Assassin/Evoker?

[bc56]

How would combining 3 levels of rogue (assassin) with an Evoker wizard specializing in spells that use attack rolls. Would the automatic crits on surprise be worth the levels of rogue? (Assuming you get surprise, not every game has it very often)

[Naanomi]

What is the best spell for this? I did pretty reasonably spamming Eldritch Blast on a caster/Assassin...

[Davrix]

Can you say 40D6 damage from meteor swarm :) LOL

[Naanomi]

Can you say 40D6 damage from meteor swarm :) LOL
No attack roll, doesn’t work

Good candidates:
-Scorching Ray (2d6*(3+(1/spell level above 2nd)
-Steelwind Strike (6d10 vs 5 targets)
-Shadowblade + Booming Blade (5d8+3d8)

[Davrix]

No attack roll, doesn’t work

Good candidates:
-Scorching Ray (2d6*(3+(1/spell level above 2nd)
-Steelwind Strike (6d10 vs 5 targets)
-Shadowblade + Booming Blade (5d8+3d8)

Crushing my dreams but i realized that shortly after my post.

Steelwind strike though would be a very good use of the mechanic because of Greater invis + that would allow for a very impressive moment :)

[Easy_Lee]

No attack roll, doesn’t work

Good candidates:
-Scorching Ray (2d6*(3+(1/spell level above 2nd)
-Steelwind Strike (6d10 vs 5 targets)
-Shadowblade + Booming Blade (5d8+3d8)

Three levels of rogue on certain casters might be worth it to do things like this. The blade cantrips offset the delayed progression, and expertise + cunning action is no joke.

[Blood of Gaea]

I have to agree with earlier posters that Eldritch Blast, Steel Wind Strike, Booming/Greenflame Blade + Shadowblade are the best options.

So Abjuration Wizard 17/Assassin Rogue 3 or Bladesinger Wizard 17/ Assassin Rogue 3 seem ideal for this.

[Easy_Lee]

I have to agree with earlier posters that Eldritch Blast, Steel Wind Strike, Booming/Greenflame Blade + Shadowblade are the best options.

So Abjuration Wizard 17/Assassin Rogue 3 or Bladesinger Wizard 17/ Assassin Rogue 3 seem ideal for this.

Or five levels of rogue for uncanny dodge and the extra feat. That's a solid chassis on which to build a spellblade.

[Blood of Gaea]

Or five levels of rogue for uncanny dodge and the extra feat. That's a solid chassis on which to build a spellblade.
True, but if you grab the 17th level in Wizard you can acquire Foresight.

[Easy_Lee]

True, but if you grab the 17th level in Wizard you can acquire Foresight.

Unquestionably better in the long term. Choice will vary by length of campaign, starting level, and whether you will play this character in future campaigns.

[Blood of Gaea]

Unquestionably better in the long term. Choice will vary by length of campaign, starting level, and whether you will play this character in future campaigns.
Eh, even in the short term you're either delaying acquiring Shadowblade and Steel Wind Strike, as well as spell slots to upscale Shadowblade. And considering a Steel Wind Strike will be 12d10 force damage to up to five creatures in a surprise round, that's pretty significant.

EDIT: Taking another look at the Evocation Wizard abilities, their 14th level Overchannel ability allows you to deal maximum damage of a 5th level or lower once a day without side effects. So you can drop 120 force damage on five creatures in a surprise round, that's pretty amazing for a 5th level spell slot. The downside this combination doesn't come online until PC level 17, while the benefits of Bladesinger and Abjuration Wizard come online much sooner, both gaining their most significant Wizard abilities at PC level 5.

[Easy_Lee]

Thought about it and I actually think the ideal setup would be variant human (alert) rogue (assassin) 3 / war wizard. War wizard and alert both give significant bonuses to initiative, helping you get mileage out of your Assassinate feature, and the other war wizard features help keep you from getting locked down.

[Blood of Gaea]

Thought about it and I actually think the ideal setup would be variant human (alert) rogue (assassin) 3 / war wizard. War wizard and alert both give significant bonuses to initiative, helping you get mileage out of your Assassinate feature, and the other war wizard features help keep you from getting locked down.
I think getting a +9-15 (assuming you start with at least 14 Dex and Int) might be a bit overkill, I think if you went the route of War Wizard you should probably drop Alert for a different feat.

