D&D 5E - Graceful Destruction: A Guide to Dex Based Barbarism

• Initiative, Dex Saving Throws, AC, Accuracy and Damage all key off the same stat.
• Allows the highest player AC in the game.
• Allows the highest player Initiative in the game, excluding feats.
• Great Dexterity Saving Throws, even better when combined with certain class features.

• 13 Str required to multiclass.
• Can't benefit from Rage bonus damage.
• Reckless Attack is useless to you.

Gold = Must have.
Sky Blue = Top of the line.
Blue = Very strong choice.
Black = Solid choice. Better options exist, but so do worse. You're not hurting yourself taking these.
Purple = Not top tier. It may have niche use, but better options exist.
Red = IT'S A TRAP. Something exists that completely outclasses this.

[h=5]Stats:[/h]
Strength: You need 13 if you want to multiclass, and some of your class features rely on it.
Dexterity: Your main stat. See above.
Constitution: Adds to your hit points, and if you're unarmored your AC.
Intelligence: Classic Barbarian dump stat. It hurts your Int saves, but that’s about the only impact you feel.
Wisdom: 3 of your class skills are tied to it, and one of those is Perception. A “nice to have” stat.
Charisma: Intimidation is based off of it, but not much else *unless* you go Path of the Berserker.

[h=5]Races:[/h](Variant) Human: While baseline human is average (you get a bonus to Str, Dex AND Con), Variant Human is where it's at. See the feat section for what to pick up.

Half-Elf: You get a bonus to Charisma which may be wasted, but you get two +1s (hint: Dex and Con), Darkvision and some nice bonus skills. Oh and Fey Ancestry, because screw you control magicks.

Genasi: +2 Constitution, wonderful. No darkvision though.
Air: +1 Dexterity too! Unending Breath is very situational, but very good in said situations. Mingle with the Wind is less situational, but only once per day.
Fire: Oh hey, Darkvision. And Fire Resistance. And a once per day Constitution based AoE. Blue only because Fire damage can be quite prevelant.
Earth: The Strength bonus is nothing special, but Earth Walk should come up a lot and being able to cast Pass Witout Trace can be useful at times.
Water: Wisdom isn't bad, Acid resistance isn't bad. A swim speed is golden, when it's needed.

Halflings: Oh my yes. +2 to a main stat is nice. Speed, not so much. But Lucky, Brave and Halfling Nimbleness are all great features that support your character in various ways.
Lightfoot: Charisma is probably not your thing. And you lack the features to really take advantage of Naturally Stealthy.
Stout:All the advantages of base Halflings, plus it feeds your other main stat. Oh and there's Stout Resistance for when it's needed.

Aarakocra: +2 dexterity, yummy. At-Will flight? Drool worthy. 1d4 unarmed strikes with proficiency? Meh. DM permission required? Eurgh.

Elves: Elves make great Barbarians. There, I said it. +2 to your main stat guarantees a rating of at least blue. Darkvision is standard, Proficiency in Perception is nice, and Fey Ancestry is amazing.
Wood Elf: Wisdom isn't wasted, extra speed is good, and while you don't have the class to really take advantage of Mask of the Wild, it's still nice to have.
Eladrin: Intelligence is probably wasted, but once per rest teleporting can be very useful.
High Elf: Move along, nothing to see here.
Dark Elf: Charisma and Barbarians go together like a house on fire: it burns to the ground. Superior Darkvision is nice. Sunlight Sensitivity is downright rubbish to ignorable, DM dependent. Being able to cast Faerie Fire would help redeem the subrace, but it's once per day.

Dwarves: As a whole Dwarves have a lot of waste as Barbarians. Stonecutting is wasted on a dump stat, their speed is low and the saving grace is useless because Barbarians don't do heavy armour. Darkvision and +2 Con though, is what makes this race blue.
Hill Dwarf: Wisdom isn't exactly wasted, but Dwarven Toughness is where the money's at. Extra HP is very tasty for frontline builds.
Mountain Dwarf: Simply great! For Strength based Barbarians. Strength's not our main stat though and Dwarven Armor Training is redundant.

Goliath: You're better off as a Strength based Barbarian, but Stone's Endurance is good regardless.

Gnomes: Oh boy, +2 Intelligence, just what a Barbarian needs. Gnome Cunning is why you would want to play a Gnome, for those campaigns involving control magicks. They've Darkvision which is a plus.
Forest Gnome: +1 Dexterity and some nice fluff. Not much else to it.
Deep Gnome: As above, except Stone Camoflage is situationally useful.
Rock Gnome: +1 Constitution and some nice fluff. Hooray for clockwork mechanisms.

Dragonborn: Only the Breath Weapon saves this from being on the red pile. The stats not matching is a real killer. The lack of darkvision is annoying, and the resistance is situational. A Con-based AoE could be interesting but be warned: It's once per rest.

Half-Orcs: No.

Aasimar: Slightly more useful than Tieflings, but not enough to drag them out of the red zone.

Tieflings: Hah. Suddenly much better if your DM allows the SCAG variants.

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