Need Help: A Man with an Army Build

[FunLord]

Kind of building a Draft of a Warrior / Necromancer:

Idea: Balanced warrior who can fight and command an army of undeads. It seeks for numbers to overcome the enemies while he(she) is capable of defending and attack with efficiency while commanding an army of undeads. It´s not about to be one man army, but a man with an army!

Role: Attack, Control and Support. Don´t tank, since you CANNOT die or there will be a zombie apocalypse!
Race: Human (For stats)
Stats focus: Dex & Int, Con
Background: Anyone that can provide proficiency on stealth. Just make sure the alignment is neutral with your background. Be creative.
Weapon: Rapier + Dagger + Shield + Crossbow hand
Feat: War Caster + Defensive Duelist, Alert, etc...
Armor: Medium (To avoid having disadvantage with stealth).
Maneuvers: Maneuvering Attack, Distracting Attack, and Trip Attack, etc

Fighter 1 (Defense Style) -> Wizard (Necromancer) 5 -> Fighter 4 (Battle Master) -> Wizard 1 -> Fighter 2 -> Wizard 4 -> Fighter 3.

Fighter to begin with better hit points. It can use ranged, also melee weapon (Finesse) to use Defensive Dualist feat later. War Caster for obvious reasons. By level 6, it can already keep 8 undeads under control. From this point, all bonus actions will be used to command the undeads. Return to battle master to take maneuvers and extra attack. Tactically use undeads to aid allies and tank.By level 11 take Wizard level, thanks to Undead Thralls, the undeads will be stronger. Level 12 and level 13 will be figther, in order to gain more superior maneuver moves and additioanl superior dice. Then take 4 wizard levels to gain more spell slots. Finally 3 fighters to have additional maneuvers and superior dice.

Combat:
- Action: Ranged weapon / Finesse weapon as melee if needed. Or spell casting while holding shield.
- Bonus Action: Command your army.
- Reaction: Defensive moves, like the spell Shield.

I simulated it with Human + Defense fighting style (Shield equipped) + Medium armor (Breastplate), we can have AC of 19 at level 1. I believe that it is more than enough to begin with!

Why 10 levels of Fighter?
R/ Level 10 of Fighter provide better Superior dice and more maneuvers

Why 10 levels of Wizard?
R/ The spells are mostly used to keep control over the army of undeads and survive attacks from enemies during combats. With level 10 of Wizard we can have 2 of 5th level slots. With both you can have in total 16 skeletons or zombies. Create Undead is level 6 spell, but you cannot control undead and ghouls at the same time. Try shooting 16 arrows to one only enemy.

Why undeads?
R/ They are immune to poison. With wise strategic, you can control the battlefield. They can do the following: Help, Grapple, Tank, Scout, etc... You just say it! But the reason is because I read a manga called "Solo Leveling" and loved the idea.

Focus?
R/ I believe in making a good character with goals and flaws, but also efficient in combat. It has to possess some degree of weakness, not overpowered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question:
1. Do you think fighter ranged/melee combat + Undeads (Skeletons and Zombies) will do decent damage on higher levels?
2. How do you keep your undeads when entering a town?
3. Any recommendation?


PS. I am sticking to PHB since my DM prefer core contents.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Kind of building a Draft of a Warrior / Necromancer:

Idea: Balanced warrior who can fight and command an army of undeads. It seeks for numbers to overcome the enemies while he(she) is capable of defending and attack with efficiency while commanding an army of undeads. It´s not about to be one man army, but a man with an army!

Role: Attack, Control and Support. Don´t tank, since you CANNOT die or there will be a zombie apocalypse!
Race: Human (For stats)
Stats focus: Dex & Int, Con
Background: Anyone that can provide proficiency on stealth. Just make sure the alignment is neutral with your background. Be creative.
Weapon: Rapier + Dagger + Shield + Crossbow hand
Feat: War Caster + Defensive Duelist, Alert, etc...
Armor: Medium (To avoid having disadvantage with stealth).
Maneuvers: Maneuvering Attack, Distracting Attack, and Trip Attack, etc

Fighter 1 (Defense Style) -> Wizard (Necromancer) 5 -> Fighter 4 (Battle Master) -> Wizard 1 -> Fighter 2 -> Wizard 4 -> Fighter 3.

Fighter to begin with better hit points. It can use ranged, also melee weapon (Finesse) to use Defensive Dualist feat later. War Caster for obvious reasons. By level 6, it can already keep 8 undeads under control. From this point, all bonus actions will be used to command the undeads. Return to battle master to take maneuvers and extra attack. Tactically use undeads to aid allies and tank.By level 11 take Wizard level, thanks to Undead Thralls, the undeads will be stronger. Level 12 and level 13 will be figther, in order to gain more superior maneuver moves and additioanl superior dice. Then take 4 wizard levels to gain more spell slots. Finally 3 fighters to have additional maneuvers and superior dice.

Combat:
- Action: Ranged weapon / Finesse weapon as melee if needed. Or spell casting while holding shield.
- Bonus Action: Command your army.
- Reaction: Defensive moves, like the spell Shield.

