I've always been intrigued by the idea of a full arcane caster that also functions as a frontline tank for the party. After much thought I've settled on this tri-class build. I know that to many 3 classes in one character is a bit much, but I believe this build is quite powerful when broken down by the features it has access to.
Spirit Guardians is a powerhouse spell
Meta magic is great with buff spells and cantrip based damage
Warlock spell slots synergize extremely well with sorcerer features
War magic wizards are very potent when most rounds are spent casting cantrips
Of course this build is complicated enough that I'm almost certain I'm missing some optimization, that's where you helpful folks come in. One last note, this build is being made for AL content and will be following those rules, with xanathar's guide to everything as our 1 splat book.
Character Creation
Stats For this build we'll be using the point buy system, with the following stats:
Str - 8
dex - 15
con - 12
int - 13
wis - 8
cha - 15
Race We'll use the human variant, taking the warcaster feat, +1 to cha and dex, and proficiency in acrobatics. This brings our stats to:
Str - 8
dex - 16
con - 12
int - 13
wis - 8
cha - 16
Background Now we take criminal, as deception and stealth are always useful to have
Class When it comes to class, we start with sorcerer for con save proficiency and pushing us towards spirit guardians as fast as possible.
Gear
I took the following:
Light crossbow
Arcane focus
Dungeoneer's pack
Two daggers
Sorcerous Origin Here we take Divine soul, it gives us the following
Full access to the cleric spell list cast as cha based spells.
Cure wounds from our good affinity
Favored by the gods that lets us add 2d4 to a failed saving throw or missed attack once per short/long rest
Spells Cantrips:
Shocking grasp
Toll the dead
Spare the dying
Light
1st level:
Shield
Shield of faith
Levels 2-5 This build will spend its first 5 levels are a straight sorcerer, at least the way I'm ordering the levels. You have toll the dead for basic damage dealing and shocking grasp for when you become melee.
Level 2
Class features
Font of Magic: key sorcerer ability that will give us more casts of the spells we really want
Spells 1st level:
Healing Word
Level 3
Class features
Metamagic: we take extended spell for things like aid and quickened spell for double casting cantrips or a big spell and a cantrip
Spells 2nd level:
Aid
Level 4
ASI
We take the shield master feat, it’ll be key in a couple levels
Spells Cantrips:
Mending
2nd level:
Spiritual weapon
Level 5
Spells 3rd level:
Replace shield with counter spell
Spirit guardians
Levels 6-10 Now it’s time for our first multi-class. We’ll be taking 5 levels of warlock. Warlock gives us the following:
Medium armor, shield, and weapon proficiency
Synergy of sorcery points and short rest spell slots
Hex blade’s curse for boss fights
Eldritch blast for round-to-round damage
Pact of the chain for advantage on 1 attack per round and maximized healing dice
Spirit guardian on short rest
Level 6 Otherworldly Patron We take the hexblade patron, it gives us the shield spell to replace the one we swapped out earlier and gives us hexblade’s curse for boss fights
Spells Cantrips:
Eldritch blast
Mage hand
1st level:
Hex
Shield
Level 7
Eldritch Invocations
Agonizing blast
Grasp of Hadar
Spells 1st level:
Hellish rebuke
Level 8
Pact Boon
Pact of the chain: gives us a familiar and more importantly, the gift of the ever-living ones invocation
Eldritch Invocations
Replace Grasp of Hadar with gift of the ever-living ones
Spells 2nd level:
Mirror image
Level 9
ASI
We take the medium armor mastery feat to take advantage of our 16 dex and allow us to be stealthy in our armor
Spells 1st level:
Armor of Agathys
Level 10
Eldritch Invocation
Grasp of Hadar
Spells 3rd level:
Magic circle
Replace hellish rebuke with dispel magic
Levels 11-20 Now it’s time for our second multi-class, this time into wizard, giving us the following benefits.
Mage spell list is the best spell list
War magic is great for a tank that casts one concentration spell then uses mostly cantrips
Continues to increase our spell slot levels so we can further up-cast spirit guardians
Level 11
Arcane Recovery Nice to have another way to get back spell slots
Spells Cantrips:
Message
Blade ward
Minor illusion
1st level:
Alarm
Comprehend languages
Detect magic
Minor illusion
Tenser’s floating disk
Unseen servant
Level 12
Arcane Tradition We take war magic for the following:
Arcane deflection: lets us increase or ac or saving throw when needed, this build will mostly be casting cantrips so the downside is minor.
