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  • Path Of The Giant Barbarian Features
  • Best Species For Path Of The Giant Barbarian
  • Best Ability Score Placement For Path Of The Giant Barbarian
  • Best Feats For Path Of The Giant Barbarian
  • Best Starting Equipment For Path Of The Giant Barbarian

As larger-than-life beings, giants are most known for their size, destructive capabilities, and ties to the elements in Dungeons & Dragons. If you've ever wanted to be a giant and have reveled in these qualities, now's your chance. Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants allows you to become the giant you've always wanted to be using the path of the giant barbarian subclass.

Related: Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build A Ranger

From their immense power to their connection with runes, giants have a lot to offer. You can use their rune knowledge to your advantage to gain elemental aspects or imbue the literal aspects of a giant if you so choose. If you want to build the perfect path of the barbarian subclass, follow this guide.

Path Of The Giant Barbarian Features

HALFLING PATH OF THE GIANT BARBARIAN by Nikki Dawes

What separates each class are the subclass abilities, and the path of the giant barbarian is effectively different than any of the other classes in a refreshing way.

You'll need to wait until higher levels to get the most out of the subclass, but it's worth the investment, providing you with some abilities that can come in clutch when necessary.

Level Three Path Of The Giant Feature

You get two features at level three, Giant's Power and Giant's Havoc.

Ability

Explanation

Use

Giant's Power

Learn Giant as a language. If you already have it learn a different language. Learn either the Thaumaturgy or Druid Craft cantrips.

You won't take much from either of these aside from roleplay and out-of-combat situations.

Giant's Havoc

Crushing Throw: While raging, add your rage damage to a successful thrown weapon attack using Strength.

Giant Stature: Your size increases to large (if there's room) and you gain five feet of reach.

The extra damage is always nice; the amount will increase as you level up.

An extra five feet of reach can be helpful in combat, allowing you to hir from farther away. A larger size presents extra options for movement.

While useful, you may find these features situational. Stretching further means attacking from further away, and being larger is great for maneuverability and Strength checks to move things and other players and enemies.

Level Six Path Of The Giant Feature

With Elemental Cleaver, things finally start heating up when you reach level six. A very powerful barbarian feature, you can infuse your weapon with a new damage type while raging. You can choose from the following:

  • Acid
  • Cold
  • Fire
  • Lightning
  • Thunder

Additionally, your weapon deals 1d6 damage of the chosen type, gains the ability to be thrown, and returns to you when it is thrown. You can even change the damage type during a bonus action while raging.

You can throw your infused weapon a normal 20 feet and long-range 60 feet.

If there's a reason to stick with this subclass, it's Elemental Cleaver. Many barbarian builds will not have a way to deal with enemies resistant to melee damage.

The addition of elemental damage types means you'll be doing extra damage that's less likely to be negated. You can even deal additional damage to enemies that are vulnerable to your damage choice.

Being able to change the damage type on the fly means always being prepared and dealing extra damage while raging.

Combine this with the Crushing Throw feature from level three, and you can throw your infused weapon, adding your rage damage and your elemental 1d6, and the weapon will automatically return to you after.

It's almost as if you're giving your weapon additional magical properties you can adjust to whatever is necessary.

Fury of the Frost Giant Tiefling by Nikki Dawes

Level Ten Path Of The Giant Feature

Mighty Impel allows you to move a creature smaller than you while raging. While they must be moved to an unoccupied space, they can do a contesting Strength check to prevent this. This includes enemies and allies.

This feature is great for reworking battle positioning when you need to. It's a bonus action, so you can use it without fear of losing your action on that turn.

Similar to a fighter's maneuvers, controlling the battlefield to your advantage can save your friends and destroy your foes. Move friends out of harm's way and move enemies into line of sight for others.

Level 14 Path Of The Giant Feature

This feature is just a buff for all your other features. Making you larger, stronger, and more capable and allowing you to deal even more damage with your elemental-infused weapon.

If you don't need the extra reach or extra damage, it may be wise to consider multiclass options for your barbarian instead of moving further into this subclass.

Best Species For Path Of The Giant Barbarian

Orc Runecarver by Nikki Dawes

While Monsters of the Multiverse allows you to create almost any character for any class with the opportunity to place ability scores wherever you need, it's still a good idea to keep features and traits in mind when choosing a species.

Species

Ability

Source Book

Goliath

The quintessential choice, these hulking characters make great use of their size. Your hardy nature may come in handy with the ability to acclimate to cold climates. Importantly your ability to reduce damage with Stone's Endurance is perfect for the tank role of barbarian.

Monsters of the Multiverse

Dwarf

So many options here benefit a barbarian. Dwarven Resilience gives advantage for saving throws against poison, and the extra weapon proficiencies provide great options for damage dealing. The sub-species options also give more health or more armor proficiency, both of which a barbarian can use.

