An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds

[AgenderArcee]

Are there any other non-fire spells that you could use with that Master of the Searing Smite build with the Elemental Spell meta magic added in Variant Class Features? I would also like to see if this can be made effective at more varied levels such as having the key points active by level 8, or 10. I do understand you will lose some effectiveness at those levels but having it playable at all levels is likely more important. That being said great ideas there.

Good question, and thanks! One thing that occurs to me is you could use Elemental Spell on Booming Blade to have an option besides GFB. Also as I said in the post, you should have the key ingredients by level 7, Forge Cleric 1/Celestial Warlock 6 (or potentially Cleric 1/Draconic Sorcerer 6 if you're going with a non-Shillelagh build). You can get all your Sorlock levels by 13 - really Forge Cleric's most important contributions are heavy armor and Searing Smite, both of which you conveniently get at level 1. Cleric 2-8 just gets you more slots and spells, the AC bump, fire resistance, and finally Divine Strike, which is not an especially exciting capstone but the ASI will be welcome. All nice things, but not as fundamental as that +Chax4 damage.

[Benny89]

@Benny89, I like it! Creative and cool!

Thanks, I had that idea for a while but I still didn't have a chance to play. But I really want to play it finally!

[Petrocorus]

It's not a full build and it's certainly not properly optimised, but i work on something as an experiment of thought.
I actually used it for an NPC.

The Know-it-all Guy who is proficient with every skill and has 8 expertises.

Level	Class/Feature	Skills	Expertises
0	Vuman	1
0	Skilled Feat	3
0	Background	2
1	Rogue 1	4	2
2	Rogue 2
3	Scout 3	2	2
4	Bard 1	1
5	Bard 2
6	Lore Bard 3	3	2
7	Knowledge Cleric 1	2	2
Total		18	8

Obviously, if you want to try this in-game, there are changes to be made.
First, you don't really care about Medicine and Performance, and you have Jack-of-all-Trades anyway, so Prodigy might be better than Skilled.
You also don't get ASI and your Sneak Attack and Spell progression is lame.

But i just wanted to try to get those 18 proficiencies.

[Neoh]

Zealot of Death.

You are primal warrior of a God of Death. Your sole purpose is to seek new battles and slay more souls. You even made a pact with an dark entity that promised you a powerful reward.. for your ongoing service. Now both powers that you serve want you to spread their will... into the battle and war. You lead those who seek blood and glory. In the name of death.



1. Build

Class: 1 Hexblade/12 Zealot Barbarian
Race: Fallen Aasimar
Stats: 16 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CON, 14 CHA.
Feats (If Strength Magic Item available): Polearm Master at level 5, Shield Master, Inspiring Leader
Feats (if not Streangth Magic Item Available): Polearm Master, +2 Strength, Inspiring Leader

It's more a thematic build than min-maxed superman, but it's has effective DPR and "Nova fight" and he is great duelist with good AC, resistance and extra 15 (30 with Rage) temporary HP. He also gets WIS and CHA save proficiency to have more protection vs Charm/Mind spells that can end Rage too early and if you can get Strength boosting item - the Shield Master combined with advantage on DEX save throws will allow him to shrug off many AOE damage effects/spells. He also have resistance to Priercing, Blunt, Slashing, Necrotic and Radiant damage.

He can Curse his enemy 1/short rest, giving him expanded crit-range + proficiency damage bonus to one taget. He can unleash his unholy herritage 1/day and add Necrotic damage equal to his level to one strike per turn, which adds to his Zealot alpha strike every turn and Hexblade bonus damage. This also gives you fly ability so you can engage flying enemies if needed (something most melee classes struggle against) and decent AOE Fear with DC of 15 targeting Charisma save throw. Your enemies know to fear you in battle!

You also have decent AC of minimum 19 (Half-Plate + Shield), 3 attacks per turn and even access to decent range spell cantrip (Eldricht Blast) as backup vs enemies you can't reach or fly to.

Warrior of the Gods- if you have cleric/Divine Soul/Paladin in your party - even if you die, you just go back. Death never ends.

One you get to level 1/14 you also can't die as long as your Rage lasts.

2. Role:

Your job is to stick to main target in every fight, Curse and challange them into glorious duel to the death! No mercy allowed! When your team fights especially hard encounter or the main boss of adventuring day: Unleash your Necrotic enegry, rip and tear.

You also have effective 124 x 2 HP vs most attacks. So 248 HP, 30 of which is Temporary. With Shield Master + Danger Sense you can also dodge most of AOE damage spells/effects, avoiding big damage spikes.

You are also quite good leader with Proficiency in Deception and Intimidiation skill + Inspiring Leader feat.

3. Damage:

I assume here you at least got yourself +1 spear/quarterstaff by level 13. If you can get Staff of Power - it gets even better.

His DPR at level 13 vs AC 17 wiht spear + 1 looks like this:

With Curse + Rage on target only using Reckless Attack: Normal: 43 DPR, Advantage (Reckless Attack): 55 DPR.

With Necrotic Shroud unleashed you deal also additional +13 alpha necrotic damage for 1 minute.

Combined with Curse your DPR vs single target is: Normal: 57 DPR, Reckless Attack: 69 DPR.

A very solid DPR for a weapon + shield build.

