Obviously not clear in the video, the 5 attacks in the damage calculation (using Shadow Blade) are not from Steel Wind Strike. They are from Attack action, Action surge and bonus action attack from GWM. I didn't do any damage calculation for Steel Wind Strike, just thought it was a good spell for this build.
Oh, just got a variant version of this build by switching 12lv sword bard to 8lv sword bard and 4lv divine sorcerer. This variant build have the same multiclass spell slots, and learned shadow blade as sorcerer lvl2 spells (able to cast @7th as well) Since we can use quicken spell on bonus action, so we don't need to GWM feat and replace it with War Caster feat for concentration and opp. atk. The combo now will be action 2 atks, action surge 2 atks, and bonus action quicken spell Dissonant Whispers@lvl1 (3d6) to force enemy movement to trigger opp. atk, then use the reaction to cast booming blade. In this way, we have additional damage dice 3d6 (D.W.@lvl1) and 6d8+4d8 (critical booming blade) in best rolls as 98 more dmg vs the original build. The original build has additional 5th and 6th expertise skills and more high-level spells learned from magic secrets and bard 12lv. However, the build has very intensive use of spell slots for critical smite, so PC is very unlikely to cast many other spells, except for cantrips. But getting 4lvls of divine sorcerer will add 5 more cantrips like guidance, and Metamagic, which will significantly enhance casting synergy with this build.
Yes I think this variant build can work better because it brings a lot flexibilities when ambush fails or an unexpected encounter happens. For example, favored by gods feature, shield and sanctuary spells work best for retreating from a failed ambush. Twinned spells + Greater Invisibility is great combo for the party... etc.
@@TreantmonksTemple I just theorycraft a build that can deal 2700+ max dmg during assassinate surprise turn! Whisper Bard 14: get Steel Wind Strike (SWS) and Swift Quiver @10th, and Simulacrum @14th magic secret. Fighter2/ Rogue 3/ Warlock 1 with any +3 magic longbow, feats: Dex, Elven Accuracy and Sharpshooter. Precasting Swift Quiver, and put Hexblade curse (HC) on the boss while stealth. This should be done relatively easily because we can start ambush from range, unlike other builds to ambush with melee. Ambush combo: 1) bonus action attack the boss twice with Swift Quiver. 2x (1d8+5+10+6+3)=2d8+48 Triggering Sneak atk and Phychic Blade: 2d6+5d6=7d6 2) move close then action on SWS to hit 5 targets, then teleport to a better spot and action surge SWS again. Both SWS hit the boss to get HC bonus as well. 2 x SWS: 2x (5 x 6d10+6)= 60d10+12 Total and double dice for crits: 2x (2d8+7d6+60d10)+48+12=120d10+4d8+14d6+60 Max dmg is 1376! The Simulacrum of the build is just missing 7th spell slot and half HP, so it can copy the same combo and ambush together! The total max dmg is 1376x2=2752!!!
@@matthewvick6935 Replacing 4 gloom stalker instead of sorcerer, then you cannot learn Shadow Blade at all. If you really want SB with more atks, you can use 5 gloom stalker + 3 lvl others to replace 8 sword bard lvls. In this way, we can have 7 melee atks (action+bonus acton+quicken BB), lesser version of shadow blade and spell slots to smith. For example, 5 gloom stalker/ 4 sorcerer/ 3 rogue/ 3 fighter/ 2 paladin/ 3 bard build will have caster lvl of 10. So we can use Shadow Blade@5th and lower lvl spells slot to smith for possible more dmg. But this build requires 13 on Str/Dex/Wis/Cha and only 2 feats.
So I once had a party that was only playing high damage characters who weren't very tanky so what ended up happening was they doubled down on damage and just nuked everything I sent their way because you can't die if everything trying to kill you has been vaporized
Our 3 player party is basically this. It's taken a while but our DM has finally realised that one big boss won't bother us, but give us a swarm of lower CR enemies and we're screwed.
