What's your favorite, tactically challenging build?

[Man_Over_Game]

Now, we're not talking about that build that's necessarily unoptimized and difficult (like having a bunch of abilities all compete for your Bonus Action), I'm talking about a fun, effective build that has to make very decisive decisions about how to manipulate the battlefield on a turn-by-turn basis.

I'm not necessarily looking for a "Get to level 20 as soon as you can" build, I'd like it to be effective and interesting from 1 to 20. Obviously there may be some dull moments (like Fighter 1-2), but ideally I'd like it to be tactically interesting throughout all levels.

Battle Master Fighter comes to mind, with it's short-rest refreshed maneuvers and lots of options to choose from per combat.

Open Palm Monk also suits, but has fewer options to choose from.

Conjuration Wizard can also apply, since it has the valuable option of creating walls and teleporting with allies.

What are your recommendations?

[ImproperJustice]

It’s such a broad question it’s very hard to answer.

It sounds like a matter of which character has the most resources you might find interesting to manage.

Spellcasters are definitely gonna fit that niche, and Battlemasters and Monks feel a lot like spellcastes with their assorted maneuvers.

Then a martial character with a lot of creativity could be equally interesting, like the grapple wielding fighter in a thread below, or the post from the guy looking for creative uses of pitons.


I think my submission would probably be a control oriented mage, with Tiny Servant, shaping cantrips, and a simulacrum.

On a more down to earth note, been playing a Forge Cleric very heavily and every battle involves a tactical analysis of when to group bless, when to debuff, when to blast, when to dive in swinging (Spirit Guardians and Weapons), when to problem solve (Commune, Fabricate, etc), and when to raise an army (animate objects).

[Man_Over_Game]

It’s such a broad question it’s very hard to answer.

It sounds like a matter of which character has the most resources you might find interesting to manage.

Spellcasters are definitely gonna fit that niche, and Battlemasters and Monks feel a lot like spellcastes with their assorted maneuvers.

Then a martial character with a lot of creativity could be equally interesting, like the grapple wielding fighter in a thread below, or the post from the guy looking for creative uses of pitons.


I think my submission would probably be a control oriented mage, with Tiny Servant, shaping cantrips, and a simulacrum.

On a more down to earth note, been playing a Forge Cleric very heavily and every battle involves a tactical analysis of when to group bless, when to debuff, when to blast, when to dive in swinging (Spirit Guardians and Weapons), when to problem solve (Commune, Fabricate, etc), and when to raise an army (animate objects).

Forge Cleric? It always looked like the most boring Cleric option out there, with its main features being things like "Give +1 AC for a day". I just assumed it was for lazy melee optimizers. What does it bring tactically that, say, a Tempest Cleric couldn't bring?

[No brains]

Maybe this slides more into 'strategic' versus 'tactical', but I really liked my trickery cleric. Before the fight, social and stealth options let me get into an advantageous position before initiative was rolled. Either I could sneak up to where I needed, or present a false front and walk right up to my enemies.

Once rolled, I had tactical options for control and tanking based on my position. Mirror Image, Sanctuary (if your DM allows it), and Spirit Guardians made me viable on the front line, especially when I burnt another slot on Spiritual Weapon to keep myself threatening. Combining that with Dodges or Helps made me even more annoying. Command, Bless, Polymorph, and Control Water gave me options for changing the fist rather than just making an attack roll. Guiding Bolt set up for ranged sneak attacks when I had to back off. Finally, Healing Word kept the rest of the machine running smoothly.

Divination and other healing options also gave some boosts, but those are pretty firmly strategic.

[NecessaryWeevil]

When playing a melee-centric character, I have trouble avoiding a splash of Rogue. The extra mobility from Cunning Action adds a lot of options.

[strangebloke]

Two builds that really caught my fancy:

1) The STRanger. VHuman with GWM, 16/14/14/8/14/8 starting stats. Hunter Ranger who goes for GWF and Horde Breaker. Against large groups, you'll use a polearm, so that you can always slip in a hit on two people standing next to each other and trigger horde breaker. If you get horde breaker and kill someone, you get four attacks in a around. Against a single target, or if the enemies are coming in thick, you can rely more on your greatsword and hunter's mark. If you have to fight at mid-range, javelins. Long range, you still have a 14 in DEX, and there's no reason not to have a longbow. It just felt like a very varied, complete character without any true weaknesses (other than math problems and social engagements).

