Something I came up with for the Steel Defender that doesn't require reflavor is turning the armor of a dead knight into a steel defender, with the corpse still inside of course.
I've done this same build, but for me I went Astral elf as my idea for this build was trying make my perfect pirate captian of undeath, using my hoard to crew the ship.
If an undead horde is too annoying to use at your table, go for Tasha's Summon Undead spell instead. Its a necromancy spell, and two of the options (Ghostly and Putrid) make weapon attack rolls using your Int mod, so they will both benefit from the buff from Undead Thralls that lets you add your proficiency bonus to their damage. I would also consider going for 5 levels in Battlesmith so you get Extra Attack giving your death knight stronger martial ability and a quicker ASI. Because you round up with an Artificer multiclass, you’ll still hit 9th-level spells before 20.
The optimal creature to grab with the Command undead is an Ancient White Dracolich, which keeps the stat block and CR as it had in life, which would be 20.👀 it has advantage against your save, but if you silvery barbs it after it’s out of LRs, (or team up with a Divination wizard for that sweet portent Nat20) then it shouldn’t be too hard. What better way to scream undead necromancer lord than to come in on an undead dragon while your horde terrorizes the masses on foot.
I made a Death Knight type build: Multiclass Undead Warlock and Oathbreaker Paladin. The Death Knight from the Monster Manual has spells that are from the paladin list and the Warlock Invocation _Devil's Sight_ gives you darkvision up to 120 feet like them. The Reborn subrace/lineage also gives you some nice features that align with the stat block.
Great vid! Interesting build. I especially liked how you used a little flavoring to completely shift the feel of the artificer dip back to necromancy. Once you start animating dead you'll probably use your bonus action to control them, preventing your defender from attacking too, but you can still send it next to the biggest melee threat and have it use it's reaction to impose disadvantage.
Made a very similar build a couple of weeks ago, but went warforged for race and armorer for the subclass. The gauntlet weapon allows for fun synergies where enemies have disadvantage on my undead minions, and I flavoured the animating spirits to be my warforged brethren that I've uploaded to share my body. Encouraging to see someone else landed in the same vicinity :)
Doing a duo DM for a late game campaign that features the players going into the negative plane (really all the planes throughout the campaign) so the idea of this really appeals to me. Thank you for such a great character!
I like it. Guy who has natural talent for magic and for whatever reason is attempting to infuse magic into bones to animate them. Once he has this breakthrough he truly delvea into necromancy.
Battle smith wirh any wizard is just *chef’s kiss* While it’s less casty, it might be worth it to have a little more battle smith ((level 5)) to not only attack 2 times, but buff up boras the boney boi (love the name btw) But a necro battle smith is always a good time imo!
This is a great build! I particularly like your suggestions for reflavoring eg Web being frost. I think for my necromancer I will flavor Hold Person as skeletal hands rising out of the ground, holding the target in place.
My melee necromancer was 3 levels Echo Knight Fighter reflavored as a spamable ghost summons, the the rest of the levels in Ancestral Guardian Barbarian reflavored as additional ghost summons, then take the Sage background to seem like an intellectual and Ritual Caster feat to grab as many out of combat spells as you can manage.
With a single level dip in Life Cleric, instead of Artificer, Vampiric Touch becomes a much more viable spell, and keeps you at full slot progression and only 1 level lost in spell progression. The Remarkable Recovery and Vital Sacrifice feats would seem to be natural combinations with this, when available.
One honorable mention for an alternative undead minion for late game. A white dracolich of the ancient wyrm variety. Yes they are dumb as a brick, but that means they don't have much of a chance to pass the save required to resist becoming your new pet.
The main big problem I see in this build is that your steel defender's hp is based on your artificer level and therefore it's impact reduces the further campaign goes. I'd pick mountain dwarf and switch +2 strength to intelligence. Switch your initial weapon proficiency for short swords then grab 2 of them and put on a set of medium armour. That way you can go straight Necromancy wizard and receive powerful summons faster but you're still an armoured knight-like character. Reborn + 1 level in death cleric then straight necromancy wizard works great as well. This combo has medium armour+ shields, martial weapons, you can target 2 creatures with your WIZARD necromancy cantrips. That's my favourite death knight build, I think.