As a note, when under the effects of Wrathful Smite the subject can take an action to try to break out but it's NOT a saving throw, it's an ability check. Therefore it's more difficult to pass as they don't get to add proficiency - this is why Wrathful Smite is probably the most effective Smite spell.
That is insane! I liked the little bit of flavor at the beginning also. Would take a little long to get everything up and running but goodness that would be strong once it got started.
Wrathful smite is even better than discussed - it is a wisdom check against your spell save DC, not a saving throw. Since the creature is frightened they make the ability check with disadvantage, and they do NOT get to add their saving throw proficiency to the check.
Yeah, it's brilliant to use with booming blade. Also, it's only a wisdom check to break free of the fear, it's a saving throw to prevent it happening from the start. Which you can keep it up for longer if you or a party member has...I think Bestow Curse. Disadvantage on an ability check of the casters choice.
Interesting. I am currently building up a different approach in my group, which is heavily built towards mobility and avoid being seen. A good deal less damage than this, but most likely more durable. Rogue(Assassin) 5 (for Uncanny Dodge in case it DOES get hit) Ranger (Deep Stalker) 4 Monk (Shadow) 8 Fighter (Battlemaster) 3 with the Skulker feat being the only really important feat and sharpshooter being optional. Fighting styles: Dueling and Archery The idea being that the character remains hidden most of the time and the enemy gets hit by darts flying from one shadow and then another - before getting pounced by an angry feline that can dart in and out of combat due to Cunning Action before then vanishing in one shadow and pouncing from another. Now who is afraid of the dark..?
Made a similar build aiming for sustained damage instead of nova damage. Full build comes online at level 13 (ugh ikr), Fighter 1/Bard 10 (Swords)/Cleric 2 (Twilight). Basically it's a way to get advantage for shadow blade via twilight sanctuary. Take Fighter (Battlemaster) 3-4 at later levels for more opportunities to make attacks out of turn or more attacks in general (riposte, brace, quick toss). Alternatively go Champion for crit fishing (19% chance to crit or 27.1% if you can fit Elven Accuracy). The rest is up to you to take Bard or Cleric levels for added spells and versatility.
You said with wrathful smite ,anytime over the next minute you hit with a melee weapon you get 1d6 extra damage, but I believe that damage only happens one time on the next hit, the frightened effect can last up to one minute.
I don't know if you'll ever read this since the video is so old but you guys got the spell Steel Wind Strike's effect wrong. It doesn't do 5 weapon attacks for the weapon's damage. You flourish the weapon used and make a melee spell attack against up to 5 creatures you can see within range. On a hit a target takes 6d10 force damage. There is absolutely no point in upcasting shadow blade. Ever.
You know, I'm surprised I've never seen someone combine Eldritch Smite with Divine Smite. You can do both, and a critical hit at level 11 (2 Paladin, 9 Warlock) will do 22d8 on smite damage alone, 24d8 if you hit a fiend or undead. And if you're a Hexblade, you can crit super easily via Hexblade's Curse and Elven Accuracy. If you ever wanted to pull off a one hit kill, it's the ultimate way to do it.
@Minarchism4Lyfe Wait, what on earth is good damage then? This isn't even counting all the non-smite factors that go into a character's damage, so I'm surprised you think it's nothing. It's just Paladin Smite but twice as strong and super early.
Correct me, if I'm wrong. 1) In the description of the Fighting style is wrote, that you can't have more than one. 2) Where got you 5 attacks? I counted possible 4 (attack, extra attack, action surge, and last from GWM).
I think steel wind strike is such an insane option, auto crit 5 people for an auto 6d10 then throw 2d8 for smite then another 2d8 from shadow blade then 2d6 for sneak attack average of 104 and this can be used on 5 different creatures
I was a bit surprised at College of Swords, not Whispers. By taking whispers you could do 5d6 at 10th level instead of what blade flourish gives you. Also, perhaps finding a level for a dip of hexblade (possibly at 1) to drive damage to Charisma.
