Colby, these videos are like therapy and you’re one of my favorite content creators on the platform. Just hearing you say “welcome home” every video and then “Deep Diving” into the character build is a one two combo that, as Todd Howard says, “just works”. Thanks for all the hard work, creativity, humor, and fun you bring in every video!
I think you just barely missed out on my absolute favorite bit of synergy between these two classes. Level 6 of Beast Barbarian (in addition to a 4th rage per day) gives you the option to increase your jump distance by the result of an athletics check. Given your probable Expertise in Athletics and eventual reliable talent, this character can also just do a standing high jump over 25 feet straight up, no action required. Peak performance is a running long jump that covers 57 feet, which you can actually make by taking a cunning action dash and still take the attack action at the end. The imagery of starting a fight, raging, and literally pouncing like 30 feet from a total standstill onto an enemy and mauling them is just fabulous.
A good monster for your Psiclaw tribe to pattern themselves on is the Umber Hulk, a classic D&D baddie that is known for having massive claws and a level of psychic affinity. They have been core monsters to D&D for some time now and thus would be pretty reasonable for a barbarian tribe with psionic tendencies to emulate.
☠️ We are ALWAYS watching. But yeah I love this build but wish it could benefit from more. Honestly, Gem Dragonborn thematically fits as a race so well here, I think. The psychic blades mixed with the physical claws of a dragon is just so amazing to me.
In the 90’s there was a series about Psylock and Wolverine had a daughter with psychic claws named Wildthing. Edit: She was the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra. She learned her psychic skills from her Aunt Psylock.
I'd like to see your take on a Battle Master multiclass that focuses on lots of different ways to manipulate foes in combat via forced movement and status effects (like shoving and/or pulling, tripping, fear effects, impose disadvantage, etc) to give them more to do in combat than just attack to deal damage and make martial fighting more fun and versatile.
Our table made a homebrew feat that let's a dual wielder take a -5 to hit to make a dual strike, where you hit with both weapons at the same time (using only the higher hit modifier and damage modifer of the 2 weapons). Pretty decent with regular weapons, but the potential goes through the roof if you have magic weapons.
@@Fr4nZeR yeah, it also has the dual wielder feat and the two weapon fighting style built in, because my DM and I both agreed that you shouldn't need to go on a scavenger hunt to find all the little ways to make dual wielding viable. So if it seems too strong, just remove those parts. "You master fighting with two weapons, gaining the following benefits: •You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light. •When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack. •You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one. This means you can stow one weapon and draw another in the same time you would usually stow a weapon. •When you make an attack while wielding two weapons, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll to attempt to strike with both weapons simultaneously. Roll once to hit, using the higher modifier, but roll damage for both weapons. •You can use your reaction to assume a defensive stance, granting +2 to your AC until the start of your next turn.
@@carsonlake3842 Ok. Say I have 2 regular longswords and I'm a lvl 5 fighter with 16 str. I can use my two attacks and my bonus action attack to make 3 of these power attacks for a total of 6d8+18 (2d8+6 each). At a +1 to hit. Is that correct?
@@Fr4nZeR well, I don't think you could actually make 3 dual strikes. I dont think the dual strike should activate two weapon fightings bonus action attack. And if you rule that it does, I don't think the bonus action attack would be a dual strike. I would rule that you can make one dual strike + one normal attack + TWF bonus attack OR two dual strikes. I was playing a swashbuckler rogue w/booming blade when we made this feat so I guess we never had to ask these questions really haha
I'd personally go with Plasmoid. The prospect of entering a locked room via the keyhole and then proceeding to grapple everyone and kick all kinds of ass without any equipment whatsoever is something I've been brainstorming ideas about since i read about them in UA, and this seems like the perfect opportunity for it.
My first thought with regards to tying the two classes together is to theme the bestial shifting as biokinesis, wrapping everything into the psychic side of things.
These thumbnails just keep getting better and better! Dual weapon fighting is such an iconic style, it’s a shame that even after all these years of 5e, it still takes so much work to make it even come close to just using a greatsword or a bow. But I look forward to hearing you use it to the fullest extent!
@@DrAndrewJBlack @OathboundHero Honestly, Dragon themed Barbarians sounds like an incredibly fun time. The beast barbarian combined with feats like Gift of the Chromatic Dragon, and maybe multiclassing with monk just to sneak in some more attacks with your bonus action. Or just be a Minotaur and reflavor your horns as dragon horns, giving yourself a bonus action horn attack! Or a dhampir, with a powerful bite attack! (The healing can be twice as good as well if you are raging!) Vampire dragon anybody?
I found the time for another marathon of these builds!! Starting with the newest ones going backwards! Love the content, your ideas for builds always inspire the characters I make! Keep it up Colby!!! ❤
Barbarian 6 seems really crucial for this build to make sure your claws do damage to all creatures. Also you get a pretty cool jumping ability that works really well with your crazy athletics skill.
Amazing video as always, I love that despite being the "slave to the spreadsheet" type, not every new sustained DPR build has to top the last one on the spreadsheet and you're just as content a hundred plus episodes later making something that sits near the bottom but would be really fun to play. One quick note about something you said in Final Thoughts: The psychic blades can only be manifested by taking the Attack action, so another PC allowing you to get a reaction attack wouldn't allow you to get Sneak Attack damage because those abilities say you can "make one weapon attack", not take the Attack action.
My favourite race for beast barbarian is Tabaxi. If you can find some way of getting the jump spell (feat, multiclass or ally) then you can use the 6th lvl jumping feature, feline agility and athletics expertise to jump like 100ft+ into the air. Imagine jumping into the air and grappling a flying target so you both fall to the ground.