I simulated it with Human + Defense fighting style (Shield equipped) + Medium armor (Breastplate), we can have AC of 19 at level 1. I believe that it is more than enough to begin with!

Why 10 levels of Fighter?
R/ Level 10 of Fighter provide better Superior dice and more maneuvers

Why 10 levels of Wizard?
R/ The spells are mostly used to keep control over the army of undeads and survive attacks from enemies during combats. With level 10 of Wizard we can have 2 of 5th level slots. With both you can have in total 16 skeletons or zombies. Create Undead is level 6 spell, but you cannot control undead and ghouls at the same time. Try shooting 16 arrows to one only enemy.

Why undeads?
R/ They are immune to poison. With wise strategic, you can control the battlefield. They can do the following: Help, Grapple, Tank, Scout, etc... You just say it! But the reason is because I read a manga called "Solo Leveling" and loved the idea.

Focus?
R/ I believe in making a good character with goals and flaws, but also efficient in combat. It has to possess some degree of weakness, not overpowered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question:
1. Do you think fighter ranged/melee combat + Undeads (Skeletons and Zombies) will do decent damage on higher levels?
2. How do you keep your undeads when entering a town?
3. Any recommendation?


PS. I am sticking to PHB since my DM prefer core contents.

My recommendation is go Warlock instead of Fighter. Eldritch Blast/Crossbow Master makes melee and ranged viable and on par with Fighter polearm attack routine (but better for the first few levels since Force damage bypasses resistances).

I'd go Warlock 2, Wizard 11 (I doubt a campain will go beyond 13th, but going the rest wizard or sprinkling a little more warlock in for say Warlock 6/Wizard 14 final build can work).

Warlock 3 gets you an improved familiar with chain pact, the imp is functionally Arcane Eye at will and upgrades both pact slots to 2nd level giving you a couple of nice buffs on short rest. So probably worth picking up right after Wizard 6.

Since you'd be focusing on Charisma for combat you can leave int a little lower and use Wizard spells for defense and utility. Mirror image, knock, shield, fog cloud, cloud of daggers, wall of force, etc. are all great. Later you can use Seeming to disguise your minions.

This is a 2 level delay to actually animating undead though, but bumping up to Warlock 5 would give you 2 3rd level slots, so you'd always be able to animate.

All of this is probably unnecessary in a party though, particularly with a "core only" DM. Dwarf Wizard with a Soldier background for the first 11 levels is the win. You get your armor, weapons, and full casting. As I understand it, failing to meet the strength minimum for armor means nothing for dwarves.

[FunLord]

My recommendation is go Warlock instead of Fighter. Eldritch Blast/Crossbow Master makes melee and ranged viable and on par with Fighter polearm attack routine (but better for the first few levels since Force damage bypasses resistances).

I'd go Warlock 2, Wizard 11 (I doubt a campain will go beyond 13th, but going the rest wizard or sprinkling a little more warlock in for say Warlock 6/Wizard 14 final build can work).

Warlock 3 gets you an improved familiar with chain pact, the imp is functionally Arcane Eye at will and upgrades both pact slots to 2nd level giving you a couple of nice buffs on short rest. So probably worth picking up right after Wizard 6.

Since you'd be focusing on Charisma for combat you can leave int a little lower and use Wizard spells for defense and utility. Mirror image, knock, shield, fog cloud, cloud of daggers, wall of force, etc. are all great. Later you can use Seeming to disguise your minions.

This is a 2 level delay to actually animating undead though, but bumping up to Warlock 5 would give you 2 3rd level slots, so you'd always be able to animate.

All of this is probably unnecessary in a party though, particularly with a "core only" DM. Dwarf Wizard with a Soldier background for the first 11 levels is the win. You get your armor, weapons, and full casting. As I understand it, failing to meet the strength minimum for armor means nothing for dwarves.

Interesting tips! Thank you very much! Noted.

Another thing I noticed is that lots Dungeon Masters don´t want to deal with Necromancers. It seems other players may get bored of a necromancer taking all the time with the undead army. How true is that and should I avoid this subclass?

[Kvess]

When in doubt, talk to your DM, but skeletons and zombies aren’t too bad for dice rolling. Their stat blocks are fairly simple and they get one attack each. It’s not as hard to deal with as a druid’s cloud of pixies or random giant animals, and lugging an undead army with you near any settlement will present you with enough challenges to be interesting.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Another thing I noticed is that lots Dungeon Masters don´t want to deal with Necromancers. It seems other players may get bored of a necromancer taking all the time with the undead army. How true is that and should I avoid this subclass?
Be quick, be organized, and talk to your party members to make sure no-one is planning a character who will conflict mechanically (ie, a primary tank) or conceptually (ie, a devotee of Pelor).

[FunLord]

Thank you for the support. I was kind of sad because a necromancer is not so popular and easy to hand.

Being organized and always thinking ahead are what I try in everything game, no matter the character. And you are right, party composition is another factor to consider.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Thank you for the support. I was kind of sad because a necromancer is not so popular and easy to hand.
I mean, the necromancer is easy. Necro-knight is harder-- Cleric is a bit more martial, but doesn't get those sweet School of Necromancy bonuses, and an Oathbreaker Paladin can't raise their first zombie until 9th level.