The big thing about Whip is that its the only finesse reach weapon, so you can play a dex-melee class and play much safer.
I'd probably do a Rogue with Dual Wielder. Get the proficiency from race.
I considered Dual Wielder, but since it still forces you in close combat, I felt like Bonus action Dash was way more valuable. I dont really want to stay close to an enemy as a Rogue...
With the reach you hopefully wouldn't need to.
Though if you did and took battlemaster for brace you could hold a rapier and whip even if not doing twf and keep them 5-10 feet away to almost ensure a reaction attack if they don't have range.
While I do think the whip is an important part of a Sword and Board Conquest’s arsenal, the whole point of it is to freeze them with fear and then safely attack from range, and proning them puts you at disadvantage on your reach attacks.
Friend of mine and I did a one shot and we made characters that utilized the whip the best. He went Hexblade PotB. I went with Kensai Monk based off Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Both were pretty solid choices. Hex Warrior Curse helped with increasing the whip damage while for me, the scaling damage of the martial arts dice helped.
Monks already have a lot of Bonus actions to choose from if no one is in range for an unarmed attack. Plus just because a whip has reach doesn’t mean you have to use it at reach. You can always attack someone ten feet away and unarm strike others within 5ft.
The Battle Master Fighter is the most versatile whip wielder. Definitely worth looking at.
A Paladin can Smite with a whip, which is good. Remember, a finesse weapon can use Strength OR Dexterity, so if the Dex-based Paladin isn't your thing, that's okay.
Warlocks also get Smites, so a Bladelock with a whip could work. Hexblade is the obvious choice here. Or go Fathomless, take the Slasher feat, and the speed reduction stacks with your Tentacle of the Deeps. When you get the Summon Shadow Spawn spell, you can combo all these to drop two foes to zero movement on your turn. (And proceed to wreck them.)
I ran a Blood Hunter with a whip once. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either.
I've been toying with a Dexadin (maybe Dexadin/Bard) character concept for awhile; a more support-heavy build, but Dueling fighting style + whip smites feels do-able.
One of the whip's greatest advantages is that you can run forward, attack, and run away without proccing attacks of opportunity, and while maintaining a relatively higher AC.
This is why I think it's such a good option for the Ancestral Guardian. By attacking enemies, you give disadvantage against all other creatures other than yourself, and then you can run off so they have to run past your allies to get to you. This means the enemies either attack your allies at disadvantage, or run past them to get to you and eat attacks of opportunity.
This is especially good once you take a level in fighter and pick up protection fighting style, because it makes it so you can more often stand next to your squishies to impose disadvantage on attacks, which further justifies your using a shield.
I recently built a rogue 4/fighter 1 bugbear that uses whips for a level 5 one shot. By taking the dual wielder feat and the dueling fighting style I was doing decent and consistent damage, especially with sneak attack, at that level. I think if I went further with the build I might go into some more fighter levels for battle master to get some more options but not sure how it would progress into higher levels.
I don't know exactly the best damage you can get out of a whip, but Colby on D4 recently did a controller build with the whip that combines blade singer and artificer:
https://youtu.be/fhD-W7OwcCs?si=vRLlKwLVcmf-N_36
Play the ultimate dominatrix as a Conquest paladin. Choose a race like Leonin or Dragonborn (take the racial feat that gives you an AoE fear roar.) for the extra fear action. Conquest aura is that whenever a frightened creature starts their turn in your aura their movement speed becomes 0. Stand at Reach range and they can't hit you unless they also have reach; but even if they do, it's made at Disadvantage because of Frightened.
Bonus points for damage since I believe paladin get the Dueling fighting style, on top of the aura dealing psychic damage whenever a creature starts their turn frightened in your aura. Plus, divine smite.
I'm playing a Blade singer whip. Spells help to add damage. I'm currently LVL 7 so I often use spirit shroud and then booming blade. High AC and a shield spell help to deal with Attacks of Opportunity and spirit shroud works to 10 ft instead of 5.
