Ultimate Spell Duelist 5e D&D Character Builds Adventurers League
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Ultimate Spell Duelist 5e D&D Character Builds Adventurers League
Let's build a spell caster that specializes in dueling other magic wielders for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
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Wild sorcerer 1st turn of the duel "I cast fireball" *rolls on extended wild magic chart* "...a sphere of permanent antimagic with a radius of 2 miles springs up centered on your location...I guess the duel is over."
Nah. Now you get to watch to old men have a unarmed slap fight XD
I see this duel cannot be decided by our control of the force, but rather by our skills with a lightsaber!
~ Lord Darth Tyranous,
Star Wars Episode II,
Attack of the Clones.
(Replace force with magic, and light-saber, with any conventional weapon in D&D.)
And that unleashes the Tarasque....
One of the best spells to quicken in a caster's duel: shocking grasp! Your opponent would either have to waste a counter spell to stop it, using their reaction for the round or let it effect them and still lose their reaction, thus their ability to counter spell until the start of their next turn. Wash-rinse-repeat and the only thing getting counter spelled is shocking grasp as long as you're able to hit. Twin spell could have uses if your opponent creates/summons other enemies onto the battlefield.
"I cast ray of frost!" *lightning appears
Well obviously that is how it works. Duh. These guys are awesome.
The magic equivalent of a feint.
He was using the metamagic that changes the attribute of the spell long before it came out what a genius
On day, and that day may never come, you'll come across a build where Sorcerer is the perfect option. And I'll rejoice lolol
Great video, loves yalls stuff!
*MUSCLE WIZARD CAST FIST*
Louie Punch!!!
Sounds like an anime protagonist
You guys are great... That's why I just became a Patreon! Keep up the great work you nerds :)
Thanks we appreciate it.
Nerdarchist Dave
That moment when you counterspell a cantrip
You can cast Shocking Grasp as a cantrip. The opposing caster is now in a Catch 22.
They Counterspell the cantrip, they don't have Counterspell anymore.
They don't Counterspell the cantrip, you roll to hit.
You hit, the opposing caster doesn't have a reaction anymore.
You dont hit, you Quicken a spell, they Counterspell it, and you Counterspell that Counterspell.
Rene Jr Calunsag That’s why a Sorclock seems like the best spell duelist. You simply dominate the action economy. A Divine Soul/Hexblade especially can heal themselves to full, Eldritch Blast/Booming Blade and still have Counterspell/Shield/Absorb Elements up.
I'll take my chances with cantrip damage. The save or suck spells are more important. You can create cover to stop most cantrips . In a "spell duel " chances are you're going to be playing battle ship for most of the fight
turn all things to ash A Wizard/Sorcerer at lvl 20 has 122HP assuming 14 CON. If say an Aasimar Divine Soul Hexblade pops his Radiant Consumption and Hexblade’s Curse (both uncounterable abilities) he’s dealing 88 Eldritch Blast damage and 10 auto-hit AOE damage and triggering up to 5 concentration checks. The Wizard can only eat 2-4 cantrips before going down assuming no War Caster opportunity attack shenanigans. On top of that with both abilities turned on, the Aasimar Divine Soul Hexblade can 1 shot the Wizard with a level 9 Magic Missile for 134.5 (104.5+20+10) damage.
If the Sorcerer quicken spell a save-or-suck and the Wizard counters, you eat the cantrip with a low AC. If the Wizard pops shield, then you eat the save-or-suck. You get caught without Counterspell up at start of turn, you get one-shotted.
@@M0ebius well an asamar has to use his action to summon his radiance and a bonus action to buff up so that's a waste of a turn. So on the turn you took to buff up I'll wish that you are blind or wish that you aren't able to lift your hands for a day.
We recorded a Wizard vs Sorcerer Arcane Duel video a few months ago. Our rules consisted of us making 8th level characters, we could pick two uncommon magic items and build our characters using only the Players Handbook. I forgot what school my buddy picked for his wizard, but I went with a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer picking GOLD as my color. At 6th level, a Draconic Sorcerer gets Elemental Affinity... I was able to spend 1 Sorcery Point to gain resistance to Fire for up to one hour. I did this in anticipation of a Fireball and other Fire based spells. And... I was right.
SHIELD was another one that saved my bacon as I also anticipated a flurry of Magic Missiles... and once again, I was right.
