2 Undying Light/8 Favored Soul - Life Domain

[Toshimitsu]

Suggestions on building path? I plan on being a variant human since I'm running this through Strahd campaign. I have missed out on the few early sessions so everyone else is level 3 and I'm playing catch up to make my character. My DM noted that there was a lack of a healer, but it looks like it's not just healing, but some dpr. Thanks for any advice you guys can give me :D

[Ogre Mage]

I have been playing a Favored Soul sorcerer/Undying Light warlock combination in a homebrew Eberron campaign.

First off, I would say the character's first level should be as sorcerer so you can start with proficiency with constitution saves. I would get up to at least sorcerer 3 before multiclassing into warlock for the sorcery points (sorcerer 2) and access to metamagic (sorcerer 3). I personally would recommend starting as a half-elf rather than a variant human, but if you are dead set on variant human I would recommend the following stat outlay:

Strength 8 (0 points)
Dexterity 14 (5 points for 13 base, +1 variant human bonus. +2 is the largest dex bonus you can use while wearing medium armor)
Constitution 14 (7 points)
Intelligence 10 (2 points)
Wisdom 12 (4 points)
Charisma 16 (9 points for 15 base, +1 variant human bonus).

Variant Human bonus feat: Alert, Lucky or Warcaster.

Favored Soul Domain: Life all the way for bless and cure wounds. Lesser restoration and spiritual weapon are also nice.

Sorcerer 3 metamagic choices: Quickened Spell and Twinned Spell. Quickened spell will allow you to fire off double the number of eldritch blasts (the best attack cantrip in the game) to devastating effect or cast another spell (like the terrific bless) + shoot eldritch blast. Casting bless on yourself for the +1d4 to hit followed by a quickened eldritch blast is lovely. Twinned Spell can cast a twinned cure wounds, twinned haste (on both fighters!), twinned greater invisibility (make both you and the rogue greater invisible!). This is the only way to break the normal concentration limits.

Warlock 2 invocations: Agonizing Blast all the way. This plus Quickened Spell plus hex (for the bonus damage) or bless (for the bonus to hit) will turn your eldritch blasts into rapid fire cannons of death. The second invocation is up to you but I would probably take Devil's Sight to make up for your lousy human vision.

Thoughts on spell selection:

Warlock cantrips: eldritch blast is a must.
1st level warlock spells: hex
1st level sorcerer spells: shield
3rd level sorcerer: fireball (to take advantage of the undying light charisma modifier fire damage bonus)

[Citan]

Suggestions on building path? I plan on being a variant human since I'm running this through Strahd campaign. I have missed out on the few early sessions so everyone else is level 3 and I'm playing catch up to make my character. My DM noted that there was a lack of a healer, but it looks like it's not just healing, but some dpr. Thanks for any advice you guys can give me :D
Hi!
Well, you have two ways to go at it.
1. Use mainly Eldricht Blast to attack and keep spell slots for buffs/blast.
2. Rely on melee weapon cantrips.

In the first case, starting with proficiency in Constitution saving throws is good but not mandatory. And Wisdom proficiency is nice, many nasty spells.
In the second case, it IS mandatory because you will be in melee.
Let's say you prefer Constitution saving throws anyhow because you are supposed to Bless every fight, but want to rely on both Eldricht Blast and other cantrips.

Start Sorcerer, then pick up Warlock 2 immediately after, taking Repelling Blast and Agonizing Blast.
You can join your friends with a fairly decent set of abilities:
2 long rest and 2 short rest 1st level spells.
A fairly versatile set of spells: Bless, Cure Wounds, Shield, Chromatic Orb (for extra Fire) or Magic Missile (because sure-hit), along with Armor of Agathys and either Hex (in case you want to focus on damage or RP) or Hellish Rebuke (good reaction, +CHA bonus).

