Fighter Archer, Battlemaster or Monster Hunter for a campaign in Ravenloft

[ArchangelAzrael]

Greetings fellows

I will be a player (first time in dnd 5e) in a campaign in Ravenloft starting at level 1 and ending around lvl 7
Stats were rolled with 6d6b3 and I rolled bellow average but still a lot better than standard array
stats are 18, 15, 14, 13, 12, 12

I don't like playing casters so at first I was considering monk or fighter (Paladin was out due to Ravenloft else it would be my default choice).

I have decided on Archer Fighter but I have hard time choosing between Battlemaster or Monster Hunter. Both have the same resource system and it seems to me that Monster Hunter is stronger if boring so I am leaning towards there, but from the google search I did its not really discussed that much and no handbook has included it yet

Whats your opinion? Which is better for a lvl 1 to 7 Archer in Ravenloft?

Bonus question I am considering taking Variant human for crossbow expert and then on my next ASI Sharpshooter. Lack of Darkvision saddens me. What do you think of my race/feat choice? any better combos out there?

[DeAnno]

I'm unsure what enemies you face in Ravenloft, but to me Monster Hunter is better with the Xbow Master / Sharpshooter build. Especially once you get Sharpshooter, Precision Attack (or its clone in the MH chassis) is the best use of your superiority dice offensively, so the extra offensive maneuvers of the Battlemaster give you less. Monster Hunter gives you two extra skill proficiencies and a couple spells, a nice actionless save defense, and a useful pair of skill adders. The Monster Hunter damage adder isn't great, but that's what Sharpshooter is for.

I think Monster Hunter Archer does start to lose something at 7 and at 15, since Battlemaster gets 2 extra maneuvers at each of those levels, but I still like it more, especially if your relevant levels are only 1-7. If you really find yourself missing BM maneuvers, you could even take Martial Adept at level 6 to get two of them (and an extra die), though I would recommend a Dex ASI instead.

I'm actually running this exact same build in my home campaign. My planned feat order is

H)X-Bow
4)Sharpshooter
6)Dex (to 18)
8)Dex (to 20)
12)Alert
14)Martial Adept
16)Lucky
19)Resilient Wis

... with the order of the last 4 largely up in the air.

And yeah lack of darkvision is sad, but that's the way it goes. Try to beg borrow or steal a magic item, and until then just make sure someone in the party is covering light. (You're doing like 1.5-2 jobs as a Monster Hunter Archer easily so foisting Light on someone else isn't the most selfish thing in the world)

[djreynolds]

I like the UA scout fighter archetype.

But aside from the extra ASI/feat a fighter gets at 6th level, our ranger is quite nasty.

Primal awareness has had some good uses, it all forest or mountains, and knowing if fiends are 1 mile away to 6 miles, isn't bad.

He uses sharpshooter a lot. Hunter's mark.

I would go elf, IMO. And that 18 in dex becomes a 20. Coupled with archery style, sharpshooter should be an easy to hit.

Dark vision can be big

The thing that both give you is precision. But what I like about the UA scout is the special parry maneuver they get, its different it adds 1d8 to you AC and uncanny dodge rolled into one. And 3 extra skills.

You have to just Google UA kits of old.

Anyhow fighter will give you 2 ASI/feats and ranger will give 1. But ranger has spells. Off hand healing when needed.

[X3r4ph]

I am playing a 11th level Monster Hunter at the moment. I chose TWF as my prefered fighting style because everybody else is using GWF and there is only a certain amount of heavy weapon drops (blue ocean strategy).
This was a bad choice mechanically since you want to make sure your Spell Breaker Maneuver works. It works better with few very strong hits. GWM would have been much better, and that is why I believe you NEED Sharpshooter. Precision Strike and Sharpshooter also works great together.

I also took Martial Adept to get a hold of Disarming Strike and the Dodge one from Scout. Yeah, it's not strictly raw, sue me :D The extra dice and options are great. Disarming Strike is best for someone in melee, since in theory you can pickup your opponents weapon after their have been disarmed. We are fighting a lot of trolls at the moment, and their strength save is too good for this maneuver though.
The Dodge from Scout though is quite awesome. If your DM thinks it's overpowered remind him/her that Defensive Duelist doesn't use Superiority Dice so in many cases it is strictly better. This should be a compelling argument in favor of allowing Martial Adept to work out side of the Battlemasters list of Maneuvers.

Also, Monster Hunter is quite cool when you crit and stack 2 Superiority Dice on top of your damage. Especially against Undead etc. That's Weapon+Dex+Sharpshooter+40 damage. Try maintaining concentration with that amount of pain Strahd.

[DeAnno]

Also, Monster Hunter is quite cool when you crit and stack 2 Superiority Dice on top of your damage. Especially against Undead etc. That's Weapon+Dex+Sharpshooter+40 damage. Try maintaining concentration with that amount of pain Strahd.