maybe being an Armorer makes a bit more sense so beneath your filthy and ragged traveler's coat, stained with fouler things than blood and grave-earth, you can wear a cool skull-themed suit of plate armour powered by tubes which ceaselessly pump dark ichor and from which you breath escapes in ragged gasps
Going with Blur I feel like being a Witherbloom Student as background could be a good call, so you can potentially make a potion of Blur over the course of a couple of long rests as a downtime activity. Herbalism Kit and the crafting rules are basically the supported mechanic to be able to concentrate on two spells at once. Magic Stone is a cantrip I have heard referenced for a small number of minions, though that is better for more of a backliner. The armoured necromancer idea I had was that he was a Life Cleric when he was a younger man, but then he had "one bad day," so he talks like Mark Hamill Joker. (You have to have had something bad happen to you to go from worshipping life to studying death.) His gimmick was going to be that his Lifeberries are shaped like classic spiral lollipops and he makes comments like "come on, don't be a square. Everybody likes to take candy from a stranger." So he actually does still heal people, the aesthetic of it is just kind of creepy. The art I found at the time was of Heath Ledger in Joker makeup and Elizabethan clothing from a medieval comic book characters run but the original image in my head was basically just Batman: TAS Joker with longer and more greasy hair wearing chainmail under a long hooded cloak, ragged around the edges, smelling of death and its cheap purple dye leaching away in spots, with a heater shield in one hand and a staff topped with a small skull wearing a jester's cap in the other. Typing this out again, I think I would actually see if I could skin my minions like the nurses from Silent Hill rather than attempting to costume them as a failed troupe of entertainers. Another way of doing it could be as an Oathbreaker Paladin so you get that pro-undead aura.
If you're wanting to go for death knight flavour than sure, but I've taken my necromancer wizard from 1st to 17th levels and I literally just true polymophed my Simulacrums into a greater death dargon (unlimited zombies) and a death knight to wrangle any estranged undead Skelton's with their eldritch power feat.
I'd go with a Reborn or Fallen Aasimar Undead Warlock/Conquest Paladin. Probably 5+ levels of Warlock for Summon Undead, Summon Shadowspawn, and the Undying Servitude invocation (allowing a free cast of Animate Dead). Now, if we go with One D&D, I think there's another amazing option that opens up. If you convert Undead Warlock and Death Domain Cleric to the new system, then you can replace the Paladin levels with Cleric levels and use the One D&D version of Pact of the Blade to attack with Wisdom. Perhaps even bump up the Warlock level to 9th for the revised Lifedrinker invocation, or even forego multiclassing entirely and just go straight Warlock.
Shadar-kai, death domain cleric/ancestral guardian barbarian. (The order in which you layer that multiclass together is really up to you, but I'd prooooobably start cleric for the wisdom save.) If your DM will let you use spell slots to upcast a first-level spell from Magic Initiate, pick up Magic Initiate (Warlock) at some point for Armor of Agathys and a couple of cantrips that don't rely on your (probably pretty bad) charisma modifier; otherwise there are definitely better feats. Either way you get Spiritual Weapon and a ton of healing, utility, and ranged combat options on top of Animate Dead. This might be a build to keep in the back pocket for a higher-level one-shot, but I feel like it would be incredibly fun to play.
I like the idea, but it needs spells like Cloud of Daggers and Flaming Sphere in those 2nd level slots so you can abuse Grim Harvest. Dropping Vampiric Touch on the spell list would help that too
I just built a very similar build. Artificer 2, and the rest as a Necromancer. It’s a version of treantmonk’s dread necromancer build. Can’t wait to get my wizard up to lvl 6 so I can start really leaning into the necro side. Love this build.
My favorite frontliner necromancer is actually a Wolf Totem Barbarian 5/Lore Bard X so that we can give all of our zombies advantage on their attacks while rocking out on our axe.
I personally plan to reflavor steel defender as a Frankenstein's monster themed, humanoid with coils protruding out of the skin, partially replaced limbs with metallic ones (now that I type this, I get T-800 vibes out of it) and as a centerpiece of your horde, and your high ranking officer of the spooky skelly squad. Also pick scythe like heavy weapon like Battleaxe, Glaive, Halberd or Double-Bladed Scimitar
Rather than a bone boar, make a bone warhorse. Take Mounted Combat and really get into the 'knight' portion of the Death Knight. You can have a lot of fun riding down and knocking over your foes, then have the minions fill the role of foot soldiers and archers to support and mop up. Also as an Artificer you can make things like bags of holding. Guess what fits in a bag and doesn't need to breath?! Pocket Mummy Lord or Nightwalker anyone? For an alternate take on the death knight, hexblade with two levels of grave cleric. Weaponized Charisma, a free minion, and the ability to both curse a target with your hex and to put them on the Path to the Grave, doubling ALL damage they take until the end of your next turn. As you can still cast animate dead as a Warlock, this allows you to set up some serious beat downs, all while wearing Half-Plate and using a supernatural beatstick.
