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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Sep 2014

    Default Breaking BM: Revised

    For those who haven't heard, there's a revised Ranger in UA. It's so popular that I hear some AL DMs allow it, and there are rumors that it will soon become official.

    With that in mind, I think it's time to revisit an old character build.

    For the sake of this build, I'll stick to PHB + Revised Ranger only. I'll let the playground decide what they might do if given the option to use other source books.

    What's New

    The revised ranger is significantly different from the base. The following are the most important differences for our purposes:
    • You no longer select any beast that meets the size and CR requirements. Instead, a list is provided from which rangers "normally" select a companion.
    • The beast now gains ASIs, hit dice, and two additional skills, is proficient with all saves, uses your proficiency, and gains your favored enemy feature. Most importantly, it now acts on its own.
    • Beast Conclave no longer gains extra attack. I suggested this a long time ago for a free acting beast. Looks like WotC had the same idea.
    • The BM level-up features are significantly different. The beast no longer shares spells with you at any level, but it can make a reaction attack whenever you attack and gains a whirlwind attack.
    • From a JC tweet, magic items attuned to companions have no effect on your attunement slots. This both confirms that your companion can attune items, and also that it doesn't stop you from doing the same. Double attunement slots.
    • Because you can revive the beast, it isn't the end of the world if it dies.

    With the above in mind, our ideal strategy changes.

    We want to be in melee range with our beast, because its attacks are powerful. Using reach weapons could interfere with the beast's reaction attack, so we should stick to normal range only.

    Modifiers to attack, for our beast, are very powerful due to its two attacks and multiattack feature.

    TWF, for the first time ever, is actually the ideal way to go because you don't get extra attack and want to be in melee. You still want a backup hand crossbow just in case.

    Lore

    Mastiffs are impressive hounds prized by humanoids for their loyalty and keen senses. Mastiffs can be trained as guard dogs, hunting dogs, and war dogs. Halflings and other Small humanoids ride them as mounts.

    That's right, the saddle we need exists in this universe. Anything that fits a mastiff can easily be modified to fit a samd-size wolf.

    The Build


    It looks like a child riding a pet dog. This is the cutest build ever!

    Stout Halfling
    Stats: Dexterity > Wisdom > Constitution
    Feats: Mounted Combatant at 4
    Tools: Leatherworker's Tools
    Skills: we don't need stealth, acrobatics, insight, or perception. Doggo has those taken care of. This opens us up to a variety of more interesting skill builds.
    Gear:
    • Two scimitars or shortswords, a hand crossbow
    • Studded Leather or your best medium armor (stay light so Doggo can carry you)
    • A backpack with leatherworker's tools and plenty of doggo food.
    • A mastiff saddle from a halfling village which we will modify (leatherworker's tools) to fit a wolf - assuming this is even needed.

    Spells: Cure Wounds (in case companion goes down), Jump, Darkvision, Water Walk, any other spells you need to ensure you're able to function in the environment.

    Doggo
    Trait: I stay on alert so others can rest
    Flaw: if there's food left unattended, I'll eat it.


    We choose a wolf. He has proficiency in perception and stealth, and has advantage on perception checks based on smell or sound (Keen Hearing and Smell). We'll add acrobatics and insight via Beast Conclave - Doggo knows when you're lying.

    He also has Pack Tactics.

    He has a bite attack for 2D4+2. From the stat block, this appears to be Dex-based (+4 to hit, +4 stealth, 15 dexterity = 2 + 2 proficiency).

    Whenever he bites someone, they must succeed on a strength saving throw or fall prone. This is DC 11, which might be based on his strength (8+2+1) or even his constitution or wisdom - it doesn't say. It also isn't clear whether this scales - ask your DM. I would think it would increase with his proficiency at least, so let's say it scales to DC 15 without any stat changes.

    He has a D8 hit die, so he'll have 3(D8+CON) when we get him - assuming we treat him like a player, it'll be HP 21. If we use the beast statblock and add a D8 +1 CON, that's HP 17.

