Preparing for the Hunt; A Blood Hunter Handbook

[Nishant]

Hi! Thanks for checking out my handbook! This is my first go at this thing, so any advice and and opinions are welcome. I hope to clean this up and keep it updated as time passes, but I wanted to get this down while I could.

So, first things first, we'll go with the color coding.


Red is dead. This will do absolutely /nothing/ for you.
Purple is a substandard choice. It might be useful in corner-case situations, but overall it's not worth the investment.
Black is average. You're not hurting your character by taking this, and it will probably help in some situations, but there are better choices.
Blue is a good choice. It definitely helps your character in the majority of cases.
Sky Blue indicates a fantastic choice, an option you should strongly consider against most others.

So, the sources we’ll be using are the Player’s Handbook, DMG, the elemental evil companion, the sword coast guide, and the new Volo’s Guide to Monster’s Races. And of course, we’ll be using Mercer’s Blood Hunter and additional Order of the Lycan.

So, Why play a Blood Hunter? Well, for one, the flavor is fantastic. The class feels like a hybrid between the paladin and ranger in spirit, works as a fantastic DPS option, an interesting variety of archetypes.

Strength; Usually strength holds up a bit more, but with proficiencies as they are (The lack of heavy armor, or even shields) strength isn’t usually a high priority. Thanks to a proficiency in strength saving throws, taking strength as a dump stat doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it could. That being said, dipping into fighter or other classes with heavy armor proficiencies can make this sky blue, but more on that later.

Dexterity ; This stat covers most of your important bits, assuming you’re going single class with it, and often even with Multiclassing. It governs your AC, damage, many skills, the ever so common dexterity saves, and of course, initiative.

Constitution; Health is always nice, but more so with the Blood Hunter; up until you hit your capstone, you are losing out on maximum health every level while using your primary ability. This goes double for two weapon fighters.

Wisdom; Wisdom is a bit of a weirder stat for the Blood Hunter class in that while it’s marked as a secondary stat, but in fact it really depends on your archetype and your blood maledicts. The ghostslayer archetype opens wisdom as a secondary damage stat after level 11 (undead earlier), and this is the casting stat for the Profaned Soul. The wisdom stat does nothing for a mutagen type, and acts as your buffer for a Bloodlust ability from Lycan order. You have proficiency in wisdom saving throws as well, so you have a bit of a buffer.

Intelligence; To be honest, this stat doesn’t do much for you, and you get advantage on intelligence checks for information on Fey, Fiends, and Undead, so the level 1 ribbon evens deadens the blow of dumping this stat.

Charisma; Charisma is the basis of all social stats, and spells with charisma saving throws tend to be particularly nasty. For those reasons, I wouldn’t dump it. This also leads into warlock Multiclassing, if you would be so inclined.

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RACES;
Hill Dwarf; A flat bonus to con is great, and if you plan on choosing either the Profane Soul or Ghostslayer options, it gets even better. But the real kicker is the extra straight hit points, making you break even when using your rite. The speed penalty stings a bit, but Dark Velocity deadens the blow a bit.

Mountain Dwarf ;You already have proficiency in the armors given, and it doesn’t give you shield proficiency either. The +2 to con and strength are good though, if you intend on choosing a two-handed path or Multiclassing for heavy armor.

Duergar; Now, under normal circumstances this option would be lower, especially given it’s sunlight sensitivity, but it’s spell like abilities mesh incredibly well. That being said, this race depends heavily on the campaign being run- it works much better for Underdark or Curse of Strahd campaigns. In a campaign where you’re out in the sun all day, this is notably worse(purple)

High Elf; Dex is an incredibly valued stat, but there are better options. You’ve no need for intelligence, and a wizard cantrip won’t do much. Still, proficiency in perception is extremely helpful, as are the advantages to charms.

Wood Elf: A boost to dex and wisdom! This is fantastic for most builds, and it gives a slight movement boost to boot. Mask of the wild might not come in handy /too/ often, but the base elf kit only makes this race a stronger choice.

Drow ; Similar to the duergar example, but with a dex boost and an unneeded secondary stat. However, the innate spellcasting is extremely helpful, I’ve found, and depending on your campaign, is quite helpful. Once again, however, sunlight sensitivity hurts this option pretty bad.

Eladrin ; While you don’t need intelligence, a free Misty step makes for a great panic button or engagement tool, if you have a bonus action to spare. Might not come in handy too often, but it’s still good to have something up your sleeve.

Lightfoot Halfling ; Halflings themselves hold pretty well; their limitation on heavy weapons doesn’t hurt them too bad for many of this class’s dex-heavy builds, and if you’re planning on Multiclassing into rogue, naturally stealthy could be handy if paired with another melee combatant, or even larger spellcaster. Still not the /best/ choice, but helpful nonetheless.

Stout Halfling; Bonuses to two main stats- always good. As I said earlier, a heavy weapon penalties doesn’t hurt too much, and while poison might come up /too/ often, its never bad to add something to your resistances.

Human ; The base human is just… underwhelming. It’s never a /bad/ option, per se, but there are many better options, like say…

Human (variant); The Hallowed Variant Human! Feats are nice, especially when you have a class that has a few stats it needs to worry about, and getting a +1 in two stats of your choice isn’t bad either.

Dragonborn ; This race, for blood hunters, is a bit situational. The bonus to strength doesn’t hurt, and works for some builds, but you likely won’t need charisma. The breath weapon and resistance your choice of damage isn’t bad either, but depends on where you are and what you’re facing.

Gnome ; Gnomes are a trap. Small size restricts even the possibility of a heavy weapons build, and the bonuses to intelligence don’t help either. Rock gnomes may get a bonus to constitution, but overall the race doesn’t mesh with the class.

Half-Elf; Half elves are better core humans than humans are. While you only get +1 in two stats of your choice, you still get a +2 bonus to charisma for free, as well as Skill versatility. Don’t like still versatility? Become a half drow, trade it for spellcasting! It may not be the /best/ choice, but it is a powerful one.

