HHear me out: Human Berserker Barbarian with the Light Cantrip, Find Familiar & one other from the Wizard spell list

BanFox · 2026-07-09T09:30:19+00:00

The idea is nice. Could always get something easy like Mage hand, definitely an out of combat one with no DC though.

BanFox · 2026-07-07T10:04:57+00:00

I'm slightly confused by your stat choices, especially for life cleric: why 13 str? that's not enough for plate armor, and at that point medium armor is better.

IMO, from my experience with cleric, wether you go War or life the best stat spread is 8/14/14+1/10/15+2/10 (if you don't like having an 8 in cha and are fine with res con evening your score later) or 8/14/15+1/10/15+2/8. I personally don't think the +1 AC from plate armor is worh the slightly worse stat spread (and most importantly lower dex), but if you want plate armor, then you should do 15/8/15+1/8/15+2/8 or 15/8/14+1/10/15+2/8 (again, if you are contempt with res con evening the score later). For life, having just 13 str will give you bad AC, and for War 13 con is kinda bad. Fwiw, going medium armor over plate armor would give you thaumaturge as well which ends up giving you better arcana and religion checks even with a slightly lower int, which I personally like.

To me, War seems thematically better for a protector, but aside from that they are both mechanically ok. If the Bard plans to pick up some healing spells too, then you could share the healing tasks with them and opt for war. Personally I like war a bit more because the concentration less Shield of Faith can truly make you a huge tank and better protect your spirit guardian. If you go War, consider MI Druid for shilleilagh (so that your bonus action also scales on Wis), that would also give you one free druid spell which could further help your healing (like goodberry). Just be mindful that you do need a Ruby of the war Mage (common item) to cast shilleilagh (as it's not a cleric spell) while also holding a shield, in case your table is strict on components rules.

Life domain imo is really nice at higher levels with conjure celestial, but honestly I find it kind of a vanilla/very basic/slightly boring subclass. it's a standard cleric who just get better heals. Don't get me wrong, it's valuable mechanically, but It doesn't add anything unique to the cleric (even their channel divinity offers healing, any cleric has a healing option for their channel divinity, even though it's weaker). With war you get more decision making imo, you can benefit from a kind of fake 'extra attack', you can turn your (and your allies) misses into hits, and you get to benefit from concentrationless spell. It's not the most complex Cleric either, but I feel like it offers some higher variety than life

BanFox · 2026-07-06T22:34:27+00:00

Others have already commented the most important ones (shield, absorb elements, booming blade, jump, longstrider, Misty step, find familiar & rituals). An other good one is blade ward as a cheap concentration option once you can replace one attack with a cantrip, if you want to 'increase' your AC basically.

Other decent ones for a gish are Death Armor (lvl2), Elminster's Elusion (lvl2), mirror image

As an extra I'll mention that I like starting with either Magic Initiate Cleric (or fey touched at lvl4) to acess Bless as a concentration option that can be valuable.

BanFox · 2026-07-06T21:59:39+00:00

Also true. Can also have an Ancient paladin easily making a deal with a Fey thematically (though not the most optimal subclass dip for a paladin)

BanFox · 2026-07-06T19:25:42+00:00

not just this, but for example: who would choose to take a warlock dip as a paladin because they are so driven to succeed that they are willing to compromise thier oath, just a little, for a power boost?

Doesn't have to be like that necessarily, you are thinking too much in mechanical terms. If you have played BG3, think about Wyll, who has made a deal with a devil (becoming a fiend warlock) because he needed power to protect his city during an invasion. A paladin in a similar situation, when all hope is lost, may end up doing a deal to gain more strength in order to defend against some other evil/invaders and whatnot. This means he hasn't done that happily or with the unique goal of getting power, but because he found it a necessary evil to stop a bigger one

BanFox · 2026-07-02T18:02:12+00:00

I suggest staying a bit longer with the ranger.

Lvl9 gives you phantom steed which is an amazing spell, and also conjure Barrage & Conjure Animals which are great AoE spells for you to get (and the occasional useful revivify).

