@@tangledfish I play with them off. It’s rng. Not complaining it happened, it is part of dnd. And if anything carmic dice would prevent this. As they were implemented for this not to happen. I have them off cause with them on game is even easier as average rolls with them on are higher.
@@ogolthorp shield too from the forge. Gale and Wyll are human so they both have profeciency in light armor and shields. I'm still not in act 3 so maybe thing will get replaced, but right now I have the shield on Gale, helm on Shadowheart (life cleric gets heavy), and medium armor on Karlach for 3 people that can't be crit. Meanwhile Astarion gets thoughts, prayers, and warding bond lol
With the Gloves of the Growling Underdog, if you use non lethal attacks, when you knock out an enemy, they are still considered to be surrounding you and helps make this buff last much longer.
My Tempest Cleric would like to inform you that she considers your failure to include the Water Sparkler boots in this list as an act of sedition against her chosen deity and that you can expect a follow up from her in the form of a max damage, auto-crit, Call Lightning in the very near future.
@@Aestus_RPG The fact that enemies will walk into the electrified water, take damage and get knocked back on their ass is incredibly powerful. Combine with Sparkswall Shield for another AoE knock back and you can basically control entire rooms with a single Tempest Cleric. Upcast create water is ENORMOUS.
The synergy of chained/triggered effects is really something only meta-gamers appreciated before BG3. Larian has really unleashed the potential of 5e in a fun and addictive way.
Just found a ring in act 3 that let's me use illusion and abjuration(I think) spells as a bonus action after hitting an enemie with a weapon attack and it completely warped the playstyle of my sword bard being able to cast greater invisibility or fear at the end of your turn is so good. I love the way items work in this game
if you use the helmet of arcane acuity from act 2, you can also buff your save DC so high that enemies literally cannot save against your spells, giving you 100% guaranteed Hold Person, Tasha’s, Hypnotic Pattern, and Hold Monster for a bonus action with that ring. I’m using it now and it’s crazy strong. don’t use the gloves of battlemage power, they’re bugged and don’t do anything as of patch 5.
Gloves of power procs more than I thought its been fantastic for offseting tactician's +2 to monster attack. It's also nice to see the spell bane in action because it competes with bless and I sadly have never casted the bane spell in my life despite knowing how good control is.
I will give a shoutout to Adamantine Shield. Great for those that cannot use medium or heavy armor like spellcasters who still want crit immunity. Also the reeling effect on the shield works opposite of the adamantine armors, instead of applying when hit it applies when a melee attack misses.
The shield's reeling effect is better than the armor's imo, since it applies when it misses, you can build really high AC and once the enemy starts missing you, you essentially guarantee that they keep missing you.
Also, a little cheat-tip for non-spellcaster builds: the Diadem of Arcane Synergy will scale off your primary stat if you dont have a traditional spellcasting ability (aka no spells), so a dex focused rogue assassin for example will gain an additional DEX bonus on their damage just from them starting combat and triggering their assassin initiative on enemies, along with just attacking in general since it's easy to proc (even opening containers will trigger Arcane Synergy for whatever reason)
tried it just now on a 18 strength barbarian/assassin character with 8/9 in all other scores. got a bonus of +1 on weapon damage rolls. 18 cha paladin got the intended +4.
@@mariusmustermann6856 that might be a different bug with multiclassing changing the spell DC ability for the other classes? Try the same barb+assassin setup either with Dex or with barb multiclassed into second and see if it still behaves the same. There have also been 2 big patches since this video so it could have been fixed by now.
Friendly reminder that Duelist fighting style DOES NOT require you to NOT USE a shield. You can use one-handed weapon & a shield and still get duelist style +2 to damage.
