The (Improved?) Nuclear Wizard - D&D: Optimized #74
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- Our D&D 5e character build this week is for and in behalf of Wil Wheaton and all others who feel cursed with terrible luck rolling dice. It's basically a slightly modified Nuclear Wizard. Come see how it stacks up with very little rolling required!
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Character Concept:(0:00)
Level 1:(6:56)
Levels 2-6:(13:39)
Levels 7-9:(28:43)
Levels 10-13:(33:38)
Levels 14-17:(39:49)
Final Thoughts:(49:30)
Outtakes:(53:11)
Math/Graph for this episode:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Master Nova Damage Comparison:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Thanks to LudicSavant for the amazing DPR calculator! forums.giantitp.com/showthrea...)
Music Credits:
Achaidh Cheide - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Artist: incompetech.com/
Angevin 120 loop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Fiddles McGinty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Lord of the Land by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Master of the Feast by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Artist: incompetech.com/ 
Развлечения
I'm seeing a couple of criticisms (which I welcome!) pop up semi-regularly so I figured I'd address them in a pinned comment:
1: "You should have used Goblin as Fury of the Small would add a ton more damage to each missile!" Unfortunately, Jeremy Crawford seems to argue that it doesn't work that way. Of course, you and/or your DM may disagree and, if so, bully for you! For reference: twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1050087546418384897
2: "Why not use Simulacrum! It would double the power!" Fair point! As long time viewers know, there are a few spells in D&D that I tend to avoid using/discussing. Simulacrum falls into that category. I appreciate that it has the potential to make a character super potent. I also groan over the cost of 12 hours, 1,500 gold, a bunch of ice and snow, and the fact that it can't easily heal, is fairly fragile, doesn't regain spell slots... it's just one of those really powerful spells that I just don't feel comfortable assuming you'll be able to have it when you need it and that it will reliably have the resources you need when you need them. I mean, they can use those high level spell slots one time. So, sure, if you have a day to prepare, the snow on hand, the ruby dust available, then it'd be great to bring to that one big fight that's coming. But otherwise, it just doesn't feel viable to account for in a build, ya know? Maybe one day I'll do a video on how to get the most out of the spell akin to my "Necromancers are broken" episode that basically explained why I don't do Animate Dead or Conjure Animals in my builds either :P.
Agreed with both of these decisions. I also avoid simulacrum in all of my builds. It just breaks the game that make builds pointless much like bag of holding bomb. I have no problem with my DMs banning both at our tables and i suspect its the same at other tables. Plus simulacrum is gained at such a high level that most games are ending at that point.
That's a fair point on Simulacrum, but it feels like unjustified to compare classes when you explicitly are denying some class features. And to be honest the only time you really need that 600 1 round damage is vs the BBEG so you will prepare for it. The strength of wizards is explicitly that the more time they have to plan and prepare the more powerful they become. A common rule the prevent armies of simulacrums i have played with is to only allow one "copy" ie copies cant cast simulacrum again. Considering the spell is in the base rules it was clearly intended to be used at least some of the time.
@@mikewysocki8492 I dunno how it is at your table but needing that big 1 round dmg is common at my table at higher levels. like every session. like at level 10 at my table if the build is a striker, the build is expected to dole out 70-100+ dmg to be considered adequate for the challenges the DM throws at us (very similar to monty's encounter structure in their collab one-shot or maybe slightly harder. minimum of CR=per player level) and to be fair, for most optimizers, if you're going to allow something it's going to be used all the time if the situation calls for it and it's available. if simulacrum was allowed at my table, the way i build or the concept i built wont matter at that point anymore (plus gold/components arent an issue at that level unless you started at that level/your dm is stingy). i'd simply use simulacrum in every fight as thre isn't a fight that simulacrum doesn't apply. it's that good. similar to bag of holding bomb. there's no need to multiclass, think of racial traits/feats or think up concepts. simply pick simulacrum and good spells and the build is done. personally, i don't think that's a fun character creation wise as much like colby, i like putting puzzle pieces together.
anyway i do agree that it's meant to be used. i just don't care for it much like colby does as IMO it's the most powerful spell in the game. yes, Wish is technically the most powerful but i would be casting simulacrum with wish (which shows it is the real most powerful spell).
i'm not sure who your message was directed to but neither i or colby was comparing classes so i didn't the point about it being unfair when comparing classes. if it was a class comparison comment, i would've said wizards are 1 of the top 2 classes in the game level 13+ due to simulacrum.
You could make it a straight Wizard for all 17 levels, gives you access to wish, i.e. free simulacrum/clones once per day or any other costly lower level spell for that matter
One more thing. Wall of fire is the best 4th level spell for this build - no save.
Interesting note: a dwarf with heavy armor and a woodelf with heavy armor move at the same speed without meeting the strength requirement. Wood elves have a base speed of 35, so minus 10, is the same 25 as dwarves
(43:30) - Reverse Gravity : If there is a ceiling, after they hit the ceiling (for damage) next round put Cloud of Daggers underneath them and release the spell. They take fall damage again, plus they 'enter' the cloud taking more damage, and when their turn comes up, they take the damage again.