"shoot claws that grow back later" There was a thing for that in earlier editions. There were mechanics for "fleshgrafting", and one of teh options for it was a "fiendish claw". It dealt 1d6 slashing damage? I think. It worked as a natural weapon, and you could fire off your 3 nails, using "magic missile" as a supernatural ability, once a day.
Another thing about this build is that the bonus action Psychic Blades attack only does 1d4+strength damage, so if you already provided sneak attack with the Psychic Blade attack from Extra Attack, spending your bonus action to use Cunning Action, or to shift as a Shifter may very well be worth it.
The best part is right before the vid begins and my mind is flooded with ideas on what he's gonna have for us. Edit- A few minutes in, and this is going to be FASCINATING to revisit after the OneD&D changes to dual wielding.
I think the Crysmal - might be the optimal psionic creature … they are very tough a trait a barbarian tribe would prize and they have psi powers … also for flavor your claws could manifest as crystal
@@tezell24 that’s awesome - my dm said no - but I hope it turns out awesome - they crysmal is a fun underrated creature - I hope it turns out as awesome on paper as it seemed in my head.
I had this character on the docket for my next campaign! So happy to see your take on it. Me, I’ll be rushing level 6 Barbarian for the climbing speed. My “vision” for the character is a jaguar-esque shifter who grapples someone, dragging them up a tree and dropping them before pouncing.
There's this character in Marvel named Wild Thing, and she has like the exact abilities described in this video: Psychic claws that come out of her hands. Funnily enough, she's the daughter of Wolverine and...Elektra. I know, strange it's not Psylocke, given she has an exact combination of their powers. Still, she's pretty cool, and this video is very cool!
You could boost damage with 3 levels in fighter echo knight for an extra attack roll CON mod times per long rest. An extra attack, reckless and with sneak attack damage! Plus second wind, a fighting style, etc
When I 1st saw the thumbnail, I thought "awesome, he's going to do that 'soul claw' grapple build that I've always thought was best in breed for that" Love that 5e proves me both right...and so very wrong
I had a soul knife rouge who I let psychicly attune to magic daggers so that his soul blades took on the additional properties. So when he got a flame tongue dagger he could use a bonus action to focus his psychic energy and cause his soul blades to do additional fire damage as per the flame tongues ability. It was cool. And not a path of the beast barb, but I had a Path of the Lycan blood hunter/Way of the Beast (homebrew) Monk who did a wolverine and went through a brutal ritual that nearly killed them to get adamantine claws that gave them some cool bonuses. They also had some home brew weapons.
I just finished playing a soul knife / echo knight in an avernus campaign. To your question, my dm didn't let me up my psyblade damage dice, but he did give my +3 artifact item (leveling story driven homebrew items we all got) let me use my psychic dice as a smite-ish type ability. It really pumped up the damage that I was able to do in a nova situation.
☠ Soulknife is one of the classes I would really love to play sometime. Thematically, seems very cool and fun. I'm glad Wizards is looking at ways to fix Two Weapon Fighting in One D&D!
So I'm playing a character similar to this- a path of the Beast barbarian (level 6). My utilization of the bonus action isn't Psi Claws, it's Tavern Brawler, I then combine my Jump 6th level feature with my Tabaxi speed boost to jump into the air and drop the enemy. After just trying this out for the first time, we rolled a random treasure and we got a ring of Jumping.... I haven't even begun to calculate the mayhem I can cause with this now! Anyhow, given me some food for thought, I hadn't considered Rogue previously; my intent was to go Ranger for spells that increase my movement speed.
I said I was excited when I saw the teaser for this build, and I was NOT let down! This build may not have the most damage but it does look so fun to play and it will be a character I play at some point, though not any time soon since I am currently playing a rune knight fighter/bear totem barbarian build. edit: ☠because I was told to do it at the end of the video.
Thanks Colby for the character idea! I think this is going to be my next character for a Spelljamer campaign I'm playing in. To match the setting I'm instead going with a Plasmoid that has ingested the beasts and monstrosities they have slain and manifests the Beast weapons through their bones. They also along the way was infected with an aberrant parasite that gives them psi powers. A lot of ways like Venom.
I'm currently in a campaign where the party are working to resurrect Sardior, the God of the (psychic) Gem dragons. The concept revolves around the idea that this family of Wood Elves are cursed to take on (amethyst) draconic properties and my character's twin brother was actually born as a drake. Because of that I'm doing it as a Drakewarden, and I'm having a ton of fun. That said, if I could do it all over again I might just take this build instead! Psychic dragon shapeshifting? Massive flurries of ferocious attacks? Reckless attacks with Elven Accuracy? Yes please! Colby I know how much you love your dragons. You and I both know you would love to put the draconic spin on this! Oh, also... ☠
Am I the only one that likes to think of the Beast Barbarian subclass as THE subclass for all the beastial races, like Leonin or Lizardfolk? I mean, they already have claws, fangs, and a tail. It really makes that character seem like just a beast and not lycan, and I love that.
I like the idea of taking this build with a dhampir, with 'The Thirst' not being for a victim's blood, but for their psychic essence (#4 on the dhampir hunger table). Whenever they use their vampiric bite, the stolen essence starts building up the seed for the rogue subclass, until at some point you reach critical mass, and the psychic chain reaction becomes self-sustaining.
Innovative and creative. Colby has made this channel "must-see videos." Also, this build reminds me a little of Beorn, the skin changer from "The Hobbit." .... Where's the "Skull & Crossbones" icon?
