The Dive Bomber: d4 #80
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
- For our D&D 5e character build this week we're doing something that's potentially powerful and hilarious... when it works :). Grapple 'em. Fly. Drop 'em.
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Character Concept & Mechanics:(0:00)
Level 1:(10:41)
Levels 2-6:(16:11)
dScryb (Sponsor):(33:50)
Levels 7-9:(36:44)
Levels 10-13:(41:43)
Levels 14-17:(49:26)
Final Thoughts:(53:45)
Outtakes:(56:29)
Math/Graph for this episode: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Sustained DPR Comparisons (3 Tabs): docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Thanks to LudicSavant for the amazing DPR calculator! forums.giantitp.com/showthrea...)
Music Credits:
Achaidh Cheide - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Angevin 120 loop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Fiddles McGinty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Lord of the Land by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Master of the Feast by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/ 
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![Shader Basics, Blending & Textures • Shaders for Game Devs [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kfM-yu0iQBk/mqdefault.jpg)
I really like that you’re the circle of the land druid because the land is what’s doing most of your damage
impact crater= circle of land
@@ghostfather1390 this comment needs more attention. Fricking amazing! Sorry this took so long to see!
This may or may not work RAW depending on your DM, but consider this for an indoors option when you can't drop enemies. Cast spike growth, grapple the enemy and just haul them through it.
Just holding them against the ground face first and dragging them over it like road rash while you fly above the spikes 🤣
My daughter plays a Circle of the Moon / Bear Totem Barbarian and she just reached level 13 allowing her access to the Air Elemental.
She loves this move.
I share your concerns with the build, but this was definitely a fun watch! I'm left wondering if there is a way to get powerful build on this style of character, like an Orc, and we get fly through Genie Pact or (ugh) Twilight cleric, then we double carrying capacity for powerful build, then again through giant's might, and then again if we need it through enlarge/reduce. That's a big level investment though, and neither class gets us haste, so maybe not. Would need to play around with it.
Try it out! I’d love to see your take on this build
You could go for Colby’s favorite subclass the Rune Knight and that would definitely help with the weight limit part by 2x by going bug (which seems low tbh, I feel like 4x carrying capacity doesn’t break the game)
Edit: I guessed it before it came up lol
Yeah I was messing around with a Goliath at one point but I think in the end you sort of have to decide: do I want to prioritize getting to that 400 feet fly speed cap or prioritize being able to lift more so it works more regularly? You might be able to get both at late level, but I generally like to make stuff that can work throughout, even if, like in this case, there are tons of caveats tied to it :).
Oath of Glory Paladin gets haste in spell list and carry boost in channel divinity.
Artificer 10 can get winged boots as an infusion and has both haste and enlarge/reduce. Wait til 11 and you can cover most of it on your own with a homunculus, subclass is free but an alchemist will get the most speed (potion + longstrider + mobile = 30 extra feet movement)
@@SCh1m3ra My question is does magical flight have a weight limit? The player would still need strength to lift and carry, but would speed be reduced at all? Fly the spell has the same speed regardless of the size or weight of the caster, so I assume it has no restrictions. If not, this could be a good duo build. The second character would just need the fly spell. I was thinking of using an artificer grappler, but it would take way too long to come online at level 11, and then you still couldn't get to huge size until level 14.
Every monster in the campaign ever: “For my action I’d like to ready a grapple action in case I happen to be high in the sky in the next 6 seconds by some reason”
The new Aarakocra got nerfed to a flying speed equal to their walking speed, so when and if that becomes the standard for everybody, whatever you were planning for your Owlin might be the build to go for.
😂😂😂 did they at least get something else? Thats all they had was movement lmao
@@Mr911superstar D6 Talon attack?
@@Mr911superstar I mean, flying is still good even if you don't get double normal movement from it. It's just a really fantastic utility tool.
@@gibbcharron3469 compare it to the Owlin that gets more
@@tomraineofmagigor3499 and the fairy
"Sometimes the DND goofballs of the world need character builds too, right?"
---Colby
HELL YES!!! I haven't got past the Intro but I am really going to love this build. I had a concept of a Tiger Barb with the Jump spell some how as for dropping and body slamming enemies.
Centaur, Monk: Way of the Ascendant Dragon, Mobility feat, Horseshoes of Speed. At level 6 the ground speed is 95' and using the 6th level Way of the Ascendant Dragon ability you get flying speed for your turn when you use Step of the Wind, the flying speed is equal to your walking speed.
