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Colby, i wanna say something, hope you see this. It’s a very scary time for me and my family right now. Not a lot eases my anxiety these days. But once a week, I hear you say “welcome home” and I feel at peace for about an hour while I join your nerdy love of dnd numbers, and I just want to thank you for that. Truly, thank you
If you're already concentrating on a spell, like Bless, and you ready another spell (Booming Blade etc) that will break your concentration, as you have to now concentrate on holding the readied spell. It doesn't break the build but it's something to keep in mind.
I suspect many DM would not worry about that requirement, or most any other of the technical limitations around a readied action, unless the players are abusing their generous/lazy nature. RAW readied actions are just unnecessarily clunky in play really, and for little reason. You have already given up the complete freedom to do your actions BA and consume your full movement in any order, which is pretty punishing on its own before you account for the cost of consuming your Reaction to actually use the readied action. So no counter spell, opportunity attack, shield spell for the rest of the round (or you do one of those and not the readied action instead, so have wasted your action entirely) and if your prepared and attack you only get the one swing no matter how many you'd normally get on your turn (as extra attack etc are all very specifically ON YOUR TURN) etc. Similarly likely to ignore the rules technically meaning the spell slot is lost when you ready the action even if the trigger never happens, and you can't technically hold the spell for an extra round or cast it anyway when the opponents are that touch slower getting into the position you stated when you readied the spell. Most DM would probably keep it more flexible and simpler to work with than RAW, in part to encourage teamwork. As RAW they are just so clunky and punishing that 99% of the time strictly RAW usage makes a readied action is a terrible terrible idea that costs you so much of your action economy to be less effective than had you used your action on your turn...
@@foldionepapyrus3441gotta be careful this could be abused. For example if the players are readying another leveled concentration spell with the trigger being if "the effects of the currently concentrated spell end". Sure a spell slot would be wasted if the trigger conditions aren't met but it might worth the cost to ensure an effect stays up.
When you or a creature within 30 feet of you misses with an attack roll, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity and give that roll a +10 bonus, potentially causing it to hit. When you use this feature to benefit *another creature’s* attack roll, you must take a Reaction to do so.
Hay man, me and my family just had to close down our business. And things have been hard and upsetting. Your intros always make me happy, but with this one, i think, finally let my just cry and let things out. You're a sweet and kind man. Plus, this build is exactly what i wanted.
@@sirgideonofnir6840 aw thanks, and sorry to hear! 💔 Best of luck finding the next thing - here’s hoping this will end up being a blessing in disguise!
Not to get to sentimental, it's been nice after how insane my life feels to hear that warm and gentle "welcome home" when I can take an hour ((ish)) off and listen to one of many many many characters I want to play. Thank you for this l. Consider me a patron after this
Hey Colby. Have been struggling these past few weeks with work and depression, and hearing you tell us every week to hang in there does make a small difference. Thanks for what you do
Colby, as a fellow Utahn who share some of your interests and… views, I really appreciate you. Your thoughtfulness. Your kindness. Your inclusivity. I also appreciate your content. I think I definitely fall in the “theorycraft” category. I don’t typically choose to play characters based on builds like yours, but I am always fascinated by what is possible. Thanks again
Tactical tip for people playing this build-- if you miss with your bonus action attack, there's no reason to ready your action, just make a normal attack. This frees up your reaction for Uncanny Dodge or even a reaction attack from another source (opportunity attack, ally with commander's strike, etc.) so in some ways, the build will actually perform a bit better than it appears on the spreadsheet.
Another option. 5e has a fighter/paladin exclusive 'origin' feat. Its called Squire of Solamnia and it gives advantage on one attack per turn. Adding 1d8 to the damage of that attack. Its ironically better for rogues but can only be given to them via multiclassing from a lvl 1 Fighter, as he loves to do. If you want my take using this feat it would be. 6 levels battlemaster fighter, 4 levels war cleric, 10 levels Swashbuckler rogue. This gives a reaction attack from Repost, extra attack and dueling for reliable sneak attack, a bunch of d8s through the feat and superiority die, and 6 ability score Improvement. If its 2024, 5 lvls fighter, and 11 levels rogue for another d6 on sneak attack.
This does sound like fun. I want to call out that making Sneak Attacks as a Reaction is especially great when you use the Withdraw Cunning Strike: being able to hit and reposition when it’s not your turn is almost like taking an extra turn! I also think the “Ready action to attack when your familiar distracts them with the Help action” solves one of my biggest annoyances about this kind of reliance’s on Ready. You’re reacting to something that’s actually happening in the fiction, but is still predictable enough to plan around.
Looked through the comments and saw a lot of people going through some tough times and sharing how much you help them feel better so even though you probably know by now I would just like to say that losing my job has been not as depressing because of what you do, thank you!
In the Saint of Steel book series there's an order that follows a god called the White Rat. Basically, it's socialism, where everyone helped each other out. They're comprised of healers, lawyers, people who can fix things, and killers. Cause some times that's how you solve a problem. Been wanting to make a character like that for a while now.