At my table two weapon fighting is just one extra attack if one handed wep in both hands. All same bonus and modifiers if proficiency in both. Simple and it works cleanly. Ecco knight+ Astral monk is amazing please do a build on it🙏
I feel like, though perhaps simplistic a more feline beast line would work well here. Cats do have a transdimensional quality about them, half in as Constantine would say.
Huh I was imagining something else when I saw the short. I used a barbarian and kensei monk with tortle. Early claws for unarmed strikes, 19 starting AC, and using claws as dedicated/kensei weapons allows the agile parry for 19 AC after dropping shield, reckless attack flurry of blows, and SHARPEN THE BLADE ON THE CLAWS! I also did go 6 levels in barbarian for the climbing. Also ☠ for outtakes!
Nice Job Colby! Currently playing a build similar to this. Surprisingly tanky and great DPR! A suggestion for you to up those DPR numbers, take level 6 in Barbarian, use the Jump feature from Beast Barbarian to add Fall damage. I would also suggest Bugbear from MOM, all those sweet attacks get an extra 2d6 on round 1!
If focusing on grappling picking up the level 6 beast barbarian ability might be worth it, whether its climb, jump or swimming dragging people in hard to get places at a better than normal speed is useful. grabbing and then jumping a crazy distance, grabbing and running up walls etc.
To me, this seems like a way to build a symbiote character. A warrior who has been infected by something that warps their body in such a horrific and unnatural way that it drives unsuspecting onlookers mad. You’re playing the dunwitch horror. Or venom. Or martial Harry Potter with a chunk of voldemorts soul inside. Play it like a warlock with a patron where the thing your symbiotic patron wants you to do is rage and soul knife people to death.
Oh boy, this seems to be an interesting combination, I am eager to watch this! A little sidenote. I tried out a lot of possible, theoretical dual wield build and even the 5e version can be more than viable, but ironically not on the typical martials like fighters and barbarians. What I recognized, is that probably Bladesingers, Warlocks and Paladins are probably the best dual wielders thanks to on-hit features that are not weapon specific nor have to be recast on targets. THese are spells like Spirit Shroud and features like song of Victory or improved divine smite. However at least for the Paladin and Hexblade a Polearm with the option of GWM is still more efficient. Outside of these, I think it is also viable for gimmick builds, like Rogues that get a second sneak attack, high lvl Sword Bards with magical secrets and Rangers, because although Hunters Mark is clunky, they are usually dex based. So ironically where it can really be a strong options are mainly gish characters, but not traditional martials. That beeing said, I am very excited for the new version of dual wielding from the one DND-playtest material.
"Skull and x bones" also Colby if you watched critical role campaign 1 I believe mercer granted a stone that once crushed added a 1d6 fire damage permanently. Pretty sure trinket got it
"I'm thinking the bestial form manifested by your clan, or maybe just by you in particular, is one that has both, like, feral, and also psychic - or maybe telepathic - tendencies." I do believe the creature you're looking for is one of the Slaadi.
Funny enough I was just working on a similar claw build but instead I went Monk to get the bonus action claw. 2 attacks at level 2, 3 at level 4, and 4 at 6. Then 5 at level 7 when you use Flurry of Blows. If you continue to level monk you get more Ki to use Flurry more often. Of course, you don't get Sneak Attack but get fun Monk stuff instead. You could multiclass into rogue also if you wanted
☠️ - I ALWAYS watch the outtakes. This character concept might be my favorite so far. Can’t wait to hit my player’s warforged battle smith artificer with 4 attacks!
At my table baseline two weapon fighting is rules as written. When you take the two weapon fighting style you add your ability modifier to the damage of the offhand attack and you make the off-hand attack as part of the attack action. We also threw in that you can draw two weapons as you would one because how are you going to learn to fight with two weapons and not how to draw them both at the same time? The dual wielder feet is unchanged. That being said I like this build and may try it out myself thank you.
I envision the psychic blades as a mental claw attack, sometime with reach(when thrown) and sometimes grabbing something and pulling yourself through the void(when teleporting)
In fact Tri-kreen and longtooth shifter could both do this trick without multiclass. If you're a tri-kreen, you could hold a shield, two short swords for two-weapon fighting, and one empty hand for the claw transformation. If you're a longtooth shifter, you could use your shift ability and instantly make a bonus unarm strike with your fangs and continue to do it in the following turns. Both methods make a 1d6+str attack instead of 1d4+str. But for Tri-kreen you would need a two-weapon fighting style.
I've actually been theory crafting a character like this, except instead of Rouge levels, I'm multiclassing into the Homebrew Pugilist class with Squared Circle subclass to become a ferocious grapple beast
I really hope they keep the new version of Two-Weapon Fighting from the 1 D&D UA. This will make dual welding more viable as an option for martial builds.
This is for sure the next character I’ll play. I’ll probably go Simic Hybrid just for even more beast type flavor with added utility from the glide they get. ☠️
In my game, I had a player who was a Beast Barbarian/Brutality Monk(homebrew subclass I made where he can spend Ki to take damage, which buffs his attacks) and I remembered thinking of all the items I could have given him. He was a Leonin from a tribe that worshipped the Dawnfather, and eventually he got a tribal horn from ancients past that gave him some crazy abilities. One of them was getting 1d8 radiant damage... on EVERY attack. I was fully aware of how strong it would be(barb 3/monk 17 after all) and so making 3 claw attacks + 2 unarmed strikes as a bonus action was an insane damage bump for him. They were in Tier 4 after all, they were all OP. Edit: oh and I forgot, ☠
@@bz7672 loosing the +1 to all unarmed strikes stinks but that bonus action is nice if you're caught up in an entangle or something that limits your close combat. 15ft reach and 1d6 added to every attack is nice. I play an elemental monk with fangs of the fire snake and my DM hates me
Maybe Thrikreen? You could let the extra arms do the beast and soul knife shenanigans and then one of your bigger arms could wield another weapon, like a rapier. This would give you a weapon in hand to make attacks of opportunity which for a rogue could be an additional sneak attack as it is on your enemy's turn and not your own. You won't have a soul knife in hand and your natural weapons are not finesse weapons. For a while I was thinking Tabaxi or Lizardfolk because they have natural weaponry that can be used as a reaction attack of opportunity, but they are no finesse weapons, so no sneak attack. The extra arms let you have finesse weapon in hand.
