*sigh* Another level-up choice I can't seem to decide on...

[samcifer]

So it's time to level up my sorlock and I'm having a hard time deciding on what to do. So the character is level 11 going into 12 and is Divine Soul Sorc 8 and Hexblade Warlock 3. Stats are 10 STR, 16 DEX, 16 CON, 10 INT, 12 WIS and 20 CHA. Race is Half-elf with +2 skills, AC is 21 due to half-plate armor, a shield, Medium Armor Master feat, Medium Armor Master (+1 DEX from race and another from Elven Accuracy from the original 14 for the stat) and a +1 Ring of Protection. HP is 93 and I'm wielding a +1 Rod of the Pact Keeper.

The issue I'm having is survivability. In the first session I used him, my guy was assaulted by zombie pigs and was trapped in an infinite loop of making a death save, our life cleric healing me to get me back above 0hp, then the pigs knocking me back down to 0 before I could do anything else.

In the second encounter we were facing of against vampires with 2 claw attacks and a bite attack with rather high to-hit bonuses and were regularly rolling in the mid-20s to hit, sometimes going as high as 28 to hit, which the Shield spell couldn't help me with. The bite attack has a nasty rider on it where if you fail a dc 17 con save, you will take a reduction to your max hp until you finish a long rest. The dm has said that it's his favorite ability to give npc foes and the campaign has tons of vampires in it.

The dm is known for making deadly+ combat encounters and it seems like at least one player ends up making death saves every other encounter. Since my guy is a bit of a glass cannon, I'm sorely tempted to make my AC as high as I can get it legally. I'm planning on buy ing +1 armor and shield for 23AC, but am considering taking a level of fighter over going to sorc 9. Yes, sorc 9 would give me lv. 5 spells as well as my third lv. 4 spell slot, but I'm really tempted to go fighter for that +1 AC from the Defensive fighting style. with that and the Shield spell, I could be at 29 for my AC. Another route would be to go warlock 4 for my next feat, which could be Tough for another 24 hp on top of the +8 I'd already get for going up a warlock level with a +3 CON mod.

Before anyone says that the obvious choice would be to go sorc 9, my new spell would be Synaptic Static. I know that many folk would say that there's way better spells to go with, but the dm also seems to give his monsters high stats and they make their saves more often than not, so save or suck spells are pretty much a waste of a turn against his monsters, so with spells that at least do half-damage on a save, damage spells seem the best use of my spell slots. It's also the reason I've traded Hold Person for Blur to increase my defenses.

So what would be the best way to level up to increase my glass-cannon's survivability? Are there any magic items that could help compensate for how brittle my character is, what with how strong the foes are in this campaign?

[CTurbo]

What's your Warlock pact? Have you considered taking 2 or 3 levels of Paladin? That would really up your survivability. Unfortunately a single level of Paladin doesn't offer you much.

I don't think I would try hard for a much higher AC. 21 is already really good. You'd benefit more from more HP. Tough may be a good choice for you. Does anybody have Inspiring Leader? If not, that may be even better.

I don't think I'd bother with 1 level of Fighter just for the Defensive style. If you want Fighter at least take 2 levels for Action Surge which is a crazy strong feature for any Sorlock.

I think I'd probably be boring and take Sorcerer 9 though.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I'm playing an 11th level Warlock with similar stats, HP and AC who could also be considered a glass cannon. I went with the Improved Pact Weapon Invocation and made him an "Eldritch Archer" so most of the time he doesn't get into melee. Having the option to use Eldritch Smite at range also helps.

I'd take another level in Warlock and use your new invocation slot for Improved Pact Weapon, if you don't already have it. If you already have IPW, try using a longbow for your Pact Weapon. Or maybe take that 4th level in Sorcerer, get the Crossbow Expert Feat, and use Improved Pact Weapon for a magical crossbow. Either approach will work, as long as you get yourself out of melee.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

A cloak of displacement.

With 21 AC you should have high chance to not be hit by the zombie pigs so you will have the ability to break the loop.

Use stuff like greater invisibility and Haste (disadvantage for hitting you or +2 AC).

It will help you survive.

You can also use your spells to control the battlefield in order to prevent the enemies from attacking/getting to you.

You can also debuff the enemies with stuff like Synaptic Static, it is a great debuff that do some damage.




I'm playing an 11th level Warlock with similar stats, HP and AC who could also be considered a glass cannon. I went with the Improved Pact Weapon Invocation and made him an "Eldritch Archer" so most of the time he doesn't get into melee. Having the option to use Eldritch Smite at range also helps.

I'd take another level in Warlock and use your new invocation slot for Improved Pact Weapon, if you don't already have it. If you already have IPW, try using a longbow for your Pact Weapon. Or maybe take that 4th level in Sorcerer, get the Crossbow Expert Feat, and use Improved Pact Weapon for a magical crossbow. Either approach will work, as long as you get yourself out of melee.

I think he use Eldritch Blast as he say he is wielding a +1 rod of the pact keeper.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I think he use Eldritch Blast as he say he is wielding a +1 rod of the pact keeper.

I've got one of those for spellcasting, and the extra daily spell slot. But you can't Smite with Eldritch Blast.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I've got one of those for spellcasting, and the extra daily spell slot. But you can't Smite with Eldritch Blast.

But you can only smite with bladelock at level 5+. It will take him 2 levels to get there and he will be limited to 2 level 3 smites per short rest.

You can't Eldritch Smite with non Warlock slots.

At his level Eldritch Blast is 3 rays per cast, way better then 1 xbow attack even if he doesn't have agunizing blast.he will only get 2 attack if he will not take Eldritch Smite at lock 5.

[Dork_Forge]

So it's time to level up my sorlock and I'm having a hard time deciding on what to do. So the character is level 11 going into 12 and is Divine Soul Sorc 8 and Hexblade Warlock 3. Stats are 10 STR, 16 DEX, 16 CON, 10 INT, 12 WIS and 20 CHA. Race is Half-elf with +2 skills, AC is 21 due to half-plate armor, a shield, Medium Armor Master feat, Medium Armor Master (+1 DEX from race and another from Elven Accuracy from the original 14 for the stat) and a +1 Ring of Protection. HP is 93 and I'm wielding a +1 Rod of the Pact Keeper.

The issue I'm having is survivability. In the first session I used him, my guy was assaulted by zombie pigs and was trapped in an infinite loop of making a death save, our life cleric healing me to get me back above 0hp, then the pigs knocking me back down to 0 before I could do anything else.

In the second encounter we were facing of against vampires with 2 claw attacks and a bite attack with rather high to-hit bonuses and were regularly rolling in the mid-20s to hit, sometimes going as high as 28 to hit, which the Shield spell couldn't help me with. The bite attack has a nasty rider on it where if you fail a dc 17 con save, you will take a reduction to your max hp until you finish a long rest. The dm has said that it's his favorite ability to give npc foes and the campaign has tons of vampires in it.

