I'm about three months in with my group and it's been a blast. After the last session, however, it became terribly obvious that our party is not balanced at all. Now I'm the only caster, a Divine Soul Sorcerer, and I'm the only one who can heal / buff as of right now (our Monk and Warlock died in the last boss fight). A big issue I had was having lower AC, or maybe my DM was just rolling really well. Everything that came my way hit over my AC (13) and above shield (18) shredding my HP.
Should I focus more on support even though I was planning on a more offensive build? Or is there a nice medium that can support my party while still dishing out decent damage. We all just hit level 4.
Your party needs to buy healing potions every time they get the chance. And I’d save your healing spells only when people drop to 0 HP. I have a similar challenge so I need to use my healing sparingly too.
As for build advice, I can only give this: the party does not "need" any particular anything. Everyone should be playing characters they built the way they built them because that is what interested them, and while it's nice not to have too much overlap (such as not having two characters competing to be the go-to for a particular activity like picking locks or dealing with traps that doesn't directly benefit from multiple participants) there is no reason to worry about making sure all of a list of check boxes for "party build" gets checked.
This is especially true in 5th edition where the main function of most "support" type characters is already sufficiently handled by the short rest and long rest mechanics.
I'm a sorcerer with a +3 DEX mod? Making my AC 13? Sorcerers aren't proficient in armor, so...
I can see that being true and maybe it's just the level I'm at or the encounter that just pushed us to the limit. Perhaps it's just the lack of range in the party. The battle was rather taxing and there were several archers/casters on a ledge that just made life terrible for several rounds.
Your party needs to buy healing potions every time they get the chance. And I’d save your healing spells only when people drop to 0 HP. I have a similar challenge so I need to use my healing sparingly too.
I'll keep that in mind, thanks! We've got some downtime in a city now so potion shopping is 1st on the list.
From what you just described, you should have focused on the ranged attackers on the ledge. You were the only one who could easily hit them. Flying attackers and attackers with improved Invisibility are also brutal and far harder to fight than you’d think.
At 4th level you have 5 non-cantrip spells know. You should consider taking one or two control/avoidance spells. Charm person, fog cloud, ray of sickness, sleep, blindness/deafness, blur, hold person, shatter, and several others are excellent ways to slow down some baddies. if you have the twinned spell metamagic the single target options are even better.
I'm a sorcerer with a +3 DEX mod? Making my AC 13? Sorcerers aren't proficient in armor, so...
That's why the question had the '/why' part to it - I knew there were ways for it to be possible to only have 13 AC, I was curious why you made those choices.
You'll probably find yourself better off if you swap one of your know spells for mage armor the next time you level up - even though it's not as large of an increase to AC as shield, in my experience it does protect against more attacks throughout an adventuring day thanks to its long duration.
I'm a sorcerer with a +3 DEX mod? Making my AC 13? Sorcerers aren't proficient in armor, so...
That's why the question had the '/why' part to it - I knew there were ways for it to be possible to only have 13 AC, I was curious why you made those choices.
You'll probably find yourself better off if you swap one of your know spells for mage armor the next time you level up - even though it's not as large of an increase to AC as shield, in my experience it does protect against more attacks throughout an adventuring day thanks to its long duration.
Additionally, they're not mutually exclusive. You can have your mage armor running, and cast shield reactively when needed. ;D
Additionally, they're not mutually exclusive. You can have your mage armor running, and cast shield reactively when needed. ;D
That's absolutely true - I was speaking from the point of view that sorcerers have to carefully weigh which spells they will choose to know because they have a significantly limited number of known spells.
If I were playing a sorcerer, it would definitely have both spells, but I would take mage armor at 1st level (unless playing a sorcerer type that gets an AC benefit like dragon sorcerers do) and likely pick up shield by trading in a known spell for it at around the level that 1st-level attack spells are roughly matched in damage by cantrips, or sooner if the character came across other means of having an AC superior to just 10 + Dexterity modifier.