That said, after looking at it, I definitely agree that War Magic is a better choice than Abjuration. So I'd say the choices are between:

War Magic:

Bonus to initiative.
Good defensive abilities that function all day long.
A bit of flat force damage, sadly none of them are dice rolls.
Good benefits as low as CL 5.



Bladesinger:

Bladesong adds an amazing +Int to AC, +10ft movement, and +Int to concentration saving throws, for one minute twice a short rest.
Extra Attack.
You can sacrifice spell slots to reduce damage.
+Int to weapon damage.
Adds the least synergy with the Steel Wind Strike nova round.
Easily the best synergy with Shadowblade.
Good benefits as low as CL 5



Evocation:

The most devastating application of the Steel Wind Strike nova round.
Offers plenty of blasting potential, but not much else for this particular build.
Its major benefit doesn't come online until CL 17.

[Davrix]

what about the lore wizard from UA it would def offer some pretty good flexibility and allow on certain spells I think to change the damage type to get around any resistance or take advantage of vulnerability

[Blood of Gaea]

what about the lore wizard from UA it would def offer some pretty good flexibility and allow on certain spells I think to change the damage type to get around any resistance or take advantage of vulnerability
Well, Shadowblade does psychic damage, and Steel Wind Strike does force damage, so resistance and immunities shouldn't be a big deal for you. That said, taking advantage of vulnerabilities would be pretty strong, but you give up some pretty great synergies to do it.

[Davrix]

I suppose it depends on the campaign and DM for that kind of choice.

Scorching ray would become rather scary under that scenario for a surprise round when casting at higher levels.

Lets see casting at say Lv 5 would give you 6 rays at 2D6 and your going to have a very good chance of hitting all six with surprise so thats 12D6x 2 = 24D6 then double that from vulnerability by morphing it into whatever it is. Thats going to hurt. But yea depends on the DM monsters for this choice.

[Blood of Gaea]

I suppose it depends on the campaign and DM for that kind of choice.

Scorching ray would become rather scary under that scenario for a surprise round when casting at higher levels.

Lets see casting at say Lv 5 would give you 6 rays at 2D6 and your going to have a very good chance of hitting all six with surprise so thats 12D6x 2 = 24D6 then double that from vulnerability by morphing it into whatever it is. Thats going to hurt. But yea depends on the DM monsters for this choice.
For comparison:
Scorching Ray with a 2nd level slot deals 4d6(14avg) damage, 20d6(70 avg) from a 5th level slot, and 28d6(98 avg) from a 7th level slot, all during a surprise round.

Steel Wind Strike will be dealing 12d10(66 avg) damage to up to five opponents, so a maximum of 60d10(330 avg).

If you're looking for single target damage, and are willing to be in melee, the aforementioned Shadowblade+Booming Blade is very efficient.

At CL 6 you can cast Shadowblade from a level 2 spell slot. So in a surprise round, you'll deal 4d8+2d8+4d6(41 avg)+Dex, and an additional 1d8 if they move in the next round. At CL 17 this combination will be at it's most potent, dealing 10d8+6d8+4d6(86 avg)+Dex and +4d8 if they move in the next round. Note that after this attack you're still holding the sword for 9 more rounds of concentration.

Also, if you can attack two targets next to each other, you can replace Booming Blade's extra damage with a doubled damage secondary attack from Green-Flame Blade, which will vary from 2d8(9 avg)+Int at CL 6 to 6d8(27 avg)+Int at CL 17.

CL= Character Level.

Also, nothing on this list includes Wizard abilities beyond normal spell casting.

[Lombra]

9th LEVEL MAGIC MISSILE

[Naanomi]

9th LEVEL MAGIC MISSILE
No attack roll, doesn’t work

[Blood of Gaea]

9th LEVEL MAGIC MISSILE
This (https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells?filter-attack-type=1&filter-attack-type=2&filter-class=0&filter-class=8&filter-search=) is a search result of every spell that requires a melee or ranged attack roll. Additionally, Shadowblade functions because it creates a sword you attack with.

[bc56]

Not to mention, you can also proc sneak attack with the shadow blade, since it's considered a finesse weapon.

[JackPhoenix]

Can you say 40D6 damage from meteor swarm :) LOL

You can. It's the default damage.