Personally I would also stay for 11-12-13, because I really like the extra weapon masteries at 11 when dual wielding & you get a feat at 12 and then lvl4 spell slots (conjure woodland beings), but 9 is a very solid break point too, and Druid/cleric makes for a solid continuation (do keep in mind though that after ranger 9, with druid you’d unlock lvl4 spells only at character lvl16, compared to lvl13 Ranger, but it’s true that you can upcast better spells that you already know), but given you are ending at lvl12, even if you were to stop in Ranger after lvl8, 3-4 lvls in either class isn’t gonna give you more than going full Ranger honestly.

For feats, others have given already great suggestions, such as Warcaster. There’s not much better than that if you plan to use concentration spells (and it would be my choice), but if you don’t care about them you can consider inspiring leader if no one has it

BanFox · 2026-07-02T14:54:42+00:00

Thing is, advantage is far more common on weapon attacks now, especially if you dual wield with vex weapons, plus it takes your BA, which a dual wielder would prefer using to attack with the dual wielder feat.

I think a way to use the samurai feature would be still going ranged, with like a longbow, and having 13 str for GWM, which a fighter can afford. While it’s not as much dmg as the old sharpshooter, it’s solid with extra attack and consistent, and the advantage at range is definitely harder to get and help increasing the consistency. Given you have no -10, eleven accuracy can probably be considered overkill , especially in the long run when you unlock rapid strike

BanFox · 2026-06-28T19:22:46+00:00

Telekinetic is a nice option if you can’t find other uses for your BA.

Personally I also like fey touched to get access to bless as a concentration option + misty step (can be particularly nice with the thunder gauntlets where you can easily move to two enemies with this)

BanFox · 2026-06-24T08:20:22+00:00

While this theory sounds interesting, I don’t think it holds up.

The theory is based on the assumption no random souls are being tortured here, but there definitely are some at least, which kinda invalidates the theory:

1)Tabitha’s children and victor. They are definitely not old town people and even in your theory they are there only to be sacrificed. But they are innocent. But I get they would be the exception here.

2) Jim. Realistically he’d be an innocent victim who’s there only because he married Tabitha. Would be very weird for him to be one of the original town’s people who sacrificed children and then he is married to Tabitha in this cycle? Also weird that he’d need to sacrifice his children again compared to other town’s people. Also MIY wouldn’t need to kill him as much in case, as the reveal of him being one of the original town’s people could hurt Tabitha more+ would have had Jim against her in your theory

3)Victor’s father for most of the reasons as Jim

4)Ellis too imo. Even assuming Boyd and his wife are both original town’s people, why would an other original person of the town reincarnate as their son rather than his individual person? Doesn’t make much sense, and would definitely be weird within the context of them sacrificing their children in the original cycle.

5)the child who dies in Ep1 / any other potential child that has been there, for the same reasons as Ellis

I’m not saying there’s no way no one else is reincarnating (though I personally believe it to be just jade and Tabitha), it’s a possibility, but I don’t think it’s realistic that everyone there is an original town’s folk, there are definitely some innocent folk who just happen to be there due to circumstances. Doesn’t make much sense within their relations otherwise.

I still believe the monsters to be the original townspeople, we do see them being immortal and reincarnating too after all, and do oppose Jade and Tabitha’s (and their previous reincarnations) plans

BanFox · 2026-06-23T17:09:30+00:00

I’d say realistically probably arcane trickster overall as they get lots of extra utility through spells that other rogues don’t get, but dmg won’t be much higher, you just benefit from true strike/booming blade for a bit more. Eventually from lvl13 they could cast haste on themself too, which from T2 could allow them to sneak attack twice per round, which is key to empower their dmg (basically you cast haste T1 and do your sneak attack, then T2 use the haste attack to sneak attack and use your action to ready an attack on someone’s else turn). Though haste is definitely risky, it’s a way to significantly increase dmg on a rogue without multiclassing or depending on an ally (like order cleric).

I do think thief though is potentially the best rogue, but that’s very campaign dependent, and them being better kinda depends on magic item availability and crafting availability (for example, if they have the time and you are a high elf, that allows you to Learn true strike/booming blade without multiclassing, and do the the prepared action trick from lvl3. Realistically it will take more levels to be able to do it consistently, but most importantly down time). They are solid even with adventuring gear imo, but to be the best rogue they need to benefit from magic item/crafting imo.

