This is my first attempt at doing a vid in 4k. Looks like my rig had a difficult time handling it while recording, as there's a fair bit of stuttering. I'll likely go back to 1080p but please let me know if you have any thoughts on the video quality :).
I almost exclusively watch RUclips on my phone and can't tell the difference between 1080 and 4k. I'm just now getting into the racial options section of the video and haven't seen any stutfering yet. Maybe the stutters are because the video just uploaded and RUclips is still in the process of upscaling the resolution.
He hypnotizes me every night to have fun fantasy dreams, and for that I will gladly have the possibility of being a sleeper agent. Guess I’m a warlock (pact of the optimization?)
I really appreciate that you addressed the negative people in the D&D community when it comes to min-maxing. It is a nice refresher to see someone in the community I respect to say that. That Hampton art was crazy!! I am always impressed by his (their?) work, but this one hit it out of the park. Always love to see the videos, and this was another spectacular one!
It's sad that ANYONE thinks that you're a bad player or a bad person because you make videos modelling a way to build a powerful character. I suppose people say this probably because they have been attacked for roleplaying in the past by min-maxers. As always, you made a great video, Colby, and they inspire me to build great characters around the mechanical concept you create. Thanks so much!
Nobody gets shit on for not minmaxing. That's an imaginary problem. People do, however, get attacked all the time for daring to build a character that is actually thoughtful. Mostly by people who are too stupid to understand that a character's power has nothing to do with how good the player is at roleplaying or building interesting characters.
I'm a huge fan of making minmaxed characters and then figuring out a good story reason to play them in the most unoptimized way. One of my favorites was a level five path of the beast barbarian in a one shot who accidentally killed her best friend the first time they transformed and does everything she can to control her anger, thereby barely ever rages. It was so much fun to play and when she finally cracked and lost her composure she went from doing the least amount of damage in an encounter to the most, which felt so much more triumphant than playing her any other way would have, even though in the long run she was mostly not contributing as much as she could have mechanically.
For what is worth, I think theres something to be said for having a fun/unique concept that doesn't come up short mechanically. Using a sub optimal starting point, and building it up too stand shoulder to shoulder with the more traditional builds, glorious!
Honestly think this is your best build in a long time (and thats not to knock previous builds, this one is just really good). What's worth mentioning is that this is not a one-trick pony. You can absolutely follow the invisible tactics lined out and have a good time. But a DM throwing out charm immune monsters or ones that can see invisibility really doesn't shut this character down. You are a bulky Wizard with great saves and great AC and solid support from Protector Cannon and you can throw out all the same crazy Wizard spells everyone else can. Great job, Colby :)))
I love your builds. Some how you aren't getting "boring to watch", you bring something new each and every time. Thank you, the time it takes to make a video, writing a script, making the actual character, deciding on classes at each level has to be exhausting, and sounds stressful. I do truly appreciate the effort, and I hope you take time to look after your mental health, even if it means missing video releases. You're a brilliant creator and I don't want you to be burned out.
Colby's Mellifluous voice and mellow cadence are hypnotic. He should be a late night radio DJ that plays a combination of Soft Jazz, Chillstep, and Acoustic Rock. Keep up the great content Colbs!
Thanks Colby! After the invisible helper I was so hoping you’d revisit this build. Invisibility is both iconic and seemingly under represented in D&D and I love that you found these opportunities. Cheers!
The thing I really like about all your character builds is the interesting things you do with mechanics but more than that is the themes and roles you imagine them fitting in. Sometimes I can see the sheer number of dice you have to roll being a bit of a drag for other players, but in general all your builds have rules and story working together. I'm looking forward to a tier 1 sustained damage dealer that has a backstory so complete that you need to release a book for it!
I view Steel Wind Strike as the Slow of multi-target damage spells. It's a surgical tool rather than a bludgeon. Synaptic Static and Hypnotic Pattern are great, but if you roll poorly on initiative you might think twice about throwing one out once your allies have engaged the enemy. No such issue with SWS, Slow, and other spells that allow you to exclude allies from the effect.
Thank you for your words of encouragement at the end about good days coming and hang in there I really needed that thank you for your content it helps me get through the week
I do appreciate your ability to optimize and invest your build in a concept. I often do the same and am known in my D&D community as the “power builder” but luckily for me that title is intended in love. I really enjoy your videos friend and I pray for your channel and that the love you have for these people bears peaceful fruit. I’m currently working on an invisible build. We are 3rd level and set in a anthropomorphic setting so I’m a chameleon (deep gnome). Bard of creation, poisoner. I’ll be dipping my poisons on my allies’ weapons and inspiring my allies.
I haven't played since AD&D. Decided to join a game. I used these videos as a way to try to determine what the effects of each skill/class/options are. My Lvl 5 Gloomstalker/ Lvl 1 Samurai is about to get some serious nova boosts in each of the next 5 levels (all fighter). He's becoming an invisible machine gun, that will shoot 6 arrows on his first round, with elven accuracy advantage and sharpshooter damage. The methodology of these video's has helped a lot.
Actually, when I first watched one of Colby's videos, I had a similar reaction to the comment mentioned in the beginning, but just kept it to myself. Slowly, however, through Colby's content, I've come to realize how much fun it can actually be to optimize, and how optimization and role play aren't mutually exclusive, and I've been steeped in optimization content ever since xD
Colby is a ultimate Lord bard cuz he keeps telling us Tales of all these epic stories characters that he makes sharing his magical Secrets along the way
Now I really want to see a multi target damage build based around steel wind strike and a anime sword master concept but i am pretty sure it is outclassed by other options.
I truly don't understand how someone could watch your videos and hear your considered suggestions every time you multi-class about what might have motivated the character to learn new techniques or study under new tutors, and then say you don't care about roleplay. I think you and your back catalogue are actually the perfect counter to the idea that min-maxing and roleplay are mutually exclusive. And as always, kudos for being so considerate and respectful when addressing these sorts of comments too, people who care more about roleplay are welcome here too!
As someone with an Artillerist in the party... protector cannon rocks. Every time he tries to summon a different cannon, the rest of us cry and complain until he brings back protector cannon. We love the cannon as much, if not more, than him. :)
FINALLY!!! AN ARTILLERIST BUILD! I have been playing an artillerist for just over a year now... I have won an 8 person PvP, keep the entire party healthy with temp HP, and can blast away til kingdom come. Artificers are the ultimate well rounded class that can do ANYTHING
My first time ever playing DnD 5e I had no idea what I was doing and read online that a rogue should have good charisma to be a “face” because they get expertise. I had no idea what that meant so I built a max charisma… dump stat dex… rogue… it didn’t go well… I never hit unless I crit and it sucked. I then started to research about “min/maxing” not so I could show up anyone else, but so I could actually feel useful and have fun in combat. I have never had a problem with heavy RPrs or min/maxers. I found your channel way back with the first bladesinger and watch weekly for the new builds. I have learned so much from you and it piqued my curiosity to delve farther into DnD. I even got my DM hooked on you and we try and figure out what you’re gonna build based off of the short! 😂 TLDR: my first character was TERRIBLE in combat, and it sucked (8 Dex rogue…), so I found your channel and learned how to make better characters and have been “min/maxing” (making combat potent characters) while still being able to role play since. Thank you!