I have discovered a secret, Colby places the character concepts in his charts before the video releases, we can get a bonus sneak peek this way ((((:
Ha ha, I actually did this yesterday for the first time and was like "I wonder if anyone will see this before I put out the video tomorrow?" I guess I got my answer :P
@@DnDDeepDive in a way, if it isn’t to much work for you, I think it is kind of fun! Haha
I learned yesterday he did this thing (the first time) in RUclips shorts myself. I'm very happy to know that that we had a preview. And now we have the full release! Yay!
Truly enjoyed seeing the mob riot on your for hexblad and silvery barbs!! Hahahaha 🤣😆
@@DnDDeepDive COLBY!!!!....Bugbear Battlemaster monk rogue- use a whip and lunge attack stunning strike sneak attack from 20' away!
"If you enjoy making characters for DnD almost as much as you... Welcome home, this is where you belong". When I found your channel last year this is exactly what got me to sub and continually come back.
it's the same for me, that just engage me so much
❤
Same for me also!
Same! I found him from the rune knight video on treantmonk and have watched/ listened to every build 2-4 times. Just a delight to listen to the concepts come to fruition. I’ve gotten a few friends hooked to the channel as well. Easily my favorite dnd channel on RUclips.
@@Trial88 Many Thank yous!
The 4th level spell that you're missing is polymorph that you only ever cast on your allies they elect to fail the saving throw and turn into big scary beasts no roll required.
The best healing is always getting a bigger health bar
@@jamescampbell2353 especially when it's a second healthbar
There is also the use of Contingency and T-Rex Polymorph as an "I'm close to death" panic button on yourself.
@@nicholasf98 I dunno if getting a bunch of hp but turning your intelligence to a 2. The dm might rule you don’t remember what your original goal was, and want to stay and eat the tasty morsels that attacked you
Also Wall of fire - no save
Level 1:(see above) [fighter 1, fighting-style, race & feat]
Level 2:(see above) [wizard 1]
Level 3:(@16:52) [wizard 2 & sub-class]
Level 4:(@18:15) [wizard 3]
Level 5:(@19:37) [fighter 2]
Level 6:(@21:25) [warlock 1 & patron]
Level 7:(see above) [wizard 4 & ASI]
Level 8:(@29:55) [wizard 5]
Level 9:(@31:30) [wizard 6]
Level 10:(see above) [wizard 7]
Level 11:(@34:30) [wizard 8 & ASI]
Level 12:(@36:21) [wizard 9]
Level 13:(@37:21) [wizard 10]
Level 14:(see above) [wizard 11]
Level 15:(@40:38) [wizard 12 & ASI]
Level 16:(@41:35) [wizard 13]
Level 17:(@44:01) [wizard 14]
36:13 there's one caveat to the will weaton dice curse that negates this use of lucky; if the game requires the player to roll low the curse makes sure that Will rolls high, so this would be the one time he gets a nat 20.
Was going to mention this.
The Dice curse holds no allegiance. It is not that it makes Will roll low, it makes him roll poorly (proven in Tabletop)
The only flaw in this build is that it requires Will to SURVIVE to higher level, here's hoping Will's party can keep him alive that long :)
Telekinetic is the new Elven Accuracy for Colby 😉
Gonna guess some kind of halfling chronurgist multiclass.
Edit- Nope. I thought I'd guess something other than custom lineage and I thought halfling luck would be a way to combat wil wheaton's bad rolls.😂 I should've known better. lol
Good stuff.
if wil plays a halfling hell just go from rolling 1s all night to rolling 2s
@@Whoeverheis11 No still 1s, just with extra steps.
I like the concept of a wizard who is looking to enchant sentient artifacts as motivation for hex blade dip
So, originally, from the teaser, I expected a (mark of hospitality or healing) halfling with Jim's magic missile...because natural 1s are highlighted and mitigated....However, to voice view I never see represented: In opposition to fighter 1/ artificer 1 as the ideal single level dips for wizards... I love the idea of heavy armor with a movement penalty, but concentration can be protected with war caster or eldritch mind... So let's have better saving throws with a a level 1 dip as a Twilight cleric granting: a full caster level for spell progression, cleric spell utility, 300' darkvision, advantage on initiative, and prof with all weapons and armor. Further, let's start as a Satyr! A Satyr gets a base move of 35' (25' in heavy armor with Str 8), lacks darkvision (taken care of by twilight cleric), and has magic resistance! Over the long haul I think the above benefits dwarf those of a single level fighter dip. -- Thoughts?
Strong defense!
I've seen a few Wil Wheaton guest appearances and his curse with the dice never ceases to amaze me.
Oh my gosh. I get so hyped just from hearing your intro!
It sounds so close to the King Crimson - I Talk To The Wind
and then your soothing voice comes in, explaining very interesting builds. An amazing video once again! Thanks a looot!
Ha ha thanks!