You can gigachad a multiclass into monk for an efficient and effective mixup of damage too! (Rapier+unarmed attack does more than dual wielding light finesse weapons for the most part, but you keep all the duelist perks while also adding bludgeoning to your damage profile)
@@Hekk. there are a pair of gloves that give you +2 ac and saving throws if you don’t equip a shield and a special rapier that gives bonuses for not using a shield
I used gloves of belligerent skies on my magic missile build because it combos very well with some other items. Spell sparkler: lightning charges on the mm Psychic spark: extra mm per cast Coruscation ring: spell damage applies two turns of radiating orb on a target Callous glow ring: deals an extra 2 radiant damage to illuminated targets (radiating orb illuminates) Boots of stormy clamour: when you inflict a condition on an enemy also inflict 2 turns of reverberation. A second level magic missile applies 10 stacks of radiating orb making sure they never hit anything, and I think like 30 stacks of reverberation? In addition to the 3 damage per missile you get from lightning charges and the radiant damage. It’s crazy good and you get all the pieces for it by act 2.
A couple others from the very first trader you meet - the ring that adds 1d4 damage to all Throw attacks, and the bow that gives you Hunter's Mark. The ring isn't *that* important to a Throw build, but it's nice that they give you something to lead you in that direction early. And I used the bow on Astarion until I was able to get him the hand crossbows I wanted - as a Thief he was able to cast Mark, hide, and sneak attack each turn.
Oh man, I was looking at those Gloves of Belligerent Skies as well. Seems insane with the Open Hand monk -- they get a level 6 ability that lets them deal radiant damage with every unarmed attack, so you can stack Reverberation really fast. Then hit them with stunning strike when their Con saves are debuffed.
I ended up not wearing Belligerent Skies and wearing these other ones that give +2 AC if you're unarmed on my monk instead since my monk is my main front-liner and I need him to survive. I find that damage is pretty easy to come by but survivability is pretty rare.
@@Than211 True... Yet your survivability is split amongst 4 characters (or more with minions/pets) where as the damage you deal can be focused on single targets at a time, taking out an entire turn in the action economy if all 4 of your characters deal enough damage to take one foe out. And that one turn will make a difference in the survivability of your party as the encounter continues.
Periapt of wound enclosure makes healing from potions so efficent since you always heal the max amount....i have saved so much potions because of this one item
Not sure if the Mountain Pass still counts as Act 1, but the Necklace of Elemental Augmentation is great for casters. You get it in the Gith Creche and it adds your spellcasting modifier to elemental cantrips and it stacks with Elemental Affinity and other effects. From Act 2 onwards in combination with other items I was able to add my Charisma modifier five times to each beam of Eldritch Blast.
@@someonesomebody28 You need Spellsparkler from Act 1 to get Lightning Charges - it gives you two charges each time you do damage with a spell or cantrip. You get it as reward for saving the people in the burning inn in Waukeen's Rest. Lightning Charges add one lightning damage and due to a bug Agonizing Blast is added a second time to the lightning damage. It also causes Eldritch Blast to count as lightning spell and you can add your charisma from Necklace of Elemental Augmentation and the 6th level Draconic Sorc feature Elemental Affinity. In Act 2 Alfira rewards you the Potent Robe for saving the tieflings from Moonlight Tower, which allows to add your charisma a fifth time to Eldritch Blast. This only works with Lightning Charges up, otherwise you only add twice your charisma. But there are lategame options as replacement for Spellsparkler.
@@crazy-tommy Also, you can combine it with Phalar Aluve, and later Markoheshkir instead of the spell sparkler for even more damage. Do you know if it works with the psionic overload ilithid power?
One other note on arcane synergy is that it procs on a dip as well. So with a class where you aren’t using your bonus action you can drop your torch, dip your weapon, and pick it back up and get arcane synergy plus a bonus 1d4 of fire damage from the dip all (sort of) for free.
Gloves of power on Astarion with hand crossbows is incredible if you build him for multiple attacks Although it states „melee attacks“ in the tool tip it works on range aswell
Regarding the gloves of power; yes, they removed the negative from them but the bane does not proc unless you're branded. They hid that little fact in the flavor text but it is accurate.
I actually was going to comment about this. First playthrough without understanding the brand at all I thought it was bugged until a little later. Whats odd is branding doesnt show up in passives or anywhere like I thought it would so you have to remember which playthrough you got a brand or not 😅
A very strong item for skill checks in Act 1 is the Shapeshifter's Boon Ring it adds 1d4 to all your checks if shapeshifted or disguised. So if you use Disguise Self it's basically a permanent Guidance that stacks with normal Guidance. To get it you need to kill the Strange Ox in the Grove. If you oneshot it with for example Inflict Wounds it does not trigger combat. It's a bit meta gaming as normally you would meet the Strange Ox in Act2 and Act 3 again and only get in Act 3 you get the dialog option to kill it. Although killing the Strange Ox has the side effect of moving Dammon directly to Act 3 and he will not be available in Act 2, which locks you out of the Karlach romance as you can not get the second upgrade for her in Act 2.