I'd delay the rogue levels until after Barb 6 so your natural weapon is magical. Also rapier at Rogue 1 is alright but you're better off with the Scimitar because you took Slasher at character creation. D6 vs D8 is negligible but another chance at the crit effect is possibly very valuable.
the amount of things in the game that don't have the light weapon property is ludicrous. Your telling me i can't duel weild darts, pistols, or my own claws. How is a club light and a whip isn't.
Flavor your blades as claws that manifest over your regular claws. First attack is regular claw, then your other hand grows psionic claws for the second attack, which empowers your first attack hand with psionic claws for a third attack, then you finish with the depowered hand used in the second attack. Also, flavor the thrown blades like you shot a claw out. This character isnt going to be a front line fighter but it will be more of a utility skirmisher. Especially if you take the mobility feat. Berserker Barrage in and through.
Finally took the plunge and became a subscriber, I love your videos even though I internally argue with all of them ^_^ Here's to many more! Is the level 6 feature not incredibly good for positioning? Infinite spiders climb or being able to jump 60 feet on a turn just strikes me as amazing. Jumping would also trigger the Tashas "Falling on a creature" rule which could work out nicely! Could pop the DPS right up if we are happy with self-inflicting damage. I'm quite spolied, my DM has allowed the claws to be finesse as long as no shield is wielded. Additionally, they were happy for the unarmed fighting style to apply to the damage die of the claws which isn't amazing but eh. . It's still early days so I'm all barbarian but can't wait.
I understand that Colby wants to hone in on the *sustained* dpr for this build but I would probably start taking levels on fighter at level 9 to get action surge and maybe add some other damage dealing elements like rune Rune Knight
Why was my first thought seeing that name, "If the character only has one eye then they can be a Psyclawps!"
lol
Psycho-paw-t?
My guess would be that your a genius is why
Funny.
*Stealing the idea*
Colby, these videos are like therapy and you’re one of my favorite content creators on the platform. Just hearing you say “welcome home” every video and then “Deep Diving” into the character build is a one two combo that, as Todd Howard says, “just works”. Thanks for all the hard work, creativity, humor, and fun you bring in every video!
❤
colby can i make a 10 hours video of you welcoming us? 😂
Agreed! Your wholesomeness brings a dimension that no other channel can replicate and that won't show up on the spreadsheet!
@@loganlandonline Ha ha - knock yourself out! One day I'd love to see a compilation of all my "don't say that's" from my outtakes :P
☝️this right here. We deeply appreciate you Colby.
I think you just barely missed out on my absolute favorite bit of synergy between these two classes. Level 6 of Beast Barbarian (in addition to a 4th rage per day) gives you the option to increase your jump distance by the result of an athletics check. Given your probable Expertise in Athletics and eventual reliable talent, this character can also just do a standing high jump over 25 feet straight up, no action required. Peak performance is a running long jump that covers 57 feet, which you can actually make by taking a cunning action dash and still take the attack action at the end. The imagery of starting a fight, raging, and literally pouncing like 30 feet from a total standstill onto an enemy and mauling them is just fabulous.
Also grappling and jumping for additional damage if you can keep them held
A good monster for your Psiclaw tribe to pattern themselves on is the Umber Hulk, a classic D&D baddie that is known for having massive claws and a level of psychic affinity. They have been core monsters to D&D for some time now and thus would be pretty reasonable for a barbarian tribe with psionic tendencies to emulate.
Especially as a thrikreen
This is such a great idea
Level 1:(see above) [barbarian 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [barbarian 2]
Level 3:(@20:16) [barbarian 3 & sub-class]
Level 4:(@23:08) [barbarian 4 & ASI]
Level 5:(@23:20) [barbarian 5]
Level 6:(@25:31) [rogue 1 & expertise]
Level 7:(see above) [rogue 2]
Level 8:(@30:46) [rogue 3 & sub-class]
Level 9:(@36:15) [rogue 4 & ASI]
Level 10:(see above) [rogue 5]
Level 11:(@39:06) [rogue 6 & expertise]
Level 12:(@39:35) [rogue 7]
Level 13:(@40:05) [rogue 8 & ASI]
Level 14:(see above) [rogue 9]
Level 15:(@43:45) [rogue 10 & ASI]
Level 16:(@45:05) [rogue 11]
Level 17:(@45:39) [rogue 12 & ASI]
🎩tip
You're a hero, thank you
☠️ We are ALWAYS watching.
But yeah I love this build but wish it could benefit from more. Honestly, Gem Dragonborn thematically fits as a race so well here, I think. The psychic blades mixed with the physical claws of a dragon is just so amazing to me.
That's two! :)
Eyyyyy
☠️
My first thought from the title was "so if Jean and Wolverine had a kid?"
Excited to watch. Cheers!
Woooo
In the 90’s there was a series about Psylock and Wolverine had a daughter with psychic claws named Wildthing.
Edit: She was the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra. She learned her psychic skills from her Aunt Psylock.
