Resistance Issues (Curse of Strahd)

[AdventureGnome]

Hey, im a playing a group currently just hit 6th level in Curse of Strahd.
My character is a battlemaster fighter (great weapon master and polearm master) and I have silvered my weapons so i manage to bypass alot of resistance within the game, but as you probably know it is pretty impossible to get a magical polearm in modules and polearms are heavily involved with my character and her backstory (so its not like i can just swap to another magical weapon and use that).
Right now im carrying the team through most fights, but i know that since the fight with Strahd and probably more vampires and their spawn is coming that my days are numbered. It wont be long before i am bearly hitting with my great weapon master attacks againt their high AC's and even when i do hit it wont deal alot of damage because of the resistance.
My dm refuses to incorporate one into the game or make any sort of adjustments to help me with this, especially since im the only player with a character who will have an issue with it, im wondering if there is any point multiclassing forge cleric to get the magic weapon at level 1(i would have to sacrifice my 20 strength from the level 6 ASI and add it to my wisdom to be able to do so at level 7)?
Are there many creatures that have resistance to non-magical attacks (that can't be overcome by silver) still to come? (Currently been to the chapel in Kresk and recieved the tome of strahd from the werewolves there, fought the blights at the winery).
And do you personally think its worth getting the resistance piercing? Or would just sticking to fighter work out better?

Thanks for any input cause im really torn here!

[J-H]

What is the rest of the party?

Magic Weapon requires a 2nd level spell slot and Concentration, but could be cast by a Paladin or Wizard. 1d10+6 x 0.5 x 2 = 16 damage per round for your Wizard's Concentration spell.

You could also do a bunch of drop/pick up shenanigans where you take the opportunity attacks on enemies who are approaching, then drop the polearm and pull out a +1 magic weapon and do damage, then swap back at the end of the fight.

[stoutstien]

Hey, im a playing a group currently just hit 6th level in Curse of Strahd.
My character is a battlemaster fighter (great weapon master and polearm master) and I have silvered my weapons so i manage to bypass alot of resistance within the game, but as you probably know it is pretty impossible to get a magical polearm in modules and polearms are heavily involved with my character and her backstory (so its not like i can just swap to another magical weapon and use that).
Right now im carrying the team through most fights, but i know that since the fight with Strahd and probably more vampires and their spawn is coming that my days are numbered. It wont be long before i am bearly hitting with my great weapon master attacks againt their high AC's and even when i do hit it wont deal alot of damage because of the resistance.
My dm refuses to incorporate one into the game or make any sort of adjustments to help me with this, especially since im the only player with a character who will have an issue with it, im wondering if there is any point multiclassing forge cleric to get the magic weapon at level 1(i would have to sacrifice my 20 strength from the level 6 ASI and add it to my wisdom to be able to do so at level 7)?
Are there many creatures that have resistance to non-magical attacks (that can't be overcome by silver) still to come? (Currently been to the chapel in Kresk and recieved the tome of strahd from the werewolves there, fought the blights at the winery).
And do you personally think its worth getting the resistance piercing? Or would just sticking to fighter work out better?

Thanks for any input cause im really torn here!
You kinda shot your self in the foot with the V human GWM/PaM approach. It's a common pit fall I see players trip up on a lot.

The good news is that even against targets with damage resistance from non magical weapons you can still do respectable damage and BM allows a lot of CC and setting up the team that can be more effective than spamming GWM and using precision attack when you miss.

I respect your DM for not catering their campaign to make sure that you get the magical weapon that perfectly fits with every build.

[Contrast]

Right now im carrying the team through most fights, but i know that since the fight with Strahd and probably more vampires and their spawn is coming that my days are numbered. It wont be long before i am bearly hitting with my great weapon master attacks againt their high AC's and even when i do hit it wont deal alot of damage because of the resistance.

Why do you think you're going to start hitting less? Things will only improve as you finally spend ASIs on stats and prof goes up.

Yes you do half damage...but all your attacks are also doing +10 damage and you're making an extra attack every single turn. Honestly that's probably a better deal than a bard gets against an enemy with magic residence and good saves.

Basically yes you won't be as good in some combats but apparently you're currently carrying so there's clearly scope to be worse and still contribute.

[PhantomSoul]

Why do you think you're going to start hitting less? Things will only improve as you finally spend ASIs on stats and prof goes up.

Yes you do half damage...but all your attacks are also doing +10 damage and you're making an extra attack every single turn. Honestly that's probably a better deal than a bard gets against an enemy with magic residence and good saves.

Basically yes you won't be as good in some combats but apparently you're currently carrying so there's clearly scope to be worse and still contribute.

Not to mention that there's an easy toggle -- if you want to hit more often, don't activate GWM. Sure, you lose +5 or +10 to damage, but I see it as a bonus that you can't just mindlessly use that constantly and instead are pushed towards treating it as a decision. Feel free to narrate accordingly, e.g. that your character has realised missing a stronger hit isn't benefiting, or that hitting is more important than hitting hard (especially against creatures who don't get the fill massive boost to damage).

It might even mean your party can take turns shining, instead of always being carried by you as you said!


