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2019-03-22, 04:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Ask and ye shall receive!
Herein are collected some builds that were made in response to advice threads and the like. Since these were responses to specific questions, I have tried to summarize the context for each. All of them are good from level 1-20 and can perform in all 3 pillars of play.
Hopefully these help provide people with some ideas for fun and viable builds. Enjoy!
Build 1: Celestial Generalist
This is a jack of all trades build highlighting the versatility of the Celestial Warlock.
Build 2: Ride of the Valkyries Paladin
This build is a core-only, straight class Paladin that boasts excellent mobility and solid DPR (both burst and sustained) at all levels, while avoiding any delay to your support progression / maxing Charisma.
This build was originally posted to help a poster asking for a single-class Paladin build. And one of the nicest things about not being a Sorlockadin is that you get Find Greater Steed. It also was in a campaign where magic items were on the table, which really helps us open up ASI choices for Paladins (since they don't need to max both Str and Cha). Though, if you find yourself in a game where getting magic items is off the table, you can still do a build like this (see the "notes" section near the end of the build for advice on how).
Here's the 2HF version:
Originally Posted by LudicSavant
- Thanks to the new errata (which was made after this post) you can PAM with shield and spear, which I find a lot more thematically compelling than quarterstaff and shield. Definitely worth considering a spear and shield version of this build.
- In any game using the XGtE or DMG guidelines for crafting or buying magic items (or AL, for that matter), replacing your Strength score by mid-levels is generally not too hard to come by due to the abundance of Strength-replacing magic items at every level of rarity. However, if getting Gauntlets of Ogre Strength or Belt of Giant Strength by tier 3 is off the table for whatever reason, then you can still do this build with good stat rolls, or start dropping feats (starting with GWM) in favor of Strength bonuses. Make sure to keep Polearm Master as your level 1 VHuman feat, though!
- If you're using XGtE, take note of the Holy Weapon spell.
- Damage is calculated assuming RAW GWF, rather than the Twitter version. If you're using the Twitter version instead, consider a different fighting style.
Build 2b: Shield and Spear Valkyrie
VHuman / Cha 20, Belt of Giant Strength, PAM, Mounted Combatant, Inspiring Leader, War Caster
Fighting Style: Dueling
Build 3: Wood Elf Magic Commando
This one was made to what might at first seem like a rather odd request: A Fighter that can buff/support, do some sort of spellcasting, sneak, and smash heads that isn’t an Eldritch Knight.
Turns out that’s actually more doable than one might expect!
Originally Posted by LudicSavant
- Shield Master is of variable usefulness depending on party composition and which of the several rulings your group favors (thanks to JC changing his mind frequently on how it works). Alternative feat choices include Lucky (which stacks with Indomitable for making saves, and also can be used to negate crits against you) or Defensive Duelist (best taken at high levels when you have a high proficiency bonus).
Build 4: Arcana Cleric Frontliner
This one was built to showcase how Arcana Clerics can make sticky and versatile frontliners who can do an awful lot to actively lock down or counter foes… whether we’re talking about melee brutes, mook swarms, spellcasters, whatever. It's very similar to a build we used in a campaign that ran from low to high levels, to great effect.
One fun way of fluffing Shillelagh and Spirit Guardians
Azorius VHuman Arcana Cleric 1-20
Stat Priorities: Wis > Con > Dex 14, other stats to taste
ASIs: War Caster @1, Magic Initiate (Shillelagh/Thorn Whip/Absorb Elements) @4, +2 Wis @8, +2 Wis @12, Resillient (Constitution) @16, Lucky @19, in that order.
Cantrips: Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade, Word of Radiance, Toll the Dead, Guidance, Mending, Light
Gear to look for: Basically you want anything that raises your defenses, like AC/saves. Also, getting a Strength-boosting item is a popular alternative to taking Shillelagh, since they're relatively easy to come by in many campaigns (including AL, apparently) and also open up shove/grapple options.
Warcaster, Res (Con), Lucky, and Max Wis are great for any Cleric. With VHuman we throw in Magic Initiate to make us SAD, give us Thorn Whip for hazard combos, and Absorb Elements for eating the occasional dragon breath or the like.
Build itself is pretty simple, and works well at all levels. But as is often the case with caster builds, just posting the build doesn't really tell you why it's so effective. The trick is knowing what to do with it, because these guys get a lot of tools. They know over a hundred spells and I don't have the time to go over every single one of them and all their interactions and combos and situational uses and such. I mean, I could dedicate an entire thread to discussing some of these single spells. But I'll try to at least give an idea of the sort of things you're bringing to the table here.
So here are just a few examples of what they can do:
Originally Posted by LudicSavant
- Shillelagh's benefit can be replaced by either getting a strength-replacing item (Gauntlets or Belt) or by simply rolling well enough on your stats. Toll the Dead can also provide decent OAs even without Magic Initiate (though not on the level of Booming Blade's up to 8d8+15, which can further scale with magic weapons). Alert is a useful alternate feat. Observant is top shelf if you have an odd Wisdom score.
- Some other good choices for your Wizard cantrip are Minor Illusion (always great), Shape Water (see link), Ray of Frost (an AC-targeting ranged cantrip is something Clerics usually don't have, and this one makes it even harder for enemies to move through your Spirit Guardians), and Create Bonfire (with the right party composition, this can be brutal resourceless damage with Potent Spellcasting). For this particular build, generally you should replace Green-Flame Blade, not Booming Blade.
- Party combos: This particular build is ideal for parties that don't have a whole lot of (or any) other frontliners, because one of the things this build is really good at is punishing enemies for trying to move past you. If your allies are already within arm's reach, monsters don't have to run through the No Man's Land that is you. Allies who knock enemies back, make them flee, or drop hazards also combo well.
