I´m thinking about building a PAM+GWM (+sentinel, possibly) for a campaing that will start at lvl 2 and go to lvl 14ish at most.
I will not multiclass or play a barbarian, paladin or any other class that is not Lock(hexblade) or Fighter(Battlemaster).
I will be wearing medium armor and a glaive even if i go fighter, cause thats the concept of the character. So the question is: which of these 2 classes/subclasses is better (combat wise) for a bad ass, hard hitting, sustained dpr (not 1 turn nova)?
I previously thought it to be the Fighter, but then I saw this: https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/957jic/sustained_dpr_of_classic_optimized_builds_levels/?depth=1 and the PAM Lock (Darkness + Devil´s Sight) is on the top all the way from low to high level when it comes to AC 15+. Is this info reliable? Could someone confirm this? Even XBE+SS Fighter is doing poorly against the hexblades on this chart.
And even if it is correct, isn´t a melee dude using Darkness+DSight anoying as hell for his party? At least till it can pick up Shadow of Moil, which would have taken half campaing for me anyways.
So, with a base of AC 15+ enemies, what pure class would be the best of the 2 for a PAM hard hitting build in your opinion?
I'll start by saying that yes, Darkness+Devils sight is annoying as hell to your party, potentially. That being said, even without that a Hexblade using PAM is one of the highest damage builds in the game. You don't need GWM for it to work, and actually it probably hurts you. At level 5 you're hitting with your weapon 3 times (with the bonus action). Against a hexed target that's an extra 3d6 damage. At level 14 you get your charisma bonus twice with lifedrinker invocation. Combine that with Hexblades curse and you're don't a lot of damage. You have to somewhat worry about bonus action economy. Depending on the length of the fight, you may be better off just using your bonus action for the bonus attack. You can also use Elemental Weapon which is actually a little better than hex, although it doesn't last as long. So if you're expecting a long while between rests, use Elemental Weapon.
Another thing to think about is that you're not interested in using plate which is nerfing the fighter. Also, you have bonus action conflict here as well. If you critically hit, you'll want to use your bonus action for another attack from GWM. If you don't, you will want to use your bonus action to attack with the polearm bonus attack. The difference in damage here is negligible.
You are capable of huge burst rounds with a GWM fighter setup, but you average damage per round will be much higher with the PAM hexblade setup. That's without using the devil's sight/darkness combo
I allways thought that GWM and more atacks from the fighter would deliver better dmg. But i hate the -5 penalty of GWM/SS so if a Hexblade without Darkness/Devil´s Sight can actually do more dmg then a PAM Fighter, I´m sold. Especially because the theme/flavour of the character I´m creating is favours Warlock 100%.
I play a PAM hexblade and have never used Dark/DS combo. Would just be annoying for the rest of the party (melee heavy group) and make it difficult to cooperate on the dancefloor.
Though it is a good combo when you are solo or the rest of the group have ways to see through magical darkness or remove disadvantage rolls.
I play a PAM hexblade and have never used Dark/DS combo. Would just be annoying for the rest of the party (melee heavy group) and make it difficult to cooperate on the dancefloor.
Though it is a good combo when you are solo or the rest of the group have ways to see through magical darkness or remove disadvantage rolls.
What level is your character atm? And how are you doing, DPR wise, compared to the rest of your group? What classes/builds are they playing?
Do you feel that the preparation (Curse+Hex) round is being a disadvantage compared to the rest? One thing I fear about PAM Lock (or even sorlock, for that matter) is being in a situation where the "boss" will be already down when i get to hit it, because the rest of the group already went full bananas on it while I was only setting my damage up.
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Hi, there!
I´m thinking about building a PAM+GWM (+sentinel, possibly) for a campaing that will start at lvl 2 and go to lvl 14ish at most.
I will not multiclass or play a barbarian, paladin or any other class that is not Lock(hexblade) or Fighter(Battlemaster).
I will be wearing medium armor and a glaive even if i go fighter, cause thats the concept of the character. So the question is: which of these 2 classes/subclasses is better (combat wise) for a bad ass, hard hitting, sustained dpr (not 1 turn nova)?
I previously thought it to be the Fighter, but then I saw this: https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/957jic/sustained_dpr_of_classic_optimized_builds_levels/?depth=1 and the PAM Lock (Darkness + Devil´s Sight) is on the top all the way from low to high level when it comes to AC 15+. Is this info reliable? Could someone confirm this? Even XBE+SS Fighter is doing poorly against the hexblades on this chart.
And even if it is correct, isn´t a melee dude using Darkness+DSight anoying as hell for his party? At least till it can pick up Shadow of Moil, which would have taken half campaing for me anyways.
So, with a base of AC 15+ enemies, what pure class would be the best of the 2 for a PAM hard hitting build in your opinion?
I'll start by saying that yes, Darkness+Devils sight is annoying as hell to your party, potentially. That being said, even without that a Hexblade using PAM is one of the highest damage builds in the game. You don't need GWM for it to work, and actually it probably hurts you. At level 5 you're hitting with your weapon 3 times (with the bonus action). Against a hexed target that's an extra 3d6 damage. At level 14 you get your charisma bonus twice with lifedrinker invocation. Combine that with Hexblades curse and you're don't a lot of damage. You have to somewhat worry about bonus action economy. Depending on the length of the fight, you may be better off just using your bonus action for the bonus attack. You can also use Elemental Weapon which is actually a little better than hex, although it doesn't last as long. So if you're expecting a long while between rests, use Elemental Weapon.
Another thing to think about is that you're not interested in using plate which is nerfing the fighter. Also, you have bonus action conflict here as well. If you critically hit, you'll want to use your bonus action for another attack from GWM. If you don't, you will want to use your bonus action to attack with the polearm bonus attack. The difference in damage here is negligible.
You are capable of huge burst rounds with a GWM fighter setup, but you average damage per round will be much higher with the PAM hexblade setup. That's without using the devil's sight/darkness combo
I allways thought that GWM and more atacks from the fighter would deliver better dmg. But i hate the -5 penalty of GWM/SS so if a Hexblade without Darkness/Devil´s Sight can actually do more dmg then a PAM Fighter, I´m sold. Especially because the theme/flavour of the character I´m creating is favours Warlock 100%.
I play a PAM hexblade and have never used Dark/DS combo. Would just be annoying for the rest of the party (melee heavy group) and make it difficult to cooperate on the dancefloor.
Though it is a good combo when you are solo or the rest of the group have ways to see through magical darkness or remove disadvantage rolls.
What level is your character atm? And how are you doing, DPR wise, compared to the rest of your group? What classes/builds are they playing?
Do you feel that the preparation (Curse+Hex) round is being a disadvantage compared to the rest? One thing I fear about PAM Lock (or even sorlock, for that matter) is being in a situation where the "boss" will be already down when i get to hit it, because the rest of the group already went full bananas on it while I was only setting my damage up.