    He has natural armor = 13. That's really nice, because it means we don't need to find barding (though there's no reason we can't later). He adds your proficiency bonus to this, so his AC ranges from 15 to 19.

    ASIs go to dexterity first, then constitution or wisdom - your choice. If your DM decides the bite DC is based on strength, consider leveling strength instead of dexterity, though that will change your barding choice (see below).

    Playstyle and Special Tactics

    We're riding Doggo. Pack tactics gives him advantage on every attack. If he prones a target with bite, then our whole party gets advantage on melee attacks. There's no size limit to bite, by the way.

    If you expect traps, take the dodge action. Doggo already has advantage on dexterity saving throws from Mounted Combatant, and will probably have the same dexterity mod that you do.

    If you're incapacitated, have Doggo carry you out of there. If he's incapacitated, heal him with cure wounds. You and Doggo fight as a team and watch each other's backs.

    Coordinated attack: when you attack, your companion can use its reaction to attack. That's really nice. With TWF, that's four attacks/round at level 5, two of which force a strength save or prone. Who else can do that every round?

    Due to proficiency and scaling ASIs, Doggo will eventually be making at least two bite attacks per round with advantage, dealing 2D4+5(Dex)+6(Prof) and forcing a strength save or prone on a hit. That's average 16 damage per hit, by the way, better than two flurry attacks from a monk. And we haven't even equipped him with anything.

    At level 11, Doggo gains storm of claws and fangs, which is fantastic because there's no reason not to use this every turn. Unlike a hunter ranger, Doggo won't lose his second attack for doing this as long as we attack on the same turn. That means you can effectively whirlwind attack and still make three normal attacks in the same round. That's better than a hunter. If these count as bite attacks, you can knock a hoard prone. His attacks still have advantage from pack tactics, by the way.
    • Special tactic: you take the dodge action, Doggo moves into position. If it attracts any attacks, redirect them to yourself and those attacks have disadvantage.

    Dash: Doggo has a speed of 40' and can dash without losing his reaction. That means you can move 80' and still make three attacks that round. You could also jump off him and dash + bonus action dash (revised rangers can do that) if you really needed to move 155' that round for whatever reason. But don't do that. Doggo doesn't get left behind.

    Barding: if we give him studded leather barding, Doggo's AC can go as high as 23. This is very good. We should be able to craft this ourselves using downtime.

    Attunement: attune Doggo to any magic items he can equip. As per the tweet above, this won't interfere with your attunement.

    Conclusion

    The revised ranger is a significant improvement over the base. Beast Masters are no different. The new version lets us do a lot of things we couldn't before.

    Four attacks per round every round at level 5 is unheard of - hunters can only do this if they take horde breaker and TWF / crossbow expert and are fighting multiple foes. Against a horde past level 11, the sheer number of attacks possible per round is astronomical, and there's no downside to it.

    Doggo will likely have more HP than the party wizard. Due to proficiency, he'll also have better saves, as his dexterity and either constitution or wisdom saves will be competitive with a player's. And if your DM is a goofball and lets you swap Doggo's ASIs for feats, the possibilities are endless.

    Good dog.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    WolfInSheepsClothing

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    I did a similar build with a Kobold. Pack Tactics all around. It is also fun to role play it as the Kobold serves/worships the wolf (since he is mostly there to heal the wolf and trigger his reaction attack).

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Might want to specify (Revised) Ranger- I thought that this thread was about the BattleMaster Fighter.

    Here's a problem for you- how is Doggo overcoming resistance to non-magical attacks? Because past level 6 or so, you're going to be running into a lot of those, and it'll cut your wolfs damage in half.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon View Post
    Might want to specify (Revised) Ranger- I thought that this thread was about the BattleMaster Fighter.