More will probably be posted in the future, if people are interested. I have about a bajillion builds and have only ever posted a few of them. I'd also be happy to answer questions about why I made any given build choices or the like.
Let me know your thoughts!
Edit: See the second post for additional builds!Last edited by LudicSavant; 2020-08-19 at 03:42 AM. Reason: added some extra notes / variants
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2019-03-22, 04:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2014
- Location
- Los Angeles
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
More of my Builds!
Build 5 and 6: The Lifeguard and the Goblin Hazard Druid
A Land Druid Mini-Guide
Build 7: Hobgoblin Iron Wizard
A straight class Wizard, except the complete opposite of squishy.
Build 8: The Ancestral Nightmare
A Simic Hybrid Ancestral Guardian tank build.
Build 9: The Nuclear Wizard
A powerful and versatile Evoker build with extremely high damage, great control, and even some retribution tanking.
Build 10: The Jorasco Physician
Or, "How to make a Wizard a top shelf healer."
Build 11: The Ancestral Avenger (Ancestral Barbarian / Echo Knight)
A pseudo-ranged GWM build that protects itself and its allies with a remote Sentinel.
Build 12: The Soulknife (Shadowblade Eldritch Knight)
A punishing lockdown tank Eldritch Knight build that manifests its weapons and armor. Not to be confused with the Rogue subclass that was released afterwards.
Build 13: The Ancient Kyujutsu Master
Just an Elven Accuracy Sharpshooter Samurai
Build 14: The Modern Gun-Kata Master
The Ancient Kyujutsu Master, except using new goodies from Tasha's. And a gun.
Build 15: The Way of the Demonweb Spider (Blindfighting Half-Drow Shadow Monk / Battle Master)
Exploring what the Shadow Monk can do after the Tasha buffs.
Build 16: Swift Death to Evil (A Ninja Assassin/Spymaster Paladin)
A versatile Dex-based Paladin who turns the entire party into a ninja strike team that can kill enemies before they can react.
Build 17: The Celestial Giftlock (aka the Ever-Living Generalist)
A powerhouse generalist using Pact of the Chain. First and foremost a top shelf healer, but also a boss-shredder, AoE blaster, controller, kiter, tank, scout, etc.
Builds created by other posters in this thread:
- The Eldritch Blast Knight by Bloodcloud
- The Tiefling Masochist by Story_Optimized
- The Fey Knight by SithLordNergal
- The Passive Soul by Ritorix
- The Battle Valkyrie Life Cleric by Man_Over_Game
- King Leonidas by Tallytrev813
- The Warlord Halfling by Mjolnirbear
- Dragonriders by Mjolnirbear
- The Undecided Spare by Mjolnirbear
- The Dilettante by Mjolnirbear
- The Dabbler by Mjolnirbear
- The Stab of All Trades by Skylivedk
- The Tank of All Trades by Skylivedk
- The Never-Ending Ward by Skylivedk
- The Kinetic Blaster and Jedi Tank by AtomicWrath
- The Flying Tank by AtomicWrath
- Yeti, PhD by AtomicWrath
- Jedi Tank by AtomicWrath
- Nature is Magical by Mercurias
- The Advokist Tomb Raider by AtomicWrath
- The Shadow Whip by ThatDuckGrant
- Whippy the Wonder Goblin by Amechra
- Mr. Disintegration Pistol by Amechra
- The ZombieNaught by Skylivedk
- 4 Arms of Grappling Death by Skylivedk
- Swift Blade & Bottle by Skylivedk
- Spider-Man by Skylivedk
- Monsieur DeLafleur, Cook Extraordinaire! by Amechra
- The Booming Trickster by BarneyBent
- The True Skill Monkey by Amechra
- Arcie the ridiculously lucky Arcane Trickster by GorogInput
- YEET by Trickery
- Tesla Coils by FableWright
- The UberMage by Story_Optimized
- The Divine Conduit by RingoBongo
- Vesselyth, the Clockwork Bandit by Mjolnirbear
- The God of Lightning by bendking
- Building Iron Man by AgenderAcree
- The Feywarden by Justin Sane
- The Grease Trap by Citadel97501
- Celestial Dragonforge Cleric, Master of the Searing Smite, by AgenderAcree
- Zealot of Death, by Benny89
- The Caster's Bane, by Alucard89
- Plague Stalker, by Alucard89
- The Astral Paraih, by ftafp
- The Templar of Time, by Bobthewizard
- The Hex Spoon by ftafp
- The Skill Monkey's Country Cousin by Kvard51
- The Guardian of Balance by Benny89
- The Underwater Basket Weaver by ftafp
- Lung Wang by ftafp
- The Cheese Grater by Skylivedk
- Grapple Bard: My Shield is Here ForYou by PancakeMaster80
- The Platinum-Tongued Diplomat by Legospasm
- All-In Persuasion by Legospasm
- Guardian Angel/Party Pleaser by Legospasm
- The Lord Marshall by Citadel97501
- The Naked Dragon by jojoskull
- The Arcane Blade by Bendking
- The Holy Avenger by Bendking
- The Holy Protector by Bendking
- Heroforge 2 models of Eclectic Builds by Draz74
- The Alien Ant Farm by ftafp
- The Hecatoncheires by ftafp
- The Magnetic Pauldron (AKA: Tech Support) by ftafp
- Illiquar the Tentacular by ftafp
- Kermit the Slaad by ftafp
- The Level 14 Aristocrat by ftafp
- The Crystal-Covered Crusher by Draz74
- The Hobgoblin Steel Sorcerer by Bendking
- The Rune Knight Bully by Mitchellnotes
- The Psychic Master by Bendking
- The Trunk Tank by Sol0botmate
- The Heavy Artillerist by ftafp
- Bob the Builder by Zaile
- The Überflumph by ftafp
- The Aberrant Mind Sorlock: A Renaissance Man by borg286
- Smoll Panzer Smith by Sol0botmate
- The Necessary Evil by carrdrivesyou
- A Peaceful Summoner by Hael
- Cloud Kill by Sol0botmate
- Misty Holystabber by Sol0botmate
- The Road Rash Wrestler by Wraith
- The Kraken by Sol0botmate
- The Umbral Messiah by ftafp
- Heaven's Commando by Citadel97501
- Ambulatory Tank by LumenPlacidum
- The War Princess: Master of Malicious Minionmancy by ftafp
- The Fire Marshal by ftafp
- The Sanguine Bastion by Rerem115
- The Blazing Boa by Dalinar
- The Whisperer in the Dark by ftafp
- The Thundering Cleric by LumenPlacidum
- The Counterer of Spells by Jon talks a lot
- Drink Your Way to Valhalla by Jon talks a lot
- Caliban by RingoBongo
- The Joestar Special by Dalinar
- The Rave Queen by Jon talks a lot
- Everyone's Best Friend by Evaar
- Literally Luke Skywalker by Renduaz
- The Oxymoronic Meat Grinder by Wraith
- (Angelic Variant on Oxymoronic Meat Grinder) by Citadel97501