Half-Orc ; A few words; Savage Attacks. Relentless Endurance. Those alone are incredibly powerful abilities, but they do wonders for a blood hunter. Why? Because Savage Attacks applies to your rite die as well. And while this works better for strength builds, the race features are worth a glance alone.

Tiefling ; Teiflings work really well as a flavorful choice, but much less so when it comes to crunch. The Feral tiefling options in SCAG opens this up and help this a bit, but it’s not much. A Profaned Soul can get a bit more mileage out of this race if they take a few levels in Warlock for spell progression and invocations.

Goliath; Strength builds work with this pretty well with Goliath, and Stone’s Endurance can keep the edge off of attacks that would otherwise knock you flat.

Aarakocra ; It’s a flying wood elf. It’s a fantastic choice if you can find a DM to allow the race.

Air Genasi; Bonuses to two main stats. The racial abilities are decidedly situational, but could come in handy

Earth Genasi ; A bonus to Con and strength makes this race pretty viable, and pass without trace for free is really helpful for those times you want to lay low or creep up on someone.

Fire Genasi ; Constitution is a good bonus, intelligence is less so. Burning hands is nice though, as is fire resistance.

Water Genasi; Constitution and a wisdom bonus is really helpful for several builds. The swimming speed and acid resistance seem situational, as do it’s spell options. Still, a solid option.

VOLO’s
Aasimar; A bonus to charisma doesn’t help, outside of some Multiclassing options. However, you get resistance to two damage types, a lesser lay on hands, and that’s without getting to the subraces, all of which give a boost to a secondary stat, and have an ability that scales damage with level.

Bugbear; Bugbears are versatile, and have a strong racial ability in having a boost in surprise rounds. While this admittedly depends on the DM and proper planning, A bugbear can make for a powerful blood hunter. It should be noted that since they gain bonuses in strength and dexterity, they may lend themselves more naturally to medium armor.

Firbolg; a bonus to wisdom and strength, and all sorts of admittedly odd spellcasting. This automatically lends itself to the Blood Hunter, and can likely be used in quite a few builds. A free one-turn of invisiblity can be used as a panic button, or for a free attack with advantage if you need it. Disguise self and Detect Magic tend to come in handy as well.

Goblin; boosts in two major stats, a little bonus damage for the big ones, and ‘cunning action lite’.

Hobgoblin; (con, int) Con is good, int less so. Their racial ability makes for a nice panic button, though.

Kenku; dex and wisdom are major stats, though you may find yourself limited in social encounters depending on your DM. Alternatively, mimic all the voices of your enemies. Two dex skills help out your proficiencies as well.

Kobold; Pack Tactics. You wanna know why this is crazy, even with the disadvantage from sunlight sensitivity? Remember that any number of disadvantage counters advantage and vise versa. Not to mention some panic button disadvantage. I will say, however, that I’m not fond of the strength stat penalty, as it breaks the conventional rule of 5e. If you’re playing a kobold, you’ll likely have a dex build.

Lizardfolk; Natural armor is quite nice, as is the ability to make weapons from the bones of the monsters you’ve slain. Add that with a decent bite, and the ability to get some temporary HP makes for a solid contender. Throw in the boost to both of your secondary/tertiary stats, and you’re on the fast track to victory.

Orc; A penalty to a dump stat, but a penalty none the less. The bonus to dash is nice, and may help lend itself to barbarian dips. Powerful build is at best niche(there are entire guides on grappling builds, that I cannot do justice), so this arguably falls behind their half-orc brethren, due to losing out on endurance and extra crit dice.
Tabaxi; A boost to a prime ability, climb speed, and natural claw attacks. The double speed can be great to get you into or out of the fray really reliably.
Triton; very similar to the water Genasi, trading acid resistance for cold resistance. Slightly different stat boosts lend it to possible warlock dip, but otherwise its more or less equal.
Yaun-ti Pureblood; What you’re picking with this race is flavor and it’s racial abilities. IMMUNITY to poison is admittedly a bit situational, but immunity is immunity. Add magic resistance and innate spellcasting for some added power.


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Backgrounds; Before I start ranking backgrounds, keep in mind that they don’t affect too much. They’re there to give you a little more versatility, but more importantly, give your character a bit of backstory and personality.

Acolyte; Insight is good, religion isn’t really needed, but some DM’s may require that as an intelligence check for your mark. Still, you have advantage on those checks. Help from the church is nice though.

Charlatan; Not bad for dexterity based folks, but deception is a charisma skill, and most builds don’t have much of it. False Identity is fun for flavor though.

Criminal/Spy; Stealth is and thieves tools are good, and criminal contact can come in handy.

Entertainer/ Gladiator; Acrobatics is nice, and a free bed is nice too.

Guild Artisan/Guild merchant ; solid skills, and a guild at your back if things get hairy. The price should be negligible as an adventurer. Plus you can say you’re a Witcher.

Hermit; Mechanically the worst of the backgrounds, but the flavor and feature are neat.

Noble/Knight; Persuasion and History are solid, and the features are decent. Might not mesh well with your skill choices, but it could also balance some stuff out.

Outlander; Athletics and Survival are good skill choices, and the feature keeps you all from starving. With athletics and proficiency in strength saving throws, dumping strength just got a bit easier.

Sage; While the skills don’t help you too much, the feature could be helpful; Don’t know a thing about a monster you should know about? This is where you can get that knowledge.

Sailor/Pirate; Perception will save your life, and athletics is a solid skill as well. The class features are a bit campaign dependent though.

Soldier; Makes sense fluff wise, plus you get Athletics and intimidation.

Urchin; Stealth is good, and this is fantastic in urban campaigns.

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Skills;
Athletics; A solid skill to have. Athletics is an extremely versatile skill governing many physical checks, and certain combat options such as shoving or grappling. If you don’t get proficiency from your background, I’d grab it, especially if you’re dumping strength.

Acrobatics; A solid choice for dex characters. Replaces athletics sometimes, depending on how you go about the action.

Arcana; In my experience, this skill doesn’t see much use, and your wizard will likely have this covered. You can pass it up.

