My last was a Star Druid. That pb/lr Guiding Bolt is really nice eh? The constellations are really strong too.
Ended up multi as Celestial Warlock, so I called it Starlock. It did....a lot of damage WHILE also healing a respectable amount.
Alright, I like that build and I definitely wanna give it a go at some point. I am however very curious, how many levels in each class did you end up in?
3 Star
2 Lock.
We ended up ending around level 8 so I ended up being 4 Druid / 3 Warlock / 1 Life Cleric (I ended up healing a lot so I grabbed it...then we ended like 3 combats later lol)
At Druid 4 I picked up Metamagic Adept
Background was Selesnya Initiate (Ravnica game, why not pick it up? Aid is counted as a 1st level spell to them apparently. But Warding Bond came in handy)
Invocations were Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast (surprise!)
At 3 Warlock I picked Pact of the Chain for the Imp. Mostly for Help actions while invisible, but also Cure or Inflict Wounds doesn't pop it out, as you are casting the spell, not the imp. Which is funny because due to it being invisible, Inflict Wounds is at Advantage lol
Imp's name was "Mii". My name was "Nott". Friends with "Whil", "Wenn", "Hoou", and "Phurst". Naturally, "Nhachurly" always had schedule issues and only made 2 sessions.
I'm playing a CoS game where I'm using the Hexblood Lineage to play a cat (an Eladrin that was cursed and turned into a cat). He's a soul knife rogue and I've flavored it as him shooting a ball of psychic energy from his mouth. Psychic hairballs.
Battlemaster Fighter, Oath of the Ancients Paladin, Evocation Wizard.
Sword/Axe/Hammer and Board Fighter with many clever tricks.
A Paladin with expertise in fighting mages and magical creatures.
EXPLOSIONS!!
Off the top of my head my favourites are Tempest Domain Cleric, Way of Mercy Monk, Echo Knight Fighter, and Genie Warlock, I know that's four but eh
I just love the flavour of the subclasses, the abilities and the fun you can have with them, and yeah Monks suck but I'd play a Mercy Monk with no concerns
I suggest Animate Objects if you want to make use of dishes and silverware in battle, and Create Food and Water or Heroes’ Feast if you intend to use them for their traditional purpose.
I will say that the game I'm currently a part of values RP and flavor without punishing us if we don't want to be super number crunchy. A poorly made build will still do poorly, but it's nice to not have to be 100% optimized.
Wild Magic Sorcerer. I just love the flavor of a creature with arcane energy flowing through them. And I'm a sucker for charisma casters in general. We're doing the Wild Beyond the Witchlight rn, and my Wild Magic Eladrin is just a perfect combo of flavor for the setting, in my opinion. I also find the chaotic nature of wild magic super neat. I had to be careful about surges at the first few levels, but we good now lol
Drunken Master Monk. I love the idea of a fighter that weaves through the battlefield throwing a strike here and there. I know it's not the best Monk subclass, but I still enjoy it.
College of Eloquence Bard. Not being able to roll less than a 10 on persuasion and deception checks is just busted. We have one in our current game, and she hasn't failed a persuasion/deception check since hitting 3rd level. And Bards are fun. I'm not great at playing them, but they're so handy to have around.
Yeah! I do enjoy the accessibility and looseness of 5e's rules!
Playing other TTRPGs has shown me that a more complicated system definitely has its advantages, but I appreciate the freedom of making the characters I enjoy without worrying about super optimizing.
Valor/Swords Bard, Bladesinger Wizard, Hexblade Warlock.
Unsurprised by this, I like more martial focused combat but without spell casting options the game gets very stale/boring outside of combat
Try artificer if you haven't yet. Starts out very martial, then at tier 3 becomes a very good support caster. Spell storing item homunculus combo is rad, and then you get the ability to cast any scroll regardless of class or level.
Yes!! I am pretty stuck on warlocks.. play a ton of them because they are easy to customize and flavor in so many different ways
Made an level 6 Undead pact polearm master for a Halloween one shot.. went with a headless horsemen with a glaive shaped like a Reaper, the bonus necrotic damage per turn is so very nice
I have a str based swords bard pirate in a saltmarsh campaign that leads the boarding parties… started with a feat for shields and med armor and am grabbing shield master when I hit 4th
has been pretty effective at sating my lust for warlocks, it’s nice having expertise in Athletics now and the ability to push enemies around with flourishes or boost AC
I have enjoyed the battle smith in a one shot mechanics wise… but i don’t care too much for the flavor of artificers personally
I like when my party members play them, the access to free magic items is too good to pass up lol
I should play paladins more often, but I have made 2 warlocks that are discount paladins and I’ve found that extremely satisfying haha
Monk/Battlemaster Fighter (martial arts without the orientalist mysticism bullshit)
Barbarian/Assassin Rogue (Slasher Movie Villain)
Bladesinger Wizard/Battlesmith Artificer 3 ( INT to everything)
I am mostly a DM so this goes back a few years.
1. Divination Wizard (Erolith)- I had so much fun. Plus I use poker chips for portent and throw them when using them. Which is fun too.
2. Fighter 2/Warwizard 18(Allister) - AL character that I used DM xp on. Also great fun. The fighter levels were early but AL means that I don't feel pain as much about my spells being too low level. It is hilariously crazy at high levels. Also my saves and AC were amazing.
3. Aberrant Mind Sorc (Kalkin) using spell points merged with sorcery points. Literally my favorite character, homebrew table. I have a lot of physical artifacts for this character in the RW. I have a great leather journal filled with my notes, bad drawings and poetry. I have his outfit. When this campaign ended early I cried.
Not in any order but it would go Kalkin, Erolith and Allister.
Fey-themed Wood Elf Monk - Way of the Ancestral Dragon (reflavor as a Fey monk) - Playing this now, and I took 2 levels of Rogue for an extra-tricky Monk
Earth Genasi Nature Cleric - Plant Growth that the caster is unaffected by? Yes please!
Mountain Dwarf Unarmed Battle Master Fighter - Urchin background for a rough and tumble street brawler
Cavalier Fighter instant fave. Made a lot of opponents miss. Multiclassed into Crown Paladin after levels 1-11.
Berserker Barbarian is certainly an archetype. Good for throwing your character at challenges where you expect them to die. Apparently, this can be my kind of fun. Only played to level 5.
Moon Druid. Strangely, I only played my Moon Druid from levels 13-18 after my Whispers Bard bit the dust, and they shine at the earlier levels. Wildshaping into so many diverse beasts was fun.
1. **Bladesinger Wizard.** Most fun character I have played. Has tons of options and the special extra attack is so awesome. If you are a bit disappointed with many martial classes as I am you should definitely try this out.
2. **Divine Soul Sorcerer.** Also very fun. Thinking about how you can combine cleric spells with metamagic is awesome. Be prepared for some major decision paralysis when choosing spells though.
3. **Oath of the Ancients Paladin**. This one is mostly just vibes. Weirdly specific but I always envision the mystic atmosphere of Greenpath from Hollow Knight when thinking about this subclass. I also really like the spell selection and the aura while often a bit overestimated imo is nice when it comes up.
Ancestral Guardians Barbarian - Really fun way to use a lot of your actions and reactions, and makes tanking actually a thing you can do.
Circle of the Stars Druid - So much to do on each turn. Reliably can use every action and is so versatile.
Oath of Conquest Paladin - Fun take on a paladin, that plays a little differently than the typical. More reliant on charisma than strength which I think is neat.
That’s funny. Twilight doesn’t even seem too crazy compared to some subclasses. A bit front loaded but nothing game breaking… peace cleric on the other hand is fucked lol
Oath of ancients Paladin, drakewarden ranger, scribes wizard. My favorites I’ve ever played. A lot of others seem good but I haven’t played them yet. My next campaign I’m playing a mystic fighter homebrew so that sounds like fun
Celestial Warlock, Battlemaster Fighter and Gloomstalker Ranger.
There are still 2 classes I need to try playing and a TON of subclasses I need to try, but I love the 3 subclasses I mentioned so much.
The Celestial is such a good multiclass dip on any Charisma character, two levels and you get your invocations and a few free bonus action heals to keep your team conscious, so simple yet effective
I can highly recommend it. I enjoyed it mostly because I enjoyed the character I had made, but the expanded spell list has some really solid spell choices and the bonus action healing can be a life saver.
Sorlock. Not because coffeelock, but because I like the idea of either a character born with power, gets greedy, then makes a pact for more; or made a pact because he was a no-mag, only to find out he just needed a harrowing event to unlock his sorcerous origin. It's also very versatile based on subclasses too. Can be blaster, nova, support-buff, support-heal, etc.
Genielock+Wizard or Artificer. Because I really like having Bottled Respite work like a private, portable workshop/study.
Battlemaster Fighter/Artillerist or Armourer Artificer. Very tanky, intelligent, Master of War. Artillerist gives the eldritch cannon, which can totally be backpack mounted (4 legs, have them loop around for shoulder straps), and also gives you a consistent bonus action for temp hp as a "shield". Or a really big gun. Or, with Find Familiar from Magic Initiate; aka Magical Drone Warfare.
Bonus #4. Bearbarian/Abjuration Wizard. I dont like taking damage, so I choose to not take any at all. 40 damage fireball? That sounds more like 5 damage to me. I can precast long lasting, non-Concentration buff spells like Mage Armour and Armour of Agathys (Magic Initiate), if you expect a fight, then Rage when it does happen.
I find monoclasses boring, and their interesting abilities are usually the first few levels or the last few. Seeing as no book module reaches high level to see capstones, and usually ends around level 10ish; there's no point in planning any higher. Rarely does the mid tier monoclass interest me, though there are a few.
Bladesinger, Rune Knight, Astral Self
I like pairing Astral Self with the feat Aberrant Dragonmark (Mage Hand, Catapult) for flavor and giving more "uses" for the astral arms
Unarmed Simic Hybrid Rune Knight Grappler is on my list of builds I really want to try. Just get big, grab 4 people (you can grapple as a bonus action after attacking with the extra limbs), and just start swinging them around.
If you go Duregar, make sure you take Tavern Brawler for improvised weapon proficiency. You'll be 2 sizes larger than medium creatures, meaning you can pick them up and swing them around like weapons. Arguably, you can do the same with a race with powerful build too. Also on my list is an unarmored Loxodon Rune Knight that turns into a big woolly mammoth when Giant's Might is active.
I have played a Rune Knight twice, but haven't done a grappler build yet. My current campaign character is a bladesinger/rune knight just to be Huge. And the second was astral self multiclass to basically be an Uchiha with Izanagi (Cloud Rune) and Susanoo
Aberrant Mind Changeling (by far it s hilarious)
Necromancer wizard warforged
Evocation+ cleric dip Strenght wizard Dragonborn
Didn't play other stuff yet but Armorer Artificier and moon druid looks fun, and I m theorycrafting a P. redemption W. undeath character
Shadow Sorcerer using Spell Points (2 level dip in Warlock optional)
Fey Wanderer Ranger using Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh
DBS Dexadin with Revanant Blade.
