One of my friends told us to roll up some absolutely busted level one characters. Looking for ideas.
- We are level one. Due to plot reasons. (yes, there is plot. This is an offshoot of an actual campaign.) - We get a feat right off the bat, so it's more fun to play. (also, so we don't just all choose Variant Humans. Though 2 feats could be fun.)
Please note a lot of the 1 level OP characters fail at higher levels. That said, Cleric, Sorcerer and Warlock get Subclass features at first level, making them the most likely OP classes. But I do not think Sorcerer has any OP subclass at 1st level.
Clerics of "Light" get a reaction flare useable once per Wis Bonus that grants disadvantage, "Peace" gets Emboldening bond which is a concentration free Bless spell Proficiency times, and Twilight gets Marital Weapons, Heavy Armor, 300 ft Darkvision AND advantage on Initiative. Not to mention Faerie Fire.
Warlock "The Undead" has a powerful "Form of Dread" that both gives you Temp hitpoints and can Frighten (granting disadvantage to their attacks). Throw in Eldritch Blast AND the Feat "Eldritch Adept" granting you an Invocation can give you Eldritch Blast at 1st level either doing 1d10+Charisma or repelling any creature it hits by 10 ft.
Also Warlock Hexblade curse can give you a 19-20 crit range. Play a Drow Elf, take Elven Accuracy. Cast Faerie Fire that grants Advantage. You now have 3 chances to get a 19-20, or approximately a 30% chance of critting every round.
Those are the classes I think most likely to be OP at 1st level. Things dramatically change once you get above 1st level (Wizards in particular can get Portents at 2nd level, very powerful)
Piercer as your free feat to start the game with DEX 18 and Crossbow Expert to attack twice since level 1. 1d6 + 4 x2 with a lovely to hit of 8 (!) is really consistent. Your avg DPR is 12.3. Warlock baseline at level 1 is just 5.
With Variant Human or Custom Lineage plus your free feat you can be a GWM+PAM martial character off the bat. However, at level 1 GWM might be less desirable.
I'll suggest going PAM alongside Monsters of the Multiverse (releasing in a couple days) Bugbear. You get a martial character with 2 attacks at 10ft (for spear/staff+shield) to 15ft (for glaive/halberd) reach (on your turn) that deal an extra 2d6 each in the first round if you roll initiative well. Any of the martial classes should do okay with this, but Barbarian should give the most survivability (though you'll want to take the PAM attack in round 1 most of the time instead of raging in order to take advantage of the Bugbear's extra 2d6).
Depending on the situation, an aarakocra with sharpshooter and any martial class could basically just fly a few hundred feet in the air and as long as they have even partial line of sight they're untouchable. Wouldn't be great if you don't get a lot of open air battles, or if the DM goes out of their way to have stuff that can knock you out of the sky and kill you with fall damage.
The problem with the ranged builds is that while they kill pure melee they get killed by other ranged builds. Which includes most spell casters. While long bows can attack at upto 600 ft with disadvantage, so can any other long bow man. Also you have to get there, i.e. getting killed in the first round while you try to do a double move away is not OP.
But if you are a melee guy then a flyer with a long bow and a prepared ambush is terrifying
The problem with the ranged builds is that while they kill pure melee they get killed by other ranged builds. Which includes most spell casters. While long bows can attack at upto 600 ft with disadvantage, so can any other long bow man. Also you have to get there, i.e. getting killed in the first round while you try to do a double move away is not OP.
But if you are a melee guy then a flyer with a long bow and a prepared ambush is terrifying
Not necessarily true if you are a Crossbow Expert.
Ir0ns0ul I am not sure what you are saying. Anyone with the crossbow expert feat is not a melee guy.
If you are a crossbow expert you still get killed by other ranged builds. While it is good, it is by no means the best. Even with a heavy crossbow, you can't hit anyone >500 ft, so the Longbow flyer can simply stay away from you. Also, you do not get the Arcane Archer's (generally a crap subclass, but has one incredibly powerful ability at 3rd level which is...) Grasping Arrow.