    Here's a problem for you- how is Doggo overcoming resistance to non-magical attacks? Because past level 6 or so, you're going to be running into a lot of those, and it'll cut your wolfs damage in half.
    You'll have to find a magic item for it, such as the Insignia of Claws from HotDQ.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

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    Orc in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    I'm sure you can buy it make silvered, adamantine, magical metal claws for your animal. Like rooster fighting metal claw

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Desteplo View Post
    I'm sure you can buy it make silvered, adamantine, magical metal claws for your animal. Like rooster fighting metal claw
    Well, for a wolf you'd want to enhance its teeth. So get it a crunk grill, I guess. Maybe you can do some Wolverine operation on it with a fabricating wizard, unsure.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    I like the revised ranger but I hate the new beast list.

    I've been playing a regular BM Kobold with a Giant crab, its the most effective character I've ever played, I've never been so succesful at capturing and taking enemies alive before.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post
    Well, for a wolf you'd want to enhance its teeth. So get it a crunk grill, I guess. Maybe you can do some Wolverine operation on it with a fabricating wizard, unsure.
    I think that is the balancing factor on 5 attacks at level 5. 3 attacks at half damage on most mobs is still good.

  9. - Top - End - #9
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    mephnick's Avatar

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Doggo doesn't share your initiative and if you're riding him doesn't get to attack per the mounted combat rules. Even if the DM allowed it to attack you'd constantly be readying to wait for your animal's turn since you'd likely beat it in initiative. Revised Ranger is better, but it destroyed the mounted BM build.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Zombie

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by mephnick View Post
    Doggo doesn't share your initiative and if you're riding him doesn't get to attack per the mounted combat rules. Even if the DM allowed it to attack you'd constantly be readying to wait for your animal's turn since you'd likely beat it in initiative. Revised Ranger is better, but it destroyed the mounted BM build.
    So I just re-read to make sure. If you're going to go shorty mounted BM, I'd go for crossbow expert at level 4. The critter gets it's goodies when you take the attack action and/or it can see you. It doesn't need you to do a melee attack. So, hand crossbow seems the way to go though you should talk to your DM about it first since he might rule that your pet can't properly see you with you on its back. I wouldn't rule that way, but I could see it out of some.
    I am the flush of excitement. The blush on the cheek. I am the Rouge!

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by mephnick View Post
    Doggo doesn't share your initiative and if you're riding him doesn't get to attack per the mounted combat rules. Even if the DM allowed it to attack you'd constantly be readying to wait for your animal's turn since you'd likely beat it in initiative. Revised Ranger is better, but it destroyed the mounted BM build.
    You can allow the mount to act independently, which allows it to function as normal (it can take attacks and any other actions) and keep it's turn in initiative. In combat it acts as the player wishes, regardless of mounted status, unless the player is unconscious. A DM should allow it to attack if he pays attention to the rules, but you are right in having to wait in terms of initiative. Doubley so, in fact, as you as the range have advantage on initiative roles.

  12. - Top - End - #12
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post

    He has a bite attack for 2D4+2. From the stat block, this appears to be Dex-based (+4 to hit, +4 stealth, 15 dexterity = 2 + 2 proficiency).

    Whenever he bites someone, they must succeed on a strength saving throw or fall prone. This is DC 11, which might be based on his strength (8+2+1) or even his constitution or wisdom - it doesn't say. It also isn't clear whether this scales - ask your DM. I would think it would increase with his proficiency at least, so let's say it scales to DC 15 without any stat changes.

    ASIs go to dexterity first, then constitution or wisdom - your choice. If your DM decides the bite DC is based on strength, consider leveling strength instead of dexterity

    And if your DM is a goofball and lets you swap Doggo's ASIs for feats, the possibilities are endless.

    Good dog.
    I've been down the rabbit hole of guessing at where the beasts get their numbers. While ac is down right impossible to reason, you can figure out bite and it's rider based on the wolf stats and comparison yo other beast like a dire wolf. The bonus to attack is str/dex + prof. The rider effect to drag down is 8 + str + prof.

