Iguannity
2019-07-13, 01:27 AM
I’m going to be playing in a smallish party (three player characters) in an upcoming campaign. Details aren’t fully solidified, but from what I know right now, we’ll be having a Wizard, a Cleric, and then my character. Most likely starting at 3rd level.
I feel like the natural thing to do would be to make some kind of front-line fighter to round out the party, but I really want to play something with a lot of fun spells and enough spell slots to be able to cast them without hindering myself in combat.
My DM is considering some kind of Fighter hireling or companion to alleviate this issue, but in either case, I want to focus on a full spellcaster with a high AC that is SAD enough to invest a lot into CON so we don't have so many glass cannons.
These are the options I’m currently considering, but I’m having some trouble deciding between them:
1 Hexblade / X Stone Sorcerer
I haven’t asked my DM if I can use this UA yet (let alone multiclass it with an obvious min/max dip), but this is on the top of my list right now, and I’m hopeful he’ll be open to it.
The plan would be to max Con first for a total of 20 AC with a shield, and then max Cha next for melee and spell attacks.
This build has everything I want. Melee is viable at-will damage with Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade (especially twinned/quickened). Aside from the one-level delay, spellcasting isn’t impacted at all so I can still throw around Fireballs when necessary. In addition to that 20 AC, it has an effective d8 hit pool from Stone Sorcerer’s +1 hp/level.
The only major negative I can think of is that the “stone” flavor of the class isn’t really that interesting to me. I’m hoping it's not pushing things too much by asking my DM to let me reskin the class on top of simply using it in the first place.
1 Fighter / X Draconic Sorcerer
In case my DM does shoot down the first option, this is a close runner up that doesn’t rely on a UA.
I’d focus on Dex + Con, with Cha a distant third. This is a pure melee build, using most of my Sorcery Points/spell slots to twin Booming Blade every turn. Draconic also gives an effective d8 hit pool as well.
I really wanted to maintain the ability to actually cast offensive spells, especially crowd-control spells, but I’d still be able to cast really fun utility/buff/RP spells that don’t require a spell attack or a DC. This build should have 21 AC with the Draconic Sorcerer pseudo mage armor, a shield, and the defensive fighting style.
This build also has some other benefits over the first build. It has a better initiative, which is useful if I’m supposed to be on the front line, better Dex saves (though not proficient), it doesn’t lose its armor if it’s incapacitated (which Stone Sorcerer does), and it can use Shadow Blade, whereas Hexblade wouldn’t be able to bond with it. Shadow Blade would probably be replaced by Haste as soon as possible, so that isn’t a major advantage, but it would be good while it lasts.
X Light Cleric
I wouldn’t consider the default Cleric spell list to have enough of the kind of spells I’m looking for, but Light Clerics get some good ones from their domain. Namely, Scorching Ray, Fireball, and Wall of Fire.
They are, however, limited to medium armor. This means I’ll need 14 Dex and only end up with 19 AC. This build is reliant on a third stat whereas the others are only two, and all for less AC in the end. At the same time, 14 Dex isn’t a huge investment, 19 AC isn’t terribly different from 20, and Dex would probably be the third stat to go into after Con/Wis for saves anyway.
The biggest negative here is the massive downgrade in at-will damage compared to the previous two. I’d be using, what, Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead? Light does get to add its Wisdom modifier to cantrips at 8th level, but that still doesn’t come close to being able to twin Booming Blade almost every turn.
Warding Flare and Radiance of the Dawn both seem very good and relevant abilities to have, and I wouldn’t be one level behind the rest of the party in terms of spell progression, which is a pretty big deal.
Cleric does however mean playing a class that someone else in a three-player party is already running. It’s one thing if you have overlap in a larger party, but one overlap between three players? Cleric domains are defining enough that I don’t think it would be too bad, but it does suck when you feel like someone is stealing your thunder, or if you are stealing someone else’s thunder. I suppose there would have been a lot of overlap between Sorcerer and Wizard spells anyway.
