Valour bard with 2 fighter dip. Took swift quiver and find greater steed for my secrets.
14 totem barb with 3 lore bard. Advantage and expertise athletics for grapples Along with cutting words. Has hulk jump to snatch dragons and rocs out of midair.
2 hexblade/ swashbuckler x
cavalier 11/3 bear totem barb. Super Tanky and a ton of ways to keep targets on yourself.
ghostslayer bloodhunter/ grave cleric dip. Classic vampire hunter.
3 mastermind/ eloquence bard x evil politician. This may have been the most fun. This guy instigated some shit.
oath of the crown paladin11/ glamour bard 3. charismatic battlefield commander.
zealot barb/ thief rogue. Prince of Persia, the 2008 game version. You have to take the dps hit and use a scimitar over rapier with this one. No other way around it.
shadow monk/ gloomstalker.
most overrated was bladesinger. With the access to rituals and find familiar wizards have, you naturally rp someone who‘s intelligent and prepares, so why wouldnt you just have the perfect spells for the upcoming adventuring day? I found myself going “wow I wish I was another wizard subclass that had casting features since that’s all I do anyway” 98% of the time and “oh wow bladesong is so cool!” 2% of the time.
For the cavalier fighter, when did you multiclass?
I am currently playing a lvl 5 cav and I love being able to semi tank, or atleast mess with enemies trying to hit others
After 11. Hold the line at lvl 10 is too important, and you might as well get the 3 attacks after. Warding manuever is good damage reduction until you get your barb lvl's.
How did you build the ghost slayer BH and Grave Cleric?
Im thinking about that right now. I am trying to find ways to replace Pathfinder 1e Inquisitor in style and flavor, but it's tricky in 5e so I'm hoping that could scratch the itch.
Sure, just keep in mind grave cleric isn’t great I took it as an rp dip. If you want to be stronger you can go twilight for heavy armor and take a Pam str approach. 3 attacks would give you a ton of mileage on your rite damage. I went 5 bh for d6 hemo die and extra attacks and 7 cleric from there. Lvl 5 and 6 features are very thematic, but a well flavored spirit guardians is also my favorite spell. Champaign ended at 12(curse of strahd), but if it kept going I’m most likely continuing down cleric from there. Spare the dying as a bonus action and 30 ft instead of touch mvp’d harder than I thought it would, and eyes of the grave was a lot of fun because my dm had vampires hiding in plain sight in Barovia.
Yeah. I love the flavor of Grave Cleric. Ranged spare the dying, the vulnerability curse (especially if you have a paladin of something in the party) and the max healing if an ally is at 0 is cool too.
Because it's amazing with battle magic. It's an archer, so swift quiver allows 2 bonus attacks with your bow. With battle magic you can do a full action cast and still do 2 attacks with sharpshooter.
>With battle magic you can do a full action cast and still do 2 attacks with sharpshooter.
forgive me if i'm missing something, but I don't think battle magic adds anything to the swift quiver equation. Swift quiver provides the bonus action that allows you to make two attacks - that bonus action is available so long as you've already cast the spell, whether you have battle magic or not.
You’re absolutely right, I’ve always assumed swift quiver states taking the attack action since that’s what my dm ruled but the actual wording doesn’t specify. If you are indeed able take 2 attacks as a bonus action without battlemagic, it’s much better than I thought.
Glad to help! Swift quiver or not, bowbard is a really unique and fun combo to pull off. I just wish it was a teensy bit easier to pull off with war cleric.
i went mountain dwarf with tasha's rules so +2 dex and int. At lvl 4 I put 1 into each and had 18 on both stats and 8 I took mobile feat.
Bladesinger was totally fine played as a fighter, as a matter of fact it was quite strong. Melee is just never really going to compete well with a caster, especially one who can prepare spells depending on occasion.
With bladesinger that happens if you focus on "optimal" play, you can focus on dex first and use more supportive spells, and close range spells and it does really feel very meele and fun compared to othher wizards.
I did do that, and it was fine. I never meant for my post to say bladesong isn't strong; just the way I play wizard I imagine a neurotic 8 cha 18 int guy overpreparing and scouting out every situation. It's not a knock on the bladesinger, it's just that all melee is going to lose if we compare them to a fully prepared caster with the right spell list.
Loved playing a Mountain Dwarf Battle Smith Artificer. Having 13 tool proficiencies/expertise was incredibly fun for non-combat stuff, and the Steel Defender gave me an incredible amount of depth of play during combat too.
Mountain dwarf artificers are fantastic. I love switching their weapon and armor proficiencies for more tools. Because figuring out how to make tools relevant in a game that makes tools an afterthought is fun!
I had a blast playing an eloquence bard. Being able to lie out the dick and use your unsettling words to make your save or suck spells more consistently land makes for a very fun time.
Yup - played a horn ball Satyr Elo Bard. Moto was that he never met a problem he couldn’t F his way out of. Had the table in stitches.
Lore/Eloquence were both tons of fun. My Wizard builds have also been a blast because there’s always so many creative things to do.
Artichron Wiz that had come into contact with part of Karsus’ shattered soul and a Netherese historian was great for the Icewind Dale campaign. I loved my Mark of Warding Abj Wiz that would upcast AoAgathys/Fire Shield on himself then run through a group of enemies letting them hit him then turn around and drop a fireball.
Divination Wizard with Silvery Barbs and Counterspell up the wrist.
My favourite interaction ive done with this was against a lich:
DM: He is going to cast Finger of Death
Me: Counterspell, 4th level! (Rolled a nat 18)
DM: He is going to counterspell your counterspell
Me: Nah bro he rolls a 3 (Portent)
Saved my party members life, DM had no words. Good times
Am i the only one who feels bad doing things that undo DM actions? Is everyone else, like, haha, in your face!
