So in one of my sessions I'm going to be the sole strength based party member, the rest being casters or dex users. My first thought was to do a barbarian, and I already have that as backup.
But then I thought of an interesting idea. Battle Master 3/Horizon Walker 17. Yes, this campaign will be going all the way to level 20.
It's level 4 right now, running variant human with stats 16, 14, 14, 10, 13, 8 with free feat being resilient (WIS) for the WIS saving throws and the multiclass. I'm planning on making the majority of my spells utility spells for now, like Zephyr Strike, Absorb elements, etc. My other idea was to take resilient (DEX) and have Dex at 13 and Wis at 14 for some spells that require saves.
I'm starting in fighter for the chain mail, greatsword, CON saves and great weapon fighting style, and when I hit ranger 2 I'm taking the defense fighting style. My secondary weapon would be a hand crossbow as well, so I'm not completely useless at range. With that out of the way, at this point I'm stumped on how I should go. My first thought is go all three levels in fighter to get the combat maneuvers (Riposte, Trip Attack, Precision Attack), but I know everyone says go for extra attack first. I guess, aside from any critics in the build, would it be better to get the maneuvers first to remain relevant to the group, or the extra attack first to remain relevant?
Extra attack, in most cases, literally doubles your damage output since you are doubling your amount of attacks. Ranger Fighter mix isn't a terrible idea if you only go 3-4 levels in Fighter, but you will likely feel the hit for a few levels. Hitting 6 does give you a bit of a power up, but the 4-5 is going to be a bit rough since you will be behind a feat and extra attack.
I do only plan on going three levels in fighter, for battle master and the three maneuvers to supplement my attacks. At the very least, if I do go Fighter 1/Ranger 3 to start out with I'd only have two sessions before picking up the extra attack, but then again I'm dealing with only a 1d8 extra damage a round for the next four sessions until I get the maneuvers. I guess in all honesty it could be worse, and my AC would be 17 as well.
I guess that's where I'm held up. Yeah, I get to attack twice, but planar warrior would only apply on the first strike and am kind of a one trick pony. But if I instead get the maneuvers now I have some utility in using my reaction to attack and also tripping enemies to help the other party members, but I can't attack twice.
You are right though, it is rough no matter which way I look at it.
It's only really rough for a few levels though, past that point, which you seem to expect to not actually take up a sizable amount of time, you ought to be fine. Fighter 1 into ranger 5 into fighter 3 is a decent bet IMO.
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So in one of my sessions I'm going to be the sole strength based party member, the rest being casters or dex users. My first thought was to do a barbarian, and I already have that as backup.
But then I thought of an interesting idea. Battle Master 3/Horizon Walker 17. Yes, this campaign will be going all the way to level 20.
It's level 4 right now, running variant human with stats 16, 14, 14, 10, 13, 8 with free feat being resilient (WIS) for the WIS saving throws and the multiclass.
I'm planning on making the majority of my spells utility spells for now, like Zephyr Strike, Absorb elements, etc. My other idea was to take resilient (DEX) and have Dex at 13 and Wis at 14 for some spells that require saves.
I'm starting in fighter for the chain mail, greatsword, CON saves and great weapon fighting style, and when I hit ranger 2 I'm taking the defense fighting style. My secondary weapon would be a hand crossbow as well, so I'm not completely useless at range. With that out of the way, at this point I'm stumped on how I should go. My first thought is go all three levels in fighter to get the combat maneuvers (Riposte, Trip Attack, Precision Attack), but I know everyone says go for extra attack first. I guess, aside from any critics in the build, would it be better to get the maneuvers first to remain relevant to the group, or the extra attack first to remain relevant?
Extra attack, in most cases, literally doubles your damage output since you are doubling your amount of attacks. Ranger Fighter mix isn't a terrible idea if you only go 3-4 levels in Fighter, but you will likely feel the hit for a few levels. Hitting 6 does give you a bit of a power up, but the 4-5 is going to be a bit rough since you will be behind a feat and extra attack.
I do only plan on going three levels in fighter, for battle master and the three maneuvers to supplement my attacks.
At the very least, if I do go Fighter 1/Ranger 3 to start out with I'd only have two sessions before picking up the extra attack, but then again I'm dealing with only a 1d8 extra damage a round for the next four sessions until I get the maneuvers.
I guess in all honesty it could be worse, and my AC would be 17 as well.
I guess that's where I'm held up. Yeah, I get to attack twice, but planar warrior would only apply on the first strike and am kind of a one trick pony. But if I instead get the maneuvers now I have some utility in using my reaction to attack and also tripping enemies to help the other party members, but I can't attack twice.
You are right though, it is rough no matter which way I look at it.
It's only really rough for a few levels though, past that point, which you seem to expect to not actually take up a sizable amount of time, you ought to be fine. Fighter 1 into ranger 5 into fighter 3 is a decent bet IMO.