Long time fan! I just wanted to hop in the chat and say thank you for everything you have certainly brought my love for TTRPGS back, and especially with a more creative twist then I used too! Just a fun story to kind of show the fun and love you put out into the world. I'm in a campaign playing a level 11 version of your Bladesinger Tank and I have loved every minute and my party definitely appreciates thier tank. And the fun story I have for him is, he has always wanted to train at a temple with Monks but never could be as well formed in his martial arts. Having failed there he turned to wizard academies hoping maybe he can redeem himself with his Artificers talents and knowledge of magic. But once again was not up to snuff with his Magic skills. Now he travels with a band of more "squishy" companions in hope of proving to himself he can be good enough at both in his own way. And he has had lots of fun RP moments with the wizard about magic and hoping to get into a magic school one day. As well as sharing his dungeon loot with him so that his buddy can teach him more about magic and the like. Any way I hope you have an awesome day and keep putting those smiles and creativity out into the world!
I had just seen the invisible helper concept and was thinking what to do as the DMs I usually play with don't allow a lot of multiple classes. Then I saw this video. Then I fell in love with this concept. Great work, as always.
You can do both, I personally love to find a idea for a character. such as a blind Halfling monk/rogue and then find a way to make it work. Once i have it working i min max the heck out of it within the concept of the character. So i won't use something that doesn't fit the character concept but once i have the concept i do everything i can to make them as useful and i can and i find your videos very helpful. Helpful in that you tend to give me ideas on how to build interesting ideas that i adapt very often to my concepts. You point out the best races but i might change that to fit my vision and that causes me to adapt other areas of the builds to make it work as well as possible. Point being these builds are whatever you make them, the limit is your imagination.
Love this. I have a Verdan Enchanter Wizard pretty much at the top of my list of characters I want to play...but now I might have to figure out how to add 3 levels of Artificer into the build.
Figured you'd take metamagic adept as your second ASI. Gives you the ability to get Invisibility or Greater Invisibility up and still use hypnotic gaze in the same turn. Otherwise though, love the concept and the build!
Ok Colby, You probably don't remember me or my comments, but probably my favorite build so far was my Shephard with 2 levels of peace cleric. It was THE most versatile and prolific character I have played to this date. My point was when I used sanctuary I experienced some of the same thing you were talking about when you use your ability to hit someone else ...... omg it is funny when it happens! LOL The DM gets like " oh damn Im gonna get you! Grrr..... Bammm hit my friend ...... OH damn those ten giant centipedes ripped my backside a new one!.... Im gonna get you now!... Bammm! hit another one of my friends LOL VERRY VERRY FRUSTRATING!
A fellow Enchantment wizard! Love it! And I love someone else using it with invisibility (fingers crossed the new Enchanter can still do this)! I cannot possibly wait until level 5 to get Hypnotic Gaze; but the Protector cannon might just be worth it… hmm. Possibilities.
Thanks for another awesome D&D build video! I've been entertaining the idea of an enchanter/hypnotist character lately, using college of glamour bard, but this also sounds cool!
Artificial restriction is great. It lets me “min/max” AKA obsess over mechanics without making my character intimidating “superior”. I did a “control freak” with such distain, OCD and vision issues she won’t do entire categories of magic and it’s sooooo fun…
That sounds amazing! I'm currently playing a nerdy lab rat wizard - only taking spells that would be useful in the situations they actually faced. It's one hell of a scary ride when someone walks up and you realize you specifically dodged any spell that is designed to get you out of such a situation and you have to improvise with what you've got.
@@derimperator3847 Mine won’t mess with other people’s vision(illusion), corpses(necromancy) or do anything “messy” (fire, acid, lightning, bludgeoning, slashing, etc, etc). She’s a tabaxi librarian/Velma type. I love that you’re a rat and mine is a cat. She can’t stand rodents they chew books - her familiar is an owl who’s #1 job is kill them 😂 📚 🐀
I love the control/support builds! I need some shenanigan builds. I'm trying a Soulknife Rogue/Genie Warlock in my daughters first game as GM. I bet you could make some crazy shenanigan builds!
Color Spray is a GREAT idea for the concept. Sure, you want to be invisible, but if everyone else is BLIND, you're basically invisible. Steel Wind Strike is great for people who want a Fireball, but don't want to hit their friends. At level 5, your Fireball does 10d6. Steel Wind Strike does 6d10. Fireball's half damage makes it slightly better, but with Advantage from Invis your advantage should make up the difference by hitting top damage more often than Fireball would.
I love Color Spray conceptually here too. Great for the early levels where we're stuck casting Invisibility once per day. If Spray works, we've effectively cast a 15ft Cone Help spell. Works for multiple attacks. Also imposes disadvantage, and allows free disengaging since blinded enemies can't make OAs. Way more fun and interactive than Sleep! When it works... Fireball is 8d6 damage, but yes typically still much more reliable AoE damage on the cheap. Invisibility notably would only provide advantage on the first of five potential attacks made with Steel Wind Strike. Greater Invis would hold up for advantage on em all, but attack rolls must be resolved in order. So we'd lose basic Invis after the first swing. We could get more advantage if we're within 5ft of Prone targets before the cast. The spell actually isn't moving/teleporting us until the end. So a Prone target even 10ft away from us is no good, and a Paralyzed one is even more of a tease if we can't get to them. Another fun aspect of this spell is that we could include an ally if we need to reposition to a safer spot, or even an enemy that we kill with the Strikes. Pick a square around an enemy that would allow us to safely move back without provoking OAs. Else, we could target our Familiar who is out of harm's reach. We'll probably take it out, but that's easily worth it. If we're casting this from Invisibility, we wouldn't have advantage to attack a PC. Targeting a tanky ally could be worth it if we're likely to miss and they can take a hit for us. Fun gamble.
53:04 bro your voice is amazing, this outtakes will never get old. anyways great build!! I was thinking in a similar build yesterday, but using kender as the race
Pre-Video Guess! So, given the Hypnotist angle, I'm expecting at least 2 levels in Wizard for the Enchantment school. I would go all the way to 6th myself to get that equally sweet, almost at-will feature, too. Then, I'm assuming Bard, because #support, but I almost wonder if 6 levels in Paladin would be worth it just for the auras. Alternatively, Twilight cleric for the AoE temp HP would work pretty much equally well, and if you want to stay hidden, a couple of levels in Rogue would fit nicely too. I'm gonna say Wizard (Enchantment) 9, Rogue (Mastermind) 4, and a real wildcard guess, Artificer (Alchemist) 4. Sure, maybe Colby has some bard shenanigans to try out, and I wouldn't be surprised, but you get bonus action Hide OR Help for buffing at range, and artificer gives a non-concentration way to buff yourself or your allies for long periods of time without spell slots (plus a few nifty proficiencies), all while keeping your character focused solely on Int, with just enough Dex for maybe a decent AC with Artificer. Mid-Vid: Argh! My twilight cleric guess was close, but you went with the other thing! I expected you might, I just wanted to count on having our bonus action available for other things. We'll see... Post-Vid: Okay, okay. Straight Wizard is fine. I don't like it as much as the Rogue levels for bonus action fun, but if your bonus is tied up, then I suppose that makes sense. Still, solid. Turns out any character that is mostly wizard is probably gonna be just fine. XD
I'm shocked that episode of Buffy where teenagers become invisible wasn't at least mentioned for the theme. My head went even darker though, hiding from abusive family.
