Demon hunter build

[Kharneth]

I'm looking for advice on a character that specifically focuses on killing fiends and undead. The simplest idea is being a paladin, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to hone this character's specialized dedication to hunting and slaying undead, demons, devils, and people who work for demon gods.

I'm also wondering what a demon hunting character might be like. There's the archetypical character with a sword and hand crossbow that hunts creatures of the night but I'm not sure how "realistic" that is. I imagine anyone facing demons would be equipped with fine arms and armor, or would it be safer to fight demons from range and with armor that you could reliably hide in? Or would it make the most sense to use magic?

What are the reliable methods for killing fiends in D&D, do they have any unifying weaknesses or what kind of character would particularly suited for fighting them?

[CheddarChampion]

Demons don't have any universal weaknesses, just common resistances. Generally speaking, silvered/magic weapons and radiant damage spell attacks are normally effective vs demons and undead.

For your defenses, protection from evil and good and protection from energy will both be useful. Silence can also help with the spellcasters that serve demons.

Finally, sometimes Demons and cults try to hide in plain sight in cities. Divination spells, the insight skill, and the investigation skill can help you root them out.

For these reasons I'd recommend a Monster Slayer Ranger with a dip in Inquisitive Rogue. This also goes well with your character concept of specialization.

There's also the Dex-Paladin of Vengeance, a Zealot Barbarian/Inquisitive Rogue, Divine Soul Sorcerer with select spells known, or a Light Cleric focusing on radiant damage blasting. Starting to narrow down what you want will help you decide on the specifics.

[Kharneth]

Well, following the Helsing-esque theme of a lightly armored hunter wielding a crossbow and a sword would it be better to be a Ranger/Rogue or Paladin, perhaps Paladin/Rogue? What kind of Dex paladin of vengeance were you imagining?

The Monster Slayer Ranger comes with the few necessary spells (Banishment and Hold Monster) for demon hunting, so that could work. I don't think any of the regular Ranger spells will be more than generically useful. A paladin of vengeance would have access to Banishment, Hold Monster, and a lot of other useful spells, too.

[Man_Over_Game]

The obvious solution to all of these is the Vengeance/Devotion Paladin. You have an ability that has disadvantage to be saved against by Fiends and Undead, and your Divine Sense can make you spot all Celestial, Fiend, or Undead creatures within the radius (2/3 of those creatures are what you're aiming towards).

Vengeance would help you stalk a singular main target while being your broody, badass self while giving it to them in melee combat, but Devotion would let you bring the light to the darkness, allowing you to bless a crossbow + Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter for some crazy accurate headshots.

The Ranger can also get some benefits towards fighting specifically undead/demons with their Favored Enemy feature, but the Paladin is so narrowly focused on their hatred of these creatures that the Ranger seems generic by comparison.

[Kharneth]

The two ideas I have to combo with my friend's halberd fighter would be:

Str paladin with a glaive and polearm master with great weapon master later
or Dex paladin with rapier, hand crossbow, and crossbow with crossbow master and probably sharpshooter later

I like strength builds, I just dislike having -1 initiative lol.

[GlenSmash!]

I like strength builds, I just dislike having -1 initiative lol.

Its entirely possible to have a Strength build with without having 8 Dex.

For example: Half-Elf with the standard array 16, 12, 14, 8, 10, 16.

[Arkhios]

First of all, you make a shadar-kai (elf subrace from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), and make him or her a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance (PHB). Give him or her the Haunted One (Curse of Strahd) for background. Then ask your DM if you can have the Valenar Double Scimitar and then later take the Revenant Blade feat (both from Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron). Add some glowing scars and insist on going nearly naked, so that the scars can be seen always. If possible, ask as well if you can be blind, but still see "normally" because your eyes glow too. Finally, name him or her with a variant of Illidan and don't forget apostrophes and other special vowels.