2) The Hexadin. Vhuman again, this was theorycrafted for a game where we already got one feat at first level, so I was going to go with magic initiate:wizard(blade cantrips and find familiar) and with inspiring leader. Stats were 9/14/12/12/12/16. 1 level dip in hexblade and then straight conquest paladin. I was going for the defense fighting style, fighting mounted with a lance and shield. What appealed to me about this was the massive breadth of options available.

I built this character while trying to think how best to play a slender feminine warrior who was also a 'genius tactician.' On her turn, she could command her mount, her familiar, and herself. For resources, she had two separate spellcasting features, channel divinity, and lay on hands. When attacking, she could alternate between blade cantrips and the extra attack option. She could cast armor of agathys and shield and wade into melee with a greatsword, or she could switch to a hammer and shield and burn her enemies alive with greenflame blade. Inspiring leader makes her quite powerful useful outside of combat, and also helps to keep her pets alive.

The DM wouldn't let me bully him into letting my mount be a giant owl. Even though they're CR 1/4 and therefore clearly inferior to the CR 1/2 warhorse.

Now, if only I could find a group where I could play that'd be great. Both of the above characters never saw play since the people who were going to DM flaked on me.

[Trustypeaches]

My favorite martial character is a Rogue that dips enough into Fighter to get Battlemaster Maneuvers.

Careful use of your superiority die goes a long way.

[thoroughlyS]

I would love to try a Swords Bard 6/Beast Master Spell-less Ranger 3/Arcane Archer 3/Swords Bard +8.

Between spells, bardic inspiration/flourishes, maneuvers, companion commands, second wind, action surge, and arcane shot you have so many decision points you're basically playing your own game. I personally would go variant human and take magic initiate (for a SCAG cantrip and a familiar), then martial adept at 4th level (for expanded maneuver options). You lose out on the ranger spell selection, but with only three levels that basically amounts to ensnaring strike, hail of thorns, and zephyr strike.

In a milestone game which ran quickly enough, I might even try to squeeze in a level of Mystic and Order Cleric. With mantle of command and voice of authority, I could even play other characters.

[Desteplo]

Beast master/war mage (15/5 But at least 7/2)
-gives lots of advantage and opportunity attacks and most importantly battlefield control. Extra body and bonus action help is great (on top of familiar and touch spells)

[Speely]

Arcane Trickster is definitely interesting from 3 to 20. When you aren't getting class/subclass features (which are abundant,) you are getting new spells. They have a breadth of versatility in almost any situation that is virtually unmatched, and though Wizards technically have more versatility due to their spell list, Arcane Tricksters are still completely viable when all spell slots are spent.

This subclass practically BEGS creativity and tactical challenge imo.

[xyianth]

For something a little different:


variant human shadow sorcerer 1/hexblade warlock 2/glamour bard 6/crown paladin 11

Start with the inspirational leader feat as a vhuman.
Pick up the misty visions invocation so you can use silent image at-will.
Tactically use your mantle of inspiration to bolster and reposition allies.
Make use of your hexblade curse to increase damage output against important targets.
Mantle of majesty is a great power to use against horde battles and big boss fights.
Once you get far enough into paladin to snag spirit guardians, you become a moving zone of debuffing and damaging enemies while buffing allies.
There are plenty of useful low level bard spells for battlefield control as well.

If you are playing in the new Ravnica setting, you can choose any paladin you want if you are a member of the Orzhav guild. Crown is used here just to get spirit guardians.

I like this build because you have a set of very useful abilities that cover buffing, healing, debuffing, damage, and positioning. How effective they are depends entirely on how and when you use them.

[TripleD]

DEX-based Paladin(Vengeance)/Rogue.

You have to think carefully about how you are going to split up your smite, sneak attack, and hunter’s mark.

[ImproperJustice]

Forge Cleric? It always looked like the most boring Cleric option out there, with its main features being things like "Give +1 AC for a day". I just assumed it was for lazy melee optimizers. What does it bring tactically that, say, a Tempest Cleric couldn't bring?

I want to open by saying that I do not claim that Forge is the best domain.
I greatly enjoy it from an RP perspective as a “man of the people” and lover of fine arts, crafts, and food and a judge against those that seek to steal from or exploit hard working folks.