Our battle was close... but where I failed is that he chose a spell/item combination that allowed him to Fly with Greater Invisibility. I should have taken "See Invisible". Had it not been for his invisibility shenanigans, my Sorcerer would have smoked him. Of course, my buddy will tell you otherwise, lol.
Great video guys! I dig it... AND... I absolutely love the Shadow Sorcerer. Well done!
I thought with the abjuration wizard the spell Ward isn’t made of temporary hit points and has its own pool of hp.
They are temporary hp, but it gets healed when you cast abjuration spells.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy They’re not Temporary HP mechanically speaking. You can stack the ward with Temp HP.
Arcane Ward is an entity of its own that superimposes its HP between your character and damage. I was sad to learn that even the cantrip Blade Ward does nothing to reduce the damage done to the ward. Still, it "stacks" on top of any temporary HP you might have, so take a level dip in Hexblade an freeze all the melee attackers to death with upcasted Armor of Agathys.
I just love those intros! Keep up the good work guys.
Now I want to see Dave and Ted each build their own version of the ultimate spell duelist and then DUEL!
I'd like to do that, but we use some of the builds from the comments. Gotta show them why warlocks are just mechanically Inferior to full casters.
Nerdarchist Dave
Have Nate DM/Ref the fight. He can also add random lair actions that can alter the playing field and throw skill checks into the mix. I would watch that.
@@Nerdarchy nobody liked this smh
Interesting choice could be a dip into Warlock, counterintuitive as it may be. You'll split up your slots, but you could have Mage Armor at-will, and permanent magical 120-foot Darkvision. And you'll have access to Hex, if you want to give your opponents disadvantage on their Counterspells and Dispells. And that's just a 2 level dip.
Just a thought. X3
When we're talking high-level spellcasters, the Glibness spell changes EVERYTHING for the bard because it essentially makes Counterspell and Dispel Magic AUTOMATIC SUCCESSES, even against 9th-level spells ... with the base level 3 version of those spells. And it's a non-concentration spell. >:D Adding a couple of levels of Hexblade to the mix would mean (a) your AC goes THROUGH THE ROOF compared to the Wizard/Sorcerer (half plate + shield +2 DEX bonus = AC 19 BEFORE adding magical bonuses or the Shield spell from Warlock), (b) you can take Devil's Sight, and SCREW the Shadow sorcerer's Darkness spell, (c) you only ever have to raise ONE stat to be effective, which means you can then dump points into CON, and (d) you're going to end up with roughly a third more hit points than your sorcerer or wizard opponent BEFORE you add the extra points from your possibly higher CON.
Overall, I think you really, really underestimate the bard as a duelist, particularly when you take a paltry two levels of warlock. And it's even WORSE if you add THREE warlock levels, because then YOU can turn the tables on the sorcerer's darkness (it. after all, can only see through ITS OWN Darkness) ... though frankly, I wouldn't give up the 18th level bard's Magical Secrets in order to get a 2nd-level spell.
I know this is old, but for people seeing this now: A high level abjuration wizard that passes the save against a fireball and takes a quarter of the damage rolled can not use Absorb Elements to half that damage because Absorb Elements gives you resistance against the damage which the abjurer's Spell Resistance feature already gives you.
So talking about wizard duals. Magic Wands. I saw this in a form where the debate is. Welding a wand is better than a subtle spell because many wands don't require components (this could be interpreted including requiring somatic or verbal components). What's everyone's opinion on this? Also feats like warlock initiate, metamagic feat, magic initiate (druid or cleric to heal yourself, wizard to gain shield or mage armor, warlock for hellish rebuke or armor of agathist) then there is the usefulness of a good dex to dodge spells and higher initiative. (Thanks for the great video guy! I love your content and have given me so many great ideas... Also chronugy wizard or gravity wizard would be really cool wizard dual with their ability to change rolls manipulate terrain
Always love the content. The sentinel and war caster feat combo is nasty. Mage slayer puts it over the top. However it may be a later round combo as you will use your reaction to cast counter spell or absorb elements. I wonder how many rounds a mage duel would last.
Anti magic field anyone?
15th level wizard,
3rd level sorc for meta magic
2 levels of fighter
Subtle cast anti magic,
grapple
stab as needed.
Namurack Divine Soul Hexblade. I stab better than you stab.
