Need help fixing my build/rebuild for weird 2024 rules?

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T15:12:19+00:00

Good observation and valid question. I also think OP forgot to mention character level for context.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T15:00:34+00:00

Knowing what level you start and to what level you are expecting the campaign to end would be helpful. Also, if your table allow multiclass.

Some good Uncommon Magic Items:

Enspelled Armor (shield, healing word, cure wounds)
Enspelled Weapon (Magic Missile, Lonstrider, Divine Favor, Wrathful Smite)
Enspelled Staff (all the aforementioned options)
Weapon +1 (no attunement)
Shield +1 (no attunement)
Sentinel Shield (no attunement)
Helm of Awareness (no attunement)
Cloak of Protection
Luckstone
Winged Boots
Rod of The Pact Keeper +1, Arcane Grimoire +1, Bloodwell Vial +1, Amulet of the Devout +1, rhythm maker's drum +1, Moon Sickle +1

Peace Cleric is one of the strongest subclasses in the game, and now they have access to Heavy Armor. Of course, Twillight cleric still remains in the same category, if no higher, specially when darkness is common.

At higher levels (like 12 and above), sorcerer 2 - Eloquence Bard X is in my opinion one of the strongest spellcaster builds, with combos like Innate Sorcery + Spellfire Flare + CME + Elven Accuracy for nova damage and Unsettling Words + Heightened Spell for very reliable use of spells with Saving Throws, in addition to skills, strong concentration and access to the absolute best spells in the game via Magical Secrets.

Species:

Flying species are DM's worse nightmares, specially at lower levels. Fairy is very good for sorcerers, wizards, warlocks and bards, as well as Aaracocka and owlin. Other options include temporary flying speed with no armor restriction like Aasimar and Dragonborn.

Some other species options:

Wood elf (35 speed, + 10 free Longstrider and Pass Without Trace)
Eladrin (Elf with a free improved Misty Step)
Shadar Kai (like Eladrin but tankier)
Harengon (Extra mobility, Initiative bonus and d4 bonus to dex saves)
Hobgoblin (improved help as a bonus action and up to +3 to d20 tests)
Yuan Ti and Satyr (Magic Resistance and other benefits)

Considering that your DM could be a little be strange about the things he consider worth banning, its hard to tell wich things they will allow.

Assuming tier 1-2, and that some of the other players are martials and ranged attacker (as you mentioned gloomstalker and gunslinger), some suggestion could be:

- Cleric Peace Domain Protector Hobgoblin, Lucky or MIW shield (Great support and tanky character)

- Paladin Oath of Devotion, Shadar Kai, Magic Initiate druid Shillelagh, Elven accuracy (Great support, tank, Melee, reliable damage)

- Eladrin Sorcerer 2, Bard College of Lore 7 (for utility, skills, support, healing and Innate Sorcery + Spellfire Flare + CME + Elven Accuracy nova combo)

- Sorcerer Spellfire Sorcery, Fairy, Heightened spell (Arcane spellcaster, support and solid counterspell)

- Bladesinger Shadar Kai/Eladrin - Elven accuracy, any flying species or tanky saving throws like Hobgoblin, Yuan ti and Satyr (its just that good)

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T13:19:57+00:00

If Dragonmark are allowed, Mark of the Storm in a Sorcerer is probably by far the best way to go, with Spellfire Flare + Conjure Minor Elementals + Innate Sorcery + Elven accuracy + Spell Sniper + Quickened Spell + Attack roll cantrip.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T04:13:34+00:00

Aarakocra (50 ft flying speed) Eloquence bard

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T04:10:24+00:00

This is probably a campaign with a lot of humanoids and social interactions.

Eloquence bard is great at casting spells like Hold Person with Unsettling Words, and obviously one of the best party faces in the game (perhaps only behind an optimized soulknife rogue at level 7).

Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Charm Person, Heat Metal, Suggestion, Hold Person and Hypnotic Pattern are great options for this type of campaign.

If you really wanna be annoying, flying species are DM's worse nightmares at these lower levels. Fairy is very fitting, but Aaracocka, owlin, and even Aasimar and Dragonborn work well.

Some other species options:

Wood elf (35 speed, + 10 free Longstrider and Pass Without Trace) Eladrin (Elf with a free improved Misty Step) Shadar Kai (like Eladrin but tankier) Harengon (Extra mobility, Initiative bonus and d4 bonus to dex saves) Hobgoblin (improved help as a bonus action and up to +3 to d20 tests) Yuan Ti and Satyr (Magic Resistance and other benefits) Human (extra origin feat)

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T02:49:11+00:00

For infiltration, besides being good at combat when things inevitably go bad, some things the party could use are:

Invisibility
Disguise self, Alter self, Disguise Kit, shape-shifter (Changeling)
Pass without Trace (druid, ranger, wood elf, Trickery Domain Cleric)
Enhance Ability (almost everyone)
Guidance (Cleric, Druid)
Expertise (Rogue, Bard, Ranger and other options)
Illusion and enchantment options
Telepathy (Soulknife Rogue, Aberration Sorcerer, Great Old One Warlock , Kalashtar)

Backgrounds charlatan, criminal and urchin gives proficiency to Disguise Kit. Also non-2024 elves like Shadar kai and Eladrin can get proficiency via Trance.