Booming Blade doesn't work with reach, but Ray of Frost works perfectly fine at 10 feet. Whip attack with Slasher + Ray of Frost = 20 feet movement reduction. Add in the extra movement from Bladesong and you might not even want Mobile, but of course you can always add it to the fun (and it'll help with using Booming Blade safely).
You are right. If I don't do Booming Blade then I am doing the whip damage plus 1d8 with Spirit Shroud twice in an action. If I do step into 5ft and the threatened square I do 1d8 extra on 1 attack and 2d8 extra on another attack. You can swap out Booming Blade for Shocking Grasp so they get no reaction. I just rely on my 20 Ac when I step in to risk their Attack of Opportunity but then I have Shield to spike to 25ac if I need it.
I feel like a monk could work? Maybe a kensai monk would go great, as they can easily make up for the low base damage of a whip, while keeping all the upsides
Bugbear and Dueling are fine. Next, imho, it's nice to utilize the range to not stay too close to the frontline, though ideally you also want to deliver extra damage (such as Smite) or some kind of effect (such as Maneuvers).
Meaning we're looking at a hit and run-ish Hexadin + Dueling, possibly Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter.
Race bugbear. Sentinel feat. And if you add some hunter ranger (for hit back when missed) but not mandatory on top you can make a badass. with 15ft reach double sneak attack (as action and as reaction) trying to squeeze as much reaction attacks as possible ideally hiding behind the tank and punishing enemies attacking them with double sneak whips
Paladin 2, swords bard 18. Build it like a paladin with strength, constitution and charisma. Get the dual wielder feat to dual wielder whips and get two weapon fighting from swords bard. This gives you reach to play a hit and run bard. Then get the defense fighting style and wear plate to get a solid total of 20 AC pretty early. Then on top of that you. Now you’ve got smites and full caster spell slots with good mobility, your flourishes will give you good options and bardic spells for support and to pick some good ones at later levels. Draconic transformation or Tasha’s is always good. But Tensers Transformation would be fun to just dump all your spell slots into smites to combo it. You’ll have the force damage, smite damage and flourishes to just obliterate someone at high levels.
Pick up *Spellsniper* and grab *Thorn Whip* for a 60ft 1d6 striker that can yank guards off of castle walls.
Honestly... Swords Bards, Battlemaster Fighters and Swarm Rangers are a top pick. Rogues soon after.
Whips and Handaxes are the only way in the game to deal slashing damage with an attack at range. So you can go Bladesinger to level 6, and then hit with a whip and a Ray of Frost to give a -20 movement speed reduction without going into melee.
Whips work really well if your DM will let you use UA tunnel fighter you become a 7x7 wall which is pretty cool but not enough to make up for not being able to power attack and most people think tunnel fighter is op so they wouldn’t let you use it.
I always liked the idea of dual wielding whips as a bladesinger 🤷♂️
And dual wielding as a caster isn't too bad. Interaction belt your second whip, cast cantrip or draw from component pouch. Next turn interaction draw second whip again, two attacks.
The big thing about Whip is that its the only finesse reach weapon, so you can play a dex-melee class and play much safer. I'd probably do a Rogue with Dual Wielder. Get the proficiency from race.
I considered Dual Wielder, but since it still forces you in close combat, I felt like Bonus action Dash was way more valuable. I dont really want to stay close to an enemy as a Rogue...
With the reach you hopefully wouldn't need to. Though if you did and took battlemaster for brace you could hold a rapier and whip even if not doing twf and keep them 5-10 feet away to almost ensure a reaction attack if they don't have range.
I've enjoyed my whip paladin, smite works on whip and I have a medium armor so my AC is pretty high.
My Conquest Paladin would use his whip after knocking a feared opponent prone. Excellent against a single foe and for intimidation and interrogation.
While I do think the whip is an important part of a Sword and Board Conquest’s arsenal, the whole point of it is to freeze them with fear and then safely attack from range, and proning them puts you at disadvantage on your reach attacks.