I played with that option, but the end damage suffers. You have to take extra fighter for Extra attack which lowers your shadow blade upcasting, which costs more than psychic blades provided
I think it's very interesting to see how powerful multi classing can be, but i don't know if it would be fun to play this if your campaign started at lv 1
@@becomeanastronaut6232 yes, rogue is fun, but if your goal is to do this Nova damage, you will get some of it at lv 5, and the rest won't really kick in until high levels. Fun is subjective, but it feels to me like the point of this build is to get those massive high numbers, which won't happen until high levels, then you'd spend most of your low levels excited about the potential but not focused on the now. Plus, if your PC dies, then that might be jarring as you had been so looking forward to tier 3+ that you hadn't considered low tier death. If you can have fun playing this character knowing you have to start at lv 1, go for it. I'm not stopping you. I personally think this would be more fun as a high tier 1 shot character where you play all night right at lv 10 or higher than a "campaign from lv 1" character
So, first off, fucking hell the number of dice to roll. Second, I do have a question or two concerning this build. I'm new to D&D so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it even possible to mix and match the battle maneuvers through attacks? Along with casting "Smite" each time? Or was it a "one and done" kind of thing that covered all the attacks.
Hey Chris. Any chance of doing any comparison videos. Things like Eldritch Knight vs Wizard X / Fighter X. That sort of thing. I often know the type of character I want but can't decide between the options. Thanks.
Add 14 levels of evocation wizard to to your 3rd level assassin to automatically deal max damage to that crit, 6d10(maxed)×2 =120 Damage to 5 separate targets. Add 2 levels of fighter for an action surge to do it again at the cost of 2d12×5 necrotic damage to you.
I wonder what you might change on this is 2022, especially in light of the changes to spells like Steel Wind Strike that now make it require an actual weapon instead of shadowblade (boo!) Would you swap BM for Gloomstalker perhaps? maybe that action surge is just too valueable.
this character is nutz but i still like the shadowbane smiter a little more, if i ever get to play a level 20 game i will use this guy and watch my gms face lol.
Seems a little misleading to name it after the Assassin levels . This is the Pally 2/Swords 18 build, but trading 6 Bard levels for Fighter + Rogue dips.
One problem I can foresee with this build is it is incredibly painful to get to the point where it all comes together. When it does, you will be very high level assuming you survived that long and every caster in the game will have mind blank up all day every day. It's hard to commit to a build that gets hard countered this badly...
Yeah, I kind of discuss that in the vid, but I think this character functions just fine at lower levels, but there's an uncomfortable spot from about 5th through 14th. I think if I was to remake the build to deal with that, I would go Rogue 1/Bard 6/Paladin 2/Rogue 2/Bard 6/Fighter 3 - I know that's a chaotic mess, but the playability would be much more smooth.
Doesn't dueling only work when you have only 1 melee weapon in hand? Looking at the damage calculation you used shadow blade in both hands, whether shadow blade counts as a melee weapon or it doesn't, either case should prevent dueling from working right? I might be missing something here
is there any reason to take great weapon master if you have shadow blade? I know you're take GWM for the extra attack as a bonus action, but what happens when you get Shadow Blade?
This build works on paper. And that's it. There's no way a 8 wisdom 8 int character could ever plan this career path. It's the pinacle of a min max meta build, which makes sense in, say, a MMORPG, but certainly not in any constructed pen&paper roleplaying game. Everytime he is left on his own to take decisions, due to your stat allocation, this character will always make poor decisions, although he'll be able to talk his way out if it with his charisma and skills, his companions may not. A good assassin needs intelligence, or at least no lack of it. The guy you built will burn everything on minions, then lose concentration on his blade because of a level 1 spell like magic missile, and end up trying to poison the green dragon over and over again.
Everybody takes assassin because surprise equals crit sneak attack. Which is silly, with the swashbuckler and Inquisitive also being, far as I can tell, perfectly legal here, and not being a fraction so situational. Did I miss something here? Maybe lose the auto crit, but on average, I think you'll get a lot more mileage from consistent sneak attacks every turn.
