As much of a thought exercise as advice for myself, suppose the party consists of mainly ranged characters:
- Beastmaster Ranger(Archery)
- Gunslinger Fighter(the Mat Mercer one)
- Draconic Sorcerer(Blasty kind)
- Artillerist Artificer
The thing is: some of the usual Controll tactics are not as great for ranged characters as they are for Melee, Grease offers disadvantage, Hold Person doesn't give free crits, Dissonant Whispers won't help with Opportunity Attacks. So, what spells would be useful and are there spells that are actually better for ranged allies than Melee ones?
Envirionmental spells that restrain targets without making them prone are one way to go. Evard's Black Tentacles, for example. Or something simple that slows them down while they try to get to your shooters, like Plant Growth. Watch those folks scramble at 1/4 speed to approach you while you pick them off or walk away.
You have the core of a very effective control group which can easily stunlock small groups!
The Draconic Sorcerer can easily justify a short dip into warlock. The first level will give them a better attack cantrip than they're currently using, and the second level will let them enhance it with Lance of Lethargy and Repelling Blast. Would take until 5th level to squeeze in Agonizing Blast, which is certainly a big bump in damage, but not required since just two levels is all you need to get tons of board control.
The Beastmaster Ranger won't suffer any from taking at least three levels in Fighter, to unlock Battlemaster. Disarming Strike is weak on its own but good in combination with a pushy warlock, but Maneuvering Attack, Menacing Attack, Pushing Attack, and Trip Attack are all very solid control options available at range.
The Gunslinger already has similar debuff options available, like Dazing Shot, Disarming Shot, Forceful Shot, and Winging Shot. This isn't an argument against the Ranger going Battlemaster, control works best when it doesn't rely on a particular initiative order and everyone is a swiss army knife!
The Artificer... I don't have Eberron: Rising yet, so I'm not sure exactly how the Artillerist's turrets have changed since UA. However, the Artificer spell list contains lots of great area control instead of single target control, and that's probably the best way to complement the other three single-target lockdown specialists. Faerie Fire to free the party up to knock targets prone without earning disadvantage, Grease to create zones that your push experts can bully enemies into... those two right there are really good standbys that will be relevant at all levels. Artificer has good single-target options too, like Snare to set up ambushes, Heat Metal to take a tank out of the fight, or Levitate to turn an enemy into an archery target.
This team actually looks pretty balanced to me. Casters, a little healing magic, good diversity in skills. They all have decent AC and HP.
The ranger and artificer will have control spells that are applicable. Anything that reduces movement or restrains targets are good. Constant damage effects are also pretty viable (especially in combination with previous suggestion) since there are no melee fighters that will be getting close.
As much of a thought exercise as advice for myself, suppose the party consists of mainly ranged characters:
- Beastmaster Ranger(Archery)
- Gunslinger Fighter(the Mat Mercer one)
- Draconic Sorcerer(Blasty kind)
- Artillerist Artificer
The thing is: some of the usual Controll tactics are not as great for ranged characters as they are for Melee, Grease offers disadvantage, Hold Person doesn't give free crits, Dissonant Whispers won't help with Opportunity Attacks. So, what spells would be useful and are there spells that are actually better for ranged allies than Melee ones?
Something not to forget, the artillerist subclass spells include all or almost all wall spells in game. And at later levels, just being near the eldritch Cannon Grant's half cover
Envirionmental spells that restrain targets without making them prone are one way to go. Evard's Black Tentacles, for example. Or something simple that slows them down while they try to get to your shooters, like Plant Growth. Watch those folks scramble at 1/4 speed to approach you while you pick them off or walk away.
This is good advice. I've had excellent results with Plant Growth myself. Having party members who can fly/teleport is a good combo with that one.
I also like using illusions and enchantment control spells. Hypnotic Pattern can incapacitate a number of enemies. Hold Person/Hold Monster is good for shutting down a boss. If you have a few minutes to prepare an ambush, Hallucinatory Terrain can be used to great benefit; creating cover for your allies and (illusory) hazards for your enemies, slowing or stopping them completely so the ranged attackers can pick them off. (It's also fun at parties.)