Yayyyy! You ended up doing it! I mentioned it, but I didn't think you would get to it till a year later. I am so happy lol. I'm actually excited!
I really hope Wil Wheaton sees the artwork for this character! It's very cool
Love this build! Had not heard of the Nuclear Wizard until I saw this. I am going to use this with a mountain dwarf and this is the perfect build for them. Thanks.
While I agree with Sebastian about what is great about custom lineage, feats have all been explored more exactingly in the optimancy community than races, so when you choose a race such as Kobold or Yuan Ti or Mountain Dwarf, that often gets us the most unique builds. Some of my favorites, the rogue tank, the kobold sorcerer, the mage slayer, the bladesinger nova. These are the concepts that really open up my mind to new possibilities.
IMHO the problem with custom is that not only you feat as VH that if you play at lower levels is almost always better than other racial features but with the +2 and half feats it is the only way to start with an 18 via buy point. 5e buy point was intended to cap at +3 stat modifiers for level 1 to 3 players. CL breaks that and can get a 20 by level 4. While I do enjoy the flavor of the race we have always done the same by reskinning other existing ones.
A good combination for a tank rogue would be a multiclass between armorer artificer for the infiltrator armor using medium armor and getting Medium armor master so you have advantage on stealth checks great ac (personally I went warforged when I played this and had a blast and I also got 1 extra ac I played as a rogue AI that before it could be deleted copied itself and uploaded itself into a warforged meant to be able to blend into a crowd as just another human and because this AI threatened the company with its own secrets got formatted resetting it to how it was originally which activated the contingency activating the backup which stowed away until the opportunity arrived to be able to escape) what really makes this combination good is it being able to have generally more ac than a rogue wearing studded leather could dream of with scale mail being 14 + dex (max 3) with the feat while being able to use a shield adding warforged bonus to ac and the ac boosting infusion that's 21 ac to go along with advantage on stealth extra movement speed and a 2d6 lightning damage ranged weapon of which simply by the merit that it's a ranged weapon you can sneak attack with it which would also be lightning damage it's pretty effective and can get even better from going towards either side of the two classes but I recommend rogue until at least 9th level that way you'd have uncanny dodge evasion and your 9th level rogue Features
It was a lot of fun when I made it also another interesting build is going 3 levels of artificer armorer then the rest of your levels go moon druid because funny thing is that the taboo against metal for druids is optional and would depend on the druid for example a dwarven druid wouldn't have the taboo against metal, and another thing the armorer armor molds to fit your form no matter what so if you really wanted you could wear your armor in animal form (I would recommend if you do this to wear heavy armor otherwise you would have to rely on the creature's dex modifier and str would be ignored as per the arcane armor ability so you could be a giant spider encased in this high tech armor sporting lasers attached to their back firing electrified webs at enemies too far away, you could be one of those sharks owned by super villains with cybernetic enhancements like laser's also keep in mind that if a creature's dex or strength would be better than your int you could use that for your lightning launchers and thunder Gauntlets (also raw the ability allowing you to use intelligence instead of either strength or dexterity doesn't say which one uses which so either weapon can use str or dex if needed, however rai it's probably Gauntlets str launchers dex)
Anyways that's been my tedtalk about some good and interesting builds with artificer armorer sorry for this comment being longer than expected
Love your work and you have a great group of friends on Tales of Aneria, subscribed for the algorithm :)
Thanks!
Recently started watching tales of aneria and I'm very impressed. Its a solid show with good jokes made by a bunch of nerds having fun. Couldn't ask for more from a dnd show
This build gets insane when you take 1 level of blood cleric at an early level. From my own calculations, going fighter 2/blood 1/hexblade 1/wizard X gives damage reports of 91 (lvl 6), 132 (lvl 9), 224 (lvl 13), and 399 (lvl 17), combining magic missile + action surge + bloodletting focus + hexblade's curse + vital sacrifice feat + evoker at later levels.
The total tier score would be 211, which puts it behind only the shepherd druid, critlander (vs humanoids), and assassin's creed builds.
Note that this level of damage can be done in round 1 and does not require concentration, so you can put down a wall of force or bless if somehow your enemy isn't dead yet.
Nice polish of the nuke wizard 🙂👍
I liked a lot how you made that crossbow a story artifact for the character!
Those Critical Role sessions with Wil are hilarious. This build rocks. Great infovid Colby. Keep up the great content.
Simulacrum makes this even crazier
USUALLY I don’t sub to something for no reason but my dude you’re easily my favorite D&D Content creator because I ADORE minmaxing and you’ve given me loads of ideas! I’m currently running a Scout Level 3 w/ Hexblade 9, there are SO many options but this has basically become my best Archer build.
Thanks so much!
Great stuff bud, as ever, subscribed, cheers
This makes me so happy!! I have discovered that I am the Wil Wheaton of the campaign I'm in. I have not rolled above an 8 in the last 5 sessions and I have changed all of my dice multiple times. I may just make this my backup character. Thank you as always for what you do!
Please report back if you do!!👍🏼👍🏼 We will observe your career with great interest.
