What class fits this?

[Youshallnotpass]

Hey, I was wondering what class is a mix of having these following traits

Some magic

Some melee

Wanting distance and up close abilities

Aggressive

Prefer not to serve a master

Lean dark

Armor

[Amnestic]

(Dexterity-based) Conquest Paladin, Spore Druid, Rune Knight Fighter who has a tragic edgelord backstory, Hexblade warlock (yes, even with the "prefer not to serve a master" aspect), Phantom Rogue all work for this.

[Muad'dib]

Hey, I was wondering what class is a mix of having these following traits

Some magic

Some melee

Wanting distance and up close abilities

Aggressive

Prefer not to serve a master

Lean dark

Armor

So, except for the master and leaning dark, Fighter/Eldritch Knight does this pretty well. The two points noted are best handled through roleplay.

[DragonBaneDM]

Hm.

Paladin. Sorcadin really is what I think of, but I don't wanna assume you've got MCing on or off the table.

Vengeance Paladin for the leans dark aspect, and starting at Level 2 you've got a bit of magic of your own. That will work out just fine, you could even go with the "

Read a thing once that your Paladin's oath isn't necessarily you pledging service to a god or an order. It could just be you telling the universe who you are SO HARD that you're rewarded with superpowers. Vengeance especially fits that bill.

Sorcerer compliments Paladin so well as a multiclass that the Sorcadin is one of the most discussed combos out there, and I think it fits your asks really nicely here.

[NecessaryWeevil]

Although you have several options as others have pointed out, this really screams "Hexblade" to me. So, how important is "prefer not to serve a master" and what does that look like to you?
Many DMs are fine with patrons who basically say, "Hey kid, here are some cool powers, go have fun, don't bother to write." The subclass description for Hexblade in particular sounds very hands-off to me.

[RogueJK]

(I assume by "Armor" you mean you want medium or heavy armor, which rules out lightly armored builds like a Dexadin, Bladesinger, or DEX-based Eldritch Knight, which otherwise make excellent gishy switch-hitters.)


Paladin seems to check all your boxes. While Paladins are traditionally melee-oriented with limited ranged options, you can either take the Divine Warrior fighting style for a couple ranged cantrips, dip a level into Sorcerer for some ranged cantrips and defensive spells, or go with a race like Levistus Tiefling, MotM Kobold, or Astral Elf that gets a racial CHA-based ranged cantrip. Vengeance and Conquest are the "darkest" of the Paladins oaths, besides the overtly evil Oathbreaker, but you could roleplay several of the other oaths as being darker, like Crown, Glory, or Watchers.


Or a Battle Smith or Armorer Artificer would be a good option, with INT-based melee and ranged options plus slightly better spellcasting progression than a Paladin. "Dark" would all be in the roleplay.


Or if you're wanting even more spellcasting, Valor or Swords Bard can offer a mix of ranged and melee attacks with full spellcasting and medium armor. Again, "dark" is all roleplay.


And if you're willing to give up a bit of your melee capability in exchange for full spellcasting, something like an Arcana Cleric Frontliner, Moderately Armored Abjuration "Iron Wizard", Paladin 2/Whispers Bard X, Paladin 2/Sorcerer X, or similar can get a lot of mileage out of a single attack each turn bolstered by Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade plus some buff spells and damage bonuses.

[da newt]

Ranger. You just described the class but left off the nature / animal bit. Gloomstalker or most any subclass as suits your fancy.

[RogueJK]

The thing is, nearly all Rangers are going to be DEX-based and lightly armored.

