How would the collective make a character that specialized in the grim task of hunting the various forms of Undead and foul witches and Hags? The campaign will be seeing more than a few of these according to the DM. The inquisitor Rogue looked good but I worry about falling short in the combat department.
All official books, Feats, and multiclassing are all on the table.
Blood-Hunter, made by Matt Mercer, was made specifically for this - making it originally for Vin Diesel in doing a CelibriD&D episode promoting The Last Witch-Hunter.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
If you're limited to official content and can't use the Bloodhunter class, I recommend a Monster Slayer ranger. 3rd level Hunter's Sense lets you "learn whether the creature has any damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities and what they are." Anything that blocks divination magic will block this, but it's usually good enough to let you know that that dwarf isn't a dwarf. Subclass spells include Protection from Evil and Good, Banishment, and Hold Monster. All of the subclass features are good against casters. Take Undead as your favored enemy for advantage on knowledge and tracking, and Fey for the hags as you level up. My ranger's one of our best combat damage dealers, with a ranged combat build, just using basic Hunter's Mark and Slayer's Prey, which stacks with HM, even if it takes two turns to get set up since both are bonus actions to initiate/move.
Blood-Hunter, made by Matt Mercer, was made specifically for this - making it originally for Vin Diesel in doing a CelibriD&D episode promoting The Last Witch-Hunter.
Whatever class you take, it would really beef up your potency in fighting against spellcasters if you were to play as a race that has Magic Resistance. So that's Satyr, Yuan-Ti, or Gnome (although they only get advantage with WIS/CHA/INT saves). Yuan-Ti is probably the ideal pick, since on top of Magic Resistance they're also outright immune to poison damage and the poison condition. Even if you're required to use the Multiverse version, and swap immunity for resistance and a few other downgrades, it's still a really powerful boost in creating a character designed to face off against enemy spellcasters.
Whatever class you take, it would really beef up your potency in fighting against spellcasters if you were to play as a race that has Magic Resistance. So that's Satyr, Yuan-Ti, or Gnome (although they only get advantage with WIS/CHA/INT saves). Yuan-Ti is probably the ideal pick, since on top of Magic Resistance they're also outright immune to poison damage and the poison condition. Even if you're required to use the Multiverse version, and swap immunity for resistance and a few other downgrades, it's still a really powerful boost in creating a character designed to face off against enemy spellcasters.
Vedalken (from the Ravnica book) also get advantage on INT/WIS/CHA saves
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
A paladin with Mage Slayer makes a really good witch-hunter. Oath of Devotion, The Ancients, Vengeance, and most especially The Watchers all work well for it.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Anything with a rapier and a wheellock pistol. And a widebrimmed hat, I think those are mandatory too.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I fully concur that the Slayer conclave Ranger will offer great mechanical advantages, but I'd like to complicate the conversation by asking why would you need any specific mechanical advantage? That is to say, what makes a battlemaster fighter who kills a hag less of a witch hunter than a bloodhunter who kills a hag? Or a cleric who kills a hag? Or a bard who kills a hag?
I fully concur that the Slayer conclave Ranger will offer great mechanical advantages, but I'd like to complicate the conversation by asking why would you need any specific mechanical advantage? That is to say, what makes a battlemaster fighter who kills a hag less of a witch hunter than a bloodhunter who kills a hag? Or a cleric who kills a hag? Or a bard who kills a hag?
Theme. My Wizard can do tracking, ambushing, survival techniques and so forth. Still, if I wanted to build my character around such things, I'd choose to to be a Ranger, not a Wizard. It's not just that you get advantages, but your class and subclass builds up the theme for your character. That's really what classes and subclasses are for - to help create that theme and develop a character in a certain direction. Of course, you can play against type, and have a Bard that attacks by hitting their enemies over the head with their lyre, but I don't get the sense that that's what's wanted here.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
How would the collective make a character that specialized in the grim task of hunting the various forms of Undead and foul witches and Hags? The campaign will be seeing more than a few of these according to the DM. The inquisitor Rogue looked good but I worry about falling short in the combat department.
All official books, Feats, and multiclassing are all on the table.
Thanks in advance.
If you really want to hunt witches, a level 10 Abjuration wizard is best-in-show at Counterspell and Dispel Magic (even better than Bards, who are normally the best). Bards are the best at those spells from levels 5 to 9. However, bear in mind that MPMM (and possibly earlier) has embraced invalidating these two spells by replacing monster spellcasting with magical effects that just happen, and WOTC has confirmed that this is their design intent going forward, so you should confirm with your DM that the witches you expect to encounter can be reasonably expected to cast actual spells before leaning into this.
If you want to hunt hags and undead, a Watchers paladin can turn both Fey and Fiendish Hags and Undead, and the Aura paladins get will protect you from spells.
