I am thinking of taking the Fey-Touched feat for a character build, and am debating between taking Hex and Hunter's Mark.
While I think Hex will be better thematically; Hunter's Mark appears to be the better options since it does Force damage. Regarding the other benefits, Hunter's Mark will help in finding creatures trying to hide, or escaping and running off. Now with several actions/effects requiring monsters to make a Saving Throw instead of an ability contest, does this confirm Hex is a weaker option in comparison? It has more versatility in that the caster can choose an ability; but I see this having more of a benefit outside of combat encounters.
Areas were I think Hex works as a benefit in combat:
1) DEX: Will give target disadvantage when trying to take the hide action in combat. 2) WIS: Will give target disadvantage on attempts to find characters that are hiding.
There are probable scenarios outside of combat where Hex could have come into play with the disadvantaged ability, and this might sway the spell in favor compared to Hunter's Mark, but I am not sure how often it will be useful in common game scenarios.
Any thoughts, guidance, tactical options would be appreciated. Is one a clear winner or are they both near equal under the right circumstances. Cheers!
Enemies rarely do ability checks in combat unless your party has a way to impose one. Hex is a curse, which some enemies may be immune and deal a damage type generally far more often resisted or immune from than Force. Hunter's Mark extra ability is situational but can be helpful and for all these reasons i'd go for this one.
In 2014 Hex had quite a few unique uses in combat - making it easier to grapply/shove enemies by imposing DA on strength, making it harder for enemies to counterspell by giving DA on INT/CHA, or making it easier for the rogue to hide by giving DA on Wis (which lowers passive perception by 5). None of these uses still work in 2024 so in 2024 Hunter's Mark is superior.
Honestly, it's whichever you want. Hunter's Mark is technically superior, but the differences are minimal- necrotic damage is somewhat more resisted than force, but the majority of the time it still won't come up, and both sets of secondary features are extremely situational. Really, the biggest difference in performance is the M and S components of Hex- technically that means you need to get a component pouch and keep a hand free to use the spell, whereas Hunter's Mark only uses a V component, so it can be uses pretty much any time. But whether or not a given table actually bothers itself with the specific rules of components is pretty up in the air.
Enemies rarely do ability checks in combat unless your party has a way to impose one. Hex is a curse, which some enemies may be immune and deal a damage type generally far more often resisted or immune from than Force. Hunter's Mark extra ability is situational but can be helpful and for all these reasons i'd go for this one.
It may also depend on what weapon you're using and if you have the weapon mastery or if you use another spell like hail of thorns which forces a Dex save. I have a Fey-touched Ranger whose preferred weapon is a quarterstaff (Mastery is Topple) so with every hit he forces a Con save or knocks his opponent prone. I feel like the 2 spells are fairly equal, it just depends on how you want to flavor the character - do you want the ability to track your foe, or impose disadvantage?
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Enemies rarely do ability checks in combat unless your party has a way to impose one. Hex is a curse, which some enemies may be immune and deal a damage type generally far more often resisted or immune from than Force. Hunter's Mark extra ability is situational but can be helpful and for all these reasons i'd go for this one.
It may also depend on what weapon you're using and if you have the weapon mastery or if you use another spell like hail of thorns which forces a Dex save. I have a Fey-touched Ranger whose preferred weapon is a quarterstaff (Mastery is Topple) so with every hit he forces a Con save or knocks his opponent prone. I feel like the 2 spells are fairly equal, it just depends on how you want to flavor the character - do you want the ability to track your foe, or impose disadvantage?
Hex only works on ability checks, not saving throws.
Enemies rarely do ability checks in combat unless your party has a way to impose one. Hex is a curse, which some enemies may be immune and deal a damage type generally far more often resisted or immune from than Force. Hunter's Mark extra ability is situational but can be helpful and for all these reasons i'd go for this one.
It may also depend on what weapon you're using and if you have the weapon mastery or if you use another spell like hail of thorns which forces a Dex save. I have a Fey-touched Ranger whose preferred weapon is a quarterstaff (Mastery is Topple) so with every hit he forces a Con save or knocks his opponent prone. I feel like the 2 spells are fairly equal, it just depends on how you want to flavor the character - do you want the ability to track your foe, or impose disadvantage?
