I did notice that there's a graphic that shows magic stone doing 1d8+3 while I'm saying it does 1d6+3. The graphic is incorrect, it is 1d6+3. Also, I have stopped tracking free hands for somatic components, but if you do, you'll need to weapon juggle a bit to keep a free hand for reaction spell casting.
You could attach a holy symbol to your weapon, or use a staff with a holy symbol for your focus/ weapon. That might solve the juggling issue. Also, I didn't realize how good the hobgoblin is with saving throws. My pick for tanky races typically starts with 3 levels of kalashtar totem barbarian. Advantage on dex and wis saves and Con prof means that we essentially have prof with all 3 big saving throws, plus psychic resistance with the bear totem. Swing into paladin for the Cha boost to all saves, and you don't need AC.
I think people might be getting confused about spell casting in heavy armor because you have to be proficient in the armor you're wearing to cast a spell. But if you ARE proficient, it doesn't matter if you meet the strength requirement.
@@carsonrush3352 “Armor Proficiency. Anyone can put on a suit of armor or strap a shield to an arm. Only those proficient in the armor's use know how to wear it effectively, however. Your class gives you proficiency with certain types of armor. If you wear armor that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells.” Page 144 I think, should be in the armor section of the equipment section of phb In the same section “Heavy Armor. Heavier armor interferes with the wearer's ability to move quickly, stealthily, and freely. If the Armor table shows "Str 13" or "Str 15" in the Strength column for an armor type, the armor reduces the wearer's speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.” It’s pretty clear, you get completely cucked if you’re wearing armor you’re not proficient in. All the strength requirement is is only a 10ft penalty though.
@@carsonrush3352page 144. It has the paragraph treatmonk showed at 11:56, and slightly above it the penalty for wearing armour you aren’t proficient with (disadvantage on str and dex based ability checks, saves and attack rolls, and can’t cast spells)
It's an excellent thing to remember if you need to keep an enemy spellcaster alive for interrogation. Just knock them out, put them in heavy armor, laugh as even verbal only spells fail.
I have a Level 0 character that doesn't play in any games, he never gets hit or fails any saves. The only drawbacks are that he never gains XP, he does no damage, and he accomplishes nothing to move the story forward in any meaningful or interesting way. But, I guess if you cannot live with those drawbacks, Chris's updated build is your next best bet.
I mean, most optimizers say "I optimize for X", with X usually being damage, cause it's fun to do big damage. It's not like they undervalue survivability, they just don't wanna optimize for it. Sure, literally every character can benefit from Resilient, either CON, WIS or DEX, but that takes away potentially +2 to a stat or a feat that's gonna give you more damage, so all else be damned. Also, sadly, a lot of things that are optimal for damage are usually just straight better than things optimal for survivability. If you can kill your opponent faster, then you take less damage, therefore are a better tank in addition to being a better damage dealer.
@@Notsogoodguitarguy I mostly look at this as an interesting thing for people to look at and pick pieces off where they see fit. Like you said killing the enemy faster will increase your survivability by default but there are a surprising number of places where "tank" choices can be made for a minor damage loss that end up being better in the long run. I do think some people, and its mostly newer players to be fair, undervalue how much being harder to kill can allow you to bein places where you can do more damage. It's just refreshing to see something like this and was happy to see it updated. I actually had a recent...conversation, surrounding being a "tank" in 5th edition, and I very much took your position of damage > raw survivability.
@@proforeveryone Oh, wait, that's not my position at all xD I don't think damage > raw survivability. I just said that most people, including most optimizers, think damage is more fun and thus pay more attention to damage than anything else. I love being a tank. I've played tanks literally every game I play - from souls games, to MMOs, to every type of RPG, to League of Legends, to even D&D. For me, it's usually a more interesting thing than just doing big damage. It's much more of an interesting puzzle. Plus, I like being the tank and protecting others.
@@Notsogoodguitarguy Apologies for misconstruing you! Tanking is a lot of fun, my last 4 characters would probably be considered "bruisers" as that's the archetype I most enjoy. A lot of that sort of thing also probably has to do with the style of DMs someone plays with. I like to tell new players there is a gradient between "you cant do damage if you're dead" and "the enemy cant kill you if they're dead" that you need to find where you most enjoy.
My thoughts on "tanky vs damage" is that ultimately a lot of this game is "combat ends when enemies die" so getting to "enemies dead" fastest is the ""optimal"" use of energy for most players. That said since it's a team game you'd think more investigation into team strat would involve having a tanky dude. Now to setup the tactics so enemies hit them instead of the squishy allies... Ah, now we see the problem in the long run.
@@SortKaffeI'm recently new to DnD and his videos have been really fun to watch. Especially the ones shitting, making the best of, and seeing real improvements to the monk class that I wanted to play before learning it had apparently been gimped
7:30 Shadar Kai teleport important note you’ve mentioned before that I didn’t catch you mention here is that it’s NOT A SPELL. This means that if the need calls for it, you can cast a spell with your action and still use your teleport unlike most other teleports which use Misty Step, which is a spell.
Thats both a good and bad thing. Good for the reason you said. Bad as, since it's not a spell, it doesn't affect your Find Steed. Misty Step would teleport you AND your mount that way.
This is my favorite kind of multiclassing, where there's a really clear story as to your build. Some multiclasses feel a bit thin in terms of story, but this truly feels like a character who has explored various types of magic and training in service of their goal of being unkillable in combat ... maybe even a theme of a character whose ultimate goal is immortality.
There's a very valid reading of the rules that Jack of All Trades and the Watcher paladin bonus do stack. Watcher paladin does not add your proficiency to initiative. It adds an aura bonus whose magnitude is equal to your proficiency. That sounds like splitting hairs, but also makes a lot of intuitive RAI sense: the idea of Jack of all trades is to give you a boost to skills you dont have direct practice in, but the watcher paladin is not a skill thing but a magical aura. dndbeyond doesn't do it this way, but that's not actually dispositive in how the rules are supposed to work.
That's like Bless + Peace Cleric - they look like they're not supposed to stack, but they do. It's not about the magnitude of the bonus, but whether it's the same effect or not. The rules explicitly say that the same effects don't stack. In this case, it's two different effects that offer the same magnitude bonus.
Yeah or with Harengon & the Watcher's aura. It's not a matter of being proficient, it's adding 2 non-competing bonuses that both just happen to advance in line with your proficiency bonus.
Your Bladesinger can provide wall effects and control if the enemy insists on ignoring the tank. At least they have options. Also the Cockroach can smite so they enemy can't laugh off their attacks forever. XD
The worst is when you have a barbarian rocking reckless attack every round. DMs can't help themselves when faced with a nigh unhittable Bladesinger and a nearly impossible to miss Barbarian.
That's one of the reasons I like Artificer Armorer for tank builds. If you punch them with your thunder gauntlets, even if they switch to someone else, they have disadvantage against them
"Ignore the Bladesinger at your own peril." Puts enemies in a lose-lose situation. Since they can either waste time trying to break through your AC, or ignore you and enjoy 3 attacks a turn, one of which is a booming blade, and two others are from dual-wielding and upcast Shadow Blade, which almost never misses, for about ... 1d6+1d8+dex, +3d8+dex, + 3d8.