...wait, this wasn't about a Demon Hunter from Azeroth? Pardon me, and carry on :smallbiggrin:

Seriously though, the above suggestion would work, conceptually, if you forget the most obvious sarcastic bits (those being the 'elf with a (arguably ridiculous) double bladed scimitar and a (admittedly) broken feat, scars and a ridiculous name')

[Kharneth]

Its entirely possible to have a Strength build with without having 8 Dex.

I suppose, but +0 isn't much better. The dex build would have +3 and it'll grow. Maybe going polearm master won't be so bad with an opportunity attack against chargers.

[Man_Over_Game]

The two ideas I have to combo with my friend's halberd fighter would be:

Str paladin with a glaive and polearm master with great weapon master later
or Dex paladin with rapier, hand crossbow, and crossbow with crossbow master and probably sharpshooter later

I like strength builds, I just dislike having -1 initiative lol.

My recommendation is that if you're going with a STR paladin, go Vengeance, as a lot of your abilities rely on melee range, melee attacks, and attacks of opportunity. There's a lot of synergies involved with polearms here.

If you're going Dex paladin, go Devotion. Rely on range (XBow Expert for the win) so that you can better sustain Bless, you can use your enhanced light weapon with Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter to offset the accuracy loss for insane damage, and to position your Charm-resisting aura. Once you hit level 15, you can do extremely well in melee combat against creatures impacted by Protection from Good and Evil, but otherwise I'd recommend sticking to ranged combat.

[Kharneth]

First of all, you make a shadar-kai (elf subrace from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), and make him or her a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance (PHB). Give him or her the Haunted One (Curse of Strahd) for background. Then ask your DM if you can have the Valenar Double Scimitar and then later take the Revenant Blade feat (both from Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron). Add some glowing scars and insist on going nearly naked, so that the scars can be seen always. If possible, ask as well if you can be blind, but still see "normally" because your eyes glow too. Finally, name him or her with a variant of Illidan and don't forget apostrophes and other special vowels.


...wait, this wasn't about a Demon Hunter from Azeroth? Pardon me, and carry on :smallbiggrin:

Hahah.

Vengeance with a haunted one background was what I was thinking already, though.

[CheddarChampion]

Which one to pick mostly comes down to preference. RP, strategies, and capabilities outside of your main focus are more or less equal.

There are a few mechanical things that might tip the scales. If revised ranger is allowed you get bonus damage and advantage on saves vs fiends' abilities (in this case). If you can ignore the multiclassing stat requirements Paladin 17/Rogue 3 is easy to pull off.

My personal build for the former is Rogue 1/Ranger 8/Rogue +4/Ranger +7. 12/16/13/10/15/8. V human feat mage Slayer, then Resilient (Wis), Resilient (Con), Dex+2, Dex+2. TWF with a dagger and a shortsword, you can throw the dagger in a pinch. Expertise in athletics + the silence spell let's you shove prone, grapple, and cast silence next turn while using mage Slayer to really lock that necromancer down. Expertise in insight to uncover dark forces and for insightful fighting. At range, you still have bonus damage + maybe sneak attack, spells to hold your foe in place, slayer's counter, and cunning action dash to close in. You also get a lot of stuff for exploration, and the always good Pass Without Trace to let your friends sneak with you.

As for the latter, Inquisitive Rogue and Swashbucker both work well. Start as a paladin, have good Dex, Con, and Cha, and let aura of protection go to town (add bless for fun and profit). Vow of Emnity can help you get sneak attack (less needed with rogue archetype). Getting expertise in athletics will let you hold the mages in place while you lay the beatdown. Another option is to go oath of the ancients for aura of warding. This one is less complex and supports better, but paladin abilities are really geared towards being up close and personal. If they're flying or at a distance, all you get is longbow damage + maybe sneak attack. Or buff yourself with bless and cunning action dash.

[CheddarChampion]

Aaand it looks like I missed a lot while typing my previous post out on my phone...