- The Wagoneer by ftafp
- The d6 Piercer by Rihno
- Soulknife Generalist by LumenPlacidum
- Arcane Knight by Rihno
- The Farfire Visionary by Renduaz
- Korg - the Push by Houster
- The Eye of Annihilation by Wraith
- The Ring Leader by Evaar
- The Hobgoblin Battle Commander by NCat
- The Hex Grappler by Jon talks a lot
- Sparky McDibben's Way of the Demonweb Pits Subclass
- Breath of the Twin-Headed Dragon by Wraith
- The Cerulean City Sorlock: A Build for the Pokemon Trainer In Your Heart by ftafp
- The Unseelie Wander: A multi-faceted terror for those who want to join the Wild Hunt by ftafp
- The Spooky Scary Paladin aka The Gothic Tank by Lavaeolus
- The Bondage, Domination, and Servitude Mountie by ftafp
- The Roving Scoundrel by Rerem115
- Owl-Cowl: A pokemon-inspired ranger-danger that spells death from above by ftafp
Last edited by LudicSavant; 2021-06-27 at 10:07 AM. Reason: Updated with quite a few additional builds!
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-23, 09:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2017
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
I'm running the Celestial build right now, or rather it's about to start but that's what I'm going with. Considering taking a few (1-3) levels of Sorcerer, mostly for extra spells slots for things like Shield.
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2019-03-24, 09:20 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2018
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Please do more of these! They're fantastic
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2019-03-24, 11:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2017
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- Portugal
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
I am soooo bookmarking this thread 🤩
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2019-03-27, 04:18 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2014
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- Los Angeles
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-27, 05:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2018
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Anything you think is fun! I'm a big fan of clerics personally
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2019-03-27, 03:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2019
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Can someone break down the damage calculation of the paladin because I don't understand where some of the dices are coming from?
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2019-03-27, 03:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2014
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Belt of Giant Strength provides a high strength bonus. PAM+Haste+Extra Attack provides 4 attacks. Smite + Improved Smite adds dice to everything. GWF raises the average of all damage dice (with RAW version, rather than twitter version). GWM matters occasionally (but is mostly there for your sustained damage, not your burst). Advantage from the Channel Divinity setup or the mounted bonus or other possible sources. Should be ~150-200 depending on what grade of Giant's Belt you're using. Can do more if you can get a reaction attack (from either PAM or Soul of Vengeance or OA), magic weapon, ally buffs, or have your steed attacking.
It's not the highest nova DPR in the world, but it's very good for a straight-class Paladin, and Paladins bring lots of other goodies to the table besides just their DPR (such as a very fast and durable steed, or a 30 foot +5 saves aura).
You also have solid sustained DPR too. Your easy access to Advantage, GWM, 3 attacks (plus possible reaction attack), and long-lasting buffs like Hunter's Mark or Holy Weapon mean that you can instead opt to stretch out your resources while dealing solid damage and only smiting opportunistically (such as on crits).Last edited by LudicSavant; 2019-03-27 at 03:51 PM. Reason: Additional notes
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-27, 03:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2016
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- Lake Superior
- Gender
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
I've done the Commando build before, but I did it a bit differently. Half-Elf Champion, as opposed to Wood Elf Battlemaster, with focus on Charisma and face skills more than scouting, but still a crit-fishing Dex Fighter that can go all day at heart.
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2019-03-27, 04:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2019
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Got anything for Land Druids (pref. VHuman)?
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2019-03-29, 07:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2017
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
These are really nice and entertaining to read, thank you!
Care to help me with a build?
I'm thinking about a tank with the options for good damage and decent control. I'm about to start a new campaign/long adventure and while teorically the other three charactes are going to be a Cleric tank, a Rogue glass cannon (not sure) and a Wizard controller, they are all somewhat newbie-ish. So I'd like something to plug possibile holes.
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2019-03-29, 02:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2014
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- Los Angeles
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
So let's build a Land Druid! This post sort of turned into a whole mini-guide, so buckle in.
When one starts building a Land, a few questions tend to pop up:
1) I actually care about my AC if I'm not going to be a Moon bear all the time. How do I get my AC up? Is the non-metal armor thing a problem?
2) Which Land should I pick?
3) What the heck am I gonna do with my bonus actions?
4) What am I doing to be relevant when I'm not burning spell slots?