14 levels in zealot barb is the definition of a cockroach. 1 level in paladin lvl to survive the end of rage (take first to get wis save proficiency), alert and lucky to go first in battle and whatever race and classes that help your wis save. 5 minutes of immunity to all damage (kinda)
The problem with that idea is that there are many things that can take you out of rage (see the above comments) and since you are a Barbarian you are going to be splitting your ability scores between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom (add Charisma if you want Paladin) which means you can't afford to have more than a +2 in Wisdom. This results in at best +8 to Wisdom saves which at 15th level is not nearly good enough for consistent success.
@@Adurnis I agree in the long term however the original video is about current 5e using current 5e content and all other discussion in the comment section about the build is discussing it in the context of 5e. With that in mind I don't think saying D&D is being updated is a useful point.
Another great video Chris! Looking forward to seeing some of your other older builds revisited. Side note - the link to the character sheet just links to the character creation main page, not to the character.
TM: “There are just too many damage types to get all those resistances.” Me: “Hmm. Maybe Shadar-Kai will work then?” TM: “Anyway, let’s start with Shadar-Kai!” I mean, hobgoblin is the right colour for a cockroach, but shadar-kai literally scuttles from shadow to shadow.
Great update! Personally, I would skip Wizard to be able to dump Int in favor of Con and Cha. As an Int build, a single-class Artificer gets Flash of Genius for saves, infusions for AC, and Aid for hp. Combined with Hobgoblin or the old Yuan-ti Pureblood, they can be really good at saves, especially if there already is a Paladin in the party. Each Artificer subclass offers additional defensive boosts, so it's up to you if you prefer the Alchemist (elixirs give AC +1 or a d4 to every save), Armorer (heavy armor, extra infused items, and Mirror Image), Artillerist (Shield spell and Eldritch Cannon provide a lot of temporary hp each turn), or Battle Smith (Shield spell, Steel Defender can impose disadvantage on an attack each round and absorb hits itself).
Yeah I think I'd have gone down an Artificer as part of this build concept myself. Though that is the best bit of D&D type games there are so many paths to a similar result with entirely different methods.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 you're right. Because these builds are created in a vacuum, Chris needs to cover all bases by himself. In practice, you might be in a party with both a Paladin (Aura of Protection and Bless) and an Artificer (Flash of Genius). Then it'll be near impossible that you fail a save if only you pick up 2 levels of War Magic Wizard, 1 level of Peace Domain Cleric, and/or 7 levels of Warlock (with the Protection of the Talisman invocation).
@@SortKaffe Indeed, though I'd argue you never have to cover all bases yourself in a single build. It is always a team game, so simply remarking this build goes really well with these builds or ones more broadly speaking that provide whatever you are bad at.
My preferred way of going up to decently crazy AC levels (mid to upper 20's before Shield) is going through Artificer thanks to its built in +2 Armor and Cloak of Protection due to replicating magic items. Slap on War Mage, and become the glorious wall you were meant to be.
Great job as always, Chris! I’d like to say thank you for the editing and graphic quality! You’ve always been good at keeping the videos visually engaging for us, but seeing an updated Eternal Cockroach is a reminder of how far you’ve come and I don’t want that hard work to go unnoticed! Thank you for everything!!!
I think you could probably ask your DM to remove the level restriction on protection of the talisman. It is no better than similar abilities like favoured by the gods that you can access at level 1. Gift of the ever living ones would also fit really well with the theme of this build. You can gain max possible hit points for healing spells towards you or for hit dice during short rests. As the eternal cockroach if you are taking damage getting back up to full optimally would clearly be a big deal. Also wow that giant foundling background seems much better than most other backgrounds as it actually gives a real combat feature one that is fairly useful too.
17:40 "we're gonna pick ourselves as a target of course", the channel divinity actually targets yourself + the allies you chose ("you and the chosen creatures [...]"). So it's even better!
A couple of straight-classed honorable mentions: 1. Githzerai Armorer Artificer. Amazing AC, native shield spell, solid temporary hit points, good saves with Flash of Genius and mental discipline, and the best capstone in the game. 2. Hobgoblin Spores Druid. Good native saves + Fortune of the Many, ridiculous temporary hit points, good access to damage resistances, and at high levels you get a lot of condition immunities and basically infinite hit points.
3. Mountain Dwarf Clockwork Soul Sorcerer. Gets Medium Armor proficiency, two +2s to ability scores (any two with Tasha's, STR/CON without), resistance against poison, can cancel advantage/disadvantage (reduces chances of getting crit), extra spells known (the worst of which can be swapped out for the best Abjuration/Transmutation spells from Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock as they level up), can spend Sorcery points to create a damage shield, and Trance of Order canceling advantage against them and making them unable to roll lower than a 10 on attacks, ability checks, and saves for a minute at a time (1/LR, but can spend Sorcery Points to use it more often).
Artificer armorer doesn't have more AC then other class if you find magic items. What do you mean by mental discipline and the best capstone in the game?
@@googloocraft12 While I didn't suggest the build, I would say Armorer Artificer is one of the most reliable ways to get high AC, since they can just make their magical protection instead of relying on the DM to hand them out. As for the abilities, Mental Discipline is a Githzerai ability that gives them advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened (not unique, but Githzerai also gets the Shield spell at level 3 on top of that). And the Artificer capstone is a +1 bonus to all saves for every magical item they are attuned to, which for Armorers is a maximum of +8, 6 from Magic Item Master at level 18, plus two more from Armor Modifications at level 9, along with the ability to purge an infusion to avoid falling to 0 hp. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it the best capstone in the game, but I'd definitely rank it at least in my top 3.
I love both shadar-kai and hobgoblins for very different reasons. The lounge singer pic for the hob is one of my favorite pieces of art for 5e. The oil and water species are even better if combined together in the same party. The jolly blue-nosed crooner with Iori Yagami! XD
If I'm not grappling, I like to use Gnomes for my "tank" builds (since Yuan-ti Pureblood isn't allowed at most tables, understandably). I love Gnome Cunning so much 👌
I’ve always loved builds like this. One positive is that it doesn’t step on anybody else’s toes. This build lets everybody else do their thing and actually has a lot that helps them. The only person it might irritate a little bit is the DM.
Naw, the person who gets annoyed in cases like this IME is the person playing the tank. Because I as a DM have myriad ways to work around any defensive build you can dream up. Being invincible is boring so I will find a way to KO your character, be that: Grappling & dragging you through lava / spike growth (e.g. giant), reflective damage when the creature is hit (e.g. fire elemental), or areas of unavoidable damage (e.g. bodak), or all the many abilities that still do half damage on a successful save (ready for some necrotic fireballs?)
Very nice! The build's biggest weakness is most likely Heat Metal for its ability to inflict constant damage with no attack roll or save. The cockroach's only reliable counter would be Dispel Magic, but a full caster enemy can almost outlast the cockroach's spell slots. I think OneDnD will make a Cockroach build far simpler, primarily because Indomitable becomes actually good. An Eldritch Knight can take Magic Initiate (shield of faith + resistance), Lucky, Defense, the Sap mastery on a longsword, blade ward, shield, War Caster, Shield Master (backed by Indomitable to negate any Dex breath weapon), Mage Slayer, and Resilient to be incredibly difficult to take out, while using booming blade and potential reaction booming blade to lock down the enemy.