The dm is known for making deadly+ combat encounters and it seems like at least one player ends up making death saves every other encounter. Since my guy is a bit of a glass cannon, I'm sorely tempted to make my AC as high as I can get it legally. I'm planning on buy ing +1 armor and shield for 23AC, but am considering taking a level of fighter over going to sorc 9. Yes, sorc 9 would give me lv. 5 spells as well as my third lv. 4 spell slot, but I'm really tempted to go fighter for that +1 AC from the Defensive fighting style. with that and the Shield spell, I could be at 29 for my AC. Another route would be to go warlock 4 for my next feat, which could be Tough for another 24 hp on top of the +8 I'd already get for going up a warlock level with a +3 CON mod.

Before anyone says that the obvious choice would be to go sorc 9, my new spell would be Synaptic Static. I know that many folk would say that there's way better spells to go with, but the dm also seems to give his monsters high stats and they make their saves more often than not, so save or suck spells are pretty much a waste of a turn against his monsters, so with spells that at least do half-damage on a save, damage spells seem the best use of my spell slots. It's also the reason I've traded Hold Person for Blur to increase my defenses.

So what would be the best way to level up to increase my glass-cannon's survivability? Are there any magic items that could help compensate for how brittle my character is, what with how strong the foes are in this campaign?

If your aim is just survivability then just go to Warlock 4 and take Tough, the extra HP should bridge the gap (though I wouldn't really consider your build a glass cannon, it just seems like your campaign runs very difficult encounters). From there it's just a matter of flexing what you have, you have access to Cleric spells, so upcast Aid on yourself and your party, cast Shield of Faith (just ditch Blur for Mirror Image) on top of whatever AC boosting goodies you're going to buy. What invocations are you using? Fiendish Vigor is good for Survivability, walking into every encounter with a buffer of 5-8 temp hp does wonders over an encountering day (especially if your DM follows the logic of I can cast it at will, so can we just say I have the full 8?).

[JakOfAllTirades]

But you can only smite with bladelock at level 5+. It will take him 2 levels to get there and he will be limited to 2 level 3 smites per short rest.

You can't Eldritch Smite with non Warlock slots.

At his level Eldritch Blast is 3 rays per cast, way better then 1 xbow attack even if he doesn't have agunizing blast.he will only get 2 attack if he will not take Eldritch Smite at lock 5.

True enough, this all makes sense. I had his class levels reversed for some reason! That being said, two more Warlock levels wouldn't hurt, IF he's got Pact of the Blade. If not, I wouldn't bother. Just take more Sorcerer levels, get some good defensive spells, and blast everything instead of slugging it out in melee.

[samcifer]

What's your Warlock pact? Have you considered taking 2 or 3 levels of Paladin? That would really up your survivability. Unfortunately a single level of Paladin doesn't offer you much.

I don't think I would try hard for a much higher AC. 21 is already really good. You'd benefit more from more HP. Tough may be a good choice for you. Does anybody have Inspiring Leader? If not, that may be even better.

I don't think I'd bother with 1 level of Fighter just for the Defensive style. If you want Fighter at least take 2 levels for Action Surge which is a crazy strong feature for any Sorlock.

I think I'd probably be boring and take Sorcerer 9 though.

I went pact of the tome for more cantrips as well as the evocation for access to ritual spells.

My tactic in battle is to stay at range and quicken EB for up to 6 attacks per turn or quicken either a single one and use my normal action for a spell, either defensive or offensive. With only 10 strength, I can't take a paladin level unless I get an item to increase my strength. The smiting would be a waste, however, as I don't attack from melee, which the smiting requires on a pally. I have agonizing blast and tome of secrets (I think that's the name of it) for access to ritual spells. We already have a true (full) hexblade in the group as well and I wanted some variety from him.

Two things I do want to do with the character is to get him up to warlock 5 eventually to make his spell slots lv. 3 and another idea was to go to fighter 2 as well for action surge, but as this is a homebrew campaign, I have no idea how much longer it will go for.

[Nagog]

So what would be the best way to level up to increase my glass-cannon's survivability? Are there any magic items that could help compensate for how brittle my character is, what with how strong the foes are in this campaign?

I remember your previous threads on the same character! Since then, I've played a Bladesinger Wizard for a few sessions, so I feel I have a bit more experience with a similar playstyle to stand on now.
For spells, I'd look into nabbing Misty Step or perhaps Thunder Step for a quick escape hatch. They're both bonus action 30 ft Teleports, so you can use them as a bonus action and then use your movement to get 60 feet away, and Thunder Step, while 3rd level rather than 2nd, deals radial damage as well. From there I'd level up into Paladin to nab some defensive abilities and easy access self-healing, however since you already have medium armor from Hexblade (and really high AC), as well as self-healing from Divine Soul, you may not get anything new out of it. Considering the multiclass you've chosen, the only thing you're lacking for tankiness is HP, so boosting Con or grabbing a hp-boosting feat is really the only way to increase that.


But you can only smite with bladelock at level 5+. It will take him 2 levels to get there and he will be limited to 2 level 3 smites per short rest.

You can't Eldritch Smite with non Warlock slots.

At his level Eldritch Blast is 3 rays per cast, way better then 1 xbow attack even if he doesn't have agunizing blast.he will only get 2 attack if he will not take Eldritch Smite at lock 5.

I think the reason they'd rather go Smite than Blast is the Blast has more attack rolls, making it more likely to miss. Also knocking prone without a save at range is super nice, particularly on flying enemies.
And when you have Sorc slots for casting, I'd rather use short rest slots for stuff like Smite as well.

[Guy Lombard-O]

Considering the multiclass you've chosen, the only thing you're lacking for tankiness is HP, so boosting Con or grabbing a hp-boosting feat is really the only way to increase that.

I'd second going with +2 Con over Tough feat. 32 more HP is definitely good. But I'd rather get 20 more HP and another +1 to my Con saves for both concentration checks and vampire saves.

[Dork_Forge]

I remember your previous threads on the same character! Since then, I've played a Bladesinger Wizard for a few sessions, so I feel I have a bit more experience with a similar playstyle to stand on now.
For spells, I'd look into nabbing Misty Step or perhaps Thunder Step for a quick escape hatch. They're both bonus action 30 ft Teleports, so you can use them as a bonus action and then use your movement to get 60 feet away, and Thunder Step, while 3rd level rather than 2nd, deals radial damage as well. From there I'd level up into Paladin to nab some defensive abilities and easy access self-healing, however since you already have medium armor from Hexblade (and really high AC), as well as self-healing from Divine Soul, you may not get anything new out of it. Considering the multiclass you've chosen, the only thing you're lacking for tankiness is HP, so boosting Con or grabbing a hp-boosting feat is really the only way to increase that.



I think the reason they'd rather go Smite than Blast is the Blast has more attack rolls, making it more likely to miss. Also knocking prone without a save at range is super nice, particularly on flying enemies.
And when you have Sorc slots for casting, I'd rather use short rest slots for stuff like Smite as well.