I actually just made a buying for a necromancer build myself that I get to phat starting at level 9 so admittedly I'm already starting deep into game. Start 1 level sorcerer for con save proficiency then go 6 levels hexblade warlock for accursed Spector, take the invocation that gives a free use of animate dead. And take the summon undead spell, I also took summon shadow spawn for cause this started as a build based of sung Jin woo from solo levelling manwha. Then take the next 5 levels in shadow sorcerer which gives you the shadow hound ability. I know it's not strictly undead but it flavor is free. I also took the one with shadows innvocation to turn invisible and the the undead run amok. And the rest of the build might go either warlock or rogue for sneak attack since I also took thirsting blade, eldrich smite with a pair of daggers for more solo levelling flair. Solid build with potentially 5 undead/summons at once plus your character actions.
I wanted to make a reaper type death knight (someone who follows the faith of Myrkul after he died) so I went with reborn race - oathbreaker paladin class + warlock the undead / tome. Heals, necromancies, and can take the look of a Reaper. I wished that I could have made Mage armor work but it's weaker than Heavy armour so had to stick with physical armor...
For this character I would roleplay blur as erratic movements like if the character is possesed, can move limbs in a way that would hurt a normal person
Im thinking a order domain cleric 1. A prison guard. At first buffing his allys with bless sanctuary letting them attack with their reaction. But then turn wizard and still buff with things like dragon breath but begin to take on the behavious of those he guarded against.
I made a build that is undead Warlock and conquest paladin. In the late game you'll become the nightmare to anything without fear immunity as you can trap them in your conquest aura well wielding a pact weapon and summoning a few undead, pair that with a great sword for 2d6 + smite + the 10 level ability to change the type to necrotic and add a d6 this paladin with 10/10 level split is a nightmare. Race is up to you, i went with aasimar (fallen) for the extra damage and initial fear aura. Also, warforge fighter necromancer with 25 ac at level 3 is great. For that build take either eldritch knight for extra spells or battle master for being the commander of an undead army
That's something like what I was thinking. You even have Armor of Agathys for ice flavoring and defense. That plus I think Pallys get spirit shroud too( for more dmg of either cold/necro)
@@nooneyouknowof it was. I slapped expeditious retreat for closing distance. Also, the paladin build inspired a death knight stat block if you're interested I can give a full run down
@@nooneyouknowof so I had heard that death knights are a little under whelming so I came up with a stat block with a bit of additional flavour. First drop the long sword and give the deathknight a greatsword but keep the AC at 20. Additional abilities: - cold damage immunity + environmental effects caused by arctic conditions that cause difficult terrain and reduce visibility don't effect them, the same applies to spells like sleet storm. - when summon dies from an attack or spell from the deathknight or their special summon (tormented skeletons) they will become an tormented skeletons after 1 min if they aren't revived or have something like spare the dying. - as reaction when they are hit by a melee attack they can spend a spell slot to force a strength check or lose rest of their actions, bonus actions, and movement. If they are on a mount they are dismounted - legendary actions. >They can summon a number of tormented skeletons equal to number of souls trapped in the sword. The souls can only be released if the sword is destroyed or a wish spell is casted. >Cast ray of frost >Can cast sleet storm but not as a spell - tormented skeletons have the same benefits in arctic and against spells like sleet storm as the deathknight. - tormented skeletons have a 5ft aura that forces a wisdom save or you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, additionally it also counts towards things like the paladin conquest aura (which the deathknight has) What do you think
This is by far my most favorite class in any fantasy game, but I am particularly fond of the implementations in Everquest in the form of the Shadowknight and the Vampire Counts in Warhammer. However, the only DnD game I play at the moment is BG3 and there it feels difficult to pull off without mods. Any ideas? And please don't say Paladin cause a shiny Paladin with 2 or 3 spooky spells added doesn't make a Shadowknight.
So, I actually used hexblade instead of warlock because it has access to magic stones meaning I can have three skeletons chuck 1d6+11 damage magic rocks at people which is very nice.
I went oathbreaker pally and undead warlock. Half orc. Started pally 3 warlock 6 get pally to 7 then finish rest with war lock. If knock to zero you get back up 3 times on one fight. Hateful aura is nasty is you get max straight and charisma plus 10 to damage without great weapon master.
To me Death Knight classic is Oathbreaker Paladin because of their control undead ability at 3rd level, but I like the flavor here with this version! Hexblade with their specter ability and Whispers of the Grave + Undying Servitude is a nice version too
just coming across this video and i love the concept! my question is would an oathbreaker paladin work in place of the artificer? i'm quite curious if this would also be a viable combo to have a similar outcome... thoughts?
are you not supposed to learn a school of magic at level 2 of wizard ? if so, you don't learn the necromancie school at level 4 but level 5 or is there something I don't understand ?