I'd like to see your take on a Battle Master multiclass that focuses on lots of different ways to manipulate foes in combat via forced movement and status effects (like shoving and/or pulling, tripping, fear effects, impose disadvantage, etc) to give them more to do in combat than just attack to deal damage and make martial fighting more fun and versatile.
I'd love to see an "Ultimate Martial Controller" character.
Yup. That would be an awesome build
Our table made a homebrew feat that let's a dual wielder take a -5 to hit to make a dual strike, where you hit with both weapons at the same time (using only the higher hit modifier and damage modifer of the 2 weapons). Pretty decent with regular weapons, but the potential goes through the roof if you have magic weapons.
Can you write it here in detail?
@@Fr4nZeR yeah, it also has the dual wielder feat and the two weapon fighting style built in, because my DM and I both agreed that you shouldn't need to go on a scavenger hunt to find all the little ways to make dual wielding viable. So if it seems too strong, just remove those parts.
"You master fighting with two weapons, gaining the following benefits:
•You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.
•When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
•You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one. This means you can stow one weapon and draw another in the same time you would usually stow a weapon.
•When you make an attack while wielding two weapons, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll to attempt to strike with both weapons simultaneously. Roll once to hit, using the higher modifier, but roll damage for both weapons.
•You can use your reaction to assume a defensive stance, granting +2 to your AC until the start of your next turn.
@@carsonlake3842 Ok. Say I have 2 regular longswords and I'm a lvl 5 fighter with 16 str. I can use my two attacks and my bonus action attack to make 3 of these power attacks for a total of 6d8+18 (2d8+6 each). At a +1 to hit. Is that correct?
The power attack should probably disable the bonus action attack, otherwise it's Sharpshooter+XBE in a single feat
@@Fr4nZeR well, I don't think you could actually make 3 dual strikes. I dont think the dual strike should activate two weapon fightings bonus action attack. And if you rule that it does, I don't think the bonus action attack would be a dual strike. I would rule that you can make one dual strike + one normal attack + TWF bonus attack OR two dual strikes. I was playing a swashbuckler rogue w/booming blade when we made this feat so I guess we never had to ask these questions really haha
Wait a second, did you just make Psylocke/Gallade into a D&D build?! I'm SO ready for this!
The split claw/axe extra attack does indeed work, there is no foul there, i think Crawford Twitter has even reinforced that before
I'd personally go with Plasmoid. The prospect of entering a locked room via the keyhole and then proceeding to grapple everyone and kick all kinds of ass without any equipment whatsoever is something I've been brainstorming ideas about since i read about them in UA, and this seems like the perfect opportunity for it.
My first thought with regards to tying the two classes together is to theme the bestial shifting as biokinesis, wrapping everything into the psychic side of things.
These thumbnails just keep getting better and better! Dual weapon fighting is such an iconic style, it’s a shame that even after all these years of 5e, it still takes so much work to make it even come close to just using a greatsword or a bow. But I look forward to hearing you use it to the fullest extent!
Kudos to my friend Preston for his stellar work on the thumbs!
Thanks! -Preston 😁
You could totally flavor as having ties to a *Gem Dragon.* Harness the power of gem dragons with your draconic claws and psionic abilities.
Yoooo, that's a fantastic idea!
Another great idea
@@DrAndrewJBlack @OathboundHero
Honestly, Dragon themed Barbarians sounds like an incredibly fun time. The beast barbarian combined with feats like Gift of the Chromatic Dragon, and maybe multiclassing with monk just to sneak in some more attacks with your bonus action. Or just be a Minotaur and reflavor your horns as dragon horns, giving yourself a bonus action horn attack! Or a dhampir, with a powerful bite attack! (The healing can be twice as good as well if you are raging!) Vampire dragon anybody?
I saw the short yesterday and immediately knew what was gonna happen :) Very much looking forward to this episode
I found the time for another marathon of these builds!! Starting with the newest ones going backwards! Love the content, your ideas for builds always inspire the characters I make! Keep it up Colby!!! ❤
Barbarian 6 seems really crucial for this build to make sure your claws do damage to all creatures. Also you get a pretty cool jumping ability that works really well with your crazy athletics skill.
Aye Colby assumes the magical item but level 6s jump feature is worth it alone. Have you seen the falling on other creatures rule in Tashas?
I really appreciate coming back to your videos even years past when they are uploaded. I truly feel like I'm welcomed home pulling up these videos.
Tuesdays are my favorite, thanks Colby. 🎉
Your shirt in this episode is amazing!
Amazing video as always, I love that despite being the "slave to the spreadsheet" type, not every new sustained DPR build has to top the last one on the spreadsheet and you're just as content a hundred plus episodes later making something that sits near the bottom but would be really fun to play. One quick note about something you said in Final Thoughts: The psychic blades can only be manifested by taking the Attack action, so another PC allowing you to get a reaction attack wouldn't allow you to get Sneak Attack damage because those abilities say you can "make one weapon attack", not take the Attack action.
Man, Colby. Every week! It's just so amazing! Thank you so much, brother.
If you went with Minotaur as a race couldn't you do 2 claw attacks and hammering horns as a bonus action by lvl 3?
My favourite race for beast barbarian is Tabaxi. If you can find some way of getting the jump spell (feat, multiclass or ally) then you can use the 6th lvl jumping feature, feline agility and athletics expertise to jump like 100ft+ into the air. Imagine jumping into the air and grappling a flying target so you both fall to the ground.
