All Feats, no ASIs, no MC challenge - Fighter edition

[Vorenus]

I have an idea that I'm sure has occurred to other people, but I haven't seen any threads discussing this so I figured I may as well get the ball rolling. I'd like to present a challenge for anyone who is interested: Build a character using only Feats, no ASIs, and no multiclass. I'd like to see (a) how well such a character can stack up against characters that do take ASIs and multiclass--i.e., how "optimized" would an "all Feats" character be? And (b), I'd like to see what the most creative and fun characters would be, which I think can be quite different from the "optimized" characters in (a).

I thought we may as well start with the Fighter class as they get the most ASIs and therefore the most Feats. Feel free to use any race and any martial archetype.

If this challenge proves interesting to people I'll start similar threads for each of the classes in the future, and maybe one day we can add back in multiclass options.

Thanks for reading this post, and I look forward to reading your responses and seeing what kind of fun builds everyone comes up with.

--Vorenus

[sithlordnergal]

Hmmmm, this seem fun. =o I'll give it a go. Just to make sure, 27 point buy, and are we allowed to move ability scores around? If yes then I'd go:

Race: Half-Elf


Str: 16 (14+2)

Dex: 14 (13+1)

Con: 16 (15+1)

Int: 9

Wis: 13

Cha: 8



Subclass: Battlemaster Fighter

---Maneuvers---

Distracting Strike
Feinting Attack
Lunging Attack
Menacing Attack
Maneuvering Attack
Parry
Precision Attack
Riposte
Trip Attack



---Fighting Styles---

Dueling
Blind Fighting



---Feats---

Resilient: Wisdom
Heavy Armor Master
Fey Touched: +1 Int, Hunter's Mark for the bonus spell
Crusher: +1 Str
Alert
Toughness
Fighting Initiate: Blind Fighting



This is gonna be a pretty tough Fighter over all. Thanks to Crusher and Heavy Armor Master, you can get an 18 Strength, which is the minimum for strength based attackers I've found. Toughness lets you add 40 HP, Resilient Wisdom nets you proficiency in Wisdom saves and a 14 Wisdom, Fey Touched grants you 10 Int, Misty Step, and Hunter's Mark. Meanwhile Alert is just a handy feat to have and Blind Fighting+Dueling is a pretty nice combo. Snag yourself a Warhammer and you're good to go.

All in all, your end stats are gonna be

HP: 224

AC: minimum 20

Initiative: +7

Str: 18

Dex: 14

Con: 16

Int: 10

Wis: 14

Cha: 8

[J-H]

This is pretty viable. I'm not going to dive into a fully-fleshed build, but here are some components I would probably include:

-Poisoner, because you can use your bonus action to apply a poisoned condition on your next hit, which is pretty good.
-Shield master, because the bonus action shove is nice.
-Eldritch Adept, to pick up things like "always disguise self" (great if you want to play a Warforged Terminator concept)
-Crusher, for generating advantage, especially if you are a Champion, and for knocking people around. It's the best of the 3 damage-type feats.
-Skill Expert. It's a half feat, so you get a minor ability boost. The big attraction is getting Expertise in one skill. For a Fighter, I'd put it in Athletics. If you get up to Strength 18 (from half feats) then your Disarm or Shove Prone or Grapple rolls are at 4+PB*2, meaning at level 17 you have a +16 on your rolls. Disarm isn't just for swords, it also works for arcane focuses, magic staves, etc.
-Fighting Style: Blind Fighting, because 10' blindsight gives you a good chunk of the benefit of Alert plus, well, blindsight.
-If Halfling, Bountiful Luck lets you help allies reroll their 1s once a round. This is a really good one and helps justify going Sword & Board halfling. It's not so good for shove/grapple/disarm, though, so pick skills or "Nobody rolls a 1 on my watch."
-Fey Touched for Misty Step and something else. Shadow-Touched for invis is nice, too.
-Mobile gets you more speed all the time, and free disengage.

[RogueJK]

Wood Elf Battlemaster or Samurai
STR 10
DEX 15+2
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 13+1
CHA 10
Feats: Elven Accuracy (+1 DEX), Piercer (+1 DEX), Skill Expert (+1 DEX, Stealth Expertise), Crossbow Master, Sharpshooter, Lucky, Wood Elf Magic (Guidance)

That's 20 DEX just through feats.

Can make 5x Hand Crossbow attacks per turn for up to 1d6+15 each, or 6x if you use Rapid Strike. This means 9x if you Action Surge that turn, or 10x if you also use Rapid Strike.