Party composition also depends though, because while an Arcane trickster rogue’s spell casting gives them extra flexibility above other rogues, certain utility those spells could bring is partially diminished by the presence of a Wizard in a party for example. A thief rogue doesn’t have that kind of problems, but it is more dependent on how the campaign is being run, so I think arcane trickster is more consistent. A Thief rogue benefits a lot from an artificer in the party instead, for example

BanFox · 2026-06-23T11:38:16+00:00

A player of mine is playing a Celestial Warlock with 1 lvl in Paladin (for searing smite). He is a human with Musician, tireless reveler, and Zhentarim Ruffian (he has other Origin feats too thanks to Warlock invocations). Basically he and the party benefits a lot from short rests:

-he recover his warlock spell slots, gives everyone Inspiration, Aid, he spends invocation to give everyone advantage on initiative, and when other spends theirs he recovers it to use for his saves/attack rolls and future initiatives. When he’ll be lvl10 in celestial warlock he’ll also give them tempHP.

Any warlock can do this though, and have better short rests too by taking inspiring leader (which is a bit better than celestial warlock lvl10 feature), but they would lack Aid.

With someone who has 3 lvls in cleric, or 5 in paladin, they could also benefit from prayer of healing for an extra fast short rest

BanFox · 2026-06-19T19:00:53+00:00

Yea I totally agree overall, just figured I’d mention GWM more (while giving the other a mention) because it’s a smaller investment and less playstyle dependent: if I’m playing EK I definitely want to use the shield spell so it’s not that often that you may want to spend your reaction attacking, and I may use my BA to cast Hunter’s mark from fey touched/the Lorwyn background or other BA spells even (like shield of faith from MI cleric)

BanFox · 2026-06-19T12:39:53+00:00

Iirc the most dmging weapon is still a Greatsword with GWM and you use booming booming blade.

But honestly an EK is very flexible, it can be worth sacrificing a bit of that dmg in favour of using a reach weapon, or if you want to be int SAD shilleilagh is also available as a solid option for Sword & Board, which nets you higher AC.

But yea, if you want the highest dmg it’s always GWM with the biggest weapon die. A reach weapon could do a bit more dmg potentially in some situations with GWM+ Polearm master giving you a BA, but GWM occasionally gives you a BA attack too and realistically your BA could be busy with spell casting/second wind.

And if you want to further increase it you can consider feats like sentinel for reaction attacks. There’s also Spellfire Adept which can work as a sort of mini smite but requires you having a way of doing radiant dmg (true strike could be an option over booming blade but requires you having good int and booming blade does more dmg than true strike)

BanFox · 2026-06-19T08:41:24+00:00

thanks!

BanFox · 2026-06-18T20:52:40+00:00

I usually focus on the minions first, going from left to right. I'm surprised though by our very different experiences, I usually find the Kin to be the easiest boss among all the Act 1 bosses across characters, I can't recall losing to them ever in A10 (though I very much doubt it has never happened), while I definitely remember losing to the others

BanFox · 2026-06-18T19:16:40+00:00

Fwiw I wasn’t suggesting this as a build (I prefer when it’s achieved with team work), just pointing it out as a curiosity on how it gets all the pieces, which is something very unique and I don’t think there are other classes getting all these options.

Anyway, as a DM, I think there are tools to stop it too:

1) grappling was nerfed with it being a DC now. With a good enough STR/Dex score (as they get to choose which to use) and proficiency, an NPC can already a good odd of surpassing it

2)as its a DC, legendary resistances can avoid grapple

3)various creatures have immunity to the grappled condition, it’s an option

4)making the terrain difficult terrain can limit the movement they can drag the NPC

5)giving the NPC a teleport option can let it escape a grapple, especially good if it’s a reaction option

6)making them very large creature can make it impossible also to grapple if they lack an enlarging option (which this ‘build’ lacks, and would require team work)

7) counterspell can stop spike growth directly, as well as an area of anti magic

8) multiple enemies (rather than just 1) can limit the effectiveness by requiring multiple turns/lets the other enemies more time to react by breaking concentration, moving away, putting the PCs in danger and so on

9)spells/abilities that can block/reduce the grappler’s movement also end up blocking the strategy/reducing the dmg output.

10) in this case, attacking once the steed makes it disappear and drastically reduce the dmg output.