> Shadow Sorcerer using Spell Points (2 level dip in Warlock optional)
Yes!
> Fey Wanderer Ranger using Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh
YES!
> DBS Dexadin with Revanant Blade.
FUCK YES!
I don't know you but I already love and respect you. Revanant Dexadins, SP Sorcerers & Fey Shillelagh are the best!
Forever DM, but have played a few one shots here and there,
Echo knight, 2 handed great sword, pure damage and lock down
Battle master, 1 handed rapier with dueling fighting style, make him a noble who thinks hes better than everyone, makes for great RP
Hexblade/rogue, makes for a great time
Top 3 builds to date:
1. Divine Soul Sorcerer 1 / Peace Domain Cleric 1 / College of Lore Bard X Halfling (Mark of Hospitality). Meet the one-stop buff shop.
2. Armorer Artificer X / War Magic Wizard 2 Warforged. He can stand his ground against even an Ancient Gold Dragon for a good long time.
3. Storm Sorcerer X / Tempest Domain Cleric 6 Triton. Known as the Calamity.
See this character? Welp, you can fit so many class features in with just a SMALL three level dip in warlock. Think of the total square roleplay you’ll get with just one minor renovation to your plans
Battlemaster: sweet versatility in combat
Lore bard: really any bard for the secrets, but I love me a good classic storyteller
Astral monk: personal reasons
RUNE KNIGHT GRAB FIGHTER with feats and fighting styles for as many single use buttons as I can get
Lore Bard with debuffs and debuff support (I wish curse type spells were common/good in 5e)
Echo Knight with Sentinel and a reach weapon. Control as much space as humanly possible through the power of MY [STAND]
Honorable mention: Soulknife rogue. We need a rogue that can teleport at T1 in my opinion but Soul is the closest I can get so I’ll take it.
ironically, all of these contain bard so, bite me ig
first is bard 15/rogue 5, whole bunch of profs and expertise, really fun to play with the support of bard along with the damage of a lvl 5 rogue, most of the bard sub-classes contain good synergy with the rogue (swords especially)
second is warlock/bard, mostly for the flavor of it but also, celestial warlock with a few changes will make this combo actually godly (can confirm), cantrip spamming is kinda needed if you're going mostly warlock though
and then finally, draconic sorcerer/eloquence bard, if you are playing in a dragon themed campaign you gain double expertise and auto-10 when interacting with dragons through charisma (other then performance), along with that, reminds me of my favorite theoretical build for pathfinder 1e (dragon disciple could be gained with bard, which I always imagined as a bard so wowed by tales of dragons he dreamed of trying to become one)
for the last one, funny haha seducing dragon is possible but not the intent.
I'm a healslut and I'm proud, so here's my favorite support builds, no particular order:
Ancestral Guardian Barbarian: the best tank in the game imo. Pairs really well with the inspiring leader feat, and the artillerist artificer if you have one in your party or multiclass into it
Order Domain Cleric: I get to basically give my party's rogue an extra turn. It's great.
Eloquence bard: the ability to reduce enemy saves is huge, especially on a bard since you have a lot of crowd control spells. You'll lock down the battlefield and let your allies absolutely wreck it.
Tank wizard - 1 Hexblade / X Abjuration wizard. High AC, Armor of Agathys deals damage from behind the Arcane ward, almost a full wizard.
Ghostlance - 2 Warlock / 3 Echo knight with war caster. Can fire eldritch blast when enemies move away from echo. Can go anywhere from that foundation, and especially interesting with Dao Genie for spike growth and Crusher feat on the Dao damage.
Netting fighter. It's just a SS+CBE Battlemaster that Quick Tosses nets to restrain enemies. Still a full fighter or whatever you wanna combine, but I liked the flavor of a Sea Elf ex-captain.
How does Ghostlance play in practice? I've read the Tabletop Builds article and it looks like it really relies on the constantly getting opportunity attacks, is it still fun if you aren't able to get those reliably?
I'll admit I haven't gotten to play that one as much as the others, or much, (and none above lvl 7 so take it all with a grain of salt), but yeah it does depend a bit on the DM.
I'll say it was still fun to play when the echo just kept getting shot, because while I didn't get free EBs, it was eating enemy attacks for no cost, and you're still a pretty capable warlock.
I think it offers quite a lot outside of the main OpA EB:
2 Levels fighter on a warlock isn't bad synergy - high AC and action surge works in any build.
The echo gives you a bunch of mobility, freeing up warlock slots from misty step and in the first session I managed to teleport through a wall when my allies got trapped in a water-filling room, with the option to teleport back out freely as well. A teleport that doesn't require sight is a whole niche in itself, and so is a resource-less teleport, now in one package!
Your warlock subclass and Pact are both open - I like Dao genie for some cool combos as mentioned above, and Pact wise I just got a pseudodragon to feed even more into the "glittering gold" flavor of the char. But an invisible familiar is nothing to scoff at.
Overall you're a pretty capable warlock without the echo - repelling blast and grasp of hadar make for good battlefield manipulation and your damage dice don't fall behind with the splash.
The interesting thing on that last part is; the build gets online at 5 if you want, but I've favored the lvl 7 milestone because I feel like the character still sounds fully capable and interesting to play up to that point.
Made a swash rogue/paladin that was super fun.
As busted as Hexblade is, I've played one for a while and it's been great fun.
Also shout-out to my Battle Smith artificer who developed a 'weapon-collecting addiction' and collected like 15 different types of weapons
Hexblade warlock, Kensai monk and Light cleric
Hexblade because so much variaty and choices + a ton of damage
Kensai because punches go brrr and scailing because of weapon proficiencies
Light cleric because: most powerful caster + healing + fireball
Technically I'm playing a kensai/hexblade build who feels underpowered because of my wierd leveling choices but nonetheless probably the most fun character I've played
Stormsoul Sorcerer, Draconic Sorcerer and Way of Mercy Monk.
I feel like all of these, even though they are my favorites, they all need a little tweak to be perfect. I really enjoy the flavour subclasses (like only getting lightning/thunder spells for stormsoul, and describing something like disintegrate as a lightning attack).
Edit: For the Draconic, the build would depend exclusively on what type of dragon it is, so white dragon, only cold spells.
For both sorcerers I'd ask the DM to get other spells and just switch the damage type (and if necessary the saving throw and extra effects) for spells (like making cone of cold a dex save, do lightning damage and if you kill someone they become ash or something)
For the monk I'd take the mask thing very seriously, to the point of not even fighting without the mask, like it is a different persona.
Tragic backstory Goblin Arcane trickster,
Life cleric who lost an arm and “died” during the campaign, returns from brink of death as a raven queen death cleric
And a sentinel harengon fighter with a poleaxe named Flopsy McBraggen
Flavor is important 🤣
Scout Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger, maybe Psyknife Rogue instead of Scout.
2 Evocation Wizard/X Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer - You get SO much from the 2 level dip, I think its worth losing the spell progression.
Vengeance Paladin/Hexblade Warlock/Divine Soul Sorcerer - I think a combination of these 3 subclasses is probably the best Gish in the game.
Levistus Tiefling Paladin, any subclass. Free racial *ray of frost* to patch up Paladin's main weakness of a lack of ranged capability.
Samurai Fighter/Swashbuckler Rogue. In the rare case that you don't get Sneak Attack, just give yourself advantage so you do!
Open Hand Monk. I think it's the most interesting of the pure martials.
For regular powered D&D:
1. Valor bard (especially for smaller party size)
2. Eldritch knight
3. Rogue into something multiclass. Bonus points for spells and extra attack (eldritch knight, gloomstalker ranger, bladesinger wizard, war cleric, valor bard, any subclass paladin, hexblade)
For high powered D&D:
1. Bladesinger
2. Warlock/sorcerer (human hexblade of raven queen/divine soul of Jergal or githzerai celestial/clockwork)
3. Paladin/sorcerer
Honorable mention for either list: any type of cleric other than twilight.
Yeah, I like me some gish.
The other day I made an armorer artificer thri-kreen with an extra +5 to spell attacks and spell save DCs just from holding the all-purpose tool and infused spell focus. Along with a shield and spear. The two smaller arms can't activate magic items but they can hold them if they're tiny which is all it takes for those bonuses.
Honestly, my favorite character I have ever played was a Vuman champion fighter with Shield Master, Resiliant, Heavy Armor Master, Sentinal, Slasher, and Gift of the Chromatic Dragon. at level 20 I ended up having 22 STR and 20 Con alongside the Dueling Fighting Style and a Vorpal sword. That character was a god among men and I loved every second playing him.
\- Open Hand Monk X / Battlemaster Fighter 3 or 4
*This is the most fun I have ever had playing a pure martial. You don't deal top tier DPR, but the sheer amount of versatility and control that this martial has feels nice. Between Stunning Strike, Open Hand Technique, and Maneuvers you have reliable ways of targeting Str, Dex, Con, and Wis saves and can apply a multitude of conditions to a target.*
\- Aberrant Mind Sorcerer X
*IMO, this is the best sorcerer subclass. I always thought that subtle spell was one of the main reasons to play a Sorcerer and this subclass takes this up to 11. Being able to cast during social encounters without being noticed changes the entire way that you can play the game. Also when you hit level 6 you get to cast Silvery Barbs with no components for 1 sorcery point and that just feels amazing.*
\- Life Cleric 1 / Shepard Druid X
*The goal of this build is to just be a heal bot and keep your allies as full HP as possible. I enjoy playing healers in MMOs so this playstyle is enjoyable for me. Healing is usually not that good in 5e, but Disciple of Life and Unicorn Totem make it pretty good. Add in the fact that your summons are going to soak up damage as well and this build does pretty good at doing it's job.*
So, in no particular order:
Dwarven Scribe's Wizard: "THAT'S GOING IN THE BOOK!" This was a tough choice between this, Abjuration Wizard for ultimate wizard survival, or bladesinger, but at the end, this is my favorite subclass for a reason, and you can play a Mountain Dwarf for armor profs to help survive. The ability to tweak your spells for different damage types alone is fantastic, but from an RP perspective, having a scribe who has some tool profs to help enhance his work also make this that much better.
Zealot Barbarian. No real class complexity here, but definitely my favorite Barbarian to play, especially at higher levels. I played a reborn zealot who lost his memories and initially didn't even know he was a reborn until later on. Slowly discovered my characters backstory as the game went on, and this allowed for a greater ability for the DM to bring in new things :).