If you can get your hands on Staff of Power (which you can use thanks to Warlock dip) - your damage can skyrocket if you Nova using extra 1d6 force damage and +1 extra damage from Staff of power.

Your DPR with Curse + Necrotic Shroud using Staff of Power extra 1d6 per attack would be: Normal: 69, Reckless: 85 DPR

4. Progression

Start with Hexblade for WIS proficiency and CHA proficiency. There are some nasty spells that can end your rage and therefore - not allowing later to keep Rage Beyond Death ongoing.

I would go to at least 1/16 to get Rage Beyond Death and Persistent Rage and get that +4 damage from Rage.

After that I would multiclass to Fighter Battlemaster to get Dueling + Action Surge or Revised Ranger: Hunter to get Dueling + Giant Killer or Colossus Slayer. And FF - humanoids or monstrosities for another +2 damage.

Just letting you know that Fallen Aasimar can't fly. Only Protector Aasimar get a flight speed.

[Benny89]

Just letting you know that Fallen Aasimar can't fly. Only Protector Aasimar get a flight speed.

Ah, my bad. I thought if you grow wings you can fly :). Well, he still have Eldricht Blast for flying enemies + Curse combo + Hex.

[Quietus]

Wouldn't Thorn Whip be keyed on wisdom?

Indeed it would. Any spells learned via feats are keyed on the ability relevant to the class whose spell list the spells were chosen from (in this case Wisdom because Thorn Whip is by default a Druid spell). Even though those feats have no minimum requisite for any ability scores. So, if you had Wisdom 8 and chose Thorn Whip, you'd make any rolls with Thorn Whip with a -1 modifier (if a modifier is applied).

Not in this build. Note that none of the classes they're taking - sorcerer, warlock, cleric - have Thorn Whip on their list. That means that it's probably coming from the Pact of the Tome boon on Warlock. Using that to pick up Shillelagh and Thorn Whip means both spells are keyed off Charisma instead.

@AgenderArcee - Aside from it wanting a full 20 levels, I see no issues with this build. Very neat! I can't decide how I would want to level it up, personally - there's a lot you want from each class here early on, but taking all those low level dips would push back your actual damage ability. Concentration isn't so important because you're only going to bother with it until you hit someone, and if you cast then miss, you can just recast as a bonus action.

Interesting interactions I can see :

Thorn Whip - counts as a melee attack, and can trigger Searing Smite damage. Nevermind, Thorn Whip is a melee spell attack, and Searing Smite wants a melee weapon attack.
Twin spell. The strict RAW appears to simply modify the targeting of the original spell. If a DM rules otherwise, this means you could twin Firebolt and add double Cha to both bolts. This would actually allow it to keep up with Eldritch Blast with Agonizing Blast on it - a couple levels late, generally, but still a neat interaction.

May I ask, aside from the level 20 1d8 bump in fire damage, why are you leaning so hard into Forge cleric? Why not Paladin, to pick up Searing Smite that way, and be able to do regular Smites on top of that? Even two levels of Paladin would allow you to lean more into your other classes, if you so chose - you could go 2 Paladin/6 Draconic Sorcerer/6 Celestial Warlock, and then put your remaining 6 levels into more Sorcerer or Warlock to taste.

[Corran]

(work in progress)

Hexblade 9/ Assassin 3
(Archer build, pact of the blade)

Reserved for when it's finished.

[Citadel97501]

Do note that the person in question (Citadel97501) suggested taking Thorn Whip via Spell Sniper. It's a feat, and spells learned via feats follow the rules I won't bother repeating again. If it was intended as being taken via class feature, I stand corrected, but the way I (and I assume Petrocorus as well) read it, Citadel97501 did not suggest it that way.

I was suggesting the spell sniper feat mainly for the range boost, The pact of the tome is a bit better for this spot. Although it should be noted that Artificer is another place it can come from.

[Petrocorus]

I was suggesting the spell sniper feat mainly for the range boost, The pact of the tome is a bit better for this spot. Although it should be noted that Artificer is another place it can come from.

If you acquire Thorn Whip through Spell Sniper (or Magic Initiate), it will be keyed on Wisdom.
Right now, i don't remember a feat or a racial feature in official material that would allow it to be keyed on another ability. There may be some in the Plane Shifts or UA.

If you acquire it through Pact of the Tome, it will be keyed on Charisma.
If you acquire it through Artificer, it will be keyed on Intelligence.
I don't know if there are other ways to acquire it.

Note that the version of the build you posted did not have any level of Warlock or Artificer. If we want the built to be base on Charisma, it would be better to MC to Warlock or even to replace Sorcerer with Warlock and ask the DM for Grease, since Grease for Sorcerer is already DM-dependant.

[Citadel97501]

Your correct, I hadn't looked at the build in a while I did make an error on the attribute it is keyed to.

[AgenderArcee]

@AgenderArcee - Aside from it wanting a full 20 levels, I see no issues with this build. Very neat! I can't decide how I would want to level it up, personally - there's a lot you want from each class here early on, but taking all those low level dips would push back your actual damage ability. Concentration isn't so important because you're only going to bother with it until you hit someone, and if you cast then miss, you can just recast as a bonus action.