Armor Solutions
So, there have been numerous long and divisive threads about whether a Druid can opt to break the non-metal armor taboo.
If you or your DM is on the "don't break the taboo" side of the fence, don't panic, there are solutions. Note page 143 of the DMG, where one of the minor properties that can be assigned to armor is "strange material." Point this out to your DM and see if you can find armor made of bone, chitin, scales, ironwood, or any of the various precedents for non-metallic medium/heavy armor set by multiple editions of D&D lore.
A relevant Sage Advice can be found here, and it specifically calls out the possibility of finding things like non-metal chain mail, as well as the fact that finding such things is not out of line with their balance expectations for the Druid. So I'd generally recommend that route.
There is also the option of being a Mysteriously Medium Elephantman (from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica) and getting a Constitution-based AC calc as well as a bunch of good Druid features. Or of beng a Goblin who needs AC less because of their ability to hide as a bonus action. Lizardfolk can be an option too, but only really if you've rolled high on stats (otherwise, you won't have the Dexterity for their natural armor to really make a difference).
Which Land?
Okay, so let's take a look at the unique spells we get for each list.
Arctic: Slow, Cone of Cold
Coast: Mirror Image, Misty Step
Desert: Blur, Create Food and Water, Silence
Forest: Divination, Spider Climb
Grassland: Divination, Haste, Invisibility, Dream
Mountain: Lightning Bolt, Passwall, Spider Climb
Swamp: Darkness, Melf's Acid Arrow, Stinking Cloud
Underdark: Cloudkill, Gaseous Form, Greater Invisibility, Spider Climb, Stinking Cloud, Web
The easiest one to rule out is probably Swamp. Melf's Acid Arrow is mathematically garbage, Darkness is competing with other excellent Concentration options (including ones that do fairly similar things like Fog Cloud or Sleet Storm), and so is Stinking Cloud. It doesn't have a great listing of non-unique options to always have prepared, either.
Forest also has a pretty unexciting list of unique spells. Divination is nice, but Grassland has that and Haste. Spider Climb is on multiple Land lists, too, and competes for your Concentration.
Mountain gets Lightning Bolt. Yeah, it's not Fireball, but Druids don't get that. Your non-Concentration blasting choices would otherwise be limited to Tidal Wave or Erupting Earth. Or nothing, if you were core-only. But I rather like Tidal Wave. As for its non-unique spells, it's got Wall of Stone and Spike Growth.
Desert. The main point of interest here is Silence. It can help shut down casters, provided your party can also keep them from moving out of the area. It can also help you out in the Exploration pillar. And it's a ritual. Blur faces stiff Concentration competition, while Create Food and Water is largely unnecessary for a person who can cast Goodberry. Like Mountain, it also gets Wall of Stone.
Arctic will grab you Slow, which is a pretty solid CC. And while Cone of Cold isn't exactly the best blast in D&D, Druids seriously don't have a lot of competition in the no-Concentration AoE blast department. It also has one of the best selections of non-unique options to always have prepared, like Freedom of Movement, Sleet Storm, Spike Growth, and Hold Person.
Underdark has the most unique spells, but they're basically all Concentration, and the Druid has an excellent selection of Concentration spells already (it's easily the category of spells where they need the least help). Greater Invisibility is probably the main highlight. Just how good it is will depend largely on your party composition.
Grassland will hand out Haste, Invisibility, and Divination. Pass Without Trace and Freedom of Movement are nice things to always have prepared.
Coast leaps out at me as granting two good non-Concentration spells which have little competition for their role on the Druid spell list. For non-uniques, Freedom of Movement and Conjure Elemental are nice to have prepared.
Misty Step in particular is fantastic to have, especially since (unlike a Moon Druid) you generally want to avoid melees and grapples and the like. And Land Druids should always keep an eye out for bonus actions.
Bonus Actions
- Healing Spirit and, more situationally, Healing Word. One of the things to notice about Healing Spirit is that it upcasts quite well. You know that Lore Bard/Life Cleric Aura of Vitality combo that people were saying made for an insane healer in PHB-only? Well Life Cleric 1/Druid X can match or exceed that healing with a Healing Spirit cast with the same third level slot.
- Racial features. One fun option is the Goblin Hazard/Whip Druid who remains unseen throughout the fight (by bonus action Hiding at the end of every turn) while maintaining various hazards or summons and pulling people into them with Advantage Thorn Whips (occasionally appending Fury of the Small). These are the ninja guardians of nature. Another option is the Shifter from Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron.
- Misty Step (Coast Druid)
- Heat Metal uses a bonus action to maintain its effect. It's situational, but against certain enemies it's quite crippling.
- Flaming Sphere is yet another 2nd level spell option, though the damage is rather underwhelming unless you're able to land it multiple times per turn. Unfortunately, pushing someone into the sphere doesn't damage them by RAW. Which seems weird to me, but I don't write the rules. It's also competing with some Concentration options that don't take actions to maintain at all.
- Grasping Vine can pull someone around the map, but takes Concentration (which you'll often want for creating hazards you want to pull people into in the first place).
-Activate Shillelagh or Magic Stone or Flame Blade. Buuut we're often better off just throwing out a cantrip rather than what is basically a normal attack. Flame Blade is extra bad because it takes your Concentration. Magic Stone at least lets you hand out stuff to mooks who have little better to do with their actions. If you really want to have a half-decent melee attack with Shillelagh, my recommendation would be to try to pick up one of the SCAGtrips from somewhere (like Variant Half-Elf).
Resourceless Output
A Land Druid should not hoard their spell slots; the entire point is that you get more of them than other Druids. That said, I think my favorite option for resourceless combat contribution is Create Bonfire + Thorn Whip.
