The New 2024 Barbarian: DnD 5e Class Changes

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For over a decade, the Barbarian has carved a bloody, rage-fuelled swathe through the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, becoming one of the most iconic of the martial DnD 5e classes. During that time however, the rules that govern that DnD 5e Barbarian have remained largely untouched, with the exception of a handful of new subclasses and some minor updates.

The new 2024 Player’s Handbook, however, looks to set the Barbarian on a whole new path, with a number of a significant changes that will alter how everyone’s favorite tanks will play. Many of these changes were first showcased in the One D&D playtest but have since been refined, with updates to how Rage and combat works, the introduction of a brand new subclass and several other signifiant adjustments.

So just what other changes await DnD’s angriest adventurers? Below, we smash into all the details.

What’s changed in the new 2024 Barbarian for DnD 5e?

Below are all the changes to the 2024 Barbarian versus the 2014 Barbarian (notably, both still fall under the DnD 5e rules).

Barbarian Feature	Level	Changes to the 2024 Barbarian Class
Rage	1	– Rage can be maintained by using a Bonus Action or by forcing an enemy to make a saving throw. – Regain one expended use of Rage after each Short Rest.
Weapon Mastery	1	– Choose two Melee weapons. You gain use of their mastery properties. – May change your chosen weapons each Long Rest. – Gain access to more mastery properties as you level up.
Danger Sense	2	No longer need to see or hear effects to gain Advantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Barbarian Subclass	3	– Path of the Berserker: Frenzy now deals extra damage instead of giving extra attacks and no longer provides Exhaustion. – Path of the Wild Heart: Choices are balanced and streamlined, and can be changed out each time you Rage or after a Long Rest. – Path of the World Tree (New): A whole new Barbarian subclass that draws power from the multiversal tree, Yggdrasil. – Path of the Zealot: Focus has been shifted to staying alive, rather than being easier to resurrect.
Primal Knowledge	3	– Gain proficiency in a Barbarian skill of your choice. – Replace the typical ability score with Strength when making certain skill checks when your Rage is active.
Feral Instinct	7	You can no longer act while surprised, even if you enter Rage.
Instinctive Pounce	7	Move up to half your Speed as part of the same Bonus Action you take to enter your Rage.
Brutal Strike (replaces Brutal Critical)	9	Trade off Advantage when using Reckless Attack to inflict more damage and a debuff when you hit.
Relentless Rage	11	When you drop to 0 Hit Points while your Rage is active, you can instead heal for a number of Hit Points equal to twice your Barbarian level.
Improved Brutal Strike	13	Get more options to inflict with your Brutal Strike feature
Persistent Rage	15	Once per Long Rest, regain all uses of Rage if you roll Initiative and have none.
Improved Brutal Strike	17	Brutal Strike now deals 2d10 damage and you can use two different effects when you hit.
Indomitable Might	18	Now includes Strength saving throws.
Epic Boon	19	Recieve one of twelve Epic Boons or another feat.
Primal Champion	20	Your limit for Strength and Constitution is now 25.

How will the 2024 Barbarian changes impact gameplay?

Level 1: Rage

In the 2014 version of DnD 5e, your Rage lasted only 1 minute and you would have to make a weapon attack or take damage to continue Raging. In the new 2024 rules, you can now use a Bonus Action to maintain your Rage. This opens up some interesting new strategic options, since it means you can fight then move, aid a party member or take another more complex action, and then continue to Rage. What’s more, your Rage is also extended if you manage to force an enemy to make a saving throw. In the 2014 rules, Rage could only also be recovered during a Long Rest. The new 2024 Barbarian, however, allows you to regain one use of Rage when you finish a Short Rest.

Level 1: Weapon Mastery

In the new 2024 rules, Barbarians are one of the classes that’s able to use the new Weapon Mastery feature. This allows you to tap into distinctive properties of Simple and Martial weapons during combat. Each weapon has its own specific property from the list below:

• Cleave: If you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can make a second attack against a creature within 5 feet that is also within your reach. When you hit with the second attack, you can roll your weapon’s damage, but you don’t add your ability modifier unless it’s negative.
• Graze: If you miss a creature with your weapon, you deal damage equal to the ability modifier you used to make the roll.
• Nick: You can make an additional attack against a target creature if your first attack was made while wielding two Light weapons.
• Push: You can launch a creature you hit (up to a Large size) 10 feet away from you.
• Sap: An enemy you hit has Disadvantage on their next attack roll before the start of your next turn.
• Slow: When you hit a creature and deal damage, you can reduce its Speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
• Topple: When you hit a creature, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw or fall Prone. The DC for this save is 8 plus the ability modifier used to make the attack plus your Proficiency Bonus.
• Vex: When you hit a creature and deal damage, you gain Advantage on your next attack roll before the end of your next turn.

Level 2: Danger Sense

In the 2014 rules, Barbarians have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects (such as traps and spells) so long as they can see the threat and aren’t blinded, deafened or incapacitated. This feature has been changed for the 2024 Barbarian, and you’re now able to get advantage on a Dexterity saving throw even if you are Blinded or Deafened.

Level 3: Primal Knowledge

This feature was optional in the 2014 rules, but is now official in the 2024 version of DnD 5e. Primal Knowledge gives you an extra skill proficiency from the Barbarian skill list and the ability to replace certain skill ability modifiers with your Strength modifier when your Rage is active. The skills you can choose from are: Acrobatics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth and Survival. The goal here with the 2024 redesign is to make Rage valuable outside of combat (for example, using your Rage to intimidate an NPC).