Let us not forget that Centaurs get the CHARGE maneuver.
I've been getting really into builds like this, that do ONE specific thing really well. They're so much fun.
You should try a warlock 😂
Colby, this is amazing! Love it!
I'd love to see a potential build around doing as MUCH damage as possible with a single hit- thinking of combining the Pally's smite feature with the warlocks' smite feature on a random crit to literally one-shot random enemies by rolling a million dice.
Thanks! Ok, on the to do list!
WOOOO!!
Story wise I think the character could be a wild child that was raised by giant eagles that were the pets of a storm giant
I've only found your content recently but I've been binging it - it's awesome! Would you ever make a video about your ideal optimised party of your previous builds?
Thanks and welcome! I have done a few "team up" builds that are for two players... four would be quite an undertaking but we *do* post videos every 10k subscribers to showcase several of them playing in a team together... (or, sometimes, against each other :P )
@@DnDDeepDive Almost at 40k now ;)
@@maryjones104 Oh snap! I need to get something scheduled to celebrate!
I love these goofy builds! I'd love to see the most powerful character you could make only using unarmed strikes. Probably a monk, which should be fun for you!
Yes please!
He already has an unarmed build he made a couple months ago
@@trynt_xasan wasn't that a strength one though? I want to see how far he can push the monk with only unarmed strikes, which would be better with Dex.
Ah yeah that would be cool
I’d love to see a character who makes huge use of gravity, set up effects and push and pull mechanics. The Telekinetic
Have you looked into the gravity wizard?
He’s done a build that optimizes push pull. The Cheesegrater. Dao Genie Warlock/Sorcerer build that drops spike growth then just eldritch blasts a character around the spike growth area. Insane sustained damage to non-flying creatures.
I really like this as a thought experiment, but I wouldn't want to see this character in a game other than a onesshot lol
Also, I'll keep requesting another duo build, those were amazing and it's been too much time since the last one!
I second Ricardo here. As a DM and player this doesn't go over well long term in my experience. Just in case any new players were not thinking about such aspects of character creation.
Just started the video but in my experience focused builds like this also tend to be good at other things so it honestly shouldn't be that bad as long as they aren't too spammy
I agree, I love the duo builds, I'm hoping for a forced movement back and forth ping pong build between two characters.
Level 1:(see above) [rogue 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [druid 1]
Level 3:(@21:35) [druid 2]
Level 4:(@24:36) [druid 3]
Level 5:(@26:35) [druid 4 & ASI]
Level 6:(@27:46) [druid 5]
Level 7:(@36:35) [rogue 2]
Level 8:(@38:05) [fighter 1 & fighting-style]
Level 9:(@39:44) [fighter 2]
Level 10:(see above) [fighter 3 & sub-class]
Level 11:(@44:57) [fighter 4 & ASI]
Level 12:(@45:41) [fighter 5]
Level 13:(@46:20) [fighter 6 & ASI]
Level 14:(see above) [rogue 3 & sub-class]
Level 15:(@51:40) [rogue 4 & ASI]
Level 16:(@52:17) [rogue 5]
Level 17:(@52:35) [rogue 6] (He says level 16 at the beginning.)
I was just building a druid rogue. It uses Shepard druid's Hawk Spirit to get reliable advantage without 0ing out speed. This and Elven Accuracy allows for cool melee single attack stuff, like booming blade. Also, since the bonus action is free most turns, it can hop in, sneak attack with triple advantage and booming blade, then use Cunning Action's disengage to hop out. The enemy is forced to stand there or take the extra damage.
The only real issue with it is that you won't get to use uncanny dodge, since your reactions are eaten up.
It could grip it by the husk!
This in general reminds me of how much people underestimate taking expertise in athletics is RaW! Being able to knock all kinds of enemies prone for the rest of your party especially when your a fighter who gets three attacks anyways is pretty sick! This is like the inverse of that strategy and way more effective lmao but only large spaces!
On top of that grappling them so they can't get back up. And if your DM is using the optional disarm rules in the DMG, also disarming the creature.
I like the idea of turning into a hippo, elephant, or something sufficiently large and then falling onto the creature I just dropped!.
I hope your holiday was nice, Colby!
Very cool build and food for thought at the right time, so thanks.
And a shout out to Randall and dScryb for both a great artwork and a fantastic description of the character you built.