Another combo for cloud of daggers damage is to get grasp of hadar and repelling blast. If they are in the cloud on your turn pull them out and push them right back in. If there is an artificer in the party ask if they can give you a repulsion shield to shove an enemy back into the cloud if they hit you. To make it even worse for the enemies surround the cloud of daggers with spike growth. If they move they take damage and if they don't move they take damage.
Would love to see you revisit some of those early builds (hexblade, Xbow fighter) and see how much you could improve them nowadays. Love the vid as always!
This whole build can be summed up by the great Todd Howard
"It just works"
You seem like such a genuine and wholesome dude. Subscribing!
Hey thanks! And welcome! :)
Great video as always. Thanks for sharing!
Really hope that Wheaton sees this somehow. It might warm up his unfortunate DnD soul.
I myself don't believe in curses, but statistical averages and dependable numbers, so this is also a perfect build for me :D
My Custom Lineage is a Goliath/Firbolg. He's a big scary loveable dude.
Haven’t had a chance to watch this yet. Looking forward to it! Will infamously has bad luck with dice, so I’m just assuming this build is giving him all the help in the world by relying on random numbers as little as possible.
A whole video just to say:
Will Wheaton is just built different.
Love it
This Build Is My FAVORITE Of ALL Of Your Video's, MAGIC MISSLE's & CLOUD OF DAGGER's Are Just "SICK" Spell's, Luv'em...
So funny that Wesley Crusher had all the luck whereas his actor couldn’t roll a 20 to save his life.
R O U G H.
Ehh Mary Sue's don't need luck.
Except in RPGs where he needs to roll low, there he mostly rolls 17s to 20s.
This seems like an awesome build!
After your successful casting of Suggestion, I subscribed to the Tales of Aneria channel straightaway. Rolled a 1 on my Wisdom save. completely happy to do as instructed!
Ha ha! Thanks! Also, order me a pizza? >.>
@@DnDDeepDive I'm off to domino's as we speak sir!
@@rantdmc 😂😂
@@DnDDeepDive thanks for the anti-wheaton build. i suppose you could take battlefield control spells at higher lvls as their success would depend on the DM's saving throws, and you would be protected from the dice curse?
Just wanted to say thanks you have helped me figure out a couple characters for when my current character retires or die :) going to watch ur current campaign when I have some time :p
Wil Wheaton accidentally took a feat called Unlucky.
🚫🍀
lol
If you are embracing the bad luck caster, and wanting to wish some of that bad luck onto your enemy, then I feel like 2 spells you are really missing out on are Bestow Cuse and Confusion. Even if they are not dealing damage. Both of them require the targets to roll rather than you. Zap them with confusion, and now they are rolling every turn, and everything except a 9 or 10 is bad. Or zap them with bestow curse and gift them some of your Wheaton Magic.
Added benefit, if someone walks away from you when you have warcaster, you could bestow curse them at 5th level and not break concentration :P
I can't say Wil Wheaton without imagining Stewie Griffin's Cool Whip
I'm currently playing in a campaign as a monk with crusher feat alongside a Warlock with invocations that allow Eldritch blast to push and pull creatures. Cloud of daggers is amazing, we keep knocking creatures in and out of cloud of daggers all day, its hilarious and powerful.
I echo the sentiments on Custom Lineage since it's introduction it's what I use for 80% of my character builds. I think it's great to be able to make a character whatever interesting combination of playable or even non playable races that I concoct. Keep up the outstanding work; I've now joined the channel with 3 RUclips accounts I simply can't get enough of the D4 network
This channel is awesome. Regarding custom lineage, I think it gives you the ability to play the race the way you want when it just doesn't mechanically fit certain things, especially when we were talking about half races that don't usually mix. The only thing that does bother me seeing on this channel how often it is, is it becomes sometimes a crutch instead of looking at another potential variety of racial options that can be used. Not saying that the builds aren't awesome, it just seems there is frequently going to be a pigeon-holed racial selection instead of other choices. Is it an addiction? Maybe.
@@joshuacr not necessarily an addiction i think but for most builds a feat is better than most racial bonuses or access to certain racial feats. especially for campaigns that don't play into tier 3-4. as colby mentioned before, he wants the build to be online as soon as possible and most builds require certain feats. by not taking a non-custom lineage/vuman race, he is delaying how soon the build becomes online when a racial benefit (aside from probably flight) doesn't compare to the feats he'd take anyway or isn't integral to the build.
it's simply about optimization.
I also love the openness of Custom Lineage! After my Yuan-Ti Bard died to one of Acererak's dastardly traps, he was replaced by an Awakened Owlbear Wizard who's already been a lot of fun to play.
Definitely subbed to ToA just to sub. Your build videos are wonderful. Their merit alone drives me to see any project you embark on become successful. To Aneria! (P.S. I havent watched a single session and don't plan to xD)
Any military in a high fantasy setting, would have a mage corps or something similar. So the character's superior might recommend/order them to branch into magic as the character has high intelligence
Random thought: build a luck based character
just discovered your channel. The title seemed interesting, so I thought I'd give it a listen for a few minutes. 52 minutes later I'm typing this comment. Liked & subbed... about to go take a deep dive into your content now!
