I am playing an Ancestral Guardian with rolled ability scores (17+1, 14, 13+1, 12, 14 and 12)(Solider background). My group is at level 5, but we’ve been given the opportunity to change our first asi/feats, and i’m not sure what route to take now!
We don’t plan on stopping our campaign at an early level. If I go straight ASI, I can max out my Strength and constitution at 24 as well as raise my unarmored defense to 22. On the other hand, feats offer their own benefits of course. My feat-filled idea was to go sentinel, mage slayer, tough, chef and Boon of Combat Prowlness (Con).My party chat advised me to go with abilities that don’t rely on specific weapon types, and these were the best nonspecific abilities I could find. I have a +1 shield already that goes with my spear, but again, they seemed to imply anything I’ve earned can be taken away.
Which route do you all think I should go? Ability scores or feats? Or some hybrid? And in what order? Do I go strength first or go con/armor class first?
Always go Hybrid. But it helps to have a plan, and back up plans as well. You never go wrong increasing abilities. That said, a good feat can help you survive long enough to get to the next ASI choice. But the origin feats no longer give you an ability boost and I am not sure they are worth losing +2 in abilities.
I disagree with this opinion, "...advised me to go with abilities that don’t rely on specific weapon types". Chances are you will always be able to use those specific helpful feats. Many of those also increase you ability by 1 as well. In addition, if you have a choice to up abilities by 2 or take a feat that does not even give you a +1 in ability, is that feat worthwhile?
Whether to avoid feats that depend on specific weapon types depends a lot on the DM. Say you start of with a maul and take GWM and crusher and you are the only strength based character in the party. If the DM is the type who selects magic items to suit the player characters or makes it easy to buy the magic items you want as you progress through the campaign you can get more and more powerful mauls. On the other hand if the DM gives out loot exactly as stated in the campaign book of they roll from a table for magic item and it is very hard / impossible buy the magic items you want (either no magic shops or they only have a very limited stock which again are rolled for) you might never find a magic maul in the campaign and end up using a +3 Great Sword because it is a lot better than a mundane maul even with crusher.
If 2024, then you’d then all feats are half-feats, meaning you could two-step your way from 18 STR to 20 STR with two general feats that boost STR. Lots of good options.
Shoring up weaker areas would also be good, like improving your CON but also something to help with mental saves, like Mage Slayer (which improves STR) and/or Resilient WIS. So yeah like others said, I’d vote hybrid. But just rocking ASIs would be pretty good.
i rnded up goi g with Sentinel for 4 and will take Mage Slayer at 8 to shore up as you all put it. After that though, I’m not sure what to do. I could just pump them straight into Con, or try some Con boosting feets, but tough as you explained doesn’t do that, and I’ve heard mixed reviews from chef. What do you all think?
i’m already confused with sentinel and bumped i got hit exactly by my armor class when boosting my Con would have blocked it. Still, thank you all for the continued feedback!
Chef. If you won't have a better source of temp hp in the party, then chef is good and flavorful. If you play with a lot of short rest healing, then the extra 1d8 healing is quite valuable. The bolstering treats are quite poor. You get PB number of treats that give you PB Temp HP per long rest. At level 9 that is 4 treats giving for 4 temp hp for 16 temp hp total.
Meanwhile inspiring leader every rest is giving up to 6 allies temp hp equal to your level plus the modifier for the ability so at level 9 probably 10 hp per ally. Up to 60 temp hp every short rest.
So if someone else in the party can take inspiring leader that is better for you, but if no one else is getting something then maybe chef works for you. Of its two features I value the short rest healing over the treats, but only in a campaign with long adventuring days where short rests are necessary.
We don’t take a lot of short rests. Then again, I’m not sure our party face is taking inspiring leader. This is a tough one. …no, I don’t mean take the tough feat. Even if I get armor eventually to replace the unarmored defense, just a straight constitution +2 seems like it would be better for me. If I stay alive, my Spirit Guardians stay active which means my party stays alive.
I’m really starting to wish I went with my gut and went +2 Constitution first and not went with the crowd via that confusing Setinel.
