Okay, I'm pretty certain my build is completely finished now. I might clean up some language and switch a few minor details, but I've stopped switching around class levels, hit points, and spells. Everything major is staying the same from now on, so those who haven't read it recently may need to check some of the changes, as there have been some fairly important changes (all for increasing damage).
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
My vote goes to Third_Sundering's Ok Boomer, partly cause it is similar to mine, and I like mine, partly because I have seen all the work that has been put in. Good luck to everyone!
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Interesting multiclass combination. Very nice flavor, would be terrifying to use as a villain. I love the art for it, and think you did a great job. I am confused as to what your background is, as I am not aware of any "Fanatical Assassin" in the official list of backgrounds. Well done, though!
Very cool design, awesome flavor, and a very good character all in all. Being at range is a great benefit, and all of the classes you take are very useful. Not only a good way of piling up damage, but also is one of the best ranger builds I've seen.
Cool build, I love the flavor of it. Sorlocks are great, and I love how you made your Sorcerous Origin and Otherworldly Patron match in theme. Well done!
I love Barbarian/Paladin/Fighter multiclasses. I was tempted to do one myself. It's nice to see that someone took it upon themselves to create such a great character!
Nice character! It is a very good multiclass, and it is an interesting build. A lot of us have made use of the SCAGtrips! It's powerful and its name fits it very well.
I love a lot of the combinations in this build. It is great at nova, but there are some downsides. The lack of a story is a bit disappointing, but that is not a huge deal. Fire damage is cool, but is heavily resisted/immune. You do have Elemental Adept, which helps with this a lot, but Fire Immunity is still way more common Thunder, which is why Okay, Boomer uses Thunder Damage more often at low levels, and Force at higher levels.
Overall, it is well built, and you added a lot of combinations that my character sadly could not add. There are benefits and disadvantages to both characters, and both manage to do very well with the SCAG's Blade cantrips. Good job, and I enjoyed assisting in this character.
This is a bit of a strange character, but I like it. You get a ton of abilities, which is nice, but I'm not sure how well this overall works out. Interesting concept, though! It is very unique.
Finally, I will have to cast my vote for GoodBovine's Arsonist. The character multiclassing gives you huge bonuses to Green-Flame Blade, is excellent at nova damage and consistent Green Flame Blade damage, as well as doing a good job at focusing on what they're good at. If they manage to get a critical hit, they can deal a massive blow to who they hit, and they're likely to get a critical hit because of Champions. It is relatively similar to my build, but focuses on Charisma instead of Wisdom, which is always great to have, and they are very well built. The character concept is a bit strange if someone were to actually build it in a campaign, especially due to them having the Criminal background, but anything can happen in D&D games.
Good job all of you. I can't wait to see who wins!
This was so hard to decide on. I am just making this post as a place holder, but I'm so excited. I may post a second one, but this one is very fun but is actually very simple. Look out for a wizard with an ice cream cone... Rune stone I mean.
(Mr Ryze was too hard to make, but got another one):
May I present: Sett, The BOSS.
Sett is a remake of a previous edition, one that went a bit bad. But now we have him back, and he's angry.
Starting stats: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 18, Wis 10, Int 8, Cha 14
Background: Outlander
Starting feat: Martial Adept (taking the brace [UA] and parry manoeuvres)
Starting class: Barbarian
He walked along the dusty path, blood dripping from his lip. Half-beast, half-boy, Bastard. Now he was Sett, the Beast-Man Bastard, kicked out from his own fighting pits. But he would have revenge. And it would come sweetly..
Sett starts off as a barbarian, channelling his rage. He has a high HP, and some decent damage. This level isn't the best, but better than others. Take a greataxe and some javelins. HP: 16, AC: 15.