Create Bonfire is an AoE hazard (yes, a 5-foot cube can potentially hit multiple creatures), and can potentially deal its damage multiple times per round by knocking enemies through the area. It uses Concentration, but that doesn't matter nearly as much if you're not using spell slots anyways. You can also march it along at the front of the party, so that it's up right when a combat starts (and might even block off enemies who win initiative when you open a doorway or something). And it can provide a ranged light source while you're at it. It's worth noting that there's no risk of your allies taking damage from getting thrown into the fire, either, because you can just drop Concentration at any time, even when it's not your turn. Especially valuable if you have a good grappler or the like in your party.
Thorn Whip combos with this, dealing some damage and allowing you to pull enemies into hazards (like your Create Bonfire) or otherwise troublesome positions. If you can get a height advantage over your enemy, you can also use it to make them fall (and when a creature falls, they land prone). The fact that's it's magical piercing damage also means that basically nothing resists it.
If you're going the Goblin route, you even get to make the attack roll with Advantage (having hidden on a previous turn) and then use your bonus action at the end of your turn to Hide again!
While this works well enough with just you, try teaming up with (for example) a Warlock with Repelling Blast and a grappler frontliner and watch those bonfire dice really stack up!
Also note that having a teammate pressuring an enemy is one of the reasons why Thorn Whip's 10 feet of movement is often enough; an enemy will often try to circle out of the Bonfire but still be in range of your frontliner, so that they don't have to eat an OA. That keeps them within 10 feet of the bonfire, or gets your team an OA. Win/win.
Now that I've answered the four questions I posed, here are some actual builds:
Build 5: The Lifeguard (Coastal Life Druid)
Note: Healing Spirit is a controversial spell widely regarded as overpowered. So much so, in fact, that Jeremy Crawford himself recommended a houserule for it. As such, this build will be assuming you're using that nerf, just because I expect that the spell will be accepted at more tables that way. If you're using the RAW version, you don't need to change anything; the build is just even better.
Edit: Hey, Healing Spirit got officially nerfed by errata! So good thing I wasn't counting on getting the old version
Disclaimer out of the way, here's a build that will provide lots and lots of healing.
VHuman Life Cleric 1 / Land Druid (Coast) X
Starting stats: WIS>CON>at least 14 Dex OR 15 Str
ASIs: Resilient (+1 Constitution), Max Wis, Lucky, Warcaster, Prodigy (Perception)
Cantrips: Thorn Whip, Create Bonfire, Guidance, Shape Water, Fire Bolt (Rakdos)
GGtR Guild Affiliation: Rakdos
This build focuses on pumping out massive amounts of healing (in and out of combat) while keeping you safe and using potent CCs (including potent non-Concentration CCs) while you're at it. And it can make people trigger the OAs of all of their summons and allies. And like all Druids, has the versatility of knowing their full spell list.
Armor
The Life Cleric dip means we're free to choose between either the Medium Armor or Heavy Armor route (and both are fine). Medium Armor means we can invest more in Dexterity for better initiative, Dex saves (which are more important than Str saves), and have a smoother progression (e.g. better AC with default / starting armors) at the cost of 1 less AC in the long run.
Healing
The main strategy here is to take advantage of the Life Cleric dip's synergy with the Druid spell list to give you some of the best healing in the game. The first component of this is Goodberry; at the end of an adventuring day, you basically can convert all of your leftover spell slots into a giant pile of potions for the next day. Every single slot spent on Goodberry in this way gives you a whopping 40 hp worth of potions (or 50 with a level 2 slot, 60 with level 3, etc due to how the Life Domain ability works), and doesn't cut into your spell slots for the following day. It just lasts 24 hours, so you can make all of these right before you Long Rest and have 'em in the morning. Hand them out to the party (especially minions and pets!) and now everyone can pick everyone up off the death gate.
The second component of this is Healing Spirit. Each tick with give you 1d6+4 healing, it can potentially tick on multiple allies multiple times per round (though it doesn't need to to be worth it), and it only takes a bonus action to cast it or move it around... and as a Land Druid you don't have a whole lot else to do with your bonus action. Also notable is that Healing Spirit upcasts very well. For example, with a third level slot it will heal 2d6+5 per tick, essentially making it a (mostly) superior version of the old Life Domain + Aura of Vitality combo that Lore Bards were doing in core. And that trick was already great.
Later on you get things like Heal to be able to just burst people back up to full. And you have options like Command and Plant Growth for powerful CC that doesn't mess with your Healing Spirit Concentration (and Land's Stride means that you can walk through that Plant Growth!). Abilities like Land's Stride, Nature's Sanctuary, Misty Step, and Mirror Image (combined with your reliable Concentration feats) means that disrupting you can be quite difficult for the enemy.
Altogether this can really cut into enemy DPR and make your party very hard to put down or keep down. You might initially think that 2d6+5 just sounds like a normal attack, but remember that healing auto-hits, while attacks don't, and that this is just a bonus action, and that it can tick multiple times per round. To get a proper sense of how good this healing is, you should be comparing your output to enemy DPR (counting miss chance and such) rather than just their potential damage-on-hit. Add onto that the fact that the party will be topped off on HP at the start of every new encounter and you're a force multiplier for your party's survivability.
Rakdos and Cleric spells
But wait, healing isn't your only good trick that not every Land Druid can do. I'm not going to reiterate a whole spell guide for Druids here though, and just stick to what Rakdos and Cleric can add for you. Our Rakdos affiliation means that not only can we summon a ton of creatures with spells like Conjure Animals, but after we make them swarm the enemy, we can cast Dissonant Whispers on them in order to make them trigger tons of OAs, dealing considerable damage. It also means that we can hit back with Hellish Rebuke if they think attacking the back line caster is a good idea. Or cast Haste. Or Fire Wall as another thing we can Thorn Whip people through. It also means that we get an actually decent ranged damage cantrip, which Druids usually don't have.
