@@DnDDeepDive somehow, it's really endearing for me to see you, an apparently very organized person with a thing for graphics and spreadsheets making small mistakes like this. I guess this is what my fellow weebs refer to as gap moe.
Problem I just noticed: If you are using Haste on yourself, you are concentrating on a spell. If your readied action is a spell, then it will require concentration. The better option might be to just quicken Booming Blade and then ready Booming Blade with your action. It doesn't give you the extra opportunity to land a sneak attack if you miss the first time, though. EDIT: Alternatively, you use your action for Booming Blade, Quicken Booming Blade, and just ready a normal rapier attack with the Hasted Action. Which would (theoretically) mean the same level of damage but potentially drop the effectiveness of Favored by the Gods since it wouldn't include Booming Blade damage.
I'm disappointed your comment isnt higher, I can see people going for this build and investing 5 levels in sorcerer only to have their build be incapable of doing half of what they wanted.
@@ClintonJohnson1 Good call; I didn't realize that "Ready" was its own action in combat. I think that's technically what I was doing in my game last night (Swashbuckler, with Haste from our Sorlock - attack with my action, ready the Hasted action for another attack). But if you're not trying to cast a spell or making an extra attack, there really isn't a difference between the two actions: if I'd attacked with the Hasted Action and readied my main action, it would have had exactly the same result. With all that being said, maybe the better option is to go Sorcerer 4 for Metamagic, take the Magic Initiate feat for Find Familiar, and be able to get advantage on one attack and use Favored by the Gods on the other, skipping Haste entirely.
colby's outtakes, every time, in this exact order: * colby thouroughly enjoying a song * * colby commenting on said song * * colby arguing with himself about what NOT to say *
Hanging out with Colby on D4 and Chris at the Treantmonkstemple always feels like a reunion of old friends. Remember that scene from LotR where Bilbo and Gandalf sit on the porch, smoke a bit of ol' Toby and reminisce about good old times? That what it feels like getting a video from either of these channels. Thanks, Colby for really making it feel like this is where we all belong. :)
Errata: You can't ready Booming Blade as a reaction if you're concentrating on a spell as readying a spell requires your concentration! This won't have a huge impact on the numbers, tbh - we can still ready an attack and get sneak attack damage, and I was only calculating the damage they take from *moving* after Booming Blade once per round. Will adjust the numbers on the spreadsheet accordingly. Also, make sure to check out the Divine Forge here! www.kickstarter.com/projects/questnest/a-5e-gm-friendly-adventure-the-divine-forge?ref=as8km6
Since there is a concentration issue, what kind of double character build could you make with a order cleric that gets haste somehow, then a monk rogue for extra reactions/multi trigger (assuming enough turns in a round to trigger reactions etc)
@@samburgess7924 Given that the play is to ready an action and also have the hasted action to attack on your turn, does it even require the Order Cleric's ability? Sorcerer or Wizard could use haste - Sorcerer gives the added bonus of Twinned Haste, which might be the best use of Haste.
Easiest solution would probably be to get a party member to cast haste on you or drink a potion of speed. Then you have Haste without any concentration on your part retaining the ability to hold a spell action with booming blade hanging to be released. That said I combine this with Echo knight and use Unleash Incarnation to make an extra attack on both the haste action as well as the held action then do not worry about using booming blade on that held action.
11:50 fun fact this artwork, as well as a lot of dnd artwork is actually not originally from dnd, but rather art from a Magic: the Gathering card (in this case goblin javelineer). I play a lot of mtg and you quickly realize because they are owned by the same company and have 10 of thousands of fantasy artwork on cards, almost all art on any webpage about dnd was actually created for mtg.
The gold buy thing is real. My preschooler went with gold, and did not buy a bow for her ranger. She bought a horse, because of course she wants a pony...and completely swiped the mcguffin from a cr.2 ogre with some trick riding, disengage, etc.