Any poor sucker hit by the Arcane Archer's Grasping arrow takes normal damage, plus (no save) 2d6 poison damage (ok), loses 10 ft to their speed (nice), and (drum roll please) takes 1d6 slashing damage each turn they move >1 ft (HUGE). That is every TURN - which means if they walk 5 ft they take damage, then when your fighter friend shoves them they take damage, when your Warlock friend Repelling blasts them they take damage, when your wizard Thunderwaves them they take damage, etc. etc. Oh and it lasts till they take an action to remove it. Which requires a successful save. Just to add insult to death.
So if you and 6 other people are attacking someone, effectively that means that until they waste a turn to remove the arrow, they could be taking 7d6 damage every round, as long as you continue to push them around. In addition to the original 2d6 poison and speed reduction.
This thread is pretty damage focused so far but consider two feats that would greatly increase the survivability of the team at probably the least stable time in their career. Healer and Inspiring Leader.
The build:
Variant Human: Celestial Warlock
8/14/16/8/10/16
Let's start with Inspiring Leader. It may not look like much, but the 4 temp hp each short rest represents a massive boost to party survivability. This ranges from a 50% boost to virtual HP total for a 14 con wizard to just over a 25% boost for a 16 con barbarian. At a level where anyone is one unlucky critical away from going unconscious, this feat buys the whole team turns in combat when the worst is happening.
Healer outputs an intense amount of healing at lower levels, but actually scales very well. At a time when spell slots are scarce, turning cheap healer's kits into a lifeline for the party is huge. The team should be able to operate at peak health at all times with this online at level 1.
Celestial Warlock rounds out the healing kit with a pair of uses of Healing Light, an excellent bonus action option for picking up an ally that does end up going down.
Eldritch Blast + Hex is fine damage and AC is definitely a weak spot. But this is a team game, so stay away from the fray and keep people healthy while contributing decent damage.
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One of my friends told us to roll up some absolutely busted level one characters. Looking for ideas.
- We are level one. Due to plot reasons. (yes, there is plot. This is an offshoot of an actual campaign.)
- We get a feat right off the bat, so it's more fun to play. (also, so we don't just all choose Variant Humans. Though 2 feats could be fun.)
Let it rip, baby!
Please note a lot of the 1 level OP characters fail at higher levels. That said, Cleric, Sorcerer and Warlock get Subclass features at first level, making them the most likely OP classes. But I do not think Sorcerer has any OP subclass at 1st level.
Clerics of "Light" get a reaction flare useable once per Wis Bonus that grants disadvantage, "Peace" gets Emboldening bond which is a concentration free Bless spell Proficiency times, and Twilight gets Marital Weapons, Heavy Armor, 300 ft Darkvision AND advantage on Initiative. Not to mention Faerie Fire.
Warlock "The Undead" has a powerful "Form of Dread" that both gives you Temp hitpoints and can Frighten (granting disadvantage to their attacks). Throw in Eldritch Blast AND the Feat "Eldritch Adept" granting you an Invocation can give you Eldritch Blast at 1st level either doing 1d10+Charisma or repelling any creature it hits by 10 ft.
Also Warlock Hexblade curse can give you a 19-20 crit range. Play a Drow Elf, take Elven Accuracy. Cast Faerie Fire that grants Advantage. You now have 3 chances to get a 19-20, or approximately a 30% chance of critting every round.
Those are the classes I think most likely to be OP at 1st level. Things dramatically change once you get above 1st level (Wizards in particular can get Portents at 2nd level, very powerful)
I would go with a classic Custom Lineage Fighter.
Piercer as your free feat to start the game with DEX 18 and Crossbow Expert to attack twice since level 1. 1d6 + 4 x2 with a lovely to hit of 8 (!) is really consistent. Your avg DPR is 12.3. Warlock baseline at level 1 is just 5.