Sage I’m requesting your expertise lol, I’m playing a custom lineage alchemist 4 who can now level to 5, I want to deal good damage while also dealing a ton of elixirs, I know you can get like 16 with warlock being an elf but I can’t as I’m not an elf. So now I’m thinking sorcerer because with metamagic I can turn sorcerer points to slots, I want enough artificer levels for the 14th level infusions however. My strategy has been to use oil for an extra 5 fire when dealing fire and will stack with alchemical savant for a +10 to fire damage and with metamagic I can turn a lot of spells to fire damage, do you think sorcerer is the best for this character? I’ve thought scribes wizard as with artificer initiate I can turn my wizard spells to fire and still use alchemical savant, possibly turning magic missile at first level into 63 fire damage but that feels corny and I’ll run out of spells quickly. My dex is 16, and my int is 20 so my stats are pretty flexible. Also worth mentioning if I took 4 in sorcerer I’d be able to create 19 elixirs but my damage would definitely fall a little bit. Would I be better as a weapon user or a cantrip user? As artificers are usually support casters
Hey Jake, sorry for the late reply. I was vacationing but now I’m back in business. As with most alchemists that’s a tricky one. Going alchemist to at least 5 makes a lot of sense to me. You get a damage spike with your fire, acid, ect. Damage and second level spells. You can then throw powerful fire bolts and have your main fight winning spell be web or flaming sphere. Then support your allies in between. Now after 5 you have a lot of choices. For more elixers i think 2 warlock is still the most bang for your buck even without being an elf. Though I’d say investing in the elixers is like investing in first level spells which might not be the most bang for your buck. Still though, I might look at going celestial warlock to 6 for even more bonus fire damage and some healing which we can flavor as healing potions your making. This way you stumble on the extra elixers naturally. You can do something similar with draconic soul fire sorc but I think it’s a bit less optimal. Keep in mind though artificers have a great level 7 feature as well as 11 so you might be better off just sticking with them for the long haul. This was all assuming you had stats to spare cause if you don’t going straight artificer or dipping wizard is probably going to be the way to go. Finally, I’ve done a build called the battle chemist. Look it up. This is my favorite pure alchemist to date and if you can work it into your build I think you’ll enjoy it. Cheers mate
@@DnD_Daily so as far as the battle chemist goes, I’ve literally watched all your vids😂 I love your content as you like to focus on unique stuff which is what I love the most about builds even if there sub optimal. Hope your vacation was awesome man! My DM allows UA so I thought about sea sorcerer for the ability to thorn whip someone 25 feet the to telekinetic push for 30 feet of falling and knocked prone, I also am thinking about mutant bloodhunter for the increased int as mine is 20 so a 23 is a nice DC bump (note I have the all purpose tool for anoth +1 bump) I believe the mutagen increases just with level not bloodhunter levels so that’s nice, and my damage would increase as well. He has the telekinetic feat and the gift of the gem dragon so lots of force esc flavor
Wait wait wait, what do I see, A MELEE NECROMANCER build?! Is that my birthday present?
Blur could also be reflavored as your ghostly undead reborn nature and a reason why your enemies have a problem hitting you
Something I came up with for the Steel Defender that doesn't require reflavor is turning the armor of a dead knight into a steel defender, with the corpse still inside of course.
I've done this same build, but for me I went Astral elf as my idea for this build was trying make my perfect pirate captian of undeath, using my hoard to crew the ship.
I figured you were going for the "fallen" Oathbreaker Paladin. But I'm impressed with your solution. She's going to be my next NPC.
Was also looking for death knight by definition but wasn’t displeased with this flavor
If an undead horde is too annoying to use at your table, go for Tasha's Summon Undead spell instead. Its a necromancy spell, and two of the options (Ghostly and Putrid) make weapon attack rolls using your Int mod, so they will both benefit from the buff from Undead Thralls that lets you add your proficiency bonus to their damage.
I would also consider going for 5 levels in Battlesmith so you get Extra Attack giving your death knight stronger martial ability and a quicker ASI. Because you round up with an Artificer multiclass, you’ll still hit 9th-level spells before 20.
The optimal creature to grab with the Command undead is an Ancient White Dracolich, which keeps the stat block and CR as it had in life, which would be 20.👀 it has advantage against your save, but if you silvery barbs it after it’s out of LRs, (or team up with a Divination wizard for that sweet portent Nat20) then it shouldn’t be too hard.
What better way to scream undead necromancer lord than to come in on an undead dragon while your horde terrorizes the masses on foot.