Love this Video! Rogue Cleric gives me Shadowheart Vibes for BG3 (Take a drink). As always love your good nature and everyone should be welcome here. Appreciate ya man.
Love this build concept! I've always wanted to build the holy assassin type. Gonna go into the rotation of characters I'll probably never get to play, but maybe I'll base an encounter when I DM next on this build.
I just explored a similar half war cleric build yesterday for a level 7 one shot coming up...dual wielding Shilleleigh Hunter Ranger / War Cleric. I like that with grabbing shilleligh and true strike through various means, you can pretty much dump STR and DEX and focus on WIS to handle everything, even ranged. And spell coverage is awesome between the two lists
The windstorms in combination of the fires here in southern California has my family and I stressed under the possibility of having to evacuate on top of a bunch of life pressure wit college and work it's nice to watch these every week and feel like a good breather for once. Love the work and stuff
Hi Colby! I don't know if you're going to see this, but I wanna thank you for being such a light of positivity in this world. Everytime I lose interest in D&D your videos are such a big boost of inspiration for me Also, I share the sentiment with Leliana. I've recently got hooked on DA:I and she is amazing!
Rogues getting reliable talent at level 7 is huge. Reliable talent is one of the best class features in the game. The amount of times my dm has asked for a skill check and I asked him if he still needed me to roll because my minimum check was 28 was great.
I truely live that you give us a hint about your backstory ideas. Please keep doing that as much as possible. This build is one of my favs so far and i realy hope you keep focussing on 2024 rules :) (selfish as our party just uses 2024 rules). Did you ever thought about making roleplay builds that are not focussed on damage? Like focus on great synergies? Some subclasses just fit so well together at least regarding flavour
I’ll do “concept first” build semi regularly (especially once I’ve got the big hitters out of the way), but even then, I tend to try and add *something* quantifiable :)
This is one of my favorites of yours as far as a thematic sense. A holy underhanded inquisitor? That would be so sick in like a Middle Ages themed campain
Monk + Barbarian equals a damn good time. Human Open Hand/Bear Totem, or Aasimar Sun Soul/Zealot. Aasimar flight speed is based off of Walking speed, and you’re stacking that holy damage!
A cool one I like is a Beast barb + any monk really but I like way of mercy. The character I made for that is a human turned Wendigo who uses the blood from his wendigo physiology to heal or poison/injure others
You have such wonderful music taste, I always look up the songs you sing after the video ends and this week was such a beautiful song that I had never heard before☺️
I've been experimenting with a build using booming blade and the eldritch spear invocation for long range melee, while not technically fully raw, I'd love to hear your take on it.
Dont know if anyone has pointed it out, but Prayer of Healing helps this build a whole lot. Unsure if you can get a short rest? Spend 10 min praying and get yourself one for the price of a second lvl slot. Giving yourself back your BA attacks and making your fighter/monk/warlock love you
Yeah, I was just thinking about that spell. It's SUCH a good one. Not all DMs will allow it, but man it's good for war clerics, monks, fighters, warlocks!
14:33 I actually think you can get a second attack when using a nick weapon, but you get it during your reaction. The new Ready action says that you prepare to take an action, meaning you can take the attack action as a reaction. This is different to how it was in the 2014 version, and I really like this change. A shield is still fine though.
Ah I theory crafted this build a few days ago! Granted I did assassin rogue 7/war cleric 3. In my opinion a holy assassin of war is one of the coolest kinds of characters you can play.
one thing i thought about: when you ready a spell, aren't you concentrating on it? as an assassin probably no problem but keep in mind when you are concentrating on bless or something else since it will drop... otherwise i reeeally like the build, two of my fave classes combined ❤
52:02 - I personally use a d4 on every rogue level for my games, it’s not particularly overpowered (or practical in person) but for digital dice rolling it can make for a much more impactful feeling sneak attack, if only because rolling more dice = more fun.
I’ve been waiting so long for this video🎉 thank you Colby for what you do. It seemed pretty weak at early levels and I thought I had to be doing something wrong. Thanks for doing the in-depth work for all of us.
51:51 I completely agree with the sentiment. I think if I were to homebrew it, I would change the damage to 1d8+2 every two levels. And then obviously take away the sneak attack damage on reactions. To be honest, I didn't really like reaction sneak attacks anyway.
Another cool build idea, i was thinking if you could not make a build for all the Illrigger subclasses, if you ever should feel like doing that. I just love the thematic of it and curious what other people could come up with in ideas :)
This video came out right before Scion of the Three 😅. Im gonna run it in Descent into Avernus soon, so looking forward to see what you got in this vid
I love the idea of a fervent holy man claiming that he was chosen and granted "Divine Sight" which translated into the sneak attacks and Rogue perception traints. I would probably even flavor the characters eyes as having been sewn shut (they would still function like regular eyes). And you could take that as an upfront combatant or a stelthy inquisator assassin. Thus is ine if my top "want to play" builds jow just for the amount of flavor you can pump into it.