I like Sentinel, but it is very situational, and sometimes requires you and your party to play into it. +2 Con is quite good on barbarian, and if your con is even I would take that over Chef. Chef only makes sense if your con is odd.
That much I can still do. I mean, I’ll round up my strength first, but after that I mean. Was still thinking of going Mage Slayer. It’s not weapon dependent and it kind of fits the narrative of our story. We ran into a vampire couple sacrificing villagers to Vecna in a ritual. We had just leveled up before that. If I had took the feat earlier aome of those villagers might still be alive, but how was I to know? Plus ignoring one enemy as a tank to go after the other is frowned upon, but still…
Anyway, Mage Slayer and then straight Con until my epic boon feat if we make it that far. Unless… is it worth skipping the Epic Boon Feat to get my Con to max?
i rnded up goi g with Sentinel for 4 and will take Mage Slayer at 8 to shore up as you all put it. After that though, I’m not sure what to do. I could just pump them straight into Con, or try some Con boosting feets, but tough as you explained doesn’t do that, and I’ve heard mixed reviews from chef. What do you all think?
i’m already confused with sentinel and bumped i got hit exactly by my armor class when boosting my Con would have blocked it. Still, thank you all for the continued feedback!
Curious: Did you actually get dropped to 0 HP or fail a CON save? Or just hit? If just hit, then sounds like things maybe worked out okay. By the numbers, we all get hit at exactly our AC at some point. If you are getting dropped or close to, then yeah maybe consider steps to increase survivability.
Short of that though, I'd say stick with trying to learn Sentinel. I'm actually doing just that currently with my own build, and it has 3 distinct parts: all mainly paying attention to what enemies next to you are doing. If you can focus on that, I think you will have a decent amount of fun. Cuz if they try to run or attack your ally, you will smack them and/or drop their speed to 0! You can plan with that in mind and try to end your turn next to an enemy giving your allies trouble. And that can be a different enemy than the one covered by your spirit buddies. So you could somewhat control two enemies at the same time!
That much I can still do. I mean, I’ll round up my strength first, but after that I mean. Was still thinking of going Mage Slayer. It’s not weapon dependent and it kind of fits the narrative of our story. We ran into a vampire couple sacrificing villagers to Vecna in a ritual. We had just leveled up before that. If I had took the feat earlier aome of those villagers might still be alive, but how was I to know? Plus ignoring one enemy as a tank to go after the other is frowned upon, but still…
Anyway, Mage Slayer and then straight Con until my epic boon feat if we make it that far. Unless… is it worth skipping the Epic Boon Feat to get my Con to max?
Similar question here: Did you fail a mental save? If not, I'm not sure Mage Slayer would have protected the villagers. Unless you're talking about the Concentration Breaker part of the feat? In short, not sure you should beat yourself up.
20 Con or 18 CON+Boon are I think both pretty good choices.
20 Con: At level 16, +1 better CON saves, better HP. This separation is maintained at level 19, when option B gets is CON to 18.
18 CON+Boon: Same til level 16, where you can take a CON-boosting feat like Speedy, Chef, or Skill Expert, gaining that benefit. And at 19, whatever benefit from the Boon. The one that catches my eye is the Boon of Combat Prowess, since it turns any miss into a hit. Great for any martial but Barbarians especially to consistently land their Brutal Strike (which cannot gain Advantage).
Again, both totally good options. Many say feats make a build more fun, but that is up to you - if you find playing your build fun with the features it has but are concerned about getting dropped, then pump that CON. But if you think the benefits from something like Speedy or Chef or something could have helped, then that plus the Boon might be more potent. Curious what others think.
First of all, I apologize for my horrible spelling.
Hu. I had not considered that usage of the two abilities. It could really help spread my effects around. But to answer your question: no, i just got hit.
as for mage slayer, i meant the ability that gives advantage on breaking concentration. It’s mostly part of the story and in reality i’m not exactly upset or even disappointed about it. I’m just trying to make choices that fit my character and his experiences… while at the same time building the best character I can.