I would rather dump Str for this character & pick up Expertise in Athletics to negate the dump. I would only be bad at saves but anything that Str entails can be accomplished with an Athletics expertise. This means, however, I can’t multiclass into Paladin, but I can use Blade Pact Warlock & College of Swords Bard instead. I have a golden rule that I stick by at all times: Never have a negative Int modifier, never play dumbasses (I know that those with a -1 or lower Int mod aren’t necessarily stupid, illiterate brutes, but I don’t want my characters to be pushovers in regards to intellect.) Just a +1-2 mod to Int is enough for me. Negative Wis is privy to a lot of nasty failed saves, so I would do my best to get it out of the negative region.
I played with that build, but it lowers the final damage. You need 2 more fighter levels for extra attack which means you can't cast the 7th level shadow blade which costs you 10d8 damage
You can't combine the second property of GWM with elven accuracy normally (since there are no weapons with both the heavy and finesse properties), but there is no such restriction on the first property of GWM, which is the only property used by this build.
Well, you can't just switch out bard for sor, as you won't get extra attack, and if you take paladin to 5, then you won't get enough levels to cast shadow blade with a 7th level spell, so you can do it, but it is less effective.
now make it with the new bugbear +20d6 XD maybe instead of battlemaster go echo knight lose charisma and get more con for +2 attack (assuming you already have your echo up) and bye bye
No, hit of steel wind strike does 6d10 force damage and nothing can be added to it as it is a SPELL ATTACK - not a weapon attack. When casting SWS you are not making weapon attacks, there is no damage from shadowblade (or any other weapon) and there is no damage from your stat or dueling. Both Divine Smite and BM maneuvers require melee weapon attacks so they are out, as is Blade Flourish which requires the attacks to be both melee weapon attacks AND to be made as part of the Attack action..
@@marekkubicek1235 Extra Attack from college of swords, Action surge, and the bonus action attack from Great Weapon Master on a crit (which assassinate provides on round 1 so long as the character can make its Hide action successfully prior to combat). Talk about a 1 hit wonder, tho. This character fails after round 1.
@@marekkubicek1235 you are not the only one confused. I think the 5 attacks of SWS and the 5 attacks of the 1000+ damage single target shadow blade assault has caused people to mix one with the other. The SWS scenario involves surprising a group of enemies and casting SWS, getting Crits on the melee spell attacks. The 1000+ damage scenario is against a single target (which SWS is no good for) and the 5 attacks are gained from 2 from attack action. 2 more from action surge, 1 more from bonus action attack gained through GWM.
I would definitely take bard before fighter. The extra spell slots help you with bigger smites and make you a vastly more versatile character. Yeah, action surge and combat maulers are nice but you need the magic more.
This is one of the best builds I have seen because yeah it has a powerful first massive attack but it also reloads a LOT on short rest and has a ton of skills that If focused can make you even more important in the non combat parts of the campaign.
You spend every single resource you have to kill an enemy in a single hit. That enemy? It's the one the DM knew you'd kill in a single hit. Imagine this: design a balanced encounter for the party, and then add a strong enemy you know will instantly die. Nova builds are extremely easy to design around.
A super important note about Wrathful smite. While the initial chance to resist the spell is a wisdom SAVE, on subsequent turns they can use their action to make a wisdom ABILITY CHECK against the spell save DC. This is massively important because many creatures rely on massive saving throw bonuses to resist your spells, since they often lack either the physical or mental stats to do so otherwise. So any spell would love to force checks instead of saves. Additionally with this spell in particular it’s even better because the target is already frightened when they make thick check and the frightened condition imposed disadvantage on ability checks. So effectively they’re making a save with disadvantage and without any bonuses beyond their wisdom modifier.
Just came across this gem of a video. I do not know if anyone has made this point, but if you start with fighter you will gain proficiency in CON saves. That will help mitigate the low CON bonus for concentration checks. You will ultimately net one less skill, but this build has a ton of skills plus Jack of all Trades. I would say the trade-off is worth it.