Ever since you highlighted how good the Hobgoblin is as a racial choice, I’ve been using it more and more. That +3 save has come in handy a lot! Great work as always!
Fun fact: if you build this for AL play, you can choose one of 3 feats for free now. Tough Magic Initiate Or skilled… So you can fit War Caster or something else in.
I'm playing a really defensive character right now. I went with Veldalken. I have 4 levels of totem barbarian, 6 levels of Conquest paladin, and 2 levels of war wizard. While raging I have advantage on str,dex,int,wis,and cha saves. Resistance to all damage except psychic. +4 to all saves from my aura. I took shield master as a feat. And for armor I'm wearing mizzium half plate. He is pretty tough nut to crack.
Im not finished with the vid yet but an awesome thing about longstrider is that if you just cast it on yourself your mount from find steed also gets the movespeed bonus.
A really good way to cast warding bond on you is your familiar since it is a range of touch spell. You can get a really good familiar from strixhaven background and strixhaven mascot feat. The Pest mascot has passive regeneration, so a nice combo is to fully dip into twilight cleric for temp hp. You can cheese this by putting the familiar in your bag since it is tiny for full cover. If you can use Humblewood spells, Invoke the Amaranthine is broken since it is stackable like death ward.
fun fact: if you're fine with not doing spell stuff in combat, you can be a totem warrior barbarian with the bear totem and rage while wearing heavy armour and still get the damage resistances... though you'd have to source heavy armour proficiency from somewhere
@@TreantmonksTemple I was more thinking about not being able to cast spells while raging, but yeah that's another issue A quick build I theorycrafted in my head since making that comment was Watchers Paladin 6 or 7, Totem Warrior Barbarian 3, War Wizard 2, Hexblade Warlock 1
If you take one last warlock level instead of a sorcerer level, you can take Gift of the Everliving ones and Pact of the Chain to max out all healing received. And Mending Affinity is also a feat worth taking if you can find space, to increase your healing received, although this version of the build has lower con. I did a warlock/paladin tank built that leveraged those two features and it's really nice. A first level cure wounds with her +5 con cast by someone with a +5 wisdom is 18 hp. 26 if you are using the 2024 Cure Wounds. She went deeper into warlock for more healing from 2024 lifedrinker (which works so well with maxed out healing and periapt of wound closure, holy crap), but it does mean lower saving throws than this build, but this build totally has space for the maxed out healing to self, it's a game changer for your ability to take hits.
Nice build! Nice to see some options besides variant human and custom lineage. I also like that you assumed no magic items. The first time the DM asks, "does a 25 hit?" and hears "no" all the magic armor/shield vendors tend to mysteriously vanish. This is very similar to my fav sorlockadin build. I don't like the wizard dip. Fitting 13 INT doesn't seem worth it when you already meet the prerequisites for sorcerer. Although, Arcane Deflection is clearly better than Favored by the Gods. Might be a good option to keep in mind if I'm rolling for stats and end up with an extra 13. Personally I dump INT to get 15 STR, go strait for paladin 8 at lvl 9, warlock 2 at lvl 10, then switch to sorcerer for the rest of the campaign. I quite like the idea of bard levels though, I want to try that.
you could add a battle master artificer to get the bonus action to impose disadvantage but that does take a reaction. And you can get some additional magic items but not sure if it would really be worth the dip. Their defender also counts as an ally if you want to make sure that you get the max bonus to the racial trait
Straight armorer is good too. Pretty easy to start 18 AC with a +5 to hit (going dex initially, ASIs boost until capped) AC 20 assuming Splint mail at 4, AC 22 assuming plate at 6. Level 10, AC 24, Luck stone and cloak of Protection for saves, headband of intellect makes flash of genius good, making lowest main save +9 when needed. End up with base AC of 25, lowest save +10, can ensure DC 20 saves for all primary saves
I know shadar-kai makes sense... But can we just acknowledge how much fun Half Orc would be for this build? In almost every session of the game, the shadar-kai would out perform, but I think that ONE session where the DM finally knocks you down, but forgets you have Relentless Endurance, and you get to say "I get back up" makes it all worth it
I'd consider putting two of the final levels into artificer and in particular taking the mind sharpener infusion. It's one of those very few things that can outright turn a failure into a success. So even if you take a massive amount of damage, you could still keep up concentration for the cost of a reaction.
Interesting that you went war wizard and not for the bladesingers Song of Defense, which would also get you the bladesinger extra attack so that you could use defensive flourish and endrich blast in the same turn for grasp of hadar.
Do keep in mind that Find Steed specifies that any spell that targets you ALSO applies to your mount. So you don't need to target it directly, as it will just be effected by it so long as you choose yourself as one of the targets. So that means you can target two allies no problem.
The wording of the spell is actually "you can make any spell you cast that targets ONLY you also target your steed" (emphasis mine). So if you cast an aid on yourself and two other party members for example, your steed wouldn't get extra HP since the aid spell didn't target only you, it targeted you and two other people.
One suggestion I have is to copy from Colby @d4 the idea of showing what a typical turn would look like at the most important levels you can copy Colbys levels thoo I suspect your builds aren't as stringent to a mythical spreadsheet as his are. As another note a common level for a campaign/oneshot is levels 3-5, so maybe you could focus on creating the most defence at those levels. For example at lvl 5 it is more benefitial to be pali 2 warlock 1 wizard 2 to get the most defensive features online, since the plus 4 from war wizard is available with less investment than pali 6 is. Other than these notes it was a good video.
Chris, when you make the speed/deal lines around "Absolutely free", you gotta also shake the screen and put in some horns! xD If you're gonna go, then go all the way! xD
Nice video! Would you mind doing a "tank build"? Not in the "I am unkillable" way, but in the "protecting others and making space for my party (e.g. displacing the enemy)" way.
Gnome, for advantage on spell saves Moon druid 2 Rune fighter 14 for giant size and multiple attacks Bear barbarian 4 for resistance to most damage while raging
Youd only be able to do it once a short rest, but by grabbing a feat that lets you take a Maneuver could let you take the likes of "Bait & Switch" which will add another d6 to your AC, though at this point it would be a better idea to give it to an ally for some more assisted tanking abilities.
I've got a very cool ability interaction I'm wondering if you can do anything cool with, a paladin with a 1 lvl dip in order cleric can give free attacks to their mount via find steeds spell sharing whenever you target yourself with a spell and share it with the mount. The build I came up with based on this was the dark rider, oath breaker paladin with 1 level hex blade 1 lvl order cleric and picking up some sorcerer levels later on as an option. Juicing up the mount attacks with arua of hate makes it hit pretty hard, and with some good timing you can actually do a pretty gross combo. When you charge in to attack an enemy and cast any self target spell (divine favor is actually outstanding for this) you can trigger trampling charge off the free reaction attack which should allow your mount to make a bonus action attack. Although my favorite interaction is when I cast shield on my paladin and my mount kills the create that attacked me, it's just so funny, like a counter in a fighting game.
