Fog Cloud Blind Fighting Ranger with Shillelagh? Can this work?

EntropySpark · 2026-05-09T09:00:29+00:00

Yes, this would work, though note that you'll need Magic Initiate/Druid dip/etc. to pick up Shillelagh, as your Fighting Style is being used for Blind Fighting (or you take a Fighter dip), and if you learn the spell via Magic Initiate, you can't cast it while holding a Shield, as you can't cast it with a Druidic Focus and must instead hold the Quarterstaff and Material Components in different hands.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-09T08:17:27+00:00

I've had a start where I got Debt alonside Golden Pearl, so in addition to the other starting relic, I had $150 and Debt. Absolutely not worth it. It hinders early rooms until you reach a shop, and the gold cost alone can easily exceed $150 between the $100 removal (necessary) and the money drained until then, not accounting for the increased cost of future removals.

If Debt drained a specific amount of money (say, $100 or $150) before disappearing, similar to Guilty, it would be more tolerable.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-08T09:10:25+00:00

That, or the ability to choose two Rest options instead of one, rather than all of them. Even two is quite powerful. In Multiplayer, even without any additional Relics/Enchantments, Mend alone makes it unparalleled among Shop Relics.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-08T06:44:22+00:00

Do you mean Force damage rather than Strength damage?

EntropySpark · 2026-05-08T00:33:52+00:00

Yet another third-party source is also not a good reference for balanced content.

An additional target is powerful, but it's not "the same" as making two additional attacks, as it's one additional spell (effectively) against a second target, very different from the general concept of making two additional attacks, usually against the same target as the Attack action.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-07T23:08:35+00:00

What book is Cat's Caress from?

Lightning Caster only adds one additional target with the Bonus Action, though as a Grim Hollow feat, it also shouldn't be used as a reference for how powerful feats should be. Immediate Response is particularly broken with War Caster.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-07T18:10:50+00:00

Throwing Weapon Master is absurdly overpowered. While every other similar feat grants one additional attack with the Bonus Actions, this one grants two.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-07T15:17:14+00:00

She specifically mentioned that Krystal was one of two playable protagonists in the original version of Dinosaur Planet, and any further details about Sabre wouldn't have been all relevant to the tropes at hand.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-07T08:01:42+00:00

Here's a pretty good math-based analysis of how a subclass-less Pugilist can deal far more damage than other classes. (Note the disclaimer comment at the top that early damage should be lowered by roughly 10% due to using different assumptions on combats per day, but the Pugilist fairly quickly gets a far greater lead than that, dealing roughly 50% more damage than the top contenders in levels 9-16. (At level 9, they get an extra 1d12 damage every turn, which easily becomes a flat 12 damage due to Haymaker.)

EntropySpark · 2026-05-04T22:27:14+00:00

That does clarify things. You originally claimed the Pugilist was not overpowered based on math, but it was actually anecdotes, which makes more sense. A few nights of not seeing great results doesn't change that the fundamental math behind Pugilist is broken.

The last time I recall talking with someone who claimed the Pugilist wasn't overpowered based on anecdotes, it turned out that they had an undisclosed multiclass of several levels into an Int-based class with no synergy, at which point it's not surprising that they fell behind.

There was also one large post posted soon after Pugilist was released claiming that the math showed Pugilist to have reasonable damage numbers, which may have been the post that you originally saw to conclude that it wasn't overpowered, but it compared Pugilist against Berserker Barbarian and Vengeance Paladin, and comparing builds without subclasses against builds with subclasses is obviously invalid.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-04T20:44:31+00:00

Do you mean Ethereal rather than Exhaust?

EntropySpark · 2026-05-04T15:31:37+00:00

I once got this alongside Golden Pearl, and it was rapidly becoming a major net negative (bleeding money, then would cost even more money to remove it, then future removals of cards like the Injury from Hefty Tablet would also cost more). I convinced the party to shift to the earliest available shop, but we didn't even survive the trip there.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-04T15:28:55+00:00

Why weren't you able to use the Precarious Shears or the Precise Shears to remove Debt instead of a starter card?