"shoot claws that grow back later"
There was a thing for that in earlier editions. There were mechanics for "fleshgrafting", and one of teh options for it was a "fiendish claw". It dealt 1d6 slashing damage? I think. It worked as a natural weapon, and you could fire off your 3 nails, using "magic missile" as a supernatural ability, once a day.
Who is this handsome man with imagination, intelligence and such a smooooth delivery?
Another thing about this build is that the bonus action Psychic Blades attack only does 1d4+strength damage, so if you already provided sneak attack with the Psychic Blade attack from Extra Attack, spending your bonus action to use Cunning Action, or to shift as a Shifter may very well be worth it.
I love Psionic classes, I have been working on a few homebrew subclasses that I'm excited to try out soon!
☠️ Oh yeah, the outtakes are awesome 😊 Great build, Colby, thanks!
This is the first time I actively didn't skip your ad. I think I'm gonna buy some minis!
The best part is right before the vid begins and my mind is flooded with ideas on what he's gonna have for us.
Edit- A few minutes in, and this is going to be FASCINATING to revisit after the OneD&D changes to dual wielding.
I think the Crysmal - might be the optimal psionic creature … they are very tough a trait a barbarian tribe would prize and they have psi powers … also for flavor your claws could manifest as crystal
It's been a year since you posted this, I know, but I have just seen this message and it has absolutely inspired me, thank you! :D
@@tezell24 that’s awesome - my dm said no - but I hope it turns out awesome - they crysmal is a fun underrated creature - I hope it turns out as awesome on paper as it seemed in my head.
Aang as Luke and Katara as Leah makes me more uncomfortable than that one scene in Empire Strikes back. You know which scene I'm talking about.
Welp! This just jumped to the top of my characters to play list. Love the concept and the flavor! 10/10 Chefs kiss!
Also ☠️
Imagine being telepathically linked with a raging barbarian
If you feel like you are telepathically linked with a raging Barbarian, take some Advil.
I was so amped for another twf build after yesterday's short. Woohoo!
Yeah, the shirt is cool and all, so long as you don't think too deeply about it. Luke and Leia were siblings, after all. Also, dig the build!
I love that I knew exactly what the core of this build is gonna be the moment I saw the title.
I haven't gotten there yet. Are we doing Soulknife and Path of the Beast?
@@WolfHreda yes
Your idea to allow the use of rage in return for Exhaustion is genius. I wish they'd implement this for all limited features...
I had this character on the docket for my next campaign! So happy to see your take on it.
Me, I’ll be rushing level 6 Barbarian for the climbing speed. My “vision” for the character is a jaguar-esque shifter who grapples someone, dragging them up a tree and dropping them before pouncing.
There's this character in Marvel named Wild Thing, and she has like the exact abilities described in this video: Psychic claws that come out of her hands. Funnily enough, she's the daughter of Wolverine and...Elektra. I know, strange it's not Psylocke, given she has an exact combination of their powers. Still, she's pretty cool, and this video is very cool!
You could boost damage with 3 levels in fighter echo knight for an extra attack roll CON mod times per long rest. An extra attack, reckless and with sneak attack damage! Plus second wind, a fighting style, etc
Your thumbnail is awesome!
When I 1st saw the thumbnail, I thought "awesome, he's going to do that 'soul claw' grapple build that I've always thought was best in breed for that"
Love that 5e proves me both right...and so very wrong
Your voice is really soothing and it works as ASMR for me lmao. You’re amazing and so is your content
I had a soul knife rouge who I let psychicly attune to magic daggers so that his soul blades took on the additional properties. So when he got a flame tongue dagger he could use a bonus action to focus his psychic energy and cause his soul blades to do additional fire damage as per the flame tongues ability. It was cool.
And not a path of the beast barb, but I had a Path of the Lycan blood hunter/Way of the Beast (homebrew) Monk who did a wolverine and went through a brutal ritual that nearly killed them to get adamantine claws that gave them some cool bonuses. They also had some home brew weapons.
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Great vid, I love the theming, and especially the scheming needed to get those 4 attacks! Could pair well with a concentration-free Hunter’s Mark…
I haven't been able to find a good group to play with recently and your videos have kept me interested and ready to play. So thanks for that 😁
I just finished playing a soul knife / echo knight in an avernus campaign. To your question, my dm didn't let me up my psyblade damage dice, but he did give my +3 artifact item (leveling story driven homebrew items we all got) let me use my psychic dice as a smite-ish type ability. It really pumped up the damage that I was able to do in a nova situation.
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Soulknife is one of the classes I would really love to play sometime. Thematically, seems very cool and fun. I'm glad Wizards is looking at ways to fix Two Weapon Fighting in One D&D!
I'm playing a soulknife right now, and even though we just hit level 4 after a year and some change, I'm absolutely loving it. 100% recommend.
☠️! Thanks for making Tuesdays awesome Colby!
☠ Love staying for the outtakes! Sometimes I look up the songs you sing, if I don't know them already.
So I'm playing a character similar to this- a path of the Beast barbarian (level 6). My utilization of the bonus action isn't Psi Claws, it's Tavern Brawler, I then combine my Jump 6th level feature with my Tabaxi speed boost to jump into the air and drop the enemy.
After just trying this out for the first time, we rolled a random treasure and we got a ring of Jumping.... I haven't even begun to calculate the mayhem I can cause with this now!
Anyhow, given me some food for thought, I hadn't considered Rogue previously; my intent was to go Ranger for spells that increase my movement speed.
I said I was excited when I saw the teaser for this build, and I was NOT let down! This build may not have the most damage but it does look so fun to play and it will be a character I play at some point, though not any time soon since I am currently playing a rune knight fighter/bear totem barbarian build.
edit: ☠because I was told to do it at the end of the video.