Tactical wit: +1 initiative is always nice
Spells 1st level:
Illusory script
Sleep
Level 13
Spells 2nd level:
Blindness/Deafness
Misty step
Level 14 ASI
+2 cha bringing us to 18
Spells Cantrips:
Mold earth
1st level:
Longstrider
2nd level:
Featherfall
Level 15
Spells Level 3:
Bestow curse
Dispel magic
Level 16
Arcane Tradition
Power surge: a little extra benefit to our dispel magic and counter spells is always nice, as is a little extra damage
Spells 3rd level:
Fireball
Leomund's tiny hut
Level 17
Spells 4th level:
Polymorph
Fire shield
Level 18
ASI
+2 cha bringing us to 20
Spells 4th level:
Blight
Mordenkainen's faithful hound
Level 19
Spells 5th level:
Animate objects
Wall of force
Level 20
Arcane tradition
+2 to ac and saves while concentrating? Yes please
Spells 5th level:
Cone of cold
Steel wind strike
Level 20
Strategy The way I organized the levels this build spends levels 1-5 as a normal back line caster, coming online as a full tank at level 6. If a tank was needed in your party, you could take 1 level in warlock, but I preferred getting to spirit guardians as fast as possible.
After level 6 this build becomes a full tank. During most fights the first round will be spent casting SG then moving towards the enemy. After that the build has several damage cantrips to choose from to fit the situation. Eldritch blast is by far the best at range, with shocking grasp or toll the dead being used against targets the build is in melee with. Quickened spell is especially good at this point, as it lets you cast 2 cantrips in a single round.
Although SG is the go-to concentration for this build, it's not the only option. Twin spelling buffs like shield of faith, haste, or polymorph are all very good options, depending what the situation calls for. The build also gets decent 1-shot damage options like fireball.
The main weaknesses of this build are:
Restrictive stat requirements
Missing out on 6-9th level spells
However, I think the benefits outweigh the gains:
build still gets a 20 in its main stat with a 16 dex for important spell saves an initiative.
The build still has access to spell slots up to level 8, and spells like SG benefit greatly from being up-cast, so I don't think this reduces the build's combat effectiveness
And that’s it! Hope you enjoyed reading this, if you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them =).
This is an interesting idea, but the title is misleading as it is neither a full caster or a tank. A full caster has the full spell progression, which your multiclassing prevents. A tank is someone who is good at taking hits which you are quite poor at with low hit point classes and a 12 con. This is a frontline caster that does decent damage but gives up flexibility and durability to do so. If you can somehow come up with a good story for how you managed to get those combination of classes and subclasses it could be interesting. But it seems kinda fragile to me, especially relying on concentration spells from the front line with a low con bonus.
I'd say it is a full tank, it's job is to sit on the front-line and mitigate damage. High HP is not the only way to do this. Shield, counterspell, and absorb elements can do a ton of work to keep the character alive. The build also uses armor of agathys and extended metamagic plus aid to give itself more straight HP. As for full caster you are right it does miss out on the level 9 slot, but every character level is a caster of some type, hence why I say full caster.
Why not go hill dwarf life cleric? You won't even need STR or DEX, and will get 2 extra hp per level, all the cleric spells you want (including spirit guardians), heavy armor and shield at level 1. You don't need stealth if you are a tank.
Then you can take 15 levels of wizard or sorcerer for casting. I recommend abjuration wizard personally. Celestial warlock gets a lot of healing and a few tanking abilities.
you could also go with a full caster with an AC around 25-40. Great against multiple enemies. Unless they are spell casters, since you only get one counter spell per round
you could also go with a full caster with an AC around 25-40. Great against multiple enemies. Unless they are spell casters, since you only get one counter spell per round
You would multiclass Wizard Bladesinger, with Bard College of swords and go for a 20 in Int and Dex.
With Standard Studded leather Armor your AC will be 17 and if you activate Bladesong you reach an AC of 22. After this you would multiclass into Bard (College of swords) and combine this with their blade flourish which can potentially increase our AC by 6, for a total of 28 and minimum of 23, pick up Haste with a magical secret and wait for your bardic inspiration becomes a d12 and the max AC you can reach becomes 36 without the shield spell and 41 with the spell.