Thanks for the heads up, and the Karlach warning. I got the Strange Ox to aggro me in Act 2 via Speak with Animals. (It wanted to be left alone, and I was too nosy.) I don't remember it dropping this ring, but might have missed it because there's no druid in my comp and the ring would not have been useful. Dammon stayed where he was, although the complained that the thing's gooey remains stuck around.
@@owencaulfield8310 Ah didn't knew you can aggro it already in Act 2. It should get the ring in Act 2 as the Ox has the ring in Act 1 and and Act 3. Also everyone can use the ring not only a Druid. You just need to use Disguise Self to get it's benefit (via spell, disguise kit or the Mask of the Shapeshifter preorder helmet). My female Githyanki Tav took the female Gnome form for most of the game to benefit from the ring.
@@crazy-tommyI did the same thing, got it in act 1 when I went against the grove and basically pretended to be a drow for underdark things and going on. Didnt know about the blacksmith stuff the other people mentioned though I might have to be careful with this in other playthroughs
If you wear the sparky gloves that give you lightning charges and throw something it counts as an unarmed attack and you get the lightning charges. My paladin has the spear of returning as his ranged option and I use the sparky hands and it is so fun lol
I have gotten so much mileage out of the Hellriders pride gauntlets on my healer build. Adding in the blade ward with each heal nets lots of damage reduction.
Bruh i cant believe how underrated arrow of many targets is....as a ranger who love coating poisons in bows the amount of utility, debuffs and damage it does is BUSTED 😅😅😅
Great video, as a seasoned 5e optimizer the most intriguing thing for me was the magic items so I'm glad their getting attention! Also It seems they've heavily nerfed the amulet of branding to just be for one attack as it now reads something like "lasts for three turns or until they take damage", which is substantially weaker, there may be some build that can still take advantage of it though tbf it was too strong before.
I think Adamantine Shield deserves a mention when talking about the armors - It's easily one of the best shields in the entire game, and has the best reeling passive of any of the items that inflict that condition. Both the backlash from the armors and heavy hitter from Giantsbane inflict reeling that is removed when the enemy misses - not just a single stack, but the entire condition - which while very useful ultimately means that they can cancel one attack roll per round. The SHIELD on the other hand inflicts a reeling condition that works the opposite way - it's removed when the enemy HITS a target with an attack. As a result, that unique reeling debuff scales with AC as well as hit penalties/disadvantage on enemy attack rolls (including itself)! TLDR: w/ adamantine armor: enemy hits, procs reeling (-1 to attack per stack). enemy misses, loses all stacks of reeling. w/ adamantine shield: enemy misses, procs reeling. misses again, procs reeling. misses again, etc etc etc
The problem with Reeling from Heavy Adamantine Armour is that all the stacks are removed if the enemy misses, so having higher AC is kind of a bad things for this, unlike the Adamantine Shield, where it's the exact opposite, enemy gets stacks on misses and they are lost on hit
The thing with criticals is that they don't matter much on average, but they do happen and when they do, it can literally be the difference between you living and dying. Basically you can't expect to have good luck (frequently land crits on your enemies), but you need to prepare for bad luck (being critted, especially if you're low health). So, the immunity to crits is fairly good, just as a means of luck-proofing
i was a little bit worried that non level based loot could end up leading to some early items being able to carry you and nothing else matters but its neither that or the opposite. like everything is viable
Adamantine armour has taken my shart and laezel all the way through act 2 to late act 3 and I’ve only just swapped laezel’s armour for Raphael’s suit. It’s great for tanky support characters. I also swapped the grymforge helmet out to avoid wasting 2x no crits in the same character.
