Making a Fairy Drakewarden work?

[theonesin]

I really want to play a Fairy as my next character, and seeing some of the newer classes, the Drakewarden seemed like a fun idea, running a fairy with a pet dragon. Would this work out very well even? If so, what would be a good way to build it?

[JLandan]

Because Fairy has the floating +2/+1 to any stat, and being small, I suggest +2 Dex/+1 Wis.

Nothing else especially good or bad for a Ranger. Keep to light armor so you can fly.

Also, because you're small, go dueling with a rapier for most damage. But archery in flight is super cool for best to hit, use a light cross and take crossbow expert asap.

Because your flying speed is tied to your walking speed, longstrider will give you 40' fly for an hour. Ensnaring strike with the rapier or a bow, always cool.

There's nothing synergistic with Fairy and Ranger, nor is there anything detrimental. Because you're small, you can fly on the drake at 7th, but you already fly, so...

[RogueJK]

Because you're small, you can fly on the drake at 7th, but you already fly, so...

Even a Fairy or other Small PC can't fly on a Drake at 7th level.

The Drakewarden class feature specifically states: "The drake grows to Medium size. Reflecting your special bond, you can use the drake as a mount if your size is Medium or smaller. While you are riding your drake, it can’t use the flying speed of this feature."

The prohibition on flying is not tied to the rider's size. Regardless of size, the drake can't fly while you're riding it until you hit 15th level.

[ApocalypseCow]

I'm playing a drakewarden fairy, I'm level 8 atm, 8str 18dex 14con 16wis 10int 10cha. I play with a whip and shield, and stay no further than 30 feet of my drake so I can benefit from his infused strikes and at level 15 other abilities. It would probably be more optimal to make a bow/crossbow build but I really like the whip RP wise and it also has reach so it's not completely melee.

At level 8 I got the tough feat but a better option if you don't want to fight melee with your dragon would probably be warcaster or resilient. Most of my spellslots go into reviving my drake, but level 2 spellslots are important, you can use the silence spell and the summon beast spell, both are concentration so going full melee while concentrating isn't the best idea, but I've been having good luck so far with my whip and 35 flying speed. (the 5ft bonus is from the tasha option that replaces favored terrain.)

You can also take the fighting style druidic warrior and get some druid cantrips, I think thornwhip, frostbite and magic stone are cool options.

Fog cloud is a good spell to use when in a pinch and a need to control the battlefield arises.

The fairy spell Enlarge/reduce doesn't let you mount and fly on your drake even if you make him large, but on the bright side its still a 1d4 damage and when you get to level 15 making him huge would look pretty cool.

Also a fairy is fey and not humanoid so some spells like hold person don't work on you but there may be others that target fey that do so pay attention to that.

We're playing tyranny of dragons and so far it's fun.

[Thunderous Mojo]

While the Drakewarden, drake pet, gives Medium sized characters, a small boost by allowing a Medium sized PC to ride their medium sized drake as a mount, (normally, a mount is required to be one size category larger than the rider), a small sized Drakewarden, is not a poor choice at all.

A Faerie receives the ability to cast Faerie Fire and Enlarge, which are both useful spells, and neither spell natively appear on the Ranger spell list.

Faerie Fire is a relatively straight forward spell to use.
Enlarge has, a multitude of uses, as it can also affect objects, which can allow for some interesting Player options.

A locked door, (for example), that cannot be opened, can be shrunk instead, to allow people to squeeze by.

A Faerie cannot fly in Medium or heavier armor. If flight is not required for a particular scenario, remember the Ranger class does allow Medium Armor use. A Shield, and/or the Defensive Duelist feat can help boost your AC up for melee battles.

Do not be afraid to use the Drake pet as cover!

The Drake starts with AC 16, and since the drake is the same size as a Faerie should at least count as Half Cover, which is a +2 to AC and Dex Saving Throws. Three Quarters Cover, (which is not an unreasonable amount of cover to assume with a small sized PC, lying prone behind a small sized drake), adds a +5 to AC and Dexterity Saving Throws.

As the Drake grows larger, (or is Enlarged), a portable means of providing yourself Full Cover is an option.