I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I really enjoy your channel, I love what you guys do, but I have to disagree, for lots of reasons. Of which I'm about to post a few. Again, sorry.
The whole thing about being able to use 3rd lvl Counterspells more effectively is kind of a 2 edged sword. "Hey, I can use Counterspell at 3rd lvl and counter your 9 the lvl spell with a roll of 8". "Cool, I guaranteed counter your counter with a 3rd lvl spell". You basically are potentially making your opponents counterspells more useful too. Not a bad idea, you just have to be aware of the potential drawbacks, too. If you bait them into countering your counter, you'll be sure to get your own spell off next turn, so there's that to keep in mind.
Also, the darkness trick pretty much kills the extra slots you get from sorcery points. You use 3 of your 4 points to Subtly cast Darkness you can see through. That's easily dispelled, and now your converting spell slots (and using your bonus action), or just burning slots directly (which is the slightly better choice), to keep that trick going. Mystra forbid your opponent is a Sorcerer who's dipped 2 levels of Warlock for Devil's Sight, so they can see through all magical darkness, not just their own. They can be throwing Agonizing Eldritch Blasts all day on top of it, and have Wish and/or Meteor Swarm. That's not even accounting for the extreme advantage that duelist has in Sorcery Points and Metamagic options.
Also, the ward isn't as helpful as you might think. It doesn't benefit from your your spell resistance, so it takes the full damage, and those 38 hp are gone in no time. Yeah, all your Counterspells will keep feeding it, a little, but not nearly enough to offset the damage a dedicated blaster Sorcerer is putting out. Not to mention the Hightened, Empowered spells they can actually afford to throw around, which offsets your spell resistance nicely.
One more thing, getting in close is a bad idea. If you haven't taken the crossbow expert feat(which is such a strange thing to be needful for a caster), your giving yourself disadvantage on ranged attack spells by locking your opponent into melee with you, and you only get one reaction, so your either stopping them from moving away, or hitting them when they cast, not both. Sentinal and Mageslayer do more to get in your own way than help you. The attack you get from Mage Slayer if they cast within 5 ft, or the one you get from Sentinal if they attack someone else within 5 ft, is just a melee weapon attack, not an AoO, so you can't convert it to a spell with Warcaster. And as a Wiz/Sorc, you at best only kind of suck at weapon attacks. Whereas, if you convert an AoO to a spell attack, it's no longer an attack of opportunity, so Sentinal doesn't reduce their speed to 0.
It's a fun idea, but a Draconic Sorcerer 18/Warlock (any pact) 2 with Warcaster, Spell Sniper, and any good 3rd feat(Alert for initiative and to negate advantage from invisibility, Lucky 'cause Lucky, maybe Mageslayer for the Concentration disadvantage) would be far more effective in a Mage duel. Flying around in a bubble of Darkness outside the 60 ft range of your counterspell(but potentially in the 120 ft range of their Distant Counterspell), throwing Eldritch Blast (which averages 11 points per bolt, 4 bolts per casting, with bounded accuracy averaging around 3 hits per casting, so about 33 damage at this point, with), with Quickened Fireball(or Lightning Bolt, or Scorching Ray, etc), until they decide to drop a Hightened, Empowered Meteor Swarm on you. Your Abjurer doesn't win that fight, they just take a little longer to die.
1217 BC I agree that Sorclock is the king of spell duels. Personally I prefer Divine Soul/Hexblade.
@@M0ebius I wasn't really trying to figure out the best way to build a Sorc-lock duelist. I was just grabbing basics from the PHB. I haven't really looked into the options deeply. What makes the Divine Soul/Hexblade stand out?
1217 BC Divine Soul grants +2d4 to saves per short rest and the full Cleric spell list. Hexblade grants 19AC (med armor+shield), Hexblade’s Curse (massive dmg buff to EB/Magic Missile), and use of chrisma for weapon attacks (Booming Blade/GFB). In a raw damage race I think the class combo is unparalleled, especially considering you can quicken Heal and Eldritch Blast in the same turn as well as fire 2 EB per turn.
Why doesnt the ward benefit from damage resistances?
@@trequor Because spell resistance halves the damage you take. The ward blocks it before it gets to you.