Hex only works on ability checks, not saving throws.
Ooops! My mistake. Well then, hunter’s mark all the way!
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
I will say that Initiative is still a DEX check, so if you can get the Hex off before combat starts, you can impose disadvantage on it. But then, if you can get a spell off before combat starts, the creature you'd be Hexing is probably surprised and would have disadvantage anyway
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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)
At a lot of DMs consider declaring intent to cast a hostile spell like Hex to be a basis for starting initiative, so the mileage there in practice will be flaky.
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I am thinking of taking the Fey-Touched feat for a character build, and am debating between taking Hex and Hunter's Mark.
While I think Hex will be better thematically; Hunter's Mark appears to be the better options since it does Force damage. Regarding the other benefits, Hunter's Mark will help in finding creatures trying to hide, or escaping and running off. Now with several actions/effects requiring monsters to make a Saving Throw instead of an ability contest, does this confirm Hex is a weaker option in comparison? It has more versatility in that the caster can choose an ability; but I see this having more of a benefit outside of combat encounters.
Areas were I think Hex works as a benefit in combat:
1) DEX: Will give target disadvantage when trying to take the hide action in combat.
2) WIS: Will give target disadvantage on attempts to find characters that are hiding.
There are probable scenarios outside of combat where Hex could have come into play with the disadvantaged ability, and this might sway the spell in favor compared to Hunter's Mark, but I am not sure how often it will be useful in common game scenarios.
Any thoughts, guidance, tactical options would be appreciated. Is one a clear winner or are they both near equal under the right circumstances. Cheers!
Enemies rarely do ability checks in combat unless your party has a way to impose one. Hex is a curse, which some enemies may be immune and deal a damage type generally far more often resisted or immune from than Force. Hunter's Mark extra ability is situational but can be helpful and for all these reasons i'd go for this one.
In 2014 Hex had quite a few unique uses in combat - making it easier to grapply/shove enemies by imposing DA on strength, making it harder for enemies to counterspell by giving DA on INT/CHA, or making it easier for the rogue to hide by giving DA on Wis (which lowers passive perception by 5). None of these uses still work in 2024 so in 2024 Hunter's Mark is superior.
Honestly, it's whichever you want. Hunter's Mark is technically superior, but the differences are minimal- necrotic damage is somewhat more resisted than force, but the majority of the time it still won't come up, and both sets of secondary features are extremely situational. Really, the biggest difference in performance is the M and S components of Hex- technically that means you need to get a component pouch and keep a hand free to use the spell, whereas Hunter's Mark only uses a V component, so it can be uses pretty much any time. But whether or not a given table actually bothers itself with the specific rules of components is pretty up in the air.
It may also depend on what weapon you're using and if you have the weapon mastery or if you use another spell like hail of thorns which forces a Dex save. I have a Fey-touched Ranger whose preferred weapon is a quarterstaff (Mastery is Topple) so with every hit he forces a Con save or knocks his opponent prone. I feel like the 2 spells are fairly equal, it just depends on how you want to flavor the character - do you want the ability to track your foe, or impose disadvantage?
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Hex only works on ability checks, not saving throws.
pronouns: he/she/they
Ooops! My mistake. Well then, hunter’s mark all the way!
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Hex can be cast from hiding without automatically revealing yourself with the 2024 rules.This could be advantageous in or out of combat.Dexterity attribute seems to be a good choice to target because of the many checks associated with it, especially initiative.
How? It's got a V component, just like Hunter's Mark.
you're correct, I missed the vocal component somehow.
I will say that Initiative is still a DEX check, so if you can get the Hex off before combat starts, you can impose disadvantage on it. But then, if you can get a spell off before combat starts, the creature you'd be Hexing is probably surprised and would have disadvantage anyway
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)
At a lot of DMs consider declaring intent to cast a hostile spell like Hex to be a basis for starting initiative, so the mileage there in practice will be flaky.