So I was doing a 1-Shot Campaign with level 20 characters and during the fight with the final boss, I pulled off a bit of burst damage that was significant enough for my DM to stop the game for like 25 minutes while he reviewed the rules and my character sheet. He ultimately allowed it for the coolness factor. But when I tried to use it again the next turn, he told me I couldn't. Even though he didn't have a reason and couldn't find anything in the rules to stop it.
My Character is a Fallen Aasimar, 1 Level in Cleric War Domain, and 19 in Warlock with a Pact Blade and Fiend Patron. My charisma is 20, and I have various damage boosting invocations like Improved Pact Weapon, Agonizing Blast, and Lifedrinker. And I have the War Priest Feature from my cleric level (that I can use twice). I used my lucky feat to reroll attacks that missed.
Turn 1 Bonus Action: Cast Hex on Big Bad Action: Cast Necrotic Shroud (race feature)
Turn 2 Action: Eldritch Blast (4 Beams) Bonus Action: War Priest: Melee Attack w/ Pact Weapon No Action Required: Hurl through Hell No Action Required: Eldritch Smite (5th Level Spell Slot)
Damage Pool: 4d10+20 (+20 assuming each beam from Eldritch Blast hits) 1d6+9 (Melee attack with scimitar pact weapon) 1d6 (Hex Damage) +20 (Necrotic Shroud Damage) 6d8 (Eldritch Smite) 10d10 (Hurl Through Hell)
Hurl Through Hell was a one time use damage, and says I could use it if I hit something with an attack. Eldritch smite is the same thing in that its whenever I hit something with my pact weapon.
I did about 140 something damage (max could have been 243 damage) to him in the second round of combat, and would have been able to do another 50 to 100 the next round if my DM didn't say I couldn't use all those features at the same time (even though nothing broke RAW as far as he or I could find).
So my question is: Is this really against RAW? If so, what am I missing?
Casting a spell is not using the attack action, so you can’t cast Eldritch Blast and also use the bonus action to attack with a weapon. That also makes it so your Eldritch Smite couldn’t be used since that requires a weapon attack with your pact weapon.
Your DM missed the difference between the attack action and the cast a spell action. Other than that the rest of your combination was completely legal. That’s 14d10 + 1d6 + 40 the second round and 4d10 + 40 + 1d6 the third round if all 4 Eldritch Blast beams hit each round. Which is still a lot of damage!
Tim is correct. You must take the actual Attack action--not the [Tooltip Not Found] action--in order to qualify for using War Priest.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Casting a spell is not using the attack action, so you can’t cast Eldritch Blast and also use the bonus action to attack with a weapon. That also makes it so your Eldritch Smite couldn’t be used since that requires a weapon attack with your pact weapon.
Your DM missed the difference between the attack action and the cast a spell action. Other than that the rest of your combination was completely legal. That’s 14d10 + 1d6 + 40 the second round and 4d10 + 40 + 1d6 the third round if all 4 Eldritch Blast beams hit each round. Which is still a lot of damage!
I appreciate the response! But I still have questions regarding what qualifies as an attack, and how the wording in the rules differentiates them. The description for Eldritch Blast states to make a "ranged spell attack". Furthermore, in the section for Ranged Attacks under the heading 'Making an Attack' in the player's handbook, it says:
Range "If a ranged attack, such as one made with a spell, has a single range, [...]"
Ranged Attacks in Close Combat "When you make a ranged attack with a weapon, a spell, or some other means, [...]"
Would this not imply that Eldritch Blast is technically a ranged attack, despite being a spell, for the purpose of determining if War Priest could be used?
Nevermind, the feature is specifically saying attack action, which does not include a spell. Thanks for the clarification!
Would this not imply that Eldritch Blast is technically a ranged attack, despite being a spell, for the purpose of determining if War Priest could be used?
It is an attack (actually 4 ranged spell attacks), but it is not "the Attack Action". That is a different thing. The Attack Action is one of the default Actions any character can choose to use on their turn. It normally involves making a single weapon attack, or more than one weapon attack if you have a feature that allows that.
First you need to be clear on one major thing: the action you're actually taking.
When you cast a spell with your "action", you are taking a specific type of action. It is the [Tooltip Not Found] action. This is completely distinct from the Attack action. When you take the Attack action, you are taking a specific action that allows you to make an attack with a weapon/unarmed strike. You explicitly cannot do both with the same action.
The War Priest feature explicitly requires that you have taken the Attack action before you are eligible to make another single attack as a bonus action.
Eldritch Smite explicitly requires that you have hit a target with your Pact Weapon.
Eldritch Blast is a spell. Period. The attack type is a ranged spell attack. It is not a weapon attack, an attack with your Pact Weapon, or the Attack action. Casting it does not ever qualify for War Priest or Eldritch Smite.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Hex affects each bolt from eldritch blast so the eldritch blast damage is actually 4d10 + 4d6 + 20 if they all hit.
Hurl through hell is 10d10 if it isn't a fiend.