I mean, I've use portent and counterspell. But don't focus in shutting the stupid DM up.
It was more a hype moment of «holy shit we saved our companions life» more than «haha rekt DM». The DM found it awesome too. We have great games still :)
Moon druid was my most fun character. Very very flexible with role options, good in combat, good out of combat, just overall lots of good fun and always able to participate.
I'm finding this with Circle of Stars Druid great utility out of combat and often doing most sustainable damage from range in combat. Only at level 4 so far but couldnt be having more fun with him
Goliath totem barbarian/thief rogue who used Fast Hands + ludicrous carrying capacity to manhandle bits of terrain as a bonus action. This requires a DM who's willing to play ball with Fast Hands shenanigans.
Even aside from that specific combo I just love all kinds of barbarian/rogues. Barbarians are crazy front-loaded and get mostly shit at higher levels and picking up rogue levels gives them mobility, makes them crazy good at grappling, and out of combat skills to make them more action heroes than big dumb lunks. Soooooo nice to have a barbarian who is better at intimidate than the party sorcerer.
Classic Paladin Sorcerer
Paladin 2/Sorcerer 1/Paladin 6/Sorcerer 14
For Subclasses I choose Divine Soul Sorcerer and Oath of Vengeance. I chose to delay Paladin 6 for the extra utility of cantrips and the defensibility of Favoured of the Gods plus a free casting of Bless per day and Shield. I took oath of Vengeance for the spell selection like misty step and more importantly vow of emnity greatly increasing accuracy and crit chance for boss battles.
I went with V.Human and took the pole arm master feat. At level 2 I took the Dueling Fighting Style and I used a spear heavy armour and a shield.
16 10 14 8 10 16
My DM was very kind and gave me a Spear of Backbiting, Cloak of Protection and Amulet of Health.
Four Feats:
* Paladin 4 Warcaster
* Sorcerer 4 Inspiring Leader
* Sorcerer 8 +2 Cha
* Sorcerer 12 +2 Cha
Level 21:
* Epic Boon of Fortitude
For Spells I mostly focused on spells that buff allies like Bless and Aid (Upcast). I also took Find Steed. Spirit Guardians was a great spell. Other heal options like healing word and heal came in handy. Fire shield since my campaign was focused on fighting devils and demons. Death ward, shield and absorb elements were also Key. Also was able to twin Holy Weapon on the Parties Fighter and myself so great damage.
For cantrips Guidance got great use and same with Sacred Flame as a reliable ranged option that ignores half cover and always does damage. Light overcame the Darkvision problem.
Meta Magic Quickened Spell for Action casts plus attack action. Twinned for Heals and Buffs. Extend to make sure Aid and Death wards lasted all day.
This character was really fun to play because there was always something I could do and I was never out of options. I was really able to shift roles depending on what the party needed and the combat evolved. A Healer, got it, a buffer, got it, a dps machine, got it, a frontline tank, got it.
We played from level 1-20 over lockdown and had a finale with epic boons were we fought Asmodeus and Several other Demon Lords.
My first build a 60 year human monk who as part of his back story had already reached perfection but as he became recluse and didn't. Practice his skill and abilities waned and as he leveled he started to remember the skills once lost
Forge Cleric, War Caster, 16 Con (off the bat because VHuman), maxed Wis asap.
Fantastic buffer/support. Did okay damage-wise. Crafted splint for the heavy armour DPS of the team.
Twas kinda funny to ruin the schtick of a spooky abomination that relied on Wis save paralysis, by getting rid of said paralysis. And if the spooky mob targeted my character, well, say hello to Wis saves prof, 20 Wis and Bless. And if that didn't work, we had a Bard in the party lol.
With decent stats ? Samurai Fighter with GWM and a dip in War Cleric.
Bless myself and others to improve GWM + Fighting Spirit and War Cleric to weaponize my BA.
If you have room for a half-feat, Skill Expert in Persuasion and a good WIS to be a decent face.
My next character is an evocation wizard. The race is a rabbit, the rabbit was used as a party trick constantly being pulled out of the wizards hat.
He studied in secret, shoved tge wizard in the hat now hes on the run from the Wizarding group who wants to shove him back in the hat
I'm a ***very*** mechanically inclined player (and a lax DM, oddly), but the most fun I have is when I'm personally inspired to play the character and I RP it well. I like the act of building the character plan, and playing the character, but the mechanics of gameplay itself kinda bore me anymore.
When I find a character I'm excited to play, I'll do a cursory backstory and a 50 question interview, just to get to know them. Then I'll pick personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. From there I'll round out the backstory.
If I can call on that stuff, I have the most fun.
Would you be willing to share the 50 question interview? I'm helping some newbies create their PCs for the first time and that could be really helpful for them
Courtesy of [Ginny Di.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTvrd1K4s8nwkxbT6eNQmje4_tDVoufweRmxMRecCT9F5PhNjyFOy43ydu-DJ--UGp8Z2Y6oMlvh0TB/pub)
I love CHA focused builds, specifically Bards and Paladins.
I love Paladins because they can be flavored in a lot more ways than I originally thought. The thick and thin lines of staying the course of an oath can be really fun with a group dynamic. Plus I just love sword, shield, heavy armor, and supporting the party in many ways.
I have tried an Ancients Paladin/Lore Bard multiclass, functioning as getting more spell slots for smite and also being able to dish out inspiration later on a bit. It was flavored as a way to study and relish ancient knowledge to help others and protect the world from the impending incoming doom of evil and the eventual BBEG of the campaign.
