spellcasting for combat. Basically useless for a barbarian who should be raging in combat.

Level 2

Similar to innate sorcery, font of magic and metamagic are really about in combat casting and enhancing your spells. Again, this makes these options pointless on a barbarian as they’re just not compatible with rage.

Level 3

At level 3, you can choose from the following subclasses.

Aberrant sorcery

Telepathy is about the only useful thing you get at level 3. Level 6 will get you psychic resistance and advantage on charmed and frightened saving throws. Everything else is heavily spell-focused so not worthwhile.

Clockwork sorcery

Aid and alarm can be cast out of combat so somewhat useful for a barbarian. Restore balance is a useful buff/debuff that barbarians can use while raging. If you go to level 6, bastion of law works with rage too for more resilience and makes good use of your sorcery points.

Draconic sorcery

Draconic resilience will get you an extra hit point per level, but their version of unarmored defense is pointless for a barbarian that already has a better version of this with constitution instead of charisma (and it doesn’t stack).

Alter self is maybe your only workable spell. Elemental affinity at level 6 will get you a resistance, but extra damage on certain spells won’t really help you due to the conflict with rage.

Wild magic sorcery

Wild magic is problematic for a barbarian as it requires casting spells to activate and it’s mostly only useful in conbat. You do get advantage on a d20 test, but that’s about it at level 3. At level 6, you can make someone else’s d20 test better or worse by using sorcery points which works for a barbarian, but everything else about a wild magic sorcerer is problematic for a barbarian.

Beyond level 3

Sorcerer features after level 3 continue to enhance spellcasting and increase your metamagic options and sorcery points. This basically makes them redundant on a barbarian.

If you’re adamant on multiclassing into a sorcerer, probably the best way to do this is by casting a spell in the first round of combat and blast metamagic into it and then rage with your bonus action. Even like this, you can’t use innate sorcery and your lack of high charisma will be an issue, but it’s the only way to make anything from a sorcerer work on a barbarian.

Verdict

Sorcerers are built for spellcasting and barbarians are not. Unlike some other spellcasters, they lack non-spellcasting features and their spells are heavily-focused on combat-casting. This makes a sorcerer barbarian multiclass basically pointless.

Best subclass option: If I have to pick, then I guess it’s clockwork sorcery

Multiclass potential: 1/5

Warlock

Hit dice	d8
Hit points	1d8 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None
Armor training	Light armor
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Eldritch invocations
Level 2 features	Magical cunning

Spellcasting

Again, a poor option for barbarians, but at least you might be able to grab some out of combat utility here. Spells like minor illusion, unseen servant and invisibility could all work for a barbarian. If course you could just grab the shadow-touched feat if you want to cast invisibility…

Level 1

Eldritch invocations are really good and can work for a barbarian, but you will need to be careful of which you choose. For example, agonising blast relies on casting damage dealing spells which isn’t much good for a barbarian, but fiendish vigor can be a good source of temporary hit points through the false life spell which will work. You’ll be restricted by levels as to which invocations you can choose though.

Level 2

Recovering spells on a short rest can be useful if you’re using lots of out of combat spells, but spellcasting just isn’t great on a barbarian anyway.

Level 3

When you hit level 3, you choose one of the following subclasses.

Archery patron

You won’t get much use out of the subclass spells due to rage. Steps of the fey relies on casting misty step and is best used in combat, making this a largely redundant feature. The same goes for misty escape at level 6. Basically this is a useless subclass for a barbarian.

Celestial patron

Of your spells, aid and light are really the only workable options for a barbarian, unless you want to use healing spells out of combat. Healing light doesn’t require casting a spell though so works while raging but doesn’t scale great when multiclassing and relying on a low charisma. It remains a good emergency option though.

Radiant soul at level 6 will get you radiant resistance which is OK, but you won’t be casting damage dealing spells so the other benefits are of little value.

Fiend patron

Dark one’s blessing is solid for a barbarian granting regular temporary hit points, but the effectiveness is limited by your warlock level and charisma modifier, both of which are likely to be relatively low. The spells are of little value for a barbarian that should be raging in combat. Dark one’s own luck is good for resisting conditions more reliably.

Great old one patron

Telepathy at level 3 is decent enough, but other spells rely on a good charisma or casting in combat (both of which are problems for a barbarian). Psychic spells might surprisingly work for a barbarian as many illusions occur outside of combat and during stealth elements (which barbarians can be capable at). It’s still a spellcasting feature on the worst class for spellcasting in the game though.

At level 6, you’ll get clairvoyant combatant, which is good, but relies on a strong spell save DC, which as a barbarian, you likely won’t have.