Level 7: Instinctive Pounce

This was another optional 2014 rule that is now official in 2024. With this ability you can move up to half your Speed as part of the same Bonus Action you take when you enter a Rage.

Level 9: Brutal Strike

This feature replaces the 2014 Barbarian’s Brutal Critical (which allowed you to roll one additional weapon damage die on a critical hit). With the new Brutal Strike, if you have Advantage against an opponent you can burn it in exchange for an extra 1d10 damage to your Strength-based attacks. In addition, you can choose from either of the two following effects:

• Forceful Blow: You send your target flying 15 feet away from you. You can then move up to half your Speed towards your target without provoking any Opportunity Attacks.
• Hamstring Blow: You reduce your target’s Speed by 15 feet until the start of your next turn. Notably, a creature can only suffer from one Hamstring Blow at a time, so you can’t double up on this.

Brutal Strike is designed to work particularly well with the Reckless Attack feature (which is still available at Level 2 and has remained unchanged from the 2014 rules), which provides Advantage on Strength-based melee attacks in exchange for giving enemies Advantage when attacking you until the start of your next turn.

Level 11: Relentless Rage

In the 2014 version of this feature, when you succeeded in a Constitution saving throw after getting knocked to 0 Hit Points, you would instead be returned to 1 Hit Point. In the new 2024 version, however, when you succeed on a Constitution saving throw your Hit Points return to 2x your Barbarian level.

Level 13: Improved Brutal Strike

This feature lets you choose from choose from two additional options when you hit a creature using the new 2024 Brutal Strike feature:

• Staggering Blow: Your target has Disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes and it can’t make Opportunity Attacks until the start of your next turn.
• Sundering Blow: When you hit a creature with this ability, the next attack made against it by another creature has +5 to hit.

Level 15: Persistent Rage

The 2014 version of this feature means that your Rage only ends if you fall unconscious or choose to end it as a bonus action. In the 2024 version, that’s still the case, but you also now regain all uses of Rage when you roll Initiative. Notably, this feature only triggers once per Long Rest.

Level 17: Improved Brutal Strike

This addition to the 2024 Brutal Strike feature increase the extra damage you deal from 1d10 to 2d10 and also allows you to inflict two different Brutal Strike effects each time you hit (see the “Level 9: Brutal Strike” feature above).

Level 19: Epic Boon

In the 2014 rules, Epic Boons were previously only something that Dungeon Masters had access to. That’s changed in the revised 2024 core rules, with Epic Boons now something players can access. Barbarians can choose from one of the twelve Epic Boons found in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, although Wizards of the Coast recommends the “Boon of Irresistible Offense” which increases your Strength or Dexterity by 1 (up to a maximum of 30), lets you ignore any enemy resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage, and lets you deal critical hit damage equal to your ability score (so a Barbarian with a 25 Strength would deal a whopping 25 extra damage on a crit).

What are the changes to the 2024 Barbarian subclasses?

In the new 2024 Player’s Handbook there are four official Barbarian subclasses: Path of the Berserker, Path of Wild Heart, Path of the World Tree and Path of the Zealot. Notably, the Berserker and Wild Heart both appeared in the 2014 Player’s Handbook (although Wild Heart was known as Path of the Totem Warrior), while the Path of the Zealot previously appeared in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. The Path of the World Tree, however, is a completely new subclass, although it had appeared in past Unearthed Arcana One D&D playtesting material.

With that in mind, below are the key changes to the 2014 subclasses and what’s included with the new Barbarian subclass.

• Path of the Berserker: The Frenzy Feature has been changed in the 2024 version of this subclass. Instead of giving you an extra Bonus Action attack, you now get additional damage on your first hit each turn. The extra damage is represented by a number of d6s equal to your Rage bonus damage. You also don’t gain levels of Exhaustion for using the Frenzy ability. Additionally, Intimidating Presence now Frightens multiple creatures and lasts up to 1 minute without having to spend an action to increase the duration. Finally, you can now use Mindless Rage to end the Charmed or Frightened condition on yourself (in the 2014 version these conditions were merely suspended while you were Raging).
• Path of the Wild Heart (formerly Path of the Totem Warrior): In addition to a name change for this subclass, you can now swap out whatever spirit animal (formerly known as a Totem Animal) you have chosen to follow, rather than being forced to stick with them throughout your adventuring career.
• Path of the World Tree: With this new 2024 Barbarian subclass, you can dish out Temporary Hit Points, shift enemies around the battlefield, increase your reach and the versatility of your Weapon Mastery properties, and teleport around the battlefield with your allies.
• Path of the Zealot: The 2014 Warrior of the Gods feature now gives you a pool of healing dice you can roll as a Bonus Action (rather than simply making it easier to bring you back from the dead). The new 2024 Rage of the Gods feature also replaces the 2014 Rage Beyond Death feature and gives you a Fly Speed, damage resistance and the ability to expend a use of your Rage to prevent you and your comrades from dropping to 0 Hit Points.

Final Thoughts on the New Barbarian

The Barbarian has been a fan favorite of DnD 5e players for over a decade, and for the most part the new class changes seem pretty solid (as opposed to the new 2024 Paladin, which has been widely criticized by fans). The enhanced flexibility of Rage, and the new Weapon Mastery and Brutal Strike features make the class a lot more strategic in combat. The addition of the new Path of the World Tree subclass is also likely to be well received given that the class hasn’t exactly gotten a lot of love over the years. That being said, it remains to be seen just how well these changes to the Barbarian will be received by the larger DnD 5e community.

You can find the complete rules for the new Barbarian in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available for pre-order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.

Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford doing a deeper dive into all the changes to the 2024 Barbarian class.

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