I really appreciate about your videos that you say, "Here are all of the logical/mathematical reasons I'm making the choice I'm making. That said, there are reasons why you might want to make this other choice, and that's completely fine as well, just be aware of what you're giving up either way." It just checks all of the "calm, rational argument" boxes here.
It's important to note that wrathful smite doesnt let the target spend an action to make a wisdom saving throw to end the effect, it let's them spend an action to make a wisdom *ability check* to end the effect. This is important because ability check modifiers on monsters are generally much worse than saving throws, and is *especially* important because a frightened target has disadvantage on all ability checks as long as they have line of sight to whatever they're frightened of. So unless the target can actually get away first, they have disadvantage on the check made to end the effect, making it super unlikely tjat they'll succeed even after burning a whole action to try. Now, the initial resistance roll to avoid becoming frightened in the first place is a normal saving throw, but once that save is failed it is increadibly difficult for a target to shake wrathful smite asing as the caster maintains concentration on it.
@@TreantmonksTemple yup! The only nastier frighten effect than wrathful smite on a conquest paladin is Fear, which both hits an AoE and allows no escape option at all for targets that fail the initial save to resist as long as the target is trapped within the aura. For pure or near-pure conquerors wrathful smite is generally my primary first level spell slot option, at least once that aura kicks in, beating out divine smite, bless, even shield if I've picked it up from a multiclass dip. I even find it spilling iver into second level slots. It's not the best damage option, something more for a defensive tankish melee lockdown type character, but on that character it's tremendous against any opponent that isn't outright immune to frighten. But anyway, yeah, wrathful smite. Phenomenal on a conqueror, still probably the best smite spell for non-conquerors. Honestly, the follow up rolls probably *should* be saves, balance wise, but as written it's just a surprisingly good spell, especially compared to the otherwise mostly lackluster smite line. It's really the only one that, to me, feels like it's worth the concentration requirement.
My Smite spell rankings: Really freaking great: Wrathful Smite Very good: Banishing Smite Solid: Blinding Smite Good early, bad after Lv. 5: Thunderous Smite Mediocre but with a niche of being 2nd-level and able to be used with a ranged attack: Branding Smite Pretty bad: Staggering Smite Utterly worthless: Searing Smite
aw man I just discovered your you tube. Love your Wizard guide which I saw over on Giants in the playground forum. can't wait to browse your videos. Love this one. You do great job going through it step by step.
Not sure if you read comments on videos this old, but this build was soo perfect for my game. Curse of Strahd, my 6th level Light cleric of Lathandar died when he trusted his god to destroy undead on zombies that turned out to be Strahd zombies - too high a CR rating to be destroyed. He turned his back on his welcome to the light, feeling betrayed by lathandar, and answered a dark call to return to Ravenloft, with the touch of death dark gift from Van Richten’s guide. Could not have been more perfect from a role play point of view, the perfect amount of continuity / discontinuity from the previous build, plus a great mechanical build
Haha, I came to the comments to mention the maul :P (I only listened to the audio when the video came out) I really appreciate that they put in a second 2d6 weapon, so not every single big strong 2h warrior runs around with a greatsword.
Maul is better option to a greatsword too, out of the 3 weapon damage types, bludgeoning it the least resisted and the one with the most damage vulnerabilities from monsters(low level undead, some constructs, etc)... these may never be relevant in most games but still fun to note... Bludgeoning was how ou dealt with many types of armor (mail, plate) IRL too, as you can't actually cut through metal despite Hollywood's campaign of LIES!
I would have two hexblade levels to give hex, let you use cha instead of str, then also use eldritch blast (agonizing blast and repelling blast or devils sight)
My Sorcadin preference is VHuman 16 10 13 8 10 16 with Resilient (CON) at 1 and War Caster at 6 (Paladin 2 / Drac Sorc 4), takes Defense FS and just keeps going on the Sorcerer levels the rest of the way. Sword and shield. It's somewhat less damage than going full offense with a greatsword, but the bulk of Sorcadin DPR for the middle levels comes from cantrip scaling and Divine Smite so the real-world difference is quite small (~10%), and OTOH this combo is significantly tankier - 21 AC in plate+shield, plus conditional Shield spell for 26 AC and before factoring in magic items (there's the basic magic shield option, which a 2h doesn't get), additional HP from Draconic, and Elemental Affinity (Fire) also helps shore up the damage on Green-Flame Blade and Fire Bolt. It also has its own playstyle that it sticks to, whereas your example plays like this for 5 levels before turning back into a cookie-cutter GS Paladin with more spells. And on that note, in terms of offense potential your build would actually be better off sticking to Paladin until 5~6 and *then* start with the Sorcerer levels, since so much of it comes from just swinging the weapon.
I have to admit I feel rather vindicated in my choices. I am currently running a Sorcadin which is a fallen Aasimar, divine soul sorcerer. I chose some diffent spell selections, opting for a bit more flavor and a bit less pure optimization but so far it's fun (and I am not at a level where the build has even come online yet, on 2/2). Seeing Treantmonk build almost my exact character was pretty fun!
Joshbehe Hard to go wrong with this multiclass. If you are still early in levels, consider mixing in a level of Hexblade so that you’d only have to worry about pumping Charisma with a respectable spell DC and a maxed out Aura of Protection.
As much as I love booming blade, the Jeremy Crawford said that a spell that forces you to move like great or dissonant whispers would not meet the requirements of having willingly moved
I like starting Sorcadins with Fighter 1 Hexblade 1 for Heavy Armor/CONsave/Defense fighting style/Charisma mono stat/Shield spell, before going to Paladin 6 for Aura of Protection. Going this way locks you into a 1-hander with shield, so I generally take Variant Human Polearm Master and use an Arcane Focus Staff as Quarterstaff. Between Polearm Master and Hex/Divine Favor, you will dominate levels 1-4 (F1W1P2). Then at level 5-6 (F1W1P4) rotate Booming Blade and Polearm Master depending on bonus action and there is almost no drop-off in damage compared to a straight martial character. At level 7 Extra Attack activates and you are a beast in melee and any charisma caster MC will grant you a devastating nova.
My favorite option is to combine Paladin's Divine Smite and Warlock's Eldritch Smite Invocation for *tons* of damage by sacrificing more resources. It's expensie to get, but you can start with straight Hexblade/Blade Pact until you have two attacks and Eldritch Smite, meaning it feels less cheesey in the early levels. After that, two levels of Paladin, and you can go wherever you want from there.
Usarnavon Don’t forget Whisper Bard with Psychic Blade. I have a similar build that starts Variant Human Polearm Master, Fighter 1 Hexblade 5, then Whisper Bard 5 for the spell slots and Psychic Blade, before taking Paladin 2, then Bard to 10, capping with Champion Fighter 3 at level 20. You triple up on crit smites and has three attacks with expanded crit range to fish with.
