The necromancer worries me because it encourages having lots of weenie skeletons spamming attacks; I'd much rather see them able to make better skeletons but in small numbers.
They've improved Arcane Archer a bit. Arcane Burst seems confused from a design perspective, though. It's great to have a way to keep melee enemies off you, but tying it to Indomitable is weird. You can only use Indomitable when you fail a saving throw, and it's weird to only be able to do this cool move when you've already failed at something.
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
They've improved Arcane Archer a bit. Arcane Burst seems confused from a design perspective, though. It's great to have a way to keep melee enemies off you, but tying it to Indomitable is weird. You can only use Indomitable when you fail a saving throw, and it's weird to only be able to do this cool move when you've already failed at something.
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
I think Arcane Shot should always be some form of "on". It's default state should be as a +1 weapon or +1 ammunition, with the special shots having the relevant costs.
Anyway, HexBlade is seemingly dead again, & it likely won't get another go due to the obvious overwhelming negativity, which doesn't encourage managers & execs to let the dev team try it again, as has been proven time after time with UA after UA. I'm not going to be surprised if Psion didn't make it past UA for similar reasons.
Not sure about why Arcana Cleric didn't get another try(Maybe it's considered fine as is?)...
Still no Minor Alchemy & Minor Conjuration updates. I do like the revision of Hypnotic Gaze, tho.
Tattooed Monk is better...but Tortoise & Celestial Tattoos still feel meh, & Nature Tattoos got nerfed to hell.
Enchanter is fine.
D&D Beyond will likely not support Splintered Summons "at this time"
Like having the return of Animate Dead for Undead Thralls. Now add support for the Create Undead spell as an upgrade.
Wonderous Alteration & Shapechanger will likely not be supported "at this time", as most spell-modifying features aren't on Beyond(Pen & Paper, Shard, Roll20 & Foundry will likely be fine)
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DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
The necromancer worries me because it encourages having lots of weenie skeletons spamming attacks; I'd much rather see them able to make better skeletons but in small numbers.
That's what Summon Undead is for.
The "weenie skeletons" at higher levels are for blowing up in droves with Extinguish. When you're blowing up yours, there is no action cost, so go nuts! (Ever play a Corpse Explosion build in Diablo 2/3?)
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
INT mod per Short/Long Rest is potentially a LOT of uses
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Is it me or is using the Necromancer's Extinguish Undead ridiculously expensive if you don't control the undead in question? 5th level slot for is usually going to be a couple of dice...like, maybe if it's a Storm Giant Skeleton or Dracolich or something, that would be lethal, but most things you're far better off with Fireball and its a lower spell slot too.
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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.
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
INT mod per Short/Long Rest is potentially a LOT of uses
Is it? I mean, the Arcane Shot options are pretty similar, mechanically, to Battle Master maneuvers. Battle Master get four of those per short rest right from the beginning. An Arcane Archer would have to have an 18 Intelligence to match that.
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.
AA shots are generally more powerful though, I think? Like, you can almost as good as [Tooltip Not Found] people.
Maybe. Are they twice as powerful? Because again, Battle Masters have twice as many of their thing as the original Arcane Archer did, and the new Arcane Archer would need to have an Intelligence of 14 to have that many, or an Intelligence of 16 to have more.
My point really is that this is the core ability that the subclass provides. I want to be able to use it all the time (even if that means each usage is less powerful) because when I run out I'm pretty much just a Fighter with no subclass.
I think they fixed the main problem of the previous arcane archer UA, which was the lock of anything interesting happening at higher levels. Not sure how useful the new stuff actually is, but at least it isn't just "this number is now slightly larger". Also, one detail they left out from the grey box is that the duration of grasping arrow is now back to 1 minute.
AA shots are generally more powerful though, I think? Like, you can almost as good as [Tooltip Not Found] people.
Maybe. Are they twice as powerful? Because again, Battle Masters have twice as many of their thing as the original Arcane Archer did, and the new Arcane Archer would need to have an Intelligence of 14 to have that many, or an Intelligence of 16 to have more.
My point really is that this is the core ability that the subclass provides. I want to be able to use it all the time (even if that means each usage is less powerful) because when I run out I'm pretty much just a Fighter with no subclass.
It's all situational and subject to opinion...but I'd say there's definitely a case that could be made that it is.
For example, the disabling options - BM makes them Frightened, they can still attack but will likely be at Disadvantage, AA Banishes them so they can't do anything. The extra damage options - BM lets someone make an additional attack which is full damage/no damage depending on a hit taking one of your attacks as well as their Reaction, AA does additional damage to the target and anyone close by without additional cost.
I haven't compared every single option, but the ones that came to mind seem to, on one-to-one basis, substantially favour the AA.
That said, I'm not arguing that you're wrong that the AA needs more uses, I'd need to actually play it before I made that judgement. The AA also suffers that its associated die is smaller (d6 vs starting at d8 which increases to D12) and has fewer slots to learn options (2 vs 3 at L3). It also requires investment into Int, which is usually a dump stat - though there is the case to be made that the BM has a higher need of Con and/or Str. However, my intent is more to provide a reminder that it's not all one way.
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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.
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
INT mod per Short/Long Rest is potentially a LOT of uses
Is it? I mean, the Arcane Shot options are pretty similar, mechanically, to Battle Master maneuvers. Battle Master get four of those per short rest right from the beginning. An Arcane Archer would have to have an 18 Intelligence to match that.
