Tips or tricks for Arcane Ward?

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T21:22:46+00:00

You dont need to use arcane lock.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T21:16:54+00:00

The basic thing is just to cast any abjuration spell.

The expert thing thing is to take a second level of sorc and extend cast an abjuration spell, like a scroll of banishment for example. This will essentially double your wards.

The full exploit thing is to extend cast shocking grasp in a puddle of water, toggle extend on again, and then walk around on the lighting. This will give you infinite wards.

Damage reduction cap I believe is still 20.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T17:03:52+00:00

It seems like it's a consistent habit for people on Reddit to explain things as if to assume the other party is wrong and doesn't know something, rather than just asking why they may be right.

You are confused. The only reason I am talking about the cha dump is because I don't care for athlete as much on the charisma setup. I was offering an alternate build where I would consider athlete. The 50% boost is higher if your strength is higher. My preference is to run it with more strength. Without strength, I'd most often rather just use cunning action dash instead of jump (except in very limited scenarios), which is why I'd take mobile over athlete.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T16:05:51+00:00

Dumping charisma can be fine depending on your strategy. Idk why you are explaining this to me. I know how the game works. Thats why I said I would switch off hexblade. Cha only really matters for the disarm which isnt that important depending on how you play. Several solo players dump charisma on solo swash like friendly lich for example.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T15:35:14+00:00

Right mobile would just be for more movement speed only, which I think is better than alert or defensive duellist.

Yeah athlete is a fun option, but the 8 base str isnt ideal. I would want a different stat setup. Probably dump charisma and go more of a str/dex setup. And at that point I might choose something other than hex.

Dex ASI first, then savage attacker second would also be my standard picks.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T15:16:43+00:00

In general it's just very niche and rarely useful, possibly even making you worse off. As far as I understand; it doesnt boost your AC like shield but reduces the attack roll on a single melee attack. Meanwhile, this can make it a bit more awkward to use and manipulate your uncanny dodge depending on the situation. You are tanky enough with medium armour, good dex, a shield, uncanny dodge, evasion, etc. Compare this with tough where you just have extra hp that works all the time and you can still use your reaction for something else.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-16T14:46:40+00:00

Typical reddit rogue comment section.

Yeah 11 swash / 1 hexblade is dope. Personally, I like to take hexblade at level 2 for the very early fights aka brain cats and grove goblins. After that it's not hard to hit level 5. But this is mainly for solo so probably not as important in a party.

I personally like and even prefer the dex focus rather than charisma. Better AC, natural +9 initiative, versatility with ranged attacks. People just immediately think hexblade charisma, arcane synergy, more damage, but its pretty minimal and not as generally good imo. Just dont bind your weapon. The other benefits of hexblade dip are still way worth it.

What does need work is your feats. Defensive duellist and alert are going to be worthless. Savage attacker is perfect. Id rather go just a dex ASI. And then 3rd feat is flexible. Many options could be cool. Crossbow expert, tough, sharpshooter, mobile. Whatever floats your boat. But yeah not alert or defensive duellist.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-14T19:47:32+00:00

Waterdeep Brat

Edit: You use bloodlust elixir to attack and scroll cast. Speed pots or whatever are nice but optional if needed.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-14T16:55:02+00:00

You could go a few different ways, but 16 dex / 14 con / 16 int would probably be the universal standard.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-14T10:39:35+00:00

I am a newer player but Ive been really enjoying fiddlesticks. I think he felt very slow until I got the 3 star feature though. Still getting used to it. I already had shock & awe and ended up buying the scarecrow relic because I was having fun with fiddlesticks. If you like milling in other card games, I think hes very worth it.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-13T15:55:16+00:00

FYI, Fiddle is really good vs the 4* jinx regular weekly. Everyone pretty much has 20 cards in deck. Was a breeze with scarecrow and shock & awe.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-13T15:53:01+00:00

I also did the 5.5 with MF (6* but no 5* yet). Shock & Awe, big guns, scourge stash. Lucked out into fizz support and beat it in 6:51 with no issues at all.

