[RPG] Barbarian Battlerager Spiked Armor Damage Bonus balance issues

balancebarbariandamagednd-5emagic-items

So the Dwarven Barbarian Battlerager (from SCAG) gets a few class features that specifically tie in to his armor. These allow him to:

  1. Make a bonus attack that deals 1d4+Strength piercing damage
  2. Automatically deal 3 piercing damage on a successful grapple
  3. Deal 3 piercing damage every time he takes damage.

Would it unbalance the game to apply the armor's AC bonus from enchantment (+1, +2, or +3) to points 1, 2, or 3? Why?

Related: Barbarian Battlerager Spiked Armor Damage Bonus via RAW?

Best Answer

Only a little, if at all.

A +3 Spiked Armor that applies enhancement to Battlerager features essentially serves a similar function of a Defender that always activates (since you only get one attack). So we can use the differences to measure balance.

The first time you attack with the sword on each of your turns, you can transfer some or all of the sword's bonus to your armor class, instead of using the bonus on any attacks that turn.

Not being able to use the weapon bonus on multiple attacks is a significant downside, but you also get the benefit from the other Battlerager features.

Here is a cost-benefit analysis of the tradeoff for comparison.

  • Damage per round: 3 damage per Extra Attack vs 3 damage per attack that hits you.
    • I would say these are comparable if not in the favor of Defender as smart monsters will avoid attacking you in melee (most have a ranges or magic option at the level where you usually start getting magic armor).
  • Armor bonus: 3 if you sacrifice your extra damage vs 3 always
    • This shows the strength of the variant magic spiked armor. You have a consistent armor benefit. This is where the slight imbalance comes from, but it is probably not enough to unbalance the game substantially.
  • Grapple damage: Grappling in 5e is very niche but the 3 extra damage does confer some small benefit compared to the Defender.

None of these small differences would push the weapon above or below the power level of some of the other legendary weapons (of which the Defender is included). While it is not a direct comparison for the lesser magic armors (with +1 and +2), the principle can be extrapolated to include them.

If you find that this is unbalanced since it is bonus damage for a non-attunement item, You could make the Battlerager benefits require attunement, but I doubt it will be necessary.

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