Playing a tank in Dungeons & Dragons comes with a lot of fun perks, including being one of the first to charge into battle, unfettered and ready to destroy any who dare tempt fury. Barbarians have a longstanding role as furious tanks, fueled by a rage so primal that some of them can even channel it from the elements around them and funnel it into their attacks.
The Storm Herald Barbarian can draw power from three different regions, the desert, the tundra or the sea, and though they can only draw upon the power of one region at a time, that region can be changed when a new level has been reached. Their chosen region empowers their attacks, creating a storm of energy that not only fuels their rage, but also provides protection from certain elements related to their region.
Storm Herald Build Summary
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Ability Scores (in order of importance) |
Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence |
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Race |
Orc, Half-Orc, Minotaur, Duergar |
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Feats |
Gift of the Chromatic Dragon, Grappler, Dwarven Fortitude |
Strength Is the Storm Herald Barbarian's Core Stat
Regardless of Primal Path, Barbarians rely heavily on the Strength stat. STR fuels the power behind weapons attacks, as well as modifying the damage dealt on every successful hit. It also contributes to the Barbarian's skillset, which is primarily focused around Athletics, which determines how well they climb, lift and push, as well as how much they can carry.
Constitution and Dexterity are also important stats for Barbarians, who tend to run around without armor to protect them. A powerful pool of hit points built from a strong CON stat, coupled with the unarmored bonuses they get from a combination of CON and DEX bonuses, ensures that they are harder to hit -- no matter how big and brutal a target they make themselves.
Best Races for the Storm Herald Barbarian
When it comes to choosing a race, the classic options like Orc, Half-Orc and Minotaur are perfect choices, as they gain the best bonuses with +2 STR and +1 CON. Each of them also has a particular knack for making themselves monstrously intimidating. For a different option, however, the Duergar subrace of Dwarves has some intriguing powers that make them well-suited to the Storm Herald path. Duergar gain +2 CON and +1 STR, as well as superior Darkvision, Dwarven Resilience, Stone's Endurance and Stonecunning.
Duergar also have access to some unique magic that gives them an edge. They can cast the spell Enlarge on themselves, growing rather large and even more intimidating than their menacing, ashen appearance already provides. They can also cast invisibility on themselves once per day after reaching fifth level, which works well in helping them get into position unseen. The only drawback is that they suffer from sunlight sensitivity, which gives them disadvantage on Perception when in direct sunlight. Mountain Dwarves are also a great choice because, in addition to the other standard Dwarvish traits, including +2 CON, they also gain +2 STR.
Best Feats for the Storm Herald Barbarian
When it comes to choosing feats, there are some options that work particularly well for Storm Herald Barbarians. Elemental Adept, for example, would allow for them to choose resistances to certain types of magic. They can couple this with the type of damage their regional aura emits, buffing themselves against magical enemy attacks that deal elemental damage.
Gift of the Chromatic Dragon from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons allows them to use a bonus action to infuse their weapon with the elemental damage type of the Chromatic Dragon of their choice, giving their attacks an extra flare that couples well with the rage bonus. Grappler is another great feat for this Primal Path because (depending on the regional aura cast by the Barbarian) simply touching an enemy could set them on fire if the desert aura is active.
If playing one of the Dwarven race, the racial buff Dwarven Fortitude allows for a +1 CON boost, as well as the ability to take the Dodge action in combat and spend a hit die to regain hit points and heal themselves.