And last but not least: yes, Preston is a true gem at roleplaying 🙂
Love the concept of this, I have a flying character who has done this in game but not as a regular thing as he's more of an archer but it has come in handy
I played a Fairy grappler called Butch for a one shot. 18 levels of Rune Knight fighter and 2 levels of barbarian. Fun build. Hilarious to see a gargantuan Fairy (using enlarge + juggernaut). I did use the flying part to drop enemies prone (not for damage). But this build would give it a funny twist.
Thanks for going for it. Doesn't matter if you landed it or not, trying to is worth so much.
We did this with a two-character combo based on Master Blaster from Mad Max. An orc barbarian and a gnome riding on his shoulders. The gnome DSS cast fly on the orc fighter, the fighter flew forward and grappled the enemy. Next round the orc flew up 30ft, (1/2 move drag) then dropped the enemy (free to drop an item) for damage and prone, then used bonus action to fly back down (orc power toward the enemy), and their action to re-grapple. The gnome fired spell attacks the whole while. Later the orc dragged the enemy through Spike Growth cast by the Gnome. With an 18 strength AND double carry capacity the orc had no issues carrying everything. They also would pick people up and drop them into AOE spell areas. the orc also has the option of just doing a dash upwards 60 feet.
Your videos are the highlight of my week. You could be describing how to get rust off of a barbecue grill and I would love it.
lol! Thanks :)
Tulok the barbarian did a similar build back in April of last year, it was also an aarakrocra focused on move-speed and grappling.
Good luck with your sorties fellow flyers
This guy would be a terrifying enemy npc, especially backed up by a bunch of flying archers and maybe an air elemental or 2
Those outtakes were...unexpected
And I'm really glad we're bridging into "fun" as something that can be optimised...sort of
You know what the cool thing about this build is?
Even if you can't use your grapple targets' terminal velocity against itself due to your environment, you could still use this tactic to scatter melee enemies across the field of battle to give your party some breathing room.
Or, you could facilitate a hasty retreat (pun intended XD) by grabbing party members and dashing them to safety ala The Flash.
They can't hurt your party if they can't hit your party.
So this build is effectively a Harrier Medivac when it isn't divebombing the enemy into oblivion.
Good stuff, versatile build, 10/10, would play.
My new nightmare is that 2 of my players will do builds like this and create some crazy grappling bros teams. Though I have to admit as much of a nightmare as would be it'd be pretty fantastic
I have seen many builds similar to this and am very hype to see you try to make one too. LETSGOO!
Love it, a few adjutsments I would make/propose to anyone crazy enough to play it:
1st reskin both you and the familiar as parrots because pirates are cool.
2nd above everything already explanied in the video my biggest concern is that for a "sustained" damage build you have until very high levels only:
1 3rd level slot, recoverable once for day duering a short rest
No con save proficency
No conentration adv
I would say take warcaster/resilent con as 2nd/3rd ASI and give up/delay some str.
An alterative worth mentioning (even if it is an overused class) is warlock instead of druid to have:
2 3rd level slots for short rest
the eldritch mind invocation to skip warcaster
A better familiar of you go chain OR rituals for out of combat situations if you go tome
Have a great holiday! This guy could be a fantastic buccaneer.
I’ve been waiting for you to do this build!
Always love ❤️ your stuff. So good ... Will take the bribe layer lol 😆
I like the dropping from great heights tactic. That's why I DM. I just have a Dragon do it.
Duo build suggestion:
A way of the soul knife monk can give an enemy vulnerability against psychic damage. Then you make either a bladesinger with shadowblade or a divination wizard with mind Spike. (Or anything else that deals a lot of psychic damage)
I think this would be supercool and interesting to see.
Gevingerd vulnerability is not something common.
Love what you do
And i hope you see this.
I love the idea - I don't usually do unofficial content unless the demand is really high, so I'll keep this one in mind if I see other requests for it!
the Monty python reference had me rolling, good job
Ok, was gonna lament the continued missing metal intro music, but Monty Python references always elevate any discourse! 👍🏻
I came here from your 2023 ranking video, idk how I missed this!! This is gonna be the coolest way I kill my character! 😂😂 I’m a DM that started a group of three brand new players at lvl3. I created a DMNPC (I know, shame on me) to help gently guide them when they asked, and he is a support role. They are lvl 6 now, paladin, Druid, sorcerer. They don’t need me anymore. This will be epic 😂😂😂😂 thank you sir!
ha ha anytime!