Insight; A solid skill to have, especially when dealing with shadier characters. At later levels, you can gain advantage on these checks.

Investigation; Investigation is the less used counterpart of perception; that being said, it’s still useful. If you have a proficiency open, it’s not a bad option.

Survival; I don’t often see this skill used, to be honest. However, not getting lost and not dying of starvation sounds pretty good to me.

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Base Abilities;
Hit Die (d10); A solid Hit die for frontline fighters or tanks, this isn’t as potent as it normally is due to your crimson rite ability.

1;Hunter’s Bane; A ribbon if there ever was one, but it’s got it’s applications, depending on the campaign. Fluffwise, it’s similar to a ranger’s favored enemy, However, at level 11, it gives you the option to get advantage on insight and intimidation checks, in return for damage. A bit of a double edged sword, but it could be of use. It should also be of note that you are considered 'actively hunting' a certain category of creature (undead, fiend, fey), you cannot be surprised by them.

1;Crimson Rite ; And THIS is why you’re here. At the cost of some of your maximum HP, you gain an additional die of damage from a few options, gaining more as you progress in level. This is what makes you so dangerous, but also, so squishy. Blood Hunters are glass cannons due to this ability; it should be emphasized while the damage die increases as you progress in blood hunter level, the cut to your HP is scaled by your Character level(red), which keeps most people away from Multiclassing. That being said, you can rite an already magical weapon (For example, a flametongue or sunblade.)

2;Fighting Style;
.Archery. A +2 bonus to hit is great, and is an obvious choice for anyone specializing in ranged weapons.
.Dueling.This option leads itself more to flavor than anything else for a Blood Hunter, as they lack a shield. Those who plan on dipping into another class with proficiency will have a better time with this fighting style.
.Great Weapon Fighting. Great for Two-handed and Polearm users. No proficiency in heavy armor makes great weapons a bit dangerous due to stat distribution.
.Two-Weapon Fighting. This is for those who want to fully embrace their role as a glass cannon. No natural shield proficiency lends dex hunters down this path, and riting both weapons is a high-risk, high reward strategy.

6;Blood Maledict; The other big ability for the core Blood Hunter class, the usefulness of blood curses vary widely, so we’ll rate them individually. You start with two, and end with five total, and can use the feature twice per short rest, eventually adding gaining more uses.
Blood Curse of Binding; With proper planning, this can be extremely helpful, if not situational. It’s amplify ability is much more effective. Note that a creature that’s speed is 0 can’t get up from prone, if you or someone else can get them down.

Blood Curse of the eyeless; Make that dragon roll again for an attack on you, or amplify it to help out your friend. Use this for when the big bad rolls a natural 20.

Blood Curse of the Fallen Puppet; This is a bit of an oddity. It has it’s uses, sure, but I struggle to think of a time where this is a great option. Even if you had a chance to use this on a big bad, one attack isn’t much, even with the amplify ability. And since it makes a point of it being a /weapon/ attack certain DMs may block off certain creatures from this ability (No dragon possessing). Overall feels lackluster, despite the fluff of it.

Blood Curse of the Fending Rite; One of the two anti-spell Blood Curses. This works well as insurance for saves that you’re poor at, or when you think you’re going to need a boost. It’s amplify helps a lot when you and your friends get caught in a fireball with you and you’re willing to take one for the team.

Blood Curse of the Marked; This is a pretty solid curse if you’re trying to deal some extra damage, and are sure you can hit. That being said, this can clash with certain abilities, and two-weapon fighters would be giving up an attack for this. On the other hand, those who dip into fighter for action surge may find this particularly effective.


Blood Curse of Mutual Suffering. You should take this. You should always take this. Why? Because of it’s amplification ability. This is a boss slayer with some simple preparation, and any non-spellcasting enemy can kiss it’s butt goodbye. It should be noted that you only need to be within 30 feet to start the curse, not to uphold it. This is by far my favorite.

Blood Curse of Spell Sunder; The targeted spell version of the eyeless, with a chance to completely mitigate a spell with a good roll. Never bad to have in the pocket.

Blood Curse of Purgation; I’m not sure what to do with this curse. Lesser restoration is a second level spell. This feels like a rather poor choice.

9; Grim Psychometry; A ribbon to see if an item is involved with evil. It’s pretty vague, and doesn’t have much crunch to it, outside of playing detective. That being said, this could be used to correctly identify a lich’s phylactery.

10; Dark Velocity; You are the night. This makes ducking and weaving through enemies safer and easier. Yay for speed boosts and forced disadvantage.

14;Hardened Soul; You are immune to fear, and assuming you aren’t an elf, now have advantage on charm saves. While it comes a bit late, this is a solid ability.

20;Sanguine Mastery; Now you can use your rites without penalties and amplify your curses for free. That’s cool. Also, when you’re on deaths door, you’ll be dealing a guaranteed 12 damage each time you hit. Might not have much ‘Wow’ factor, but this is simple, elegant, and to the point.

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Orders;

Ghostslayer
3;Rite of the Dawn; more versatility is good. But what makes this amazing is the secondary damage stat that comes with it. It takes a bit of investment, but adding your Wisdom to damage is handy.
7;Hallowed Veins; This is really situational, actually. Most creatures are already susceptible to Blood Curses, and the ones that aren’t can still fall under target of them depending on your DM. Not the best option ability, for sure.
11;Supernal Surge (blue); This ability is solid, but the older version was a bit better, as it now requires a bonus action to proc. Becoming spectral can help with mobility issues from time to time, and the bonus attack is nice for everyone but two weapon fighters, for which this ability is decidedly much less useful.
15; Gravesight; darkvision is common, but being able to see invisibility at 30 feet is a nice insurance policy, even if it doesn’t come up often.
18;Vengeful Spirit; Wait….What? Yeah, that’s right. Assuming you aren’t killed outright, you can keep fighting. While I’ve honestly never been that far into a game where I reached this level, the very idea of this is insane. Situational, sure, but this can and likely will save your life.