How can we, mere humans, resist to the CHARM PERSON spell casted with "I`ll consider it a personal favor"?
Resilient: Wisdom feat 🙃
Colby, you beast. Thanks for the heart
@@johannesstephanusroos4969 I'm just gonna keep throwing out hearts. Like Olive Oil in the old Atari 5200 Popeye game.
Holy crap, where did *that* come from?!
My childhood. That's where.
Thanks for entertaining me as I clean/assemble a new high chair!
Man, what a cool build! Can't wait to see a bladesinger ranged btw
i played this type of bladesinger 1st half of last year. i can share details if interested. uses a slingshot.
Every time you said "It just works", it made me think of The Chalkeaters' Todd Howard song.
Finally got some time to watch this.
Regarding this build, awesome! I thought it would go a dice manipulation route through lucky and divination wizard, but choosing spells that simply bypass rolls is far more clever! You put Cloud of Daggers on my radar since the Catch-22 episode and I've been loving it ever since, it feels a bit tricky at times, but it's definitely a fun spell to use, especially with crusher/telekinetic combos. Also nice that you use Counterspell on Shield, some might consider it a waste, but seeing how so many rely on shield as a crutch for AC, or in this case negating Magic Missiles it becomes especially useful, additionally it won't have that extra AC for the remainder of this round.
There's one thing I'd like to note for the lucky feat. When you have bad luck, you have bad luck, so when you roll for someone else's attack done to you, you'll suddenly roll high. I don't know man, it's just how it is.
On a sidenote, regarding custom lineage. I think the 'problem' is not custom lineage itself, rather that getting a 'free' feat is just very strong compared to what other races give. If custom lineage didn't get a feat but instead something else, almost anything else, it most likely wouldn't be picked as much, especially for optimized characters.
Would be cool if you guys do a deep-dive on the current 'state' of character creation and what your ideal character creation would be like.
Considering they are streamlining a lot with the new releases of 5e, I think in my 'ideal' character creation world, it would be:
#Every character: Free feat & +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 for stats of your choice.
#Race: Things given by a race divided in "major" and "minor" category. (Major things would be things like movement speed, dragon's breath, flying, halfling lucky etc.. and minor things would be dark vision, additional languages, weapon/tool/skill proficiencies.) - In case of custom lineage, you get to pick the major things from one race and the minor things from another race.
#Background: gives you a single unique thing and extra languages, proficiencies.
#Class: additional class-related proficiencies (armor, weapon etc) and class stuff.
Something like that. This way you'd keep the flavour of a race since they still add quite a lot to your character (even if the stats are removed from it) and custom lineage would always just be a mix of two races, without necessarily being chosen a lot more because the free feat is just given to everyone.
while i think custom lineage is strong, there are definitely other races that offer features as strong if not stronger such as elves access to elven accuracy feat/ and trance, the flight of tieflings, fairies, gem dragonborn, owlins and aarakockras, the reach and surprise dmg of the bugbear, saving face of hobgoblins, pack tactics (regarded as the most powerful racial) of kobolds, hare trigger of harengons, etc.
the reason i think custom lineage gets played more is it gives a strong ability but doesn't force you to play a race you don't like when it comes to flavor, aesthetics and background. like for example, i want to play something with a bonus to initiative but i don't want to play a rabbit. i'll just be custom lineage and pick up the alert feat though if you compare the 2 especially at mid tier 2+ what the harengon provides is much more than what custom lineage + alert provides.
I feel like Otto’s Irresistible Dance works at least in spirit for 6th level spells. It’s irresistible (until it isn’t)
Listened to this while working so dont know if i missed it but if not- Simulacrum is a great addition to this build, Nearly doubling your damage round after round
Veyr nice build, reminds me of Draconic Nuker from 3.5. Can also make a good frontline gish with a few minor changes.
Also, can go School of Illusion, make them roll, and with a bit of creative use, wipe the floor - very underutilized, but people always forget the phenomenal usage of crowd control when thought from viewpoint of economy of action, unless your DM is a jerk giving all creatures legendary resistances all the time, it should be a very fun game.
Also, regarding custom lineages - in general there are some great ideas on 2E Pathfinder about it, and I have started to incorporate it in, gives a great layer of customization and secondary progression.
I love these builds. I'd love to see what you would do with something really strange... like a creation bard.
Colby I just wanted to say that over the course of the last few months I have enjoyed you channel tremendously. I've watched great majority of your videos (several of them multiple times) and have adapted 4 of your builds to characters of my own. I'm yet to make custom lineage character and I don't mind at all that you have this preference. Keep doing what you do, the way you want to do it #yourock
Thanks so much! ♥
Great video as always! I would like to request for more blood hunter builds! I've been dying to create a build around one, and your videos help a lot with my creative processes for characters. I was thinking like a Monk/Order of Lycan BH build? Anyways thanks for the new video!
