How to gain advantage

[Stryyke]

One of our squad is struggling with landing hits. Their hit % in the last 2 combats was around 20%. The last combat, in particular, was really bad. The enemies he was attacking had an ac of 13, and he still only hit them twice in the entire fight. He is a Monk 4. I'm Celestial Warlock 4. I'm trying to figure out ways I could help them get advantage regularly, to up their hit %.

The GM doesn't do flanking, and I'm the only magic user in the group. My thought was that the best way to get him advantage was knocking prone; but I don't know how I'd actually accomplish it. Any advice would be welcome. We are a great team, and overcome long odds a lot; so if we could get him firing more regularly, we'd be able to take on tougher challenges.

The party is all lvl 4

Rogue (don't know what kind, but he has a familiar)
Barbarian (Bear totem)
Monk (don't know what kind)
Warlock (Celestial)

[Abracadangit]

Ugghhh, I've been your friend, before. Had a Rogue once who couldn't hit the side of a barn, it was like the character itself was cursed. Totally sours the experience when you hit 0 times across like 3 encounters. Bonus points if this is supposed to be the campaign that gets said friend into D&D.

Anyway, to answer your question, Celestial Warlocks have access to Guiding Bolt, which for anyone else is a cheap source of advantage spell-slot-wise, but for a Warlock, even a 1st-level spell is one of your precious few, so I don't know how you feel about that.

If your DM is cool with a little re-specc'ing and your Barb friend isn't opposed to the idea, they could swap Bear Totem out for the 3rd level Wolf Totem feature. It's one of the most reliable sources of early-game advantage so long as they're raging, and it encourages kind of a fun buddy-cop combat dynamic where the Barb and the Monk will stick together. But that's totally up to your DM + your Barbarian friend.

Edit Question: You didn't go Chain Pact by any chance, did you? A Familiar using the Help action is another popular advantage source, but you may not have gone that way.

Double Edit: Wait. The Rogue has a familiar!! Have the familiar use Help on its turns. Boom, advantage.

[Frogreaver]

One of our squad is struggling with landing hits. Their hit % in the last 2 combats was around 20%. The last combat, in particular, was really bad. The enemies he was attacking had an ac of 13, and he still only hit them twice in the entire fight. He is a Monk 4. I'm Celestial Warlock 4. I'm trying to figure out ways I could help them get advantage regularly, to up their hit %.

The GM doesn't do flanking, and I'm the only magic user in the group. My thought was that the best way to get him advantage was knocking prone; but I don't know how I'd actually accomplish it. Any advice would be welcome. We are a great team, and overcome long odds a lot; so if we could get him firing more regularly, we'd be able to take on tougher challenges.

The party is all lvl 4

Rogue (don't know what kind, but he has a familiar)
Barbarian (Bear totem)
Monk (don't know what kind)
Warlock (Celestial)

Hold Person is probably your best effect for this. Later on Hold Monster.

Guiding bolt deserves honorable mention at least till level 5.

[tiornys]

Warlocks have very few native spells or abilities that can help you generate advantage for an ally for multiple attacks (one attack is trivial between Guiding Bolt and various illusion applications). Hold Person is likely the best option you'll have in the near future. A properly plausible Suggestion to crawl/lie down can also do the trick for a round. If Monk is capable of seeing through magical darkness and/or has blindfighting they could benefit from spells like Darkness, Hunger of Hadar, or the Tricksy version of Summon Fey.

Is your ASI already set for level 4, or do you have the ability to pick a feat? Would you be willing/able to multiclass?

[RogueJK]

The answer, as with many things in D&D, is Teamwork!

Warlock: Hex enemy, to give Disadvantage on DEX/STR (depending on whether you think they're more apt to use Athletics or Acrobatics)

Barbarian: Grapple + Prone enemy, using Advantage on their Athletics check from Rage to overcome the enemy's hopefully Disadvantaged Athletics/Acrobatics check

Rogue+Monk+Barbarian(+Warlock if melee): Use the ensuring Advantage on all melee attacks to whoop up on the Grappled Prone enemy, who by the way is unable to stand up and therefore is Prone until death or they manage a lucky ability check to break free.


Grapple-Proning enemies is an easy way not only to up the Monk's hit rate, but also to ensure that the party Rogue can always Sneak Attack, plus allow the Barbarian to gain Advantage on attacks without suffering Advantage in return via Reckless Attack. A win-win-win teamwork situation.

[meandean]

- The Rogue's familiar can give the Help action. (So can PCs, but unless the Rogue is a Mastermind, that's unwise.)

- The Barbarian can attempt to Shove enemies prone.

