A shadow is looming above my new YT channel: ruclips.net/channel/UCjZAhthhLSys4WaDZ9KvY7g I'm DMing for my D&D buddies, but we need help, so who better to ask for help than you?
Min/Max Munchking I think the Eldritch Knight is probably the strongest fighter subclass in the game, and if not it’s close. Just look how viable it continues to be if you play with no magic items or feats. It didn’t start out too crazy, but with every book or supplement released that contains new spell options for wizards, it gets buffed. Got the SCAG cantrips to synergize with warcaster feature at low levels. Elemental players companion gave absorb elements for more defense, but is actually able to take advantage of the extra elemental damage used with melee attacks on the next round. Got shadowblade that does reliable, scalable, magical, mostly Unresisted type of damage. Also situational built in advantage. Don’t need to waste time designating other targets with subsequent bonus actions either.
Yeah, I can't help but feel the same myself. Lack od spellslots does make it a bit more challenging in terms of resource management, but if you know what you're doing, it is uniquelly valuable in any party.
My favorite class archtype of D&D5, i don´t know why all the people underestimate this class, when look at it i allways see it strong and cool. I´m glad to find someone who appreciates it as much as me. Thank you Min/Max Munchking
I know you've been waiting for this one for far too long, so I'm sorry. Better late than never though. I'll resume with a more regular upload schedule from now on. Thanks for all the support!
You won't have enough hit points. You wouldn't be able to tank an epic monster doing 60 points per hit and have 5 or 6 hits coming at +17 or more. You would provide good melee support though
Hey, I love your content. I haven't seen anyone mention the synergy between the sentinel feat and and mirror image spell. If you have the sentinel feat each time a mirror image gets attacked instead of you, You then get an attack of opportunity. It is a realtively cool little way to get some extra bang for your buck plus mirror image doesn't take concentration.
I try to keep things short in these general overview videos. But you're right, that's an interesting interaction. It tends to not work every now and then on higher levels due to special senses (blindsight, truesight, tremorsense), but in theory, you can get a lot of reaction attacks over time from it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking if you have time for it, you could include things that make those things better indirectly. Insted of bigger bonus or advantage to roll, you'd include magical effects like invisibility, demiplane or time stop for ultimate thievery
That's really not too hard of a request. Play a half-elf Bard (start with CHA 15 -> 17 as half elf if you do standard array or point buy) with the Charlatan background to get deception/sleight of hand and the disguise kit and forgery kit. Choose deception as your expertise skill at level 3. Take the College of Eloquence for Silver Tongue feature that makes Charisma (deception) and (Persuasion) to be a reliable talent for low rolls (which boosts your minimum roll to 10 in those skills). At level 4, take the Actor feat to gain advantage in Deception for certain situations (Cha becomes 18). At level 8 take the Cha ASI boost to cap Cha at 20. Choose enchantment and illusion spells like suggestion and major image etc.
I think @Brian F. 's concept is great, but my go to for this would be : Changeling for the race ( for that +2 Charisma start + Proficiency in Deception built into the class + The ability to do a Perfect Version of Disguise Self ) Take your first level in rogue ( And get expertise in Deception & the Disguise kit - for extra outfits on the fly ). Then if you are using Unearthed arcana : you can do something really neat : you can grab the Theurgy Wizard which allows you to grab a Cleric Domain. Here we chose the Trickery Domain, which gives us access to a Perfect Duplicate with our Channel Arcana, and at 5th level you grab the Actor feat, giving you that advantage in Deception Checks when passing as someone else, which for a Changeling is often. Furthermore, for the few situations where the Actor feat doesn't work - you can also grab Enhance Ability - Adding to it eagle's splendor for Advantage on all Charisma Checks. If you don't accept Unearthed arcana - Just go trickery domain cleric. You still have access to all the spells you need to do this (sad to lose minor illusion though). With this build in mind, at 5th level, you will be able to transform into anyone you want, without using any illusory magic to do so. To add onto that, you will be able to create a perfect clone of yourself, meaning you can walk around pretending to be two guards. An even neater trick to this is that you can transform into someone -- clone yourself -- and then transform back. Meaning you can appear to be two completely different people at once. MVP Moment : Normally you can't have your clone walk anywhere you cannot see, but by using your "Familiar's" eyes you can "remote contorl it". AND with being able to cast spells through your Clone's Location (allowing a minor illusion) Letting you pretend to speak at from the Clone's location, you can trick a whole bunch of people, without even being in the fucking room. Crazy stuff. This is my favorite build.
First time finding one of your videos and I love this. I've really wanted to play a gish character with a Raven Queen/Shadowfell bent, but I'm not a huge fan of the Hexblade mechanics. This build is oozing character and feels unique, I'm definitely doing a version of this in my upcoming campaign.
Starting as a Hexblood or with the Fey Touched Feat give you an option for your first level spells by using Hex in a manner similar to Shadow Blade if you carry a spare rapier on you.
This is the first build I ever made in D&D. I still play him in 2 different games. I took Medium Armor Master or Shield Master, Warcaster and Prodigy feats. For flavor added War Wizard or Artificer. Utility tank :)
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Start with 7 EK for bonus action attack, then 5 Wizard for counterspell. But I believe Sentinel + Resilient feats would be better than what I picked. I tried more roleplay than min/maxing. On Adventure League I struggle to dish out damage when I am tanking (Prot. vs Evil or Good vs Shadow blade concentration). On home campaign with more refined build I am often the only one left standing :) This video will help me a lot! Thanks!
I love your channel and builds, but I especially love ones that aren't looking for loopholes or cheese. This is an absolute, 100% legit, single classed powerhouse and many people are quick to write off the fighter. With all the ASI's available for this class, I think a case can be made for choosing just about any race you'd like (but I love that level 1 feat as well). I'm surprised a headband of intellect wasn't in the recommended magic items.
I love your videos man, my friends hate you when i DM and take inspiration for humanoid enemies and they love you when im a player and use what ive learned from your builds to bully (all in good fun ofcourse) our second DM. Theres an npc enemy ive been holding onto for a while because i didnt know what to do with him and this vid gave me a great idea. I think im gonna take what your done here and adapt it to arcane trickster. Again thanks the vid man and dont feel bad about taking a while, theyre always worth the wait.
Ngl, the easiest way to challenge any party is to send a bunch of DMPCs against it. A lot of official monsters are just bags of hitpoints for players to beat up.
Here's an idea I had: I know you said you don't normally take items into account, but I thought of making a Hexblade Warlock centered around elemental weapons, such as the FlameTongue, and the 4th level spell, Elemental Bane. If you were to take the Dueling Fighting Style with a quick dip in Fighter, coupled with Hexblade's Curse and the Thirsting Blade invocation that's [2x('1d8+5+2sla'+4d6fire*+5nec)] with the possibility to crit on 19 or 20. Hexblades are scary...
I always get d ritual caster feat and immediately pick find familiar spell to exploit its help action and acts as my cuter mage hand, the 2nd ritual spell would either be detect magic(investigation setting), comprehend languages (alien lands setting), or unseen servant for lighting fires on settlements(bandits or goblins of course lol) . It also potentially adds more spell for roleplaying aspects without investing too much on other attribute scores (ie: dump stat charisma) and sacrificing EK spell slots.
Familiars die very easily at higher levels and only give you advantage on your first attack, so it's more of a non-combat resource (scouting/spying). In most cases, a full-caster party member has that one covered already, so I find EK best focusing on combat oriented spells. It depends on party composition though - I've played an EK who had Find Familiar learned, so I'm not saying it's a bad approach at all.
I don't find this particularly hard. However, making a concise, yet informative video is much, much harder because I like to ramble on and on about these topics heh.
The main thing behind making good builds is just knowing the rules well and knowing how different things interact in the game. It also helps to watch vids that cover this kind of thing. Eventually it will start to become almost accidental when you are building.
@@aldoushuxley5953 Lurker in the Deep Warlock, can't decide which Pact Boon to take. Blade is not as good if not Hexblade and takes up a lot of invocations to be on par with blastlocks. Though it might be good at certain levels. Chain offers utility, but the good familiar options don't fit the theme. Tome is not bad, but if there are better casters in the party, the character might be less useful. With multiclassing, I'm not sure which would go well but still fit the theme.
With god cha and eldritch invocation you at least are a good dps, I use lurker of the deep with chain pact and multiclass with beastmaster ranger. I asked to reflavour the familiar to mach the style of my patron, while the stats ramain the same.
I ended up with a VERY potent Fire Genasi Eldritch Knight, where my DM allowed me to use the the racial Fire Genasi feat that is available thanks to DnDBeyond as my starting feat(bless him for breaking us from the tyranny of variant humans). 20 STR, 20 INT and 16 CON wielding a Flame Tongue Greatsword.
Expanded Racial Feats? Fire Genasis got a solid one in that PDF, but I'm not a fan of some of the other ones. More options arealways good though, it's just sad that half of them are meh.
I’m playing a feylock rogue based on the magic stone spell, no EB invocations so I took misty visions to create obscurement at will. The magic stone counts as a weapon so can trigger sneak attack, and also sharp shooter and bonus action offhand throw potentially triggering hex.
role playing as a Thor in my current campaign using this class when the DM finally gave you hammer of thunderbolt (along with belt of giant strength and gauntlets of ogre power) it's really fun! throw hammer > hammer does thunderbolt > weapon bond > hammer goes back and also learn every lightning typed spell if possible
Sound like fun. Yeah, magic items throw a wrench into so many purely character customization concepts. You go for one thing, but a cool magic item suddenly makes you into something completely different.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking usually the party has a wizard or a sorcerer that makes the spells better, they are really good ac tanks but barbarians can be better, most players ive dm'd for prefer battle master or champion i find
Yeah, my accent fails me horribly at times. Whenever I don't focus on proper pronunciation as much, I happen to have those odd moments where things don't sound at all like I want them to sound.
Still works that way though funny enough. People with autism tend to be more perceptive to visual and audio stimulus over all. (I have both a friend and nephew who are on the higher end of the spectrum.)
Honestly for an Eldritch Knight, even just taking 2 levels into Bladesinger on DEX character makes you significantly harder to hit and your Haste or what have you isn't going away anytime soon.
Yeah, if you wanna grab some Wizard levels, War Mage is better overall because you can still wear shield + med armor while also being better at saving throws.
I am a firm believer in the eldritch knight wizard multiclass. fighter 3, then wizard 17, due to a much wider array of spells, as well as being able to cast 6th tier and higher magic, the multiclass will quickly outscale a pure eldritch knight build, while still boasting it's strongest strengths. Earlier shadow blade, and generally better class features, with the exception of the EK's war magic because that's actually decent sustain damage, regardless of wizard school. though evocation is a personal favorite, dropping a fireball on everything but weaving it around your allies, beautiful. I always take elemental adept fire, since there are more useful fire than thunder spells and ignoring resistance is strong.
It would be allot better if it worked mechanically like the magus from pathfinder 1e. They start off with light armor and unlock medium and heavy after a few levels. They can also enter "spell combat" allowing them to deliver spells via weapon attack in exchange for a small hit penalty. They also max out at 6th level spells (5th for some variants that use 2handed weapons or shields)
@Diane Haynes just so you know your comment was in the spam folder. I have 0 clue why. RUclips's been deleting mine and other people's comments in droves lately, their censor-bots are running rampant and out of control. Frankly, I'm just pissed off and frustrated at this point, you can't even have a discussion here any more without half of the stuff just randomly disappearing.
