Kael’thas (Warcraft) build?

[Douche]

Hello all,

I want to make a character for an upcoming game based off Kael’thas from Warcraft & HotS.

Obviously I’ll have to start off with High Elf. But as far as the class, I’m not sure if I should go with Wizard or Sorcerer.. or the subclass.

Truthfully I’m more excited with the prospect of Sorcerer.

Also I have to divulge that from a role playing perspective, he’s going to be a parody of Kael based on my interpretation of his character in HotS. My catchphrase when playing him is “don’t touch me, I’m famous!” In an Italian accent. There’s a whole philosophical reasoning for this based on his playstyle and his voice lines.

I’ve expanded that character to be a washed up actor who thinks he is too famous and important to even be touched by dirty commoners, and when I score kills I like to say “he must not have realized that I am famous”

So if there’s any way to incorporate that air of pomposity mechanically, that’s be cool. But I’m not playing a Bard

[Man_Over_Game]

Hello all,

I want to make a character for an upcoming game based off Kael’thas from Warcraft & HotS.

Obviously I’ll have to start off with High Elf. But as far as the class, I’m not sure if I should go with Wizard or Sorcerer.. or the subclass.

Truthfully I’m more excited with the prospect of Sorcerer.

Also I have to divulge that from a role playing perspective, he’s going to be a parody of Kael based on my interpretation of his character in HotS. My catchphrase when playing him is “don’t touch me, I’m famous!” In an Italian accent. There’s a whole philosophical reasoning for this based on his playstyle and his voice lines.

I’ve expanded that character to be a washed up actor who thinks he is too famous and important to even be touched by dirty commoners, and when I score kills I like to say “he must not have realized that I am famous”

So if there’s any way to incorporate that air of pomposity mechanically, that’s be cool. But I’m not playing a Bard

Air of pomposity? A dark past with magic? EXPLOSIONS?

Your best bet is a Charisma-based caster (for arrogance), Wild Magic Sorcerer (for the dark past stuff), and just a hint of Fiend Warlock for the EXPLOSIONS.

Once upon a time, Kael'thas's race were a bunch of eggheads who got addicted to magic, and got it blown up. Now they side with the Horde, not because they're evil, but because they're so friggin' strung out that they're willing to do whatever it takes to get another hit of that sweet, sweet mana, even if that means joining the forces of Shrek and cow-people. Man have the Blood Elves fallen.

So to play off the immense power, Wild Magic will reflect your infinite (and uncontrollable) amounts of power. You play it off like everything that happens is totally intentional.
The pact with the Fiend represents your desire for control, with a flair for flares. Synergizes extremely well with Sorcerer, being able to convert Warlock slots into Sorcery Points very frequently. You can either have the Fiend be a literal Fiend, or you could flavor it as being either some kind of corruption of the Sunwell, or to reflect the beginnings of his deals with demons in the Burning Crusade. Adding flavor to the mechanics, your Fiend feature that grants Temp HP upon enemy death is now reflavored to be you converting the remnants of their energy into mana, converted into a shield.

[Trustypeaches]

Kael'thas is 100% a Sorlock.

[Douche]

Hmm, I should've done some research before writing this... I've discovered that there's a UA "phoenix soul" sorcerer. I found that the Mantle of Flame feature makes it so that anyone who touches you will be burned. That really plays into the "don't touch me" aspect. It also allows me to add my Cha bonus to fire damage so that's pretty nice.

I agree that a Warlock would be a good 2nd class. I forgot about the Verdant Spheres that Kael'thas uses to empower his spells. I think I can probably flavor the Warlock spell slots as being the Verdant Spheres.

Plus, I need to have a familiar so I can have a phoenix and I don't believe Sorcs get a familiar, so I would need pact of the chain. Although it seems to me like most familiars are not very flashy tbh... The only thing I've ever seen them used for is scouting and I find that to be a very unsatisfying form of gathering intel.

[Man_Over_Game]

Hmm, I should've done some research before writing this... I've discovered that there's a UA "phoenix soul" sorcerer. I found that the Mantle of Flame feature makes it so that anyone who touches you will be burned. That really plays into the "don't touch me" aspect. It also allows me to add my Cha bonus to fire damage so that's pretty nice.

I agree that a Warlock would be a good 2nd class. I forgot about the Verdant Spheres that Kael'thas uses to empower his spells. I think I can probably flavor the Warlock spell slots as being the Verdant Spheres.

Plus, I need to have a familiar so I can have a phoenix and I don't believe Sorcs get a familiar, so I would need pact of the chain. Although it seems to me like most familiars are not very flashy tbh... The only thing I've ever seen them used for is scouting and I find that to be a very unsatisfying form of gathering intel.

I'd actually reflavor Sorcery Points to be the Verdant Spheres. Verdant Spheres in HotS are used to enhance spells to have new properties, which is exactly what Sorcery Points do. Warlock spell slots match in terms of "numbers" (Verdant Spheres generally range between 1-3, Warlock Slots are about the same), but they work as any other spell slots except they recharge on a short rest. It's better defined as having an alternate source of energy that you can pull from throughout the day.

In this case, drawing energy from a fragment of the Sunwell, or an equivalent source, would be fairly ideal for the RP of Kael'thas.

Quick note on the Phoenix Soul, almost all of its powers are long rest related, and have nothing to bypass Fire Immunity, which counters every one of your features. I'd probably change the level 1 feature to be something like:


Mantle of Flame

Starting at 1st level, as a bonus action, you magically wreathe yourself in swirling fire. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
◾You shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.
◾Any creature takes fire damage equal to your Charisma modifier if it hits you with a melee attack from within 5 feet of you or if it touches you.
◾Whenever you roll fire damage on your turn, Fire damage you deal ignores Fire Resistance, and creatures that are immune to Fire damage instead take half Fire damage.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest or a short rest.

To make it consistent, and ideal for anyone making a pyromancer build. I'd rather take this than Charisma to Fire damage, honestly, as being able to deal fire damage all the time is pretty sweet. Now, you can even use Fireball underwater without any issues.

[CantigThimble]

Hmm, I should've done some research before writing this... I've discovered that there's a UA "phoenix soul" sorcerer. I found that the Mantle of Flame feature makes it so that anyone who touches you will be burned. That really plays into the "don't touch me" aspect. It also allows me to add my Cha bonus to fire damage so that's pretty nice.

I agree that a Warlock would be a good 2nd class. I forgot about the Verdant Spheres that Kael'thas uses to empower his spells. I think I can probably flavor the Warlock spell slots as being the Verdant Spheres.

Plus, I need to have a familiar so I can have a phoenix and I don't believe Sorcs get a familiar, so I would need pact of the chain. Although it seems to me like most familiars are not very flashy tbh... The only thing I've ever seen them used for is scouting and I find that to be a very unsatisfying form of gathering intel.

For the phoenix you'd be better off with either conjure elemental (which is annoyingiy not on the sorcerer list) for a fire elemental or some kind of homebrew. If I was your DM I would be fine with homebrewing a 5th or 6th level spell that worked basically like conjure elemental but specifically conjured a phoenix.

[GlenSmash!]

Frozen Throne Kael’thas or later stupid Kael’thas?

[Man_Over_Game]

For the phoenix you'd be better off with either conjure elemental (which is annoyingiy not on the sorcerer list) for a fire elemental or some kind of homebrew. If I was your DM I would be fine with homebrewing a 5th or 6th level spell that worked basically like conjure elemental but specifically conjured a phoenix.

Level 14 feature: Once per long rest, cast Conjure Elemental without spending a spell slot, except it conjures a Pheonix in the following block. [BLOCK] If you lose Concentration or if its duration ends, it instead uses its reaction to move up to its speed to the creature closest to you and attacks it, after which the Phoenix disappears.

Level 18 feature: The duration on the your level 14 feature is extended to 4 hours, and can be used once per short rest or long rest. If you lost Concentration on your level 14 feature due to the Dying status, you may use your Phoenix Spark feature after your Phoenix disappears.

[JackPhoenix]

3e Kael'thas was fighter 14/wizard 15. That's too much of a fighter, too little of a spellcaster, even if he was decked out with artifacts.

In any case, he's running around in plate armor, so he needs a way to get proficiency (not that hard). He also needs a way to cast Animate Objects, Reverse Gravity and Gate (to get phoenix, because Conjure Elemental isn't enough for that... assuming it's not Planar Binding, in which case the sorcerer is out, unless he goes for the big guns and use Wish to control it. Come to think of it, Planar Binding would be better anyway, to save level 9 slot, because he also revived his advisors, and Wish is the only way for an arcane caster do to that), which means he needs to be at least level 17 wizard or sorcerer, not warlock.

[CantigThimble]

3e Kael'thas was fighter 14/wizard 15. That's too much of a fighter, too little of a spellcaster, even if he was decked out with artifacts.

In any case, he's running around in plate armor, so he needs a way to get proficiency (not that hard). He also needs a way to cast Animate Objects, Reverse Gravity and Gate (to get phoenix, because Conjure Elemental isn't enough for that... assuming it's not Planar Binding, in which case the sorcerer is out, unless he goes for the big guns and use Wish to control it. Come to think of it, Planar Binding would be better anyway, to save level 9 slot, because he also revived his advisors, and Wish is the only way for an arcane caster do to that), which means he needs to be at least level 17 wizard or sorcerer, not warlock.

Planar binding works on fey, celestials, elementals and fiends. Phoenixes are monstrosities. Gate+Dominate Monster or Wish are the only ways I can see to get a phoenix without any homebrew.

[JackPhoenix]

Planar binding works on fey, celestials, elementals and fiends. Phoenixes are monstrosities. Gate+Dominate Monster or Wish are the only ways I can see to get a phoenix without any homebrew.

I'm not sure what phoenix you're talking about, because both phoenix from MToF and arclight phoenix from Guildmaster's Guide are elementals.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm not sure what phoenix you're talking about, because both phoenix from MToF and arclight phoenix from Guildmaster's Guide are elementals.

The Jack kind?

[JackPhoenix]

The Jack kind?

I'm reasonably (about 95%, there's always chance I've rolled 1 on my Int check) sure I count as a humanoid. I'm not an undead, construct, ooze or elemental, because I need to eat, sleep and breathe. And I don't think I'm alien enough to be an aberration, large enough to be a giant, reptilian enough to be a dragon, otherwordly enough to be a fiend or a celestial, magical enough to be a fey, or non-humanoid enough to be a beast. Monstrosity may still fit, though, and I'm not ready to rule out a plant.