A druid would make a good controller here - lots of environmental hazard spells that create difficult terrain or obstacles, access to the wall spells, tidal wave, earthbind, grasping vine, etc.
Wizards are by far the best area of control class, but their health is not good.
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As much of a thought exercise as advice for myself, suppose the party consists of mainly ranged characters:
- Beastmaster Ranger(Archery)
- Gunslinger Fighter(the Mat Mercer one)
- Draconic Sorcerer(Blasty kind)
- Artillerist Artificer
The thing is: some of the usual Controll tactics are not as great for ranged characters as they are for Melee, Grease offers disadvantage, Hold Person doesn't give free crits, Dissonant Whispers won't help with Opportunity Attacks. So, what spells would be useful and are there spells that are actually better for ranged allies than Melee ones?
Envirionmental spells that restrain targets without making them prone are one way to go. Evard's Black Tentacles, for example. Or something simple that slows them down while they try to get to your shooters, like Plant Growth. Watch those folks scramble at 1/4 speed to approach you while you pick them off or walk away.
You have the core of a very effective control group which can easily stunlock small groups!
The Draconic Sorcerer can easily justify a short dip into warlock. The first level will give them a better attack cantrip than they're currently using, and the second level will let them enhance it with Lance of Lethargy and Repelling Blast. Would take until 5th level to squeeze in Agonizing Blast, which is certainly a big bump in damage, but not required since just two levels is all you need to get tons of board control.
The Beastmaster Ranger won't suffer any from taking at least three levels in Fighter, to unlock Battlemaster. Disarming Strike is weak on its own but good in combination with a pushy warlock, but Maneuvering Attack, Menacing Attack, Pushing Attack, and Trip Attack are all very solid control options available at range.
The Gunslinger already has similar debuff options available, like Dazing Shot, Disarming Shot, Forceful Shot, and Winging Shot. This isn't an argument against the Ranger going Battlemaster, control works best when it doesn't rely on a particular initiative order and everyone is a swiss army knife!
The Artificer... I don't have Eberron: Rising yet, so I'm not sure exactly how the Artillerist's turrets have changed since UA. However, the Artificer spell list contains lots of great area control instead of single target control, and that's probably the best way to complement the other three single-target lockdown specialists. Faerie Fire to free the party up to knock targets prone without earning disadvantage, Grease to create zones that your push experts can bully enemies into... those two right there are really good standbys that will be relevant at all levels. Artificer has good single-target options too, like Snare to set up ambushes, Heat Metal to take a tank out of the fight, or Levitate to turn an enemy into an archery target.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
This team actually looks pretty balanced to me. Casters, a little healing magic, good diversity in skills. They all have decent AC and HP.
The ranger and artificer will have control spells that are applicable. Anything that reduces movement or restrains targets are good. Constant damage effects are also pretty viable (especially in combination with previous suggestion) since there are no melee fighters that will be getting close.
The ranger could really benefit from the new UA.
Slow.
Something not to forget, the artillerist subclass spells include all or almost all wall spells in game. And at later levels, just being near the eldritch Cannon Grant's half cover
This is good advice. I've had excellent results with Plant Growth myself. Having party members who can fly/teleport is a good combo with that one.
I also like using illusions and enchantment control spells. Hypnotic Pattern can incapacitate a number of enemies. Hold Person/Hold Monster is good for shutting down a boss. If you have a few minutes to prepare an ambush, Hallucinatory Terrain can be used to great benefit; creating cover for your allies and (illusory) hazards for your enemies, slowing or stopping them completely so the ranged attackers can pick them off. (It's also fun at parties.)
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
A druid would make a good controller here - lots of environmental hazard spells that create difficult terrain or obstacles, access to the wall spells, tidal wave, earthbind, grasping vine, etc.
Wizards are by far the best area of control class, but their health is not good.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.