3 Levels Armorer artificer for power armor, Guardian for overshield. 6 Levels Scribe wizard for tiny spectral ally, Scholar from the past for a humanoid A.I. Remaining 11 levels to play with; More artificer levels give you extra attack if you want to use guns, more average hp, more health on the guardian field, and eventually more infusions. More wizard levels give you more utility for your AI companion, and wizard spells. Feel free to flavor your spells as power weapons/gadgets (like any good artificer should), Fireball makes an excellent SPNKR.
Your sponsors will be glad to know that I've bought candles and a lordship (for my brothers birthday) within the last week. Thanks for the work you do Colby!
I've always wondered what the perfect synergistic party of 4 is. It would be cool to explore a 4 character RPG style optimized group. Each character setting up and complementing the others. I'm sure that is quite the undertaking but I would love to see it!
I imagine the cheese grater sorlock and grappling bard would work well together as part of this 4 player group. Maybe the nature cleric and catch 22 to round it out? Just based on builds Cody has already put out.
One of the better 4 people parties I have DMed was a Light Cleric with a Fighter dip, a straight Monk, a Lore Bard and an Elven Sorcadin with Elven Accuracy. Mostly they played defensively with a ton of disruption, command and control while funneling advantage and auto-crit opportunities into the Pally. On the surface it looks like a mish mash of a party but they were actually incredibly effective.
Mine would include a straight Twilight Cleric, a Paly (at least 6 levels), a Wiz or Sorc, and probably a straight Fighter or Fighter multi leveraging power attack/sharpshooter for the raw (boss killing) damage output. Many good substitutions possible, like a cheese-grater in place of the fighter. Nothing matches the survivability you get from a twilight cleric + paly. Nothing. Nothing matches the utility you get from a wizard, but a sorc with careful spell, subtle spell, and quicken spell is equally nice. And virtually nothing matches the pure boss killing damage of a fighter, but it's the most replaceable option.
@@garyco766 twilight cleric has a ton of survivability. What if you did the nature cleric build from Cody but you go twilight with magic initiate Druid? I like the idea of the crit lander spec with a grave cleric. Auto crit + smite + path to the grave damage vulnerability.
NEW D4 UPLOAD LETS GOOOOO!!! (For Colby: did you know that any level 2+ artificer can get a familiar?) The way it works is at level 2, you make one of the four total artificer infusions replicate magic item "1st level spell tattoo". You then choose the find familiar spell!!! Meaning you use the item to cast the spell and now have a permanent familiar until it dies. You can now switch back to whatever 2 infusions you want like +1 AC and +1 weapon. The only downside is that if you're familiar dies, it takes ~about~ an entire long rest to get back. But I don't see enough people doing this!!! I'm sure it's good for some builds too.
Colby has repeatedly said that he does not believe the "Replicate Magic Item" infusion works for Spell Tattoo's. It may be Rules as Written, but he does not think it is Rules as Intended and does not include it in his builds.
Instead of getting a Spell Tattoo, just get a homunculus servant. The only downside with that is that it requires a bonus action to command it to take the help action.
About a couple of days ago I was wondering how to cosplay a Carian Spellknight from Elden Ring in my DnD game. And I thought about pretty much the same concept. And it's just glorious to see this character concept being described in a full video from you, D4. Thanks a lot, love your staff ! 😊
loved this!, i once tried to do a Swashbuckler hexblade, it was lovely having 6 levels of aberrant mind sorcerer with a such a charismatic rogue while doing the psinic spells feature like making me super good at "convicing" people with Heightened suggestion
First, despite the possible mechanical issues laid out in other comments, this is a fun idea and it's sparked an idea for my own build. Thanks for bringing the creativity week after week! Second, an important question: is The Princess Bride the most fun movie ever? (Pssst! The answer is yes!)
