Home/Characters/Subclasses/Barbarian/Path of the Ancestral Guardian 5e

Path of the Ancestral Guardian 5e

Barbarians who call upon ancestral spirits to protect allies. The ultimate defender subclass that punishes enemies for attacking anyone but you.

Part of the Barbarian class

At a Glance

Parent Class

Barbarian

Subclass Level

3rd level

Source

Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Focus

Tank/defender using ancestral spirits to protect allies

Feature	Level	Description
Ancestral Protectors	3rd	First creature you hit while raging has disadvantage on attacks against anyone but you, and others have resistance to its damage until your next turn.
Spirit Shield	6th	When ally within 30ft takes damage, use reaction to reduce damage by 2d6 (scales to 4d6).
Consult the Spirits	10th	Cast Augury or Clairvoyance without spell slots or materials once per short rest.
Vengeful Ancestors	14th	When using Spirit Shield, attacker takes force damage equal to damage reduced.

Common Mistake

Forgetting Ancestral Protectors only affects the FIRST creature you hit each turn

Common Mistake

Not using Spirit Shield reaction to protect squishy allies

Common Mistake

Missing that the protection effect ends at the start of your next turn, not the enemy's

DM Tip

This is arguably the best defender in the game - the debuff is powerful

DM Tip

Enemies essentially must attack the barbarian or suffer major penalties

DM Tip

Spirit Shield doesn't require rage, so it works even out of combat