I think there's a lot of investment required to make room for the Wizard levels. As good as Arcane Deflection is, there are so many other AC and saving throw boosts that the build gets that it feels a bit superfluous, particularly when there are so many other things the build needs the reaction for. Dropping those Wizard levels frees up the room to shift some of those extra points in Intelligence over to other scores. Moving them into Strength makes the build less reliant on the Warlock dip, while moving them into Dexterity could make the Sorcerer opening for Con save proficiency a little more viable. For me, personally, I'd shift some points in Intelligence over to Strength, to be a bit less reliant on the Warlock dip, and then focus on first getting Paladin 6/Sorcerer 6, staying Oath of the Watchers but switching Sorcerous Bloodline to Clockwork Soul. It loses the one saving throw boost per short rest, but can swap out its Clockwork Spells for Abjuration and Transmutation spells from the Wizard, Sorcerer, or Warlock lists (meaning it can drop Alarm in favor of Armor of Agathys). It also gains the ability to cancel advantage multiple times per long rest, which helps reduce the likelihood of taking critical hits, and absorb damage by turning Sorcery Points into a damage shield, while also replenishing those sorcery points by burning spell slots. From there, if I know the campaign's going to level 20, I'd just keep pumping levels into Sorcerer, because Trance of Order is absolutely insane for an eternal cockroach build. 1 minute of attack rolls against you being unable to have advantage, and being unable to roll below a 10 on any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. Assuming 20 Charisma, that's a minimum of 15 before taking ability scores, proficiency, Bless, or other miscellaneous bonuses into account. If the campaign's not going to level 20, going for up to 5 in Swords Bard is probably the move I'd take.
So you'd play this along with a gem wizard dangling from your necklace. Have the grapple death squad a room behind you pulling enemies out while you stand near the doorway as a bouncer. "Nah, you'll have to wait your turn to see the pussycats, someone will come out to get you in a moment."
Built a shield master, medium armor master with resistance in Dex. It's really great for resisting both aoe and direct damage and gives me the shove ability for free.
Hmm I feel like this build might pair well with the cavalier subclass for the fighter making enemies have disadvantage against anyone besides you as well as action surge for more nova damage and second wind ig just for a little edge in tankiness. Would like to hear your thoughts on it.
If you cast warding bond on yourself (assuming it's legal) you would die to any damage. "EACH time the target (you) takes damage, you take the same amount of damage". Kobold slings a rock at you for 2 damage - resistance takes it down to 1 damage. You take 1 damage, this procs warding bond, causing you to take 1 damage. This 1 damage procs warding bond, causing you to take 1 damage. This repeats until you lose concentration on the spell from an infinite number of DC10 con checks, or die.
First of all, warding bond isn't concentration. Also you're not applying the resistance to the subsequent damage. It may not have a type, but "resistance to all damage" does not care about that. In the example you gave, warding bond would reduce the rock damage from 2 to 1 via resistance, then hit you for 1 damage from the spell that you also resist so it is reduced to 0 because of rounding down. You take 1 damage total.
With the last few levels, I'm actually a bit surprised you didn't add a 6th class (Armorer Artificer). It doesn't help your own survivability, but the thunder gauntlets giving you a decent way to discourage enemies from just ignoring you and attacking your allies seems valuable.
Perfect timing on this. My Swashbuckler Rogue met his end in our last session and I decided to roll up a tank. Anyone have any thoughts on Oath of the Open Sea instead of Oath of the Watcher. The DM for this campaign uses a group initiative system that makes the Lvl 7 Watcher feature a lot less attractive. I'd be losing out on advantage on INT, WIS, and CHA saves but gaining heavy obscurment from much of the battlefield.
31:50 "But we will have resistance to the first attack" I'm not seeing how you get resistance to the first attack? (Unless you take Guile of the Cloud Giant, but I thought that feat got ruled out due to the prerequisite).
I did notice that there's a graphic that shows magic stone doing 1d8+3 while I'm saying it does 1d6+3. The graphic is incorrect, it is 1d6+3.
Also, I have stopped tracking free hands for somatic components, but if you do, you'll need to weapon juggle a bit to keep a free hand for reaction spell casting.
Not only unkillable, but actively performing circus act level juggling the entire time? Love it
You could attach a holy symbol to your weapon, or use a staff with a holy symbol for your focus/ weapon. That might solve the juggling issue.
Also, I didn't realize how good the hobgoblin is with saving throws. My pick for tanky races typically starts with 3 levels of kalashtar totem barbarian. Advantage on dex and wis saves and Con prof means that we essentially have prof with all 3 big saving throws, plus psychic resistance with the bear totem. Swing into paladin for the Cha boost to all saves, and you don't need AC.
Man ....seems like nobody cares about tracking somatic components these days :(
Swords Bard can use their weapon as their focus as well, so many of the reaction spells are good to go
I think people might be getting confused about spell casting in heavy armor because you have to be proficient in the armor you're wearing to cast a spell. But if you ARE proficient, it doesn't matter if you meet the strength requirement.
What page is that rule on? Isn't that just a 3.5e rule? Maybe I'm wrong.
@@carsonrush3352
“Armor Proficiency. Anyone can put on a suit of armor or strap a shield to an arm. Only those proficient in the armor's use know how to wear it effectively, however.
Your class gives you proficiency with certain types of armor. If you wear armor that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells.”
Page 144 I think, should be in the armor section of the equipment section of phb
In the same section
“Heavy Armor. Heavier armor interferes with the wearer's ability to move quickly, stealthily, and freely. If the Armor table shows "Str 13" or "Str 15" in the Strength column for an armor type, the armor reduces the wearer's speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.”
It’s pretty clear, you get completely cucked if you’re wearing armor you’re not proficient in. All the strength requirement is is only a 10ft penalty though.
Some folks say page 79 in phb?
@@carsonrush3352page 144. It has the paragraph treatmonk showed at 11:56, and slightly above it the penalty for wearing armour you aren’t proficient with (disadvantage on str and dex based ability checks, saves and attack rolls, and can’t cast spells)
It's an excellent thing to remember if you need to keep an enemy spellcaster alive for interrogation.
Just knock them out, put them in heavy armor, laugh as even verbal only spells fail.
I have a Level 0 character that doesn't play in any games, he never gets hit or fails any saves. The only drawbacks are that he never gains XP, he does no damage, and he accomplishes nothing to move the story forward in any meaningful or interesting way. But, I guess if you cannot live with those drawbacks, Chris's updated build is your next best bet.
A truly invincible character.
People in the optimization community generally undervalue survivability, so I love to see things like this!
I mean, most optimizers say "I optimize for X", with X usually being damage, cause it's fun to do big damage. It's not like they undervalue survivability, they just don't wanna optimize for it. Sure, literally every character can benefit from Resilient, either CON, WIS or DEX, but that takes away potentially +2 to a stat or a feat that's gonna give you more damage, so all else be damned.
Also, sadly, a lot of things that are optimal for damage are usually just straight better than things optimal for survivability. If you can kill your opponent faster, then you take less damage, therefore are a better tank in addition to being a better damage dealer.