To be fair, there are a lot of people that don't fully understand what Eldritch knight does. You aren't a caster, so don't pretend you are. You are fighter with magical utility. As long as you remember that you are only a 1/3rd caster and don't pretend you aren't then Eldritch knight is a strong choice.
Sorry for the bad English . You can do more damage and be more mobile in the long run if you pick eladrin as your race, with tasha +2 DEX(17 total) and + CON(16 total). Level 4 war caster, 6 elven accuracy, 8 max dex. Misty step on a short rest(or equal your proficiency bonus per long rest MPMM). Multiclass level 9 to twilight cleric and give darkvision to anyone without it, now you always have advantage in a dungeon. If you keep twilight cleric(and you should), eventually you will be able to cast spirit guardians, bonus action flight and be very close to the perfect sticky tank.
Booming Blade requires a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp to cast: it doesn't synergize with Shadow Blade. So you would need to have a side weapon to make that work.
ruclips.net/video/PjU0Cj_OXWY/видео.html even Crawford has said, multiple times, that the change was NOT INTENDED to invalidate BB/GFB + Shadow Blade combo. Besides, every spell effect, including Shadow Blade has value way more than 1 silver piece. So, no, as far as I'm concerned, this character will continue casting Booming Blade with Shadow Blade until the end of times.
I actually started making a similar character (if by similar I mean and Eldritch Knight aiming for Shadow Blade) but I went Elf so that I had darkvision as a racial and didn't need to rely on a spell/magic item for the dim light/darkness viability.
Yeah, I thought about that too and it's a perfectly valid reason. However, I wanted that one extra feat on this character, so I went with V Human. Pros and cons, as always.
I made a similar build, a couple of notes: If you roll high stats you can use a high elf. Wisdom saving throws are common but not nearly as much as dexterity so taking resilient in dex will make you almost impossible to be hit by AOE especially when combined with shield Master.
Failing a DEX save and taking damage is manageable. Failing a WIS save and getting confused, charmed, frightened, paralyzed etc not so much. I value WIS over DEX. I don't do rolled stats, only PB, much more consistent and reliable.
The dealbreaker with this build is it is a super strong build if your DM doesn't allow feat !!!!! For shorter campaign war mage deap could be a cool option too if the campaign stop lv10. EK8 for shadow blade and 2lv of wizard for more utility spell and the arcane deflection feature. You'll still have the neat 20 dex. It also add more initiative to the build. Beware the lv11 feature of warrior is too good to pass. Also I don't kniw if its possible but if you can remplace the 4th EK spell slot with a 2nd lv spell you can go EK7 War mage 3. You'll have less dex BUT you could upcast shadow blade at lv3 to deal 3d8 dmg instead of 2d8 AND have access to all lv2 spell like mirror image.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Yeah I know, but Baldur Gates 3 doesn't seems to have feat =p I updated my com for shorter campaign. What do you though of it ?
IMHO 4 LvL EK -> 4 LvL DS Sorc. Final build 9 EK 11 DS Sorc or 8 EK 11 Ds Sorc 1 Hexblade. Build around shadowblade and metamagic, i think it will be a more versatile build, i mean metamagic is always fun and good. Anyway i really like your channel, keep up the good work and give us the spicy minmaxed build that all we want to play and role, to show those who call us "powerplayer" that minmaxer can also roleplay ! ;)
IMO you need at least Fighter 11, that Extra Attack really compensates for the lack of 1d8's on your Shadow Blade. With any full caster class on top, Shadow Blade does deal more damage per hit cuz you can upcast it at spellslot level 5 or maybe even 7, but you ultimately end up dealing just a weeny bit more damage around character lvl15, having less HP and you don't get that 2nd action surge at lvl18, which hurts your damage output in the second round, not to mention the lack of 4th attack at level 20. Sorc's Quickened Booming Blade does give a nice bump, but in practice, you activate your Shadow Blade on your first round anyway and in that case, it's better to just go Paladin for those juicy Divine Smites instead. Way less MAD, more spellslots overall and they complement each other much, much better as both of them are CHA casters. A lot of War Wizard or Bladesinger levels on EK make some sense for a more hybrid build, but when I put everything on paper, you just don't get enough benefits to justify losing out on Fighter's Tier 4 goodies, at least not in my opinion. More and higher level spells offer more versatility, true, but I often find it hard to justify not going fullsend full-caster instead, instead of half-assing your way through with a martial multiclass which significantly slows down your spellcasting progression. I'm aware people have different experiences and viewpoints, which is part of the reason why these mental exercises are very fun at times. 🤓
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking y you lose some damage for some utility, that's why i said it's more versatile, you lose a bit of damage for some good anti tpk tools, some heal and some buffs. That's just some personal preference, i tend to prefer utility over raw dpr, and for me 8 EK/11DS/1HEX is a nice twist to one of your build "the blaster support" but more martial :)
A lot of love for Genasis lately in the comment sections of my videos. They are intrinsically cool. I never played one, but I'm probably about to fix that soon, I joined a new online server about a month or 2 ago and am considering trying out the elemental folks.
Have you considered making BBEG templates for these characters as well for DM's? I am not one to typically run games, but these could make some really great NPCs, either friendly or hostile!
I might. I genuinely dislike average damage calculations overall because you're not guaranteed anything with so few d20 attack rolls (even with advantage or "super advantage" via Elven Accuracy)
Magic initiate with warlockspells (Armor of Aghastis, Eldritch blast and another of your choice, preferable lighting lure) The AoA spell gives you more health, and the retributive damage realy early on while the EB and LL give you a range option and Battlefieldcontrol. Apart from that. Use the magic gloves from ravnica that allow you to cast 2 cantrips.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Well first with a variant human you can take Magic initiate right from the start giving you powers asap. AoA is one lvl 1 spell it works much like Fireshield but gives you flat retributive damage, does not need concentration, works for an hour and buffs you with temp health. While its worthwhile early on it would scale better with a full caster. With the War-magic ability you can attack after doing the cantrip so having a few different ones is OK in my mind. Yes you might need to restat a bit. Booming blade is a good choice on itself but i things with Eldritch blast and Ligninglure you get versatility though the later is on the wiz spellist so you can choose something more usefull. The EB gives you range you normaly dont have and the force damage is, like psychic damage one of the least resisted. And for that item: Bracers of the Illusionist can let you use Boomingblade a second time in one round.
Too much MADness with that and Illusionist Bracers are only good between lvl 7 and 12 and that's starting from Round #2, because in Round#1 you need a bonus action to cast Shadow Blade. On level 13, you have your 3rd attack and 3rd level slots, so you deal 9d8+12 with your Attack action vs. 10d8+8 with 2xBooming Blade. Yeah, if the enemy moves away that's 3d8 extra damage, but that's a big if, especially because you might want to use a bonus action for Misty Step, Second Wind or even casting Shadow Blade again after losing it due to an unlucky Concentration saving throw faill. Also 3 attacks are always better than 2 attacks. So, that item will be useless to you ~50% of the time, you simply won't have that bonus action.
Your builds are really cool and powerful but I have been looking for some sort of lich or demigod-like wizard build or something along those lines. I don't really know how you would go about it but I thought it would be really cool to have a build that emphasized the power of magic with 9th level spells but was as optimized and min/maxed as the other builds you do on this channel and not just a regular wizard who can't even participate in the killing of a tarrasque because of the tarrasque's immunity to spells like magic missile. In other words I am requesting a build like your ultimate assassin build (who could single-handedly take down the tarrasque) but a full spell-caster version of that. If it'd be easier I'd be fine with a quick pdf or something giving a quick overview of what such a build would look like. If you could do this it would be much appreciated. PS. Despite not being one of the bigger d&d youtubers I still think your d&d videos have as much quality if not more than many of them. Thanks for the awesome content!
Honestly, without even thinking about Wish spell, level 17 Wizards+ with True Polymorph/Shapechange are not force multipliers, but force maximizers of highest order. I played an 18th level Bard with Maze spell (Magical Secrets) and we were fighting a re-skinned Tarrasque. I just sent it to a labyrinth for a 10 minute cooldown while the party chugged potions and cast healing spells, bringing everyone up to full HP after the Tarrasque damaged us a lot (it was a very small confined space, we couldn't really kite that well). Thanks for the compliment by the way, I'm trying to improve my editing lately and objectively, these new videos are of higher quality than older ones.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking I hadn't thought about spells like True Polymorph and I'll have to keep that in mind when I make my next spellcaster. In the meantime I am trying to decide between the two dunamancy arcane traditions (graviturgy and chronurgy). In your proffessional opinion which one has higher possibility for damage output? Also which race would you recommend for a dunamancer character (if any)?
Wizards deal damage with spells, not class features. Unless of course you're an Evocation or War Wizard for example, whose features allow them to deal more damage with their spells. Even then, you're still highly dependent on spells to deal damage. It's a nerd mage class, it needs magic for everything.
Now they have the undead patron warlock, which gives a few lich-like abilities and immunities. Maybe mix it with a Shadow sorcerer and metamagic those necro spells 😎
I have yet to give the EK/Bladesinger a try. I've played pure EK and pure Bladesinger, never multiclassed. It does make a lot of sense to switch over to Wizard at some point.
Min/Max Munchking i got another non-unearthed idea for you. the wrestle-mania aarocokra, his main form of attack is grappling his foes lifting them into the air and killing them with fall damage. i found it online and the guy got the idea from rouges cunning action allowing them to be able to take the dash action as a bonus action to get back down
Lol, been working on a UA grappler for a while, I'm actually playing one right now in a Westmarches server. Aarakocra doesn't strike me as beefy enough though.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking but he can fly, fall damage is 1d6 for every 10 ft + maybe bonus damage for being thrown, and there is no save vrs fall damage. if your really against Aarakocra then a flying type tiefling should also work
I just started my 3rd campaign as a player and I'm planning to make my Zariel tiefling (they get smite spells at lvl 3 and 5) an eldrich knight next level up. The plan so far: Lvl 1: Zariel tiefling, great sword, great weapon fighting. Level 3: Searing smite from infernal legacy, booming blade, green flame blade, shield, absorb elements, feather fall. Level 4: Flames of phlagethos rounds up intelligence and boosts searing smite and Green flame blade. Hellish rebuke at this levels spell. Level 6: Great weapon master. Level 7: Darkness spell Level 8: Eldrich adept feat to grab the devils sight fest to be an asshole with the darkness spell. Misty step as the level 8 spell. I'll be impressed if the campaign goes past lvl 8 but I'd need ideas after level 9.
I would never personally use Darkness as a melee character, it would cause too many problems for the rest of the party. I know it's part of the game, but it causes more harm than good. For me, Darkness is only viable on characters who rely on ranged weapons and spells to attack.
Why would you take Sentinel tho, it's anti-synergistic with booming blade. An opportunity attack on move with Booming Blade will automatically deal its secondary damage if you don't take Sentinel, which at level 17 is 4d8 extra damage. It also combos with Dissonant Whispers if someone in the party can use it, which will always trigger said attack of opportunity
By RAW, the enemy continues moving away PHB p169, Sentinel "...When you hit a creature with an *opportunity attack* , the creature's speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn..." PHB p170, War Caster "...When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to *cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack* ..." Sentinel + War Caster combo against creatures that use Disengage action or simply move away from you allows you to use your reaction to cast a spell instead of making an opportunity attack. And that means the enemy still continues moving, taking full damage from Booming Blade. The melee weapon attack you make as part of casting Booming Blade is a spell effect, not an opportunity attack. Not to mention you also get the option to use your reaction to attack an enemy that attacks your ally. So you have 2 reaction options, 3 if you consider that you can choose to NOT use Booming Blade and simply use ordinary Attack of Opportunity to prevent a creature from moving away. There's no reason NOT to take Sentinel, it's 100% benefit, 0% drawback. Now, a lot of DM's homerule this interaction in a way that you CAN use Booming Blade for extra damage on hit and reduce creature's movespeed to 0. That's up to DM to decide, but even with pure RAW, you got enough options already.