[Garfunion]

First of all, you make a shadar-kai (elf subrace from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), and make him or her a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance (PHB). Give him or her the Haunted One (Curse of Strahd) for background. Then ask your DM if you can have the Valenar Double Scimitar and then later take the Revenant Blade feat (both from Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron). Add some glowing scars and insist on going nearly naked, so that the scars can be seen always. If possible, ask as well if you can be blind, but still see "normally" because your eyes glow too. Finally, name him or her with a variant of Illidan and don't forget apostrophes and other special vowels.


...wait, this wasn't about a Demon Hunter from Azeroth? Pardon me, and carry on :smallbiggrin:

Seriously though, the above suggestion would work, conceptually, if you forget the most obvious sarcastic bits (those being the 'elf with a (arguably ridiculous) double bladed scimitar and a (admittedly) broken feat, scars and a ridiculous name')

I’ve sacrificed everything! What have you given?

[JackPhoenix]

I’ve sacrificed everything! What have you given?

50 bucks for the expansion. Plus monthly subscription fee.

[PhoenixPhyre]

First of all, you make a shadar-kai (elf subrace from Xanathar's Guide to Everything), and make him or her a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance (PHB). Give him or her the Haunted One (Curse of Strahd) for background. Then ask your DM if you can have the Valenar Double Scimitar and then later take the Revenant Blade feat (both from Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron). Add some glowing scars and insist on going nearly naked, so that the scars can be seen always. If possible, ask as well if you can be blind, but still see "normally" because your eyes glow too. Finally, name him or her with a variant of Illidan and don't forget apostrophes and other special vowels.


...wait, this wasn't about a Demon Hunter from Azeroth? Pardon me, and carry on :smallbiggrin:

Seriously though, the above suggestion would work, conceptually, if you forget the most obvious sarcastic bits (those being the 'elf with a (arguably ridiculous) double bladed scimitar and a (admittedly) broken feat, scars and a ridiculous name')


I’ve sacrificed everything! What have you given?

Whatever you do, you have to be a spontaneous spell caster. Because You are not prepared!

[Garfunion]

How about the Forge Cleric? It almost has all you need to be a good “demon” hunter. Focus on dexterity and wisdom. After 8th level pick up another class.

[CheddarChampion]

Okay, the build from out of left field:

Aarakocra Sun Soul Monk 14/(Revised) Monster Slayer Ranger 6
8/16/14/10/16/10
Take Mage slayer, max out dex, then max out wisdom.

Fly around throwing bolts of radiance! Fight up close with a monk weapon dealing 1d8+5+Dueling Style+Favored Enemy+Hunter's Mark damage! Throw sun bombs against hordes! Break concentration twice as often! Stunning Strike! Magical unarmed strikes!

Proficiency in all saves! Advantage on saves to resist demonic abilities! Advantage on saves vs spells when you're right next to the spellcaster! Evasion! Stillness of Mind! Purity of Body! Protection from Evil and Good!

Find undead and fiends by meditating! Natural Explorer! If you get swatted out of the sky reduce falling damage by 70! Understand all languages!

Your DM will never allow this!

[Arkhios]

Whatever you do, you have to be a spontaneous spell caster. Because You are not prepared!

Literally laughed out loud (fortunately in my car prior to my work shift). Made my day! *wipes tears of joy*


That said, Ranger would fit perfectly as well (because it is "spontaneous" caster). In fact, I'd say either Gloom Stalker or Horizon Walker.... or Monster Hunter, whose existence I had utterly forgotten o_O



Your DM will never allow this!

FWIW, I would!

[Maxilian]

Monster Slayer Ranger (Revised) is the best option IMHO

Why?

1-At lvl 1 you get the Favored Enemies for Undead (extra damage, better at looking around for them, etc.)

2-At lvl 3 you get the ability to see a target resistances, inmunities and vulnerabilities (great for anyone that want to hunt X type of enemies)

3-At lvl 6, you get Greater Favored Enemies for the Fiends (making you extremely good against them, even making you better at saves of any spells or abilities casted by them)

4-At lvl 7, supernatural defense, make you even better against your favored enemies, even more against fiends as they are one of those types of enemies that have the most spells to cast (also undead have many nasty abilities with high DC)

5-In general, Rangers as are WIS based class are great at finding creatures, and fiends are one of those types of creatures that do like to conceal themselves in big cities with lot of people.