The only things that feel off with this character are the progression (which is fixable) and the fact that despite being a character that is built around Shadow Blade, you aren't picking it up until at least level 10. Did a similar character myself that got played up til level 12. Was a Swashbuckler/Shadow Sorcerer. Final split is 11 rogue, 9 sorc. Lets you cap both dex and charisma, along with picking up elven Accuracy. You deal damage with a combination of shadow blade and booming blade, along with quickened spell and the innate disengage that Swashbuckler gets (which lets you stick the secondary booming blade damage more often than not) You also end up with a bit more overall utility, since the combination of expertise in persuasion and the 9th level Swashbuckler feature, along with access to Darkness, Invisibility and Dimension door lets you really neuter an enemies offense. Shadow Hound plus Hold Monster is also still a particularly potent combo, even without the Shadow Blade damage. Plus you are picking up Shadow Blade at level 4, so you are playing a sneaky shadow blader as soon as possible.
If you want shadow blade early, I suggest using bladesinger wizard instead of college of swords bard. You still get your extra attack feature as a bladesinger, but you get shadow blade as a level 3 bladesinger, instead of level 10 bard. I also made a post about how the gloomstalker ranger is a great option to splash into (3 levels)
Ok I tweeked this build a little, started with Bard first, when you go thief you only get dex and int saves prof, I added Resilient feat and Sharpshooter in place of GWM. I subbed Warlock 3 for the fighter...I got telepathy (great old ones), pact of the chain familiar (continual advantage) and Warlock gave me Shadow Blade spell plus Armor of Agathys for 30 extra hit points, plus a couple extra spell slots. I also got Devil's Sight and Mask of Many Faces, great for RP and thematic for an assassin. I went with Steel Wind Strike and Swift Quiver for long range assassinations, four attacks with crits and +14+ dmg per arrow with advantage. You could also go with Haste instead. I'm prof with dex, con, and Ch saves....
Anything your players do in the game you can do as well as the DM you should never ever be afraid of having strong player characters at your table. It just means you can take the gloves off and really throw some epic encounters at them.
I wonder if using echo knight would be better for this build now that it's out. You can use the extra attack from the echo instead of counting on great weapon master, freeing up the ASI. The extra movement would be a good addition too.
I've gone for a different version of this myself in a homebrew. 3 sorc. for shield mirror image and shadowblade, subtle and quickened metamagics. and greenflame blade cantrip. And last but not least, starting sorc. since it also gets me a con-save proficiency. Then the rest I am dumping down to swords-bard for skills, flourishes magical secrets and just so I can be the most stylish tiefling on the block. It does take a bit of time to come online -proper- since I won't get 2 strikes til lvl 9, but with good use of quicken and greenflame blade I still get 2 attacks on a regular basis.. just have to find the time to convert sorcery points every other turn. It's been a blast so far, and the sheer variety of skills and rp that he's suited for has been awesome. Not a 1k burst damager, but a solid AC-tank with shield and (if the dice are on my side) decent flourishes.
I had built a Shadow Sorcerer / Paladin that was along similar lines - and had been working on refining it after i dropped my first 100+ damage single shot on a crit - lots to think about here - salutations to you and the player that submitted the build - The community of Optimancers you’ve been building seem to be a very creative bunch!
Shadow Blade, Bless, Wrathful Smite and a few others are all Concentration. What combo would you use to get passed that? Ultimately, would you just go Shadow Blade with all the other Advantages and Crits?
I like optimization but I don't like munchkinry. This stretches far beyond the reasonable expectations of most tables and its kind of feels bad to blow your load in only one turn and see your effectiveness plummet. I like the funny story used to justify the build. Besides that I also appreciate it in the sense of a "what if" numbers game similar to how we like to calculated the maximum jump lengths achievable.