This build is great :) Rune Knight/Bladesinger that can't lose concentration build plz! Start fighter for CON saves proficiency, take frost rune for +2 to CON checks/saves, bladesong +INT concentration (and AC), once you get to lvl 7 wizard greater invisibility and you're untouchable while laying down cantrip + weapon attack with giant's might for +1d6, lvl 9 wizard and hold monster can shut down entire encounters
oooh actually kinda want to see a wacky wild magic melee build character where fireballing yourself is one of the best things that can happen! that sounds like fun
Pedantic note - One D&D's sneak attack is when you *take the attack action* on your turn. That also means not more Booming Blade for sneak attack. Also I'm not sure this works RAW because when you're readying a spell you're suppose to concentrate on it.
When you ready a spell, you have to concentrate on it, even if it's not a concentration spell. So you can't ready booming blade while hasted else you'll lose haste.
Because of that Elton John reference, make Eggsy from Kingsmen movies 😁 Also, the actor that played Eggsy, also played Elton in Rocketman, so everything fits in place 😉
I don’t know if anyone else has commented this, but i was rewatching the video and at 19:35 you say healing word is a fantastic way to bring your enemies back from unconscious. I just have to say that’s kinda messed up if your just going to knock them out again lol
Panache uses a persuasion check. So with expertise and then reliable talent at 11 you can basically dump charisma and still consistently land it. I think the bigger problem gets to be the amount of charm immunity at higher levels
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but none of the playtest material has changed due to feedback: all testing iterations thus far have been planned for testing.
As someone whom just finished playing a Swashbuckler in Curse of Strahd, Panache was surprisingly useful. It wasn't an every-combat thing, but it's definitely a feature I trashed until I got it and kept finding good uses for it. The big one is free charming out of combat (that doesn't incapacitate, so unlike the Enchanter's Beguiling Gaze, can actually be used in social situations), but there were also situations where we'd need to draw attacks from a particular creature in combats or dungeons that were more than just us vs them. I only had the feature for around 3 sessions since it was near the end of the campaign, and yet I probably used the feature at least once per session to great effect. It really changed how I look at seemingly useless features because they can have a ton of utility in practice despite how they look on paper.
20:13 As a footnote, it is worth pointing out that the Expert Classes UA does indeed state that Sneak Attack can now only be used "when you take the Attack Action." One D&D doesn't allow you to use Sneak Attack with Booming Blade.
I agree that we shouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions about One D&D's final form, but with the way that WoTC is currently asking for feedback, we almost have to. Because we're asked to fill in One D&D's blanks with current 5e rules, then we either evaluate the UA in a vacuum, or we refrain from giving meaningful feedback until WoTC gives more context. Hopefully they read Treantmonk's letter. I also want to shout out @TheRulesLawyerRPG for his analysis on the matter.
Great one again Colby! And well done on illustrating the point about this build not being overpowered or needing to be nerfed. And by the way, great singing voice there buddy!
The Sneak Attack change doesn't worry my table because we all agree that Rogues should be able to Sneak Attack multiple times, even with Extra Attack. The catch is... we all agree that enemies should be allowed to do it too
Thank you. I was just thinking how to continue my rogue 1/sorcerer 4 I took up shadow sorcerer and like how it is progressing. I will try to use your template as much as I can, you were of great help. P.s. I AM trying to build it around Shadow Blade. 🤣
A quick suggestion: start sorcerer for the con save, then take 1 level hexblade so that you only need cha (which obviously you should bumb as your primary stat when yo ucreate the character). If you do this, not only you won't be MAD, but you also could use quickened spell to cast inflicy wounds instead of booming blade since you will do it with your Cha modifier anyway. Damage-wise it's wat better than a second booming blade up to lvl 17.
Something I would love to see is you making a monk using the One DND unarmed strike rules, and optimizing that. Just so we can see what exactly that one change does for the entire class. Same with the Berserker Barbarian.