Level 5: Zealot Barbarian 3/Fighter 1/Paladin 1
Sett stood before the obsidian dragon, it's body ablaze with pleasure and power. It held out it's hand, and Sett held it. The power suffused his body... Sett awoke, and realised what had happened. To be a Dragonmancer.. the power it brought, and the responsibility.... As the dust settled around him, Sett grimaced as a pain burned in his eye. People began to let out shrieks of fear, as his eyes turned blue. His once red hair turned white, and his clothes changed. A golden dragon wrapped itself around his waist, and he was made: the Obsidian Dragon.
Sett now starts to get better. He has taken the unarmed fighting style, and now has a host of new features. The ability to have a free heal, and some damage reduction (from race and fighter) makes him tanky. He is doing 1d8+2+4+1d6 damage, and can take some hits. Soon he will be the BOSS though.... HP: 58, AC: 15
His opponent screamed and shouted, struggled as he jumped up with them, holding them tight, and slammed them down into the floor. People had begun to hear the name of Sett the Boss, and they had started to fear it. But tonight would be the one where he travelled to Noxus, and began his career again. And then those in Ionia would learn that he was in charge....
Sett has come into his own now. He has learned to control the draconic power within him, and form it into searing smites, killing his opponents in an instance. The abilities from Paladin include a fighting style (interception from UA to reduce damage even more), smites (yesssss) and the ability to hit when we should miss and make people fear the name 'Sett the Boss'. His damage is very decent as well, and increases by putting an ASI into str up to 20. We also have extra attack, essentially doubling damage. Sett has started to show his true colours (seems to be mostly gold with some blue and white. The colours of champions), and can seriously pack a punch. HP: 118, AC: 15
Sett walked out, the sand blowing viciously in the arena. The pits' master, Draven, stood looking down at him in the stands, and clapping slowly. His opponent lay face down in the sand, apparently dead. Sett had dreamed of nothing more than this, since his father had left him... And yet it pained hm to think of his mother, and to know what she must think. Yet he stood strong, and roared in both triumph and agony. 'Let him come, and let him lose'.
Sett has very much earned the title of 'Boss', and is now an absolute machine in combat. The second ASI goes into Con, making it 20. He can't be frightened by anyone, and has a bonus to his cha mod when making saving throws. He can push out smites and deal even more damage, while his HP and AC go up, and he can fight anything. But he isn't done yet.... HP: 195, AC: 16
A man walked out. His face and arms were covered in scars, while he carried nought but a knuckle duster. He dropped it, and clumsily kicked it over to Sett. He looked down and picked it up, studying it. It looked so familiar, yet so distant. It was exactly the same as his old one. The man smiled and opened his arms, and shouted so the whole arena could hear. His voice was cold and malicious, and caught the attention of Draven, his Brother Darius and even Swain. 'My dear son. Where have you been? Come and make up for the lost years. Come and be kind. Or fight me, and wish you hadn't!' He chuckled, and Sett walked to his father, and slid the knuckled duster onto his right hand. 'So it is' Was all his father said....
Sett is now the BOSS. He has conquered the spirit of the Obsidian Dragon, and learnt to channel it's power into his fists. He has the ability to cause people to be frightened of him just by seeing him, and they will pay dearly for underestimating him. He can end any spell on him, and has bonuses on saving throws. He gets +10 to attack rolls if he wants, and can not be frightened himself. His AC is ok, but his huge health pool and damage reductions (race, class, rage etc) let him tank and sustained damage is no problem. Sett has come back from Ionia, accepted his loss to a Piltovan Robot and come back to fight. HP: 228, AC: 16.
Sett was lying face up. Blood lay across his face, and his father was lame next to him. Sett had won, though barely. Draven had given him the Fighting pit, yet he said no. He made the long trip back home, and found his mother, nestled in the village where he had grown up. Saw the people that used to bully him. Make fun of him. And yet when he saw his mother, he cried. He cried, and confessed. And she told him 'True strength is the ability to forgive, and to be kind. Thank you, son'. Sett, the Beast-Boy. Sett, the Beast-Man. Sett the Bastard. Sett the Boss. They were all names, for one man of the greatest strength...