Also a master of Stealth, thanks to 20 DEX, Guidance, Stealth Expertise, and Pass Without Trace.

Go Samurai if you want more frequent [Elven] Advantage and WIS saving throw proficiency, or Battlemaster if you want the added damage and effects from Maneuvers.

[noob]

I have an idea that I'm sure has occurred to other people, but I haven't seen any threads discussing this so I figured I may as well get the ball rolling. I'd like to present a challenge for anyone who is interested: Build a character using only Feats, no ASIs, and no multiclass. I'd like to see (a) how well such a character can stack up against characters that do take ASIs and multiclass--i.e., how "optimized" would an "all Feats" character be? And (b), I'd like to see what the most creative and fun characters would be, which I think can be quite different from the "optimized" characters in (a).

I thought we may as well start with the Fighter class as they get the most ASIs and therefore the most Feats. Feel free to use any race and any martial archetype.

If this challenge proves interesting to people I'll start similar threads for each of the classes in the future, and maybe one day we can add back in multiclass options.

Thanks for reading this post, and I look forward to reading your responses and seeing what kind of fun builds everyone comes up with.

--Vorenus
Are half feats(feats that gives an increment of 1 to a stat in addition to their effect) allowed or disallowed?

[nickl_2000]

Goliath Rune Knight Fighter

Mostly Goliath because it fits perfectly, may other choices may be used.

Unarmed Fighting Style

15+2 str, 8 dex, 14+1 con, 15 int, 10 wis, 8 cha
Feats:
Skill Expert +1 str, history, and Athletics expertise
Tavern Brawler +1 str
Heavily Armored (20 str total now)
Ritual Caster Wizard
Crusher (+1 Con)
Sentinel
Fey Touched (int) with Hunter's Mark

Final Stats
20 str, 8 dex, 16 con, 16 int, 10 wis, 8 cha

You are a grappler, being able to boost the heck out of grappling and get to huge size. Out of Combat ritual spells, tanking all day long.

[sithlordnergal]

Are half feats(feats that gives an increment of 1 to a stat in addition to their effect) allowed or disallowed?

Lol, if they're disallowed, then things like Heavy Armor Master, Resilient, all the Tasha's feats that give spell access, and all the damage type feats like Crusher are gonna be gone

[Sillybird99]

I laughed because the first thing that came to my mind was Elven Accuracy and none of the Elf builds here used it.

Edit: Nvm missed it :D

[sithlordnergal]

I thought about Elven Accuracy...but its best used on a build that can get consistent advantage. I'll save it for the Rogue

[Bobthewizard]

For fun and not optimization, you could make a drow eldritch knight, focusing on CHA over INT and taking eldritch knight spells that don't need INT.

drow - dancing lights, faerie fire, darkness
4 drow high magic - detect magic, levitate, dispel magic
6 fey touched - command, misty step
8 shadow touched - invisibility, disguise self
12 eldritch adept for misty visions
14 magic initiate, sorcerer - 2 cantrips, and 1 spell/LR
16 ritual caster - all the rituals
19 aberrant dragonmark - 1 cantrip, and 1 spell/SR

In reality, I'd probably take elven accuracy and sharpshooter first and then some of these.

[RogueJK]

Or, for something a bit out of the ordinary:
Wood Elf Samurai Fighter
STR 10
DEX 13+1
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 15+2
CHA 12
Feats: Wood Elf Magic (Shillelagh), Elven Accuracy (+1 WIS), Fey Touched (+1 WIS, Hunter's Mark), Polearm Master, Crusher (+1 CON), Shadow Touched (+1 WIS, Disguise Self), Skill Expert (+1 CON, Stealth Expertise)

20 WIS and 16 CON through feats, plus WIS-based Shillelagh PAM attacks with added enemy movement from Crusher and extra damage from Hunter's Mark, along with some additional spellcasting from Wood Elf Magic, Fey Touched, and Shadow Touched.

Good at Infiltration due to high Stealth bonus (14 DEX + Expertise + Pass Without Trace), supplemented by Disguise Self or Invisibility as needed.

[quindraco]

Wood Elf Battlemaster or Samurai
STR 10
DEX 15+2
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 13+1
CHA 10
Feats: Elven Accuracy (+1 DEX), Piercer (+1 DEX), Skill Expert (+1 DEX, Stealth Expertise), Crossbow Master, Sharpshooter, Lucky, Wood Elf Magic (Guidance)

That's 20 DEX just through feats.