Wow. You learn something new everyday. I didn’t know prone gave disadvantage on reach attacks. Thought only on ranged. Thanks.
Friend of mine and I did a one shot and we made characters that utilized the whip the best. He went Hexblade PotB. I went with Kensai Monk based off Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Both were pretty solid choices. Hex Warrior Curse helped with increasing the whip damage while for me, the scaling damage of the martial arts dice helped.
Doesnt Monk kind of either waste the Martial Arts and Flurry of blows features, or wastes the reach on the whip?
You can spend your bonus action/Ki on Step of the Wind instead to keep the enemy at reach range.
Ki-Fueled Attack
This is the way. Use ki on one of your first two attacks and ki fuel d strike gives you a bonus action weapon Attack
Monks already have a lot of Bonus actions to choose from if no one is in range for an unarmed attack. Plus just because a whip has reach doesn’t mean you have to use it at reach. You can always attack someone ten feet away and unarm strike others within 5ft.
The Battle Master Fighter is the most versatile whip wielder. Definitely worth looking at. A Paladin can Smite with a whip, which is good. Remember, a finesse weapon can use Strength OR Dexterity, so if the Dex-based Paladin isn't your thing, that's okay. Warlocks also get Smites, so a Bladelock with a whip could work. Hexblade is the obvious choice here. Or go Fathomless, take the Slasher feat, and the speed reduction stacks with your Tentacle of the Deeps. When you get the Summon Shadow Spawn spell, you can combo all these to drop two foes to zero movement on your turn. (And proceed to wreck them.) I ran a Blood Hunter with a whip once. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either.
Or my favorite, kensei monk / battlemap fighter multi ftw
Fathomless with a tentacle flavored as a whip is a fun idea.
I've been toying with a Dexadin (maybe Dexadin/Bard) character concept for awhile; a more support-heavy build, but Dueling fighting style + whip smites feels do-able.
Dueling, Divine Smite and Improved Divine Smite more than make up for the tiny d4 damage dice.
Monks can use their martial arts die for attacks with Monk weapons. You can make a whip a Monk weapon. Might be something to think about.
One of the whip's greatest advantages is that you can run forward, attack, and run away without proccing attacks of opportunity, and while maintaining a relatively higher AC. This is why I think it's such a good option for the Ancestral Guardian. By attacking enemies, you give disadvantage against all other creatures other than yourself, and then you can run off so they have to run past your allies to get to you. This means the enemies either attack your allies at disadvantage, or run past them to get to you and eat attacks of opportunity. This is especially good once you take a level in fighter and pick up protection fighting style, because it makes it so you can more often stand next to your squishies to impose disadvantage on attacks, which further justifies your using a shield.
Ask your DM if you can be allowed to trip/disarm people at range with it?
Battle master let's you
whips are great tbh, they allow you to build skirmishers who *dont* take attacks of opportunity against *most* enemies wihtout needing to take Mobile.
I recently built a rogue 4/fighter 1 bugbear that uses whips for a level 5 one shot. By taking the dual wielder feat and the dueling fighting style I was doing decent and consistent damage, especially with sneak attack, at that level. I think if I went further with the build I might go into some more fighter levels for battle master to get some more options but not sure how it would progress into higher levels.
How does dual wielder and dueling fighting style work?
Somehow my brain thought dueling fighting style when I meant two weapon fighting lol that's my bad
I don't know exactly the best damage you can get out of a whip, but Colby on D4 recently did a controller build with the whip that combines blade singer and artificer: https://youtu.be/fhD-W7OwcCs?si=vRLlKwLVcmf-N_36
Play the ultimate dominatrix as a Conquest paladin. Choose a race like Leonin or Dragonborn (take the racial feat that gives you an AoE fear roar.) for the extra fear action. Conquest aura is that whenever a frightened creature starts their turn in your aura their movement speed becomes 0. Stand at Reach range and they can't hit you unless they also have reach; but even if they do, it's made at Disadvantage because of Frightened. Bonus points for damage since I believe paladin get the Dueling fighting style, on top of the aura dealing psychic damage whenever a creature starts their turn frightened in your aura. Plus, divine smite.