Half-Elf can also pick up Elven Accuracy though, which is worth quite a bit if you want to go crit fishing. Aasimar racial also drops incredibly hard in value in any fight where you can't pre-cast it.
Bacchus Totally agree, but with Elven Accuracy you’d have to dip Hexblade to attack with charisma, since Strength isn’t on its list of stats. For Aasimars I always start Fighter 1 and later take Fighter 2 for Action Surge, otherwise you’re absolutely right that often times you’re better off just straight attacking.
Great video as always. Personally I think it's best to go to Paladin 6 before multiclassing, since that allows you to attack twice without spending any resources. I'm currently playing a Paladin build, and because of this video I've decided to multiclass into sorcerer. It won't be until later, but quickened Booming Blade looks very appealing.
SmugLookingBarrel I’m a Paladin 6 guy too, though I also tend to squeeze in a level of Hexblade. Aura of Protection is in my opinion the single best basic class feature in 5E, and the quicker you max that out the better.
The tastiest thing about Wrathful Smite is that it's a check, not a save, to dismiss it, which they will be making at disadvantage because they're frightened 😁
Two-handed weapons/GWM builds are great, but I feel wrong if I don't play a Sword and Board Sorcadin. Even if it means having to bite the bullet and pick up Warcaster. That said, curious to see what feats you pick later on up instead. Love seeing the Conquest archetype get some love on Paladin.
M0ebius That's cool too. I usually don't like mixing more than two classes together for multiclassing though. Just as a sort of limit on myself. Unless its something like a level of fighter or rogue that's kinda ubiquitous.
I'm currently running a fallen assimar sorcadin (divine soul / devotion) that is a GWM + Polearm Master. Started off as ssorc for con saves and rolled for stats: 18, 17, 16, 12, 11, and 11. DM let me purchase a +3 ac amulet and just became a werebear as well. Went 20 CHA, 18 STR and 16 CON (made INT the dump stat). Love the damage and versatility so far.
Hi Treantmonk! I know I'm sort of raising this from the grave, but I like your videos and value your opinion. Two questions: 1) How would the racial options change with Tasha's Optional Racial Ability Scores? 2) How would you change the guide if you built it for level 10 or 12 as the end goal? Thanks!
Happy to see I'm not the only one discovering those videos very late ! I hope Chris will see this, but an elaborate response to your comment would probably need its own video !
I'm playing this build post Tasha. I took the protector Aasimar with +1 STR instead of +1 WIS. The ability to fly and deal radiant is extremely helpful. The 7th level paladin ability only comes in to play at level 12, so I agreed with my DM that by the time we reach that level, he killed so much his Aasimar status changed to Fallen, so no more flying but now the fear effect synergy comes into play.
I think the best reason to go sorcerer 1st is if your using the draconic bloodline which in that case would be fine, and tbh is something I always do if I'm going to blend a sorcerer with anything tho I really am biased towards the draconic bloodline lol
I get why you mad the choices you did, but you said Going Dex would cost you 2 AC but then you made the choice to go two handed. Meaning you won't be able to use a shield and hence lose 2 AC that you could have taken if you had gone Dex. The reasoning is sound. The earliest you can get war caster is 4 but going dex and dragon sorcerer would start you with the same AC as going two handed and chain. And you could simply use shocking grasp to give you the same damage as a longsword or rapier. At least until you reach level 2 and can use an actual weapon. At that point that you got scale you would then have more AC then the two hander. Even when they get plate you would would still have better AC, plus once you can get a feat you can grab war caster and use a shield for 3 more AC than the str based two-hander with plate. Now, that all said, I do get it. Going Dex would sacrifice a small amount of damage by forcing you to use a d8 weapon (or potentially a d10 if you can manage to get the right magic weapon) in exchange extra ac and skill diversity.
To anyone who wants to make this character with the standard array or only one or two high attributes, all you need to do is take 1 level hexblade warlock, probably as your first level. :)
@@M0ebius if you reeeeaaaly need that heavy armour, i'd probably suck it up and be a bad paladin at 1st. But all in all I don't think it's that important. If you only have 1 main stat you can probably afford at least a half decent dex. Starting as paladin could be your only option too if you can't afford that 13 str. (You'll probably be using the help action a lot in combat, and being a meat shield, but after 1st all will work out).
College of Foliage My point is with the 13 Strength requirement to enter/exit Paladin, to then go for 14 DEX you would be missing the whole point of going Hexblade to be SAD in the first place. In fact I’m not even sure most people can swing that if they play with Point Buy or Standard Array if they also want a half way decent 14+ CON.
@@M0ebius As I said, you can definitely start as paladin at level 1 for heavy armor, if you're ok with being a meat shield and assistant at 1st, but having three half decent stats and one high isn't that hard: standard array with half elf or variant human for instance is a great choice. Standard human is pretty good to actually. You can get 17 cha, 13 str, 14 dex and 14 con with half elf, or you can take variant human get 16 cha, 13 str, 12 dex and 15 con if you want and take warcaster, allowing you to use a shield from 1st level and mitigating your slightly lower dex. The advantage of hexblade is that even though you should still have decent dex and con, you only need one real high stat, the others can be mediocre, which is cheaper with points and more probable if you roll. It also means you can quicker afford feats later on.
@@M0ebius Yeah, but initiate (or a multiclass) gives them the gish cantrips. Arcana domain gets the other half: they start with the ability to get those but need a way to get Shillelagh. Initiate is one way, and druid multiclass is the other.
I find myself here after hearing about Drow-Dragons in 3e While the race is not in 5e I think there is away to do this in 5e with the Draconic sorcerer option
Hey, TM! Great build here, but left me wondering about two things: Any particular reason why you chose not to take levels in warlock for short rest smite/quicken slots? When you commented on the sorcerer subclass, you mentioned you favor Shadow over Divine Soul for a focused spellcaster, could you elaborate on why? Thank you for the amazing video and series, as always!
Sure - in regards to Warlock, for the first 12 levels I really wanted Pally 7/Sorcerer 5 because that's where everything comes together, didn't want a delay on that. Later on Warlock could be taken, though you give up those higher level slots, which means Spirit Guardians is less potent. It's not a bad way to go though. As for Shadow Sorcerer, I think the Hound of Ill Omen is astoundingly good for a straight caster build, as it's basically heighten every round, except you can combine it with other metamagic (heighten plus twin? Yes!)
Jonathan Böcker The short answer is versatility. With the Hexblade dip perfectly shoring up all of the Bard’s weaknesses (armor/shield/Shield spell/EB/BB/GFB), you can build the Bard to fill virtually any party role, often multiple roles concurrently, with both the base features and subclass abilities. Sorcerers twinning or quickening BB/GFB on the other hand is good for going nova in an encounter, and that’s about it. It’s not a particularly efficient way to use your Sorcery Points, blowing your most powerful feature on cantrips. Especially if your campaign run a lot of encounters.