Damage: Let's go through this! 2d8+2d6+4+10+12d8=84 (average) and he crits on a 19 0r 20, and can just take damage till the day ends. He is fun to play, and can bring some real power to the table. May the dice roll well, and Sett win!
What cinched this decision is my adoration for the Zealot Barb / Conquest Pally combo. Amazing fill in with champ for something i never even considered and the original combo here is amazing. Battlefield presence for days.
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"I once knew this fella, Aasimar raised in the Underdark. Was like a brother to me. When he escaped we couldn't take much with us. Poor, emaciated husks of the living we were. 'ts okay though. We survived and made our ways. I'll never forget the way the people from my home looked at us when we walked in the archway. Though, I'm frighteningly certain the feelings they would have, had they but the opportunity ta see us leave." --Manolovo the Traitor, Memoirs of a Scoundrel
Thanks for the vote, and kind words for Sett. Definitely works better than his old version. My vote has to go to Yureis Feywarden, such an amazing build, really does make me seem nervous about whether she can win again... Good luck everyone!
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Interesting multiclass combination. Very nice flavor, would be terrifying to use as a villain. I love the art for it, and think you did a great job. I am confused as to what your background is, as I am not aware of any "Fanatical Assassin" in the official list of backgrounds. Well done, though!
It's a custom background. I thought I had mentioned that but I obviously forgot. Thanks for pointing it out. It's been corrected now.
What I like about this is that it's good at a lot of things, not just dealing damage. As you said yourself, if you're going to optimize, optmimize [insert Gary Oldman] everything.
This is a very *fun* character and it's very good at what it does. I just don't think it can hold up to a lot of the others.
Quote from Third_Sundering
OK Boomer
This is another fun character and I love the inclusion of Horizon walker. It's very good but it will have huge problems against anything that can stay out of range.
It's a strong build but it's actually not *that* tough. If you're going to only take three levels of barbarian in this round, Bear Totem would allow you to laugh of all of the GFBs and BBs running around.
It's a Nova build, alright. The problem is that it's not really a very good one. Fire damage is a very common immunity which means that literally every level 10 moon druid can just laugh of the fire damage. Bearbarians will have to take the fire damage but laugh at the smite damage. And since you only have three chances to smite at max level, anything that is left standing (especially if it's a spore or moon druid or a pissed of barbarian) is going to have a field day. Most Rogues will be able to outdamage this in the long run.
The biggest danger to this build is the very low Int and Wisdom. Anyone with hold person or similar spells will prevent the arsonist coming close enough to even be able to nova, even monks can outrun this characters. If the nova hits to the right target though, that target is going to feel it. But it's a big if...
This is one of my favourite builds this round. It's weird and I'm not sure how useful it actually is with all those options considering the action economy but if there ever was a jack of all trades character, this is it. Who needs a party (except for maybe carrying the loot) when you can pretty much do *everything* yourself. :D
A very stable build that can do consistent damage round after round thanks to the aim action and Sneak Attack. The lack of magic attacks on the Sneak Attack is a problem though so against certain enemies you are going to struggle. It's a very sneaky character though so with Pass Without a Trace, Reliable Talent, Expertise in Stealth and the Gloom Stalker's Umbral Sight will almost guarantee a first round crit. Heck, using cunning action to hide will probably allow you to crit every round.
All in all, some verygood builds (I'm actually a bit surprised that we didn't get any high level spore druids in this one.) but some of them are a bit to focused which leaves their weaknesses wide open for exploitation. Since this is, after all, about powergaming I can't give my vote to anyone who isn't really good at everything. Congratulations Yurei, your Feywarden gets my vote for simply being really, reallygood (even if not necessarily the best) at everything. Well done!
It's a strong build but it's actually not *that* tough. If you're going to only take three levels of barbarian in this round, Bear Totem would allow you to laugh of all of the GFBs and BBs running around.
