What type of character would suit my preferred playstyle? (flashy tactical support?)

[Rfkannen]

I was thinking earlier about what I find fun and not fun in ttrpg combat, and it got me wondering. What type of dnd 5e character do you think would most fit with the things that I enjoy in ttrpg combat?

Things I don't find fun in ttrpgs:


Being the person in the party who does the most damage and focuses on doing damage (sharpshooter builds for example)

giving numerical bonuses to my allies that have no other effect (like bless, which gives a bonus with very little strategy to it)

Giving numerical debuffs to my enemies that have no other effect (like bane, which gives a minus with very little to capitalize on)

Topping off health of my allies. I like being able to heal, but doing it constantly is boring.



Things I find to be a ton of fun in ttrpgs:


Buffs that have effects that change the way a fight is played (stuff like haste and greater invisibility)

Control (grappling, holding people in place, moving them around)

Debuffs to enemies that let the party change tactics (like marking one enemy so they take more damage and stuff like that. Hold person)





Over all, I like doing things other damage in combat, and I like whatever I do to be flashy, dramatic, and tactical. Any tips for what type of character is good for that?

[KorvinStarmast]

A warlock, wizard, or sorcerer can do all of this. The details come in spell choice and feature choice, etc.

My Celestial Warlock, tome, does mostly support, buff, debuff, battlefield control (banishment, hold person, (wand of web) and so on.

Flying spell, repelling blast, and a some other stuff.

[Matt4]

I think Druid would work for what you're searching. You get a lot of spells for battlefield control, healing stuff, some cool debuffs, varied features depending on the subclass you chose (I wouldn't advise the Moon Circle, since that one is a bit more focused on doing damage, even if a lot of beasts have option for grappling and restraining enemies).

You also get a lot of utility out of combat, with the various wild shapes you can use for scouting.

[KorvinStarmast]

Spells like Bane, Haste, and Slow (In Tasha's update) are on the Bard list.

Bard has a lot of buff and debuff.

Hypnotic pattern is a nice battlefield shaping spell, for example.

Cutting words is an occasional debuff on enemy attacks, dissonant whispers has a lot of uses for breaking up attack ... Look through the Bard spell list.

Also, both the guidance cantrip and bardic inspiration are ways to selectively buff "when the ally needs it"

As for grappling, I took Athletics, and expertise in it as a lore bard. With a 12 strength I have now and again surprised enemies with my +7 to the shove or grapple. It's not an "I win" button, but it's handy. Get a belt of giant strength or ogre gaunts and that expertise in grappling becomes a nice edge for the role you describe.

[Pandamonium]

A friend played a warforged Strength Bard with focus on establishing CC and then Grappling foes.
You have plenty of your sought after spells in the bard list and can inspire allies while Grappling if you like :D

[Rashagar]

Best thing to do would probably be to look through spell lists for what jumps out at you.

A character I particularly enjoyed before and felt was flashy was a sorcerer with a 1 level dip into bard.
Only played him at low level, but Twin Dissonant Whispers (flavoured as illusory spiders) and Web on a Drow, his bardic inspiration was basically sarcastically dissing his ally's endeavours which drove them to prove him wrong.

But sorcerer has a lot of flashy magic to choose from, and making use of metamagic can add to the flashy feeling (to me anyway).

Others would probably advocate getting the same feeling from combining wizard subclass features with their larger spell list choices, but sorcerer is where it's at for me.

[Aett_Thorn]

I’m also going to put a plug in for Druid, and depending on your DM, Artificer.

Druids have a lot of good battlefield control spells while also having access to heals if you really need them. Circle of the Land gives you access to more spells and the ability to regain spell slots during the day, which can be helpful.

Artificers also have a decent amount of buff and control spells, but can also create magical items more easily. So making a lot of wands with control effects allows you to pick the one you need in the situation.

[RogueJK]

Yep, sounds like a Druid to me. Specifically a Land Druid, to pick up even more non-Druid buff or control spells, like Grassland (Invisibility, Haste) or Underdark (Web, Stinking Cloud, Greater Invisibility, Cloudkill).

Bard can also access many of your chosen style of spells, and make great support characters. So maybe a Lore Bard, to poach even more of these type of spells using Magical Secrets.