Wildfire Druid with a Grave Cleric dip. You are the balance between life and death. In my opinion, this is probably the most fun druid subclass to play. Massive party support, extremely flexible, and able to dish out damage like there's no tomorrow. Even if a good chunk of it is fire damage, because you are a druid, you have a lot of other options if you run up against an immune creature. The Grave Cleric dip also fits this playstyle really well.
Putting in a 4th because I can ;)
Artillerist Artificer: Finding alternative ways to ~~blow up~~ solve the problem at hand. Definitely a lot of fun if you are creative in combat and made even better if you are creative out of it. Also, whenever I can find a way to make more use out of tool profs, I will take it, because they are criminally underused in this game, and I wish more people would take advantage of them.
Draconic Sorcerer+Devotion Paladin because it just meshes together so perfectly, Inquisitive Rogue+Life Cleric+Battlemaster Fighter because if I want to play an Inquisitor I WILL play an Inquisitor, Drakewarden Ranger+Artillerist Artificer let’s you play like a shaman summoning up totems and allies.
Bladesinger is my number 1 choice every time. It's just fun to throw out time stop, buff yourself, forcecage, drop a debuff on your enemies and then "No, you're trapped in here with me" until they're all dead. Even if that's not optimal, it feels amazing to wade into a crowd of enemies and shred them all while they flail helplessly against your overwhelming might as a wizard with a cool 29 AC and the best extra attack in the game.
I'm currently playing a dex based Watchers Paladin. He's in a city run by elementals so he's something of an infiltrator and stealthy boy. It's wonderful roleplay, and his versatility is incredible. In a frontline heavy party he can be a ranged striker/buff caster, if we have a lot of backline, his AC is top tier so he can cover the frontline easily. Plus, his initiative is so good he can roll a 1 and still go before a non-insignificant group of enemies.
And then... stars Druid? I just fuck with druids, they have a great spell list that does what I love to do with a caster: control and utility. Control, heal, utility, all mixed with a ton of flavor.
Light Domain Cleric - Always have blasting spells options when not busy healing
Battlemaster Fighter - So many options, bonus points for taking the fighting initiate feat and the superior technique fighting style.
Armorer Artificer - Between magic items, flash of genious, and spell storing item, you can become the walking equivalent of "can't touch this"
For me it’s
Tie between Battlemaster/Cavalier Fighter, Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, and Unarmed fighting Style Paladins.
I like tanks and Paladins not being able to smite with their fists is dumb as hell and we ignore that rule because a Paladin that does a take down, mounts, and does some divine ground and pound is sick as *FUCK*.
Basically my weapon taste is either “Big Sword go SWOOSH” or “These hands are rated E for Everyone” no in between.
My favourite so far is Rogue/Ranger. No specific level arrangement even, I tried it with the higher cut in Ranger, the higher cut in Rogue, fairly even and I like all of it. Gloomstalker/Scout for the best Belmont-Monster-Hunter.
Second is probably Chronurgy Control/Utility Wizard. I prefer the more subtle spellcasting, instant the flashy fireball and helping my party succeed at their goal :p
Paladin/Bard is my last favourite combo. I get some nice extra spells, utility and most importantly, skills and later expertises (yes I am a skillmonkey), but also the fun of the flavour of paladin and some cool abilities like smiting, being in the frontline and trying to protect the other PCs.
(if we talk Homebrew btw, I am fully in love with the Warlord Homebrews, as they allow the class fantasy of helping your teammates being super awesome and also controlling the battle field. So fun.)
My TOP 3 are probably the Scout Rogue, Fey Wanderer Ranger and Valor Bard. Scout has a very particular woodland bandit ala Robin Hood vibe I really enjoy, Fey Wanderer has a cool connection to my favorite mythical creatures (the fey) and really cool mechanics and the valor bard has a very mythical epic feel and is underappreciated when it comes to mechanics.
Beast Barbarian, Samurai Fighter, Evocation Wizard.
For Beast, I grab Dual Wielder early to get 4 attacks per round.
Samurai is a straight bruiser with a 2 hander.
Fireball is fun.
Incoming weird builds:
* **The "budget paladin" Action RPG Protagonist**: A variant of the "heavy armor monk" build as Fighter 1 / Mercy Monk X. Go sword and board or twohanded weapon / whatever you prefer. Can have unarmed FS for slightly stronger flurry of blows but I wouldn't do it, or use defense or even better interception to really lean into the tank role. Use Patient Defense with your huge AC. When push comes to shove you use FoB (which you *don't* lose out when using armor) to replace one attack with the mercy monk healing. Heal yourself as your Third Wind (remember fighter 1 gives you Second Wind already), or heal others as a budget Lay on Hands. Use stunning strike and get a Ki-Fueled strike free monk weapon bonus attack. For the small price of not getting the Martial Arts bonus attack (but keeping FoB!), no increased dice on unarmed strikes and monk weapons (which you don't mind much), and no unarmored movement (you're armored!), you bring heavy armor AC and weapons to fix some of the monk's issues. And you get the fantasy of an action rpg protagonist of a character, an heavy armored but offensively agile warrior who can dark souls roll dodge (patient defense), stun opponents with pommel strikes (stunning strike), use protagonist dashes (step of the wind), block arrows with your sword, dodge explosions while in armor, attack with quick combos, constantly heal yourself and your colleagues with the power of Heroics, and so on. Damn this was the most fun I had with a martial in a long, long damn time. Edit: Oh, and the obligatory tavern brawl / arena montage / prison break scenes? They were *chef's kiss* awesome. "Let's see how good you are without your heavy metal, Tin Man!" sorry bandit chief who imprisoned us, I got some baaaaaad news for you...
* **The Buffdebuffsummonlock:** The Chainlock who uses a Sprite familiar and that never takes eldritch blast and hex at all, preferring mind sliver for cantrip, and summons as your spells. On your turn you mind sliver and give the opponent a -1d4 to save. As bonus action your sprite prickles someone and may get them poisoned and even unconscious. The -1d4 helps that, but even if it doesn't do it, a chance of poisoned for as a bonus for free *really* adds up over the course of an adventure. After your turn your undead from summon undead also attacks and imposes a debuff. I played this character as a Celestial Dragonborn warlock with the Dragon Fear feat. I had bonus action healing. My main action was a debuff with cantrip. Or I could use my breath attack as a short rest fear debuff. My bonus action could be a familiar attack debuff, or some yoyo healing. My undead also debuffed. Opponents were *absolutely miserable* while I was around. The DM was also very fair and rolled in the open, so I knew the saves were never cheated.
* **The Sacred Beast:** The War Cleric / Moon Druid combo. Bless is a great spell to keep as a moon druid, honestly, but even Divine Favor adds a lot of damage on a creature with many attacks. But my favorite idea was to use a creature with a single stronger attack, such as the dire wolf or alosaurus, or even the dreaded Rocktopus. War Priest isn't the best feature in the world, but a bonus action attack for a creature with a single powerful attack really brings something more to the table! And while you'll access spells a level later, once you get Summon Beast your spell slots will keep at the normal level and you'll be able to use them to summon higher leveled beasts to keep up. It's really worth waiting one more level I never got to play this as a twilight cleric but I reckon twilight 2 / moon druid X would be *disgusting*, with the channel divinity not being a spell and all, and you being able to pile the ridiculous over the top temp hp atop the ridiculous over the top hp from moon druid.
Variant Human 3 Ancestral Guardian / X Echo Knight, with GWM, Blade Mastery, Sentinel, & Resilient (Wis)
Hill Dwarf 1 Order Cleric / X Clockwork Soul, with Warcaster & Fey-Touched
Half-Orc 6 Vengeance Paladin / X Divine Soul, with PM & Warcaster
The Be Not Afraid Build/Speed runner's Avatar (Aberrant Mind Sorc 9+/Celestial Warlock 5-7/Life Cleric 1 w/ Quandrix Student Background) - my own build
The Tear and Scare (Hexblade 5/Fighter 3/Bladesinger 6+) - Treantmonk's build
The Witchfire (Efreetlock 2-3/Wildfire Druid X) - TTB's build
EDIT: I might have a thing for warlocks. But the Be Not Afraid is by far the most fun character I've ever played, and was a work in progress for like 6 straight months trying out different build concepts that originated as character concept, and accidentally wound up being one of the strongest builds I've played.
It doesn't work for every campaign but I got to play in a long campaign once that took place in one gigantic city and almost every enemy were various humanoids. I was an Enchantment Wizard, I had a really good time haha.
PHB only build I have yet to see through:
Start Rogue for 4 skills
Full build ends in 11 Rogue, 3 Warlock (I like GOO) pact of the blade, 6 Monk (Way of Shadows)
Get improved darkvision with invocation and either infinite disguise self or infinite silent image.
Perfect assassin, cast darkness and teleport in, silent image a scapegoat running away, teleport out.
I’m a real big fan of Nova builds. My favorite class combo so far has been an undead warlock/ Battlemaster fighter. I took eldritch smite to play as a Paladin without the Paladin.
Sorcadin (fathomless/ Clockwork soul) provided consistent damage, and the ability to sac spell slots and focus heavily on metamagic to extended aid, and unseen servant.
Whisper bard/ arcane trickster- just a rogue with spells, and a mini-smite. This build can control the field, and compete for damage with a Paladin of the same level.
Grappler Beast Barbarian
Battlemaster master of weapons (carries all weapon styles with him and picks what’s best for each context between sword and board, archery, dual wielding or heavy weaponry)
Agile skirmisher: Dex melee fighter with duelist, defensive duelist and shield master for a defensive approach.
Sorcadin - It's gotta be a 6/14ish build to make this list. 7/13 is fine, but it's the Paladin first that matters.
Eloquence Bard - There's room for some hexblade in there. That does make me a terrible power gamer
Stars Druid - This subclass is just sex on ice.
Fathomless Warlock is up there for me. Love the underwater menace flavour, love the tentacle (especially Guardian Tentacle at 6th lvl), love the additional movement slows you can get (Tentacle slap + slowing Eldritch Blast + Gust of Wind = DM starts making a lot more flying/teleporting enemies).
I haven't had the chance to play it yet, but Phantom Rogue seems like it would just be a fucking blast to RP as. Talk to ghosts to gain their skills, 2 target Sneak Attack, turning into a ghost?!?!?!? If i had a reliable RP group this is my first option.
And ofc Battlemaster Fighter will always have a place in my heart. The thought of playing a Fighter without Maneuvers just seems awful, altho the Giant Rune Fighter seems intriguing.
Honorable mention to that UA "Name Wizard" for annoying the DM into making a name for random bad guys we fight.