Though I guess it's possible to play a more heavily armored Gloomstalker or other Ranger, if you're willing to give up the Stealth aspect. Perhaps something like this:

Custom Lineage
Gloomstalker Ranger
STR 15+2
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 8
ASIs: Heavily Armored (18 STR) at 1, 16 WIS at 4, GWM at 8
Fighting Style: Druidic Warrior (Magic Stone, Guidance)


Or even a medium armor WIS-based Ranger, like so:
Custom Lineage
Gloomstalker or Swarmkeeper Ranger
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 15
INT 8
WIS 15+2
CHA 8
ASIs: Fey Touched (18 WIS) at 1, PAM at 4, Crusher (16 CON) at 8, 20 WIS at 12
Fighting Style: Druidic Warrior (Magic Stone, Shillelagh)

[KorvinStarmast]

Ranger. You just described the class but left off the nature / animal bit. Gloomstalker or most any subclass as suits your fancy.Gloomstsalker Ranger was my reflexive answer.

The thing is, nearly all Rangers are going to be DEX-based and lightly armored.
Nope. My vHuman ranger (and your custom lineage) can take the Medium Armor Master feat and do nicely for AC. Mine did. Worked well.

[Kane0]

Some magic
Some melee
Some ranged
Aggressive
Prefer not to serve a master
Armor


So assuming 'armor' can be medium or heavy:

Artificer (any)
Bard (Whispers) paired with a race that gives armor, such as mountain dwarf or githyanki
Cleric (War, Death, Tempest)
Druid (Wildfire)
Fighter (Eldritch Knight, Rune Knight, Echo Knight, Psi Warrior)
Paladin (Vengeance, Conquest) paired with a race that gives a Charisma cantrip, such as tiefling or kobold
Ranger (any)
Warlock (Hexblade)

[Psyren]

+1 Gloomstalker, it checks all your boxes. Any of them could depending on how you define "lean dark", but definitely that one.

[Leon]

Ranger is my first suggestion as its what I immediately thought of when I read the post but ultimately ANY class can be made to suit more or less depending on what you do with it.




The thing is, nearly all Rangers are going to be DEX-based and lightly armored.

Hardly unless one is the type of person to get hung up on Rangers not being all about "range" (which is more common that you'd think) Nothing outside not actually starting with its proficiency stops a Ranger from trundling about in heavy armour, can also have as much or as little "nature" vibe as you feel it needs outside of some spells theme/effect and even that is wholly mutable for theme

[Psyren]

Hardly unless one is the type of person to get hung up on Rangers not being all about "range" (which is more common that you'd think) Nothing outside not actually starting with its proficiency stops a Ranger from trundling about in heavy armour, can also have as much or as little "nature" vibe as you feel it needs outside of some spells theme/effect and even that is wholly mutable for theme

And even if you stick with medium armor, that doesn't preclude you from being strength-based (cf literally any Barbarian.)

[Sigreid]

Honestly, it would be a shorter list to ask what classes/subclasses can't be built to do that.

[Damon_Tor]

Hey, I was wondering what class is a mix of having these following traits

Some magic

Some melee

Wanting distance and up close abilities

Aggressive

Prefer not to serve a master

Lean dark

Armor

Artificer. Both Armorer and Battlesmith can do range and melee in basically equal measure.

[RogueJK]

And even if you stick with medium armor, that doesn't preclude you from being strength-based (cf literally any Barbarian.)

The difference is that Rangers have an additional stat that they need to worry about, compared to Barbarians.

A Barbarian can afford a high STR and CON, a moderate DEX, and a little WIS. Something like 15/15/14/10 or 15/14/14/12 with point buy.

Whereas a medium armor STRanger needs a moderately high WIS, plus a moderate CON and DEX, and a high STR. Which can be tougher to pull off with standard array or point buy. You end up with something like:

STR 14+2
DEX 14
CON 13+1
INT 8
WIS 14
CHA 8

Doable, but not ideal, especially on certain subclasses with abilities that rely more heavily on spellcasting modifier, like TCoE Beastmaster, Fey Wanderer, or Swarmkeeper. So being DEX-based is incentivized, since most PCs can only afford to focus on having 3 decent stats at most - a primary, a secondary, and a tertiary - and DEX/WIS/CON makes the most sense on most Rangers. (Or as demonstrated in my earlier post, grabbing heavy armor proficiency through a feat is another option, to pare it down to just STR/WIS/CON. Or going WIS-based medium armor with Shillelagh/Magic Stone and going WIS/CON/DEX)

[Psyren]

The difference is that Rangers have an additional stat that they need to worry about, compared to Barbarians.