And if you want to focus 100% on non-damaging support and tactics, you can do that. I played a character like that before as a Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard X, though were I to redo it today I'd likely do Peace Cleric 1/Lore Bard X. He was a lazy, hedonistic, and slightly cowardly minstrel priest of the God of Good Times, who preferred to contribute to combat from the sidelines. I relied on buff/debuff/control/summon/healing spells, while handing out Bardic Inspiration, using Cutting Words, and slinging insults and Disadvantage with Vicious Mockery when I didn't have another use for my Action. Basically making the rest of the party better and shaping the battlefield, rather than directly contributing points of damage myself. I rarely did any actual significant damage, with my own damage coming mainly from occasional use of Dissonant Whispers or Synaptic Static, plus the minor d4 damage from the Vicious Mockery cantrip. But even with those, the control/debuff riders of those spells were the main focus, not the damage itself.

Not a great option for a smaller party of 3 or 4, where the added damage contribution is actually needed, but a fun option for a party of 5+.

[Unoriginal]

I was thinking earlier about what I find fun and not fun in ttrpg combat, and it got me wondering. What type of dnd 5e character do you think would most fit with the things that I enjoy in ttrpg combat?

Things I don't find fun in ttrpgs:


Being the person in the party who does the most damage and focuses on doing damage (sharpshooter builds for example)

giving numerical bonuses to my allies that have no other effect (like bless, which gives a bonus with very little strategy to it)

Giving numerical debuffs to my enemies that have no other effect (like bane, which gives a minus with very little to capitalize on)

Topping off health of my allies. I like being able to heal, but doing it constantly is boring.



Things I find to be a ton of fun in ttrpgs:


Buffs that have effects that change the way a fight is played (stuff like haste and greater invisibility)

Control (grappling, holding people in place, moving them around)

Debuffs to enemies that let the party change tactics (like marking one enemy so they take more damage and stuff like that. Hold person)





Over all, I like doing things other damage in combat, and I like whatever I do to be flashy, dramatic, and tactical. Any tips for what type of character is good for that?

Depending on your DM, an Illusion-user can be an amazing tactical asset which effectively control and debuff the enemy (although not with mechanical effects), while being as flashy and dramatic as one can be.

An Illusionist Wizard in particular is great for that. Nothing like having an illusion of lava that turns into real lava when some smarty sees through it and attempt to prove its fakeness.

[Man_Over_Game]

Not sure if you have the Wildemount book, but the Gravity Wizard sounds like it's right up your alley.

It's a complex, utility+support-based wizard subclass that focuses around hindering your enemies' mobility and capabilities while improving your allies.

The Time Wizard in the same book is very similar, but deals more in general-purpose stat increases to be a better support.

The level 2 power of the Gravity Wizard allows you to double or halve the weight of any Large (or smaller) object or creature without a save. Increased weight reduces speed by 10 and gives that creature Advantage on Strength checks and saves. Decreased weight increases speed by 10, doubles jump height, and gives Disadvantage to STR checks/saves.

The level 6 power allows you to move a creature you buff or hit with a spell (that is, a hit attack or a failed save) by 5 feet in any direction of your choosing.

This kind of character would be excellent with stuff like Flaming Sphere or Wall spells, as you force enemies into staying within your death zones.

[EDIT] I just realized, the level 6 power doesn't have verbiage that limits the number of targets moved. You can move everything you successfully hit with a spell by 5 feet, even if it's an AoE spell.

The new Fathomless Warlock in Tasha's is also an excellent zoner, able to block off entire sections of combat through summoned tentacles.

I also agree that, as a class, the Druid has the most baseline support for what you're looking for, although none of its subclasses actually focus much on those aspects (for some reason). That is, the Druid gets spells that do what you're looking for, and there are Druid subclasses that get more spells, but there's no Druid subclass that inherently focuses on things like decision-based utility or zone control or whatever, so it doesn't matter much what kind of Druid you are based on the criteria so far.

As a side-note, Wildemount has a lot of utility/support spells that anyone with your ideals would be interested in (like a Vicious Mockery-esc cantrip that knocks the target prone).

[Bilbron]

I was thinking earlier about what I find fun and not fun in ttrpg combat, and it got me wondering. What type of dnd 5e character do you think would most fit with the things that I enjoy in ttrpg combat?

Things I don't find fun in ttrpgs:


Being the person in the party who does the most damage and focuses on doing damage (sharpshooter builds for example)

giving numerical bonuses to my allies that have no other effect (like bless, which gives a bonus with very little strategy to it)

Giving numerical debuffs to my enemies that have no other effect (like bane, which gives a minus with very little to capitalize on)

Topping off health of my allies. I like being able to heal, but doing it constantly is boring.