It wouldn’t be max con at level 16. The only way I could do that would be to leave my strength at an odd number. … which I could even out at level 19 with the epic boon feat! It wouldn’t just be a matter of loosing Mage Slayer. There is one other epic boon feat that i considered using depending on if my final equipment is more offensive or defensive: the Boon of Irresistible Offense.
What do you all think? Should I drop Mage Slayer?
I’m definitely curious what others have to say too.
I am playing an Ancestral Guardian with rolled ability scores (17+1, 14, 13+1, 12, 14 and 12)(Solider background). My group is at level 5, but we’ve been given the opportunity to change our first asi/feats, and i’m not sure what route to take now!
www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Actionsparda_129017634.pdf
We don’t plan on stopping our campaign at an early level. If I go straight ASI, I can max out my Strength and constitution at 24 as well as raise my unarmored defense to 22. On the other hand, feats offer their own benefits of course. My feat-filled idea was to go sentinel, mage slayer, tough, chef and Boon of Combat Prowlness (Con).My party chat advised me to go with abilities that don’t rely on specific weapon types, and these were the best nonspecific abilities I could find. I have a +1 shield already that goes with my spear, but again, they seemed to imply anything I’ve earned can be taken away.
Which route do you all think I should go? Ability scores or feats? Or some hybrid? And in what order? Do I go strength first or go con/armor class first?
Always go Hybrid. But it helps to have a plan, and back up plans as well. You never go wrong increasing abilities. That said, a good feat can help you survive long enough to get to the next ASI choice. But the origin feats no longer give you an ability boost and I am not sure they are worth losing +2 in abilities.
I disagree with this opinion, "...advised me to go with abilities that don’t rely on specific weapon types". Chances are you will always be able to use those specific helpful feats. Many of those also increase you ability by 1 as well. In addition, if you have a choice to up abilities by 2 or take a feat that does not even give you a +1 in ability, is that feat worthwhile?
Whether to avoid feats that depend on specific weapon types depends a lot on the DM. Say you start of with a maul and take GWM and crusher and you are the only strength based character in the party. If the DM is the type who selects magic items to suit the player characters or makes it easy to buy the magic items you want as you progress through the campaign you can get more and more powerful mauls. On the other hand if the DM gives out loot exactly as stated in the campaign book of they roll from a table for magic item and it is very hard / impossible buy the magic items you want (either no magic shops or they only have a very limited stock which again are rolled for) you might never find a magic maul in the campaign and end up using a +3 Great Sword because it is a lot better than a mundane maul even with crusher.
I understand where both of you are coming from. I’ll take it under advisement. Thanks!
I'd go ASIs but I like big numbers go brrrr
Question:
Are you playing 2014 or 2024 rules?
If 2024, then you’d then all feats are half-feats, meaning you could two-step your way from 18 STR to 20 STR with two general feats that boost STR. Lots of good options.
Shoring up weaker areas would also be good, like improving your CON but also something to help with mental saves, like Mage Slayer (which improves STR) and/or Resilient WIS. So yeah like others said, I’d vote hybrid. But just rocking ASIs would be pretty good.
2024
i rnded up goi g with Sentinel for 4 and will take Mage Slayer at 8 to shore up as you all put it. After that though, I’m not sure what to do. I could just pump them straight into Con, or try some Con boosting feets, but tough as you explained doesn’t do that, and I’ve heard mixed reviews from chef. What do you all think?
i’m already confused with sentinel and bumped i got hit exactly by my armor class when boosting my Con would have blocked it. Still, thank you all for the continued feedback!
Chef. If you won't have a better source of temp hp in the party, then chef is good and flavorful. If you play with a lot of short rest healing, then the extra 1d8 healing is quite valuable. The bolstering treats are quite poor. You get PB number of treats that give you PB Temp HP per long rest. At level 9 that is 4 treats giving for 4 temp hp for 16 temp hp total.
Meanwhile inspiring leader every rest is giving up to 6 allies temp hp equal to your level plus the modifier for the ability so at level 9 probably 10 hp per ally. Up to 60 temp hp every short rest.