I played a version of your swashbuckler/battle master in a lvl 8 oneshot and loved it! The more tanky version of the classic rogue and flexibility of maneuvers with sneak attack two times pr. round felt awesome! And this seems really cool aswell with spells and more utility than from the fighter
If following the build to the letter, then at rogue 12 I'd strongly consider taking the Alert feat. You said you wanted it, it still helps your main assassin schtick, and you can swap initiative with an ally if they or you have a killer play at the start of a combat. Also, seeing some of the leaked high level monsters from the 2024 monster manual, some of them seem to have very high initiative scores.
-choose thief rogue -equip an enspelled finesse weapon of true strike -you can cast true strike as a bonus action then ready an attack action or ready true strike from your feat. this gives you up to 6 more rounds with double sneak attack.
I don’t think this works. Enspelled Weapons are not activated as a Magic action; whatever spell you cast with it uses its normal casting time. Otherwise it could get wildly overpowered since it would essentially amount to 6 free Quickened Spells a day.
When you add the cleric level, as a multiclass, do you get the armor proficiencies? I'm asking because I don't own the 2024 PHB. In the 2014 book there is a list under the multiclass section which talks about the limited proficiencies you get when multiclassing. Just checking.
I did a write up on this exact build on Reddit! (It’s the most obvious build to squeeze out max value out of War Cleric’s BA attack) Cool to see it mathed out here!
This build reminds me of the secret organization in Faerun called The Order of Illumination with their Shadowbane Stalkers and Shadowbane Inquisitors. Very cool ✌️
Hey Colby, ill mention this on the next few videos too, but i was thinking (i know thats a dangerous past time) but if the 2024 rules are supposed to be "interchangeable" with 2014 rules. So mayhaps as a way to merge the split audience, you could look into like a 5.25 edition where you use EITHER 2014 content AND/OR 2024 content on the same character, essentially treating them as different subclasses entirely. So you could still dip 1 lvl warlock for hexblade, or 2 lvl wiz for their subclass. Only caviate would be if you use 2024 content for a class, stick to the 2024 edition of that class and vise versa
Unfortunately, you cannot ready action to cast booming blade and concentrate on bless at the same time, because when you ready action to cast a spell, you count as concentrating on it. It only makes your choice of taking the assassin subclass better. I love this build. I see your berserker lurker build in it, end even if that build holds a special place in my heart, I prefer this. It is my next character (I will probably take thief to have some scrolls of booming blade so if the combat lasts more round, I will be more sustainable), so thank you😊
Cleric/ Rogue always makes me think of the Divine Prankster from 3.5 edition. It was a gnome focused prestige class. That had fun feature called "Killing Joke"
I played a version of this recently in a level 18 one-shot, but with Thief instead of Assassin. The reason for that is the wonderful synergy between the Cleric's Thaumaturge and the Rogue's Reliable Talent when it comes to the Thief's level 13 Use Magic Device. Grabbing Arcana as a proficiency with Human (even dumping Intelligence), you end up with a minimum Arcana check of 19 or 20 by the time you get Use Magic Device, so there is zero chance of spell failure. Playing a mostly Rogue who outwardly appears mostly Cleric, who is an absolute crackshot with a crossbow and always pulling out all sorts of scrolls made for a fun (and very versatile) play experience.
Amazing video as always really brought me joy, Quick rules Q. It says on Guided strike 'When you use this feature to benefit another creature’s attack roll, you must take a Reaction to do so.' Does this mean its free to use on yourself? Thank you again
How do you help rogue damage without readied actions? Sneak Attack applies to all qualifying attacks you make on your turn. Gives an obvious benefit to two-weapon fighting (the de facto rogue damage-dealer archetype), which works REALLY well with the new Nick property, encourages buildcraft by allowing you to decide whether you want to take two-weapon fighting as a feat, and synergizes with spells like Haste that were previously a niche workaround that now just works in a very apparent way. Even getting 3 sneak attacks per turn (maybe 4 with Haste) I don't think it would be unbalanced. You'd still be relatively squishy as a single class rogue compared to other classes, and it would lean into that class fantasy.
Hey Colby, I love this one! I am finally about to play (instead of DM) in a spelljammer game and wanted to play a build you had made ages ago, The Battlefield Commander (Episode 93), and was wondering how you might adapt it for the new rule system. Looking forward to episode 200!
Thanks again for another in depth class guide! Your videos are always so thorough. Out of curiosity, will we be getting an updated class guide for Arcane trickster rogue? 👀
I was coming to the comments to say exactly this, but then figured someone else probably already said it and here you are. Yeah, that's one of the reasons alert is so good with a familiar, it's basically like having advantage on your initiative since you can swap with your familiar!