Interesting interactions I can see :

Thorn Whip - counts as a melee attack, and can trigger Searing Smite damage. Nevermind, Thorn Whip is a melee spell attack, and Searing Smite wants a melee weapon attack.
Twin spell. The strict RAW appears to simply modify the targeting of the original spell. If a DM rules otherwise, this means you could twin Firebolt and add double Cha to both bolts. This would actually allow it to keep up with Eldritch Blast with Agonizing Blast on it - a couple levels late, generally, but still a neat interaction.

May I ask, aside from the level 20 1d8 bump in fire damage, why are you leaning so hard into Forge cleric? Why not Paladin, to pick up Searing Smite that way, and be able to do regular Smites on top of that? Even two levels of Paladin would allow you to lean more into your other classes, if you so chose - you could go 2 Paladin/6 Draconic Sorcerer/6 Celestial Warlock, and then put your remaining 6 levels into more Sorcerer or Warlock to taste.

If you'll look closely I do actually mention Twinned Firebolt in the post!

I suppose Forge Cleric is somewhat of a relic of the original goal to use Elemental Weapon, since it would get that spell at level 5 instead of level 9, but the decision to use Searing Smite makes that somewhat obsolete. I think aside from the thematic synergy of Divine Strike, the main appeal is full caster slots, along with the extra AC and fire resistance (without having to spend a sorcery point). However, Paladin is definitely a viable alternative, and comes with the benefits of a Fighting Style, Channel Divinity and Auras, if you take it as far as level 6-7. And Divine Smite is definitely a useful alternative to have against fire-immune enemies, and as you say could even be stacked for higher (if costlier) nova potential. And you could dump Wis as well, which is good for a Str-using build... definitely a good option!

[LudicSavant]

I would be starting at level 3 for now (so like, 8 level 1 spells and 2 level 2 spells to start).

I'm posting a bit more suggestions than you have slots for. For God Wizard spells, it's extra important that you look at how to make your party better: you set up haymakers, control the flow of battle and manipulate the terrain and how the fight is win to guarantee victory at the smallest cost possible.

Lvl 1
- Grease (note: it's the lack of concentration that I love about this spell - also I have been in melee heavy parties)
- Tasha's Hideous Laughter
- Silent Image
- Find familiar
- Fog cloud

Maybes/not control, but good
- Shield
- Detect magic
- Identify
- Absorb Elements (better later, but if you don't count on getting spells outside of leveling, you'd rather pick it up early)
- Cause Fear (worse effect than Tasha's, but better upcast)
- Sleep (I personally like it, also for capturing foes, but it's a contested choice)
- Thunderwave

Lvl 2
- Web
- Ray of enfeeblement (like absorb elements; actually better later due to the saving throw being end of turn, it works for 1 round on legendary resistance mobs)
- Pyrotechnics
- Levitate
- Enlarge/reduce (also great for removing obstacles)
- Darkness
- Phantasmal force

Maybes
- Suggestion (DM dependent)
- Hold person (I've not picked it as a player due to the small amount of humanoids we were facing... If you do face humanoids and your party can leverage critical hits, it's a lot better)
- Cloud of daggers (if you have people who can force movement/grapple)
- Rope trick
- Invisibility
- Dust devil (if you play with a lot of environmental hazards and ledges)

This is a pretty good list.

Shield, Absorb Elements, and Find Familiar are things I take on every single Abjurer.

There are entire guides about the many ways to use familiars. Owls are great for general purposes, due to having Flyby and good sensory abilities. Likely their most common contribution in combat will be providing Advantage to one of your allies with the Help action, then flying to a safe(r) location using Flyby, so that they won't just become collateral damage from an AoE or something.

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I'd recommend taking at least a couple of Rituals, since they have almost no opportunity cost beyond some GP to add them to your spellbook. No need to prepare, no need to spend slots. Alarm is only okay, but for an Abjurer it's nice because it can convert every 10 minutes of travel time or downtime into a couple points of Arcane Ward. Unseen Servant can be kept up pretty much indefinitely (due to its hour duration). It's nice before you have much use for your bonus actions, since it can be used to drop ball bearings or serve potions or what-have-you. Detect Magic will help you with investigations, finding loot and traps, etc. Remember that rituals do not require you to stand still while casting them.

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Web is a damn good example of an early battlefield control spell.
- Guaranteed difficult terrain.
- Enemies have to save every turn they start in the area, and when they enter an area for the first time (such as if they're knocked in by a Thunderwave, grappled, etc). You can have multiple chances to lock enemies down.
- They actually have to use an Action to even attempt to break free! That's a huge improvement over the usual "save at the end of your turn."
- Not only that, but when they try to break free, they have to make a Strength check rather than a Strength save. Not only are Strength checks weaker, but they're easier to debuff (for example, the local Warlock's Hex will do it automatically).
- Will quickly collapse if cast in the air, but not before potentially Restraining a flier and making them fall to their doom! Just had a session where my newly-level 3 Sorcerer used this to instantly decide a fight with a group of harpies trying to lure us off a cliffside right after initiative was rolled.
- The burning is unmissable damage.

Silent Image scales with your creativity, but at a very minimum can be used as a vision blocker that your teammates can see through. Fog Cloud is also a useful vision control spell. Pyrotechnics is kind of like a non-Concentration Fog Cloud (or alternatively a blinding effect). Darkness is another useful vision control spell, and some parties synergize a lot better with it than others. In general for vision control spells, it is imperative that you use them with care, or you might end up screwing over Team PCs instead of Team Monster. But if you do use them intelligently, they can go a long way.