Just a quick note, Thunder Step takes an action not a bonus, however you can take one willing person with you on the teleport and it's range is 90ft (so triple misty). As primarily a Sorcere OP will be a bit stretched for Spells known, picking only one I'd favour Misty Step as you can cast it with lower level slots and there's no risk of friendly fire.

[samcifer]

I have both misty step and mirror image as some of my spells, but with the dm having so many attacks and having such a high to-hit bonus, I used up all 3 copies on MI from a single round of attacks from a single enemy. I think Blur would serve me better or in conjunction with MI. High A.C. is pretty much maditory against this dm. :(

[Dork_Forge]

I have both misty step and mirror image as some of my spells, but with the dm having so many attacks and having such a high to-hit bonus, I used up all 3 copies on MI from a single round of attacks from a single enemy. I think Blur would serve me better or in conjunction with MI. High A.C. is pretty much maditory against this dm. :(

You don't really need to choose between Blur and MI, as you can have both running at the same time, if you already have both then you don't need to worry about spells known, but you might want to consider trading Blur for Shield of Faith, it's a lower slot and only a bonus action making it easier to stack with MI and Blink.

What's the rest of your party like? Is this just a DM being far too heavy handed or are you acting as a tank whilst other characters aren't taking the same kind of heat?

[Nagog]

Just a quick note, Thunder Step takes an action not a bonus, however you can take one willing person with you on the teleport and it's range is 90ft (so triple misty). As primarily a Sorcere OP will be a bit stretched for Spells known, picking only one I'd favour Misty Step as you can cast it with lower level slots and there's no risk of friendly fire.

Oh, good to know! I guess it makes sense as combining the attack spell and the backdoor into one action, keeping your bonus action free for other things.


I have both misty step and mirror image as some of my spells, but with the dm having so many attacks and having such a high to-hit bonus, I used up all 3 copies on MI from a single round of attacks from a single enemy. I think Blur would serve me better or in conjunction with MI. High A.C. is pretty much maditory against this dm. :(

Having followed from the previous thread where your Barbarian was killed, I don't really think there's anything you can do in-game to tank against this DM. You were a Barbarian, the pinnacle of HP soak and DR tankiness, now you're going for high AC and spells for tankiness and that isn't working either. Beyond that, I don't think there is anything you can do to tank against these attacks, and you should really pull the DM aside and let them know how you feel on the situation. As a DM, it's often difficult to tell when you're going too hard on your party's tank, so perhaps they think they're helping you feel effective at your role, and wayyyy overdoing it. If you've already had such a conversation with them and it doesn't change, I'd withdraw from the campaign. It is the DM's job to provide an environment for the players to have fun while having fun themselves. If that isn't happening, then there's no reason for you to stay. That's Toxic Dming and should not be encouraged.

[Foff]

Your best bet Is keeping out of reach of baddies. Hexblade (and sorlock even less) Is by no Means a frontliner without darkness Devil sight combo and maxed armor of agathys, Stay out of reach, spam hex+eldritch blast for easy fights and always keep a spellslot for a fast escape tool like Misty step, or quickened invisibility, Blink, Flight etc.
You're best suited at being the magic artillery of the party, relentlessly dishing out damage from afar.
You also have a nice nova option in hexblade curse + upcast magic missile (you're no nuclear wizard, but It Will hurt).
Never Heard of zombie Pigs but vamps are nasty, they're fast, hit hard, Flight or Blink might save your ass

[samcifer]

You don't really need to choose between Blur and MI, as you can have both running at the same time, if you already have both then you don't need to worry about spells known, but you might want to consider trading Blur for Shield of Faith, it's a lower slot and only a bonus action making it easier to stack with MI and Blink.

What's the rest of your party like? Is this just a DM being far too heavy handed or are you acting as a tank whilst other characters aren't taking the same kind of heat?

I plan to use both as a combo from now on as it's pretty much mandatory for survival to have both. As for the rest of the group, there's an assimar hexblade, a half-orc barbarian with moderate AC (I think he's at 17 AC), an inquisitor rogue with a level of cleric for armor, but has a low attack stat as he's not combat-focused on hiss build, then there's a life cleric. We also have a ratling wild magic sorcerer, but that player keeps missing sessions due to his work schedule. We used to have a tabaxi paladin, but she was visiting from another country and has gone home, so we lost her permanently.

I'm still strongly leaning towards getting my AC as high as possible so that with Blur, Mirror Image and the Shield spell, I'd practically be untouchable. The damage the npcs do is also rather high (often over 30 damage per turn, so Tough looks less and less useful to me. Perhaps the Lucky feat would go better for countering the dm's crits against me.

[Dork_Forge]

I plan to use both as a combo from now on as it's pretty much mandatory for survival to have both. As for the rest of the group, there's an assimar hexblade, a half-orc barbarian with moderate AC (I think he's at 17 AC), an inquisitor rogue with a level of cleric for armor, but has a low attack stat as he's not combat-focused on hiss build, then there's a life cleric. We also have a ratling wild magic sorcerer, but that player keeps missing sessions due to his work schedule. We used to have a tabaxi paladin, but she was visiting from another country and has gone home, so we lost her permanently.

I'm still strongly leaning towards getting my AC as high as possible so that with Blur, Mirror Image and the Shield spell, I'd practically be untouchable. The damage the npcs do is also rather high (often over 30 damage per turn, so Tough looks less and less useful to me. Perhaps the Lucky feat would go better for countering the dm's crits against me.

Sorry but, if your Rogue isn't focused on damage in combat what is he focused on?

I think this is pretty much your DM just being overkill, but I'd also take a stab in the dark that your party isn't working together as well as you could be. Ideally that Rogue should be concentrating on a Bless or Shield of Faith for the party with a Healing Word for an emergency pick up. The Barbarian should be shoulder to shoulder with you regardless of AC just by virtue of being a Half-Orc Barbarian, the Cleric should bring Warding Bond into play, bumping ACs and sharing hp all round as well as upcasting Aid (or you can do this) and throwing down a Spirit Guardians. The Hexblade is hard to judge without knowing if he's melee or not, but should have moderate to high AC and if struggling to stay up permanent temp hp (as should you).

If you're all still struggling whilst working together then... Your DM is just throwing too much at you, plain and simple, and those high ACs aren't going to matter if he shifts to a Vampire with caster levels or anything else capable of an AOE.

[samcifer]

Well I nearly died during the last battle because the rogues player used a phosphorous stake on a vampire that caused it to explode while I was in range of the blast. The cleric was already making death saves due to being dropped by another vampire and the rogue managed to survive the blast he triggered.

As far as teamwork goes, yeah, it seems as if only the cleric and I consider other players much. I mean the barb came to help when the warlock and I got mobbed, but everyone seems to do our own thing in battle for the most part.

I still think going to 24 A.C. before the Shield spell while foes have disadvantage to hit me would be the best route to go as far as survival goes, but I don't know, it's just a guess on my part.