Forgot to add, it's also good for choosing how you want to set up your familiar's help action. You could swap with it if it's going after you to let it go first and help your first attack, or swap it to after you if you need to position yourself first. Very useful for someone that wants their familiar to "help"
One fun thing on reliable talent and alert is alert doesnt give you a flat bonus anymore. It allows you to add your proficiency. This means at rogue level 7 you cant role below a 10 on the die on initiative. Alert has extra bonuses on rogue now. Im playing a rogue cleric right now (2014 rules started before the update). But i went skill monkey instead of damage. You can easily get prof in over 3/4ths of the skills with a truly busted number of expertise (dm likes skill challenges so i went skill monkey) and i didnt even optimise it. Add in i can just gain proficiency in whatever i want its awesome 2 level knowledge cleric dip on a rogue is so fun
"Whenever you make an ability check that uses one of your skill or tool proficiencies, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10" is Initiative a skill?
@axelschwei9934 unless they changed definitions between 2014 and 2024 then yes because it is a check that uses one of your ability scores. Also a bard's Jack of all Trades (2014 haven't seen much of 2024) added half prof to all ability checks and that included initiative so from both POVs initiative would be an ability check and with alert adding proficiency it would count under reliable talent (raw, to my understanding at least) but like always confirm with your dm cause they can say no.
It may not be as optimized for damage, but this build also works for an occult detective like Constantine; especially if you take the 2014 Phantom rogue subclass to get the speak with dead and token abilities.
Love the feel of this character: War Priest-Assassin seems appropriately thematic. Pick a compelling deity and you are optimized for role playing (as well as roll playing). Your commentary got me also thinking about the potential for Trickery-Arcane trickster. Likely not as good at damage but utility and role playing potential could be great.
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I thought that with the new rules you could only take the fighting style initiate feat if you have the fighting style feature.😅
@ you can only take fighting style feats if you have access to them, but the old (pre 2024) fighting initiate feat gets us that :).
Colby, i wanna say something, hope you see this. It’s a very scary time for me and my family right now. Not a lot eases my anxiety these days. But once a week, I hear you say “welcome home” and I feel at peace for about an hour while I join your nerdy love of dnd numbers, and I just want to thank you for that. Truly, thank you
You're welcome :) - and thanks for this comment! Makes me love what I do that much more. Hope you're well.
Stay safe ❤
Wish you all the best yo, hope things turn for the better for you and your loved ones!
Thoughts and prayers for you and your family
Stay strong, and God bless you!
If you're already concentrating on a spell, like Bless, and you ready another spell (Booming Blade etc) that will break your concentration, as you have to now concentrate on holding the readied spell.
It doesn't break the build but it's something to keep in mind.
Came here to say this, thanks
I suspect many DM would not worry about that requirement, or most any other of the technical limitations around a readied action, unless the players are abusing their generous/lazy nature. RAW readied actions are just unnecessarily clunky in play really, and for little reason. You have already given up the complete freedom to do your actions BA and consume your full movement in any order, which is pretty punishing on its own before you account for the cost of consuming your Reaction to actually use the readied action. So no counter spell, opportunity attack, shield spell for the rest of the round (or you do one of those and not the readied action instead, so have wasted your action entirely) and if your prepared and attack you only get the one swing no matter how many you'd normally get on your turn (as extra attack etc are all very specifically ON YOUR TURN) etc. Similarly likely to ignore the rules technically meaning the spell slot is lost when you ready the action even if the trigger never happens, and you can't technically hold the spell for an extra round or cast it anyway when the opponents are that touch slower getting into the position you stated when you readied the spell.
Most DM would probably keep it more flexible and simpler to work with than RAW, in part to encourage teamwork. As RAW they are just so clunky and punishing that 99% of the time strictly RAW usage makes a readied action is a terrible terrible idea that costs you so much of your action economy to be less effective than had you used your action on your turn...
@@foldionepapyrus3441gotta be careful this could be abused. For example if the players are readying another leveled concentration spell with the trigger being if "the effects of the currently concentrated spell end". Sure a spell slot would be wasted if the trigger conditions aren't met but it might worth the cost to ensure an effect stays up.
@@VikCachat and that's when the DM can just swap back to RAW, since that player decided to push their generous forbearance.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 You mean to tell me my players casters dont have reactions just to eek out some damage? hurray lol
As a note: Guided Strike only uses your Reaction if you are using it to benefit a creature other than yourself.
When you or a creature within 30 feet of you misses with an attack roll, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity and give that roll a +10 bonus, potentially causing it to hit. When you use this feature to benefit *another creature’s* attack roll, you must take a Reaction to do so.
@@SunLovinSolaire good catch!
Hay man, me and my family just had to close down our business. And things have been hard and upsetting. Your intros always make me happy, but with this one, i think, finally let my just cry and let things out. You're a sweet and kind man. Plus, this build is exactly what i wanted.