Tactically: Heat Metal is awesome. Do a search and you will find threads about some GMs struggling to balance it.
In our last game of against the giants, this spell completely hamstrung two opponents, one by targeting their magic weapon and another tgeir armor. Forcing them to fight at disadvantage or give up their weapon.
Wall of Fire is great!
Ever just layed it out in a straight line in a tight corridor? The. Just have the hot side blast the opposite side of the hall. With some push/pull from your allies you can control a large area.
The big heavy hitter is animate objects though.
We found ourselves facing a pack of Frost Giants surrounded by slaves and ill gotten goods stolen from the local townsfolk. It felt real good to animate 10 of the various local goods (furniture, bolts of cloth, an anvil, etc) and suddenly have 10 constructs to engage the enemy. I was able to spread them around a bit and cut off some enemies from escaping and for a full minute had a legion of multiple attacking constructs at my command.

Afterward, I used Fabricate on those same goods to create winter clothing for the slaves so we could guide them safely to shelter.

Now I have no beef with Tempest clerics. But I will say that Forge may have more to it than meets the eye.

[solidork]

There are some homebrew caveats for the build that I used in a recent campaign:
1. Custom magic item that removes the heavy property from a weapon and adds the finesse property
2. The haft attack from PAM didn't benefit from the reach property, so you had to be right next to them

The build was Wolf Totem Barbarian 6/Scout Rogue 5 with PAM. Here are some of the tensions at work in the build:
1. You want to end your turn next to the enemy to grant advantage to your melee allies
2. You also want to be up close to get your haft attack in
3. You want to position yourself so that an enemy will approach you and you can get your reaction attack (potentially in conflict with previous desires). Positioning yourself so that reaction attack is a sneak attack is NOT as simple as you might think.
4. You have multiple ways to trade safety for damage. Do you prioritize using your reaction to Uncanny Dodge or the Scout disengage instead of PAM? Do you need to use Reckless Attack to get a Sneak Attack in because allies aren't in position? Do you sacrifice your haft attack to stay at range and skirmish by dashing?

The result was a very fun and engaging build with lots of decisions, which is what I was going for. Mixing PAM with Sneak Attack was good but not broken, in the end. I think I would have done more damage with GWM.

[Tolkin]

I don't know if this fits but once one of my favorite multi class characters that I made was for OoTA was a Rogue/Druid

[SpanielBear]

For choices to make every turn, I’m going to throw my GOOlock into the mix. If I was optimising it for combat:

Variant human with Spell Sniper feat. Bonus cantrip- Chill touch

Pact of the tome- bonus cantrips vine whip, vicious mockery, shocking grasp

Agonising and Repelling blast invocations.

You can inflict almost any battlefield condition or control you want on most foes. Push, pull, disadvantage, break reaction, prevent regen... it’s a really versatile toolkit. And that’s before you add spells and rituals (including find familiar).

[Snowbluff]

IMO if it doesn't cast spells it's not really tactically challenging. I think full casters are the hardest to get working right, but that's just for me. THey have a much larger decision tree based on what you know about the encounter and what you expect afterwords.

This is further muddied by subclasses that are gishes like Swords bard and Bladesinger wizard. They have to balance their attacking as a filler with short rest abilities.

In practice and including multiclassing I had a Ghostwise Hafling Barb3/Druid6 with Sentinel feat. He's got the telepathy so he can be an animal a lot of the time. However, I have a lot of decisions to make per fight, like whether or not I want to cast spells, concentration on a spell, rage, or wildshape, what spells I would want to use, how much EHP do I need for the fight, what wildshape form is best for the fight.

[Derpldorf]

I had what was basically a professional wrestler once, specifically whats known as a heel. I don't remember the exact build but it had a couple levels of Barb and three levels of Thief Rogue before finishing up with levels of Battlemaster Fighter. He used Tavern Brawler to smash chairs over people's heads or toss little sacks of flour in people's eyes before grabbing and suplexing them.

[Man_Over_Game]

Two builds that really caught my fancy:

1) The STRanger. VHuman with GWM

2) The Hexadin. Vhuman again, this was theorycrafted for a game where we already got one feat at first level, so I was going to go with magic initiate:wizard(blade cantrips and find familiar) and with inspiring leader.