The best feeling of verisimilitude in the world is when you have an awesome character build that you have fun playing that also has solid RP and motivations for why they are the way they are.
The characters being not only a mechanical mash but real characters was the exact reason for the outcry at the hammer time video, when you said you think about stopping to give backstory ideas a year ago (time flies by)
I believe that comment that you mentioned is what is known as the "storm wind fallacy" . Wherein you are supposedly not able to optimize and role play at the same time period however it's called" fallacy" because that is not correct. You can definitely optimize/men Max/ Role play all the same time and have fun doing it so.
1. My opinion on Optimization is that it's the mechanics to realize certain roleplays. For instance, if you want to build a beefy heavy hitter wielding a great sword that casts Thunderclap with every attack roll under 10, then you might not be able to gain that flavour with a grung rogue. Even flavour builds (such as my Redeption Paladin Minautaur that plays as a raging Barbarian) can use optimization to squeeze every drop of roleplay potential out of a build. MinMax is just another tool to that end.
Dang it! I had this build idea months ago! Its like Colby is reading my mind! I was thinking of pairing it with mastermind rogue, but artillerist makes a ton of sense to!
As a reason for why the character wants to be invisible, I thought of the story of the deathly hallows from Harry potter. One brother gets an invisibility cape to escape death. I thought this character might too want to stay hidden to escape the patron who gave him his power and might be trying to collect his debt now
One of the thing that I’d add would be Tiny Servant. Make a Tiny in the morning, it lasts for 8 hours no Concentration, then have the Tiny ride on your front line with the standing order “Attack hostile creatures”. Yes it is only a small amount of damage, 1d4+3, but is non-concentration damage. They have an AC of 15 which is reasonable. But they also have Blindsight, so nothing sneaking up.
I find optimisation useful, because it allows me to play roleplay-wise interesting characters while still having them be effective (by changing some things about the optimised build).
I just started a dragonlance campaign. Builds (only level 1 so far) range from the powerful to the mainly flavourful but whatever happens, I think we're gonna have a blast
Could you you come up with a build concept for a tele-support build? That is, a build that provides support in a meaningful way by teleporting their allies around the battle field.
An idea: The Mansa Musa of Spellcasters, the Money Muncher. It will be different to all your other builds to date, as you would have carrying costs of gold items that aren't consumed and others gold items you would need to recoup daily. I assumed no magic items. Only purchasable material components items at every level. As a wizard they were not copying in new spells or duplicating their spellbook, else we're basically calling it infinity then. It is merely on the casting of spells (never upcasted) and assuming 1 short rest recovery of Arcane Recovery. I took mostly 3 spells of every level (excluding 1st) that had a material cost, with the other for damage and utility. I imagined those spells had a 0 cost. I took the average consumed cost of those spells and multiplied it by the spells slots I'd available in a day to figure out how much was lost daily. -- -- -- Class LV / GP Lost (daily) / GP not consumed -- -- -- 6th / 287 / 450 9th / 981 / 5,900 13th / 2,862 / 7,910 17th / 3,362 / 11,410
I love the idea of playing this character like Jane from the Mentalist and the whole game say you aren't magical just very good at reading and prusuading people to stop attacking and other things along those lines.
3. A great bonus to such a strong support is that one day when your character isn't there... you could have the barbarian who always thinks that Strength is a key to victory, or the Paladin who thinks things must be done by one's own hands... but then you leave and everyone's lives become that much harder.... Meanwhile, your character might not have asked for help all this time and tried to do things on their own but failed due to the lack of offense. Makes for a powerful bonding moment, especially right before you get Greater Invisibility (which could be born out of seeing the usefulness of an offensive stance)
If you want a damage dealer version, you could craft some bombs and grab the flamethrower cannon. Neither ends invisible, and thus you have a reliable damage source for your action and bonus action. Add in some fighter levels and you can get the protection fighting style for your reaction and you can get action surge to set up invisibility and still have an action to set off a bomb. Edit: Adding in bladesinging is great bonus here
On note with the preamble: you can min-max build a character that has a fitting and incredible character concept; and you can build an incredible character concept that you subsequently min-max. Playing optimally isn't a bad thing; hell if anything it allows you to have more fun instead of getting walked over if your game goes to higher level play. I have a player who's a kensei echo fighter. It's so strong; and he's a thorn in my DM plans sometimes. But he wanted to build a character that's based off of Sun Wukong after seeing the Hadozee Just because he built an optimal character; doesn't mean me or my other players resent him. Same goes for the fighter in our group. He had a strong character idea; and he fit the personality around it Both are valid. Both are fun.
Loved this build Colby! I’m a long time fan, and I know you’ve used ancestral guardian before, but I’d love to see an optimised, dedicated build for the subclass. I say this cause I’m playing one for a very squishy full mage party in the campaign that’s being planned after the end of our main one. There are some interesting combos, but I love the idea of using the spear and shield with polearm master to stay tanky but get that extra attack to ensure you get off your shut down ability. Also in treentmonks build, he had the interesting idea of using echo knight to position very well and get an extra attack if you need it. I feel like this could be the perfect hoplite build that I know you’ve talked about before, I’d love to hear your thoughts some day:)
As a proud, filthy min maxer, i roleplay more than most in my groups! 🤣 Just cause Goku is one dimensional doesn't mean that everyone powerful has no character. I like specialist, and one of the most fun things about optimizing to me is coming up with a reason why they are a specialist.
I'm playing a min-max'd Sorcadin and RPing the bejeezuz out of him. He's a minotaur smite machine and battlefield controller Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Oath of the Crown Paladin. He tanks, locks down enemies allowing my team to be mobile DPS. He is all about the law, Judge Dredd with a spear :) There is plenty of room to RP powerful builds if you imagine WHY he is so powerful and build some flaws in to his personality that make all that power bite him in the ass sometimes
I believe it would be beneficial to have the spell create undead on this character. Some bonus action clog with the cannon. But it will be effective when your enemy is immune to the charmed condition. Or when your teammates are spread out on the battlefield
Ginny Di made a perfect video about the min/max RP debacle. It’s title ‘I was wrong’… because she used to have the same idea as that espoused in the quoted comment.
I think optimizing is important because when you have these optimization skills, you can make the coolest role play characters work well enough to be on level with the other characters at their table.
Minor point for your artificer infusions. Homunculus uses its own reaction to cast any of your touch spells. Plonk your widget on an friend and it can do a mess of stuff without spending any of your actions.
I would suggest the support version- three levels artificer, as you do, take the homunculus as second infusion, then twilight cleric and take all the touch spells. You can even do the thing where you drop invisibility to cast a summons or something then use the homunculus reaction to put you invisibility again.
You should make a character all about being super hard to actually hit. Effects to do this are at the top of my head the sanctuary spell combined with the lvl 6 feature of a enchanter wizard, making it so enemies need to succeed on two wisdom saving throws to just target you, combined with a high ac, mirror image and the shield spell. None of these features require concentration either, so a good concentration buff or something would be great with that combination.