- Four Elements Monks can use Water Whip or Fist of the Unbroken Air to attempt to knock prone. If Tasha's Ki-Fueled Strike is allowed (hopefully it is if this subclass is in your game, because it needs it), the Monk can attack the victim immediately. Otherwise, the Barbarian can follow up with a Grapple. Open Hand Monks can attempt Shoves as part of their Flurry of Blows; if the first attempt works, then the second strike will be at advantage, or else they'll also need the Barbarian's help to keep the target down. Shadow Monks can cast darkness and combine it with Blind Fighting style via the Fighting Initiate feat or 1-level Fighter dip (note that this may inconvenience other players). Astral Self Monks with Athletics proficiency should be able to Shove well. Other Monks probably dumped Strength, but if they didn't super-dump it and took Athletics proficiency, they may be reasonably effective Shovers.

- Your hex can help Shove attempts succeed. Guiding bolt gives advantage. You can also hold person, or darkness if the Monk has Blind Fighting.

- Remember to pay attention to the length of the effect you're using, versus the initiative order. Knocking someone prone just before it's their turn may not accomplish much. (As described above, this is why it'll be very nice when your Barbarian gets Extra Attack and can Grapple and Shove on the same turn, preventing the opponent from getting back up.) Guiding bolt and a familiar's Help only apply to "the next" attack against the target. etc.

[Skrum]

How was his hit chance 20%. Did he dump Dex...?

I know your question isn't about builds, but monk is a red flag right out of the gate when it comes to new players - they don't always do what the book says they do, and that can be frustrating for those who aren't ready for it.

Without flanking, knocking people prone is the next best general way to gain advantage. Unfortunately, monks are usually not good grapplers. If the DM and the barb player are open to the idea, Wolf Totem is extremely strong in a game without flanking.

After that, you're looking at specific class features or spells. Fairy Fire, for instance (much stronger than Guiding Bolt when it comes to giving your team advantage, IMO).

It's gonna be tough as warlock though because your spells are so limited.

[Stryyke]

Hmmm. The rogue's familiar is a rat. I don't know the source of where he got the familiar, but can it still provide the help action?

I went Tomelock, so melee really isn't my cup of tea. But I can still get hex, right? But it would use spell slots, so maybe not the best long term solution.

I'll definitely talk to the Barb and Monk about trying to trip/shove more, to gain advantageous position. But for large or creatures with more than 2 legs, that would be difficult.

Hold seems like it would be the most effective, but again, uses spell slots.

I was thinking about multi-classing Wizard, which could open up things like Tasha's, sleep, faerie fire, etc; but not till lvl 6

[RogueJK]

Hmmm. The rogue's familiar is a rat. I don't know the source of where he got the familiar, but can it still provide the help action?

Yes, any Familiar can take the Help Action.

For a non-multiclassed Rogue to have a Familiar, he's either an Arcane Trickster subclass, or he took the Ritual Caster Wizard or Magic Initiate Wizard feat.


You too could have a Familiar taking the Help Action... Tomelocks get access to the Book of Ancient Secrets Invocation, which allows them to learn the Find Familiar ritual. So the party could have two Familiars, granting Advantage to two attacks per turn. (Either to two different PCs, or to two attacks by the same PC via one Familiar Readying the Help action until after the first Advantaged attack lands.)


I went Tomelock, so melee really isn't my cup of tea.

Tomelocks can melee just fine, provided they make good use of their free "any class" cantrips.

Poaching the Shillelagh cantrip lets them make CHA-based melee attacks with a club or staff, which they can then pair with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade. (GFB being especially nice on a Celestial Warlock, since it can benefit from the bonus damage from Radiant Soul...) One of my last Warlocks was a Celestial Tomelock frontliner, who took the Moderately Armored feat and was one of the primary melee party members, making great use of Shillelagh+GFB+Radiant Soul for attacks, plus Warcaster+Booming Blade opportunity attacks.


Or a Tomelock could just poach one of the melee attack cantrips like Thorn Whip, Shocking Grasp, or Primal Savagery, and use that in melee.


But I can still get hex, right? But it would use spell slots, so maybe not the best long term solution.

The good thing about Hex is that it has a very long duration, especially when upcast into one of your ever-scaling spell slots. As long as you maintain Concentration, Hex eventually can last all day long. So it's a very efficient use of a Warlock spell slot.


I was thinking about multi-classing Wizard, which could open up things like Tasha's, sleep, faerie fire, etc; but not till lvl 6

Faerie Fire is not a Wizard spell.

Sleep loses almost all of its combat usefulness after Tier 1 due to the low HP cap, plus the effect ends when they take damage anyway so would only be good for Advantage on one hit.

Similarly, Tasha's Hideous Laughter allows subsequent saves whenever they take any damage (meaning one additional save per hit), so the Advantage won't last long.

In addition, keep in mind that any Wizard spells would still have to use your INT score, which considering you're primarily a Warlock is likely going to be lower than your CHA, so your save DCs will be lower. If you really wanted CHA-based Sleep, Faerie Fire, and/or Tasha's Hideous Laughter, you could multiclass into Bard instead.