The good news is that even against targets with damage resistance from non magical weapons you can still do respectable damage and BM allows a lot of CC and setting up the team that can be more effective than spamming GWM and using precision attack when you miss.

Agreed; change up the strategies. You can tank, use other abilities, and perhaps even help set your partymates up to be better as a group. Sometimes you'll shine; sometimes they'll shine; sometimes you'll mainly shine as a group.


I respect your DM for not catering their campaign to make sure that you get the magical weapon that perfectly fits with every build.

Agreed!

[Sigreid]

Your could take a couple of levels of warlock for pact weapon.

[JackPhoenix]

I won't go into detail, but I hope it's not much of a spoiler to say that there's at least one magical spear in CoS

Otherwise, I don't know how "heavily involved with polearms" your character is, but I don't see why you can't switch to a different weapon when needed. You already bring ranged weapon for enemies you can't fight with your heavy pointy stick, don't you? Using a different option when required is just good tactical decision, that doesn't mean you'll have to use it all the time.

[Lunali]

If you aren't completely set on it being a polearm, there are magical weapons "guaranteed" (as in, they are there unless the DM decides they aren't) to be in CoS that qualify for PAM, though not with reach.

[Dungeon-noob]

I won't go into detail, but I hope it's not much of a spoiler to say that there's at least one magical spear in CoS

Otherwise, I don't know how "heavily involved with polearms" your character is, but I don't see why you can't switch to a different weapon when needed. You already bring ranged weapon for enemies you can't fight with your heavy pointy stick, don't you? Using a different option when required is just good tactical decision, that doesn't mean you'll have to use it all the time.
A spear isn't a polearm in 5e, so that doesn't help much.

Me, i'd check with the party if there is any way to get a magic weapon spell or such for the really dangerous fights, allowing you to get past the problem. You can also just keep hitting and look for ways to increase survivability, if you hit half as hard but last twice as long as before, you'll still output the same damage. Admittedly hard and leaves the rest of the party at the same level, so not sure how much it helps, but an idea nontheless.

[AdAstra]

A spear isn't a polearm in 5e, so that doesn't help much.

Me, i'd check with the party if there is any way to get a magic weapon spell or such for the really dangerous fights, allowing you to get past the problem. You can also just keep hitting and look for ways to increase survivability, if you hit half as hard but last twice as long as before, you'll still output the same damage. Admittedly hard and leaves the rest of the party at the same level, so not sure how much it helps, but an idea nontheless.

The spear was actually added to the list of weapons eligible for Polearm Master in a fairly recent errata. Also, there is a magical quarterstaff, though I’ve always disliked the shield and stick combo, it is a valid usage. You won’t be able to use GWM except for the first bullet, but it’s an option

[VonKaiserstein]

So you've got access to a blacksmith who can silver weapons.If I were you, I'd get a magic dagger, and see if you can have the blacksmith mount it onto a spear. Failing a magical dagger, take some of those inherently magical monster parts and see if there's some quest or technique to modify them into a magical polearm head. I'd expect at best a magical weapon with no modifiers, and probably some negative effects vs particular opponents, and possibly some debts with unsavory and powerful people. At worst, you may end up with perpetual disadvantage- but that's really only be appropriate if you tie a dagger to a 10 foot pole yourself and call it a spear.

Failing that, as other posters have said, be flexible. You're a fighter. You might be the greatest at polearms, but if it's not hurting them as much as this magical flail, then flail away!

[Eldariel]

You could always work with the DM to craft/get it crafted somewhere. Though the module isn't super-suited for that, it seems reasonable enough and the secret ingredient could easily be tied to the story á la the nail of a vampire or whatever.

[clash]

Honestly just change up your weapons/ strategy as needed. I had a variant human crossbow expert rogue for curse of strahd that I played as a sniper most of the campaign. When it came to fighting strahd I fought him in melee with a magic weapon that is in the campaign and it went great. You don't need to make use of your feat or specific build in every combat to be effective overall. Just roll with it.

[Ganders]

To tell the truth, it seems totally implausible that anyone in Barovia would be capable of teaching forgecraft, so the DM is unlikely to allow it. But let's ignore that for now.

First of all, your situation isn't so horrible. You noted that the rest of your party doesn't have the issue. So the *party* isn't doing half damage against vampires, the *party* is only doing about 15% less damage per round. Not ideal, but not the end of the world.

Second, switching from polearm to some other weapon is sometimes worth it if the other weapon is extremely magical -- like artifact-level awesome, way more than a simple +1.

Third, you can already cast Magic Weapon on yourself at 5th level, why not just do that when necessary?

Fourth... if there's a wizard in the party they should also be willing to cast Magic Weapon.

Fifth... if you still want it after all the above, why should you be the one to multiclass? Why not convince one of the other party members who already has enough wisdom to take a level of Forge Cleric? Then they can magic-ify your weapon.

[micahaphone]

No idea if this is in the book, but in my CoS game, Vallaki has a pretty cool blacksmith. Get their help attaching the holy magic sword to a long pole, boom you got yourself a glaive