22:28 "If that ability is overpowered, this is better in some ways" My problem with the Twilight Cleric's power level is not so much in that it's features are overpowered, but in that they get so many powerful features, and that they get them so early. At level 1, * They get their domain spells - that's fine. * They get their martial weapons and Heavy armor proficiencies - again, that's strong but fine. * They get a 300 ft darkvision that's just on, all the time - that's really sweet, considering the standard DV is 60 ft, some getting 120 ft. * They can give this DV to the entire standard sized party for one hour once per long rest, and more by expending any spellslot - That's a very strong Level 1 already. * AND they get to grant advantage to an initiative roll for one person once per long re... no, wait, *as many times as they please,* so in every combat. And that's just Level 1. Level 2 they gain the 60-ft-diameter Twilight Sanctuary you talked about, which is one of the stronger uses for a Channel Divinity in the game. ---------------- Compare this to the Life Cleric, generally considered a very strong domain but not necessarily an OP one. At level 1, * They get their domain spells - that's fine. * They get Heavy armor proficiency - no martial weapons though. * Their healing spells heal 3+ hit points more, depending on the spell's level (the spell's level, not the level of the expended spellslot - no additional upcast bonus). And that's it for level 1 At level 2 they gain the ability to expend one of their Channel Divinities to heal 10 hit points as they please among the party. This number goes up by 5 every Cleric Level. ------------------ Sorry, but there's no universe in which I would consider these two domains even close to similarly powered.
Never knock a coward character as a PC, at least if done right, and this kind of support build is perfect for it. I’m playing a coward bard right now who almost never does damage in combat unless he needs to make a foe run away from us via Dissonant Whispers (flavored as the crappiest ‘90s/‘00s songs ever - Achy-Breaky Heart is a war crime you guys) and it’s a lot of fun and he still does impactful things during combat, but mostly via support. He’s a bard and I started off as the cliched buffoon character, but his buffoonery was trying to hide his trauma. So now I’m leaning more into the trauma part, and just got greater invisibility but am going to use it mostly on my melee friends because as afraid as I am for myself, now I’m even more afraid of having to carry on without my comrades, so I’m using it for my monk or pally friend, still out of fear. I may try this build if I want to re-explore this character concept in another campaign.
Smashed the Like button as soon as I saw the Bandit t-shirt in the thumbnail. I HAVE to know where you got it! P.S. I play your bladesinger tank in a campaign. My bladesong is trash talk poetry. It's a blast.
Just as a reply to the "no one should ever min-max a character" argument. Whilst I agree that in some circumstances and at some tables a min-maxxed or functionally optimised character can be problematic, primarily when no one else is, so that optimised character shines very brightly comparitive to the other PCs, I do think that there is a very good middle ground, which gives both room for interesting characters and RP, whilst still feeling like you are playing a meaningful character who contributes to the party. My approach is to decide who I want to play. Not what. I look at who this character was before they became an adventurer, and often informs both race and class. If you build an interesting psychology for the character, be it brash, zealous cleric, charming con man, or introverted tracker and hunter, then once you have the concept of who they are, you can then build within the contraints you have imposed on yourself, by your initial choices for backstory and personality. For example, whilst it maybe functionally advantageous to take proficiency in Persuasion because your DM has told you that it's an urban setting, and you think being able to talk to the City Guards well will help, you have decided to play a quiet introvert, so despite it being advantageous to do so, you make another choice based on character. However, if that quiet introvert was a tracker/hunter, then giving them a high Dex makes sense because they are like to be quick and agile to keep up with their target, and if they took proficiency in Perception, which would be a very good choice for a tracker, that is still in keeping with the character concept. I'm am NOT saying the above approach is best, simply that it gets an optimiser a framework to operate within, so that they aren'tbeing accused of being a munchkin, and are actually playing a real character, rather than a series of mechanics.
Custom lineage here we come again! How we've missed ypu so! XD I havent seen your invisible helper build before and I'll have to check it out after this! On the note of "min maxers are bland characters that are all the same" I think that's a rp issue. I like playing optimized characters but i still do what i can to make sure my characters quirks come through. The campaign Im currently in is actually more rp focused than combat focused so all the optimization matters even less lol. I wish people didn't focus so hard on optimized vs rp because that makes it seem like you cant do both when the two arent exclusive. This is more of a discussion of players who enjoy different things from DnD.
This is my first attempt at doing a vid in 4k. Looks like my rig had a difficult time handling it while recording, as there's a fair bit of stuttering. I'll likely go back to 1080p but please let me know if you have any thoughts on the video quality :).
I almost exclusively watch RUclips on my phone and can't tell the difference between 1080 and 4k. I'm just now getting into the racial options section of the video and haven't seen any stutfering yet. Maybe the stutters are because the video just uploaded and RUclips is still in the process of upscaling the resolution.
1440p maybe? A lot of people run 1440p
Good as long as the voice is crisp
4k makes absolutely no difference to me. As far as I'm concerned, you should stick with 1080p if that's even a little easier for you.
Very nice on a large screen 🙂 on the phone it doesn't really shows 🙂
Watching the preamble, realizing Colby hypnotized me MONTHS ago, and I'm totally OK with it.
It's the soothing voice
😵💫😵💫😵💫
He hypnotizes me every night to have fun fantasy dreams, and for that I will gladly have the possibility of being a sleeper agent. Guess I’m a warlock (pact of the optimization?)
I thought for sure when Randal's art came up it was just going to be a white rectangle because the character's invisible 🤣
Classic.
Like the original "invisible stalker" didn't have artwork, because it's invisible.
Hahahahah
@@trevorgreenough6141 when I was young I never got the joke and was frustrated they hadn't done the art!
@@samuelbroad11 yeah, I wasn't aware of ttrpg's when I was younger, but I'd imagine he'd be annoyed with it as well.
I really appreciate that you addressed the negative people in the D&D community when it comes to min-maxing. It is a nice refresher to see someone in the community I respect to say that.
That Hampton art was crazy!! I am always impressed by his (their?) work, but this one hit it out of the park.
Always love to see the videos, and this was another spectacular one!
Colby just soothes you with his demeanor, then unleashes the fury of his builds and blasts you across the room.
It's sad that ANYONE thinks that you're a bad player or a bad person because you make videos modelling a way to build a powerful character. I suppose people say this probably because they have been attacked for roleplaying in the past by min-maxers. As always, you made a great video, Colby, and they inspire me to build great characters around the mechanical concept you create. Thanks so much!
Nobody gets shit on for not minmaxing. That's an imaginary problem. People do, however, get attacked all the time for daring to build a character that is actually thoughtful. Mostly by people who are too stupid to understand that a character's power has nothing to do with how good the player is at roleplaying or building interesting characters.