Levitate can remove an enemy from the fight, and doesn't give them repeated saving throws. And when the spell does end, they fall and take damage + prone. Alternatively, it can keep someone out of reach of melee monsters. Or help you traverse an environment. And so forth. The main downside is that it's a single target all-or-nothing save spell. Phantasmal Force is another option for removing a target from a fight, and can target Int saves (which is a good thing). Hold Person is a good option for this too, but only for humanoids. Tasha's Hideous Laughter and Cause Fear will also slow down a single target.

Grease's main attraction is its lack of Concentration (as with Pyrotechnics).

I'm not sure I entirely agree about Identify, just because there's a rule in the DMG that lets you identify most magic gear over a short rest, and because it needs that 100gp pearl. It has its uses but it's not something I usually prioritize at low levels.

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As far as single target damage options go, I generally recommend Magic Missile (barring Advantage or the like, it'll outdamage Chromatic Orb against AC12+, and in a level 2 slot it'll outdamage Scorching Ray against AC14+. And that's in addition to other advantages like Force type damage, ignoring cover, reliability, etc).

The alternate mention in that category is Catapult (which lets you line up multiple targets in case the first misses, has some utility in manipulating objects at range, can fire objects from multiple angles to get around cover, and depending on DM interpretation can be readied to return fired projectiles or get extra effects from launching alchemical items or the like).

Avoid Chromatic Orb (usually worse than MM, and you could buy two extra abjuration spells for the price of its material component), Melf's Acid Arrow (mathematically god-awful), Witch Bolt (also mathematically awful), and Mind Spike (this one is only relevant to diviners).

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As far as multi-target damage options go, my most frequent pick is Thunderwave. Con saves get a bad rap (often with good reason) but they aren't bad compared to Dex saves against low CR mooks in particular. Which is what low level AoEs care about. And the "you need to get close" part isn't as bad for Abjurers. And it'll do the same damage as Shatter if upcast (though obviously without the benefit of range and damaging objects). And tactically adept players can get a lot of mileage out of repositioning foes (especially with certain party compositions, or if the DM fills their environments with interesting things - as they should).

Alternate choices include Burning Hands, Ice Knife, and Shatter. There's also Dragon's Breath, which is generally most useful for upgrading an allied mook. Or Flaming Sphere, for a Concentration/bonus action source of damage. Avoid Snilloc's Snowball Swarm and Aganazzar's, which are just worse than upcast level 1 AoEs, let alone Shatter.

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I like Skylived's list of "maybes" and generally agree with them being in that category except for Dust Devil. Cloud of Daggers is either quite good or sucky depending on party composition and strategy. Hold Person can really ruin someone's day, but only targets Humanoids. Suggestion varies wildly in effectiveness by DM interpretation (all the way from "geez, if you read it like that why would you ever cast it" to "zomgwtfbbq").

The reason I don't like Dust Devil even though I adore abusing environmental hazards is because in order for it to toss anyone, they need to end their turn next to it. Am I missing something there, Skylivedk?

My list of maybes would probably replace Dust Devil with Warding Wind or something.

[Quietus]

If you'll look closely I do actually mention Twinned Firebolt in the post!

I suppose Forge Cleric is somewhat of a relic of the original goal to use Elemental Weapon, since it would get that spell at level 5 instead of level 9, but the decision to use Searing Smite makes that somewhat obsolete. I think aside from the thematic synergy of Divine Strike, the main appeal is full caster slots, along with the extra AC and fire resistance (without having to spend a sorcery point). However, Paladin is definitely a viable alternative, and comes with the benefits of a Fighting Style, Channel Divinity and Auras, if you take it as far as level 6-7. And Divine Smite is definitely a useful alternative to have against fire-immune enemies, and as you say could even be stacked for higher (if costlier) nova potential. And you could dump Wis as well, which is good for a Str-using build... definitely a good option!

Apologies, I must have missed that! I'm hoping I didn't miss this, but... did you also consider the use of Absorb Elements? It would only work against enemies that do fire damage, or if you have an in-class (or in-party) way to inflict fire on yourself, but it's also another spell that does fire damage, and would add another 2x Charisma to your damage. If you wanted to be really silly I suppose you could light yourself on fire and take 1d6 fire per turn, potentially with resistance from draconic sorcerer, and then Absorb Elements to soak up the remaining damage and turn it into 1d6+2xcha offense. That does hemorrhage spell slots, of course, but at level 14 when this all comes together, it results in 1d8 (shillelagh) + 1d6 (searing smite) + 1d6 (absorb elements) + 2d8 (GFB) + 7x Cha. Assuming 20 charisma, that's 55.5 damage per hit, with a rider tagging a second opponent for 2d8+cha (14).

As to class levels - I'd probably look at 2 paladin, 6 sorcerer, 6 warlock as the 'base build', and then build your last 6 levels into sorcerer for additional spell slots.

[Alucard89]

A build I was thinking about this week, so I want to share for others.

The Casters Bane

1 Hexblade/12 Ancients Paladin/7 Divine Soul Sorcerer Yuan-Ti Pure blood.

Alternative path: 2/7/11 if you don' mind loosing fear immunity and IDS and want Agonizing Blast + more sorcadin stuff.