Necrotic shroud is an extra 20.
However, you can't attack the same target two turns in a row since:
"At the end of your next turn, the target returns to the space it previously occupied, or the nearest unoccupied space."
Hurl through hell makes the creature disappear until the end of your next turn ... so you won't be attacking the same creature two turns in a row ... and your hex will remain on the creature who disappeared until they are killed.
So I was doing a 1-Shot Campaign with level 20 characters and during the fight with the final boss, I pulled off a bit of burst damage that was significant enough for my DM to stop the game for like 25 minutes while he reviewed the rules and my character sheet. He ultimately allowed it for the coolness factor. But when I tried to use it again the next turn, he told me I couldn't. Even though he didn't have a reason and couldn't find anything in the rules to stop it.
My Character is a Fallen Aasimar, 1 Level in Cleric War Domain, and 19 in Warlock with a Pact Blade and Fiend Patron. My charisma is 20, and I have various damage boosting invocations like Improved Pact Weapon, Agonizing Blast, and Lifedrinker. And I have the War Priest Feature from my cleric level (that I can use twice). I used my lucky feat to reroll attacks that missed.
Turn 1
Bonus Action: Cast Hex on Big Bad
Action: Cast Necrotic Shroud (race feature)
Turn 2
Action: Eldritch Blast (4 Beams)
Bonus Action: War Priest: Melee Attack w/ Pact Weapon
No Action Required: Hurl through Hell
No Action Required: Eldritch Smite (5th Level Spell Slot)
Damage Pool:
4d10+20 (+20 assuming each beam from Eldritch Blast hits)
1d6+9 (Melee attack with scimitar pact weapon)
1d6 (Hex Damage)
+20 (Necrotic Shroud Damage)
6d8 (Eldritch Smite)
10d10 (Hurl Through Hell)
Hurl Through Hell was a one time use damage, and says I could use it if I hit something with an attack. Eldritch smite is the same thing in that its whenever I hit something with my pact weapon.
I did about 140 something damage (max could have been 243 damage) to him in the second round of combat, and would have been able to do another 50 to 100 the next round if my DM didn't say I couldn't use all those features at the same time (even though nothing broke RAW as far as he or I could find).
So my question is: Is this really against RAW? If so, what am I missing?
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Casting a spell is not using the attack action, so you can’t cast Eldritch Blast and also use the bonus action to attack with a weapon. That also makes it so your Eldritch Smite couldn’t be used since that requires a weapon attack with your pact weapon.
Your DM missed the difference between the attack action and the cast a spell action. Other than that the rest of your combination was completely legal. That’s 14d10 + 1d6 + 40 the second round and 4d10 + 40 + 1d6 the third round if all 4 Eldritch Blast beams hit each round. Which is still a lot of damage!
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Tim is correct. You must take the actual Attack action--not the [Tooltip Not Found] action--in order to qualify for using War Priest.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I appreciate the response! But I still have questions regarding what qualifies as an attack, and how the wording in the rules differentiates them. The description for Eldritch Blast states to make a "ranged spell attack". Furthermore, in the section for Ranged Attacks under the heading 'Making an Attack' in the player's handbook, it says:Would this not imply that Eldritch Blast is technically a ranged attack, despite being a spell, for the purpose of determining if War Priest could be used?Nevermind, the feature is specifically saying attack action, which does not include a spell. Thanks for the clarification!
Check out my Homebrew Magic Items
It is an attack (actually 4 ranged spell attacks), but it is not "the Attack Action". That is a different thing. The Attack Action is one of the default Actions any character can choose to use on their turn. It normally involves making a single weapon attack, or more than one weapon attack if you have a feature that allows that.
First you need to be clear on one major thing: the action you're actually taking.
When you cast a spell with your "action", you are taking a specific type of action. It is the [Tooltip Not Found] action. This is completely distinct from the Attack action. When you take the Attack action, you are taking a specific action that allows you to make an attack with a weapon/unarmed strike. You explicitly cannot do both with the same action.
The War Priest feature explicitly requires that you have taken the Attack action before you are eligible to make another single attack as a bonus action.
Eldritch Smite explicitly requires that you have hit a target with your Pact Weapon.
Eldritch Blast is a spell. Period. The attack type is a ranged spell attack. It is not a weapon attack, an attack with your Pact Weapon, or the Attack action. Casting it does not ever qualify for War Priest or Eldritch Smite.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
In addition to the other comments ...
Hex affects each bolt from eldritch blast so the eldritch blast damage is actually 4d10 + 4d6 + 20 if they all hit.
Hurl through hell is 10d10 if it isn't a fiend.
Necrotic shroud is an extra 20.
However, you can't attack the same target two turns in a row since:
"At the end of your next turn, the target returns to the space it previously occupied, or the nearest unoccupied space."
Hurl through hell makes the creature disappear until the end of your next turn ... so you won't be attacking the same creature two turns in a row ... and your hex will remain on the creature who disappeared until they are killed.
I didn't catch this! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
Check out my Homebrew Magic Items