Can you do a build guide for the college of swords bard? They have a ton of potential being full casters who can bump their ac with bardic inspiration, potential turning them into ac tanks of you build them right and if you choose the right spells for arcane secrets like smite and shadow blade, you can do insane damage
ruclips.net/video/TZPPKj3AwAY/видео.html I know, too long. I'll do an update, I played this character online all the way to level 20 and made some quite important changes along the way. No ETA yet, but soon, it's on my list and I already know what I wanna do with it.
Not sure if the wording changed recently for booming blade, but I believe it requires a material component for the melee weapon to be worth 1 sp. So booming blade will unfortunately not work with shadow blade :(
I'm playing a strength based eldritch knight. Currently trying to figure out which provides the most (reliable) damage output. Great weapon master vs fey-touched with huntersmark
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking with Warcaster, shield, and absorb elements, you should have plenty of reactions, but if you would like sentinel, I'd swap the Int bump, and hope you find an alternative way to increase INT, such as a headband of intellect.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Its a good build. The extra hit points and action surge can crank out more damage than the SorLock of the Blade build. And there's no reason to abandon Shadow Blade because its just so good.
I have actually played this but instead of a human I used a shadarkai (more thematic with the shadow blade but also because I took Elven accuracy as a feet)
Been thinking about going the Elf route while I was deciding how to make this character, primarily for that darkvision and Elven Accuracy. I may make an update to this video, it's a valid point and makes sense
Hey man, great video as always, very entertaining. My personal thoughts on EK is that it is kind of lacking. It feels a bit clunky to me. After a good bit of theory crafting, i also came up with using a shadow blade as the primary damage, but instead of going EK to 20 I prefer to go for Bladesinger or War Magic wizard after EK 8, maybe EK 9 or even 7. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the multiclass if you have a chance!
I'll touch on it in the detailed build breakdown. There are many ways about it, I just personally find high level EK's very potent combat equalizers. They aren't flashy as some other characters, but you can depend on them to pull their and often times other characters' weights in almost any situation. SCAG cantrips and XGE spells really made it into a very solid subclass. Before that, I could've gotten behind an argument that it is lacking. But, in my opinion, that's not the case any more.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking if a class relies on its spells to keep it from being lacking then would It not make sense to use a class or subclass that already out performs EK as a base and throw the same spells on top?
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Thanks for the reply! I agree that this EK build can definitely hold its own and could outperform many other classes due to the sheer force it brings to the table. Tankiness, damage, consistency, and a bit of utility. I feel that its lacking because of the ridiculously slow spell progression provided by EK as a 1/3rd caster. You only really need to hit your second level spells and get the War Magic feature for the build to come online, which both happen around level 8, but I think its after that point that EK could benefit from a Wizard MC. I like the Wizard MC after EK 7/8/9 because it boosts your spell slots very quickly and adds a wider variety to your repertoire. One of the biggest downsides of the EK is the lack of variety outside of beating face and the lack of spell slots to keep your shadow blade, shield, and absorb elements spells going. In the end EK performs well enough on its own after you get shadow blade because it is a fighter after all and gets three attacks at 11, the cute little blink at 15, and the fourth attack a bit later. These things synergize very well with the shadow blade, so agree that it works well as is, but my personal tastes make me lean towards that wizard MC. The Bladesinger and EK MC isn't quite as martially adept as the straight EK, mainly due to not getting the 3 and 4 attacks per round, but you get higher leveled and more spell slots than a pure EK could ever dream of. I suppose the two builds would function significantly differently, and utility is a bit harder to quantify than pure numbers. Anyway, I'd love to see a detailed build for an EK Bladesinger multiclass should you find it interesting. And if not, no worries, I'm looking forward to seeing more builds from you in the future!
Full-casters are fundamentally different than martials, it's a different role. I made a single-class Bladesinger video already, I think it lends itself very nicely to a spell-slinger than can engage in melee if it absolutely has to. Meshing the two together is only good if you dip in one or another and only if you know you'll never get to Tier 4 (most campaign never do, admittedly)
the best of this build is the psiquic damage, my master use enemies with resist to fisical damage and i got no problem destroying anything he puts in front of me, im playing a draconic so im running it with strengt, but i'm talking to my master to change it to dex with the tasha custom stats
Yes, they want to play a Fighter that has just enough spells to make things a bit more interesting. Apparently all 35,000+ of them are interested in something like that, and still counting.
How do you think this character compares to an EK 12/War Wizard 8? I think I like this multiclass a little better. You go the EK 8 before adding WW 2. Then go EK 12 and finish WW. Yes, at level 20 you'll be down one attack per round, but you'll have so many more spell slots, and if the DM asks "does a 21 hit you?" you know whether to cast shield or use Arcane Deflection (WW2) to avoid being hit (also, that +4 on a save is no joke, especially when you can reroll a save with Indomitable (FTR 9). The added spells and rituals will help the versatility even more, plus you get more levels to use War Magic (EK7), since it will probably be optimal to cast BB/GFB and make an attack for 2 levels longer, since this ability loses some juice at EK11. The added bonus to initiative is just icing on the cake.
That part about "does 21 hit you" is iffy. At my tables, the DM just says "hit" or "miss", he never discloses the number. Overall, War and Bladesinger are the only 2 Wizards I'd multi with EK, there are a lot of synergies.
Yes and no. I'm just editing the Word file again for gods know what time in a row, with some multiclass combos for more Tier 3 damage, but level 20, single-class Fighter all the way. I'll most likely talk about this in a detailed build breakdown video, so stay tuned.
TBH, I really don't understand an idea even to speak about 14+ lvl of builds, because most of the games are somewhere between 3 and 12 lvl. And lvl 20 calc? I dunno. So, all said, I really like what you are doing, but strongly recommend to move to late 1, mid 2 and early 3 tier character building. So it'll make them playable.
I've made several specifically low-level characters on this channel. On the flipside, I've played, I've DMed and I've talked to a fair few people who actually got to play level 20 characters. Level 20 one-shots are a thing too. It's out there, it's a minority, but it's in the double-digit percentage.
Because here's what I noticed, I make a level 7 character or whatever and I get 7 comments in the first day "Oh can this be made to go to level 17" or whatever. And then I make these lvl20 characters and I get people who complain they never play anything above lvl5. That's why I usually try to go for characters that get everything they need somewhere in tier 2 progression (lvl5-10) and then if you are lucky to have a foolish DM willing to host sessions for lvl15+ characters, you can still use most of my characters at some point without sacrificing too much at lower levels. It's the compromise I sort of have to take because table-to-table differences are too big to cater to any specific group or playstyle out there.
IMHO, EK isn't better than doing the same thing but with Rogue Trickster which even gets shadow blade at 7th (enchantment, illusions spells at any level) and can deal sneak attack + bb or gfb + shadow blade. If ravnica is at table... Illusionary Bracers is the item to go for... cast the same cantrip you just cast as bonus action (assuming your dm is generous enough or you can buy items). Multiclass options could be 2 levels dip in wizard bladesinger or fighter (action surge). 18 levels i rogue is worthy. The problem of EK is, you could be doing way more damage if you re min/max a fighter as BM. Casting BB and GFB soon becomes obsolete cause of extra attacks. -5 to hit isn't a big penalty as there many ways you can mitigate this, specially with magic items, bounded acc and superiority dies... Ah and full casters have a better shadow blade build. Sorcs can twin spell BB and make use of higher damages since you can cast at 7th spell slot and deal BB + SB + BB + SB (twinned). Again, you can use Illusionary Bracers to cast BB again with shadow blade twinned. Nice huh... so, EK is the worst EK of all possible EKs for Min/maxing purposes. Rogue arcane trickster is better, Sorc is a god and BM figher is still the best damage dealer of all fighters sublcasses released so far.
Battle Masters are very good, but their damage is overrated, even with feats. I've played and seen enough to know they're much more effective as controllers than trying to squeeze more DPR. Arcane Trickster isn't a better damage dealer, Sneak Attack isn't compensating for the lack of Extra Attack, especially at higher levels where more smaller attacks > one big attack. Besides, all of those examples are heavily gear dependent, which is an exception. Most DM's won't just give those items to you. If yours do, that's awesome, but for most people, me included, that's not even close to reality. -5 to hit will make you less effective overall, no question about it. Will you hit everything in 1 combat and deal bajillion damage? Yeah. But, you'll also have plenty of combats where you will be doing 0 damage for 2 3 rounds straight, or just basic weapon damage after you burn through all your superiority dice. I've seen it played out in practice way too many times. You can make EK just as broken with items, if not more. People sleep on the fact they have the most versatile damage mitigation capabilities of all Fighters, which is a shame.
I really like this build! Is there anyway to fit ritual casting feat into this? Asking because my party is typically 2-3 people and just trying to give myself some flexibility in the party.
Yeah, just take it instead of Medium Armor Master. I like 20+ ACs, but it's not the be all end all of capable characters, especially if combat isn't as prevalent at your tables.
On that damage calculation chart, why isn't the AoO from Warcaster with booming blade also taking into account the weapon damage from the attack and the initial trigger of booming blade (3d8 on hit and 4d8 on moving)?
I always wondered why people say I should take booming blade and sentinel, it seems counterintuitive to me to use a cantrip that does more damage when someone moves and then stop them from moving. I’m just wondering if someone here could explain this to me as it would seem green flame blade would be better for a sentinel build as even though you’re still not guaranteed the bonus damage there is still a better chance than with booming blade.
Sentinel triggers Attack of Opportunity you would otherwise not get, because if the enemy Disengages and tries to run away, you don't get a reaction attack. Green Flame Blade deals fire damage, which is a much more resisted/immune to damage type than thunder. You don't really care about the extra movement damage, because you want to prevent the enemy from running away more than deal as much damage as possible. Also, sometimes you will get just basic Attack of Opportunity that triggers because the enemy moves away from you without using the Disengage action, in which case Booming Blade movement damage will trigger as well as the monster keeps moving away. But Sentinel is most reliable for those situations when you're right next to the enemy and that enemy attacks your ally instead of you, because hitting your 25+ AC is much more difficult than hitting a Barbarian with an AC of 14-16. You then just punish it with your reaction and deal more damage that way.
How would rolling up a Simic Hybrid (Manta/Carapace/+1 Int), War Magic Wizard/Eldritch Knight Fighter (Resilient: Dex/Con, Medium Armor Master, Int ASI) compare to this build? I prefer the extra AC and magical capability but i wonder if it is as viable as this build.
More slots early on, higher AC and 3D mobility, but delayed martial progression. If you don't care about damage, it would work OK, but I think Fighter-oriented builds are best when you don't actually multiclass them, because Fighters are usually filling that role of reliable damage dealers that can soak some damag and not shit their pants in the process. Otherwise, I usually use them as 2/3 level dips and main-class into something else.