@@M0ebius wow thats smart. Im new to dnd, so I hadnt considered that sessions last for more then one encounter. What bard subclass would you recommend?
Jonathan Böcker Because of the versatile nature of Bards, it really depends on your party role as you can tune the build to do almost anything (assuming a Hexblade dip). If you lean caster, Lore Bard is among the best primary casters, followed by Glamour. If you intend to tank, it’s definitely Sword Bard, although Valor can work but with clunkier mechanics, and Lore Bard can do in a pinch between Cutting Words and the Shield spell. If you are the primary healer, then it’s Lore Bard with Healing Word/Healing Spirit, while Glamour Bards make for good secondary healers. If you are the skill monkey or face, Lore Bard will net you the most skills with buffs to checks, although all Bards have Expertise that will make you extremely effective in the chosen skills. A lot of it also depends on your choice of spells, particularly with your Magical Secrets feature, but with the EB/BB/GFB+Hex from Hexblade you will have your basic offense covered in both range and melee. Personally if the party has no other casters, I prefer a Hexblade Divine Soul Sorcerer for covering all basis spell-wise. But a Hexblade Bard can plug almost any hole a party has. It ultimate depends on party composition and campaign style.
As I am more main tank of my party and started out with a sword and board build I am thinking 16 levels of Paladin with 4 levels of Divine Soul sorcerer. Do you think that is good? Vengeance Paladin btw. Metamagics Quicken and either twin or empower. Main question I have is I am taking the first level of divine soul at level 9. Do you think I should take the other 3 immediately after or go to 12 Paladin first? Improved divine smite + level 3 paladin spells + hp + haste vs metamagic, sorcerer spells, total spellslots, sorcery points. Would really appreciate your thoughts.
I like this concept a lot, reminds me of a World of Warcraft Retribution Paladin. I have a quick question about this build: can it still work without 16 point stats at level 1? I've been contemplating a more balanced stat set, like 13(+1) 10 13(+1) 12 12 14 on a Variant Human Paladin, fitting for a Cartograph explorer Variant Human with the sailor background. Thank you.
A 13 Str is REALLY going to hurt. We are talking about not just a -2 damage, but a -2 to hit as well. Maybe if the build was reworked to incorporate Hexblade you could at least focus on Cha. The Str requirement of heavy armors might also be an issue. I'm not saying it won't work at all, but expect diminished results.
I don't think you get extra save proficiencies for multiclassing. The phb says you get certain proficiencies from multiclassing and doesn't list saves for any class. Am I wrong on this?
Chris Ferguson You’re wrong... multiclassing Paladin you get medium armor/shield/simple & melee weapon proficiencies. Some classes like Bard/Rogue also gives you an extra skill proficiency, but none gives saves.
@@chrisferguson7972 He said you get a con save if you take sorcerer as your first class, but he preferred to have Heavy Armor Proficiency from Paladin to start since it meant he would have to make fewer saves due to his higher AC.
If all you want to do is smite nova, consider the College of Whisper Bard. Full spell slot progression for Divine Smite, as well as Psychic Blade (basically Bard smite) fueled by the Bardic Inspiration die. The purest smite build: Champion Fighter 3/Hexblade 5/Paladin 2/Whisper Bard 10. You get Extra Attack (Thirsting Blade), expanded crit range (Improved Critical), full smite slots, and triple smite of Divine Smite/Eldritch Smite/Psychic Blade on a crit.
Sure, but quicken booming blade+ shadow blade+ smite outperform your build significantly while also coming online far earlier. To me that's far more important.
Lucas Maciel How do you figure? Your combo “comes online” at level 5 and you’d only have enough sorcer points to do it once the entire adventuring day dealing (2d8+1d8+3)x2=33 dmg plus two Divine Smites. My build would start Variant Human Polearm Master Fighter 1 Warlock 5 (Improved Pact Weapon/Eldritch Smite/Thirsting Blade), and at level 6 with Hex up deals (1d6+1d6+7)x2+(1d4+1d6+7)=41 dmg plus two level 3 Eldritch Smites. And I can keep up the superior base damage all day and get the smite slots back every short rest. And that’s at the low end of the levels. The smites get continuously stronger, with three attacks to crit-fish, and solid base weapon damage to fall back on even when out of slots.
@@M0ebius Well in your example you're not able to do Eldritch smite+Divine smite+Psych blade as you said originally. That's what I meant as coming online. Why did you use level 6 for you and 5 for me? By the rules on mukticlassing, at lvl 6 he would be a lvl 5 caster (4 sorcerer + 2/2 paladin), wich means he can be far better at longer fights because he has far more spells slots. The most damage he can do with lvl 3 shadow blade and booming blade is 2x 3d8+1d8+4 with average 44 not counting the smites he could do or the extra damage from enemy movement. When you say he can do this only once you're forgetting he can convert spells slots for more quickens. Also you assume you can mantain concentration all 7 hours with that hex. Good luck. The longer we go down te line the worst your build is in comparison.
Hexblade does not really need champion for better crit chance. and Hexblade5/Paladin2/Shadow sorc 12 gets the disadvantage on saves puppy to land hold spells for free crits. Polearm master should be the go-to weapon for this as well. or shadowblade granted it comes online late. but I don't really see whisper bard being more useful :/
Lucas Maciel I assume you’ve never played your own build? Because if you are burning slots for quicken while also smiting you are tapped out in 1 fight and useless for the rest of the day just casting Booming Blade, doing frankly middle of the road damage. You also have no way to trigger the movement damage of Booming Blade, and in practice it’ll rarely happen. And this is all assuming you use your ASIs on STR for fighting, meaning you’ll suck at casting spells. On the other hand if you level Charisma instead, then you’ll suck at fighting. You are burning every resource just to do 3 more damage in than my base combat damage. And yeah, I do expect maintaining Hex all 8h between CONsave proficiency/War Caster feat/Heavy Armor+Shield+Defense Fighting Style for base AC21/Shield spell.
I've loved your stuff since way back when you only did the wizard guides, would you add a level of hexblade in lieu of a 7th level pally ability? Say vengeance, elven accuracy with hex curse, then Sorcerer for the rest if the characters career?
This build is pretty darn melee focused as is, especially considering it takes GWM. If anything, it's probably got too many paladin levels. Considering we live in a post-tasha's world, you can look at the usual suspects for best race like pureblood yuanti, custom lineage, or just the options he listed too.