1) A cool number of attacks available, my main concern is that most of your actions are pretty binary in decision making. "I'm in melee combat, so I'll use the big stick." "I'm at range, so I'll use the bow."
2) Has a lot of diverse possible options, but I feel like there'd be a lot of competition for your main action, since Extra Attack usually does better than a single blade spell cast. Additionally, with the stat array you've posted, you can't multiclass out of Paladin (with your 8 Str).


My favorite martial character is a Rogue that dips enough into Fighter to get Battlemaster Maneuvers.

Careful use of your superiority die goes a long way.

I agree. This is probably my single favorite martial build. I prefer more emphasis on Fighter over Rogue, but it's roughly the same build, depending on whether you want more Range (Rogue) or Melee (Fighter).


When playing a melee-centric character, I have trouble avoiding a splash of Rogue. The extra mobility from Cunning Action adds a lot of options.

Also agreed. Many martial classes suffer from immobility in heavy combat, using their Bonus Action on a regular basis, and having a severe lack of skills to compliment their large number of ASIs. Two levels into Rogue fixes every one of those issues.

[Man_Over_Game]

Beast master/war mage (15/5 But at least 7/2)
There's mention of area control, but not explicitly on how it works. If you read this, do you mind going into more detail? I'm a bit interested.


Arcane Trickster
I love the Arcane Trickster, but I honestly wouldn't say it's a "tactical" build. You have more options for interactions in cities and dungeons than anyone else in the game, but in combat, I find myself usually stuck between using Fog Cloud, Attack, or some variant of the two. Later on, Hold Person is good since you have a bonus to cast it, but you're still talking about the difference of "Attack or Paralyze a single target". Still one of my favorites, though.



variant human shadow sorcerer 1/hexblade warlock 2/glamour bard 6/crown paladin 11

I'll be honest, it is a bit all over the place. It has a lot of needs for your Concentration to worry about, and while you have a decent number of spells to cast, you're very limited on your spell level despite being a level 20 build. I could see it being somewhat fun, but it's pretty heavily loaded on your Concentration, without utilizing too many spells that don't require it.



DEX-based Paladin(Vengeance)/Rogue.
I'm not 100% sure where the tactical decision making is on this build. Its' effective, but it's also a bit MAD (requiring 13 into Str, Cha, and Dex, plus whatever you want into Con), it relies solely on single target damage, and generally just comes down to gauging some very specific questions:
"How many more rounds will it take to kill this thing? 1: Attack. 2: Divine Smite. 3+: Hunter's Mark"


I want to open by saying that I do not claim that Forge is the best domain.
I greatly enjoy it from an RP perspective as a “man of the people” and lover of fine arts, crafts, and food and a judge against those that seek to steal from or exploit hard working folks.

You have some solid mentions in here, including things like Wall of Fire. I do still think that Forge is still a little on the "simple" side, but my opinion has definitely improved after your insight.



The build was Wolf Totem Barbarian 6/Scout Rogue 5 with PAM.
Very clever, I like a lot of your ideas. I could see a lot of this actually working out rather well. It's a shame there's no way for Rogues to use PAM, at least not through any kind of RAW options.


I don't know if this fits but once one of my favorite multi class characters that I made was for OoTA was a Rogue/Druid
Moon Druid? I could see that working out quite well.



For choices to make every turn, I’m going to throw my GOOlock into the mix.

That is really versatile, but a lot of it really competes with your action. A lot of your investments could end up being redundant in a lot of turns.


IMO if it doesn't cast spells it's not really tactically challenging. I think full casters are the hardest to get working right, but that's just for me. THey have a much larger decision tree based on what you know about the encounter and what you expect afterwords.

In practice and including multiclassing I had a Ghostwise Hafling Barb3/Druid6 with Sentinel feat. He's got the telepathy so he can be an animal a lot of the time. However, I have a lot of decisions to make per fight, like whether or not I want to cast spells, concentration on a spell, rage, or wildshape, what spells I would want to use, how much EHP do I need for the fight, what wildshape form is best for the fight.
Moon Druid and Barbarian is a notoriously good damage sponge. I agree that Moon Druid has some excellent tactical decision making, where Barbarian doesn't really add much but "BE BETTER" to the build. I like the combination of Ghostwise and Wild Shape. Very clever.