@@sirgideonofnir6840 aw thanks, and sorry to hear! 💔 Best of luck finding the next thing - here’s hoping this will end up being a blessing in disguise!
Not to get to sentimental, it's been nice after how insane my life feels to hear that warm and gentle "welcome home" when I can take an hour ((ish)) off and listen to one of many many many characters I want to play. Thank you for this l. Consider me a patron after this
@@sammayes948 ❤️❤️❤️
Hey Colby. Have been struggling these past few weeks with work and depression, and hearing you tell us every week to hang in there does make a small difference. Thanks for what you do
@@BlueFoxXT I’m glad to hear it. Don’t give up! If nothing else, January is almost over! 😬❤️
Colby, as a fellow Utahn who share some of your interests and… views, I really appreciate you. Your thoughtfulness. Your kindness. Your inclusivity.
I also appreciate your content. I think I definitely fall in the “theorycraft” category. I don’t typically choose to play characters based on builds like yours, but I am always fascinated by what is possible.
Thanks again
Tactical tip for people playing this build-- if you miss with your bonus action attack, there's no reason to ready your action, just make a normal attack. This frees up your reaction for Uncanny Dodge or even a reaction attack from another source (opportunity attack, ally with commander's strike, etc.) so in some ways, the build will actually perform a bit better than it appears on the spreadsheet.
Another option. 5e has a fighter/paladin exclusive 'origin' feat. Its called Squire of Solamnia and it gives advantage on one attack per turn. Adding 1d8 to the damage of that attack.
Its ironically better for rogues but can only be given to them via multiclassing from a lvl 1 Fighter, as he loves to do.
If you want my take using this feat it would be.
6 levels battlemaster fighter, 4 levels war cleric, 10 levels Swashbuckler rogue. This gives a reaction attack from Repost, extra attack and dueling for reliable sneak attack, a bunch of d8s through the feat and superiority die, and 6 ability score Improvement.
If its 2024, 5 lvls fighter, and 11 levels rogue for another d6 on sneak attack.
The Holy Blade: D&D Ep #199
Level 01 (see above) [rogue 1, species, background, extra feat & expertise]
Level 02 (see above) [cleric 1 & divine order]
Level 03 (@17:57) [cleric 2]
Level 04 (@18:39) [cleric 3 & subclass]
Level 05 (@21:27) [rogue 2]
Level 06 (@21:55) [rogue 3 & subclass]
Level 07 (see above) [rogue 4 & feat]
Level 08 (@33:16) [rogue 5]
Level 09 (@34:56) [cleric 4 & feat]
Level 10 (see above) [rogue 6 & expertise]
Level 11 (@36:31) [rogue 7]
Level 12 (@37:52) [rogue 8 & feat]
Level 13 (@39:00) [rogue 9]
Level 14 (see above) [rogue 10 & feat]
Level 15 (@42:11) [rogue 11]
Level 16 (@43:11) [rogue 12 & feat]
Level 17 (@44:31) [rogue 13]
"The Necessary Evil"!!! This character concept has been in my back log for so long!!! Thanks for a dope build of it!!
This does sound like fun. I want to call out that making Sneak Attacks as a Reaction is especially great when you use the Withdraw Cunning Strike: being able to hit and reposition when it’s not your turn is almost like taking an extra turn!
I also think the “Ready action to attack when your familiar distracts them with the Help action” solves one of my biggest annoyances about this kind of reliance’s on Ready. You’re reacting to something that’s actually happening in the fiction, but is still predictable enough to plan around.
How about taking the repost maneuver with a fighter dip? Getting a more reliable reaction attack.
Hey that was my suggestion for the name! Glad you liked it 😁
As someone who consistently goes to the gym, Colby I have to say your biceps are very inspiring.
Looked through the comments and saw a lot of people going through some tough times and sharing how much you help them feel better so even though you probably know by now I would just like to say that losing my job has been not as depressing because of what you do, thank you!
In the Saint of Steel book series there's an order that follows a god called the White Rat. Basically, it's socialism, where everyone helped each other out. They're comprised of healers, lawyers, people who can fix things, and killers. Cause some times that's how you solve a problem. Been wanting to make a character like that for a while now.
Crazy we’re at build number #199!!!
Love this Video! Rogue Cleric gives me Shadowheart Vibes for BG3 (Take a drink). As always love your good nature and everyone should be welcome here. Appreciate ya man.
Love this build concept! I've always wanted to build the holy assassin type. Gonna go into the rotation of characters I'll probably never get to play, but maybe I'll base an encounter when I DM next on this build.
Rolled a Paladin Assassin years ago for tabletop so glad to see a like mind when it comes to rogue multiclass lovers
I just explored a similar half war cleric build yesterday for a level 7 one shot coming up...dual wielding Shilleleigh Hunter Ranger / War Cleric. I like that with grabbing shilleligh and true strike through various means, you can pretty much dump STR and DEX and focus on WIS to handle everything, even ranged. And spell coverage is awesome between the two lists
Posted 12 minutes ago, and you've got 380 views. I've been watching you for three years and I'm so happy for your success.