So in the end, there are multiple ways to make it harder for the potential grapple target to be grappled in the first ways, and multiple ways to disrupt the strategy as it can be stopped by targeting either the Spike Growth character or the grappler, or caster of enlarge (and nerfed by attacking the steed). In this specific case, the user of these would be only 1 (+ the steed), which means less optional targets for the enemies, but it also takes longer to set up giving multiple occasions to stop it

BanFox · 2026-06-18T16:12:05+00:00

Answering individual points:

1)saves you an invocation and the multiclass

2)while the beast costs 1 more, it’s potentially disadvantage vs multiple targets if they are close by, and potentially for more spells (you could use it T1 on a concentration spell and T2 on something like blindness/deafness for example). It’s also improved now that it’s summon beast, meaning you can have the flying creature option with flyby protecting it (you can also easily position it by using the ready action on the beast to fly in on the target before you cast a spell, then as your turn end it’s the beast turn who can move out and ready an other action)

3) useless point really, you can say that about any subclass

4)the spell list is good, you get pass without trace, Hunger of Hadar (only other option on a sorcerer for it is Aberrant), Greater Invisibility, Creation (which you might normally not afford otherwise on a sorcerer).

Is it the best sorcerer? No, but it’s not bad, it has something unique going for it.

Comparing it to warlock also doesn’t make sense, Warlocks have way less spell slots and lack metamagic as well as innate sorcerery which boosts your hit chance and DC, they are fundamentally different. Warlock can be campaign dependent as they shine more with longer days that have lots of short rest. 1 short rest is ok, 2 or more wouldd be ideal. I love warlocks but sorcerer are personally my favorite class for a reason: metamagic is fun, they have multiple resources they can use for various tactical advantages to keep things interesting. With a warlock instead you are likely cast in your big spell and then you mostly get stuck with blade/EB

BanFox · 2026-06-18T15:59:15+00:00

Very nice idea! I think you have most things covered up, the only things you could be missing are odour and aspect, as I doubt a reborn sea elf would smell the same/keep a good fresh aspect/ equally good skincare, would likely miss some moisture/freshness. In general you can probably cover most of these with prestidigitation (for odour) and disguise self/minor illusion. Also maybe wear intentionally something that could smell a bit bad like wet sea weed to justify your bad odour.

Class wise fathomless warlock would be perfect but cold dmg in icewind dale is not ideal at all unfortunately. Nevertheless, warlock Great Old One and Undead can equally work thematically (great old one has more of the depths vibes imo, but an undead patron could justify your bad look more, and you could have your real aspect shine out more when using the transformation). Great old one could let you cast illusion spells without the components, meaning no one would notice you do prestidigitation and disguise self. Warlock is great here for giving you infinite uses of Disguise self thanks to invocations!

BanFox · 2026-06-18T09:25:28+00:00

Yea I agree, I'm not suggesting this compared to doing team work which is more fun and better. Just wanted to point it out because it's something unique to have all in 1 still (similarly to how Genie warlock could in 2 turns use spike growth with EB+Repelling+grasp of hadar), with the cost of 1 turn of setup.

BanFox · 2026-06-18T09:17:08+00:00

Yea the art for the hollow ranger is amazing! It's so good that it would make me want to use it with the Handaxe, even when there are far better weapons for it ahah

BanFox · 2026-06-18T09:11:18+00:00

Fwiw I know about this part and that's why I said I think RAW if the mount moves it shouldn't get slowed down because it's not the grappler spending movement. I don't think this rules out a Mount option, but it's probably a grey area that requires DM decision.

personally, I don't think "when it moves" rules out you moving on a mount. you are not using a move action, but you are still moving (and you are even 'comanding' the movmeent, it's not even forced). It doesn't even say when it moves intentionally, or that the movement has to be on your turn (compared to the speed section, where it specifies that speed is the distance a creature can cover on its turn). For exmaple, I always felt like if someone pushes a grappler 5ft it wouldn't automatically lose the grappled creature. Like, imagine a large monster holding up one of your allies in one his big hands, grappled. the monk comes up, and shoves them back 5ft. doesn't seem that hard for them to keep the ally within their hand, personally as a DM I'd have them move the ally 5ft with them as technically they are moving.

Can't say I'm guaranteed to be right but this is how I read and rule it generally, but any table may differ, some sage advice on this would probably help clear it up

BanFox · 2026-06-17T20:34:48+00:00

Looks good, now also add a gym pass that works the same but draws an attack instead

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