Eh. It seems that people have cared about damage more, so went down that route. I was thinking about bear, but considering if I die I'll just come back easily... It was a small price to pay.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
It's a strong build but it's actually not *that* tough. If you're going to only take three levels of barbarian in this round, Bear Totem would allow you to laugh of all of the GFBs and BBs running around.
Eh. It seems that people have cared about damage more, so went down that route. I was thinking about bear, but considering if I die I'll just come back easily... It was a small price to pay.
Yeah. Max damage seems to be very popular in these throwdowns. Personally I think that it's a bit lackluster to only focus on one thing but hey, to each their own. And zealots are probably my favourite kind of barbarian. :)
My vote, and build reviews/breakdowns, will come over the weekend. Got a game to DM tonight and a full day's work before that, sadly. I will say though, @Third, that you forgot to touch on Archeolexi's Tamsin Li, the Viper. Heh, though to be fair, having been playing alongside Tamsin for a good few months now, she's usually perfectly A-OK with people not noticing her :P
It's a Nova build, alright. The problem is that it's not really a very good one. Fire damage is a very common immunity which means that literally every level 10 moon druid can just laugh of the fire damage. Bearbarians will have to take the fire damage but laugh at the smite damage. And since you only have three chances to smite at max level, anything that is left standing (especially if it's a spore or moon druid or a pissed of barbarian) is going to have a field day. Most Rogues will be able to outdamage this in the long run.
The biggest danger to this build is the very low Int and Wisdom. Anyone with hold person or similar spells will prevent the arsonist coming close enough to even be able to nova, even monks can outrun this characters. If the nova hits to the right target though, that target is going to feel it. But it's a big if...
I mean, you are acting like every party has a moon druid....they are not that common. It would smear the floor with your Arcane Trickster. The low int and wisdom are a problem, I agree, but only 40 out of the 400+ monsters in 5e have immunity to fire. Even if you go up against a GFB immune monster, you are forgetting that you are still a sorlock, and a sorcadin. You can still beat the crap outta anything with a juiced up Eldritch blast (Hex, Quickened spell), you have pretty insane healing, your HP is pretty good, your utility is fantastic, your AC can be up to 24 with shield, you have absorb elements for resistances (Poor level 10+ moon druids), and you can still burn down villages.
Touche.
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
It's a Nova build, alright. The problem is that it's not really a very good one. Fire damage is a very common immunity which means that literally every level 10 moon druid can just laugh of the fire damage. Bearbarians will have to take the fire damage but laugh at the smite damage. And since you only have three chances to smite at max level, anything that is left standing (especially if it's a spore or moon druid or a pissed of barbarian) is going to have a field day. Most Rogues will be able to outdamage this in the long run.
The biggest danger to this build is the very low Int and Wisdom. Anyone with hold person or similar spells will prevent the arsonist coming close enough to even be able to nova, even monks can outrun this characters. If the nova hits to the right target though, that target is going to feel it. But it's a big if...
I mean, you are acting like every party has a moon druid....they are not that common. It would smear the floor with your Arcane Trickster. The low int and wisdom are a problem, I agree, but only 40 out of the 400+ monsters in 5e have immunity to fire. Even if you go up against a GFB immune monster, you are forgetting that you are still a sorlock, and a sorcadin. You can still beat the crap outta anything with a juiced up Eldritch blast (Hex, Quickened spell), you have pretty insane healing, your HP is pretty good, your utility is fantastic, your AC can be up to 24 with shield, you have absorb elements for resistances (Poor level 10+ moon druids), and you can still burn down villages.
Touche.
I think you need to not take it so personal because you seem to be very upset. Moon druids might not be the most common choice but this is throwdown is about powergaming after all and therefor you should try to build to avoid huge weaknesses. The fact that you have a build that relies so heavily on one kind of damage is a weakness, especially since it's a level 20 character than can be overcome by a level 10 character. And if 10% of all enemies (I didn't think it was important to get the exact numbers, but you did so thanks) negate your biggest advantage, I'd say that's a concern, at least in a powerbuild contest.
