Eldritch knight... I got lucky with rolling the stats, so..should I go with feats??

[dehro]

on character creation I had 5 uneven (but awesome) rolls out of 6 on my attributes rolls, so I went with standard human fighter, which ended up statted out as follows:
STR 18
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 14
CHA 12
Which is pretty cool, I think.
Our party consists in a halfling monk, a sorcerer, and a cleric of Lliira, and that sort of makes me the designated meatshield (and navigator/scout, weirdly enough), at least at these early stages. We're playing the hoard of the dragon queen adventure.
Anyhow, 2 levels later, I'm now going on as follows:
Cantrips: Dancing lights (because human, and torches are a pain in the butt), Blade ward.
1st Level: Shield, Magic missile, Disguise self (because he's black and sticks out like a sore thumb, which is occasionally inconvenient.. I tried infiltrating an enemy camp keeping my hood up.. did not work at all!).
With that in mind and an eye on the upcoming fourth level, I'm thinking that my stats are quite decent as they are, and that I should just go wild with the feats.. but I would like your expert opinion
Lucky, because..luck! a great stand alone,
followed by two groupings:
Group 1 Warcaster, Ritual caster, Magic initiate (Because magic! Also, this way I get to stray further from the magic school limitations imposed on Eldritch Knight)
Group 2 Polearm master, Sentinel, Martial adept (because Imma smash people in the face! Also, it's stupid that I can't "multiclass internally" so to speak and take a few levels in Battle Master whereas multiclassing "out" is easy)

Then there's Mage slayer, falling somewhere between the two above groupings.

Now.. in theory I have enough room in my progression to grab most of these feats but, would that make me fall behind attributes-wise even with my fairly good initial dice-rolls?
If so: where, would you say, is the cut-off? How many feats can I consider taking Vs how many ability score increases should I not do without?
Which of the above groupings of feats do you feel would be more effective to have? Do they mesh as well together as I seem to understand or am I picking feats that make one another redundant?
If taking several of them seems feasible to you, what would you say is the best order to pick them in? Is any of these feats one I could definitely do without?
Flavour-wise, focusing on magic or on martial prowess is indifferent, since both appear in the character's background. I also have no clear favourite in terms of where I want to be on the battlefield...so that's not going to help me decide which path to focus on.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter. Feel free to tell me what YOU would pick and whether the choice would be made for style/flavour or for battle/powers economy.

[GlenSmash!]

First off, Nice roles!

Second, what's a Broadsword? (in 5e terms that is)

Now as to feats, you re perfectly find leaving your stats where they are and just taking feats that interest you, but getting strength to 20 and leaving the rest where they are is the more traditional way to do it.

As you say lucky is always useful. Warcaster is more necessary for a Sword and Board spellcaster since it's been ruled you can hold and two handed weapon in one hand while casting. Still it helps on those concentration saves.

Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate are both neat ways of getting some more spells on your EK without multiclassing.

Polarm master is great if you want to use polearms. Sentinel is really good and stopping foes in their tracks and getting off reaction attacks. Martial adept is almost useless unless you already have superiority dice and would like another.

Mage slayer is one that I think is too situational. The (vast) majority of monsters my characters have faced in 5e have not cast spells.

[Rerem115]

I don't know jack about HotDQ, but I'm frankly surprised GWM isn't on that list; you've already got a greatsword and GWF.

Now personally, I never take Lucky; I dunno, it's always rubbed me the wrong way. But, if you want it, go ahead! Looking at what you've put so far, it seems that you want to strike a balance between magic and martial, which is all well and good. However, you've got a Cleric and a Sorcerer and you've said that you're the front line, so I would focus more towards the martial end.

With that in mind, here's what I would do with your character:

4: GWM/Lucky. They're both solid, and they're both controversial enough that out of consideration to my DM, I've never taken either in a campaign. But, this is your first feat, so make it good.

6: Pick the one you didn't pick at 4th level or put a +2 to Strength.

8: Pick the one you didn't pick at 6th level.

12: Warcaster. By now, you'll have another cantrip, so if you go BB or GFB (if damage is your concern, you probably should), your opportunity attacks will hurt a lot.

14: PAM/Sentinel, leaning towards Sentinel, especially if you don't have a kickass polearm. The synergy with Warcaster is fantastic, and what you pick here will help keep the baddies off your buddies.