Edit: Well since I have Sheild of Faith, if I were able to get the +1 each in armor and a shield, that would, with SoF, put me at 25 AC and with the Shield spell, I'd be at 30 AC, meaning the dm would only be able to hit me with a crit. I'm liking that idea more and more. I try to keep out of range, but when enemies spawn near me and get to act before I get my turn to escape them (that's the infinite loop of death saves I ended up stuck in during my first session with this character, there's not really anything I can do. Having an AC so high that I'm practically untouchable sounds like the best route for survivability.

I heard the rogue player say he was thinking of taking a level of fighter for the archery fighting style to increase his accuracy enough so that he can hit things. He also does dumb things like trying to hide every turn against the wall of a building or run around the battlefield to rescue hostages while the rest of us fight and end up seducing the prisoner (yes, he actually did that on us during a battle a few sessions ago).

WORST. ROGUE. EVER!

IT doesn't help that his character is build to be best on investigations and interrogations of npcs, hence him being so poor at fighting. He also plays the character as rather egotistical and his character looks down on the rest of us as his underlings.

[Nhorianscum]

Quicken Mirror Image>Dodge is pretty good for not dieing.

Blur is sorta pointless on sorc. I'd just go for Sorc 9 pulling Death Ward + Wall o Stone/Animate Objects.

[samcifer]

Quicken Mirror Image>Dodge is pretty good for not dieing.

Blur is sorta pointless on sorc. I'd just go for Sorc 9 pulling Death Ward + Wall o Stone/Animate Objects.

Animate Objects is a spell I've used in the past and really enjoyed. Rolling 10d20 in a single turn was really fun and it could be 13d20 if I also EB during the same turn. I suppose it would be better than Synaptic Static, but SS sounds as if it would provide a much better benefit for everyone.

[Nhorianscum]

Animate Objects is a spell I've used in the past and really enjoyed. Rolling 10d20 in a single turn was really fun and it could be 13d20 if I also EB during the same turn. I suppose it would be better than Synaptic Static, but SS sounds as if it would provide a much better benefit for everyone.

Better that grappling with 3x+ large/1x+ huge constructs?

[Reevh]

This is one of the issues with making highly optimized characters. The DMs tend to ratchet up the difficulty to deal with that, which can make combat a bit swingy.

Just did a long-ish one shot last weekend, where the three players made some pretty powerful level 11 characters. So of course, our 3 level 11 players faced off against an Ancient Red Dragon at the end of the adventuring day. Almost didn't make it.

[Nhorianscum]

This is one of the issues with making highly optimized characters. The DMs tend to ratchet up the difficulty to deal with that, which can make combat a bit swingy.

Just did a long-ish one shot last weekend, where the three players made some pretty powerful level 11 characters. So of course, our 3 level 11 players faced off against an Ancient Red Dragon at the end of the adventuring day. Almost didn't make it.

I always thought that was the upside of high OP tables.

Sounds like a really fun one-shot

[Dork_Forge]

This is one of the issues with making highly optimized characters. The DMs tend to ratchet up the difficulty to deal with that, which can make combat a bit swingy.

Just did a long-ish one shot last weekend, where the three players made some pretty powerful level 11 characters. So of course, our 3 level 11 players faced off against an Ancient Red Dragon at the end of the adventuring day. Almost didn't make it.

From the sound of it, the party isn't particularly optimised overall and its an ongoing issue that the optimisation is trying to compensate for.

As for throwing and Ancient red dragon at 3 level 11 characters at the end of an adventuring day... If they had fun then great but it just kind of sounds like punishing people for optimising.

[Dork_Forge]

Animate Objects is a spell I've used in the past and really enjoyed. Rolling 10d20 in a single turn was really fun and it could be 13d20 if I also EB during the same turn. I suppose it would be better than Synaptic Static, but SS sounds as if it would provide a much better benefit for everyone.

Twinning Death Ward is a fantastic survival strategy for a party. If you get to 5th Warlock then this is probably the first time I'd actually recommend tomb of levistus, I'd probably save your bacon a few times in that campaign.

[Nhorianscum]

Twinning Death Ward is a fantastic survival strategy for a party. If you get to 5th Warlock then this is probably the first time I'd actually recommend tomb of levistus, I'd probably save your bacon a few times in that campaign.

I see your twinned Dward and raise you...

Extended upcast aid + extened death ward + hero's feast on the full party. Tack on Insp leader for more funsies.

Total cost the day of... 1 slot *chef kiss*

[Dork_Forge]

I see your twinned Dward and raise you...

Extended upcast aid + death ward + hero's feast + insp leader

*chef kiss*

Why, not bad at all, but Where's the garnishing of twinned warding bond? I don't think at this point we're even concentrating on our dish, sprinkle some twinned shield of faith on it and charge the points to our pact slot account!

[Nhorianscum]

Why, not bad at all, but Where's the garnishing of twinned warding bond? I don't think at this point we're even concentrating on our dish, sprinkle some twinned shield of faith on it and charge the points to our pact slot account!

Oh you sly dog. I was going to save our dessert of conjure celestial for later but by all means dig in! (The glyph of warding + planar binding + heightened spell sauce is optional)

It's heavenly

[samcifer]

So I remember from the last session that the cleric was able to use an item when he was making death saves and looking through the dmg, I found out what it is. The Periapt of Wound Closure, (an uncommon item) which automatically stabilizes you at the start of your turn if you are dying. Also, it doubles the result of any hit dice you roll to heal during a rest.

I really think that this item would be a real help for me, so I think I'll buy that before any +1 armor or shield. I think I'll go for that and save up for the armor and shield later on.

[Dork_Forge]

So I remember from the last session that the cleric was able to use an item when he was making death saves and looking through the dmg, I found out what it is. The Periapt of Wound Closure, which automatically stabilizes you at the start of your turn if you are dying. Also, it doubles the result of any hit dice you roll to heal during a rest.

I really think that this item would be a real help for me, so I think I'll buy that before any +1 armor or shield. I think I'll go for that and save up for the armor and shield later on.

If you can just buy magic items, what items are available? That would probably help any advice you'd get here.

Periapt is a nice item though, makes hitting zero a lot less scary.

[samcifer]

If you can just buy magic items, what items are available? That would probably help any advice you'd get here.

Periapt is a nice item though, makes hitting zero a lot less scary.

Which is my main concern. If I'd had that against the pigs, I wouldn't have gotten stuck in that infinite loop of first death saves. Also as a blaster with some healing (healing word and mass healing word) me staying up is good for the rest of the party.

[Dork_Forge]

Which is my main concern. If I'd had that against the pigs, I wouldn't have gotten stuck in that infinite loop of first death saves. Also as a blaster with some healing (healing word and mass healing word) me staying up is good for the rest of the party.

How did you get stuck in a loop? Iirc death saves don't reset until a rest, so you gradually either stabilise or die.

The periapt will help your character not die, but it won't help you from going down unless you find yourself running out of hit die regularly.

[samcifer]

How did you get stuck in a loop? Iirc death saves don't reset until a rest, so you gradually either stabilise or die.

