KingWhipsy
2018-01-09, 07:23 PM
Hey all, I've posted here about my character before. But i'm now level 5 and realizing the character more and more.
He's a Lightfoot Halfing Swashbuckler and has a +1 Sentient Rapier that grants 2d8 superiority dice and the parry and riposte maneuvers. He also can give control of his body to the rapier whose soul has 5d10 superiority dice and the parry, riposte, evasive footwork, and commanding strike maneuvers but the DM takes control.
Current Stats:
[View formatted table]
STR 11
DEX 20
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 13
CHA 16
With my level 4 ASI I pumped +2 into DEX to get me to 20. Going forward I'm not exactly sure how to optimize. Do I take the two-weapon fighting style and the dual-wielder feat? Or do I go with my backstory and take the mariner fighting style for the extra AC and swim and climb speed? As for maneuvers, I was thinking Disarming Attack, Distracting Strike, and Menacing Attack since I already have riposte and parry. Disarming Attack just seems useful in a bunch of different situations and also adds the die to my damage; Distracting strike works well since I have a +8 to initiative right now and we have a champion fighter with use so granting him advantage seems great and I also get to add the die to damage; Menacing attack seems good because it grants an extra d8 of damage too and forces them to leave melee and grants an AoO that lets me proc sneak attack on their turn. I'm not set on any of these if you guys think I should go something else, this is simply what I collected from my research into the class.
Which somewhat leads into my next point. I have the build planned as Swashbuckler 12/Battlemaster 8 which grants me 6 more ASI's total. Seeing as Dex is already maxed and Charisma is decently high I feel like I have plenty of room to mess around with feats instead of bumping stats. I made a list of interesting feats and was wondering what you all thought of them or if you had anything else that you think I should take.
Feats:
Actor - Bumps charisma +1 which puts me closer to 18 CHA; and grants advantage on CHA checks to pass off as someone else while also letting me imitate voices. Both of those seem somewhat niche, but when they do occur I can see them being significant helps.
Alert - Can't be surprised? Fantastic. +5 to initiative putting me at +13? Sound like i'm always going to be first. People can't get advantage by being hidden from me? Doesn't happen often but could save me.
Dual Wielder - +1 AC. That puts me at 18 AC or 19 if I go mariner fighting style. Solid. Up offhand damage from 1d4 to 1d8. Able to draw both weapons at once. Doesn't usually come up in our campaign but could eventually.
Dungeon Delver - Advantage on checks made to find secret doors. Cool. Advantage on saving throws to resist or avoid traps. Useful as i'm always the one opening things or looking for traps. Resistance to damage dealt by traps. Add this to the advantage above and it's likely i'd only take 1/4 damage from traps. Pretty good.
Lucky - 3 free d20 gimmes. Paired with halfling lucky it just seems like a no brainer. When do I take it though?
Magic Initiate - Seems like there's a ton you could do with this. Already talked to the DM about Find Familiar and he said I couldn't abuse it the way i've heard it talked about. But I think it's still interesting. Booming Blade works terribly with extra attack though so maybe something in bard? IDK.
Resilient (WIS) - Shores up an odd stat number and gives me proficiency with a big saving throw. Seems important but I want to take it as a later feat I think.
Diplomat - Another +1 CHA bump. If I take both it puts me at 18. Proficiency in persuasion which I already have so it grants expertise. Great. Chance to charm people after talking to them for a minute? Sound fantastic.
Perceptive - WIS +1. Shores up a weakness if I don't take Resilient. Proficiency in perception which I already have, so expertise. Being in obscured areas doesn't grant disadvantage on perception checks. Doesn't happen much but pretty nice.
I don't really know what to do with this many ASI's and all this freedom. I was thinking Lucky, Dual Wielder, Resilient (WIS), Magic Initiate, Actor, Diplomat. Maybe I missed something that you think would be extremely helpful. Let me know!
Help me out GitP.
He's a Lightfoot Halfing Swashbuckler and has a +1 Sentient Rapier that grants 2d8 superiority dice and the parry and riposte maneuvers. He also can give control of his body to the rapier whose soul has 5d10 superiority dice and the parry, riposte, evasive footwork, and commanding strike maneuvers but the DM takes control.
Current Stats:
[View formatted table]
STR 11
DEX 20
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 13
CHA 16
With my level 4 ASI I pumped +2 into DEX to get me to 20. Going forward I'm not exactly sure how to optimize. Do I take the two-weapon fighting style and the dual-wielder feat? Or do I go with my backstory and take the mariner fighting style for the extra AC and swim and climb speed? As for maneuvers, I was thinking Disarming Attack, Distracting Strike, and Menacing Attack since I already have riposte and parry. Disarming Attack just seems useful in a bunch of different situations and also adds the die to my damage; Distracting strike works well since I have a +8 to initiative right now and we have a champion fighter with use so granting him advantage seems great and I also get to add the die to damage; Menacing attack seems good because it grants an extra d8 of damage too and forces them to leave melee and grants an AoO that lets me proc sneak attack on their turn. I'm not set on any of these if you guys think I should go something else, this is simply what I collected from my research into the class.
Which somewhat leads into my next point. I have the build planned as Swashbuckler 12/Battlemaster 8 which grants me 6 more ASI's total. Seeing as Dex is already maxed and Charisma is decently high I feel like I have plenty of room to mess around with feats instead of bumping stats. I made a list of interesting feats and was wondering what you all thought of them or if you had anything else that you think I should take.
Feats:
Actor - Bumps charisma +1 which puts me closer to 18 CHA; and grants advantage on CHA checks to pass off as someone else while also letting me imitate voices. Both of those seem somewhat niche, but when they do occur I can see them being significant helps.
Alert - Can't be surprised? Fantastic. +5 to initiative putting me at +13? Sound like i'm always going to be first. People can't get advantage by being hidden from me? Doesn't happen often but could save me.
Dual Wielder - +1 AC. That puts me at 18 AC or 19 if I go mariner fighting style. Solid. Up offhand damage from 1d4 to 1d8. Able to draw both weapons at once. Doesn't usually come up in our campaign but could eventually.
Dungeon Delver - Advantage on checks made to find secret doors. Cool. Advantage on saving throws to resist or avoid traps. Useful as i'm always the one opening things or looking for traps. Resistance to damage dealt by traps. Add this to the advantage above and it's likely i'd only take 1/4 damage from traps. Pretty good.
Lucky - 3 free d20 gimmes. Paired with halfling lucky it just seems like a no brainer. When do I take it though?
Magic Initiate - Seems like there's a ton you could do with this. Already talked to the DM about Find Familiar and he said I couldn't abuse it the way i've heard it talked about. But I think it's still interesting. Booming Blade works terribly with extra attack though so maybe something in bard? IDK.
Resilient (WIS) - Shores up an odd stat number and gives me proficiency with a big saving throw. Seems important but I want to take it as a later feat I think.
Diplomat - Another +1 CHA bump. If I take both it puts me at 18. Proficiency in persuasion which I already have so it grants expertise. Great. Chance to charm people after talking to them for a minute? Sound fantastic.
Perceptive - WIS +1. Shores up a weakness if I don't take Resilient. Proficiency in perception which I already have, so expertise. Being in obscured areas doesn't grant disadvantage on perception checks. Doesn't happen much but pretty nice.
I don't really know what to do with this many ASI's and all this freedom. I was thinking Lucky, Dual Wielder, Resilient (WIS), Magic Initiate, Actor, Diplomat. Maybe I missed something that you think would be extremely helpful. Let me know!
Help me out GitP.