1 Fighter or Cleric / X Abjuration Wizard
This one might be weird, and I’m not sure if it’s even viable. I have seen people talk about a dip into Fighter or Cleric for heavy armor + shield, but I’ve never seen anyone actually follow through and describe the full build. Do people usually take Str to 15 with that? That doesn’t seem worth it at all.
However, the only penalty (that I know of) for not having 15 Str while wearing plate is that your movement speed is lowered by 10ft. That…doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. Maybe it’s something that you have to try to see why it doesn’t work, but for a ranged class capable of teleporting, it just doesn’t seem like a big deal. I know Dwarves can ignore this, but I'm not a fan of them so I wouldn't go Dwarf regardless of how well it fits the build.
Dumping strength while still wearing plate and a shield would get you 20-21 AC while allowing you to focus on Int and Con exclusively. Getting 13 Dex or 13 Wis for the multiclass shouldn't be difficult either.
Fighter gives Con proficiency and 1 more AC; Cleric keeps full spell slots and can be picked up at any time. Both seem like good ways to get heavy armor + shield proficiency.
Wizard itself instead of Sorcerer obviously brings in great things like Ritual Casting, Arcane Recovery, and Arcane Ward is also very good.
Some stuff I’m not considering:
Bladesinger - I’m not considering Bladesinger because I feel like the entire subclass just falls off the face of the Earth after a while, after your melee hasn’t scaled up well enough to justify using it, and you just become a Wizard missing half of your arcane tradition. The AC is obviously incredible, but you need to ignore Con and basically can’t take any feats so you can maximize Dex and Int ASAP. I’d rather have 20 AC, a high Con, and a d8 HP than 23 AC, low Con, and a d6 HP, but maybe that’s just me.
2 Paladin / X Sorcerer – I don’t like this build, at least not for this character, because the idea is mainly to dump spell slots into Divine Strike, which doesn’t really equate “casting fun spells” to me. Twinning Booming Blade is kind of the same idea, but it’s so much more efficient in terms of turning spell slots into damage (excluding nova) so that doesn’t bother me as much. The Paladin spell list doesn’t excite me, and being behind two full levels in Sorcerer means I get to those fun spells months later than the rest of the party (being one level behind for some of these builds is going to be hard enough as it is!).
Comments on these builds, or recommendations for others are welcome. I'm fairly new, so it's likely I missed something in all of this.
I feel like the natural thing to do would be to make some kind of front-line fighter to round out the party, but I really want to play something with a lot of fun spells and enough spell slots to be able to cast them without hindering myself in combat.
My DM is considering some kind of Fighter hireling or companion to alleviate this issue, but in either case, I want to focus on a full spellcaster with a high AC that is SAD enough to invest a lot into CON so we don't have so many glass cannons.
These are the options I’m currently considering, but I’m having some trouble deciding between them:
1 Hexblade / X Stone Sorcerer
I haven’t asked my DM if I can use this UA yet (let alone multiclass it with an obvious min/max dip), but this is on the top of my list right now, and I’m hopeful he’ll be open to it.
The plan would be to max Con first for a total of 20 AC with a shield, and then max Cha next for melee and spell attacks.
This build has everything I want. Melee is viable at-will damage with Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade (especially twinned/quickened). Aside from the one-level delay, spellcasting isn’t impacted at all so I can still throw around Fireballs when necessary. In addition to that 20 AC, it has an effective d8 hit pool from Stone Sorcerer’s +1 hp/level.
The only major negative I can think of is that the “stone” flavor of the class isn’t really that interesting to me. I’m hoping it's not pushing things too much by asking my DM to let me reskin the class on top of simply using it in the first place.
1 Fighter / X Draconic Sorcerer
In case my DM does shoot down the first option, this is a close runner up that doesn’t rely on a UA.
I’d focus on Dex + Con, with Cha a distant third. This is a pure melee build, using most of my Sorcery Points/spell slots to twin Booming Blade every turn. Draconic also gives an effective d8 hit pool as well.
I really wanted to maintain the ability to actually cast offensive spells, especially crowd-control spells, but I’d still be able to cast really fun utility/buff/RP spells that don’t require a spell attack or a DC. This build should have 21 AC with the Draconic Sorcerer pseudo mage armor, a shield, and the defensive fighting style.