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Profaned Soul
Spellcasting progression; This is the main reason you take this archetype. Fluff aside, this archetype deviates from the norm of all other 3rd or even half casting, following the warlock progression, sans invocations. Spell choice will be touched on later in this section.

3;Rite Progression; Taking the fluff and running from it, you get a boost based on your chosen pact. All of these are solid, though they do admittedly branch out and become beasts of their own later, so remember you’re locked into your choice. You can of course, choose a different pact if you have levels in warlock.
-Fey; The archfey patron’s ability is great for archery builds, especially if feats are unavailable, and even then, the ability to cancel out invisibility for a turn is fantastic as well.
-Fiend; it’s great weapon fighting style but for your fire rite, once per attack.
-Old One; While this is a bit situational, fear is a /powerful/ status effect.
-Undying; regaining Hp for knocking out mooks is great, especially as a glass cannon. Two-weapon fighters and great weapon masters will likely make the most of this choice.

7;Mystic Frenzy; This wasn’t as strong before SCAG, but with the new cantrips that came with it, this became much more powerful. A personal favorite is using eldritch blast before a ranged attack, or green flame blade to a melee attack.

7; Revealed Arcana
-Fey; Blur is a great spell to have in your pocket for melee and ranged combatants alike.
-Fiend; Scorching ray at level seven is… extremely underwhelming. 2d6 once per long rest? Firebolt and eldritch blast are already doing more damage than that!
-Old One; Detect thoughts is situational, and likely won’t see too much use. That being said, however, that does not mean that you won’t use it.
-Undying; blindness/deafness is a solid spell, nothing much else to say.

11; Diabolic Channel: you put a spell in your sword, and blow stuff up. Now, it has some limitations, of course, and feels a bit circumstantial for some builds, but giving creatures disadvantages or auto hits with spells is never bad.

15;Unsealed Arcana
-Fey; Slow is a solid debuff, allowing you and your party to clean up. With spell progression as it is, it’s a solid choice.
-Fiend; Fireball at this level is actually a bit underwhelming- not worthless by any means, but you’re using one of your more precious slots on a spell your main spellcaster likely already has, if not something MUCH better.
-Old One; Haste is a spell that’s always great to have, whether for yourself, or your friendly raging barbarian.
-Undying; bestow curse is thematic as hell, and can be used as a solid lockdown, depending on the curse, or how much your DM will let you get away with.

18;Soul Syphon- While the implications and fluff of this ability is /terrifying/, The ability helps with starved spellslots, though admittedly this is heavily dependent on how your DM models his combat encounters, making this hit or miss as far as abilities go.

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Order of the Mutant;
3; Mutagen Craft; By itself, this is pretty self-explanatory. You have a few mutagens, and can prepare one per day. This gives you a boost and a penalty, but does leave the option to try and ‘poison’ those of equal size if you can trick them into drinking it. The progression is quite slow, so it’s best to avoid the stat mutations early on. It should be noted that this Order can completely skip out on wisdom and not be penalized.

7;Advanced Mutagen Craft; You can now make more mutagens per short rest, and drink them both. This can be quite helpful in a pinch, but one should be /very/ careful of what they imbibe, and what they think they’ll be facing.

11; Strange Metabolism; Nullify the side effect of one mutagen for one minute as a bonus action per rest. It’s pretty self explanitory

15; Robust Physiology; Immunity to poison and the poisoned condition is nice, but it doesn’t come up real often at high levels, (outside of say, fighting a green dragon.), making for a bit of a lackluster ability. That being said, when it does come up, it’s nice to have in the pocket.

18;Exalted Mutation; You are always under the effects of one of your mutagens. Note that you CANNOT use your strange metabolism feature on this ability. This capstone ability is highly dependant on both you, and your party composition.

<Mutagens>
As a note, I will rate the mutagens twice; once as-is, and the second assuming choice as your exalted mutation.

Aether; A fly speed is nice, but disadvantage on two ability checks is pretty rough. That being said, strength and dex likely won’t come up if you’re flying unless of course you’re being ‘shot’ at by wizards, or a gunslinger(see Mercer’s ‘gunslinger’ fighter archetype). This stays true for exalted mutagen

Celerity ; Helpful for dex characters that don’t mind dumping wisdom. That being said, the impact to stats is rather slow. While you do I proficiency in wisdom saving throws, I would be wary of choosing this as your exalted mutagen, as there are particularly nasty spells relying on wisdom saving throws.

Conversant; This isn’t red because of it’s side effect like most, but rather due to it’s application. Intelligence checks aren’t overly common, and you already have advantage on the thematic ones. This feels like more like a wasted slot than a dangerous one.

Cruelty; Usually, an extra attack is nice, but at that cost? This is very high risk, high reward, as you can still be affected by spells like haste. At higher levels, this becomes more dangerous as spells and saves become more deadly.

Impermeable, Shielded, Unbreakable; While nice for targets that you know only have one attack option, this can be harmful in situations where there are multiple targets, or even single targets with multiple damage types. Even Bullywugs, a CR ¼ creature is included in this scenario. This is reckless as an exalted choice.


Mobility; The side effect hurts, but being unable to be grappled or restrained can make up for it, more so when you can’t be paralyzed. That being said a -10 to initiative is hard to swallow

Nighteye ; So long as used appropriately, there’s nothing wrong with some darkvision, or extending it. While using it as an exalted mutation is poor for most, using it on a race that already has sunlight sensitivity won’t hurt anything

Potency ; A solid choice for strength characters, assuming they’re forgoing dexterity. So long as you have heavy armor, there’s not much reason not to take this as a strength hunter

Precision ; More criticals are nice, even with the side effect, if you can manage your resources properly. When used as an exalted mutagen, it gets better when coupled with reconstruction(blue), otherwise it starts to mellow out as you gain more levels.

Rapidity; while it feels a bit situational, especially when you already get a boost with dark velocity, it helps put you into or out of the fray quicker. Dex saves tend not to be the ones to kill you though they do hurt. This retains it’s usefulness as an exalted mutagen. Play a Rapid Tabaxi with the mobility feet to costar in the next sonic game. Haste just for fun.