Alternative flavor: artificer/wizard summoner = Doctor Frankenstein using technology and corpses to create monsters. Frost stuff becomes lightning
I made a Death Knight type build: Multiclass Undead Warlock and Oathbreaker Paladin. The Death Knight from the Monster Manual has spells that are from the paladin list and the Warlock Invocation _Devil's Sight_ gives you darkvision up to 120 feet like them. The Reborn subrace/lineage also gives you some nice features that align with the stat block.
Great vid! Interesting build. I especially liked how you used a little flavoring to completely shift the feel of the artificer dip back to necromancy. Once you start animating dead you'll probably use your bonus action to control them, preventing your defender from attacking too, but you can still send it next to the biggest melee threat and have it use it's reaction to impose disadvantage.
Made a very similar build a couple of weeks ago, but went warforged for race and armorer for the subclass. The gauntlet weapon allows for fun synergies where enemies have disadvantage on my undead minions, and I flavoured the animating spirits to be my warforged brethren that I've uploaded to share my body.
Encouraging to see someone else landed in the same vicinity :)
Doing a duo DM for a late game campaign that features the players going into the negative plane (really all the planes throughout the campaign) so the idea of this really appeals to me. Thank you for such a great character!
I like it. Guy who has natural talent for magic and for whatever reason is attempting to infuse magic into bones to animate them. Once he has this breakthrough he truly delvea into necromancy.
Rime's Binding Ice is another useful and flavorful 2nd level wizard spell.
Battle smith wirh any wizard is just *chef’s kiss*
While it’s less casty, it might be worth it to have a little more battle smith ((level 5)) to not only attack 2 times, but buff up boras the boney boi (love the name btw)
But a necro battle smith is always a good time imo!
Would'nt matter if you are melee attacking with cantrips, Artificer doesn't give the extra attack can use cantrip like bladesinger, etc.
This would also give you another ASI which is always nice though this class isn't that hungry for them compared to some.
This is a great build! I particularly like your suggestions for reflavoring eg Web being frost. I think for my necromancer I will flavor Hold Person as skeletal hands rising out of the ground, holding the target in place.
Fantastic build and love the flavor.
Amazing take. I hope you can do the equivalent of melee shaman or holy priest from WoW
My melee necromancer was 3 levels Echo Knight Fighter reflavored as a spamable ghost summons, the the rest of the levels in Ancestral Guardian Barbarian reflavored as additional ghost summons, then take the Sage background to seem like an intellectual and Ritual Caster feat to grab as many out of combat spells as you can manage.
With a single level dip in Life Cleric, instead of Artificer, Vampiric Touch becomes a much more viable spell, and keeps you at full slot progression and only 1 level lost in spell progression. The Remarkable Recovery and Vital Sacrifice feats would seem to be natural combinations with this, when available.
God, why is it that Everytime I had an idea, you’re always a step ahead of me…
This was my Frankenstein build
Great minds think alike
One honorable mention for an alternative undead minion for late game. A white dracolich of the ancient wyrm variety. Yes they are dumb as a brick, but that means they don't have much of a chance to pass the save required to resist becoming your new pet.
I like the haunted suit of armor idea for the defender, or like, and Iron Golem, a la the Diablo Necromancer.
The main big problem I see in this build is that your steel defender's hp is based on your artificer level and therefore it's impact reduces the further campaign goes.
I'd pick mountain dwarf and switch +2 strength to intelligence. Switch your initial weapon proficiency for short swords then grab 2 of them and put on a set of medium armour. That way you can go straight Necromancy wizard and receive powerful summons faster but you're still an armoured knight-like character.
Reborn + 1 level in death cleric then straight necromancy wizard works great as well. This combo has medium armour+ shields, martial weapons, you can target 2 creatures with your WIZARD necromancy cantrips. That's my favourite death knight build, I think.
maybe being an Armorer makes a bit more sense so beneath your filthy and ragged traveler's coat, stained with fouler things than blood and grave-earth, you can wear a cool skull-themed suit of plate armour powered by tubes which ceaselessly pump dark ichor and from which you breath escapes in ragged gasps
Going with Blur I feel like being a Witherbloom Student as background could be a good call, so you can potentially make a potion of Blur over the course of a couple of long rests as a downtime activity. Herbalism Kit and the crafting rules are basically the supported mechanic to be able to concentrate on two spells at once.
Magic Stone is a cantrip I have heard referenced for a small number of minions, though that is better for more of a backliner.
