I've created a backup character that's a kobold champion at level 4 and I was wondering if maybe there were ways to optimize them at all. Customize your origin is an option so I switched the Dex bonus to strength so I can use a longsword and shield, for my fighting style I took duelist and my stats are 17 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 10 Wis, 10 Charisma. I used point buy to get those stats but we are able to roll stats I just haven't. For my Asi I chose the feat Heavy armor master since it still raised my strength and the bonus I think is useful. Is there any thing I can do to maybe improve this build at all? In the campaign doing enough damage hasn't been too much of an issue but tanking damage has. Any thoughts are helpful like, with customize your origin should maybe I change races or is another class/subclass better than what I have already, etc.
If tanking has been the problem rather than doing damage, maybe take the defensive style instead of duelist.
HAM is ok at level 4, but will taper off in value as you get to higher levels.
Also, I’m confused, did you have a 16 and took HAM to get you to 17, or you have a 17, and plan to use it to get to 18? If it’s the second one, then HAM is actually a pretty good choice.
If you are looking for more durability, shield master can help you when fireballs are getting tossed around. Or just a con asi for hp and con saves.
Assuming you’re wearing heavy armor, you could take a couple points out of dex to boost your con. More hp, but then dex has all kinds of benefits so it might not be worth the trade off.
If Tanking is your goal, drop Champion since it does nothing for you and pick up either Battle Master, Cavalier, or Psi Warrior. Those will all Tank better than a Champ. Heck, if you really wanna tank drop fighter and take paladin or barbarian. Focus on what will give you the most movement, survivability, and things that can force the enemy to focus on you.
Path of the Ancestral Guardians with everything you can in Dex & Con and just not worry about the Str stuff since you aren’t hurting for damage output you said. 🤷♂️
Sorry for taking so long to respond, I have a 17 and Im using Ham to get to 18
Take Slasher. That’ll let you tank much better as you reduce their attacking potential when you crit. I’ll have to calculate how much that affects your Defense statistically…
If tanking has been the problem rather than doing damage, maybe take the defensive style instead of duelist.
HAM is ok at level 4, but will taper off in value as you get to higher levels.
Also, I’m confused, did you have a 16 and took HAM to get you to 17, or you have a 17, and plan to use it to get to 18? If it’s the second one, then HAM is actually a pretty good choice.
If you are looking for more durability, shield master can help you when fireballs are getting tossed around. Or just a con asi for hp and con saves.
Assuming you’re wearing heavy armor, you could take a couple points out of dex to boost your con. More hp, but then dex has all kinds of benefits so it might not be worth the trade off.
Heavy armor master can taper off, but it might do so in different ways situationally or to a lesser degree than expected.
magical weapons used for the damage bypass the damage reduction feature, but those sources are few and far between. I think there are 22 creatures in the Monster Manual that inherently have magical weapons. I found two monsters in Volos that have magic weapons by default. The DM is of course free to switch around stat block info as they see fit.
there’s also the fact that while a creature with one attack and a lot of damage largely mitigates this feats use, a creature with multiple attacks would potentially have each of its successful individual attacks damage reduced.
it specifically reduces damage from weapons too, which means that some mundane sources of basic damage types would bypass this feature. Getting crushed by a Boulder after a failed Str or Dex save would be a source of bludgeoned damage that wouldn’t be reduced. Features that specify attacks are treated as magical for the purpose of bypassing resistance and immune are irrelevant to this feature, as the damage reduction is not resistance or immunity. An example of this would be the 6th level base monk class ability ki-empowered strikes, or the arcane archers level 7 subclass ability Magic arrow.
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I've created a backup character that's a kobold champion at level 4 and I was wondering if maybe there were ways to optimize them at all. Customize your origin is an option so I switched the Dex bonus to strength so I can use a longsword and shield, for my fighting style I took duelist and my stats are 17 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 10 Wis, 10 Charisma. I used point buy to get those stats but we are able to roll stats I just haven't. For my Asi I chose the feat Heavy armor master since it still raised my strength and the bonus I think is useful. Is there any thing I can do to maybe improve this build at all? In the campaign doing enough damage hasn't been too much of an issue but tanking damage has. Any thoughts are helpful like, with customize your origin should maybe I change races or is another class/subclass better than what I have already, etc.
If tanking has been the problem rather than doing damage, maybe take the defensive style instead of duelist.
HAM is ok at level 4, but will taper off in value as you get to higher levels.
Also, I’m confused, did you have a 16 and took HAM to get you to 17, or you have a 17, and plan to use it to get to 18? If it’s the second one, then HAM is actually a pretty good choice.
If you are looking for more durability, shield master can help you when fireballs are getting tossed around. Or just a con asi for hp and con saves.
Assuming you’re wearing heavy armor, you could take a couple points out of dex to boost your con. More hp, but then dex has all kinds of benefits so it might not be worth the trade off.
If Tanking is your goal, drop Champion since it does nothing for you and pick up either Battle Master, Cavalier, or Psi Warrior. Those will all Tank better than a Champ. Heck, if you really wanna tank drop fighter and take paladin or barbarian. Focus on what will give you the most movement, survivability, and things that can force the enemy to focus on you.
Path of the Ancestral Guardians with everything you can in Dex & Con and just not worry about the Str stuff since you aren’t hurting for damage output you said. 🤷♂️
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Sorry for taking so long to respond, I have a 17 and Im using Ham to get to 18
Take Slasher. That’ll let you tank much better as you reduce their attacking potential when you crit. I’ll have to calculate how much that affects your Defense statistically…
Heavy armor master can taper off, but it might do so in different ways situationally or to a lesser degree than expected.
magical weapons used for the damage bypass the damage reduction feature, but those sources are few and far between. I think there are 22 creatures in the Monster Manual that inherently have magical weapons. I found two monsters in Volos that have magic weapons by default. The DM is of course free to switch around stat block info as they see fit.
there’s also the fact that while a creature with one attack and a lot of damage largely mitigates this feats use, a creature with multiple attacks would potentially have each of its successful individual attacks damage reduced.
it specifically reduces damage from weapons too, which means that some mundane sources of basic damage types would bypass this feature. Getting crushed by a Boulder after a failed Str or Dex save would be a source of bludgeoned damage that wouldn’t be reduced.
Features that specify attacks are treated as magical for the purpose of bypassing resistance and immune are irrelevant to this feature, as the damage reduction is not resistance or immunity. An example of this would be the 6th level base monk class ability ki-empowered strikes, or the arcane archers level 7 subclass ability Magic arrow.