Race: Yuan-Ti Pure Blood
Stats: 13 STR, 10 DEX, 15 CON, 10 WIS, 17 CHA (You can go 15 STR if you really want that plate armor, but in this build I prefer to have rounded stats to stack as much overall save throw bonuses as possible)
ASI: +1 CON,+1 CHA on level 5. +2 CHA on level 9, Sentinel level 13, Lucky level 17 or RES (CON/DEX) on level 17.
Progression: Paladin 1/Hexblade 1/Paladin 11/Divine Soul Sorcerer 7

1. Role: You despise those who deny natural order, those who use arcane magic to bend reality and nature around them instead of living in harmony with it. Magic wielders fear you as their magic seem to have no effect on you...

You are Bane of all casters. You shrug off their spells and mind tricks. Their fireballs tickle you, their banishment spells are too weak to affect you.

You are also hell of a tank with high AC, high HP, tons of defensive spells, resistances and advantage vs spells. You also give Aura to all your party members. And you can still dish out very good damage. AOE, single target and range damage!

2. Key Features of Casters Bane:

1. Advantage on all saves vs spell/magic effects
2. Resistance to all spell damage
3. Proficiency in WIS and CHA saves which are very important. Lucky + Favoured by the Gods + Bless to boost saves if needed.
4. Immunity to Poison damage and Poisoned condition
5. +5 to all saves
6. Immunity to Fear
7. Shield + Absorb Elements spell.
8. Spiritual Weapon for extra DPR
9. Spirit Guardians for Extra DPR
10. Improved Divine Smite for extra DPR
11. 7th level slot caster
12. Armor of Agathys
13. SAD CHA
14. Very good single target melee DPR and good "per encounter" DPR and good single target range DPR.
15. Ensnering Strike + Nature's Wrath + Sentinel give good single target CC.

3. Spells:

1. Hex + Curse for everyday DPR increase + Single Target boss fight
2. Very good Moonbeam spell for good AOE damage on your action.
3. Misty step + 20 CHA + Aura + Advantage on Spell Saves + Lucky means that Force Wall or Force Cage, Banishment etc. spells are joke to you and you will just walk away from them.
4. Silence spell + Sentinel makes sure that enemy caster is unable to leave your reach.
5. Resistance to spell damage + advantage on saves + Favoured by the Gods + Lucky + Absorb Elements spells will make sure you will take petty damage from almost anything.
6. You can still Smite the hell out of someone on your attacks as any other Paladin. You also crit on 19-20 with thanks to Curse.
7. High AC of min. 19 + Shield of Faith + Shield spell if needed.

4. Damage:

1. Hex + Curse + Improved Divine Smite + Longsword + Dueling, dealing 2 x (2d8 + 1d6 + 11) = 47 DPR.
2. Spiritual Weapon on level 16 adds additional 2d8 + 1d6 + 10, so additional 22.5 DPR.
3. Spiritual Guardians instead of Hex can add another AOE DPR with min. 3d8 to max 7d8 radiant damage around you.
4. Smites, increased crit range.
5. Eldricht Blast + Curse + Hex when fighting range enemies.
6. Haste can add another attack at higher levels.
7. Moonbeam till you get Spirit Guardians can be upcasted up to 6th level slot, dealing 6d10 radiant damage to enemies every turn.
8. Mirror Image + Sentinel can add another attack on reaction.

5. Anti-Caster:

1. Almost impossible to stop with any spell
2. Resistance to all spell damage
3. Sentinel + Silence spell. Run to enemy Wizard, cast Silence around you and him. Curse him with bonus action. He can't teleport out, he can't disengage (Sentinel). Use Lucky and make sure you hit him and stop him in place. Smites are not spells so you can smite the hell out of him.
4. Misty Step to teleport out of Hard-CC spells like Force Cage.
5. Almost impossible to stop with any CHA spell-saves like Banishment.
6. Enhance Ability + Counterspell + 20 CHA can shut down quite a lot of spell if you prefer this route.

Overall a very solid build that stays stronger and is progressively getting even stronger throughout all Tiers. On Tier 4 you are pretty much unstoppable and you still bring all the good of Paladin, but now enchanced. You still deal very good damage and solid Nova, while being pain the abs for every caster. And you are hell of a tank.

Now, the reason behind 7 levels of Divine Soul to finish build:

As Paladin you always need more slots. Sorc/Bard dips always provide that. Next thing is that after level 11 Paladins don't really get much. And since level 12 is ASI, we can just go for it. We could go level 14 for Cleansing Touch which is thematic for this build, but I think we are already really well covered vs magic. Paladins are really good in Tier 1-3. In Tier 4 they are still great but they don't bring anything new. I think that additional damage boosts thanks to spells like Spiritual Weapon or Spirit Guardians are really solid. 7 Levels of Hexblade would also work I think, same as with for example Lore Bard. I think those 7 levels are really flexible, thought I think for non-PAM build - Spiritual Weapon is something that is always worth to get. You can also go 13 levels of Paladin just to grab Find Greater Steed. But it's better for striker type of hero, you are tank so you want to sit on boss/caster face and it delays ASI further, so I would stick to 12 levels.