@@Adurnis As TM uploads the video, you instantly click on it. Your fingertips fly over your keyboard as your mind constructs the perfect first comment. TM gets a notification on his phone, which causes the vibration of said phone to tip off his cup of coffee or tea - you cannot tell from this distance - of the table on to his right foot. Screaming from the shock of heat and impact, TM stands up from his chair, giving in to the basic instinct of fight or flee... ...which he starts to regret, as he feels a legostone drilling into the sole of his left foot. The combined damage causes him to fall. Yor target is now prone and stunned. What do you do?
you can not use sneak attack 2 times in a turn, so if you use sneak attack on your reaction you can not use it on your action (attack) and vice versa. And please if someone can answer me how you do 5 attack in one turn without haste spell cause i still dont get it...
once per turn you can use sneak attack, not on your turn when you end your turn, sneak attack comes back online, you just need to attack with your reaction (opportunity attack, riposte, brace)
Just out of curiosity, how would the damage output look if this build went college of whispers for the psychic blades attack, and just took 2 more levels in fighter or 3 more levels in paladin for extra attack? I know we're building for Shadow Blade damage, but I'm curious.
I’ve been looking for ways to effectively use shadow blade ever since I realized pact of the blade warlocks cannot use the spell with their invocations... Kind of a bummer since that spell seems like it would be perfect thematically for a warlock. One idea I had for shadow blade was paladin 6 / sorcerer 14, since you could get two attacks and then quicken booming blade for a third attack, smiting on all 3. Seems like it would be a more well rounded character at least. Also every time I try to play around with the shadow blade idea, I always end up realizing that spirit guardians is better in almost every scenario haha. This might be the first build where that’s not the case.
@@noncanalepricnipale Technically they can use the spell, but not as effectively as you would think. The warlock Eldritch Invocations Thirsting Blade and Lifedrinker only apply to your pact weapon, and since there is no way within the rules to turn Shadow Blade into your pact weapon, you will be stuck making one attack per round with it.
@@noncanalepricnipale also hexblades use charisma to attack with their hex weapon and shadowblades hit is either dex or str depending on which is higher
Well the 5 attacks in the final math are dependent on the extra bonus action attack from GWM (attack, extra attack, action surge attack, action surge extra attack, GWM bonus action attack). So GWM is required for maximum potential, but Alert would be more reliable. Depending on how your GM runs combat though, if you're going in stealthy as an assassin, your attack may be what starts initiative, in which case Alert isn't as useful.
@@TreantmonksTemple If they roll initiative higher than you, then they are not surprised anymore, even if you surprise them. You will still act before them (because they can't act) and have advantage, but you aren't guaranteed the crits if they beat you on init. I guess it depends if your DM is saying there is a "surprise round", which, I believe, is not the way it's written. You should definitely check with the DM in terms of how he's ruling assassinate before you invest in something as ridiculous as this.
I think it is slightly more damage if you take 5 gloom stalker, 3 assasin, 3 battlemaster, 1 warlock, 6 sorcerer, and 2 paladin(but your charisma or dex will have to be bad) EDIT: you would have to have a 13 cha or 16 if you dumped your con to 8, need dex because you can’t make shadow blade your hex weapon EDIT 2: with the new echo knight the unleash incarnation makes it better than battle master , because you can have a 12 con for 1 extra attack
I feel like gloomstalker is worth taking here. If we take away 1 level of fighter and 2 levels of bard we can fit it in. This means our shadow blade does 1d8 less damage per attack, so overall 10d8 damage lost there, and we lose the 8d8 from battlemaster. However, we gain 2 full attacks from dread ambush and action surge. We get 2 attacks that deal 4d8+7, and 2 smites, which are both 5d8 (since they’re 3rd level slots). Double that damage for crits and we gain 16d8+14 from the attacks, and 20d8 from the smites. At the cost of 18d8
I thought I'd add something on the RP part of playing this multiclass. I've just started playing this and I'm current Rogue/Assassin 3 and Paladin 1. Rather than playing it as being an assassin who fell into fanaticism and then clawed out, my idea is that it's a drow assassin who met and fell in love with the priestess of a secret Elistraee sect in the underdark. With her help he's made his way to the surface. The paladin pick is a paladin of Elistraee but she is also a goddess of dance, music and swordplay so the bard and fighter picks are really in theme as well.