Another great build. You mentioned at the end it did not matter what Rogue archetype you take. May I suggest Skirmisher. High level enemies tend to hit hard and often. Using your reaction to move half your speed (which is very high) and taking no opportunity attacks seems like a great way to utilize an unused reaction, get out of harms way, or set up the next target to take for a ride. Much love as always.
I had a player in one of my campaigns that wanted to jump on a bbeg while using thunder wave from 100 feet above them, I let him take half damage from the falling damage because he was using the spell, but the bbeg took full damage, from the players fall damage.
Love your work.
I did a variation on the drop em from on high using a Herengon Beast Barbarian/Shadow Monk. To get some decent height I had to cheat and use boots of Striding and Springing. Grapple/jump/throw but it's definitely a "special" attack and I have other options for normal combat.
First I would like to thank you for all these wonderful builds. I've been a DM for 30+ years now and although I've never gotten a chance to play through as a player, my wife and daughter are finally showing interest in it. With a small group optimization builds are perfect as it lets them take on more challenging combats and get more satisfaction from the encounter. With your wonderful selection of videos I can just point them to the playlist for character ideas.
Second, although I have never played a campaign as a player I also enjoy making character builds. My daughter recently asked me to replicate some of her favorite superheroes into D&D format. Having interesting results with a few of them such as the iron man (Artificer Archetype: Armorer 18 / Warlock 2) I thought it might be something you would be interested in. The build would not be optimized for damage but rather re-created for as much accuracy as possible. It could be a new playlist for you that would value the roleplay aspect and give you builds to counter point damage optimal builds. Just a thought in case you're interested. If you want any details on what I have come up with like iron man's armor choices or a stat block for Mjölnir for 5e just let me know. I'll be happy to share what I've created or found.
i highly recommend playing on VTTs like the forged concordance so you can scratch your player itch. oh and colby mentioned that unless the demand is high, he's staying away from these types of builds (he has made 1, kaladin stormblessed) as other youtube content creators do a fantastic job on this already like tulok. it's also not something he's enthusiastic about as he's more concerned about creating his own unique character instead of copying something.
You get an instant like for that Monty Python reference!
Killin it with "take on me"! please more guitar covers!!!
If you want to play around fall damage a bit but ignore weight and size, you could also do any warlock / graviturgy wizard multiclass. The grav. Wizard isn't a min/maxed fit but it's thematically appropriate, so yolo.
1. Be a grung, a race that can fly, take the otherworldly jump invocation (if you don't mind waiting till 9th lv), or maybe use the boots of striding and springing.
1. Cast Summon Shadow Spawn (Despair = -20 movement), 1 hr concentration.
2. Jump or fly directly above an enemy.
3. Use EB with grasp of Hadar to pull enemies towards you, 10' into the air. Lance of lethargy for -10' movement speed on their next turn too.
4. Graviturgy wizard's 10th level reaction to increase falling damage by 2d10.
5. Creature takes EB damage plus 1d6 fall damage, 2d10 grav. Damage, and is prone because it took fall damage.
6. Creature has a -30 movement speed because of despair summon and lance of lethargy. Many creatures won't be able to stand up. Many can't even dash to get enough movement to stand because dash doubles their current movement which is likely 0 at this point.
If grav. Wizard doesn't interest you, no problem, you can straight class warlock or multiclass anywhere. You just need the shadow spawn so if you're not going wizard at all, you need 5th lv Warlock at least. Creation Bard wouldn't be bad for the dancing item interaction either (plus other amazing features), or lore bard for spirit guardians at 6th lv magical secrets as an alternative to summon shadow spawn.
Actually LOL'ed at the Monty Python bits.
I actually made a really fun technique with my level 5 Goliath monk. She was recently given a Cloak of the Bat, which grants her 40 flying speed in dim light. So, naturally, I thought it would be great to just drop down on enemies from above (hopefully as a surprise attack). At maximum height, she would drop down on an opponent (which isn't considered an attack) and the two of them would share a maximum of 24 falling damage. Assuming all went well, Stone's Endurance would kick in and shave off some of the damage she received personally while the enemy would take the full brunt of their half. This is different than Slow Fall because the full damage happens, but my character simply brushes it off. In the best case scenario, she would take no damage at all (preventing her from becoming prone as well).
Now, if this has been successful, the enemy would be the only one prone allowing her to attack with advantage on all her remaining actions. Though, since falling doesn't eat up your movement, she could just stand up before attacking anyway.