As for whether or not this build could beat any other build I guess, maybe? Maybe not? It would probably depend on the premises and the dice rolls. Against any of the gloom stalkers your build is effectively blind in a dark enviroment and any spell caster with hold person or something similar has the potential to shut it down completely. We could probably theorize on that until the cows come home but I don't think that will go anywhere. But if that is something you want to spend your time doing, please go ahead.
Play nicely, gentlemen. This is a friendly competition, and the whole point of 'Powergamer's Potluck' was to avoid strict definitions of what constitutes powergaming. Let's see who wins and congratulate them rather than snipe at each other, hm?
This is another fun character and I love the inclusion of Horizon walker. It's very good but it will have huge problems against anything that can stay out of range.
Actually, though my build's obvious focus is on melee combat and tanking, with Spiritual Weapon, Flame Strike, Magic Missile, and access to other ranged damage spells from both the Druid and Cleric spell lists, they can do ranged combat if absolutely necessary. With Hold Person and other control spells, they are also decent at getting into melee.
Just a quick correction, and I'm glad you liked my build and character!
I will say though, @Third, that you forgot to touch on Archeolexi's Tamsin Li, the Viper. Heh, though to be fair, having been playing alongside Tamsin for a good few months now, she's usually perfectly A-OK with people not noticing her :P
Ah, I apologize to Archeolexi for missing their build. I'll get that up soon.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Play nicely, gentlemen. This is a friendly competition, and the whole point of 'Powergamer's Potluck' was to avoid strict definitions of what constitutes powergaming. Let's see who wins and congratulate them rather than snipe at each other, hm?
lol, I was just defending my build. His original post was quite combative, but I guess I should be used to that by now.
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
So stuff happened this weekend and I didn't end up getting to the full reviews I wanted to get in for this thread. They will still be forthcoming, but as I type this at basically midnight...yeah.
Nevertheless. An interesting spread of definitions for the word 'optimization' at play here (and a tricky dilemma, as one of these characters is in an active campaign I'm playing in. Yooof), which is fascinating. I do have my own pretty strict definition of Optimization though, and only two characters come close to meeting the omnicompetent, 'I do everything, including your job, and I do it better than you do" mark I hold as the real point of optimization. Of those, the one that gets my nod is LostWhileFishing's The Bastard.
Nicely done, LWF. Breakdowns and feedback will be inbound, apologies for the delay on those. Thanks again for the fascinating contests, DorkForge.
This is another fun character and I love the inclusion of Horizon walker. It's very good but it will have huge problems against anything that can stay out of range.
Actually, though my build's obvious focus is on melee combat and tanking, with Spiritual Weapon, Flame Strike, Magic Missile, and access to other ranged damage spells from both the Druid and Cleric spell lists, they can do ranged combat if absolutely necessary. With Hold Person and other control spells, they are also decent at getting into melee.
Just a quick correction, and I'm glad you liked my build and character!
Yeah, I might have been a bit unclear, sorry about that. You're absolutely right that the build has ranged options. I was mostly commenting on the use of BB/GFB/Holy Weapon as a main damage dealer. If your opponent can stay out of range of that, it will be a problem is what I meant.
So stuff happened this weekend and I didn't end up getting to the full reviews I wanted to get in for this thread. They will still be forthcoming, but as I type this at basically midnight...yeah.
Nevertheless. An interesting spread of definitions for the word 'optimization' at play here (and a tricky dilemma, as one of these characters is in an active campaign I'm playing in. Yooof), which is fascinating. I do have my own pretty strict definition of Optimization though, and only two characters come close to meeting the omnicompetent, 'I do everything, including your job, and I do it better than you do" mark I hold as the real point of optimization. Of those, the one that gets my nod is LostWhileFishing's The Bastard.
