I think you may be misunderstanding the Revenant Double-Bladed scimitar. It’s not a magical item, it’s D&DBeyond’s workaround for making the feat apply the finesse property and AC bonus. The item doesn’t exist in the book, nor does that reference to equipping it.
Yea the Double Bladed Scimitar with the feat is probably the best build for a Rogue who wants to go melee. The big negative is just that then you're a Rogue...in melee...
Pro tip: if your DM says your orc character cannot take orcish fury bc you have to be a half-orc, you can remove the stick from their ass with a forceful tug.
I made a tiefling storm sorcerer w/ Infernal Constitution. The FIVE resistances along with the storm sorcerer's enhanced mobility made her ridiculously hard to bring down.
Nice! I've been playing a Storm Sorcerer up to 10th level and his resistances haven't come up once yet. Neither has my weather control, and my bonus damage with lightning spells has yet to make a difference...but at least the flying has helped a couple times. 😅
One benefit I can see for bountiful luck is that it can be applied pretty freely out of combat. So if you're playing in a campaign where combat isn't the majority of encounters, and there's a lot of checks in things like social or investigation scenarios, it basically turns into 'no one in your party can roll a nat 1' (Assuming it isn't a group check)
True, but that doesn’t change if you relax the restrictions by removing the reaction cost or make it so it doesn’t interfere with your own Lucky trait. So it’s better to make it useful both in and out of combat versus really only useful out of combat.
Yeah I had a halfling fighting with both racial feats. I kept Bountiful Luck and dropped Second Chance. Second Chance was deadweight, Bountiful Luck was very helpful in tricky survival, exploration and social situations where we were dealing with disadvantage and whatnot. Its also insanely clutch for helping your spellcaster keeping concentration and they nat 1 it.
I made a halfling lore bard that essentially controls the dice in the game. Grabbed lucky and bountiful luck, and grabbed magic initiate to snag guidance. Im also using a 3rd party feat in a book our dnd group uses called fortunate. It functions similar to lucky; except instead of 3 lucky dice you get 4d4 fortuitous dice per long rest and can expend 1-4 of them on checks until theyre gone. Edit: almost forgot. I also know silvery barbs.
@@fakjbf3129 I think that is a general problem with racial feats and some of the others as well, they are just too expensive or not good enough. Part of it has to do with the overall power creep that seems to happen. It is the one hope I have left for One D&D, that they use the feat reset to sort this mess out and make more of them usable.
Bountiful Luck leaves a lot to be desired in combat, but it's incredibly useful outside of combat. The party will rarely fail a check by rolling a 1 as long as their halfling is nearby
12:53 When referring to this feat I always thought that it is very suitable for a rogue. Levitate to avoid traps or throw it at the tank so it doesn't roll stealth, dispell magic to disable magic traps and detect magic to obviously detect those traps. Especially for the fantasy "I go ahead in the castle to open the doors for my friends" I think it's perfect.
I think drow high magic could be useful for a sneaky/ exploration build. detecting and dispelling magical traps, using levitate to move heavy obstacles out of the way sound like a good support features in out of combat situations
I always think anything that uses the language "you learn" for a spell, should allow you to use it with spell slots you have too. Magic initiatate notably lacks that language, which is annoying. Although I would allow people to use spell slots for it anyway.
At least they're fixing that. In new publications, any spells gained through race or feat can also be cast using spell slots. I think it's an obvious house rule to use it like that universally (true backwards compatibility)
For feats like Drow High Magic, I would argue that "learning" a spell already implies the ability to cast it with spell slots. Similarly with, say, Aberrant Dragonmark where you learn the spell *and* can cast it through the Mark, or Magic Initiate where you learn the spell *and* can cast it through the feat. Newer feats just clarify this.
One of the things I like about your vids is that you are such a hard-ass. You don't put up with BS. That not only gives me a useful perspective, it is also often quite funny to hear you roast the game designers on their sometimes befuddling design choices.
Hey Chris! With Tal'dorei reborn being added to DNDBeyond, I'd be interested to see some videos on the subclasses / feats it introduces. You've done blood-hunter & Dunamancy builds. I'd love to see if there's anything you could come up with from that content. I'm always fiending for a new Treantmonk build idea!
@@TreantmonksTempleTheir corruption druid looks very fun/interesting 🤣🤣😁, with mass summoning without necessarily slowing down game play, since they blow up when at 0hp you've got 1 massive meatbomb. 🤣🤣🤣😅
12:55 I would give it B because you don't necessarily take it for a build, you take it when the party lacks these options. If no one in the party has detect magic, dispel magic and levitate, then it's a pretty good addition.
Drow High Magic seems to work best on a Drow (or Half-Drow) Warlock. It's good for a caster and warlocks get so few spell slots this would be far more useful for that niche build than any other draw/class combo I can think of.
It's also great on Paladins to preserve your smite slots. In a party without a ritual caster that can spam Detect Magic, I would value it highly on any Warlock, Paladin, or Sorcerer (they only have few spells known, unless you use the subclasses in TCE). If it was a half-feat, it would be on par with or better than Fey Touched in many situations.
Interestingly, the one dnd version of wood elf basically includes the wood elf magic feat. I think they agree that it’s not worth using a feat slot even though they are nice spells.
My first idea with the Wood Elf Magic was "That's not a caster feat, but it would be of great use for a Monk or even a Rogue, enhancing their class features to surprisingly powerful levels.".
Dwarven Fortitude says you "can" not you must. So, if you're at full HP then just dodge without using it. It's also great for a cleric with spirit guardians.
I used this combo and actually had to ask my DM to let me take a different feat as this was so good it was throwing off the game balance. I think it’s a very strong option for almost any cleric, monk, or fighter on the frontlines. I’d put it as an A tier. Being able to use your hit die as another accessible resource outside of a rest is much better than it might appear on theorycrafting.
Right, but then you aren't using the feat. That was his point, not that you may have to spend hit dice when you don't want to, just that the situations where you want to dodge AND there's a benefit to adding a hit die are pretty small. It can happen, but it's certainly not going to be every combat and it's likely not going to be every session, so it becomes a feat that provides a benefit only a couple of times in an entire campaign and that's a pretty high opportunity cost for such a rare benefit. Those situations do happen, but other feats may allow you to decrease the likelihood of that situation in the first place.
@@tarrickmerdev2324 I understand your perspective, but that is not my experience with the feat. Any bump to constitution benefits spell casters, obviously resilient constitution or war caster can be better but added healing can help your survival. It essentially gives the dodge action an extra feature of healing yourself. Would you rather use cure wounds on yourself or force enemies to attack at disadvantage and heal? It adds another resource you can pull from in combat, there's only two other ways I know of to pull from your hit die when you're in combat: Wither and bloom spell, and Adept of the Black Robes setting specific feat. Gaining more resources to use in combat isn't a bad thing, more options can always turn the tide of battle if used correctly.
The amount of joy I feel hearing Chris say, “Let me do the math for you,” is second only to the ecstasy of seeing those sweet sweet numbers on the screen explained so succinctly and simply that my smooth brain can comprehend them.
Drow High Magic says that you LEARN those spells, not just that you can cast them. This means that, by default, you can cast them using your spell slots
Drow high magic is Amazing! Especially if you're in a party with few or no spell casters. Many of the most powerful monsters use spell effects that dispel works on, Especially if the GM punches up by giving vanilla mons haste. Spell casters often have a hard time fitting both counterspell and dispel. Plus there's great out of combat utility. Gotta be at least B rank or A imo
When it comes to Drow High Magic, it says that you learn the spells the feat grants you, meaning you can cast those spells with spell slots. If you've learned it, you can cast it with spell slots. As for the once a day castings of Dispel Magic and Levitate, it says "you can cast it once without expending a spell slot". This implies further that you can cast those spells with spell slots So overall I'd put the feat in A tier, although I could see high B tier too
Warlocks love the inane casting feats like Drow High magic. You gain free castings of spells on a class that rather notoriously doesn't have enough spell slots. Levetation also is a good spell to have if you are going the blaster caster route of Eldrige blast, agonizing blast, and all the other blast invocations. Also the utility of having a detect magic at will on a class that normally has to be reserved in casting spells is nice. While the feat itself is not the greatest by any stretch, its still quite useful on warlocks.
