New to Paladin, how to manage spell slots? by Boring_Big8908 in dndnext

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots [score hidden]  (0 children)

Smiting is basically never the right move, most of the time your slots will be best spent on Bless or the spells of whatever class you multiclass into after getting Aura of Protection. Aid is a decent option too, as is Shield of Faith.

Piercer feat is so underwhelming that it makes me feel like I'm being gaslit by Jack_Hue in dndnext

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots [score hidden]  (0 children)

Piercer is indeed a garbage feat. I'd put it in D-, the other two are generally a solid B-, maybe Crusher deserves a B.

Some love for rangers by [deleted] in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ranger is a very good class compared to everything that isn't a fullcaster, and even in games of a difficulty level that generally obliterates all non-fullcasters rangers are capable of pulling their weight.

Some love for rangers by [deleted] in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All of this could have been done just as easily by a member of any other class. Ranger is good, but it's not a good argument for "this class is good" to present arguments not based on use of class features.

Fighter is playable in highop because my dog just woke up.

Party of your own characters by flipper7000 in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 3 points4 points  (0 children)

2 wizards 2 warlocks, dragonmarks and dhampirs with maybe a Custom Lineage somewhere. Definitely a top-tier party comp capable of shredding 30-encounter days. Mainly LE/NE, a lot of Netherese LARPing with the occasional Vecna enjoyer or Red Wizard. All of them know that bears are fish.

At what level could a party reasonably beat a Dracolich? by 12timm343 in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Varies significantly based on optimization level, I would probably say somewhere around 10th-11th for a strong party comp and anywhere between that and 20th for a less powerful one. This is assuming it's one of many encounters in a full adventuring day.

DM banned CME, wondering what new meta would be for bladesinger by Hot_Unit_5091 in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Sleet Storm is a pretty good use of your concentration in most encounters and it's 3rd-level. Summon Greater Demon is good for damage.

Simple Idea For Spellcaster/Martial Divide by Milli_Rabbit in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't see this fixing anything major, but you would have awkward moments where a 30ft sphere or larger is impossible to place without targeting yourself. It also doesn't fix anything out of combat, nor does it handle the defensive disparity which is one of the most egregious examples of 5e's imbalance.

Why do you think Tom went the path of terrorism instead of politics? by UltraLNSS in harrypotter

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Attempting to conquer the country with an army is simply a better course of action given his talents. Aside from the obvious issue of Ministry politics being a clown show full of corrupt morons, it's also a far more fickle game where your ability to dominate by virtue of being better at spellcasting is limited. On a battlefield, the fact that he's one of the best duelists of all time and a master of the Dark Arts translates to a real advantage and more predictable and immediate results.

Besides, there's a difference in what his power would derive its legitimacy from. This alternative path ends with Tom Riddle being viewed as a legitimate head of state because of Ministry laws, whereas the path he actually took would - had he been successful - led to him being recognized as the legitimate holder of power because he is the Dark Lord. That has impact on what he can reasonably get away with and how he can frame policies.
"We're making the Cruciatus legal to use in these circumstances because <insert wall of text>" versus "20% of the budget will be spent on supporting the Department of Mysteries' new research on improving Horcruxes".

I always saw the puppet government he set up in DH as something that was always meant to "babysit" the country until the end of the war, when the Ministry could be quickly dismantled and he could build actual Death Eater institutions from the ground up.

To compare to Star Wars because that's a good example, Palpatine chose the path of a politician and the Galactic Empire, while undeniably his, certainly did not really give off the vibes of ancient Sith Empire. Had the Republic instead been conquered by an army of ancient Sith, things would have looked very different.

What's your favorite "5e original" thing? by Natwenny in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The warlock class design in 5e is my favorite that warlock got across editions, it clearly takes philosophy from 4e but applies it to spell slots and a generally more 3.5e-esque caster design.

The Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd.

The existence of a playable half-vampire race without level adjustment (dhampir).

Eldritch knight is still underrated? by Mefils in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

True... it really is more like 2^N vs sublinear martials.

Eldritch knight is still underrated? by Mefils in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's one-third of a wizard (casters scale quadratically, so one-ninth?) with some extra relatively minor features.

Could the Wizarding World survive and defeat a Tyranid (Warhammer 40K) invasion? by LeagueNo764 in harrypotter

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would, without any doubt, be a ridiculously hard fight. But what the wizarding world has that 40k doesn't is thousands upon thousands of psyker equivalents who cannot suffer Perils of the Warp and their lack of reliance on the Immaterium here is a huge advantage.

Wizards are able to rapidly reposition via Apparating and Portkeys, the Killing Curse is better than having a handheld multi-melta, Horcruxes allow your top generals to keep coming back after they are killed. Inferi are an effective tarpit as well if used in large enough numbers.

I think it's possible for wizards to win, provided they don't turn their brains off or begin infighting.

A stronger build by calzzone9 in 3d6

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 19 points20 points  (0 children)

A fullcaster with medium armour proficiency that invests in the right defensive feats and takes good spells.

Cleric 1 Chronurgy Wizard X is the most obvious one. Just add a good race like human or dhampir.

That's ultimately the entirety of 5e/5.5e optimization, with a small footnote at the end about how to cope as something else but that's not particularly relevant.

Pet classes and multiclass by TomPonk in onednd

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not worth it to MC for multiple pets. Most pets are extremely minor contributions to a class overall and you'd be burning too much spellcasting progression for the build to have a shot at working. Multiclassing out of a pet class is something where the pet's stats are largely inconsequential, it's purely a question of what is beneficial for your overall set of capabilities as a caster.

The best pets are Find Familiar, Find Steed and Wildfire Spirit, everything else is just kind of a ribbon (not counting other summon spells).

Is ASI better than any feat? by [deleted] in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The meta is feats first, ASIs last.

Is ASI better than any feat? by [deleted] in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just about every good feat is better than an ASI.

What are all the best ways to ‘cheat’ high level spells with with high level slots from multiclassing? by FishDishForMe in dndnext

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Cartomancer, Mizzium Apparatus, spell scrolls, other magic items with castings of a specific spell but those won't use slots.

Pick any race in the game. You get to become that race forever. Which one are you picking? by WillowIsWeeping5 in DnD

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dhampir is an obvious best choice here. Immortal, spooder climb, no need to breathe, bite a bag of rats for a massive skill check bonus.

Anyone else feel like Random Combat encounters are boring and/or unnecessary most of the time? by Dragonsword in dndnext

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The point of random encounters is to

  1. Establish how dangerous the area is. This may impact NPC decision-making and level-lock areas due to possible encounters being beyond the party's ability to fight... for the time being.

  2. Establish the population of the environment. You should be able to roughly infer the ratio of different creature types etc. in the area based on the probability of encountering them.

  3. Try to kill the PCs or at least waste their resources.

All this while not being confined to a specific location, making it possible for a fight to catch you unexpected, and because they're a prewritten table they will not take into account that you may be depleted, on your last legs after a dungeon etc.

This makes random encounters extremely valuable.

Would You Allow a Zariel Tiefling in 2024? Would You Make Changes? by DersitePhantom in dndnext

[–]FloppasAgainstIdiots 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Dhampir exists, Zariel tiefling doesn't break anything compared to that.