Eberron Dragonmarks min-max builds

[Alucard89]

I am preparing myself for new campaign in Eberron. Dragonmarks obviously open up a lot of new min-max options which can perfectly fill some classes gaps

So what are some of best min-max builds with Dragonmarks in your opinion?

[Sol0botmate]

From top of my head (I will get to details later) some ideas:

Mark of Sentinel Cleric. Cleric with Counterspell is something really flexible and strong + Bigby Hand is great spell to have.

Mark of Shadow DEX Vengeance Paladin. Max DEX, light armor + shield, proficiency in Stealth + Pass Without Trace + Greater Invisibility and you have nice Holy Hunter build. Take Elven Accuracy and pair it with Greater Invisibility.

Mark of Passage Arcane Trickster maybe? Pass Without Trace on Rogue character is utterly broken + extra teleport is always nice.

[MrStabby]

I wouldnt say builds per se, but highights from a combat optimisation perspective:

Mark of finding:

Wisdom and con are good stats to boost for a lot of classes - with wisdom you are probaly a caster or monk or ranger. The former likes the boost to con saves, the latter the boost to HP is more valuable. +2 wisdom isn't that common anyway. Hunter's mark can be nice, although can be stronger on a multiclass. Spell list has a lot of divination stuff but the combat boost comes fom the excellent farie fire. I would say this is really strong at low levels.



Mark of Handling:

Not much to say except Conjure animals is on the spell list. The stats support cleric and druid, but only cleric really likes this. Still, if you want something like conjure animals on a nature cleric, here you go.



Mark of passage:

Dexterity and a free point make this a very broad appeal race. Faster speed is something often underestimated and a nice boost. Misty step as an ability is really good; often useful and soemtimes vital.

And the spells you get... wow. This is one hell of a selection. Yes, all mobility focussed but really good ones. I can see these being really attractive to a devotion paladin type that might not otherwise have similar options. Its worth noting that all of these spells don't need your casting stat. It potentially opens up some interesting options for things like Swords bards that dump charisma and focus on being a melee powerhouse. I would say this is maybe the most interesting race.


Mark of sentinel:

Some antisynergistic things here, but powerful nevertheless. Con and wisdom is still a good combination for a number of classes. Insight and perception are good skills to get a bonus on. Free casting of shield spell is great and the race spell list has some gems. Counterspell is obviously greatbut I also rate bigby's hand. Vigilant guardian is where it gets wierd - your wisdom bonus points you towards being a caster and the con bonus suggests concentration spells - willingly being hit is not a really good move. I could see this maybe working well for a moon druid tank or maybe a life cleric...


Mark of warding:

Ok so the skills are investigation and thieves tools - both nice to have. The spells it lets you cast - mage armour, arcane lock and alarm, are worth having. The int boost suggests that the class most likely to use this is artificer or wizard - so probably less use from mage armour - but if you did want to pull out a melee bard or sorcerer and ae OK forgoing your primary stat increae I guess it could work. More obviously though is the moon druid again - mage armour is actually pretty good there. The spells added to the list are unremarkable apart from the very nice armour of agathys. A good race for creating unexpectedly tough casters I guess (especially with the dwarf con boost).

[ATHATH]

With Mark of Warding and that feat from UA that lets you grab an invocation, you can pull off the Armor of Agathys+Armor of Shadows+Abjuration Wizard build without ever dipping Warlock, IIRC.

[Sol0botmate]

Mark of passage, sentinel and shadow are imo best overall.

Elf Mark of Shadow Vengeance Paladin - you have great way to make him really really stealthy.

First of all you get free d4 to Stealth Roll. That is like perma guidance, which one of best cantrips in games. Next you get Pass Without Trace. Next you get Disguise Self which is great for any class with High CHA. Next you get Invisibility 1/day and Greater Invisibility (which rembmer will be working with your Steed).