I am working in a similar concept. Instead of Sorcerer 5 I went for Sorcerer 4 and 1 level of warlock genie (Dao). Instead of haste, Hex, recoverable on short rests. Dao Genie also allows me to add my proficiency bonus to damage once per turn. I've got crusher as a feat (because genie's wrath for dao does bludgeoning damage) so when using booming blade I push the enemy away from my comrades, forcing it to move closer if it doesn't have ranged attacks.
Subtle spell as a pseudo war caster has been soooo helpful on my Sorcadin. Last combat, I cast Shield of Faith, boosting my AC to 23, and with my Cloak of Displacement, I never got hit. The dm rolled 22 several times. Shield of Faith SAVED me
49:20 That's the player experience argument... feeling clever feels good. Side note, I have grognard tendencies. Should we ever play together, I would go with the Nick Fury meme on the sneak attack wording. "Considering the council had made a stupid decision, I've chosen to ignore it"
I just built a similar build where I used a changeling (for all of the changeling fun), but I used mirror image defensively (which felt on theme for a changeling - sort of a three card Monty feel/bait and switch). You’d loose an attack on a round but it would be a nice defensive buff to save your concentration. Hit a duplicate and there’s no concentration check!
You could also drop a single level into genie lock or hexblade, to add more damage. An additional prof bonus damage with genielock and twice that for just a bonus action(which you have free on your first round anyway) to use hexblades curse... My personal favourite swashbuckler is just a straight swashbuckler with a genielock 1 level dip. But this build for nova seems nice
I actually enjoyed the change to sneak attack. Most of the rogue players I knew barely used sneak attack more than once per round. It feels like a bug fix. They also got the dual-wielding buff which allows them a natural way to have twice the chance to get sneak attack off. The other feats, like charger, also help.
I don't know if the original intention of the designers was that it could be used multiple times in one round. But what I do know is that if "a lot of people have not really know that sneak attack could even be used more than once ina round". What was going on is that it was not a good rule design, whether intended or not, and it is expected and logical that it will be corrected when the time comes (hence I expect to see a similar change with the various spells that now allow you to do damage multiple times in a round, for example). Of course those of us who like optimization also love to be able to discover those little loopholes that, without breaking the rules, allow us to do a lot more damage, cast a lot more spells or whatever... and it's annoying when the loophole is nerfed. But we also have to understand that if for a class to be "competitive" it is necessary to resort to such a maneuver, which a significant portion of the player base is unaware that it can be done (or sincerely believes that it is against the rules), then the class is not well designed and is likely to be corrected in oneDnD. Of course, I personally would prefer that they correct it by explicitly clarifying that sneak attacks can indeed be made on attacks of opportunity and that a rogue would do well to play strategically with his party in order to exploit this potential (and thus encouraging such positive things for the game as teamwork, imaginative lateral thinking or a dynamic combat that is not just "attack, damage, be attacked..."), and as such I have indicated it in my survey. But I am also realistic and I realize that WoC is looking for a relatively simple and uncomplicated game that can attract new people, and in that sense, that there are "advanced" strategies that allow to be a little more effective is something plausible, but it is not if what they allow is to cause 50% or 100% extra damage, because if so, either the class is bad in the hands of a novice player and balanced when you manage to successfully perform "the trick" (the current state of the thief); or it is balanced for the novice player, but broken when you are an expert and you know how to exploit it. And we have to assume that, not only this, but that most of the cool loopholes that we see in this channel or in other similar ones like treantmonk, or packtacticks, for the reasons mentioned above, will no longer be possible (or effective) once oneDnD is no longer oneDnD but official DnD (or 50th anniversary edition or whatever they want to call it). Of course there is always the option to play with the original DnD 5E and not move to the .5 version, the game is yours and you can play it as you want, and if the less balanced edition gives you more satisfaction when playing optimized (of course, the more balanced a game is the less the optimization will be noticed), nobody can stop you. Or you can take from oneDnD only the things you like and discard the things you don't... In dnd&Beyond the game can be theirs, but on your table it is yours and your friends' and nobody can change that. But on the other hand, I think that the new pseudo edition will be a wonderful opportunity to look for new ways to optimize, surely less powerful comparatively, probably more difficult to find, but therefore more satisfying to achieve... The truth is that I am looking forward to it.
