Opinions and suggestions for a samurai build

[Zilen]

Hi everyone!

As the title says, i would like to heard your opinions and suggestions for this concept of build i have for a samurai fighter.

The things i want for this build:

Expertise in persuation.
A greatsword for melee and a longbow for ranged.
Elven accuracy + Fighting Spirit is tempting but not a need.

I'm open to multiclass (looking at you hexblade), but i prefer to be primary a fighter.

Thank you in advance!
Have a nice day! :D

[pr4wn]

Hi everyone!

As the title says, i would like to heard your opinions and suggestions for this concept of build i have for a samurai fighter.

The things i want for this build:

Expertise in persuation.
A greatsword for melee and a longbow for ranged.
Elven accuracy + Fighting Spirit is tempting but not a need.

I'm open to multiclass (looking at you hexblade), but i prefer to be primary a fighter.

Thank you in advance!
Have a nice day! :D

I was recently doing a similar concept, but with a halfling, so greatsword was right out... However, you may want to consider a Kensei Monk. You would need to use a Longsword 2 handed instead of a greatsword, but you can use it with Dex once it is a Kensei weapon (level 3). If you can get your DM to allow Ki Fueled Attack from Tasha's, it fixes a lot of the conceptual issues I had with Agile Parry.

Being able to get three attacks around with the weapon at level 6 anytime you attempt a Stunning Strike or use Deft Strike makes it feel a lot more like an expert with those weapons.

I know it doesn't check all the boxes, but it is something else to look at and consider.

Outside of that, what level are you looking to play to? Is this going all the way to 20th, or realistically only to a certain level? With Kensei, picking up Sharpshooter can be huge, especially after 11th level when you can make your longbow a +3 longbow (only a net -2 if you want to add the +10 to damage from SS).

-pr4wn

[Bobthewizard]

To use elven accuracy with both a great sword and a longbow, I would recommend 3 levels of warlock for Hexblade/Pact of the Blade/Improved Pact Weapon. You would have to use an action to switch between them though since Hex Warrior doesn't work with 2 handed weapons.

For this build, I generally use the greatsword primarily and then rely on eldritch blast for ranged damage, taking improved pact weapon and agonizing blast as my invocations.

This is a good 3 level dip for a samurai. Charisma SAD, +1 weapon, a good ranged option, a few spells for fun, combines elven accuracy with great weapon master, and then you get advantage and extra attacks from the samurai. Focusing on Charisma allows you to get more out of Elegant Courtier too. Like most multiclass builds, this is a little rough from levels 4-7, but after that, it's great. I like spells so I prefer a 3 level samurai dip on a hexblade. It levels better too - Hexblade 5 / Samurai 3 / Hexblade X

[kalkyrie]

The things i want for this build:

Expertise in persuation.
A greatsword for melee and a longbow for ranged.
Elven accuracy + Fighting Spirit is tempting but not a need.

I'm open to multiclass (looking at you hexblade), but i prefer to be primary a fighter.
Have a nice day! :D

I'll have to flag up the obvious choice.

Rogue 1 /Samurai X.

Expertise in Persuasion from Rogue, everything else you want from the samurai subclass.
For your feats mix GWF, Elven Accuracy and +Str ASIs to taste. (Obviously you'll have to focus on greatswords or longbows to some degree. Different stat requirements and feat-chains).

Race could be Variant Human (earlier GWF) or Half-Elf (for elven accuracy).

[BigRedJedi]

https://ddb.ac/characters/39562005/qhlVeX

Quick and dirty take, SAM 15/HEX 5, gets you all the key points you were looking for in the OP. Will comment deeper when not on my cell.

[Zilen]

Thank you all for the answers!

pr4wn:
Ideally this character would be for a long campaing, i would say from level 1 up to 18 more or less.
I´ll look in kensei then, never even considered monk in for this build, thanks!

Bobthewizard:
Looks like a good idea to rely on eldritch blast for ranged and focus completly on the greatsword. And the invocations just makes this even better. I really like this idea.

kalkyrie:
I though about dip 1 in rogue, but outside for the expertise, i really dont think i won anything else. I mean, sneak attack needs to be with ranged or finnese so it doenst get along that well here and the damage scales with rogue levels so it may be good for low levels but thats about it. But thieves cant may be good to have for some scenarios.

BigRedJedi:
Oh wow, I´ll look deep in that character, thanks! I´ll wait for your comment!!!

Again ty all! I really appreciate this :D

[BigRedJedi]

Thank you all for the answers!

pr4wn:
Ideally this character would be for a long campaing, i would say from level 1 up to 18 more or less.
I´ll look in kensei then, never even considered monk in for this build, thanks!

Bobthewizard:
Looks like a good idea to rely on eldritch blast for ranged and focus completly on the greatsword. And the invocations just makes this even better. I really like this idea.

kalkyrie:
I though about dip 1 in rogue, but outside for the expertise, i really dont think i won anything else. I mean, sneak attack needs to be with ranged or finnese so it doenst get along that well here and the damage scales with rogue levels so it may be good for low levels but thats about it. But thieves cant may be good to have for some scenarios.

BigRedJedi:
Oh wow, I´ll look deep in that character, thanks! I´ll wait for your comment!!!