The windstorms in combination of the fires here in southern California has my family and I stressed under the possibility of having to evacuate on top of a bunch of life pressure wit college and work it's nice to watch these every week and feel like a good breather for once. Love the work and stuff
@@ACE_caliber oof. I hope you guys can stay safe! ❤️
Hi Colby! I don't know if you're going to see this, but I wanna thank you for being such a light of positivity in this world.
Everytime I lose interest in D&D your videos are such a big boost of inspiration for me
Also, I share the sentiment with Leliana. I've recently got hooked on DA:I and she is amazing!
Hey thanks!
Colby, looking at the Artwork: I want to look like him!
The Artwork, looking at Colby: I want to look like him!
Rogues getting reliable talent at level 7 is huge. Reliable talent is one of the best class features in the game. The amount of times my dm has asked for a skill check and I asked him if he still needed me to roll because my minimum check was 28 was great.
The truly wonderful thing about your videos is that when I listen to the ASMR, I pass out, and rewatch to catch the build multiple times. 😂❤
I truely live that you give us a hint about your backstory ideas. Please keep doing that as much as possible.
This build is one of my favs so far and i realy hope you keep focussing on 2024 rules :) (selfish as our party just uses 2024 rules).
Did you ever thought about making roleplay builds that are not focussed on damage? Like focus on great synergies? Some subclasses just fit so well together at least regarding flavour
I’ll do “concept first” build semi regularly (especially once I’ve got the big hitters out of the way), but even then, I tend to try and add *something* quantifiable :)
This is one of my favorites of yours as far as a thematic sense. A holy underhanded inquisitor? That would be so sick in like a Middle Ages themed campain
5:08 love the Mistborn reference
Rouge/Cleric are my two favourite classes in any RPG, and combine them together whenever I can, so just from the intro I am already hyped.
Hey Colby. Thank you for your channel. Not only does it give me endless ideas for characters, but it is also a comforting place to be.
PS. Almost at build 200!
Every single time I get to the end of one of your videos and hear you telling me to hang in there and have hope for the future it lifts my spirits.
So much love for pack tactics, kobold is awesome 😊
The Kobold is loved by Tiamat, pretty awesome tips
Monk + Barbarian equals a damn good time. Human Open Hand/Bear Totem, or Aasimar Sun Soul/Zealot. Aasimar flight speed is based off of Walking speed, and you’re stacking that holy damage!
A cool one I like is a Beast barb + any monk really but I like way of mercy.
The character I made for that is a human turned Wendigo who uses the blood from his wendigo physiology to heal or poison/injure others
I teared up a little bit with the encouraging words at the end haha
You have such wonderful music taste, I always look up the songs you sing after the video ends and this week was such a beautiful song that I had never heard before☺️
You’re such a force of goodness in the world, Colby.
Pretty sweet to see the numbers on paper and not just in theory. Thank you!
I've been experimenting with a build using booming blade and the eldritch spear invocation for long range melee, while not technically fully raw, I'd love to hear your take on it.
Your voice put my 4 month old to sleep, thanks.
That’s what I’m here for!!!
same for mine AND me =D
Dont know if anyone has pointed it out, but Prayer of Healing helps this build a whole lot.
Unsure if you can get a short rest? Spend 10 min praying and get yourself one for the price of a second lvl slot.
Giving yourself back your BA attacks and making your fighter/monk/warlock love you
Yeah, I was just thinking about that spell. It's SUCH a good one. Not all DMs will allow it, but man it's good for war clerics, monks, fighters, warlocks!
14:33 I actually think you can get a second attack when using a nick weapon, but you get it during your reaction. The new Ready action says that you prepare to take an action, meaning you can take the attack action as a reaction.
This is different to how it was in the 2014 version, and I really like this change. A shield is still fine though.
Pally build? No… rogue / cleric! Looking forward to this one :)
Totally agreed and I'm not even a "lefty." May the Maker preserve you Colby.
Ah I theory crafted this build a few days ago! Granted I did assassin rogue 7/war cleric 3. In my opinion a holy assassin of war is one of the coolest kinds of characters you can play.
one thing i thought about: when you ready a spell, aren't you concentrating on it? as an assassin probably no problem but keep in mind when you are concentrating on bless or something else since it will drop...
otherwise i reeeally like the build, two of my fave classes combined ❤
Came for the build, stayed for the but. 😂
Love your take on this one, Colby. Inquisitor types always make interesting rogues! And you made it work!
52:02 - I personally use a d4 on every rogue level for my games, it’s not particularly overpowered (or practical in person) but for digital dice rolling it can make for a much more impactful feeling sneak attack, if only because rolling more dice = more fun.
I’ve been waiting so long for this video🎉 thank you Colby for what you do. It seemed pretty weak at early levels and I thought I had to be doing something wrong. Thanks for doing the in-depth work for all of us.