@@Notsogoodguitarguy I mostly look at this as an interesting thing for people to look at and pick pieces off where they see fit. Like you said killing the enemy faster will increase your survivability by default but there are a surprising number of places where "tank" choices can be made for a minor damage loss that end up being better in the long run. I do think some people, and its mostly newer players to be fair, undervalue how much being harder to kill can allow you to bein places where you can do more damage. It's just refreshing to see something like this and was happy to see it updated. I actually had a recent...conversation, surrounding being a "tank" in 5th edition, and I very much took your position of damage > raw survivability.
@@proforeveryone Oh, wait, that's not my position at all xD I don't think damage > raw survivability. I just said that most people, including most optimizers, think damage is more fun and thus pay more attention to damage than anything else. I love being a tank. I've played tanks literally every game I play - from souls games, to MMOs, to every type of RPG, to League of Legends, to even D&D. For me, it's usually a more interesting thing than just doing big damage. It's much more of an interesting puzzle. Plus, I like being the tank and protecting others.
@@Notsogoodguitarguy Apologies for misconstruing you! Tanking is a lot of fun, my last 4 characters would probably be considered "bruisers" as that's the archetype I most enjoy. A lot of that sort of thing also probably has to do with the style of DMs someone plays with. I like to tell new players there is a gradient between "you cant do damage if you're dead" and "the enemy cant kill you if they're dead" that you need to find where you most enjoy.
My thoughts on "tanky vs damage" is that ultimately a lot of this game is "combat ends when enemies die" so getting to "enemies dead" fastest is the ""optimal"" use of energy for most players. That said since it's a team game you'd think more investigation into team strat would involve having a tanky dude. Now to setup the tactics so enemies hit them instead of the squishy allies... Ah, now we see the problem in the long run.
Easily the best sponsor in a video ever
I hear they are top notch.
Have you tried them out yourself though?
@@TreantmonksTemple How much did they pay you for this sponsorship??? :o
@@SortKaffeI'm recently new to DnD and his videos have been really fun to watch. Especially the ones shitting, making the best of, and seeing real improvements to the monk class that I wanted to play before learning it had apparently been gimped
@@KaitlynBurnellMath everything
7:30 Shadar Kai teleport important note you’ve mentioned before that I didn’t catch you mention here is that it’s NOT A SPELL. This means that if the need calls for it, you can cast a spell with your action and still use your teleport unlike most other teleports which use Misty Step, which is a spell.
I don't think I actually mentioned it in this video, but definitely a very nice aspect of the feature.
Thats both a good and bad thing. Good for the reason you said. Bad as, since it's not a spell, it doesn't affect your Find Steed. Misty Step would teleport you AND your mount that way.
@@crownlexicon5225❤
The cockroach can casually misty step out of a Force Cage too
@@joaod.carvalho182 if they make the save to do so
Love how much you stretch the system without breaking anything.
This is my favorite kind of multiclassing, where there's a really clear story as to your build. Some multiclasses feel a bit thin in terms of story, but this truly feels like a character who has explored various types of magic and training in service of their goal of being unkillable in combat ... maybe even a theme of a character whose ultimate goal is immortality.
Faith, the dark powers, faith again, wizardry, music, divine heritage.
Yeah, really going all over the place to become immortal.
There's a very valid reading of the rules that Jack of All Trades and the Watcher paladin bonus do stack. Watcher paladin does not add your proficiency to initiative. It adds an aura bonus whose magnitude is equal to your proficiency. That sounds like splitting hairs, but also makes a lot of intuitive RAI sense: the idea of Jack of all trades is to give you a boost to skills you dont have direct practice in, but the watcher paladin is not a skill thing but a magical aura.
dndbeyond doesn't do it this way, but that's not actually dispositive in how the rules are supposed to work.
That's like Bless + Peace Cleric - they look like they're not supposed to stack, but they do. It's not about the magnitude of the bonus, but whether it's the same effect or not. The rules explicitly say that the same effects don't stack. In this case, it's two different effects that offer the same magnitude bonus.
@@NotsogoodguitarguyIt's not about same features not stacking; it's about proficiency bonus only being able to be applied once to any roll.
Yeah, the only exception I can think of for stacking proficiency is Expertise, but that's pretty explicit
Yeah or with Harengon & the Watcher's aura. It's not a matter of being proficient, it's adding 2 non-competing bonuses that both just happen to advance in line with your proficiency bonus.
@@NotYourAverageNothingBut the point is the Watcher aura doesn’t add proficiency bonus, it adds a bonus *equal to* the proficiency bonus
Finally you're doing builds again! Loved those videos!
After looking at the three pillars for your goals, I thought, "So you want to be a Paladin then..."
That ssounds like an awesome product. I'll definitely subscribe and support treantmonk's Temple
Cockroach: "I cast Shield so that 34 misses."
DM: "Wow, that's crazy!" *attacks someone else*
My Bladesinger cries every time.
Your Bladesinger can provide wall effects and control if the enemy insists on ignoring the tank. At least they have options. Also the Cockroach can smite so they enemy can't laugh off their attacks forever. XD
The worst is when you have a barbarian rocking reckless attack every round. DMs can't help themselves when faced with a nigh unhittable Bladesinger and a nearly impossible to miss Barbarian.
That's one of the reasons I like Artificer Armorer for tank builds. If you punch them with your thunder gauntlets, even if they switch to someone else, they have disadvantage against them
"Ignore the Bladesinger at your own peril."
Puts enemies in a lose-lose situation. Since they can either waste time trying to break through your AC, or ignore you and enjoy 3 attacks a turn, one of which is a booming blade, and two others are from dual-wielding and upcast Shadow Blade, which almost never misses, for about ... 1d6+1d8+dex, +3d8+dex, + 3d8.
14 levels in zealot barb is the definition of a cockroach.
1 level in paladin lvl to survive the end of rage (take first to get wis save proficiency),
alert and lucky to go first in battle
and whatever race and classes that help your wis save.
5 minutes of immunity to all damage (kinda)
*Laughs in Power Word Kill/Sleep/Power Word Stun*
@@Notsogoodguitarguy Calm Emotions is the troll spell for the Barbarian.
The problem with that idea is that there are many things that can take you out of rage (see the above comments) and since you are a Barbarian you are going to be splitting your ability scores between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom (add Charisma if you want Paladin) which means you can't afford to have more than a +2 in Wisdom. This results in at best +8 to Wisdom saves which at 15th level is not nearly good enough for consistent success.
The bigger problem in my book is that Zealot is being rewritten for the new PHB.
@@Adurnis I agree in the long term however the original video is about current 5e using current 5e content and all other discussion in the comment section about the build is discussing it in the context of 5e. With that in mind I don't think saying D&D is being updated is a useful point.
Every class should have a “treantmonk” subclass
Awesome update! This actually makes me want to use the hobgoblin more.
The Hobgoblin is quite good, and I dare say underrated.
I had the takeaway! Shadar-Kai has already seen too much play at my table to feel like a novel idea.
I thought I'd gone insane for a moment when it says 27 minutes. thanks Chris.
