DracoKnight
2017-11-13, 11:28 PM
So I built a STR-based Fighter 1/Fiendlock X for Adventurer's League the other day, and I played in my first AL session (probably won't ever again, but that's mainly because I'm moving back in with my DM).
The plan was to go with the traditional PAM-GWM-Darkness Build. Great Weapon Fighting Style, and build up from there.
Looking at the Hexblade, I think that this can be achieved a lot faster, and to greater effect. For the purposes of calculating DPR, I'm going to assume each attack hits, just to show the devastating potential of the numbers.
So you wanna go half-elf, because half-elves rock, and we're using the standard array, so we want those racial ASIs. Our priorities are: CHA > CON > DEX > Everything Else.
STR 10
DEX 14 (13 + 1)
CON 16 (15 + 1)
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 16 (14 + 2)
If you don't pick the Sailor background, you'll wanna snag Athletics and Perception for your racial skills.
We're gonna don whatever Medium Armor the DM is willing to give us to start off with, and save up for that wonderful Half-Plate.
Our first two invocations:
- Devil's Sight
- Any other Eldritch Invocation. It doesn't matter, it's getting swapped out at 3rd.
At 3rd level we take Pact of the Blade. And now that we have that, we're swapping out that second Invocation for Improved Pact Weapon. This is important, as we're going to be delaying in boosting our Charisma until later. For now, this is taking the place of a +2 Charisma so that we can take a feat at the next level.
For our Pact Weapon, we want to manifest it as a scythe (let's reskin a glaive, shall we? 1d10 slashing damage with heavy/two-handed sounds delicious. And the latter are necessary for the build).
At 4th level, we're taking Polearm Master. We now reliably deal 16 (5.5 (1d10) + 4 + 2.5 (1d4) + 4) damage a round, 25.5 if we can make an Attack of Opportunity. This of course goes up if we use hex, or other resources. You'll notice we've not taken the darkness spell, yet. The thing is, we don't need it yet. Not until 8th level.
At 5th level, we take Thirsting Blade for our 3rd Eldritch Invocation. Our DPR just jumped from 16 (25.5) to 25.5 (35 if we get that AoO).
At 7th level, you can take the Eldritch Smite Invocation for some free advantage when you knock a creature prone. It's not necessary, because we're either going to take darkness or shadow of moil soon.
8th level. You've survived this long. Now this build finally gets the second feat that makes its DPR insane: Great Weapon Master. At 8th level, you also want to swap out one of your lower-level spells known for darkness or shadow of moil. Both spells create darkness, but I don't remember if shadow of moil's darkness is magical. If not, you probably want to go with darkness, even though shadow of moil gives you free damage whenever you get attacked.
Either way, now you cloak yourself in darkness, and you swing with advantage to counteract that -5 from GWM.
The next big ticket item you want is Lifedrinker. You now add damage equal to your Charisma modifier to every attack. The other big thing that happens at this level is that you get your 3rd ASI. There's two different things you can do here. You can either boost your CHA by +2, or you can opt into Elven accuracy. And if you choose the latter, then you won't be numerically behind any other character's +X to hit when we hit 20, and it's because of Improved Pact Weapon.
This build is basically finished now, and you'll want to bump your Charisma at 16th level, making it a 20 (or 18) and then bump your Constitution modifier at 19th level.
Okay, so I promised some crazy numbers earlier.
Remember, for the display of how crazy this build's damage potential can be, I'm assuming every attack hits. I will, however, still be using the average of the die.
In one round, you will deal 76.5 damage. (5.5 + 1 IPW + 5 CHA + 5 Lifedrinker + 10 GWM*2 + 2.5 + 1 IPW + 5 CHA + 5 Lifedrinker + 10) You'll be dealing 73.5 damage, if you went with Elven Accuracy, but going with that feat will also make these numbers a lot easier to hit. If you manage to make that Attack of Opportunity 76.5/73.5 jumps to 103/100. All this for the price of a single spell slot per combat, 3 Eldritch Invocations, raising a single stat, and a pair (potentially a threesome) of feats.
An alternative to using the darkness spell is to kill something quickly, and then raise them as a specter, and have the specter do nothing but give you the Help action.
I give you, Ladies and Gents, and everyone in between or neither, the Grim Reaper of Xanathar's Guide to Everything. :smallbiggrin:
(Also, for the Adventurer's League players out there: I made sure that this follows the AL + 1 rule.)