Not necessarily; you can make an effective low-Wis ranger with the right spell and build choices (e.g Hunter doesn't need Wis for anything.) Even some of the subclasses that do use Wis tend to use it for optional things, like Gloomstalkers' initiative bonus (nice to have but not crucial) or Drakewarden's breath weapon (everything else about the pet scales with PB.)

[LudicSavant]

Hey, I was wondering what class is a mix of having these following traits

Some magic

Some melee

Wanting distance and up close abilities

Aggressive

Prefer not to serve a master

Lean dark

Armor

Hexblade sounds right up this alley, TBH.

[Arkhios]

Hexblade sounds right up this alley, TBH.

Aye, hexblade would be perfect.

[Psyren]

The "serve a master" bit could be tricky depending on how active the DM likes to make the patron. (Especially since, technically speaking, all Hexblades have the same one.)

[Leon]

And even if you stick with medium armor, that doesn't preclude you from being strength-based (cf literally any Barbarian.)

Indeed, never get need to highlight whether its a "Str" or "Dex" ranger, its a Ranger, can be both at the same time or neither (could be a even be WISRanger)


The "serve a master" bit could be tricky depending on how active the DM likes to make the patron. (Especially since, technically speaking, all Hexblades have the same one.)

Pact of the Magic Pudding ~ Serve a Master and serve a master.

[LudicSavant]

The "serve a master" bit could be tricky depending on how active the DM likes to make the patron. (Especially since, technically speaking, all Hexblades have the same one.)

A warlock pact doesn't necessarily involve you serving a master.

[Arkhios]

The "serve a master" bit could be tricky depending on how active the DM likes to make the patron. (Especially since, technically speaking, all Hexblades have the same one.)

Okay, fair. Patron is certainly an issue.

[Psyren]

A warlock pact doesn't necessarily involve you serving a master.

I agree - but the extent to which that is true can be DM-dependent, that's all I'm saying.

[Eldariel]

Elf Sharpshooter Bladesinger. Make it Shadar-kai, if you want extra dark.

[Psyren]

Elf Sharpshooter Bladesinger. Make it Shadar-kai, if you want extra dark.

Shadar-Kai Bladesinger is definitely on my build wishlist :smallsmile:


Indeed, never get need to highlight whether its a "Str" or "Dex" ranger, its a Ranger, can be both at the same time or neither (could be a even be WISRanger)

I am *deliriously* happy that Fey Wanderer is going to be core!

[Witty Username]

Swords or Whispers bard could fit this well, more swords than whispers.
You have a decent chunk of magic and up front capabilites, a level or 2 in hexblade will give a bunch of goods straight hexblade doesn't take as good advantage of.

[RogueJK]

Swords or Whispers bard could fit this well, more swords than whispers.

Whispers Bards can do just fine in melee, with a little help to counter a couple issues.

1) No Extra Attack. Their Psychic quasi-smite helps make up for this, as does access to a SCAGtrip from race/feat/dip. (Ends up working similar to a single-attack 2/X Sorcadin/Bardadin/Padlock.)

2) Low AC due to only Light Armor, and no shield proficiency. This can be solved with the Moderately Armored feat, or a dip into Fighter, Cleric, Paladin, or Hexblade Warlock.


So options include stuff like:

High Half Elf Paladin 2/Whispers Bard X (the most effective melee option, able to stack SCAGtrip + Divine Smite + Psychic Blades for big novas)
Arcana Cleric 1/Whispers Bard X
Hexblade 1 or 2/Whispers Bard X
Whispers Bard X with Moderately Armored and Magic Initiate Sorcerer/Warlock
MotM Kobold Fighter 1/Whispers Bard X
Etc.