The periapt will help your character not die, but it won't help you from going down unless you find yourself running out of hit die regularly.

So we were fighting against several mobs of zombified pigs. I had set myself up to fire a lightning bolt across the field to hit several multiple mobs (swarms) of them. After my turn, 4 more mobs appeared near me and attacked before my next turn came and I was dropped to zero hp by their attacks and on my next turn, I had to make a death save. On his next turn of that round, the cleric healed me, but the pigs got their turn before I got mine and dropped me to zero hp again and I was forced to use my next turn to make a death save. The cleric healed me on his next turn again and the round ended. On the next round, the pigs went before I did and dropped me to 0 hp yet again and I had to make a death save for my turn, then the cleric got his turn and healed me again. That was the infinite loop I got stuck into and was unable to do anything else for that battle. :(

The periapt will help me avoid wasting my entire turn making a death save. I can misty step out of that kind of situation and get some distance as I heal myself, avoiding such a death save loop in the future. I know it's not a perfect solution, but that's why I also want to raise my AC to make me as hard to hit as possible.

[Reevh]

From the sound of it, the party isn't particularly optimised overall and its an ongoing issue that the optimisation is trying to compensate for.

As for throwing and Ancient red dragon at 3 level 11 characters at the end of an adventuring day... If they had fun then great but it just kind of sounds like punishing people for optimising.

To be fair, we picked up 2 NPCs along the way (Ranger and Fighter) that were not as strong as player characters, but who probably collectively did around 130 damage to the dragon. It likely would have been a TPK without them. The fighter was actually never intended to join the party. He was a mercenary in a company that attacked us, and when we was the last remaining, we got him to surrender and then bought out his contract. He ultimately got the killing blow on the dragon, and became the historical basis for a family that was in our main campaign before (the one shot was set 600 years before our previous campaign in the same area).

It was a pretty great one shot.

[Dork_Forge]

So we were fighting against several mobs of zombified pigs. I had set myself up to fire a lightning bolt across the field to hit several multiple mobs (swarms) of them. After my turn, 4 more mobs appeared near me and attacked before my next turn came and I was dropped to zero hp by their attacks and on my next turn, I had to make a death save. On his next turn of that round, the cleric healed me, but the pigs got their turn before I got mine and dropped me to zero hp again and I was forced to use my next turn to make a death save. The cleric healed me on his next turn again and the round ended. On the next round, the pigs went before I did and dropped me to 0 hp yet again and I had to make a death save for my turn, then the cleric got his turn and healed me again. That was the infinite loop I got stuck into and was unable to do anything else for that battle. :(

The periapt will help me avoid wasting my entire turn making a death save. I can misty step out of that kind of situation and get some distance as I heal myself, avoiding such a death save loop in the future. I know it's not a perfect solution, but that's why I also want to raise my AC to make me as hard to hit as possible.

Just so you're clear on this, with the periapt you wouldn't get back up, you still wouldn't have your turn as you'd be unconcscious just stable so no need for a death save.

[Nhorianscum]

Just so you're clear on this, with the periapt you wouldn't get back up, you still wouldn't have your turn as you'd be unconcscious just stable so no need for a death save.

^this

It's a really bad item

[BloodSnake'sCha]

So we were fighting against several mobs of zombified pigs. I had set myself up to fire a lightning bolt across the field to hit several multiple mobs (swarms) of them. After my turn, 4 more mobs appeared near me and attacked before my next turn came and I was dropped to zero hp by their attacks and on my next turn, I had to make a death save. On his next turn of that round, the cleric healed me, but the pigs got their turn before I got mine and dropped me to zero hp again and I was forced to use my next turn to make a death save. The cleric healed me on his next turn again and the round ended. On the next round, the pigs went before I did and dropped me to 0 hp yet again and I had to make a death save for my turn, then the cleric got his turn and healed me again. That was the infinite loop I got stuck into and was unable to do anything else for that battle. :(

The periapt will help me avoid wasting my entire turn making a death save. I can misty step out of that kind of situation and get some distance as I heal myself, avoiding such a death save loop in the future. I know it's not a perfect solution, but that's why I also want to raise my AC to make me as hard to hit as possible.

Tell the cleric to ready a healing spell on you that will activate after the pigs turn.

[samcifer]

But since I'm stabilized, could Ion that same turn at least stand up and cast a spell, say misty step to get some distance from the enemies who downed me?

[Nhorianscum]

But since I'm stabilized, could Ion that same turn at least stand up and cast a spell, say misty step to get some distance from the enemies who downed me?

Stabalized just means not making death saves. Not that you are concious.

IE this is still instant death next round as you are unconscious and incapacitated at 0 hp.

[samcifer]

Stabalized just means not making death saves. Not that you are concious.

IE this is still instant death next round as you are unconscious and incapacitated at 0 hp.

So since that's the case, the only choice I really have is to maximize my AC to avoid taking a hit at all. If I get 2 more +1 AC items, I can be at 23 AC before the shield spell, 25 AC if I cast Shield of Faith on myself. With that and the Shield spell, I'd be at 30 AC and would only need to worry about crits. Maybe Blur or Greater Invisibility would be better then because I'd be at 28 AC and they'd have disadvantage to hit me.

I think that going to sorc 9 for my third spell slot for a third use per day of Greater Invisibility and the Synaptic Static spell to lower their chances to hit me (as well as the other members of the party once SS goes off), then go for fighter 1 for the defensive fighting style at my next level up. Then I'd be as high as 31 AC, which seems to be my only reliable way to survive in this group and campaign.

[Nhorianscum]

So since that's the case, the only choice I really have is to maximize my AC to avoid taking a hit at all. If I get 2 more +1 AC items, I can be at 23 AC before the shield spell, 25 AC if I cast Shield of Faith on myself. With that and the Shield spell, I'd be at 30 AC and would only need to worry about crits. Maybe Blur or Greater Invisibility would be better then because I'd be at 28 AC and they'd have disadvantage to hit me.

I think that going to sorc 9 for my third spell slot for a third use per day of Greater Invisibility and the Synaptic Static spell to lower their chances to hit me (as well as the other members of the party once SS goes off), then go for fighter 1 for the defensive fighting style at my next level up. Then I'd be as high as 31 AC, which seems to be my only reliable way to survive in this group and campaign.

Once again. You are a sorcerer in tier 3. I hope to everything that quicken is a metamagic you have aquired (edit: NVM you took lock 3 waaaaay early, it's possible you don't have quicken)

Quicken BA + Dodge Action forces disadvantage. We do not need a spell or item for this. It comes standard.

Locking things in a stone box and then spamming guardian of faith/have somone else toss a spell into that box is a good way to not roll AC as well. Synaptic is pretty much just a coverage spell for mono-element blasters.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to be able to re-set or re-arrange fights in a deadly campain. AC is less valuable than being able to simply say "no, the swarm of n+****off vampires is in a permanent stone box now, we're leaving". Avoid numeric values, no matter how high your numbers are the DM's are higher.