Nicely done, LWF. Breakdowns and feedback will be inbound, apologies for the delay on those. Thanks again for the fascinating contests, DorkForge.
Thank you. I'd love to see what you say about all of the builds. And to be perfectly honest I'm surprised the Bastard got the vote since Doom is probably a stronger build (but probably not as versatile). It was because he had calligraphy, wasn't it? ;)
Play nicely, gentlemen. This is a friendly competition, and the whole point of 'Powergamer's Potluck' was to avoid strict definitions of what constitutes powergaming. Let's see who wins and congratulate them rather than snipe at each other, hm?
lol, I was just defending my build. His original post was quite combative, but I guess I should be used to that by now.
Again, if you think people's opinions of an imaginary character in a playful enviroment is "combative", maybe you should try taking it less personal and serious? It's is, quite literally, just a game. :)
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Okay, I'm pretty certain my build is completely finished now. I might clean up some language and switch a few minor details, but I've stopped switching around class levels, hit points, and spells. Everything major is staying the same from now on, so those who haven't read it recently may need to check some of the changes, as there have been some fairly important changes (all for increasing damage).
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Man, looking hard to decide. Can't wait to see how Sett comes back. Yurei beat him pretty bad last time....
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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My vote goes to Third_Sundering's Ok Boomer, partly cause it is similar to mine, and I like mine, partly because I have seen all the work that has been put in. Good luck to everyone!
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Interesting multiclass combination. Very nice flavor, would be terrifying to use as a villain. I love the art for it, and think you did a great job. I am confused as to what your background is, as I am not aware of any "Fanatical Assassin" in the official list of backgrounds. Well done, though!
Very cool design, awesome flavor, and a very good character all in all. Being at range is a great benefit, and all of the classes you take are very useful. Not only a good way of piling up damage, but also is one of the best ranger builds I've seen.
Cool build, I love the flavor of it. Sorlocks are great, and I love how you made your Sorcerous Origin and Otherworldly Patron match in theme. Well done!
Nice character and it is well built!
I love Barbarian/Paladin/Fighter multiclasses. I was tempted to do one myself. It's nice to see that someone took it upon themselves to create such a great character!
Nice character! It is a very good multiclass, and it is an interesting build. A lot of us have made use of the SCAGtrips! It's powerful and its name fits it very well.
I love a lot of the combinations in this build. It is great at nova, but there are some downsides. The lack of a story is a bit disappointing, but that is not a huge deal. Fire damage is cool, but is heavily resisted/immune. You do have Elemental Adept, which helps with this a lot, but Fire Immunity is still way more common Thunder, which is why Okay, Boomer uses Thunder Damage more often at low levels, and Force at higher levels.
Overall, it is well built, and you added a lot of combinations that my character sadly could not add. There are benefits and disadvantages to both characters, and both manage to do very well with the SCAG's Blade cantrips. Good job, and I enjoyed assisting in this character.
This is a bit of a strange character, but I like it. You get a ton of abilities, which is nice, but I'm not sure how well this overall works out. Interesting concept, though! It is very unique.
Finally, I will have to cast my vote for GoodBovine's Arsonist. The character multiclassing gives you huge bonuses to Green-Flame Blade, is excellent at nova damage and consistent Green Flame Blade damage, as well as doing a good job at focusing on what they're good at. If they manage to get a critical hit, they can deal a massive blow to who they hit, and they're likely to get a critical hit because of Champions. It is relatively similar to my build, but focuses on Charisma instead of Wisdom, which is always great to have, and they are very well built. The character concept is a bit strange if someone were to actually build it in a campaign, especially due to them having the Criminal background, but anything can happen in D&D games.
Good job all of you. I can't wait to see who wins!
Edit: Added review for
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Well... I gotta cast my vote for
Sett the BOSS.
Extremely close between Sett and Slithering Doom.