So we can make very nice DEX Vengenace Paladin with Elven Accuracy at level 4 for 18 DEX, wear breastplate (no penalty to stealth) for nice 18 AC, wielding rapier and shield. With Proficiency in Stealth + d4 roll + Pass Without Trace you can have on level 5 + 19,5 to Stealth roll without advantage. You are really stealthy and reallyyyyy bursty. And as Vengeance you already have a lot of mobility.

You can think about using Revenant feat maybe and attack with DBS with DEX + later greater invisibility for a lot of triple d20s. For bosses you have classic Haste + VoE combo.

[Bobthewizard]

Agree with Mark of Shadow Vengeance Paladin. Here's my write-up (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24549849&postcount=8) for one of DorkForge's build challenges.

I am also having a blast playing a Mark of Warding Abjuration Wizard. He's a melee wizard, mixing Armor of Agathys and Arcane Ward (which can stack) for an extra 22 rechargeable hit points at level 4. Right now, he's standing next to the cavalier and tanking away. Anyone that hits him takes 10 points of damage from his Armor of Agathys and they have to burn through his Ward before they can remove the Armor of Agathys.

[Evaar]

Mark of Handling:

Not much to say except Conjure animals is on the spell list. The stats support cleric and druid, but only cleric really likes this. Still, if you want something like conjure animals on a nature cleric, here you go.



Point of order, the Mark of Handling subrace has a floating +1. So it can be effective as any caster, including Wizard. So if you wanted to play a Newt Scamander type, here you go.

I also think there's likely some utility to be had in being able to cast Animal Friendship on a monstrosity, particularly since you can follow that up with Speak With Animals and ask it for favors while it's charmed.


Finally I think it's been discussed elsewhere, but if you make a Mark of Hospitality Halfing, go Warlock and take the Celestial Patron, follow that up with Tome Pact, then you're getting: Prestidigitation, Sacred Flame, Light, your 2 Warlock cantrips, 3 other cantrips from any class, with ideal stats. You keep the Lucky and Brave halfling features, your Persuasion checks get +1d4, and you're just generally a pleasure to be around with your goodberries (on a short rest spell slot) and unseen servants and tiny huts and bonus action heals and such. A Celestial Warlock who has a cantrip for every situation and turns every dungeon into a home. And because of the way Warlocks work, you can always bring effective damage by just relying on Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, and Hex.

I think Tome is the better way to go with this since it opens up rituals for free uses of Tiny Hut, but there's probably a case to be made for Chain so you can cover scouting duties as well as have your imp taking people's orders and balancing the till.

[Wizard_Lizard]

Mark of Warding can make a fairly nice wizard.
Dwarf with INT bonus is always pretty good.

[Azuresun]

Mark of Handling is probably the sleeper hit out of all of them. The possibility of getting a Chimera, Bulette, Gorgon, Roc or Purple Worm to help you out is comedy gold, though after the first time, you'll probably never run into a powerful low-INT monstrosity for the rest of the campaign. :smalltongue:

[tatsuyashiba]

All Dragonmarks shore up one of sorcerer’s greatest weaknesses: lack of spells known.

[Sol0botmate]

Agree with Mark of Shadow Vengeance Paladin. Here's my write-up (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24549849&postcount=8) for one of DorkForge's build challenges.

I am also having a blast playing a Mark of Warding Abjuration Wizard. He's a melee wizard, mixing Armor of Agathys and Arcane Ward (which can stack) for an extra 22 rechargeable hit points at level 4. Right now, he's standing next to the cavalier and tanking away. Anyone that hits him takes 10 points of damage from his Armor of Agathys and they have to burn through his Ward before they can remove the Armor of Agathys.

Why he says "free feat at level 1"? Elfs don't get free feat at level 1 unless I miss something for Eberron

[Bobthewizard]

Why he says "free feat at level 1"? Elfs don't get free feat at level 1 unless I miss something for Eberron

It's a common campaign-specific house rule.

[Satori01]

All Dragonmarks shore up one of sorcerer’s greatest weaknesses: lack of spells known.

Dragonmarks do not shore up that problem at all. The marks give new spell options, but not more spells known.

[Sol0botmate]

It's a common campaign-specific house rule.

Interesting. What campaign?