16: If you've got a kickass polearm by now, PAM all the way. If not, pick whatever you want, since you're level 16 and you've got the core of your build; in a vacuum, I'd go +2 Con, or Tough, or Inspiring Leader, or Blademaster, or Fell-Handed, or....Basically, everything else is gravy at this point.

19: Same as 16.

[dehro]

Second, what's a Broadsword? (in 5e terms that is)
Derp.. I meant Greatsword...


Warcaster is more necessary for a Sword and Board spellcaster since it's been ruled you can hold and two handed weapon in one hand while casting. Still it helps on those concentration saves.
Sword and board was my fallback plan when I first started at level 1. Right now, I'm sitting on 17 AC with my Half-plate armor +dex, which isn't too shabby as it is. I am something of a lumbering porcupine in that I'm carrying a (bonded) greatsword, a longsword+shield, a longbow, and a (bonded) knife for when I'm in a pickle and need to cut myself loose. I should probably do away with sword and shield, but the extra +2 to AC sounded like a nice thing to be able to fall back on, especially at low levels. Time to let go?


Martial adept is almost useless unless you already have superiority dice and would like another.
I'm not clear on this one... why is getting 2 maneuvres from the battlemaster a bad thing? some seem outright amazing..

Mage slayer is one that I think is too situational. The (vast) majority of monsters my characters have faced in 5e have not cast spells.
You're probably right on this one, but I have a feeling magic using cultists will continue to feature prominently in this module...


I don't know jack about HotDQ, but I'm frankly surprised GWM isn't on that list; you've already got a greatsword and GWF.
what's a HotDQ? and yes, you're right.. I flat out forgot to list great weapon master


Now personally, I never take Lucky; I dunno, it's always rubbed me the wrong way. But, if you want it, go ahead! Looking at what you've put so far, it seems that you want to strike a balance between magic and martial, which is all well and good. However, you've got a Cleric and a Sorcerer and you've said that you're the front line, so I would focus more towards the martial end.
We've only recently transitioned from 3.5, so we're all fairly new to 5th edition... I don't think the DM will object to any of the feats, as long as they are in the PHB (we don't go UA)
Balance is more a result of listing the two options than an actual plan I went for... and yes, I'll probably focus on the frontline duties..that said, if I can afford it, getting one or two extra spells is also interesting.



4: GWM/Lucky. They're both solid, and they're both controversial enough that out of consideration to my DM, I've never taken either in a campaign. But, this is your first feat, so make it good.

6: Pick the one you didn't pick at 4th level or put a +2 to Strength.

8: Pick the one you didn't pick at 6th level.

12: Warcaster. By now, you'll have another cantrip, so if you go BB or GFB (if damage is your concern, you probably should), your opportunity attacks will hurt a lot.

14: PAM/Sentinel, leaning towards Sentinel, especially if you don't have a kickass polearm. The synergy with Warcaster is fantastic, and what you pick here will help keep the baddies off your buddies.

16: If you've got a kickass polearm by now, PAM all the way. If not, pick whatever you want, since you're level 16 and you've got the core of your build; in a vacuum, I'd go +2 Con, or Tough, or Inspiring Leader, or Blademaster, or Fell-Handed, or....Basically, everything else is gravy at this point.

19: Same as 16.

We're using only the core books (as a rule, with this DM, we only play with books that have been translated in Italian, to help those of us less proficient with English)... and the core books are pretty much all that's been translated, so far... so Booming blade and Greenflame blade are out of the picture, sadly.
Thanks for the progression tree... I don't know that I'll survive the rest of the adventure, but it does seem like a sensible outline...

[GlenSmash!]

I'm not clear on this one... why is getting 2 maneuvres from the battlemaster a bad thing? some seem outright amazing..

Two maneuvers, but you only get one use per short rest, at the cost of a feat its a steep cost for a small benefit.

[dehro]

gotcha.. thanks

[Aaron Underhand]

An Idea:

4th Great Weapon Master
6th Str 20
7th and 8th - Wizard (divination).

The two wizard levels get you Ritual Casting for 1st level spells, Cantrips, more spells and slots, and portent dice

Sort of like getting Ritual Caster, Mage Initiate and Lucky all in one, is it not?