A lot depends on what you mean specifically by 'Witch Hunter'. If you're going primarily for 'mechanically really good against these targets', then paladin is likely your best bet. Watchers paladins were specifically tuned to hunt disruptive influences in the world; their Oath Spells list and their Abjure the Extraplanar really help. Constant radiant damage can pick on the weaknesses of some undead, Aura of Protection bolsters your saves in mid-level play right when hags and Unseelie fey would start logically becoming an issue.
If you're specifically looking for that Gothic hunter-of-monsters aesthetic? That's more of a style choice than a class choice, though it predisposes you towards dexy, light-armor classes. It doesn't have to, but most Gothic hunters are wielders of ranged weapons as easily as melee, and often favor lighter, more precise weaponry they can strike for weak points with. Dex-based paladins are perfectly legitimate (even though they can't multiclass because of Wizards' dumb decisions), but at that point you're also competing with Ranger. Both Monster Slayer and Gloom Stalker have a lot of mechanical benefits for hunting creatures, and can take the aesthetic in different directions. But you're never going to get the same breadth of mechanical impact as you will with a paladin.
The single most important mechanical feature for a Witch Hunter, as opposed to "someone who's fighting a witch" is the ability to resist enemy spells or spell-like effects. Proficiency in Wis saves, and to a lesser extent Con saves, and the ability to boost them beyond proficient. When the Witch tries to beguile your mind, you need to be able to say "No" and shoot it in the face. Paladin does that for free at level 7, artificer can do it at level 7 as well with Flash of Genius as a reaction - and honestly, artificer can be excellent for the Gothic Hunter aesthetic if you tilt it in a more Helsing, steampunk-y direction. Gaining advantage via a species ability is helpful, but getting a bigger modifier is often the way to go. 'Both' works if you're flexible on species, but I don't know a lot of fey hunters-of-fey, or snake cultist hunters-of-monsters. The grizzled gnomish slayer of horrors could be funny, but that depends on how much you're willing to flex on the aesthetic.
I've run a character that was basically a detective hunting down practitioners of the dark arts. He was a Protector Aasimar Inquisitive Rogue with the Ritual Caster feat, which allowed him to use Find Familiar and Detect Magic to suss out clues at magical crime scenes. Another reason I liked the Ritual Caster feat over going with a subclass that gave access to magic, was that the Ritual Caster feat is like Wizard-lite, in that you can actually learn new spells to add to your Ritual book as you encounter them in the wild.
. Gaining advantage via a species ability is helpful, but getting a bigger modifier is often the way to go. 'Both' works if you're flexible on species, but I don't know a lot of fey hunters-of-fey, or snake cultist hunters-of-monsters. The grizzled gnomish slayer of horrors could be funny, but that depends on how much you're willing to flex on the aesthetic.
I think it's not too hard to imagine a Yuan-Ti as a sort of... cold, calculated mercenary type who works as a witch hunter because they're uniquely qualified for it. Hard to picture them, though, as more of a "zealot" who aggressively hunts down witches, or as a passionate researcher or any interpretation that's more benign or actively cares about the victims.
. Gaining advantage via a species ability is helpful, but getting a bigger modifier is often the way to go. 'Both' works if you're flexible on species, but I don't know a lot of fey hunters-of-fey, or snake cultist hunters-of-monsters. The grizzled gnomish slayer of horrors could be funny, but that depends on how much you're willing to flex on the aesthetic.
I think it's not too hard to imagine a Yuan-Ti as a sort of... cold, calculated mercenary type who works as a witch hunter because they're uniquely qualified for it. Hard to picture them, though, as more of a "zealot" who aggressively hunts down witches, or as a passionate researcher or any interpretation that's more benign or actively cares about the victims.
A Satyr Oath of the Ancients Paladin with the Mage Slayer feat would also be strangely effective against hunting witches and other spellcasters (you get advantage on saving throws against spells, resistance to spell damage, reaction attacks against spellcasters that cast a spell).
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Things that I've learned from reading the comments:
1) Many people like Yuan-Ti except DMs lol. Mine has said that if I can do a good backstory then he'd allow it. I write books IRL so no worries there!
2) The whole 'Look her in the eye, say No, then shoot her in the face' is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.
3) Yes, there will be a wide-brimmed hat (likely enchanted later) and a homebrewed gun and a rapier. Because you can't go wrong with the classics...
4) While the idea of a grizzled Gnome in the role is funny, I'm going to pocket that one for later. Unless I can work out a Gnome with an Enlarge spell on himself to appear to be Human-sized (if I can't have fun with this then what's the point, right?).
5) I'm not sure why I never even considered a Paladin for this. Maybe the whole 'leather armor and long coat' thing threw me, but after taking a look many of you are right. I'm considering doing a (shudder) tri-class because the Paladin, the Cleric, and the Inquisitive Rogue all seem to bring a lot to the table and I don't mind being a level or two back from the party if the character fits the theme.