The armoured necromancer idea I had was that he was a Life Cleric when he was a younger man, but then he had "one bad day," so he talks like Mark Hamill Joker. (You have to have had something bad happen to you to go from worshipping life to studying death.) His gimmick was going to be that his Lifeberries are shaped like classic spiral lollipops and he makes comments like "come on, don't be a square. Everybody likes to take candy from a stranger." So he actually does still heal people, the aesthetic of it is just kind of creepy. The art I found at the time was of Heath Ledger in Joker makeup and Elizabethan clothing from a medieval comic book characters run but the original image in my head was basically just Batman: TAS Joker with longer and more greasy hair wearing chainmail under a long hooded cloak, ragged around the edges, smelling of death and its cheap purple dye leaching away in spots, with a heater shield in one hand and a staff topped with a small skull wearing a jester's cap in the other. Typing this out again, I think I would actually see if I could skin my minions like the nurses from Silent Hill rather than attempting to costume them as a failed troupe of entertainers.
Another way of doing it could be as an Oathbreaker Paladin so you get that pro-undead aura.
The only really Joker-flavoured cantrip he would have had would have been Shocking Grasp - i. e. the joy buzzer.
If you're wanting to go for death knight flavour than sure, but I've taken my necromancer wizard from 1st to 17th levels and I literally just true polymophed my Simulacrums into a greater death dargon (unlimited zombies) and a death knight to wrangle any estranged undead Skelton's with their eldritch power feat.
I'd go with a Reborn or Fallen Aasimar Undead Warlock/Conquest Paladin. Probably 5+ levels of Warlock for Summon Undead, Summon Shadowspawn, and the Undying Servitude invocation (allowing a free cast of Animate Dead).
Now, if we go with One D&D, I think there's another amazing option that opens up. If you convert Undead Warlock and Death Domain Cleric to the new system, then you can replace the Paladin levels with Cleric levels and use the One D&D version of Pact of the Blade to attack with Wisdom. Perhaps even bump up the Warlock level to 9th for the revised Lifedrinker invocation, or even forego multiclassing entirely and just go straight Warlock.
Shadar-kai, death domain cleric/ancestral guardian barbarian. (The order in which you layer that multiclass together is really up to you, but I'd prooooobably start cleric for the wisdom save.) If your DM will let you use spell slots to upcast a first-level spell from Magic Initiate, pick up Magic Initiate (Warlock) at some point for Armor of Agathys and a couple of cantrips that don't rely on your (probably pretty bad) charisma modifier; otherwise there are definitely better feats. Either way you get Spiritual Weapon and a ton of healing, utility, and ranged combat options on top of Animate Dead.
This might be a build to keep in the back pocket for a higher-level one-shot, but I feel like it would be incredibly fun to play.
I like the idea, but it needs spells like Cloud of Daggers and Flaming Sphere in those 2nd level slots so you can abuse Grim Harvest. Dropping Vampiric Touch on the spell list would help that too
I just built a very similar build. Artificer 2, and the rest as a Necromancer. It’s a version of treantmonk’s dread necromancer build. Can’t wait to get my wizard up to lvl 6 so I can start really leaning into the necro side.
Love this build.
In my oppinion: Warcraft 3 accurate Death Knight 7 Oathbreaker Paladin + 13 Undead Warlock
My favorite frontliner necromancer is actually a Wolf Totem Barbarian 5/Lore Bard X so that we can give all of our zombies advantage on their attacks while rocking out on our axe.
Love the reflavoreing
I personally plan to reflavor steel defender as a Frankenstein's monster themed, humanoid with coils protruding out of the skin, partially replaced limbs with metallic ones (now that I type this, I get T-800 vibes out of it) and as a centerpiece of your horde, and your high ranking officer of the spooky skelly squad. Also pick scythe like heavy weapon like Battleaxe, Glaive, Halberd or Double-Bladed Scimitar
My kind of character for a Ravenloft adventure.
Rather than a bone boar, make a bone warhorse. Take Mounted Combat and really get into the 'knight' portion of the Death Knight. You can have a lot of fun riding down and knocking over your foes, then have the minions fill the role of foot soldiers and archers to support and mop up. Also as an Artificer you can make things like bags of holding. Guess what fits in a bag and doesn't need to breath?! Pocket Mummy Lord or Nightwalker anyone?
For an alternate take on the death knight, hexblade with two levels of grave cleric. Weaponized Charisma, a free minion, and the ability to both curse a target with your hex and to put them on the Path to the Grave, doubling ALL damage they take until the end of your next turn. As you can still cast animate dead as a Warlock, this allows you to set up some serious beat downs, all while wearing Half-Plate and using a supernatural beatstick.
I thaught there was gonna be a death cleric at some point for that juicy channel divinity.
YOS this rocks! Here is a request for a battlefield archer!
