Hi folks. I've been theory crafting intensely to get ready for a game starting tomorrow.
Idea for the build: A Battlesmith who warps around the battlefield using his echoes and his pet to run interference for the rest of the party, while getting bonus Xbow attacks for style points.
Level Split: 3 Echo Knight / 5+ Battlesmith
Key features:
Repeating infusion + Hand crossbow + Xbow mastery feat. This appears to be redundant, but what the combo gets is the ability to equip a hand xbow AND another martial weapon (or a shield, if it seems like a good idea) without penalty. And get three attacks per round using the bonus action feature of Xbow mastery. IE, it turns the hand Xbow into a 3-shot Glock AND equip another item. (This post explains why Repeating infusion is necessary for this effect to work - by removing the need for loadable ammunition, repeating allows the off hand to hold something else).
Echo Knight Mostly, this sounds like fun because it allows a melee character a ton of tactical options on every turn. I like melee characters, but I'm really, really tired of walking up to the enemy and fighting a war of attrition with them. The Echo Knight abilities should make combat a lot more dynamic. Also, an Echo Knight, on its own, can generate a SIX attack nova in one turn by using action surge + unleash incarnation. With Xbow mastery, that's seven, and eight when hasted. Three levels of echo knight, IMO, are probably going to provide more fun than levels 7-10 of Battlesmith.
Pets and Echoes My party will consist of this character, a Warlock, a Bard, and a Rogue. While I don't know the details yet, none of those sound as melee or tanky as a Barb or a Moon Druid. So the idea here is to harass the enemy with the echo and the steel defender and ranged attacks, instead of conventionally tanking them. Of course, a BS can tank conventionally too with the right infusions.
Tradeoffs and compromises The biggest issue is the high demands on the bonus action. I think that will ultimately lead to more interesting decisions and more fun. Also, this build loses out on three levels of Battle Smith abilities, but I think that price is worth it for the play style. Finally, it's incredibly important to start with three levels of battle smith first, because otherwise you don't get SADness. That delays the fun Echo knight stuff. This kind of problem is endemic to interesting multiclass builds.
Update: If anybody cares, I'm thinking this build will work much, much better with heavy weapons rather than a ranged focus. To better exploit the features of Echo Knight.
I haven't really looked at the armorer much. I'm actually less about the fluff of steampunk tinkerer, which seems to be a big part of the Armorer. Just my personal preference of course.
. . . . But checking it out, it could work really, really well. Especially the Guardian -that punch ability would be fantastic to use with the echo. On the down side, it is really still MAD. The dex lightning weapon is cute, but weaker than Firebolt.
Both the Lightning Launcher and the Thunder Gauntlets can use your Int modifier for attack and damage rolls, it's part of the Power Armor Armor Model feature.
As another minor point in favor of Armorer, the lightning launcher has alot going for it.
1) Although it is a d6 damage die, you can deal an additional 1d6 once per turn, effectively making it a 2d6 ranged weapon once per turn
2) It can be mounted in the chest piece, so it does not require any of your free hands to hold or use. Hence it can be used while holding a two-handed weapon or a weapon and shield.
3) Although Firebolt will do more damage, it also requires your entire action. You can make two lightning launcher attacks or a lightning launcher + melee weapon attack in one turn + any bonus action attacks that proc after taking the attack action.
4) The lightning launcher is a simple ranged weapon, so it can be paired with Sharpshooter if thats the route you wanted to go (although I know you said you were not thinking of playing this character heavily ranged).
All in all, its not the heaviest ranged damage but the damage is still good and is very convenient since you don't have to switch weapons or give up your entire attack action to use it.
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Hi folks. I've been theory crafting intensely to get ready for a game starting tomorrow.
Idea for the build:
A Battlesmith who warps around the battlefield using his echoes and his pet to run interference for the rest of the party, while getting bonus Xbow attacks for style points.
Level Split:
3 Echo Knight / 5+ Battlesmith
Key features:
Repeating infusion + Hand crossbow + Xbow mastery feat.
This appears to be redundant, but what the combo gets is the ability to equip a hand xbow AND another martial weapon (or a shield, if it seems like a good idea) without penalty. And get three attacks per round using the bonus action feature of Xbow mastery. IE, it turns the hand Xbow into a 3-shot Glock AND equip another item. (This post explains why Repeating infusion is necessary for this effect to work - by removing the need for loadable ammunition, repeating allows the off hand to hold something else).
Echo Knight
Mostly, this sounds like fun because it allows a melee character a ton of tactical options on every turn. I like melee characters, but I'm really, really tired of walking up to the enemy and fighting a war of attrition with them. The Echo Knight abilities should make combat a lot more dynamic. Also, an Echo Knight, on its own, can generate a SIX attack nova in one turn by using action surge + unleash incarnation. With Xbow mastery, that's seven, and eight when hasted. Three levels of echo knight, IMO, are probably going to provide more fun than levels 7-10 of Battlesmith.
Pets and Echoes
My party will consist of this character, a Warlock, a Bard, and a Rogue. While I don't know the details yet, none of those sound as melee or tanky as a Barb or a Moon Druid. So the idea here is to harass the enemy with the echo and the steel defender and ranged attacks, instead of conventionally tanking them. Of course, a BS can tank conventionally too with the right infusions.
Tradeoffs and compromises
The biggest issue is the high demands on the bonus action. I think that will ultimately lead to more interesting decisions and more fun. Also, this build loses out on three levels of Battle Smith abilities, but I think that price is worth it for the play style. Finally, it's incredibly important to start with three levels of battle smith first, because otherwise you don't get SADness. That delays the fun Echo knight stuff. This kind of problem is endemic to interesting multiclass builds.
Thoughts?
Update: If anybody cares, I'm thinking this build will work much, much better with heavy weapons rather than a ranged focus. To better exploit the features of Echo Knight.
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AlumniI'd love to see how this works with an Armorer rather than a battlesmith.
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I haven't really looked at the armorer much. I'm actually less about the fluff of steampunk tinkerer, which seems to be a big part of the Armorer. Just my personal preference of course.
. . . . But checking it out, it could work really, really well. Especially the Guardian -that punch ability would be fantastic to use with the echo. On the down side, it is really still MAD. The dex lightning weapon is cute, but weaker than Firebolt.
Both the Lightning Launcher and the Thunder Gauntlets can use your Int modifier for attack and damage rolls, it's part of the
Power ArmorArmor Model feature.Understood. Neither is a good primary weapon compared to a heavy xbow or a greatsword. Which, for an armorer, then requires INT and a fighting stat.
The fist special ability is really cool, but the lightning ability is meh.
Did you ever make this character? Can you share some details like race and ability scores?
As another minor point in favor of Armorer, the lightning launcher has alot going for it.
1) Although it is a d6 damage die, you can deal an additional 1d6 once per turn, effectively making it a 2d6 ranged weapon once per turn
2) It can be mounted in the chest piece, so it does not require any of your free hands to hold or use. Hence it can be used while holding a two-handed weapon or a weapon and shield.
3) Although Firebolt will do more damage, it also requires your entire action. You can make two lightning launcher attacks or a lightning launcher + melee weapon attack in one turn + any bonus action attacks that proc after taking the attack action.
4) The lightning launcher is a simple ranged weapon, so it can be paired with Sharpshooter if thats the route you wanted to go (although I know you said you were not thinking of playing this character heavily ranged).
All in all, its not the heaviest ranged damage but the damage is still good and is very convenient since you don't have to switch weapons or give up your entire attack action to use it.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Campaign ended before I got a chance to really try it out :(