I think Bard's could do alright here. Lore Bard's Peerless Skill can let them add a Bardic Inspiration die to any ability check, so their Counterspell/Dispel Magic roll is typically d20 + 8 (+d12 if needed), although Glibness is just better for this anyway. Circle of Power is a great spell to steal as well, as it gives advantage on all saves against spells, but most importantly any spell you save against that does half damage instead does none, no matter what type of save it is, unlike Evasion which is only for Dex saves. Cutting Words can also lower your opponent's ability checks, so you have several opportunities to "negate" their Counterspell/Dispel Magics without using a spell slot yourself.
About 3 minutes in Ted must have seen my thought bubble... I was thinking of doing a Dwarven Sorcerer with the Mage Slayer feat. Smack with Warhammer/Battleaxe with action, use sorcery points to cast spell with a bonus action and shield/absorb elements or opportunity attack with reaction...
I didn't watch the video YET but I'm going to throw in the....
College of Lore Bard from lvl 15 on is pretty much unbeatable for one spell alone, Glibness
Take Counter spell as a secret and at 15 take Glibness (basically after casting Glibness) for 1 hour you can counter ANYTHING without the need for a dice roll
you could also dabble with the new feat of taking sorcerer points to learn hasten spell to really mess up those pesky wizards!!!
Just my thoughts, hope I see it within the video
blade singer. have been looking at the eldritch knight, blade singer combo. 4 levels of eldritch knight and 16 of bladesinger. with it you get access to 9th level magic as a 17th level caster with great sword fighting abilities.
I know it's not your format, but it would have been neat to see each of you bring a duelist to the table and actually duel it out!
A lore bard with cutting words and bane can potentially subtract from key rolls. That's huge. Lore bard 10/Diviner 2 and the lucky feat and mage slayer. You manipulate the numbers in your favor. And you can play close up or far away.
Divine Soul sorc should have a few extra options with the availablity of cleric spells, even if it's being able to use bonus actions to heal from time to time during the duel. It's not as big as a factor as the abjurer's kit but definatly note-worthy, I think.
Also, if we are talking pure min\max for spell-duels, wouldn't profeciency in investigation be situationaly useful vs Illusions?
And a last thing I thought of, a Hobgoblin could spec into moderatly armored and use medium armor + shield with the warcaster feat, giving him pretty decent AC vs any ranged or melee spell attack. Not sure you got the feats to pull that off when you arn't human though.
Bacchus shield Master would be better because you could not have a Weapon and you can add shield to spell saves
That would require an additional feat on top of moderatly armored, I really don't see that being worth it.
Bacchus not if you are hobgoblin and if you are human you wouldn’t need that either
As a wizard you can have mage armor
You wouldn’t need anything besides a shield for saves
How are you planning to get shield proffeciency for shield master without moderatly armored?
Bacchus Divine Soul/Hexblade MC gets medium armor. Pure min/max take Scourge Aasimar with 2 levels Fighter, 1 level Hexblade, 17 Sorcerer: pop Radiant Consumption & Hexblade’s Curse, Action Surge into level 9 Magic Missile with Subtle Spell, then Counterspell the Shield spell.
Automatic 1-shot kill.
Pure Shadow sorcerer. If all you’re doing is dueling spell casters then that hound becomes priceless, can’t be countered, does damage continually, gives disadvantage on saving throws. Subtle spell keeps you from being countered while you maintain concentration on an enemy D buff such as bane Picked up through magic initiate. It means something as basic as hold person can win a fight
Hey there is a little tid bit on the Kalashtar. Already started playing it, sorta loving it :o it's whole telepathy thing is very useful
2 barbarian, 18 college of swords bard. Antimagic field, counter spell their counterspell at 9th lvl. Hit them with a warhammer while you grapple with expertise on the other hand. What's a weak wizard gonna do vs +15 to grapple without magic? Plus it's a wizard. Not many hit points or armor class to go through. Lvl 6+ paladin, 14 sorc also does well with charisma to saves and bless. Go lvl 7 oath of the ancients for resistance to magic damage.
Why not start with Shadow-Sorc so you start with proficiency in Con saves and darkvision? That way you'd have Con + Proficiency (at advantage versus damage with War Caster). It would delay your capstone abjuration school ability by a level, but it'd be really hard to kill your concentration on Darkness or a Suble-Slow spell (no reactions for you, enemy caster...).
perfect for the Eberron Spellslingers or as a Azorius Functionary of Ravnica (Divine soul with Mageslayer and Sentinel)
Gentlemen, that was a great fun intro. Good work.