3) Yes, there will be a wide-brimmed hat (likely enchanted later) and a homebrewed gun and a rapier. Because you can't go wrong with the classics...
That is gorgeous.
For it's brief existance, I played the Warhammer MMO thing, and I loved the Witch Hunter. Build up combo with the rapier, execute with the pistol - that was just wonderfully satisfying. You pretty much can't have the same thing in 5e, not to my knowledge, the game isn't really built around finishing moves - but you can have the look, and that works too =D
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I think an Inquisitive Rogue/Paladin multiclass can work, but I don't think Cleric is bringing as much to the table. I think anything you want from Cleric isn't worth the amount of time and energy it's going to take, and you can accomplish similar things with the right Paladin Subclass and spells.
I think I would also put in the recommendation to play as an Ancients paladin. The fact that they just outright get resistance to all damage from spells is probably the biggest factor, but their Turn the Faithless feature is particularly thematically appropriate, since it shuts down fiends and fey... which is particularly useful against Hags, which are basically the archetypal evil witches and also they're all either a fey or a fiend.
How would the collective make a character that specialized in the grim task of hunting the various forms of Undead and foul witches and Hags? The campaign will be seeing more than a few of these according to the DM. The inquisitor Rogue looked good but I worry about falling short in the combat department.
All official books, Feats, and multiclassing are all on the table.
Thanks in advance.
Blood-Hunter, made by Matt Mercer, was made specifically for this - making it originally for Vin Diesel in doing a CelibriD&D episode promoting The Last Witch-Hunter.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
If you're limited to official content and can't use the Bloodhunter class, I recommend a Monster Slayer ranger. 3rd level Hunter's Sense lets you "learn whether the creature has any damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities and what they are." Anything that blocks divination magic will block this, but it's usually good enough to let you know that that dwarf isn't a dwarf. Subclass spells include Protection from Evil and Good, Banishment, and Hold Monster. All of the subclass features are good against casters. Take Undead as your favored enemy for advantage on knowledge and tracking, and Fey for the hags as you level up. My ranger's one of our best combat damage dealers, with a ranged combat build, just using basic Hunter's Mark and Slayer's Prey, which stacks with HM, even if it takes two turns to get set up since both are bonus actions to initiate/move.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Ok...I did not know that.
Whatever class you take, it would really beef up your potency in fighting against spellcasters if you were to play as a race that has Magic Resistance. So that's Satyr, Yuan-Ti, or Gnome (although they only get advantage with WIS/CHA/INT saves). Yuan-Ti is probably the ideal pick, since on top of Magic Resistance they're also outright immune to poison damage and the poison condition. Even if you're required to use the Multiverse version, and swap immunity for resistance and a few other downgrades, it's still a really powerful boost in creating a character designed to face off against enemy spellcasters.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Vedalken (from the Ravnica book) also get advantage on INT/WIS/CHA saves
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
A paladin with Mage Slayer makes a really good witch-hunter. Oath of Devotion, The Ancients, Vengeance, and most especially The Watchers all work well for it.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Clerics also have some great stuff as well. :)
To know the light, you must sometimes experience the dark.
Anything with a rapier and a wheellock pistol. And a widebrimmed hat, I think those are mandatory too.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I fully concur that the Slayer conclave Ranger will offer great mechanical advantages, but I'd like to complicate the conversation by asking why would you need any specific mechanical advantage? That is to say, what makes a battlemaster fighter who kills a hag less of a witch hunter than a bloodhunter who kills a hag? Or a cleric who kills a hag? Or a bard who kills a hag?
Theme. My Wizard can do tracking, ambushing, survival techniques and so forth. Still, if I wanted to build my character around such things, I'd choose to to be a Ranger, not a Wizard. It's not just that you get advantages, but your class and subclass builds up the theme for your character. That's really what classes and subclasses are for - to help create that theme and develop a character in a certain direction. Of course, you can play against type, and have a Bard that attacks by hitting their enemies over the head with their lyre, but I don't get the sense that that's what's wanted here.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If you really want to hunt witches, a level 10 Abjuration wizard is best-in-show at Counterspell and Dispel Magic (even better than Bards, who are normally the best). Bards are the best at those spells from levels 5 to 9. However, bear in mind that MPMM (and possibly earlier) has embraced invalidating these two spells by replacing monster spellcasting with magical effects that just happen, and WOTC has confirmed that this is their design intent going forward, so you should confirm with your DM that the witches you expect to encounter can be reasonably expected to cast actual spells before leaning into this.
If you want to hunt hags and undead, a Watchers paladin can turn both Fey and Fiendish Hags and Undead, and the Aura paladins get will protect you from spells.