Things I find to be a ton of fun in ttrpgs:


Buffs that have effects that change the way a fight is played (stuff like haste and greater invisibility)

Control (grappling, holding people in place, moving them around)

Debuffs to enemies that let the party change tactics (like marking one enemy so they take more damage and stuff like that. Hold person)





Over all, I like doing things other damage in combat, and I like whatever I do to be flashy, dramatic, and tactical. Any tips for what type of character is good for that?

My BladeGrappler build might be appropriate. In fact, ALL of my builds tend to be "Jonny" builds that can hang with the "Spike" builds.

Note: you don't have to watch the video, as I always provide links to show notes and the full char sheets in Google Sheets for benefit of folks with better things to do than watch videos

BladeGrappler video: https://youtu.be/HaAaRk-dBws
BladeGrappler Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iAcYh1GUiGD6Tu-LciRPWtecPlQIITJvKcGpUK7D8n4/edit#gid=0

[Nefariis]

Lore Bard has everything! -

Expertise Athletics, all the spells you listed (plus two he can steal), cutting words, and bardic inspirations.

Add one level of a Cleric or Paladin for Heavy Armor and additional spells.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Order Cleric 1/ Lore Bard, wear heavy armor and prioritize Cha, Str, Con, Wis in that order. Use variant human or custom lineage to start with Shield Master, get proficiency in Athletics and put expertise toward it.

You can grapple and shove prone a strong opponent at the start of each encounter, between expertise and Cutting Words you shouldn't fail that very often. Despite your hands being full, you can still cast plenty of spells that only have verbal components: Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, Healing Word, Faerie Fire, Command, Blindness/Deafness. Cleric spells prepared should include Shield of Faith and/or Protection from Good and Evil, either of those and Heroism from your domain as well as Healing Word and any other Bard spells that target allies will trigger a reaction attack thanks to the order domain. This is especially good if you have a rogue in the party, as it allows them to make a second sneak attack.

If you're not grappling someone you'll have a decent enough Str to make melee attacks, but lacking extra attack it won't contribute much in the mid to higher levels.

Pick one of the Ravnica backgrounds if possible for more spell choices, you can customize out the background's feature and proficiencies per the PHB. Simic Scientist gets Enlarge/Reduce, Polymorph, and a few other good ones, or Golgari Agent gets a ton of useful spells that should fit your play style.

[Selion]

I was thinking earlier about what I find fun and not fun in ttrpg combat, and it got me wondering. What type of dnd 5e character do you think would most fit with the things that I enjoy in ttrpg combat?

Things I don't find fun in ttrpgs:


Being the person in the party who does the most damage and focuses on doing damage (sharpshooter builds for example)

giving numerical bonuses to my allies that have no other effect (like bless, which gives a bonus with very little strategy to it)

Giving numerical debuffs to my enemies that have no other effect (like bane, which gives a minus with very little to capitalize on)

Topping off health of my allies. I like being able to heal, but doing it constantly is boring.



Things I find to be a ton of fun in ttrpgs:


Buffs that have effects that change the way a fight is played (stuff like haste and greater invisibility)

Control (grappling, holding people in place, moving them around)

Debuffs to enemies that let the party change tactics (like marking one enemy so they take more damage and stuff like that. Hold person)





Over all, I like doing things other damage in combat, and I like whatever I do to be flashy, dramatic, and tactical. Any tips for what type of character is good for that?

You just described a bard. A cleric would also fit the role, but you used the word "dramatic", then ride that drama and buff with charismatic style :P
Another good choice IMHO is divine soul sorcerer, to dive into two of the must versatile spell lists in the game.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I will say that bard, druid and wizard works best for BFC.

I prefer the lore bard because it is more flexible.
(IMO a bard become stronger the bigger his party gets)

For druid I will go moon for grappling and casting, land for focusing on casting or shepherd for controlling the battlefield with bodies.

About wizards I have no idea what will work best but I think that illusion wizard will be on the top in high tier play.

Edit:
I forgot about clerics.
They have some great spells foe controlling areas.


Edit 2:

Paladins auras and some spells can also be good for it.

[da newt]

You can build a good controller / support / encounter changer from any of the full caster classes just by making good choices, but Bard is the class designed for your described play style.

Of note, to really be effective, do what you can to act early in initiative (twilight cleric, gift of alacrity, weapon of warning, alert feat, good DEX, etc).

[Man_Over_Game]

I hate to be that guy, but I don’t think Bard is a great choice. Most of what they do is support, yes, but they also focus heavily on number changes. All of their BI uses are focused around rolling better, taking less damage, healing, etc., and their spells aren’t much different.