6-At lvl 11, you become a trouble for any magic caster, and when a Fiend work with a mortal, is normally a magic caster (in the end, the summoners of those fiends are magic casters)

[Dr. Cliché]

Honestly, I'd have thought a demon hunter would want to be a class with access to Banishment. :smallwink:

[Mortis_Elrod]

Okay, the build from out of left field:

Aarakocra Sun Soul Monk 14/(Revised) Monster Slayer Ranger 6
8/16/14/10/16/10
Take Mage slayer, max out dex, then max out wisdom.

Fly around throwing bolts of radiance! Fight up close with a monk weapon dealing 1d8+5+Dueling Style+Favored Enemy+Hunter's Mark damage! Throw sun bombs against hordes! Break concentration twice as often! Stunning Strike! Magical unarmed strikes!

Proficiency in all saves! Advantage on saves to resist demonic abilities! Advantage on saves vs spells when you're right next to the spellcaster! Evasion! Stillness of Mind! Purity of Body! Protection from Evil and Good!

Find undead and fiends by meditating! Natural Explorer! If you get swatted out of the sky reduce falling damage by 70! Understand all languages!

Your DM will never allow this!

Hawk Headed Avan's from Ahmonkhet planshift would be better.

[Kharneth]

Honestly, I'd have thought a demon hunter would want to be a class with access to Banishment. :smallwink:

Pretty much. Without access to Banishment you're limited pretty severely and can only really beat demons to death with HP damage. Monster Hunter Rangers get Banishment at the same time as a Paladin would. Monster Hunter has a couple of nice spells for hunting demons. It's just a matter of if it does the job better than a Paladin.

Is Revised Ranger allowed in Adventurer's League?

[Arkhios]

Is Revised Ranger allowed in Adventurer's League?

No. Letters.

[Spectrulus]

Depending on your table, many if the Blood Hunter orders would also suit what you're looking for, and the Pact ones can get magic if gishing is important.

[Kane0]

Monster Hunter Ranger with some Paladin thrown in to taste.

[Malifice]

Monster hunter Ranger X + Paladin X

[Dr. Cliché]

Would Warlock be worth considering?

- He can access Banishment at Lv7.

- He has Eldritch Blast (which bypasses all of a demon's resistances and immunities)

- He has Hex for additional damage (either before he gets Banishment or when using it would be impractical)

- He has other spells for crowd-control (against many small demons) or for escaping if things go badly (Misty Step, Dimension Door etc.)

- He can be at least semi-martial without multiclassing (Booming Blade would work well here), and can potentially have +1 weapons very early on.

- He has Invocations for extra utility, combat ability, or to counter some demon abilities.

Thoughts?

[Quoxis]

Bringing in one of my favorite classes...
Arcana Cleric from SCAG my be worth considering.
From level 2 onwards they get „turn undead“ but for basically anything unnatural, including fiends. From level 5 this feature becomes a limited, but concentration-free banishment.
The real banishment is accessible from level 7, so waaay before rangers and paladins get it (13). They also get healing for about anything nasty a demon could throw at you, and can switch your spell list daily.
Get Wis > Con > Dex, take some damaging wizard cantrips with your first level feature, attack in ranged or melee with spells all day and let holy fire burn through the undead/fiendish masses.

[Kharneth]

These are all great ideas, thanks! But I think Vengeance Paladin is still sounding best.

How would you combine Monster Hunter with Paladin? And wouldn't it be a bit redundant with Paladin getting Hunter's Mark and Hunter getting some of the same sorceries the Paladin would get?

Warlock could certainly work mechanically, but I just don't like the idea of bargaining with otherworldly beings for power to slay demons, that's kinda like working with demons.

