Optimizing a Dex character

[Rotsu]

Rules of the world this charicter was born into are as follows
No feats
No Dragonborn or teiflings
Only the core books (and Volos Guide) are counted no fixes posted by wizards have any effects here
Thats all!
The stats I rolled are as follows;
8 Strength (Str), 16 dexterity (Dex), 14 Constitution (Con), 16 intelligence (Int), 15 Wisdom (Wis) and 14 charisma (Cha)
I want to be more effective and be able to push the party along so they don't feel entirely helpless. Or so that they can not all die horrible deaths.

Thanks in advance!
~Rotsu

[djreynolds]

A dex based barbarian or paladin would work well here. They don't need so much in feats.

Maybe a ranger even.

[Rotsu]

Dj, any elaboration, backgrounds, classes i should start as/multi-classing etc?
Thanks for the quick reply!

~Rotsu

[djreynolds]

Well if you go paladin or barbarian, you will be stuck there because of your strength, but they are good for dex builds.

A rogue/fighter can wreak havoc in melee... even in breast plate or studded leather.
And because you are dex based, archery and TWF are at your disposal.

Can you use the SCAG? Bladesinger is a sweet wizard archetype.

[Hawkstar]

I'd say Paladin and Barbarian are bad options, because that lack of strength (Many Barbarian class features don't work, you'll get stomped by athletics checks, and suffer speed penalties in medium and heavy armor)

All your other stats are great, with DEX and INT being equally great. I'd say you'd be an excellent Wizard.

For race, I'd suggest either High Elf, and go wizard, or Wood Elf to get a WIS of 16, and you can do pretty much anything with that. Monk (if you get a +1 Wis race), Rogue, Cleric, and Wizard are your best class options.

[Rotsu]

I will admit I do want to play a rouge or a monk, wizard and the like are a bit too much, spells are annoying to keep track of, and I would rather not. I could totally do a Fighter 2 Rouge Assassin etc with those stats, but maybe straight monk or rouge is better, I would get ASIs more quickly and as a monk i could stop the possibilities of arrows taking the party and if i'm an assassin I could kill the problem before it starts.
I do know an extensive part of the adventure is underground, if that helps decisions along. Maybe shadow monk?

[TheFlyingCleric]

With that high DEX/CHA/WIS (before you even pick race!) you have the perfect stats for a Shadow Monk / Warlock 2. Two levels of warlock lets you take an invocation giving you the ability to seethrough any darkness as if it wasn't there, including through the Darkness Spells you cast as shadow monk, out to 120 ft. This gives you a huge advantage in dark areas. You also get a bunch of other cool features, and a powerful ranged combat option that scales with level (Eldritch blast).

In addition this means you can pick a race without Darkvision (Human or Halfing) without being gimped by their lack of Darkvision. Halfings make fun Monks because you can move through the spaces of Medium and larger creatures.

If you want to do this I suggest taking Monk for level 1 (it has better Saving throw proficiencies). Apart from that, it's up to you which race, Warlock patron, skill proficiencies etc. you choose. They all have their uses.

[djreynolds]

It sounds like it will be an exciting build whatever direction you go

[Rotsu]

Oh and we can pick Volos races too so Aasimar, Kenku etc are viable picks here so maybe one of those would be good Kenku get some pretty cool skills for anything and Aasimar are a whole lot of extra damage so those next to Lightfoot halfing and Wood Elf are the races, Halfling is tempting the "I can hide behind my allies and then appear in the enemies shadow and kill them, without them knowing i was there" Kenku get a lot of assassin abilities and would go great, and if you want damage and socail skills to amp the charisma things we may need Aasimar would be good, then there is backgrounds to consider, being in dungeons a lot what would be useful? Equipment should be minimal
and this is why i need help, I don't know which of the fun sounding options would be best, because all of hese are good, clearly, but which is best? Why?

Double those thanks
~Rotsu

[Citan]

Rules of the world this charicter was born into are as follows
No feats
No Dragonborn or teiflings
Only the core books (and Volos Guide) are counted no fixes posted by wizards have any effects here
Thats all!
The stats I rolled are as follows;
8 Strength (Str), 16 dexterity (Dex), 14 Constitution (Con), 16 intelligence (Int), 15 Wisdom (Wis) and 14 charisma (Cha)
I want to be more effective and be able to push the party along so they don't feel entirely helpless. Or so that they can not all die horrible deaths.