Could you help me figure out the best illusionist style char to make? I'm working on a changeling who uses illusions to help sell the person hes pretending to be. I was debating multiclass into either warlock/artificer/or rogue. But not sure what works best for making the changeling a supreme spy and decent damage the best. If anyone has any ideas please let me know
Depends on how you wanna implement the illusions. Illusionist Wizard is the best for giving typically up-to-DM's-interpretation illusions a more mechanically defined refinement, but still, you're largely at the mercy of a DM willing to entertain the possibility of monsters and NPCs being fooled by them. I find illusions to be the most potent spells in the game, but sometimes, under some DMs, they're just a waste of an action and a spellslot.
...how? are you bad enough that you constantly die? DM only runs short campaigns? i played for 6 months and we are at lvl 8 started from lvl 1 in a preset campaign
Master Reaper I think it’s a combination of both 😂😂😂 usually short campaigns because half the people either drop or some other bs But recently I dm half the time so there goes my chance 😭
Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just take mage armor for 13+5(shield) over 15+3 and spend both a whole feat and 750 gold? Heck, use the feat to take Fighting adept and be better at both defense and attack thanks to the second fighting style.
You're giving up too many AC points with Mage Armor and you also have 1 less spellslot every day. 750 gold is pocket change in the long run, gold is usually not a problem at all Not cost effective at all.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking with feat, isn't half plate 18? 15+3. Mage armor is 13+ 5 with dex and every extra dex asi is one extra damage per hit. As for slot usage, You can take magic initiate for mage armor+ 2 extra cantrips you wouldn't get with medium armor master. As for money, it varies by campaign. I've been in campaigns where nobody except the bard had more than a handful of gold or silver each and what there was would be used for components for more expensive spells.
So, proficiency in Con, plus a Con of +3, plus advantage on concentration checks? Dang, that means you roll a 15 on average, up to 21 average depending of stat allocations later on, maxing out at 31, meaning you can take a hit as high as 60 and still maintain concentration. Sheesh.
Yeah. Maxing CON instead of bumping INT to 16/18 is totally valid for those reasons and more HP, but imo, you can manage with 16 CON in exchange for better INT.
Counterspell enemy's Counterspell/Dispel? You likely won't have to, unless you are the only caster in the entire party. The DM's gonna save those spell killers for your Clerics and Bards and Wizards.
Sorry if this was already commented but under the section of replacing spells you can replace the any school spell you got a third correct? Meaning 7th level to gain shadow blade? Not much of a improvement but 1 level is 1 level
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Frankly their spell progression is so slow that i feel bad to solo class EK. Lvl4 spells fall short in T4 and you only get one slot.
@@dandini0698 I've seen and played several EKs, they're better than most people think. The older the game gets, the better they become, because they borrow directly off of Wizard's list of spells.
So I understand that the build is to revolve around max lvl fighter to get the 4 attacks. But most campaigns don’t see 20th lvl, so could a fighter X/ wizard 3 work? Because 3rd lvl wizards get 2nd lvl spells and that would in theory get this build online, in regards to shadow blade, at lvl 4. Just curious on your thoughts
Great video once again, thanks for the idea! Got a question, how are you gonna go about using Ruby of the War Mage if the plan is to use Shadow Blade along with a shield? Unless I misunderstood something( have never played the class, sorry).
Would multiclassing 3 levels of sorcerer after starting 1 level fighter be a faster way to pick up shadow blade? Plus an additional 4 cantrips and 4 spells that don't need to contend with that troublesome type limitations.
Yeah but you don't get Extra Attack and even if you Quicken Booming Blade on round #2, you're losing on so much consistent damage output it's not worth it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking I just realized my idea of shadow blade + see through darkness doesn't work due to concentration. what do you think of a 3 level dip in warlock?
@@mileslugo6430 Same thing, you postpone your martial progression and your spellslot levels are all out of whack, so you deal way less damage. If you want the Devil's Sight invocation and be a martial, just solo-class Hexblade.
Hehe, everything can be countered. I'm getting way too many of these "this is my next villain" comments lately. I think I inadvertently caused a lot of TPKs and deaths with some of my character builds XD.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking depends on the level. I mean early game this dude is not about to kill a raging bear totem barbarian lol and late game its not gonna solo kill a raging zealot barb. party composition is important
This one is rather tame compared to most of my other stuff. Wait for one of my next builds though, I got a special treat for you folks who like to see 5e stretched to its limits :)
This one if you have a party full of supports and squishy d6 hit die casters. Bladesinger if your party is full of Barbs, Paladins, Fighters... Depends on the party composition.
no, only elemental damage. So it's not a catch-all solution, you will suffer against Mindflayers just as much as the rest of the party, but elemental damage types (fire, cold, lightning etc...) are very common very early into your leveling progression, so the higher you go, the more situations you find yourself casting that Absorb Elements to mitigate big chunks of damage coming your way.
Do you ever update older builds to take advantage of newer source material that might make a build even better? This one really interests me but was curious if any of the new books wouldn't make it even better.
I was aiming to start dumping a bunch of updates last month, but I got carried away by non-YT stuff. I'll get to it by the end of the year, it takes a while for things to fall in place in my mind...
You're a sword & shield user yourself. Your AC is higher than GWM abusers (19/20 vs 18), and the effective damage output is similar against high AC enemies, if not even better on this one because it can get both advantage and use its full accuracy on his attacks all on his own, while GWM Fighters rely on a party to give them advantage and they have that dreaded -5 penalty to hit, which often backfires in actual play. You do have a fair few feats as well, but they're better balanced and help you deal with more bad things coming your way in any given session, whereas GWM+PAM combos go all on offense and dealing damage, leaving nothing for better defenses. In practice, GWM+PAM users will have that one combat encounter every now and then where they'll absolutely destroy, obliterate the enemies in front of them. But those will be spread out in between encounters where they do very little or nothing. Meanwhile, you will never have such peak damage situations, unless you roll 3 nat20s in a row or some nonsense, but you also shouldn't have too many issues dealing a very decent DPR throughout the entirety of the campaign. It's the best middle-ground solution I came up with, I don't doubt certain campaigns/party comps can benefit from different spell-lists or even feat selections, but you won't go wrong if you just use the exact same choices I recommended in the video
Min/Max Munchking awesome, thank you. I really do love this build; it might even be my favorite that you’ve done, more because of that balance you talk about.
So, apparently according to a new errata, Shadow Blade doesn't work with Booming Blade anymore. Booming Blade requires now a weapon worth 1sp as material component, which is the weapon that needs to perform the actual attack (so no off-hand cheap dagger to be used as material component, while attacking with Shadow Blade). Shame.
A shadow is looming above my new YT channel: ruclips.net/channel/UCjZAhthhLSys4WaDZ9KvY7g I'm DMing for my D&D buddies, but we need help, so who better to ask for help than you?
Shadow blade can be chosen at level 7 if you switch out your level 3 “free spell” for it.
You're right, though I probably thought Misty Step can give you more mobility when needed instead. But damage is damage.
Min/Max Munchking
I think the Eldritch Knight is probably the strongest fighter subclass in the game, and if not it’s close. Just look how viable it continues to be if you play with no magic items or feats.
It didn’t start out too crazy, but with every book or supplement released that contains new spell options for wizards, it gets buffed.
Got the SCAG cantrips to synergize with warcaster feature at low levels.
Elemental players companion gave absorb elements for more defense, but is actually able to take advantage of the extra elemental damage used with melee attacks on the next round.
Got shadowblade that does reliable, scalable, magical, mostly Unresisted type of damage. Also situational built in advantage. Don’t need to waste time designating other targets with subsequent bonus actions either.
Yeah, I can't help but feel the same myself. Lack od spellslots does make it a bit more challenging in terms of resource management, but if you know what you're doing, it is uniquelly valuable in any party.
Exactly I did that when I did this build long ago
I love how blunt this dude's voice sounds
My favorite class archtype of D&D5, i don´t know why all the people underestimate this class, when look at it i allways see it strong and cool. I´m glad to find someone who appreciates it as much as me. Thank you Min/Max Munchking
I know you've been waiting for this one for far too long, so I'm sorry. Better late than never though. I'll resume with a more regular upload schedule from now on. Thanks for all the support!
Wow, that's cool! Thank you
You rock!!!!
Wow, I can't believe I haven't found this channel until now! :( Just Subscribed :)
I can definitely take this to epic levels. Good build!
May that foolhardy DM of yours rest in pieces.
You won't have enough hit points. You wouldn't be able to tank an epic monster doing 60 points per hit and have 5 or 6 hits coming at +17 or more. You would provide good melee support though
Hey, I love your content. I haven't seen anyone mention the synergy between the sentinel feat and and mirror image spell. If you have the sentinel feat each time a mirror image gets attacked instead of you, You then get an attack of opportunity. It is a realtively cool little way to get some extra bang for your buck plus mirror image doesn't take concentration.
I try to keep things short in these general overview videos. But you're right, that's an interesting interaction. It tends to not work every now and then on higher levels due to special senses (blindsight, truesight, tremorsense), but in theory, you can get a lot of reaction attacks over time from it.
I challenge you to, create a build that has the highest deception possible or sleight of hand if you prefer
Hmm. OK, I'll add it to the list and post it for my patrons to vote next time.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking if you have time for it, you could include things that make those things better indirectly. Insted of bigger bonus or advantage to roll, you'd include magical effects like invisibility, demiplane or time stop for ultimate thievery
That's really not too hard of a request. Play a half-elf Bard (start with CHA 15 -> 17 as half elf if you do standard array or point buy) with the Charlatan background to get deception/sleight of hand and the disguise kit and forgery kit. Choose deception as your expertise skill at level 3. Take the College of Eloquence for Silver Tongue feature that makes Charisma (deception) and (Persuasion) to be a reliable talent for low rolls (which boosts your minimum roll to 10 in those skills). At level 4, take the Actor feat to gain advantage in Deception for certain situations (Cha becomes 18). At level 8 take the Cha ASI boost to cap Cha at 20. Choose enchantment and illusion spells like suggestion and major image etc.
I think @Brian F. 's concept is great, but my go to for this would be : Changeling for the race ( for that +2 Charisma start + Proficiency in Deception built into the class + The ability to do a Perfect Version of Disguise Self ) Take your first level in rogue ( And get expertise in Deception & the Disguise kit - for extra outfits on the fly ). Then if you are using Unearthed arcana : you can do something really neat : you can grab the Theurgy Wizard which allows you to grab a Cleric Domain.
Here we chose the Trickery Domain, which gives us access to a Perfect Duplicate with our Channel Arcana, and at 5th level you grab the Actor feat, giving you that advantage in Deception Checks when passing as someone else, which for a Changeling is often. Furthermore, for the few situations where the Actor feat doesn't work - you can also grab Enhance Ability - Adding to it eagle's splendor for Advantage on all Charisma Checks.
If you don't accept Unearthed arcana - Just go trickery domain cleric. You still have access to all the spells you need to do this (sad to lose minor illusion though).
With this build in mind, at 5th level, you will be able to transform into anyone you want, without using any illusory magic to do so. To add onto that, you will be able to create a perfect clone of yourself, meaning you can walk around pretending to be two guards. An even neater trick to this is that you can transform into someone -- clone yourself -- and then transform back. Meaning you can appear to be two completely different people at once.
MVP Moment : Normally you can't have your clone walk anywhere you cannot see, but by using your "Familiar's" eyes you can "remote contorl it". AND with being able to cast spells through your Clone's Location (allowing a minor illusion) Letting you pretend to speak at from the Clone's location, you can trick a whole bunch of people, without even being in the fucking room. Crazy stuff.