51:51 I completely agree with the sentiment. I think if I were to homebrew it, I would change the damage to 1d8+2 every two levels. And then obviously take away the sneak attack damage on reactions. To be honest, I didn't really like reaction sneak attacks anyway.
The Inquisitor archetype is something I’ve always enjoyed playing. Thanks for crushing it!
Another cool build idea, i was thinking if you could not make a build for all the Illrigger subclasses, if you ever should feel like doing that.
I just love the thematic of it and curious what other people could come up with in ideas :)
You can also guiding bolt and THEN sneak attack xD... that's a pretty OP combo too!
That delivers a STACK of damage all in one turn, no delay!
Finally, a build that lets me play out my fantasy of being Sheppard Book from Firefly. Hopefully, without the same ending.
This video came out right before Scion of the Three 😅. Im gonna run it in Descent into Avernus soon, so looking forward to see what you got in this vid
I'd argue that experienced riders and bowers have exceptional balance to stay on the saddle and thus being steady while moving
I love the idea of a fervent holy man claiming that he was chosen and granted "Divine Sight" which translated into the sneak attacks and Rogue perception traints. I would probably even flavor the characters eyes as having been sewn shut (they would still function like regular eyes). And you could take that as an upfront combatant or a stelthy inquisator assassin.
Thus is ine if my top "want to play" builds jow just for the amount of flavor you can pump into it.
I played a version of your swashbuckler/battle master in a lvl 8 oneshot and loved it! The more tanky version of the classic rogue and flexibility of maneuvers with sneak attack two times pr. round felt awesome! And this seems really cool aswell with spells and more utility than from the fighter
If following the build to the letter, then at rogue 12 I'd strongly consider taking the Alert feat. You said you wanted it, it still helps your main assassin schtick, and you can swap initiative with an ally if they or you have a killer play at the start of a combat. Also, seeing some of the leaked high level monsters from the 2024 monster manual, some of them seem to have very high initiative scores.
-choose thief rogue
-equip an enspelled finesse weapon of true strike
-you can cast true strike as a bonus action then ready an attack action or ready true strike from your feat.
this gives you up to 6 more rounds with double sneak attack.
I don’t think this works. Enspelled Weapons are not activated as a Magic action; whatever spell you cast with it uses its normal casting time. Otherwise it could get wildly overpowered since it would essentially amount to 6 free Quickened Spells a day.
When you add the cleric level, as a multiclass, do you get the armor proficiencies? I'm asking because I don't own the 2024 PHB. In the 2014 book there is a list under the multiclass section which talks about the limited proficiencies you get when multiclassing. Just checking.
@@makarr01 yep!
21:03 It also makes the target resistant to all damage. Don't forget that.
I absolutely love this, even more with Leliana reference
Yippee! War domain build! Now I just need a Trickery domain one. ;)
I did a write up on this exact build on Reddit! (It’s the most obvious build to squeeze out max value out of War Cleric’s BA attack) Cool to see it mathed out here!
This build reminds me of the secret organization in Faerun called The Order of Illumination with their Shadowbane Stalkers and Shadowbane Inquisitors. Very cool ✌️
When I saw Randall's art for the build, I too looked at it and said, "That looks like Colby!"
Regarding the Gun Fu Monk... I watched it. I literally watch every one of your videos, Colby.
I love your videos and my favorite has been the warm hug lol would you consider maybe making videos about Tales of the Valiant too?
@@zacharybrassfield4835 consider yes, but it all depends on demand :)
Hey Colby, ill mention this on the next few videos too, but i was thinking (i know thats a dangerous past time) but if the 2024 rules are supposed to be "interchangeable" with 2014 rules. So mayhaps as a way to merge the split audience, you could look into like a 5.25 edition where you use EITHER 2014 content AND/OR 2024 content on the same character, essentially treating them as different subclasses entirely. So you could still dip 1 lvl warlock for hexblade, or 2 lvl wiz for their subclass. Only caviate would be if you use 2024 content for a class, stick to the 2024 edition of that class and vise versa
Unfortunately, you cannot ready action to cast booming blade and concentrate on bless at the same time, because when you ready action to cast a spell, you count as concentrating on it. It only makes your choice of taking the assassin subclass better.
I love this build. I see your berserker lurker build in it, end even if that build holds a special place in my heart, I prefer this. It is my next character (I will probably take thief to have some scrolls of booming blade so if the combat lasts more round, I will be more sustainable), so thank you😊
Cleric/ Rogue always makes me think of the Divine Prankster from 3.5 edition. It was a gnome focused prestige class. That had fun feature called "Killing Joke"
At Rogue 12, the simple Alert origin feat seems like a solid option for this build.
