What would you play in a combat heavy one shot at.level 5?

[Wasp]

Hi!

I will be playing a combat heavy one-shor for 5 lvl 5 characters in the near future. We will be hunting a (Young?) red Dragon?

What would you play in such a one shot? All official sources allowed (except UA), point buy, multiclassing and feats are on the table, starting with 1,000 gold and one uncommon magic item per player (pending DM approval).

I was thinking Bugbear Gloomstalker for a first round nova? Or do you think a VHuman Battlemaster would be better?

[RogueJK]

If you're after nova, a Paladin 5 (or Paladin 2/Sorcerer 3 relying on Booming Blade) has good Nova potential, and not just in the first round.

Death Cleric 5 also has solid combat capabilities, with a Channel Divinity "smite" to rival paladins, plus the Spirit Guardians + Spiritual Weapon combo is already online at Level 5.

Both of those rely on melee/close range spells, though. So you'd need a way to negate the Dragon's flying advantage.


As for race, something with Fire Resistance is the obvious choice... Red/Gold/Brass Dragonborn, Fire Genasi, or Tiefling.

[solidork]

Bugbear Gloomstalker would be pretty cool - its a build I'm personally interested in trying out at some point. Specifically for going up against a dragon, ways to knock prone at long range are very powerful (if you're knocked prone while flying, you fall) and as others have mentioned, fire resistance or Absorb Elements would be very good.

You can get a no-save prone at longbow range as a Warlock with Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite but that is a very 'one trick' build.

Honestly, the Ranger is pretty good - you've got Absorb Elements and a good long range attack. If its really a "hunt" with lots of outdoor exploration, you're well set up for that as well.

[RogueJK]

Specifically for going up against a dragon, ways to knock prone at long range are very powerful (if you're knocked prone while flying, you fall)

True. But understand that many means available to Prone an enemy relies on a STR save, and Dragons are strong on those. So something like a Battlemaster Trip Maneuver on a Longbow shot is unlikely to stick.

As mentioned, a Bladelock Archer with the Eldritch Smite invocation is one way around this, with its no-save prone. Or, Proning them with something like Command or Tasha's Hideous Laughter may be more likely to stick, being WIS saves instead of STR.

However, even if you knock them down to the ground with a successful Prone, without a means to Grapple/Restrain them there, they can simply fly off again next turn. But it does add a bit of falling damage, and depending on Initiative order, give one or more of your allies the chance to get a few melee hits in.

[heavyfuel]

"Combat heavy" makes me wanna avoid classes that rely on nova or are that have few resources for a fight, like Paladins and Warlocks.

"Dragon" makes me wanna play a class with Absorb Elements or equivalent, plus some way to deny its mobility.

Armorer or Bladesinger fit the bill. You can prepare some really nice Concentration CC against the Dragon (Web, Phantasmal Force) and you can Fly/Levitate an ally if needed (plus both classes get Featherfall). Booming Blade is a nice "plan B" in case the dragon breaks out of your CC.

If you are expected to level up before facing the Dragon, Artificer all the way, as you can then have fire-resistant armor on 3 party members, which will probably make the fight a cakewalk.

[Jervis]

Hi!

I will be playing a combat heavy one-shor for 5 lvl 5 characters in the near future. We will be hunting a (Young?) red Dragon?

What would you play in such a one shot? All official sources allowed (except UA), point buy, multiclassing and feats are on the table, starting with 1,000 gold and one uncommon magic item per player (pending DM approval).

I was thinking Bugbear Gloomstalker for a first round nova? Or do you think a VHuman Battlemaster would be better?

Twilight Cleric. Had Fairy Fire for instant advantage, gives a massive AOE temp HP drop that refreshes every turn for a minute and recharges on a SR, gives you spirt guardians for 10 minutes of “you can’t touch me”. You can take the Telekinetic feat to shove a creature into SG as a bonus action to make them take tic damage twice on a turn. With SG and either FF or Bless up you can take the dodge action and use BA to shove a creature or bop with Spiritual Weapon and contribute more than most. Assuming custom lineage telekinetic can easily get you to 18 Wisdom, from there it’s debatable if you want to take another feat for warcaster to make your concentration saves better or just up wisdom to 20 dealers choice I suppose.

[animorte]

Go with the Monk for this one. They are the one class that is rarely seen at its finest still going strong after a long day of combat when everybody else is out of resources.


Kensei, Shadow, or Mercy

[Sorinth]

A Rune Knight could be a good option especially if you have a flying ability since they can ground the dragon.

Winged Tiefling would give Fire Resistance which would be nice since grappling a dragon is a sure fire way to become the primary target. Though if you are willing to spend your item on flight lots of other races also become a possibility, though I'd still want Fire Resistance in this scenario.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Grave cleric 2/Divine Soul Sorcerer 3 hits like a tone of bricks with Inflict Wounds.

Rd 1 Channel Divinity path to the grave, bonus action Quicken 3rd level Inflict wounds. 10d10 necrotic takes a big bite out of just about anything.

Twin Spell Inflict is also great.

[Skrum]

As a DM, I wouldn't look particularly favorably on someone taking a fire resistant race for a game like this. Not that I'd stop them or probably even say anything, but my inclination to make a red dragon that breathes cold damage would be very high. Little bit of bad form IMO. Make a good backstory at least, if you're going to go this route. Unless of course the DM has told you "you guys are dragon hunters, prepare accordingly," then by all means, metagame away.

[Sorinth]

As a DM, I wouldn't look particularly favorably on someone taking a fire resistant race for a game like this. Not that I'd stop them or probably even say anything, but my inclination to make a red dragon that breathes cold damage would be very high. Little bit of bad form IMO. Make a good backstory at least, if you're going to go this route. Unless of course the DM has told you "you guys are dragon hunters, prepare accordingly," then by all means, metagame away.