Ok I'll add a tally to it on the to do list :)
Subbed asap!
I had only heard of a magic missle focused builds this week actually I assume our algorithms trend in similar ways lol
Thanks!
Fun way to make a build! Will is such an entertaining dude!
I know you dont really like high tech in your fantasy. But it would be really cool if you made a build for one of the subclasses in the Exploring eberron book!
I am fairly certain that empowered evocation can't do that with magic missile but other wise I love the build, especially the story behind it
I was scrolling to find this. I am sure it is once per spell, not once per die roll. For some reason, I remember a clarification that the empowered damage only went to one Fireball target as well, not to all targets.
Something to review in "Sliding into my DM's," I reckon'.
The drawback for magic missile is that is is not an “attack” RAW because there is not an attack roll. So for features that add damage when you make an attack those wouldn’t stack. I like how you found ways around that to stack additional damage.
Would love to see this done with the Jim's magic missile it would be fun to see
Just wanna do a shoutout to Randall who recently did an art commission for me. Love his work, love his style, great job!
Never would have known about him and his incredible art without this channel, so thanks Colby!
Oh this makes me happy to hear! Thanks for sharing :).
4th level spell...POLYMORPH! super great for "tanking" up someone or "healing-ish"! monkey smash!
I love this build!
If the Evocation burst damage isn't what he is looking for I would recomend to play Chronurgy or Divination wizard!
Wheaton has a great tactical mind and i think that the divination "Portent" (even with dice curse) or the "Chronal Shift" can be put to good use by Will!
Letting him control the die rolls for others might bypass the curse! And yes "Lucky" feat is needed!
Teleportation spells like Misty step and Dimension door would be real good pick up for him aswell!
I like the idea that this character is just shortsighted and wears glasses like Velma or something and that’s why they can’t hit anything with weapons or even spell attacks (assuming those bad rolls). It deepens the character arc Colby starts with about the pressure to be a soldier and underperforming, which is why they hide in awkward heavy armor and turn to magic that will always hit, even if what they see is a blurry blob 120ft away
I think I saw written "nucelar" at the beginning of the video. I really enjoyed it tho!!
Yeah. Curse the "flutter keyboard" defect on my MacBook. Ordered a new one. Arrives next week. I usually catch the typos! Alas.
To answer your 4th Level Spell conundrum, how about Raulothims Psychic Lance? Good damage and utility, and not only do you not need to roll to hit, you don't even need to see the enemy, which feels very on point for the theme
Spells that were on your 'tell me your best'. I'll do 2 for each. Obviously summon spells are top notch so this is outside of those.
4th: Polymorph. Keep only for your allies.
Greater Invisibility. Stay unseen after the magic missiles are released. Woohoo!
6th: True Seeing. Magic Missile strikes a target unerringly. Gotta make sure you have a target.
Soul Cage. Kill a dude, gain hp from warlock and now their soul as a reaction!
I can't believe you multiclassed Hexblade after being sober for so many months Colby... 😂
Wall of Fire is also a fantastic choice for not needing to roll. I play a Forge cleric and was going the whole Spirit Guardians/Spiritual Weapon route, but we were in a tunnel where our 4 enemies couldn't really move, and Wall of Fire just absolutely decimated them. No save, no attacks. Just damage.
colby will probably skip wall of fire. its an obscurement spell. he wouldn't want to inconvenience his party that isn't built around maximizing obscurement. remember the actual wall of fire provides total cover. you can't target with sight spells through the wall. you can use an attack through the wall but have to guess the targets location and suffer disadvantage for the attack. cloud of daggers has no issues and that's why it was used.
of course if you ignore using the wall and just use the heated area on 1 side of the wall and make that heated area face towards you, then it's fine. problem is no enemy will stay in that heated area unless you force them to end their turn there as the heated area only deals dmg to enemies who end their turn there. cloud of daggers on the other hand will deal dmg at the start of the enemy's turn or on entry so even if they decide to leave the area, you've already dealt the dmg.
Enjoying the one shot with Treantmonk (Dennis Hopper ROFL) and The Dungeon Dudes, gonna sub the other channel just to help you out. And Monty isn't throwing your builds curve balls, he's throwing you knuckleballs ! Hats off to him for challenging level 13 characters so well. Enough of this and tier 3 & 4 games might be more common. Excelsior !
yeah colby's catch 22 was counterpunched so hard as it's not built to handle enemies with ranged options or casters with good mobility (especially since he ignored find steed). the catch 22 works best vs. pure melee enemies so the enemy has an incentive to move towards you. when everything he faced has ranged options (aside from the spider but it was kelly who handled that iirc) the catch 22 clearly wont perform well. he was like a gloomstalker sent to an open field in broad daylight.
For my part, I think custom lineage is the best feature that has been added recently. Yes, custom lineage is almost always the best option if you want to optimize your character: But that's part of the reason it exists in the first place, so that we don't need to have endless variant Humans, but instead more diverse and interesting parties.
I only wish you could legally take racial feats tbh
Even before custom lineage the good DM's I've played with were all fine with someone taking variant human (or any other race) and reskinning them as something else.