The Infused Strikes feature of the drake pet is interesting, as it only requires the drake pet to be within 30’ of the attacker, not the target, to apply their extra damage boost. This means a Drakewarden can use Ranged attacks, and still benefit from the ability.

The drake pet does need to see the allied attacker, so be mindful that magical darkness, Fog Cloud, or other phenomena that block sight might impede using Infused Strikes.

A Questing Faerie Knight, (with Retainers to handle your assortment of gear, including a set of Medium Armor and Lance to be held in reserve), armed with Rapier, Short Bow, Lance, and Shield is my first thought for this combination….
…..though, by no means, is this the only viable theme.

I, personally, would shy away from the Two Weapon Fighting Style, in favor of one of the other Styles, as a Bonus Action is required to command the Drake Pet.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Even a Fairy or other Small PC can't fly on a Drake at 7th level.

The Drakewarden class feature specifically states: "The drake grows to Medium size. Reflecting your special bond, you can use the drake as a mount if your size is Medium or smaller. While you are riding your drake, it can’t use the flying speed of this feature."

The prohibition on flying is not tied to the rider's size. Regardless of size, the drake can't fly while you're riding it until you hit 15th level.

But ask your GM-- given that a Fairy already has an at-will fly speed, waiving this restriction sounds reasonable.

[Thunderous Mojo]

But ask your GM-- given that a Fairy already has an at-will fly speed, waiving this restriction sounds reasonable.

One aspect to consider, is the Player can chose to treat the Flying Drake as a Controlled Mount.

The Player in effect sacrifices the Bonus Action triggering of the Pet Drake’s attack action, in exchange for either a Disengage or Dash.

The Pet Drake is in control of it’s Reactions, so Infused Strikes is not impacted, by the Pet Drake being used as a Controlled Mount.

Essentially the Drakewarden Ranger can wind up with a Flying speed of 80’ if a Dash is used or a Flying speed of 40’ and a free Disengage…which amounts to a free Longstrider spell and Disengage action when compared to a Faerie’s normal Flight speed.

Also the Faerie PC can wear Medium Armor and still fly..via the mount.
There are quite a few ramifications in play, for such beneficence.

[Grod_The_Giant]

The Player in effect sacrifices the Bonus Action triggering of the Pet Drake’s attack action, in exchange for either a Disengage or Dash.

A) Normal riders could already do that.
B) Who cares, there are plenty of ways to get a similar ability and most of the time I'd rather be using the 2d6+Prof bite attack.

The Pet Drake is in control of it’s Reactions, so Infused Strikes is not impacted, by the Pet Drake being used as a Controlled Mount.

C) Who cares?

Essentially the Drakewarden Ranger can wind up with a Flying speed of 80’ if a Dash is used or a Flying speed of 40’ and a free Disengage…which amounts to a free Longstrider spell and Disengage action when compared to a Faerie’s normal Flight speed.

D) It's a net fly speed increase of 10ft.
E) That's the entire point of riding a mount.
F) Who cares, that's not going to make a big difference or affect anyone else's enjoyment of the game.

Also the Faerie PC can wear Medium Armor and still fly..via the mount.

G) Light armor is better anyway.
H) Medium armor is crap the red-haired stepchild of 5e equipment, if a class feature actually encourages it I say go for it.
I) Who cares?

There are quite a few ramifications in play, for such beneficence.

But none of them actually matter.

5e game balance is pretty damn robust, as such things go. There are very few things you can do in terms of build choices or small tradeoffs that will be problematic at the table, and basically none that can't be addressed with a custom magic item drop or two. Fun is always worth prioritizing over balance.

[Thunderous Mojo]

C) Who cares?.

People, that are concerned about handling Flight at low tiers..which is not that uncommon of a stance, on the Playground.

A game that has flying mounts available at 7th level, can probably waive the Drake Pet Airline Non-Compete clause.

A DM that is wary about handling the Flight from the Faerie race, might very well care to leave the restriction in place.

Speaking from experience with my Hasted Psi Warrior Character, Double Movement Flight with a Disengage is Cruise Missile Mode.