On Warlock cantrips side, you get Eldricht Blast (ranged attack, +CHA), Sacred Flame (DEX saving throw, +CHA), along with either Mage Hand of Minor Illusion depending on where your creativity lies...
From Sorcerer, you can learn Green Flame Blade (melee weapon attack, +CHA), Shocking Grasp (melee spell attack, no reaction), Booming Blade (melee weapon attack, "no move"), Frostbite (CON save, disadvantage), Create Bonfire (Dex, concentration, +CHA), Mold Earth (great utility)...
I'd suggest GBF, Shocking Grasp, Frostbite and Mold Earth, so you get the best way to affect in many situations (low AC, low DEX, low CON, melee, ranged) but it's a matter of taste first. ;)

From there you could just follow Sorcerer.
I'd have two suggestions on end build though.

1. Favored Soul.
Unless you are set on being party healer (so you want to get Revivify in the end) or you are set on using Spiritual Weapon (which is indeed a good spell), I'd rather suggest you to dip either Life Cleric 1 (if you can afford it) or Bard 1 and take Draconic Sorcerer (fire) instead. Why?
- Lore Bard doesn't have Bless, which is a shame, but it has Healing Words which is far better than Cure Wounds in battle. And you can use your concentration either on Create Bonfire (for kicks), Faerie Fire (better than Bless if you can affect enemies) or Hex (because Eldricht Blast) at start, later on other good spells.
- Life Cleric brings you Bless, Healing Words and Cure Wounds, along with the healing bonus.
- Extra Attack on Favored Soul will probably be wasted: you won't have "time" to build an optimal build to hit hard, and considering you get weapon cantrips, they will outpower it quickly (especially with Undying Light Warlock bonus). And if you don't want to rely on weapons at all, then it's a complete waste of time.
- Draconic Sorcerer can be used either to increase your versatility (ex cold or lightning) or double the bonus damage on fire spells, making GFB, Create Bonfire, Fire Bolt, Chromatic Orb, Burning Hands, Scorching Ray, Flaming SPhere and Fireball that more deadly.

2. If you want to be melee first
Consider a third level in Warlock to get Shillelagh via Tome Pact. it means you are stuck with a quarterstaff but you are SAD.
Or, don't be a fullcaster and dip Paladin Devotion 3 to get all weapons and +CHA to attack rolls (which also means you get Bless, Cure Wounds, Command and Searing Smite, which all synergize greatly with both Sorcerer and Warlock). Obviously Cleric/Bard dip would be superfluous then.

Have fun!

[djreynolds]

That's good stuff there Ogre Mage and Citan, we had I guy who did cleric and undying warlock.

He used sacred flame in melee with hex, it was his thing, necrotic and radiant damage.

You will need either very high wisdom saves or reliable source of protection from evil, Strahd is no joke, his DC is crazy for 9th or 10th level players to have to roll routinely.

Daylight, spirit guardians, death ward, spiritual weapon (force damage) sacred flame in melee carried my cleric.

I really like shillelagh, and it would have been nice with his 8th class feature, but I needed to boost my wisdom for spells, turn undead, and my save.

And there are magic weapons around.

Crazy thought, elf could be very strong to play. Short swords and long swords are out there in magical form, and advantage on charm is nice to have in your pocket.

Remember its only 10th level, so BB and GFB might be stuck for damage. Eldritch blast and sacred flame are awesome.

[Toshimitsu]

It looks like I might be the dedicated healer since they almost had a death or two during the first session. The DM decided to boost them from 1 to 3 via a tour through house before letting them get to town. I decided to be risky and use the roll 4d6 drop lowest number and got these for the stats: 11, 15, 17, 11, 15, 18.

After digging more on the other party members, I found out if I did go variant human, I would be the only human. Last campaign we all did non-humans, so the theme stuck through this time. I'm open to any suggestions on racial benefits.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

[Citan]

That's good stuff there Ogre Mage and Citan, we had I guy who did cleric and undying warlock.

You will need either very high wisdom saves or reliable source of protection from evil, Strahd is no joke, his DC is crazy for 9th or 10th level players to have to roll routinely.