From the original post, it sounds like OP is looking for stuff similar to Wall spells, location-specific summons, and terrain effects. Bards don't get many of those.

[ZRN]

A warlock, wizard, or sorcerer can do all of this. The details come in spell choice and feature choice, etc.

My Celestial Warlock, tome, does mostly support, buff, debuff, battlefield control (banishment, hold person, (wand of web) and so on.

Flying spell, repelling blast, and a some other stuff.

Celestial Warlock is a decent call.

I'd definitely consider Favored Soul sorcerer (or maybe aberrant soul) too. You get some really good buffs/debuffs and can tactically improve them with Twinned Spell and other metamagic.

[Bobthewizard]

This is my favorite type of character play, taking flashy spells even if boring options are better. I think wizard hands down is the best class for this, getting more flashy spells than other classes. Don't take all of these spells. These are just ideas. I wouldn't take both silent image and fog cloud for example, or both Bigby's hand and telekinesis.

1 - Tasha's hideous laughter, grease, fog cloud, silent image
2 - web, levitate, flaming sphere, misty step, invisibility
3 - fly, enemies abound (not as powerful of a spell but more fun than hypnotic pattern or fear)
4 - storm sphere, polymorph, wall of fire, dimension door
5 - animate objects, Bigby's hand, telekinesis
6 - scatter (to be honest, I always take mass suggestion and contingency here because they are so good.)
7 - reverse gravity, either teleport or plane shift
8 - illusory dragon
9 - prismatic wall, true polymorph, shapechange

Add in your defensive spells - shield, absorb elements, counterspell, maybe mirror image
Take a blast - almost always fireball for me
And one of the Tasha's summon spells - I like shadowspawn
And then all of the rest rituals or downtime spells
If hypnotic pattern, wall of force and force cage fit your idea then those are amazing spells.

[Nidgit]

As others have said, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard are your best bets.

If you're interested in grappling, there's a really unique Stars Druid/Astral Self Monk build out there that uses the Stars Druid's Starry Form (Dragon) to facilitate Wis-based grapples from 10 feet away while leaving you free to cast. You'd just want to pick up Expertise in Athletics from somewhere to ensure it works reliably.

[Merudo]

A very flashy and support character is a Glamour Bard.

Mantle of Inspiration lets you reorganize the battlefield completely, and you can eventually do it 5 times per short rest.

[LudicSavant]

I hate to be that guy, but I don’t think Bard is a great choice. Most of what they do is support, yes, but they also focus heavily on number changes. All of their BI uses are focused around rolling better, taking less damage, healing, etc., and their spells aren’t much different.

From the original post, it sounds like OP is looking for stuff similar to Wall spells, location-specific summons, and terrain effects. Bards don't get many of those.

There's Glamour Bard, which grants a huge amount of influence over the positioning of everyone on the battlefield. That's definitely not just about number changes.

Lore Bard is flashier than Bless or typical Inspiration, I think, because Cutting Words is very surgical. There's a lot of impact on what you decide to cut, and when. And because it has some unique control combos. It's much less of a "fire and forget," as it were. That, and because there's the extra potential of more Magical Secrets (thus getting to express your own unique playstyle more).

Contrary to what one might assume, Evoker (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?625274-How-to-optimize-Evokers) has some very unique and literally flashy control options (remember, Evocation isn't just the school of Fireball, but also the school of people walking through Wall spells or camping in Sickening Radiance or punishing movement or action with "do this or else" pressure or executing complex hazard combos. Even when it's using Fireball, the main thing it changes about Fireball is that it allows you to Fireball in party formations you previously couldn't).
In terms of potential for "changing how the fight is played," Sculpt Spells is a biggie. Also does some unique things when dipping Order Cleric.

Sorcerers can make good buffers with stuff like Twin and Extend. Divine Soul, Clockwork Soul, and Aberrant Mind are the standouts.

Repelling Blast is a very potent positioning and combo tool to set up your teammates (one of the best "move people around" abilities in the game). Celestial Warlocks in particular can get very support-y and flashy. And are so versatile that you can make a strong, well-rounded party of 4 of them all taking the same build. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25015583&postcount=26) They are great healers, but don't stop controlling and kicking faces in to do it (they just do it while simultaneously doing other things, on the very same turn). Pact of the Chain can make them very tanky, and get all the interesting layers of familiar scouting and using objects with their own action economy and such.