To be fair if you wanted to go dex you only need a 13 which isn't nothing but you don't need to focus on str. The DM might even allow you to swap the str requirements for Dex. In any case if you went Dex the ideal race would be a cha + dex race like dark elf, halfling, etc perhaps a cha + con if such a race exist. But the overall top pick would be the half elf that let's you add to cha, dex, AND con
Noob Question: I was reading the rules for Spellcasting, and it says: If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell. A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components -- or to hold a spellcasting focus -- but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components. Could this not be interpreted to mean that WITH the "War Caster" feat, and therefore the ability to perform somatic components, that one could also conceivably also perform material components with both hands full as long as they had a component pouch? Again sorry if this is an ignorant question. I'm just trying to clarify for myself, and I know you're particularly meticulous about satisfying your spell-casting requirements in any build.
TM is correct, I just let 2 handed weapon users hold the weapon in one hand and use the spell component pouch with a free hand at a cost of half movement.
@@smbakeresq I understand, I'm just find it kinda irritating cuz it makes two weapon fighting gish builds pretty much a no go. Gotta be a 2 handed or bow build, which is over done. I guess there's probably a bard warlock build that could do it, but not much else.
Lazix VonBerg well you can’t have everything. Moebius and others think I am a scumbag DM because I use variant encumbrance, which makes STR dump Gish builds unusable, you are encumbered just by wearing medium armor and carrying normal equipment.
A note on DEX-based characters for this build: Sorcerer has no minimum strength requirement if multiclassed into, Paladin does. If you start Paladin, you can justifiably dump STR entirely in exchange for a rapier and medium or even light armor, depending on how high you want your dex to be (or if you can splurge for either elven chain mail and/or Medium Armor Mastery).
Thanks for another video, Treantmonk! Could you please do a build that would rely, as much as possible, on NOT making any rolls? For people who have abysmal luck. Yes, I am one of those.
Check out the valor bard build videos he already did. That character mostly uses save-based or even no-save spells in combat. I forget what cantrips he favored, but if he picked an attack based offesnsive cantrip you can easily grab a save based one instead, and by mid levels you're mostly casting spells anyway. You might pass on animate objects, though that rolls enough dice that even bad luck should still pan out for you. Out of combat, your key skill bonuses are high enough with expertise that even bad rolls should do ok. A primary caster who emphasizes buff & support spells, and forces opponents to roll saves instead of rolling attacks themselves, is probably the best 5e has for this sort of thing. Sadly there's nothing in 5e that really compares to the non-rolling glory of 4e's lazy warlord builds. Gosh, but I miss the 4e warlord. One of only a handful of things I really preferred in that edition.
There are actually a couple of things you can do to achieve that. The two big ones are playing a batman wizard or playing a lore bard. Wizards have the largest spell pool, meaning you can select spells that simply _do_ the things you want to do, no rolling required. You can also use attack cantrips that force the DM to roll a save. Lore bards also get a wide spell pool and have more spell variety than wizards. But lore bards, being bards, also get the biggest bonuses to skill checks. You can make it so that your stealth roll, for instance, does not matter by stacking expertise and pass without trace. Just my two cents.
FelineElaj Just play any spell caster that focuses on control/buff/debuff. My personal preference is a Lore Bard or a Divine Sorcerer with 1-2 levels in Hexblade. The specifics of spell choice depend largely on party composition, but read Treant Monk’s Wizard guide for a good breakdown on spells.
Me too! As mentioned, my Valor Bard build leans that way. Technically my Trickery cleric build is light on rolling as well. If you check out my written wizard guide you can make a character that is really light on rolling dice
@@TreantmonksTemple yes, I did that. That's one of the reasons I like your builds so much: they've changed my outlook on playing a wizard, my favourite class.
I think I mentioned it in the video didn't I? When you take a background but you already have the skills it provides, you can pick replacements. This is a good way to pick up perception without being a Sailor every time.
@@ChaosRyzen No apology necessary, if you learned something new, then mission accomplished! From the PHB on backgrounds, "If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead."
Treantmonk's Temple haha, you correctly identified my typo. Thanks for the reply. Booking blade is for wizards using their spell books as a blunt object.
Uhm you don't know the spells from the tiefling subclass. It states "you can cast them once using this trait" nothing about them already being "known" like how the fey teleportation feat teaches you the spell, and the general spellcasting of classes state "you know"
I really appreciate about your videos that you say, "Here are all of the logical/mathematical reasons I'm making the choice I'm making. That said, there are reasons why you might want to make this other choice, and that's completely fine as well, just be aware of what you're giving up either way." It just checks all of the "calm, rational argument" boxes here.
Word. Same here.
This is why Treantmonk is my favorite DnD UA-camr. The way he explains everything just appeals to me so much.
It's important to note that wrathful smite doesnt let the target spend an action to make a wisdom saving throw to end the effect, it let's them spend an action to make a wisdom *ability check* to end the effect. This is important because ability check modifiers on monsters are generally much worse than saving throws, and is *especially* important because a frightened target has disadvantage on all ability checks as long as they have line of sight to whatever they're frightened of.
So unless the target can actually get away first, they have disadvantage on the check made to end the effect, making it super unlikely tjat they'll succeed even after burning a whole action to try.
Now, the initial resistance roll to avoid becoming frightened in the first place is a normal saving throw, but once that save is failed it is increadibly difficult for a target to shake wrathful smite asing as the caster maintains concentration on it.
Malisteen Wrathful Smite is by far the best Smite spell, with Banishing Smite being a close second.
Wow, I missed that! Wow - mixed with Conquest that's just mean ;)
@@TreantmonksTemple yup! The only nastier frighten effect than wrathful smite on a conquest paladin is Fear, which both hits an AoE and allows no escape option at all for targets that fail the initial save to resist as long as the target is trapped within the aura.
For pure or near-pure conquerors wrathful smite is generally my primary first level spell slot option, at least once that aura kicks in, beating out divine smite, bless, even shield if I've picked it up from a multiclass dip. I even find it spilling iver into second level slots. It's not the best damage option, something more for a defensive tankish melee lockdown type character, but on that character it's tremendous against any opponent that isn't outright immune to frighten.
But anyway, yeah, wrathful smite. Phenomenal on a conqueror, still probably the best smite spell for non-conquerors. Honestly, the follow up rolls probably *should* be saves, balance wise, but as written it's just a surprisingly good spell, especially compared to the otherwise mostly lackluster smite line. It's really the only one that, to me, feels like it's worth the concentration requirement.
The Wall Of Fear is a very good conquest paladin guide that really milks that mechanic!
My Smite spell rankings:
Really freaking great: Wrathful Smite
Very good: Banishing Smite
Solid: Blinding Smite
Good early, bad after Lv. 5: Thunderous Smite
Mediocre but with a niche of being 2nd-level and able to be used with a ranged attack: Branding Smite
Pretty bad: Staggering Smite
Utterly worthless: Searing Smite
Loving the content. I’ve been reading your guides online for many years now. It’s nice to finally have a face to connect to the god wizard wisdom
I love these gish builds.
aw man I just discovered your you tube. Love your Wizard guide which I saw over on Giants in the playground forum. can't wait to browse your videos. Love this one. You do great job going through it step by step.