Reconstruction ; This is actually quite helpful. The regen scales, and there are several ways to bump your speed up if it’s that much of an issue. This only gets stronger as you progress, making it a great choice for your exalted mutation.

Sagacity; Remember how I said that you can dump your wisdom stat for this archetype? Allow me to elaborate. At most, you have 4 blood maledicts per long rest. While you may use your wisdom for say, perception and insight, when you’re in combat, though, you just made your glass cannon easier to hit, and you have to use your maledicts wisely. While this is better when you’re fairly certain that you won’t have a combat encounter for that rest period, this is dangerous as an exalted mutagen.

Wariness ; Attacking first can mean life or death, and this archetype makes it a lot harder to /not/ be first in the attack order. While disadvantage on perception checks hurts, it could be worse, and can be managed with proficiency, which is easy to get, making this a respectable choice as an exalted mutagen. Also, it can counter the mobility mutagen’s side effect.

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Order of the Lycan

3;Hybrid Transformation
A solid beginning as far as archetypes go. This archetype is /fantastic/ for dex builds, in all the ways. Feral might gives you bonus damage, and advantage on all strength checks and saving throws, in which you already had proficiency. The vulnerability is rough, as is bloodlust, but they help balance out the transformation. It should be noted that unlike normal ‘rage’, you can use spells and your blood maledicts. Your damage for your unarmed attacks increases to a d8 and a d10 at 11 and 18, respectfully. It should be noted that your rite effects /both/ of your claws, so you don't have to rite them twice.

7; Stalker’s Prowess; A solid buff to your speed, and your unarmed strikes are now magical when in hybrid form. Nothing flashy, but it does its job.

11;Advanced Transformation; You get a bonus to your unarmed attack rolls, and resistance to whatever damage type you have up with your rite. Certain DMs may let you right each of your claws a different damage, which makes this even stronger.

15; Iron Volition; Pack tactics and helps you curb the bloodlust skill a bit.

18;Hybrid Transformation Mastery. One more use of your hybrid form, and an AOE stun? Granted, it’s only till the end of your next turn, but even so.

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Feats!!
Redundant feats will not be rated(lightly armored, weapon master, etc.)

Actor; a bonus to a multiclass dependant stat, and a rather niche ability to go on top of it.
Alert; A bonus to initiative, you can’t be surprised, and blocking enemy advantage. A solid feat if you have the space for it.
Athlete; a boost to a primary stat, but the main kicker is the help with getting up from prone. Still, there are better options.
Charger; No. just no. regardless of attack style, you have at least two attacks, with more gains thanks to your crimson rite die.
Crossbow expert; Most will come for the second or third ability and get some gains, but this is the mandatory feat for crossbow wielders.
Defensive Dualist (purple); it’s not a bad feat per se, but when you look at the other options, this feat does fall a bit short, and it eats up your reaction, which you could use for an opportunity attack.
Dual wielder ; on most builds, this debatably a trap feat, admittedly. But due to a lack of shield proficiency without Multiclassing, and this class’s emphasis on damage, this becomes much more affable, giving you more damage potential while giving you a slight boost to AC.
Dungeon delver ; setting/ campaign specific, getting better in it’s namesake, or being completely useless where dungeon crawls rarely happen.
Durable; a boost to your constitution is nice when you have an odd score, but there are better options.
Elemental Adept; good for profaned souls, useless for the other archetypes.
Grappler; Grappler is a trap. It may even make you worse at grappling. Don’t take it.
Great Weapon Master; If you’re going with a two handed weapon, then this feat is for you. Extra damage and more chances to hit are always welcome.
Healer; works for secondary support and works well at low levels.
Heavily armored; This is helpful for those who are deciding to make a strength build. Remember that lycan hunters don’t get extra AC with heavy armor.
Heavy Armor Master; the extra boost in strength is helpful, and the damage reduction can help from time to time, though it loses it’s luster at higher levels.
Inspiring leader; It’s a great flavor choice, even if it’s not the strongest. Rally your allies and lead the charge.
Keen mind; boosts a dump stat and is super situational.
Linguist; it’s likely situational at best, but knowing the languages of your enemies keeps this from being red.
Lucky; It’s a panic button for you, and a do over button for your enemies. Negate a natural 20 from the big bad, or turn your disadvantage into SUPER ADVANTAGE.
Mage Slayer; this is a bit situational, sure, but can wipe the floor with the right opponent. Mix with blood maledicts for a complete shut down.
Magic Initiate; You can gain hex if you aren’t a profaned soul, or perhaps guiding bolt if you like radiant damage and advantage. SCAG cantrips are nice options to have, or you can take shillelagh and make wisdom your primary stat.
Martial Adept; You gain some maneuvers for some more flexibility, but there are generally better options.
Medium armor master; It’s rare that you’ll see a character mix strength and dexterity, but this is helpful for those who do.
Mobile; The movement bonus is nice, but this overlaps somewhat with dark velocity
Moderately Armored; for if you REALLY want a shield, but you refuse to multiclass. Not recommended

Mounted combatant; Nice if you can consistently have a mount, but most adventurer’s lack this option. This becomes more viable for Small characters.
Observant; a bonus to passive perception is nice, reading lips is nice, and a bonus to wisdom is also nice. Better options, sure, but its got it’s place.
Polearm Master; More attacks per round, and opportunity attacks for entering your range of attack. Remember you can rite the other end of your polearm for the purpose of this feat. Pair with Sentinel for lockdown. Be a bugbear to troll your enemies into submission.
Resilient; The strongest option is generally wisdom, which you already have proficiency in. but gaining a new saving throw proficiency is rarely wasted.
Ritual Caster; thematic, and not could be helpful depending on the rituals you learn. Ask your DM(purple) about the availability of rituals before you take this feat.
Savage Attacker; This can be helpful, but it only affects the weapon damage die, not your rite damage, keeping this from being higher.
Sentinel ; You may be a glass cannon, but with blood maledicts, you can make that an asset. Keep your allies safe with this feat, or pair it with polearm master to completely lock down your enemy.
Sharpshooter ; This is near required for ranged builds. Negate cover, distance penalties, and do extra damage.
Shield Master ; A solid feat, if you can squeeze out shield proficiency from multiclassing. Otherwise you can’t use it at all.
Skilled; gain proficiencies. Not bad, not great.
Skulker; Helps you sneak around and ambush your enemies. Not as effective with darkvision
Spell sniper; Only for the profaned soul, use this to troll people from afar with your eldritch blast.
Tavern Brawler; Helpful for a grappler, less so otherwise. Mix with lycan for a better damage die.
Tough; get more HP to help you with what you lose from your rite.
War Caster; Only use with profane soul. This would be more helpful though, if you had more spell slots to use this with.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Multiclass options!
A disclaimer; While the class itself discourages heavy multiclassing, most classes benefit from a level or two in another. It should also be noted that most adventures do not reach level 20, making most capstone arguments moot. That being said, as a general rule, I would not recommend more than 3 or 4 levels in most cases.