Ooops. Thanks very much for stressing that point. I have to admit I usually give "in-void" advice, since the few campaigns I play or DMs are usually custom. So was unaware of that fact I would have hated for OP to die (worse, kill friends) because I pushed the usual "concentration first" advice. :)

It looks like I might be the dedicated healer since they almost had a death or two during the first session. The DM decided to boost them from 1 to 3 via a tour through house before letting them get to town. I decided to be risky and use the roll 4d6 drop lowest number and got these for the stats: 11, 15, 17, 11, 15, 18.

After digging more on the other party members, I found out if I did go variant human, I would be the only human. Last campaign we all did non-humans, so the theme stuck through this time. I'm open to any suggestions on racial benefits.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
Hmm. This also change things quite a bit. Could you plz answer these questions? It should help us help you. XD

1. Who are the other party members (classes and archetypes/style if possible)?

2. Do you agree to take the (in-fight, obviously) "healer" role?

3. If yes, do you intend to make it a full part of your character, or would you rather stay a Sorclock (aka blaster/debuffer, whose main role is dealing daamge) first?

[Toshimitsu]

Ooops. Thanks very much for stressing that point. I have to admit I usually give "in-void" advice, since the few campaigns I play or DMs are usually custom. So was unaware of that fact I would have hated for OP to die (worse, kill friends) because I pushed the usual "concentration first" advice. :)

Hmm. This also change things quite a bit. Could you plz answer these questions? It should help us help you. XD

1. Who are the other party members (classes and archetypes/style if possible)?

2. Do you agree to take the (in-fight, obviously) "healer" role?

3. If yes, do you intend to make it a full part of your character, or would you rather stay a Sorclock (aka blaster/debuffer, whose main role is dealing daamge) first?


Ah yes. No problem.

1. For the classes it looks like 2 melee and 3 spellcasters, 4 if I join. So far they have a druid, fighter, sorcerer, rogue and warlock.

Fighter:
- dragonborn
- confrontational
- flexes 20 strength often

Druid
- backliner
- semi-heals
- easily offended
- usually uses cantrips, hates wasting spell slots

Sorcerer
- backliner
- probably the dpr
- aggressive

Warlock
- merchant type (part of his rp style)
- relies on his underling, the rogue
- passive

Rogue
- frontline, but will run when things get too real
- stealth
- pretty much paid off by the warlock



2. Yes I will take the in-fight healer role since I sat through a previous session where they were crawling through the optional house to play through for level 1~3 and they pretty much almost got rekt every encounter due to how likely they keep never checking their surroundings.

3. I am flexible on my role, but if it came to push or shove, I'll probably pick damage and healing second. I would like to be able to play smart and not a brute like last campaign. I was the frontline paladin tank that everyone used as a punching bag.

They often have in-group fighting often due to 'differences' and often it's the dragonborn punching the druid.

[Byke]

"Start Sorcerer, then pick up Warlock 2 immediately after, taking Repelling Blast and Agonizing Blast."

I'm actually playing a FS/UL in a campaign atm and decided getting 3rd level sorcerer first was better, 2nd level spells, sorc points and metamagic outperforms Eldritch blast at low levels.

Eldritch blast really doesn't come online until 5+ and in my opinion 1-3 sorcerer // 1-2 Lock //4-8 sorcerer is the most optimal

[Citan]

Ah yes. No problem.

1. Classes.
2. Yes I will take the in-fight healer role.
3. I am flexible on my role, but if it came to push or shove, I'll probably pick damage and healing second.
They often have in-group fighting often due to 'differences' and often it's the dragonborn punching the druid.
Hey :=)
Ok, nice informations.
You have noone who gets access to Gentle Repose, Revivify or Raise Dead. So you are pretty stuck with Life Favored Soul domain.
However, you have the Druid who gets access to Healing Words. Meaning that you don't need to strive to learn it as much as in another situation (so dipping Cleric/Bard is not mandatory, even for a "healer" role).
Also, you already get pretty meanie blasting with pure Sorcerer and pure Warlock.