The best thing about this technique is that it's "plus on block," to use a FGC term. Because she has access to Slow Fall, at this level she can negate 25 falling damage. Which means that if the enemy was to avoid the attack, she can simply land without issue and attack normally.
I actually came to this video because I'm trying to expand on this concept by having her carrying people into the air, dropping them, and proceeding to drop on them again.
Interesting take on a build, and as always a good watch "at 1.5 speed obviously". Not my cup of tea, but to each their own!
Love the outtakes. You totally got me... I was like he's not going to go for the high note..... oh he did.
ha ha!
I love that the Dungeon Dudes just made a Rune Knight video where they buried frost rune and said cloud rune wasn't a priority, then Colby comes along and says "watch this."
That char should drop their bomb... on one of the bomb's allies!
I designed an Astral Self/Rune Knight Aarakocra that uses some of these ideas. Hard to find a plains campaign to run it in, but loved your take!
I can hear my dms bad guy voices falling from the sky.
On a separate note, I feel like I haven't seen anyone talk about the recent Blood Hunter changes that let you use Int OR Wis as your ability stat. Way easier ranger, monk, druid and cleric multiclasses all seem SO sweet.
I'm sure I'll get back to Bloodhunter again one day...
Fun concept I’ve been playing with similar to this: young bugbear who grew up on the streets (rogue1) who didn’t know his own strength. Eventually trained to be a fighter (or go barb) who loves to sneak up on people and give them a hug. The best part, his name “Ted D. Bear”. Now to play with the specifics! 😂
Love the breakaway for a comedic build!
Colby giving us the background behind the idea before every build has the exact same energy as those long intros on recipe blogs
great build as always
Aha! Another fantastic episode! Such a fun idea and a proper bird tactic...dropping their prey from height🤣
here is a fun thought. Eldritch knight's ability to bind a weapon to them. It doesnt give a limit on whether the weapon needs to be a certain size or proficient. meaning.... you could chill with a gigantic weapon like a club or even a statues weapon. then fly over your enemies, calll your weapon, and let it fall to donk them on the head with a 200 lb mace/club. not sure if it would work, but food for thought. Also, its a bonus action to call weapon so it could effectively give you an extra attack or something
I am fine thank you. It is so weird I don't play dnd but all these concepts for characters with the little backstory outlines are so interesting
I've played a build a bit like this before. In reality, though, it was just a level 10 moon druid who became an air elemental who also had expertise in grappling, allowing the air elemental form to be treated as huge for the purposes of grappling, and combined with longstrider he had 100 ft of movement speed. Combined fantastic with spike growth, dragging enemies through the spikes.
Also, MotM is going to change aarakocra to make their flying speed equal to walking speed, I believe.
What a concept!
Dad jokes are your right as a father. Never apologize lol.
oh wow, that was not at all what I was expecting but equally awesome. I was thinking about the astral self monk, with which something similar would be possible. You make the grapple checks using wisdom and you have a lot of movement provided by the monk class, and a possible dash bonus action. The way I see it though, is not necessarily about maximizing the drop height, but ensuring you drop a creature on every or most turns, using about half your movement to fly up and the other half to fly back down, because lets be honest, being stuck in the air with nothing to do is what would happen in some cases where you don't have a range cantrip to do. This way you maximize the proc'ing on the prone condition which helps melee characters, and also does a bit of fall damage in place of the attack spent on grapple check. Also max wisdom for checks also means very good stunning strike.
You are absolutely correct. I did not think you were going to go for it. So happy to be wrong.
Faaaantastic audio! Love the content as well.
Thanks!
I was building something for a one shot earlier this week, I was going to make an aarakocra astral self monk. Stat priority for wisdom, then dex, then con, the rest are absolute dump stats. The wisdom and dex gives unarmored defense, and the arms of the astral self can run off of wisdom for attack rolls, strength checks, and saving throws. And they have reach. So with the arms out (I thought of making them a second set of wings, making the aarakocra look like a cherub), he could grapple an enemy from 10 feet away. I didn't even consider flying, I just picked aarakocra for the stat bonuses and then the cherub concept came to mind with the cool mechanic of reach unarmed strikes.
indoors and in places with lower ceilings you could change tactics. go spike growth, and fly above it, dragging them around in it. It's not as good as falling, but 'Grater' than just attacking, still lets you use your tool kit
Even if you don't fly up, you can destroy people. You just used spike growth and fly up off the ground and drag them around and road rash them.