Thank you, and welcome!
Not sure if you read comments on videos this old, but this build was soo perfect for my game. Curse of Strahd, my 6th level Light cleric of Lathandar died when he trusted his god to destroy undead on zombies that turned out to be Strahd zombies - too high a CR rating to be destroyed. He turned his back on his welcome to the light, feeling betrayed by lathandar, and answered a dark call to return to Ravenloft, with the touch of death dark gift from Van Richten’s guide. Could not have been more perfect from a role play point of view, the perfect amount of continuity / discontinuity from the previous build, plus a great mechanical build
Haha, I came to the comments to mention the maul :P (I only listened to the audio when the video came out)
I really appreciate that they put in a second 2d6 weapon, so not every single big strong 2h warrior runs around with a greatsword.
Maul is better option to a greatsword too, out of the 3 weapon damage types, bludgeoning it the least resisted and the one with the most damage vulnerabilities from monsters(low level undead, some constructs, etc)... these may never be relevant in most games but still fun to note... Bludgeoning was how ou dealt with many types of armor (mail, plate) IRL too, as you can't actually cut through metal despite Hollywood's campaign of LIES!
Don't forget you can also twin booming blade for only one point if you have two creatures within 5 feet of you
I have a super power tank that is a sorcadin. I usually take 6 levels in Paladin then the rest sorcerer. Just so I can get those saves!!!!
I would have two hexblade levels to give hex, let you use cha instead of str, then also use eldritch blast (agonizing blast and repelling blast or devils sight)
My Sorcadin preference is VHuman 16 10 13 8 10 16 with Resilient (CON) at 1 and War Caster at 6 (Paladin 2 / Drac Sorc 4), takes Defense FS and just keeps going on the Sorcerer levels the rest of the way. Sword and shield. It's somewhat less damage than going full offense with a greatsword, but the bulk of Sorcadin DPR for the middle levels comes from cantrip scaling and Divine Smite so the real-world difference is quite small (~10%), and OTOH this combo is significantly tankier - 21 AC in plate+shield, plus conditional Shield spell for 26 AC and before factoring in magic items (there's the basic magic shield option, which a 2h doesn't get), additional HP from Draconic, and Elemental Affinity (Fire) also helps shore up the damage on Green-Flame Blade and Fire Bolt.
It also has its own playstyle that it sticks to, whereas your example plays like this for 5 levels before turning back into a cookie-cutter GS Paladin with more spells. And on that note, in terms of offense potential your build would actually be better off sticking to Paladin until 5~6 and *then* start with the Sorcerer levels, since so much of it comes from just swinging the weapon.
I have to admit I feel rather vindicated in my choices. I am currently running a Sorcadin which is a fallen Aasimar, divine soul sorcerer. I chose some diffent spell selections, opting for a bit more flavor and a bit less pure optimization but so far it's fun (and I am not at a level where the build has even come online yet, on 2/2). Seeing Treantmonk build almost my exact character was pretty fun!
Joshbehe Hard to go wrong with this multiclass. If you are still early in levels, consider mixing in a level of Hexblade so that you’d only have to worry about pumping Charisma with a respectable spell DC and a maxed out Aura of Protection.
This is what I like to see
As much as I love booming blade, the Jeremy Crawford said that a spell that forces you to move like great or dissonant whispers would not meet the requirements of having willingly moved
www.sageadvice.eu/2016/05/29/does-the-movement-from-dissonant-whispers-provoke-opportunity-attacks/
That appears to be incorrect.
@@vcordie9617 I guess they're distinguishing between the booming blade wording and OAs. Sigh.
Chris...I'm getting a chance to play a Sorcadin finally. So of course I'm watching your stuff first!!
I like starting Sorcadins with Fighter 1 Hexblade 1 for Heavy Armor/CONsave/Defense fighting style/Charisma mono stat/Shield spell, before going to Paladin 6 for Aura of Protection. Going this way locks you into a 1-hander with shield, so I generally take Variant Human Polearm Master and use an Arcane Focus Staff as Quarterstaff. Between Polearm Master and Hex/Divine Favor, you will dominate levels 1-4 (F1W1P2). Then at level 5-6 (F1W1P4) rotate Booming Blade and Polearm Master depending on bonus action and there is almost no drop-off in damage compared to a straight martial character. At level 7 Extra Attack activates and you are a beast in melee and any charisma caster MC will grant you a devastating nova.
My favorite option is to combine Paladin's Divine Smite and Warlock's Eldritch Smite Invocation for *tons* of damage by sacrificing more resources. It's expensie to get, but you can start with straight Hexblade/Blade Pact until you have two attacks and Eldritch Smite, meaning it feels less cheesey in the early levels. After that, two levels of Paladin, and you can go wherever you want from there.
Usarnavon Don’t forget Whisper Bard with Psychic Blade. I have a similar build that starts Variant Human Polearm Master, Fighter 1 Hexblade 5, then Whisper Bard 5 for the spell slots and Psychic Blade, before taking Paladin 2, then Bard to 10, capping with Champion Fighter 3 at level 20. You triple up on crit smites and has three attacks with expanded crit range to fish with.
Nice. I always wanted to try out a Sorcadin.
@treantmonk. Can you do a build with no feats please?
Half-Elf can also pick up Elven Accuracy though, which is worth quite a bit if you want to go crit fishing. Aasimar racial also drops incredibly hard in value in any fight where you can't pre-cast it.
Bacchus Totally agree, but with Elven Accuracy you’d have to dip Hexblade to attack with charisma, since Strength isn’t on its list of stats.
For Aasimars I always start Fighter 1 and later take Fighter 2 for Action Surge, otherwise you’re absolutely right that often times you’re better off just straight attacking.
Why not just quicken your booming blade and do necrotic shroud?
Great video as always. Personally I think it's best to go to Paladin 6 before multiclassing, since that allows you to attack twice without spending any resources.
I'm currently playing a Paladin build, and because of this video I've decided to multiclass into sorcerer. It won't be until later, but quickened Booming Blade looks very appealing.
SmugLookingBarrel I’m a Paladin 6 guy too, though I also tend to squeeze in a level of Hexblade. Aura of Protection is in my opinion the single best basic class feature in 5E, and the quicker you max that out the better.
The tastiest thing about Wrathful Smite is that it's a check, not a save, to dismiss it, which they will be making at disadvantage because they're frightened 😁
This build looks really fun.
Is there any part of it that has changed since Tasha's?
Twin Spell Trick: Greenflame blade or Booming Blade, for just 1 metapoint you can do outragerous damage.
Two-handed weapons/GWM builds are great, but I feel wrong if I don't play a Sword and Board Sorcadin. Even if it means having to bite the bullet and pick up Warcaster.