And if we begin to include magic items we can push this even further.
but while this build is possible, it is a bit unrealistic, but a fun thought experiment.
Why not go hill dwarf life cleric? You won't even need STR or DEX, and will get 2 extra hp per level, all the cleric spells you want (including spirit guardians), heavy armor and shield at level 1. You don't need stealth if you are a tank.
Then you can take 15 levels of wizard or sorcerer for casting. I recommend abjuration wizard personally. Celestial warlock gets a lot of healing and a few tanking abilities.
Cleric wizard is missing out on the powerful eldritch invocations, like grasp of hadar to allow for double ticks of SG on a target, gift of the ever livings ones for maximized healing dice, and agonizing blast for the best damage cantrip in the game. It also misses out on the synergy metamagic has with warlock. I originally had a level of forge cleric in there, but cut it since it wasn't doing enough.
I think technically you can't take Shield Mastery until you have proficiency with a shield. I might be wrong on that though. You have it right now that you take Shield Mastery as 4th level ASI and don't get shield proficiency until later
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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?
You would multiclass Wizard Bladesinger, with Bard College of swords and go for a 20 in Int and Dex.
With Standard Studded leather Armor your AC will be 17 and if you activate Bladesong you reach an AC of 22. After this you would multiclass into Bard (College of swords) and combine this with their blade flourish which can potentially increase our AC by 6, for a total of 28 and minimum of 23, pick up Haste with a magical secret and wait for your bardic inspiration becomes a d12 and the max AC you can reach becomes 36 without the shield spell and 41 with the spell.
And if we begin to include magic items we can push this even further.
but while this build is possible, it is a bit unrealistic, but a fun thought experiment.
Sounds like a fun build, although a little different from what I'm going for. I really wish bladesinger and abjuration could be taken together
I think technically you can't take Shield Mastery until you have proficiency with a shield. I might be wrong on that though. You have it right now that you take Shield Mastery as 4th level ASI and don't get shield proficiency until later
According to the phb you don't need to have shield proficiency, I double checked =P.
I think technically you can't take Shield Mastery until you have proficiency with a shield. I might be wrong on that though. You have it right now that you take Shield Mastery as 4th level ASI and don't get shield proficiency until later
According to the phb you don't need to have shield proficiency, I double checked =P.
I think technically you can't take Shield Mastery until you have proficiency with a shield. I might be wrong on that though. You have it right now that you take Shield Mastery as 4th level ASI and don't get shield proficiency until later
According to the phb you don't need to have shield proficiency, I double checked =P.
I have a Paladin/Sorc and Paladin/Warlock builds that had a similar feel, but I wasn’t as brave as you to skip the plate proficiency and few extra HP.
The progression makes a ton of sense to me with your multi class choices. One point of consideration: I usually focus less on ranged attacks with anybody I plan to have in the front line. The disadvantage on attacks happens too often to ignore for me. In this build I might look to reduce the EB effort and just accept decreased DPR when I am obliged to sit at range.
Why? There are a few game options that might work better than Ag blast. Plus, as a human you miss darkvision. Devil’s Sight makes you Riddick (saving you the Darkvision slot). Ag Blast isn’t a bad choice at all, but if you expect to be in melee range most of the time, the extra damage from Ag Blast is less useful. Also, with Sorc ranged options, you are already pretty serviceable without it. It’s a more-better choice. Whereas some of the ‘always on’ options for Warlock make you either more versatile.
Have to learn some time... but it's definitely weird that you can master the shield prior to becoming proficient with it.
@Bhorg I think the ranged disadvantage in melee is the reason for the inclusion of Shocking Grasp.
@pancakemaster808 you've got dispel magic replacing hellish rebuke at 10 and then picking it up at 15th. Something to consider for this build, death domain does give you the option to toll the dead two adjacent enemies with reaper at 1st level cleric. It also comes with material weapon proficiency (whips to increase the range of your warcaster AoO), False Life and Ray of sickness, plus whatever other cleric spells and cantrips you would want. Of course, that probably means giving up wizard, and you're already getting weapon proficiency from warlock. But it's a thought.
I just noticed that Eldritch Blast does two beams at fifth level. Death domain becomes less interesting without that unique benefit.
Have to learn some time... but it's definitely weird that you can master the shield prior to becoming proficient with it.