1) use spike growth, buff whatever
2) grapple, mv70/2, dash70/2 = 14*2d4 = 28d4 damage, average = 70dam
3) if its alive, move70, dash70, (action), dash70(bonus) = 21*2d4 = 44d4 = 110dam
Sure you can drop them also for variety, and this comes online mostly at level 5. L2 rogue, L3 Druid.
If you have a friend that can cast spikegrowth or haste, it just gets meaner.
I was hoping you would go assassin just for kicks. I mean stealthily gluiding in and stabbing someone then lifting them into the air and dropping them seems really fun.
Call them Same Day Parcel Delivery, or PD for short.
The dive bomb landing on the opponent might not be a great idea for a monk, but might work for a raging barbarian. I'd have to think a lot about how to adjudicate slow fall, but raging barbarian would take their portion of the damage and cut it in half, call the opponent takes full damage from their share
Also he would have advantage on strength checks, so it would be more easy to graple until you pick rune knight
Question, if the Rune Knight decides to embiggen themselves on the drop, do all 4 squares split the fall damage amongst one another and the knight? Or do you just hand the whole group a split equal to the Rune Knight's before dmg reduction?
If the former, can the inciting Rune Knight say, elbow drop and decide how the split occurs or no?
My favorite character is a tabaxi Scout. No magic and no great damage, but he can just run up to enemies and kidnap them in broad daylight before anyone can react (Surprise!), then drag them far, far away for the party to gank one by one.
Whoo, Monty Python references! Great place for it.
Once again you have given me some ideas for a build that I recently messed around with. It has a similar concept but different results. I went for more of a grapple tank and flying enemies into the air to separate them from the party and give them a sort of no-win scenario. I did Rune Knight/Divine Soul Winged Tiefling. I wanted to wear medium armor and use a shield most of the time so I had decent armor and I go all the way to level 7 Rune Knight to pick up Hill and Storm Rune. Divine Soul is great for the quickened and subtle spell metamagics as well as Enlarge/Reduce and Expeditious Retreat. I do a lot less dropping because I'm considerably slower but I usually want to keep my enemies close anyway.
I like the Druid choice, though. That's an interesting option I had not considered. I think I would still prefer to have access to Favored of the Gods and metamagic but it's definitely worth looking at. Flavor and story-wise I think I prefer the Divine Soul path more because it gives off some strong Surtur vibes, though.
I think Soulknife might actually be the optimal rogue subclass for this. Psionic energy dice are 2x your proficiency level, not tied to class (though die size is). "If you fail an ABILITY CHECK using a SKILL or tool with which you have proficiency, you can roll one Psionic Energy die and the number rolled to the check..." and only use the die if it makes the roll a success. You happen have proficiency in the skill of...grappling. Free d6 extra if you fail a grapple to see if it actually works. Also, psi-knives are perfect for a grappler as they exist only while attacking (and BA attack), but otherwise leave your hands free if you want to grapple two enemies.
Also helps boost your dex based skill/tool checks which would be a bit low, for better rogue skills to help the party.
Looking over the rules again, I really feel like Slowfall is very usable in a dropping on another character scenario and you could probably incorporate it into this build. Drop them and then fall on them. "any damage resulting from the fall is divided evenly between them." Copied straight from Tasha's tells me you toll the dice, find the total and on a failed reflex the damage is divided between the two parties. Then, once damage IS dealt to the monk (so after splitting it) you use your reaction to "reduce any falling damage YOU take" (taken from the Slowfall description) so I really feel like RAW it works.
But going back to this build, what if you grapple two goblins and take off, then drop one on the other then you fall on top of both of them!
How is it that you keep coming out with a build as soon as it pops into my head! Great video. I also really like the idea of taking a couple more levels of druid so that you can cast Maelstrom and Plant Growth on turn one with your action surge. Then just drop your enemies into the center of the Maelstrom as they continually take bludgeoning damage unable to escape.
It only comes online at level 10, but Artificer with Winged Boots, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and Armor of Magical Strength.
FWIW a tweet by Jeremy Crawford said "The rule on moving a grappled creature (PH, 195) works regardless of a creature's weight. It cares about creature size."
My only question becomes: what about trying to drag it *into the air* - which isn't really the same thing as dragging it across the floor, right? Regardless, obviously something to discuss with the DM. Thanks for the reference!