I just found this but for the best sustained damage Rogue build I'd say to use mostly the same build as this but concentrate on Spirit Guardians and also cast Spiritual Weapon for a blender of doom.
2:00 I mean, the name of the company is WIZARDS of the coast, not barbarians of the coast. It stands to reason that wizards are going to get more love than the martial classes.
Yes, Divine Soul has the best list. However, the fact that a Clockwork Soul gets an almost double sized usable spell-list (that also has spells not available to sorcerers) is a fabulous benefit. A sorcerer with vastly expanded flexibility is seriously fabulous. Often, if allowed, I use the Strixhaven Initiate background/feat to get access to a few more vital spells (including: find familiar, the restoration spells, revivify, etc.). With that background/feat, a Clockwork Soul becomes seriously hard to beat.I used to be all about Divine Soul, now I am split between it and Clockwork Soul. Plus, with my Paladin 2, Sorcerer 9, Warlock 9 gish build, Clockwork Soul offers a fun way to spend spell slots for smiting AND defense, both with no action cost… But still… I have a hard time stepping away from the Divine Soul, what an amazing subclass.
Three possible alternatives to account for not using Haste on yourself: 1. Goblin. Rogue 1, Sorcerer 4 (take Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate for Find Familiar), rest of the way Swashbuckler. Quicken BB, ready action for BB. 2. Goblin. Arcane Trickster all the way (BB, Find Familiar), taking Metamagic Adept at level 4. Same technique. 3. Custom Lineage (Magic Initiate for BB and Find Familiar). Swashbuckler all the way, taking Metamagic Adept at 4. Same technique. Straight Rogue means more sneak attack; Sorcerer 4 means you can do the technique twice a day and have Favored by the Gods. Either way, Familiar can give advantage for 1 attack.
Indeed. The nice thing about Haste, though, is being able to double sneak attack every round. So it's a nice mix of Burst opportunity with a sustained buff :)
Your little story about your friend who keeps rolling 1's on his piercer rerolls reminds me of how I have sworn off the feat forever because my girlfriend's character who had it literally never rolled above half with her reroll through an entire campaign it was wild. Cursed feat
To anyone considering this build, remember that concentrating on haste as a medium-low AC melee character with a +3 in con save is going to be very unreliable in a realistic combat, even more when you can't use your reaction to shield. Against a DC 10 concentration check (average value for t1), you'll have 35% chance of losing it everytime you take damage, and when it happens, it's gonna be very frustrating.
Haven’t watched this yet, but I wanted to thank you quickly for turning me on to the Stormlight series. (You mentioned it in passing in a previous build.) I just finished the first book yesterday. Took a bit to get into, but damn was it good!
@@DnDDeepDive The quickened Blade, so quick it looped all the way back into last week's video. Eh, its a second of an hour long great vid so I don't mind!
To answer the question: how much damage should martial characters be able to deal out to be comparable to casters.... Assuming the baseline is not Eldritch blast, but a scaled damage dealing spell like call lightning or moonbeam or cloud of daggers, this scales by caster level to deal up to 9d10 per monster in tier 4. I'm not assuming shenanigans for double dipping or multiple targets. To be comparable for martial classes, the weapon damage alone should amount to 45-50 per round from class features. Assuming the basic extra attack isn't modified, each attack needs to be 20-25 damage on a hit. Over a 2-3 combat day, spellcasters will have access to mostly max-level spells if they think they need it, I assume one level below max for spellcasting, even though I assume single target. If One D&D doesn't scale the number of attacks with PB, or increase damage of warrior class weapon damage by PB per hit, it is still possible to increase weapon damage die and scale that like cantrip damage scales. I hope one of those scaling options is available in the next version....