EDIT: And yes, I realize that this build is a case of what happens when some options are better than others, and you take all the best ones.
The plan was to go with the traditional PAM-GWM-Darkness Build. Great Weapon Fighting Style, and build up from there.
Looking at the Hexblade, I think that this can be achieved a lot faster, and to greater effect. For the purposes of calculating DPR, I'm going to assume each attack hits, just to show the devastating potential of the numbers.
So you wanna go half-elf, because half-elves rock, and we're using the standard array, so we want those racial ASIs. Our priorities are: CHA > CON > DEX > Everything Else.
STR 10
DEX 14 (13 + 1)
CON 16 (15 + 1)
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 16 (14 + 2)
If you don't pick the Sailor background, you'll wanna snag Athletics and Perception for your racial skills.
We're gonna don whatever Medium Armor the DM is willing to give us to start off with, and save up for that wonderful Half-Plate.
Our first two invocations:
- Devil's Sight
- Any other Eldritch Invocation. It doesn't matter, it's getting swapped out at 3rd.
At 3rd level we take Pact of the Blade. And now that we have that, we're swapping out that second Invocation for Improved Pact Weapon. This is important, as we're going to be delaying in boosting our Charisma until later. For now, this is taking the place of a +2 Charisma so that we can take a feat at the next level.
For our Pact Weapon, we want to manifest it as a scythe (let's reskin a glaive, shall we? 1d10 slashing damage with heavy/two-handed sounds delicious. And the latter are necessary for the build).
At 4th level, we're taking Polearm Master. We now reliably deal 16 (5.5 (1d10) + 4 + 2.5 (1d4) + 4) damage a round, 25.5 if we can make an Attack of Opportunity. This of course goes up if we use hex, or other resources. You'll notice we've not taken the darkness spell, yet. The thing is, we don't need it yet. Not until 8th level.
At 5th level, we take Thirsting Blade for our 3rd Eldritch Invocation. Our DPR just jumped from 16 (25.5) to 25.5 (35 if we get that AoO).
At 7th level, you can take the Eldritch Smite Invocation for some free advantage when you knock a creature prone. It's not necessary, because we're either going to take darkness or shadow of moil soon.
8th level. You've survived this long. Now this build finally gets the second feat that makes its DPR insane: Great Weapon Master. At 8th level, you also want to swap out one of your lower-level spells known for darkness or shadow of moil. Both spells create darkness, but I don't remember if shadow of moil's darkness is magical. If not, you probably want to go with darkness, even though shadow of moil gives you free damage whenever you get attacked.
Either way, now you cloak yourself in darkness, and you swing with advantage to counteract that -5 from GWM.
The next big ticket item you want is Lifedrinker. You now add damage equal to your Charisma modifier to every attack. The other big thing that happens at this level is that you get your 3rd ASI. There's two different things you can do here. You can either boost your CHA by +2, or you can opt into Elven accuracy. And if you choose the latter, then you won't be numerically behind any other character's +X to hit when we hit 20, and it's because of Improved Pact Weapon.
This build is basically finished now, and you'll want to bump your Charisma at 16th level, making it a 20 (or 18) and then bump your Constitution modifier at 19th level.
Okay, so I promised some crazy numbers earlier.
Remember, for the display of how crazy this build's damage potential can be, I'm assuming every attack hits. I will, however, still be using the average of the die.
In one round, you will deal 76.5 damage. (5.5 + 1 IPW + 5 CHA + 5 Lifedrinker + 10 GWM*2 + 2.5 + 1 IPW + 5 CHA + 5 Lifedrinker + 10) You'll be dealing 73.5 damage, if you went with Elven Accuracy, but going with that feat will also make these numbers a lot easier to hit. If you manage to make that Attack of Opportunity 76.5/73.5 jumps to 103/100. All this for the price of a single spell slot per combat, 3 Eldritch Invocations, raising a single stat, and a pair (potentially a threesome) of feats.
An alternative to using the darkness spell is to kill something quickly, and then raise them as a specter, and have the specter do nothing but give you the Help action.
I give you, Ladies and Gents, and everyone in between or neither, the Grim Reaper of Xanathar's Guide to Everything. :smallbiggrin:
(Also, for the Adventurer's League players out there: I made sure that this follows the AL + 1 rule.)
EDIT: And yes, I realize that this build is a case of what happens when some options are better than others, and you take all the best ones.