Cleric, on the other hand, mostly adds Bless (an excellent use of Concentration), Command (a rare non-Concentration CC which can be upcast as an AoE, very handy), Sanctuary (another bonus action! And no Concentration! We need those for Land Druids!), and Guiding Bolt (handy at low levels). That's about it for the notable adds.
If you would rather not be affiiated with Rakdos, see "variants" below.
Feats
Resilient is there mainly to make your Concentration better. Lucky does that and also a bunch of other things. Warcaster is also mainly there to make your Concentration better. Prodigy will make you spot everything. The order of feats can be changed up as you like, except that Resilient and Max Wis should be first, and Prodigy provides more benefits the higher your Proficiency is. If you rolled for stats and thus don't need to spend as many ASIs maxing Wisdom, see "variants" for further options.
Cantrips
We use Thorn Whip and Create Bonfire in the way described above in "Resourceless Output." Guidance is spammed liberally out of combat. Shape Water is to be used creatively. Fire Bolt gives us a long range option.
Variants:
- Some other good races for this include Loxodon, Shifter, Hill Dwarf, and Aarakocra. Stats should be adjusted accordingly. For example, if you're a Hill Dwarf with Point Buy, dump Strength, start with 17 Con, and bump it to 18 when you get Resilient.
- The Observant feat is excellent and synergistic with some of the above races. Great choice if you have an odd Wisdom score.
- Alert is always a goodie.
- The Defensive Duelist feat will give you an at-will +6 AC reaction at high levels. It could be worth considering for the level 19 ASI. You just have to hold a weapon, not actually attack anyone with it.
- Prodigy can of course just be augmenting whatever skill you like.
- Magic Initiate could give you a better damage cantrip at higher levels, like Toll the Dead. And grab you a familiar or the like while you're at it.
- If you drop the Rakdos affiliation, replace "Fire Bolt" with something like "Frostbite" or "Mold Earth."
Build 6: Goblin Hazard Druid
Goblin Land Druid 20
Starting stats (Point Buy): 17 Dex / 16 Con / 15 Wis
ASIs: +1 Wis/Dex (18/16), +2 Wis (18), +2 Wis (20), +2 Dex (20), Lucky
Land type: Either Coast, Underdark, Grassland, or Arctic.
Guild Affiliation options: Rakdos has some good adds if you're gonna take one (Dissonant Whispers + summons is a thing). Orzhov is an option for Spirit Guardians (which also has synergy with Thorn Whip).
This solves the "Land Druids don't have a lot of bonus actions" problem by being a Goblin. Being a Goblin means you spend all your time stealthed, You break stealth to do whatever your Action is (with Advantage if it's an attack, like Thorn Whip or Fire Bolt with Rakdos), then use your bonus action at the end of your turn to return to stealth. Being a Goblin also means you can tack on some extra damage in a pinch with Fury of the Small.
You basically set down Concentration effects (often hazards such as Sleet Storm or Spike Growth or Create Bonfire, or summons such as Conjure Animals) and harass people with Thorn Whip or other non-Concentration spells. And just do pretty much all the standard Land Druid things while spending most of your time stealthed. Take advantage of Land's Stride to help kite people.
This guy teams up well with things like grapplers or Repelling Blast Warlocks.Last edited by LudicSavant; 2020-09-14 at 07:37 AM. Reason: Updated for new errata
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-30, 12:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Love the Arcana Cleric frontliner.
The interactions with booming blade, thorn whip and sacred guardians make this guy such a cool tanky support I absolutely love.
Really good in those tightly packed encounters.
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2019-03-30, 04:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
How about a Dex-based Eldritch Knight 12 / War Mage 8 focusing on using Shadow Blade? Can also use Mage Armor to get plate-like AC while still being stealthy and having a great initiative. Bonus points for being able to magically summon all of your arms and armor and have 26 AC in a ball gown.
Arcane Deflection + Indomitable + Lucky all stack to give you great save coverage. Warding Wind is a good spell on the Abjuration/Evocation list which protects you and everyone behind you from ranged attacks (and some other things). War Caster will help keep your Concentration up, and SB / WC / Booming Blade OAs will make you stickier than the average Fighter. Shadow Blade gives you fantastic damage scaling as a Fighter and this build has enough spell slots to be casting it every encounter (by around mid-levels).Last edited by LudicSavant; 2019-03-30 at 08:40 PM.
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-31, 08:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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2019-03-31, 10:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Ï would like to add something.
S.A.D. HELLSONG, the bard from hell
Songs for your party, Hell for the DM
The build is simple Flying tiefling Hexblade Warlock 1 (or 3), Lore Bard X
Stats: Char > Dex > Con > whatever (note that flying tiefling is a option for any tiefling, with or without "feral" stats replacement
Feats: Char, Warcaster, ritual caster. Optional: Lucky, Spell sniper, Inspiring leader
Spells Warlock: Eldritch blast, booming blade or green flame blade, shield, hex or armor of agathys,
Bard, Vicious mockery, friends, feather fall, healing word, hypnotic pattern, invisibility, heat metal, silence, counterspell, conjure animals
Build summary
This build has a lot of room for customization and maintain his strengths as debuffer.
With vicious mockery (action), hypnotic pattern (con, action), heat metal (conc, bonus action), silence (conc), cutting words (reaction) and counterspell (reaction) you can lock down virtually anything you may face. BBEG Heavy warrior? Heat metal on his armor, cutting words and kite him flying. BBEG Caster? Silence, hex (disavantanje on dex checks) and grapple him, or counterspell as needed, or use cutting words to make his "disintegrates" "failtegrates"
Also, you can fill any other role.