This is my favorite build.
Bardificer, Bard 9 COWhispers Artificer 3 Alchemist; attune three magic items, Charisma 20, expertise in deception, 4 + 4 + 5 + 3(for three magic items) Level 12 Deception +16z
First time finding one of your videos and I love this. I've really wanted to play a gish character with a Raven Queen/Shadowfell bent, but I'm not a huge fan of the Hexblade mechanics. This build is oozing character and feels unique, I'm definitely doing a version of this in my upcoming campaign.
Awesome. Let me know how it goes!
Starting as a Hexblood or with the Fey Touched Feat give you an option for your first level spells by using Hex in a manner similar to Shadow Blade if you carry a spare rapier on you.
Love your work dude! I saw your channel 10years from now and the Wizards of the coast gonna banish those overpowered buildings 🤣
Hahahaha word! 🤣
This is the first build I ever made in D&D. I still play him in 2 different games.
I took Medium Armor Master or Shield Master, Warcaster and Prodigy feats. For flavor added War Wizard or Artificer. Utility tank :)
What level? 🤓
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Start with 7 EK for bonus action attack, then 5 Wizard for counterspell. But I believe Sentinel + Resilient feats would be better than what I picked. I tried more roleplay than min/maxing. On Adventure League I struggle to dish out damage when I am tanking (Prot. vs Evil or Good vs Shadow blade concentration). On home campaign with more refined build I am often the only one left standing :) This video will help me a lot! Thanks!
I love your channel and builds, but I especially love ones that aren't looking for loopholes or cheese. This is an absolute, 100% legit, single classed powerhouse and many people are quick to write off the fighter.
With all the ASI's available for this class, I think a case can be made for choosing just about any race you'd like (but I love that level 1 feat as well).
I'm surprised a headband of intellect wasn't in the recommended magic items.
Oof, forgot about the genius tiara... Oh well, next time I'll do better.
I love your videos man, my friends hate you when i DM and take inspiration for humanoid enemies and they love you when im a player and use what ive learned from your builds to bully (all in good fun ofcourse) our second DM.
Theres an npc enemy ive been holding onto for a while because i didnt know what to do with him and this vid gave me a great idea. I think im gonna take what your done here and adapt it to arcane trickster. Again thanks the vid man and dont feel bad about taking a while, theyre always worth the wait.
Ngl, the easiest way to challenge any party is to send a bunch of DMPCs against it. A lot of official monsters are just bags of hitpoints for players to beat up.
Dayum this is a sick character build. Keep up the phenomenal work
Relatively simple, but very effective.
Here's an idea I had: I know you said you don't normally take items into account, but I thought of making a Hexblade Warlock centered around elemental weapons, such as the FlameTongue, and the 4th level spell, Elemental Bane. If you were to take the Dueling Fighting Style with a quick dip in Fighter, coupled with Hexblade's Curse and the Thirsting Blade invocation that's [2x('1d8+5+2sla'+4d6fire*+5nec)] with the possibility to crit on 19 or 20.
Hexblades are scary...
I always get d ritual caster feat and immediately pick find familiar spell to exploit its help action and acts as my cuter mage hand, the 2nd ritual spell would either be detect magic(investigation setting), comprehend languages (alien lands setting), or unseen servant for lighting fires on settlements(bandits or goblins of course lol) . It also potentially adds more spell for roleplaying aspects without investing too much on other attribute scores (ie: dump stat charisma) and sacrificing EK spell slots.
Familiars die very easily at higher levels and only give you advantage on your first attack, so it's more of a non-combat resource (scouting/spying). In most cases, a full-caster party member has that one covered already, so I find EK best focusing on combat oriented spells. It depends on party composition though - I've played an EK who had Find Familiar learned, so I'm not saying it's a bad approach at all.
I wish I were this good at making builds. Currently making a character based on a theme, but I want to make her competent in combat. Can't decide lmao
I don't find this particularly hard. However, making a concise, yet informative video is much, much harder because I like to ramble on and on about these topics heh.
what build do you have in mind? Maybe I can help...
The main thing behind making good builds is just knowing the rules well and knowing how different things interact in the game. It also helps to watch vids that cover this kind of thing. Eventually it will start to become almost accidental when you are building.
@@aldoushuxley5953 Lurker in the Deep Warlock, can't decide which Pact Boon to take. Blade is not as good if not Hexblade and takes up a lot of invocations to be on par with blastlocks. Though it might be good at certain levels. Chain offers utility, but the good familiar options don't fit the theme. Tome is not bad, but if there are better casters in the party, the character might be less useful. With multiclassing, I'm not sure which would go well but still fit the theme.
With god cha and eldritch invocation you at least are a good dps, I use lurker of the deep with chain pact and multiclass with beastmaster ranger.
I asked to reflavour the familiar to mach the style of my patron, while the stats ramain the same.
I ended up with a VERY potent Fire Genasi Eldritch Knight, where my DM allowed me to use the the racial Fire Genasi feat that is available thanks to DnDBeyond as my starting feat(bless him for breaking us from the tyranny of variant humans). 20 STR, 20 INT and 16 CON wielding a Flame Tongue Greatsword.
Expanded Racial Feats? Fire Genasis got a solid one in that PDF, but I'm not a fan of some of the other ones. More options arealways good though, it's just sad that half of them are meh.
I’m playing a feylock rogue based on the magic stone spell, no EB invocations so I took misty visions to create obscurement at will. The magic stone counts as a weapon so can trigger sneak attack, and also sharp shooter and bonus action offhand throw potentially triggering hex.
A dude on a Discord server I was playing at last year played something similar. Interesting character.
Min/Max Munchking I started as a changeling, so I had a wicked high cha to start with.
role playing as a Thor in my current campaign using this class
when the DM finally gave you hammer of thunderbolt (along with belt of giant strength and gauntlets of ogre power) it's really fun!
throw hammer > hammer does thunderbolt > weapon bond > hammer goes back
and also learn every lightning typed spell if possible
Sound like fun. Yeah, magic items throw a wrench into so many purely character customization concepts. You go for one thing, but a cool magic item suddenly makes you into something completely different.
Man a good Eldritch Knight? It is a good day
They aren't as flashy as others, but boy are they reliable!
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking in my case when i play or see them they're very situational
Really, in what way?
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking usually the party has a wizard or a sorcerer that makes the spells better, they are really good ac tanks but barbarians can be better, most players ive dm'd for prefer battle master or champion i find
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking but they can be really helpful to other casters in the party, like an extra counterspell or dispell magic
took me three listens to hear "Odd wisdom" score instead of "autism score"
Yeah, my accent fails me horribly at times. Whenever I don't focus on proper pronunciation as much, I happen to have those odd moments where things don't sound at all like I want them to sound.
Still works that way though funny enough. People with autism tend to be more perceptive to visual and audio stimulus over all. (I have both a friend and nephew who are on the higher end of the spectrum.)
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking your English is still really great for a second language! And your accent is very easy to understand 99% of the time
And taliesin is the eldritch lord patron
All Hail The Pyramid
This gives me ideas fora bladesinger I want to build, many thanks
Honestly for an Eldritch Knight, even just taking 2 levels into Bladesinger on DEX character makes you significantly harder to hit and your Haste or what have you isn't going away anytime soon.
@@a.z.pantera5577 Why is that? The defense fighting style? (I'm not trying to be confrontational, I honestly don't know)
@@krunchyfrogg When the Bladesong is active, you add your INT bonus to AC and Concentration checks. But no shields or medium/heavy armor allowed.
Yeah, if you wanna grab some Wizard levels, War Mage is better overall because you can still wear shield + med armor while also being better at saving throws.
Min/Max Munchking I agree. It’s a very viable dip on this character (after you get your INT to 13).
I am a firm believer in the eldritch knight wizard multiclass. fighter 3, then wizard 17, due to a much wider array of spells, as well as being able to cast 6th tier and higher magic, the multiclass will quickly outscale a pure eldritch knight build, while still boasting it's strongest strengths. Earlier shadow blade, and generally better class features, with the exception of the EK's war magic because that's actually decent sustain damage, regardless of wizard school. though evocation is a personal favorite, dropping a fireball on everything but weaving it around your allies, beautiful. I always take elemental adept fire, since there are more useful fire than thunder spells and ignoring resistance is strong.
Well, that's a Wizard, not a Fighter. Different character.
I was always under the impression that Eldritch Knight was terrible mechanically, but seeing this build shows me otherwise. Love your videos !
Yeah, I've played it and seen it played, it has the potential to be the best Fighter subclass, but you can also screw it up with bad spell choices.
It would be allot better if it worked mechanically like the magus from pathfinder 1e.
They start off with light armor and unlock medium and heavy after a few levels.
They can also enter "spell combat" allowing them to deliver spells via weapon attack in exchange for a small hit penalty.
They also max out at 6th level spells (5th for some variants that use 2handed weapons or shields)
@Diane Haynes just so you know your comment was in the spam folder. I have 0 clue why. RUclips's been deleting mine and other people's comments in droves lately, their censor-bots are running rampant and out of control. Frankly, I'm just pissed off and frustrated at this point, you can't even have a discussion here any more without half of the stuff just randomly disappearing.
To be fair, there are a lot of people that don't fully understand what Eldritch knight does. You aren't a caster, so don't pretend you are. You are fighter with magical utility. As long as you remember that you are only a 1/3rd caster and don't pretend you aren't then Eldritch knight is a strong choice.
Sorry for the bad English . You can do more damage and be more mobile in the long run if you pick eladrin as your race, with tasha +2 DEX(17 total) and + CON(16 total). Level 4 war caster, 6 elven accuracy, 8 max dex. Misty step on a short rest(or equal your proficiency bonus per long rest MPMM). Multiclass level 9 to twilight cleric and give darkvision to anyone without it, now you always have advantage in a dungeon. If you keep twilight cleric(and you should), eventually you will be able to cast spirit guardians, bonus action flight and be very close to the perfect sticky tank.
Twilight is certainly a viable dip on many builds.
Earned yourself a sub m8
Booming Blade requires a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp to cast: it doesn't synergize with Shadow Blade. So you would need to have a side weapon to make that work.
ruclips.net/video/PjU0Cj_OXWY/видео.html even Crawford has said, multiple times, that the change was NOT INTENDED to invalidate BB/GFB + Shadow Blade combo. Besides, every spell effect, including Shadow Blade has value way more than 1 silver piece.
So, no, as far as I'm concerned, this character will continue casting Booming Blade with Shadow Blade until the end of times.
I actually started making a similar character (if by similar I mean and Eldritch Knight aiming for Shadow Blade) but I went Elf so that I had darkvision as a racial and didn't need to rely on a spell/magic item for the dim light/darkness viability.
Yeah, I thought about that too and it's a perfectly valid reason. However, I wanted that one extra feat on this character, so I went with V Human. Pros and cons, as always.
This plus elven accuracy gives you super advantage too
I made a similar build, a couple of notes:
If you roll high stats you can use a high elf. Wisdom saving throws are common but not nearly as much as dexterity so taking resilient in dex will make you almost impossible to be hit by AOE especially when combined with shield Master.
Failing a DEX save and taking damage is manageable. Failing a WIS save and getting confused, charmed, frightened, paralyzed etc not so much. I value WIS over DEX.
I don't do rolled stats, only PB, much more consistent and reliable.
