Foxhound438
2019-11-06, 09:20 PM
So with the most recent Unearthed Arcana we see some pretty interesting new fighting styles... Unarmed fighter is all the rage, as it gives you a ton of gas compared to a +2 here or there, but I think that Blind Fighting has a much better potential.
Blind Fighting
Being unable to see a creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it, provided the creature isn’t hidden from you.
Pair with the post errata Alert feat:
Alert
(...)
Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.
And you suffer none of the normal drawbacks to not seeing your enemy. Now, normally, if you and an opponent can neither one see the other, you both have disadvantage to attack from not seeing them, as well as advantage from them not seeing you, but take the one of those that works against you away from the equation and you have advantage on your attacks with enemies having disadvantage to attack you. This is pretty much the equivalent of having Darkness+Devil's sight, except now there's no need to do a 2 level warlock dip (don't you dare), and you can use any mutually blinding effect you can think of. Darkness is still a good option since you can move it around with you, as well as cover it for your allies to be able to see without losing the spell, but here we can use Fog Cloud to get pretty much the same benefit at a slot lower cost.
So, as a fighter we can go down the EK route to get Fog Cloud, and then take Alert and your choice of Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master to deal tons of damage at high accuracy, and have a pretty big effective boost to AC at the same time.
Now, this isn't to say that battlemaster is obsolete or anything- this blind fighting style isn't even official content yet- but it is a pretty big power spike for eldritch knights that want to do more consistent damage without having to wait until level 19 for Greater Invis. It's an extra action to get going compared to a battlemaster's get up and go, but Fighters do in fact have an extra action to spare if they want, and here you get advantage for as long as you keep the spell up, rather than only having 4-6 uses of Precision Attack. There's give and take to both, and of course a battlemaster can have advantage pretty easily himself with tripping attack (or this style and another easy mutual blinding effect like an eversmoking bottle or something), but for people like me who appreciate having spells as an option, this could make for some pretty cool characters.
Some spells that EK can grab to take advantage (badumtss) of this are:
Fog Cloud
Darkness
Sleet Storm (this one being better for SS EK's since you don't want to lose your spell to... your spell)
Stinking Cloud (see above)
Wall of Fire (more free damage, basically, but you do have to place the wall in a smart way to really maximize it)
Pyrotechnics (nonconcentration)
Of course, as always, be aware that blinding your allies takes advantage away from them if they have it. A lot of people I know get really annoyed about darkness + devil's sight since some people don't seem to have any restraint and end up hurting the party more than helping, but you can avoid doing that by just being aware and not using this as an every time go-to strategy. Or just agree to make a full blindfighting party, up to you.
Blind Fighting
Being unable to see a creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it, provided the creature isn’t hidden from you.
Pair with the post errata Alert feat:
Alert
(...)
Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.
And you suffer none of the normal drawbacks to not seeing your enemy. Now, normally, if you and an opponent can neither one see the other, you both have disadvantage to attack from not seeing them, as well as advantage from them not seeing you, but take the one of those that works against you away from the equation and you have advantage on your attacks with enemies having disadvantage to attack you. This is pretty much the equivalent of having Darkness+Devil's sight, except now there's no need to do a 2 level warlock dip (don't you dare), and you can use any mutually blinding effect you can think of. Darkness is still a good option since you can move it around with you, as well as cover it for your allies to be able to see without losing the spell, but here we can use Fog Cloud to get pretty much the same benefit at a slot lower cost.
So, as a fighter we can go down the EK route to get Fog Cloud, and then take Alert and your choice of Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master to deal tons of damage at high accuracy, and have a pretty big effective boost to AC at the same time.
Now, this isn't to say that battlemaster is obsolete or anything- this blind fighting style isn't even official content yet- but it is a pretty big power spike for eldritch knights that want to do more consistent damage without having to wait until level 19 for Greater Invis. It's an extra action to get going compared to a battlemaster's get up and go, but Fighters do in fact have an extra action to spare if they want, and here you get advantage for as long as you keep the spell up, rather than only having 4-6 uses of Precision Attack. There's give and take to both, and of course a battlemaster can have advantage pretty easily himself with tripping attack (or this style and another easy mutual blinding effect like an eversmoking bottle or something), but for people like me who appreciate having spells as an option, this could make for some pretty cool characters.
Some spells that EK can grab to take advantage (badumtss) of this are:
Fog Cloud
Darkness
Sleet Storm (this one being better for SS EK's since you don't want to lose your spell to... your spell)
Stinking Cloud (see above)
Wall of Fire (more free damage, basically, but you do have to place the wall in a smart way to really maximize it)
Pyrotechnics (nonconcentration)
Of course, as always, be aware that blinding your allies takes advantage away from them if they have it. A lot of people I know get really annoyed about darkness + devil's sight since some people don't seem to have any restraint and end up hurting the party more than helping, but you can avoid doing that by just being aware and not using this as an every time go-to strategy. Or just agree to make a full blindfighting party, up to you.