Peace Clerics have a great positioning and damage-splitting game.

[Hael]

Celestial and fathomless warlocks. Druids (wildfire and moon). Peace clerics (for the buffing and repositioning). Gravity wizard. Swarmkeeper ranger. Artillerist and alchemist artificer (for buffs). All bards etc

Some sort of ultimate support would involve 6 lvls of peace, some lvls of arti for the temp hp and maybe some warlock to push people around.

Feats like telekinetic, spells that provide summons with grapples etc.

[ImproperJustice]

I’m wondering if a Battlemaster is a better choice.

You get:

Abilities that debuff enemies drastically (Fear, Disadvantage against specific targets, knocking enemies prone).
You can move people around (Maneuvering Strike, Pushing Attack)

You can change things around (Bait and Switch, Disarm)

And there is room for a few more good options as well like Ambush, Tactical Assesment, etc...

Then Multiclass dip if you wanna do something else after level 5, or stay the course and use your extra ASI to grab a fun/ useful feat.

Some of my faves for a Battlemaster include Ritual Caster (for some obscure spellbook the party doesn’t have like Bard, Cleric or Druid). Although getting a Familiar can be pretty Wiz.

Poisoner: extra damage, a useful tool proficiency, and a status effect added to your attacks.

Healer (although you said you don’t like healing)

Keen Mind: paired with Cartography can be a powerful dungeon navigation tool. Perfect memory and navigation can help in various situations.

Telekinesis: a handy utility cantrip and a free bonus action reposition of allies and sometimes enemies.
Can be super useful if their are persistent damage effects or hazards present.

Athlete: Climbing bonus, and maneuvering help with exploration

[Rfkannen]

I am VERY intrigued by those saying warlock! I have only played one warlock, they were my second 5e character, first one in a long campaign, and they were a celestial warlock (the ua version). I found the character extremely dull, I felt like 99% of the time I did nothing but spam attacks and heal someone on the rare occasion that they actually went to 0 (it was the dms first campaign and they went a bit easy on us). I remember I spent most of my spellslots on a spell that made potions that never left ua. That character was the first time I noticed I really liked to have a bit more to do rather than just lower the enemies hp and raise the hp of my allies.

That was years ago, but it kind of soured me on the warlock class. Are there ways to build warlocks that don't have that problem?

[Houster]

I was thinking earlier about what I find fun and not fun in ttrpg combat, and it got me wondering. What type of dnd 5e character do you think would most fit with the things that I enjoy in ttrpg combat?

Things I don't find fun in ttrpgs:


Being the person in the party who does the most damage and focuses on doing damage (sharpshooter builds for example)

giving numerical bonuses to my allies that have no other effect (like bless, which gives a bonus with very little strategy to it)

Giving numerical debuffs to my enemies that have no other effect (like bane, which gives a minus with very little to capitalize on)

Topping off health of my allies. I like being able to heal, but doing it constantly is boring.



Things I find to be a ton of fun in ttrpgs:


Buffs that have effects that change the way a fight is played (stuff like haste and greater invisibility)

Control (grappling, holding people in place, moving them around)

Debuffs to enemies that let the party change tactics (like marking one enemy so they take more damage and stuff like that. Hold person)





Over all, I like doing things other damage in combat, and I like whatever I do to be flashy, dramatic, and tactical. Any tips for what type of character is good for that?

I like similar playstyle and I say:
Divine soul with distant and twin :

Buff: twin polymorph/haste. Also distant fly/invisibility can be VERY tactical, espiacelly that they can be upcast to target more friends. Twin sanctuary, twin shield of faith, distant featherfall.... The list goes on and on.
Debuff: twin or distant bestow curse- it's an underrated spell and distant really makes it a star. 1 sp cost for distant. 5th level it can upcast to be no concentration.
Control- slow, hypnotic pattern, sleet storm(very flashy), spirit guardians(not the best for a squishy). I really like erupting earth but that's maybe my thing. Creating difficult terrain with no concentration(and damaging, not to mention the flashyness) is great.

With all that list I must emphasize twin polymorph, having seen what it can do, and how flashy it is...It's perfect for you(any sorcerer can do this).

[Houster]

I am VERY intrigued by those saying warlock! I have only played one warlock, they were my second 5e character, first one in a long campaign, and they were a celestial warlock (the ua version). I found the character extremely dull, I felt like 99% of the time I did nothing but spam attacks and heal someone on the rare occasion that they actually went to 0 (it was the dms first campaign and they went a bit easy on us). I remember I spent most of my spellslots on a spell that made potions that never left ua. That character was the first time I noticed I really liked to have a bit more to do rather than just lower the enemies hp and raise the hp of my allies.