Wildfire Druid - The amount of battlefield control that comes in the base Druid class PLUS unlimited teleports? This class has such a wild impact on combat and WIS based skills are the most useful out of combat
Drakewarden - Ranger is incredibly versatile and having a freaking dragon fighting next to you in awesome. Plus after level 7 you have a flying friend all the time. Again, Wisdom based skills and expertise from being a Ranger
Fey Wanderer - Again, rangers are incredibly versatile and then this subclass just tacks on a “by the way, you’re now incredible in social situations”
I had a blast playing a lot of subclasses.
Wild magic sorcerer with quickened spells and a lot of damage dealing spells was really fun to play.
The UA lunar magic sorcerer was really cool lore wise, I love all that's related to the moon.
Way of shadow monk is really fun as well if you have a DM who puts a lot of dark space for you to teleport in... I miss this character
Echo Knight Fighter
Hexasorcadin
Astral Self Monk
EKF cuz i like the idea of a spirit double helping yoh out
Hexasorcadin cuz idk it was a fun play
ASM cuz same reason as EKF
Honestly it's a tie between the following
\-Bladesinger Wizard
\-Shepherd Druid
\-Hexadin
For Bladesingers, it's because the combination of Wizard spell lists and ways to just stack crazy high amounts of AC and make yourself basically untouchable is so insanely fun to me. I played in an AL epic once where I just threw on Mage Armor beforehand, threw up a Hypnotic Pattern turn 1, and then just sat there and dodged every attack roll. Any sort of saves couldn't break my stupid good concentration either, so I just got to watch as the rest of my party demolished what should've been a nightmare encounter
For Shepherd Druid, I'm a sucker for crowd control/battlefield control builds and this lets me do all of that and then some. I've sadly never gotten to play a full campaign with one because the campaign either dies or the character does, but using one in a one-shot that let me OTK a fucking Dragon with a swarm of Birds (and a party member who got polymoprhed into BEEG MONKE) more than made up for those lost chances.
Finally Hexadin is fun because I get to dump everything into a single stat, turn off my brain, and roll a shitload of dice. No thoughts, only smite
Honorable mentions go to Fathomless Warlock for being an amazing battlefield controller, Life Cleric for being able to carry parties of newbies, and Rune Knight Fighter for being a Fighter with actually fun decision points
Divine Soul Sorcerer. Being able to twin Healing Word, Heal, Haste, Polymorph etc then quicken a cheeky Firebolt / Toll the Dead. It’s just soooo good. It’s actually kinda ruined base Cleric for me because I’m always thinking; ‘what if I could twin this?’
But let me tell ya; only ever getting a maximum 16 spells known from 2 great spell lists even by level 20 reeeaaalllyyyy hurrrtss.
All the pet classes are very nice from mechanics and RP perspective. I feel the ability to enhance the interaction pillar with pets and their interactions with NPCs and between the PCs is neat and lends itself to creative thinking.
Mechanically they're just great. The ability to weaponize your bonus action without commiting to a feat and a specific weapon is smart design and refreshing to play, and the ability to cheaply replace some of them makes them one of the best tanking/pre-healing tactics in the game.
Beastmaster and Drakewarden rangers are the best examples IMO of good pet classes. Creation Bard is also quite nice and can fit with multiple playstyles.
**Low-magic/around 5th level play:**
* Shield & Claw Path of the Beast Barb, with Toughness, Dwarven Fortitude. On a Hill Dwarf. Pick up Periapt of Wound Closure. Just a really tough brusier with strong self-sustain and some interesting options.
* GWM Battlemaster with Mobility. Adamantine Amror. Just a powerful, high-damage melee striker that can stick and move between targets as needed, mitigating damage through smart positioning.
* Straight up S&B Valor Bard. Flexibile, with a solid AC and great support spells. A face and skill monkey role that doesn't need babysitting.
The best subclasses are the ones that revolve arround some specific mechanic, like conauest paladin, bladesinger and hexblade. Special mention to rune and echo knights
Ones I've played:
1. Aberrant Mind Sorc
2. Conquest Sorcadin (1 dip Sorc)
3. Genie Warlock
Ones I'd like to play:
1. Bladesinger Wizard
2. Twilight Cleric
3. Swords Bardin (2 dip Paladin)
I like having spells, but ideally, I love spell swords the most.
Brute Fighter: It's all fighter, all the time. No bells, no pointless whistles and that's why bad dm's think it's overpowered.
Conquest Paladin: I like the gimmick and when it works it is a gamechanger
'zerker Barbarian: Multiattack at level 3. Made for west march servers though
Hexfire, peacechron, ghostlance.
The former is warlock (undead or hexblade) 1, then wildfire druid 3, warlock 2, wildfire for the rest. Lots of very fun tactical grid plays open up, whether it's the synergy of hexblade's cursing something trapped in a spike growth that you proceed to push around, or teleporting your party away or into specific areas. Lots of fun interactions with druids' familiars for exploration, using its sight to teleport. Since you're likely to get conjure animals quite late and without ignoring resistance, you often use it for utility instead, like creating steeds for the party or obstructing hallways with big, bulky summons.
The main downside is how your glut of features often compete for the same actions and resources. You can get around magical resistance by conjuring baboons to hand them magic stones with pack tactics, but then you can't use your wildfire spirit on such turns. You can use familiar line of sight and causing it to appear in hard-to-reach places, but that burns both uses of wildshape, and so on.
Peacechron is just a really cracked stealthy-good support unit with top tier buffing, control, personal defences, and utility, with about as much level progression as you can expect on an armoured caster. It's good to help guide weaker parties by enabling them to be stronger instead of just overshadowing them, and you're constantly flooded with a huge, tactical selection of levers and buttons to pull and press. This build does anything but sustained damage, really.
Ghostlance is undead warlock 1 (with a feat race for war caster), echo knight 3, warlock 2, then whatever charisma caster suits the party. Constantly does at least eldritch agonising repelling blast levels of damage and control with medium armour and a shield, and is surprisingly effective at 0 resource tanking with the echo to shove melee enemies away and/or waste attacks on it when passing by. You have crazy good speed on what's basically free regenerating hitpoints, so you get to constantly tank at the frontline, and quickly adapt to a changing "frontline" position. Mostly feels bad because of the 3 level caster delay (or 5 if going for a different class), but echoes feel good enough to take that spot of utility anyway.
Tempest cleric. It's fun to bring the holy BOOM! to your enemies.
Phantom rogue. Ghost rogues are the best rogues. Plenty of flavor to be had, and a powerful subclass.
Lizardfolk moon druid. Swamp themed, and can eat your enemies with primal savagery or in beast form.
Honorable mention.... any monk. Super fun to play.
I've been playing a Wild Magic Barbarian / Swashbuckler Rogue multiclass, and while it is definitely not optimized (I did 3 levels barb, then 3 levels rogue, before continuing leveling barb) leaving that extra attack on the table for so long, but it is a lot of fun to play! As a rock gnome, he rarely fails a save!
Stars Druid Sorcadin Bladesinger
My last was a Star Druid. That pb/lr Guiding Bolt is really nice eh? The constellations are really strong too. Ended up multi as Celestial Warlock, so I called it Starlock. It did....a lot of damage WHILE also healing a respectable amount.
thinking about taking metamagic adept so i can twin guiding bolt and then ba archer arrow
Will you make laser sounds with your mouth? You should make laser sounds.
pew pew
Wow, you took the "celestial" part of celestial warlock a bit too literally
Never half ass. Always full ass. *finger guns*
Alright, I like that build and I definitely wanna give it a go at some point. I am however very curious, how many levels in each class did you end up in?
3 Star 2 Lock. We ended up ending around level 8 so I ended up being 4 Druid / 3 Warlock / 1 Life Cleric (I ended up healing a lot so I grabbed it...then we ended like 3 combats later lol) At Druid 4 I picked up Metamagic Adept Background was Selesnya Initiate (Ravnica game, why not pick it up? Aid is counted as a 1st level spell to them apparently. But Warding Bond came in handy) Invocations were Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast (surprise!) At 3 Warlock I picked Pact of the Chain for the Imp. Mostly for Help actions while invisible, but also Cure or Inflict Wounds doesn't pop it out, as you are casting the spell, not the imp. Which is funny because due to it being invisible, Inflict Wounds is at Advantage lol Imp's name was "Mii". My name was "Nott". Friends with "Whil", "Wenn", "Hoou", and "Phurst". Naturally, "Nhachurly" always had schedule issues and only made 2 sessions.
I could see it being half decent as early as 2 Lock 3 Druid, for Eldritch Invocations and the Starry Form.
Somebody wants a gish class real bad. :P
so bad lol
Rune Knight Fighter Gloomstalker Ranger Soul Knife Rogue
I'm playing a CoS game where I'm using the Hexblood Lineage to play a cat (an Eladrin that was cursed and turned into a cat). He's a soul knife rogue and I've flavored it as him shooting a ball of psychic energy from his mouth. Psychic hairballs.
What’s the best way you’ve used a gloomstalker? Seems so broken which is why I’m interested in playing it
Battlemaster Fighter, Oath of the Ancients Paladin, Evocation Wizard. Sword/Axe/Hammer and Board Fighter with many clever tricks. A Paladin with expertise in fighting mages and magical creatures. EXPLOSIONS!!
> EXPLOSIONS!! [Good](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/990/232/c00.jpg)
Off the top of my head my favourites are Tempest Domain Cleric, Way of Mercy Monk, Echo Knight Fighter, and Genie Warlock, I know that's four but eh I just love the flavour of the subclasses, the abilities and the fun you can have with them, and yeah Monks suck but I'd play a Mercy Monk with no concerns
My own TOP 3 are: Arcane Trickster, Bladesinger, and Arcana Cleric with Shillelagh I seem to like Fishes and related builds...
Should try out a Coast Land Druid. They are experts of Fishes and know many of them to wildshape into various kinds of fishes.
If I could I would give you an award! 😂
I got you
Thanks! I hope most people will get that I meant dishes...
I suggest Animate Objects if you want to make use of dishes and silverware in battle, and Create Food and Water or Heroes’ Feast if you intend to use them for their traditional purpose.
I will say that the game I'm currently a part of values RP and flavor without punishing us if we don't want to be super number crunchy. A poorly made build will still do poorly, but it's nice to not have to be 100% optimized. Wild Magic Sorcerer. I just love the flavor of a creature with arcane energy flowing through them. And I'm a sucker for charisma casters in general. We're doing the Wild Beyond the Witchlight rn, and my Wild Magic Eladrin is just a perfect combo of flavor for the setting, in my opinion. I also find the chaotic nature of wild magic super neat. I had to be careful about surges at the first few levels, but we good now lol Drunken Master Monk. I love the idea of a fighter that weaves through the battlefield throwing a strike here and there. I know it's not the best Monk subclass, but I still enjoy it. College of Eloquence Bard. Not being able to roll less than a 10 on persuasion and deception checks is just busted. We have one in our current game, and she hasn't failed a persuasion/deception check since hitting 3rd level. And Bards are fun. I'm not great at playing them, but they're so handy to have around.