Again ty all! I really appreciate this :D

So, here's the rub with the Sam15/Hex5 build:

Depending on how early you want to get your 3rd swing or shot with your weapons, I see two approaches to your leveling path. Sam11/Hex5/Sam4, which gets you all of Samurai's goodies except the capstone (Rapid Strike) to give you, effectively, the Fighter's 4th Attack per attack action whenever you enjoy advantage on your attacks (which should be much if not all of the time by then). This path would leave you as primarily an archer until Lv 14, then playing your Greatsword/Longbow swapper in Tier 4. Building your Dex first, waiting on Elven Accuracy to round out your Charisma once you grab some Hexblade levels,

If, instead, you want to harness that Greatsword/Longbow feel (and, I think the better 'feeling' approach that will be more fun to play through those levels), Sam2/Hex5/Sam13 will get you all of your fun toys and allow you to use a blade cantrip for your melee attacks (until Lv 16, when you unlock your third attack, and get the same capstone capability from Sam15) and be a very competent melee combatant, a capable melee combatant, and with some spell versatility for defense.

Filling your THP pool with Armor of Agathys before combat, then refilling it with Fighting Spirit (sometimes multiple times), and having a solid Second Wind pool to draw upon will give you considerable resilience and compensate for what looks like a slightly low Constitution score.

Getting Con save proficiency from Fighter and the new Eldritch Mind invocation from Tasha's (adv. on Con saves to maintain concentration on a spell) will mean that whether you are using Hex at range or Spirit Shroud in melee to boost your damage output, it is unlikely that you will need to worry about losing concentration, and the use of either Greatsword or Longbow allows you to not be hindered when casting in combat, as a general rule).

On the topic of invocations, I consider Eldritch Mind the only critical choice, the other two I selected were Beguiling Influence (for Deception and Persuasion proficiency, this allows the character to have a much broader array of proficiencies, but this is also the invocation that could most easily be swapped to something else, most likely Devil's Sight, if you're willing to work the Darkness approach), and Armor of Shadows for at-will Mage Armor. Now, you might suggest Improved Pact Weapon for a Pact Longbow, however, since this build will plan to boost both CHA and DEX to maximum, this is not, necessarily, essential to the build. It is a perfectly valid and effective choice, probably to replace Armor of Shadows if you choose to utilize Medium Armor instead (which would alter the build to pick up Medium Armor Master and a Feat of your choice, instead of pumping Dex to 20), I am a bigger fan of the boost to initiative and DEX saves, but this is a perfectly valid approach for a Hexblade.

Taking the Prodigy feat (hooray for being Half-Elf/Half-Human) to get your Persuasion Expertise will net you a whopping +18 Persuasion without any magic items considered (+20 with the suggested Legendary which we will get to later).

Playing this path, you'll likely remain an Archer up to level 5, then pick up your first Greatsword at Lvl 5 when you get Pact of the Blade. From there on up, your combat capability will be superior with a blade cantrip in melee, but still effective at range with your bow and Hex/Hexblade's Curse to boost the damage. Though you won't have a deep pool of spells to choose from, utility/defensive picks like Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, and Shield can complement your damage boosters in Hex/Spirit Shroud.

With your blade cantrip taking one of 3 cantrip choices, including Mage Hand and Minor Illusion (since your ranged attacks will be with a longbow, rather than Eldritch Blast) seem to provide the most utility from the Warlock's somewhat limited list, though the new Mind Sliver is very, very tempting if you wanted to sneak Hold Person into your spell list.


Important gear to consider:

Magic Weapons (Remember that your Pact Weapon can be a Greatsword because you are Pact of the Blade, but your longbow cannot without Improved Pact Weapon, if you max DEX this is only a problem if you are captured and they take your bow away).

Ioun Stone of Mastery: One of the most commonly-forgotten items in the game and gives the rare and unbelievably powerful boost of +1 to your proficiency (which is extra important for a Hexblade, who gets bonus damage based on proficiency, on top of the other benefits of the item).

Ring of Spell Storing: Make friends with at least a 9th-level cleric, pay them handsomely to cast Holy Weapon into your ring at least once per day. Make the bad guys explode in any combat that you get to use this awesome spell.

If you decide, at some point, that you'd rather Eldritch Blast at range, instead of longbow, a Rod of the Pact Keeper is a great choice, otherwise, Bracers of Archery are a winner for your longbow blasting.

Bracers of Defense are a solid substitute and a nice buff for the Mage Armor approach to AC.

Cloak/Ring of Protection is never bad.

Etc.


That's the "short" overview of things, if you have questions (or if anyone would like to improve on the skeleton here), I'm more than happy to answer as quick as I can.

-BRJ

[BigRedJedi]

Thinking about it before I call it a night, Sam3/Hex5/Sam12 does get you the Samurai goodies and only delays your Greatswording ways by a relatively short level, so that's a definite consideration.

[da newt]

If you are interested in alternates, a Sami with Revenant Blade / Double Scimitar could be fun (and DEX SAD).

Then a rogue dip would yield SA and expertise. I'd suggest swashbuckler or arcane trickster (for familiar HELP) if you go that far.

As others have pointed out, Hexblade dip is very handy.

[Zilen]

Thinking about it before I call it a night, Sam3/Hex5/Sam12 does get you the Samurai goodies and only delays your Greatswording ways by a relatively short level, so that's a definite consideration.

Hi there!

OMG the amount of things considereted there is just wonderfull!!
Its even better than i expected, so thank you very much!!

Right now with all of this info, the only questions i would have are the invocations, there are a lot of very cool options! (I mean, you can have a "paladin" smite for example).

After that, now i have an idea of what im gonna do, thank you!


Da newt:
I didnt though about those options, I´ll look for them, thank you!