Coming up with the reasons you have unusual traits or powers compared to the average people of your race can make for cool backstories.
I'm all about personal favors for awesome RUclips channels. Subscribed! For now.. 😉
Ha ha thanks!
Subscribed for Tales of Anaria!
I plan on watching it after I finish campaign 2 on Critical Role. I’m like 20 episodes away.
Thanks!
Flat damage wiz is a great idea sick build.
Tweeted the link to your video to Wil Wheaton ;)
ha ha thanks!
I like someone's idea of polymorph for 4th lvl. The other spell I thought of was wall of fire. The damage is similar to an upcast cloud of daggers. The difference is a larger area, and creatures can save for 1/2. So, helps against hordes.
colby will probably skip wall of fire. its an obscurement spell. he wouldn't want to inconvenience his party that isn't built around maximizing obscurement. remember the actual wall of fire provides total cover. you can't target with sight spells through the wall. you can use an attack through the wall but have to guess the targets location and suffer disadvantage for the attack. cloud of daggers has no issues and that's why it was used.
of course if you ignore using the wall and just use the heated area on 1 side of the wall and make that heated area face towards you, then it's fine. problem is no enemy will stay in that heated area unless you force them to end their turn there as the heated area only deals dmg to enemies who end their turn there. cloud of daggers on the other hand will deal dmg at the start of the enemy's turn or on entry so even if they decide to leave the area, you've already dealt the dmg.
4th level spell, wall of fire. It’s evocation too.
Initial damage is a save. No further save for damage. Is a bigger and better cloud of daggers.
Damage wise it’s actually a 2.5 average increase, but the area covered cans do a lot with hallways or either narrow terrain. Overchannel would bring this up to 48 damage as a 5th level spell, and since it’s evocation that brings it up to 53 damage with Int mod added. Proficiency potentially on that too. 57-59 damage depending on proficiency.
It also creates an area that breaks up line of sight, since the wall of fire can’t be seen through. This may be useful to try and work around enemy spellcasters with counterspell access.
A 3rd level spell choice for phantom steed might be awesome to keep your speed ridiculous. It’s a horse, but better. It even takes a minute for it to completely die. Awesome ritual.
i think colby avoided wall of fire as the line of sight break can be annoying for other party members. cloud of daggers is a simpler spell to push/pull through in. wall of fire can be tough to push/pull through if you need line of sight to target unless you have blindsight. blind fighting style is ok but the range is limited.
agreed on phantom steed. it's something i always take on wizards or if a build needs an action free way to disengage.
I was happy to subscribe to your new channel
Thanks!
35:55 Yep. That’s the reason for Custom Lineage over Halfling.
I would consider picking Metamagic Adept as a feat for Empowered Spell. Potentially turning a 1 on that singular d4 you roll for Magic Missiles into a 3 or a 4 can significantly improve your damage when your launching a barrage of 15+ missiles. Granted, that woudn't work for Will Wheaton, but it might help normal people that aren't cursed.
I like it, seems like a fun wizard. You can still do all the great wizard stuff. But when the fighter wiffs you can blow away the bad guys. Dope.
For your 4th level spell: Wall of Fire. It is an evocation spell. It inflicts automatic damage (5d8) with no save to any creature entering the area on subsequent turns (it does allow a save for creatures within its area when the spell is cast). It could be an alternative to Cloud of Daggers...
colby will probably skip wall of fire. its an obscurement spell. he wouldn't want to inconvenience his party that isn't built around maximizing obscurement. remember the actual wall of fire provides total cover. you can't target with sight spells through the wall. you can use an attack through the wall but have to guess the targets location and suffer disadvantage for the attack. cloud of daggers has no issues and that's why it was used.
of course if you ignore using the wall and just use the heated area on 1 side of the wall and make that heated area face towards you, then it's fine. problem is no enemy will stay in that heated area unless you force them to end their turn there as the heated area only deals dmg to enemies who end their turn there. cloud of daggers on the other hand will deal dmg at the start of the enemy's turn or on entry so even if they decide to leave the area, you've already dealt the dmg.
Since your race isn't important see if your DM is allowing warforged. +1 ac is pretty good on this build imo. Also the meta magic adept feat for this build seems like a MUST TAKE for this build. It allows you to reroll the d4 that determines your damages twice per day
I think a paladin could potentially be a good fit for him-lay on hands, aura of protection... lots of stuff that doesn't require rolls. Slap on an Oath of Devotion buff to his weapon and he could still land some hits, even! And, of course, ideally a halfling.
I would really like to see some more ranger builds with the new ranger stuff from TCoE, and the new beast master changes
Ok so noted! Thus far I've done a full BM ruclips.net/video/nEk6VRfSP3Y/видео.html and a dip, though the dip was a change added to the original Swashbuckler. I discuss that change here: ruclips.net/video/44kbiJytHUM/видео.html
The surprise cameo of hexblade haters cracked me up. Love that subclass and will die on this hill.