Honestly the issue with martial vs caster scaling is that all casters have inbuilt scaling, as classes and subclasses but also within the spells themselves. Martial characters, on the other hand, mostly scale on the charity of the DM to hand out magic items as time wears on. The way to really think about it is that spells are the weapons that casters use, against the literal weapons that martials use. The way to fix it would be to rework how weapon proficiency works, and add a few one-liner ribbons to the martial classes to facilitate it. Proficiency should not be for specific weapons, ever. It should be for groups of weapons. Polearms, for example, including the Spear, the Naginata, the Pike, the Halberd, etc. Metal thing on a stick, for the most part. Proficiency in Polearms would let you use your Proficiency Bonus when wielding any of the weapons on the category. Then, in the classes themselves, add features that let you Master a particular weapon you have Proficiency with, doubling your Proficiency Bonus for those weapons. Higher tiers of this feature would let you take the same one multiple times, either giving an extra flat bonus, or increasing the multiplier on that particular weapon. This can be limited in a number of ways, at a number of points, to focus a theme (for example, Barbarians would have Proficiency in Impact weapons, like hammers and maces, and their mastery feature(s) might only allow you to master an Impact weapon). Rangers would get Ranged Weapons (bows, xbows, yadda-yadda) but also Dueling Weapons (generally swords, but not only), and their mastery features would give them the choice of either. Fighters being Fighters, they'd get to make choices all throughout their level tree about what weapon(s) they want to use, and their Mastery features would probably not have many restrictions, letting them stack a LOT of them for huge bonuses to using a particular weapon, or moderate bonuses on a few. Obviously magic weapons would still be better than mundane ones, but this lets any character pick up any weapon they are proficient with and do reasonable damage with it, even if it's just a random longsword stolen from Dungeon Grunt #283 when the party's been captured and they don't have their +3 Vorpal Shortsword of Flame or whatever. Numbers would, of course, need to be subject to balancing.
its good to see im not the only one to always call the frost damage cantrip something else lol. Frostlance, frost bolt, icicle throw... everything but the correct one
I maintain that one-sneak-attack-only is the first step of what could be the best thing to happen to a Rogue. The only reasonable way to increase Rogue baseline damage (which really ought to happen) is to cap Sneak Attack at one use. When it can be used twice, it becomes impossible to balance. Either two uses is absurd through-the-roof damage, or one use becomes far too weak. Capping at one use allows the damage to actually be what it ought to be. Increasing the floor is the necessary step two. It’ll be much better for Rogues if WotC will continue to step two, rather than rolling back step one.
Lightning Launcher + Destructive Wrath + Sneak Attack = *evil cackling cloud of death that just smites someone utterly once/rest on crits* (and to make it even more ridiculous, play an elf and take at least one level of Hexblade; if one takes at least 7 one can use Shadow of Moil for extra evil but that weakens SA and not all DMs will let you set your LL as your Pact Weapon so Eldritch Smite might not work to pick up the slack)
Build concept idea. The Emissary of the Dead. Which is an *insert race here* Grave Domain Cleric and College of Spirits Bard domain. So as a build it focuses a lot on supporting allies with buffs, the occasional heal, and also debuffing enemies with spells like Faerie Fire and Phantasmal killer and such.
Using the ready action to cast booming blade would not work as you explain in the video. When you ready a spell to cast, you're casting the spell immediately and holding it, concentrating on it. That would mean you immediately lose concentration on haste, and as such also get stunned. As such, you'd have to ready the attack action to make an attack instead.
Panache is actually quite a bit more potent out of combat, because (unlike "Friends" and spells of that nature) it doesn't say that creature is aware it was charmed by you when the effect ends or if you failed to charm them. Therefore, the number of situations you can try using it is greater and it doesn't really matter if your charisma isn't all that high ;)