    Oh and my dm is a goofball. My gf has her very own great wolf sif lol

  13. - Top - End - #13
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    DruidGirl

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    there's a revised Ranger in UA. It's so popular that I hear some AL DMs allow it
    I know this isn't really the point of your post, so I apologize for sidetracking a little. But just wanted to point out that any DMs allowing any UA material --whatever the reasoning--are definitely not playing AL. By definition.

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Zene View Post
    I know this isn't really the point of your post, so I apologize for sidetracking a little. But just wanted to point out that any DMs allowing any UA material --whatever the reasoning--are definitely not playing AL. By definition.
    yeah The revised ranger article only mentions the next iteration may be AL legal for testing.

    that means its still illegal.

  15. - Top - End - #15
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    DruidGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    This is great! Love the character and the analysis.

    Our table had a new Ranger join, and I was going to suggest allowing the use of the UA.

    He's a Tabaxi, and it would be hilarious if the cat...rode a cat.

  16. - Top - End - #16
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    mephnick's Avatar

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Arcangel4774 View Post
    You can allow the mount to act independently, which allows it to function as normal (it can take attacks and any other actions) and keep it's turn in initiative. In combat it acts as the player wishes, regardless of mounted status, unless the player is unconscious. A DM should allow it to attack if he pays attention to the rules, but you are right in having to wait in terms of initiative. Doubley so, in fact, as you as the range have advantage on initiative roles.
    Yep, ok you're right. Got confused. I'd still never played a mounted BM without getting permission to act on a shared initiative.

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    The initiative thing can be an issue. I've never played with a DM who wouldn't let players decide to delay their turn, but I realize they're out there.

    That said, there's a way to cope.

    We're most worried about the ranger going before the wolf. If that sort of thing will be a problem, we can take the Dueling style and build for medium armor with strength and a shield while the wolf builds for dexterity. This maximizes his chance of going first.

    Say he loses anyway. On our turn, we'll ready an action to hit the chosen target when we get in range. We'll also bonus action cast ensnaring strike. The wolf charges, we attack, he attacks. This technically doesn't count for coordinated assault because it isn't the attack action, but a DM might ignore that, ask yours. More importantly, your foe just took two strength saving throws if both attacks hit, and both of them can make it difficult to get away. If he tries to get away and Doggo didn't already take his reaction via coordinated assault, he can take it now.

    This build has higher AC as well, so it works better with mounted combatant. You could turn it into a horde tank by dodging every turn while the wolf whirlwinds (past 11). So that's a thing.
    Last edited by Easy_Lee; 2017-08-04 at 09:47 AM.

  18. - Top - End - #18
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Looks fantastic! I definitely want to play one of these now. My only critique is this part:

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post
    Modifiers to attack, for our beast, are very powerful due to its two attacks and multiattack feature.
    The beast companion loses multiattack, if it has it. The UA is pretty specific about this, and even has a sidebar explaining why.

    That being said, it's still a really cool build and will be a lot of fun!
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  19. - Top - End - #19
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Oramac View Post
    Looks fantastic! I definitely want to play one of these now. My only critique is this part:



    The beast companion loses multiattack, if it has it. The UA is pretty specific about this, and even has a sidebar explaining why.

    That being said, it's still a really cool build and will be a lot of fun!
    I meant whirlwind attack. So many terms. Whirlwind bite is powerful, and it gets better the more modifiers you can apply to it.
    Last edited by Easy_Lee; 2017-08-04 at 10:45 AM.

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    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post
    I meant whirlwind attack. So many terms. Whirlwind bite is powerful, and it gets better the more modifiers you can apply to it.
    Ahh yes. In that case, you're spot on. That's a fantastic feature.
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    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Beelzebubba View Post
    He's a Tabaxi, and it would be hilarious if the cat...rode a cat.
    Sadly, Tabaxi are medium size. So by RAW they can't ride their Panther companion.

    That said, were I the DM I'd definitely allow it, if only for the ridiculous visuals.
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  22. - Top - End - #22
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Oramac View Post
    Sadly, Tabaxi are medium size. So by RAW they can't ride their Panther companion.