So if someone else in the party can take inspiring leader that is better for you, but if no one else is getting something then maybe chef works for you. Of its two features I value the short rest healing over the treats, but only in a campaign with long adventuring days where short rests are necessary.
We don’t take a lot of short rests. Then again, I’m not sure our party face is taking inspiring leader. This is a tough one. …no, I don’t mean take the tough feat. Even if I get armor eventually to replace the unarmored defense, just a straight constitution +2 seems like it would be better for me. If I stay alive, my Spirit Guardians stay active which means my party stays alive.
I’m really starting to wish I went with my gut and went +2 Constitution first and not went with the crowd via that confusing Setinel.
I like Sentinel, but it is very situational, and sometimes requires you and your party to play into it. +2 Con is quite good on barbarian, and if your con is even I would take that over Chef. Chef only makes sense if your con is odd.
That much I can still do. I mean, I’ll round up my strength first, but after that I mean. Was still thinking of going Mage Slayer. It’s not weapon dependent and it kind of fits the narrative of our story. We ran into a vampire couple sacrificing villagers to Vecna in a ritual. We had just leveled up before that. If I had took the feat earlier aome of those villagers might still be alive, but how was I to know? Plus ignoring one enemy as a tank to go after the other is frowned upon, but still…
Anyway, Mage Slayer and then straight Con until my epic boon feat if we make it that far. Unless… is it worth skipping the Epic Boon Feat to get my Con to max?
Curious: Did you actually get dropped to 0 HP or fail a CON save? Or just hit? If just hit, then sounds like things maybe worked out okay. By the numbers, we all get hit at exactly our AC at some point. If you are getting dropped or close to, then yeah maybe consider steps to increase survivability.
Short of that though, I'd say stick with trying to learn Sentinel. I'm actually doing just that currently with my own build, and it has 3 distinct parts: all mainly paying attention to what enemies next to you are doing. If you can focus on that, I think you will have a decent amount of fun. Cuz if they try to run or attack your ally, you will smack them and/or drop their speed to 0! You can plan with that in mind and try to end your turn next to an enemy giving your allies trouble. And that can be a different enemy than the one covered by your spirit buddies. So you could somewhat control two enemies at the same time!
Similar question here: Did you fail a mental save? If not, I'm not sure Mage Slayer would have protected the villagers. Unless you're talking about the Concentration Breaker part of the feat? In short, not sure you should beat yourself up.
20 Con or 18 CON+Boon are I think both pretty good choices.
20 Con: At level 16, +1 better CON saves, better HP. This separation is maintained at level 19, when option B gets is CON to 18.
18 CON+Boon: Same til level 16, where you can take a CON-boosting feat like Speedy, Chef, or Skill Expert, gaining that benefit. And at 19, whatever benefit from the Boon. The one that catches my eye is the Boon of Combat Prowess, since it turns any miss into a hit. Great for any martial but Barbarians especially to consistently land their Brutal Strike (which cannot gain Advantage).
Again, both totally good options. Many say feats make a build more fun, but that is up to you - if you find playing your build fun with the features it has but are concerned about getting dropped, then pump that CON. But if you think the benefits from something like Speedy or Chef or something could have helped, then that plus the Boon might be more potent. Curious what others think.
First of all, I apologize for my horrible spelling.
Hu. I had not considered that usage of the two abilities. It could really help spread my effects around. But to answer your question: no, i just got hit.
as for mage slayer, i meant the ability that gives advantage on breaking concentration. It’s mostly part of the story and in reality i’m not exactly upset or even disappointed about it. I’m just trying to make choices that fit my character and his experiences… while at the same time building the best character I can.
It wouldn’t be max con at level 16. The only way I could do that would be to leave my strength at an odd number. … which I could even out at level 19 with the epic boon feat! It wouldn’t just be a matter of loosing Mage Slayer. There is one other epic boon feat that i considered using depending on if my final equipment is more offensive or defensive: the Boon of Irresistible Offense.
What do you all think? Should I drop Mage Slayer?
I’m definitely curious what others have to say too.
Thank you for taking the time!
(Here is the current course my character plans to take: www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/Actionsparda_149577452.pdf)