Can make 5x Hand Crossbow attacks per turn for up to 1d6+15 each. 9 total attacks if you Action Surge that turn.

Also a master of Stealth, thanks to 20 DEX, Guidance, Stealth Expertise, and Pass Without Trace.

Go Samurai if you want more frequent [Elven] Advantage and WIS saving throw proficiency, or Battlemaster if you want the added damage and effects from Maneuvers.

This but moreso. LudicSavanat's excellent Gun-Kata Master (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24854070&postcount=799) satisfies the requirements very nicely, and is easily modified; I'm going to use a Half-Elf for this:

Starting statline: Dex 17 Con 16 Wis 16 (more on this later)
ASIs, in order (remember, you get 7):
4: Sharpshooter
6: Elven Accuracy (Dex 18)
8: Gunner (Dex 19)
12: Piercer or Resilient (Dex), dealer's choice (Dex 20)

After this it's all dealer's choice, so at 14, 16, and 19, take what feels good to you:
Fey-Touched (+1 Wis, Hex) (Wis 17)
Skill Expert (+1 Wis, Athletics Expertise) (Wis 18)
Ritual Caster (Wizard)
Alert
Lucky

The first two help your initiative and give you alternative access to Advantage, Ritual Caster is more about alternative access to Advantage, Alert is all about Initiative, and Lucky is Lucky. Spice to taste.

Bottom 3 feats can happen in any order

[Amechra]

Because no one has done one yet:

Sword-and-Board Githyanki Psychic Warrior

Because why not build an actual factual Gish?

Str 17 / Dex 10 / Con 14 / Int 14 / Wis 12 / Cha 8

Feats:
4th: Heavy Armor Master (+1 Str)
6th: Slasher (+1 Str)
8th: Athlete (+1 Str)
12th: Telepathic (+1 Int)
14th: Telekinetic (+1 Int)
16th: Keen Mind (+1 Int)
19th: Observant (+1 Int)

[Rukelnikov]

Elf(Mark of Shadow)
Urchin
Rune Knight

8 / 15(+2) / 14 / 9 / 13 / 13(+1)

Skills/Tools Proficiencies:

Perception (Elf)
Stealth (Urchin)
Sleight of Hand (Urchin)
Thieve's Tools (Urchin)
Athletics (Fighter)
Acrobatics (Fighter)
Persuasion (Skill Expert @6)

FS - Archery

4 - EA(Dex 18)
6 - Skill Expert (Dex 19) (Persuasion Prof & Expertise)
8 - Sharpshooter
12 - Piercer (Dex 20)
14 - Mobile
16 - Resilient (Wis 14)
19 - Lucky

Runes:
3 - Cloud (Advantage on Sleight of Hand and Deception)
3 - Fire (Expertise in thieves tools)
7 - Storm
10 - Hill/Stone
15 - Hill/Stone

We are an archer with a rogue sideshow for OoC usefulness, and a decent face. Minor Illusion and Invisibility help our roguish stuff.

We could go for Frost Rune instead of Hill to be a better skill monkey, but we lose a a good amount of durability.

[Just Helping]

Just for a laugh, here's the Rune Bite:

Race -- Any
Lineage -- Dhampir

Starting statline:
Str 14+1
Dex 10
Con 15+2
Int 10
Wis 13
Cha 10

Feats:
4) Aberrant Dragonmark (any ranged cantrip, Shield)
6) Skill Expert (+1 CON, Perception prof, Athletics expertise)
8) Tavern Brawler (+1 CON)
12) Resilient (Wisdom)
14) Heavy Armor Master
16) Alert
19) Lucky

Rune Knight Runes:
3) Stone
3) Frost
7) Storm
10) Hill
15) Fire

Wear heavy armor, then get big, wade into combat, grapple, and eat up!

[Vorenus]

Thanks everyone who has posted so far--I'm loving the creativity that everyone is demonstrating with this exercise.

To answer a question posed earlier: Half Feats are allowed. It's still a Feat, right?

[EroGaki]

I love this!

I kind of did a similar thing back in 3.5 with a fighter. I only used my normal feats on non-fighter related things, relying on my fighter bonus feats for the hard hitting stuff. I also tried to avoid getting stuck in feat chains.

The results were surprisingly effective. My fighter was very well rounded, with a bunch of skills and talents and some random spell like abilities. I didn't hit as hard as the die hard fighters, but I did fairly well in combat, and could switch weapon types on a whim depending on the circumstance, rather than being hyper specialized in one weapon.