I've been really enjoying Flames of Phlegethos on my Fiend Pact Tiefling Warlock. Actually went Tiefling so that I could try out that racial specific feat I'd never considered building with before. I'll say that it has made me hold onto Fireball with my upcast spells slots as the more d6's you're rolling the more likely you're going to get to re-roll 1's. While it may not increase the average by a ton on the whiteboard, those actual-play moment where you roll a fist full of 1's and get to chuck all of those for another try can feel incredible. Took one 4th level cast from 23 damage to 37. Went from disappointed to excited and feeling like I got good use out of the spell slot. Not every roll has that level of variation of course, but I'm much more likely to dedicate the spell slot to Fireball knowing that there's a higher chance I get the return out of it that I'm looking for.
I am home sick and wished for a Treantmonk Video to pass the time. All of a sudden, one was posted. Much like Bountiful Luck, I’m not sure how I did it (perhaps because I am a patreon???), I just wished it, and it happened. Surely a sign of fortune’s favor!
dwaven fortitude on a Monk. Hill dwarf for bonus point and if you are lucky enough to have the Peripant of wound closure i think it would be amazing. but that is a lot of prerequisites and things that have to go in your favor
I play a Halfling Wizard with the Bountiful Luck feat and I must say it is one my favorite things about the character. It has come in clutch quite a few times and my teammates love it (and groan when someone rolls a natural 1 and I am out of range). It might not be the most impactful feat, but it sure is a lot of fun at the table.
I've had a very similar experience. Our group just seems to roll badly and it's come up quite a lot in useful ways. I'm lucky enough that I don't tend to have other users for my reaction and just position myself so people can take advantage.
The other thing about dwarves fortitude is it allows you to spend hit dice without taking a short rest. If you only have a minute between fights, you could heal up a bunch. That in itself isn’t amazing, but in a heavy combat day could save potions/spell slots that are better used in combat.
Important note on bountiful luck. It seems great on druids. You can use it while wildshaped, while hiding, and druids have fewer innate reactions. Just felt like adding this in.
My personal take if i was dm'ing: With Orcish Fury it said, "You can roll one of the *weapon's damage dice an additional time*". And critical hits in the PHB say, "If the attack involves other damage dice, such as from a Rogue's Sneak Attack, you roll those dice twice as well." And since it says "when you hit", not, "after you successfully damage/hit" or the like, it seems like Orcish Fury would double on a crit by RAW. Still not a superb feat. So even more reason to give it the more beneficial interpretation imo
I know a lot of these feats don't phrase it the same as the newer feats But I would argue that if you "learn" a spell, it's implied you can cast it with spell slots. Because it's also not written the same way as the spells gained by being a Tiefling or Drow. They say "When you reach x level you can cast x spell once with this trait" where the feats you mentioned say "You also learn the Longstrider and Pass Without Trace spells". That may not say it as explicitly as Fey Touched, or Githyanki Psionics in Monsters of the Multiverse, that you can use those spells with spell slots, but surely if you "Learn" the spell you know how to cast it with spell slots
I wish dragon hide's armor was 13+con. It'd be better for barbarians as you wouldn't need to invest as much in dex or need armor and still have decent ac.
I understand why you ranked the wood elf magic one low but I made a wood elf rogue soul knife I didnt want to multiclass. I took that feat and when you think of optimizing Cunning action Longstrider enhances dash, disengage and hide. Of course pass without trace is arguably the best 2nd level spell in the game and can generate surprise and really enhances the bonus action hide in combat. Then add in mold earth for cover in alot of terrains or guidance to just be incredible at skill checks and initiative. I think there is alot there from that feat for rogues. You can potentially get multiple combats in with the hour long durations as well.
I think Dwarven Fortitude could combine well with the durable feat. If your health is low and you take the dodge action, your minimum result is going to be twice (correction: triple) your constitution mod.
The only problem is that’s two feats. Aside from that, it’s incredibly useful for a Cleric: just cast -or up cast- Spirit Guardians and walk into combat with heavy armor and take the Dodge action every turn to melt the encounter, barely taking damage from attacks and healing yourself without casting a spell thereafter.
@@swxqt6826 You could still pick up durable to ensure that your minimum result is always triple your con modifier. At 20 CON, that's a guaranteed 15 hp per dodge. You don't even have to roll since a cleric can't roll that high. A level 20 character with a d10 hit die has a pool of 300 hp to draw from. 20 CON and 300 hp pool would be effectively 544 hp.
Several XGE subclasses will be replaced with revised versions in the coming PHB. I wonder whether XGE will go out of print and be regarded legacy content (like MTF and VGM), or if Elven Accuracy and Dragon Fear will remain official feat options in revised 5e? It's unlikely that WotC will release any new or updated racial feats going forward. Instead, they try to make race less restrictive and stereotypical by letting you mix and match character options as you like.
I must say, I have seen countless uses of bountiful luck by our parties bard. The amount of out of combat 1 that they have rerolled is insane. It’s a powerful out-of-combat feat.
Drow High Magic could be nice for some Paladins who don't get dispel magic as part of their subclass. Yes, not optimal compared to other feats but since Paladins aren't ritual casters, I see the appeal to get some extra spells
I'm sure someone has mentioned this, but dwarven fortitude is actually very fun when it comes to monks and particularly works well with long death monks which are tanky by their nature. Being able to take the Dodge action as a bonus action means that you can heal also while doing it and can still make two potentially stunning attacks, all of which is supremely helpful when building a monk in a squishier party. It is definitely a resource intense application, but in those moments it is very good!
Recently I was playing almost your exact Clockwork Magic god mage from a while ago, and I took Dwarven Fortitude at 12th level in Sorc when I had gotten a Bloodwell Vial, and while it wasn't spammable by any means, it sure felt good to Dodge while I had a big concentration spell going, regain some hitpoints AND regain 5 sorcery points mid combat. Definitely a game changer when it came up!
Personally I think this undervalues Bountiful Luck pretty significantly, because none of the out of combat applications got touched on. And at least to me, with the fact that the Lucky trait is ALREADY so incredibly good, it feels fair to have the limit of being able to EITHER help your allies with Bountiful Luck, or yourself with the Lucky trait, but not both in the same round. Plus, if your halfling isn’t a spellcaster, there may not be a lot you’d rather do with your reaction anyways. And if you are a spellcaster, I see the opportunity cost of not being able to cast shield/absorb elements/etc as something that would make some combat decisions more interesting with that feat, because you have to choose between trying to help an ally, or casting a spell or something that may only help yourself. (On a side note, I personally am not a fan of the house rule of “drinking a healing potion is a bonus action” for similar reasons. I get why a lot of people really like it, but I don’t. It skews the cost/benefit considerations of the action economy in ways I don’t care for. If a party member goes down, or someone needs healing, IMO it makes much more interesting gameplay and decision making if administering a potion costs characters an entire action, rather than a bonus action.) Anyhow. Would a character be mechanically stronger if they could use Bountiful Luck AND a reaction in the same turn (or the Lucky trait)? Absolutely. But I think the balance and design of the feat is appropriate. I myself would put it closer to B tier. Not the greatest, but worthy of consideration and you will definitely get use out of it. Maybe not all the time (and it may not end up helping), but I think often enough that I don’t think you’d regret taking it.
I agree it is slightly limiting that Drow High Magic forces you to use Charisma as your casting stat, but I don't think it's really that limiting when you have four Charisma based casters in the game, and since your base Drow spells also use Charisma you're likely to be playing a high Charisma character anyway. As others have pointed out, the wording of learning the spells implies you can also cast is with your slots and that the newer feats are simply clearer about this. I think it's a great feat because all three spells are decent and Detect Magic and Dispel Magic are especially something at least one person in a party should have, which means getting them from the feat opens up your spell selections from your class, which is huge for the spells-known casters among the list of Charisma casters. And sure, Detect Magic can be cast as a ritual which is fine if you're in a dungeon crawl, but sometimes you don't have the time or opportunity to be ritual casting like in social encounters for example (subtle spell metamagic has proven very effective in intrigue heavy games for me). And hey Levitate isn't bad either, having both utility uses for scaling high buildings or cliffs or making melee combatants completely helpless. I think it is fair to say in a *very* combat heavy campaign it will be less useful since it's not a half feat, but in a intrigue or exploration heavy game I can say from personal experience it is S tier for me (I have even taken it at level 4 two times and forgoing an ASI and I never regretted it). So I guess the lesson when it comes to feats is, know what kind of campaign you're getting into! The difference in mileage is just too varied when it comes to some feats.