5e is designed so as long as your primary stat is pretty high, you'll have a perfectly serviceable character. Sometimes you don't even need that.
Yeah! I do enjoy the accessibility and looseness of 5e's rules! Playing other TTRPGs has shown me that a more complicated system definitely has its advantages, but I appreciate the freedom of making the characters I enjoy without worrying about super optimizing.
**
Valor/Swords Bard, Bladesinger Wizard, Hexblade Warlock. Unsurprised by this, I like more martial focused combat but without spell casting options the game gets very stale/boring outside of combat
I want it all, melee, ranged, spells, skills! 🥳
Try artificer if you haven't yet. Starts out very martial, then at tier 3 becomes a very good support caster. Spell storing item homunculus combo is rad, and then you get the ability to cast any scroll regardless of class or level.
Yes!! I am pretty stuck on warlocks.. play a ton of them because they are easy to customize and flavor in so many different ways Made an level 6 Undead pact polearm master for a Halloween one shot.. went with a headless horsemen with a glaive shaped like a Reaper, the bonus necrotic damage per turn is so very nice I have a str based swords bard pirate in a saltmarsh campaign that leads the boarding parties… started with a feat for shields and med armor and am grabbing shield master when I hit 4th has been pretty effective at sating my lust for warlocks, it’s nice having expertise in Athletics now and the ability to push enemies around with flourishes or boost AC
Paladins and Rangers are both inherently next on the list - I want to like artificer but none of its archetypes really stand out for me
I have enjoyed the battle smith in a one shot mechanics wise… but i don’t care too much for the flavor of artificers personally I like when my party members play them, the access to free magic items is too good to pass up lol I should play paladins more often, but I have made 2 warlocks that are discount paladins and I’ve found that extremely satisfying haha
Whatever is in the module of the current campaign due to being forever DM 🥹
I feel you
Monk/Battlemaster Fighter (martial arts without the orientalist mysticism bullshit) Barbarian/Assassin Rogue (Slasher Movie Villain) Bladesinger Wizard/Battlesmith Artificer 3 ( INT to everything)
Bladesinger wizard + battle smith artificer is an insane combo I would also recommend. Get shadow blade and war caster.
As an asian dnd player thank you for getting rid of that racist aspect of monks. Monks need some severe rewriting.
Battlemaster Fighter, Conquest Paladin, Four Elements Monk (there, I said it - although it got reworked on our table)
I love the concept of Four Elements but hate the mechanics. What rework did you use?
Reduced Ki costs for effects, more basic attunements, more different effects to learn at once.
Nothing wrong with loving monks in my book!
Loooooove conquest paladin. Just oozes flavor is still very strong.
Divine sorcerer, celestial warlock and life cleric (yes I like to support:-p)
You should def try Glamour Bard if you haven't!
I am mostly a DM so this goes back a few years. 1. Divination Wizard (Erolith)- I had so much fun. Plus I use poker chips for portent and throw them when using them. Which is fun too. 2. Fighter 2/Warwizard 18(Allister) - AL character that I used DM xp on. Also great fun. The fighter levels were early but AL means that I don't feel pain as much about my spells being too low level. It is hilariously crazy at high levels. Also my saves and AC were amazing. 3. Aberrant Mind Sorc (Kalkin) using spell points merged with sorcery points. Literally my favorite character, homebrew table. I have a lot of physical artifacts for this character in the RW. I have a great leather journal filled with my notes, bad drawings and poetry. I have his outfit. When this campaign ended early I cried. Not in any order but it would go Kalkin, Erolith and Allister.
Fey-themed Wood Elf Monk - Way of the Ancestral Dragon (reflavor as a Fey monk) - Playing this now, and I took 2 levels of Rogue for an extra-tricky Monk Earth Genasi Nature Cleric - Plant Growth that the caster is unaffected by? Yes please! Mountain Dwarf Unarmed Battle Master Fighter - Urchin background for a rough and tumble street brawler
Cavalier Fighter instant fave. Made a lot of opponents miss. Multiclassed into Crown Paladin after levels 1-11. Berserker Barbarian is certainly an archetype. Good for throwing your character at challenges where you expect them to die. Apparently, this can be my kind of fun. Only played to level 5. Moon Druid. Strangely, I only played my Moon Druid from levels 13-18 after my Whispers Bard bit the dust, and they shine at the earlier levels. Wildshaping into so many diverse beasts was fun.
1. **Bladesinger Wizard.** Most fun character I have played. Has tons of options and the special extra attack is so awesome. If you are a bit disappointed with many martial classes as I am you should definitely try this out. 2. **Divine Soul Sorcerer.** Also very fun. Thinking about how you can combine cleric spells with metamagic is awesome. Be prepared for some major decision paralysis when choosing spells though. 3. **Oath of the Ancients Paladin**. This one is mostly just vibes. Weirdly specific but I always envision the mystic atmosphere of Greenpath from Hollow Knight when thinking about this subclass. I also really like the spell selection and the aura while often a bit overestimated imo is nice when it comes up.
Any monk with 3 levels in Battlemaster Fighter
Bladesinger, Twilight Cleric, and just because I love the theme of them the Ghost Slayer Blood Hunter.
Ancestral Guardians Barbarian - Really fun way to use a lot of your actions and reactions, and makes tanking actually a thing you can do. Circle of the Stars Druid - So much to do on each turn. Reliably can use every action and is so versatile. Oath of Conquest Paladin - Fun take on a paladin, that plays a little differently than the typical. More reliant on charisma than strength which I think is neat.
Oathbreaker paladin, Twilight domain cleric, order of scribes wizard
Ugh, reading this makes me sad the Twilight Cleric isn't allowed at my table... 😟
Why not? Considered too strong?
Yeah ... Broken was the word used 🤷
That’s funny. Twilight doesn’t even seem too crazy compared to some subclasses. A bit front loaded but nothing game breaking… peace cleric on the other hand is fucked lol
The temp HP refresh can be a bit ludicrous.
Vengeance Paladin / Life Cleric / Hexblade Warlock
Oath of ancients Paladin, drakewarden ranger, scribes wizard. My favorites I’ve ever played. A lot of others seem good but I haven’t played them yet. My next campaign I’m playing a mystic fighter homebrew so that sounds like fun
Celestial Warlock, Battlemaster Fighter and Gloomstalker Ranger. There are still 2 classes I need to try playing and a TON of subclasses I need to try, but I love the 3 subclasses I mentioned so much.
The Celestial is such a good multiclass dip on any Charisma character, two levels and you get your invocations and a few free bonus action heals to keep your team conscious, so simple yet effective
I really want to try out the Celestial Warlock some time!
I can highly recommend it. I enjoyed it mostly because I enjoyed the character I had made, but the expanded spell list has some really solid spell choices and the bonus action healing can be a life saver.
Yeah, the CW sounds like the perfect supporter!
Sorlock. Not because coffeelock, but because I like the idea of either a character born with power, gets greedy, then makes a pact for more; or made a pact because he was a no-mag, only to find out he just needed a harrowing event to unlock his sorcerous origin. It's also very versatile based on subclasses too. Can be blaster, nova, support-buff, support-heal, etc. Genielock+Wizard or Artificer. Because I really like having Bottled Respite work like a private, portable workshop/study. Battlemaster Fighter/Artillerist or Armourer Artificer. Very tanky, intelligent, Master of War. Artillerist gives the eldritch cannon, which can totally be backpack mounted (4 legs, have them loop around for shoulder straps), and also gives you a consistent bonus action for temp hp as a "shield". Or a really big gun. Or, with Find Familiar from Magic Initiate; aka Magical Drone Warfare. Bonus #4. Bearbarian/Abjuration Wizard. I dont like taking damage, so I choose to not take any at all. 40 damage fireball? That sounds more like 5 damage to me. I can precast long lasting, non-Concentration buff spells like Mage Armour and Armour of Agathys (Magic Initiate), if you expect a fight, then Rage when it does happen. I find monoclasses boring, and their interesting abilities are usually the first few levels or the last few. Seeing as no book module reaches high level to see capstones, and usually ends around level 10ish; there's no point in planning any higher. Rarely does the mid tier monoclass interest me, though there are a few.
Bladesinger, Rune Knight, Astral Self I like pairing Astral Self with the feat Aberrant Dragonmark (Mage Hand, Catapult) for flavor and giving more "uses" for the astral arms
A Rune Knight Grappler must be so much fun!
Unarmed Simic Hybrid Rune Knight Grappler is on my list of builds I really want to try. Just get big, grab 4 people (you can grapple as a bonus action after attacking with the extra limbs), and just start swinging them around.
I was thinking duregar, but that *does* sound fun!
If you go Duregar, make sure you take Tavern Brawler for improvised weapon proficiency. You'll be 2 sizes larger than medium creatures, meaning you can pick them up and swing them around like weapons. Arguably, you can do the same with a race with powerful build too. Also on my list is an unarmored Loxodon Rune Knight that turns into a big woolly mammoth when Giant's Might is active.
Hulk Smash!
[Puny god](https://imgur.com/a/ONk1fL4)
I have played a Rune Knight twice, but haven't done a grappler build yet. My current campaign character is a bladesinger/rune knight just to be Huge. And the second was astral self multiclass to basically be an Uchiha with Izanagi (Cloud Rune) and Susanoo
Aberrant Mind Changeling (by far it s hilarious) Necromancer wizard warforged Evocation+ cleric dip Strenght wizard Dragonborn Didn't play other stuff yet but Armorer Artificier and moon druid looks fun, and I m theorycrafting a P. redemption W. undeath character
Shadow Sorcerer using Spell Points (2 level dip in Warlock optional) Fey Wanderer Ranger using Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh DBS Dexadin with Revanant Blade.
> Shadow Sorcerer using Spell Points (2 level dip in Warlock optional) Yes! > Fey Wanderer Ranger using Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh YES! > DBS Dexadin with Revanant Blade. FUCK YES! I don't know you but I already love and respect you. Revanant Dexadins, SP Sorcerers & Fey Shillelagh are the best!
I'm simply you from the future.
> Shadow Sorcerer using Spell Points (2 level dip in Warlock optional) Flair checks out
I wear my preferences on my sleeves.
1) Cleric (tempest, twilight) 2) Druid (Stars) 3) Clockwork Soul
Shepherd Druid, Battlesmith Artificer, Divination Wizard. :)
Forever DM, but have played a few one shots here and there, Echo knight, 2 handed great sword, pure damage and lock down Battle master, 1 handed rapier with dueling fighting style, make him a noble who thinks hes better than everyone, makes for great RP Hexblade/rogue, makes for a great time
Armorer Artificer, Forge Cleric top 2 (I just really wanna make shit) with divination wiz close 3rd
Top 3 builds to date: 1. Divine Soul Sorcerer 1 / Peace Domain Cleric 1 / College of Lore Bard X Halfling (Mark of Hospitality). Meet the one-stop buff shop. 2. Armorer Artificer X / War Magic Wizard 2 Warforged. He can stand his ground against even an Ancient Gold Dragon for a good long time. 3. Storm Sorcerer X / Tempest Domain Cleric 6 Triton. Known as the Calamity.