That said, curious to see what feats you pick later on up instead. Love seeing the Conquest archetype get some love on Paladin.
Aequilix I prefer Staff and Board Sorcadins myself with a level of Hexblade thrown in.
M0ebius That's cool too. I usually don't like mixing more than two classes together for multiclassing though. Just as a sort of limit on myself. Unless its something like a level of fighter or rogue that's kinda ubiquitous.
I'm currently running a fallen assimar sorcadin (divine soul / devotion) that is a GWM + Polearm Master. Started off as ssorc for con saves and rolled for stats: 18, 17, 16, 12, 11, and 11. DM let me purchase a +3 ac amulet and just became a werebear as well. Went 20 CHA, 18 STR and 16 CON (made INT the dump stat). Love the damage and versatility so far.
Also, the +5 to hit from Devotion pal's Sacred Weapon is a great way to keep high to-hit rolls, so I'm doing amazing melee damage this way.
Hi Treantmonk!
I know I'm sort of raising this from the grave, but I like your videos and value your opinion. Two questions:
1) How would the racial options change with Tasha's Optional Racial Ability Scores?
2) How would you change the guide if you built it for level 10 or 12 as the end goal?
Thanks!
Happy to see I'm not the only one discovering those videos very late ! I hope Chris will see this, but an elaborate response to your comment would probably need its own video !
I'm playing this build post Tasha.
I took the protector Aasimar with +1 STR instead of +1 WIS.
The ability to fly and deal radiant is extremely helpful.
The 7th level paladin ability only comes in to play at level 12, so I agreed with my DM that by the time we reach that level, he killed so much his Aasimar status changed to Fallen, so no more flying but now the fear effect synergy comes into play.
I think the best reason to go sorcerer 1st is if your using the draconic bloodline which in that case would be fine, and tbh is something I always do if I'm going to blend a sorcerer with anything tho I really am biased towards the draconic bloodline lol
Would shifting to clockwork soul and making yourself more defensive be good?
I get why you mad the choices you did, but you said Going Dex would cost you 2 AC but then you made the choice to go two handed. Meaning you won't be able to use a shield and hence lose 2 AC that you could have taken if you had gone Dex.
The reasoning is sound. The earliest you can get war caster is 4 but going dex and dragon sorcerer would start you with the same AC as going two handed and chain. And you could simply use shocking grasp to give you the same damage as a longsword or rapier. At least until you reach level 2 and can use an actual weapon.
At that point that you got scale you would then have more AC then the two hander. Even when they get plate you would would still have better AC, plus once you can get a feat you can grab war caster and use a shield for 3 more AC than the str based two-hander with plate.
Now, that all said, I do get it. Going Dex would sacrifice a small amount of damage by forcing you to use a d8 weapon (or potentially a d10 if you can manage to get the right magic weapon) in exchange extra ac and skill diversity.
To anyone who wants to make this character with the standard array or only one or two high attributes, all you need to do is take 1 level hexblade warlock, probably as your first level. :)
College of Foliage It’s Hexblade. And take it at two if you want Heavy Armor.
@@M0ebius if you reeeeaaaly need that heavy armour, i'd probably suck it up and be a bad paladin at 1st. But all in all I don't think it's that important. If you only have 1 main stat you can probably afford at least a half decent dex. Starting as paladin could be your only option too if you can't afford that 13 str. (You'll probably be using the help action a lot in combat, and being a meat shield, but after 1st all will work out).
And yes, my bad ;)
College of Foliage My point is with the 13 Strength requirement to enter/exit Paladin, to then go for 14 DEX you would be missing the whole point of going Hexblade to be SAD in the first place. In fact I’m not even sure most people can swing that if they play with Point Buy or Standard Array if they also want a half way decent 14+ CON.
@@M0ebius As I said, you can definitely start as paladin at level 1 for heavy armor, if you're ok with being a meat shield and assistant at 1st, but having three half decent stats and one high isn't that hard: standard array with half elf or variant human for instance is a great choice. Standard human is pretty good to actually. You can get 17 cha, 13 str, 14 dex and 14 con with half elf, or you can take variant human get 16 cha, 13 str, 12 dex and 15 con if you want and take warcaster, allowing you to use a shield from 1st level and mitigating your slightly lower dex. The advantage of hexblade is that even though you should still have decent dex and con, you only need one real high stat, the others can be mediocre, which is cheaper with points and more probable if you roll. It also means you can quicker afford feats later on.
Is it possible to do a two handed gish character. I'm trying to rebuild the dragon disciple from pathfinder
Enjoying the varying approaches on a gish. Any plans on doing a Magic Initiate Cleric gish with Shillelagh?
it's shoe Nature Clerics get Shillelagh for free.
@@M0ebius Yeah, but initiate (or a multiclass) gives them the gish cantrips. Arcana domain gets the other half: they start with the ability to get those but need a way to get Shillelagh. Initiate is one way, and druid multiclass is the other.
I find myself here after hearing about Drow-Dragons in 3e
While the race is not in 5e I think there is away to do this in 5e with the Draconic sorcerer option
Hey, TM! Great build here, but left me wondering about two things:
Any particular reason why you chose not to take levels in warlock for short rest smite/quicken slots?
When you commented on the sorcerer subclass, you mentioned you favor Shadow over Divine Soul for a focused spellcaster, could you elaborate on why?
Thank you for the amazing video and series, as always!
Sure - in regards to Warlock, for the first 12 levels I really wanted Pally 7/Sorcerer 5 because that's where everything comes together, didn't want a delay on that. Later on Warlock could be taken, though you give up those higher level slots, which means Spirit Guardians is less potent. It's not a bad way to go though. As for Shadow Sorcerer, I think the Hound of Ill Omen is astoundingly good for a straight caster build, as it's basically heighten every round, except you can combine it with other metamagic (heighten plus twin? Yes!)
soreadin sounds good character from kingdom hearts.
Can't wait for this build to get Leomund's Tiny Hut! Need those long rests.
It won't! Hopefully there is a Wizard or Bard in the group.
Jordan Fultz Sorcerers don’t have LTH on their list.
Every party member should have their own individual hut or they're not viable! :O
@@M0ebius this was definitely a joke based on a previous video comment, but thank you for being vigilant!
2 pal 18 bard is head and shoulders over every other gish, especially in damage
Durma I like Hexblade 2 Bard 18 myself if it’s limited to 2 classes. But when I gish and only have to worry about damage I take on multiple classes.
@@M0ebius can you explain why Bard is so Strong? I dont get it.
Isnt quickening booming Blade better?
Jonathan Böcker The short answer is versatility. With the Hexblade dip perfectly shoring up all of the Bard’s weaknesses (armor/shield/Shield spell/EB/BB/GFB), you can build the Bard to fill virtually any party role, often multiple roles concurrently, with both the base features and subclass abilities.