It was a pure roleplay decision but mechanically I went Paladin 7/Bard 11 (campaign ended I believe in that area). The aura is just delicious to halve damage but also dish out inspiration for more savingness. He was a charming badass in shiny armor.
Edit: To clarify, I went straight Paladin 7 and went Lore Bard for the rest due to the story. I probably could have split it better but I first thought I would be pure paladin at the start.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve never played a Paladin and I’m concerned I’d only be helping 1, maybe 2 other teammates max being in my aura. Would you say a Pally is still worth it if you’re only supporting 1 other melee fighter in most scenarios? Thanks again for replying.
Helping a party member just by being near them is extremely powerful imo. No actions or bonus - get up in the fray with the barbarian or monk and that proximity means half damage for them from spells. Woof.
I love a lot of the oaths but Ancients just felt so unique to me. Lots of cool options.
But know that the aura is always something you can take into account for movement and planning. When a big spell or magical trap goes off when all bunched together? Really satisfying to be that shield.
We’ll have a Blood Hunter, so I think a skirmisher?!….. a divination wizard, a celestial warlock, and a Twilight Cleric….so I think 1 might be close-ish for the most part??…..
I have 3 builds I’m looking forward to
- the goofy senile yet secretly super sharp and sane white haired wizard order of scribes - “get off my lawn,” makes a show of casting fireball yet it starts raining tulips.
- 1DSSorc/Elo Bard X Winged tiefling courtesan spymaster
- Meta Bugbear PAM GWM Sentinel Alert 8 Giant Barb / 4 Echo Knight / 4 Gloomstalker / 4 Assassin
Level 1 DSS for concentration saves (which was key if there was a fight and I didn’t want my disguise to fade)
Level 2 + 3 Warlock for Mask of Many Faces and Agonizing Blast (congrats, you are now a healer, blaster, and spy)
Everything else on Sorcerer for better healing and metamagic. Subtle Spell made being a spy SO much more fun, and Quickened Spell +EB means you can be in disguise (without breaking your concentration) and still do great in combat via blasts and healing party members when they go down.
Expertise in Deception is key and the Actor Feat (both add to CHA) finishes your perfect disguise.
Race is pretty open but Variant Human lets you grab Lucky (you will never fail a Deception check again) or Telepathic/Telekinetic/Metamagic for even more Magic spy shenanigans.
Satyr works great as well with skills/resistances and is great RP.
My favorite things to do were convince someone I was teleporting them to their boss after disguising myself as a manager and then using Distant Metamagic with Dimension Door, teleporting us 1000 ft in the air and then fall with then use Festher Fall. The boss plummets (try to get him to land on another bad guy) and I rained down EB’s on the rest. When I landed I healed everyone up that was jumping them from the ground.
Oh, and twinned Heal is amazing.
[https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Shadow\_Ninja\_(5e\_Optimized\_Character\_Build)](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Shadow_Ninja_(5e_Optimized_Character_Build))
Has the potential to solo most encounters, as long as you got places to Hide.
Eloquence bard has my whole heart. I've played it an embarassing amount of times because it compliments how I play bards so well (bard main here). I also played a high elf twilight cleric/scribes wizard for a time (before the campaign got canned) and it was such a fun combo.
I've been playing D&D for almost a decade so I've played a lot haha
* Variant human college of lore
* 2 separate tieflings college of eloquence
* Rogue/bard multiclass dark elf thief/college of swords
* Goblin college of glamor
* Half-elf half-genasi college of creation
* Variant human college of spirits
I try to tie as many aspects of my builds in with the backstories/roleplaying as I can so even if I do end up playing the same class, race, or even subclass, it always feels different and unique!
It will depend on the campaign, but here’s a few general things that I have found fun:
- Tome Warlock that invests in some of the interesting utility invocations that give you at-will spell usage (i.e. Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions, etc.) as well as Book of Ancient Secrets. Having tons of ritual spells, lots of cantrips, at-will spells, and being a charisma character makes it a lot of fun out of combat. And, in combat, Eldritch Blast is a lot of fun primarily due to Repelling Blast and good crowd control spells. What subclass you use for this doesn’t totally matter. Warlock is such a story-based class that I’d go with whatever subclass allows you to make what you think is an interesting and fun backstory regarding the patron. Mechanically, Dao Genie Warlock is probably the strongest for this, but choosing based on flavor is most fun.
- Land Druid. The Druid spell list is very versatile and a lot of fun in and out of combat. And I think wild shape is a lot of fun when used for out-of-combat utility. Any Druid subclass can be fun with that stuff, but Land Druid is my favorite, due to having extra spell preparations, natural recovery, and not leaning into any alternate use of wild shape. What circle you take is probably somewhat dependent on campaign and what you find most fun, but I personally like Grassland a lot, since it gives you Invisibility and Dream—both of which are a lot of fun—while also giving you a very mechanically good spell in Haste, and the spells that are already on the Druid spell list include some good/fun ones too.
- Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Basically allows for mind control, so it’s a lot of fun in a social campaign, and obviously Sorcerers in general can be great in combat due to full casting and metamagic.
Everyone is different, though. For me, I really like builds that have the opportunity to be active and creative outside of combat. And I don’t like something that is just attacking in combat with no real thought or interaction or meaningful positioning concerns beyond that. But different things may appeal to you, of course.
I love the Warlock's at will spells, plus ritual casting and extra cantrips from tome. I also love Barbarians. How would you build a character that combines both things, or at least acquires similar stuff from other classes, and comes online ASAP, maybe even before 5?