However, keep in mind that Warlock levels don't stack with Wizard or Bard levels for spell slot purposes. All other casters can stack their spellcasting levels from multiclassing, but Warlock's Pact Magic is distinctly special.

Plus, every level you take in anything other than Warlock delays your upper level Warlock abilities and spellcasting.

Therefore, with all that put together, I wouldn't bother multiclassing into Wizard (or even Bard). Stick with Warlock, and find other strategies for the party to generate Advantage.

[Skrum]

Hmmm. The rogue's familiar is a rat. I don't know the source of where he got the familiar, but can it still provide the help action?

I went Tomelock, so melee really isn't my cup of tea. But I can still get hex, right? But it would use spell slots, so maybe not the best long term solution.

I'll definitely talk to the Barb and Monk about trying to trip/shove more, to gain advantageous position. But for large or creatures with more than 2 legs, that would be difficult.

Hold seems like it would be the most effective, but again, uses spell slots.

I was thinking about multi-classing Wizard, which could open up things like Tasha's, sleep, faerie fire, etc; but not till lvl 6

I'm pretty sure how many legs they have is a 3e thing. Shoving is shoving in 5e, and barbs especially can easily put up numbers that makes it so any creature they're big enough to shove is gonna fall over (even things way over their CR).

What subclass does the monk have?

[animorte]

You said you're TomeLock (and rightfully so, being the only caster). What are the spells and invocations you currently have?

[MrStabby]

I'm pretty sure how many legs they have is a 3e thing. Shoving is shoving in 5e, and barbs especially can easily put up numbers that makes it so any creature they're big enough to shove is gonna fall over (even things way over their CR).

What subclass does the monk have?

Yeah, hard to shove in 5th edition is usually done by:

1) Size, and the size difference with PCs
2) Strength/Athletics or Dex/Acrobatics bonuses
3) Immunity to prone condition

I think there are a few niche abilites to resist grapples and shoves that are creature specific.

[tiornys]

Hmmm. The rogue's familiar is a rat. I don't know the source of where he got the familiar, but can it still provide the help action?

I went Tomelock, so melee really isn't my cup of tea. But I can still get hex, right? But it would use spell slots, so maybe not the best long term solution.

I'll definitely talk to the Barb and Monk about trying to trip/shove more, to gain advantageous position. But for large or creatures with more than 2 legs, that would be difficult.

Hold seems like it would be the most effective, but again, uses spell slots.

I was thinking about multi-classing Wizard, which could open up things like Tasha's, sleep, faerie fire, etc; but not till lvl 6
Most options available will use spell slots. If you want something that is repeatable throughout a battle you could pick up Fly and Grasp of Hadar next level. Get above enemies and use Grasp to yank them into the air 10'; in most cases they'll fall prone upon falling back to the ground. You might also try the shove prone/grapple ideas with your own Summons, although none of them are particularly great at that tactic.

RAW there's nothing stopping a rat familiar from using the Help action. However, it's only advantage for one attack so it's likely best if the rat helps the Rogue, not the Monk (which it might be doing already). It might be worthwhile for you to learn the Find Familiar ritual so you can also have a familiar, but keep in mind that any familiar is very fragile so this isn't a particularly reliable tactic.

If you multiclass I would recommend Sorcerer. Ideally you want Shield and Absorb Elements (access to these two spells justifies the 1 level dip). Aberrant Mind, Clockwork Soul, and Divine Soul let you have those two spells plus something that can help your Monk. In order from most to least powerful: with Clockwork Soul, swap Alarm to Shield and then take Grease (combos with Repelling Blast/Grasp of Hadar). With Divine Soul take Bless, which doesn't generate advantage but does help the Monk (and the other two) hit more often. With Aberrant Mind, swap Arms of Hadar to Tasha's Hideous Laughter.

[Stryyke]

You said you're TomeLock (and rightfully so, being the only caster). What are the spells and invocations you currently have?

Cantrips

Mold Earth (from Tome)
Shape Water (from Tome
Light (from Celestial)
Prestidigitation
Guidance (from Tome)
Eldritch Blast
Sacred Flame (from Celestial)
Mage Hand (from Telekinetic)

Spells

Cure Wounds
Guiding Bolt
Comprehend Languages

Lesser Restoration
Misty Step

Invocations

Devil's Sight
Agonizing Blast

Feats

Telekinetic
Healer

[Hairfish]

If your friend is one of the ninja/darkness monks from the PHB, they could do the thing where they either take a level in Fighter or use a feat to get the 10' blindsight fighting style (or feat into Warlock's super darkvision). Then get ahold of some ruby dust and pay a cleric/druid to cast a 3rd-level Continual Flame on a cloak pin or some such that they can tweak as a free action in combat to block their own darkness as needed.