Owlin Rogue with the Lucky Feat.
With Variant Human or Custom Lineage plus your free feat you can be a GWM+PAM martial character off the bat. However, at level 1 GWM might be less desirable.
I'll suggest going PAM alongside Monsters of the Multiverse (releasing in a couple days) Bugbear. You get a martial character with 2 attacks at 10ft (for spear/staff+shield) to 15ft (for glaive/halberd) reach (on your turn) that deal an extra 2d6 each in the first round if you roll initiative well. Any of the martial classes should do okay with this, but Barbarian should give the most survivability (though you'll want to take the PAM attack in round 1 most of the time instead of raging in order to take advantage of the Bugbear's extra 2d6).
I’d play a Variant Human and pick two half feats so my primary ability score starts at 18.
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Depending on the situation, an aarakocra with sharpshooter and any martial class could basically just fly a few hundred feet in the air and as long as they have even partial line of sight they're untouchable. Wouldn't be great if you don't get a lot of open air battles, or if the DM goes out of their way to have stuff that can knock you out of the sky and kill you with fall damage.
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The problem with the ranged builds is that while they kill pure melee they get killed by other ranged builds. Which includes most spell casters. While long bows can attack at upto 600 ft with disadvantage, so can any other long bow man. Also you have to get there, i.e. getting killed in the first round while you try to do a double move away is not OP.
But if you are a melee guy then a flyer with a long bow and a prepared ambush is terrifying
Not necessarily true if you are a Crossbow Expert.
Ir0ns0ul I am not sure what you are saying. Anyone with the crossbow expert feat is not a melee guy.
If you are a crossbow expert you still get killed by other ranged builds. While it is good, it is by no means the best. Even with a heavy crossbow, you can't hit anyone >500 ft, so the Longbow flyer can simply stay away from you. Also, you do not get the Arcane Archer's (generally a crap subclass, but has one incredibly powerful ability at 3rd level which is...) Grasping Arrow.
Any poor sucker hit by the Arcane Archer's Grasping arrow takes normal damage, plus (no save) 2d6 poison damage (ok), loses 10 ft to their speed (nice), and (drum roll please) takes 1d6 slashing damage each turn they move >1 ft (HUGE). That is every TURN - which means if they walk 5 ft they take damage, then when your fighter friend shoves them they take damage, when your Warlock friend Repelling blasts them they take damage, when your wizard Thunderwaves them they take damage, etc. etc. Oh and it lasts till they take an action to remove it. Which requires a successful save. Just to add insult to death.
So if you and 6 other people are attacking someone, effectively that means that until they waste a turn to remove the arrow, they could be taking 7d6 damage every round, as long as you continue to push them around. In addition to the original 2d6 poison and speed reduction.
I agree and I love Arcane Archers.
CBE take out ranged disadvantage when fighting at melee, that’s why I think it’s viable against casters. Flying is broken always.
This thread is pretty damage focused so far but consider two feats that would greatly increase the survivability of the team at probably the least stable time in their career. Healer and Inspiring Leader.
The build:
Variant Human: Celestial Warlock
8/14/16/8/10/16
Let's start with Inspiring Leader. It may not look like much, but the 4 temp hp each short rest represents a massive boost to party survivability. This ranges from a 50% boost to virtual HP total for a 14 con wizard to just over a 25% boost for a 16 con barbarian. At a level where anyone is one unlucky critical away from going unconscious, this feat buys the whole team turns in combat when the worst is happening.
Healer outputs an intense amount of healing at lower levels, but actually scales very well. At a time when spell slots are scarce, turning cheap healer's kits into a lifeline for the party is huge. The team should be able to operate at peak health at all times with this online at level 1.
Celestial Warlock rounds out the healing kit with a pair of uses of Healing Light, an excellent bonus action option for picking up an ally that does end up going down.
Eldritch Blast + Hex is fine damage and AC is definitely a weak spot. But this is a team game, so stay away from the fray and keep people healthy while contributing decent damage.