[dehro]

An Idea:

4th Great Weapon Master
6th Str 20
7th and 8th - Wizard (divination).

The two wizard levels get you Ritual Casting for 1st level spells, Cantrips, more spells and slots, and portent dice

Sort of like getting Ritual Caster, Mage Initiate and Lucky all in one, is it not?

I've yet to check how multiclassing works but, wouldn't that cost me ever getting access to fourth level spells (probably immaterial since I'm not the primary caster) but also, more relevantly, getting the third attack and final ability score increase/feat?
In less "long time away" terms, I'm not keen on multiclassing and so far, in our experimentation with this edition, we're all keeping it fairly simple and sticking to one class only characters.

[dehro]

upon reflection, I think I would be more justified taking Lucky later in the game, justifying it by saying I got to double digits, if that's not being lucky I don't know what is... or something in that direction.
Not that I'd need a justification.. I'm pretty sure my DM would be ok with me taking it anytime, it just seems a more natural progression for my character, also because of the place he's at, in a roleplay sense.. he's not feeling very lucky, and to me, luck is at least 2 parts self-made and confidence based.

so I'm left with deciding whether to take Sentinel or Great Weapon Master as my first feat.. Sentinel seems the more powerful of the two, but they're both extremely appealing and I will eventually get both. Polearm Mastery is also a strong contender for a first feat, especially now that we're still fairly squishy... but for roleplay reasons I'm leaving that one for a little later (maybe second, or third).
Thoughts?

[ciarannihill]

As you say lucky is always useful. Warcaster is more necessary for a Sword and Board spellcaster since it's been ruled you can hold and two handed weapon in one hand while casting. Still it helps on those concentration saves.


It also allows you to use a spell in place of a normal attack for AoOs, and since Extra Attack isn't usable for AoOs this can be a pretty reasonable damage differential depending on what spells you have.

Depending on how your DM rules, using Booming Blade via Warcaster can auto-trigger it's second damage hit. Not sure how this word work RAW since attempting to move out of melee is what would trigger the AoO before the movement occurs, the question is can the creature decide after the fact to opt to not move to prevent the extra damage.


As far as the build it feels a bit unfortunate that you kind of dumped Int, since it's the secondary stat for EKs, but if you're basically going for a "Melee Bruiser with utility magic for out of combat use" it seems fine, I'd max Str, get GWM then work out the other possibilities based on my party makeup and if/how we're succeeding and struggling with encounters. I think investing in Con is probably worth more than any feats you're on the fence about, but Warcaster is great for maintaining concentration for things like Haste.

[dehro]

It also allows you to use a spell in place of a normal attack for AoOs, and since Extra Attack isn't usable for AoOs this can be a pretty reasonable damage differential depending on what spells you have.

Depending on how your DM rules, using Booming Blade via Warcaster can auto-trigger it's second damage hit. Not sure how this word work RAW since attempting to move out of melee is what would trigger the AoO before the movement occurs, the question is can the creature decide after the fact to opt to not move to prevent the extra damage.


As far as the build it feels a bit unfortunate that you kind of dumped Int, since it's the secondary stat for EKs, but if you're basically going for a "Melee Bruiser with utility magic for out of combat use" it seems fine, I'd max Str, get GWM then work out the other possibilities based on my party makeup and if/how we're succeeding and struggling with encounters. I think investing in Con is probably worth more than any feats you're on the fence about, but Warcaster is great for maintaining concentration for things like Haste.

booming blade isn't in the core books so it's out, as is everything else that isn't.
I sorta-dumped INT, yes.. Though I didn't really, I was just spoiled for choices, with 3 14s and going fighter it seemed a bit redundant, because I wasn't planing on going Eldritch knight.
I rolled up the character on the spot halfway through a long-ass session when my previous character bit the dust and was actually thinking of Battlemaster.

So, irrespective of order, warcaster, sentinel, GWM, are all feats to definitely take.. Possibly Polearm Master to complete a battlefield control build able to soak up a great deal of actions from the enemy.
The rest is going to either be STR or CON and maaaaybe ritual caster, or magic initiate or luck..if I can still do any of that.

In truth I actually expect to die long before the end of this adventure, so hitting double digit levels would already be a major victory..but we'll see what happens.