My friend challenged me to a 1v1 battle with a level 20 character I make against theirs. No homebrew stuff are allowed, and we are each allowed one legendary item and one uncommon item. Any ideas for the most broken build to make using these guidelines?
I would go mobile ranged - either archer or magic. A good ranged mobility pc destroys a melee based build because the melee cannot get them. Something with a high speed - able to move at least 60 ft a round. Flight works well, but not a necessity. Of course, a solid battlefield controller will crush a mobile ranged attacker. And a good melee based character with initiative and a bit of luck will kill a battlefield controller.
Reliable deadly in a one on one = mobile to avoid melee and ranged to kill them. Sharpshooter, crossbow expert work really well with fighter build and lots of feats. Maybe some levels of rogue for sneak attack. Or a Sorlock that uses Eldritch blasts that repell can also do nicely. At 20th level you use your levelled spells for defense while the cantrips to kill.
Plenty of things are "broken" at 20th level compared to the way normal D&D works. Here's the dumbest method I could think of:
Make a level 20 Champion Fighter. Pick up the Alert feat, and choose Wave and Eldritch Claw Tattoo as your magic items. Go first. Activate your Eldritch Claw Tattoo. Hit your opponent 4 times. Action Surge. Hit them 4 more times. There's a 72% chance you crit at least once, in which case they're probably dead, and a 32% chance you crit twice, in which case they're automatically dead. If neither of those things happened, you're probably going to lose.
There's plenty of things you could do to make this build more effective but I can't be bothered to list them all out; at level 20 the game is your oyster.
Edit: if you go second or it looks like they're going to make a fight of it, use Wave's Cube of Force property to hedge out either nonliving matter or spell effects depending on what class they've chosen. You can still attack out of the cube because of your Eldritch Claw reach. I say this just to make it clear my guy could beat Mog Dracov's guy.
A wizard with wish, or just hold person. Or a monk, any subclass will do, with a good wisdom so you can stunlock them. Damage isn’t the trick here, forcing them to miss their turn is the win button.
PCs aren’t built to fight other PCs (mathematically), but the bigger deal is that D&D is turn based. So in these types of fights, often the person who wins initiative wins. They get the first chance to pull of their big nova round, and if that doesn’t work, they get a second round of attacks before the other person, and so on. The lesson is, go high dex, take alert, and whatever else you can to stack the initiative roll in your favor. Then pick something that forces the other person to lose their turn.
In a player vs player fight (which is decidedly not how the game should be played), the only real important factor is Initiative. Just go full Monk, maybe multiclass Gloomstalker or something that messes with initiative, and get feats that boost your initiative bonus.
Any monk with decent wisdom and a high initiative will win a fight against just about anyone - take action before your opponent and then stun them every turn until they die.
It's not a very fun way to play but to each their own.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
PvP is mainly about winning initiative especially with a caster build. The first spell can pretty much seal the battle. The Alert feat is a no brainer. 2 levels of Bard for Jack of all Trades is solid as is 2 levels of War Magic Wizard to boost initiative rolls. 2 levels of Fighter is also a great pickup as Action Surge can help you get around Counterspells or setup powerful 1-2 spell combos. Maxing DEX is should be your top priority even if it means your casting stat is only at 18 or something.
So yeah my advice is to go for a high level caster that focuses on winning initiative. If you win initiative you pretty much have over 90% chance of winning the fight.
I agree with the above, Initiative is the key. You want Harengon + Alert + Chronurgy Wizard. Take the Robe of the Magi for your Legendary item, and Winged Boots for your Uncommon Item.
For spells make sure you take:
Psychic Lance, Forcecage, Banishment, Hold Person, Feeblemind, Hypnotic Pattern.
My friend challenged me to a 1v1 battle with a level 20 character I make against theirs. No homebrew stuff are allowed, and we are each allowed one legendary item and one uncommon item. Any ideas for the most broken build to make using these guidelines?
I would go mobile ranged - either archer or magic. A good ranged mobility pc destroys a melee based build because the melee cannot get them. Something with a high speed - able to move at least 60 ft a round. Flight works well, but not a necessity. Of course, a solid battlefield controller will crush a mobile ranged attacker. And a good melee based character with initiative and a bit of luck will kill a battlefield controller.
Reliable deadly in a one on one = mobile to avoid melee and ranged to kill them. Sharpshooter, crossbow expert work really well with fighter build and lots of feats. Maybe some levels of rogue for sneak attack. Or a Sorlock that uses Eldritch blasts that repell can also do nicely. At 20th level you use your levelled spells for defense while the cantrips to kill.
Plenty of things are "broken" at 20th level compared to the way normal D&D works. Here's the dumbest method I could think of:
Make a level 20 Champion Fighter. Pick up the Alert feat, and choose Wave and Eldritch Claw Tattoo as your magic items. Go first. Activate your Eldritch Claw Tattoo. Hit your opponent 4 times. Action Surge. Hit them 4 more times. There's a 72% chance you crit at least once, in which case they're probably dead, and a 32% chance you crit twice, in which case they're automatically dead. If neither of those things happened, you're probably going to lose.
There's plenty of things you could do to make this build more effective but I can't be bothered to list them all out; at level 20 the game is your oyster.
Edit: if you go second or it looks like they're going to make a fight of it, use Wave's Cube of Force property to hedge out either nonliving matter or spell effects depending on what class they've chosen. You can still attack out of the cube because of your Eldritch Claw reach. I say this just to make it clear my guy could beat Mog Dracov's guy.
A wizard with wish, or just hold person. Or a monk, any subclass will do, with a good wisdom so you can stunlock them. Damage isn’t the trick here, forcing them to miss their turn is the win button.
PCs aren’t built to fight other PCs (mathematically), but the bigger deal is that D&D is turn based. So in these types of fights, often the person who wins initiative wins. They get the first chance to pull of their big nova round, and if that doesn’t work, they get a second round of attacks before the other person, and so on. The lesson is, go high dex, take alert, and whatever else you can to stack the initiative roll in your favor. Then pick something that forces the other person to lose their turn.
In a player vs player fight (which is decidedly not how the game should be played), the only real important factor is Initiative. Just go full Monk, maybe multiclass Gloomstalker or something that messes with initiative, and get feats that boost your initiative bonus.
Any monk with decent wisdom and a high initiative will win a fight against just about anyone - take action before your opponent and then stun them every turn until they die.
It's not a very fun way to play but to each their own.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
PvP is mainly about winning initiative especially with a caster build. The first spell can pretty much seal the battle. The Alert feat is a no brainer. 2 levels of Bard for Jack of all Trades is solid as is 2 levels of War Magic Wizard to boost initiative rolls. 2 levels of Fighter is also a great pickup as Action Surge can help you get around Counterspells or setup powerful 1-2 spell combos. Maxing DEX is should be your top priority even if it means your casting stat is only at 18 or something.
So yeah my advice is to go for a high level caster that focuses on winning initiative. If you win initiative you pretty much have over 90% chance of winning the fight.
I agree with the above, Initiative is the key. You want Harengon + Alert + Chronurgy Wizard. Take the Robe of the Magi for your Legendary item, and Winged Boots for your Uncommon Item.
For spells make sure you take:
Psychic Lance, Forcecage, Banishment, Hold Person, Feeblemind, Hypnotic Pattern.
Win initiative and then Vorpal Sword! BBBOOOMMM!!! ;)
Drow Shadowblades are so good! Give them a Google!