Just noticed that I messed up the Tactical Wit Initiative bonus... I confused it with Alert's static +5 bump, but it's actually linked to Int, so the values shown are mostly 2 points too high and should be at +3 in the middle levels. Apologies for the confusion!
I'm playing a Gith psi-warrior right now and I'm planning on multiclassing with Monk. I have low str, low Cha, and average con, but a 16 wisdom, 16 int, and 16 dex (thanks to racial ability bonuses). I dual wield scimitars (finesse and light), which lets me use my bonus action for a second attack and psionic attack has been great for some bonus dmg. I plan on multiclassing with Monk after level 5, getting some of the synergy you mentioned on the video with slowfall. Gith naturally have both mage hand and shield (1/day). If the campaign goes long enough I plan on going up to 12 fighter levels with 8 monk levels. I make a great archer, but have a lot of support capability and psi-warrior is a nice one to multiclass because it is based on proficiency (as you pointed out). It's funny that we ended up with similar concepts. Nice video!
As a DM I'd give a hard no on that blindsight negating obscurement by stuff like darkness or clouds of smoke if you're trying to hit something outside your blindsight radius. Blindsight is meant to represent a character's ability to sense with something OTHER than their eyes like hearing or smell, the ten foot radius is the limit of that ability, so in obscurement they'd be able to hit something within that radius, but outside it they wouldn't be able to apply that sense. Blindsight doesn't make your eyes better, it makes it so that if you can't use your eyes you can use something else within a small radius, anything beyond that radius is beyond the use of the fighting style. Also it'd probably annoy me if someone tried to pull this trick, it's a very obvious attempt to use RAW rules lawyering to weasel around the spirit of this feature. That said I might work with a player to make blind fighting a little better as it's only good for melee in it's current form. One way to use it would be to extend the range but require a concentration save to actually use it in the middle of a fight, you have to actually single out your target using your other senses, and thus give a character a feature to build around.
loved the fog cloud + blind fighting as an advantage generator. only way i'd change it is i'd acquire fog cloud from sorc instead and get to sorc 3 so i can quicken it. that way i don't have to burn my action on fog cloud on the 1st round and compromise extra attack. for efficiency's sake though, i think the misty visions silent image is better. same with umbral sight in the appropriate campaign. the only time i'd go with blind fighting is if i can somehow gain poison immunity and then use stinking cloud over fog cloud. then grapple and pummel them inside the stinking cloud with advantage. i do find the psi warrior meh. i think most of what you can do here can easily be translated to a better version in battlemastter or rune knight.
I should also add that the whole "seeing through the edge of the Fog Cloud" thing is extremely shaky. I don't see why it would work RAW, which is quite an issue considering a huge part of the build relies on it.
I'd say that only a negligible part of the build relies on it, as if the DM rules it that way you can 1. opt for Illusions instead so you can see through it, or 2. just melee skirmish (as mentioned in the vid).
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons Huge was perhaps overstating it, but it causes you to delay your Archery Fighting Style and your DEX. Still, I accept that you can use illusions instead, but that is also quite DM dependant, unfortunately. Melee skirmish would kind of work, but being limited to movement inside the Fog Cloud hurts a melee character a lot.
Personally I feel like the Simic Hybrid is one of the best options, there is just a ton of uniqueness from it - Glide for example. Point buy you could be 16 str, 17 con, 14 int. First feat imho could be Aberrant dragon mark if your DM allows it, for +1 con Hex or Hunter's mark 1/SR I think, and mage hand for a cantrip unless you want a ranged damage cantrip. You could go wizard or artificer for a 1 level dip or wizard for a 2 level dip.
Aberrant Dragon Mark only allows you to pick from the Sorcerer list for the spell it gives you. If you want Hex or Hunter’s Mark you’ll have to go Fey Touched or Shadow Touched instead (or Magic Initiate, but the Touched feats are better than MI if you’re more concerned with the leveled spells than the cantrips).
@@ArtGuyCharlie don't have books on hand, I believe it states sorcerer cantrip but makes no distinction about the 1st level spell iirc. If I'm wrong I'm wrong.