Beyond level 3

Other than gaining higher levels spell slots, more eldritch invocations and subclass features, the next feature you get is at level 9 which lets you use contact other plane to contact your patron. It’s good and works for a barbarian, but is hardly worth the level investment for this.

Verdict

Warlocks aren’t entirely about casting spells, which means they’re not completely useless for a barbarian. But even with eldritch invocations, they don’t synergise that well with a barbarian. Many rely on spellcasting, some crossover too much with existing barbarian capabilities and the actual gains from them remain fairly minimal for a barbarian.

Best subclass option: Fiend patron

Multiclass potential: 2/5

Wizard

Hit dice	d6
Hit points	1d6 + con modifier
Proficiencies	None
Weapon training	None
Armor training	None
Spellcasting	Yes
Level 1 features	Ritual adept, arcane recovery
Level 2 features	Scholar

Spellcasting

As with all other spellcasting multiclasses, barbarians don’t combine great with spellcasting due to their rage and limited intelligence. The one advantage wizards have is their breadth of out of combat spells which are usable for a barbarian. Despite this, it’s sub optimal, and you’re probably better off grabbing the ritual caster feat.

Still, if you’re determined to play a barb-izard, then you can grab spells like mage hand, longstrider or augury for some extra utility.

Level 1

These features are all about having more spells able to be cast. It’s fine, but I don’t see a barbarian running out of spell slots due to limitations on combat casting.

Level 2

Expertise in a knowledge skill is OK, but with a low intelligence, barbarians aren’t your best choice for this kind of thing.

Level 3

You can pick one of the following subclasses at level 3.

Abjurer

Extra protection is great for a tank and you can cast spells out of combat to get your ward up. But you’re going to hit issues with concentration on abjuration spells or having things that aren’t that beneficial. Plus the ward’s power is tied to your wizard level and intelligence, and both are likely to be low. This remains an issue at level 6 when you can project your ward to another.

Diviner

Having access to more divination spells works better on a barbarian as they can often be cast out of combat (it’s still not great, but better). Portent is excellent though and will work for a raging barbarian just as well as anyone else, allowing you to change the d20 tests of you and others. Having extra spell slots from divination spells at level 6 is fine, but it’s hard to see you blasting through enough spell slots to make this needed.

Evoker

Evocation spells tend to be used in combat making knowing more of them largely redundant. The only thing you can do here is cast them in the first turn of combat, then activate your rage. But making cantrips more potent likely isn’t how you want to use this first round of combat (you’re better off blasting shatter or some other AoE spell that doesn’t require concentration).

At level 6, sculpt spells is great, but not for a barbarian. You really want this for later in combat when martials are surrounded by swathes of enemies. But you won’t be casting spells at this point as you’ll be raging.

Illusionist

Illusion spells can often work out of combat so knowing more of these can be beneficial for a barbarian. More effective minor illusion and illusions with longer range could work for a stealthy barbarian. Phantasmal creatures at level 6 isn’t really much good for a barbarian. Even if you cast these in the first round of combat, you’ll lose concentration on them when you use your rage.

Beyond level 3

Other than getting better spells, there’s not much more for wizards beyond level 3 other than the ability to swap spells from your spellbook more easily.

Verdict

Spellcasting is just poor on a barbarian, and wizards, like sorcerers, are all about casting spells. There’s almost nothing else here for a wizard. If you desperately want some out of combat spells, then ritual caster is a feat and can work just fine for a barbarian.

Best subclass option: Diviner if I’m forced to pick one

Multiclass potential: 1/5

Which Multiclass options are best for a barbarian?

If you’ve read this far, you’ll know that barbarians don’t mix well with most other classes. For starters, they just can’t cast spells in combat when raging and don’t have the mental ability scores to handle this effectively anyway. Already, this leaves you with fighters, monks and rogues as the non-spellcasting classes.

Of these, fighters make the easiest and most obvious synergy and a 1, 2 or 3 level dip makes loads of sense. Even just at level 1, a fighting style is a big buff. You also have the benefit of sharing all the same ability score priorities too.

Monks and rogues are trickier to make work, but can be effective. You’ll need to play around with weapon choices and fiddle with ability scores, but they can be good options for multiclassing. I prefer monk over rogue despite its greater complexity, mainly because the extra attacks you get from a monk can plug directly into a barbarian’s capabilities, while rogues need to invest extra levels to get more damage from sneak attack.

Sadly, everything else is highly problematic and barbarians gain too little by dipping into any spellcasting class.

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Do you have any barbarian multiclass builds you like to use? Am I missing a potential combination in my guide? Let me know about it in the comments below.

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