Dredrick
2022-09-08, 02:27 PM
Drakewarden 7-9 / Rogue 3
When you start to pass 10th level, the hit chance on the Drake starts to fall off. Once you get to 15th level the final upgrade of the Drake is awesome, but there are arguably 2-4 very bad levels between 9th and 15th in the class.
I saw the Rogue Steady Hands option, and didn't see anyone talking about this in combination with the ability to mount the Drake, so let's get it.
RAW, I think it's clear this works. Steady Hands drops your movement to zero. The Drake clearly operates as as independent intelligent mount, and it's turn comes after yours when acting in this manner per PHB mounted combat rules.
This means on your turn, you cannot move at all, but can use your bonus action to steady hands, then fire with advantage and get the sneak attack 2D6 and your other normal extra attack. After your turn ends your mount goes next, so you move at this point, and it takes the dodge action since your bonus action was used for steady aim.
**Why Bother?** Because the Drake starts to miss attacks at these levels with it's attack bonus against more powerful enemies, lowering your DPR. Also, the Drake has a disappointing lack of magical attack. The primal companion gets to count it's attack as magical in these levels to get past damage resistance, and the Drake does not. Finally, this let's you take advantage of Elven Accuracy every round. Piercer is a very competitive feat so it's not as valuable as it once was, but if you can get Elven Accuracy every turn, it outperforms Piercer. Finally, it's just ****ing sweet to actually have a reason to ride the Drake, and I can't find any other mechanical justification to do so.
The core concept here is that as the drake's vale dips, instead of feeding dead levels into the Ranger we dip Rogue to move power to the Ranger's bow, and utilize the mount abilities and flavor of the Drake instead. We always have the option to let the Drake act independently as well, taking help, shove, dodge, or attack options as the situation dictates regardless.
I'm not 100% sure this is optimal, but I haven't seen this exact combo discussed in depth online so I wanted to start the conversation and see if people can help me find the flaws in this setup, or optimize it further. Please discuss how you feel about this setup.
**DISCLAIMER!!** While this setup works RAW, it's really clearly against RAI in my opinion, so you should absolutely check with your DM before using this combo. For example, I discussed the idea with my DM and we agreed it was sketchy, but because it comes online at high levels a custom made saddle and animal handling check would be required, but if both conditions were met it would be allowed.
When you start to pass 10th level, the hit chance on the Drake starts to fall off. Once you get to 15th level the final upgrade of the Drake is awesome, but there are arguably 2-4 very bad levels between 9th and 15th in the class.
I saw the Rogue Steady Hands option, and didn't see anyone talking about this in combination with the ability to mount the Drake, so let's get it.
RAW, I think it's clear this works. Steady Hands drops your movement to zero. The Drake clearly operates as as independent intelligent mount, and it's turn comes after yours when acting in this manner per PHB mounted combat rules.
This means on your turn, you cannot move at all, but can use your bonus action to steady hands, then fire with advantage and get the sneak attack 2D6 and your other normal extra attack. After your turn ends your mount goes next, so you move at this point, and it takes the dodge action since your bonus action was used for steady aim.
**Why Bother?** Because the Drake starts to miss attacks at these levels with it's attack bonus against more powerful enemies, lowering your DPR. Also, the Drake has a disappointing lack of magical attack. The primal companion gets to count it's attack as magical in these levels to get past damage resistance, and the Drake does not. Finally, this let's you take advantage of Elven Accuracy every round. Piercer is a very competitive feat so it's not as valuable as it once was, but if you can get Elven Accuracy every turn, it outperforms Piercer. Finally, it's just ****ing sweet to actually have a reason to ride the Drake, and I can't find any other mechanical justification to do so.
The core concept here is that as the drake's vale dips, instead of feeding dead levels into the Ranger we dip Rogue to move power to the Ranger's bow, and utilize the mount abilities and flavor of the Drake instead. We always have the option to let the Drake act independently as well, taking help, shove, dodge, or attack options as the situation dictates regardless.
I'm not 100% sure this is optimal, but I haven't seen this exact combo discussed in depth online so I wanted to start the conversation and see if people can help me find the flaws in this setup, or optimize it further. Please discuss how you feel about this setup.
**DISCLAIMER!!** While this setup works RAW, it's really clearly against RAI in my opinion, so you should absolutely check with your DM before using this combo. For example, I discussed the idea with my DM and we agreed it was sketchy, but because it comes online at high levels a custom made saddle and animal handling check would be required, but if both conditions were met it would be allowed.