I disagree on non-tactically challenging martials. Battle Master Fighters or Open Palm Monks are both very tactically sound builds. I like being an Ancestral Guardian/Drunken Master combination as my favorite martial build of all time, but I had to get my DM to lift the requirements to multiclass into Monk (as I used only Strength and Constitution). Reckless Attac + Flurry of Blows + Disengage for massive damage, taunt the first enemy I hit (so I start punching other guys so they're easier to kill) and use my enhanced mobility to move away from my team. At least one enemy is following me and not engaging my team, and if only a single enemy wants to abuse my Reckless Attack, that saves me some HP, and if the entire mob chases me to abuse it, then that saves my team a lot of HP. I was also a Dwarf with Dwarven Fortitude, so I could Bonus Action-Dodge and heal a hit die at the same time in the middle of combat and still attack. Really fun build.


Grappler Barbarian Rogue


Consider taking a look at the Battlerager. A lot of people give it crap, but it's perfect for a grappling build, since you don't need two weapons to still be able to attack with a bonus action. The catch is activating your Rogue's sneak attack, which can either be done by dragging enemies into your team, or by grabbing Inquisitive or Swashbuckler Rogue, so you can attack enemies without the help of allies and without interfering with your Bonus Action Attack.

[Snowbluff]

Moon Druid and Barbarian is a notoriously good damage sponge. I agree that Moon Druid has some excellent tactical decision making, where Barbarian doesn't really add much but "BE BETTER" to the build. I like the combination of Ghostwise and Wild Shape. Very clever. Well the tactical part is that I am worse in some ways by not being able to concentrate. Some fights being raged is a good combination with say being a constrictor snake and grapping people for some melee control and tankiness, or doing a flaming sphere or a summon spell with a dinosaur form for some damage.

Each of the 3 major options (spells, some of which has branching options in side like summons, forms with different uses and abilities, and rage) is a range off options in a tree that branches for the other options. Then I also have reckless attack and the moon druids recovery if I'm feeling cheeky.


I disagree on non-tactically challenging martials. Battle Master Fighters or Open Palm Monks are both very tactically sound builds. I like being an Ancestral Guardian/Drunken Master combination as my favorite martial build of all time, but I had to get my DM to lift the requirements to multiclass into Monk (as I used only Strength and Constitution). Reckless Attac + Flurry of Blows + Disengage for massive damage, taunt the first enemy I hit (so I start punching other guys so they're easier to kill) and use my enhanced mobility to move away from my team. At least one enemy is following me and not engaging my team, and if only a single enemy wants to abuse my Reckless Attack, that saves me some HP, and if the entire mob chases me to abuse it, then that saves my team a lot of HP. I was also a Dwarf with Dwarven Fortitude, so I could Bonus Action-Dodge and heal a hit die at the same time in the middle of combat and still attack. Really fun build.

I see it as binary. Either you do damage or control a on sliding scale. Taunting happens passively with rage, you're not making much in the way of decisions anymore than anyone else would be.

[Captain Bob]

I think one of the more obvious answers is Sorcadin. I dig the 6 Paladin / Sorc X split, but ultimately quickened spell and your spell choices mean that apart from being decently beefy with good AC and amazing saves, you basically have the action economy of two people (Smacking dudes / grappling / <insert action here> + casting stuff that normally would demand your action). Additionally, depending on how you build you have options regarding high-impact positioning (I.E. warcaster + booming blade or any other spell of your choice).

Other than this... maybe Hexblade 1 or 3 / Bard X? Eldritch blast, and some of the bard subclasses can give you ranged and melee damage options, bard stuff in general offers huge amounts of choice for situational approach, gots them buffs, debuffs, heals, mobility junk, magical secrets junk, inspiration... all sorts of fun stuff. Depending on how you build, you could make a weird expertise bard grapple monster or something even.

[dragoeniex]

Whispers Bard with optional dip of Hexblade - I've been running this for 13 levels so far, and the variety of options is incredible. Full casters in general get this, but the splash of melee definitely makes a difference.

It can be tricky to keep track of every route I could take, but that's fine. Usually I can watch how the first couple of turns go and decide what's most needed. And if I'm the opener, the control spells are coming out first thing.


General tactics include:

Control - hypnotic pattern, wall of fire, major illusion, levitate, puppet, etc. Grabbing force cage next level.
Damage - synaptic static, wall of fire, shatter, psychic blades + crossbow expert, booming blade.
Positioning - dimension door. Grabbing find greater steed soon. Both are great for taking buddies along!
Prevention - counterspell, dispel magic, shield (self).
Healing - healing word, mass cure wounds. Raise dead isn't a combat spell, but it plays into body retrieval being important.
Debuff - synaptic static. Enough said.