Thanks in advance!
~Rotsu

Hi!
I don't know the Volo races, but you have great stats anyways.
All of these classes are great pick, either pure or multiclassed
Rogue: the DEXest of all classes
Monk: great martial overall, you can be good since you have good starting stats.
Fighter: ovbiously as DEX based, Eldricht Knight is the obvious choice here.
Paladin (pure only): DEX based, but Vengeance/Devotion with Shield Master+Protection or Defensive Duelist could make wonders.
Cleric (dip): good spells, good features, possibly Shillelagh.
Bladesinger Wizard (dip): better AC and Concentration saves, Shield, Magic Missile, Mirror Image
Draconic Sorcerer (dip): permanent Mage Armor, Shield, Magic Missiles, possibly Mirror Image and metamagic.
Warlock (dip): permanent Mage Armor, better Darkvision, Hex, possibly Darkness.

One that could work well is Monk with a dip in Sorcerer 1 (Draconic Armor, Shield) or Warlock 2 (free Mage Armor, Hex), depending on your archetype choice.

I could for example suggest a Wood Elf Long Death Monk, with 2 levels in Bladesinger Wizard and one level in Life Cleric: very nice thematically ("God of Life and Death"), very tanky (Unarmored Defense: 13+4+3= 20, +3AC when Bladesinging, Shield option, Shield of Faith option), very controllish (Fear as an action, Cleric Command, Stunning Strike) and very efficient overall.

Enjoy ;)

[Rotsu]

Hi!
One that could work well is Monk with a dip in Sorcerer 1 (Draconic Armor, Shield) or Warlock 2 (free Mage Armor, Hex), depending on your archetype choice.

I could for example suggest a Wood Elf Long Death Monk, with 2 levels in Bladesinger Wizard and one level in Life Cleric: very nice thematically ("God of Life and Death"), very tanky (Unarmored Defense: 13+4+3= 20, +3AC when Bladesinging, Shield option, Shield of Faith option), very controllish (Fear as an action, Cleric Command, Stunning Strike) and very efficient overall.

Enjoy ;)

So i asked my dm and mage armor counts as armor in this world breaking unarmored defense so that would be out. Draconic Armor however isn't out because that's "Natural" armor and doesn't mess with the monk abilities.

Bladesinger is certainly something I will be arguing for, Long death monk? Hell yea! Love the Idea and will be pitching it to the DM. I don't know if he would allow bladesingers however, So I might just dip Sorc. 1 and get that bumped AC and free +5 AC buff. nothing to complain about there!
I think this is going to end up being a shadow monk or rouge assassin mainly with one dip here or there, so I can just kill something when it really needs to die and do it quickly. Rouge/Paladin seems an interesting combo, and I wonder what that might look like.
Starting Assassin and dipping into shadow monk also looks really tasty, Free advantage and crits and damage dice for popping out of a shadow? Sure!

Kenku get +2Dex +1 Wis and get automatic proficency in two of acrobatics slight of hand deception and stealth.
they have advantage to copy anything from handwriting to greatworks, as long as it has been seen they can try to copy it and they can mimic any sound they have heard. you come to a door and you hear something on the other side? Make the sound of the door closing a little loud and whatever's inside will probably open the door-- to be killed, or knocked unconscious-whichever happens first. They have darkvision, and look like hunamoid bird demons, these are "traditionally CN"
Aasimar get +2Cha +1Wis/Con/Str and are basically humans who have an angelic (Or demonic) spark and guide. They get to add their level to all damage dealt by the, for one minute and can fly at the speed of 30
They get a lay on hands that is 1hp/level of any class resist necrotic and celestial damage have darkvision and have the light cantrip for free. Ususally Lawful whatever, Neutral is weird, the DM wont take a chaotic angelspawn however :P

[xyianth]

You have lots of options, so it really depends on what you want your character to do. I prefer to play utility support characters rather than pure damage dealers, so my build recommendation will be along this line of thinking. I also tend to play under gritty realism rules, so I favor at-will and short rest mechanics over long rest ones.

race: wood elf
build: monk 1/life cleric 1/druid 1/undying chain warlock 4/long death monk +13
ASIs: +2 wis[7], +2 wis[10], +2 dex[14], +2 con[18]
cantrips: guidance, thaumaturgy, mending, frostbite, create bonfire, spare the dying, eldritch blast, minor illusion, friends/mage hand
spells of note: bless, healing word, cure wounds, goodberry, absorb elements, faerie fire

reasoning:

Wood elf starts with darkvision, which will be vitally important underground. Start as monk to help fix your strength save/checks by gaining strength proficiency and to gain martial arts and unarmored defense. This lets you start with AC 17 and 2 attacks each round at level 1. Normally, strength checks/saves aren't too worrisome, but undergound often means casters with the web spell (or just spiders) so it is probably more useful in your game.