Even when it's a special monster type and you don't crit, or when you do crit and it isn't, it's not that inefficient to set 2 dice per hit on fire if you just want to pump all your damage out right now. Usually you will use the dice pretty fast with Action Surge and Crossbow Master while constantly Sharpshooting though, so it's a hard call.

As an archer trying to disrupt a spellcaster, I think attacking normally and spending single dice on the damage adder is better so you can maybe make him save with disadvantage multiple times in one turn, instead of once at slightly higher DC.

[X3r4ph]

Even when it's a special monster type and you don't crit, or when you do crit and it isn't, it's not that inefficient to set 2 dice per hit on fire if you just want to pump all your damage out right now. Usually you will use the dice pretty fast with Action Surge and Crossbow Master while constantly Sharpshooting though, so it's a hard call.

As an archer trying to disrupt a spellcaster, I think attacking normally and spending single dice on the damage adder is better so you can maybe make him save with disadvantage multiple times in one turn, instead of once at slightly higher DC.

But if you happen to score a critical hit the Monster Hunter can be absolutely devastating. Sometimes dealing huge spikes of damage can turn the tide of combat. Also as an added side effect your companions will drop their jaw when this happens. "I deal 1d8+55 damage with that last shot."

However, you are of course absolutely right. Most of the time it is better to be able to cause problems consistently for the enemy's casters.

[Sir cryosin]

Why is paladin out? I play a paladin in cursed of sthard we are playing right now.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Battle Master has more combat versatility going for it, but Monster Hunter easily trumps it for noncombat stuff. Overall I'd say Monster Hunter will be more fun, especially since, as DeAnno pointed out, you can take Martial Initiate to nab the best Battle Master maneuvers anyway. You can get Trip Attack and Parry, but they can't get dice to saves or skill checks- I'd call you the winner.

[Specter]

I'm playing a Monster Hunter right now, and having a jolly good time. It shines especially if there's no rogue in the party, since you can grab Thieves' Tools and another skill at level 3. But it's still good with one, since the more skills the better, and you can possibly give him advantage on lockpicking. And I haven't read Curse of Strahd, but I know Ravenloft is full of mental saves, so being able to boost one when you need it is aces.

And what Grod said.

[ArchangelAzrael]

Thank you all for your swift replies!

@Specter. I will consider the thief's tools if we lack rogue. How do you gain advantage on the roll? pick it twice?

@Grod_The_Giant, X3r4ph, DeAnno. Thanks for your input it has really helped me out. I will roll Monster Hunter and will look out for the opportunities to use my dice on crits. I don't think I will use my ASI on lvl 6 for martial adept but by then i will have seen what the party needs and perhaps I will pick trip + something.

@Sir cryosin. The DM informed me that the place isn't really suited for GOOD chars (capital good that is) and that there will be lots of ambiguous moral dilemmas and I want none of those. I understand that 5e is more loose on the code but I fear that after that heads up the DM will be out for blood :)

@djreynolds Hm i had not considered ranger but after giving it some thought I will pass. Scout is interesting and i will give it some thought once I get back from work.

Thank you all for your feedback! (hope I didn't miss anyone or i will have to secretly edit and pretend I never did :P )

[RulesJD]

EK Fighter 130% of the time.

Why?

Because there are no magical bows in Ravenloft. You need a way to make your bow magical. EK is the only way to do that with the classes you list because they get the Magical Weapon spell at level 7.

[MrFahrenheit]

Since you're new to 5e and the two options basically boil down to one from the phb vs one from outside of it, I'd say go with the phb option.

[Specter]

Thank you all for your swift replies!

@Specter. I will consider the thief's tools if we lack rogue. How do you gain advantage on the roll? pick it twice?

@Grod_The_Giant, X3r4ph, DeAnno. Thanks for your input it has really helped me out. I will roll Monster Hunter and will look out for the opportunities to use my dice on crits. I don't think I will use my ASI on lvl 6 for martial adept but by then i will have seen what the party needs and perhaps I will pick trip + something.

@Sir cryosin. The DM informed me that the place isn't really suited for GOOD chars (capital good that is) and that there will be lots of ambiguous moral dilemmas and I want none of those. I understand that 5e is more loose on the code but I fear that after that heads up the DM will be out for blood :)

@djreynolds Hm i had not considered ranger but after giving it some thought I will pass. Scout is interesting and i will give it some thought once I get back from work.

Thank you all for your feedback! (hope I didn't miss anyone or i will have to secretly edit and pretend I never did :P )

If you're proficient with a skill/tool, you can give advantage to another character using it. Effectively, it's two dudes picking the lock/disarming the trap.