Additionally, they're not mutually exclusive. You can have your mage armor running, and cast shield reactively when needed. ;D
That's absolutely true - I was speaking from the point of view that sorcerers have to carefully weigh which spells they will choose to know because they have a significantly limited number of known spells.
If I were playing a sorcerer, it would definitely have both spells, but I would take mage armor at 1st level (unless playing a sorcerer type that gets an AC benefit like dragon sorcerers do) and likely pick up shield by trading in a known spell for it at around the level that 1st-level attack spells are roughly matched in damage by cantrips, or sooner if the character came across other means of having an AC superior to just 10 + Dexterity modifier.
Yes, I plan to take both as we go. Though, for now, I think I'll swap out Shield for Mage Armor. Just to ease the burn on my spell slots. Hopefully, I'll come across a means to up my AC.
A suggestion for your AC. You should almost never be in melee. If you find a magic item that increases AC, your companions need it more than you do. It's their job to take all attacks other than the ranged ones, and even take a lot of those. Take a spell like Misty Step and keep it handy so that when you are stuck in melee you can get out of melee and get back to supporting everyone who's much better suited to be in melee than you are.
You're a cannon protected by an eggshell. Your best route to safety is avoiding being hit in the first place.
A suggestion for your AC. You should almost never be in melee. If you find a magic item that increases AC, your companions need it more than you do. It's their job to take all attacks other than the ranged ones, and even take a lot of those. Take a spell like Misty Step and keep it handy so that when you are stuck in melee you can get out of melee and get back to supporting everyone who's much better suited to be in melee than you are.
You're a cannon protected by an eggshell. Your best route to safety is avoiding being hit in the first place.
Thanks for this! I do my best to stay in the back or middle of the group so I can keep in range for spells but casters and ranged fighters seem to be an issue with for my party. Hopefully, the two new characters balance out that issue better with more control spells/mechanics.
Frostbite can help against ranged attackers. As a bonus, you can use it (or any other save-based spell, like Sacred Flame) while prone without penalizing yourself. But your allies should also be trying to position themselves next to any ranged attackers so that they have disadvantage on their attack rolls or are forced to disengage.
Bane is a great low-level spell for penalizing monster's attacks. Most monsters have bad Charisma saves.
You should try to place obstructions between you and your enemies whenever possible; don't forget your friends still grant half cover.
If you can find total cover (e.g. around a corner, behind something large) you can run out into the open to cast your spells and duck back behind cover before ending your turn.
At higher levels, when using a 2nd level spell isn't a big deal for you, you can consider Warding Wind.
When all else fails, sometimes it's better to just take the Dodge action and let your friends take care of the monsters. If you've got a spell like Flaming Sphere or Spiritual Weapon (which I highly recommend, since it doesn't require concentration and deals force damage), you can even do that while still damaging your enemies.
A suggestion for your AC. You should almost never be in melee. If you find a magic item that increases AC, your companions need it more than you do. It's their job to take all attacks other than the ranged ones, and even take a lot of those. Take a spell like Misty Step and keep it handy so that when you are stuck in melee you can get out of melee and get back to supporting everyone who's much better suited to be in melee than you are.
You're a cannon protected by an eggshell. Your best route to safety is avoiding being hit in the first place.
Ideally, I agree. In close quarters it doesn't always work out, or when a teammate drops I'll go in to stabilize them. I intend to save up for a ring if protection or something if I can find it.
This might be a little unorthodox but, as you're saying ranged/spellcasters have been an issue, you can just choose to go prone and give ranged attackers disadvantage against you. This is mostly useful if you're otherwise out in the open with no cover available. If you're confident that the enemy can't get into melee range with you (without dashing at least) then go ahead and simply hunker down.
You will have disadvantage on spell attacks, but not offensive spells where the enemy has to make a saving throw. If you keep a spell like Misty Step handy then, when an enemy does get close, you can easily teleport away. If you happen to be up on a ledge then the enemy may not even be able to see you at all if you hit the ground.
It's a free (no movement cost) to drop prone, but keep in mind it does take half your movement to stand up again.
