Due to the fact that it gets to be large, there's inherent synergy with using a polearm like a glaive or halberd. This makes the good ol' fashioned tried-n-true combo of PAM+Sentinel+GWM particularly good here.
However, Rune Knight gets access to a variety of bonus actions and uses for its reaction. This ultimately translates into PAM or Sentinel being more optional so you could forgo them and still be really effective, if not more so. Still, GWM and a polearm will still probably be the best thing to use.
Then, with rune knight's ability to get large, there's synergy from going with a duergar dwarf to use their lvl 3 enlarge spell. This means that rune knight can also be a contender for best grappler build, if not THE actual best grappler build.
So here's how I'd build it:
Start with duergar dwarf, use custom origin to start with a 17 in STR. At level 4, pick up the feat Skill Expert to gain expertise in Athletics, and increase STR to 18. Then, at level 6 pick up GWM feat, and at level 8 I'd probably cap off STR to 20. This ensures you can grapple as necessary or when optimal, and still retain your top tier fighter damage, and by using a glaive/halberd you ensure you have superior reach and coverage. Then if you're fighting something gargantuan, you can use your duergar ability to get huge (first use the rune knight ability tho).
I will preface this build by saying it relies on UA.
I play a Viking themed Rune Knight fighter in a Feywild game that, as cgarciao mentioned above, uses a halberd, and has Polearm Master. Rune Knight can make a fantastic tank.
For fighting style, my DM let me take the Tunnel Fighter style. It's a UA style that allows you to use your bonus action to enter a prepared state where you can make unlimited opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn (it can be pretty broken which is why it stayed UA but our DM likes us to have fun). With Polearm Master it processes every time an enemy enters my range. All I have to do is plant myself in front of the squishies and every martial/monster has to go through me to get to them, and I get a free attack at them when they either my range.
When I want to do even more damage, I use a spear (you can also use a quarterstaff) and two additional feats to hold the line and tank really well.
I took Magic Initiate as my free feat to get an owl familiar, along with Blade Ward and Booming Blade as cantrips. My second feat was Polearm Master. My third was Warcaster - not because I have spells to concentrate on but because it allows you to use BB as your opportunity attack. Combined with tunnel fighter where you can get unlimited opportunity attacks, it does gonzo damage in the right circumstances - even more if the enemy you hit decides to continue to rush past you and not focus on you so they take the secondary BB damage.
Independent of that, the runes are very good. I make my DM tear her hair out with the Cloud Rune and using it to redirect crits. Hell, I even saved myself from a hit that would have downed me because I redirected the hit to my own familiar. The Frost Rune is my second favorite because she loves to grapple. Depending on how you want to protect your party, the Storm or Hill runes are solid choices.
Not only can she smack things hard, but she is immensely good at grappling and slamming enemies. She's jumped up and snatched a pegasus out of the air to smash it into the ground, and suplexed a vampire queen through her own banquet table while on fire.
She was built to hold chokepoints and she does it extremely well. She normally parks herself in the enemy's path, uses Blade Ward as her action, Tunnel Fighter for her bonus, and just waits for enemies to come to her.
I am playing a Rune knight, I am playing Maul with 20 STR and GWM by level 8, however i am not in an optimised table and we have role playing elements. I am also with a Bard, Wizard, Cleric and Paladin so kinda glad they are not optimised!
I would say best would be Dex Build with Crossbow Expert and Sharp Shooter build!
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In yall's honest opinion, what is the best rune knight fighter build?
Due to the fact that it gets to be large, there's inherent synergy with using a polearm like a glaive or halberd. This makes the good ol' fashioned tried-n-true combo of PAM+Sentinel+GWM particularly good here.
However, Rune Knight gets access to a variety of bonus actions and uses for its reaction. This ultimately translates into PAM or Sentinel being more optional so you could forgo them and still be really effective, if not more so. Still, GWM and a polearm will still probably be the best thing to use.
Then, with rune knight's ability to get large, there's synergy from going with a duergar dwarf to use their lvl 3 enlarge spell. This means that rune knight can also be a contender for best grappler build, if not THE actual best grappler build.
So here's how I'd build it:
Start with duergar dwarf, use custom origin to start with a 17 in STR. At level 4, pick up the feat Skill Expert to gain expertise in Athletics, and increase STR to 18. Then, at level 6 pick up GWM feat, and at level 8 I'd probably cap off STR to 20. This ensures you can grapple as necessary or when optimal, and still retain your top tier fighter damage, and by using a glaive/halberd you ensure you have superior reach and coverage. Then if you're fighting something gargantuan, you can use your duergar ability to get huge (first use the rune knight ability tho).
I will preface this build by saying it relies on UA.
I play a Viking themed Rune Knight fighter in a Feywild game that, as cgarciao mentioned above, uses a halberd, and has Polearm Master. Rune Knight can make a fantastic tank.
For fighting style, my DM let me take the Tunnel Fighter style. It's a UA style that allows you to use your bonus action to enter a prepared state where you can make unlimited opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn (it can be pretty broken which is why it stayed UA but our DM likes us to have fun). With Polearm Master it processes every time an enemy enters my range. All I have to do is plant myself in front of the squishies and every martial/monster has to go through me to get to them, and I get a free attack at them when they either my range.
When I want to do even more damage, I use a spear (you can also use a quarterstaff) and two additional feats to hold the line and tank really well.
I took Magic Initiate as my free feat to get an owl familiar, along with Blade Ward and Booming Blade as cantrips. My second feat was Polearm Master. My third was Warcaster - not because I have spells to concentrate on but because it allows you to use BB as your opportunity attack. Combined with tunnel fighter where you can get unlimited opportunity attacks, it does gonzo damage in the right circumstances - even more if the enemy you hit decides to continue to rush past you and not focus on you so they take the secondary BB damage.
Independent of that, the runes are very good. I make my DM tear her hair out with the Cloud Rune and using it to redirect crits. Hell, I even saved myself from a hit that would have downed me because I redirected the hit to my own familiar. The Frost Rune is my second favorite because she loves to grapple. Depending on how you want to protect your party, the Storm or Hill runes are solid choices.
Not only can she smack things hard, but she is immensely good at grappling and slamming enemies. She's jumped up and snatched a pegasus out of the air to smash it into the ground, and suplexed a vampire queen through her own banquet table while on fire.
She was built to hold chokepoints and she does it extremely well. She normally parks herself in the enemy's path, uses Blade Ward as her action, Tunnel Fighter for her bonus, and just waits for enemies to come to her.
I am playing a Rune knight, I am playing Maul with 20 STR and GWM by level 8, however i am not in an optimised table and we have role playing elements. I am also with a Bard, Wizard, Cleric and Paladin so kinda glad they are not optimised!
I would say best would be Dex Build with Crossbow Expert and Sharp Shooter build!