The other route would be to go standard Sorcadin route and multiclass to Sorc at level 1 /7. However I really like anti-fear Aura of Paladin and Improved Divine Smites. Unless you have a caster who cast Heroes' Feast before every sleep - fear immunity is hard to pass. The 1/7/12 Build also opens up Holy Weapon buff later. But that buff will come at level 15 total. While Hex + Improved Divine Smite is already 1d6 + 1d8 vs 2d8 of Holy Weapon and IDS is always on. I don't really think it's that worth. I guess you have to ask yourself what do you want from your Casters Bane. 2 Levels of Hexblade would also give Agonizing Blast, making this build "good" at pretty much everything. Question is how much delay in slots progression you are willing to take.

[Skylivedk]

This is a pretty good list.

Thanks

I'd recommend taking at least a couple of Rituals, since they have almost no opportunity cost beyond some GP to add them to your spellbook. No need to prepare, no need to spend slots. Alarm is only okay, but for an Abjurer it's nice because it can convert every 10 minutes of travel time or downtime into a couple points of Arcane Ward. Unseen Servant can be kept up pretty much indefinitely (due to its hour duration). It's nice before you have much use for your bonus actions, since it can be used to drop ball bearings or serve potions or what-have-you. Detect Magic will help you with investigations, finding loot and traps, etc. Remember that rituals do not require you to stand still while casting them.

It's part of the reason I have Identify on my list. That and one of my groups losing two characters to cursed weapons. Probably depends on how DM sees the Identify role in the DMG and cursed items + how often items are cursed.

Grease's main attraction is its lack of Concentration (as with Pyrotechnics).

Most DMs also would allow for it to make slanted surfaces very hard trip traverse - I've had lenient DMs make this spell a cavalry killer on mountain roads (especially covered by minor illusion/lack of light etc).

I'm not sure I entirely agree about Identify, just because there's a rule in the DMG that lets you identify most magic gear over a short rest, and because it needs that 100gp pearl. It has its uses but it's not something I usually prioritize at low levels.

DM that allows cursed items to be identified this way with no triggering (or doesn't use cursed items)? No need for Identify

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[Snip]

The reason I don't like Dust Devil even though I adore abusing environmental hazards is because in order for it to toss anyone, they need to end their turn next to it. Am I missing something there, Skylivedk?

My list of maybes would probably replace Dust Devil with Warding Wind or something.

I think Warding Wind is in general better. I haven't used either much.

For spells to pick at 2, my 4 would usually be:
Web
Levitate
Enlarge/Reduce
Invisibility/Darkness/Pyrotechnics


Dust Devil is usually a bad spell IMO and I probably shouldn't have included it. Maybe pure nostalgia, but I've had campaigns where I could reasonably predict being in situations with ledges and could count on team members for some control. Ie airships and mountains with grapplers. So I would rarely/never pick it outside of knowing I would be highly likely to fight in a space with suitable hazards. Outside of that, it doesn't make it to top 12 for my level 2 spells.

[DevanAvalon]

Alright, I have a request:

I've been trying to figure out how to make a Claymore... from the anime Claymore. Some kind of Paladin/Fighter maybe? But I don't know, I just want something that fits the theme of "I am part-monster, and sworn to my duties... risking losing myself in the process" without using a Blood Hunter.

[Neoh]

Alright, I have a request:

I've been trying to figure out how to make a Claymore... from the anime Claymore. Some kind of Paladin/Fighter maybe? But I don't know, I just want something that fits the theme of "I am part-monster, and sworn to my duties... risking losing myself in the process" without using a Blood Hunter.

Well Claymores are part monsters too so I don't know about Paladin really, even though the whole "hunting monsters" thing would fit a Paladin.

How about an Hexblade Warlock? I think you can fluff it really well, Pact with a Patron making you sorta monster-like, Pact of the Blade for the Claymore itself and so on.

You could definitely throw in 2-3 levels of Fighter or Paladin too.


Hell, a Barbarian could fit the Claymore theme really well, you don't have to be that naked muscly guy, fluff it however you want. Rage pictures rather well a Claymore in a fight I think.

[Alucard89]

Alright, I have a request:

I've been trying to figure out how to make a Claymore... from the anime Claymore. Some kind of Paladin/Fighter maybe? But I don't know, I just want something that fits the theme of "I am part-monster, and sworn to my duties... risking losing myself in the process" without using a Blood Hunter.

Part-Monster is not really a viable option in 5e classes.

I think you should take "Monster" part in roleplay as a monster race. So make your PC monster race like Bugbear, Orc, Kobold, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Yuan-Ti Pureblood etc.

My build above "Casters Bane" could be taken as such. You are Yuanti-Pureblood, you suffer the "evil and monster" nature of your race but you are sworn to your duties but since you don't feel emotions, every time you make decision you risk that you may follow your monster self.

Same with Goblins/Orcs etc.

So what I would do:

1. Take monster race, usually considered evil by everyone else
2. Take Paladin to show "sworn to my duties"
3. Fight against your nature to prove everyone else that you are Claymore and you won't become monster they fear.

And work around that to roleplay the rest.

Mechanically there is no part-monster stuff.

[Godshoe]

Part-Monster is not really a viable option in 5e classes.

cough
blood hunter lycan left the building
cough

[Alucard89]

cough
blood hunter lycan left the building
cough

Official sources. I don't consider homebrew classes part of 5e.