Considering all that, and the fact that, I suppose, you were going Warlock 2 to get Repelling/Agonizing Blast...
I'd actually suggest plain Warlock 1 / Sorcerer 9. Why?
- You already get pretty good sustained blasting party wise, and the +CHA will only start to make a great difference at character lvl 11. Whereas, because you are Undying Light Warlock, you can also get +CHA on Fire Bolt for ranged attack, and GFB on melee attack. Meaning you get pretty decent whatever the situation.
- While there are several other Invocations that may seem tempting, including the free Mage Armor, I don't think it's worth delaying your Sorcerer levels. Using a spell known and slot per day on Mage Armor is though, but you will have 1 short rest slot after all so it's not like you really lose the slot for the day. Even putting the 2nd short rest slot into the balance is not enough imo. You WILL want to get gentle repose and revivify ASAP.
- In the event you survive and level up further, then you can take your second level of Warlock. ;)
- As for feat, I'd suggest Magic Initiate to get the Find Familiar spell, at least if you like being smart.

It could open a whole lot of tactics when paired with Metamagic (Quicken is a no-brainer).
For example, in the case Druid can not use Healing Words to get up an ally for whatever reason, you can mimic it by combining Quicken and Familiar reaction. Sure it's unoptimal in comparison, but still, it's better than nothing.
In general, it means you can at least use Cure Wounds at a distance without SP cost, and it can also be great to accompany your Rogue (if you can Stealth accurately, combine this with Subtle spell to provide emergency help to the Rogue).

[Ogre Mage]

It looks like I might be the dedicated healer since they almost had a death or two during the first session. The DM decided to boost them from 1 to 3 via a tour through house before letting them get to town. I decided to be risky and use the roll 4d6 drop lowest number and got these for the stats: 11, 15, 17, 11, 15, 18.

After digging more on the other party members, I found out if I did go variant human, I would be the only human. Last campaign we all did non-humans, so the theme stuck through this time. I'm open to any suggestions on racial benefits.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

For a Sorcerer/Warlock I would highly recommend the half-elf. IMO there really is no better choice from an optimization standpoint. +2 Cha, +1 to two other ability scores of your choice, darkvision, advantage on saving throws vs. sleep and charm (the latter may be important against vampires), proficiency in two skills of your choice. With the very high stats you rolled I would say:

Strength 11
Dexterity 15 (a +2 bonus is really all you need since Favored Souls can wear medium armor)
Constitution 18 (17 base, +1 half-elf bonus)
Intelligence 11
Wisdom 16 (15 base, +1 half-elf bonus. As djreynolds said, Wisdom saves will be important against Strahd)
Charisma 20 (18 base, +2 half-elf bonus)

[8wGremlin]

You're allowed Unearthed Arcana material and SCAG - what options are you allowed?
Winged Tieflings?

Objectives are DPR and in-combat healing?

[Toshimitsu]

You're allowed Unearthed Arcana material and SCAG - what options are you allowed?
Winged Tieflings?

Objectives are DPR and in-combat healing?

I am allowed from both since the favored soul and undying light patron are both from unearthed arcana. DM says as long as it's not just homebrewed only.

Objectives are pretty much that. DPR and sustained healing in-combat.

[Toshimitsu]

"Start Sorcerer, then pick up Warlock 2 immediately after, taking Repelling Blast and Agonizing Blast."

I'm actually playing a FS/UL in a campaign atm and decided getting 3rd level sorcerer first was better, 2nd level spells, sorc points and metamagic outperforms Eldritch blast at low levels.

Eldritch blast really doesn't come online until 5+ and in my opinion 1-3 sorcerer // 1-2 Lock //4-8 sorcerer is the most optimal

I was looking into that as well and was looking more at fire/radiant spells rather than the force frenzy that is eldritch blast, but I will keep this in mind.

[Toshimitsu]

Hey :=)
Ok, nice informations.
You have noone who gets access to Gentle Repose, Revivify or Raise Dead. So you are pretty stuck with Life Favored Soul domain.
However, you have the Druid who gets access to Healing Words. Meaning that you don't need to strive to learn it as much as in another situation (so dipping Cleric/Bard is not mandatory, even for a "healer" role).
Also, you already get pretty meanie blasting with pure Sorcerer and pure Warlock.