The subclass is amazing. That's kind of the issue ;)
it's mostly because that attack with charisma is a feature that is useful but almost necessary if you're a charisma character, also I hate it because Bladesinger should get it (but like, with INT) at early levels too rather than at a higher level but only while in bladesong
They are vicious!
@@GoblinLord they don't. i think you're mistaking the ac bonus for the attack bonus.
same. i use it in alot of my builds. definitely a top 2-3 dip in the game just like fighter 2.
I always like the use of cloud of daggers as one of my fave spells. i would've liked a more interesting take on the nuclear wizard though like actually not going wizard (or at least a different wizard like the war wizard since power surge works unimpressively with magic missile) like finding a way to make it optimal with another bass class like sorcerers with empowered spell and their magic shards (to make up for the lost dmg of empowered evocation but yeah i remember you not wanting to use magic items in the builds) or using spells like bestow curse. or perhaps do the triple magic missile per round route by going PAM + warcaster as this route is more uncommon/less defensive.
Regarding the question of favored 4th level spells I would recommend Wall of Fire, especially if you can put your enemy/enemies in a 10' box. R.A.W. at least by my understanding puts the targets in a position where they will take 5D8, (arguably times 4 as they are affected by 4 panels of the wall) which even if they make all 4 saves is 10D8 plus modifiers and your magic missiles.
wall of fire can only be created in a line or a ring. this has already been clarified by JC. also when taking dmg from the same source in the same way with the same trigger you only take it once.
you are correct however that wall of fire is another no save spell. not the having them inside the wall part but by doing a lot of pushing or pulling through the wall (you'll need some form of blindsight though like through blindfighting as the wall is opaque) and if they end their turn in the heated area/wall (so ways to reduce enemy speed to 0, restrain, etc).
Beyond the character concept here. I think the question of what is most powerful character you can make while assuming you never roll higher than a 5 on a d20, Here's my build:
level 1: Order Cleric - Voice of Authority is letting us do scaling damage without rolling anything ourselves, Grab Bless, Healing Word, Shield of Faith and your Domain spell Heroism for lots of options to trigger Voice of Authority.
level 2-8 : Circle of Stars Druid - Dragon form means we don't need to be rolling concentration checks most of the time, taking:
Goodberry, Fog Cloud,
Spike Growth, Heat Metal, and Pass without Trace (so rolling those 1s, 2s and 3s doesn't ruin our party's ability to sneak),
For our ASI take Resilient Constitution so we will almost never need to roll concentration checks.
Flame Arrows, Plant Growth, Conjure Animals (Conjured Animals can always take the help action, act as mounts, or be a "wall of flesh" even if they can't hit anything because we're incapable of rolling).
Polymorph synergyizes with our Voice of Authority and Freedom of Movement means even more situations where we don't need to roll.
Now we could keep working up Druid focusing on healing and Utility but lets get some more combat options because we're optimizers and utility is pointless. So,
level 9-20 : Wizard - Bladesinger (bumping our AC and Concentration checks even more)
Pick up Silvery Barbs (if we can't roll well, then nobody should), Shield, Mage Armor (if your DM doesn't let you have decent non-metal armour), Magic Missile, Absorb Elements, Find Familiar and some handy rituals.
Vortex Warp, Cloud of Daggers, Levitate, Misty Step
Fly, Haste, Major Image, Counterspell, Dispel Magic
Greater Invisibility, Fire Shield, Polymorph, Dimension Door
Wall of Force, Wall of Stone
Admittedly it might be more optimal to intersperse some Wizard with the druid rather than going straight up each one separately, since Silvery Barbs synergizes perfectly with our Voice of Authority.
Or honestly use Variant Human or Custom lineage to take Fey Touched to get Silvery Barbs at level 1.
I'd probably go:
1 - Order Cleric
2 -5 Starry Druid
6-11 Bladesinger
12-14 Starry Druid
15-20 Bladesinger.
If you want spells that don't require attack rolls or saves to deal damage, I suggest you take a look at Ashardalon's Stride from Fizban's. I have been looking at making a build for it since it seems like it would be really fun running around and burning everyone. Each creature can only take this damage once per turn, but using something that allows you to move during someone else's turn (like the Scout Rogue's reaction) would allow you to deal the damage again. It doesn't work great against a single enemy but against a bunch of enemies it deals a lot of damage.
Yeah, I've got this on my to do list as well. The "once per turn" thing is challenging, but trying to figure out the best way to make it work.
Big fun, another calculation based character to balance against.
Done, Colby!
Oh, my young padawan... Elven Wizard Hex Blade, elven accuracy and Spirit Shroud with Jim's Magic Missile.
Forget Wil Wheaton. You use your owl familiar to get triple advantage.
I'm thinking a non custom lineage option that would good would be aasimar. 1) you get a bonus to a single damage roll per turn when using for racial ability. 2) you have resistance to the 14th evocation wizard ability.
Ah but here is a bonus to the build. With a shield, heavy armor and a shield spell cast using the wizard 17th lvl feature you have a "permanent" AC of 25. Not bad for a squishy