So you won't get he +2 AC as you aren't proficient in it. Just the shield master bonus abilities. Is that really worth it?
If you wield a shield without proficiency, you get the +2 to AC, but you can't cast spells, and have disadvantage on STR and DEX attacks, and disadvantage on STR and DEX skills, and disadvantage on STR and DEX saves, and attacks have advantage against you, but you get the +2 to AC.
I totally agree. Shocking grasp is the attack there. I am sure I wasn’t clear enough; because melee will be so frequent, boosting EB abilities is less helpful. I do not mean that melee attacks are bad, but that boosting range attacks are simply less useful for a melee lock than a ranged lock.
My bad for being unclear.
Also, boosting EB is cool and can still be totally fine, but that may be the spot where there is room for some shuffling.
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Full caster main tank - sorcerer/warlock/wizard
Introduction
I've always been intrigued by the idea of a full arcane caster that also functions as a frontline tank for the party. After much thought I've settled on this tri-class build. I know that to many 3 classes in one character is a bit much, but I believe this build is quite powerful when broken down by the features it has access to.
Spirit Guardians is a powerhouse spell
Meta magic is great with buff spells and cantrip based damage
Warlock spell slots synergize extremely well with sorcerer features
War magic wizards are very potent when most rounds are spent casting cantrips
Of course this build is complicated enough that I'm almost certain I'm missing some optimization, that's where you helpful folks come in.
One last note, this build is being made for AL content and will be following those rules, with xanathar's guide to everything as our 1 splat book.
Character Creation
Stats
For this build we'll be using the point buy system, with the following stats:
Str - 8
dex - 15
con - 12
int - 13
wis - 8
cha - 15
Race
We'll use the human variant, taking the warcaster feat, +1 to cha and dex, and proficiency in acrobatics. This brings our stats to:
Str - 8
dex - 16
con - 12
int - 13
wis - 8
cha - 16
Background
Now we take criminal, as deception and stealth are always useful to have
Class
When it comes to class, we start with sorcerer for con save proficiency and pushing us towards spirit guardians as fast as possible.
Gear
I took the following:
Light crossbow
Arcane focus
Dungeoneer's pack
Two daggers
Sorcerous Origin
Here we take Divine soul, it gives us the following
Full access to the cleric spell list cast as cha based spells.
Cure wounds from our good affinity
Favored by the gods that lets us add 2d4 to a failed saving throw or missed attack once per short/long rest
Spells
Cantrips:
Shocking grasp
Toll the dead
Spare the dying
Light
1st level:
Shield
Shield of faith
Levels 2-5
This build will spend its first 5 levels are a straight sorcerer, at least the way I'm ordering the levels. You have toll the dead for basic damage dealing and shocking grasp for when you become melee.
Level 2
Class features
Font of Magic: key sorcerer ability that will give us more casts of the spells we really want
Spells
1st level:
Healing Word
Level 3
Class features
Metamagic: we take extended spell for things like aid and quickened spell for double casting cantrips or a big spell and a cantrip
Spells
2nd level:
Aid
Level 4
ASI
We take the shield master feat, it’ll be key in a couple levels
Spells
Cantrips:
Mending
2nd level:
Spiritual weapon
Level 5
Spells
3rd level:
Replace shield with counter spell
Spirit guardians
Levels 6-10
Now it’s time for our first multi-class. We’ll be taking 5 levels of warlock. Warlock gives us the following:
Medium armor, shield, and weapon proficiency
Synergy of sorcery points and short rest spell slots
Hex blade’s curse for boss fights
Eldritch blast for round-to-round damage
Pact of the chain for advantage on 1 attack per round and maximized healing dice
Spirit guardian on short rest
Level 6
Otherworldly Patron
We take the hexblade patron, it gives us the shield spell to replace the one we swapped out earlier and gives us hexblade’s curse for boss fights
Spells
Cantrips:
Eldritch blast
Mage hand
1st level:
Hex
Shield
Level 7
Eldritch Invocations
Agonizing blast
Grasp of Hadar
Spells
1st level:
Hellish rebuke
Level 8
Pact Boon
Pact of the chain: gives us a familiar and more importantly, the gift of the ever-living ones invocation
Eldritch Invocations
Replace Grasp of Hadar with gift of the ever-living ones
Spells
2nd level:
Mirror image
Level 9
ASI
We take the medium armor mastery feat to take advantage of our 16 dex and allow us to be stealthy in our armor
Spells
1st level:
Armor of Agathys
Level 10
Eldritch Invocation
Grasp of Hadar
Spells
3rd level:
Magic circle
Replace hellish rebuke with dispel magic
Levels 11-20
Now it’s time for our second multi-class, this time into wizard, giving us the following benefits.
