All Dungeons & Dragons Barbarian changes in the Player’s Handbook (2024)

The upcoming revised Player’s Handbook for Dungeon & Dragons changes the Barbarian class in ways that make these brutal combatants even harder to take down.

D&D’s Barbarians are known for being quite tanky. Their signature mechanic, Rage, centers around becoming so angry and ferocious that their attacks become stronger and their bodies more resistant to damage.

The upcoming revised Core Rulebooks are making changes to each of Dungeons & Dragons‘ classes, implementing new mechanics and tweaking current rules to make each one more fun to play.

Here’s everything the Player’s Handbook (2024) changes about the Barbarian class.

Barbarian Subclasses

Wizards of the Coast

All D&D subclasses have received some changes, and the rules revision introduces some new ones as well.

Path of the Berserker

Frenzy now increases damage instead of giving you extra bonus action attacks, determined by a number of d6s equal to your Rage bonus damage. Additionally, Berserkers no longer gain levels of Exhaustion for using Frenzy.

Path of the Wild Heart

Outside of being renamed from Path of the Totem Warrior – an adjustment Baldur’s Gate 3 already uses – Wild Heart Barbarians are becoming more flexible. Rather than being stuck with the animals you choose at levels 3 and 14, you’ll be able to swap benefits from these abilities every time you Rage.

Path of the World Tree

This is a brand new Barbarian subclass in the new PHB that was first tested in Unearthed Arcana. World Tree Barbarians draw power from Yggdrasil, the multiversal tree of life inspired by Norse mythology.

These Barbarians are even tankier than others thanks to abilities that let them gain and grant others temporary hit points. They can use the World Tree to increase their reach with weapons, move allies and foes around the battlefield, and prevent enemies from fleeing combat.

Path of the Zealot

This subclass’ Warrior of the Gods feature is being overhauled. Rather than making it easier to raise you from the dead, you’ll get a pool of healing dice you can expend as a bonus action. It’s similar to the Paladin’s Lay on Hands, though Zealots can only use it on themselves.

Additionally, Rage Beyond Death is being replaced by Rage of the Gods. This no longer requires the Zealot to drop to 0 HP to use; instead, you can activate it when you Rage. It grants flight speed, damage resistance, and the ability to expend a use of Rage to prevent yourself or an ally from dropping to 0 HP.

Rage

Wizards of the Coast

The Barbarian’s signature ability is easier to maintain under the new rules. Under the original Fifth Edition rules, you would have to make a weapon attack or take damage to keep Rage going, which meant you’d likely lose it if there were no enemies nearby.

Now, there are two new ways to maintain Rage: use a bonus action or force an enemy to make a saving throw.

Additionally, you’ll regain one expended use of Rage every time you short rest.

Higher levels add even more benefits to Rage. At level 7, you’ll gain Instinctive Pounce, which lets you move up to half your speed when using a bonus action to activate Rage.

Level 11 unlocks Relentless Rage, which allows you to heal HP equal to twice your Barbarian level if you fall to 0 HP while Rage is active.

Finally, level 15 gets you Persistent Rage, which restores all uses of Rage if you have none while rolling initiative. This can be done once per long rest. It also makes your Rage last for 10 minutes instead of the usual one minute.

Weapon Mastery

From the very first level, Barbarians will benefit from Weapon Mastery, a brand-new system that allows melee fighters to gain additional benefits or abilities when using certain weapons.

Barbarians can choose two simple or martial weapons and gain their mastery properties. These can be changed every long rest, and gain additional options at higher levels.

Brutal Strike

Wizards of the Coast

This replaces the 2014 rule’s Brutal Critical. Gained at level 9, Brutal Strike lets you forgo advantage on a roll to deal 1d10 extra damage and inflict a chosen debuff if you hit. The options are as follows:

• Forceful Blow: Send your target flying 15 feet away from you, then you can follow up and move half your Speed towards your target without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
• Hamstring Blow: Reduce your target’s Speed by 15 feet until the start of your next turn. Despite (usually) having two hamstrings, a creature can only suffer from one Hamstring Blow at a time.

At level 13, Zealots gain two more options with Improved Brutal Strike:

• Staggering Blow: Force your target to have Disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes and it can’t make Opportunity Attacks until the start of your next turn. Perfect for diving out of the way and letting your Wizard light them up with a big spell.
• Sundering Blow: If you have a martial buddy fighting alongside you, this is a great way to team up. When you hit a creature with this ability, the next attack made against it by another creature has +5 to hit. Essentially, you’re trading off Advantage to give your buddy Advantage!

This ability is further improved at level 17, increasing the extra damage to 2d10 and allowing you to inflict two Brutal Strike effects when you land a hit.

Other Barbarian changes

The Barbarian is also receiving other changes that include tweaks to existing class features and some brand-new ones.

Barbarians still get Danger Sense at level 2, but it’s stronger this time. The character no longer has to be able to see or hear the danger to get advantage on their Dexterity save against it. That means they can still use this when blinded or deafened (though the requirement that they not be incapacitated still applies).

At level 3, Barbarians now gain Primal Knowledge. This makes these characters even better at things that aren’t combat, allowing the player to gain proficiency in another Barbarian skill. When Raging, they can also add their Strength modifier to the following skills:

• Acrobatics
• Intimidation
• Perception
• Stealth
• Survival

Finally, all classes get an Epic Boon at level 19. These are high-level feats that you can’t obtain earlier.

While you wait for the rules revision, be sure to check out the rest of our Dungeons & Dragons coverage, including our breakdown of the Core Rulebook preorder bonuses, Vecna: Eve of Ruin review, and overview of every subclass in the Player’s Handbook (2024).