The dealbreaker with this build is it is a super strong build if your DM doesn't allow feat !!!!!
For shorter campaign war mage deap could be a cool option too if the campaign stop lv10. EK8 for shadow blade and 2lv of wizard for more utility spell and the arcane deflection feature. You'll still have the neat 20 dex.
It also add more initiative to the build.
Beware the lv11 feature of warrior is too good to pass.
Also I don't kniw if its possible but if you can remplace the 4th EK spell slot with a 2nd lv spell you can go EK7 War mage 3. You'll have less dex BUT you could upcast shadow blade at lv3 to deal 3d8 dmg instead of 2d8 AND have access to all lv2 spell like mirror image.
90%+ of the tables play with feats, what can I say :/
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Yeah I know, but Baldur Gates 3 doesn't seems to have feat =p
I updated my com for shorter campaign. What do you though of it ?
I love it. Its so cool
Cheers 🙂
IMHO 4 LvL EK -> 4 LvL DS Sorc. Final build 9 EK 11 DS Sorc or 8 EK 11 Ds Sorc 1 Hexblade. Build around shadowblade and metamagic, i think it will be a more versatile build, i mean metamagic is always fun and good.
Anyway i really like your channel, keep up the good work and give us the spicy minmaxed build that all we want to play and role, to show those who call us "powerplayer" that minmaxer can also roleplay ! ;)
IMO you need at least Fighter 11, that Extra Attack really compensates for the lack of 1d8's on your Shadow Blade. With any full caster class on top, Shadow Blade does deal more damage per hit cuz you can upcast it at spellslot level 5 or maybe even 7, but you ultimately end up dealing just a weeny bit more damage around character lvl15, having less HP and you don't get that 2nd action surge at lvl18, which hurts your damage output in the second round, not to mention the lack of 4th attack at level 20. Sorc's Quickened Booming Blade does give a nice bump, but in practice, you activate your Shadow Blade on your first round anyway and in that case, it's better to just go Paladin for those juicy Divine Smites instead. Way less MAD, more spellslots overall and they complement each other much, much better as both of them are CHA casters.
A lot of War Wizard or Bladesinger levels on EK make some sense for a more hybrid build, but when I put everything on paper, you just don't get enough benefits to justify losing out on Fighter's Tier 4 goodies, at least not in my opinion.
More and higher level spells offer more versatility, true, but I often find it hard to justify not going fullsend full-caster instead, instead of half-assing your way through with a martial multiclass which significantly slows down your spellcasting progression.
I'm aware people have different experiences and viewpoints, which is part of the reason why these mental exercises are very fun at times. 🤓
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking y you lose some damage for some utility, that's why i said it's more versatile, you lose a bit of damage for some good anti tpk tools, some heal and some buffs. That's just some personal preference, i tend to prefer utility over raw dpr, and for me 8 EK/11DS/1HEX is a nice twist to one of your build "the blaster support" but more martial :)
This is so helpful, im making a Water Genasi eldritch knight charlatan
A lot of love for Genasis lately in the comment sections of my videos. They are intrinsically cool. I never played one, but I'm probably about to fix that soon, I joined a new online server about a month or 2 ago and am considering trying out the elemental folks.
Have you considered making BBEG templates for these characters as well for DM's? I am not one to typically run games, but these could make some really great NPCs, either friendly or hostile!
I haven't considered it, but it is an interesting idea.
best thing about crossbow expert/ sharpshooter is that it comes online at 4th level. and with custom lineage no more worries about darkvision lol
i would like to see a damage breakdown at realistic tiers of play like tiers 1 and 2, as well as accounting for chances to miss/crit.
I might. I genuinely dislike average damage calculations overall because you're not guaranteed anything with so few d20 attack rolls (even with advantage or "super advantage" via Elven Accuracy)
If you plan to use a shield then the shield master feat is a must.
Magic initiate with warlockspells (Armor of Aghastis, Eldritch blast and another of your choice, preferable lighting lure)
The AoA spell gives you more health, and the retributive damage realy early on while the EB and LL give you a range option and Battlefieldcontrol.
Apart from that. Use the magic gloves from ravnica that allow you to cast 2 cantrips.
CHA spells on INT martial?! It's a waste.
Why would you want to cast cantrips with a Fighter?
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking
Well first with a variant human you can take Magic initiate right from the start giving you powers asap.
AoA is one lvl 1 spell it works much like Fireshield but gives you flat retributive damage, does not need concentration, works for an hour and buffs you with temp health. While its worthwhile early on it would scale better with a full caster.
With the War-magic ability you can attack after doing the cantrip so having a few different ones is OK in my mind.
Yes you might need to restat a bit.
Booming blade is a good choice on itself but i things with Eldritch blast and Ligninglure you get versatility though the later is on the wiz spellist so you can choose something more usefull.
The EB gives you range you normaly dont have and the force damage is, like psychic damage one of the least resisted.
And for that item: Bracers of the Illusionist can let you use Boomingblade a second time in one round.
Too much MADness with that and Illusionist Bracers are only good between lvl 7 and 12 and that's starting from Round #2, because in Round#1 you need a bonus action to cast Shadow Blade. On level 13, you have your 3rd attack and 3rd level slots, so you deal 9d8+12 with your Attack action vs. 10d8+8 with 2xBooming Blade. Yeah, if the enemy moves away that's 3d8 extra
damage, but that's a big if, especially because you might want to use a bonus action for Misty Step, Second Wind or even casting Shadow Blade again after losing it due to an unlucky Concentration saving throw faill. Also 3 attacks are always better than 2 attacks.
So, that item will be useless to you ~50% of the time, you simply won't have that bonus action.
Your builds are really cool and powerful but I have been looking for some sort of lich or demigod-like wizard build or something along those lines. I don't really know how you would go about it but I thought it would be really cool to have a build that emphasized the power of magic with 9th level spells but was as optimized and min/maxed as the other builds you do on this channel and not just a regular wizard who can't even participate in the killing of a tarrasque because of the tarrasque's immunity to spells like magic missile. In other words I am requesting a build like your ultimate assassin build (who could single-handedly take down the tarrasque) but a full spell-caster version of that. If it'd be easier I'd be fine with a quick pdf or something giving a quick overview of what such a build would look like. If you could do this it would be much appreciated.
PS. Despite not being one of the bigger d&d youtubers I still think your d&d videos have as much quality if not more than many of them. Thanks for the awesome content!
Honestly, without even thinking about Wish spell, level 17 Wizards+ with True Polymorph/Shapechange are not force multipliers, but force maximizers of highest order. I played an 18th level Bard with Maze spell (Magical Secrets) and we were fighting a re-skinned Tarrasque. I just sent it to a labyrinth for a 10 minute cooldown while the party chugged potions and cast healing spells, bringing everyone up to full HP after the Tarrasque damaged us a lot (it was a very small confined space, we couldn't really kite that well).
Thanks for the compliment by the way, I'm trying to improve my editing lately and objectively, these new videos are of higher quality than older ones.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking I hadn't thought about spells like True Polymorph and I'll have to keep that in mind when I make my next spellcaster. In the meantime I am trying to decide between the two dunamancy arcane traditions (graviturgy and chronurgy). In your proffessional opinion which one has higher possibility for damage output? Also which race would you recommend for a dunamancer character (if any)?
Wizards deal damage with spells, not class features. Unless of course you're an Evocation or War Wizard for example, whose features allow them to deal more damage with their spells. Even then, you're still highly dependent on spells to deal damage. It's a nerd mage class, it needs magic for everything.
Now they have the undead patron warlock, which gives a few lich-like abilities and immunities.
Maybe mix it with a Shadow sorcerer and metamagic those necro spells 😎
Looks like a good build me I use this build to a point but I found if u go 12 lvls ek and 8 lvls bladesinger u get more dmg and more mileage out of it
I have yet to give the EK/Bladesinger a try. I've played pure EK and pure Bladesinger, never multiclassed. It does make a lot of sense to switch over to Wizard at some point.
Always wanted to know how to make Shadow Blade viable enough to play! Thanks
No problem 👍
Min/Max Munchking i got another non-unearthed idea for you. the wrestle-mania aarocokra, his main form of attack is grappling his foes lifting them into the air and killing them with fall damage. i found it online and the guy got the idea from rouges cunning action allowing them to be able to take the dash action as a bonus action to get back down
Lol, been working on a UA grappler for a while, I'm actually playing one right now in a Westmarches server.
Aarakocra doesn't strike me as beefy enough though.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking but he can fly, fall damage is 1d6 for every 10 ft + maybe bonus damage for being thrown, and there is no save vrs fall damage. if your really against Aarakocra then a flying type tiefling should also work
Everyone underestimates the Eldritch Knight. Just having access to shield and absorb elements puts it ahead of half of the other options.
Indeed.
No medium armour master, SHIELD master
I just started my 3rd campaign as a player and I'm planning to make my Zariel tiefling (they get smite spells at lvl 3 and 5) an eldrich knight next level up.
The plan so far:
Lvl 1: Zariel tiefling, great sword, great weapon fighting.
Level 3: Searing smite from infernal legacy, booming blade, green flame blade, shield, absorb elements, feather fall.
Level 4: Flames of phlagethos rounds up intelligence and boosts searing smite and Green flame blade. Hellish rebuke at this levels spell.
Level 6: Great weapon master.
Level 7: Darkness spell
Level 8: Eldrich adept feat to grab the devils sight fest to be an asshole with the darkness spell. Misty step as the level 8 spell.
I'll be impressed if the campaign goes past lvl 8 but I'd need ideas after level 9.
I would never personally use Darkness as a melee character, it would cause too many problems for the rest of the party. I know it's part of the game, but it causes more harm than good.
For me, Darkness is only viable on characters who rely on ranged weapons and spells to attack.
As a yugioh player I accidentally misread eldritch as eldlich and got ptsd
😂
Has eldlich been around long enough to do that?
Chris Hansen as a competitive player yes
@@chrishansen1842 Definitly lmao
Why would you take Sentinel tho, it's anti-synergistic with booming blade. An opportunity attack on move with Booming Blade will automatically deal its secondary damage if you don't take Sentinel, which at level 17 is 4d8 extra damage. It also combos with Dissonant Whispers if someone in the party can use it, which will always trigger said attack of opportunity
By RAW, the enemy continues moving away
PHB p169, Sentinel
"...When you hit a creature with an *opportunity attack* , the creature's speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn..."
PHB p170, War Caster
"...When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to *cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack* ..."
Sentinel + War Caster combo against creatures that use Disengage action or simply move away from you allows you to use your reaction to cast a spell instead of making an opportunity attack. And that means the enemy still continues moving, taking full damage from Booming Blade. The melee weapon attack you make as part of casting Booming Blade is a spell effect, not an opportunity attack.
Not to mention you also get the option to use your reaction to attack an enemy that attacks your ally. So you have 2 reaction options, 3 if you consider that you can choose to NOT use Booming Blade and simply use ordinary Attack of Opportunity to prevent a creature from moving away. There's no reason NOT to take Sentinel, it's 100% benefit, 0% drawback.
Now, a lot of DM's homerule this interaction in a way that you CAN use Booming Blade for extra damage on hit and reduce creature's movespeed to 0. That's up to DM to decide, but even with pure RAW, you got enough options already.
oh didn't know the warcaster spell didn't count as an opportunity attack, ok then.
Really great build man! Keep it up!
Thanks, will do!