Some games are good with that, others not.

[Sherlockpwns]

At the end of the day this appears to be pretty straight forward.

Given you are flying and are almost certainly dex based, we certainly land hard on ranged weapons. Since you are also small this means no longbow.

The archery style is so good it’s hard to pass up; +2 to hit is like having bless on all the time.

So the simplest answer is to rock a shortbow and be around 30ft above your drake blasting away. For a pure ranger you’ll be able to use summon beast by mid game and by late game you’ll probably want to cast other debuffs before attacking with the bow. Just pour ASI into stats and don’t fret.

That said let’s get a little crazy.

The funny thing about drake warden is, in my opinion, it’s ok to add a little multiclass in. All you really lose is 5hp per level to the drake and delay progression; but for a flying creature who probably won’t be riding their drake these later levels are not the end of the world to have or not have.

So let’s consider adding some “dirty tricks” that may require DM approval.

thorn whip people 10 ft off the ground and have them fall (1d6 dmg and potentially prone).

if you take Mobility at 4 it essentially gives you flyby attack (and bonus fly speed!). You could dip Paladin with a rapier and use smites. Apparently fairies can use shields just fine. Flyby and a high-ish AC is a tough nut to crack. You could also go to fighter (battlemaster for instance) and use goading strike.

You could go nutty with Artificer as well, Armorer will get you built in lightning launchers, 5ft movement, and advantage on stealth (plus two infused items, which could be made for your drake). If you wanted to be a stealthy fairy that could be fun.

That all said there is nothing wrong with keeping it all ranger. At 9 you can even summon another fey creature to add more mischief.

[RogueJK]

The funny thing about drake warden is, in my opinion, it’s ok to add a little multiclass in. All you really lose is 5hp per level to the drake and delay progression; but for a flying creature who probably won’t be riding their drake these later levels are not the end of the world to have or not have.

So let’s consider adding some “dirty tricks” that may require DM approval.

thorn whip people 10 ft off the ground and have them fall (1d6 dmg and potentially prone).

It doesn't even require a multiclass dip if you're wanting to go this route. Just take Druidic Warrior Fighting Style, or the Magic Initiate Druid feat.

You could dip Paladin with a rapier and use smites.

Paladin/Ranger is one of the toughest multiclass combos to pull off due to sheer MADNess. You'll be wanting a high DEX, a moderately high WIS and CON, and at least a 13 STR and CHA to meet Paladin multiclassing prerequisites. That's going to be extremely tough to do without rolling for stats, and rolling high across the board.

Otherwise, with point buy, you're looking at something mediocre like:
STR 13
DEX 14+2
CON 13
INT 8
WIS 13+1
CHA 13

Or even worse, with the standard array:
STR 12+1
DEX 15+2
CON 10
INT 8
WIS 14
CHA 13

That all said there is nothing wrong with keeping it all ranger. At 9 you can even summon another fey creature to add more mischief.

At 5 you can summon another Beast.

[Grod_The_Giant]

People, that are concerned about handling Flight at low tiers..which is not that uncommon of a stance, on the Playground.

Right, which is a fair concern--if the character in question didn't already have at-will flight from their race.

[Sherlockpwns]

It doesn't even require a multiclass dip if you're wanting to go this route. Just take Druidic Warrior Fighting Style, or the Magic Initiate Druid feat.



Paladin/Ranger is one of the toughest multiclass combos to pull off due to sheer MADNess. You'll be wanting a high DEX, a moderately high WIS and CON, and at least a 13 STR and CHA to meet Paladin multiclassing prerequisites. That's going to be extremely tough to do without rolling for stats, and rolling high across the board.

Otherwise, with point buy, you're looking at something mediocre like:
STR 13
DEX 14+2
CON 13
INT 8
WIS 13+1
CHA 13

Or even worse, with the standard array:
STR 12+1
DEX 15+2
CON 10
INT 8
WIS 14
CHA 13



At 5 you can summon another Beast.