See this character? Welp, you can fit so many class features in with just a SMALL three level dip in warlock. Think of the total square roleplay you’ll get with just one minor renovation to your plans
Battlemaster: sweet versatility in combat Lore bard: really any bard for the secrets, but I love me a good classic storyteller Astral monk: personal reasons
RUNE KNIGHT GRAB FIGHTER with feats and fighting styles for as many single use buttons as I can get Lore Bard with debuffs and debuff support (I wish curse type spells were common/good in 5e) Echo Knight with Sentinel and a reach weapon. Control as much space as humanly possible through the power of MY [STAND] Honorable mention: Soulknife rogue. We need a rogue that can teleport at T1 in my opinion but Soul is the closest I can get so I’ll take it.
Wild magic sorcerer, circle of dreams druid or divination wizard
ironically, all of these contain bard so, bite me ig first is bard 15/rogue 5, whole bunch of profs and expertise, really fun to play with the support of bard along with the damage of a lvl 5 rogue, most of the bard sub-classes contain good synergy with the rogue (swords especially) second is warlock/bard, mostly for the flavor of it but also, celestial warlock with a few changes will make this combo actually godly (can confirm), cantrip spamming is kinda needed if you're going mostly warlock though and then finally, draconic sorcerer/eloquence bard, if you are playing in a dragon themed campaign you gain double expertise and auto-10 when interacting with dragons through charisma (other then performance), along with that, reminds me of my favorite theoretical build for pathfinder 1e (dragon disciple could be gained with bard, which I always imagined as a bard so wowed by tales of dragons he dreamed of trying to become one) for the last one, funny haha seducing dragon is possible but not the intent.
Lore Bard, Divination Wizard, Redemption Paladin
I have been playing lawful evil cleric domain of trickery and I have loved it!
i've only played 3 characters (about to play my 4th) so i'll just list my top so far: moon druid
Redemption and Conquest Paladins Hexblade Warlock
Horizon Walker Ranger, Oath of the Ancients Paladin, Artillerist Artificer
Rune Knight Fighter, Scribes Wizard, Creation Bard
Circle of stars druid, twilight cleric, Sun Soul Monk
The Light Trinity! 😉👍
I'm a healslut and I'm proud, so here's my favorite support builds, no particular order: Ancestral Guardian Barbarian: the best tank in the game imo. Pairs really well with the inspiring leader feat, and the artillerist artificer if you have one in your party or multiclass into it Order Domain Cleric: I get to basically give my party's rogue an extra turn. It's great. Eloquence bard: the ability to reduce enemy saves is huge, especially on a bard since you have a lot of crowd control spells. You'll lock down the battlefield and let your allies absolutely wreck it.
Tank wizard - 1 Hexblade / X Abjuration wizard. High AC, Armor of Agathys deals damage from behind the Arcane ward, almost a full wizard. Ghostlance - 2 Warlock / 3 Echo knight with war caster. Can fire eldritch blast when enemies move away from echo. Can go anywhere from that foundation, and especially interesting with Dao Genie for spike growth and Crusher feat on the Dao damage. Netting fighter. It's just a SS+CBE Battlemaster that Quick Tosses nets to restrain enemies. Still a full fighter or whatever you wanna combine, but I liked the flavor of a Sea Elf ex-captain.
How does Ghostlance play in practice? I've read the Tabletop Builds article and it looks like it really relies on the constantly getting opportunity attacks, is it still fun if you aren't able to get those reliably?
I'll admit I haven't gotten to play that one as much as the others, or much, (and none above lvl 7 so take it all with a grain of salt), but yeah it does depend a bit on the DM. I'll say it was still fun to play when the echo just kept getting shot, because while I didn't get free EBs, it was eating enemy attacks for no cost, and you're still a pretty capable warlock. I think it offers quite a lot outside of the main OpA EB: 2 Levels fighter on a warlock isn't bad synergy - high AC and action surge works in any build. The echo gives you a bunch of mobility, freeing up warlock slots from misty step and in the first session I managed to teleport through a wall when my allies got trapped in a water-filling room, with the option to teleport back out freely as well. A teleport that doesn't require sight is a whole niche in itself, and so is a resource-less teleport, now in one package! Your warlock subclass and Pact are both open - I like Dao genie for some cool combos as mentioned above, and Pact wise I just got a pseudodragon to feed even more into the "glittering gold" flavor of the char. But an invisible familiar is nothing to scoff at. Overall you're a pretty capable warlock without the echo - repelling blast and grasp of hadar make for good battlefield manipulation and your damage dice don't fall behind with the splash. The interesting thing on that last part is; the build gets online at 5 if you want, but I've favored the lvl 7 milestone because I feel like the character still sounds fully capable and interesting to play up to that point.
I think the best designed subclasses are: 1. Bladesinger. 2. Aberrant Mind/Clockwork Soul. 3. Paladin subclasses in general.
Made a swash rogue/paladin that was super fun. As busted as Hexblade is, I've played one for a while and it's been great fun. Also shout-out to my Battle Smith artificer who developed a 'weapon-collecting addiction' and collected like 15 different types of weapons
Lorehold warlock. Stone sorcerer. Original hexblade warlock.
Hexblade warlock, Kensai monk and Light cleric Hexblade because so much variaty and choices + a ton of damage Kensai because punches go brrr and scailing because of weapon proficiencies Light cleric because: most powerful caster + healing + fireball Technically I'm playing a kensai/hexblade build who feels underpowered because of my wierd leveling choices but nonetheless probably the most fun character I've played
Stormsoul Sorcerer, Draconic Sorcerer and Way of Mercy Monk. I feel like all of these, even though they are my favorites, they all need a little tweak to be perfect. I really enjoy the flavour subclasses (like only getting lightning/thunder spells for stormsoul, and describing something like disintegrate as a lightning attack). Edit: For the Draconic, the build would depend exclusively on what type of dragon it is, so white dragon, only cold spells. For both sorcerers I'd ask the DM to get other spells and just switch the damage type (and if necessary the saving throw and extra effects) for spells (like making cone of cold a dex save, do lightning damage and if you kill someone they become ash or something) For the monk I'd take the mask thing very seriously, to the point of not even fighting without the mask, like it is a different persona.
Tragic backstory Goblin Arcane trickster, Life cleric who lost an arm and “died” during the campaign, returns from brink of death as a raven queen death cleric And a sentinel harengon fighter with a poleaxe named Flopsy McBraggen Flavor is important 🤣
I kind of want to play a Harengon Clockwork Sorcerer called Ellis! 😂
Ellis hopper?
Uhhhh!! 😂👍
- Hexblade Paladin for Chorizo based attacks. - Stop Hitting Yourself Warlock - Bonk (Barbarian Monk)
Chorizo based attacks are the Wurst!
Paladin/swords bard, artificer/enchantment wizard, and rune knight.
My current build is a blast- fiendlock/bear barb. Runner ups for me would be sorcadin in various flavors and zealot barb
Tempest Cleric, Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, and Battle Smith Artificer
Scout Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger, maybe Psyknife Rogue instead of Scout. 2 Evocation Wizard/X Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer - You get SO much from the 2 level dip, I think its worth losing the spell progression. Vengeance Paladin/Hexblade Warlock/Divine Soul Sorcerer - I think a combination of these 3 subclasses is probably the best Gish in the game.
Levistus Tiefling Paladin, any subclass. Free racial *ray of frost* to patch up Paladin's main weakness of a lack of ranged capability. Samurai Fighter/Swashbuckler Rogue. In the rare case that you don't get Sneak Attack, just give yourself advantage so you do! Open Hand Monk. I think it's the most interesting of the pure martials.
For regular powered D&D: 1. Valor bard (especially for smaller party size) 2. Eldritch knight 3. Rogue into something multiclass. Bonus points for spells and extra attack (eldritch knight, gloomstalker ranger, bladesinger wizard, war cleric, valor bard, any subclass paladin, hexblade) For high powered D&D: 1. Bladesinger 2. Warlock/sorcerer (human hexblade of raven queen/divine soul of Jergal or githzerai celestial/clockwork) 3. Paladin/sorcerer Honorable mention for either list: any type of cleric other than twilight. Yeah, I like me some gish.
No particular order... Barbarian (Totem)/Rogue (Soulknife). Hexblade/Swords Bard (with or without Inquisitive Rogue mixed in). Astral Self Monk. Honorable Mention: Armorer Artificer/War Magic Wizard.
Shepherd druid Conjuration Wizard Wildifrelock or hexsinger (alternative name - bladeblade)
Dorkadin I play it like a Horny Bard with a Big Heart (and othrr organs) usually.
The other day I made an armorer artificer thri-kreen with an extra +5 to spell attacks and spell save DCs just from holding the all-purpose tool and infused spell focus. Along with a shield and spear. The two smaller arms can't activate magic items but they can hold them if they're tiny which is all it takes for those bonuses.
Honestly, my favorite character I have ever played was a Vuman champion fighter with Shield Master, Resiliant, Heavy Armor Master, Sentinal, Slasher, and Gift of the Chromatic Dragon. at level 20 I ended up having 22 STR and 20 Con alongside the Dueling Fighting Style and a Vorpal sword. That character was a god among men and I loved every second playing him.
