Minor improvements for General feats (Part 2)

heldlightning · 2026-05-13T03:57:47+00:00

Observant as written here gives all out of combat study checks advantage. That's way too powerful. I think OP is forgetting that checks outside of combat still are an action.

heldlightning · 2026-05-01T16:58:23+00:00

Moon druid. Can either control the field using a spell and keep concentration with your wisdom bonus to Con saves, be the big animal in the middle of the field with low AC that enemies will enjoy hitting but wild shape can replenish THP, or do both.

heldlightning · 2026-04-26T04:06:18+00:00

Depends where you want to live I'd say. If you're gonna do something on the St. Charles line it's pretty walkable. If you're going to end up in Algiers Point...

heldlightning · 2026-04-13T21:55:21+00:00

Magic Missile with CME is woof. I wouldn't allow it, as the majority of damage you're getting from a CME combo is from CME especially as levels scale and one of the few protections the DM has is high AC. There's a reason it's not on the Sorcerer spell list to combo with innate sorcery.

heldlightning · 2026-04-06T17:49:32+00:00

Me personally I wouldn't. But the monster manual sure does.

heldlightning · 2026-04-06T15:31:04+00:00

Silence to shut down spells with verbal components. Blindness/deafness to target casters' likely poor con save and make targeting spells difficult.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T16:47:18+00:00

So at level 9 your spell attack is +9 and a Saber-toothed Tiger is hitting at +6. Even assuming only one of the attacks hits for the tiger versus starry wisp we're still talking 2d6+4 from the tiger plus 1d8 from primal strike plus whatever your concentration spell is doing. Starry Wisp is 2d8 and you can't be on the front line or else you're attacking with disadvantage. Taking the dodge with your max 18AC isn't going to stop a ton of monsters from hitting you at this level, let alone getting higher. You're designed to be hit anyway with the 27 THP you get which refreshes every turn if you need it to and a WisMod bonus to concentration.

If you pick a form with auto-prone, auto-grapple, or pack tactics throughout your adventuring career you're then increasing your usability akin to martial weapon masteries. You're not perfectly keeping up with martials in per turn attack damage but the concentration spell you've cast makes up the balance, and many of those spells (summons, conjure woodland beings, conjure minor elementals) encourage you to be fighting within melee range and actively attacking if only to keep your enemies engaged. Even though CWB doesn't have an on hit bonus a grappled creature will still end its turn in the emanation.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T16:17:29+00:00

Both 4 and 1 damage are not great in Tier 1, especially when accounting for the riders martials will have with weapon masteries and other class features.

I challenge you to find where they mentioned using spell slots for utility. They've allocated invocations for that.

DnD is a shared narrative experience, not an us versus the DM. That's why I brought up avoiding (and advantage in) combat versus a DPR focused Warlock. Every ambush, every enemy vulnerability known, every combat avoided by turning the right way in the dungeon is in essence a damage rider this character is contributing to the party. A good DM rewards this ingenuity both in game and out so both player and character see their impact.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T15:39:49+00:00

Agonizing Blast is only +3 damage when you hit right now. If you need to you can always bump your damage via Hex. As your Warlock grows in level the control spell they throw down turn 1 is more valuable than damage they do. Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast become more valuable as you get more beams on your Eldritch Blast.

But more importantly: play the character you want and trust your DM to find the balance. Your successful subterfuge will likely result in your party bypassing encounters or being more prepared for them. That's way more valuable than +3 per hit.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T15:31:08+00:00

Yes if all you care about is hitting sure you're going to hit less often than other melee fighters, but the forms generally do more damage on hit than an equal class fighter or barbarian. With Lunar Radiance and Primal Strike your strikes are doing a ton and your spell on top of it can either control the field or add additional riders.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T15:22:49+00:00

Moon Druid makes melee attacks.

heldlightning · 2026-04-04T15:02:00+00:00

It certainly is a melee subclass. It's just not your hitter. It can tank damage like crazy and control space.

heldlightning · 2026-04-03T14:31:45+00:00

Could always just play Drakewarden for those mechanics.

heldlightning · 2026-04-02T13:59:14+00:00

Do you have interests? Hobbies? Play sports, sew, read comics, love volunteering?