Keep in mind without some sort of mitigation the breath weapon will KO pretty much any level 5 character on a failed save and that save is DC 17, so even if proficient and Dex based it's a coin flip. And then of course there's a 33% chance of it happening again next round. So my impression is that this is supposed to be a deadly one-shot where players are expected to be optimizing towards what is no doubt a very deadly fight (The dragon might not even be alone). Not too mention there are probably fights before the big battle, so I think optimization is expected.

[Skrum]

Keep in mind without some sort of mitigation the breath weapon will KO pretty much any level 5 character on a failed save and that save is DC 17, so even if proficient and Dex based it's a coin flip. And then of course there's a 33% chance of it happening again next round. So my impression is that this is supposed to be a deadly one-shot where players are expected to be optimizing towards what is no doubt a very deadly fight (The dragon might not even be alone). Not too mention there are probably fights before the big battle, so I think optimization is expected.

Yeah very possible. I would just double-check with the DM before going all-in on anti-dragon optimization. If they're expecting a more "generic" party and everyone shows up with fire resistance and the like, that could feel a bit antagonistic.

I mean maybe they're expecting it. The plot hook for the game could very well be "you're all dragon hunters looking to get out of the game, so you're going to take this one last job that everyone said was impossible." In which case, heck yeah, an all tiefling party

[Hael]

In terms of mechanically optimized play. Lvl 5 is dominated by Druids/Clerics/Artillerists.

A twilight cleric is going to be the best character in the game at that level for the party as a whole.

In terms of martials. Rangers are still very good here (Gloomstalker) as are Barbarians.

[animorte]

Yeah very possible. I would just double-check with the DM before going all-in on anti-dragon optimization. If they're expecting a more "generic" party and everyone shows up with fire resistance and the like, that could feel a bit antagonistic.

I mean maybe they're expecting it. The plot hook for the game could very well be "you're all dragon hunters looking to get out of the game, so you're going to take this one last job that everyone said was impossible." In which case, heck yeah, an all tiefling party

This is good to keep in mind, communication being a legitimate concern and great amount of assistance for more enjoyment on both sides.

As a DM, I do like to prepare my players for the oncoming story. For example in a campaign I ran quite some time ago, I told them we would specifically be traveling through some of the harshest of environments seeking out elemental solutions to elemental problems. As characters living in the world, they would likely be aware of the sort of environmental hazards relevant, even if the players technically wouldn't be.

That in mind, if I were that DM, I would certainly expect them to come prepared and optimized or suffer the natural consequences. Not to say that creativity doesn't go a long way to arriving at alternate solutions.

[ender241]

The Shield Master feat would allow you to completely negate the damage from the breath attack with a successful save. Though you'd need a high Dex and/or Dex save proficiency to make it a high enough likelihood to make it worth it.

[Angelalex242]

Paladin, of course. ...because that's what I'd play for any other encounter.

Gold Dragonborn might be tempting, but I would normally be a V Human with Heavy Armor Master.

Either way, though, the point is to smite that dragon with all the radiant I can muster.

[Mastikator]

Either a character that gets extra attack, or one that gets 3rd level spell slots. Warlock can get both :smallcool:

[animorte]

Either a character that gets extra attack, or one that gets 3rd level spell slots. Warlock can get both :smallcool:

Warlock for everything. Represent!

[ciopo]

I default to clerics a lot.

In this case, I think I'd go for either light or tempest cleric and I'd take either a pearl of power or an amulet of the devout as the uncommon item.

Probably variant human with warcaster and a statline somewhere along the lines of 10 14 16 8 18 8 with the ASI if light domain, or maybe 15 10 16 8 16 8 with split or fullplate and both warcaster+resilient(con) if tempest. Or perhabs a variant half elf going tempest with 16 10 16 8 16 8 and only warcaster, mmmh

I am much more willing to minmax the attributes if it's a oneshot.

Also, heavy combat to me means multiple encounters, I would aim for sustain more than nova.

Another fun one could be a divine soul sorcerer, for extended shenanigans on spiritual guardians, half elf for 8 16 16 8 8 18 with fey touched, probably

[Kane0]

Genie Warlock with Spell Sniper and Metamagic Adept (Distant).

[Eldariel]

On this level? Conjure Animals for 8 Flying Snakes absolutely malhandles Dragons as long as you conjure them after the breathe. Giant Owls do it pretty well too. So Druid 5 is pretty awesome (also Tidal Wave to drop it). Melee prowess is fairly meaningless so to that end Moon isn't all that great. This just happens to be a weak level anyways. So Shepherd is the obvious choice though Stars for the Guiding Bolt spam could be decent too. You have Absorb Elements to negate its breath, you can Wildshape into Ape for some ranged damage, etc.

And you get a stock of 100 Goodberries for downtime healing, you have feats free for e.g. Res: Con and Fey-touched for Dissonant Whispers + Misty Step or Spell Sniper to actually hit the damn thing, etc. Pass without Trace is a hugely potent spell for gaining the edge too. Seems good.

[animorte]

Genie Warlock with Spell Sniper and Metamagic Adept (Distant).

I was going to recommend this exactly with Efreeti for fire resistance, but that isn't available until level 6. Still an excellent choice though.

[diplomancer]

Optimize the party, not the character. Have one be a Fire Resistant race Rune Knight fighter on a broomstick of flying and Skill Expert feat for 18 Str and Athletics expertise. Prone and grapple that dragon, use action surge if necessary. The rest of the party's job is to keep the Fighter alive, increase his mobility, and create a spike growth area. Grate that dragon to death.