[Godshoe]

Official sources. I don't consider homebrew classes part of 5e.

Like Matthew Mercer is a first day DM and done nothing to dnd, well yeah
We have no reason to trust his experience in game making

[Godshoe]

It's not that Matthew Mercer wasn't an experienced DM. It's simply that he is not a full time Wizards of the Coast employee and part of the Dungeons & Dragons design team. Thus, everything he's made beyond Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is homebrew. Period.

I mean, of course, this is a homebrew, but it is a more respectable source that you can trust in terms of balance. Therefore, there is no reason to treat it so arrogantly.
DevanAvalon did not request only AL materials. And this is good material in his request.

[Klorox]

Being categorized as homebrew isn't necessarily equal to being crap. If the OP has decided to not use homebrew it's perfectly acceptable approach and implies absolutely nothing.

Stop with your logic! 😜

[Alucard89]

PLAGUE STALKER




Another one of more of a thematic builds that I was thinking about in last days.

The Build: 1 Druid/5 Ranger (Revised if possible): Gloom Stalker/14 Spore Druid
Race: Variant Human
Feats: Polearm Master level 1, Warcaster level 5, +2 WIS level 9, +2 WIS level 13.
Stats: 14 DEX, 16 CON, 16 WIS

The goal: You are the gloomy guardian of the forests... even druids and driads are afraid of talking about you. You lurk in the dark, surrounded by sounds of flies and cloud of spores. You prefer night and darkness, away, away from others. You see those who destroy nature as disease, sick roots. You are there is get rid of them, consume them with spores, make it whole with the soil again.

Features:

- 2 attacks + bonus action attack + dread ambusher + reaction spore attack + Symbiotic Entity damage bonus + Hunter's Mark
- SAD WIS thanks to Shillelagh for both casting and attacking
- Symbiotic Entity THP 5/level of Druid.
- 8th level druid caster
- Umbral Sight - invisibility in darkness
- Dread Ambusher
- Dark Vision
- Advantage in first turn
- Revised Ranger features
- FF: Humanoids
- Dueling fighting Style
- 19 AC with Half-Plate + Shield
- Wild Shapes
- Fungal Infestation for additional "body" on battlefield
- Fungal Body as HUGE capstone: "At 14th level, the fungal spores in your body alter you: you can’t be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit, unless you are incapacitated."


Damage at level 11- 5/6:

With Symbiotic Entity casted in your to add 1d6 extra poison damage on all your attacks + PAM Shillelagh + Dueling + Hunter's Mark + Dread Ambusher + Halo reaction attack + 2 if fighting humanoids the DPR looks like this: 4x (1d8 + 2d6 + 8) + 1d8 + 1d6. All from Wisdom. Which gives a very good DPR of 86. You also have advantage in first turn and advantage in darkness vs both darkvision and non-darkvision enemies. PAM also can give you another reaction opening attack when enemy gets in your range, which will further increase it.

You are also a very strong caster at level 11 with 3rd Druid spells and 5th level slot. You get conjure woodlands beings, conjure animals, moonbeam, fearie fire, entangle etc. all good druid stuff.

Symbiotic Entity also gives temp HP at this level of 30 THP.

[Quietus]

PLAGUE STALKER

Features:

- 2 attacks + bonus action attack + dread ambusher + reaction spore attack + Symbiotic Entity damage bonus + Hunter's Mark
- SAD WIS thanks to Shillelagh for both casting and attacking
- Symbiotic Entity THP 5/level of Druid.
- 8th level druid caster
- Umbral Sight - invisibility in darkness
- Dread Ambusher
- Dark Vision
- Advantage in first turn
- Revised Ranger features
- FF: Humanoids
- Dueling fighting Style
- 19 AC with Half-Plate + Shield
- Wild Shapes
- Fungal Infestation for additional "body" on battlefield
- Fungal Body as HUGE capstone: "At 14th level, the fungal spores in your body alter you: you can’t be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit, unless you are incapacitated."

I really like what you're going for, but I think you're overestimating what you can actually accomplish. Specifically, looking at your expected damage loadout, you're going to be needing a lot of pre-combat setup to really get going.

- 2 attacks + bonus action attack + dread ambusher + reaction spore attack + Symbiotic Entity damage bonus + Hunter's Mark
- SAD WIS thanks to Shillelagh for both casting and attacking

This relies on you using two bonus actions and one action before you can start using that bonus action attack. And then, once your target drops, you get to choose whether you're moving Hunter's Mark, or making that bonus action attack. I'd probably try and reduce reliance on Hunter's Mark, but that still means that if you don't get the chance to buff ahead of time, you have to choose between activating Symbiotic Entity vs. attacking and getting your Dread Ambusher attack.

When everything comes together, this character will be deadly. Outside of those moments, you'll still be functional as a gloom stalker, just not stacking nearly so many d6's on your attacks.

[Alucard89]

I really like what you're going for, but I think you're overestimating what you can actually accomplish. Specifically, looking at your expected damage loadout, you're going to be needing a lot of pre-combat setup to really get going.