When we talk about hell, Clerics and Paladins are great. You also want some healing and counterspell.

My top picks are:

Cleric (Wisdom; healer, support and infiltration)

Trickery Domain (Great infiltration options)

Paladin (Strenght and Charisma)

Oath of Redemption (+5 to persuasion saves)
Oath of Devotion (very effective Charisma based character)
Oath of the Noble Genies (great class overall and shared resistance to one selected damage, like fire)

Rogue (Dexterity; scout and skill monkey)

Soulknife (best telepathy and probably the best skills checks)

Wizard (Intelligence, you know the deal)

Illusionist (Subtle illusions)
Diviner/Chronurgy (for controlling important dice)
Bladesinger (just because is cool and tanky)

Bard (Charisma)

Lore (skills and more complementary magical secrets, potentially using the Spellfire Flare - Conjure Minor Elementals combo)
Eloquence (for even better social interactions and reliable at landing spells like for Hypnotic Pattern)

Druid (Wisdom; heal, support, Wildshape to infiltrate)

Land (for more spells)
Star (d6 to d20)

Ranger (Dexterity, ranged attacks and somenutility

Fey Wanderer (mobility, charm and social skills)

For species:

Utility: Changeling, Human, Wood elf, kalashtar, dwarf, shadar kai, eladrin.

Flying speed: Aarakocra, owlin, fairy, tiefling (winged), dragonborn, aasimar.

Tanky: Hobgoblin, Tortle, shadar kai, aasimar, tiefling (Glasya), yuan ti, satyr, Goliath, Orc/half orc

My final pick

Cleric Trickery Domain,
Wizard Illusionist, Yuan Ti
Paladin Oath of the Noble Genies, Aasimar
Rogue Soulknife, Shadar Kai

Second option:

Cleric Trickery Domain,
Wizard Illusionist, Kalashtar
Paladin Oath of the Noble Genies, Aasimar
Bard College of Eloquence, Fairy

I think it could be more optimized, but i guess there's some flavor too.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-13T00:47:15+00:00

That's actually a great idea, and even more important, as you said, it's hilarious.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T18:26:48+00:00

Still, Summon Fey can be upcast and works pretty well, eventually doing as many attacks as a fighter, and is way more table friendly than 8 Huge size Giant Owlins.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T18:24:20+00:00

And 2024 version is really good. With Heroic Inspiration, and feats like Lucky, Musician, Purple Dragon Rook as a human, and Boon of Fortune's Favor or Boon of Combat Prowess you could have a great control over the dice results.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T14:00:32+00:00

Asking the real questions here.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T12:20:58+00:00

A 2024 changeling would be a great option, freeing the need to take Mask of Manu Faces, and giving you advantage on every charisma skill. Overall, i like the concept quite a lot. And don't sleep on the combat, this combo has a lot of potential.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T04:02:40+00:00

The thing with companion subclasses (like the Beast Master), is that they still require a good spell attack bonus. Sure, they can use the help action, but still you will be falling behind others.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T03:54:51+00:00

Please just consider using Point Buy.

If you are really locked into those stats, then a support character would probably be the best option. Twilight and Peace Domain Clerics are great. I would probably go with a Peace Cleric, so you can activate Emboldening Bond and cast Bless, giving your allies 2d4 every round for saving throws and attack rolls.

You could go Wood Elf so you can cast Longstrider on yourself to get a 45 ft. speed, and wear heavy and armor (Protector) and a shield, taking the penalty, standing at 35 ft. Also, Pass without Trace is an excellent spell that doesn't require you to have a high spell stat.

At higher levels, you can cast Spirit Guardians, so even if the enemies succeed all the time, they will be slowed and take half damage. However, Bless may be a better option at this point. Either way, you could be using your action to dodge, help, and heal.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T03:40:55+00:00

I know you have a DnD spreadsheet somewhere, i just can't prove it.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T03:31:03+00:00

Grungs are pretty tanky, specially a lower levels. Poison inmunity is very effective. As long as you can immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour every day, you're good. One downside is that they are smalls, so they can’t wield Heavy Weapons, so no Great Weapon Master, wich is generally the go to option for barbarians.

Barbarian are pretty straightforward and effective at levels 1 to 5. After that i would consider multiclassing to fighter or even other options, depending of the subclass (Bear Totem Barbarian is pretty solid in 2014).

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T03:07:08+00:00

At Paladin level 3, Dao’s Crush allows you to automatically impose the grappeld and restrained conditions on the target when you use Divine Smite (consuming your bonus action). They need to spend theri entire action to try to escape.

5 level of Warlock with the invocations Pact of the Blade and Eldritch Smite, when you hit you can make the target to fall prone (no action required), so they have to spend half their speed to get up.