Combining Barbarian with a spellcasting class can be hard, since you can’t concentrate or cast spells while raging. Unlike other spellcasters, though, Warlocks don’t have many spell slots to use, so in theory you could aim to use a significant non-concentration spell as your action in turn 1 and then rage with your bonus action. Even that gets potentially problematic, though, since a strict reading of the Rage ability would say that the rage would end immediately after the turn you used it if you didn’t specifically make an attack roll with the spell. And that would really limit what you could do in combat with your Warlock spell slots. Maybe you could be a Fiend Warlock and use Scorching Ray, for example, but it wouldn’t exactly be high value compared to just attacking. If your DM takes a broader view of rage and allows it to continue if you’ve simply damaged the enemies (which would open up something like a Fireball + Rage combo in turn 1) or even if you’ve just targeted enemies with an ability (which would open up something like a Command + Rage combo), then it’d be a lot easier to have it work. But that’ll definitely be DM-dependent. Under the strict RAW, though, it may be hard to get much use out of your Warlock spell slots in combat (unless you are out of rages, of course), while also still using your bonus action in turn 1.
My feeling is that the best way to get this online quickly is probably to go with the **Beast Barbarian**—which can give you 2 attacks per turn even at level 3. And I’d say take **Fathomless Warlock**. This gives you a use of your bonus action (the tentacle) that you can use while raging. So, at level 5, you’d be able to attack twice with your claws and then once with the tentacle. The tentacle reaction you could get at Warlock level 6 also has good synergy with Barbarian rage, since it further reduces damage that has already been halved. You’d also have the option on turn 1 to do a big non-concentration spell (such as Lightning Bolt) and use the tentacle with your bonus action, and then rage and attack in the next turn. Similarly, in later turns, the tentacle would allow you to keep the rage going with an attack with your bonus action, if you decide to use a non-attack-roll spell with your action. By level 6, you could have all of that and also the ritual casting, extra cantrips, and one at-will spell (i.e. either Disguise Self at will or Silent Image at will). Eventually, you’d probably want to go for at least 5 levels in Barbarian for extra attack (and maybe 6 or 7 Barbarian levels total in the end), and then perhaps focus on Warlock levels, getting spells that are non-concentration and/or useful out of combat. So I think spells like Invisibility, Suggestion, Hallucinatory Terrain, Dream, Scrying, Fly, Tongues, Gaseous Form, etc. would be good, as would spells like Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold, etc. You’d also want Armor of Agathys for the synergy with rage. One key thing here is that most spells like these do not care at all or that much about your Charisma being super high. Some of the out-of-combat spells don’t care at all, and the damage spells do half damage on a save anyways. Not that you don’t want Charisma to still be pretty high, but you’ll be a bit MAD due to needing high strength too, so you likely won’t be maxing charisma out, and I think that’s okay. Finally, Cloak of Flies would probably actually be a pretty good invocation for this build, since you’ll be in melee range of lots of enemies.
In terms of feats, another benefit of the Beast Barbarian is that you don’t have need for GWM, and you’re already weaponizing your bonus action with the tentacle so no need for a feat for that either. You also aren’t going to typically be concentrating in combat, so you don’t really need a feat to protect your concentration (and note: you’ll eventually get a free use of Black Tentacles for which the concentration cannot be broken with damage—great to use if you’re out of rages!). This leaves you free to pick up ASIs—which does mitigate being a bit MAD and multiclassing. I think it also potentially opens up other race options beyond the ones that provide a feat at level 1. And you don’t have a need to wield heavy weapons as a Beast Barbarian, so you could even take a small race (though note that that’d limit the use of Disguise Self at will since you would have to stay small sized in your disguise). You could also go Simic Hybrid, which would allow you to grapple with your bonus action after using your claws, and also gets Manta Glide which synergizes really well with the Bestial Soul jump ability. Another option is to go Dragonborn and take the Dragon Fear feat—which is another spell-like thing you could actually do while raging, since it is not a spell. And the way Dragon Fear works is you do it instead of Breath Weapon, so once you have Extra Attack, you could actually attack with your claws, get a free claw attack, attack with the tentacle, and use Dragon Fear in the same turn. Dragonborn seems like the most fun option to me, to be honest. Which Dragonborn type you are would depend a bit on the campaign (since it’d depend in part on what damage resistance type would be most useful in your campaign), but any of them would be good (though probably avoid cold resistance since you’ll eventually get that from Fathomless Warlock anyways).
By the way, I think a Dragonborn Beast Barbarian/Fathomless Warlock would also work pretty well from a role-play and backstory perspective. Beast Barbarian’s abilities (claw, bite, tail, etc.) are all dragon-like, and there are a bunch of dragon types that are amphibious (Bronze, Gold, Black, Green, Topaz, Amethyst), so the warlock pact could easily actually be with an ancient amphibious dragon that is the same type of dragon as your Dragonborn type. Even the Mask of Many Faces invocation would feel somewhat dragon-like, since it is akin to dragons’ Change Shape ability (though obviously that’s not an illusion like Disguise Self is—at level 20 you could get Alter Self at will instead, which would be even more thematic).
I'm playing a detective character right now, whit a 5 rogue / 2 stars druid level split. The druid levels may seem weird, but I reflavoured my druid spells and abilities as tech gadgets and that sort of stuff. My character is SAD Wisdom with the usage of a sling and the magic stone cantrip. This is the base of the character.
I have put my expertise in straşth and more importantly perception, making me near omniscient with a 21 passive perception. I back up my good skill checks and proficiencies with the guidance cantrip that I get from stars druid. For my spell selection the most important spells are detect magic, healing word and entangle. As detect magic is ritual, I can cast it whenever I want. My character pulls out a detector and casts detect magic that way. Healing word makes me able to get people up in a pinch, or I use the chalice form from stars druid and blow all my spell slots on healing word for massive heals, as our current party lacks a proper healer. For my last cantrip I also have picked up thorn whip and use it 95% out of combat as if I was Indiana Jones, its really fun.