Not gonna lie.....the name alone got me
Not gonna lie, I'm good with naming names :)
Can you do a build guide for the college of swords bard? They have a ton of potential being full casters who can bump their ac with bardic inspiration, potential turning them into ac tanks of you build them right and if you choose the right spells for arcane secrets like smite and shadow blade, you can do insane damage
ruclips.net/video/TZPPKj3AwAY/видео.html
I know, too long. I'll do an update, I played this character online all the way to level 20 and made some quite important changes along the way. No ETA yet, but soon, it's on my list and I already know what I wanna do with it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Nice!
Not sure if the wording changed recently for booming blade, but I believe it requires a material component for the melee weapon to be worth 1 sp. So booming blade will unfortunately not work with shadow blade :(
That's correct, you can no longer combine the 2 of them.
I'm playing a strength based eldritch knight. Currently trying to figure out which provides the most (reliable) damage output.
Great weapon master vs fey-touched with huntersmark
Just Concentrate on Shadow Blade, it can be used with STR same as DEX
This looks a lot like my Corvid Starshine!
It is an Eldritch Knight after all, so yes 🙂
Since Psychic isn't resisted that often this would be insanely reliable
yeah. It can be made slightly better than this, and there will be an update before year end.
Not a bad build, but I think there could be some improvements.
Race: High elf (Booming Blade)
Start Stats: 8, 15 (17), 14, 13 (14), 12, 10
ASI/Feats: Elven Accuracy (4), Warcaster (6), Dex +2 (8), Con +2 (12), Int +2 (14) Resilient Wis (16), Observant +1 wis (19)
End stats: 8, 20, 16, 16, 14, 10
Spells -
1: Shield, Absorb Elements, Mage Armor, Find Familiar
2: Darkness, Shatter, Scorching Ray, Shadowblade
3: Counterspell, Fireball, Thunderstep
4: Fireshield, Summon Greater Demon
Hmm, the lack of Sentinel feat disturbs me.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking with Warcaster, shield, and absorb elements, you should have plenty of reactions, but if you would like sentinel, I'd swap the Int bump, and hope you find an alternative way to increase INT, such as a headband of intellect.
I do something similar with a hex blade sorcerer build. But I like this fighty boy build
A bunch od ppl wanted the Eldritch Knight video, this is my take on it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Its a good build. The extra hit points and action surge can crank out more damage than the SorLock of the Blade build. And there's no reason to abandon Shadow Blade because its just so good.
eldritch knight fighter vhuman sharpshooter perception acrobatics survival stealth wood carvers tools insight medicine
8 16 16 8 15 8
Lvl 1 sharpshooter archery fighting style
Lvl 3 booming blade light shield mage armor expeditious retreat
Lvl 4 asi dex absorb elements
Lvl 6 fey touched bless misty step
Lvl 7 replace expeditious retreat for shadow blade darkness
Lvl 8 asi dex invisibility
Lvl 10 mage hand
Lvl 11 protection from evil and good
Lvl 12 eldritch adept devil's sight
Lvl 13 counter spell
Lvl 14 lucky fly
Lvl 16 tough protection from energy
Lvl 19 fire shield
Lvl 20 greater invisibility
I have actually played this but instead of a human I used a shadarkai (more thematic with the shadow blade but also because I took Elven accuracy as a feet)
Been thinking about going the Elf route while I was deciding how to make this character, primarily for that darkvision and Elven Accuracy. I may make an update to this video, it's a valid point and makes sense
Hey man, great video as always, very entertaining.
My personal thoughts on EK is that it is kind of lacking. It feels a bit clunky to me. After a good bit of theory crafting, i also came up with using a shadow blade as the primary damage, but instead of going EK to 20 I prefer to go for Bladesinger or War Magic wizard after EK 8, maybe EK 9 or even 7. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the multiclass if you have a chance!
I'll touch on it in the detailed build breakdown. There are many ways about it, I just personally find high level EK's very potent combat equalizers. They aren't flashy as some other characters, but you can depend on them to pull their and often times other characters' weights in almost any situation. SCAG cantrips and XGE spells really made it into a very solid subclass. Before that, I could've gotten behind an argument that it is lacking. But, in my opinion, that's not the case any more.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking if a class relies on its spells to keep it from being lacking then would It not make sense to use a class or subclass that already out performs EK as a base and throw the same spells on top?
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Thanks for the reply! I agree that this EK build can definitely hold its own and could outperform many other classes due to the sheer force it brings to the table. Tankiness, damage, consistency, and a bit of utility.
I feel that its lacking because of the ridiculously slow spell progression provided by EK as a 1/3rd caster. You only really need to hit your second level spells and get the War Magic feature for the build to come online, which both happen around level 8, but I think its after that point that EK could benefit from a Wizard MC.
I like the Wizard MC after EK 7/8/9 because it boosts your spell slots very quickly and adds a wider variety to your repertoire. One of the biggest downsides of the EK is the lack of variety outside of beating face and the lack of spell slots to keep your shadow blade, shield, and absorb elements spells going.
In the end EK performs well enough on its own after you get shadow blade because it is a fighter after all and gets three attacks at 11, the cute little blink at 15, and the fourth attack a bit later. These things synergize very well with the shadow blade, so agree that it works well as is, but my personal tastes make me lean towards that wizard MC.
The Bladesinger and EK MC isn't quite as martially adept as the straight EK, mainly due to not getting the 3 and 4 attacks per round, but you get higher leveled and more spell slots than a pure EK could ever dream of.
I suppose the two builds would function significantly differently, and utility is a bit harder to quantify than pure numbers.
Anyway, I'd love to see a detailed build for an EK Bladesinger multiclass should you find it interesting. And if not, no worries, I'm looking forward to seeing more builds from you in the future!
Full-casters are fundamentally different than martials, it's a different role. I made a single-class Bladesinger video already, I think it lends itself very nicely to a spell-slinger than can engage in melee if it absolutely has to. Meshing the two together is only good if you dip in one or another and only if you know you'll never get to Tier 4 (most campaign never do, admittedly)
the best of this build is the psiquic damage, my master use enemies with resist to fisical damage and i got no problem destroying anything he puts in front of me, im playing a draconic so im running it with strengt, but i'm talking to my master to change it to dex with the tasha custom stats
yeah, psychic damage is one of the lesser resisted damage types.
saw the thumbnail and thought, "if you want to be well rounded, shouldn't you be a bard? that's not what fighters are for."
But what if someone ELSE thinks "I wanna be a Fighter but I don't wanna just attack attack attack all the time"?! 🙂
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking ...do they know what a fighter is?
Yes, they want to play a Fighter that has just enough spells to make things a bit more interesting. Apparently all 35,000+ of them are interested in something like that, and still counting.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking ...have they heard of paladins?
Yes. They still want to play a Fighter though. All 35,000+ of them.
How do you think this character compares to an EK 12/War Wizard 8?
I think I like this multiclass a little better. You go the EK 8 before adding WW 2. Then go EK 12 and finish WW. Yes, at level 20 you'll be down one attack per round, but you'll have so many more spell slots, and if the DM asks "does a 21 hit you?" you know whether to cast shield or use Arcane Deflection (WW2) to avoid being hit (also, that +4 on a save is no joke, especially when you can reroll a save with Indomitable (FTR 9). The added spells and rituals will help the versatility even more, plus you get more levels to use War Magic (EK7), since it will probably be optimal to cast BB/GFB and make an attack for 2 levels longer, since this ability loses some juice at EK11.
The added bonus to initiative is just icing on the cake.
That part about "does 21 hit you" is iffy. At my tables, the DM just says "hit" or "miss", he never discloses the number.
Overall, War and Bladesinger are the only 2 Wizards I'd multi with EK, there are a lot of synergies.
Would a hexblade warlock/eldritch knight combination be more effective and versatile?
Yes and no. I'm just editing the Word file again for gods know what time in a row, with some multiclass combos for more Tier 3 damage, but level 20, single-class Fighter all the way.
I'll most likely talk about this in a detailed build breakdown video, so stay tuned.
TBH, I really don't understand an idea even to speak about 14+ lvl of builds, because most of the games are somewhere between 3 and 12 lvl.
And lvl 20 calc? I dunno.
So, all said, I really like what you are doing, but strongly recommend to move to late 1, mid 2 and early 3 tier character building.
So it'll make them playable.
I've made several specifically low-level characters on this channel. On the flipside, I've played, I've DMed and I've talked to a fair few people who actually got to play level 20 characters.
Level 20 one-shots are a thing too. It's out there, it's a minority, but it's in the double-digit percentage.
Because here's what I noticed, I make a level 7 character or whatever and I get 7 comments in the first day "Oh can this be made to go to level 17" or whatever. And then I make these lvl20 characters and I get people who complain they never play anything above lvl5. That's why I usually try to go for characters that get everything they need somewhere in tier 2 progression (lvl5-10) and then if you are lucky to have a foolish DM willing to host sessions for lvl15+ characters, you can still use most of my characters at some point without sacrificing too much at lower levels. It's the compromise I sort of have to take because table-to-table differences are too big to cater to any specific group or playstyle out there.
IMHO, EK isn't better than doing the same thing but with Rogue Trickster which even gets shadow blade at 7th (enchantment, illusions spells at any level) and can deal sneak attack + bb or gfb + shadow blade. If ravnica is at table... Illusionary Bracers is the item to go for... cast the same cantrip you just cast as bonus action (assuming your dm is generous enough or you can buy items). Multiclass options could be 2 levels dip in wizard bladesinger or fighter (action surge). 18 levels i rogue is worthy. The problem of EK is, you could be doing way more damage if you re min/max a fighter as BM. Casting BB and GFB soon becomes obsolete cause of extra attacks. -5 to hit isn't a big penalty as there many ways you can mitigate this, specially with magic items, bounded acc and superiority dies... Ah and full casters have a better shadow blade build. Sorcs can twin spell BB and make use of higher damages since you can cast at 7th spell slot and deal BB + SB + BB + SB (twinned). Again, you can use Illusionary Bracers to cast BB again with shadow blade twinned. Nice huh... so, EK is the worst EK of all possible EKs for Min/maxing purposes. Rogue arcane trickster is better, Sorc is a god and BM figher is still the best damage dealer of all fighters sublcasses released so far.
Battle Masters are very good, but their damage is overrated, even with feats. I've played and seen enough to know they're much more effective as controllers than trying to squeeze more DPR. Arcane Trickster isn't a better damage dealer, Sneak Attack isn't compensating for the lack of Extra Attack, especially at higher levels where more smaller attacks > one big attack.
Besides, all of those examples are heavily gear dependent, which is an exception. Most DM's won't just give those items to you. If yours do, that's awesome, but for most people, me included, that's not even close to reality.
-5 to hit will make you less effective overall, no question about it. Will you hit everything in 1 combat and deal bajillion damage? Yeah. But, you'll also have plenty of combats where you will be doing 0 damage for 2 3 rounds straight, or just basic weapon damage after you burn through all your superiority dice. I've seen it played out in practice way too many times.
You can make EK just as broken with items, if not more. People sleep on the fact they have the most versatile damage mitigation capabilities of all Fighters, which is a shame.
I already did this build
Good for you.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking not exactly, i did it,
I really like this build! Is there anyway to fit ritual casting feat into this? Asking because my party is typically 2-3 people and just trying to give myself some flexibility in the party.
Yeah, just take it instead of Medium Armor Master. I like 20+ ACs, but it's not the be all end all of capable characters, especially if combat isn't as prevalent at your tables.