I realize there's no space in this build to get extra attack from a different source without giving up 6th level slots, but it's a shame that you can't mix in College of Whispers Bard for the 5d6 from bardic inspiration dice. Also a shame that Gloomstalker needs 13 WIS, cause that's potentially two more attacks if the stats could be made to work.
Typing it out because it took me a minute to understand: From surprise, you precast Shadow Blade and maybe Hide action, then wait a round. Cast SWS, netting criticals to 5 targets for 60d10 force damage. You could action surge to do this twice, for 120d10 force damage. End 5 feet from anything still standing. GWM bonus action to weapon attack, getting Sneak, can smite as well. Or: From surprise, you precast Shadow Blade and maybe Hide action, then wait a round. Attack with Sneak, Maneuver, flourish, smite, Extra attack with maneuver and smite. Action Surge Attack with maneuver, smite, Extra attack with maneuver and smite. GWM Bonus action attack with smite That's five attacks with shadow blade, five smites, four maneuvers, 1 flourish, all with Dueling +2's
Only one correction: Your first instance would not activate GWM as GWM requires a melee weapon hit, and SWS is not that, so there would be no weapon attack or opportunity for smite.
I'm not convinced you can do two SWS in one round even with action surge. The RaW doesn't say it is forbidden but it seems to me that there is some constraint applied to avoid casting two spells in one round.
@@DavidJeames There's nothing preventing two leveled spells being cast on the same turn if neither of them are a bonus action. Sage advice: www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/23/action-surge-spell-2/
So Steel Wind Strike triggers the GWM bonus action attack? I was under the impression that just because you use the weapon in casting the spell, it didn't necessarily count as "with a weapon" for GWM purposes.
Drow Criminal; 13-15-12-8-8-15(point buy) / 14-15-12-8-10-13(standard array); Any gaming set, any tool; Rogue 3 - Assassin; Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, Sleight of Hand; Expertise in Stealth and Perception; Rapier, shortbow&arrows, burglars pack, Paladin 2; Dueling; Bless, Wrathful Smite, 2x any; Fighter 3 - Battlemaster; Defensou know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll.e; Any tool; Riposte, Precision Attack, Menacing Attack; Bard 12 - Swords; Any instrument, Persuasion; Two-weapon fighting; Expertise in Acrobatics, Athletics, Persuasion, Deception; Elven Accuracy(Dex), Dex+2, GWM; Shadow Blade, Steel Wind Strike. Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Friends; Healing Word, Comprehend Languages; Blindness/Deafness, Silence; Dispell Magic, Tiny Hut; Dimension Door, Greater Invisibility, Locate Creature; Greater Restoration, Animate Objects; Mass Suggestion, True Seeing.
Consider the possibility of a 3 level dip into Hexblade for pact of the blade and improved pact weapon. You can get a +1 magical greatsword that strikes with Charisma, which allows you to team up Elven Accuracy and Great Weapon Master.
Hey Treantmonk, nice first-round-build ;) The Problem i see with such a Build is not only the 2nd round of Combat, but also the 2nd fight in an adverturing day, since such a character burns like napalm through it's spell slots ^^' Recently i thought of a similar build but without Divine Strike and nearly without Spellslots. Combining the Assassin with the Battle Master an the Gloomstalker Ranger. This one won't deal up to 1.000 damage in the first round of combat - but he's still capable of killing Dragons before they even get a chance to act. And he get's nearly everything back on a short rest - and from 2nd round in combat on, he is still a good archer. If you're interestet: just mail me and i'll send you my Ranged Assassin Warrior :)
DieinnereStimme is it though? Battlemaster and Bard are short rest classes, and he still has extra attack. That’s still 2*(1d8+7)+2d6 a round, more if using Shadow Blade. A short rest and he can add a d8 or d10 to that attack.