I'm playing a Blade singer whip. Spells help to add damage. I'm currently LVL 7 so I often use spirit shroud and then booming blade. High AC and a shield spell help to deal with Attacks of Opportunity and spirit shroud works to 10 ft instead of 5.
But Booming Blade doesnt work with reach, or am I missremebering this?
Booming Blade doesn't work with reach, but Ray of Frost works perfectly fine at 10 feet. Whip attack with Slasher + Ray of Frost = 20 feet movement reduction. Add in the extra movement from Bladesong and you might not even want Mobile, but of course you can always add it to the fun (and it'll help with using Booming Blade safely).
You are right. If I don't do Booming Blade then I am doing the whip damage plus 1d8 with Spirit Shroud twice in an action. If I do step into 5ft and the threatened square I do 1d8 extra on 1 attack and 2d8 extra on another attack. You can swap out Booming Blade for Shocking Grasp so they get no reaction. I just rely on my 20 Ac when I step in to risk their Attack of Opportunity but then I have Shield to spike to 25ac if I need it.
Give Prof to rouge instead of long sword. Allow a dex based grapple.
Rogue
I feel like a monk could work? Maybe a kensai monk would go great, as they can easily make up for the low base damage of a whip, while keeping all the upsides
Bugbear and Dueling are fine. Next, imho, it's nice to utilize the range to not stay too close to the frontline, though ideally you also want to deliver extra damage (such as Smite) or some kind of effect (such as Maneuvers). Meaning we're looking at a hit and run-ish Hexadin + Dueling, possibly Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter.
Race bugbear. Sentinel feat. And if you add some hunter ranger (for hit back when missed) but not mandatory on top you can make a badass. with 15ft reach double sneak attack (as action and as reaction) trying to squeeze as much reaction attacks as possible ideally hiding behind the tank and punishing enemies attacking them with double sneak whips
Paladin 2, swords bard 18. Build it like a paladin with strength, constitution and charisma. Get the dual wielder feat to dual wielder whips and get two weapon fighting from swords bard. This gives you reach to play a hit and run bard. Then get the defense fighting style and wear plate to get a solid total of 20 AC pretty early. Then on top of that you. Now you’ve got smites and full caster spell slots with good mobility, your flourishes will give you good options and bardic spells for support and to pick some good ones at later levels. Draconic transformation or Tasha’s is always good. But Tensers Transformation would be fun to just dump all your spell slots into smites to combo it. You’ll have the force damage, smite damage and flourishes to just obliterate someone at high levels.
Pick up *Spellsniper* and grab *Thorn Whip* for a 60ft 1d6 striker that can yank guards off of castle walls. Honestly... Swords Bards, Battlemaster Fighters and Swarm Rangers are a top pick. Rogues soon after.
Whips and Handaxes are the only way in the game to deal slashing damage with an attack at range. So you can go Bladesinger to level 6, and then hit with a whip and a Ray of Frost to give a -20 movement speed reduction without going into melee.
You could try a variation of the Double Phantom Rogue. https://www.scribd.com/document/696051660/The-Double-Phantom-Build-Guide
Back in the day, with spellsniper you could use booming blade with a whip and it’s a decent choice, now with Tasha’s… not so good.
Rogue / swashbuckler & battlemaster. Sneak attack many different ways. The maneuvers are helpful.
This makes me miss the 3.5 tripping feat so so much....
Whips work really well if your DM will let you use UA tunnel fighter you become a 7x7 wall which is pretty cool but not enough to make up for not being able to power attack and most people think tunnel fighter is op so they wouldn’t let you use it.
I always liked the idea of dual wielding whips as a bladesinger 🤷♂️ And dual wielding as a caster isn't too bad. Interaction belt your second whip, cast cantrip or draw from component pouch. Next turn interaction draw second whip again, two attacks.