BTW for anyone else who was curious, taking both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adept would net you 3.945 average damage, since the only time you would treat your ones as twos would be when you rolled double ones, so your fireball would only deal 31.56 damage.
I have played a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer who was a Tiefling with both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adapt - Fire. It was a very effective combination for my character. Increased my minimum damage and ignored resistance. When enemies did get close enough, I could use my Hellish Rebuke on top of the d4 fire damage from the feat. My character wasn’t the most optimal overall, but was known as the best fire mage in the game. Definitely a lot of fun.
Thanks to rewatching old Treantmonk videos, I'm on a big Halfling kick right out. I *highly* prefer playing them over other races. That said, I went straight to Second Chance for several one shots on different Halfling characters and it is just amazing. Especially for Adventure League style games where you have a high number of encounters without rests in between. It kept me healthy and ready to go, often negating crits or big hits.
Imo, Squat Nimbleness is A tier. 1. Half feat is good 2. Movement is very important 3. Proficiency in Acrobatics or Athletics is ok 4. Being grappled is VERY annoying. It's situational but a lot of monsters can grapple you and it's usually nasty
Honestly I would see Infernal Constitution in A rank. It not only is a half feat, but gives two resistances one of which is very common among monsters, it also gives advantage against poisoned condition. It adds so much to the survivability.
Dwarven Fortitude is the only way I can think of to benefit from the Durable feat outside of a short rest. So if you wanted to take both and double down on the gimmick, theoretically you could lol. And if you find a Periapt of Wound Closure, that’s like 30 HP healed per dodge.
Dwarven fortitude is situational but great on monk or sorcerer in the right builds/with the right gear. Monk, especially drunken master, is solid to heal while using dodge and triggering tipsy sway more easily, so you're healing and dodging as a bonus action. It's even better if you happen to have a periapt of wound closure. If you happen to have both of those and a very high con mod, then depending on reading this can actually make the durable feat useful, especially on a monk that took barbarian first, as it would make you hp gain notable (up to 30 with 20 con if you read durable as the roll is double con [10]+con mod). I know Mearls has sage advised to the contrary but they get stuff wrong all the time and honestly can't be trusted, and it would still be 20hp as a bonus action plus dodge for 1ki. Sorcerer with bloodwell vial can recover sorcery points mid combat once per day... So that's cool. Wither and Bloom can potentially obsolete this though.
Gift of the ever-living one can also increase the value. Like a barbarian/celestial warlock multiclass for max healing on yourself, although combining with monk or finding a reason to take the dodge action becomes a little more diffecult.
I think you should reconsider Prodigy. If you’re building a gish it’s a great way to get four(!) buffs. With one feat you could get (DM permitting) a slew of Rogue features: Thieves’ Cant, Stealth, Thieves’ Tools and expertise in Perception. Access to Thieves’ Guildes in role playing could be fun. And it never hurts to have more than one player who can use Thieves’ Tools.
Pipes of Haunting are another reason one might want to reach for Prodigy. Great magic item that anyone can use to add significant control to a fight, but you need proficiency with a wind instrument. This feat can get you there. Skilled would too, but then you're trading an Expertise for a third proficiency. Artificers looking to grab these with Infusion(s) hopefully know to build from level 1 and avoid another feat. I could also see a hyper focused Skill Monkey build going for these feats.
I’ve always wanted too play a tiefling with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and the infernal resistances feat. Having resistance to 5 types of damage and absorb elements for acid sounds like fun. Add in some undead warlock, psi warrior or echo knight to play a fun gish type character.
I had a dwarven sorcerer that had a bloodwell vial, and I am still thinking about dwarven fortitude for the build as in combat it would allow me to use a hit die and also get some sorcery points back in combat.
For anyone wondering, the expected values for advantage, disadvantage and eleven accuracy are: Disadvantage: 6.33 Normal: 10.5 Advantage: 13.67 Eleven accuracy: 15.25 This ignore crits
For Drow High Magic, (and others like it) I think the wording is just less cumbersome than similar feats. Once you've used those 2 spells "in this way" as if the feat itself is the spell slot, then you need a long rest to do it again in the same way. It also says you learn the spells, so there's no reason you can't have them prepared to cast normally. Also, detect magic basically as a cantrip is awesome lol.
For Drow magic: For a sorcerer it's great. Because it can take other spells that he needs more for the campaign but he decides to sacrifice one to get dispel magic for example. (and if there is no wizard at the table... no one can cast detect magic at will) For a warlock, if you took pact of the tome, it's simply putting the icing on the cake. More spell knowns, gives versatility when needed and I think there is an invocation that let you cast detect at will. There's is another one for levitate. So, it's like two invocations in one (you can't cast those at will like the invocation per se, but like Treantmonk says, it is very situational, so who cares, you get one of each free per day: more than enough most of the time). For those two, it should be an A, but because its only two classes that could work AND need to be a certain build in the classes, B should be fair enough.
Another situation I could see the dragon claws being useful is in a campaign where characters might be disarmed often, be that to capture, some sort of spell, or some means of destroying weapons (such as slimes or homebrew weapon durability). It's the same reason I'm so fond of the EK's weapon bond and the warlocks pact weapon. A character playing such a character feels really good being able to *Bamf* a real weapon in when everyone thinks he's disarmed. Even if only to take out a random enemy to steal their weapon, a 13+dex ac and 1d4 weapon are better than no armor and a flat 1 damage for punches. As for prodigy, after skill expert, it is one of the only ways to get expertise. It should also probably be noted that it's situational pretty good if the table isn't allowing the content for some reason
I use Svirfneblin for my Warlock and I love it. It gives 4 more spells without using pact magic, and blur and blind are very useful. I wouldn’t call it S or A, but I still think they are benefits
I may be wrong, but when a feat says "you learn this spell and can cast it once per day without a spell slot", I think you can cast it with spell slots. It says you "learn" the spell, meaning it is added to the list of spells you know. It's also worth noting that many racial spells do not say this; they just say you can cast it once per day. I do like that they changed the wording of such features post-tashas to make it more clear, but that's my interpretation.
I can agree with the rankings of this. Most of the C and D tier feats I've made available for my players to take as bonus feats at 1st level. Wood Elf Magic is obviously not something 99% of players will take, which WotC seems to realize, as One D&D wood elves now get this feat for free as part of the base race. However, instead of getting to choose a druid cantrip, you just get druidcraft.
I would say you absolutely can double up the dice on orcish fury. It says "WHEN you hit a creature with a simple or martial weapon then you CAN..." That tells me its a choice the player can make upon hitting an enemy. Therefore after they see their dice roll. I do this with a shadar kai and before battle will cast armor of agathys at my highest spell slot. i'll use my blessing of the raven queen to give myself resistance to all damage when i warp into a group so i get essentially twice the uses of armor of agathys; then shred everyone that either survived or tried to flee from me on my next turn.
Had a Dragonborn Barbarian take Dragon Fear, worked well with his positive Charisma modifier, and rounded out my Strength score. Fizban's would have even made it better.
Got a poll for yall. Would you/your DM approve this magic item concept? Masterful Halfplate +2, provides a +2 bonus to AC and Proficiency Bonus. Armor once owned by a renowned swordmaster sorta fluff story. No additional powers as the Prof Bonus gives so many characters extra uses of certain abilities or higher DCs to resist their powers and lots of generally improved ability checks. It would really constitute just making a character a bit better at most things they already do, and isn't so focused on one thing it overpowers certain characters. Its a suit that would make almost anyone consider getting a feat just to accommodate wearing it, or avoid the stealth disadvantage for wearing it, thus "consuming" a very valuable resource from many potential wearers.
Actually flame of phleghetos and elemental affinity do stack. The chain is, you roll a one, you re-roll the one and must take the new value. If the new value is a one, you count it as a two, since elemental affinity doesn’t involve any re-rolling, so it doesn’t violate flame of phlegethos. I computed the average of a d6 with both of this feats and if i recall correctly it should move the average of each die of around 0.5 points. It’s 4 more points of damage on a fireball. I use to had a tiefiling draconinc sorcerer and with the 6th level feature I was also adding my CHA lanuching fireballs with an average damage of 36 at level 7. It was fun.