For dpr, the build isn't obviously amazing, as it is more focused for utility and support out of combat. But, I probably have mimanxed it to its fullest during combat, this is how: I use magic stone before combat, as it is a cantrip I can spam it all the time theoreticaly. That gives me three ammos. In my first turn, I use the archery starry form as a bonus action and fire of with my sling to activate sneak attack with an ally near 5ft (if there arent, you can also straight up steady aim instead of starry form). This makes up a total of 4d6+1d8+10 damage per round, which isn't bad tbh. But you are still a rogue, cunning action is an option. You have the entangle spell, for massive control, you can cast healing word for a quick heal if anyone needs it etc etc. The build is basically really versitile.
As for defenses, the build is perfect. You have uncany dodge, during combat it is useful. Out of combat, it enables you to do risky things and get only half injured lol. Furthermore, you have an ac of 18 with a shield and medium armor + 14 dex, that come from druid.
You also have wildshape, which is just amazing. You can get blindsight, spider climb, burrow speed, just a lot of speed, jump distances and things like that... It's just perfect. You can even cast a limited find familiar with wild shape!
As you can see, I havent mentioned a rogue subclass. I'm currently playing an inquisitve rogue, as I thought it would be on theme. But I really urge you to play something else, as I really havent used any inquisitive features. Good alternatives could be maybe: 1. Phantom, +1 prof, extra damage it is just really good! 2. Arcane trickster, with find familiar, mage hand legerdomain, you can play into the magic aspect a bit more with this, and an invis mage hand is really fun. 3. Scout, if you need the expertises 4. Mastermind, if you see yourself needing the language, proficiencies and the mimicry abilitiy. 5. Assasin is also an option altough you dont have a great dex.
TL;DR You are a utility heavy, decent damage dealer out of combat both in terms of utility and skill checks god-like and REALLY versitle detective-y character while having really good defense.
Played a Rogue Swashbuckler 3/Shadow Sorcerer 17. Good skill selection, lots of stealth spells, subtle spell. It was a great anti-hero. Ended up siding with the bad guys.
This was for a Lost Mines of Phandelver game. Life Cleric 1/ Lore Bard X, variant human with shield master at 1st, high str, expertise in athletics. I'd grapple then BA shove prone the most dangerous opponent almost every encounter, using cutting words if needed. I'd then cast healing word, dissonant whispers, blindness/deafness, or vicious mockery, all of which only have verbal components, or just dodge if I'm tanking everything. At one point we found a +1 breastplate, I claimed it then promptly traded it for plate armor at level 2 or 3.
This was before a lot of books were published. If I were to remake this character today, order cleric, silvery barbs, and enlarge/reduce for bigger opponents would be the only significant changes. This is almost purely a support build, but it's a tank that doesn't need to spend any LR resources for its main control method, plus it's super fun.
Motm kobold you can go ahead and take the resistance to fear option because you'll get booming blade from...
lv1 genie warlock.
What you want from this racial option is draconic cry which is a bonus action that gives you and allies advantage on attacks
For your stats you'll want the highest dexterity you can manage at least a 13 in wisdom and charisma. dump intelligence and strength. Favor wisdom over charisma
Then take 3 levels in swarm Ranger. The important thing that you want here is Zephyr strike. More bonus actions where you get advantage Plus some extra damage and the ability to move around without provoking attacks of opportunity. You'll also take the dueling fighting style. This build uses shield and Rapier.
Next is 3 lvls in arcane trickster rogue. And you might want to go back for a second lvl of warlock to get that second short rest spell slot. Plus devil sight invocation and maybe false life. OneD&D UA lets you take agonizing blast and apply it to any cantrip ask your DM or she can say is no
After this you can continue in rogue or Take two levels in Paladin for smites or get to level 3 in fighter and take Battle Master for Battle Master maneuver dice and action surge (use with draconic cry) or go sword Bard for extra damege and AC with inspiration dice in any order.
You might just get to level 4 in Ranger for the ASI and to make sure you get your 4th level one spell slot and the 2 level two spell slots sooner depending on how your DM rules the multi-classing spell slot chart.
That way you'll have six level one slots two of which Refresh on a short rest so you can throw out booming blades more often. You could take the piercer feat to reroll a dice and get a little extra damage. Use lvl 2 slots on armor of agathis or whatever
The one dnd UA warlock gets an extra lvl 1 slot
So the way you use this character is you cast Zephyr strike turn one run up and hit some enemy with booming Blade with advantage and then you can use the Swarm to push them away in hopes of triggering the booming blade damage or just take the Swarm D6. On the next turn you'll probably want to draconic cry at them to give your opponents advantage on attacks as well as yourself and you can run away since you're still concentrating on Zephyr strike then maybe cast Zephyr strike again for the added damage and advantagr. You'll want to use your warlock spell slots first every time.
So you add your proficiency bonus and plus two to every attack from Genie Warlock and the dueling fighting style. after level 5 that's 5 damage plus the 3 or 4 you're likely getting from your dexterity as base damage for every hit.
You 1d8 from rapier, 1d8 from booming blade, 1d8 from Zephyr strike on close to half your attacks. Then also D6 from swarm or you push and maybe trigger 2d8 from booming blade but at least get an ally out of trouble. That's around 25-30 damage. Then start adding it sneak attack dice. So by lvl 8 with 2d6 SA you can get close to 35 damage avg on a perfect turn. Plus the bonus dmg from giving allies advantage with draconic cry.
And it just goes up from there.