    That said, were I the DM I'd definitely allow it, if only for the ridiculous visuals.
    Well, the new beast conclave says beasts are usually picked from the given list. It doesn't say always, and does specify that the DM might pick for the player. Thus, a DM is well within his right to give the player whatever beast he deems fit, no homebrew or breaking of RAW required.

    That said, what if you play a tabaxi child? There aren't rules for that, so it'd be up to the DM to decide size.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

  23. - Top - End - #23
    Orc in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Beelzebubba View Post
    This is great! Love the character and the analysis.

    Our table had a new Ranger join, and I was going to suggest allowing the use of the UA.

    He's a Tabaxi, and it would be hilarious if the cat...rode a cat.
    If I were the DM, I would deliberately go out of my way to custom design a companion/mount for this character. A Gigantic Rat for the cat to ride.

  24. - Top - End - #24
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Arcangel4774 View Post
    I've been down the rabbit hole of guessing at where the beasts get their numbers. While ac is down right impossible to reason, you can figure out bite and it's rider based on the wolf stats and comparison yo other beast like a dire wolf. The bonus to attack is str/dex + prof. The rider effect to drag down is 8 + str + prof.

    Oh and my dm is a goofball. My gf has her very own great wolf sif lol
    There are only a couple of edge cases where it's hard to distinguish. For the most part natural armor on monsters just works like player armor except that they can't take it on or off.
    At 13 AC and a +2 Dex mod the wolf is getting just 1AC from natural armor, which equates to leather or padded. The studded leather barding overrides natural armor to make the armor equation into 12+Dex, and since it's got this unusual proficiency boost to AC this tops out at 12+5+6=23 AC.

    While I'm at it, the wolf statblock has a proficiency of +2, so the +4 to hit with a bite attack has to be dex based, since the Str is only +1. The rider does indeed seem to be Str based (8+2+1=11.) Con and Wis are set to the same +1 as Str, but wolves are not monks or anything weird like that, so it should be obvious that this is closely related to grappling. Where the bite is a melee attack you should be able to perform it with Str, but with a feat at level 4 you'd be waiting until at least level 12 before the to hit was better than starting Dex allows.

    You've got proficiency and pack tactics making these rolls hit quite a lot more often than everyone else (anyone made the mistake of playing with the flanking rules? Yeah, like that,) and with all of these attacks, even when disadvantage cancels out your pack tactics, you're going to be getting a crit just about once every 5 rounds (18.55% for 4 attacks, 22.62% for 5. More than one crit happens 1.4%,2.25% of the time. The flurry attack can make this much more silly.)

    Anydice.com apparently can't compute the crit chance for 5 attacks at advantage, but if I'm doing this correctly by hand... the 9.75% crit chance you have on each attack means we have a 33.66%,40.13% chance for at least one crit on 4,5 attacks w/ advantage. This means that you most likely crit once in every standard combat encounter... at level 5. With this many attacks I'm not sure you can expect combat to last 3 rounds though.
    Last edited by Zorku; 2017-08-04 at 01:14 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #25
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Zorku View Post
    There are only a couple of edge cases where it's hard to distinguish. For the most part natural armor on monsters just works like player armor except that they can't take it on or off.
    At 13 AC and a +2 Dex mod the wolf is getting just 1AC from natural armor, which equates to leather or padded. The studded leather barding overrides natural armor to make the armor equation into 12+Dex, and since it's got this unusual proficiency boost to AC this tops out at 12+5+6=23 AC.

    While I'm at it, the wolf statblock has a proficiency of +2, so the +4 to hit with a bite attack has to be dex based, since the Str is only +1. The rider does indeed seem to be Str based (8+2+1=11.) Con and Wis are set to the same +1 as Str, but wolves are not monks or anything weird like that, so it should be obvious that this is closely related to grappling. Where the bite is a melee attack you should be able to perform it with Str, but with a feat at level 4 you'd be waiting until at least level 12 before the to hit was better than starting Dex allows.