(Sorc 9 lock 3 can do a 5th level spell every combat.)

[samcifer]

Once again. You are a sorcerer in tier 3. I hope to everything that quicken is a metamagic you have aquired (edit: NVM you took lock 3 waaaaay early, it's possible you don't have quicken)

Quicken BA + Dodge Action forces disadvantage. We do not need a spell or item for this. It comes standard.

Locking things in a stone box and then spamming guardian of faith/have somone else toss a spell into that box is a good way to not roll AC as well. Synaptic is pretty much just a coverage spell for mono-element blasters.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to be able to re-set or re-arrange fights in a deadly campain. AC is less valuable than being able to simply say "no, the swarm of n+****off vampires is in a permanent stone box now, we're leaving". Avoid numeric values, no matter how high your numbers are the DM's are higher.

(Sorc 9 lock 3 can do a 5th level spell every combat.)

Quicken and Subtle my mms. I mainly focus on blasting from range like an armored turret for my strategy in combat, but even at range I still often get hit due to high to-hit bonuses in enemies and new enemies spawning on the battlefield, often near me, who attack me before I can get some distance.

You only get 1 lv 5 spell slot per long rest at sorc 9 and we ended up having 3 battles without a rest because of the dm's controlling of the passage of time between fights, at least during this last session, that is. It's usually 2 battles between rests of late. The dm seems to keep increasing the difficulty and I can't help but wonder if he's trying for a tpk so he can win (for bragging rights) or maybe end the campaign early. Whatever his motives, he's not saying.

[Nhorianscum]

Quicken and Subtle my mms. I mainly focus on blasting from range like an armored turret for my strategy in combat, but even at range I still often get hit due to high to-hit bonuses in enemies and new enemies spawning on the battlefield, often near me, who attack me before I can get some distance.

You only get 1 lv 5 spell slot per long rest at sorc 9 and we ended up having 3 battles without a rest because of the dm's controlling of the passage of time between fights, at least during this last session, that is. It's usually 2 battles between rests of late. The dm seems to keep increasing the difficulty and I can't help but wonder if he's trying for a tlk so he can win or maybe end the campaign early. Whatever his motives, he's not saying.

Points. We can make slots as sorcerers and 5th level spells are STRONK. As a sorc 9/lock 3 we can synth enough for a 5th every fight if nessecary.

If folks are dieing swapping to a BC/Buffer role is ideal and is normally the role sorc plays in tier 3.

IE twinned haste on 2 GWM users hits for 132 damage in a 3 round combat with no other boosts on those users. Tier 3 EB does like 30ish?? Upcast fly or a strong no-save control is even more swingy. Vampires are not good at dealing damage when locked in a box or when they're trying to swat things with a 60 ft fly speed.

If you play by the rules of a rigged game you lose. So change the rules of the encounters you enter.

[samcifer]

Points. We can make slots as sorcerers and 5th level spells are STRONK. As a sorc 9/lock 3 we can synth enough for a 5th every fight if nessecary.

If folks are dieing swapping to a BC/Buffer role is ideal and is normally the role sorc plays in tier 3.

IE twinned haste on 2 GWM users hits for 132 damage in a 3 round combat with no other boosts on those users. Tier 3 EB does like 30ish?? Upcast fly or a strong no-save control is even more swingy. Vampires are not good at dealing damage when locked in a box or when they're trying to swat things with a 60 ft fly speed.

If you play by the rules of a rigged game you lose. So change the rules of the encounters you enter.

I don't know. 7 sp for one spell slot sounds like a waste of sp, tbh. I'll go sorc 9 for now, focus on gear to increase my sp and see how it goes. If I'm still struggling to avoid hits by then and not using much as far as lv. 5 spells go, I'll go Fighter for the Defensive fighting style and another +1 AC as well as a small heal without needing a spell slot. If my AC is okay by then, I'll go sorc 10 for my second lv. 5 spell slot and third mm, which will most likely be Empowered for increased damage as my main focus is on being a blaster. I know there's way better ways to run a caster than being a blaster, but I lack the creativity to use illusion or enchantment spells and have bad luck with spell saves against this dm, so my spell slots are better spent on half-damage when they save against them.

[Nhorianscum]

Mindless undead take 0 with no save from synaptic.

Spellcasting undead laugh off synaptic.

Vampires have 144 HP and a stellar int save + regen + bite heal + Lresistance. Synaptic is effectively a wasted turn here. That said dodge + Upcast Quickened SG in a vamps face is one of the most bullsheez possible ways to shut them off. 10d8 R1 + 5d8 every subsequent round = 25d8 or 112.5-56.25 average damage, (much better than synaptic) and the vamp suddenly has very few movement options as the 1/2 move side of SG offers no save.

Vampire spawn are more forgiving but still just shrug off the damage. That said vamp spawn get hosed (pun intended) by maelstrom as unlike full vamps they cannot just warp out of the 5d8+20 (tell me this isn't running water) multiple str save + difficult terrain murder pool. We offer a str save here and half dice damage but the DT and running water damage are not reducable. Assuming they pass 2/3 saves we still deal more than 82 damage IE dead with 1 spell. If they get out EB them back in.

So by spending 1 5th level per encounter we can deal far more effective damage at a lower cost than EB.

By comparison quickened EBx3 + a 3rd level spell costs the same and does far less.

Action economy and no save control are very good. EB spam is the opposite of efficent .

These are the not-creative anti-vamp strats.

(Personally I'd just carry a big **** off bandolier of holy water flasks and animate them if I had to "deal damage". It's close to an auto kill on big daddy vamps like Mr. Ravenloft Mc. Swagdaddy. Or similar nonsense.)

[Keravath]

In my opinion, it sounds like you could use a couple of things.

1) proficiency in con saves. This helps a lot vs many attacks and spells. With 16 con you will have +7 instead of +3 so both concentration and spell effects are a lot easier to deal with.

2) mobility. You could use boots of speed or winged boots or a broom (depending on whether your dm
Rules it needs hands to use or not .. raw it doesn’t)

No matter how high you make your AC the DM can ALWAYS increase the monster to hit.

In addition, even if you do increase your AC to astronomical levels the DM can just switch to targeting your dex and con saves. A typical tier 3 DC will be 17 or so which means you fail those saves on 13 or less 65% of the time. While with your current 26AC with shield +10 to hit is missing 75% of the time. Increasing AC just reduces that a bit and if your DM wants to surround you with creatures then you will lose even if they require a critical to hit.

So .. you need to be in a position to not be attacked .. engage at long ranges and use flying/enhanced mobility/greater invisibility to increase survivability. Increasing AC is a lost cause in my opinion.

[samcifer]

In my opinion, it sounds like you could use a couple of things.

1) proficiency in con saves. This helps a lot vs many attacks and spells. With 16 con you will have +7 instead of +3 so both concentration and spell effects are a lot easier to deal with.

2) mobility. You could use boots of speed or winged boots or a broom (depending on whether your dm
Rules it needs hands to use or not .. raw it doesn’t)

No matter how high you make your AC the DM can ALWAYS increase the monster to hit.