Sorcerers twinning or quickening BB/GFB on the other hand is good for going nova in an encounter, and that’s about it. It’s not a particularly efficient way to use your Sorcery Points, blowing your most powerful feature on cantrips. Especially if your campaign run a lot of encounters.
@@M0ebius wow thats smart. Im new to dnd, so I hadnt considered that sessions last for more then one encounter.
What bard subclass would you recommend?
Jonathan Böcker Because of the versatile nature of Bards, it really depends on your party role as you can tune the build to do almost anything (assuming a Hexblade dip). If you lean caster, Lore Bard is among the best primary casters, followed by Glamour. If you intend to tank, it’s definitely Sword Bard, although Valor can work but with clunkier mechanics, and Lore Bard can do in a pinch between Cutting Words and the Shield spell. If you are the primary healer, then it’s Lore Bard with Healing Word/Healing Spirit, while Glamour Bards make for good secondary healers. If you are the skill monkey or face, Lore Bard will net you the most skills with buffs to checks, although all Bards have Expertise that will make you extremely effective in the chosen skills. A lot of it also depends on your choice of spells, particularly with your Magical Secrets feature, but with the EB/BB/GFB+Hex from Hexblade you will have your basic offense covered in both range and melee.
Personally if the party has no other casters, I prefer a Hexblade Divine Soul Sorcerer for covering all basis spell-wise. But a Hexblade Bard can plug almost any hole a party has. It ultimate depends on party composition and campaign style.
As I am more main tank of my party and started out with a sword and board build I am thinking 16 levels of Paladin with 4 levels of Divine Soul sorcerer. Do you think that is good? Vengeance Paladin btw. Metamagics Quicken and either twin or empower. Main question I have is I am taking the first level of divine soul at level 9. Do you think I should take the other 3 immediately after or go to 12 Paladin first? Improved divine smite + level 3 paladin spells + hp + haste vs metamagic, sorcerer spells, total spellslots, sorcery points. Would really appreciate your thoughts.
Love it.
I think if you go director first mage armor could get you the defense you need that is as good as chain shirt
I like this concept a lot, reminds me of a World of Warcraft Retribution Paladin. I have a quick question about this build: can it still work without 16 point stats at level 1? I've been contemplating a more balanced stat set, like 13(+1) 10 13(+1) 12 12 14 on a Variant Human Paladin, fitting for a Cartograph explorer Variant Human with the sailor background. Thank you.
A 13 Str is REALLY going to hurt. We are talking about not just a -2 damage, but a -2 to hit as well. Maybe if the build was reworked to incorporate Hexblade you could at least focus on Cha. The Str requirement of heavy armors might also be an issue. I'm not saying it won't work at all, but expect diminished results.
he may have awsered that at some point but why not dip 1 in hexblade to avoid str ?
this is pre-tashas, I think
I don't think you get extra save proficiencies for multiclassing. The phb says you get certain proficiencies from multiclassing and doesn't list saves for any class. Am I wrong on this?
Nope. That's one of the reasons why the order of the first 2 levels was important.
Chris Ferguson You’re wrong... multiclassing Paladin you get medium armor/shield/simple & melee weapon proficiencies. Some classes like Bard/Rogue also gives you an extra skill proficiency, but none gives saves.
Turns out I misunderstood something and thought treantmonk had said you get con saves when going into sorcerer. But he didn't say that. My bad.
@@chrisferguson7972 He said you get a con save if you take sorcerer as your first class, but he preferred to have Heavy Armor Proficiency from Paladin to start since it meant he would have to make fewer saves due to his higher AC.
If all you want to do is smite nova, consider the College of Whisper Bard. Full spell slot progression for Divine Smite, as well as Psychic Blade (basically Bard smite) fueled by the Bardic Inspiration die.
The purest smite build: Champion Fighter 3/Hexblade 5/Paladin 2/Whisper Bard 10. You get Extra Attack (Thirsting Blade), expanded crit range (Improved Critical), full smite slots, and triple smite of Divine Smite/Eldritch Smite/Psychic Blade on a crit.
Sure, but quicken booming blade+ shadow blade+ smite outperform your build significantly while also coming online far earlier. To me that's far more important.
Lucas Maciel How do you figure? Your combo “comes online” at level 5 and you’d only have enough sorcer points to do it once the entire adventuring day dealing (2d8+1d8+3)x2=33 dmg plus two Divine Smites. My build would start Variant Human Polearm Master Fighter 1 Warlock 5 (Improved Pact Weapon/Eldritch Smite/Thirsting Blade), and at level 6 with Hex up deals (1d6+1d6+7)x2+(1d4+1d6+7)=41 dmg plus two level 3 Eldritch Smites. And I can keep up the superior base damage all day and get the smite slots back every short rest.
And that’s at the low end of the levels. The smites get continuously stronger, with three attacks to crit-fish, and solid base weapon damage to fall back on even when out of slots.
@@M0ebius Well in your example you're not able to do Eldritch smite+Divine smite+Psych blade as you said originally. That's what I meant as coming online.
Why did you use level 6 for you and 5 for me?
By the rules on mukticlassing, at lvl 6 he would be a lvl 5 caster (4 sorcerer + 2/2 paladin), wich means he can be far better at longer fights because he has far more spells slots. The most damage he can do with lvl 3 shadow blade and booming blade is
2x 3d8+1d8+4 with average 44 not counting the smites he could do or the extra damage from enemy movement.
When you say he can do this only once you're forgetting he can convert spells slots for more quickens. Also you assume you can mantain concentration all 7 hours with that hex. Good luck.
The longer we go down te line the worst your build is in comparison.
Hexblade does not really need champion for better crit chance. and Hexblade5/Paladin2/Shadow sorc 12 gets the disadvantage on saves puppy to land hold spells for free crits. Polearm master should be the go-to weapon for this as well. or shadowblade granted it comes online late. but I don't really see whisper bard being more useful :/
Lucas Maciel I assume you’ve never played your own build? Because if you are burning slots for quicken while also smiting you are tapped out in 1 fight and useless for the rest of the day just casting Booming Blade, doing frankly middle of the road damage. You also have no way to trigger the movement damage of Booming Blade, and in practice it’ll rarely happen. And this is all assuming you use your ASIs on STR for fighting, meaning you’ll suck at casting spells. On the other hand if you level Charisma instead, then you’ll suck at fighting. You are burning every resource just to do 3 more damage in than my base combat damage.
And yeah, I do expect maintaining Hex all 8h between CONsave proficiency/War Caster feat/Heavy Armor+Shield+Defense Fighting Style for base AC21/Shield spell.
I've loved your stuff since way back when you only did the wizard guides, would you add a level of hexblade in lieu of a 7th level pally ability?