@@DnDDeepDive I mean, the rules don't say "When you move across ground" it just says "When you move", similar to your "it increases your move speed, it doesn't say walking speed".
Love this idea combined with my runeknight build.... so I was going to make straight class fairy rune knight for a high level 1 shot. So tiny fairy @ 17th/18th level I forget becomes huge fairy has enlarge so Gargantuan. then lifts a large if not huge creature straight up.
This concept is super cool and seems like loads of fun, but like other people have said it’s super circumstantial and when it doesn’t work you really can’t do much. I’ve been thinking about a build that uses this concept but is a little more versatile, and I think I’ve got something that does the job pretty well.
The big problem I see with this build is having to take so many caster levels that don’t do anything for you other than give you access to haste. But you really need haste to get the max fall damage, there really isn’t a way around it. So what I propose is to basically do a standard grapple build, but utilize the fall damage to augment it. Grapple builds usually utilize grapple and then shove with extra attack on the first turn, dropping a creature prone so you have advantage on melee attacks. If a creature falls 10ft or more and takes damage however, they automatically fall prone. And dropping a creature doesn’t take an action, so in theory you could grapple a creature with your first attack, fly as high as you can and drop them, fall to the ground instantly as discussed in the video and use your second attack with advantage. The fall damage is bonus damage you wouldn’t get from a normal grapple build, AND you get an attack on the same turn you grapple. If you take rogue levels for expertise in athletics you even proc sneak attack from them being prone. Now, obviously the creature isn’t still grappled so it can stand up on it’s turn, so you aren’t as good of a control build, but I think there’s at least still an argument for this to be good.
Build wise, I’d go rogue 1/barbarian 5 to start, and then take 2nd level rogue, picking up mobile at lvl 4. The new Aarakocra is identical to Owlin for our purposes, so pick your favorite. Elk totem at lvl 3 gives you +15 speed, and barb 5 gives +10. With mobile that puts your speed at 65ft, or 130 with cunning action dash. Half that from dragging a grapple creature is 65ft, or 6d6 damage. Nowhere near the videos numbers, but still pretty decent. From there I think there’s a bunch of way’s you can go. I’d definitely go at least fighter 3 for rune knight, they’re just awesome for grappling. More levels of rogue for sneak attack synergises well. If you could get boots of speed that’d make your fall damage significantly better. The best part of this build though is that you don’t need more than a 10ft ceiling to pull it off at it’s lowest damage, and if you want to you can just be a normal grapple build that’s just as effective as any other grapple build. Thoughts?
Edit: Thinking about it, if the control aspect is important, you could forgo the attack after dropping them and just grapple again. Afaik no rule says you can’t grapple twice in one turn. Same result then as grapple + shove, and they take some fall damage. Win/win?
i think getting those caster levels for haste is fine but i agree they can be delayed and a standard grapple build is the way to go early. i also agree with your edit. control is the better way to go here. if you can't burst them down (or almost burst them down then an ally finishes the job) on turn 1 with the build, it should focus on control and do sustained dmg.
build wise though is where we diverge. from the control focus, i'd personally go rune knight to start to ensure we can handle huge creatures and take that to 3 so we can grapple, drop, grapple. rogue 1 doesn't really add anything to the build aside from expertise and that can be picked up easily via skill expert. barbarian is redundant with rune knight. now rogue 2 does offer some good stuff in cunning action though if bonus action move is what we want, the monk is a better source of that for the same level investment due to unarmored movement. of course the bonus action move and bonuses from totem barb can be replicated by getting haste so at this point i'd take those caster levels to get to haste picking up mobile as well along the way. I'd pick bladesinger here so we can still get extra attack otw to haste. for the flying race, i'd pick tiefling for fire resistance since they all have the same fly speeds now. the only thing i'd polish here is the level progression early on but i think i have a good idea of what i'd want to be able to do towards the tail end of tier 2. perhaps will start with bladesinger so the haste and extra attack can be gotten early since there's not alot of huge creatures in tier 1 and just start to pick up rune knight once it's in tier 2 then monk to boost movement further in tier 3. the wizard levels will also add longstrider and i'd definitely consider going at least bladesinger 11 for contingency so an action doesn't have to be wasted to cast haste at the start of combat ending up with a bladesinger 11, rune 3, monk 2 spread for level 16 with just polishing for the last 4 levels should the campaign push into tier 4.
