The New 2024 Path of the Zealot Barbarian (DnD Subclass Deep Dive)

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Religious fanatics who channel the power of the gods to fuel their Rage in battle, the Path of the Zealot has become a fan favorite subclass for the DnD 5e Barbarian. It’s also a relatively new offering, having first appeared as an option in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything in 2017.

Now, these divine destroyers are back and unleashing holy havoc in the pages of the 2024 Player’s Handbook. They’ve also seen a number of significant changes, including a new god-given ability to restore hit points and a high-level feature that allows you to assume the form of a radiant being while in battle.

So is the Path of the Zealot Barbarian worth unleashing on your next DnD campaign? Below, we hack apart all the details.

What’s changed in the new 2024 Path of the Zealot Barbarian?

The table below features all the changes to the 2024 Path of the Zealot in DnD 5e. For ease of reference we’ve included the level and whether the feature has changed from the 2017 legacy Path of the Zealot that was featured in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. It’s important to note that both the old and the new version of the subclass still fall under the DnD 5e core rules.

Path of the Zealot Feature	Level	Changed from 2017?	Changes to the 2024 Path of the Zealot Barbarian
Divine Fury	3	No	N/A
Warrior of the Gods	3	Yes	The 2024 version of this feature allows you to use a pool of divine energy to regain hit points. This is a significant change over the 2017 version which essentially meant that spells which restored you to life (such as raise dead) did not require any material components when being cast.
Fanatical Focus	6	Yes	The 2024 version of this feature allows to you reroll a saving throw once per active Rage. This is a slight change over the 2017 version which allowed you to reroll saving throws multiple times per active Rage.
Zealous Presence	10	No	N/A
Rage Beyond Death	14	Yes	This 2017 feature has been removed and replaced with the Rage of the Gods feature (see below). It previously allowed you to avoid falling unconscious when you reached 0 hit points as long as you were Raging (although you were still required to make death saving throws and could still take additional damage).
Rage of the Gods	14	Yes	This is a new 2024 feature that has replaced the 2017 “Rage Beyond Death” feature (see above).

What are the Path of the Zealot features for 2024 DnD 5e?

Below are the full list of all the features using the new rules, as featured in the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

Level 3: Divine Fury

You can channel divine power into your strikes. On each of your turns while your Rage is active, the first creature you hit with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike takes extra damage equal to 1d6 plus half your Barbarian level (round down). The extra damage is Necrotic or Radiant; you choose the type each time you deal the damage.

Level 3: Warrior of the Gods

A divine entity helps ensure you can continue the fight. You have a pool of four d12s that you can spend to heal yourself. As a Bonus Action, you can expend dice from the pool, roll them, and regain a number of Hit Points equal to the roll’s total. Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a Long Rest. The pool’s maximum number of dice increases by one when you reach Barbarian levels 6 (5 dice), 12 (6 dice), and 17 (7 dice).

Level 6: Fanatical Focus

Once per active Rage, if you fail a saving throw, you can reroll it with a bonus equal to your Rage Damage bonus, and you must use the new roll.

Level 10: Zealous Presence

As a Bonus Action, you unleash a battle cry infused with divine energy. Up to ten other creatures of your choice within 60 feet of you gain Advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the start of your next turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you expend a use of your Rage (no action required) to restore your use of it.

Level 14: Rage of the Gods

When you activate your Rage, you can assume the form of a divine warrior. This form lasts for 1 minute or until you drop to 0 Hit Points. Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest. While in this form, you gain the benefits below.

• Flight. You have a Fly Speed equal to your Speed and can hover.
• Resistance. You have Resistance to Necrotic, Psychic, and Radiant damage.
• Revivification. When a creature within 30 feet of you would drop to 0 Hit Points, you can take a Reaction to expend a use of your Rage to instead change the target’s Hit Points to a number equal to your Barbarian level.

Is the New 2024 Path of the Zealot Barbarian worth playing?

The Path of the Zealot Barbarian was a solid option when it was first released in 2017 in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. And while the updated version of the subclass remains more or less intact, the changes definitely feel like an improvement that complements the features of the new 2024 Barbarian. In particular, the ability to recover hit points with the updated Warrior of the Gods feature offers some much needed recovery for a class that often acts as a meat shield in combat. The new Rage of the Gods feature it also a solid option, both mechanically and in terms of roleplaying potential. In short, if you’re looking for a take on the Barbarian that combines rage and religion, then this subclass has you covered.

You can find the complete rules for the new Path of the Zealot Barbarian in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available 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 offering more information on some of the key changes to to the subclass.

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