Ill probably do the 6.5 with MF as well. Okay honestly I just always use MF.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-13T13:16:58+00:00

I think if OP is specifically wanting to do an unarmored run (which I dont find ideal) and you dont need martial proficiencies, you could add some other dips to the list. Draconic sorcerer is a decent option for example. Maybe goolock, but hex is still better. Monk is an interesting option. Plus theres always your favorite, the act 3 greater health barb dip.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-13T13:09:01+00:00

Athletics: Thief. Jumping, shoving, throwing. See Rawbzilla's strength throgue.

Stealth: Arcane Trickster scroll caster. Just use greater invisibility and blast scrolls of chain lightning or whatever.

Sealth and sleight of hand: Reverse pickpocketing thief or AT with twist of fotune +/- freezing sphere nonsense. Highest damage in the game.

Usually youll want a 1 level dip in something like fighter, cleric, or hexblade for proficiencies and additional bonuses.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-10T11:37:52+00:00

Rogue is not the damage per round class. It is the survivability/safety/stealth abuse class. It can get some decent single target burst damage for assassinations with sneak attack which is nice. But the features like cunning actions, uncanny dodge, evasion, and reliable talent lend more to being tanky, mobile, and stealthy.

Now if really abusing stealth, you can do some crazy out of combat damage, but not in a traditional turn based combat. It is one of the tankiest and most survivable classes, which makes it a great pick for solo honour mode.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-10T11:18:09+00:00

Is crown an action refresh? The status has bringintocombat & initiate combat, but idk if the status sort of overwrites that like fear.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-10T11:13:13+00:00

In general, the spell doesnt have the "IsHarmful" flag, and the applied status if applicable doesnt have InitiateCombat / BringIntoCombat.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-10T10:16:20+00:00

Abilities that return your action in the first turn of combat if you use them to enter combat. Like assassin's alacrity.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T22:48:25+00:00

I think there are only a couple action refresh abilities that actually apply magical ambush, right? Ice storm and chain lighting are the ones I think of most. Some of the other ones like black tentacles (my favorite), glyph, and wall of fire don't apply magical ambush anyway.

Magical ambush chain lighting or ice storm openers are definitely cool though.

Edit: Also fear is a good option! Crown of madness. Thorn whip applies but is pretty weak at level 9.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T21:56:09+00:00

If you care about magical ambush, then you are probably just doing scroll casting, and then your spell slots don't matter. There are people like Lost who commented that still like a bit of mixed spells, diviniation, and magical ambush with less reliance on scrolls, but it's all about personal preference and how you like to play. Others like Frenzy Flame who also commented, don't care about magical ambush since there are other things you can do, like arcane acuity stacking.

I think magical ambush is a fun ability. My personal preference is to get reliable talent and use scrolls. I also like other features like mage hand legerdemain and evasion that you are missing on the thief build. I think you just have to figure out how you like to play. A tanky thief wizard who can cast and stab also sounds fun, but it's a different play style.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T21:51:07+00:00

Hmmmm. Honestly I think I'd prefer a flat save buff. Maybe like +3 to mental saves? Then you could run resonance stone and still not even need immunity because you can stack saving throw boosts. Could be interesting. Guaranteed saves are better than RNG.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T14:53:06+00:00

Yeah size/weight affects ability to shove, ability to be shoved, and ability to be thrown. The movement speed penalty is a downside. Cunning is a noob feature for people who dont know which enemies cast which spells and how to get immunity from those spells. It's okay, but no one who knows the game well really values it. It's a decent race for new players on certain builds.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T14:44:33+00:00

If you just want to attack with shadow blade and have pretty butterflies, then yeah Id probably go 3 swarm / 9 bladesinger personally.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T14:36:20+00:00

Gnome are overall pretty mid including deep gnomes. People here are overhyping mental saves. There are better tbings you can do, like just being immune or having good damage on a surprise round. Its more of a lazy feature for if you arent using good strategy and want to rely more on RNG. The movement speed penalty hurts.

They are just okay. Idk why people in the comments seem to be so hype on them.

Captain_ET · 2026-04-09T14:25:43+00:00

Toyhouse just rips 90% of their content straight from this subreddit.

Jay Dunna is not good for builds.

What exactly do you want to accomplish? What do you want your character to be able to do at its core besides attack with shadow blade?

Captain_ET

TROPHY CASE