This build also has some other benefits over the first build. It has a better initiative, which is useful if I’m supposed to be on the front line, better Dex saves (though not proficient), it doesn’t lose its armor if it’s incapacitated (which Stone Sorcerer does), and it can use Shadow Blade, whereas Hexblade wouldn’t be able to bond with it. Shadow Blade would probably be replaced by Haste as soon as possible, so that isn’t a major advantage, but it would be good while it lasts.
X Light Cleric
I wouldn’t consider the default Cleric spell list to have enough of the kind of spells I’m looking for, but Light Clerics get some good ones from their domain. Namely, Scorching Ray, Fireball, and Wall of Fire.
They are, however, limited to medium armor. This means I’ll need 14 Dex and only end up with 19 AC. This build is reliant on a third stat whereas the others are only two, and all for less AC in the end. At the same time, 14 Dex isn’t a huge investment, 19 AC isn’t terribly different from 20, and Dex would probably be the third stat to go into after Con/Wis for saves anyway.
The biggest negative here is the massive downgrade in at-will damage compared to the previous two. I’d be using, what, Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead? Light does get to add its Wisdom modifier to cantrips at 8th level, but that still doesn’t come close to being able to twin Booming Blade almost every turn.
Warding Flare and Radiance of the Dawn both seem very good and relevant abilities to have, and I wouldn’t be one level behind the rest of the party in terms of spell progression, which is a pretty big deal.
Cleric does however mean playing a class that someone else in a three-player party is already running. It’s one thing if you have overlap in a larger party, but one overlap between three players? Cleric domains are defining enough that I don’t think it would be too bad, but it does suck when you feel like someone is stealing your thunder, or if you are stealing someone else’s thunder. I suppose there would have been a lot of overlap between Sorcerer and Wizard spells anyway.
1 Fighter or Cleric / X Abjuration Wizard
This one might be weird, and I’m not sure if it’s even viable. I have seen people talk about a dip into Fighter or Cleric for heavy armor + shield, but I’ve never seen anyone actually follow through and describe the full build. Do people usually take Str to 15 with that? That doesn’t seem worth it at all.
However, the only penalty (that I know of) for not having 15 Str while wearing plate is that your movement speed is lowered by 10ft. That…doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. Maybe it’s something that you have to try to see why it doesn’t work, but for a ranged class capable of teleporting, it just doesn’t seem like a big deal. I know Dwarves can ignore this, but I'm not a fan of them so I wouldn't go Dwarf regardless of how well it fits the build.
Dumping strength while still wearing plate and a shield would get you 20-21 AC while allowing you to focus on Int and Con exclusively. Getting 13 Dex or 13 Wis for the multiclass shouldn't be difficult either.
Fighter gives Con proficiency and 1 more AC; Cleric keeps full spell slots and can be picked up at any time. Both seem like good ways to get heavy armor + shield proficiency.
Wizard itself instead of Sorcerer obviously brings in great things like Ritual Casting, Arcane Recovery, and Arcane Ward is also very good.
Some stuff I’m not considering:
Bladesinger - I’m not considering Bladesinger because I feel like the entire subclass just falls off the face of the Earth after a while, after your melee hasn’t scaled up well enough to justify using it, and you just become a Wizard missing half of your arcane tradition. The AC is obviously incredible, but you need to ignore Con and basically can’t take any feats so you can maximize Dex and Int ASAP. I’d rather have 20 AC, a high Con, and a d8 HP than 23 AC, low Con, and a d6 HP, but maybe that’s just me.
2 Paladin / X Sorcerer – I don’t like this build, at least not for this character, because the idea is mainly to dump spell slots into Divine Strike, which doesn’t really equate “casting fun spells” to me. Twinning Booming Blade is kind of the same idea, but it’s so much more efficient in terms of turning spell slots into damage (excluding nova) so that doesn’t bother me as much. The Paladin spell list doesn’t excite me, and being behind two full levels in Sorcerer means I get to those fun spells months later than the rest of the party (being one level behind for some of these builds is going to be hard enough as it is!).
Comments on these builds, or recommendations for others are welcome. I'm fairly new, so it's likely I missed something in all of this.