I was kinda sad that the half elf feat, Everyone's Friend, got axed from UA, though that one might be a tad strong. Half feat and two expertises in deception and persuasion is really nice for any campaign with a decently large social component.
There’s an extremely niche case for Flames of Phlegethos as an Armorer Artificer with the Guardian armor set using Green Flame Blade as a cantrip. Because the “taunt” effect of Thunder Gauntlets is on the weapon, it works with GFB. GFB also activates Flames of Phlegethos. So you put the enemy in the “no win” situation of attacking you and missing, attacking you and hitting and taking fire damage for each hit, or attacking your allies at disadvantage. But it needs to be only part of the toolkit, it’s not a gimmick to carry a whole build. Sometimes just using Extra Attack with the gauntlets is better. Sometimes using Booming Blade with the gauntlets is better. Sometimes just using Create Bonfire is better. Gotta assess the battlefield and decide with each turn. It’s fun and dynamic to play. Tankier than you’d expect, too. Damage is middling at best but you’re there to be a tank/support anyway. But all told, Flames is a really minor contribution to the build and it works perfectly well without it. It’s just a nice way to try to get a little extra juice out of a niche feat.
Also for Infernal Constitution - I played with this on a Tiefling Psi Warrior, it was definitely worth it. Fire, cold, poison, and psychic resistance all on one character was a LOT of resistance.
Revenant blade is an excellent rogue pick up because the BDS also qualifies for Great Weapon Fighting which let's you reroll sneak attack damage too and makes your DPR very consistently high. I'm aware the many years ago Crawford said it was only MEANT to work with weapon damage however in all the years since they have never errataed the fighting style to reflect his opinion.
I find it hilarious that not only is Fey Teleportation made obsolete by Fey Touched, but also Eladrin, Shadar-kai and Astral Elf (which you forgot which is just as good if not better), but also the 5.5 UA high elf which GETS MISTY STEP as a species spell XD
33:30 I have started to take squat nimbleness with the new duergar now, it has base 30ft movement speed and is considered a dwarf. I take it maybe by level 4 with the Athletics proficiency as from level 5 grappling becomes a pretty good option for martial, since beforehand it used your whole action.
I love the racial feats as a theme and am excited to see this video! On occasion I'd let my players start with a free racial feat at 1st level. Dwarven Fortitude is definitely a feat you can build around to achieve a 'regeneration' style character. A few levels of Monk will let you Dodge as a Bonus Action and if you can double down on its healing with resistance from either Barbarian, Earth Genasi, Rune Knight, or something like Heavy Armor Master, it helps you further realize that theme. My favorite combo is the Barbarian/Monk, though it's a little MAD. It's definitely not the strongest and isn't for everyone. I feel your ranking for it is appropriate overall, but it is one I consider from time to time over many others.
I suppose we agree on Elven Accuracy because it’s my favorite feat of the lot. You describe when it’s really good and when it’s not so good, so one might call it a situational feat. If you’re a rogue, so all your damage output depends on one big attack roll and you have a reliable resource-free way to generate advantage on nearly every round, then Elven Accuracy is so strong that nearly all my rogues are Elves except for the occasional Halfling. It’s reasonably good for DEX based martials like fighter archers, rangers, and certain paladins, and pretty useless for STR based martials and casters other than warlocks. It’s great for warlocks because they also depend on attack rolls (though not as much as rogues) and have a reliable way of generating advantage (e.g. Darkness/Devil’s sight, Shadow of Moil), though not resource-free like rogues. So I’d rate EA as top tier for rogues and most warlocks, so-so for certain DEX based martials and worthless for everyone else.
Could you take both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adept and use them both? You roll your fireball damage, then using FoP, you reroll your 1's. Then any of those rerolled dice that come up as 1 again, would be converted into 2s by EA. Super silly and impractical 2 feat investment, but its still worth thinking about if it would work that way.
I thought drow high magics use of the phrase "you learn [spell] which you can carry once without expending a spell slot" meant you could cast a second time if you did expand a spell slot because you know the spell. You regain the ability to cast the spell IN THIS WAY after a long test ( implying you might have the ability to cast the spell in other ways). Compare to Svirfneblin magic where you "gain the ability to cast [spell] once a day. Dwarven fortitude might work well for a sorcerer with a bloodwell vial.
I don't think the feats like Fey Teleportation are meant to restrict you to not be able to cast the spell except using its inherent cast- my understanding of 'You know the _misty step_ spell" is that you _know the misty step spell._ the wording in Tasha's is just a clarification.
Your bountiful luck simply uses up your personal luck for the duration of the round. And when it hurts, that is great drama as the halfling suffers to help friends.
Re: Orcish Fury, Didn't the rules for Orc PCs come before Xanathar's was released? I swear they were included with Volo's Guide, along with rules for goblin, kobold, yuan-ti, and bugbear.
Wood elf magic would be pretty good on a rogue to grab a guidance and pass without trace to free up team members known spells and concentration for invisibility, fly or silence that might be needed at the same time (stealthing wise that is). Also longstrider on top of 35 base speed and having a bonus action dash will make repositioning easy too when used. Just a thought
My current character in D&D 5e is a Halfling Rogue Scout, Level 8. Her two past Feats are Observant and Piercer, as she is a ranged weapon build (bow). At Level 9, Scout Subclass feature is Superior Mobility which increases speed by 10 feet. This will increase my Halfling's speed to 35 feet. I have the idea to take Squat Nimbleness at Level 10. This will increase the Speed another 5 feet. This will give her 40 feet. She already has Expertise in Acrobatics (+10), so I would gain proficiency in Athletics. Her DEX is currently 19 and I plan to choose DEX increase to max it out to 20. This would make her the fastest in the party. I understand that this may not be the best for a ranged weapon character, but with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion rogue features, it could help if combat became non-ranged. Skirmisher may have an advantage in combat as well. She also has a Expertise to DEX (Stealth) Checks (+10). Any thoughts?
I think you may be misunderstanding the Revenant Double-Bladed scimitar. It’s not a magical item, it’s D&DBeyond’s workaround for making the feat apply the finesse property and AC bonus. The item doesn’t exist in the book, nor does that reference to equipping it.
Yeah, from what I remember, the only thing that the scimitar does without the feat is let you make the extra attack as a BA.
Yea the Double Bladed Scimitar with the feat is probably the best build for a Rogue who wants to go melee. The big negative is just that then you're a Rogue...in melee...
D4 did an interesting build recently using this weapon.
@@SpikeRoseredi think swashbuckler with either a hexblade dip or a high elf for booming blade is probably on the same tier
My dm allows me to use it with my bladesinger and i love it.
Pro tip: if your DM says your orc character cannot take orcish fury bc you have to be a half-orc, you can remove the stick from their ass with a forceful tug.
🤣
Those ARE half-orc; other half also orc.
I would recommend the telekinetic feats push/pull for the stick removal
Orcs *were* actually playable when Xanathar’s came out. A lot of people seem to forget that Volo’s guide came out a year before.
@@seanjardine3128mmmm actually telekinetic shove only works on creatures and mage hand wouldn't be strong enough so you're wrong please look at me
I made a tiefling storm sorcerer w/ Infernal Constitution. The FIVE resistances along with the storm sorcerer's enhanced mobility made her ridiculously hard to bring down.
Oh this is a fun combo, I might have to use that some time!
Nice! I've been playing a Storm Sorcerer up to 10th level and his resistances haven't come up once yet. Neither has my weather control, and my bonus damage with lightning spells has yet to make a difference...but at least the flying has helped a couple times. 😅
@@coranbaker6401 Guess it depends on the campaign. I was in a homebrew that took us through the Elemental Planes, so energy attacks were a plenty.
@@vaevictusasmadi84
Yeah, I think that's the biggest issue with Storm Sorcery. The usefulness is very campaign dependant
Take Tasha's Otherworldly Guise at 11th level, and now you can have 7 resistances.
One benefit I can see for bountiful luck is that it can be applied pretty freely out of combat. So if you're playing in a campaign where combat isn't the majority of encounters, and there's a lot of checks in things like social or investigation scenarios, it basically turns into 'no one in your party can roll a nat 1' (Assuming it isn't a group check)
Came here to say this, it adds an incredible floor to the whole party in an intrigue or mystery heavy game
True, but that doesn’t change if you relax the restrictions by removing the reaction cost or make it so it doesn’t interfere with your own Lucky trait. So it’s better to make it useful both in and out of combat versus really only useful out of combat.
