Best possible initiative or "how I always went first"

[Spacehamster]

So best possible initiative would be barbarian swashbuckler with the +5 initiative feat, would be DEX + CHA + 5 with advantage? Is there any way to get even better then that?

[Corran]

So best possible initiative would be barbarian swashbuckler with the +5 initiative feat, would be DEX + CHA + 5 with advantage? Is there any way to get even better then that?
Add bard for jack of all trades. And grab lucky for a third roll.

[arrowstorm]

with full stats it becomes +20, so no

[Inevitability]

Guidance should apply to initiative too.

[SharkForce]

Add bard for jack of all trades. And grab lucky for a third roll.

or champion. not that i recommend champion generally, but for this specific purpose, it also works.

[Corran]

Bardic inspiration can be added too.

[JakOfAllTirades]

If you want advantage on Initiative without multiclassing into Barbarian, get your Swashbuckler a Rapier of Warning.

[PoeticDwarf]

You can get +5 from swashbuckler, +5 normal (dex), +5 alert feat, +3 jack of all trades or champion, advantage barbarian, lucky for a third roll.

Could be more, didn't read other posts so this is probably already said. Maybe some spells or something can apply too (Bardic isnpiration?)

[Corran]

Add dark one's own luck to the list of things already mentioned (fiendlock lvl 6).
Hex does not make your own initiative better, but it can potentially make one enemy's initiative worse, so using hex might be a good option in some cases if you can precast it. Though it takes up concentration, and thus competes with guidance for that matter.

[Arkhios]

well, technically Remarkable Athlete and Jack of all Trades stack.
They speak about adding "a bonus that is equal to half your proficiency bonus", not "half your proficiency bonus". It's a small difference but it counts. In other words, you just get a bonus that is as high as your proficiency bonus halved. RAW you still don't benefit from proficiency, per se, so they don't exactly rule each other out.
Besides they are worded so that the other is rounded down and another rounded up. They're not even a same bonus in that regard.

That said, going barbarian/swashbuckler is going to hurt you a bit one way or another: either you can't benefit from rage to damage if you attack with dex, or you can't sneak attack if you attack with a weapon that is not finesse or ranged. Given that barbarian benefits from dex, it's not half bad to invest in it, but you should be careful as to which weapons you use. (Just in case: You can still sneak attack with strength, as long as the weapon has either finesse or ranged property; rarely both).

If I'm not completely mistaken, with good rolled stats you could with relative ease go:
Barbarian/Bard2/Fighter7/Rogue3 + Alert feat. And it leaves you 7 levels to juggle around as you see fit. (one more in fighter and rogue for ASIs/feats, 3 with bard to get ASI/feat and Font of Inspiration, 4 if you also wanted lore bard with cantrip/spell shenanigans; or you could get Bear Totem feature for 2 more levels in barbarian, cutting words from bard with 1 more level, 3 more levels in fighter for second fighting style and 1 more level in rogue simply for ASI/feat).

If I get the math right, +5 from dex and +5 from cha, along with +5 from alert, +5 from advantage, and +3 from bard, +3 from fighter, you could have +26 initiative.

Last edit (I Promise!): If your campaign utilized Initiative Score, absolutely nothing could beat yours (10+your initiative bonus=36)

[Theodoxus]

well, technically Remarkable Athlete and Jack of all Trades stack.
They speak about adding "a bonus that is equal to half your proficiency bonus", not "half your proficiency bonus". It's a small difference but it counts. In other words, you just get a bonus that is as high as your proficiency bonus halved. RAW you still don't benefit from proficiency, per se, so they don't exactly rule each other out.
Besides they are worded so that the other is rounded down and another rounded up. They're not even a same bonus in that regard.

What?
JACK OF ALL TRADES
Starting at 2nd levei, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn't already include your proficiency bonus.

REMARKABLE ATHLETE
Starting at 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn't already use your proficiency bonus.

It states EXACTLY what you said it doesn't. They use the EXACT wording on both. - I'll grant you the 'round up/round down' difference, but no - they're the same bonus, adding to proficiency. I'd say "Jack of All Trades and Remarkable Athlete 'use your proficiency bonus' such that you can't utilize both - once you have one, it's no longer valid to gain the other.



That said, going barbarian/swashbuckler is going to hurt you a bit one way or another: either you can't benefit from rage to damage if you attack with dex, or you can't sneak attack if you attack with a weapon that is not finesse or ranged. Given that barbarian benefits from dex, it's not half bad to invest in it, but you should be careful as to which weapons you use. (Just in case: You can still sneak attack with strength, as long as the weapon has either finesse or ranged property; rarely both).

If I'm not completely mistaken, with good rolled stats you could with relative ease go:
Barbarian/Bard2/Fighter7/Rogue3 + Alert feat. And it leaves you 7 levels to juggle around as you see fit. (one more in fighter and rogue for ASIs/feats, 3 with bard to get ASI/feat and Font of Inspiration, 4 if you also wanted lore bard with cantrip/spell shenanigans; or you could get Bear Totem feature for 2 more levels in barbarian, cutting words from bard with 1 more level, 3 more levels in fighter for second fighting style and 1 more level in rogue simply for ASI/feat).

If I get the math right, +5 from dex and +5 from cha, along with +5 from alert, +5 from advantage, and +3 from bard, +3 from fighter, you could have +26 initiative.

Last edit (I Promise!): If your campaign utilized Initiative Score, absolutely nothing could beat yours (10+your initiative bonus=36)

Um, where are you getting advantage? Only place I see it is Barbarian 7... which is a hefty investment into the class - though for this guy, probably isn't that bad... but still, you're literally looking at 20th level before this comes online (even granting the Bard/Fighter intermix shenanigans).

Personally, if I HAD to go first, I'd go Swashbucker 4 (for Alert)/Bard 2/Divination Wiz 2/Barbarian 7. 15 levels, but everything is online except advantage by 8th level (and Divination is just in case you get a high Portent roll... so it's nice, but not critical... drop Int, to make you less MAD if you must :smallbiggrin:)

[choryukami]

well, technically Remarkable Athlete and Jack of all Trades stack.
They speak about adding "a bonus that is equal to half your proficiency bonus", not "half your proficiency bonus". It's a small difference but it counts. In other words, you just get a bonus that is as high as your proficiency bonus halved. RAW you still don't benefit from proficiency, per se, so they don't exactly rule each other out.
Besides they are worded so that the other is rounded down and another rounded up. They're not even a same bonus in that regard.

That said, going barbarian/swashbuckler is going to hurt you a bit one way or another: either you can't benefit from rage to damage if you attack with dex, or you can't sneak attack if you attack with a weapon that is not finesse or ranged. Given that barbarian benefits from dex, it's not half bad to invest in it, but you should be careful as to which weapons you use. (Just in case: You can still sneak attack with strength, as long as the weapon has either finesse or ranged property; rarely both)

Yeah you can rage attack and sneak attack with a finesse weapon you use with strength.

And yes, by everyone I now's reading Jack of all trades and remarkable athlete stack to give out full proficiency in strength dexterity and constitution checks.