A lot depends on what you mean specifically by 'Witch Hunter'. If you're going primarily for 'mechanically really good against these targets', then paladin is likely your best bet. Watchers paladins were specifically tuned to hunt disruptive influences in the world; their Oath Spells list and their Abjure the Extraplanar really help. Constant radiant damage can pick on the weaknesses of some undead, Aura of Protection bolsters your saves in mid-level play right when hags and Unseelie fey would start logically becoming an issue.
If you're specifically looking for that Gothic hunter-of-monsters aesthetic? That's more of a style choice than a class choice, though it predisposes you towards dexy, light-armor classes. It doesn't have to, but most Gothic hunters are wielders of ranged weapons as easily as melee, and often favor lighter, more precise weaponry they can strike for weak points with. Dex-based paladins are perfectly legitimate (even though they can't multiclass because of Wizards' dumb decisions), but at that point you're also competing with Ranger. Both Monster Slayer and Gloom Stalker have a lot of mechanical benefits for hunting creatures, and can take the aesthetic in different directions. But you're never going to get the same breadth of mechanical impact as you will with a paladin.
The single most important mechanical feature for a Witch Hunter, as opposed to "someone who's fighting a witch" is the ability to resist enemy spells or spell-like effects. Proficiency in Wis saves, and to a lesser extent Con saves, and the ability to boost them beyond proficient. When the Witch tries to beguile your mind, you need to be able to say "No" and shoot it in the face. Paladin does that for free at level 7, artificer can do it at level 7 as well with Flash of Genius as a reaction - and honestly, artificer can be excellent for the Gothic Hunter aesthetic if you tilt it in a more Helsing, steampunk-y direction. Gaining advantage via a species ability is helpful, but getting a bigger modifier is often the way to go. 'Both' works if you're flexible on species, but I don't know a lot of fey hunters-of-fey, or snake cultist hunters-of-monsters. The grizzled gnomish slayer of horrors could be funny, but that depends on how much you're willing to flex on the aesthetic.
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I've run a character that was basically a detective hunting down practitioners of the dark arts. He was a Protector Aasimar Inquisitive Rogue with the Ritual Caster feat, which allowed him to use Find Familiar and Detect Magic to suss out clues at magical crime scenes. Another reason I liked the Ritual Caster feat over going with a subclass that gave access to magic, was that the Ritual Caster feat is like Wizard-lite, in that you can actually learn new spells to add to your Ritual book as you encounter them in the wild.
I think it's not too hard to imagine a Yuan-Ti as a sort of... cold, calculated mercenary type who works as a witch hunter because they're uniquely qualified for it. Hard to picture them, though, as more of a "zealot" who aggressively hunts down witches, or as a passionate researcher or any interpretation that's more benign or actively cares about the victims.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
A Satyr Oath of the Ancients Paladin with the Mage Slayer feat would also be strangely effective against hunting witches and other spellcasters (you get advantage on saving throws against spells, resistance to spell damage, reaction attacks against spellcasters that cast a spell).
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Things that I've learned from reading the comments:
1) Many people like Yuan-Ti except DMs lol. Mine has said that if I can do a good backstory then he'd allow it. I write books IRL so no worries there!
2) The whole 'Look her in the eye, say No, then shoot her in the face' is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.
3) Yes, there will be a wide-brimmed hat (likely enchanted later) and a homebrewed gun and a rapier. Because you can't go wrong with the classics...
4) While the idea of a grizzled Gnome in the role is funny, I'm going to pocket that one for later. Unless I can work out a Gnome with an Enlarge spell on himself to appear to be Human-sized (if I can't have fun with this then what's the point, right?).
5) I'm not sure why I never even considered a Paladin for this. Maybe the whole 'leather armor and long coat' thing threw me, but after taking a look many of you are right. I'm considering doing a (shudder) tri-class because the Paladin, the Cleric, and the Inquisitive Rogue all seem to bring a lot to the table and I don't mind being a level or two back from the party if the character fits the theme.
That is gorgeous.
For it's brief existance, I played the Warhammer MMO thing, and I loved the Witch Hunter. Build up combo with the rapier, execute with the pistol - that was just wonderfully satisfying. You pretty much can't have the same thing in 5e, not to my knowledge, the game isn't really built around finishing moves - but you can have the look, and that works too =D
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I think an Inquisitive Rogue/Paladin multiclass can work, but I don't think Cleric is bringing as much to the table. I think anything you want from Cleric isn't worth the amount of time and energy it's going to take, and you can accomplish similar things with the right Paladin Subclass and spells.
I think I would also put in the recommendation to play as an Ancients paladin. The fact that they just outright get resistance to all damage from spells is probably the biggest factor, but their Turn the Faithless feature is particularly thematically appropriate, since it shuts down fiends and fey... which is particularly useful against Hags, which are basically the archetypal evil witches and also they're all either a fey or a fiend.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium