Classes a Mountain Dwarf Plays best in AL

[ZorroGames]

Big not secret, I really enjoy Dwarf characters (in 5e +2 ST and +2 CO,) since around 1973 and in 5e the Mountain Dwarf is magnet to my imagination especially in multiclassing.

Fairly obvious are the mono class Fighter class subclasses. 🙄. Battlemaster, Champion, a selective EK, Cavalier on the proper mount, etc.,

Paladins seem a natural alternative as does a Strength based Ranger.

An strong contender might be an “enforcer” oriented Rogue that uses Sneak Attack in melee and lessens the sneaky aspects in some ways.

In PeteNutButter’s Ultimate Optimizer MC Guide he lists among the Gold Category these mixes - Warlock/Fighter, Bard/Paladin, Sorcerer/Paladin, Paladin/Sorcerer, and Warlock/Paladin.

But what other classes significantly bonus for a Mountain Dwarf from a MC/Dip with Fighter, Paladin, or Strength based Ranger?

I plant to continue trying out classes and MC characters for Mountain Dwarf since 5e (especially in AL) is not as demanding and trap build filled as some earlier editions. Right now I have slated (ignoring my mono class MD - ST Fighter, DE Fighter, War Wizard, Monk) characters,) to play ST based Ranger/Fighter IP, (In Progress = IP,) Celestial Bladelock/Fighter IP, Swords Bard/Paladin Dip, Bard/Hexblade, Shadow Sorcerer/Paladin IP, prior to several “Sky Blue” mixes like Bard/Champion Fighter, Cleric/ST based Ranger, Fighter/Rogue, and maybe Fighter/Barbarian Dip.

I anticipate the above will keep me busy 🤪 for 2019 but are there any suitable classes/MCs that I am overlooking for my MD AL playing?

Thanks in advance for any useful MD build ideas.

[Unoriginal]

Dwarves aren't the most mobile combatants out there, so have you considered a dip in Monk (Drunken Master).

Monk and Rogue dips are also pretty good with the feat Dwarven Fortitude. It let you spends HD to heal as a bonus action.

[ZorroGames]

Dwarves aren't the most mobile combatants out there, so have you considered a dip in Monk (Drunken Master).

Monk and Rogue dips are also pretty good with the feat Dwarven Fortitude. It let you spends HD to heal as a bonus action.

No but Than I have not spent much time reading Drunken Master. I will consider this seriously as a late 2019, 2020, character. Gracias!

[Corran]

Monk and Rogue dips are also pretty good with the feat Dwarven Fortitude. It let you spends HD to heal as a bonus action.
Is there a limit (other than the fact that you are already limited by the number of your HD) to how often you can do that?
That would work well with a barbarian too. Good hit die and (some) damage resistance when raging makes getting back hp a good benefit. Better for barbarians that don't dual wield (not the best fs anyway) and without PAM (and a MD barb would probably not have space for PAM), so they have free bonus actions.

Plus, the bonuses to STR and CON suit the barbarian very nicely. Decreased speed and armor proficiency are undesirable, but you can't have it all. Food for thought for the op I guess.

[ZorroGames]

Is there a limit (other than the fact that you are already limited by the number of your HD) to how often you can do that?
That would work well with a barbarian too. Good hit die and (some) damage resistance when raging makes getting back hp a good benefit. Better for barbarians that don't dual wield (not the best fs anyway) and without PAM (and a MD barb would probably not have space for PAM), so they have free bonus actions.

Plus, the bonuses to STR and CON suit the barbarian very nicely. Decreased speed and armor proficiency are undesirable, but you can't have it all. Food for thought for the op I guess.

Good ideas always welcome. Gracias!

[Unoriginal]

Is there a limit (other than the fact that you are already limited by the number of your HD) to how often you can do that?

The limit is one HD per Dodge action you take. And Rogues and Monks can get Dodge as a bonus action (although it costs ki for the Monk, so that's another limit).



That would work well with a barbarian too. Good hit die and (some) damage resistance when raging makes getting back hp a good benefit. Better for barbarians that don't dual wield (not the best fs anyway) and without PAM (and a MD barb would probably not have space for PAM), so they have free bonus actions.

Plus, the bonuses to STR and CON suit the barbarian very nicely. Decreased speed and armor proficiency are undesirable, but you can't have it all. Food for thought for the op I guess.

Well, it definitively has a cost, but 1 HD+CON mod is a nice heal for a Dwarf.

Better for a Barbarian with a Rogue dip, true.

Then again Barbarian/Rogue makes the best wrestler.

[Corran]

The limit is one HD per Dodge action you take. And Rogues and Monks can get Dodge as a bonus action (although it costs ki for the Monk, so that's another limit).
Ahhh, I see. Definitely good for monks then. Rogues can't dodge as a bonus action unfortunately (wouldn't that be awesome?!). Only disengage, dash and hide.


Then again Barbarian/Rogue makes the best wrestler.
Yeah, that's a good multiclass!

[Unoriginal]

Ahhh, I see. Definitely good for monks then. Rogues can't dodge as a bonus action unfortunately (wouldn't that be awesome?!). Only disengage, dash and hide.