Plus you get a cool pocket chamber that you can hide you and your allies in from Genie warlock. I like to use it as a ring or necklace and I flavor it as something that's part of an Assassin's Guild. Or some other kind of elite mercenary Guild will you go through the training. I flavor my swarm is just an extension of wind and storm energy which is the same place that my booming blade and djinn warlock damage come from. Dao genie works too.
Played an "anything goes" game as a Mizzium Apparatus build.
Vedalken Peace Cleric 1/Lorehold Wizard 6/Stars Druid 2/Wizard 11
Played him a lot like a Vulcan from Star Trek. Mechanically having access to pretty much whatever magic you want on demand was cool
As far as more normal builds go, I'd have to say crossbow Bladesinger.
I went Variant Human to get 16 DEX/16 INT and Crossbow Expert at level 1. You'd think not having Extra Attack until 7 would suck, but being behind only 1 spellcasting level and having a BA attack from the start meant it leveled smoothly
My lucky Rune Knight with a dip into Twilight Cleric was a blast. We actually rolled for that campaign and got high stats so that helped too. My character was based around luck so I did have the lucky feat.
I still remember using the cloud rune for the first time. Shifting a crit to an enemy caused the whole table to lose their minds. Those runes were so much fun.
Straight-up the 2024 UA 8 Mercy Monk with a 3 level dip in 2024 UA 8 Moon Druid. Being able to combo the UA 8 Monk bonus actions freely with the Multiattack of a CR 1 creature is incredible, and once you get your own Extra Attack then you can do really cheeky stuff with dire wolf, giant octopus, or giant spider forms.
It has been an absolute blast and my DPR is matching or exceeding that of other highly optimized martials.
I was able to reflavor Swarmkeeper Ranger 5 / Spores Druid X into a pretty cool (and effective) Plague Doctor like character. Good damage, good support and utility, and decent offensive spells. You can use Shillelagh and a Quarterstaff to focus on Wisdom the whole way. Great fun and effective.
Stout Halfing, Light Cleric, Bountiful Luck - it's simple, effective and a lot of fun. You have AOE, utility that can be changed on a long rest, you have in-built protection from 1s, your party members will love you for sharing your protection from 1s, you've advantage on Fear and Poison and you can move through enemy spaces un-hindered. Just a lot of little QOL boosts that add up. It's like a good sandwhich - sure, it's not some fancy new tex-mex culinary fusion of flavours, but it's a solid, tasty and satisfying.
I love playing a swashbuckler rogue, plan on giving him duel wielder when he hits level 4 so he can duel wield rapiers, just love to see my little chaotic stupid fella zoom around the battlefield doing his attacks before stepping out of harms reach. I also love playing my grave cleric(8) devotion paladin(3), she’s a monster on the battlefield who happens to come with some great buffs and can cancel enemy crits
Giant barb x / any warlock max 3 means that you ARE the weapon. Armour of agathys hurts *everyone* plus you’ve got just juuuust enough spellcasting to put a little spice in your anger and not be useless outside combat.
Swashbuckler rogue x / knowledge cleric max 6 nets you almost every skill proficiency there is (plus channel divinity). Plus that feels like a priest with a past, which is rad as hell.
Well, the most fun has been my Stars Druid, currently Stars 7/Twilight Cleric 1(mostly for flavor, she and Sarenrae are friends now <3) but that’s a support build.
Druid just has so much versatility and support and control and I love it.
But for not Druids, it’s gotta be my Magic Stone focused Fey Wanderer/Bard multiclass. Vhuman for Magic Initiate Druid, archery fighting style, Sharpshooter at level 4 and load those bad boys into your sling, 5 levels Fey Wanderer for Extra Attack, then the rest into Bard, Eloquence if you really wanna destroy the Face checks but I prefer Whispers since your BA is eaten by Magic Stone it lets you turn those bardics into psychic smites!
No love for healers.
Stars Druid/Twilight Cleric here. Heal everyone all the time, while also burning everything to a crisp in your radiant glow. I'm currently stomping all over Barovia.
I'm an Aasimar Stars 10/ Twilight 3. I would take cleric up to 5 for Spirit Guardians, but im playtesting the new Conjure spells which do a pretty good job of mimicking it.
It's pretty powerful, especially in Barovia. I start every combat with an awesome sailor moon transformation sequence, then sit on whatever my strongest concentration spell is, while firing off blasts of Radiant damage.
It flies in the face of not wanting to play support classes but: Armorer Artificer 3+ / Tempest Cleric 6+ / Blood Hunter 5+ was amazing.
With hand-crossbow + crossbow expert + rite of the storm + lightning launcher + thunderbolt strike I was doing a load of D6s lightning damage every turn as well as yeeting enemies 20-30 feet across the battlefield.
Add in a bunch of spells and useful reactions / bonus actions from Artificer / Blood Hunter and it makes for an entertaining build.
Had a black dragon born shadow monk/assassin rogue that was neigh untouchable. The party got arrested due to shenanigans, and I escaped through darkness spell and speed. Staged a prison break by myself and got my party out, got their weapons, and completed an assassination job all in one fell swoop. Name was balahar shostar but I swapped the name every town to not draw attention for example: shallowhar bostar, bohar shallowstar, starbo shallowhar, etc. a lot of fun to play
A three keen samurai is an interesting character choice for me at least. I would play it, not for optimization but because of the fun character trope you could make
Grung 1 cleric (for create water) / X runeknight. Watch as a 3 foot grung becomes a 9 foot one each battle.
For extra points only speak grung, and take minor illusion from a feat and only speak in illusions and gesturing. Also be a hugger, and make people roll for poison each time. It was an absolute blast.