Considering all that, and the fact that, I suppose, you were going Warlock 2 to get Repelling/Agonizing Blast...
I'd actually suggest plain Warlock 1 / Sorcerer 9. Why?
- You already get pretty good sustained blasting party wise, and the +CHA will only start to make a great difference at character lvl 11. Whereas, because you are Undying Light Warlock, you can also get +CHA on Fire Bolt for ranged attack, and GFB on melee attack. Meaning you get pretty decent whatever the situation.
- While there are several other Invocations that may seem tempting, including the free Mage Armor, I don't think it's worth delaying your Sorcerer levels. Using a spell known and slot per day on Mage Armor is though, but you will have 1 short rest slot after all so it's not like you really lose the slot for the day. Even putting the 2nd short rest slot into the balance is not enough imo. You WILL want to get gentle repose and revivify ASAP.
- In the event you survive and level up further, then you can take your second level of Warlock. ;)
- As for feat, I'd suggest Magic Initiate to get the Find Familiar spell, at least if you like being smart.

It could open a whole lot of tactics when paired with Metamagic (Quicken is a no-brainer).
For example, in the case Druid can not use Healing Words to get up an ally for whatever reason, you can mimic it by combining Quicken and Familiar reaction. Sure it's unoptimal in comparison, but still, it's better than nothing.
In general, it means you can at least use Cure Wounds at a distance without SP cost, and it can also be great to accompany your Rogue (if you can Stealth accurately, combine this with Subtle spell to provide emergency help to the Rogue).

Sounds good. I can see the shenanigans of using a find familiar into casting spells through them. Would you recommend going warlock or sorcerer first for the saving throws wise? The only difference between the two is warlock gives wisdom whereas sorcerer gives constitution if I'm not mistaken. Wait how would the sorcerer pick up gentle repose since it falls under cleric 2nd level spells.. which aren't on the list of spells you are able to learn via favored soul.

[Toshimitsu]

For a Sorcerer/Warlock I would highly recommend the half-elf. IMO there really is no better choice from an optimization standpoint. +2 Cha, +1 to two other ability scores of your choice, darkvision, advantage on saving throws vs. sleep and charm (the latter may be important against vampires), proficiency in two skills of your choice. With the very high stats you rolled I would say:

Strength 11
Dexterity 15 (a +2 bonus is really all you need since Favored Souls can wear medium armor)
Constitution 18 (17 base, +1 half-elf bonus)
Intelligence 11
Wisdom 16 (15 base, +1 half-elf bonus. As djreynolds said, Wisdom saves will be important against Strahd)
Charisma 20 (18 base, +2 half-elf bonus)

That was my second pick if I didn't choose variant human since it rounds out the charisma to 20 in one go along with 2 other stats up to +1 modifiers.

[Byke]

I was looking into that as well and was looking more at fire/radiant spells rather than the force frenzy that is eldritch blast, but I will keep this in mind.

It comes down to having options :) depending on race and if you are using a stat buy, Warcaster// Stats Bumps// outweighs Elemental Adept - force damage is almost never resisted, Hex + Agonizing Blast and Repelling blast give you better sustained damage and some battle field control.

[Toshimitsu]

It comes down to having options :) depending on race and if you are using a stat buy, Warcaster// Stats Bumps// outweighs Elemental Adept - force damage is almost never resisted, Hex + Agonizing Blast and Repelling blast give you better sustained damage and some battle field control.

I did not do stat buy. I took a big risk and ran the rolls. Rolled 4d6, minus lowest number rolled. Stats were good and looks like with those stats, half elf would be best choice to pick up to hit 20 in charisma for that +5 modifier and possibly +1 in dex and con. the 1 undying warlock/9 favored soul - life domain suggestion looks very appealing as I think about it more. I get to finalize it all by Wednesday, when I join the foray.

[Ogre Mage]

I was looking into that as well and was looking more at fire/radiant spells rather than the force frenzy that is eldritch blast, but I will keep this in mind.

