Magic Purger

[Pinkcrusade]

Greetings, Playground.

I am interested in creating a character based around being a 'Mage Slayer'. Obviously I am going to take the Mage Slayer feat from PHB (albeit it doesn't seem the best, it fits thematically). So, I am wondering on what class/items/other I should use in conjunction with this character to maximize the slaughter of those dirty Wizards and the like

[Tenmujiin]

Greetings, Playground.

I am interested in creating a character based around being a 'Mage Slayer'. Obviously I am going to take the Mage Slayer feat from PHB (albeit it doesn't seem the best, it fits thematically). So, I am wondering on what class/items/other I should use in conjunction with this character to maximize the slaughter of those dirty Wizards and the like

You can't go wrong with paladin or monk. Shadow monk is generally considered to be the best 'mage slaying' class between silence for 2 ki, teleportation to get onto the caster easily and (eventually) proficiency with all saves.

Paladin (any oath) is also strong at the mage slayer concept as they get their charisma to all saves (for every ally in an area too) in addition to being able to drop a smite in those blasphemous wizard's faces whenever they trigger your mage slayer.

Open hand monk would come in 5th (after shadow monk and the 3 paladin oaths) since in mage slaying terms its basically just a shadow monk without some of the best mage killer features.


An odd one I thought up as I was typing is the eldritch knight: pick up warcaster as well so that you can drop a 4th level spell in their face whenever they try and cast. That character probably doesn't fit your concept though.



Edit: mobile would be a good feat for non-monks since you want to be in that wizard's face asap

[Hytheter]

Paladin (any oath) is also strong at the mage slayer concept as they get their charisma to all saves (for every ally in an area too) in addition to being able to drop a smite in those blasphemous wizard's faces whenever they trigger your mage slayer.

Ancients Oath also has the benefit of halving damage from spells (for you and allies), and Devotion protects against being Charmed.

[Gnome Alone]

In before "you can't really kill mages without having magic yourself."

While ultimately true, I think you might still be able to kill enough mages to make it satisfying, before some hyper-prepared paranoid bastard sucks out your soul and uses your reanimated corpse to hold his clothes while he's bathing and such.

EDIT: Oops, didn't realize this was for 5e. For all I know, mage-slaying is a decent possibility for mundanes now. Now I must go dopeslap myself for assuming things.

[silveralen]

I'd toss in that, of the oaths, oath of the ancients is particularly suited, as he gains permanent resistance to all magic damage, which he can grant to allies. He also gains misty step, potentially useful for dealing with hard to reach casters. Oh, and all paladins have dispel magic.

I still think shadow monk wins overall due to silence being so good, but ancient oath is a solid silver.

[JoeJ]

In before "you can't really kill mages without having magic yourself."

While ultimately true, I think you might still be able to kill enough mages to make it satisfying, before some hyper-prepared paranoid bastard sucks out your soul and uses your reanimated corpse to hold his clothes while he's bathing and such.

EDIT: Oops, didn't realize this was for 5e. For all I know, mage-slaying is a decent possibility for mundanes now. Now I must go dopeslap myself for assuming things.

Also, the classes suggested so far are paladin and monk, both of which use magic.

[numerek]

Combination of 14 abjuration wizard + 2 fighter for action surge + 3 sorcerer for meta magic, the other level can go where ever, 15 wizards gets 8th level spells, 3 fighter gets eldritch knight or any other archetype, 4 sorcerer gets an asi.

[Eslin]

In before "you can't really kill mages without having magic yourself."

While ultimately true, I think you might still be able to kill enough mages to make it satisfying, before some hyper-prepared paranoid bastard sucks out your soul and uses your reanimated corpse to hold his clothes while he's bathing and such.

EDIT: Oops, didn't realize this was for 5e. For all I know, mage-slaying is a decent possibility for mundanes now. Now I must go dopeslap myself for assuming things.

Nah, for 5e the best mage slayers still have magical abilities. Need them to catch a caster.

[Slipperychicken]

I'd go with a bear totem barbarian as a chassis.
Resistance to all their filthy magic damage. Well, all damage except psychic. But how often are you going to run into psychic anyway?
Grapple with advantage. That should shut down somatic components for those Strength-dumping nerds.
Also steal items in-combat with advantage. The wizards will have a tough time without their components or foci.
Advantage on strength saves, and most dex saves ("which you can see" the class specifically says you get advantage on dex saves against spells).
If you get to level 14, take Eagle so you can fly up and snatch some fliers out of their air.


For feats:
Observant, to get a +5 to Intelligence(Investigation) and Wisdom(Perception). That should help you see through illusions.
Resilient(Wisdom), to help against mind control.
Mage Slayer (obviously) to interrupt their spells and be a huge nuisance when you get close.
Tavern Brawler may be useful, since it can get you free grapples. If your DM is nice, you could also use bags of flour as melee weapons to mark out invisible creatures.


Possible Dips:
Warlock 2: Get eldritch sight inovcation for detect magic at-will, and Devil's Sight too for flavor. That will help you find magic wherever it lurks. Also use eldritch blast to shoot flying wizards and break their concentration.
Rogue 2: Expertise on Strength(Athletics) and probably either Investigate or Perception. Also, cunning action is helpful.


Tactics:

You'll want some ranged option to deal with fliers. This can be anything from crossbows, thrown weapons, or even spells.
For invisibility, you'll probably want to have some bags of flour, scent creatures (like a pet dog), or something similar to help find them.
Remember that most useful spells require concentration, so you'll want to disrupt it, probably by dealing damage. This will make casters weaker than they used to be.

[unwise]

The Luck feat is amazing for pretty much any character, but would work really well for a Paladin. You get +cha to saves and being able to reroll the ones you fail would be great. I would ask the DM if you can modify that feat to give you more rerolls per day, but only be able to use them against failed spell saves.

As stated earlier, a Grappler is a pretty nasty mage hunter.

As far as house ruling goes, it should be a simple matter to adjust a Devotion or Vengeance Paladin to get Silence and Dispel as Oath spells.

[Felvion]

Although some option above may seem more effective i'd suggest the Assasin.
I mostly play in low-mid levels so i give you this example. A lvl5 human variant assasin could be both lucky and sharpshooter. He doesn't need more than one round, in fact no more than one shot to drop him to 0. Just some luck but... Oh, he got that too!
Although i don't like showcasing numbers i think when it come's to hit he's ok. -5 from feat but has advantage and a possible lucky reroll if needed vs a probably low AC. Damage wise he has double weapon dmg dice+ 6d6+10 (feat) + dex and other various mods like poison or magic weapon. I guess its enough.
Also the rogue gets lots of defensive stuff anyway but these come later.
IMHO, when it comes to a caster i think it's better to one shot him from afar than get in melle and beat him to death.
Haven't tested it in game though, just my thoughts.

[Mandrake]

Just as a theme, if you are not too hard on optimizing, consider a Ranger. No better fitting bloodhounds around, with mage slayer and some "in your face" strategy, he has enough to build your... build around.

[Safety Sword]

... those Strength-dumping nerds.


This could have been the class description.

Wizards:
Strength dumping nerds.

Class features:
Thick hide. Everyone hates these strength dumping nerds.