[Wizard_Lizard]

Dragonmarks do not shore up that problem at all. The marks give new spell options, but not more spells known.

To be fair, that's a problem with the sorcerer too...

[tatsuyashiba]

To be fair, that's a problem with the sorcerer too...

I totally misread it. Gonna have to let my DM know...

[Wizard_Lizard]

I totally misread it. Gonna have to let my DM know...

Ehh it happens.

[Bobthewizard]

Interesting. What campaign?

When a DM starts a new campaign, they tell players how to make characters. Use UA or not, roll or point buy, no monster races, and options like that. Sometimes, they will tell players, everyone gets a feat at level 1. It's up to the DM.

When I DM, I'll do it for some games and not others. Depends on how I see the campaign.

[Sol0botmate]

Another variantion would be DEX Elf Mark of Shadow Vengance Paladin 6/14 Lore Bard. This would give you Pass Without Trace + Expertise in Stealth + Jack of All Trades and on level 12 you would get Magic Secrets and you could pick Haste + Counterspell to really go for that Dark Assassin Singer roleplay. This also allows you to pick Expertise in performance and benefit even more from extra d4 to not only Stealth but Performance Check from Mark of Shadow. You can later also get Expertise in Deception which will improve your Disguise Self spell + acting. Hm, that could actually be really good build... I will have to theorycraft it more. Whisper or Sword could also work here.


Another route which may seem odd but could work would be DEX Elf Mark of Shadow Vengeance Paladin 12/3 Rogue Assassin. Now, of course this seems like odd choice because we really hurt our spell progression, however this opens up interesting gameplay where with Expertise in Stealth + Pass Without Trace + extra d4 (averaging at this level at +24,5 to stealth roll - lol) we could sneak to almost anything and open round with auto-crits on target with Elven Accuracy. With PAM you could open combat with 2 x (2d6 + 6 + 8d8) + 2d4 + 6 + 8d8, for total of 4d6 + 18 + 2d4 + 24d8 = 145 dmg. You can finish rest levels with full caster just for better slots. Not maybe most optimal choice but very thematic I would say if you table will support gameplay like that (you sneak first to open combat).

Classic 1 Hexblade/Mark of Shadow Vengeance would also work as well as 1 Hex/6 V-Pally/13 Sorcerer for some other sheningans like quicken BB from stealth + Smite. Or 6 V-Pally/14 Hexblade Mark of Shadow with double smite on crit (VoE + Curse + double Smite could really really hurt).

[MaxWilson]

I am preparing myself for new campaign in Eberron. Dragonmarks obviously open up a lot of new min-max options which can perfectly fill some classes gaps

So what are some of best min-max builds with Dragonmarks in your opinion?

House Jorasco (Mark of Healing) Life Cleric 1 + Divine Soul (or any sorc really I guess) is amazing for dungeoncrawl/attrition-based play. When you can heal 960 HP per long rest by level 6 (Extended Aura of Vitality, 4 times per day, with two 1st and two 2nd level slots left over for Bless/Shield/Web/etc.), HP just ceases to be a factor in anything but uber-Deadly fights. If you want you can even start the spell during combat for some pop-up healing, and just leave it running afterwards to heal everyone back up to full (240 HP per casting).

People sometimes like to make a big deal of d6 vs. d10 HP, but this is more like having everyone on d20+. Take Inspiring Leader if you like, for even more fun and easier uber-Deadly fights. Can easily add some warlock for damage and control. You even get a minor damage boost from halfling luck to partially compensate for not getting +Cha. (Rerolling 1s is typically worth about +0.5 to +0.8 to hit, depending on target AC. It also boosts your concentration saves.)

[ATHATH]

Agree with Mark of Shadow Vengeance Paladin. Here's my write-up (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24549849&postcount=8) for one of DorkForge's build challenges.