@@lord6617 Here’s the exact wording for that part of the feat: “You learn a cantrip of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. In addition, choose a 1st-level spell from the sorcerer spell list. You learn that spell and can cast it through your mark. Once you cast it, you must finish a short or long rest before you can cast it again through the mark. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.” But it’s a reasonable mistake to make.
I went a little bit of a different route. Picked up bear rage after 5th level in fighter, wanted to double down on tanking and damage. Any damage that did get through the bear resistance just got chomped by the shield.
I must say, sacrificing your first action in every combat to cast Fog Cloud is pretty costly. You're basically sacrificing your first 3 attacks to be able to make the next ~9 attacks at advantage and to be attacked at disadvantage (in a limited zone that can be easily dispelled or even removed by a gust of wind). This kind of reminds me of True Strike, in a way. In most battles, this means sacrificing a third of your actions in combat. It also somewhat forces you to stay in the 20-foot radius of the spell to make the most of it, which isn't great if you want to reposition. You're also paying a high cost for the times you'll get Advantage in combat anyway, of which there are plenty. Not to mention you're giving up delaying Extra Attack, Action Surge, ASIs (especially DEX), the actual subclass features. The opportunity cost here is just a bit too high in my opinion, both in combat and in leveling. I would have probably taken the Wizard levels after level 11, which is a sweet spot to exit Fighter, but I understand you like the various advantages of a Wizard dip early, of which there are many, of course. All of this makes more sense under the prism of this not being a DPR focused build, but even so, I feel like the cost of the Wizard MC this early is too high. Overall, this is definitely an interesting and original build, and a great video as always, so thanks!
Yeah, I'm not selling out for DPR and I think the Fog Cloud helps everyone, especially if they (sensibly) optimize for it. As a defensive oriented player, I have no problem sacrificing a few attacks to set up a fantastic defense that I'm optimized for. And as a wizard, I'd LOVE it if one of the fighters could do that for me to use, while reserving my own concentration for something lethal. I also really like adding Mind Sliver to help stick save-or-sucks, while Minor Illusion is always available for cover even if I don't have spell slots left. And a familiar! Just too good as a package, and too good for my character concept, to ignore. I'm also building this PC without magic items, but there are a lot of them that can smooth this out (e.g. Eversmoking Bottle). Many thanks for you comments and perspective!
@@KatanaKamisama Silent Image is an excellent option that I considered as well, especially since it's movable and you can see through it. I did a Deep Dive on Major Image and a lot of it applies to Silent Image, so I probably would do that personally. But I decided to go with Fog Cloud for the video precisely because, as you point out, Illusions are ruled wildly differently table to table, so I opted for the simpler version. I at least took Minor Illusion which is obviously way less powerful than Silent Image but can get the job done in a pinch.
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons Eldritch Adept: Misty Visions or just taking Misty Visions is one of my go to invocation selections now that blind fighting is a thing.
Recently stumbled upon your content and thought I'd help boost your algorithm! Thoughtful videos although I don't find myself agreeing with you at all times, that's the fun of a super personal/creative game like D&D. I'm currently playing a fighter/wizard Multiclass in a homebrew synthesis of several adventure modules that I think would be relevant to this video series. When you do your Eldritch Knight build considered taking 3-4 levels of Bladesinger. I am currently loving this character as a frontline battlefield controller or striker. Lots of Cantrip versatility, 18 AC before shield or bladesong bonus with studded leather and the Mariner fighting style for climb/swim speed, booming blade rapier, cold/lightning/thunder spells for thematics and damage variety, and now with tasha's you can pick different races (I went with half elf bc I had to at the time) for even more power gaming. Would be happy to send you my sheet or any other ideas. Keep up the good work brother.
Many thanks for your engagement and support! Welcome aboard :-) Yeah, disagreements are unavoidable but I hope to at least provide a launching point for discussion, and to cover the main arguments and such. That sounds like a resonant combo, so feel free to HMU with the sheet and I'll look it over!