Sorry, I was typing that on my phone and wasn't clear with the intent. None of my paragraphs were necessarily connected to one another. You can get the thorn whip by any means, even a 1 level druid dip for all I care. The Paladin thing is really only for smite, beyond meeting the min pre-req nothing really matters. You are correct though that it may be challenging to get the sores you need if your table is using point buy or standard array. I guess my point was that you shouldn't be afraid of a 1-4 level dip depending on where you want your character to focus. Could pick up rogue for sneak dmg and do the same thing (using your drake to trigger). Are you a stealthy fairy, a melee fairy, a ranged fairy, I think the OP goals are undefined and broad enough with race/class that it really could be "anything" to an extent; though it probably does want to be majority ranger just to keep your drake relatively high in HP.

[Dinjaren]

Instead, might I suggest a fairy barbarian, primal path from Tasha’s. At level 3 you’ll get 2 claw attacks. If you dip into fighter to get 2-wpn fighting, you’ll get a bonus action claw attack & apply str mod to all claw attacks.

At barb 5/ftr 1, you’ll have have 4 claw attacks (attack, extra attack, primal path claw attack, a bonus action claw attack). At this level he’s doing 1d6 + 6, about 38 dmg per round.
I took another ftr level to action surge and the rest has been barbarian. He’s high enough level for a 20 str and primal path swim speed. When raging, he’s doing 1d6 + 8 per hit, averaging about 45 dmg per round and 90 with action surge.

At my game table, he’s been dubbed the “glitter bomb”

[RogueJK]

Instead, might I suggest a fairy barbarian, primal path from Tasha’s. At level 3 you’ll get 2 claw attacks. If you dip into fighter to get 2-wpn fighting, you’ll get a bonus action claw attack & apply str mod to all claw attacks.

The Beast Barbarian's claws are simple melee weapon, but are not Light weapons. Therefore, you'd need the Dual Wielder feat in order to TWF with them.

[Dinjaren]

Dual weapon fighting is correct & is in the build, good catch

[Witty Username]

Does the drake require a bonus action, if not two-weapon fighting works decent. Crossbow expert if you're basic. Archery is pretty good in general if you want to use a short bow. Gunner feat and a musket if you want your DM to go cross-eyed.
Fairy precludes heavy weapons which is the only thing the build can't do. But you could probably still manage a strength build with PAM if you really wanted.

[strangebloke]

clearly you use your own fly speed, and let some other small PC ride the drake. After all, it can't use its fly speed when YOU are riding it, but it can use it when other small PCs are riding it. /s

But more seriously, Fairies are very good and drakewardens are also very good. Trust me. The drake isn't exciting, but it is good.

Basically, the drake is a big meatbag that can soak hits for the party, which is a lot better than it sounds. It has good HP and AC, and if it dies you can replace it for a single first level spell (being a spirit, it doesn't mind dying too much) so any attack against the drake is basically a wasted attack roll on the enemy's part. Being replaceable means that the drake is a FAR better tank than basically any PC is.

If they ignore the drake and run past, great! You get a reaction attack! If they don't, fine, you get infused strikes and the enemy is likely wasting their turn attacking the drake or whatever. If you want to order the drake to attack, that's a decent use of your BA, but it will dodge if you don't use the BA, and since the drake's main role is 'tank' and half their damage contribution comes from infuse anyway, that's not bad at all.

Basically just have the fairy be an evasive ranged character who plinks away at enemies from range while the drake stands in chokepoints / provides sneak attack to the rogue / gets OAs / takes hits. Boring? Maybe. But effective. +1d6 a turn from infused strikes is as good as most rangers get, that's the absolute bottom of your baseline. Ignore CBA and get sharpshooter or even gunner instead. You won't regret it.

There are spicier things you can do with the drake! It can attune to magic items and use them! Give your scaly friend a circlet of blasting, and command it to use it as a bonus action. Give it a wand of magic missile. The drake can also (arguably) grapple, if you order it to (technically it can't because it doesn't have hands, but meh)

[Psyren]

clearly you use your own fly speed, and let some other small PC ride the drake. After all, it can't use its fly speed when YOU are riding it, but it can use it when other small PCs are riding it. /s

I know you're not being serious here but I'll point out anyway that that reading cuts both ways - it's true that it only says it can't fly if it's carrying you, but it also only says you can use it as a mount to begin with.