DUDE I GOT SO FIRED UP ABOUT THIS YESTERDAY WHEN YOU TEASED IT!! This sounds like my kinda character
Before watching... I'm guessing/hoping there's some glamour Bard levels in here but I'm super curious to see where you go with it
I'm a huge fan of making minmaxed characters and then figuring out a good story reason to play them in the most unoptimized way. One of my favorites was a level five path of the beast barbarian in a one shot who accidentally killed her best friend the first time they transformed and does everything she can to control her anger, thereby barely ever rages. It was so much fun to play and when she finally cracked and lost her composure she went from doing the least amount of damage in an encounter to the most, which felt so much more triumphant than playing her any other way would have, even though in the long run she was mostly not contributing as much as she could have mechanically.
For what is worth, I think theres something to be said for having a fun/unique concept that doesn't come up short mechanically. Using a sub optimal starting point, and building it up too stand shoulder to shoulder with the more traditional builds, glorious!
Honestly think this is your best build in a long time (and thats not to knock previous builds, this one is just really good). What's worth mentioning is that this is not a one-trick pony. You can absolutely follow the invisible tactics lined out and have a good time. But a DM throwing out charm immune monsters or ones that can see invisibility really doesn't shut this character down. You are a bulky Wizard with great saves and great AC and solid support from Protector Cannon and you can throw out all the same crazy Wizard spells everyone else can. Great job, Colby :)))
I love your builds. Some how you aren't getting "boring to watch", you bring something new each and every time.
Thank you, the time it takes to make a video, writing a script, making the actual character, deciding on classes at each level has to be exhausting, and sounds stressful. I do truly appreciate the effort, and I hope you take time to look after your mental health, even if it means missing video releases.
You're a brilliant creator and I don't want you to be burned out.
Colby's Mellifluous voice and mellow cadence are hypnotic. He should be a late night radio DJ that plays a combination of Soft Jazz, Chillstep, and Acoustic Rock.
Keep up the great content Colbs!
The Invisible Hypnotist: D&D Build #136
Level 1:(see above) [artificer 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [artificer 2 & infusions]
Level 3:(@19:25) [artificer 3 & subclass]
Level 4:(@24:00) [wizard 1]
Level 5:(@26:22) [wizard 2 & subclass]
Level 6:(@28:11) [wizard 3]
Level 7:(see above) [wizard 4 & ASI]
Level 8:(@33:16) [wizard 5]
Level 9:(@34:03) [wizard 6]
Level 10:(see above) [wizard 7]
Level 11:(@38:49) [wizard 8 & ASI]
Level 12:(@39:48) [wizard 9]
Level 13:(@41:30) [wizard 10]
Level 14:(see above) [wizard 11]
Level 15:(@45:28) [wizard 12 & ASI]
Level 16:(@46:23) [wizard 13]
Level 17:(@47:09) [wizard 14]
It's always nice to see this, thanks. At a glance we can see what classes Colby will be using this week
The short got me hyped, let's see what amazing build you came up with this week!
Thanks Colby! After the invisible helper I was so hoping you’d revisit this build. Invisibility is both iconic and seemingly under represented in D&D and I love that you found these opportunities. Cheers!
The thing I really like about all your character builds is the interesting things you do with mechanics but more than that is the themes and roles you imagine them fitting in. Sometimes I can see the sheer number of dice you have to roll being a bit of a drag for other players, but in general all your builds have rules and story working together. I'm looking forward to a tier 1 sustained damage dealer that has a backstory so complete that you need to release a book for it!
I view Steel Wind Strike as the Slow of multi-target damage spells. It's a surgical tool rather than a bludgeon. Synaptic Static and Hypnotic Pattern are great, but if you roll poorly on initiative you might think twice about throwing one out once your allies have engaged the enemy. No such issue with SWS, Slow, and other spells that allow you to exclude allies from the effect.
Thank you for your words of encouragement at the end about good days coming and hang in there I really needed that thank you for your content it helps me get through the week
I do appreciate your ability to optimize and invest your build in a concept. I often do the same and am known in my D&D community as the “power builder” but luckily for me that title is intended in love. I really enjoy your videos friend and I pray for your channel and that the love you have for these people bears peaceful fruit.
I’m currently working on an invisible build. We are 3rd level and set in a anthropomorphic setting so I’m a chameleon (deep gnome). Bard of creation, poisoner. I’ll be dipping my poisons on my allies’ weapons and inspiring my allies.
Your video quality has gotten so good! Not only because of 4k, but also the background lighting, scenery, and editing.
I haven't played since AD&D. Decided to join a game. I used these videos as a way to try to determine what the effects of each skill/class/options are. My Lvl 5 Gloomstalker/ Lvl 1 Samurai is about to get some serious nova boosts in each of the next 5 levels (all fighter). He's becoming an invisible machine gun, that will shoot 6 arrows on his first round, with elven accuracy advantage and sharpshooter damage. The methodology of these video's has helped a lot.
Actually, when I first watched one of Colby's videos, I had a similar reaction to the comment mentioned in the beginning, but just kept it to myself. Slowly, however, through Colby's content, I've come to realize how much fun it can actually be to optimize, and how optimization and role play aren't mutually exclusive, and I've been steeped in optimization content ever since xD
Colby is a ultimate Lord bard cuz he keeps telling us Tales of all these epic stories characters that he makes sharing his magical Secrets along the way
Now I really want to see a multi target damage build based around steel wind strike and a anime sword master concept but i am pretty sure it is outclassed by other options.
Yes, please.
Hunter Ranger vs a Bard. Ranger gets horde Breaker and Whirlwind Strike but Bard gets magical secret so Steel Wing Strike sooner.....
I truly don't understand how someone could watch your videos and hear your considered suggestions every time you multi-class about what might have motivated the character to learn new techniques or study under new tutors, and then say you don't care about roleplay.
I think you and your back catalogue are actually the perfect counter to the idea that min-maxing and roleplay are mutually exclusive.
And as always, kudos for being so considerate and respectful when addressing these sorts of comments too, people who care more about roleplay are welcome here too!
As someone with an Artillerist in the party... protector cannon rocks. Every time he tries to summon a different cannon, the rest of us cry and complain until he brings back protector cannon. We love the cannon as much, if not more, than him. :)
FINALLY!!! AN ARTILLERIST BUILD! I have been playing an artillerist for just over a year now... I have won an 8 person PvP, keep the entire party healthy with temp HP, and can blast away til kingdom come. Artificers are the ultimate well rounded class that can do ANYTHING
My first time ever playing DnD 5e I had no idea what I was doing and read online that a rogue should have good charisma to be a “face” because they get expertise. I had no idea what that meant so I built a max charisma… dump stat dex… rogue… it didn’t go well… I never hit unless I crit and it sucked. I then started to research about “min/maxing” not so I could show up anyone else, but so I could actually feel useful and have fun in combat. I have never had a problem with heavy RPrs or min/maxers.
I found your channel way back with the first bladesinger and watch weekly for the new builds. I have learned so much from you and it piqued my curiosity to delve farther into DnD. I even got my DM hooked on you and we try and figure out what you’re gonna build based off of the short! 😂
TLDR: my first character was TERRIBLE in combat, and it sucked (8 Dex rogue…), so I found your channel and learned how to make better characters and have been “min/maxing” (making combat potent characters) while still being able to role play since.
Thank you!
Long time fan! I just wanted to hop in the chat and say thank you for everything you have certainly brought my love for TTRPGS back, and especially with a more creative twist then I used too!