Oh, damn, you're right. I misremembered. Rogue with free bonus Dodge on top of the rest of the arsenal would be hella too strong.

But as you said, still good fro Monks.

[FirstBornSon]

Rogues get dash, disengage and hide as bonus action not dodge.

[SirFrog]

All of them...my dwarf wizard did quite well.
Since 5E removes negative ability modifiers for the races, every class is open to every race.

[Keravath]

The barbarian is a perfect match to the +2 str, +2 con from the dwarf but you only mention them in the last line. You can mix reckless with a 3 level champion fighter dip to get a build that increases the crit chance to about 20% on each swing. Heavy melee focus for the character though and barbarians tend to have lower social stats. At 4th level, my dwarf barbarian is 18 14 18 8 10 8 (if I recall correctly), path of the totem. Plus barbarian gets extra attack and 10' of movement at level 5.

[Man_Over_Game]

Can't say much about the Mountain Dwarf (has a lot of redundant bonuses, IMO) but the Hill Dwarf works deceptively well for any full caster that wants to perform in melee combat. Specifically, Sorcerer and Warlock do REALLY well as Hill Dwarves, especially if they can get Heavy Armor proficiency (from Paladin, maybe?) This effectively bumps up their Hit Die size each level. Coupled with the fact that Dwarves don't suffer penalties from Heavy Armor due to Strength deficits and you can get really tanky without much investment.

[Zuras]

If you want to try something non-optimal but very playable, try building a Mountain Dwarf abjurer.

You get medium armor and battle axe proficiency without any multi-classing, so you have most of the elements for a melee-friendly wizard without needing to multi-class at all. This is one of the better options for a melee wizard in campaigns with rolled stats but no Multiclassing. It is a bit MAD if you use point buy, but I have enjoyed mine in AL just fine.

[ZorroGames]

Lots of good ideas, Gracias, and keep the ideas coming, please!

[opaopajr]

I already did this, but Mt. Dwarf Cleric of Life (or any that gives you Heavy Armor prof.) is perfectly fine. I ignored that STR so point buy ended up as 10 and then used the Dwarf Speed feature to wear Hv. Armor without Speed penalty from lack of STR. Works right out of AL quickstart gear rules, too, as all it cares about is profiency (armor proficiency does not care about heavy armor STR). Also the +2 STR helped my cleric carry more, even as I focused my stats elsewhere. :smallwink:

Mt. Dwarf Wizards are fun, too, but they don't start with Shields prof. :smallsmile: I'd just start DEX 14, Chain Shirt, maybe grab Stealth, and call it a day. Just Dodge a lot after you cast a Concentration spell. :smalltongue: But dual wielding throw hammers or handaxes as a STR wizard is amusing -- just be sure to throw one, or drop one as a free act, by end turn if you want to cast as a reaction. It all works. :smallcool:

The "zany stuff" really isn't that out of reach in this edition versus before.

[Rebonack]

A muscle wizard Abjurer who whollops people with Green Flame/Booming Blade could be fun.

[Lyracian]

The best idea I had to make use of the Mountain Dwarves Medium Armour was a Rogue/Barbarian.

Start as Rogue for the skills then multi class into Barbarian for Shield Prof. Of course Unarmored Defense means you may not make much use of Armour unless you find some that is magical.

[PastorofMuppets]

I have a rather strong mountain dwarf rogue in the game I play every other week. I went swashbuckler and combined with the movement available in rogue bonus actions the slower move speed is t much of an issue. I’m tempted to take a level in Barbarian as well to leverage my high Con score( we rolled stats, it’s a 19 thanks to racial bonus) since if I do that and get naked I have a higher AC than any non magic armor would allow. The con is so high in part because I figured putting the 17 I rolled there would let me survive a few extra mistakes.

[ZorroGames]

Can't say much about the Mountain Dwarf (has a lot of redundant bonuses, IMO) but the Hill Dwarf works deceptively well for any full caster that wants to perform in melee combat. Specifically, Sorcerer and Warlock do REALLY well as Hill Dwarves, especially if they can get Heavy Armor proficiency (from Paladin, maybe?) This effectively bumps up their Hit Die size each level. Coupled with the fact that Dwarves don't suffer penalties from Heavy Armor due to Strength deficits and you can get really tanky without much investment.

Thanks but right now I prefer to talk about MD characters as indicated in the title.

[patchyman]

Thanks but right now I prefer to talk about MD characters as indicated in the title.

I have made a Str based melee mountain Dwarf sorcerer. 16 Str, 16 Con, 14 Cha at 1st level (point buy). Half plate and Shield for Defense.

Take concentration and buff spells. If combat, main attack is warhammer 2 handed, and if necessary, he can Quicken a spell.

[djreynolds]

It is not like it is a waste to go fighter or barbarian as those +2 con and +2 str are huge.

But with swashbuckler rogue, I could definitely see how a mountain dwarf would really make this awesome. Its the one build I might even strongly consider MAM, its 18AC (if you can afford a 16 dex) vs breastplate 16 AC. And since you would more than likely duel short swords or daggers, you may not miss the shield. 20 str and 16dex, you have 6 ASI

Warlock is another class, before there were hexblades