You're certainly both articulate and thorough in your thought process (although I think based on some of the commenters I am not the only one who has some disagreements). And I am looking forward to this series as while you are a wizard man, I am a huge Fighter/Monk boi and I love what certain characters can get up to without any magic in the world of DnD. Here is the link to a pared-down version of my sheet: drive.google.com/file/d/13TdQ1nbhgG91LTXNn19xfQXGCsC7fzB9/view?usp=sharing To give some context the campaign the character is in is an exploration focused game with a focus on survival and dungeon delving. I RP him as a sort of Indiana Jones/Sherlock Holmes types looking for ancient magical secrets. If you have any follow-up questions or advice let me know! I will be following the rest of your series.
I must say, I really appreciate that you focus on defense with your builds. I understand peoples desire to kill enemies FAST, but I find it boring sifting through countless of the same builds using x,y, and z optimal offense features/feats that everyone picks. The reality is that while a dead enemy can’t do damage, neither can a dead or incapacitated player. I too enjoy making hardy or slippery characters even if it means I sacrifice some damage, cuz few things suck more in dnd that getting stopped by an enemy before you can bust out or set up some awesome damage combo.
Telekinetic would have been a great feat for ally space control. It might only be 5 feet but a bonus action to shift an ally out of threat range is a soft disengage
I considered Telekinetic but ultimately find it underwhelming unless you need the +1 ASI to round out your stats. The fact that it uses a bonus action would interfere with the bonus action crossbow attack and Psi-Powered Leap, and if I need a soft disengage, I can use Telekinetic Movement or Telekinetic Thrust.
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons I asked about a ruling for this but you could arguably use Telekinetic on yourself, effectively giving you a bonus action disengage and 5 extra feet of movement. This could even replace featherfall, in RAW you can only fall up to 60ft per round. If you fly higher than that you can allow yourself to fall for a full round and then on the subsequent round you could use the feat again when you are 5 feet from the ground to push yourself up to 10 feet, resetting your fall distance
@@ryanscanlon2151 You can only fall 60' per round? That's news to me! Also counterintuitive, as IRL one will fall 580 feet in 6 seconds, if starting from a stationary position.
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons ah you're right the 60 feet thing was based off many abilities that include flight, there wasn't an actual rule until Xanathar's that set it to 500 feet.
I like the "except banneret" caveat he drops every time... like anyone even has banneret on their radar. "tactical package" .... Bilbron 2021 Fun build. I don't want to play it, but I want one in my party.
While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any Special Senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own Senses. So looking at this, you would have to use your action to use the familiars sense to see... I dont understand how this would be useful when taking shots, unless your DM rules 'Since you are blind, you can always see through your bats echolocation. I do like the idea of the build though, but when I was looking further into it, I couldnt help but notice this. If I have missed something like a complete noob (Maybe a detail that negates using an action to use its senses) Please let me know.
You're correct, the Bat isn't useful for helping your offense. The 60' Blindsight is a bump to your Terms of Engagement, meaning that invisible creatures can't get within 60' of you without being seen by it. Even if they are Hidden, it's impossible to stay Hidden vs. a creature that can see you.
Im currently playing blade singer/psi warrior multi class and unfortunately rules as written you can’t use your fly ability while grappling as both parties are restrained during a successful grapple which means movement is reduced to zero
You're not restrained by a Grapple, though that is something the Grapple Feat can accomplish. A regular Grapple only restricts the grappled creatures Move to zero.