Thanks Colby for the character idea! I think this is going to be my next character for a Spelljamer campaign I'm playing in. To match the setting I'm instead going with a Plasmoid that has ingested the beasts and monstrosities they have slain and manifests the Beast weapons through their bones. They also along the way was infected with an aberrant parasite that gives them psi powers. A lot of ways like Venom.
I'm currently in a campaign where the party are working to resurrect Sardior, the God of the (psychic) Gem dragons. The concept revolves around the idea that this family of Wood Elves are cursed to take on (amethyst) draconic properties and my character's twin brother was actually born as a drake. Because of that I'm doing it as a Drakewarden, and I'm having a ton of fun.
That said, if I could do it all over again I might just take this build instead! Psychic dragon shapeshifting? Massive flurries of ferocious attacks? Reckless attacks with Elven Accuracy? Yes please!
Colby I know how much you love your dragons. You and I both know you would love to put the draconic spin on this!
Oh, also... ☠
☠️ Love all your videos and the outtakes are the best! Excellent taste in music and tshirts!
Am I the only one that likes to think of the Beast Barbarian subclass as THE subclass for all the beastial races, like Leonin or Lizardfolk? I mean, they already have claws, fangs, and a tail. It really makes that character seem like just a beast and not lycan, and I love that.
I like the idea of taking this build with a dhampir, with 'The Thirst' not being for a victim's blood, but for their psychic essence (#4 on the dhampir hunger table). Whenever they use their vampiric bite, the stolen essence starts building up the seed for the rogue subclass, until at some point you reach critical mass, and the psychic chain reaction becomes self-sustaining.
Innovative and creative. Colby has made this channel "must-see videos."
Also, this build reminds me a little of Beorn, the skin changer from "The Hobbit."
.... Where's the "Skull & Crossbones" icon?
That's the best way I'v ever seen to make a utility barb with great damage
☠ Love the build and concept.....btw I'm actually surprised that they never visited that angle for Wolverine and Psylocke.
Time to homebrew the psychic blades and make them scale.
At my table two weapon fighting is just one extra attack if one handed wep in both hands. All same bonus and modifiers if proficiency in both. Simple and it works cleanly. Ecco knight+ Astral monk is amazing please do a build on it🙏
I feel like, though perhaps simplistic a more feline beast line would work well here. Cats do have a transdimensional quality about them, half in as Constantine would say.
Huh I was imagining something else when I saw the short. I used a barbarian and kensei monk with tortle. Early claws for unarmed strikes, 19 starting AC, and using claws as dedicated/kensei weapons allows the agile parry for 19 AC after dropping shield, reckless attack flurry of blows, and SHARPEN THE BLADE ON THE CLAWS! I also did go 6 levels in barbarian for the climbing.
Also ☠ for outtakes!
Nice Job Colby! Currently playing a build similar to this. Surprisingly tanky and great DPR! A suggestion for you to up those DPR numbers, take level 6 in Barbarian, use the Jump feature from Beast Barbarian to add Fall damage. I would also suggest Bugbear from MOM, all those sweet attacks get an extra 2d6 on round 1!
If focusing on grappling picking up the level 6 beast barbarian ability might be worth it, whether its climb, jump or swimming dragging people in hard to get places at a better than normal speed is useful. grabbing and then jumping a crazy distance, grabbing and running up walls etc.
aw yeah best time of the week 🍿
To me, this seems like a way to build a symbiote character. A warrior who has been infected by something that warps their body in such a horrific and unnatural way that it drives unsuspecting onlookers mad. You’re playing the dunwitch horror. Or venom. Or martial Harry Potter with a chunk of voldemorts soul inside. Play it like a warlock with a patron where the thing your symbiotic patron wants you to do is rage and soul knife people to death.
Oh boy, this seems to be an interesting combination, I am eager to watch this!
A little sidenote. I tried out a lot of possible, theoretical dual wield build and even the 5e version can be more than viable, but ironically not on the typical martials like fighters and barbarians. What I recognized, is that probably Bladesingers, Warlocks and Paladins are probably the best dual wielders thanks to on-hit features that are not weapon specific nor have to be recast on targets. THese are spells like Spirit Shroud and features like song of Victory or improved divine smite. However at least for the Paladin and Hexblade a Polearm with the option of GWM is still more efficient. Outside of these, I think it is also viable for gimmick builds, like Rogues that get a second sneak attack, high lvl Sword Bards with magical secrets and Rangers, because although Hunters Mark is clunky, they are usually dex based.
So ironically where it can really be a strong options are mainly gish characters, but not traditional martials.
That beeing said, I am very excited for the new version of dual wielding from the one DND-playtest material.
Ive literally been waiting for you to make this build ever since Tasha's came out! love using dhampir as race in this build.
"Skull and x bones" also Colby if you watched critical role campaign 1 I believe mercer granted a stone that once crushed added a 1d6 fire damage permanently. Pretty sure trinket got it
Displacer beast? Fits well with the teleportation, as well as flavouring the claw attacks as tentacle strikes maybe
"I'm thinking the bestial form manifested by your clan, or maybe just by you in particular, is one that has both, like, feral, and also psychic - or maybe telepathic - tendencies."
I do believe the creature you're looking for is one of the Slaadi.
Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Projectile Claw!
Funny enough I was just working on a similar claw build but instead I went Monk to get the bonus action claw. 2 attacks at level 2, 3 at level 4, and 4 at 6. Then 5 at level 7 when you use Flurry of Blows. If you continue to level monk you get more Ki to use Flurry more often. Of course, you don't get Sneak Attack but get fun Monk stuff instead. You could multiclass into rogue also if you wanted
Awwww, thought it was gonna be a barbarian monk multiclass. Shucks. Still an interesting build though. Be well Colby!