Player's Handbook

Halfling

Aside from being adorable as a tiny species that can become a huge giant, the ability Halfling Nimbleness will allow you to move through characters bigger than you. This creates even more positioning options when used alongside your barbarian features.

You can use your Naturally Stealthy ability to surprise foes, even hiding behind bigger allies until you become huge yourself, or take your poison resistance from the other sub-species.

Player's Handbook

Dragonborn

Extra resistance to more damage types that aren't physical is always helpful for a barbarian. Choose a breath weapon like Acid that's not covered by your barbarian subclass for even more well-rounded elemental damage coverage.

Player's Handbook

Half-Orc

Relentless Endurance leaves you at one hit point instead of dropping you to 0. Savage Attacks add even more damage to your critical hits.

Player's Handbook

Orc

Along with Relentless Endurance, you get to count as one size larger. Adrenaline Rush allows you to dash as a bonus action, which is great for positioning yourself in useful tank positions. You also gain temporary hit points when using this feature.

Monsters of the Multiverse

Best Ability Score Placement For Path Of The Giant Barbarian

Adventurers Find A Cloud Giants Treasure by Vicki Pangestu

Strength and Constitution should be your highest stats. You'll want to deal a high amount of damage and have considerable health for survival.

You'll be close to the enemy on most occasions, though you'll have a bit more reach with the subclass options available.

You can use your thrown weapon options until you get in range, then use all your strength to attack while relying on your hit points to stay alive and defend your party.

Intelligence, Charisma, and Dexterityare all optional after this. Dexterity will be useful for armor as it helps calculate your armor class if you don't have armor innately.

Remember that as a barbarian, you get Unarmored Defense, meaning when you aren't wearing armor, your AC is calculated using your Dexterity and Constitution modifier, another reason you want to keep your Dexterity relatively high.

Some better armor choices require a minimum strength to wear, so be sure you're strong enough to calculate a high AC with enough Dexterity to keep that number high.

Charisma can be used for intimidation if that's the kind of character you want to play. While Intelligence and Wisdom are dump stats unless you're spellcasting, Charisma may afford more roleplay opportunities with Charisma-based skills.

If you're using the average Ability Score spread, you'll have a set of stats that should look similar to this:

Strength

Constitution

Dexterity

Charisma

Intelligence

Wisdom

17 (+2)

15 (+1)

13

12

8

10

Alternatively, Wisdom based skills such as Survival and Perceptioncan also be useful for a Barbarian instead of Charisma-based skills. In this case, switch your Charisma and Wisdom stats and give the higher value to Wisdom.

Best Feats For Path Of The Giant Barbarian

A Giant chasing adventurers by Kai Carpenter

When leveling up your giant barbarian, you'll want to invest in some feats that will help your ability scores and give you advantages in your playthrough. Here are the best feat options to consider.

Feat

Description

Source

Strike of the Giants

Imbue your weapon with even more damage types. These include options such as force, psychic, and more physical melee damage on top of the already available types. Some of the types also have additional benefits, such as making you invisible to your enemy or reducing their speed to zero.

Bigby Presents: Glory Of The Giants

Durable

Gain more hit points when using Hit Dice and increase your Constitution ability score.

Player's Handbook

Grappler

Since you'll be using your features to move other creatures a lot and may end up grappling them, you'll gain advantage against grappling them and can restrain them.

Player's Handbook

Great Weapon Master

This works whether you score a critical hit or reduce an opponent to zero hit points. You'll be able to make another bonus action attack after this, gaining a free extra attack. You can choose to add to the attack's damage with a small penalty when rolling to hit.

Player's Handbook

Resilient

A great way to add more resistances to yourself. Especially useful for abilities and saving throws dealing with magic.

Player's Handbook

Martial Adept

Add even more Battle Master archetype maneuvers to your arsenal with this feat. Combine your chosen maneuvers with your giant barbarian features to have even more control over the battlefield.

Player's Handbook

Shield Master

As a bonus action, you can attempt to shove a creature after your attack. This pairs well with your ability to move the battlefield in your favor.

Add your AC to a Dexterity save from a spell, giving you an easy way to get a bit of an advantage against being hit by magic. You can also reduce your damage to zero with a Dexterity save using your shield instead of taking half damage.

Player's Handbook

Best Starting Equipment For Path Of The Giant Barbarian

Giant Ruins by Vicki Pangestu 

Depending on your background options and what you're allowed to start with, you'll want to get starting equipment that focuses on your strongest stats and proficiencies.

The Greataxe you can start with is one of the best weapons for dealing damage in the game and should only be replaced if you want a versatile weapon to wield with one hand or two.

The two hand axes are also a great choice as they can be thrown so that you can take advantage of features given by your subclass. They still do decent damage but don't return to you. However, you can handle that issue when you level up.

An explorers pack is fine, as it will essentially have the most useful items already given to you.

Next: Dungeons & Dragons: Tips For Running A God