What cinched this decision is my adoration for the Zealot Barb / Conquest Pally combo. Amazing fill in with champ for something i never even considered and the original combo here is amazing. Battlefield presence for days.
"I once knew this fella, Aasimar raised in the Underdark. Was like a brother to me. When he escaped we couldn't take much with us. Poor, emaciated husks of the living we were. 'ts okay though. We survived and made our ways. I'll never forget the way the people from my home looked at us when we walked in the archway. Though, I'm frighteningly certain the feelings they would have, had they but the opportunity ta see us leave." --Manolovo the Traitor, Memoirs of a Scoundrel
Thanks for the vote, and kind words for Sett. Definitely works better than his old version. My vote has to go to Yureis Feywarden, such an amazing build, really does make me seem nervous about whether she can win again... Good luck everyone!
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
A really interesting one, this one. A lot of great builds but at the same time some builds have some very obvious flaws.
It's a custom background. I thought I had mentioned that but I obviously forgot. Thanks for pointing it out. It's been corrected now.
What I like about this is that it's good at a lot of things, not just dealing damage. As you said yourself, if you're going to optimize, optmimize [insert Gary Oldman] everything.
This is a very *fun* character and it's very good at what it does. I just don't think it can hold up to a lot of the others.
This is another fun character and I love the inclusion of Horizon walker. It's very good but it will have huge problems against anything that can stay out of range.
It's a strong build but it's actually not *that* tough. If you're going to only take three levels of barbarian in this round, Bear Totem would allow you to laugh of all of the GFBs and BBs running around.
It's a Nova build, alright. The problem is that it's not really a very good one. Fire damage is a very common immunity which means that literally every level 10 moon druid can just laugh of the fire damage. Bearbarians will have to take the fire damage but laugh at the smite damage. And since you only have three chances to smite at max level, anything that is left standing (especially if it's a spore or moon druid or a pissed of barbarian) is going to have a field day. Most Rogues will be able to outdamage this in the long run.
The biggest danger to this build is the very low Int and Wisdom. Anyone with hold person or similar spells will prevent the arsonist coming close enough to even be able to nova, even monks can outrun this characters. If the nova hits to the right target though, that target is going to feel it. But it's a big if...
This is one of my favourite builds this round. It's weird and I'm not sure how useful it actually is with all those options considering the action economy but if there ever was a jack of all trades character, this is it. Who needs a party (except for maybe carrying the loot) when you can pretty much do *everything* yourself. :D
A very stable build that can do consistent damage round after round thanks to the aim action and Sneak Attack. The lack of magic attacks on the Sneak Attack is a problem though so against certain enemies you are going to struggle. It's a very sneaky character though so with Pass Without a Trace, Reliable Talent, Expertise in Stealth and the Gloom Stalker's Umbral Sight will almost guarantee a first round crit. Heck, using cunning action to hide will probably allow you to crit every round.
All in all, some very good builds (I'm actually a bit surprised that we didn't get any high level spore druids in this one.) but some of them are a bit to focused which leaves their weaknesses wide open for exploitation. Since this is, after all, about powergaming I can't give my vote to anyone who isn't really good at everything. Congratulations Yurei, your Feywarden gets my vote for simply being really, reallygood (even if not necessarily the best) at everything. Well done!
It's a strong build but it's actually not *that* tough. If you're going to only take three levels of barbarian in this round, Bear Totem would allow you to laugh of all of the GFBs and BBs running around.
Eh. It seems that people have cared about damage more, so went down that route. I was thinking about bear, but considering if I die I'll just come back easily... It was a small price to pay.