I've got the tough feat as well to keep me mostly out of the "squishy" range. I don't live on front lines, but I can visit when needed. That's an option I love.

The closest I get to buffing is inspiration and occasionally tossing enhance ability pre-fight so we have advantage on initiative.



For things I'm not personally running, moon druids seem like they have some of the most built-in variety. And the synergy of a Battle Master/Swashbuckler is hard to beat for pure melee builds that want things to do.

[XmonkTad]

Arcana Cleric V. Human with magic initiate. Access to 7 cantrips at first level means you can cherry pick the ones you find most interesting to suit the situation. If you decide to grab from the druid or cleric lists you can do all of this and still be SAD. When you hit 8, all of your cantrips get that much better.

Build for melee with Shillelagh and Green flame/booming blade, control by taking all of the "shape element" cantrips, or strange damage types by picking up fire bolt, frostbite, infestation etc. Really, when you start with that many cantrips you'll have tons of always-on options.

[MaxWilson]

Forge Cleric? It always looked like the most boring Cleric option out there, with its main features being things like "Give +1 AC for a day". I just assumed it was for lazy melee optimizers. What does it bring tactically that, say, a Tempest Cleric couldn't bring?

I like to this of Forge Cleric as "help the party archer bypass weapon immunities and get effective +1 Dex, no concentration cost." +1 AC is all right but doubling the archer's damage against many creatures is exciting.

In terms of tactically-interesting builds, I'd recommend some form of goblin Moon Druid, e.g. a Skulker Sentinel Moon Druid. You have lots of versatility from tanking to sneaking to healing to summoning--there is almost always some kind of interesting choice that you can make. It helps that it has almost no attribute dependencies at all--you could roll up 3 8 7 4 6 3 and that PC would still be fun to play.

[Skylivedk]

I've been looking at swashbuckler/Shadow sorc/hexblade. Either VHuman or half elf.

The build has tons of strategic and tactical decisions to make. It's a jungle of tasty decision trees.

I'd recommend starting with sorc (even though that's one skill less) and half elf to open a path to Elven Accuracy plus some extremely good stats. Already at creation you choose between feat, skills and spells with your (sub)race. By choosing class you also choose to forego an extra skill or not (of you take halfelf, not drow variant you can safely go sorc first).

Arguably the build is playable all the way and very much online with 3/3/3. But you can also easily go 1/5 (sorc and rogue or hexblade).

If you go from level one, you probably want sentinel or war caster early increasing the attractiveness of VHuman.

Your split between the classes is your strategic choice.

I originally thought of swashbuckler 9 (for Panache) or 11 (for reliable talent... Which makes half plate even better).

But you've a lot of other good cut off points at 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10. I'm now leaning towards 7 or 8...

A minimum of 3 sorc to gets you metamagic and Darkness deluxe.

Hexblade makes you SAD and short rest powered.

5 for thirsting blade would be my path (but of course campaign and playstyle dependent). With 5 hexblade, you've pseudo extra attack + 2 invocations. With 7 you have 4 invocations, hexblade spectre, dimension door and shadows of moil. With 9 you get synaptic state, 1 more invocation and 5th level slots.

In play you have tons of choices:

- bonus action options (rogue, quicken spell/cantrip, hex, baleful curse, misty step, dimension door)

- reactions (uncanny dodge, opportunity attacks, shield, absorb elements)

- mobility (disengage, swashbuckler, dash, spells)

- control (booming blade, hypnotic pattern).

You can Nova if you've gone Eldritch Smite. And that is extra delicious with sneak attack.

You are decent at range if you've chosen Agonizing Blast.

You're a social chameleon if you went Mask of Many Faces. Regardless, you probably got great skill checks from Expertise.

Armour of Agathys and Uncanny Dodge love making out more than a teenage couple.

Between uncanny dodge, Armour of Agathys, Shield, Mirror Image, Absorb Elements, Shadow of Moil and Evasion, you're pretty tanky.

Sometimes you might want to be hit just to trigger Agathys...

Either way, you ought to have many good choices and many ways to shine in most situations.

Sounds like fun :)