I played a version of this recently in a level 18 one-shot, but with Thief instead of Assassin. The reason for that is the wonderful synergy between the Cleric's Thaumaturge and the Rogue's Reliable Talent when it comes to the Thief's level 13 Use Magic Device. Grabbing Arcana as a proficiency with Human (even dumping Intelligence), you end up with a minimum Arcana check of 19 or 20 by the time you get Use Magic Device, so there is zero chance of spell failure. Playing a mostly Rogue who outwardly appears mostly Cleric, who is an absolute crackshot with a crossbow and always pulling out all sorts of scrolls made for a fun (and very versatile) play experience.
I never got a notification for your gun fu video! I'll be watching it after this video
ha ha thanks! :)
Amazing video as always really brought me joy, Quick rules Q. It says on Guided strike 'When you use this feature to benefit another creature’s attack roll, you must take a Reaction to do so.' Does this mean its free to use on yourself?
Thank you again
@@shvlogs6356 yes! I missed explaining that in the vid :)
I feel like this build works perfectly for Stephen from braveheart. At least from a character background .
Nice concept!
How do you help rogue damage without readied actions? Sneak Attack applies to all qualifying attacks you make on your turn. Gives an obvious benefit to two-weapon fighting (the de facto rogue damage-dealer archetype), which works REALLY well with the new Nick property, encourages buildcraft by allowing you to decide whether you want to take two-weapon fighting as a feat, and synergizes with spells like Haste that were previously a niche workaround that now just works in a very apparent way. Even getting 3 sneak attacks per turn (maybe 4 with Haste) I don't think it would be unbalanced. You'd still be relatively squishy as a single class rogue compared to other classes, and it would lean into that class fantasy.
It's a Harry Powell build from the film "Night of The Hunter"
Rogue and a Cleric… A cheeky bit of Locke Lamora anyone?
Hey Colby, I love this one! I am finally about to play (instead of DM) in a spelljammer game and wanted to play a build you had made ages ago, The Battlefield Commander (Episode 93), and was wondering how you might adapt it for the new rule system. Looking forward to episode 200!
Thanks again for another in depth class guide! Your videos are always so thorough. Out of curiosity, will we be getting an updated class guide for Arcane trickster rogue? 👀
@@darkduelette1427 I’ll build around them many times in the future, I’m sure :)
Lol the captions are amusing with this one.
Woo #200 coming!
RAW: The familiar rolls its own Initiative.
Great video best of wishes to you and your family
28:23 Rules as written, the familiar rolls its own initiative.
I was coming to the comments to say exactly this, but then figured someone else probably already said it and here you are. Yeah, that's one of the reasons alert is so good with a familiar, it's basically like having advantage on your initiative since you can swap with your familiar!
Forgot to add, it's also good for choosing how you want to set up your familiar's help action. You could swap with it if it's going after you to let it go first and help your first attack, or swap it to after you if you need to position yourself first. Very useful for someone that wants their familiar to "help"
Thanks Colby! ❤
I love your work , thanks coby!
I can't wait for Colby to drop his own ttrpg system where nothing you do uses a resource you have. Free everything 🎉🎉🎉
War cleric + rogue looks like good base for Arvorin-praising halfling.
The “keep going, you got this” felt extra heartfelt this week.
Certainly couldn’t have anything to do with current events 😅.
Oooo. Love the concept. Let's see this!
One fun thing on reliable talent and alert is alert doesnt give you a flat bonus anymore. It allows you to add your proficiency. This means at rogue level 7 you cant role below a 10 on the die on initiative. Alert has extra bonuses on rogue now.
Im playing a rogue cleric right now (2014 rules started before the update). But i went skill monkey instead of damage. You can easily get prof in over 3/4ths of the skills with a truly busted number of expertise (dm likes skill challenges so i went skill monkey) and i didnt even optimise it. Add in i can just gain proficiency in whatever i want its awesome 2 level knowledge cleric dip on a rogue is so fun
"Whenever you make an ability check that uses one of your skill or tool proficiencies, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10"
is Initiative a skill?
@axelschwei9934 unless they changed definitions between 2014 and 2024 then yes because it is a check that uses one of your ability scores. Also a bard's Jack of all Trades (2014 haven't seen much of 2024) added half prof to all ability checks and that included initiative so from both POVs initiative would be an ability check and with alert adding proficiency it would count under reliable talent (raw, to my understanding at least) but like always confirm with your dm cause they can say no.
War Cleric! I called it! Awesome!
It may not be as optimized for damage, but this build also works for an occult detective like Constantine; especially if you take the 2014 Phantom rogue subclass to get the speak with dead and token abilities.
The “crucifixer” sounds like a cleric/artificer. Fixing flesh and machine alike 😂
Love the feel of this character: War Priest-Assassin seems appropriately thematic. Pick a compelling deity and you are optimized for role playing (as well as roll playing). Your commentary got me also thinking about the potential for Trickery-Arcane trickster. Likely not as good at damage but utility and role playing potential could be great.
I was working on this concept 2 days ago. ❤❤❤