In addition, even if you do increase your AC to astronomical levels the DM can just switch to targeting your dex and con saves. A typical tier 3 DC will be 17 or so which means you fail those saves on 13 or less 65% of the time. While with your current 26AC with shield +10 to hit is missing 75% of the time. Increasing AC just reduces that a bit and if your DM wants to surround you with creatures then you will lose even if they require a critical to hit.

So .. you need to be in a position to not be attacked .. engage at long ranges and use flying/enhanced mobility/greater invisibility to increase survivability. Increasing AC is a lost cause in my opinion.

I started as sorc, so I have the con save prof. The reason for increasing my AC is because it would be impossible to avoid a 1-turn kill if they hit more than once, what with the damage the monsters are doing and if I get ganged up on. I have GI, but what if we're up against foes with true sight. Invisibility won't save me from that and with this being a homebrew campaign with re-worked monsters to make them tougher, he can just start giving every monster true sight to counter that. I'm just trying to survive as long as possible in this campaign as even my barbarian/fighter with 20 AC was going down regularly.

[Dork_Forge]

I started as sorc, so I have the con save prof. The reason for increasing my AC is because it would be impossible to avoid a 1-turn kill if they hit more than once, what with the damage the monsters are doing and if I get ganged up on. I have GI, but what if we're up against foes with true sight. Invisibility won't save me from that and with this being a homebrew campaign with re-worked monsters to make them tougher, he can just start giving every monster true sight to counter that. I'm just trying to survive as long as possible in this campaign as even my barbarian/fighter with 20 AC was going down regularly.

Mirror Image, Blink, Death Ward, Aid, Fiendish Vigor, warding bond, shield of faith and the dodge action.

All of that stacks, you don't even need all of them to muddle through those encounters. At the end of the day the to hit bonuses can always get higher, a lot of the spells above remove your death from the D20 whilst they're in effect.

Trade shield of faith for spirit guardians and punish them for daring to close distance on you and tear them to pieces before they can do the same to you.

[samcifer]

Okay, we just finished our wednesday weekly campaign game night and with me and my fiance playing with the same dm and 4 other players (different ones from the every other friday game my sorlock is in), we had 2 combats.

We're all at lv. 9 and the group consists of my firbolg light cleric with 1 level of wizard, a minotaur war cleric, a half-elf whispers bard, a half-elf lycan subclass blood hunter, a warforged artificer (the newer version that wields a pistol and creates turrets), a moon druid (can't remember his race, and a half-orc champion/totem barb (not mine, but he also uses a glaive with polearm master and sentinel).

In the first battle we were up against 4 black knight figures who turned into black mist and flew away as their armor collapsed when they died. One of them caught me in a cone attack of hellfire + necrotic damage that did 113 total damage that I failed to save against and went down.

In the next battle, we were up against 5 swarms of pixies who would try to grapple and if they succeeded, would follow up with a bite attack. They grabbed the half-orc, then got a crit on their bite attack and did 135 total damage against him, forcing him to use his half-orc ability to drop to 1 hp instead of going down. The pixies had an AC of 15 (we were hitting as low as on a 16 to-hit), but still.

That's the kinds of encounters this dm designs. He had a wizard disguised as a cat with us who had a sonic attack that took 2 turns to take effect and 2 of the 3 remaining swarms of pixies died instantly from it, but when the dm has to include deus ex machinas to save players from his own monsters, that doesn't sound like a dm who knows how to balance encounters very well. As a reminder, this was an encounter against 7 level 9 pcs.

The sad part is that his happened to us after a long rest while on our way to encounter a dragon, the second one of the campaign. Here's hoping the bard can seduce this one like he did the first one. :P

[Nhorianscum]

Okay, we just finished our wednesday weekly campaign game night and with me and my fiance playing with the same dm and 4 other players (different ones from the every other friday game my sorlock is in), we had 2 combats.

We're all at lv. 9 and the group consists of my firbolg light cleric with 1 level of wizard, a minotaur war cleric, a half-elf whispers bard, a half-elf lycan subclass blood hunter, a warforged artificer (the newer version that wields a pistol and creates turrets), a moon druid (can't remember his race, and a half-orc champion/totem barb (not mine, but he also uses a glaive with polearm master and sentinel).

In the first battle we were up against 4 black knight figures who turned into black mist and flew away as their armor collapsed when they died. One of them caught me in a cone attack of hellfire + necrotic damage that did 113 total damage that I failed to save against and went down.

In the next battle, we were up against 5 swarms of pixies who would try to grapple and if they succeeded, would follow up with a bite attack. They grabbed the half-orc, then got a crit on their bite attack and did 135 total damage against him, forcing him to use his half-orc ability to drop to 1 hp instead of going down. The pixies had an AC of 15 (we were hitting as low as on a 16 to-hit), but still.

That's the kinds of encounters this dm designs. He had a wizard disguised as a cat with us who had a sonic attack that took 2 turns to take effect and 2 of the 3 remaining swarms of pixies died instantly from it, but when the dm has to include deus ex machinas to save players from his own monsters, that doesn't sound like a dm who knows how to balance encounters very well. As a reminder, this was an encounter against 7 level 9 pcs.

The sad part is that his happened to us after a long rest while on our way to encounter a dragon, the second one of the campaign. Here's hoping the bard can seduce this one like he did the first one. :P

Quick napkin math...

8+4.5x8+27 = 75 base HP mean +20(aid) +14 (insp leader) = 109 assuming absorb elements was learned and the damage was half neurotic the 113 hit was 85ish? That's an amount damage I'd feel comfortable dropping on a munchkin party of fullcasters as a nova ability.

Both listed encounters are also completely neutered by a control caster using built in abilities/spells that the party had at the ready (Examples: turn undead for black knights with 2 clerics, or wall of stone with a druid on point. Control winds on a dragon hunt with a druid on tap for the fairies, or just banishment with 2 clerics in the hizzous).

Nah, given that the DM seems open to out of the box thinking, gonna say your DM is passive agressively trying to get ya'll to use not-damage things. Hate to say it (I disagree with the approach) but I'm sorta on the DM's side here.

[Dork_Forge]

Okay, we just finished our wednesday weekly campaign game night and with me and my fiance playing with the same dm and 4 other players (different ones from the every other friday game my sorlock is in), we had 2 combats.

We're all at lv. 9 and the group consists of my firbolg light cleric with 1 level of wizard, a minotaur war cleric, a half-elf whispers bard, a half-elf lycan subclass blood hunter, a warforged artificer (the newer version that wields a pistol and creates turrets), a moon druid (can't remember his race, and a half-orc champion/totem barb (not mine, but he also uses a glaive with polearm master and sentinel).

In the first battle we were up against 4 black knight figures who turned into black mist and flew away as their armor collapsed when they died. One of them caught me in a cone attack of hellfire + necrotic damage that did 113 total damage that I failed to save against and went down.

