Which party member is the ideal choice for Simulacrum?

[J.C.]

Hey, so if you did not already know Simulacrum does not have to duplicate yourself.

What party member (OTHER than yourself) is the ideal candidate for your Simulacrum?

You are 20th level and the other players are 20th level. Go ahead and design your perfect Simulacrum by specc'ing out your ideal Party Member for your Simulacrum.

I am liking 20th level Moon Druid or 20th level Shadow Monk. Psionic Grappler build seems good too. Great against Anti Magic Field (if you are an Arcana Cleric and you used your Divine Intervention to cast Simulacrum).

[OldTrees1]

The Fighter's pet snake. Now you have 2 pet snakes.

[J.C.]

The Fighter's pet snake. Now you have 2 pet snakes.

Interesting. So you think a Yuan-ti Sorcadin? Am I reading you correctly? Capische?

[OldTrees1]

Interesting. So you think a Yuan-ti Sorcadin? Am I reading you correctly? Capische?

Yes, the Yuan-ti Sorcerer has a friend, a Yuan-ti Paladin. The Paladin got everyone in the party a pet snake. Including one for their friend the Yuan-ti Sorcadin. The Sorcerer casts Simulacrum on one of the snakes. I will leave it up to the imagination whether the target is one of the pet snakes, or the "pet" Sorcadin.

[Nidgit]

Yes, the Yuan-ti Sorcerer has a friend, a Yuan-ti Paladin. The Paladin got everyone in the party a pet snake. Including one for their friend the Yuan-ti Sorcadin. The Sorcerer casts Simulacrum on one of the snakes. I will leave it up to the imagination whether the target is one of the pet snakes, or the "pet" Sorcadin.
As long as the Artificer can build some kind of flying contraption in which to transport all these pet snakes.

[J.C.]

Yes, the Yuan-ti Sorcerer has a friend, a Yuan-ti Paladin. The Paladin got everyone in the party a pet snake. Including one for their friend the Yuan-ti Sorcadin. The Sorcerer casts Simulacrum on one of the snakes. I will leave it up to the imagination whether the target is one of the pet snakes, or the "pet" Sorcadin.

So keeping in out over beyond under afar distant circa de maximum was too hard for you?

Please just post your ideal party member for your Simulacrum.

[OldTrees1]

So keeping in out over beyond under afar distant circa de maximum was too hard for you?

Quit fracking around and just post your ideal party member for your Simulacrum.

... My first post was not in blue text. While a PC's pet is not the most optimal target for combat effectiveness, I suspect I would get more enjoyment out of targeting that party member than by targeting a PC. You suggested Paladin, which lead to the idea of using Find Greater Steed and a Ring of Spell Storing to create more impressive snake pets. (And, just in case, I said the party's "pet" Sorcadin as a backup option)

I apologize for the unconventional opinion. I expect you to get plenty of more conventional opinions as well.

@Nidgit Who would you want to target with simulacrum?

[Mork]

The one campaign I had acces to simulacrum we didn't have loads of downtime, so I'd want a simulacrum that lasts.
So something with good defence, a decent health pool, and preferably doesn't go into melee, while dealing damage without relying on recharge abilities.

- With that in mind, a lvl 20 fighter archer build, probably champion with sharpshooter, savage attacker, tough and heavy armour master, DEX 20.
- Alternatifly an archer palladin, who plays a lot like the fighter archer, but with an +5 aura (but that will probably not stack with the initial palladins aura), in exchange for the extra attacks
- Or a warlock with all the eldricht blast invocations, so you can do decent damage while moving enemies around the battlefield.

- A copy of the skill monkey can be decent, to get advantage on skill checks due to working together.

- And if you make simulacrums for specific fights.. fighter 2/sorcerer18? with quicken and twin you can burn through your sorcery points as you want, you only have a limited amount of time to life anyway.

EDIT: I just reread the simulacrum, and apperently it does get back it short and long rest abilites that aren't spell slots. That explains OPs suggestions a lot more. Now I feel kinda stupid for gimping my simulacrums xD
That being said, I still stand by my fighter archer as a level 20 damage dealer. I would change it to battlemaster, or maybe an elven archer samurai though. More damage will take monsters down faster.
If the party lacks front line fighters, than yes a moon druid can be quite tanky by gaining a 100hp every round, but a sharshooter fighter without subclass deals 3 times the damage, (not taking into account hit changes)

[Pandamonium]

I'd probably Simalucrum my partys horny bard for all the hijinks they would get into.

If I would be actually efficient I would probably copy the party frontliner/tank or a monk/rogue striker :)

[Lokishade]

Ancestral Path Barbarian.

Sharpshooter feat.

Tons of javelins.