- 2 attacks + bonus action attack + dread ambusher + reaction spore attack + Symbiotic Entity damage bonus + Hunter's Mark
- SAD WIS thanks to Shillelagh for both casting and attacking

This relies on you using two bonus actions and one action before you can start using that bonus action attack. And then, once your target drops, you get to choose whether you're moving Hunter's Mark, or making that bonus action attack. I'd probably try and reduce reliance on Hunter's Mark, but that still means that if you don't get the chance to buff ahead of time, you have to choose between activating Symbiotic Entity vs. attacking and getting your Dread Ambusher attack.

When everything comes together, this character will be deadly. Outside of those moments, you'll still be functional as a gloom stalker, just not stacking nearly so many d6's on your attacks.

Shillelagh is cantrip, you can just spam it all the time to have it pre-prepared. Not problem here. It doesn't cost resources to keep it up. Hunter's Mark is bonus action, yes. Symbiotic Entity is 10 minute long, if you are expecting fight or in dungeon there is no point of not pre-casting it, especially since you have quite a lot uses of it.

Many people seem to think like "pre-buffing" does not happen but I honestly don't know why- unless it's ambush it's quite easy in my opinion to know when the fight is coming or not, especially if you are in adventuring day in enemy base, tomb, castle etc.

Even if - the whole thing is just Bonus Action Hunter's Mark and Action: Symbiotic. Shillelagh I don't count since you can spam it all day long. So it's not different from Hexblades using in first turn SoM or Darkness to prepare and go to town next turn or Paladin using VoE + Bless in first turn or Sacred Weapon etc. There is always some magical preparation with all "gish" characters.

[Hairfish]

Shillelagh is cantrip, you can just spam it all the time to have it pre-prepared. Not problem here.

The problem is that this is only realistic if you're playing a MMO (and even then, it's a giant pain in the ass) and not role-playing a character.

Try it out. Set your phone to a fifty-seven second timer. Every time it goes off, spend three seconds resetting it. For eight hours. See how much your productivity suffers. Do it while you're around people who have to put up with it. Insist that you have to keep doing it so that you'll be prepared in case there's a fight. You'd be the most annoying prepper ever.

[Alucard89]

The problem is that this is only realistic if you're playing a MMO (and even then, it's a giant pain in the ass) and not role-playing a character.

Try it out. Set your phone to a fifty-seven second timer. Every time it goes off, spend three seconds resetting it. For eight hours. See how much your productivity suffers. Do it while you're around people who have to put up with it. Insist that you have to keep doing it so that you'll be prepared in case there's a fight. You'd be the most annoying prepper ever.

If I know my life can depend on it- I would do something like that. Besdies again- if you go on adventuring day, which is quite obvious usually - I don't see a problem in keeping important spell active. It's no different from keeping Guidance active, spamming abjuration spell or ritual to refresh ward of warlock spamming Fiend's Vigor to get maximum roll. You can incorporate that in gameplay. It's been used like that for very long time.

[LudicSavant]

The problem is that this is only realistic if you're playing a MMO (and even then, it's a giant pain in the ass) and not role-playing a character.

Try it out. Set your phone to a fifty-seven second timer. Every time it goes off, spend three seconds resetting it. For eight hours. See how much your productivity suffers. Do it while you're around people who have to put up with it. Insist that you have to keep doing it so that you'll be prepared in case there's a fight. You'd be the most annoying prepper ever.

My perspective on this as a DM:

I wouldn't necessarily assume that a bonus action takes 3 seconds of undivided attention fiddling with your phone. It could be as simple as snapping your fingers.

Also, being ready and on high alert through the entirety of an extended breach and clear scenario (which is basically what a lot of dungeoneering is) would not only be possible, it's... pretty much just what you do if you value your life. If you had to press a button every minute to keep your phaser charged on a dangerous away mission, you'd do it.

As such, I would find it entirely reasonable for a player to maintain shillelagh the entire time they were in the kind of situation where they would be moving about with their weapon drawn and at the ready.

[Quietus]

Shillelagh is cantrip, you can just spam it all the time to have it pre-prepared. Not problem here. It doesn't cost resources to keep it up. Hunter's Mark is bonus action, yes. Symbiotic Entity is 10 minute long, if you are expecting fight or in dungeon there is no point of not pre-casting it, especially since you have quite a lot uses of it.

Many people seem to think like "pre-buffing" does not happen but I honestly don't know why- unless it's ambush it's quite easy in my opinion to know when the fight is coming or not, especially if you are in adventuring day in enemy base, tomb, castle etc.

Even if - the whole thing is just Bonus Action Hunter's Mark and Action: Symbiotic. Shillelagh I don't count since you can spam it all day long. So it's not different from Hexblades using in first turn SoM or Darkness to prepare and go to town next turn or Paladin using VoE + Bless in first turn or Sacred Weapon etc. There is always some magical preparation with all "gish" characters.

The difference here is that a Hexblade doesn't have an ability that specifically requires it be used in the first turn of combat - gloomstalker has dread ambusher, and that only works on that first turn. As for having shillelagh up constantly, enjoy never being hidden, because it's got a verbal component. You aren't moving silently, ever again.

Most spells require the chanting of mystic words. The words themselves aren't the source of the spell's power; rather, the particular combination of sounds, with specific pitch and resonance, sets the threads of magic in motion. Thus, a character who is gagged or in an area of silence, such as one created by the silence spell, can't cast a spell with a verbal component.