Now you know how your DM will feel
Another great video Chris! Looking forward to seeing some of your other older builds revisited. Side note - the link to the character sheet just links to the character creation main page, not to the character.
TM: “There are just too many damage types to get all those resistances.”
Me: “Hmm. Maybe Shadar-Kai will work then?”
TM: “Anyway, let’s start with Shadar-Kai!”
I mean, hobgoblin is the right colour for a cockroach, but shadar-kai literally scuttles from shadow to shadow.
If memory serves, you've been aware how good the hobgoblin is for awhile Adurnis.
Truly! One of the more underrated picks.
Great update! Personally, I would skip Wizard to be able to dump Int in favor of Con and Cha.
As an Int build, a single-class Artificer gets Flash of Genius for saves, infusions for AC, and Aid for hp. Combined with Hobgoblin or the old Yuan-ti Pureblood, they can be really good at saves, especially if there already is a Paladin in the party.
Each Artificer subclass offers additional defensive boosts, so it's up to you if you prefer the Alchemist (elixirs give AC +1 or a d4 to every save), Armorer (heavy armor, extra infused items, and Mirror Image), Artillerist (Shield spell and Eldritch Cannon provide a lot of temporary hp each turn), or Battle Smith (Shield spell, Steel Defender can impose disadvantage on an attack each round and absorb hits itself).
Yeah I think I'd have gone down an Artificer as part of this build concept myself. Though that is the best bit of D&D type games there are so many paths to a similar result with entirely different methods.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 you're right. Because these builds are created in a vacuum, Chris needs to cover all bases by himself. In practice, you might be in a party with both a Paladin (Aura of Protection and Bless) and an Artificer (Flash of Genius). Then it'll be near impossible that you fail a save if only you pick up 2 levels of War Magic Wizard, 1 level of Peace Domain Cleric, and/or 7 levels of Warlock (with the Protection of the Talisman invocation).
@@SortKaffe Indeed, though I'd argue you never have to cover all bases yourself in a single build. It is always a team game, so simply remarking this build goes really well with these builds or ones more broadly speaking that provide whatever you are bad at.
My preferred way of going up to decently crazy AC levels (mid to upper 20's before Shield) is going through Artificer thanks to its built in +2 Armor and Cloak of Protection due to replicating magic items. Slap on War Mage, and become the glorious wall you were meant to be.
Add in Mark of Sentinel for access to Shield of Faith.
There's no content creator more deserving of 100.000 subs!!! Hope you reach it soon, mate! You have been, and continue to be, a huge inspiration!
Great job as always, Chris! I’d like to say thank you for the editing and graphic quality! You’ve always been good at keeping the videos visually engaging for us, but seeing an updated Eternal Cockroach is a reminder of how far you’ve come and I don’t want that hard work to go unnoticed! Thank you for everything!!!
You got me imagining a Treantmonk Temple build video for DC20...
You don't need to pick yourself as one of the targets for Watcher's Will. You're automatically affected by the spell.
Thank u so much for redoing this. I can't wait for the monster you will make in 2024 version.
Waiting with baited breath for every treantmonk video!
Thanks Treantmonk! I love your build vids- so much fun! 🌳 🥷
Glad you like them!
I think you could probably ask your DM to remove the level restriction on protection of the talisman. It is no better than similar abilities like favoured by the gods that you can access at level 1.
Gift of the ever living ones would also fit really well with the theme of this build. You can gain max possible hit points for healing spells towards you or for hit dice during short rests. As the eternal cockroach if you are taking damage getting back up to full optimally would clearly be a big deal.
Also wow that giant foundling background seems much better than most other backgrounds as it actually gives a real combat feature one that is fairly useful too.
I love your creative build videos! It’s always cool to see what you come up with
Your timing could not have been any more perfect! Cheers Chris
Perfect!
... I'd buy a book made of your builds and analysis with nicely done art. Never knew I wanted this until I watched that amazing sponsor video. 😂
17:40 "we're gonna pick ourselves as a target of course", the channel divinity actually targets yourself + the allies you chose ("you and the chosen creatures [...]"). So it's even better!
Great video! I love your new thumbnail style, this channel is so underrated
Glad you think so!
Been waiting for this!
A very cool build (:
A couple of straight-classed honorable mentions:
1. Githzerai Armorer Artificer. Amazing AC, native shield spell, solid temporary hit points, good saves with Flash of Genius and mental discipline, and the best capstone in the game.
2. Hobgoblin Spores Druid. Good native saves + Fortune of the Many, ridiculous temporary hit points, good access to damage resistances, and at high levels you get a lot of condition immunities and basically infinite hit points.
3. Mountain Dwarf Clockwork Soul Sorcerer. Gets Medium Armor proficiency, two +2s to ability scores (any two with Tasha's, STR/CON without), resistance against poison, can cancel advantage/disadvantage (reduces chances of getting crit), extra spells known (the worst of which can be swapped out for the best Abjuration/Transmutation spells from Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock as they level up), can spend Sorcery points to create a damage shield, and Trance of Order canceling advantage against them and making them unable to roll lower than a 10 on attacks, ability checks, and saves for a minute at a time (1/LR, but can spend Sorcery Points to use it more often).
Artificer armorer doesn't have more AC then other class if you find magic items. What do you mean by mental discipline and the best capstone in the game?
@@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф Long Death Monk with Moon druid makes you a big wall of flesh (A LOT OF HP)
@@googloocraft12 While I didn't suggest the build, I would say Armorer Artificer is one of the most reliable ways to get high AC, since they can just make their magical protection instead of relying on the DM to hand them out.
As for the abilities, Mental Discipline is a Githzerai ability that gives them advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened (not unique, but Githzerai also gets the Shield spell at level 3 on top of that). And the Artificer capstone is a +1 bonus to all saves for every magical item they are attuned to, which for Armorers is a maximum of +8, 6 from Magic Item Master at level 18, plus two more from Armor Modifications at level 9, along with the ability to purge an infusion to avoid falling to 0 hp. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it the best capstone in the game, but I'd definitely rank it at least in my top 3.
Love this!
I love both shadar-kai and hobgoblins for very different reasons. The lounge singer pic for the hob is one of my favorite pieces of art for 5e. The oil and water species are even better if combined together in the same party. The jolly blue-nosed crooner with Iori Yagami! XD
If I'm not grappling, I like to use Gnomes for my "tank" builds (since Yuan-ti Pureblood isn't allowed at most tables, understandably). I love Gnome Cunning so much 👌
I’ve always loved builds like this. One positive is that it doesn’t step on anybody else’s toes. This build lets everybody else do their thing and actually has a lot that helps them. The only person it might irritate a little bit is the DM.
Naw, the person who gets annoyed in cases like this IME is the person playing the tank. Because I as a DM have myriad ways to work around any defensive build you can dream up. Being invincible is boring so I will find a way to KO your character, be that: Grappling & dragging you through lava / spike growth (e.g. giant), reflective damage when the creature is hit (e.g. fire elemental), or areas of unavoidable damage (e.g. bodak), or all the many abilities that still do half damage on a successful save (ready for some necrotic fireballs?)