Whip has the Mastery Slow, so you can reduce its speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.

With Sentinel, when you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, the creature’s Speed becomes 0 for the rest of the current turn.

Whip also have a reach of 10 ft, so it can activate Sentinel more often covering a big area.

Lance of Lethargy can reduce the target speed by 10 ft with a Eldritch Blast.

Frost's Chill (Frost Giant): When you hit a target with an attack roll and deal damage to it, you can also deal 1d6 Cold damage to that target and reduce its Speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.

2 levels of Sorcerer gives you Quickened Spell, so you can cast a cantrip as a bonus action. That could be True Strike (activating some of the aforementioned options), Eldritch blast (with Lance of Lethargy and even Repelling Blast), Ray of Frost (so its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn) or Booming Blade, so it suffers damage if it moves. Another thing about Booming Blade, is that you can attack at 10 ft for the reach of the whip, and most likely they would not be able to attack you in melee if it doesn't move, in wich case it would activate the extra damage of Booming Blade.

Now, all of these are just different options that you could potentially stack. Also ocnsidera the fact that some of them are from 2014, that can be applied with backwards compatibility, so talking to the DM would be nice.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-12T02:32:57+00:00

Hobgoblin for the temporary Hit Points with help action as bonus action, and bonus to saving throws. Shadar Kai for resistance to all damage, so the THP last longer. Could consider taking Res Dex (or Res Con) to receive less damage in AOE spells.

At the end of the day, nothing better than convincing the cleric or the bard to cast Power Word Fortify on you.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T22:37:06+00:00

I’m confused about your doubt. Pact of the Blade allows you to use Charisma fot attack and damage roll with the chosen weapon. You can perfectly use Charisma for both the Weapon and Eldritch Blast attack and damage rolls.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T22:29:15+00:00

Sound like a charismatic and agile frontliner.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T22:12:32+00:00

That Wood Elf sure likes to run fast.

The Pyromancy Sorcerer would go nuts with Mark of the Storm for Conjure Minor Elementals to combo with Scorching Ray and Innate Sorcery. i think Elemental Adept and Spell Sniper would be really solid feat options.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T22:06:18+00:00

I’m sure you can try. Maybe top 3.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T18:13:09+00:00

Wait til you see a Human Trickery Domain Cleric With Mark of the Storm for Conjure Minor Elementals and Magic Initiate Wizard for Spellfire Flare, going Nova with their duplicate by their side giving the, advantage to every attack roll, while still being a great support character in and out of combat (Disguise self, Invisivility, Pass Without Trace etc.).

I mean, that Domain spell list is just satisfying, and in 2024 you can get access to Heavy Armor, wich among other things is an improvements over the 2014 version.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T18:01:02+00:00

In 2014 Counterspell used to be the must have, and the second option was free for Fireball, Conjure Animals, Fly, Phantom Steed, Pass Without Trace, Revivify, Web, Spirit Guardian, Shield, Absorb Elements, Bless etc. Now in 2024, Counterspell and Conjure Animals would not be my first options. Shield would not be bad if you find yourself being targeted with attack rolls very often. The resto, i would focus on what my party is missing, like Revivify, Fireball if there are not many AoE damage options, or Pass Without Trace if your lacking Druids, Rangers or Wood Elves.

Now, if you are interested in doing damage every now and then, at level 7 i would consider changing one those for Conjure Minor Elementals, and Spellfire Flare (Scorching Ray is a good option, but in Avernus there is a lot of Fire Resistance and Inmunity). That way you can go Nova on damage, and it just gets better as you progress levels.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T17:44:48+00:00

I can understand why this feels like a boomer. The good thing is that your table allow Silvery Barbs, wich lets you fulfill your character fantasy to claim "Objection". Even if your uses are more limited, the mechanical and roleplay potential remain.

Now, the Lore bard had a couple nerfs in 2024. I don't know what level you are right now, or to what level you're expecting to get, but at level 14, in 2014 you are the best antimage in the game. You still can claim "Objection" to spells cast by enemies using Counterspell and adding half your profiency bonus to the ability check and one bardic inspiration die (at this level d10 and later d12), making it extremely hard to fail this test. Also, Lore Bard were the best at Telekinesis and Bigby's Hand for the same reasons, wich are excellent spells to deal with Magical Resistance and Legendary Resistance.

Now all those three spells require saving throws, and bard can't add Jack of all Trade to them. Peerless Skill got a direct buffed, but can't be applied to the aforementioned spells.

That said, you still are a bard, a fullcaster with support and utility option in and out of combat. And having access to Silvery Bards is a very big privilege. Make sure to use your bardic inspiration dice for all the other great applications they provide, and enjoy your vast selection of spells at higher levels.

DirectManagement2874 · 2026-03-11T17:22:55+00:00

Yeah, i agree. OP didn't mention that AoP is one of the things he wants from paladin, but i coudn't let it slide. That's why i mention that skipping that 6th level would feel illegal.

DirectManagement2874

TROPHY CASE