You guys are giving up an awful lot for that Darkness ability: 9th level spell, Spell Mastery, and Signature Spells. With that 9th level spell you can use Wish to cast Simulacrum and have 2 Wizards on the field. You could Counter Spell that...unless you were facing a Diviner with a Portent ability who can guarantee you’d fail. Your build is very strong but I’d like to try that against a 20th level Diviner with the Alert and Lucky Feats. Make it a battle between a Wizard designed for the quick kill versus one designed for the long slog.
The diviner is done within 3 rounds with its portent ability and rerolls don't guarantee worse rolls. I agree you are giving up the higher level abilities but don't think they'll factor in. Remember we are also talking about needing a 7 or 8 to counter spell that 9th level spell.
Nerdarchist Dave
One of the things we discussed planning this video is how many different sorts of spellcasters could be fun duelists. This would make an amazing campaign!
Gregory Floriolli If Wish was allowed then a Lore Bard with Alert feat who has the fastest Initiative and the second best Counterspell in game can just go first, Wish you were dead, then counter your Counterspell.
@@Nerdarchy
Only a eight? That just about guarantees a 1 when I need it most!
Spell list! Spell list!! I need a spell list!!!
Magic Tournament Champion where the prize is some kind of magical artifact that the player really really wants. He joins the tournament and beats down a few easy rounds. Gets to the last round and gets unloaded on
divination wizard with at least one bad portent roll. Oops now you are a slug (polymorph) or a zombie(finger of death). Other roll good: your counter:counterspell works. Other roll bad: their counterspell fails.
Counter-spelling a ray of frost? You either have an abundance of spell slots or very low HP and I'm guessing the former because only a powerful wizard could harness the power of the beard.
I think that you guys are really not appreciating the magic of Cutting Words. You can, as a REACTION, roll a penalty to an opponents ability check. That means that you can effectively COUNTER their Counterspell AND it taps into a different resource so that you don't have to waste spell slots. Even the Abjurer can no third option for countering counters
In my own experience, Warlocks can beat other casters in a duel without counterspelling. With it however a warlock runs out of slots before doing anything.
Daniel VanRyn Take Sorclock and you get the best of both worlds.
Do y'all have character pages for all the build videos you guys have done?
personally i think bladesinger or valor bard may benefit from mage slayer more because they can use melee more which makes the feat more worth it. yet again there are spells like green flame blade and shadow blade which can make mage slayer more worth it for me
A build for either the best crown knight or a warrior king could be neat.
Race(s): Dragonborn/Dwarf(Mountain)/Elf(Drow)/Half-Elf/Halfling(Lightfoot/Stout)/Half-Orc/Human/Tiefling/
Background: Noble
15 lvls Oath of Conquest/Crown
5lvls Battlemaster
Im actually running a githyanki in dnd league with a greatsword and med armor as a lvl 7 abjuration wizard. He is quite good at countering. I even won a one vs one duel against an arcanaloth
Casting feeblemind with heightend spell . Insta win if they don't counter spell it correctly.
Round 1: Sorcerer subtle casts silence then wrecks shop.
Sorcerer can cheese the counterspell spam Subtle Misty Step + distant counterspell spamming
Could you guys make a build for a frontline caster? No weapons,Just spellslinging ?
I can't remember the name of it, but I would take the mage duel arena from the 3rd edition Complete Arcane. Make it a co-op ritual that they participate in and minimum lasting effects. Plus no burning down the town.
I was considering giving my wizard just 1 level in fighter, for the armor, sheild, and weapon proficencys,
then buy a heater or round sheild and write my prepaired spells on the back of it, or a short-sword like Gandolf The Grey, or a crossbow like Dumbledore.
I would get a kyte-sheild or Roman-scootum, but they would probly get in the way of somatic gestures for spells.
Ok so heres my duel caster; human fighter duelist ark lvl9 wizard lvl9 war mage ark lvl2 cleric life ark it can be made to do anything depending on perks picked and stats i used this build throughout a demon hunter campaign
This might be a fun build for Dungeon of the Mad Mage.
Maybe I am doing some math wrong, but could'nt any Sorcerer with Quicken simply hit with a damage cantrip of any kind, knock them below 100hp and then Power Word: Kill as a bonus action? You can always Counterspell their Counterspell if they try.
That is where darkness comes handy.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Agreed. Lets hope they roll higher in Initiative.