Hey treantmonk, i really like your videos. It shows so much skill in creating builds. Is it possible that you do some DC20 content?
I will definitely revisit DC20 again at some point, nothing planned yet though.
"so what are you playing today?"
"a bard."
My favorite build has returned for more
Very nice! The build's biggest weakness is most likely Heat Metal for its ability to inflict constant damage with no attack roll or save. The cockroach's only reliable counter would be Dispel Magic, but a full caster enemy can almost outlast the cockroach's spell slots.
I think OneDnD will make a Cockroach build far simpler, primarily because Indomitable becomes actually good. An Eldritch Knight can take Magic Initiate (shield of faith + resistance), Lucky, Defense, the Sap mastery on a longsword, blade ward, shield, War Caster, Shield Master (backed by Indomitable to negate any Dex breath weapon), Mage Slayer, and Resilient to be incredibly difficult to take out, while using booming blade and potential reaction booming blade to lock down the enemy.
This is totally one of my favorite builds in all of 5e.
Can't wait for more videos.
Woohoo this is the series I’ve been waiting on
Ever since you highlighted how good the Hobgoblin is as a racial choice, I’ve been using it more and more.
That +3 save has come in handy a lot!
Great work as always!
Fun fact: if you build this for AL play, you can choose one of 3 feats for free now.
Tough
Magic Initiate
Or skilled…
So you can fit War Caster or something else in.
Dang. Treantmonk's Temple looks like an amazing product
I'm playing a really defensive character right now. I went with Veldalken. I have 4 levels of totem barbarian, 6 levels of Conquest paladin, and 2 levels of war wizard. While raging I have advantage on str,dex,int,wis,and cha saves. Resistance to all damage except psychic. +4 to all saves from my aura. I took shield master as a feat. And for armor I'm wearing mizzium half plate. He is pretty tough nut to crack.
Find Steed specifies any spell that affects you also affects the summoned steed, so casting longstrider would also buff its speed.
Now I'm ready for a 3rd iteration of this build using the 2024 PHB.
Im not finished with the vid yet but an awesome thing about longstrider is that if you just cast it on yourself your mount from find steed also gets the movespeed bonus.
The sponsor of this video is brilliant. So is the video.
I have no doubt you’ll hit that 100K in September or October
That would be awesome!
He got it! 🎉
A really good way to cast warding bond on you is your familiar since it is a range of touch spell.
You can get a really good familiar from strixhaven background and strixhaven mascot feat. The Pest mascot has passive regeneration, so a nice combo is to fully dip into twilight cleric for temp hp. You can cheese this by putting the familiar in your bag since it is tiny for full cover.
If you can use Humblewood spells, Invoke the Amaranthine is broken since it is stackable like death ward.
fun fact: if you're fine with not doing spell stuff in combat, you can be a totem warrior barbarian with the bear totem and rage while wearing heavy armour and still get the damage resistances... though you'd have to source heavy armour proficiency from somewhere
I considered this, though limited Barbarian rage uses are a significant limitation
@@TreantmonksTemple I was more thinking about not being able to cast spells while raging, but yeah that's another issue
A quick build I theorycrafted in my head since making that comment was Watchers Paladin 6 or 7, Totem Warrior Barbarian 3, War Wizard 2, Hexblade Warlock 1
@@Psychomaniac14 That's another issue, though AoA and Aid can be cast before raging.
I was expecting thri-kreen when i saw cockroach in the title and was curious how you were going to optimize it for survivability
One of the best for maintaining a free hand for the somatic only reaction spells!
The return of the roach! The great comeback of ‘24!
If you take one last warlock level instead of a sorcerer level, you can take Gift of the Everliving ones and Pact of the Chain to max out all healing received. And Mending Affinity is also a feat worth taking if you can find space, to increase your healing received, although this version of the build has lower con. I did a warlock/paladin tank built that leveraged those two features and it's really nice. A first level cure wounds with her +5 con cast by someone with a +5 wisdom is 18 hp. 26 if you are using the 2024 Cure Wounds. She went deeper into warlock for more healing from 2024 lifedrinker (which works so well with maxed out healing and periapt of wound closure, holy crap), but it does mean lower saving throws than this build, but this build totally has space for the maxed out healing to self, it's a game changer for your ability to take hits.
Watcher's will actually doesn't require you to target yourself, it affects "you and the chosen creatures"
That's not the point
This is the guy that can spend a whole combat just keeping people on their feet and getting them back up when a foe is just bombarding the party
Finally a sponsor we can trust!
Nice build! Nice to see some options besides variant human and custom lineage. I also like that you assumed no magic items. The first time the DM asks, "does a 25 hit?" and hears "no" all the magic armor/shield vendors tend to mysteriously vanish.
This is very similar to my fav sorlockadin build. I don't like the wizard dip. Fitting 13 INT doesn't seem worth it when you already meet the prerequisites for sorcerer. Although, Arcane Deflection is clearly better than Favored by the Gods. Might be a good option to keep in mind if I'm rolling for stats and end up with an extra 13. Personally I dump INT to get 15 STR, go strait for paladin 8 at lvl 9, warlock 2 at lvl 10, then switch to sorcerer for the rest of the campaign. I quite like the idea of bard levels though, I want to try that.
No Thri-Kreen for eternal cockroach build? im not mad just disappointed
you could add a battle master artificer to get the bonus action to impose disadvantage but that does take a reaction. And you can get some additional magic items but not sure if it would really be worth the dip. Their defender also counts as an ally if you want to make sure that you get the max bonus to the racial trait
I will be curious to see this build after the new 2024 PHB comes out
Straight armorer is good too. Pretty easy to start 18 AC with a +5 to hit (going dex initially, ASIs boost until capped) AC 20 assuming Splint mail at 4, AC 22 assuming plate at 6. Level 10, AC 24, Luck stone and cloak of Protection for saves, headband of intellect makes flash of genius good, making lowest main save +9 when needed. End up with base AC of 25, lowest save +10, can ensure DC 20 saves for all primary saves
Treantmonk build videos just hit different 🤌🤌
Wow, congratulations on the new sponsor!!!
🎉
I know shadar-kai makes sense... But can we just acknowledge how much fun Half Orc would be for this build? In almost every session of the game, the shadar-kai would out perform, but I think that ONE session where the DM finally knocks you down, but forgets you have Relentless Endurance, and you get to say "I get back up" makes it all worth it
worth noting that you do not have to target yourself with the Watcher's Will Channel Divinity. It buffs you+targets chosn
I'd consider putting two of the final levels into artificer and in particular taking the mind sharpener infusion. It's one of those very few things that can outright turn a failure into a success. So even if you take a massive amount of damage, you could still keep up concentration for the cost of a reaction.
Interesting that you went war wizard and not for the bladesingers Song of Defense, which would also get you the bladesinger extra attack so that you could use defensive flourish and endrich blast in the same turn for grasp of hadar.
It's hard for me to turn down an endless +4 to your failed saving throw reaction.
@@TreantmonksTemple yes, but with so many bonuses and so many sources of half damage on success, its something to consider
If he took Bladesinger, then he could only wear light or no armor. And we all know how Chris likes his Plate Armor…
@@wileydeloach2666 you dont need to be in blasesong to use song of defense RAW
You can't use song of defense in heavy armor and blade singer extra attack would require four more wizard levels.