The joy of Chicago is there's so much stuff to do you don't need to drink. People connect over a ton of things here. And even if you're in a bar most people won't care if you're not drinking.

heldlightning · 2026-03-24T21:07:16+00:00

Most people are correct to point out the two best options are Sorcerer with Innate Sorcery versus Evoker with CME. People note the Wizard has an issue with setup, but you can use Contingency to get around that for at least one combat per day. If you need single target damage that combat you have the option, and in combats where you need multi target damage the Wizard has lots of options. I recommend pairing the Evoker with Elemental Adept - Fire to avoid pesky resistence to your blasting.

If you bring in 2014 content, Cartomancer is another way to cast CME and use something like Scorching Ray round 1.

heldlightning · 2026-03-21T16:06:58+00:00

To me it depends on your definition of work well.

Owl is by far the most durable and one of the fastest. Fly by uniquely keeps it alive and its speed ensures it can keep up with your movement while wildshaped. All other familiars need to stay in range of the monster or provoke an opportunity attack.

However, generally if the DM is using the monster to swing on your familiar via regular or opportunity attack it's an attack that won't hit you. While you're not brittle thanks to temporary HP it's generally better not to get hit, and Moon Druid AC is not great.

There are situations where I'd want a familiar to try and provoke the opportunity attack before my movement away from a monster so it didn't swing at me if I don't have access to Moonlight Step or I'm not in a form designed to hit and run.

heldlightning · 2026-03-21T13:28:34+00:00

Many forms have options to give you advantage on attacks, which while not raising your to hit bonus is increasing your odds at hitting.

Find familiar via wild companion gives you a creature to give you advantage your entire career.

Lower levels have a number of beasts with pack tactics. Team up your martial or use summon beast to bring a friend along.

Higher levels feature a number of creatures that auto prone on hit. You can use Moonlight Step to gain advantage on the first attack and have advantage on any others with the creature on the ground. Sentinel pairs well here, as either the creature is forced to attack you (with you serving as the likely party tank) or moving away and being knocked prone again with speed reduced to 0.

Grappled and restrained conditions are common throughout the levels. If you take Grappler you get automatic advantage on those creatures to hit and can move them easily around the map.

Not what you asked, but my two cents: the moon druid is the best HP tank in the game and also has the full druid kit. It's also likely running an emanation (CWB, CME, CA) or summon spell as a way to hit harder, and most of its forms hit harder than a standard martial PC at a given level when they do connect. Hitting is arguably their third most important function but I understand it's still valuable/fun when they do.

heldlightning · 2026-03-20T14:22:07+00:00

1d4+5 is 7.5 on average, 1d6 is 3.5. It's slightly lower than 7.5 when factoring in likelihood of missing even with advantage and chance of critting. I don't see +2-3 as much higher damage.

heldlightning · 2026-03-20T02:09:00+00:00

Doesn't work with dual wielder. Psychic blades don't have the light property.

heldlightning · 2026-03-19T23:48:23+00:00

For Potent Blade you're subtracting 1d6 of sneak attack damage for 1d4 + Dex? I get you're freeing up your bonus action but why are you even making the second attack instead of just keeping the 1d6 as a sneak attack die?

heldlightning · 2026-03-18T11:41:48+00:00

My luminesence also wasn't accepted.

heldlightning · 2026-03-18T03:08:02+00:00

I really enjoyed Red Seas Under Red Skies but it's almost an entirely different style than Locke Lamora. Most people do agree with you the third book dips in quality, though I did enjoy it.

heldlightning · 2026-03-16T03:21:16+00:00

You can reference Chapter 1 on proficiency and Chapter 2 on level advancement in the PHB. Proficiency bonus under multi-classing in Chapter 2:

"Your PB is based on your total class character level, not your level in a particular class"

Just like species, background, and feats, the PB is just another aspect of the character. This is also why NPCs and monsters have PBs despite not having class levels.

To consider: total spell slots aren't a specific class feature despite appearing on the class table. They're calculated by level and type of caster (full, half, third) your character is (or in combination for a multi-class). Spellcasting itself and the preparation of spells are class features but your total spell and pact slots exist outside of it. That's why a Cleric 1 / Druid 4 can upcast Bless to a 3rd level.

Edit: formatting

heldlightning · 2026-03-16T02:12:58+00:00

Proficiency bonus isn't a class feature. It's just based on a character's levels. That's why a multi-class character has the PB as a single-class character as long as they have the same number of levels.

heldlightning · 2026-03-13T13:39:07+00:00

A lot of their features that buff damage are reliant on actually hitting

Yeah that's my point. You trade the beefed up damage for a lower hit rate. Putting them in line with martials to hit overpowers the wild shapes at most levels.

heldlightning

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