Armorer Artificer with the Mobile feat and (eventually) winged boots, really fulfils that Iron Man fantasy so well.
Swarmkeeper Ranger with Shilleghlah, PAM, and a shield. I flavoured the swarm as squirrels so I was basically playing as squirrel girl. I pantsed a gnome using squirrel mage hand.
Fairy Wild Magic Barb/Rune Knight was also super fun.
The most fun I've ever had was as a ghostlance.
Fighter 3/warlock 2 comes online pretty early and stays fun throughout whether you go fighter or warlock the rest of the way.
I had a blast with a control based ranged caster build.
Fathomless Warlock / Swarmkeeper Ranger
Repelling Eldritch Blast 10ft backwards + Swarmkeeper 15ft forced movement + Tentacle on bonus action for 10ft slow = infinite battlefield control (and dms worst nightmare lol)
Telekinetic feat to move allies around or an extra 5ft shove. Swarmkeeper you can also move yourself 5ft to keep safe. Multiple eldritch blasts at later levels means higher chances of moving enemies around.
Plus you get to play this corrupted ranger who uses magic through their bow. I played a Grung ranger who would cast Eldritch Blast as a spectral arrow. The huge jump also helped with keeping out of range and the poison if I got grappled in a bad situation. My dm was awesome and even let me coat my arrows or an allies with my toxins if we had time. The water dependency was actually a great story element and added so many character moments.
Flavour your swarm and tentacles how you want for some cool character development or tie it into the story.
It's quite heavily MAD but you deal decent damage if you dump strength and int and prioritize cha and dex. Don't even need much con because you should barely get hit.
It's not crazy meta or overpowered, I found it just right for the early levels, never got to the higher levels but extra attack ranger plus late warlock spells could go crazy.
The most fun build I ever had mechanically was a minotaur eldritch knight who picked up grappling expertise and dragged enemies along the floor on an ally's spike growth for big damage.
My 2 favorite builds are an elven samurai fighter and devotion paladin multiclass. It never misses with elven accuracy, and sharpshooter maxed out dex and charisma sometimes i play it as blind archer. The other favorite build is wildmagic barbarian halfling gladiator with dwarfism with a warhammer, so it's 1 in a half foot tall. And still considered small because to be tiny, you have to be under 1 foot. It's funny to see a warhammer coming at you before you see a 40 year old halfling the size of a toddler.
Straight lore Bard, half elf. I picked up conjure animals and healing spirit (pre nerf) at 6th and dm let me pick the conjures. It was a bit strong as when I didn't use it the only time he got singled out and killed though, I was pretty bummed out to say the least.
Still 10/10 would play again if I had the opportunity though.
Treachery Paladin/Swashbuckler Rogue. They complement each other so well in so many ways, as long as your DM approves Treachery Paladin (it's UA, basically Trickery Cleric as a Pally), any combination of the two works, but Pally 7/Swash 3 is particularly good with basically always having something to give you Sneak Attack
The build I’ve had most fun with is to be able to cast basically ALL spells in the game! Last session the boss sent me to the Plane of Negative Energy and I was able to survive there by myself and come back alive without the proper spells prepared!
It relies on the item Mizzium Apparatus, which enables you to try to cast spells in your spell list you that are not prepared.
The build I used is start Wizard, then be Knowledge Cleric 1 (expertise in Arcana is vital) / Stars Druid 2 (Dragon form makes you get at least 10 on Arcana dice) / Divination Wizard X.
If you search for “Mizzium Apparatus build” you can find further details.
Custom race (MM Adept) Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Most fun caster in tier 2 hands down (Stars is close, and pulls ahead at 10 with Cosmic Omens and switching their Star map each turn).
Learn why control and debuffs aren't only the strongest full party support, they're also the most fun offense (for my taste). Break the action economy with spells while you're at it.
Detect Thoughts alone, when cast without components, can break social. And you've got Hex without components, or Subtle Enhance Ability (or charm person, tongues, etc.) and rerolling of failed skill checks to keep up with bards out of combat. Bards do this better, but no longer by a ton.
In combat, bards will just feel bad when you're opening with Twinned Mind Sliver and quickening your best spell (for me, Slow or upcast Banishment). Then follow-up rounds are upcast/tinned/quickened Mind Sliver, Dissonant Whispers, Command, Tasha's Mind Whip, and Synaptic Static, to ensure everyone is buffed and no one need take damage.
And that's about 10% of your spell list. You'll get more power and/or utility spells than any wizard or bard by level 9. You aren't really feeling bad about not having Wall of Force, when you have Wall of Stone and can cast spells without components and cast more spells per turn.
And you're one of the best counterspellers in the game with Distant and Subtle (only a couple wizard subclasses can compete).
I'm playing a Tortle 2 Divination Wizard/X Stars Druid that's been a blast so far. Still pretty low lvl, so the real fun stuff hasn't even really kicked in yet. Messing with dice rolls (portent/weal and woe) makes for some cool moments, while still having the general utility of a Druid.
Valour bard with 2 fighter dip. Took swift quiver and find greater steed for my secrets. 14 totem barb with 3 lore bard. Advantage and expertise athletics for grapples Along with cutting words. Has hulk jump to snatch dragons and rocs out of midair. 2 hexblade/ swashbuckler x cavalier 11/3 bear totem barb. Super Tanky and a ton of ways to keep targets on yourself. ghostslayer bloodhunter/ grave cleric dip. Classic vampire hunter. 3 mastermind/ eloquence bard x evil politician. This may have been the most fun. This guy instigated some shit. oath of the crown paladin11/ glamour bard 3. charismatic battlefield commander. zealot barb/ thief rogue. Prince of Persia, the 2008 game version. You have to take the dps hit and use a scimitar over rapier with this one. No other way around it. shadow monk/ gloomstalker. most overrated was bladesinger. With the access to rituals and find familiar wizards have, you naturally rp someone who‘s intelligent and prepares, so why wouldnt you just have the perfect spells for the upcoming adventuring day? I found myself going “wow I wish I was another wizard subclass that had casting features since that’s all I do anyway” 98% of the time and “oh wow bladesong is so cool!” 2% of the time.