Life cleric gets you a couple of great pickups: guidance cantrip for out of combat blessing at-will; bless, cure wounds, and healing word spells; and the disciple of life ability for extra healing oomph. I also like to grab the thaumaturgy and mending cantrips for their various utility uses.

Druid gets you another couple of useful pickups: the frostbite cantrip can impose disadvantage at range; the create bonfire cantrip is an at-will area effect that can clog a tunnel or act as soft zone denial; the goodberry spell is now your source for healing between combat encounters. Each berry heals 4hp (thanks to disciple of life), a single 1st level slot makes 10 berries; the absorb elements spell is a great defense against elemental damage; and the faerie fire spell is a fantastic debuff spell. Druidic can also be useful if you take the time to teach it to your allies, that way you can hold private discussions in public.

Undying warlock provides a decent sanctuary like effect against undead (also common undergound in my experience) as well as the spare the dying cantrip. This is useful if you won't be able to buy healer's kits for some reason. You should pick up eldritch blast and minor illusion as your cantrips of choice. Eldritch blast will handle your ranged combat situations fairly well even without further investment and minor illusion is incredible utility in a cantrip. The spells don't really matter much, pick what you like. The real winners though are the short rest recovery spell slots, allowing you to heal your team more effectively with healing words and/or goodberries along with some extra bless buffing. Since you are already capable of seeing in the dark, I'd recommend repelling blast and mask of many faces invocations. Forced movement is rare in 5e, so repelling blast is worth it just for that. Disguise self at-will is one of my favorite effects, infinite first impressions. The chain pact familiar is for the all around awesomeness of invisible familiars that grant magic resistance. Your next cantrip at 4th should probably be friends or mage hand for more versatility. Friends combines well with disguise self to avoid the downside and mage hand is telekinesis with a visible spectral hand.

The rest of the build is just more monk for utility, damage, and abilities. The best ones are Stunning strike, extra attack, unarmored movement, slow fall, diamond soul, touch of death, hour of reaping, and mastery of death.

[Fishyninja]

With that high DEX/CHA/WIS (before you even pick race!) you have the perfect stats for a Shadow Monk / Warlock 2. Two levels of warlock lets you take an invocation giving you the ability to seethrough any darkness as if it wasn't there, including through the Darkness Spells you cast as shadow monk, out to 120 ft. This gives you a huge advantage in dark areas. You also get a bunch of other cool features, and a powerful ranged combat option that scales with level (Eldritch blast).

In addition this means you can pick a race without Darkvision (Human or Halfing) without being gimped by their lack of Darkvision. Halfings make fun Monks because you can move through the spaces of Medium and larger creatures.

If you want to do this I suggest taking Monk for level 1 (it has better Saving throw proficiencies). Apart from that, it's up to you which race, Warlock patron, skill proficiencies etc. you choose. They all have their uses.

A good build, but if multiclassing is new to you a straight Monk would be a good build here.

A rogue build would be very good solely for the high dex, especially when looking at the stats, for the archetypes I would suggest would be an Arcane Trickster if you want a slightly martial and spellcaster!

[Rotsu]

The warlock 2 Monk X combo looks absolutely devastating, and I actually plan on trying it in a mock up HoDQ trail run to see if It would work very well, Testing it (with the other builds, all using the same party of a mage, fighter and rouge) in the Castle Naerytar Scenario as it has the most diversity in the mid-range where most of the game will end up being played (I think).

If anyone has a build that they think may do well in theory, Post it and I will run it through the dungeon. Standard party and all

The dungeon for those who don't know, has an above ground, outside portion along side a inside the keep proper portion and then an underneath the castle option, I imagine with I can pull one test every two days, putting some time and thought into it.