Mage spell list is the best spell list
War magic is great for a tank that casts one concentration spell then uses mostly cantrips
Continues to increase our spell slot levels so we can further up-cast spirit guardians
Level 11
Arcane Recovery
Nice to have another way to get back spell slots
Spells
Cantrips:
Message
Blade ward
Minor illusion
1st level:
Alarm
Comprehend languages
Detect magic
Minor illusion
Tenser’s floating disk
Unseen servant
Level 12
Arcane Tradition
We take war magic for the following:
Arcane deflection: lets us increase or ac or saving throw when needed, this build will mostly be casting cantrips so the downside is minor.
Tactical wit: +1 initiative is always nice
Spells
1st level:
Illusory script
Sleep
Level 13
Spells
2nd level:
Blindness/Deafness
Misty step
Level 14
ASI
+2 cha bringing us to 18
Spells
Cantrips:
Mold earth
1st level:
Longstrider
2nd level:
Featherfall
Level 15
Spells
Level 3:
Bestow curse
Dispel magic
Level 16
Arcane Tradition
Power surge: a little extra benefit to our dispel magic and counter spells is always nice, as is a little extra damage
Spells
3rd level:
Fireball
Leomund's tiny hut
Level 17
Spells
4th level:
Polymorph
Fire shield
Level 18
ASI
+2 cha bringing us to 20
Spells
4th level:
Blight
Mordenkainen's faithful hound
Level 19
Spells
5th level:
Animate objects
Wall of force
Level 20
Arcane tradition
+2 to ac and saves while concentrating? Yes please
Spells
5th level:
Cone of cold
Steel wind strike
Level 20
Strategy
The way I organized the levels this build spends levels 1-5 as a normal back line caster, coming online as a full tank at level 6. If a tank was needed in your party, you could take 1 level in warlock, but I preferred getting to spirit guardians as fast as possible.
After level 6 this build becomes a full tank. During most fights the first round will be spent casting SG then moving towards the enemy. After that the build has several damage cantrips to choose from to fit the situation. Eldritch blast is by far the best at range, with shocking grasp or toll the dead being used against targets the build is in melee with. Quickened spell is especially good at this point, as it lets you cast 2 cantrips in a single round.
Although SG is the go-to concentration for this build, it's not the only option. Twin spelling buffs like shield of faith, haste, or polymorph are all very good options, depending what the situation calls for. The build also gets decent 1-shot damage options like fireball.
The main weaknesses of this build are:
Restrictive stat requirements
Missing out on 6-9th level spells
However, I think the benefits outweigh the gains:
build still gets a 20 in its main stat with a 16 dex for important spell saves an initiative.
The build still has access to spell slots up to level 8, and spells like SG benefit greatly from being up-cast, so I don't think this reduces the build's combat effectiveness
And that’s it! Hope you enjoyed reading this, if you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them =).
This is an interesting idea, but the title is misleading as it is neither a full caster or a tank. A full caster has the full spell progression, which your multiclassing prevents. A tank is someone who is good at taking hits which you are quite poor at with low hit point classes and a 12 con. This is a frontline caster that does decent damage but gives up flexibility and durability to do so. If you can somehow come up with a good story for how you managed to get those combination of classes and subclasses it could be interesting. But it seems kinda fragile to me, especially relying on concentration spells from the front line with a low con bonus.
I'd say it is a full tank, it's job is to sit on the front-line and mitigate damage. High HP is not the only way to do this. Shield, counterspell, and absorb elements can do a ton of work to keep the character alive. The build also uses armor of agathys and extended metamagic plus aid to give itself more straight HP. As for full caster you are right it does miss out on the level 9 slot, but every character level is a caster of some type, hence why I say full caster.
Why not go hill dwarf life cleric? You won't even need STR or DEX, and will get 2 extra hp per level, all the cleric spells you want (including spirit guardians), heavy armor and shield at level 1. You don't need stealth if you are a tank.