Yeah I had a halfling fighting with both racial feats. I kept Bountiful Luck and dropped Second Chance. Second Chance was deadweight, Bountiful Luck was very helpful in tricky survival, exploration and social situations where we were dealing with disadvantage and whatnot. Its also insanely clutch for helping your spellcaster keeping concentration and they nat 1 it.
I made a halfling lore bard that essentially controls the dice in the game. Grabbed lucky and bountiful luck, and grabbed magic initiate to snag guidance. Im also using a 3rd party feat in a book our dnd group uses called fortunate. It functions similar to lucky; except instead of 3 lucky dice you get 4d4 fortuitous dice per long rest and can expend 1-4 of them on checks until theyre gone.
Edit: almost forgot. I also know silvery barbs.
@@fakjbf3129 I think that is a general problem with racial feats and some of the others as well, they are just too expensive or not good enough. Part of it has to do with the overall power creep that seems to happen. It is the one hope I have left for One D&D, that they use the feat reset to sort this mess out and make more of them usable.
Drow High Magic on a Warlock is great.
Because of your limited spells per short rest, any spells added to that is a straight upgrade.
Drows make great Warlocks because of this
Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, and Darkness as a base is good, DHM makes it even better
I love Infernal Constitution on my Tiefling cleric. The number of times I've stayed up because of those resistances is pretty damned nice.
Bountiful Luck leaves a lot to be desired in combat, but it's incredibly useful outside of combat. The party will rarely fail a check by rolling a 1 as long as their halfling is nearby
Walking Luck charm hahwhaha
Halfling Divination Wizard with Lucky & Bountiful luck is a lot of fun. :)
Zealot Barbarian with Dwarven fortitude makes it so that when you are about to de-rage and therefore die, you can heal yourself and not die
12:53 When referring to this feat I always thought that it is very suitable for a rogue. Levitate to avoid traps or throw it at the tank so it doesn't roll stealth, dispell magic to disable magic traps and detect magic to obviously detect those traps. Especially for the fantasy "I go ahead in the castle to open the doors for my friends" I think it's perfect.
I think drow high magic could be useful for a sneaky/ exploration build. detecting and dispelling magical traps, using levitate to move heavy obstacles out of the way sound like a good support features in out of combat situations
At-will all day detect magic is massively powerful
Drow high magic is good for sorcerers and Warlocks. They have very limited amount of spells, so getting an additional 3, 3 great ones too, is a boon
I always think anything that uses the language "you learn" for a spell, should allow you to use it with spell slots you have too. Magic initiatate notably lacks that language, which is annoying. Although I would allow people to use spell slots for it anyway.
At least they're fixing that. In new publications, any spells gained through race or feat can also be cast using spell slots. I think it's an obvious house rule to use it like that universally (true backwards compatibility)
As a DM who isn't an ass, that is how I rule it.
@@indiana47 yeah only in spells given by itens and a few other special situations i dont allow feat and racial spells to be casted throw spell slota
For feats like Drow High Magic, I would argue that "learning" a spell already implies the ability to cast it with spell slots. Similarly with, say, Aberrant Dragonmark where you learn the spell *and* can cast it through the Mark, or Magic Initiate where you learn the spell *and* can cast it through the feat. Newer feats just clarify this.
One of the things I like about your vids is that you are such a hard-ass. You don't put up with BS. That not only gives me a useful perspective, it is also often quite funny to hear you roast the game designers on their sometimes befuddling design choices.
Hey Chris! With Tal'dorei reborn being added to DNDBeyond, I'd be interested to see some videos on the subclasses / feats it introduces. You've done blood-hunter & Dunamancy builds. I'd love to see if there's anything you could come up with from that content. I'm always fiending for a new Treantmonk build idea!
I'm working on that as we speak, the plan is to cover all the subclasses and feats in that book.
@@TreantmonksTempleTheir corruption druid looks very fun/interesting 🤣🤣😁, with mass summoning without necessarily slowing down game play, since they blow up when at 0hp you've got 1 massive meatbomb. 🤣🤣🤣😅
Chris it would be nice if you could rank the Cleric spells, the same way you did it with Wizard and Druid.
I would love to see this. I believe he said he was going to
Me too
12:55 I would give it B because you don't necessarily take it for a build, you take it when the party lacks these options. If no one in the party has detect magic, dispel magic and levitate, then it's a pretty good addition.
Drow High Magic seems to work best on a Drow (or Half-Drow) Warlock. It's good for a caster and warlocks get so few spell slots this would be far more useful for that niche build than any other draw/class combo I can think of.
Maybe arcane trickster.
It's also great on Paladins to preserve your smite slots. In a party without a ritual caster that can spam Detect Magic, I would value it highly on any Warlock, Paladin, or Sorcerer (they only have few spells known, unless you use the subclasses in TCE). If it was a half-feat, it would be on par with or better than Fey Touched in many situations.
Interestingly, the one dnd version of wood elf basically includes the wood elf magic feat. I think they agree that it’s not worth using a feat slot even though they are nice spells.
Yes, that's really nice.
My first idea with the Wood Elf Magic was "That's not a caster feat, but it would be of great use for a Monk or even a Rogue, enhancing their class features to surprisingly powerful levels.".
Dwarven Fortitude says you "can" not you must. So, if you're at full HP then just dodge without using it. It's also great for a cleric with spirit guardians.
Or people with the bloodwell vial who need to get the sorcery points asap!
I used this combo and actually had to ask my DM to let me take a different feat as this was so good it was throwing off the game balance. I think it’s a very strong option for almost any cleric, monk, or fighter on the frontlines. I’d put it as an A tier. Being able to use your hit die as another accessible resource outside of a rest is much better than it might appear on theorycrafting.
Right, but then you aren't using the feat. That was his point, not that you may have to spend hit dice when you don't want to, just that the situations where you want to dodge AND there's a benefit to adding a hit die are pretty small. It can happen, but it's certainly not going to be every combat and it's likely not going to be every session, so it becomes a feat that provides a benefit only a couple of times in an entire campaign and that's a pretty high opportunity cost for such a rare benefit. Those situations do happen, but other feats may allow you to decrease the likelihood of that situation in the first place.
@@tarrickmerdev2324 I understand your perspective, but that is not my experience with the feat. Any bump to constitution benefits spell casters, obviously resilient constitution or war caster can be better but added healing can help your survival.
It essentially gives the dodge action an extra feature of healing yourself. Would you rather use cure wounds on yourself or force enemies to attack at disadvantage and heal? It adds another resource you can pull from in combat, there's only two other ways I know of to pull from your hit die when you're in combat: Wither and bloom spell, and Adept of the Black Robes setting specific feat.
Gaining more resources to use in combat isn't a bad thing, more options can always turn the tide of battle if used correctly.
It’s amazing how many of these Feats have gotten power crept.
And now most of them are part of base races in oneDnD/MPMM.
The amount of joy I feel hearing Chris say, “Let me do the math for you,” is second only to the ecstasy of seeing those sweet sweet numbers on the screen explained so succinctly and simply that my smooth brain can comprehend them.
Drow High Magic says that you LEARN those spells, not just that you can cast them. This means that, by default, you can cast them using your spell slots
Drow high magic is Amazing! Especially if you're in a party with few or no spell casters. Many of the most powerful monsters use spell effects that dispel works on, Especially if the GM punches up by giving vanilla mons haste. Spell casters often have a hard time fitting both counterspell and dispel. Plus there's great out of combat utility. Gotta be at least B rank or A imo
I've started listening to treantmonk vids with chill music in another tab about 30% louder. its such a vibe
rn listening to moonlight on the river
When it comes to Drow High Magic, it says that you learn the spells the feat grants you, meaning you can cast those spells with spell slots. If you've learned it, you can cast it with spell slots. As for the once a day castings of Dispel Magic and Levitate, it says "you can cast it once without expending a spell slot". This implies further that you can cast those spells with spell slots
So overall I'd put the feat in A tier, although I could see high B tier too
Warlocks love the inane casting feats like Drow High magic. You gain free castings of spells on a class that rather notoriously doesn't have enough spell slots. Levetation also is a good spell to have if you are going the blaster caster route of Eldrige blast, agonizing blast, and all the other blast invocations. Also the utility of having a detect magic at will on a class that normally has to be reserved in casting spells is nice. While the feat itself is not the greatest by any stretch, its still quite useful on warlocks.