Infinite rages, ranged attacks that reach 120 feet for safety, replenishable, grants the party resistance to that boss while the original also grants resistance. Alternatively, the duo has the option to grant party resistance from 2 enemies.

Why pick Totem Barb when EVERYONE can be Totem Barb?

OR

Path of the Zealot Barbarian.

Make a complete kamikaze that hits like a truck and doesn't die for 1 minute.

The original can even join in on the fun, since his revival only costs the Cleric a spell slot.

[Gignere]

Whoever does the most min/max.

[J.C.]

Whoever does the most min/max.

Good point. Feel free to point out what the ideal min/maxed party member to use for Simulacrum.

[OldTrees1]

2 Bards = Advantage + Expertise + Guidance + Bardic Inspiration
Basically your spell known = they get to inspire themselves for +5 DC

Not my ideal choice, but someone's

[J.C.]

2 Bards = Advantage + Expertise + Guidance + Bardic Inspiration
Basically your spell known = they get to inspire themselves for +5 DC

Not my ideal choice, but someone's

What about Star Druid 2/ Abjuration Wizard 18 + Bard for the ultimate scroll caster / counterspeller?

[MaxWilson]

... My first post was not in blue text. While a PC's pet is not the most optimal target for combat effectiveness, I suspect I would get more enjoyment out of targeting that party member than by targeting a PC.

You can't target a snake though, only a humanoid. That's why I thought you were joking at first too.

[OldTrees1]

You can't target a snake though, only a humanoid. That's why I thought you were joking at first too.

Wait what??? Furiously double checks. It would be just like 5E to make weird limitations.


You shape an illusory duplicate of one beast or Humanoid

Does my source (AFB, using internet) have a typo?


What about Star Druid 2/ Abjuration Wizard 18 + Bard for the ultimate scroll caster / counterspeller?

You could do that. Personally I am more invested in DC 35-45 skills than I am counterspelling. However that would work. The action economy boost would also help counterspelling.

[PhantomSoul]

Does my source (AFB, using internet) have a typo?


My PHB includes beasts too!

[OldTrees1]

My PHB includes beasts too!

Whew, although now that Max Wilson informed me it has type limitations (why? It can already copy PCs, why limit the types?), that means I can't combine it with Find (Greater) Steed (provided the DM expanded the list for flavor) because that spell changes the type. Nooo! I will have to rely on the pets obtained through mundane means.

[MaxWilson]

Wait what??? Furiously double checks. It would be just like 5E to make weird limitations.

Does my source (AFB, using internet) have a typo?

Huh. Apparently I've been doing that wrong for years. My bad.

[J.C.]

Ancestral Path Barbarian.

Sharpshooter feat.

Tons of javelins.

Infinite rages, ranged attacks that reach 120 feet for safety, replenishable, grants the party resistance to that boss while the original also grants resistance. Alternatively, the duo has the option to grant party resistance from 2 enemies.

Why pick Totem Barb when EVERYONE can be Totem Barb?

OR

Path of the Zealot Barbarian.

Make a complete kamikaze that hits like a truck and doesn't die for 1 minute.

The original can even join in on the fun, since his revival only costs the Cleric a spell slot.

I like the idea of a completely non-magical tank complementing a Spellcaster. For Arcana Cleric this option potentially seems really good. Can a Zealot Barbarian be a good grappler with high mobility?

[Lokishade]

Can a Zealot Barbarian be a good grappler with high mobility?

I mean, sure, why not? Barbs are made of strength, rage makes anything strength related with advantage and the Expertise to make your grapples ridiculously effective is just one feat.

If the idea is to throw your enemies into a volcano, you can picture a Zealot who just up and grabs some fool and dunks it in lava for 1 minute, making sure it dies. But I wouldn't recomend using 1500gp for that. The original can be brought back by spending a level 9 spell slot, free of charge.

[Clistenes]

I would say a Celestial Pact Eldritch-blast focused Tomelock...


As good damage dealer as the real deal.

Ranged combatant, so the small hp pool isn't as bad as it would be for a melee combatant.

Can freely use the Rituals, Cantrips, Mystic Arcanum, Eldritch Invocations and Healing Light since none of them rely on spell slots...

Celestial Radiance helps counter the low hp to some degree...


That is my choice, assuming we are using the Simulacrum for your usual adventure, several days of exploring and fighting, several encounters per day... on the other hand, if you are planning to use your Simulacrum for a single big encounter, you can create a Sorcadin able to go nova and deal a ton of damage very fast before getting destroyed or a Wizard or Sorcerer who would spend all its spells in that single encounter before becoming useless...

[Witty Username]

The party rogue would be interesting, now they can sneak attack twice, can use the buddy system for scouting, almost no rest abilities to worry about, can fake their death once.