Please help me choose one of these to play

[Harrysonford]

So, some of you may have seen my other thread, but now I have it narrowed down, so…

Please, kind playgrounders, please help me choose one of the following to play.

Party: melee rogue, ranged gloom stalker, mid-range grave cleric, zealot barbarian, and conjure wizard.

Possibilities:

Lore bard, glamour bard or maybe swords bard. All for a buffing and charisma.

Moon druid (maybe a barbarian mount), or Shepherd druid for buffing.

Arcane archer for fun and ranged help.

Shadow monk for melee with stunning strikes to help the rogue, sun soul monk for more mid range damage.

Paladin of conquest or of the ancients, for more melee, buffing and charisma.

Shadow sorcerer for survival and charisma, or divine sorcerer for healing and charisma.

Any input would be appreciated :)

[Unoriginal]

So, some of you may have seen my other thread, but now I have it narrowed down, so…

Please, kind playgrounders, please help me choose one of the following to play.

Party: melee rogue, ranged gloom stalker, mid-range grave cleric, zealot barbarian, and conjure wizard.

Possibilities:

Lore bard, glamour bard or maybe swords bard. All for a buffing and charisma.

Moon druid (maybe a barbarian mount), or Shepherd druid for buffing.

Arcane archer for fun and ranged help.

Shadow monk for melee with stunning strikes to help the rogue, sun soul monk for more mid range damage.

Paladin of conquest or of the ancients, for more melee, buffing and charisma.

Shadow sorcerer for survival and charisma, or divine sorcerer for healing and charisma.

Any input would be appreciated :)

Well, what kind of characters do you usually play? Do you have an idea for your backstory and personality?

[supremerulerguy]

I'd say some form of bard. Be the party face and provide the res t of the buffs your party will need, that or Paladin

[Harrysonford]

Well, what kind of characters do you usually play? Do you have an idea for your backstory and personality?

The ones listed are ones I could play/want to play

[opaopajr]

I say Arcane Archer because it's the only one you said was for fun. :smallsmile:

[MarkVIIIMarc]

The ones listed are ones I could play/want to play

Will your DM ask for a wise crack every time u use vicious mockery or for u to sing a song if you're a Bard?

Other than that they are great fun.

[trctelles]

So, some of you may have seen my other thread, but now I have it narrowed down, so…

Please, kind playgrounders, please help me choose one of the following to play.

Party: melee rogue, ranged gloom stalker, mid-range grave cleric, zealot barbarian, and conjure wizard.

Possibilities:

Lore bard, glamour bard or maybe swords bard. All for a buffing and charisma.

Moon druid (maybe a barbarian mount), or Shepherd druid for buffing.

Arcane archer for fun and ranged help.

Shadow monk for melee with stunning strikes to help the rogue, sun soul monk for more mid range damage.

Paladin of conquest or of the ancients, for more melee, buffing and charisma.

Shadow sorcerer for survival and charisma, or divine sorcerer for healing and charisma.

Any input would be appreciated :)

IF you want for fun, Arcane Archer (since you find it fun). It's not the worst fighter archetype, neither the strongest

For party efficiency, get a tank or a caster for utility. Your party has a lot of damage with Rogue+Zealot+ Gloom Stalker, heals with the cleric and utility+ damage with the wizard. Lore bard or Moon Druid if you want utility, they are very versatile (also, if you go bard, you can be the party memer)

[agnos]

Go moon Druid... how often do you really get to have another player ride you into battle. It’s too cool.

[Harrysonford]

Ok, I’ve narrowed it down.
Ancients Paladin, lore bard, glamour bard, divine sorcerer or moon druid?

[Waterdeep Merch]

Paladin slots most efficiently with your party and is fun to play. Twin tanking is extremely good, and the paladin is arguably the best second tank around thanks to their aura and emergency heals, making the first tank's life so much better. Working with the rogue and ranger, you can nova important enemies into the dirt at the beginning of each combat before ranking up to defend the back line against melee troops.

It's also worth pointing out that your auras are amongst the few things that can empower the wizard's summons without any additional resource expenditure.

I prefer ancients, but conquest can be pretty awesome if you want more offense.

[Harrysonford]

I’ve narrowed it down to three: lore bard, ancients Paladin, or any sorcerer… thoughts?

[SkylarkR6]

Ancients paladin. On top of being the chillest of all holy warriors, their aura is just plain sick. Should work great all around.

[opaopajr]

You should let the dice gods decide. Roll a d12 and divide by four. :smallcool:

[DarkKnightJin]

Ancients Pally, with maybe a (Lore) Bard or Sorc dip/split somewhere down the line.

Get the best of both worlds.

[Mr A25]

Ancients Paladin 7 / Lore Bard 13

All the support and utility you could possibly want whilst still able to Nova in melee and offer loads of casting support/damage.

[Biggstick]

I'll also hop on the Paladin train, but I'd suggest Devotion as compared to Ancients or Conquest. It'll give you a deeper connection to the Barbarian, as a god of War is something a Devotion Paladin would look to temper or provide a bit of focus for.

I'm also looking at it from a control perspective, as Devotion Paladins get Charm Immunity (which also works for allies), in addition to the immunity to Fear aura. This means your Wizard can drop spells like Hypnotic Pattern and Fear on top of you and the Zealot Barbarian and not worry about you two of you getting CC-ed.

Charm and Fear effects are something I've actually run into way more often then I've run into actual spell damage. While optimizers everywhere will sing the praises of half spell damage, I rarely see that in actual play. Being able to tell the DM that Dragon fear, Fey Charms, and Vampire charms don't work around the Devotion Paladin feels much cooler to me then halving the limited amount of spell damage imo.

[jojo]

I'll also hop on the Paladin train, but I'd suggest Devotion as compared to Ancients or Conquest. It'll give you a deeper connection to the Barbarian, as a god of War is something a Devotion Paladin would look to temper or provide a bit of focus for.

I'm also looking at it from a control perspective, as Devotion Paladins get Charm Immunity (which also works for allies), in addition to the immunity to Fear aura. This means your Wizard can drop spells like Hypnotic Pattern and Fear on top of you and the Zealot Barbarian and not worry about you two of you getting CC-ed.

Charm and Fear effects are something I've actually run into way more often then I've run into actual spell damage. While optimizers everywhere will sing the praises of half spell damage, I rarely see that in actual play. Being able to tell the DM that Dragon fear, Fey Charms, and Vampire charms don't work around the Devotion Paladin feels much cooler to me then halving the limited amount of spell damage imo.

I lean toward Paladin myself. You could also flip the Fear and Charm stuff around with an Oath of Conquest Paladin, that synchs up well with the Zealot, let them run roughshod over the enemies of their deity!