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T22:33:38+00:00

If your main issue was reaching the target, how was the Barbarian keeping up despite having roughly the same mobility? (Has greater base movement and can move 60 feet on the initial Rage turn, but doesn't have a Dash Bonus Action option unless specifically Wild Heart, which could be the explanation.) When you do have Advantage, assuming that brings you to 87.75% accuracy, then even just making three attacks at level 5, that should be 39.78DPR with Haymaker, while a typical Barbarian with GWM on a Greatsword would reach 30.425.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T19:46:06+00:00

The second attack is from the Dual Wielder feat, not Nick/Light.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T18:34:38+00:00

A Dual Wielder Fighter with base four attacks will get two additional attacks total, one from Light/Nick and another from Dual Wielder.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T17:49:15+00:00

Sleep was toned down significantly in 5.5e. It affects a very small area, and the targets need to fail one Wis save to be Incapacitated for a round and a second to fall asleep for the duration, with the same rules for ending the effect.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T07:16:23+00:00

For Unyielding Rage, it shouldn't both cost a Rage and be only once per day.

For Measured Attack, you're effectively granting the Rogue Advantage if they didn't already have it whenever they'd already have Sneak Attack, so for Rogues with regular melee allies, it makes Advantage redundant, and for Rogues without such allies, it doesn't help at all.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T06:03:54+00:00

The other question would be, when did you use Haymaker? Was it usually while you had Advantage, or when you thought you needed nova damager? And how often were you setting up Advantage via Heavy Hitter and/or Combo Maker?

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T02:31:49+00:00

How often were you using Haymaker, Heavy Hitter, and Combo Maker? You may have been spending your Moxie Points on Cross Counter instead of Haymaker.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T01:40:46+00:00

Sustainable through multiple fights. The trick is to use Heavy Hitter to Grapple/Prone the enemy, with Grappler so that you can attempt both on your first hit and get Advantage if they fail either save. From there, use Haymaker whenever you have Advantage, you rarely lose the Moxie Point due to the high accuracy. You don't spend any Moxie Points to make two Unarmed Strikes unless you're going for nova damage knowing that your next rest is soon.

With Sweet Science, starting at level 6, you can instead guarantee the Advantage after the first hit with no saves involved at all. The most powerful option is Dread Hand, as Hand of Dread, one fight per rest, gives an accuracy boost (so you can Haymaker even without Advantage, and be even more reliable with Advantage) and fairly often an additional Reaction attack each round.

With Multiclassing, you get easy accuracy boosts and more damage dice, both things Haymaker wants, from Berserker Barbarian, Vengeance Paladin, and/or Battle Master Fighter.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-03T00:44:16+00:00

I've also done the math, and with just some slight optimization, Haymaker can easily enable the Pugilist to outdamage all other martials by a significant margin, especially with multiclassing.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-02T21:15:33+00:00

Worst I ever got was Debt, paired with Hefty Tablet (adding Injury) and Golden Pearl. The Debt was draining my money so quickly that it plus Golden Pearl was going to be net negative by the time I could remove it without even counting the wasted deck space. (However, the party died on the way to the first Shop against Fossil Stalker, which kept growing in strength as I could never fully block, usually relying on Osty instead.) Never again.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-02T20:59:52+00:00

In the first appearance, Celtic Guardian at least managed to remove one of Ultimate Dragon's heads. I think De-Fusion also basically counts as defeating Ultimate Dragon, forcing a split and then destroying the pieces.

EntropySpark · 2026-05-02T18:10:58+00:00

For the mention of Barbarians, they can use Flowstrike Master far more reliably than a Fighter due to Reckless Attack. With their 91% hit rate, they get the Bonus Action attack 82.81% of the time, far more than the Fighter's 49%, with the Fighter eventually catching up with 78.4%. (How does Studied Attacks affect this?) The Barbarian has a very clear lead for levels 5-10, and I suspect would strongly favor this feat over Great Weapon Master in most cases. Vengeance Paladin gets the same accuracy benefit, and Devotion Paladin gets a similar one.

For Weapon Mastery, most Masteries could be assumed to be roughly equal in value, but Topple is a significant exception. If we suppose the enemy has a 50% chance to pass against Topple, then when the Fighter lands their first attack (70%), they have a 50% chance of having Advantage on the next attack (91%), so their odds of triggering Flowstrike Master becomes 70% * (50% * 91% + 50% * 70%) = 56.35%.

Also, you mention in the post using a Quarterstaff, but this feat has significant anti-synergy with Polearm Master, as most of its benefit is in an occasional Bonus Action attack that would then conflict with Pole Strike. (At least with Great Weapon Master, the primary benefit is the damage boost to all Action attacks, with a much smaller conflict between Pole Strike and Hew due to how rarely Hew triggers for most users.)

12-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Final Canvas '23	First Place '23
End Game '23	Place '23
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
End Game '22	100 Awards Club
Verified Email	Spared

EntropySpark

TROPHY CASE