Say vengeance, elven accuracy with hex curse, then Sorcerer for the rest if the characters career?
Not treantmonk, but taking the custom lineage, picking up elven accuracy and a level of hex blade, and the +2 to cha sounds good to me!
Hi TM, with the new Undying Warlock patron first level feature, would you change this build ?
Can you re-do the sorcadin to today’s standards, maybe more melee focused and more optimized race? 😇
This build is pretty darn melee focused as is, especially considering it takes GWM. If anything, it's probably got too many paladin levels. Considering we live in a post-tasha's world, you can look at the usual suspects for best race like pureblood yuanti, custom lineage, or just the options he listed too.
To be fair if you wanted to go dex you only need a 13 which isn't nothing but you don't need to focus on str. The DM might even allow you to swap the str requirements for Dex.
In any case if you went Dex the ideal race would be a cha + dex race like dark elf, halfling, etc perhaps a cha + con if such a race exist. But the overall top pick would be the half elf that let's you add to cha, dex, AND con
Hey, Chris. I love your vids, and 5e is great and all, but, any chance of getting any Pathfinder stuff on here?
Noob Question:
I was reading the rules for Spellcasting, and it says:
If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell. A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components -- or to hold a spellcasting focus -- but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Could this not be interpreted to mean that WITH the "War Caster" feat, and therefore the ability to perform somatic components, that one could also conceivably also perform material components with both hands full as long as they had a component pouch?
Again sorry if this is an ignorant question. I'm just trying to clarify for myself, and I know you're particularly meticulous about satisfying your spell-casting requirements in any build.
Technically no, though your DM may well not have an issue with it
TM is correct, I just let 2 handed weapon users hold the weapon in one hand and use the spell component pouch with a free hand at a cost of half movement.
@@smbakeresq I understand, I'm just find it kinda irritating cuz it makes two weapon fighting gish builds pretty much a no go. Gotta be a 2 handed or bow build, which is over done. I guess there's probably a bard warlock build that could do it, but not much else.
Lazix VonBerg well you can’t have everything. Moebius and others think I am a scumbag DM because I use variant encumbrance, which makes STR dump Gish builds unusable, you are encumbered just by wearing medium armor and carrying normal equipment.
@@smbakeresq Sounds like it could be fun with the right group, but they'd have to be pretty diehard gamers. Doesn't sound very casual friendly.
Neat.
A note on DEX-based characters for this build: Sorcerer has no minimum strength requirement if multiclassed into, Paladin does. If you start Paladin, you can justifiably dump STR entirely in exchange for a rapier and medium or even light armor, depending on how high you want your dex to be (or if you can splurge for either elven chain mail and/or Medium Armor Mastery).
That's not how multiclassing works. You need the min requirements for both classes.
Thanks for another video, Treantmonk!
Could you please do a build that would rely, as much as possible, on NOT making any rolls? For people who have abysmal luck. Yes, I am one of those.
Check out the valor bard build videos he already did. That character mostly uses save-based or even no-save spells in combat. I forget what cantrips he favored, but if he picked an attack based offesnsive cantrip you can easily grab a save based one instead, and by mid levels you're mostly casting spells anyway. You might pass on animate objects, though that rolls enough dice that even bad luck should still pan out for you. Out of combat, your key skill bonuses are high enough with expertise that even bad rolls should do ok.
A primary caster who emphasizes buff & support spells, and forces opponents to roll saves instead of rolling attacks themselves, is probably the best 5e has for this sort of thing. Sadly there's nothing in 5e that really compares to the non-rolling glory of 4e's lazy warlord builds. Gosh, but I miss the 4e warlord. One of only a handful of things I really preferred in that edition.
There are actually a couple of things you can do to achieve that. The two big ones are playing a batman wizard or playing a lore bard.
Wizards have the largest spell pool, meaning you can select spells that simply _do_ the things you want to do, no rolling required. You can also use attack cantrips that force the DM to roll a save.
Lore bards also get a wide spell pool and have more spell variety than wizards. But lore bards, being bards, also get the biggest bonuses to skill checks. You can make it so that your stealth roll, for instance, does not matter by stacking expertise and pass without trace.
Just my two cents.
FelineElaj Just play any spell caster that focuses on control/buff/debuff. My personal preference is a Lore Bard or a Divine Sorcerer with 1-2 levels in Hexblade. The specifics of spell choice depend largely on party composition, but read Treant Monk’s Wizard guide for a good breakdown on spells.
Me too! As mentioned, my Valor Bard build leans that way. Technically my Trickery cleric build is light on rolling as well. If you check out my written wizard guide you can make a character that is really light on rolling dice
@@TreantmonksTemple yes, I did that. That's one of the reasons I like your builds so much: they've changed my outlook on playing a wizard, my favourite class.
The player handbook says Divine Favor is a concentration spell, is DND Beyond wrong or do paladins get it without having to concentrate?
You could use twinned spell to cast two booming/greenflame blades at enemies when two enemies are in range and thats only one sorcery point
Is it possible to twin cast a quickened spell? If so can you cast 4 firebolts in a turn? Take 2 levels of fighter for an epic nova.
"You can use only one Metamagic option on a spell when you cast it, unless otherwise noted."
The only one I know of is empower spell.
@@Lucasfghjsokfdkjheu i thought it was going to be some bull shit like that.
Dustin Smith You cannot. If you could though it would be sick - quarduple Booming Blade augmented by Divine Smite.
I dont know if anyone mentioned this yet but the Soldier background doesnt give you those skills. It gives you athletics and Intimidation
I think I mentioned it in the video didn't I? When you take a background but you already have the skills it provides, you can pick replacements. This is a good way to pick up perception without being a Sailor every time.
@@TreantmonksTemple Did you my apology and I never knew that I just learned something new thanks man.
@@ChaosRyzen No apology necessary, if you learned something new, then mission accomplished! From the PHB on backgrounds, "If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead."
15:30 You actually made a whole video explaining why 7 average is better than 6,5 average. How? Are people really that bad at maths or something?
Can you twin booking blade?
If you mean booming Blade, yes
Treantmonk's Temple haha, you correctly identified my typo. Thanks for the reply. Booking blade is for wizards using their spell books as a blunt object.
@@ben5056 Which should TOTALLY be a spell!
Uhm you don't know the spells from the tiefling subclass. It states "you can cast them once using this trait" nothing about them already being "known" like how the fey teleportation feat teaches you the spell, and the general spellcasting of classes state "you know"
Not to be the uber virgin of this comment section
It is pronounced "ZA-rie-el". Like Ariel. Or Aasimar.
Zah-ree-eL. I pronounce Ariel Air-ree-el which for me is different than Ah-ree-el which is probably what you intended.
Ridiculous that a paladin can be allowed to have -1 religion.
its pronounced sorc- a-din not sorsadin.