Just a fun story to kind of show the fun and love you put out into the world. I'm in a campaign playing a level 11 version of your Bladesinger Tank and I have loved every minute and my party definitely appreciates thier tank. And the fun story I have for him is, he has always wanted to train at a temple with Monks but never could be as well formed in his martial arts. Having failed there he turned to wizard academies hoping maybe he can redeem himself with his Artificers talents and knowledge of magic. But once again was not up to snuff with his Magic skills. Now he travels with a band of more "squishy" companions in hope of proving to himself he can be good enough at both in his own way. And he has had lots of fun RP moments with the wizard about magic and hoping to get into a magic school one day. As well as sharing his dungeon loot with him so that his buddy can teach him more about magic and the like.
Any way I hope you have an awesome day and keep putting those smiles and creativity out into the world!
Your builds always add to my busy mind of ideas for character creations. Thanks.
I had just seen the invisible helper concept and was thinking what to do as the DMs I usually play with don't allow a lot of multiple classes. Then I saw this video. Then I fell in love with this concept. Great work, as always.
You can do both, I personally love to find a idea for a character. such as a blind Halfling monk/rogue and then find a way to make it work. Once i have it working i min max the heck out of it within the concept of the character. So i won't use something that doesn't fit the character concept but once i have the concept i do everything i can to make them as useful and i can and i find your videos very helpful. Helpful in that you tend to give me ideas on how to build interesting ideas that i adapt very often to my concepts. You point out the best races but i might change that to fit my vision and that causes me to adapt other areas of the builds to make it work as well as possible. Point being these builds are whatever you make them, the limit is your imagination.
Also, props to Randal for not being cheeky with you and just sending a blank page.
Love this. I have a Verdan Enchanter Wizard pretty much at the top of my list of characters I want to play...but now I might have to figure out how to add 3 levels of Artificer into the build.
Figured you'd take metamagic adept as your second ASI. Gives you the ability to get Invisibility or Greater Invisibility up and still use hypnotic gaze in the same turn. Otherwise though, love the concept and the build!
All your builds have tons of personality Colby!
As a fellow D&D dad (D&DD), I respect the Bluey shirt. Nice.
wholesome disclaimer at the beginning, beautiful singing at the end. W video, dude.
Ok Colby, You probably don't remember me or my comments, but probably my favorite build so far was my Shephard with 2 levels of peace cleric. It was THE most versatile and prolific character I have played to this date. My point was when I used sanctuary I experienced some of the same thing you were talking about when you use your ability to hit someone else ...... omg it is funny when it happens! LOL The DM gets like " oh damn Im gonna get you! Grrr..... Bammm hit my friend ...... OH damn those ten giant centipedes ripped my backside a new one!.... Im gonna get you now!... Bammm! hit another one of my friends LOL VERRY VERRY FRUSTRATING!
I'm currently playing a Celestial Warlock inspired by your invisible helper 1.0 and the RP has been so much fun.
A fellow Enchantment wizard! Love it! And I love someone else using it with invisibility (fingers crossed the new Enchanter can still do this)! I cannot possibly wait until level 5 to get Hypnotic Gaze; but the Protector cannon might just be worth it… hmm. Possibilities.
"On your feet, be not afraid, you're the greatest with the blade!" [snap]
Thank you, Colby.
Thanks for another awesome D&D build video! I've been entertaining the idea of an enchanter/hypnotist character lately, using college of glamour bard, but this also sounds cool!
Good God that thumbnail, Colby gonna need you to share your arm day routine haha!
More like the ripped hypnotist!
as usual Colby this was a super fun build with ever so many possibilities, and dang that was a very fine acapella nod to Nickel Creek (who I adore)
Artificial restriction is great. It lets me “min/max” AKA obsess over mechanics without making my character intimidating “superior”. I did a “control freak” with such distain, OCD and vision issues she won’t do entire categories of magic and it’s sooooo fun…
That sounds amazing!
I'm currently playing a nerdy lab rat wizard - only taking spells that would be useful in the situations they actually faced.
It's one hell of a scary ride when someone walks up and you realize you specifically dodged any spell that is designed to get you out of such a situation and you have to improvise with what you've got.
@@derimperator3847 Mine won’t mess with other people’s vision(illusion), corpses(necromancy) or do anything “messy” (fire, acid, lightning, bludgeoning, slashing, etc, etc). She’s a tabaxi librarian/Velma type. I love that you’re a rat and mine is a cat. She can’t stand rodents they chew books - her familiar is an owl who’s #1 job is kill them 😂 📚 🐀
Came for the build.
Stayed for the singing and Bluey talk. 💯
I love the control/support builds!
I need some shenanigan builds.
I'm trying a Soulknife Rogue/Genie Warlock in my daughters first game as GM.
I bet you could make some crazy shenanigan builds!
Color Spray is a GREAT idea for the concept. Sure, you want to be invisible, but if everyone else is BLIND, you're basically invisible.
Steel Wind Strike is great for people who want a Fireball, but don't want to hit their friends. At level 5, your Fireball does 10d6. Steel Wind Strike does 6d10. Fireball's half damage makes it slightly better, but with Advantage from Invis your advantage should make up the difference by hitting top damage more often than Fireball would.
Currently playing the Control Freak as a tank/support and if I could be invisible during this? Oof!
I love Color Spray conceptually here too. Great for the early levels where we're stuck casting Invisibility once per day. If Spray works, we've effectively cast a 15ft Cone Help spell. Works for multiple attacks. Also imposes disadvantage, and allows free disengaging since blinded enemies can't make OAs. Way more fun and interactive than Sleep! When it works...
Fireball is 8d6 damage, but yes typically still much more reliable AoE damage on the cheap. Invisibility notably would only provide advantage on the first of five potential attacks made with Steel Wind Strike. Greater Invis would hold up for advantage on em all, but attack rolls must be resolved in order. So we'd lose basic Invis after the first swing.
We could get more advantage if we're within 5ft of Prone targets before the cast. The spell actually isn't moving/teleporting us until the end. So a Prone target even 10ft away from us is no good, and a Paralyzed one is even more of a tease if we can't get to them. Another fun aspect of this spell is that we could include an ally if we need to reposition to a safer spot, or even an enemy that we kill with the Strikes. Pick a square around an enemy that would allow us to safely move back without provoking OAs. Else, we could target our Familiar who is out of harm's reach. We'll probably take it out, but that's easily worth it. If we're casting this from Invisibility, we wouldn't have advantage to attack a PC. Targeting a tanky ally could be worth it if we're likely to miss and they can take a hit for us. Fun gamble.
53:04 bro your voice is amazing, this outtakes will never get old. anyways great build!! I was thinking in a similar build yesterday, but using kender as the race
Pre-Video Guess!
So, given the Hypnotist angle, I'm expecting at least 2 levels in Wizard for the Enchantment school. I would go all the way to 6th myself to get that equally sweet, almost at-will feature, too. Then, I'm assuming Bard, because #support, but I almost wonder if 6 levels in Paladin would be worth it just for the auras. Alternatively, Twilight cleric for the AoE temp HP would work pretty much equally well, and if you want to stay hidden, a couple of levels in Rogue would fit nicely too. I'm gonna say Wizard (Enchantment) 9, Rogue (Mastermind) 4, and a real wildcard guess, Artificer (Alchemist) 4. Sure, maybe Colby has some bard shenanigans to try out, and I wouldn't be surprised, but you get bonus action Hide OR Help for buffing at range, and artificer gives a non-concentration way to buff yourself or your allies for long periods of time without spell slots (plus a few nifty proficiencies), all while keeping your character focused solely on Int, with just enough Dex for maybe a decent AC with Artificer.