I actually just made a buying for a necromancer build myself that I get to phat starting at level 9 so admittedly I'm already starting deep into game. Start 1 level sorcerer for con save proficiency then go 6 levels hexblade warlock for accursed Spector, take the invocation that gives a free use of animate dead. And take the summon undead spell, I also took summon shadow spawn for cause this started as a build based of sung Jin woo from solo levelling manwha. Then take the next 5 levels in shadow sorcerer which gives you the shadow hound ability. I know it's not strictly undead but it flavor is free. I also took the one with shadows innvocation to turn invisible and the the undead run amok. And the rest of the build might go either warlock or rogue for sneak attack since I also took thirsting blade, eldrich smite with a pair of daggers for more solo levelling flair. Solid build with potentially 5 undead/summons at once plus your character actions.
I wanted to make a reaper type death knight (someone who follows the faith of Myrkul after he died) so I went with reborn race - oathbreaker paladin class + warlock the undead / tome.
Heals, necromancies, and can take the look of a Reaper. I wished that I could have made Mage armor work but it's weaker than Heavy armour so had to stick with physical armor...
also adult white dracolich should be controllable if im not mistaken
For this character I would roleplay blur as erratic movements like if the character is possesed, can move limbs in a way that would hurt a normal person
Im thinking a order domain cleric 1. A prison guard. At first buffing his allys with bless sanctuary letting them attack with their reaction. But then turn wizard and still buff with things like dragon breath but begin to take on the behavious of those he guarded against.
I made a build that is undead Warlock and conquest paladin. In the late game you'll become the nightmare to anything without fear immunity as you can trap them in your conquest aura well wielding a pact weapon and summoning a few undead, pair that with a great sword for 2d6 + smite + the 10 level ability to change the type to necrotic and add a d6 this paladin with 10/10 level split is a nightmare.
Race is up to you, i went with aasimar (fallen) for the extra damage and initial fear aura.
Also, warforge fighter necromancer with 25 ac at level 3 is great. For that build take either eldritch knight for extra spells or battle master for being the commander of an undead army
That's something like what I was thinking. You even have Armor of Agathys for ice flavoring and defense. That plus I think Pallys get spirit shroud too( for more dmg of either cold/necro)
@@nooneyouknowof it was. I slapped expeditious retreat for closing distance. Also, the paladin build inspired a death knight stat block if you're interested I can give a full run down
@@sleepyspartan1367 Nice! Sure, I love to do theory/theme builds 😎
@@nooneyouknowof so I had heard that death knights are a little under whelming so I came up with a stat block with a bit of additional flavour.
First drop the long sword and give the deathknight a greatsword but keep the AC at 20.
Additional abilities:
- cold damage immunity + environmental effects caused by arctic conditions that cause difficult terrain and reduce visibility don't effect them, the same applies to spells like sleet storm.
- when summon dies from an attack or spell from the deathknight or their special summon (tormented skeletons) they will become an tormented skeletons after 1 min if they aren't revived or have something like spare the dying.
- as reaction when they are hit by a melee attack they can spend a spell slot to force a strength check or lose rest of their actions, bonus actions, and movement. If they are on a mount they are dismounted
- legendary actions.
>They can summon a number of tormented skeletons equal to number of souls trapped in the sword. The souls can only be released if the sword is destroyed or a wish spell is casted.
>Cast ray of frost
>Can cast sleet storm but not as a spell
- tormented skeletons have the same benefits in arctic and against spells like sleet storm as the deathknight.
- tormented skeletons have a 5ft aura that forces a wisdom save or you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, additionally it also counts towards things like the paladin conquest aura (which the deathknight has)
What do you think
@@sleepyspartan1367 That sounds badass! Were you thinking this as an npc monster then?
This is by far my most favorite class in any fantasy game, but I am particularly fond of the implementations in Everquest in the form of the Shadowknight and the Vampire Counts in Warhammer.
However, the only DnD game I play at the moment is BG3 and there it feels difficult to pull off without mods.
Any ideas?
And please don't say Paladin cause a shiny Paladin with 2 or 3 spooky spells added doesn't make a Shadowknight.
So, I actually used hexblade instead of warlock because it has access to magic stones meaning I can have three skeletons chuck 1d6+11 damage magic rocks at people which is very nice.
Im Scottish and can hear some similarities in Scots. Im guessing it has something to do with the north not being affected by the vowel shift as much
I went oathbreaker pally and undead warlock. Half orc. Started pally 3 warlock 6 get pally to 7 then finish rest with war lock. If knock to zero you get back up 3 times on one fight. Hateful aura is nasty is you get max straight and charisma plus 10 to damage without great weapon master.
To me Death Knight classic is Oathbreaker Paladin because of their control undead ability at 3rd level, but I like the flavor here with this version!
Hexblade with their specter ability and Whispers of the Grave + Undying Servitude is a nice version too
Oathbreaker/Hexblade to me
Especially if you chasing WoW lore
Recommendation for the Minion... Ancient White Dracolich.