The Arcana Cleric is neat. It can't turn undead, but it can turn plenty of other things, including demons, but I don't think the pseudo-banishment will ever be powerful enough to be useful. Banish a 1/2 CR monster at level 5?? CR 2 monster at level 11? It is very nice that Clerics get Banishment earlier, but that's just because they're a full caster class.

How would a Paladin look with a rapier, hand crossbow, and crossbow master? Archery fighting style, sharpshooter at level 4. Rapier can be used for smiting. Divine Favor adds an extra d4 due to the bonus attack. Bless+Archery to compensate for sharpshooter for powerful ranged shots. Elemental Weapon and Holy Weapon are arguably worse, but Crusader's Mantle would get more damage from dual weapons. I'm not sure what I'd do about AC, though.

Is there any advantage that Dex paladin would have over the Str paladin with a glaive and polearm master? Rapier+Crossbow (d8+d6) is basically the same as Glaive (d10+d4). At level 4 sharpshooter = great weapon master, except the great weapon master then replaces the bonus d4 on the glaive to another d10 attack, sometimes. The only advantage the range, right? With the glaive, I could have my 2 attacks at level 5, plus the bonus attack from GWM, and also a reaction from PAM for a potential 4 attacks in a round, all d10s. With the rapier and crossbow I'd be doing 2 d8 attacks with the d6 bonus action attack and rarely actually using opportunity attacks. I'd have some Initiative, lower armor, the ability to hide, and could deal a lot of ranged damage. I could still shoot twice with the crossbow for +10/+10 damage.

I guess, what's the best way to make a character that has a rapier, hand crossbow, access to at least the Banishment spell (eventually), and preferably some other abilities/features that either specifically or generally aid in finding and destroying undead and fiends? And is this going to be better than a Vengeance Paladin with a glaive?

[Quoxis]

The Arcana Cleric is neat. It can't turn undead

It can. Any cleric can. Level 2 feature.

The banishing feature isn’t an encounter ender, but it’s a chance to take one of your opponents out for 10 rounds. That’s like a save-or-die feature, concentration free, without spending a spell slot. I think it’s a great deal better than you think, if situational - but that’s kinda what a demon hunter does: specialize on demons.

[Kharneth]

It can. Any cleric can. Level 2 feature.

The banishing feature isn’t an encounter ender, but it’s a chance to take one of your opponents out for 10 rounds. That’s like a save-or-die feature, concentration free, without spending a spell slot. I think it’s a great deal better than you think, if situational - but that’s kinda what a demon hunter does: specialize on demons.

Well the arcana cleric banish power works on celestials, elementals, fey, and fiends, but I don't think it extends to undead who would simply be feared, not that you'd need to banish undead. My issue is the CR restrictions, it just seems the individual monster that is banished for 10 rounds can't be a very powerful enemy. The rest of the cleric class doesn't lend itself well to fighting demons. You'd need a lot of offensive capabilities to take on lesser demons and access to the real banishment to dispose of any demons too powerful.

[Arkhios]

Well the arcana cleric banish power works on celestials, elementals, fey, and fiends, but I don't think it extends to undead who would simply be feared, not that you'd need to banish undead. My issue is the CR restrictions, it just seems the individual monster that is banished for 10 rounds can't be a very powerful enemy. The rest of the cleric class doesn't lend itself well to fighting demons. You'd need a lot of offensive capabilities to take on lesser demons and access to the real banishment to dispose of any demons too powerful.

What Quoxis means is that every cleric, regardless of their domain, gain 'Channel Divinity: Turn Undead' as a base class feature.

The Channel Divinity option from domain doesn't replace Turn Undead. It's an additional option, to be used instead of Turn Undead whenever you choose to.

[Vogie]

Revised Monster Slayer Ranger 15 / Arcane Archer Fighter 3 / Arcana Cleric 2

That way you get a channel divinity Banishment as well as Banishing Arrows, which gives you up to 3 Banishes per rest.