How many ways are there to fight blind... and is it really a one off tactic?

[5eNeedsDarksun]

After reading a thread about the new ranger Blindfighting style and comments that it is a bit niche, and spells to make it work are as likely as not to mess over your own party, it occurred to me that there are a number of classes and ways to avoid this and it's now fairly doable to make a group designed to create darkness and effectively fight in it.

The first group of 4 that comes to mind:
The aforementioned Ranger
Shadow Sorcerer (who would have to cast the Darkness in order see in it)
Warlock (Maybe multiclass to fill holes...Paladin?)
Moon Druid shapeshifting into something with blindsight/tremorsense

This strikes me as a pretty solid outfit and when the tactic works, as it often would, they'd be very difficult to deal with. Anyway, I'm interested what other ideas people have around this concept. Other ideas I've not brought up? What would be your best 4 character group around this concept?

[BamBam]

Anybody can pick up the blindfighting style as a feat. Its a strong feat if you know how to build around it.

If everyone gets some measure of blindsight and it becomes your party theme then the party gets a huge boost in power. Many encounters get trivialized. Is the DM going to metagame and adjust to the party or stick with the module? If the DM adjusts and shuts down blindsight by adjusting encounters then everyone's blindsight investment is suddenly valueless.

DMs should in an idealized sense stick to the original game plan. If players come together and build powerful cooperative strategies they should get rewarded and net easy victories, right?

The problem is that players want to be challenged and will get bored with easy successes. So then players ask or expect the DM to adjust the original game plan (or the DM adjusts the original game plan before the players ask) to challenge the players and keep the game stimulating. This can be frustrating if the DM sees himself or herself as merely a foe to the party, and not as an ultimate guide, and simply ramps up the difficulty level to compensate for the party's universal blindsight without increasing the rewards. If the DM does not adjust the rewards when he increases the difficulty then the DM is effectively punishing smart, tactical team-oriented play.

REPEAT: If the DM does not adjust the rewards when he increases the difficulty then the DM is effectively punishing smart, tactical team-oriented play.

As a DM I reward cooperative play. When players come together and coordinate a solid strategy, like blindsight, then I recognize the achievement. If I, as a DM, then adjust the difficulty of my encounters to challenge the players, then I must also increase the rewards and let them know when they are KICKin BUTTocks. Let's face it! ●♡}♡●€}□!!!

Smart, tactical team-oriented play should ALWAYS be rewarded by the DM. Modules need unlocks.

[MaxWilson]

After reading a thread about the new ranger Blindfighting style and comments that it is a bit niche, and spells to make it work are as likely as not to mess over your own party, it occurred to me that there are a number of classes and ways to avoid this and it's now fairly doable to make a group designed to create darkness and effectively fight in it.

The first group of 4 that comes to mind:
The aforementioned Ranger
Shadow Sorcerer (who would have to cast the Darkness in order see in it)
Warlock (Maybe multiclass to fill holes...Paladin?)
Moon Druid shapeshifting into something with blindsight/tremorsense

This strikes me as a pretty solid outfit and when the tactic works, as it often would, they'd be very difficult to deal with. Anyway, I'm interested what other ideas people have around this concept. Other ideas I've not brought up? What would be your best 4 character group around this concept?

You can also summon animals with blindsight (like Giant Poisonous Snakes, which are excellent even without the blindsight trick) and Animated Objects/Tiny Servant (both have blindsight).

Can also take the Alert feat to get the defensive benefits of blindsight although not the offensive ones. I had a player who wanted to play an actual blind Shadow Monk PC, and Alert + Darkness was how she equalized fights, turning her weakness into a strength.