On that damage calculation chart, why isn't the AoO from Warcaster with booming blade also taking into account the weapon damage from the attack and the initial trigger of booming blade (3d8 on hit and 4d8 on moving)?
I assume the attack comes from Sentinel feat alone (triggered by monster attacking your partymember) and is not an AoO.
where does the +28 damage from the four shadow blade attacks come from? Can't figure it out
A fighter gets 4 attacks at level 17.
Each attack (using shadow blade) does:
3d8 + 5 (dex) + 2 (duelling fighting style)
So in total 12d8+28
+5 from DEX, +2 from Dueling Fighting Style = 7. 4 attacks, 7 damage each, 28.
Min/Max Munchking ty
Could you build oathbreaker paladin and shadow sorcerer ?
I always wondered why people say I should take booming blade and sentinel, it seems counterintuitive to me to use a cantrip that does more damage when someone moves and then stop them from moving. I’m just wondering if someone here could explain this to me as it would seem green flame blade would be better for a sentinel build as even though you’re still not guaranteed the bonus damage there is still a better chance than with booming blade.
no idea
Sentinel triggers Attack of Opportunity you would otherwise not get, because if the enemy Disengages and tries to run away, you don't get a reaction attack. Green Flame Blade deals fire damage, which is a much more resisted/immune to damage type than thunder. You don't really care about the extra movement damage, because you want to prevent the enemy from running away more than deal as much damage as possible. Also, sometimes you will get just basic Attack of Opportunity that triggers because the enemy moves away from you without using the Disengage action, in which case Booming Blade movement damage will trigger as well as the monster keeps moving away.
But Sentinel is most reliable for those situations when you're right next to the enemy and that enemy attacks your ally instead of you, because hitting your 25+ AC is much more difficult than hitting a Barbarian with an AC of 14-16. You then just punish it with your reaction and deal more damage that way.
Ruby of a warmage is pointless for Eldritch knight since he can't use spellcasting focus.
Booming Blade doesn't work any more, thanks to the errata that says the weapon must be worth at least 1 silver.
It works ruclips.net/video/PjU0Cj_OXWY/видео.html
Why DEX focused instead STR?
Stealth, DEX saves, longbow for when you are forced to fight at range.
How would rolling up a Simic Hybrid (Manta/Carapace/+1 Int), War Magic Wizard/Eldritch Knight Fighter (Resilient: Dex/Con, Medium Armor Master, Int ASI) compare to this build? I prefer the extra AC and magical capability but i wonder if it is as viable as this build.
More slots early on, higher AC and 3D mobility, but delayed martial progression. If you don't care about damage, it would work OK, but I think Fighter-oriented builds are best when you don't actually multiclass them, because Fighters are usually filling that role of reliable damage dealers that can soak some damag and not shit their pants in the process.
Otherwise, I usually use them as 2/3 level dips and main-class into something else.
Could you help me figure out the best illusionist style char to make? I'm working on a changeling who uses illusions to help sell the person hes pretending to be. I was debating multiclass into either warlock/artificer/or rogue. But not sure what works best for making the changeling a supreme spy and decent damage the best. If anyone has any ideas please let me know
Depends on how you wanna implement the illusions. Illusionist Wizard is the best for giving typically up-to-DM's-interpretation illusions a more mechanically defined refinement, but still, you're largely at the mercy of a DM willing to entertain the possibility of monsters and NPCs being fooled by them.
I find illusions to be the most potent spells in the game, but sometimes, under some DMs, they're just a waste of an action and a spellslot.
Do y’all remember the dawn forged cast?
I do, pity he left, miss him.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking I am glad I am not the only one that misses him :(
Been playing for years... never had the chance to play a character beyond level 5... 😭
Omg!😲
...how? are you bad enough that you constantly die? DM only runs short campaigns? i played for 6 months and we are at lvl 8 started from lvl 1 in a preset campaign
Master Reaper I think it’s a combination of both 😂😂😂 usually short campaigns because half the people either drop or some other bs But recently I dm half the time so there goes my chance 😭
Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just take mage armor for 13+5(shield) over 15+3 and spend both a whole feat and 750 gold? Heck, use the feat to take Fighting adept and be better at both defense and attack thanks to the second fighting style.
You're giving up too many AC points with Mage Armor and you also have 1 less spellslot every day. 750 gold is pocket change in the long run, gold is usually not a problem at all
Not cost effective at all.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking with feat, isn't half plate 18? 15+3. Mage armor is 13+ 5 with dex and every extra dex asi is one extra damage per hit. As for slot usage, You can take magic initiate for mage armor+ 2 extra cantrips you wouldn't get with medium armor master.
As for money, it varies by campaign. I've been in campaigns where nobody except the bard had more than a handful of gold or silver each and what there was would be used for components for more expensive spells.
So, proficiency in Con, plus a Con of +3, plus advantage on concentration checks? Dang, that means you roll a 15 on average, up to 21 average depending of stat allocations later on, maxing out at 31, meaning you can take a hit as high as 60 and still maintain concentration.
Sheesh.
Yeah. Maxing CON instead of bumping INT to 16/18 is totally valid for those reasons and more HP, but imo, you can manage with 16 CON in exchange for better INT.
What is the backup plan for when Shadow Blade gets countered or dispelled? Wield a magic rapier and hope for the best?
Counterspell enemy's Counterspell/Dispel?
You likely won't have to, unless you are the only caster in the entire party. The DM's gonna save those spell killers for your Clerics and Bards and Wizards.
Sorry if this was already commented but under the section of replacing spells you can replace the any school spell you got a third correct? Meaning 7th level to gain shadow blade? Not much of a improvement but 1 level is 1 level
It was pointed out, yeah.
Could you imagine how good EK and AT would be if WotC wasnt so afraid of giving them half-caster abilities?
EK would be the best Fighter subclass by far, number of spellslots is really a bottleneck for it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Frankly their spell progression is so slow that i feel bad to solo class EK. Lvl4 spells fall short in T4 and you only get one slot.
@@dandini0698 I've seen and played several EKs, they're better than most people think. The older the game gets, the better they become, because they borrow directly off of Wizard's list of spells.
So I understand that the build is to revolve around max lvl fighter to get the 4 attacks. But most campaigns don’t see 20th lvl, so could a fighter X/ wizard 3 work? Because 3rd lvl wizards get 2nd lvl spells and that would in theory get this build online, in regards to shadow blade, at lvl 4. Just curious on your thoughts
If you don't mind waiting for that Extra Attack until level 8, yeah. I wouldn't do it, it's too late.
Great video once again, thanks for the idea! Got a question, how are you gonna go about using Ruby of the War Mage if the plan is to use Shadow Blade along with a shield? Unless I misunderstood something( have never played the class, sorry).
You can etch it into a shield and use it similarly as holy symbol.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking But (by RAW anyway) says only simple or martial weapon no?
Would multiclassing 3 levels of sorcerer after starting 1 level fighter be a faster way to pick up shadow blade? Plus an additional 4 cantrips and 4 spells that don't need to contend with that troublesome type limitations.
Yeah but you don't get Extra Attack and even if you Quicken Booming Blade on round #2, you're losing on so much consistent damage output it's not worth it.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking I just realized my idea of shadow blade + see through darkness doesn't work due to concentration.
what do you think of a 3 level dip in warlock?
@@mileslugo6430 Same thing, you postpone your martial progression and your spellslot levels are all out of whack, so you deal way less damage. If you want the Devil's Sight invocation and be a martial, just solo-class Hexblade.
Would be a shame if this character had to fight... Star Spawn.
But it definitely looks awesome and might be my next NPC or villain >:D (ForeverDM)
Hehe, everything can be countered.
I'm getting way too many of these "this is my next villain" comments lately. I think I inadvertently caused a lot of TPKs and deaths with some of my character builds XD.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking depends on the level. I mean early game this dude is not about to kill a raging bear totem barbarian lol and late game its not gonna solo kill a raging zealot barb. party composition is important
Oh boi time break the game again!
This one is rather tame compared to most of my other stuff. Wait for one of my next builds though, I got a special treat for you folks who like to see 5e stretched to its limits :)
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking
Oh boy more content! : D
You could still have this character be good aligned, but they struggle not to give in to the dark influences from which they draw some of their power.
Yup.
Why take wisdom?
For tier 2, which do you think is a better character, this one or your bladesinger, and why?
This one if you have a party full of supports and squishy d6 hit die casters.
Bladesinger if your party is full of Barbs, Paladins, Fighters... Depends on the party composition.
did he say the autism score is there to pick up a feat at a later point?
"Odd wisdom" score but you're not the first to hear it as "autism" XD
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking Oh that makes me feel much better :D great build though i may even try it...
so against what kind of damage does absorb element work against? can I use it against psychic damage?
no, only elemental damage. So it's not a catch-all solution, you will suffer against Mindflayers just as much as the rest of the party, but elemental damage types (fire, cold, lightning etc...) are very common very early into your leveling progression, so the higher you go, the more situations you find yourself casting that Absorb Elements to mitigate big chunks of damage coming your way.
How would you apply the Ruby of the War Mage to Shadow Blade? Pretty sure it's impossible (same reason you can't bond with the Shadow Blade).
You put it on the shield 😂
By RAW you're correct. However, as the person above commented, I don't believe many DMs would veto putting that thing into something else.
@@DarthBoberEXMinMaxMunchking so by RAW I can put it in a shield how about a crown hmmm good way to do gem Wonderous items I suppose
@@eliaswomersley9802 No, by RAW you CANNOT put it anwhere but into a weapon.
Do you ever update older builds to take advantage of newer source material that might make a build even better? This one really interests me but was curious if any of the new books wouldn't make it even better.
I was aiming to start dumping a bunch of updates last month, but I got carried away by non-YT stuff.
I'll get to it by the end of the year, it takes a while for things to fall in place in my mind...
Overall, how do you think this build compares to a strength-based EK, either using a greatsword, or a sword and shield combo for great defense?
You're a sword & shield user yourself. Your AC is higher than GWM abusers (19/20 vs 18), and the effective damage output is similar against high AC enemies, if not even better on this one because it can get both advantage and use its full accuracy on his attacks all on his own, while GWM Fighters rely on a party to give them advantage and they have that dreaded -5 penalty to hit, which often backfires in actual play.
You do have a fair few feats as well, but they're better balanced and help you deal with more bad things coming your way in any given session, whereas GWM+PAM combos go all on offense and dealing damage, leaving nothing for better defenses.
In practice, GWM+PAM users will have that one combat encounter every now and then where they'll absolutely destroy, obliterate the enemies in front of them. But those will be spread out in between encounters where they do very little or nothing. Meanwhile, you will never have such peak damage situations, unless you roll 3 nat20s in a row or some nonsense, but you also shouldn't have too many issues dealing a very decent DPR throughout the entirety of the campaign.
It's the best middle-ground solution I came up with, I don't doubt certain campaigns/party comps can benefit from different spell-lists or even feat selections, but you won't go wrong if you just use the exact same choices I recommended in the video
Min/Max Munchking awesome, thank you.
I really do love this build; it might even be my favorite that you’ve done, more because of that balance you talk about.
So, apparently according to a new errata, Shadow Blade doesn't work with Booming Blade anymore. Booming Blade requires now a weapon worth 1sp as material component, which is the weapon that needs to perform the actual attack (so no off-hand cheap dagger to be used as material component, while attacking with Shadow Blade). Shame.
Yeah, the synergy got nerfed hard.