I've been really enjoying Flames of Phlegethos on my Fiend Pact Tiefling Warlock. Actually went Tiefling so that I could try out that racial specific feat I'd never considered building with before. I'll say that it has made me hold onto Fireball with my upcast spells slots as the more d6's you're rolling the more likely you're going to get to re-roll 1's. While it may not increase the average by a ton on the whiteboard, those actual-play moment where you roll a fist full of 1's and get to chuck all of those for another try can feel incredible. Took one 4th level cast from 23 damage to 37. Went from disappointed to excited and feeling like I got good use out of the spell slot.
Not every roll has that level of variation of course, but I'm much more likely to dedicate the spell slot to Fireball knowing that there's a higher chance I get the return out of it that I'm looking for.
I am home sick and wished for a Treantmonk Video to pass the time. All of a sudden, one was posted.
Much like Bountiful Luck, I’m not sure how I did it (perhaps because I am a patreon???), I just wished it, and it happened. Surely a sign of fortune’s favor!
Bountiful luck has been amazing at our table
dwaven fortitude on a Monk. Hill dwarf for bonus point and if you are lucky enough to have the Peripant of wound closure i think it would be amazing. but that is a lot of prerequisites and things that have to go in your favor
I play a Halfling Wizard with the Bountiful Luck feat and I must say it is one my favorite things about the character. It has come in clutch quite a few times and my teammates love it (and groan when someone rolls a natural 1 and I am out of range).
It might not be the most impactful feat, but it sure is a lot of fun at the table.
I've had a very similar experience. Our group just seems to roll badly and it's come up quite a lot in useful ways. I'm lucky enough that I don't tend to have other users for my reaction and just position myself so people can take advantage.
I loved bountiful luck. Didn't come up every session but was usually clutch when it did.
The other thing about dwarves fortitude is it allows you to spend hit dice without taking a short rest. If you only have a minute between fights, you could heal up a bunch. That in itself isn’t amazing, but in a heavy combat day could save potions/spell slots that are better used in combat.
Important note on bountiful luck. It seems great on druids. You can use it while wildshaped, while hiding, and druids have fewer innate reactions. Just felt like adding this in.
My personal take if i was dm'ing:
With Orcish Fury it said, "You can roll one of the *weapon's damage dice an additional time*". And critical hits in the PHB say, "If the attack involves other damage dice, such as from a Rogue's Sneak Attack, you roll those dice twice as well."
And since it says "when you hit", not, "after you successfully damage/hit" or the like, it seems like Orcish Fury would double on a crit by RAW.
Still not a superb feat. So even more reason to give it the more beneficial interpretation imo
I know a lot of these feats don't phrase it the same as the newer feats
But I would argue that if you "learn" a spell, it's implied you can cast it with spell slots. Because it's also not written the same way as the spells gained by being a Tiefling or Drow. They say "When you reach x level you can cast x spell once with this trait" where the feats you mentioned say "You also learn the Longstrider and Pass Without Trace spells". That may not say it as explicitly as Fey Touched, or Githyanki Psionics in Monsters of the Multiverse, that you can use those spells with spell slots, but surely if you "Learn" the spell you know how to cast it with spell slots
I wish dragon hide's armor was 13+con. It'd be better for barbarians as you wouldn't need to invest as much in dex or need armor and still have decent ac.
I understand why you ranked the wood elf magic one low but I made a wood elf rogue soul knife I didnt want to multiclass. I took that feat and when you think of optimizing Cunning action Longstrider enhances dash, disengage and hide. Of course pass without trace is arguably the best 2nd level spell in the game and can generate surprise and really enhances the bonus action hide in combat. Then add in mold earth for cover in alot of terrains or guidance to just be incredible at skill checks and initiative. I think there is alot there from that feat for rogues. You can potentially get multiple combats in with the hour long durations as well.
I think Dwarven Fortitude could combine well with the durable feat. If your health is low and you take the dodge action, your minimum result is going to be twice (correction: triple) your constitution mod.
The only problem is that’s two feats. Aside from that, it’s incredibly useful for a Cleric: just cast -or up cast- Spirit Guardians and walk into combat with heavy armor and take the Dodge action every turn to melt the encounter, barely taking damage from attacks and healing yourself without casting a spell thereafter.
@@swxqt6826 You could still pick up durable to ensure that your minimum result is always triple your con modifier. At 20 CON, that's a guaranteed 15 hp per dodge. You don't even have to roll since a cleric can't roll that high. A level 20 character with a d10 hit die has a pool of 300 hp to draw from. 20 CON and 300 hp pool would be effectively 544 hp.
@@greevar That is a good point, actually.
I will never tire of the way you say "its okayyyyyyy
Several XGE subclasses will be replaced with revised versions in the coming PHB. I wonder whether XGE will go out of print and be regarded legacy content (like MTF and VGM), or if Elven Accuracy and Dragon Fear will remain official feat options in revised 5e?
It's unlikely that WotC will release any new or updated racial feats going forward. Instead, they try to make race less restrictive and stereotypical by letting you mix and match character options as you like.
I must say, I have seen countless uses of bountiful luck by our parties bard. The amount of out of combat 1 that they have rerolled is insane. It’s a powerful out-of-combat feat.
Drow High Magic could be nice for some Paladins who don't get dispel magic as part of their subclass. Yes, not optimal compared to other feats but since Paladins aren't ritual casters, I see the appeal to get some extra spells
I'm sure someone has mentioned this, but dwarven fortitude is actually very fun when it comes to monks and particularly works well with long death monks which are tanky by their nature. Being able to take the Dodge action as a bonus action means that you can heal also while doing it and can still make two potentially stunning attacks, all of which is supremely helpful when building a monk in a squishier party. It is definitely a resource intense application, but in those moments it is very good!
Recently I was playing almost your exact Clockwork Magic god mage from a while ago, and I took Dwarven Fortitude at 12th level in Sorc when I had gotten a Bloodwell Vial, and while it wasn't spammable by any means, it sure felt good to Dodge while I had a big concentration spell going, regain some hitpoints AND regain 5 sorcery points mid combat. Definitely a game changer when it came up!
Personally I think this undervalues Bountiful Luck pretty significantly, because none of the out of combat applications got touched on. And at least to me, with the fact that the Lucky trait is ALREADY so incredibly good, it feels fair to have the limit of being able to EITHER help your allies with Bountiful Luck, or yourself with the Lucky trait, but not both in the same round.
Plus, if your halfling isn’t a spellcaster, there may not be a lot you’d rather do with your reaction anyways. And if you are a spellcaster, I see the opportunity cost of not being able to cast shield/absorb elements/etc as something that would make some combat decisions more interesting with that feat, because you have to choose between trying to help an ally, or casting a spell or something that may only help yourself. (On a side note, I personally am not a fan of the house rule of “drinking a healing potion is a bonus action” for similar reasons. I get why a lot of people really like it, but I don’t. It skews the cost/benefit considerations of the action economy in ways I don’t care for. If a party member goes down, or someone needs healing, IMO it makes much more interesting gameplay and decision making if administering a potion costs characters an entire action, rather than a bonus action.)
Anyhow. Would a character be mechanically stronger if they could use Bountiful Luck AND a reaction in the same turn (or the Lucky trait)? Absolutely. But I think the balance and design of the feat is appropriate. I myself would put it closer to B tier. Not the greatest, but worthy of consideration and you will definitely get use out of it. Maybe not all the time (and it may not end up helping), but I think often enough that I don’t think you’d regret taking it.
I agree it is slightly limiting that Drow High Magic forces you to use Charisma as your casting stat, but I don't think it's really that limiting when you have four Charisma based casters in the game, and since your base Drow spells also use Charisma you're likely to be playing a high Charisma character anyway. As others have pointed out, the wording of learning the spells implies you can also cast is with your slots and that the newer feats are simply clearer about this. I think it's a great feat because all three spells are decent and Detect Magic and Dispel Magic are especially something at least one person in a party should have, which means getting them from the feat opens up your spell selections from your class, which is huge for the spells-known casters among the list of Charisma casters. And sure, Detect Magic can be cast as a ritual which is fine if you're in a dungeon crawl, but sometimes you don't have the time or opportunity to be ritual casting like in social encounters for example (subtle spell metamagic has proven very effective in intrigue heavy games for me). And hey Levitate isn't bad either, having both utility uses for scaling high buildings or cliffs or making melee combatants completely helpless. I think it is fair to say in a *very* combat heavy campaign it will be less useful since it's not a half feat, but in a intrigue or exploration heavy game I can say from personal experience it is S tier for me (I have even taken it at level 4 two times and forgoing an ASI and I never regretted it). So I guess the lesson when it comes to feats is, know what kind of campaign you're getting into! The difference in mileage is just too varied when it comes to some feats.