Barbarian; This is a solid option for strength hunters to dip into, especially if they don’t plan to pick the lycan order. Rage and an increased hit die makes them less squishy, while reckless attacks brings more critical hits, making the most out of your rite ramage die, even with the slowed progression. Dropping off after your third level can net you a totem, or the a frenzied rage, recommending the former.

Bard ; redundant proficiencies, and spellcasting that doesn’t stack with your own ‘casting’ stat nor progress with it makes the bard a bit of a poor choice, compared to other options. While it does have a versatile spell list, it would be hard to gain much benefit from the class without sacrificing your rite damage progression.

Cleric (blue); while the cleric’s spellcasting doesn’t continue with the profaned soul’s progression, the spells and proficiencies gained from the various domains can make a blood hunter more versatile, being able to hold a more supportive role, or even tank better than before with life, nature, tempest, or war at the ready. As another note, taking this route makes your wisdom stat a priority, and it wouldn’t be unwise to invest in magic initiate for the shillelagh cantrip (or just take it as a bonus cantrip if you have the nature domian) if you maintain a frontline position. choosing your first level in cleric before stepping into blood hunter will also net you a shield proficiency.

Druid; While less powerful than cleric in this situation by a small margin, the druid does offer some helpful cantrips and offensive spells. That being said, it would be fair to assume you cannot use your blood maledicts or crimson rites in conjunction with Wild Shape, which makes this lag behind a bit as a dip.

Fighter; A fighter dip is helpful for most if not all melee combatants, should they decide to go the multiclassing route. You gain a shield proficiency, as well as the chance for action surge, and later, the battle master and champion archetypes can help solidfy parts of your blood hunter’s foundation.

Monk ; While the primary stats of the blood hunter mix well with the monk, you may be better off playing as a lycan hunter. That being said, a three level dip for the Long Death archetype may be a strong choice for those going the lycan route.

Paladin; The Blood Hunter’s brother in arms, they ironically don’t mix too well together. Taking this class spreads out your resources too thin, and that causes you to be ineffective in other areas.

Ranger; while thematically arm in arm, the Blood Hunter doesn’t have much to gain from a few levels of ranger, outside of hunter’s mark. The Revised Ranger in Unearthed arcana, however, would be much more helpful through it’s version of favored enemy, as well as the Underdark Scout archetype.

Rogue ; Sneak attack is good, and archer hunters may be able to take advantage of cunning action to increase their damage even further. Alternatively, melee hunters may find themselves drawn to the more consistent damage boost that comes with the swashbuckler archetype, offering them more power and maneuverability.

Sorceror; this suffers the same issue as the bard does, but with a smaller hit die. You’re already squishy as it is.

Warlock (blue); While not as useful to the other archetypes, the Profaned soul gets spell progression out of warlock, and more importantly, invocations. With that being said, this is probably the only class I could say having more the four or five levels in would help, if you decide to emphasize your spellcasting. You can choose a different pact than you did with hunter, so the combat combo of undying(hunter) and fiend pact for your warlock.

Wizard;No. intelligence is easily a dump stat in this edition, and this dip would have you suffer a lower hit die.

[Papadragon]

finally! I've been waiting for a blood hunter guide.

[INDYSTAR188]

Yaaaay! Thanks for this! Will review and post soon, but for now, thanks for taking the time!

[BrusLi]

It would be cool if you add builds for each archetype!
Lycan advanced transformation doesn't change to d8 it's stated earlier in predatory strikes that it changes from 1d6-d8-d10 at levels 11 and 18 :))

[Nishant]

It would be cool if you add builds for each archetype!
Lycan advanced transformation doesn't change to d8 it's stated earlier in predatory strikes that it changes from 1d6-d8-d10 at levels 11 and 18 :))

Fair enough. I put it in as such since the levels overlap, but it may be better if I clarified. I'll edit it once I get back home from work

[Draco4472]

The survival skill seems underrated, especially when this class gives you advantage to use it to track certain creatures. But the usefulness of this skill does vary from campaign to campaign.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Excellent start to a long overdue guide. Many thanks for this!

Couple of points you might want to add:

Re: Hunter's Bane. IMHO the most important thing about this feature is that while actively tracking Fey, Fiends, or Undead creatures, a Blood Hunter cannot be surprised by creatures of that type -- not just the specific creature he's tracking, but any creature of the type. I doubt this will change its rating (still solidly Blue) but it probably should be mentioned in the guide.

For Order of the Lycan, the Hybrid Transformation feature includes the benefit of affecting all natural weapons with a single use of the Crimson Rite feature; they don't have to use it twice (and take twice the Max HP reduction) as TWF style users of other Orders do.

Under Cleric Multiclassing, you might want to note that Nature Clerics gain Heavy Armor and access to the Shillelagh cantrip, making them a viable single-stat Wisdom build, although heavy armor has a Strength minimum. If you go Cleric at 1st level, then Blood Hunter at 2nd (or later), you'll also get Shield Proficiency.

[Nishant]

Alright, edited as requested. Lemme know what you need.

The survival skill seems underrated, especially when this class gives you advantage to use it to track certain creatures. But the usefulness of this skill does vary from campaign to campaign.

