So I'm having a tough time here deciding between a few things for my 2h dragonborn pal. Playing descent into avernus so cap lvl is 13. stats are
Str:17 Dex:12 Con:14 Int:10 Wis:8 Cha:14
I was thinking.of taking HAM at lvl 4 for 18 str, then taking GWM at 8 and finally getting 20 str at 12.
My question is would it be better to drop HAM and put +1 str then toss the extra +1 into con or cha? Or is taking HAM a good choice with these stats? I definitely want GWM at 4 or 8 so getting 20 str won't happen till 12.
Or should I drop HAM and put +2 into str for 19 str at lvl 4 incase I get a +1 Str item. Then at 12 put +1 into str for 20 and 1 other stat?
The thing about HAM is as you level it’s less useful. At low levels, it’s crazy good, but before long, all your enemies have magic weapons or effects and just ignore the DR. You might want to consider dragon fear for a str bump and to let you use a fear effect instead of your breath weapon, with a good cha it could work well. though typically, you don’t want enemies running away from you (and I’m not sure how useful it is in Avernus, one way or the other) it can be useful.
I'm personally not a fan of HAM. I'd pick something else. Honestly for me, if I am not using a shield, it's hard to justify not going with PAM. A free OA on something when it enters your reach is great, as is a bonus action attack if you don't use your BA for something else.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
A lot of people talk about how good HAM is at low levels... and yet people are saying don’t take it at lv4
If you wanna be tanky, take it! It will still be a benefit throughout the game, even if those hp are valued less. People value temporary hp highly and HAM grants you three temp hp nearly every time someone hits you.
It’s not that the hp are worth less (though they are), it’s that enemies at higher levels typically have attacks that bypass it altogether. I took it at level 8 for a cleric I had, by level 10 it almost never came up. So the higher level the campaign goes, it becomes less of a factor.
I agree about HAM. Just logically, it's going to be less and less of a factor as you go up in level. If you are being hit for 5 damage, then -3 is a lot of the damage. If you are being hit for 35 damage and it lessens it to 32 damage...that's just not that impressive. There are just other, better feats to take, in the place of HAM. One of the few advantages, is it gets that solo odd ability score up to 18.
I would prefer to have all even ability scores, than one odd number ability score. I redid it as this...
Str - 16 (+3) Dex - 12 (+1) Con - 14 (+2) Int - 8 (-1) Wis -12 (+1) Cha - 14 (+2)
At level four, you either take a better feat or take one of your main stats up +2, probably strength, if you are vengeance.
So I'm having a tough time here deciding between a few things for my 2h dragonborn pal. Playing descent into avernus so cap lvl is 13. stats are
Str:17
Dex:12
Con:14
Int:10
Wis:8
Cha:14
I was thinking.of taking HAM at lvl 4 for 18 str, then taking GWM at 8 and finally getting 20 str at 12.
My question is would it be better to drop HAM and put +1 str then toss the extra +1 into con or cha? Or is taking HAM a good choice with these stats? I definitely want GWM at 4 or 8 so getting 20 str won't happen till 12.
Or should I drop HAM and put +2 into str for 19 str at lvl 4 incase I get a +1 Str item. Then at 12 put +1 into str for 20 and 1 other stat?
The thing about HAM is as you level it’s less useful. At low levels, it’s crazy good, but before long, all your enemies have magic weapons or effects and just ignore the DR.
You might want to consider dragon fear for a str bump and to let you use a fear effect instead of your breath weapon, with a good cha it could work well. though typically, you don’t want enemies running away from you (and I’m not sure how useful it is in Avernus, one way or the other) it can be useful.
I'm personally not a fan of HAM. I'd pick something else. Honestly for me, if I am not using a shield, it's hard to justify not going with PAM. A free OA on something when it enters your reach is great, as is a bonus action attack if you don't use your BA for something else.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
A lot of people talk about how good HAM is at low levels... and yet people are saying don’t take it at lv4
If you wanna be tanky, take it! It will still be a benefit throughout the game, even if those hp are valued less. People value temporary hp highly and HAM grants you three temp hp nearly every time someone hits you.
It’s not that the hp are worth less (though they are), it’s that enemies at higher levels typically have attacks that bypass it altogether. I took it at level 8 for a cleric I had, by level 10 it almost never came up. So the higher level the campaign goes, it becomes less of a factor.
I agree about HAM. Just logically, it's going to be less and less of a factor as you go up in level. If you are being hit for 5 damage, then -3 is a lot of the damage. If you are being hit for 35 damage and it lessens it to 32 damage...that's just not that impressive. There are just other, better feats to take, in the place of HAM. One of the few advantages, is it gets that solo odd ability score up to 18.
I would prefer to have all even ability scores, than one odd number ability score. I redid it as this...
Str - 16 (+3)
Dex - 12 (+1)
Con - 14 (+2)
Int - 8 (-1)
Wis -12 (+1)
Cha - 14 (+2)
At level four, you either take a better feat or take one of your main stats up +2, probably strength, if you are vengeance.
At higher levels you can also be hit more often though, it kind of depends on your specific game and how the DM likes to run combat