The fact that you do it via Role20 is genius! Great video, as always
BTW for anyone else who was curious, taking both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adept would net you 3.945 average damage, since the only time you would treat your ones as twos would be when you rolled double ones, so your fireball would only deal 31.56 damage.
Should have scrolled the comments before doing the math...
I have played a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer who was a Tiefling with both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adapt - Fire. It was a very effective combination for my character. Increased my minimum damage and ignored resistance. When enemies did get close enough, I could use my Hellish Rebuke on top of the d4 fire damage from the feat. My character wasn’t the most optimal overall, but was known as the best fire mage in the game. Definitely a lot of fun.
Thanks to rewatching old Treantmonk videos, I'm on a big Halfling kick right out. I *highly* prefer playing them over other races. That said, I went straight to Second Chance for several one shots on different Halfling characters and it is just amazing. Especially for Adventure League style games where you have a high number of encounters without rests in between. It kept me healthy and ready to go, often negating crits or big hits.
Yeah as soon as you brought up Infernal Constitution, my mind immediately went to Tiefling Zealot Barb as the prime candidate for this lol
Imo, Squat Nimbleness is A tier.
1. Half feat is good
2. Movement is very important
3. Proficiency in Acrobatics or Athletics is ok
4. Being grappled is VERY annoying. It's situational but a lot of monsters can grapple you and it's usually nasty
Honestly I would see Infernal Constitution in A rank. It not only is a half feat, but gives two resistances one of which is very common among monsters, it also gives advantage against poisoned condition. It adds so much to the survivability.
Dwarven Fortitude is the only way I can think of to benefit from the Durable feat outside of a short rest. So if you wanted to take both and double down on the gimmick, theoretically you could lol.
And if you find a Periapt of Wound Closure, that’s like 30 HP healed per dodge.
I'll keep that in mind when I build my Hill Dwarf Long Death Monk
Dwarven fortitude is situational but great on monk or sorcerer in the right builds/with the right gear.
Monk, especially drunken master, is solid to heal while using dodge and triggering tipsy sway more easily, so you're healing and dodging as a bonus action. It's even better if you happen to have a periapt of wound closure. If you happen to have both of those and a very high con mod, then depending on reading this can actually make the durable feat useful, especially on a monk that took barbarian first, as it would make you hp gain notable (up to 30 with 20 con if you read durable as the roll is double con [10]+con mod). I know Mearls has sage advised to the contrary but they get stuff wrong all the time and honestly can't be trusted, and it would still be 20hp as a bonus action plus dodge for 1ki.
Sorcerer with bloodwell vial can recover sorcery points mid combat once per day... So that's cool. Wither and Bloom can potentially obsolete this though.
Gift of the ever-living one can also increase the value. Like a barbarian/celestial warlock multiclass for max healing on yourself, although combining with monk or finding a reason to take the dodge action becomes a little more diffecult.
I think you should reconsider Prodigy. If you’re building a gish it’s a great way to get four(!) buffs. With one feat you could get (DM permitting) a slew of Rogue features: Thieves’ Cant, Stealth, Thieves’ Tools and expertise in Perception. Access to Thieves’ Guildes in role playing could be fun. And it never hurts to have more than one player who can use Thieves’ Tools.
Pipes of Haunting are another reason one might want to reach for Prodigy. Great magic item that anyone can use to add significant control to a fight, but you need proficiency with a wind instrument. This feat can get you there. Skilled would too, but then you're trading an Expertise for a third proficiency. Artificers looking to grab these with Infusion(s) hopefully know to build from level 1 and avoid another feat. I could also see a hyper focused Skill Monkey build going for these feats.
I’ve always wanted too play a tiefling with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and the infernal resistances feat. Having resistance to 5 types of damage and absorb elements for acid sounds like fun. Add in some undead warlock, psi warrior or echo knight to play a fun gish type character.
On a winged tiefling that might be pretty nice.
Rune knight would also fit the stormy theme with their whole giant thing. (hill rune makes you so much more tanky!)
I had a dwarven sorcerer that had a bloodwell vial, and I am still thinking about dwarven fortitude for the build as in combat it would allow me to use a hit die and also get some sorcery points back in combat.
don't forget to give it a periapt of wound closure to maximize the potency of your dodge action
So I played a forest gnome Arcane Trickster for awhile and the Fade Away feat’s ability was often clutch. Plus it put her up to 18 INT so…
For anyone wondering, the expected values for advantage, disadvantage and eleven accuracy are:
Disadvantage: 6.33
Normal: 10.5
Advantage: 13.67
Eleven accuracy: 15.25
This ignore crits
Damn you held this one in the chamber for a long time
For Drow High Magic, (and others like it) I think the wording is just less cumbersome than similar feats. Once you've used those 2 spells "in this way" as if the feat itself is the spell slot, then you need a long rest to do it again in the same way. It also says you learn the spells, so there's no reason you can't have them prepared to cast normally. Also, detect magic basically as a cantrip is awesome lol.
For Drow magic: For a sorcerer it's great. Because it can take other spells that he needs more for the campaign but he decides to sacrifice one to get dispel magic for example. (and if there is no wizard at the table... no one can cast detect magic at will) For a warlock, if you took pact of the tome, it's simply putting the icing on the cake. More spell knowns, gives versatility when needed and I think there is an invocation that let you cast detect at will. There's is another one for levitate. So, it's like two invocations in one (you can't cast those at will like the invocation per se, but like Treantmonk says, it is very situational, so who cares, you get one of each free per day: more than enough most of the time). For those two, it should be an A, but because its only two classes that could work AND need to be a certain build in the classes, B should be fair enough.
"D & D is for everyone, and I will make sure you know how it's not as good as you thought..."
Another situation I could see the dragon claws being useful is in a campaign where characters might be disarmed often, be that to capture, some sort of spell, or some means of destroying weapons (such as slimes or homebrew weapon durability). It's the same reason I'm so fond of the EK's weapon bond and the warlocks pact weapon. A character playing such a character feels really good being able to *Bamf* a real weapon in when everyone thinks he's disarmed. Even if only to take out a random enemy to steal their weapon, a 13+dex ac and 1d4 weapon are better than no armor and a flat 1 damage for punches.
As for prodigy, after skill expert, it is one of the only ways to get expertise. It should also probably be noted that it's situational pretty good if the table isn't allowing the content for some reason
I'm with a group that doesn't short rest, so Dwarven Fortitude with a Periapt of Wound Closure has put in work!
I use Svirfneblin for my Warlock and I love it. It gives 4 more spells without using pact magic, and blur and blind are very useful. I wouldn’t call it S or A, but I still think they are benefits
Mr. Treantmonk!
The people wish to see the Tiefling Barbarian with Infernal Constitution! Please consider building it. 🙏🏾🤠
I may be wrong, but when a feat says "you learn this spell and can cast it once per day without a spell slot", I think you can cast it with spell slots. It says you "learn" the spell, meaning it is added to the list of spells you know. It's also worth noting that many racial spells do not say this; they just say you can cast it once per day. I do like that they changed the wording of such features post-tashas to make it more clear, but that's my interpretation.
I can agree with the rankings of this. Most of the C and D tier feats I've made available for my players to take as bonus feats at 1st level. Wood Elf Magic is obviously not something 99% of players will take, which WotC seems to realize, as One D&D wood elves now get this feat for free as part of the base race. However, instead of getting to choose a druid cantrip, you just get druidcraft.
the ol' dwarf sorcerer with dwarven fortitude with the bloodwell vial magic item "exploit"
I would say you absolutely can double up the dice on orcish fury. It says "WHEN you hit a creature with a simple or martial weapon then you CAN..." That tells me its a choice the player can make upon hitting an enemy. Therefore after they see their dice roll.