I would rate it blue, if it wasn't for the fact that it is quite situational, and you can get it from several other backgrounds. it is a solid skill to have though.

It would be cool if you add builds for each archetype!

I plan to, I'm just going to busy for a few days, and wanted to get this finished and out there while I had it stuck in my head.

[Papadragon]

Alright, edited as requested. Lemme know what you need.



I would rate it blue, if it wasn't for the fact that it is quite situational, and you can get it from several other backgrounds. it is a solid skill to have though.



I plan to, I'm just going to busy for a few days, and wanted to get this finished and out there while I had it stuck in my head.

nice, i'm definitely looking forward to it. i just wish they would make this class legal in AL games though.

[JakOfAllTirades]

There are a couple of multiclass options which might be under rated, IMO.

Both the Druid and Monk use natural weapons. In the Druid's case, natural weapons are gained from Wild Shape, but bear with me. (See what I did there?) And the Monk uses unarmed strikes. Now, we know from the Order of the Lycan that the Crimson Rite ability affects natural weapons. And it lasts up to 8 hours. So....

Depending on how the GM rules, it might be possible for a multiclassed Druid/Blood Hunter to use Crimson Rite on his fists, then Wild Shape into a bear, and have the Crimson Rite still in effect on his claws. Or the GM just might say, No... the Crimson Rite doesn't effect the bear but it returns when the Druid reverts to human form. I don't know what the correct call would be. As to whether this would be OP; the Druid slows down his Wild Shape progression to get Crimson Rite, or the Blood Hunter delays larger Crimson Rite damage for Wild Shape, depending on how many levels of each he takes. I haven't crunched the numbers yet and I probably won't.

The same idea applies to the Monk; he can enhance his unarmed strikes (all of them) with one use of Crimson Rite. In my experience (I'm currently playing a 6th level TWF Blood Hunter) one of the biggest drawbacks of the Crimson Rite is that it lasts for 8 hours, or until your weapon leaves your hand. So keeping one weapon "powered up" leaves only one hand free between fights, unless you want to burn even more HP, and having two weapons with Rites means keeping hold of both them. In actual play, this can be a real pain! The Monk's ability to fight without weapons eliminates this problem entirely; I'd love to try playing a Monk/Blood Hunter sometime. And I'd rate this combo Blue for certain builds. (Shadow Monk with Dark Velocity FTW!)

[RSP]

Not sure why you have Mutual Suffering rated so high. Pre-nerf it was fantastic but now it's really far from sky blue.

Why do think it should be sky blue? *If* you decide to take damage (i.e. Amplify) then the marked creature takes equal damage if they are close enough to you and damage you with a weapon attack. Otherwise, at most, they take half damage.

Granted it falls in the Glass Canon feel of the class by I'm not sure why you think this is such a great ability.

[RSP]

Jak,
You can only use Crimson Rite on weapons, which do not include Unarmed Strikes. The only way to use Crimson Rite on Unarmed Strikes is to go Order of the Lycan while in Hybrid form.

So you couldn't, RAW, multi Monk or Druid and use the Rite on your Unarmed Strikes (unless of course you were also in Hybrid form).

[JakOfAllTirades]

Jak,
You can only use Crimson Rite on weapons, which do not include Unarmed Strikes. The only way to use Crimson Rite on Unarmed Strikes is to go Order of the Lycan while in Hybrid form.

So you couldn't, RAW, multi Monk or Druid and use the Rite on your Unarmed Strikes (unless of course you were also in Hybrid form).

I'm not sure if this is a problem; are unarmed strikes not considered weapons?

Aside from the PHB RAW, I think there might be a Sage Advice question on this; I'll see what I can find out.

Edited to add: PHB p149 lists Unarmed Strike under Simple Melee Weapons on the Weapons table. (I couldn't find anything relevant in Sage Advice.)

On this basis I'd be inclined to consider Unarmed Strikes a weapon, until I see a very definite ruling to the contrary.

[RSP]

Crawford tweet:

Jeremy Crawford
Jeremy Crawford – ‏@JeremyECrawford

@Hiro_Zero_Virus @sebkha "Correct. An unarmed strike isn't a weapon."
1:31 PM - 7 Apr 2016

Also, check out Mercer's comments on the Lycan's DM Guild page; he states this a few times as well.

[RSP]

Also, I'm pretty sure the PHB errata changed the Unarmed Strikes is a Simple Weapon. I believe the intent was that if one is proficient with Simple Weapons then they are proficient with Unarmed Strikes, however, Unarmed Strikes are not Simple Weapons (or weapons in any sense). They are however "weapon attacks" if I remember correctly.

[Saggo]

Edited to add: PHB p149 lists Unarmed Strike under Simple Melee Weapons on the Weapons table. (I couldn't find anything relevant in Sage Advice.)

On this basis I'd be inclined to consider Unarmed Strikes a weapon, until I see a very definite ruling to the contrary.

Errata removed Unarmed Strike from the weapons table.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Errata removed Unarmed Strike from the weapons table.

Okay, thanks to all for the clarifications.

[Saggo]

Okay, thanks to all for the clarifications.

I've been caught by the unarmed strikes errata, too. Barbarian Rages I think it was.

[ChaosRonin]

Has anyone done any number crunching for TWF VS GWM ?

From my very armature thoery-crafting using Profane Soul it seems like TWF and GWM are fairly even until about lvl 11 but when you can cast and slash if you use a SCAG cantrip GWM rolls ahead ?

Does that seem about right?

[JakOfAllTirades]

Has anyone done any number crunching for TWF VS GWM ?

From my very armature thoery-crafting using Profane Soul it seems like TWF and GWM are fairly even until about lvl 11 but when you can cast and slash if you use a SCAG cantrip GWM rolls ahead ?

Does that seem about right?

Not sure; you give up an extra attack to use Green Flame Blade, so you'd also lose the Hex damage, Rite Damage, and the +10 for GWM on the 2nd attack. Does GFB make up for all that? Same goes for your off-hand attack from TWF, although Polearm Master would make up for that. The polearm offhand attack gets a d4, +10 for GWM, the TWF gets a d8 rapier and no +10, PAM wins. (Other damage bonuses are about the same, AFAIK.)