Then you can take 15 levels of wizard or sorcerer for casting. I recommend abjuration wizard personally. Celestial warlock gets a lot of healing and a few tanking abilities.
you could also go with a full caster with an AC around 25-40. Great against multiple enemies. Unless they are spell casters, since you only get one counter spell per round
How exactly do you go about getting a 40 AC?
You would multiclass Wizard Bladesinger, with Bard College of swords and go for a 20 in Int and Dex.
With Standard Studded leather Armor your AC will be 17 and if you activate Bladesong you reach an AC of 22. After this you would multiclass into Bard (College of swords) and combine this with their blade flourish which can potentially increase our AC by 6, for a total of 28 and minimum of 23, pick up Haste with a magical secret and wait for your bardic inspiration becomes a d12 and the max AC you can reach becomes 36 without the shield spell and 41 with the spell.
And if we begin to include magic items we can push this even further.
but while this build is possible, it is a bit unrealistic, but a fun thought experiment.
double post
Cleric wizard is missing out on the powerful eldritch invocations, like grasp of hadar to allow for double ticks of SG on a target, gift of the ever livings ones for maximized healing dice, and agonizing blast for the best damage cantrip in the game. It also misses out on the synergy metamagic has with warlock. I originally had a level of forge cleric in there, but cut it since it wasn't doing enough.
I think technically you can't take Shield Mastery until you have proficiency with a shield. I might be wrong on that though. You have it right now that you take Shield Mastery as 4th level ASI and don't get shield proficiency until later
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?
Sounds like a fun build, although a little different from what I'm going for. I really wish bladesinger and abjuration could be taken together
According to the phb you don't need to have shield proficiency, I double checked =P.
That is weird, but true.
They're a shield enthusiast
Fun build for sure!
I have a Paladin/Sorc and Paladin/Warlock builds that had a similar feel, but I wasn’t as brave as you to skip the plate proficiency and few extra HP.
The progression makes a ton of sense to me with your multi class choices. One point of consideration: I usually focus less on ranged attacks with anybody I plan to have in the front line. The disadvantage on attacks happens too often to ignore for me. In this build I might look to reduce the EB effort and just accept decreased DPR when I am obliged to sit at range.
Why? There are a few game options that might work better than Ag blast. Plus, as a human you miss darkvision. Devil’s Sight makes you Riddick (saving you the Darkvision slot). Ag Blast isn’t a bad choice at all, but if you expect to be in melee range most of the time, the extra damage from Ag Blast is less useful. Also, with Sorc ranged options, you are already pretty serviceable without it. It’s a more-better choice. Whereas some of the ‘always on’ options for Warlock make you either more versatile.
Have to learn some time... but it's definitely weird that you can master the shield prior to becoming proficient with it.
@Bhorg I think the ranged disadvantage in melee is the reason for the inclusion of Shocking Grasp.
@pancakemaster808 you've got dispel magic replacing hellish rebuke at 10 and then picking it up at 15th. Something to consider for this build, death domain does give you the option to toll the dead two adjacent enemies with reaper at 1st level cleric. It also comes with material weapon proficiency (whips to increase the range of your warcaster AoO), False Life and Ray of sickness, plus whatever other cleric spells and cantrips you would want. Of course, that probably means giving up wizard, and you're already getting weapon proficiency from warlock. But it's a thought.
I just noticed that Eldritch Blast does two beams at fifth level. Death domain becomes less interesting without that unique benefit.
Have to learn some time... but it's definitely weird that you can master the shield prior to becoming proficient with it.
So you won't get he +2 AC as you aren't proficient in it. Just the shield master bonus abilities. Is that really worth it?
He ends up getting shield proficiency 2 levels later when he goes into warlock if I remember right.
If you wield a shield without proficiency, you get the +2 to AC, but you can't cast spells, and have disadvantage on STR and DEX attacks, and disadvantage on STR and DEX skills, and disadvantage on STR and DEX saves, and attacks have advantage against you, but you get the +2 to AC.
Re: melee/range:
I totally agree. Shocking grasp is the attack there. I am sure I wasn’t clear enough; because melee will be so frequent, boosting EB abilities is less helpful. I do not mean that melee attacks are bad, but that boosting range attacks are simply less useful for a melee lock than a ranged lock.
My bad for being unclear.
Also, boosting EB is cool and can still be totally fine, but that may be the spot where there is room for some shuffling.