Tank. 18 AC with breastplate, shield and +2 dex. With "shield" spell and cutting words you can reach AC23 easily, without magic items. Armor of agathys gives you extra HP that scales greatly with a full caster spare spell slots.
Melee Warcaster, booming blade, hexblade curse (crit on 19+) and charisma to melee, you can dish some good damage without investing any resources. Spell sniper allows to use a whip, for the same damage and safer reach (move to 10, booming blade the enemy, and move back. Now the enemy stays still, or triggers the BB extra damage). And with warcaster and magical secrets, you can get paladin smite spells for crits.
Range Eldritch blast with agonizing blast from a safe flying distance, thanks to spell sniper.
Healing With your talent to negate enemy hits, you don't need so much healing, but healing word for emergencies is enough. Song of rest gives extra restoration. And you still have 6 more magical secrets for healing spirits if you really need them
Skillmonkey You are a bard. You have 3 skills, 3 more from lore bard, and 2 from background, and expertise. I suggest Criminal background, for extra tools proficiency.
Spellcaster You are a full spelcaster, with a free 1st level slot per short rest. You can even use any spell from any other class. Nobody else can do it better than you. But thanks to ritual caster, you can cast even more utility spells
Blasting You can learn fireball just for fun... Because you have fire resistance and proficiency on dex saves, so casting fireball just on you to burn all those enemy melee suckers is a viable tactic.
Scouting You can cast invisibility and fly You have proficiency in perception (or at least, you should). You can cast find familiar from ritual caster. All the bases covered here.
Minion-mancy Geas, animate objets, summon X, find familiar, summon grater steed... all of them are at your reach.
For extra fun, invest all you money in an Axe-guitar, so you can use your music instrument as spell focus and rock as hell.
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2019-03-31, 01:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
The Eldritch Knight build is viable from 1-20.
Basically Fighters have a swell time from 1-12. It jumps off into Wizard at 12 because at that point the Fighter progression slows down a bit; you'd have to wait all the way to level 20 to get another extra attack and that XGtE War Magic school has a lot to offer both in the short and long run.
There is one common mistake I see with EK that gives some people a negative experience with them: They somehow get it into their head that they should be using spells like "Scorching Ray" that rely on their second-rate Intelligence scores. Don't do this! Look for spells that don't rely on your Intelligence score, and ones that augment your martial abilities rather than replacing them.Last edited by LudicSavant; 2019-03-31 at 01:37 PM.
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-03-31, 04:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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2019-03-31, 04:34 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2018
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Last edited by Lysimarchos; 2019-03-31 at 04:36 PM.
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2019-03-31, 09:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Sup folks wonderful thread and very informative, especially since I usually play in small parties so I tend to cover as many bases as I can while still having fun.
This is my current character:
- Hill Dwarf, Lvl 9 War Cleric.
- 16 str, 11 dex, 16 con, 13 int, 19 wis, 11 char
- Warcaster feat
-For story reasons, uses a specific warhammer and usually a shield (tho the shield isn't mandatory like the warhammer).
- Currently gearless (we're prisioners on a penal island).
- Party is a Berserk Barbarian/ Fighter 8/1 and a Thief Rogue 8/1 as well.
Reading this thread I really enjoyed the thorn whip and Booming Blade shenanigans with spirit guardians (which has been a workhorse of mine since I got it) so I was wondering a few things..
-What ways are there to get cantrips outside my class without multiclassing? (probably with feats I'd guess)
- On the next ASL I wanna bump my Wis to 20, ya folks got any suggestions on what half-feat I should get or should I bump Wis and another stat?
-What other combos with spells/ feats would be interesting to get/try? I don't mean just in combat here as I'm kinda the generalist of the party, so stuff like utility, intel gathering (outside of sneaking which our rogue has covered), and other support stuff you folks can think of.
-On a related note, is there anything that can help me getting by unnoticed? 'Cause with 11 dex, no prof in stealth and (usually) heavy armor, I've dun goofed more times than not when it would benefit the party to be hidden (once with a shadow dragon, was epic and even got some bonus xp out of it, but yeah, not looking forward to repeat that trick 😂)
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2019-03-31, 09:46 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
> Magic Initiate Feat
> Races: High Elf, SCAG variant half-elf, or Mark of Making Human
> Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica backgrounds
> Magic Items
Edit:
Here's a list of all of the half-feats organized by the stats they boost: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...ats-They-Boost
So... given that you already have Wis proficiency your choice is basically just between Observant and +1 Wis / +1 something else (probably Dex).
Thankfully, Observant is a very good half-feat... at least if your DM remembers to use the passive perception rules.Last edited by LudicSavant; 2019-03-31 at 10:19 PM.
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-04-02, 05:29 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Just for theorycrafting sake: would it be viable multiclassing your "Woodelf Magic Commando" to Wizard, let's say at level 12?
Eldritch Knight-ish build, I guess War Wizard or Abjuration could work fine.
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2019-04-02, 04:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-04-03, 03:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Maybe I don't find the EK features too appealing, or don't really get them.
Let's see, a full EK build would get:
4, 3, 3, 1 spells.
War Magic: looks nice when you have 2 attacks, effectively replacing one of them with a cantrip (BB it's an easy choice); less so when you have 3 or 4 attacks.
Improved War Magic makes War Magic look a bit better, though I can't really think of situations where a spell + 1 attack will make a real difference against either a single spell or 3-4 attacks. Especially because I see EK spells mostly as self-support.
Arcane Charge is nice to have but hardly game changing. Pretty much like Weapon Bond.
Eldritch Strike is no doubt powerful. Disadvantage can help landing a spell even if you DC isn't optimal.