I'm pretty sure GWM, PAM, the Hex spell, and Rite damage on both ends of the polearm would be the best option for DPR: three attacks per round at level 11 with every possible add thrown in.

Edited to note: At level 11, Order of the Ghost Slayer adds WIS mod to Rite of the Dawn damage on all attacks. With a WIS mod of +3 or +4, this is comparable to Hex spell damage, more consistent (no die roll) and affects all targets instead of just the Hex spell victim. So depending on the opponents' resistances (Necro from Hex v. Radiant from Rite of the Dawn, I think), Order of the Ghost Slayer might be a slightly better choice.

[Hamster Friend]

Right when my DM approved this class for our campaign!

It's really interesting that seemingly everywhere else I've read has been saying that TWF ain't so hot in 5E anymore. Is actually good for this class because of Rite damage?

[RSP]

Like a lot of things in 5e, it's not really "bad" but gets a bad rap due to not being "optimal" from a numbers perspective.

Personally, in relation to BHs, it really emphasises the glass-cannon aspect of the class; you do more damage for even more HP loss.

Certainly not a bad thing, but be aware that the extra bonus action attack leaves you with effectively d6 (Wizard) HP as a melee combatant.

[INDYSTAR188]

Right when my DM approved this class for our campaign!

It's really interesting that seemingly everywhere else I've read has been saying that TWF ain't so hot in 5E anymore. Is actually good for this class because of Rite damage?

We have a TWF, level 6 Blood Hunter and activating the Crimson Rite on both blades is a good way to ko'd in my experience.

[Jarlhen]

Pulling a couple of levels of warlock for hex is a great combo with order of the lycan. That's 3d6+dex/str+rage x3 at level 8-9. Like with polearm master and crossbow master feats as well as the monks unarmed strikes, the language implies it doesn't follow standard TWF rules. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since the language is identical to the feats (which have been specified as giving the str bonus to the bonus attack). I'm not saying this is insane damage, but it sure is excellent sustained for a class that also gets resistance to damage and a bunch of other neat stuff. There is also a lot of versatility to such a build. It's a solid choice for sure.

[JakOfAllTirades]

We have a TWF, level 6 Blood Hunter and activating the Crimson Rite on both blades is a good way to ko'd in my experience.

I'm currently playing a level 6 TWF Blood Hunter as well. It's important to use discretion with the Rite on your off-hand blade. At 5th level and above, your main weapon is getting two attacks per round, so your off-hand Rite is only doing half as much anyway; it's not always worth the extra DPR. In my case, I'm playing a Ghost Slayer, so if we're fighting undead (we're playing Curse of Strahd) I'll use Rite of the Dawn. Then I'm adding my WIS mod to all Rite damage and it's worth the extra risk. Three attacks per round worth 2d6+7 each (I don't have rapiers yet) is likely to drop foes before they drop me. It helps that my group is rounded out by a Vengeance Paladin, a Barbarian, and a Moon Druid. Sometimes I gotta Rite both weapons just to keep up with them!

[Hamster Friend]

We have a TWF, level 6 Blood Hunter and activating the Crimson Rite on both blades is a good way to ko'd in my experience.

I'm currently playing a level 6 TWF Blood Hunter as well. It's important to use discretion with the Rite on your off-hand blade. At 5th level and above, your main weapon is getting two attacks per round, so your off-hand Rite is only doing half as much anyway; it's not always worth the extra DPR. In my case, I'm playing a Ghost Slayer, so if we're fighting undead (we're playing Curse of Strahd) I'll use Rite of the Dawn. Then I'm adding my WIS mod to all Rite damage and it's worth the extra risk. Three attacks per round worth 2d6+7 each (I don't have rapiers yet) is likely to drop foes before they drop me. It helps that my group is rounded out by a Vengeance Paladin, a Barbarian, and a Moon Druid. Sometimes I gotta Rite both weapons just to keep up with them!

I was about to ask that next since the increasing HP loss per level is looking real scary and I'm not too sure about how to manage it properly. Any more survival tips for a young hunter looking to find his worth in the waking world?

Also, something brought up in another thread: Shillelagh on a Blood Hunter. Going this route, is it then easier to drop a bit of DEX (just enough for optimal AC with medium armor) and just turn WIS into your main attacking stat?

[JakOfAllTirades]

I was about to ask that next since the increasing HP loss per level is looking real scary and I'm not too sure about how to manage it properly. Any more survival tips for a young hunter looking to find his worth in the waking world?

Also, something brought up in another thread: Shillelagh on a Blood Hunter. Going this route, is it then easier to drop a bit of DEX (just enough for optimal AC with medium armor) and just turn WIS into your main attacking stat?

Couple of ways you can do that:

One is the Magic Initiate Feat. But you'll still need some DEX (14 maybe?) to keep your AC up. Remember you'll still be in medium armor and no shield. With this build, you'll probably want to go with Polearm Master instead of the Dual Wielder Feat, which also costs you a point of AC in the long run.

The other way is a one level MC into Nature Cleric. This gets you the Shillelagh Cantrip, as well as proficiency with Heavy Armor and Shields. Dump DEX, and get a STR of 15 so you can wear the best possible armor. Again, Polearm Master Feat is your friend, and with this build you can grab it at first level is you're playing a variant human.

Either way, WIS is your main stat. You won't really need any more STR or DEX, so after maxing out WIS, you should get more CON because a Blood Hunter can always use more Hit Points.

[Lawful Good]

A Blood Hunter Handbook

Finally

I've been waiting for this

[eastmabl]

Providing some context as to what a blood hunter is might help the reader who isn't familiar with the 3P class in 5e.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Providing some context as to what a blood hunter is might help the reader who isn't familiar with the 3P class in 5e.

You are absolutely correct, and here it is:

Blood Hunter PDF

Order of the Lycan

Both of these are "pay what you like" on the DM's Guild website.