@@humanmale02 as with most of our builds there is more than one way to do it. Resistance to spell damage and temporary hp every round are still going to be factors.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy Hexblade Sorclock with Devils Sight will kill the Darkness strat quick. Or just pop his own Darkness.
Yes. Also, if that cantrip happens to be a Distant Shocking Grasp, possibly with Spell Sniper, they don't get a reaction to Counterspell. Or they use their reaction to counter Shocking Grasp. You might want to Highten Power Word Kill to offset their advantage on the save, though, assuming you didn't take the Luckey feat.
How about a two-level dip to Fighter to get armor proficiency and Action Surge? Surprise, two spells in one turn.
I see where you guys are going with this. But if we take half-casters into the formula, Tome Warlocks are pretty good
Nope no their not. Not enough spell slots to compete and a wizards duel. Sorry not sorry no short rest during the duel. 😜
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Well sir, cantrips are technically level 0 spells. That being said, Sorcerer is probably the strongest duelist just because of quickened spell and being able to make extra spell slots. But on the other hand, if a Warlock got involved, he has a tier higher hit die and the little spell slots he has can cast pretty powerful spells.
@@ToadimusPrime I get where you are coming from, but a wizard that can shut down your spells every round and retaliate is going to wipe the floor mono a mono with a warlock.
Nerdarchist Dave
Mmmm Bard Spell Duelist... why can't I shake this image of Tenacious D out of my mind? Damn now I want to play a chubby bearded Bard!!!
What about a more front-load damage build? Combine a couple levels of fighter so you get action surge and defence fighting style with the rest sorc
I would have thrown the last two levels into Fighter for the use of Action Surge.
You guys should do a magical super spy build?
Dang. This is awesome
Chrono wizard 17, 3 lvl sorcerer. You cant be counterpselled. You can Just use you class feature, and the enemy will lose the save. Polymorph power World kill. If you are the first you win. If the enemy become invisible, Just use true sight.
I really wish, that you could see the spell selection for the abjurer wizard too, rather than just the sorcerer...
Just 2 levels of warlock give devils sight and agonizing blast for eldritch blast. Making all darkness no matter how cast or created null and void to you. Just saying. I wouldn't want to miss a ASI though so I totally get why you went your route.
I'd say moon druid, actually. They can wildshape into something too small to see.
You arrange the duel. The wizard shows up all ready to fight. He doesn't notice the gnat flying into his ear. The gnat is now an earth elemental.
Absorb Elements wouldn't stack with abjurer, since both give resistance.
Drow can cast dispell magic once a day for free, so it would make a strong Sorc duelist
Bard with glibness auto succeeds on counterspell.... that's way better than wizard. Sorcerer could be annoying though.
I have an idea for you guys: a battle master archer with jewelers kit proficiency for the one eye scope she uses for her "tricks" mercenary background to get started and horizon walker or hunter multiclass and zephyr strike variant human for the sharpshooter feat
You forgot Druids
Technically a divine caster
Yea I think we lumped them in with clerics.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy
20th level druids are immortal in 5e. Even the toughest wizard can't take on a endless string of dragons.
One thing to note about Druids is that at 20th level they ignore verbal and somatic components entirely
One thing to note about Druids is that at 20th level they ignore verbal and somatic components entirely
Now I want to make a warlock duelist
6:41 sorry guys, absorb elements gives you resistance, just like your 14th level abjuration ability. Sadly, resistance doesn't stack. If it would, I'd say roll a gnome so could stack all 3 resistances.
But if we include Unearthed Arcana then the Lore Master just snipes everyone is the duel below with a Forceball from a mile away and since the spell is now a physical object they have to make Strength checks or if they have lower than 100 Hp Power Word kill with the words you used again turning into physical objects from a mile away. This is what you get for not inviting me to the duel and now I loot your bodies!
Or another more standard attack is I'm gonna Animate Object these 10 coins in my pocket and now machine gun you down with them.
I really wish that 5e had Incantatrix, it would have been hilarious for a spell duelist build.
Divine Soul Sorcerer with Subtle Silence...
Or even Divine Soul Hexblade Sorlock with quickened Eldritch Blast...
Hell, even with taking 4 levels of sorcerer, if that wizard can actually convince another wizard to let them learn some 9th level spells, they do have a 9th level slot and therefore can a 9th level spell in their spellbook.