On the other hand a, say, BM 12/Wizard 8 would get:
4, 3, 3, 2 spells. Also, without limitations in school chosen.
All the BM manouvers, that can give some nice versatility.
It would be missing Indomitable (x2) and (x3), though this could be remedied by just taking Lucky Feat (you can afford to spare an ASI with a Fighter); Action Surge (x2); a fourth attack; one ASI (not that you have too few of those, TBH).
On top of that you get Arcane Tradition at level 2 and 6: Arcane Ward, or Portent, or Arcane Deflection + Tactical Wit.
Thinking about this, a 2 levels dip into War Wizard could actually be pretty nice for a Dex EK...
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2019-04-03, 08:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
11/9 is almost always the better split for 5th level spells and fighter is pretty free after 11. That said non-EK fighters prefer sorc/warlock for hard spam on 5th's. War wizard 2/6 is just also good on everything.
11/9 EK has 4/3/3/3/2/1 which is a little more hefty in terms of power and is a slightly better comparison point.
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2019-04-05, 03:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
Good day everyone.
I am playing the Arcane Cleric with Shillelagh in a ToA campaign by now. My goddess is Mystra.
I had been working on this build independently on my side (with a Wood Elf basis), until i talked about it to LudicSavant on another thread and he shown me all the work that had already been done on it.
The DM has been generous and gave us a bonus feat at level 1. So 2 feats for Vuman. We started at level 3. I took the Sailor background.
I made some changes with the build presented by LudicSavant, though.
Because the DM has decided to put an emphasis on the "survivalist" part of the campaign, i took Resilient (Con) at level 1 instead of Warcaster because Saves against exhaustion, diseases and unintentional poisoning (like food poisoning) is going to be a thing.
For the same reason, i took Goodberries instead of Absorb Element with the Magic Initiate feat. I also took Guidance with the feat to free a Cleric cantrip slot for Light. Half of the party is human or aaracokra, and the DM is apparently willing to play hard on the obscurity situations.
We just reached level 4. I raised my Wis. Stats are now 10 / 14 / 14 / 12 / 18 / 10.
My skills are Arcana, Athletics, Stealth, History, Perception, Insight.
My Cleric cantrips are Sacred Flame, Word of Radiance, Light, Mending (taken at lvl 4).
My Druid cantrips are Guidance and Shillelagh.
My Wizard cantrips are Green Flame Blade and the second one remains to be defined (the DM allowed it), i'm hesitating between Prestidigitation, Mage Hand and Booming Blade. I didn't take BB outright because i'm not sure to take Warcaster before level 12 and this combo is my main incentive to take BB in addition of 3 other attack cantrip and Shillelagh.
So far the build is working well, as well as i could expect given the environmental circumstances and my less than stellar rolls. I've made an extensive use of Shillelagh and Spiritual Weapon. GFB and WoR have not been very useful yet as we have faced mostly single big foes.
I feel like i lack a real nova, but my ongoing damages per turn are neat. I support with Bless and Aid (i like to use it as a poor man's Mass Healing Word). I've been useful to the party in most of situations, including social ones thanks to my Insight.Last edited by Petrocorus; 2019-04-06 at 11:17 AM.
Que tous les anciens dieux et les nouveaux protègent la France.
Resistance Data in MM, Volo's, MToF. -- -- Petrocorus's 3.5 Paladin Builds List. -- -- French vs. EnglishOriginally Posted by King Louis XIII in The Musketeers
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2019-04-05, 04:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
The thing about 11/9 EK is that they have the same spell slots as a 12/8 EK. Both will have 4/3/3/3/2/1, but one will have an extra ASI and the other will be able to learn 5th level spells at 20 and only 20. The reason for this is because the multiclassing rules make the EK divide their levels by 3 and round down (so 11 levels = 3 spellcasting levels, while 12 = 4 spellcasting levels).
If you are a Battle Master, however, the 11/9 split is probably better, because it actually makes a difference in the spell slots you have access to (4/3/3/3/1 over 4/3/3/2)
It seems like it could be viable to me. EK/Wizard will have a smoother progression overall, but BM will get maneuvers and doesn't scale its subclass features much beyond 11. Consider BM 11 / War Wizard 9. At 20 you'll even be able to do a 5th level Shadow Blade / Action Surge nova, albeit only 1/day. Being able to stack maneuvers on top of that is pretty nasty.
Pure EK 20's advantages would be having an extra Action Surge / rest, 3 Indomitables (which stack with Lucky), 2 extra ASIs compared to be BM11/9, about 18 extra hit points (plus 9 more per Short Rest via Second Wind), and of course a 4th attack at 20. And of course all of the EK's features. War Magic mostly only matters at tier 2. Arcane Charge will let you do a teleport that can't be counterspelled (which I always like). Weapon Bond makes you immune to disarms (also it lets you summon/smuggle items). And they'll still be able to cast quite a few spells, if a bit less than the BM setup in the long run.Last edited by LudicSavant; 2019-04-05 at 05:34 PM.
Originally Posted by ProsecutorGodot
Nerull | Wee Jas | Olidammara | Erythnul | Hextor | Corellon Larethian | Lolth | The Deep Ones
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2019-04-05, 08:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2016
Re: An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds
heh, mind if I add my own into the mix?
Never let the fluff of a class define the personality of a character. Let Clerics be Atheist, let Barbarians be cowardly or calm, let Druids hate nature, and let Wizards know nothing about the arcane
Fun Fact: A monk in armor loses Martial Arts, Unarmored Defense, and Unarmored Movement, but keep all of their other abilities, including subclass features, and Stunning Strike works with melee weapon attacks. Make a Monk in Fullplate with a Greatsword >=D
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2019-04-06, 12:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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