@@AdeptPaladin yes, of course this character isn't as useless in a fight without any Spellslots as a full Sorcerer would be. But at 20th Level The Shadow Blade Assassin without spell slots seems like as powerfull as a 10th Level martial Character. And he can burn all of his Spellslots in about 2 fights (which a sorcerer doesn't). And yes, afer a short rest, he get's Action Surge + Superiority Dice + Inspirations back. But a 11th Level Fighter gets Action Surge + even more Superiority Dice which are d10s back and does 3 Attacks a round. So after the first 1-2 fights, the 11th Level Battle Master seems to be better than this Character on Level 20. That's the reason, my "first-round-build" does have 11 Levels of Battle Master ;) This fire burns brighter of course - but the brightest fires burn out the fastest.
I was thinking of making ranged one shot - one kill style character: Bugbear Assassin 17/Gloom Stalker 3, but I wondered about adding fighter in there.
@@DarthRamzes Fighter 11, Gloom Stalker 3 does 8 Attacks in round 1, adding 2 free d8s. Btw: Assassin isn't in the mix for the auto-crits if you surprise an enemy - because either you go alone an stealthy (and bore your group to death) or you go as a group and surely someone fails his Stealth Check... So Assassin is in there for auto-advantage in turn 1, mixed with elven accuracy (+alert) and 8 attacks, this is one quasi-guaranteed crit, which is enough to double those Sneak-Attack Dice :)
@@DieinnereStimme Sure, you're right about them running out of resources quickly. You might also consider, however, that the sorcerer may be hindered by his lack of ability to burn so brightly when, say, he's fighting the big bad, as he is likely to be doing at level 20. Full casters gain staying power by having lots of slots, but they're held back by being unable to use more than one (or maybe two) per round.
Eternal DM, I'm excited about trying something similar to this build at 4 lvls Assassin 4 lvls Battle master, 12 lvls Bard of Swords, in that order. Elven Accuracy, Alert, Great Weapon Fighting. I'll play it from lvl 13. I'll think about it, I gotta play a pure diviner first for the bucket list believe it or not.
This runs into issues with shadowbaldes verbal components. Half-orc would make more sense for the extra damage on each crit as well. With the new material thats been added you would have much more nova potential with this build. Assassin 3/Shadow Sorcerer 3/College of Swords 6/Echo Knight 3/Gloom Stalker 3/Paladin 2. I run this build with the bounty hunter background. The half-orc already mildly shunned by society works as a bounty hunter and an executioner lowering his caste even further. He was forced into the job by the tyrant lord of his home, who made him execute his twin brother(I reflavor the echo as the brother). The build fits very well with this concept considering executioners were generally also healers, Floggers, Knackers, Marriage officiants, Interrogators. They also collected taxes from lepers, brothels and gaming houses. Anyway would love to see you do an updated version of this it was definitely an inspiration for the half-orc executioner.
Had a similar idea but I doubled down on Charisma and instead of sorc, I used hexblade to get me shadow blade, had an oath paladin (conquest I think). So after the first round you're still a paladin lock able to short rest and still burn up smites. I also think my max damage tapered off at like 600, happy to share if interested.
@@TreantmonksTemple i hope you're inspired to make a swarm summoner. Where is that niche in 5e? nowhere? I was always inspired by a villain in the anime movie "Ninja Scroll". I think you could do a better job than i could.
I Decided to make a build that would do as much damage as it could in a single round. Have yet to watch this video so there might be some simularitries but i got it up to 1003 damage before feats, before magic effects, and before any buffs. Now i wanna see how much i can do with all of that
Too bad you can't fit 2 levels of Grave Cleric for Path to the Grave. Only affects 1 target, but, that target takes double damage. Kill the minions AND the bbeg. Just sayin'.
Ready to make this build even more disgusting now? Switch the fighter to an Echo Knight for two additional hits turn one and double your amount of targets for your Steel Wind Strike. You can also have additional protection just from literally doing all of your melee attacks from the back line. It's insane.