I did something like this for AL play. Not as optimized to this degree, but fun nonetheless. I did Aaracokra 4 elements monk. Fly over them, water whip them up for 3d10, take one attack via ki feuled attack for 1d8+4 (Quarterstaff), they then fall 25' for 2d6 damage and land prone....into my buddies spike growth. Very fun.
Funny how all encounters have started to have 10 ft. ceilings.
Free fall from 500ft takes exactly 4 seconds by the laws of physics (and Earth's gravity), so rules are quite precise.
Here for inspiration for my half-orc barbarian who just got some winged boots.
I once tricked a henchmen to come with me on a distance cast thunderstep 180 into the sky. It was a lot of fun.
Ha!
This is totally charizards seismic toss from the pokemon anime! I love it!
Great video! I'm glad you addressed taking level 2 rogue sooner. I screaming internally that having BA dash levels 2-6 then Haste at 7 is way better than having Haste at 6 but stuck with terrible move speed until then, but I understand you gotta teach your builds to the standardized test.
Also, I've been working on a similar build, but it utilizes grappling/jumping instead of flying, and it relies on Beast Barbarian and Simic Hybrid race for their jump and slow fall abilities (and manta glide is sick). Would love to see you have a build that tries this strat! The DPR is not as high, but RAW you can fall with them and stay grappling while they fall prone, so it's much more of a tank/defender build.
I’m currently theorycrafting a Fairy Rune Knight Fighter with unarmed attacks and improvised weapons.
Giants might, access to enlarge through fairy lineage, and take a few levels in barbarian for unarmored defense.
I’ve had a weird build idea for a while where basically you teleport yourself and an enemy 500 straight up with dimension door, I know, it says a willing creature. Charmed creatures are willing aren’t they? The only thing is size, however we have ways around that, enlarge being the main one, or rune knight.
Fun. Fun. Fun. I enjoyed picturing this character go all hulking Big Bird. (Also, I hear the race/lineage revisions in the new Mordenkainen's book will slow the aaracokra a tad, so an Owlin with an Owl familiar could be in the cards).
I came up with a build very similar to this but it was mostly monk wizard with a rogue dip to get even higher base move speed, I didn't know grassland druids got haste that would have helped my ability scores so much lol. You could stab them while you hold them up before dropping them or you could just swoop down and grab them again an drop them again for the lols
"Please don't drop me again" "No" "Ahhhhhh!"
Plenty of thoughts on this one.
First, Transmutation Wizard's stone gives you another +10 at Level 6, so that might be a better alternative to Land Druid.
My bigger point, however, is that if we're starting at a later level, the move is to go Psi Warrior Fighter, since they get a Psi Powered Leap, which gives a flying speed equal to double your walking speed. This means we can go Centaur, which has a high walking speed and a doubled carrying capacity, and then use Psi Powered Leap along with things that increase walking speed to get truly ludicrous flying speeds. Plus, with Extra Attack, you could feasibly grapple, lift, drop, and repeat, all within a single turn (since you are allowed to move between attacks). Granted, this means losing out on Large size, since we can't go Rune Knight, so it depends on the average size of enemies in the campaign.
On the whole, though, I think this is a good build for starting at low levels, and for hitting that sweet 200ft cap as soon as possible.
What a fun build! Definitely a thought-experiment though. For me, the RP problems and overspecialisation/build holes would make this a terrible choice for a long campaign. For a one-shot it could be great. For an enemy or helpful NPC... hilarious.
My current PC is a Circle of Wildfire Aarakocra whose wildfire spirit is a hummingbird that bursts into a phoenix when I "summon" my wildfire spirit. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that's rad 😂
I think if you take Booming Blade as an Arcane Trickster you would break the 100 DPR barrier!
I have a character that would powerbomb his enemies. This character I used in adventures league and was always a fun surprise to put on the table. Stone Fist is a Goliath with 8 levels of monk 2 levels of barbarian and 1 level of rogue. Magic items he has are bracers if defense, boots of striding and springing, and belt of hill giant strength. Stone fist would grapple an enemy creature which was easy with expertise in athletics, advantage on strength checks, and the belt of hill giant strength. He would then use step of the wind which doubled his jump height and the boots trippled his jump height. At the top of the jump I would release the creature at the apex of the jump and use my reaction to slow fall landing next to it. They land, take damage, and is prone, I then grapple them again, rinse and repeat. The damage wasn't great I often dropped creatures from 30feet so only 3d6, but it was repeatable and fit since Stonefist wasn't the smartest wrestler.