Mid-Vid: Argh! My twilight cleric guess was close, but you went with the other thing! I expected you might, I just wanted to count on having our bonus action available for other things. We'll see...
Post-Vid: Okay, okay. Straight Wizard is fine. I don't like it as much as the Rogue levels for bonus action fun, but if your bonus is tied up, then I suppose that makes sense. Still, solid. Turns out any character that is mostly wizard is probably gonna be just fine. XD
I'm shocked that episode of Buffy where teenagers become invisible wasn't at least mentioned for the theme. My head went even darker though, hiding from abusive family.
The best feeling of verisimilitude in the world is when you have an awesome character build that you have fun playing that also has solid RP and motivations for why they are the way they are.
The characters being not only a mechanical mash but real characters was the exact reason for the outcry at the hammer time video, when you said you think about stopping to give backstory ideas a year ago (time flies by)
I believe that comment that you mentioned is what is known as the "storm wind fallacy" . Wherein you are supposedly not able to optimize and role play at the same time period however it's called" fallacy" because that is not correct. You can definitely optimize/men Max/ Role play all the same time and have fun doing it so.
1. My opinion on Optimization is that it's the mechanics to realize certain roleplays. For instance, if you want to build a beefy heavy hitter wielding a great sword that casts Thunderclap with every attack roll under 10, then you might not be able to gain that flavour with a grung rogue.
Even flavour builds (such as my Redeption Paladin Minautaur that plays as a raging Barbarian) can use optimization to squeeze every drop of roleplay potential out of a build. MinMax is just another tool to that end.
Another spectacular build, even if I never see it coming!
Dang it! I had this build idea months ago! Its like Colby is reading my mind! I was thinking of pairing it with mastermind rogue, but artillerist makes a ton of sense to!
I like the idea of Telepathic on this character. Being able to communicate with your teammates while invisible without revealing your location at all.
As a reason for why the character wants to be invisible, I thought of the story of the deathly hallows from Harry potter. One brother gets an invisibility cape to escape death.
I thought this character might too want to stay hidden to escape the patron who gave him his power and might be trying to collect his debt now
One of the thing that I’d add would be Tiny Servant. Make a Tiny in the morning, it lasts for 8 hours no
Concentration, then have the Tiny ride on your front line with the standing order “Attack hostile creatures”. Yes it is only a small amount of damage, 1d4+3, but is non-concentration damage. They have an AC of 15 which is reasonable. But they also have Blindsight, so nothing sneaking up.
I find optimisation useful, because it allows me to play roleplay-wise interesting characters while still having them be effective (by changing some things about the optimised build).
I just started a dragonlance campaign. Builds (only level 1 so far) range from the powerful to the mainly flavourful but whatever happens, I think we're gonna have a blast
Could you you come up with a build concept for a tele-support build? That is, a build that provides support in a meaningful way by teleporting their allies around the battle field.
An idea: The Mansa Musa of Spellcasters, the Money Muncher.
It will be different to all your other builds to date, as you would have carrying costs of gold items that aren't consumed and others gold items you would need to recoup daily.
I assumed no magic items. Only purchasable material components items at every level. As a wizard they were not copying in new spells or duplicating their spellbook, else we're basically calling it infinity then. It is merely on the casting of spells (never upcasted) and assuming 1 short rest recovery of Arcane Recovery.
I took mostly 3 spells of every level (excluding 1st) that had a material cost, with the other for damage and utility. I imagined those spells had a 0 cost. I took the average consumed cost of those spells and multiplied it by the spells slots I'd available in a day to figure out how much was lost daily.
-- -- --
Class LV / GP Lost (daily) / GP not consumed
-- -- --
6th / 287 / 450
9th / 981 / 5,900
13th / 2,862 / 7,910
17th / 3,362 / 11,410
Respect for the Bandit shirt 🤙🏻
Shout out to that excellent Bandit t-shirt ❤
Invisible Helper was actually the first video of yours I watched, it doesn't feel that long ago... oh wow 9 months ago, nvm then lol.
Love the bluey shirt
I love the idea of playing this character like Jane from the Mentalist and the whole game say you aren't magical just very good at reading and prusuading people to stop attacking and other things along those lines.
3. A great bonus to such a strong support is that one day when your character isn't there... you could have the barbarian who always thinks that Strength is a key to victory, or the Paladin who thinks things must be done by one's own hands... but then you leave and everyone's lives become that much harder.... Meanwhile, your character might not have asked for help all this time and tried to do things on their own but failed due to the lack of offense.
Makes for a powerful bonding moment, especially right before you get Greater Invisibility (which could be born out of seeing the usefulness of an offensive stance)
If you want a damage dealer version, you could craft some bombs and grab the flamethrower cannon. Neither ends invisible, and thus you have a reliable damage source for your action and bonus action. Add in some fighter levels and you can get the protection fighting style for your reaction and you can get action surge to set up invisibility and still have an action to set off a bomb.
Edit: Adding in bladesinging is great bonus here
I really enjoy your videos, keep doing you sir. All those negative comments are just boosting you in the algorithm.
On note with the preamble:
you can min-max build a character that has a fitting and incredible character concept; and you can build an incredible character concept that you subsequently min-max. Playing optimally isn't a bad thing; hell if anything it allows you to have more fun instead of getting walked over if your game goes to higher level play.
I have a player who's a kensei echo fighter. It's so strong; and he's a thorn in my DM plans sometimes. But he wanted to build a character that's based off of Sun Wukong after seeing the Hadozee
Just because he built an optimal character; doesn't mean me or my other players resent him.
Same goes for the fighter in our group. He had a strong character idea; and he fit the personality around it
Both are valid. Both are fun.
Loved this build Colby! I’m a long time fan, and I know you’ve used ancestral guardian before, but I’d love to see an optimised, dedicated build for the subclass.
I say this cause I’m playing one for a very squishy full mage party in the campaign that’s being planned after the end of our main one.
There are some interesting combos, but I love the idea of using the spear and shield with polearm master to stay tanky but get that extra attack to ensure you get off your shut down ability.
Also in treentmonks build, he had the interesting idea of using echo knight to position very well and get an extra attack if you need it.
I feel like this could be the perfect hoplite build that I know you’ve talked about before, I’d love to hear your thoughts some day:)
Love the Bandit shirt!