I do this with a shadar kai and before battle will cast armor of agathys at my highest spell slot. i'll use my blessing of the raven queen to give myself resistance to all damage when i warp into a group so i get essentially twice the uses of armor of agathys; then shred everyone that either survived or tried to flee from me on my next turn.
Had a Dragonborn Barbarian take Dragon Fear, worked well with his positive Charisma modifier, and rounded out my Strength score.
Fizban's would have even made it better.
Got a poll for yall. Would you/your DM approve this magic item concept?
Masterful Halfplate +2, provides a +2 bonus to AC and Proficiency Bonus. Armor once owned by a renowned swordmaster sorta fluff story.
No additional powers as the Prof Bonus gives so many characters extra uses of certain abilities or higher DCs to resist their powers and lots of generally improved ability checks. It would really constitute just making a character a bit better at most things they already do, and isn't so focused on one thing it overpowers certain characters.
Its a suit that would make almost anyone consider getting a feat just to accommodate wearing it, or avoid the stealth disadvantage for wearing it, thus "consuming" a very valuable resource from many potential wearers.
Actually flame of phleghetos and elemental affinity do stack. The chain is, you roll a one, you re-roll the one and must take the new value. If the new value is a one, you count it as a two, since elemental affinity doesn’t involve any re-rolling, so it doesn’t violate flame of phlegethos. I computed the average of a d6 with both of this feats and if i recall correctly it should move the average of each die of around 0.5 points. It’s 4 more points of damage on a fireball. I use to had a tiefiling draconinc sorcerer and with the 6th level feature I was also adding my CHA lanuching fireballs with an average damage of 36 at level 7. It was fun.
I was kinda sad that the half elf feat, Everyone's Friend, got axed from UA, though that one might be a tad strong. Half feat and two expertises in deception and persuasion is really nice for any campaign with a decently large social component.
You can play as a small Dhampir ,who get a 35 foot movement speed, then take Squat Nimbleness, that will boost it up to 40.
Dragon fear seems nice for a conquest paladain.
Drow High Magic is excellent on sorcerers. Three free spells known, and good ones too, is nothing to sniff at.
There’s an extremely niche case for Flames of Phlegethos as an Armorer Artificer with the Guardian armor set using Green Flame Blade as a cantrip. Because the “taunt” effect of Thunder Gauntlets is on the weapon, it works with GFB. GFB also activates Flames of Phlegethos. So you put the enemy in the “no win” situation of attacking you and missing, attacking you and hitting and taking fire damage for each hit, or attacking your allies at disadvantage.
But it needs to be only part of the toolkit, it’s not a gimmick to carry a whole build. Sometimes just using Extra Attack with the gauntlets is better. Sometimes using Booming Blade with the gauntlets is better. Sometimes just using Create Bonfire is better. Gotta assess the battlefield and decide with each turn. It’s fun and dynamic to play. Tankier than you’d expect, too. Damage is middling at best but you’re there to be a tank/support anyway.
But all told, Flames is a really minor contribution to the build and it works perfectly well without it. It’s just a nice way to try to get a little extra juice out of a niche feat.
Also for Infernal Constitution - I played with this on a Tiefling Psi Warrior, it was definitely worth it. Fire, cold, poison, and psychic resistance all on one character was a LOT of resistance.
Revenant blade is an excellent rogue pick up because the BDS also qualifies for Great Weapon Fighting which let's you reroll sneak attack damage too and makes your DPR very consistently high. I'm aware the many years ago Crawford said it was only MEANT to work with weapon damage however in all the years since they have never errataed the fighting style to reflect his opinion.
Ooft, my my greek myth loving heart is pained every time you say phlegethos.
I find it hilarious that not only is Fey Teleportation made obsolete by Fey Touched, but also Eladrin, Shadar-kai and Astral Elf (which you forgot which is just as good if not better), but also the 5.5 UA high elf which GETS MISTY STEP as a species spell XD
I know you’ve likely done this a cross multiple videos. But I would be interested in seeing you rank all the half feats in 1 video.
14:33 - I like combining it with the Bloodwell vial for some niche sorcery point recovery.
33:30 I have started to take squat nimbleness with the new duergar now, it has base 30ft movement speed and is considered a dwarf. I take it maybe by level 4 with the Athletics proficiency as from level 5 grappling becomes a pretty good option for martial, since beforehand it used your whole action.
I love the racial feats as a theme and am excited to see this video! On occasion I'd let my players start with a free racial feat at 1st level.
Dwarven Fortitude is definitely a feat you can build around to achieve a 'regeneration' style character. A few levels of Monk will let you Dodge as a Bonus Action and if you can double down on its healing with resistance from either Barbarian, Earth Genasi, Rune Knight, or something like Heavy Armor Master, it helps you further realize that theme. My favorite combo is the Barbarian/Monk, though it's a little MAD. It's definitely not the strongest and isn't for everyone. I feel your ranking for it is appropriate overall, but it is one I consider from time to time over many others.
I suppose we agree on Elven Accuracy because it’s my favorite feat of the lot. You describe when it’s really good and when it’s not so good, so one might call it a situational feat. If you’re a rogue, so all your damage output depends on one big attack roll and you have a reliable resource-free way to generate advantage on nearly every round, then Elven Accuracy is so strong that nearly all my rogues are Elves except for the occasional Halfling. It’s reasonably good for DEX based martials like fighter archers, rangers, and certain paladins, and pretty useless for STR based martials and casters other than warlocks. It’s great for warlocks because they also depend on attack rolls (though not as much as rogues) and have a reliable way of generating advantage (e.g. Darkness/Devil’s sight, Shadow of Moil), though not resource-free like rogues. So I’d rate EA as top tier for rogues and most warlocks, so-so for certain DEX based martials and worthless for everyone else.
I gotta say I think you might've underrated Infernal Constitution! Its an A for me. Easily as good as Dragon Fear.
Had this one in the pipeline for a while eh?
Could you take both Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adept and use them both? You roll your fireball damage, then using FoP, you reroll your 1's. Then any of those rerolled dice that come up as 1 again, would be converted into 2s by EA. Super silly and impractical 2 feat investment, but its still worth thinking about if it would work that way.
I thought drow high magics use of the phrase "you learn [spell] which you can carry once without expending a spell slot" meant you could cast a second time if you did expand a spell slot because you know the spell. You regain the ability to cast the spell IN THIS WAY after a long test ( implying you might have the ability to cast the spell in other ways).
Compare to Svirfneblin magic where you "gain the ability to cast [spell] once a day.
Dwarven fortitude might work well for a sorcerer with a bloodwell vial.
I don't think the feats like Fey Teleportation are meant to restrict you to not be able to cast the spell except using its inherent cast- my understanding of 'You know the _misty step_ spell" is that you _know the misty step spell._ the wording in Tasha's is just a clarification.
I found that Bountiful Luck is pretty good on reaction-light characters, like a Cleric or Bard.
I use it with my lore bard in a build that pretty much controls the games dice haha.
Your bountiful luck simply uses up your personal luck for the duration of the round. And when it hurts, that is great drama as the halfling suffers to help friends.
Re: Orcish Fury, Didn't the rules for Orc PCs come before Xanathar's was released? I swear they were included with Volo's Guide, along with rules for goblin, kobold, yuan-ti, and bugbear.
Wood elf magic would be pretty good on a rogue to grab a guidance and pass without trace to free up team members known spells and concentration for invisibility, fly or silence that might be needed at the same time (stealthing wise that is). Also longstrider on top of 35 base speed and having a bonus action dash will make repositioning easy too when used. Just a thought
My current character in D&D 5e is a Halfling Rogue Scout, Level 8. Her two past Feats are Observant and Piercer, as she is a ranged weapon build (bow). At Level 9, Scout Subclass feature is Superior Mobility which increases speed by 10 feet. This will increase my Halfling's speed to 35 feet. I have the idea to take Squat Nimbleness at Level 10. This will increase the Speed another 5 feet. This will give her 40 feet. She already has Expertise in Acrobatics (+10), so I would gain proficiency in Athletics. Her DEX is currently 19 and I plan to choose DEX increase to max it out to 20.
This would make her the fastest in the party. I understand that this may not be the best for a ranged weapon character, but with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion rogue features, it could help if combat became non-ranged. Skirmisher may have an advantage in combat as well. She also has a Expertise to DEX (Stealth) Checks (+10). Any thoughts?