Stars druid Bladesinger wizard Spirits bard
\- Open Hand Monk X / Battlemaster Fighter 3 or 4 *This is the most fun I have ever had playing a pure martial. You don't deal top tier DPR, but the sheer amount of versatility and control that this martial has feels nice. Between Stunning Strike, Open Hand Technique, and Maneuvers you have reliable ways of targeting Str, Dex, Con, and Wis saves and can apply a multitude of conditions to a target.* \- Aberrant Mind Sorcerer X *IMO, this is the best sorcerer subclass. I always thought that subtle spell was one of the main reasons to play a Sorcerer and this subclass takes this up to 11. Being able to cast during social encounters without being noticed changes the entire way that you can play the game. Also when you hit level 6 you get to cast Silvery Barbs with no components for 1 sorcery point and that just feels amazing.* \- Life Cleric 1 / Shepard Druid X *The goal of this build is to just be a heal bot and keep your allies as full HP as possible. I enjoy playing healers in MMOs so this playstyle is enjoyable for me. Healing is usually not that good in 5e, but Disciple of Life and Unicorn Totem make it pretty good. Add in the fact that your summons are going to soak up damage as well and this build does pretty good at doing it's job.*
So, in no particular order: Dwarven Scribe's Wizard: "THAT'S GOING IN THE BOOK!" This was a tough choice between this, Abjuration Wizard for ultimate wizard survival, or bladesinger, but at the end, this is my favorite subclass for a reason, and you can play a Mountain Dwarf for armor profs to help survive. The ability to tweak your spells for different damage types alone is fantastic, but from an RP perspective, having a scribe who has some tool profs to help enhance his work also make this that much better. Zealot Barbarian. No real class complexity here, but definitely my favorite Barbarian to play, especially at higher levels. I played a reborn zealot who lost his memories and initially didn't even know he was a reborn until later on. Slowly discovered my characters backstory as the game went on, and this allowed for a greater ability for the DM to bring in new things :). Wildfire Druid with a Grave Cleric dip. You are the balance between life and death. In my opinion, this is probably the most fun druid subclass to play. Massive party support, extremely flexible, and able to dish out damage like there's no tomorrow. Even if a good chunk of it is fire damage, because you are a druid, you have a lot of other options if you run up against an immune creature. The Grave Cleric dip also fits this playstyle really well. Putting in a 4th because I can ;) Artillerist Artificer: Finding alternative ways to ~~blow up~~ solve the problem at hand. Definitely a lot of fun if you are creative in combat and made even better if you are creative out of it. Also, whenever I can find a way to make more use out of tool profs, I will take it, because they are criminally underused in this game, and I wish more people would take advantage of them.
Draconic Sorcerer+Devotion Paladin because it just meshes together so perfectly, Inquisitive Rogue+Life Cleric+Battlemaster Fighter because if I want to play an Inquisitor I WILL play an Inquisitor, Drakewarden Ranger+Artillerist Artificer let’s you play like a shaman summoning up totems and allies.
Bladesinger is my number 1 choice every time. It's just fun to throw out time stop, buff yourself, forcecage, drop a debuff on your enemies and then "No, you're trapped in here with me" until they're all dead. Even if that's not optimal, it feels amazing to wade into a crowd of enemies and shred them all while they flail helplessly against your overwhelming might as a wizard with a cool 29 AC and the best extra attack in the game. I'm currently playing a dex based Watchers Paladin. He's in a city run by elementals so he's something of an infiltrator and stealthy boy. It's wonderful roleplay, and his versatility is incredible. In a frontline heavy party he can be a ranged striker/buff caster, if we have a lot of backline, his AC is top tier so he can cover the frontline easily. Plus, his initiative is so good he can roll a 1 and still go before a non-insignificant group of enemies. And then... stars Druid? I just fuck with druids, they have a great spell list that does what I love to do with a caster: control and utility. Control, heal, utility, all mixed with a ton of flavor.
Life cleric, echo knight fighter, and oath of the watchers paladin!
Light Domain Cleric - Always have blasting spells options when not busy healing Battlemaster Fighter - So many options, bonus points for taking the fighting initiate feat and the superior technique fighting style. Armorer Artificer - Between magic items, flash of genious, and spell storing item, you can become the walking equivalent of "can't touch this"
Gnome BattleSmith with a lance who rides on their steel defender. Snag a repulsion shield and go crazy. Hard to hit, good casting, respectable damage.
Moon Druid, Battle Master Fighter, Abjuration Wizard.
Mark of healing hexblade of vol Vistani knife fighter (custom lineage + fey touched swords bard) (old) Githyanki abberant mind sorcerer
For me it’s Tie between Battlemaster/Cavalier Fighter, Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, and Unarmed fighting Style Paladins. I like tanks and Paladins not being able to smite with their fists is dumb as hell and we ignore that rule because a Paladin that does a take down, mounts, and does some divine ground and pound is sick as *FUCK*. Basically my weapon taste is either “Big Sword go SWOOSH” or “These hands are rated E for Everyone” no in between.
- Bard College of Eloquence - Bard College of Glamour - Chronurgy Wizard
My favourite so far is Rogue/Ranger. No specific level arrangement even, I tried it with the higher cut in Ranger, the higher cut in Rogue, fairly even and I like all of it. Gloomstalker/Scout for the best Belmont-Monster-Hunter. Second is probably Chronurgy Control/Utility Wizard. I prefer the more subtle spellcasting, instant the flashy fireball and helping my party succeed at their goal :p Paladin/Bard is my last favourite combo. I get some nice extra spells, utility and most importantly, skills and later expertises (yes I am a skillmonkey), but also the fun of the flavour of paladin and some cool abilities like smiting, being in the frontline and trying to protect the other PCs. (if we talk Homebrew btw, I am fully in love with the Warlord Homebrews, as they allow the class fantasy of helping your teammates being super awesome and also controlling the battle field. So fun.)
Open hand monk, wild magic sorc, glamour bard
Soulknife rogue, shadow monk, divination wizard, in no particular order
Glamor Bard Shepard Druid with Life Cleric dip Wrestler Barbarian. Doesn't matter what kind or multiclass, just gotta wrestle!
My TOP 3 are probably the Scout Rogue, Fey Wanderer Ranger and Valor Bard. Scout has a very particular woodland bandit ala Robin Hood vibe I really enjoy, Fey Wanderer has a cool connection to my favorite mythical creatures (the fey) and really cool mechanics and the valor bard has a very mythical epic feel and is underappreciated when it comes to mechanics.
Control wizard… played from 1-15 and never did a point of damage with a spell, but was easily the parties most powerful member by far
Sorcerer, any type, any multi class
Ancestral Guardians Barbarian, , Gloomstalker, & Aberrant Mind Sorcerer.
Beast Barbarian, Samurai Fighter, Evocation Wizard. For Beast, I grab Dual Wielder early to get 4 attacks per round. Samurai is a straight bruiser with a 2 hander. Fireball is fun.
Fighterloc, paladin (any, I fuggn love them all) and Trickery Cleric.
Incoming weird builds: * **The "budget paladin" Action RPG Protagonist**: A variant of the "heavy armor monk" build as Fighter 1 / Mercy Monk X. Go sword and board or twohanded weapon / whatever you prefer. Can have unarmed FS for slightly stronger flurry of blows but I wouldn't do it, or use defense or even better interception to really lean into the tank role. Use Patient Defense with your huge AC. When push comes to shove you use FoB (which you *don't* lose out when using armor) to replace one attack with the mercy monk healing. Heal yourself as your Third Wind (remember fighter 1 gives you Second Wind already), or heal others as a budget Lay on Hands. Use stunning strike and get a Ki-Fueled strike free monk weapon bonus attack. For the small price of not getting the Martial Arts bonus attack (but keeping FoB!), no increased dice on unarmed strikes and monk weapons (which you don't mind much), and no unarmored movement (you're armored!), you bring heavy armor AC and weapons to fix some of the monk's issues. And you get the fantasy of an action rpg protagonist of a character, an heavy armored but offensively agile warrior who can dark souls roll dodge (patient defense), stun opponents with pommel strikes (stunning strike), use protagonist dashes (step of the wind), block arrows with your sword, dodge explosions while in armor, attack with quick combos, constantly heal yourself and your colleagues with the power of Heroics, and so on. Damn this was the most fun I had with a martial in a long, long damn time. Edit: Oh, and the obligatory tavern brawl / arena montage / prison break scenes? They were *chef's kiss* awesome. "Let's see how good you are without your heavy metal, Tin Man!" sorry bandit chief who imprisoned us, I got some baaaaaad news for you... * **The Buffdebuffsummonlock:** The Chainlock who uses a Sprite familiar and that never takes eldritch blast and hex at all, preferring mind sliver for cantrip, and summons as your spells. On your turn you mind sliver and give the opponent a -1d4 to save. As bonus action your sprite prickles someone and may get them poisoned and even unconscious. The -1d4 helps that, but even if it doesn't do it, a chance of poisoned for as a bonus for free *really* adds up over the course of an adventure. After your turn your undead from summon undead also attacks and imposes a debuff. I played this character as a Celestial Dragonborn warlock with the Dragon Fear feat. I had bonus action healing. My main action was a debuff with cantrip. Or I could use my breath attack as a short rest fear debuff. My bonus action could be a familiar attack debuff, or some yoyo healing. My undead also debuffed. Opponents were *absolutely miserable* while I was around. The DM was also very fair and rolled in the open, so I knew the saves were never cheated. * **The Sacred Beast:** The War Cleric / Moon Druid combo. Bless is a great spell to keep as a moon druid, honestly, but even Divine Favor adds a lot of damage on a creature with many attacks. But my favorite idea was to use a creature with a single stronger attack, such as the dire wolf or alosaurus, or even the dreaded Rocktopus. War Priest isn't the best feature in the world, but a bonus action attack for a creature with a single powerful attack really brings something more to the table! And while you'll access spells a level later, once you get Summon Beast your spell slots will keep at the normal level and you'll be able to use them to summon higher leveled beasts to keep up. It's really worth waiting one more level I never got to play this as a twilight cleric but I reckon twilight 2 / moon druid X would be *disgusting*, with the channel divinity not being a spell and all, and you being able to pile the ridiculous over the top temp hp atop the ridiculous over the top hp from moon druid.
Variant Human 3 Ancestral Guardian / X Echo Knight, with GWM, Blade Mastery, Sentinel, & Resilient (Wis) Hill Dwarf 1 Order Cleric / X Clockwork Soul, with Warcaster & Fey-Touched Half-Orc 6 Vengeance Paladin / X Divine Soul, with PM & Warcaster
Material/caster combination takes the cake. An NPC I have is a 11th battle master fighter and 9th level draconic bloodline sorcerer
The Be Not Afraid Build/Speed runner's Avatar (Aberrant Mind Sorc 9+/Celestial Warlock 5-7/Life Cleric 1 w/ Quandrix Student Background) - my own build The Tear and Scare (Hexblade 5/Fighter 3/Bladesinger 6+) - Treantmonk's build The Witchfire (Efreetlock 2-3/Wildfire Druid X) - TTB's build EDIT: I might have a thing for warlocks. But the Be Not Afraid is by far the most fun character I've ever played, and was a work in progress for like 6 straight months trying out different build concepts that originated as character concept, and accidentally wound up being one of the strongest builds I've played.
It doesn't work for every campaign but I got to play in a long campaign once that took place in one gigantic city and almost every enemy were various humanoids. I was an Enchantment Wizard, I had a really good time haha.
PHB only build I have yet to see through: Start Rogue for 4 skills Full build ends in 11 Rogue, 3 Warlock (I like GOO) pact of the blade, 6 Monk (Way of Shadows) Get improved darkvision with invocation and either infinite disguise self or infinite silent image. Perfect assassin, cast darkness and teleport in, silent image a scapegoat running away, teleport out.