I'm about three months in with my group and it's been a blast. After the last session, however, it became terribly obvious that our party is not balanced at all. Now I'm the only caster, a Divine Soul Sorcerer, and I'm the only one who can heal / buff as of right now (our Monk and Warlock died in the last boss fight). A big issue I had was having lower AC, or maybe my DM was just rolling really well. Everything that came my way hit over my AC (13) and above shield (18) shredding my HP.
Should I focus more on support even though I was planning on a more offensive build? Or is there a nice medium that can support my party while still dishing out decent damage. We all just hit level 4.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Your party needs to buy healing potions every time they get the chance. And I’d save your healing spells only when people drop to 0 HP. I have a similar challenge so I need to use my healing sparingly too.
Professional computer geek
How/why is your AC only 13?
As for build advice, I can only give this: the party does not "need" any particular anything. Everyone should be playing characters they built the way they built them because that is what interested them, and while it's nice not to have too much overlap (such as not having two characters competing to be the go-to for a particular activity like picking locks or dealing with traps that doesn't directly benefit from multiple participants) there is no reason to worry about making sure all of a list of check boxes for "party build" gets checked.
This is especially true in 5th edition where the main function of most "support" type characters is already sufficiently handled by the short rest and long rest mechanics.
I'm a sorcerer with a +3 DEX mod? Making my AC 13? Sorcerers aren't proficient in armor, so...
I can see that being true and maybe it's just the level I'm at or the encounter that just pushed us to the limit. Perhaps it's just the lack of range in the party. The battle was rather taxing and there were several archers/casters on a ledge that just made life terrible for several rounds.
From what you just described, you should have focused on the ranged attackers on the ledge. You were the only one who could easily hit them. Flying attackers and attackers with improved Invisibility are also brutal and far harder to fight than you’d think.
Professional computer geek
At 4th level you have 5 non-cantrip spells know. You should consider taking one or two control/avoidance spells. Charm person, fog cloud, ray of sickness, sleep, blindness/deafness, blur, hold person, shatter, and several others are excellent ways to slow down some baddies. if you have the twinned spell metamagic the single target options are even better.
A suggestion for your AC. You should almost never be in melee. If you find a magic item that increases AC, your companions need it more than you do. It's their job to take all attacks other than the ranged ones, and even take a lot of those. Take a spell like Misty Step and keep it handy so that when you are stuck in melee you can get out of melee and get back to supporting everyone who's much better suited to be in melee than you are.
You're a cannon protected by an eggshell. Your best route to safety is avoiding being hit in the first place.
Professional computer geek
Frostbite can help against ranged attackers. As a bonus, you can use it (or any other save-based spell, like Sacred Flame) while prone without penalizing yourself. But your allies should also be trying to position themselves next to any ranged attackers so that they have disadvantage on their attack rolls or are forced to disengage.
Bane is a great low-level spell for penalizing monster's attacks. Most monsters have bad Charisma saves.
You should try to place obstructions between you and your enemies whenever possible; don't forget your friends still grant half cover.
If you can find total cover (e.g. around a corner, behind something large) you can run out into the open to cast your spells and duck back behind cover before ending your turn.
At higher levels, when using a 2nd level spell isn't a big deal for you, you can consider Warding Wind.
When all else fails, sometimes it's better to just take the Dodge action and let your friends take care of the monsters. If you've got a spell like Flaming Sphere or Spiritual Weapon (which I highly recommend, since it doesn't require concentration and deals force damage), you can even do that while still damaging your enemies.
This might be a little unorthodox but, as you're saying ranged/spellcasters have been an issue, you can just choose to go prone and give ranged attackers disadvantage against you. This is mostly useful if you're otherwise out in the open with no cover available. If you're confident that the enemy can't get into melee range with you (without dashing at least) then go ahead and simply hunker down.
You will have disadvantage on spell attacks, but not offensive spells where the enemy has to make a saving throw. If you keep a spell like Misty Step handy then, when an enemy does get close, you can easily teleport away. If you happen to be up on a ledge then the enemy may not even be able to see you at all if you hit the ground.
It's a free (no movement cost) to drop prone, but keep in mind it does take half your movement to stand up again.
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