As a proud, filthy min maxer, i roleplay more than most in my groups! 🤣 Just cause Goku is one dimensional doesn't mean that everyone powerful has no character. I like specialist, and one of the most fun things about optimizing to me is coming up with a reason why they are a specialist.
in all honesty, taking Goku and gradually slapping some awareness on top sounds like a very fun character to roleplay
I'm playing a min-max'd Sorcadin and RPing the bejeezuz out of him. He's a minotaur smite machine and battlefield controller Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Oath of the Crown Paladin. He tanks, locks down enemies allowing my team to be mobile DPS. He is all about the law, Judge Dredd with a spear :) There is plenty of room to RP powerful builds if you imagine WHY he is so powerful and build some flaws in to his personality that make all that power bite him in the ass sometimes
Now I want to cast mass suggestion to make the bad guys form a conga circle in the middle of the battlefield
I believe it would be beneficial to have the spell create undead on this character. Some bonus action clog with the cannon. But it will be effective when your enemy is immune to the charmed condition. Or when your teammates are spread out on the battlefield
I have played an invisible enchanter myself and I have to say, the gimmick works very well... Just not as well as the rest of my spells.
Excellent as ever sir.
Last ep of crit role when Emily used steel wind strike while being invisible to get advantage and got 3 crits was devastating
Ginny Di made a perfect video about the min/max RP debacle. It’s title ‘I was wrong’… because she used to have the same idea as that espoused in the quoted comment.
Mass Suggestion Suggestion:
"You're surrounded! You and your friends should circle up! Preferably into a 20' radius fire all template!"
18:20 Mind Sharpener has 4 charges instead of d4 - but I think I can understand how d4 might get stuck in your mind 😸
I think optimizing is important because when you have these optimization skills, you can make the coolest role play characters work well enough to be on level with the other characters at their table.
I’m playing this kind of character right now I can’t wait to watch this video!!!! Yaaaaaaasss!! Get hype!!!
Minor point for your artificer infusions. Homunculus uses its own reaction to cast any of your touch spells. Plonk your widget on an friend and it can do a mess of stuff without spending any of your actions.
I would suggest the support version- three levels artificer, as you do, take the homunculus as second infusion, then twilight cleric and take all the touch spells. You can even do the thing where you drop invisibility to cast a summons or something then use the homunculus reaction to put you invisibility again.
I don't get what you mean here. The homunculous delivers a spell *you cast* with its reaction.
@@jiminkpen9750 ah, whoops, I always read that as “you CAN cast” which is much more powerful. Thanks.
You should make a character all about being super hard to actually hit. Effects to do this are at the top of my head the sanctuary spell combined with the lvl 6 feature of a enchanter wizard, making it so enemies need to succeed on two wisdom saving throws to just target you, combined with a high ac, mirror image and the shield spell. None of these features require concentration either, so a good concentration buff or something would be great with that combination.
You could add shield of faith for +2 ac with concentration.
...and blink
i've played a support artillerist before and it felt extremely powerful
22:28 "If that ability is overpowered, this is better in some ways"
My problem with the Twilight Cleric's power level is not so much in that it's features are overpowered, but in that they get so many powerful features, and that they get them so early.
At level 1,
* They get their domain spells - that's fine.
* They get their martial weapons and Heavy armor proficiencies - again, that's strong but fine.
* They get a 300 ft darkvision that's just on, all the time - that's really sweet, considering the standard DV is 60 ft, some getting 120 ft.
* They can give this DV to the entire standard sized party for one hour once per long rest, and more by expending any spellslot - That's a very strong Level 1 already.
* AND they get to grant advantage to an initiative roll for one person once per long re... no, wait, *as many times as they please,* so in every combat.
And that's just Level 1.
Level 2 they gain the 60-ft-diameter Twilight Sanctuary you talked about, which is one of the stronger uses for a Channel Divinity in the game.
----------------
Compare this to the Life Cleric, generally considered a very strong domain but not necessarily an OP one.
At level 1,
* They get their domain spells - that's fine.
* They get Heavy armor proficiency - no martial weapons though.
* Their healing spells heal 3+ hit points more, depending on the spell's level (the spell's level, not the level of the expended spellslot - no additional upcast bonus).
And that's it for level 1
At level 2 they gain the ability to expend one of their Channel Divinities to heal 10 hit points as they please among the party. This number goes up by 5 every Cleric Level.
------------------
Sorry, but there's no universe in which I would consider these two domains even close to similarly powered.
Never knock a coward character as a PC, at least if done right, and this kind of support build is perfect for it.
I’m playing a coward bard right now who almost never does damage in combat unless he needs to make a foe run away from us via Dissonant Whispers (flavored as the crappiest ‘90s/‘00s songs ever - Achy-Breaky Heart is a war crime you guys) and it’s a lot of fun and he still does impactful things during combat, but mostly via support. He’s a bard and I started off as the cliched buffoon character, but his buffoonery was trying to hide his trauma.
So now I’m leaning more into the trauma part, and just got greater invisibility but am going to use it mostly on my melee friends because as afraid as I am for myself, now I’m even more afraid of having to carry on without my comrades, so I’m using it for my monk or pally friend, still out of fear.
I may try this build if I want to re-explore this character concept in another campaign.
Looks like the Dungeon Dudes have another challenge for you from their last video Colby!
Smashed the Like button as soon as I saw the Bandit t-shirt in the thumbnail. I HAVE to know where you got it!
P.S. I play your bladesinger tank in a campaign. My bladesong is trash talk poetry. It's a blast.
I'm not even sure, actually... it was a birthday present from my daughter :).
Just as a reply to the "no one should ever min-max a character" argument. Whilst I agree that in some circumstances and at some tables a min-maxxed or functionally optimised character can be problematic, primarily when no one else is, so that optimised character shines very brightly comparitive to the other PCs, I do think that there is a very good middle ground, which gives both room for interesting characters and RP, whilst still feeling like you are playing a meaningful character who contributes to the party.
My approach is to decide who I want to play. Not what. I look at who this character was before they became an adventurer, and often informs both race and class. If you build an interesting psychology for the character, be it brash, zealous cleric, charming con man, or introverted tracker and hunter, then once you have the concept of who they are, you can then build within the contraints you have imposed on yourself, by your initial choices for backstory and personality.
For example, whilst it maybe functionally advantageous to take proficiency in Persuasion because your DM has told you that it's an urban setting, and you think being able to talk to the City Guards well will help, you have decided to play a quiet introvert, so despite it being advantageous to do so, you make another choice based on character. However, if that quiet introvert was a tracker/hunter, then giving them a high Dex makes sense because they are like to be quick and agile to keep up with their target, and if they took proficiency in Perception, which would be a very good choice for a tracker, that is still in keeping with the character concept.
I'm am NOT saying the above approach is best, simply that it gets an optimiser a framework to operate within, so that they aren'tbeing accused of being a munchkin, and are actually playing a real character, rather than a series of mechanics.
This is the second build in a raw that matches one of my group's character concepts 😳🥳
We derived it from your invisible helper build 🥰
Custom lineage here we come again! How we've missed ypu so! XD
I havent seen your invisible helper build before and I'll have to check it out after this!
On the note of "min maxers are bland characters that are all the same" I think that's a rp issue. I like playing optimized characters but i still do what i can to make sure my characters quirks come through. The campaign Im currently in is actually more rp focused than combat focused so all the optimization matters even less lol. I wish people didn't focus so hard on optimized vs rp because that makes it seem like you cant do both when the two arent exclusive. This is more of a discussion of players who enjoy different things from DnD.
Alter memories with the Friends cantrip is OP and delicious.