If that is the case, I would agree with Citan that you should go Favored Soul 9/Undying Light Warlock 1 instead of taking two levels of warlock. The Charisma damage bonus you get as an Undying Light Warlock 1 to fire and radiant spells is all you really need. If eldritch blast is not that important, then agonizing blast, repelling blast invocations and the like you get at Warlock 2 can be disregarded. A lot of the eldritch blast optimization I mentioned (Quickened Spell, hex, bless) can also be applied to the firebolt cantrip, although it is not quite as good. Fire is the most frequently resisted element but Undying Light Warlocks also have the scared flame cantrip to fall back on when firebolt fails.

[Citan]

Sounds good. I can see the shenanigans of using a find familiar into casting spells through them. Would you recommend going warlock or sorcerer first for the saving throws wise? The only difference between the two is warlock gives wisdom whereas sorcerer gives constitution if I'm not mistaken. Wait how would the sorcerer pick up gentle repose since it falls under cleric 2nd level spells.. which aren't on the list of spells you are able to learn via favored soul.
Ooops, you're right, totally my miss (was swapping back and forth between full spell list and domains ^^).
Sooo, yes, you won't know Gentle Repose.
Unless you go Tome Warlock 3 to get potential rituals but, while I love this option, I wouldn't recommend it to you now. You already have a full plate as is. Another option though would be to pick up Ritual Caster as a feat instead of Magic Initiate, with the Cleric list.
IF your DM is willing to grant you rituals as rewards on a semi-regular basis, this could actually be as good or better a choice as Magic Initiate.

Frankly, there is no bad choice here between...
- Variant Human & Magic Initiate (probably the lesser choice after thought, see below)
- Variant Human & Ritual Caster (best choice for fun)
- Half-Elf (best choice for optimization)

Just try to project yourself "into the adventure" to determine if you will probably have fun with these options.
Half-Elf is the plain optimization choice, but means you can pick a feat when you hit Sorcerer 4 without any remorse.
Magic Initiate is good if you want Find Familiar AND utility cantrips, and plan on accompanying Rogue from afar when scouting (or scouting yourself), or pick up several spells that are "Touch". If it was just for mimicking Cure Wounds as Healing Words, you can probably do without it.
Ritual Caster can bring the most value (I just remembered this, along with the fact that you learn two 1st level spells), as long as your DM is willing. You can pick up the Wizard list and immediately take Find Familiar (along with Alarm or Unseen Servant), then go up to pick up many great adventuring rituals, including Gentle Repose and Leomund's Tiny Hut.

After this, I'd probably now recommend going the Ritual Caster option, once you checked with your DM that he will give you regular occasions to learn you one (as long as yourself are proactive obviously).
Now, between picking it up at start (Variant Human) or at level 5 (Sorcerer 4) is up to you.
You can very well live with a starting 18 in CHA though so if you don't want to wait several levels before playing with your Familiar and other rituals, don't have any remorses. What you do less in damage will be greatly compensated by the utility your rituals bring.

Hmm. I was going to make a quick review myself, but I globally agree with the one existing on internet so why reinvent?
Enjoy. (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471722-Know-Your-Rites-A-Guide-to-Ritual-Casting-(Oraibi)) ;)
Note that I just find he's undervaluing a few ones.
Unseen Servant can be used in ways similar to Mage Hand, but it's invisible!
Tenser's Floating Disk, while very dependant on terrain, can be great to lift heavy charges while you journey. Typical example, hoard taken in a dungeon. Other example, carrying a Gentle Reposed corpse of a fallen ally (nobody has to lift him so everyone can still be ready for combat).
Feign Death is indeed situational, but could be great for example when you need to present someone dead but you don't really want to kill him. :)
Phantom Steed can be also used in combat, with 100 feet per turn speed, you can breeze through to avoid danger, and unless I'm mistaken, it does not hamper your casting. Or to empower your Rogue scouting away.

[Klorox]

Is there an "official" favored soul yet?

[Byke]

Is there an "official" favored soul yet?

Nope only the UE stuff for now...hopefully they won't gut it like the Storm Sorc.....