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Yeah. Max damage seems to be very popular in these throwdowns. Personally I think that it's a bit lackluster to only focus on one thing but hey, to each their own. And zealots are probably my favourite kind of barbarian. :)
My vote, and build reviews/breakdowns, will come over the weekend. Got a game to DM tonight and a full day's work before that, sadly. I will say though, @Third, that you forgot to touch on Archeolexi's Tamsin Li, the Viper. Heh, though to be fair, having been playing alongside Tamsin for a good few months now, she's usually perfectly A-OK with people not noticing her :P
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I mean, you are acting like every party has a moon druid....they are not that common. It would smear the floor with your Arcane Trickster. The low int and wisdom are a problem, I agree, but only 40 out of the 400+ monsters in 5e have immunity to fire. Even if you go up against a GFB immune monster, you are forgetting that you are still a sorlock, and a sorcadin. You can still beat the crap outta anything with a juiced up Eldritch blast (Hex, Quickened spell), you have pretty insane healing, your HP is pretty good, your utility is fantastic, your AC can be up to 24 with shield, you have absorb elements for resistances (Poor level 10+ moon druids), and you can still burn down villages.
Touche.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I think you need to not take it so personal because you seem to be very upset. Moon druids might not be the most common choice but this is throwdown is about powergaming after all and therefor you should try to build to avoid huge weaknesses. The fact that you have a build that relies so heavily on one kind of damage is a weakness, especially since it's a level 20 character than can be overcome by a level 10 character. And if 10% of all enemies (I didn't think it was important to get the exact numbers, but you did so thanks) negate your biggest advantage, I'd say that's a concern, at least in a powerbuild contest.
As for whether or not this build could beat any other build I guess, maybe? Maybe not? It would probably depend on the premises and the dice rolls. Against any of the gloom stalkers your build is effectively blind in a dark enviroment and any spell caster with hold person or something similar has the potential to shut it down completely. We could probably theorize on that until the cows come home but I don't think that will go anywhere. But if that is something you want to spend your time doing, please go ahead.
Play nicely, gentlemen. This is a friendly competition, and the whole point of 'Powergamer's Potluck' was to avoid strict definitions of what constitutes powergaming. Let's see who wins and congratulate them rather than snipe at each other, hm?
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Actually, though my build's obvious focus is on melee combat and tanking, with Spiritual Weapon, Flame Strike, Magic Missile, and access to other ranged damage spells from both the Druid and Cleric spell lists, they can do ranged combat if absolutely necessary. With Hold Person and other control spells, they are also decent at getting into melee.
Just a quick correction, and I'm glad you liked my build and character!
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Ah, I apologize to Archeolexi for missing their build. I'll get that up soon.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
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lol, I was just defending my build. His original post was quite combative, but I guess I should be used to that by now.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
GLRRRGH
So stuff happened this weekend and I didn't end up getting to the full reviews I wanted to get in for this thread. They will still be forthcoming, but as I type this at basically midnight...yeah.
Nevertheless. An interesting spread of definitions for the word 'optimization' at play here (and a tricky dilemma, as one of these characters is in an active campaign I'm playing in. Yooof), which is fascinating. I do have my own pretty strict definition of Optimization though, and only two characters come close to meeting the omnicompetent, 'I do everything, including your job, and I do it better than you do" mark I hold as the real point of optimization. Of those, the one that gets my nod is LostWhileFishing's The Bastard.
Nicely done, LWF. Breakdowns and feedback will be inbound, apologies for the delay on those. Thanks again for the fascinating contests, DorkForge.
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Yeah, I might have been a bit unclear, sorry about that. You're absolutely right that the build has ranged options. I was mostly commenting on the use of BB/GFB/Holy Weapon as a main damage dealer. If your opponent can stay out of range of that, it will be a problem is what I meant.
Cheers!
Thank you. I'd love to see what you say about all of the builds. And to be perfectly honest I'm surprised the Bastard got the vote since Doom is probably a stronger build (but probably not as versatile). It was because he had calligraphy, wasn't it? ;)
Again, if you think people's opinions of an imaginary character in a playful enviroment is "combative", maybe you should try taking it less personal and serious? It's is, quite literally, just a game. :)