[strangebloke]

I know you're not being serious here but I'll point out anyway that that reading cuts both ways - it's true that it only says it can't fly if it's carrying you, but it also only says you can use it as a mount to begin with.

It's a medium creature, a small creature can ride it normally. The level 7 feature is what lets you as a medium creature ride it. Two small size drakewardens can ride each other's mounts.

But this is stupid RAW. Just ask your DM to waive the restriction on not flying. Its very silly, and was probably done for 'balance' reasons, but I cannot fathom at all how permanent mounted flight at level 7 is at all overpowered compared to permanent unmounted flight at level 1.

[Thunderous Mojo]

But this is stupid RAW. Just ask your DM to waive the restriction on not flying. Its very silly, and was probably done for 'balance' reasons, but I cannot fathom at all how permanent mounted flight at level 7 is at all overpowered compared to permanent unmounted flight at level 1.

I will reiterate from above, a free Flying Disengage, can be quite potent…and that is what the mount will give you.

I do think, the designers could have applied a Flight time limit…similar to either Winged Boots, or a 10 minute Flight limitation ala the Fly spell.

(Drake flies for 10 minutes and then needs to rest for 10 minutes before flying again).

15th level for mounted flight, is too long of a wait.

[strangebloke]

I will reiterate from above, a free Flying Disengage, can be quite potent…and that is what the mount will give you.

I do think, the designers could have applied a Flight time limit…similar to either Winged Boots, or a 10 minute Flight limitation ala the Fly spell.

(Drake flies for 10 minutes and then needs to rest for 10 minutes before flying again).

15th level for mounted flight, is too long of a wait.

Mounted flight has that singular advantage, yeah, but otherwise its strictly worse, particularly because the drake has to move after your turn. So you literally can't ride in and use melee. You have to take whatever action you can, and then run away. And there's the usual mount problem, which is that the drake's saves are pretty bad and its easy to get removed from the battle because your mount failed to save against fear. Or your mount gets shot out from under you and you plummet. Overall mounted flight has some upsides over unmounted flight, but its mostly a downgrade, and I really don't see why its overpowered at 7th level. A druid can summon 8 rideable owls for an hour at 5th level, and can also turn into a rideable giant eagle for four hours at a time at level 8

[Thunderous Mojo]

Mounted flight has that singular advantage, yeah, but otherwise its strictly worse, particularly because the drake has to move after your turn.

As a Controlled Mount, the initiative changes to match it’s rider.
The sensible solution is to interpret that the mount moves simultaneously with it’s rider…else the rules become unusable.

The Mounted Combat rules being unusable isn’t the design intent, even if a literal reading would render them so.

Mounted Combat opinion does tend to be a bit divisive of a topic, so I am more than willing to concede that some tables run it in a manner that makes it suck, quite hard.

[strangebloke]

As a Controlled Mount, the initiative changes to match it’s rider.
The sensible solution is to interpret that the mount moves simultaneously with it’s rider…else the rules become unusable.

The Mounted Combat rules being unusable isn’t the design intent, even if a literal reading would render them so.

Mounted Combat opinion does tend to be a bit divisive of a topic, so I am more than willing to concede that some tables run it in a manner that makes it suck, quite hard.

Mounted combat unfortunately works in a very clearly defined way and both RAW and RAI support it. I agree this is a bad system that a lot of people sub for something more intuitive, but meh. It is what it is. It's not completely unusable, but it is janky.

In any case the main issue with mounted flight isn't the specific woe of melee combat and the mounted rules, it that flying mounted combat is dangerous. The drake isn't a pushover, but it has weaknesses you the player character don't, and thus you as a unit have more vulnerabilities. Nothing to be done for it.

Again, druids have 8 hours of flight between short rests just one level after this. Various races have flight as a feature. All paladins get 'free' mounted flight two levels before the specialized drakewarden. I don't see the issue with allowing mounted flight, even while I think drakewarden is plenty strong as-is.