    You've got proficiency and pack tactics making these rolls hit quite a lot more often than everyone else (anyone made the mistake of playing with the flanking rules? Yeah, like that,) and with all of these attacks, even when disadvantage cancels out your pack tactics, you're going to be getting a crit just about once every 5 rounds (18.55% for 4 attacks, 22.62% for 5. More than one crit happens 1.4%,2.25% of the time. The flurry attack can make this much more silly.)

    Anydice.com apparently can't compute the crit chance for 5 attacks at advantage, but if I'm doing this correctly by hand... the 9.75% crit chance you have on each attack means we have a 33.66%,40.13% chance for at least one crit on 4,5 attacks w/ advantage. This means that you most likely crit once in every standard combat encounter... at level 5. With this many attacks I'm not sure you can expect combat to last 3 rounds though.
    I agree that strength is the most reasonable, I just mentioned constitution and wisdom because I couldn't guarantee I was right. Like I said, I can't guarantee that it scales either, since Beast Conclave says nothing about ability DCs scaling. But 8+STR+Prof is likely.

    And yes, good point about crits. Advantage from pack tactics means the wolf will get these often. However, the trouble with wolf crits is that its weapon die is 2D4. Crits only add 2.5 damage. It's one more reason I'm not fond of the crit rules; crits from the iconic dagger-wielding assassin barely matter.

    But altogether, having a high number of attacks is the build's main strength. As far as I know, no other build will get this number of attacks as reliably (as long as you can work out initiative, or your DM allows a combined turn which is ideal both for you and for keeping combat from taking forever). Saves aren't a big problem like they used to be, as the beast gets proficiency with everything (although INT saves will bite you in the ass).

    What do you guys think about getting a druid to cast Awaken on Doggo? It wouldn't add much combat-wise, but it could be quite fun for RP.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

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    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post
    Well, the new beast conclave says beasts are usually picked from the given list. It doesn't say always, and does specify that the DM might pick for the player. Thus, a DM is well within his right to give the player whatever beast he deems fit, no homebrew or breaking of RAW required.

    That said, what if you play a tabaxi child? There aren't rules for that, so it'd be up to the DM to decide size.
    Touche, sir. That might go in the "Questions to ask your DM" section like you had in the original Breaking BM guide. (of which I was a big fan as well)
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  27. - Top - End - #27
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Oramac View Post
    Touche, sir. That might go in the "Questions to ask your DM" section like you had in the original Breaking BM guide. (of which I was a big fan as well)
    It might. In this case, I tried to stick as much to the base rules as possible: PHB + UA Revised Ranger only. I'm sure players can come up with many different builds depending on what their DM will allow.

    Initiative is the biggest sticking point I've found. I haven't thought up a good solution to that yet. If I do, I may edit the OP.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by Easy_Lee View Post
    Initiative is the biggest sticking point I've found. I haven't thought up a good solution to that yet. If I do, I may edit the OP.
    If I were a DM I'd let you share initiative but cut your bonus to a straight +2 or something. I feel a deal could be made if it really made the concept work.

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    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Quote Originally Posted by mephnick View Post
    If I were a DM I'd let you share initiative but cut your bonus to a straight +2 or something. I feel a deal could be made if it really made the concept work.
    Right, and like I've said, I've yet to play with a DM who won't let players choose to reduce their initiative. It's one of those gamey things that doesn't make a lot of real life sense; why can't I just wait and go at the same time as or after someone else?

    But it's technically not RAW. Further, as shown by the alternative initiative rules that came out recently, some people at WotC seem to actually like finicky initiative. I have no idea why, but there it is.
    Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.

  30. - Top - End - #30
    Ettin in the Playground
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Massachusetts

    Default Re: Breaking BM: Revised

    Grab PAM and sentinel. DMs love to attack beasts and familiars, and just eat up reaction attacks and still have a BA with PAM.

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