Just finished viewing the 1-5, and I've got to say, your inexperience with fighters is showing a bit. It almost hurts *more* on martials than casters to miss out on their fifth level abilities; their offence at this point is essentially halved in comparison to something with extra attack. Very few martial builds pay the multiclass tax before fifth level for this reason. Similarly, builds with bonus action attacks and SS/GWM prioritise the bonus action attack first - this doubles your damage unconditionally. Taking Wizard levels later and having Martial Versatility means you can begin with Archery and swap it out for BF later. 1-5 straight fighter with the same stats, but the VHuman feat should be crossbow expert, and the fighting style should be archery until fourth (or sixth) level. This may hurt a bit since this is where you'll be taking sharpshooter, but two levels lacking the +2 and advantage hurts significantly less than 5 levels without a bonus action attack and 2 levels without Extra Attack. If taking it at sixth level, then the only level of suboptimal attack accuracy is the level we Bilbron Psi takes Wizard 1. Wizard 2 can also be delayed for until Wisdom saves become relevant in a campaign; few tier 1 threats involve wisdom saves, in my experience. You don't particularly want that initiative bump to go before the casters, anyway, as it would be better to know what saves against Hypnotic Pattern to focus fire on it before it wakes others up, etc. Regarding drop tactics: if we're giving up a bonus action and an action to do 6d6, then we're essentially weighing a crossbow attack to be worth 2d6 damage, which I can't agree with. It's a cool way to knock them prone and give us advantage (crossbow expert baby) on our attacks and those of the party, so it's more of a party tactic than massive individual damage.
I appreciate your input! Though I do think it's funny that offensive-minded players freak out so much when a build doesn't max out DPR, lol. I agree that doing it your way results in more DPR, so if I cared about that, I'd be interested. I very much prefer putting my defenses in place first, so want the Reactions/Fog Cloud/Familiar/Arcane Deflection/Initiative Bump/maneuverability options asap, and the shocking price of sacrificing some damage for that doesn't bother me in the slightest. "But... but... the best defense is a good offense!!!" I've heard that my whole life, lol. Let's just say I'm not convinced ;-) I do agree that 6d6 is unimpressive drop damage, so I'd set it up to do the 16d6.
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons the 16d6 is from haste presumably? Yeah, I can see it being useful in that case. A single attack from the hasted action to dash and another to grapple is worthwhile. I'm not entirely convinced that the defensive gains in tier 1 are worthwhile. 17ac and second wind is already feeling very solid by second level, and the defensive benefits from fog cloud are more of a personal thing; enemies are just as likely to try to attack other PCs if you're "too" difficult to hit. On the other hand, faster access to protective field and *roughly double the damage for several levels* benefits the party as a whole more. This is a key difference between caster and martial builds - a party wants the caster to be able to protect its concentration as that's their biggest contribution to most combats, but it wants a martial to be able to solve the remaining problems with damage and single-target control effectively. Of course, if there's party buy-in for heavy obscurement tactics, wizard 1 is a useful dip earlier on, but even then I'd leave wizard 2 to after fighter 5.
@@imbetterthanyoubyfar I totally see this as a classic clash of "But defense wins championships!" vs. "But the best defense is a good offense!" Generally, people are way more fascinated with offense, which is why a 30ppg player in the NBA is a star even if he has a negative +/-. I'll put my money on the horse that got me here... defense. But I understand that will always be a minority opinion, lol.
@@Bilbrons-and-Dragons The issue with prioritizing defense is that it doesn't help clear the battlefield from threats, and tends to keep you safer than it does your teammates in 5E (i.e. Fog Cloud), which can result in you being the last PC fighting, which won't end well for you. In addition, much like with healing in 5E, killing things faster generally saves you more resources than mitigating damage does. That's how I see it, but I'm open to having my mind changed.
@@kronosDking I never mind when the monster lives an extra 2-3 rounds if his scary power is ineffective without sight (like most of them) and he's missing all his attacks. Even if I'm the last man standing, I'm invulnerable, mostly, so we're all good. Don't forget how heavily I leverage my familiar defensively... I'll equip him with so much stuff that I'll be immune to everything.
Are the defensive spell necessary for a Ranged Fighter build? You’re going to be out of harms way and you’ll have the hit point to take a beating anyway.
Necessary? No. But attractive to a defensive-oriented player! And I'm trying to make these builds a little different from each other, which is bloody hard with Fighters!
Thanks for the heads up! Anyone else? It sounds pretty strong to me, but I guess I could switch to a separate microphone if folks think this would be better. I'll put up a poll once my Community Tab pops up (should be any day now).
Most battles around 5 rounds or less, and gaining that 1st attack is a huge advantage, just like 1st possession in sports OT or 1st move in Chess. Consistently going first means you control the terms of engagement, and can best optimize the environment.