In the next battle, we were up against 5 swarms of pixies who would try to grapple and if they succeeded, would follow up with a bite attack. They grabbed the half-orc, then got a crit on their bite attack and did 135 total damage against him, forcing him to use his half-orc ability to drop to 1 hp instead of going down. The pixies had an AC of 15 (we were hitting as low as on a 16 to-hit), but still.

That's the kinds of encounters this dm designs. He had a wizard disguised as a cat with us who had a sonic attack that took 2 turns to take effect and 2 of the 3 remaining swarms of pixies died instantly from it, but when the dm has to include deus ex machinas to save players from his own monsters, that doesn't sound like a dm who knows how to balance encounters very well. As a reminder, this was an encounter against 7 level 9 pcs.

The sad part is that his happened to us after a long rest while on our way to encounter a dragon, the second one of the campaign. Here's hoping the bard can seduce this one like he did the first one. :P

To be honest, your party is on the larger side and is can take a beating: you've two tanks that'd be pretty hard to put down and not counting the undoubtedly wild shaped druid you've got 3 full casters and a 3/4 caster that all have access to healing and buffing spells and you Cleric seems to have a hearty defensive capability on their own.

I'd side with Nhorianscum here, just trying to hit/blast things to death will lead to slog fests that you're going to take a load of damage in. Two Clerics, a Bard and an Artificer (and a Druid) in your party, but how many buff spells were cast? How many control spells were cast? The Half Orc dropped to one instead of going down and has a bonus action heal that essentially doubles with his resistances, he wasn't really in danger of dying here.

Tough encounters? Definitely, but if you're going to keep playing with the DM (and talking is out of the quesiton about the difficulty), then adapt and work together, solve things in other (more interesting) ways.

[samcifer]

To be honest, your party is on the larger side and is can take a beating: you've two tanks that'd be pretty hard to put down and not counting the undoubtedly wild shaped druid you've got 3 full casters and a 3/4 caster that all have access to healing and buffing spells and you Cleric seems to have a hearty defensive capability on their own.

I'd side with Nhorianscum here, just trying to hit/blast things to death will lead to slog fests that you're going to take a load of damage in. Two Clerics, a Bard and an Artificer (and a Druid) in your party, but how many buff spells were cast? How many control spells were cast? The Half Orc dropped to one instead of going down and has a bonus action heal that essentially doubles with his resistances, he wasn't really in danger of dying here.

Tough encounters? Definitely, but if you're going to keep playing with the DM (and talking is out of the quesiton about the difficulty), then adapt and work together, solve things in other (more interesting) ways.

Admittedly the wednesday group is better at working together than the friday group is. As for my own playstyle in the wedneday. I don't use buffs. I tend to stick more to blasting and emergency healing when needed. I'm not very experienced with dnd and don't know monsters well, so 135 damage on a single attack even with a crit sounded insanely high damage output to me, is all.

[Nhorianscum]

As for my own playstyle in the wedneday. I don't use buffs. I tend to stick more to blasting and emergency healing when needed.

A level 8 9 light cleric8/wiz1 is preparing 23-26 spells a day and can always turn undead.

(For Clerics) There is no conflict between BC/Buff/Blast. Nor is there a playstyle distinction.

[Dork_Forge]

Admittedly the wednesday group is better at working together than the friday group is. As for my own playstyle in the wedneday. I don't use buffs. I tend to stick more to blasting and emergency healing when needed. I'm not very experienced with dnd and don't know monsters well, so 135 damage on a single attack even with a crit sounded insanely high damage output to me, is all.

Guiding Bolt is good blasting spell that offers a buff effect, Spiritual Weapon, well weaponises, your bonus every round leaving your action free to cast other spells but maintain damage output and if you're not concentrating on something every combat at that level then your fights WILL difficult. Throwing up Spirit Guardians on round one when there's multiple opponents provides damage, control and after the first turn is passive on your part.

I'd advise you use the D&D Beyond search feature to easily see what spells you have access to are concentration and what aren't so you can start learning to layer your casting more effectively. The type of blasting you're attempting imo isn't suited for what you've built, Warlocks and Sorcerers can do it better with more reliable damage.

[samcifer]

Guiding Bolt is good blasting spell that offers a buff effect, Spiritual Weapon, well weaponises, your bonus every round leaving your action free to cast other spells but maintain damage output and if you're not concentrating on something every combat at that level then your fights WILL difficult. Throwing up Spirit Guardians on round one when there's multiple opponents provides damage, control and after the first turn is passive on your part.

I'd advise you use the D&D Beyond search feature to easily see what spells you have access to are concentration and what aren't so you can start learning to layer your casting more effectively. The type of blasting you're attempting imo isn't suited for what you've built, Warlocks and Sorcerers can do it better with more reliable damage.

Yeah, I'm playing different character in each campaign:

In the every Wednesday games I'm playing a firbolg light cleric 8 / wizard 1 that focuses on blasting and emergency healing

and in the every other Friday campaign I'm playing a half-elf divine soul sorc 8 or 9 / hexblade warlock 3 with pact of the tome. Honestly I'm still torn between sorc 9 for my third lv. 4 spell slot as well as a lv. 5 spell slot and synaptic Static. This character is also focused on blasting with some in-combat healing.

In both campaigns (both run by the same DM), survivability is very difficult to maintain. My only experience in playing 5e is with this dm (although others from the Friday group have dm-ed and their encounters were way less lethal), so I don't know if this is normal or the dm is just making thinks super hard. I also seem to be the only player in either group who's frustrated with this kind of playstyle, which doesn't help, and I don't know anyone else to play with, so it's this or nothing.

The dm has suggested that I try running a campaign, but the how 'creating a combat encounter' thing baffles me so much that I have no idea on how to do so. Also, I kind of enjoy being a player more and am not the most creative person. On top of that, my work takes up a lot of my time, leaving me unable to plan out such things. Strike number 4 to me on being a dm is that my math skills are nearly non-existent. I can only do the most basic math and keeping track of so many different numbers is well beyond my ability. :(

In the end, my real frustration comes from taking so much damage 75% to 100% in a single round if not a single attack) and rather often at that. It's not uncommon to see at least two players making death saves every other encounter in either campaign. It feels as if the dm wants pcs dying often and I don't want to keep making new characters every few sessions because it's impossible to keep one alive for very long. Again, I'm not sure if this is normal for DnD games or if my dm is abusing the monster creation system for his onw entertainment.

Combat is the real focus of our campaigns as characters' personal back-stories never end up being relevant and I gave up on making anything that would tie my characters into the settling as it never gets any use by the dms (any of the dms I've played with, in fact). The characters just end up being stat blocks and lists of spells and abilities, from what I've seen. Some of the players are good and rp-ing interesting personalities, but if you make a character who is the son of the captain of the town guard out to avenge his father's death, that plot-arch will never end up being explored because the dms never work such things into their campaigns.

I don't know if I'm just being in-experienced and a whiner, or of there's any justification to my feelings on this. I have no way of knowing.