That was years ago, but it kind of soured me on the warlock class. Are there ways to build warlocks that don't have that problem?

I'd say warlocks are bad for this kind of play. You need to be able to cast spells, after a few castings you are left with repelling blast... which is great. I just think it's not what you described you wanted.

Also what you say about your experience with the warlock resonates well with my thoughts on the class.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'd say warlocks are bad for this kind of play. You need to be able to cast spells, after a few castings you are left with repelling blast... which is great. I just think it's not what you described you wanted.

Also what you say about your experience with the warlock resonates well with my thoughts on the class.

I think the one exception might be the Fathomless Warlock. Combining Repelling Blast and leaving your Bonus Action free, you can really mess someone up by interjecting the tentacle between you and them, and then just pushing them back into range of the tentacle. The Tentacle also slows, which stacks with the slowing invocation you can pick up for your Eldritch Blast, allowing you to:


Push the target 10 feet.
Reduce their speed by 20 feet for the round.
Deal an average of 10 damage each round.

And this is almost every turn, at-range, starting at level 2.

At level 10, your Evard's Black Tentacles spell is learned for free, and it's also upgraded to grant you temporary hitpoints and its Concentration to not be broken by damage. It's worth noting that Black Tentacles is probably the best Warlock zoning spell in the game.

[Houster]

I think the one exception might be the Fathomless Warlock. Combining Repelling Blast and leaving your Bonus Action free, you can really mess someone up by interjecting the tentacle between you and them, and then just pushing them back into range of the tentacle. The Tentacle also slows, which stacks with the slowing invocation you can pick up for your Eldritch Blast, allowing you to:


Push the target 10 feet.
Reduce their speed by 20 feet for the round.
Deal an average of 10 damage each round.

And this is almost every turn, at-range, starting at level 2.

At level 10, your Evard's Black Tentacles spell is learned for free, and it's also upgraded to grant you temporary hitpoints and its Concentration to not be broken by damage. It's worth noting that Black Tentacles is probably the best Warlock zoning spell in the game.

Now that's really cool and I want to try this concept myself.

But I think it's still not what he meant...

really, very cool idea. It's the "sentinel" warlock.

[Burley]

Check out the Mastermind Rogue. All the normal rogue stuff, plus you can use the Help action as a bonus action, from 30ft away, to give an ally advantage on their next roll. That's subtle power.

[KorvinStarmast]

I think the one exception might be the Fathomless Warlock. Combining Repelling Blast and leaving your Bonus Action free, you can really mess someone up by interjecting the tentacle between you and them, and then just pushing them back into range of the tentacle. The Tentacle also slows, which stacks with the slowing invocation you can pick up for your Eldritch Blast, allowing you to:


Push the target 10 feet.
Reduce their speed by 20 feet for the round.
Deal an average of 10 damage each round.

And this is almost every turn, at-range, starting at level 2.

At level 10, your Evard's Black Tentacles spell is learned for free, and it's also upgraded to grant you temporary hitpoints and its Concentration to not be broken by damage. It's worth noting that Black Tentacles is probably the best Warlock zoning spell in the game.
Unfortunately for me, the Fathomless wasn't 'live' when I build my Warlock, so I went with celestial. Nice post, yet :smallsmile: again, and those sure are good synergies.

[RogueJK]

It's worth noting that Black Tentacles is probably the best Warlock zoning spell in the game.

Most Warlocks won't be able to utilize it. It's normally only on the Wizard spell list. But Fathomless gets it as a class ability, and Great Old One gets it as an option on their subclass expanded spell list.

[Man_Over_Game]

Most Warlocks won't be able to utilize it. It's normally only on the Wizard spell list. But Fathomless gets it as a class ability, and Great Old One gets it as an option on their subclass expanded spell list.

Really? I could a sworn it was a warlock staple.

(EDIT) Derp, I realize I got it mixed up with Hunger of Hadar, which...is basically the same spell at a lower level

[Mercurias]

You can do a tactical support type with a lot of characters, but if you want something flashy and tactical then there’s this one build I’ve had my eye on trying personally:

https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24896365&postcount=880

It’s a Shepherd Druid/Peace Cleric. It does HAVE direct numerical boosts, but the real good stuff comes from your ability to summon and rearrange the battlefield on a whim.