I am also having a blast playing a Mark of Warding Abjuration Wizard. He's a melee wizard, mixing Armor of Agathys and Arcane Ward (which can stack) for an extra 22 rechargeable hit points at level 4. Right now, he's standing next to the cavalier and tanking away. Anyone that hits him takes 10 points of damage from his Armor of Agathys and they have to burn through his Ward before they can remove the Armor of Agathys.
It's even better if you can get some kind soul to cast Warding Bond on you. The Warding Bond only sends back damage that YOU take (which includes damage to the THP from Armor of Agathys, but NOT damage to the ward's HP), but the resistance still halves the damage that would normally go to that ward. In other words, it basically doubles the effectiveness of your AoA spells without (technically) taking up concentration. The biggest problem with this strategy is finding a partymate who's capable of casting Warding Bond (it's a second level spell, so you can't grab it from just a Cleric dip) who WON'T be bothered by the potentially concentration-disrupting chip damage that they'll take once enemies break through your ward.

[Kvard51]

I think Mark of Warding Abjurers or War Wizards are pretty beast. Particularly w/ the UA feat to snag an invocation.

[Yunru]

I've heard the dragon marks change between Wayfarer's Guide, and Ebberon Rising, so be sure to check both!

[Wasp]

I don't have a build yet but as the Mark of Shadows gives the Darkness spell and there is now the UA Eldritch Adept feat for getting Devil's Sight there must be a way to exploit the combo as a non-warlock - too bad Arcane Tricksters get 2nd level spells so late otherwise this would be very fun with an Echo Knight /AT...

[stoutstien]

Shouldn't forgot the aberrant mark option in this. It's a new contender for strongest lv 1 V human feat and can be a solid option for a lot of PCs.

[Sol0botmate]

I don't have a build yet but as the Mark of Shadows gives the Darkness spell and there is now the UA Eldritch Adept feat for getting Devil's Sight there must be a way to exploit the combo as a non-warlock - too bad Arcane Tricksters get 2nd level spells so late otherwise this would be very fun with an Echo Knight /AT...

I hope this UA will become official part of 5e soon. Feats there are really nice.

[8wGremlin]

Shouldn't forgot the aberrant mark option in this. It's a new contender for strongest lv 1 V human feat and can be a solid option for a lot of PCs.

What makes you say that?




Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
You learn a cantrip of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. In addition, choose a 1st-level spell from the sorcerer spell list. You learn that spell and can cast it through your mark. Once you cast it, you must finish a short or long rest before you can cast it again through the mark. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
When you cast the 1st-level spell through your mark, you can expend one of your Hit Dice and roll it. If you roll an even number, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the number rolled. If you roll an odd number, one random creature within 30 feet of you (not including you) takes force damage equal to the number rolled. If no other creatures are in range, you take the damage.

[stoutstien]

What makes you say that?

+1 con booming blade and shield/AE on a short rest?

[MrStabby]

What makes you say that?

Consider it as a feat for something like a heavy armour cleric. It can transform you into a bit of a melee power house

Extra Con is always nice - especially if you want to be in melee.

Take shield as your spell - not only can you get a free casting once per short rest, but also you know it for further uses

Booming blade, naturally.

And then the wierd add damage or temp HP thing which I have never seen be really that useful.



Or you can use it to boost other class features - Paladin with shield and firebolt for example.


Or maybe you are a ranged eldritch knight wanting to dump int, but get value of of features like warcaster - you can take High constitution and use it as an attack stat for your cantrip.


It just offers so many different complimentary things that it can see use on a lot of different classes.

[MaxWilson]

It's even better if you can get some kind soul to cast Warding Bond on you. The Warding Bond only sends back damage that YOU take (which includes damage to the THP from Armor of Agathys, but NOT damage to the ward's HP), but the resistance still halves the damage that would normally go to that ward. In other words, it basically doubles the effectiveness of your AoA spells without (technically) taking up concentration. The biggest problem with this strategy is finding a partymate who's capable of casting Warding Bond (it's a second level spell, so you can't grab it from just a Cleric dip) who WON'T be bothered by the potentially concentration-disrupting chip damage that they'll take once enemies break through your ward.

I think you're looking for a Mark of Sentinel (for Warding Bond) Moon Druid (for not minding damage) to go along with your Armor of Agathys.