WrittenInShadow I don’t think having a higher level spell slot than you can learn a spell for means you can scribe that spell. You can upcast but not learn those spells.
@@BittyVids You can. It says that you can scribe a spell so long as the spell slot is available. It's one of the things that was in the sage advice tweets.
WrittenInShadow
www.google.com/amp/s/www.sageadvice.eu/2016/05/20/can-multiclass-druid-19-wizard-1-scribe-9th-level-wizard-spells-into-their-spellbook/amp/
WrittenInShadow
From the phb errata: Your Spellbook (p. 114). The spells copied into a spellbook must be of a spell level the wizard can prepare.
Do you have a link to the sage advice? It would be awesome. My multi classes character has slots higher than he can prepare and I would love to scribe a higher level scroll I have. I don’t think I can based on the errata though.
Any ideas for a decent build that focuses on melee, but enhances his/her attacks or performs minor ranged attacks with spells? I'm relatively new to character creation, so there is probably something obvious that I just haven't realized.
Eldritch Knight
"Ranger, you win initiaive. What do you do?"
"I ready an action. Triggers when the wizard starts to cast."
"Okay. Wizard, what do you do?"
"I cast..."
"I ranged sunder. Flaming arrow his components pouch."
"Whaaaaaa...?"
Comic books iceman build ?
Please and thank you !
Clerics win one on ones all day, hold person is an insta win
Resistance to spell effects a wasted ability? Is it though???
How about 2 levels of fighter to get action surge?
You said you can half it again with absorb elements but does resistance stack? 6:30
What Disney movie popularized spell duels? Sorcerer's Apprentice? I would have rather said popularized by the book/movie franchise of Harry Potter, which is Warner Brothers.
The Abjurer's Ward is full hit points, not temporary, you can have temp HP on top of it.
Sword in the Stone (1963)
Best: sorcerer. Cant counter spell him. And he can counter spell always. In a spell caster duo its to good!
Since when does ray of frost make thunder noise?
The spell effects make me laugh so hard.
Uses Counterspell on Ray of Frost, but not Fireball? 🤔
I personally think you should have taken 6 levels of Sorcerer, as the Hound of Ill omen is nothing to scoff at.
Why would a cleric be disqualified?
Why not cleric? They are full casters.
Sure you can. We just present one way of doing things. We never consider it the only way.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Thanks for the reply! I didn't mean to sound crazy or anything! Love the different ideas and just wanted to pop in that point.
Round 1:
Sorcerer subtly casts wish and turns the wizard into a quivering pile of jello.
Why take out divine casters? Clerics can be pretty awesome duelists.
Not against bards, sorcerers, and wizards. Lack the firepower or the ability to counter spell.
Nerdarchist Dave
Lightning blot! Lightning bolt! .... Root!
No duskblade in 5e?
I really think you gentlemen shortchanged to the sorcerer in this discussion. Both the Divine Soul, with its access to cleric buffs and debuffs, and the Shadow Sorcerer, with the hound of ill-omen, would do quite well in a spell duelist roll imo. Not to mention that Sorcerers have proficiency in Constitution saves....
You are dismissing the Warlock way too fast. Eldritch blast with agonizing blast is a lot of damage even without hex. They have the darkness trick built-in. They also get some spells through invocations like slow, bane and bestow curse (which they can deliver with their invisible familiar). They could simply out-range any mage with spell sniper and eldritch spear. Cantrips are at will thus they actually win in a long winded fight.
Seb L If MC is allowed just use a Hexblade Sorclock.
@@M0ebius yes the hexblade sorclock is strong thanks to non-concentration hexblade curse but fey sorlock is immune to charm, The sorcerer levels make up for the low spell slot count of the warlock.
But in the end, I believe that a magic duel can be won by only 2 things: either out-range the opponent or debilitate him with a strong save or suck spell.
Winning initiative can also be very important.
My tactic would be to go for warlock old one 14, divine sorcerer 6 with alert, lucky and spell sniper. then either get some distance, use all my spell slots to couterspell/dispel and cast EB from extremely far away OR subtle bestow curse through my familair first round then subtle hypnotic pattern to incapacitate and turn the opponent into a thrall.
Between lucky and favored by the gods you have good chances to pass all the saves for 1 or 2 rounds.