Plus it's still a Fighter so are you going to be putting all your ASI into INT at the expense of STR/DEX or CON? It's either going to be incredibly MAD to make it viable or you'll sacrifice the ability to be a Fighter. I think I agree with you that a fixed number of uses per level and slightly less powerful effects same as a Battle Master might be better but then you're left with the question of why not just play a ranged Battle Master
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I am shocked that there isn't an announcement for this?!
Go Check It Out!!!
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Link to article which has link to document
The new wizards and the new tattooed monk look fantastic imo.
Sorry, I didn't see the article, I don't see the front page often. They have been doing a post here in the forums.
I am really liking what they have done for Necromancer here.
Arcane Archer is looking a lot better too.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
The necromancer worries me because it encourages having lots of weenie skeletons spamming attacks; I'd much rather see them able to make better skeletons but in small numbers.
They've improved Arcane Archer a bit. Arcane Burst seems confused from a design perspective, though. It's great to have a way to keep melee enemies off you, but tying it to Indomitable is weird. You can only use Indomitable when you fail a saving throw, and it's weird to only be able to do this cool move when you've already failed at something.
Still a disappointingly low number of uses of Arcane Shot though.
pronouns: he/she/they
I think Arcane Shot should always be some form of "on". It's default state should be as a +1 weapon or +1 ammunition, with the special shots having the relevant costs.
Anyway, HexBlade is seemingly dead again, & it likely won't get another go due to the obvious overwhelming negativity, which doesn't encourage managers & execs to let the dev team try it again, as has been proven time after time with UA after UA. I'm not going to be surprised if Psion didn't make it past UA for similar reasons.
Not sure about why Arcana Cleric didn't get another try(Maybe it's considered fine as is?)...
Still no Minor Alchemy & Minor Conjuration updates. I do like the revision of Hypnotic Gaze, tho.
Tattooed Monk is better...but Tortoise & Celestial Tattoos still feel meh, & Nature Tattoos got nerfed to hell.
Enchanter is fine.
D&D Beyond will likely not support Splintered Summons "at this time"
Like having the return of Animate Dead for Undead Thralls. Now add support for the Create Undead spell as an upgrade.
Wonderous Alteration & Shapechanger will likely not be supported "at this time", as most spell-modifying features aren't on Beyond(Pen & Paper, Shard, Roll20 & Foundry will likely be fine)
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
That's what Summon Undead is for.
The "weenie skeletons" at higher levels are for blowing up in droves with Extinguish. When you're blowing up yours, there is no action cost, so go nuts! (Ever play a Corpse Explosion build in Diablo 2/3?)
INT mod per Short/Long Rest is potentially a LOT of uses
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Is it me or is using the Necromancer's Extinguish Undead ridiculously expensive if you don't control the undead in question? 5th level slot for is usually going to be a couple of dice...like, maybe if it's a Storm Giant Skeleton or Dracolich or something, that would be lethal, but most things you're far better off with Fireball and its a lower spell slot too.
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.
Is it? I mean, the Arcane Shot options are pretty similar, mechanically, to Battle Master maneuvers. Battle Master get four of those per short rest right from the beginning. An Arcane Archer would have to have an 18 Intelligence to match that.
pronouns: he/she/they
AA shots are generally more powerful though, I think? Like, you can almost as good as Banishment people.
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.
Maybe. Are they twice as powerful? Because again, Battle Masters have twice as many of their thing as the original Arcane Archer did, and the new Arcane Archer would need to have an Intelligence of 14 to have that many, or an Intelligence of 16 to have more.
My point really is that this is the core ability that the subclass provides. I want to be able to use it all the time (even if that means each usage is less powerful) because when I run out I'm pretty much just a Fighter with no subclass.
pronouns: he/she/they
You still have curving shot, though.
I think they fixed the main problem of the previous arcane archer UA, which was the lock of anything interesting happening at higher levels. Not sure how useful the new stuff actually is, but at least it isn't just "this number is now slightly larger". Also, one detail they left out from the grey box is that the duration of grasping arrow is now back to 1 minute.
It's all situational and subject to opinion...but I'd say there's definitely a case that could be made that it is.
For example, the disabling options - BM makes them Frightened, they can still attack but will likely be at Disadvantage, AA Banishes them so they can't do anything. The extra damage options - BM lets someone make an additional attack which is full damage/no damage depending on a hit taking one of your attacks as well as their Reaction, AA does additional damage to the target and anyone close by without additional cost.
I haven't compared every single option, but the ones that came to mind seem to, on one-to-one basis, substantially favour the AA.
That said, I'm not arguing that you're wrong that the AA needs more uses, I'd need to actually play it before I made that judgement. The AA also suffers that its associated die is smaller (d6 vs starting at d8 which increases to D12) and has fewer slots to learn options (2 vs 3 at L3). It also requires investment into Int, which is usually a dump stat - though there is the case to be made that the BM has a higher need of Con and/or Str. However, my intent is more to provide a reminder that it's not all one way.
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.
Plus it's still a Fighter so are you going to be putting all your ASI into INT at the expense of STR/DEX or CON? It's either going to be incredibly MAD to make it viable or you'll sacrifice the ability to be a Fighter. I think I agree with you that a fixed number of uses per level and slightly less powerful effects same as a Battle Master might be better but then you're left with the question of why not just play a ranged Battle Master