@0:15 what you’re describing here is, in game design terms, called “vertical progression” and “horizontal progression”. Vertical progression is when the numbers get higher. It doesn’t change how you play the game or the character; you’re just doing more damage or taking less hits. Horizontal progression is when you are given a whole new mechanic or something which fundamentally alters the way you interact with a previous mechanic. If a big part of a game is going to be built around loot, then it is definitely important for that loot to allow for horizontal progression of the character
Arcane Synergy is really good for wizards with dual handcrossbows combine that with cull the weak and the ring that adds elemental damage and the one that adds dmg fron concentration that can do some great damage.
This video is Unbelievable Good! Just started playing the game and i just love the way you have a deep understanding of strategies and combat. Im still in act one figuring out how to be as good as possible in combat decisions. And the possibility items give you is insane! So content like this is amazing to help me analyzing the game better! Gonna watch more of your videos now
I think Broodmother's Revenge deserves to be on the proper list. It is easy to proc it reliably in most combats without having to build around, or whatever. You have access to about 16-24 "rasberries" that you can forage out in the world in reasonably convenient locations. They are consumable and restore 1d4 HP. And, get this: You can consume them from your inventory WITHOUT using an action or bonus action. So, you can pretty much just add 1-6 poison to every attack in every fight. And, of course, later the ring of regeneration or the helm of balduran take care of that for you. The weapons and items that add dice rolls to damage tend to be 1d4 until Act 3 when more of them upgrade to a D6. And because of reverberation and items that poison a foe when you deal poison damage, you could easily go a step further with a poison build.
@Aestus_RPG I accidentally built a crazy and niche late Act 1 build utilizing the Diadem of Arcane Synergy and a few other items: 1. Obviously the Diadem is most useful for Pact of the Blade Warlock who gains an Extra Attack at 5th level 2. I bought The Baneful Warlock-specific weapon from the Underdark trader and together with the Gloves of Power I consistently inflict Bane on the target 3. I am half-elf so I have Shield proficiency and I forged the Adamantine Shield, which inflicts Reeling when an enemy misses (not hits, like the armors) 4. Multiclassing into Oath of Vengeance Paladin gave me medium armor proficiency which allows wearing the Luminous Armor and it's easy to inflict Radiant damage via smiting or Inquisitor's Might for 2 turns, which also Dazes targets The end result is not just infinite Arcane Synergy but enemy Attack Rolls reduced from 3 different sources: Bane, Reeling, Radiating Orb. I am in the middle of Act 2 at 8th level, but when I hit 10th level I will get a second Extra Attack from the Paladin which would make it even more terrifying. Acquiring shield proficiency requires race/feat/multiclass and forging the Adamantine shield isn't easy. Also, the Radiant damage and Oath of Vengeance Paladin multiclass is just optional and the build still works without it. But it increases the potency while adding other pros, e.g. Paladin aura based on CHA.
Did not realize they had changed the "brand" requirement on the Gloves of Arcane Power.... Have been selling them... will def try them on my next playthrough
I would add the linebreaker boots to this. Wrath is very strong: potentially +7 dmg - it's basically great weapon master for one handed weapons. With 3 thief levels, you can start every fight with 4 wrath charges
I have been having a blast with the reverberation gloves. Its probably still bugged as the 4 turn event are procing randomly even when the stack aren't at 4. But they become a passive crowd control for my tempest cleric (no storm sorc), each call lightning give them reverberation, which when combining with headband of arcane synergy let you also obtain arcane synergy, then if you pair up with the ring of elemental infusion that give you weapon elemental damage based on your last cast elemental spell you become this weird gish that just constantly apply reverberation on everything you hit, and they get a tiny explosion on their turn which might render their whole turn useless XD Even more, if you prepare a water surface then electrocute it with lightning spell, oh boy the enemies are: electrocuted, reverbered, have to take damage while moving out which further give them reverberation stack, condition for days XD Is it strong? probably not, as its just a bunch of debuff with no significant damage buff compare to a pure arcane synergy setup, but its fun as hell
Any thoughts on The Whispering Promise? It's the ring that casts a 2-turn bless when the wearer heals a creature. 2 turns is not very long, but it does not require concentration. So a cleric can turn 1 Mass Healing Word on bonus action to bless the party, then use their action for Wall of Fire/Spirit Gaurdians/etc.
They are, but it wouldn't make sense in this videos context, as this is just something you could add to a lot of meele classes to be of use, not something you can really "build around", especially for late game.
When you are thinking about class tier lists, be sure to pay attention to the 11th level feature that hunter rangers get. It is way better than tabletop -- instead of using your whole action to make the AOE attack, you use one of your attacks, so you can do it twice every round (4 times with Haste up). Volley is especially strong, but Whirlwind Attack is great too (haven't tested if Reach weapons affect the AOE on Whirlwind). It strikes me as perhaps better than the Fighter's third attack, and it synergizes with on-hit effects and such things; Whirlwind goes great with the gloves that give advantage when surrounded and with the Skinburster halberd. I don't think it makes hunter rangers better than fighters, since their spells can't compete with Action Surge/extra feat/Indomitable, but the 11th level feature might be better. It probably does make hunter rangers the best archers, since Volley is so amazing.
you do need the brand for the bane on gloves of power to work. amulet of branding only works for one hit. adamantine backlash is not that great I think because it resets on a missed attack. the reeling from adamantine shield resets on a hit instead.
the gloves of belligerent sky work good with the legendary trident you can get from the genie in a throw build. doing a big AOE thunder every attack and you'll knock an entire encounter prone. It's so fucking good
Theres a boot that inflicts 2 turns of reverbaration on the enemy when you inflict a stasus on them. ANY status. Especially great on battle master since each stack of reverberation subtracts a point in their dex/strength/con saving throws, which is what BM is trying to beat.
Yup. My Eldritch knight Laezel combines that with braindrain gloves (cause mental fatigue whenever you deal psychic damage), and the thunderskin cloak (whenever an enemy with reverberation hits you, they must succeed a con save or become dazed) and she alone basically does a lot of damage while debuffing targets for all of my status effects on my controller + makes them easier to fail saves on my evocation wizard.
i love putting all my on heal items on astarion since his bite procs a self heal and activates the effect along with the cape that makes you go invis on kill which sets him up for the next turn (also has healing word)
Gloves of the Beligerant Skies is just another reason why Glyph of Warding is better than Fireball. Glyph does almost as much damage as Fireball, targets Dex saves, and can change its damage type to Thunder/Lightning which procs the gloves. On a Hasted Wizard or Bard you can Glyph Thunder + Glyph Sleep. Glyph Lightning + Glyph Lightning. Or just Glyph Knockback to 1hit KO. So darn good. If only Sorceror could get this spell...
I know it says no weapon, but am going to point out the spear you can get early on that gives you true strike if you miss. Most tabletop players know how powerful this build is already. This is more for new players. You take the polearm master feat, and the sentinel feat you get more conditions to make a reaction attack, and a bonus action attack. On average two extra attacks per turn. If you use this build as a fighter with the extra feat take GWM as well. Do not replace this spear till you have a more reliable way to get advantage.
Its crazy how adamantine heavy armor combined with the shield in a high AC character will trivialize most of the encounters in the game, but I wish I could try the Brood mother's revenge together with that mace that heals you when you hit someone the Shattered Flail on shadowheart or even get a synergy with all the posion items that you randomly find
You do not even need GOOD party for that, game is pretty easy in general for any party after level 5, you can just brutefroce any encounter. Already have finished it on Tactician with solo character without abusing (and it even wasn’t sorcadin or storm sorc/cleric, these builds trivialize even solo play-trough, I just used simple dex barbarian/fighter/rogue)
wow. that's so nice on pc to be able to see what these things like arcane synergy do. on ps5 I cant highlight the word to see it so i just have to look it up online every time and sometimes I cannot find the information lol. I need my gaming friends to get pcs... lol
Hey this is super late but, if you trade with volo in act 1( i did it while he was taking my eye out) he can sell you a necklace, that gives blade ward to any other character you heal
amulet of potent healing with wepon like swoed of chaos or shattered flail plus ring of regeneration you get vampiric regeneration basicly +10 hp every round and thats if you hit only once
Brand the Weak DOES NOT WORK on Thisobald Thorm. I thought I was super smart by trying this bc he is resistant to almost every type of damage, but it does not work, I tried this during Patch #5, so maybe it could work in the future
Yeah with the 'Magic' ring, i actually equipped it for the final encounter and one shot the boss and my entire team also died when i swung my sword. Honour mode run ruined 😭
Interesting that you did not mention the items that give 2 rounds of bless and blade ward on healing. I find them to be the most ridiculous boosts to action economy of cleric since you can proc them on healing word or any other aoe heal while freeing up the concentration slot for something else.
@@Aestus_RPG my oath of ancients paladin just uses his bonus action oath aoe heal basically on every start of the fight, giving partymembers 2 turns of blade ward, bless (without concentration) and 3 temp hp. this is a lot of value for a bonus action that refreshes on a short rest.
Great video. man Martial characters eating so good in this game i see why Paladin is #1 pick (im playing Sorcerer). seems like Martial classea are kings of ST damage where magic is for aoe, like i love seeing a big juicy fireball number but that amulet of branding with the other synergy you mentoined in the video..well lets just say Laezel is about to really become Bae'zel. Already planned on Romancing her but now im going to treat her right.
I've noticed, arcane synergy procs on sooo many random things. Bardic Inspiration for example, cutting words or just boosting allies has procced it for me.
Man, I did not read the Amulet of Branding properly. I thought it was random what sort of vulnerability it applied. I sold it in Act 2, and it is gone forever. :( Oh well, an item to look forward to in another playthrough!
@aestus_RPG You should look into combining Hellrider's Pride & The Whispering Promise. WIth a single cast of Mass Healing Word you heal everyone, buff them all with bless & buff everyone except the caster with blade ward. Not bad for a single bonus action Also boots of stormy clamour would be amazing if they worked. Hopefully they fix in future patch. You should look those up. Also, be mindful of content you've previously released regarding monks. Almost all buffs don't work with them. Going Ranger dip will not work because it doesn't proc colossal slayer or hunters mark and you also get no benefit from any of the fighting styles. Warlock's hex works but this requires a bonus action which is actually a downgrade in damage because their best fist attacks require a bonus action. So no matter how you slice it, you're sacrificing a double punch for a hex which is just not worth it. Best subclass for monks is way of the palm. Wholeness of body restores your hp, half ki points and gives you an extra bonus action for 3 turns. They have a way to increase damage, have good control & offer versatility in changing damage types. Best dip for monks is thief for fast hands. Whether it's for dealing damage or staying alive with Patient Defence. I wouldn't recommend any other subclass as nothing else can compete with the action economy of either going full monk or monk/thief
Hei, and thank you so much for these really excellent and clearly articulated guides. I was wondering if there is any advantage to equip this diadem of arcane synergy to Lae'zel, as she is no spell caster, I am confused as of to which characters modified the roll uses, the casters or the targets. this confuses me also in other pop-ups, like pop-ups linked to portent dies, but i will try to figure those out. Never played and DD-type games before. Anyways, Lae'zel is the only Gith in my party, and you said that this would be especially good head piece to giths. Thx.
Any thoughts on how good the Full Lightning charges or Heat charges sets are? Are they worth thinking about the full set, or just one or two pieces? I think the Bow (Joltshooter) is quite decent early on for an Archery character but haven't really explored the set beyond that.
Were do you get the diadem of Arcane Synergy. This is the first time I am hearing about it. Also highly recommend the gloves of growling underdog on Karlach and she was my frontline defense through the whole game. In the fight with Balthazar, she wiped the floor with all those undead guys.
Adamantine armor + shield is pretty sick combo. Shield gives reeling if they miss you, armor gives reeling if they hit. So hit or miss debuffed their hit chance, increasing the chance that they miss next stack.
You mentioned that the Amulet of Branding benefits a fighter with Action Surge -- how? My reading of the tooltip was the it only benefits one attack (it says the effect lasts 3 turns "or until the target takes damage"), so I usually only use it when I have a rogue about to sneak attack or a paladin about to smite. Or is this just another of those misleading tooltips and it actually applies to all of someone's attacks in a turn?
You can the legendary 1h mace is still act 1, creche isnt act 2 yet, you can also get a the githyanki legendary greatsword in act 1 super early as soon as you get disarming strike on anything but laezel by disarming voss.