Nooice. Very nice. Tho I always thought Reborn should be a template. 😅
☕️
hey that's me lol, love the videos
just coming across this video and i love the concept! my question is would an oathbreaker paladin work in place of the artificer? i'm quite curious if this would also be a viable combo to have a similar outcome... thoughts?
If you can't find a Nightwalker, could always try to get a Dracolich.
One issue with nightwalker is its aura.
What about a zombie beholder as your pet? (intelligence of 3)
My question doesn’t the defender and the horde use your bonus action wouldn’t that make one of them kinda redundant?
Solo Leveling in a nutshell.
I’ve tried several similar builds to this. They always work mechanically and in theory. They never work in gameplay and are SUPER disappointing.
Not so much a Death Knight build but I have made what I call a True Necromancer which is a 10/10 split between Necromancer Wizard and a Shadow Sorc
Let’s hear it
What's the build?
Is it a bad thing that when I think "Necromancy Artificer" I think of William Afton?
are you not supposed to learn a school of magic at level 2 of wizard ? if so, you don't learn the necromancie school at level 4 but level 5 or is there something I don't understand ?
I got a challenge for you how would you build a TRI sword users ?!?
Do you mean someone who wields three swords?
@@DnD_Daily exactly and no mouth holding, that's taken already
Got a build idea for you, where can I send it? It’s lengthy for comments.
business.dnddaily@gmail.com
7 oathbreaker and 13 necromancer
Where was this!?
Sage I’m requesting your expertise lol, I’m playing a custom lineage alchemist 4 who can now level to 5, I want to deal good damage while also dealing a ton of elixirs, I know you can get like 16 with warlock being an elf but I can’t as I’m not an elf. So now I’m thinking sorcerer because with metamagic I can turn sorcerer points to slots, I want enough artificer levels for the 14th level infusions however. My strategy has been to use oil for an extra 5 fire when dealing fire and will stack with alchemical savant for a +10 to fire damage and with metamagic I can turn a lot of spells to fire damage, do you think sorcerer is the best for this character? I’ve thought scribes wizard as with artificer initiate I can turn my wizard spells to fire and still use alchemical savant, possibly turning magic missile at first level into 63 fire damage but that feels corny and I’ll run out of spells quickly. My dex is 16, and my int is 20 so my stats are pretty flexible. Also worth mentioning if I took 4 in sorcerer I’d be able to create 19 elixirs but my damage would definitely fall a little bit. Would I be better as a weapon user or a cantrip user? As artificers are usually support casters
Hey Jake, sorry for the late reply. I was vacationing but now I’m back in business.
As with most alchemists that’s a tricky one.
Going alchemist to at least 5 makes a lot of sense to me. You get a damage spike with your fire, acid, ect. Damage and second level spells.
You can then throw powerful fire bolts and have your main fight winning spell be web or flaming sphere. Then support your allies in between.
Now after 5 you have a lot of choices. For more elixers i think 2 warlock is still the most bang for your buck even without being an elf.
Though I’d say investing in the elixers is like investing in first level spells which might not be the most bang for your buck.
Still though, I might look at going celestial warlock to 6 for even more bonus fire damage and some healing which we can flavor as healing potions your making. This way you stumble on the extra elixers naturally.
You can do something similar with draconic soul fire sorc but I think it’s a bit less optimal.
Keep in mind though artificers have a great level 7 feature as well as 11 so you might be better off just sticking with them for the long haul.
This was all assuming you had stats to spare cause if you don’t going straight artificer or dipping wizard is probably going to be the way to go.
Finally, I’ve done a build called the battle chemist. Look it up. This is my favorite pure alchemist to date and if you can work it into your build I think you’ll enjoy it.
Cheers mate
@@DnD_Daily so as far as the battle chemist goes, I’ve literally watched all your vids😂 I love your content as you like to focus on unique stuff which is what I love the most about builds even if there sub optimal. Hope your vacation was awesome man! My DM allows UA so I thought about sea sorcerer for the ability to thorn whip someone 25 feet the to telekinetic push for 30 feet of falling and knocked prone, I also am thinking about mutant bloodhunter for the increased int as mine is 20 so a 23 is a nice DC bump (note I have the all purpose tool for anoth +1 bump) I believe the mutagen increases just with level not bloodhunter levels so that’s nice, and my damage would increase as well. He has the telekinetic feat and the gift of the gem dragon so lots of force esc flavor
Dude, just make a oathbraker
uh first
cool
A melee character who skips extra attack.....
Where were you 18 months ago?
NVM. Not enough of 'knight' in the mix. Medium armour? Pff... More like death... squire...