Do keep in mind that Find Steed specifies that any spell that targets you ALSO applies to your mount. So you don't need to target it directly, as it will just be effected by it so long as you choose yourself as one of the targets. So that means you can target two allies no problem.
The wording of the spell is actually "you can make any spell you cast that targets ONLY you also target your steed" (emphasis mine). So if you cast an aid on yourself and two other party members for example, your steed wouldn't get extra HP since the aid spell didn't target only you, it targeted you and two other people.
I’d love to see a series where you rate homebrew subclasses for balance
One suggestion I have is to copy from Colby @d4 the idea of showing what a typical turn would look like at the most important levels you can copy Colbys levels thoo I suspect your builds aren't as stringent to a mythical spreadsheet as his are.
As another note a common level for a campaign/oneshot is levels 3-5, so maybe you could focus on creating the most defence at those levels. For example at lvl 5 it is more benefitial to be pali 2 warlock 1 wizard 2 to get the most defensive features online, since the plus 4 from war wizard is available with less investment than pali 6 is.
Other than these notes it was a good video.
Chris, when you make the speed/deal lines around "Absolutely free", you gotta also shake the screen and put in some horns! xD If you're gonna go, then go all the way! xD
Nice video! Would you mind doing a "tank build"? Not in the "I am unkillable" way, but in the "protecting others and making space for my party (e.g. displacing the enemy)" way.
I would love to see this build in the gauntlet 😮
Gnome, for advantage on spell saves
Moon druid 2
Rune fighter 14 for giant size and multiple attacks
Bear barbarian 4 for resistance to most damage while raging
Youd only be able to do it once a short rest, but by grabbing a feat that lets you take a Maneuver could let you take the likes of "Bait & Switch" which will add another d6 to your AC, though at this point it would be a better idea to give it to an ally for some more assisted tanking abilities.
I've got a very cool ability interaction I'm wondering if you can do anything cool with, a paladin with a 1 lvl dip in order cleric can give free attacks to their mount via find steeds spell sharing whenever you target yourself with a spell and share it with the mount. The build I came up with based on this was the dark rider, oath breaker paladin with 1 level hex blade 1 lvl order cleric and picking up some sorcerer levels later on as an option. Juicing up the mount attacks with arua of hate makes it hit pretty hard, and with some good timing you can actually do a pretty gross combo. When you charge in to attack an enemy and cast any self target spell (divine favor is actually outstanding for this) you can trigger trampling charge off the free reaction attack which should allow your mount to make a bonus action attack.
Although my favorite interaction is when I cast shield on my paladin and my mount kills the create that attacked me, it's just so funny, like a counter in a fighting game.
Bigby's background for the Cloud Giant feat or Ruined background for tough and flavor 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
LA CUCARACHA ETERNA!
I think there's a lot of investment required to make room for the Wizard levels. As good as Arcane Deflection is, there are so many other AC and saving throw boosts that the build gets that it feels a bit superfluous, particularly when there are so many other things the build needs the reaction for. Dropping those Wizard levels frees up the room to shift some of those extra points in Intelligence over to other scores. Moving them into Strength makes the build less reliant on the Warlock dip, while moving them into Dexterity could make the Sorcerer opening for Con save proficiency a little more viable.
For me, personally, I'd shift some points in Intelligence over to Strength, to be a bit less reliant on the Warlock dip, and then focus on first getting Paladin 6/Sorcerer 6, staying Oath of the Watchers but switching Sorcerous Bloodline to Clockwork Soul. It loses the one saving throw boost per short rest, but can swap out its Clockwork Spells for Abjuration and Transmutation spells from the Wizard, Sorcerer, or Warlock lists (meaning it can drop Alarm in favor of Armor of Agathys). It also gains the ability to cancel advantage multiple times per long rest, which helps reduce the likelihood of taking critical hits, and absorb damage by turning Sorcery Points into a damage shield, while also replenishing those sorcery points by burning spell slots.
From there, if I know the campaign's going to level 20, I'd just keep pumping levels into Sorcerer, because Trance of Order is absolutely insane for an eternal cockroach build. 1 minute of attack rolls against you being unable to have advantage, and being unable to roll below a 10 on any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. Assuming 20 Charisma, that's a minimum of 15 before taking ability scores, proficiency, Bless, or other miscellaneous bonuses into account. If the campaign's not going to level 20, going for up to 5 in Swords Bard is probably the move I'd take.
I just figured you'd go straight Artificer armourer, takes till level 10ish for flash of genius and spell storing for heals
How about the Firbolg as a race? They pretty much have a BA Dodge ability with their Hidden Step feature.
So you'd play this along with a gem wizard dangling from your necklace. Have the grapple death squad a room behind you pulling enemies out while you stand near the doorway as a bouncer. "Nah, you'll have to wait your turn to see the pussycats, someone will come out to get you in a moment."
Free subscription!
Back in 1e, the Pal had the best saving throws, period.
IT'S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Built a shield master, medium armor master with resistance in Dex. It's really great for resisting both aoe and direct damage and gives me the shove ability for free.
Hmm I feel like this build might pair well with the cavalier subclass for the fighter making enemies have disadvantage against anyone besides you as well as action surge for more nova damage and second wind ig just for a little edge in tankiness.
Would like to hear your thoughts on it.
If you cast warding bond on yourself (assuming it's legal) you would die to any damage.
"EACH time the target (you) takes damage, you take the same amount of damage".
Kobold slings a rock at you for 2 damage - resistance takes it down to 1 damage.
You take 1 damage, this procs warding bond, causing you to take 1 damage.
This 1 damage procs warding bond, causing you to take 1 damage.
This repeats until you lose concentration on the spell from an infinite number of DC10 con checks, or die.
First of all, warding bond isn't concentration. Also you're not applying the resistance to the subsequent damage. It may not have a type, but "resistance to all damage" does not care about that. In the example you gave, warding bond would reduce the rock damage from 2 to 1 via resistance, then hit you for 1 damage from the spell that you also resist so it is reduced to 0 because of rounding down. You take 1 damage total.
With the last few levels, I'm actually a bit surprised you didn't add a 6th class (Armorer Artificer). It doesn't help your own survivability, but the thunder gauntlets giving you a decent way to discourage enemies from just ignoring you and attacking your allies seems valuable.
Perfect timing on this. My Swashbuckler Rogue met his end in our last session and I decided to roll up a tank.
Anyone have any thoughts on Oath of the Open Sea instead of Oath of the Watcher. The DM for this campaign uses a group initiative system that makes the Lvl 7 Watcher feature a lot less attractive. I'd be losing out on advantage on INT, WIS, and CHA saves but gaining heavy obscurment from much of the battlefield.
31:50 "But we will have resistance to the first attack"
I'm not seeing how you get resistance to the first attack? (Unless you take Guile of the Cloud Giant, but I thought that feat got ruled out due to the prerequisite).
Originally I made the video assuming that feat, I thought I edited out all the references to it, but must have missed that one.
@@TreantmonksTemple Ahh, makes sense. Thank you.