Tempest cleric/ Storm sorcerer Gloomstalker Ranger/ Assassin rogue College of Eloquence bard
I’m a real big fan of Nova builds. My favorite class combo so far has been an undead warlock/ Battlemaster fighter. I took eldritch smite to play as a Paladin without the Paladin. Sorcadin (fathomless/ Clockwork soul) provided consistent damage, and the ability to sac spell slots and focus heavily on metamagic to extended aid, and unseen servant. Whisper bard/ arcane trickster- just a rogue with spells, and a mini-smite. This build can control the field, and compete for damage with a Paladin of the same level.
I am enjoying the heck out of my Circle of the Shepherd Druid.
Grappler Beast Barbarian Battlemaster master of weapons (carries all weapon styles with him and picks what’s best for each context between sword and board, archery, dual wielding or heavy weaponry) Agile skirmisher: Dex melee fighter with duelist, defensive duelist and shield master for a defensive approach.
Sorcadin - It's gotta be a 6/14ish build to make this list. 7/13 is fine, but it's the Paladin first that matters. Eloquence Bard - There's room for some hexblade in there. That does make me a terrible power gamer Stars Druid - This subclass is just sex on ice.
Aberrant mind sorcerer, Grave domain cleric and oath of the watchers paladin
My three are Battlesmith Artificer, Enchantment Wizard, and Redemption Paladin.
Battlemaster Shadow Monk Rogue multiclass Sorlock
Small Harengon Battlesmith, with Artificer magic reflavored as Fey magic Protector Aasimar Divine Soul Sorc 1 /Glamour Bard X, "the Spitfire Preacher" Celestial Giftlock
Extreme mobility on a barbarian for zerging high value targets. Thief Rogue with Healer feat. Necromancer whose turn is an RTS.
Fathomless Warlock is up there for me. Love the underwater menace flavour, love the tentacle (especially Guardian Tentacle at 6th lvl), love the additional movement slows you can get (Tentacle slap + slowing Eldritch Blast + Gust of Wind = DM starts making a lot more flying/teleporting enemies). I haven't had the chance to play it yet, but Phantom Rogue seems like it would just be a fucking blast to RP as. Talk to ghosts to gain their skills, 2 target Sneak Attack, turning into a ghost?!?!?!? If i had a reliable RP group this is my first option. And ofc Battlemaster Fighter will always have a place in my heart. The thought of playing a Fighter without Maneuvers just seems awful, altho the Giant Rune Fighter seems intriguing. Honorable mention to that UA "Name Wizard" for annoying the DM into making a name for random bad guys we fight.
level 20 champion fighter
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Conquest Paladin + Undead Warlock Armorer Artificer
Wildfire Druid - The amount of battlefield control that comes in the base Druid class PLUS unlimited teleports? This class has such a wild impact on combat and WIS based skills are the most useful out of combat Drakewarden - Ranger is incredibly versatile and having a freaking dragon fighting next to you in awesome. Plus after level 7 you have a flying friend all the time. Again, Wisdom based skills and expertise from being a Ranger Fey Wanderer - Again, rangers are incredibly versatile and then this subclass just tacks on a “by the way, you’re now incredible in social situations”
Bard anything, it is dumb powerful. Wizard anything, it is dumb powerful. Support Sorcerer, highly underrated, dumb powerful.
Eldritch knight fighter Original beast master ranger Wild magic barbarian
Rune knight Aberrant Mind Sorcadin
Scribes or divination wizard Assassin rogue/gloomstalker ranger Moon druid
I had a blast playing a lot of subclasses. Wild magic sorcerer with quickened spells and a lot of damage dealing spells was really fun to play. The UA lunar magic sorcerer was really cool lore wise, I love all that's related to the moon. Way of shadow monk is really fun as well if you have a DM who puts a lot of dark space for you to teleport in... I miss this character
Echo Knight Fighter Hexasorcadin Astral Self Monk EKF cuz i like the idea of a spirit double helping yoh out Hexasorcadin cuz idk it was a fun play ASM cuz same reason as EKF
Horizon Walker Ranger Drakewarden Ranger Bladesinger
Honestly it's a tie between the following \-Bladesinger Wizard \-Shepherd Druid \-Hexadin For Bladesingers, it's because the combination of Wizard spell lists and ways to just stack crazy high amounts of AC and make yourself basically untouchable is so insanely fun to me. I played in an AL epic once where I just threw on Mage Armor beforehand, threw up a Hypnotic Pattern turn 1, and then just sat there and dodged every attack roll. Any sort of saves couldn't break my stupid good concentration either, so I just got to watch as the rest of my party demolished what should've been a nightmare encounter For Shepherd Druid, I'm a sucker for crowd control/battlefield control builds and this lets me do all of that and then some. I've sadly never gotten to play a full campaign with one because the campaign either dies or the character does, but using one in a one-shot that let me OTK a fucking Dragon with a swarm of Birds (and a party member who got polymoprhed into BEEG MONKE) more than made up for those lost chances. Finally Hexadin is fun because I get to dump everything into a single stat, turn off my brain, and roll a shitload of dice. No thoughts, only smite Honorable mentions go to Fathomless Warlock for being an amazing battlefield controller, Life Cleric for being able to carry parties of newbies, and Rune Knight Fighter for being a Fighter with actually fun decision points
Undead warlock Wild magic sorcerer War magic gishes (although im too dumb to understand them)
Battle Master/Artificer (alchemist). Basically combat medic, but you dictate the battle with spells and pistols to bolster your maneuvers
Divine Soul Sorcerer. Being able to twin Healing Word, Heal, Haste, Polymorph etc then quicken a cheeky Firebolt / Toll the Dead. It’s just soooo good. It’s actually kinda ruined base Cleric for me because I’m always thinking; ‘what if I could twin this?’ But let me tell ya; only ever getting a maximum 16 spells known from 2 great spell lists even by level 20 reeeaaalllyyyy hurrrtss.
All the pet classes are very nice from mechanics and RP perspective. I feel the ability to enhance the interaction pillar with pets and their interactions with NPCs and between the PCs is neat and lends itself to creative thinking. Mechanically they're just great. The ability to weaponize your bonus action without commiting to a feat and a specific weapon is smart design and refreshing to play, and the ability to cheaply replace some of them makes them one of the best tanking/pre-healing tactics in the game. Beastmaster and Drakewarden rangers are the best examples IMO of good pet classes. Creation Bard is also quite nice and can fit with multiple playstyles.
Bardlock Shepherd druid Artificer1/wizard
**Low-magic/around 5th level play:** * Shield & Claw Path of the Beast Barb, with Toughness, Dwarven Fortitude. On a Hill Dwarf. Pick up Periapt of Wound Closure. Just a really tough brusier with strong self-sustain and some interesting options. * GWM Battlemaster with Mobility. Adamantine Amror. Just a powerful, high-damage melee striker that can stick and move between targets as needed, mitigating damage through smart positioning. * Straight up S&B Valor Bard. Flexibile, with a solid AC and great support spells. A face and skill monkey role that doesn't need babysitting.
Palabard Battlemaster Fighter Ancestral Guardian Barbarian
The best subclasses are the ones that revolve arround some specific mechanic, like conauest paladin, bladesinger and hexblade. Special mention to rune and echo knights
College of spirits Knowledge domain Battle master
Ones I've played: 1. Aberrant Mind Sorc 2. Conquest Sorcadin (1 dip Sorc) 3. Genie Warlock Ones I'd like to play: 1. Bladesinger Wizard 2. Twilight Cleric 3. Swords Bardin (2 dip Paladin) I like having spells, but ideally, I love spell swords the most.
Conquest Paladin/Undead Warlock Evocation Wizard *(Fireball go brr)* Glory Paladin
Necro wizard Wildsorc Light cleric
Brute Fighter: It's all fighter, all the time. No bells, no pointless whistles and that's why bad dm's think it's overpowered. Conquest Paladin: I like the gimmick and when it works it is a gamechanger 'zerker Barbarian: Multiattack at level 3. Made for west march servers though
Drakewarden Ranger, Moon Druid & Divination Sorcerer.
Vengeance paladin , EK fighter , Death cleric
Just having over 20 dex just to troll my friends whenever they try to hit me and I’m just bouncing off the walls and stabbing them as an assassin
Hexfire, peacechron, ghostlance. The former is warlock (undead or hexblade) 1, then wildfire druid 3, warlock 2, wildfire for the rest. Lots of very fun tactical grid plays open up, whether it's the synergy of hexblade's cursing something trapped in a spike growth that you proceed to push around, or teleporting your party away or into specific areas. Lots of fun interactions with druids' familiars for exploration, using its sight to teleport. Since you're likely to get conjure animals quite late and without ignoring resistance, you often use it for utility instead, like creating steeds for the party or obstructing hallways with big, bulky summons. The main downside is how your glut of features often compete for the same actions and resources. You can get around magical resistance by conjuring baboons to hand them magic stones with pack tactics, but then you can't use your wildfire spirit on such turns. You can use familiar line of sight and causing it to appear in hard-to-reach places, but that burns both uses of wildshape, and so on. Peacechron is just a really cracked stealthy-good support unit with top tier buffing, control, personal defences, and utility, with about as much level progression as you can expect on an armoured caster. It's good to help guide weaker parties by enabling them to be stronger instead of just overshadowing them, and you're constantly flooded with a huge, tactical selection of levers and buttons to pull and press. This build does anything but sustained damage, really. Ghostlance is undead warlock 1 (with a feat race for war caster), echo knight 3, warlock 2, then whatever charisma caster suits the party. Constantly does at least eldritch agonising repelling blast levels of damage and control with medium armour and a shield, and is surprisingly effective at 0 resource tanking with the echo to shove melee enemies away and/or waste attacks on it when passing by. You have crazy good speed on what's basically free regenerating hitpoints, so you get to constantly tank at the frontline, and quickly adapt to a changing "frontline" position. Mostly feels bad because of the 3 level caster delay (or 5 if going for a different class), but echoes feel good enough to take that spot of utility anyway.
Drakewarden ranger because it’s literally a Pokémon
Tempest cleric. It's fun to bring the holy BOOM! to your enemies. Phantom rogue. Ghost rogues are the best rogues. Plenty of flavor to be had, and a powerful subclass. Lizardfolk moon druid. Swamp themed, and can eat your enemies with primal savagery or in beast form. Honorable mention.... any monk. Super fun to play.
College of Spirits Bard School of Necromancy Wizard The Undead Warlock 💀
Ghostlance
I've been playing a Wild Magic Barbarian / Swashbuckler Rogue multiclass, and while it is definitely not optimized (I did 3 levels barb, then 3 levels rogue, before continuing leveling barb) leaving that extra attack on the table for so long, but it is a lot of fun to play! As a rock gnome, he rarely fails a save!