☠️ - I ALWAYS watch the outtakes. This character concept might be my favorite so far. Can’t wait to hit my player’s warforged battle smith artificer with 4 attacks!
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Combine your loves and make the ultimate crossover, the Soulknife Bladesinger :). It's even a little Monk like.
At my table baseline two weapon fighting is rules as written. When you take the two weapon fighting style you add your ability modifier to the damage of the offhand attack and you make the off-hand attack as part of the attack action. We also threw in that you can draw two weapons as you would one because how are you going to learn to fight with two weapons and not how to draw them both at the same time? The dual wielder feet is unchanged.
That being said I like this build and may try it out myself thank you.
I envision the psychic blades as a mental claw attack, sometime with reach(when thrown) and sometimes grabbing something and pulling yourself through the void(when teleporting)
☠ As always love the video! Super cool character concept.
Bugbear is perfect for this !!!
In fact Tri-kreen and longtooth shifter could both do this trick without multiclass. If you're a tri-kreen, you could hold a shield, two short swords for two-weapon fighting, and one empty hand for the claw transformation. If you're a longtooth shifter, you could use your shift ability and instantly make a bonus unarm strike with your fangs and continue to do it in the following turns. Both methods make a 1d6+str attack instead of 1d4+str. But for Tri-kreen you would need a two-weapon fighting style.
I've actually been theory crafting a character like this, except instead of Rouge levels, I'm multiclassing into the Homebrew Pugilist class with Squared Circle subclass to become a ferocious grapple beast
Wow! Ok, I am surprised! Amazing!
I really hope they keep the new version of Two-Weapon Fighting from the 1 D&D UA. This will make dual welding more viable as an option for martial builds.
This is for sure the next character I’ll play. I’ll probably go Simic Hybrid just for even more beast type flavor with added utility from the glide they get. ☠️
In my game, I had a player who was a Beast Barbarian/Brutality Monk(homebrew subclass I made where he can spend Ki to take damage, which buffs his attacks) and I remembered thinking of all the items I could have given him. He was a Leonin from a tribe that worshipped the Dawnfather, and eventually he got a tribal horn from ancients past that gave him some crazy abilities.
One of them was getting 1d8 radiant damage... on EVERY attack.
I was fully aware of how strong it would be(barb 3/monk 17 after all) and so making 3 claw attacks + 2 unarmed strikes as a bonus action was an insane damage bump for him. They were in Tier 4 after all, they were all OP.
Edit: oh and I forgot, ☠
Awesome character idea as always. Eldritch claw tattoo would be a great item for this character
Do natural weapons count as unarmed attacks? Cause the claws count as natural weapons and eldritch claw only works for unarmed attacks.
@@bz7672 rules as written probably not but that's definitely a convo you could have with your DM
@@bz7672 loosing the +1 to all unarmed strikes stinks but that bonus action is nice if you're caught up in an entangle or something that limits your close combat. 15ft reach and 1d6 added to every attack is nice. I play an elemental monk with fangs of the fire snake and my DM hates me
Maybe Thrikreen? You could let the extra arms do the beast and soul knife shenanigans and then one of your bigger arms could wield another weapon, like a rapier. This would give you a weapon in hand to make attacks of opportunity which for a rogue could be an additional sneak attack as it is on your enemy's turn and not your own. You won't have a soul knife in hand and your natural weapons are not finesse weapons. For a while I was thinking Tabaxi or Lizardfolk because they have natural weaponry that can be used as a reaction attack of opportunity, but they are no finesse weapons, so no sneak attack. The extra arms let you have finesse weapon in hand.
As much as I love the strength rogue, I would really like to see a video on the phantom rogue. Such a thematic subclass!
Your best thumbnail yet. And I'm always hyped for Beast Barbarian.
I'd delay the rogue levels until after Barb 6 so your natural weapon is magical. Also rapier at Rogue 1 is alright but you're better off with the Scimitar because you took Slasher at character creation. D6 vs D8 is negligible but another chance at the crit effect is possibly very valuable.
the amount of things in the game that don't have the light weapon property is ludicrous. Your telling me i can't duel weild darts, pistols, or my own claws. How is a club light and a whip isn't.
Flavor your blades as claws that manifest over your regular claws.
First attack is regular claw, then your other hand grows psionic claws for the second attack, which empowers your first attack hand with psionic claws for a third attack, then you finish with the depowered hand used in the second attack.
Also, flavor the thrown blades like you shot a claw out.
This character isnt going to be a front line fighter but it will be more of a utility skirmisher. Especially if you take the mobility feat. Berserker Barrage in and through.
Finally took the plunge and became a subscriber, I love your videos even though I internally argue with all of them ^_^
Here's to many more!
Is the level 6 feature not incredibly good for positioning? Infinite spiders climb or being able to jump 60 feet on a turn just strikes me as amazing. Jumping would also trigger the Tashas "Falling on a creature" rule which could work out nicely! Could pop the DPS right up if we are happy with self-inflicting damage.
I'm quite spolied, my DM has allowed the claws to be finesse as long as no shield is wielded. Additionally, they were happy for the unarmed fighting style to apply to the damage die of the claws which isn't amazing but eh. . It's still early days so I'm all barbarian but can't wait.
Outtake gangggg!!!!!! ☠️
I understand that Colby wants to hone in on the *sustained* dpr for this build but I would probably start taking levels on fighter at level 9 to get action surge and maybe add some other damage dealing elements like rune Rune Knight