Seb L Yes for general spell duel Initiative and Saves are all important and very swingy. But the biggest elephant in the room is the Wish spell. A Lore Bard 20 with Max DEX/Alert/Peerless Skill/Jack of All Trades can roll a +19.5 Initiative, Wish you dead, then counter your Counterspell with a +9.5 to his ability check.
@@M0ebius You are making wish more powerful than it is only supposed to duplicate another spell and going beyond that would be DM dependant. Also: "This spell might simply fail, the effect you desire might only be partly achieved, or you might suffer some unforeseen consequence as a result of how you worded the wish."
Seb L Then my tactic would be Scourge Aasimar Hexblade 1/Fighter 2/Sorcerer 17, Hexblade’s Curse into Radiant Consumption into Action Surge into 9th lvl Magic Missile with Subtle Spell for 134.5 dmg, and a Counterspell ready for your Shield spell.
Most casters with D6 hit dice should be dead. If not mop up with a lvl 8 Magic Missile.
You forgot the bards can swift quiver and then kill any wizard by casting arrow a whole bunch at them
Before you say “that’s not magic” it takes a 5th level spell slot. I am literally casting arrow
Edited
Do you mean swift quiver?
1217 BC I did mean quiver
Now how about an AL legal gish mageslayer?
Step 1) Grapple with expertise (1st attack)
Step 2) Shove with expertise (2nd attack)
Step 3) Action surge, ready action: Cast Silence
So 2lvls Fighter and straight Bard (Valour, Swords) is fine.
Grappled dude can't counterspell Silence because it is his own turn. So he is left with the ability to cast any spell without verbal or somatic......
You win by stabbing for 8 damage/round and there is nothing to be done about that.
That's where subtle spell meta magic comes in. Also freedom of movement possibly as a contingency. Especially if you are aware of this one trick ponies tactics.
Nerdarchist Dave
You can counter spell on your own turn though.
Where do you get the idea you can't use a reaction on your own turn? PHB 190: "A reaction... which can occur on your turn or someone else's". Also, the point of this exercise was a spellcasting duel. Otherwise, just throw a properly speced monk or rogue and be done with it.
@@1217BC You get one spell per turn, it matters not if it is some kind of teleport or counterspell, it is still your turn.
@@MrMortadelas You are entirely mistaken. Not sure where you got that notion, maybe it's your dm's house rule, but hopefully this helps clear it up.
PHB 202 "BONUS ACTION
A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn . You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
REACTIONS Some spells can be cast as reactions. These spells take a fraction of a second to bring about and are cast in response to some event. If a spell can be cast as a reaction, the spell description tells you exactly when you can do so."
Further clarification on Wizards site under More Spell casting Questions:
Is there a limit on the number of spells you can cast on your turn? There’s no rule that says you can cast only X number of spells on your turn, but there are some practical limits. The main limiting factor is your action. Most spells require an action to cast, and unless you use a feature like the fighter’s Action Surge, you have only one action on your turn.
If you cast a spell, such as healing word, with a bonus action, you can cast another spell with your action, but that other spell must be a cantrip. Keep in mind that this particular limit is specific to spells that use a bonus action. For instance, if you cast a second spell using Action Surge, you aren’t limited to casting a cantrip with it.
Can you also cast a reaction spell on your turn? You sure can! Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball. dnd.wizards.com/articles/sage-advice/ability-check
ok lore bard 14 get to expend a bardic inspiration on any ability check "a d10". so you get to add half your proficiency that is a 3 + d10 avg 5 thats +8 dont tell me Abjurer wiz hard is better :D and if you want to save a spell slot for counter spell use cunning action to reduce thier check by a d10.
yuati No duh
Start with 2 Fighter why ? get mithral plat and you are good to go. get your save on con and str a dumb stat. and a +3 shield. AC 23 all the time. cast shield spell 28.
2 Wizard ... Deviation school ... get to use 2 d20 and you decide where to go when to go.
if you ever get reliant feat get dex most of the upper damage spells are Dex saves "disintegrate "
and get 2 more bard levels for d12 bardic inspiration and asi.
Start the duel cast feeble mind action surge cast disintegrate
Sadly mage slayer doesn't stack with sentinel SUCKS SO BAD. because its not an attack of an peritonitis, mage slayer is just a melee weapon attack. I tried this build :(
True Sight should defeat subtlety.
How do you figure? Subtle doesn't hide what you're doing. It literally removes the verbal and somatic components. There's nothing for you to truly see.