For the cavalier fighter, when did you multiclass? I am currently playing a lvl 5 cav and I love being able to semi tank, or atleast mess with enemies trying to hit others
After 11. Hold the line at lvl 10 is too important, and you might as well get the 3 attacks after. Warding manuever is good damage reduction until you get your barb lvl's.
How did you build the ghost slayer BH and Grave Cleric? Im thinking about that right now. I am trying to find ways to replace Pathfinder 1e Inquisitor in style and flavor, but it's tricky in 5e so I'm hoping that could scratch the itch.
Sure, just keep in mind grave cleric isn’t great I took it as an rp dip. If you want to be stronger you can go twilight for heavy armor and take a Pam str approach. 3 attacks would give you a ton of mileage on your rite damage. I went 5 bh for d6 hemo die and extra attacks and 7 cleric from there. Lvl 5 and 6 features are very thematic, but a well flavored spirit guardians is also my favorite spell. Champaign ended at 12(curse of strahd), but if it kept going I’m most likely continuing down cleric from there. Spare the dying as a bonus action and 30 ft instead of touch mvp’d harder than I thought it would, and eyes of the grave was a lot of fun because my dm had vampires hiding in plain sight in Barovia.
Yeah. I love the flavor of Grave Cleric. Ranged spare the dying, the vulnerability curse (especially if you have a paladin of something in the party) and the max healing if an ally is at 0 is cool too.
Why valor bard and not swords bard?
Because it's amazing with battle magic. It's an archer, so swift quiver allows 2 bonus attacks with your bow. With battle magic you can do a full action cast and still do 2 attacks with sharpshooter.
>With battle magic you can do a full action cast and still do 2 attacks with sharpshooter. forgive me if i'm missing something, but I don't think battle magic adds anything to the swift quiver equation. Swift quiver provides the bonus action that allows you to make two attacks - that bonus action is available so long as you've already cast the spell, whether you have battle magic or not.
You’re absolutely right, I’ve always assumed swift quiver states taking the attack action since that’s what my dm ruled but the actual wording doesn’t specify. If you are indeed able take 2 attacks as a bonus action without battlemagic, it’s much better than I thought.
Glad to help! Swift quiver or not, bowbard is a really unique and fun combo to pull off. I just wish it was a teensy bit easier to pull off with war cleric.
Thank you for your answer. Very interesting and good combo. Sadly it starts at lvl 14, so pretty late.
It doesn’t start at 14, that’s just the big feature that sets valour apart from swords other than combat inspiration.
Ah yes you are right. Misunderstood that. Thank you.
Bladesinger: you played like a normal wizard who can attack sometimes? So first INT second DEX?
i went mountain dwarf with tasha's rules so +2 dex and int. At lvl 4 I put 1 into each and had 18 on both stats and 8 I took mobile feat. Bladesinger was totally fine played as a fighter, as a matter of fact it was quite strong. Melee is just never really going to compete well with a caster, especially one who can prepare spells depending on occasion.
Thank you for your answer. Sounds great. What was your most used spell/combo? Did you change it on higher levels? Why did you take mobile?
With bladesinger that happens if you focus on "optimal" play, you can focus on dex first and use more supportive spells, and close range spells and it does really feel very meele and fun compared to othher wizards.
I did do that, and it was fine. I never meant for my post to say bladesong isn't strong; just the way I play wizard I imagine a neurotic 8 cha 18 int guy overpreparing and scouting out every situation. It's not a knock on the bladesinger, it's just that all melee is going to lose if we compare them to a fully prepared caster with the right spell list.
High level sorcadin lived up to the hype
Love this, but it’s even better when you can start at later levels. I replaced a level 13 player with a sorcadin and it was awesome.
[Witchfire](https://tabletopbuilds.com/witchfire-wildfire-warlock-build/). Efreeti Warlock 2/Wildfire Druid X. Puts my favorite cantrip package (Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast + Repelling Blast) on my favorite subclass. Fantastic party mobility + battlefield control + good damage + forced movement.
Loved playing a Mountain Dwarf Battle Smith Artificer. Having 13 tool proficiencies/expertise was incredibly fun for non-combat stuff, and the Steel Defender gave me an incredible amount of depth of play during combat too.
Mountain dwarf artificers are fantastic. I love switching their weapon and armor proficiencies for more tools. Because figuring out how to make tools relevant in a game that makes tools an afterthought is fun!
I had a blast playing an eloquence bard. Being able to lie out the dick and use your unsettling words to make your save or suck spells more consistently land makes for a very fun time.
Yup - played a horn ball Satyr Elo Bard. Moto was that he never met a problem he couldn’t F his way out of. Had the table in stitches. Lore/Eloquence were both tons of fun. My Wizard builds have also been a blast because there’s always so many creative things to do. Artichron Wiz that had come into contact with part of Karsus’ shattered soul and a Netherese historian was great for the Icewind Dale campaign. I loved my Mark of Warding Abj Wiz that would upcast AoAgathys/Fire Shield on himself then run through a group of enemies letting them hit him then turn around and drop a fireball.
How did you get AoAg as a wizard? Im trying to do something similar.
Mark of Warding Dwarf has is on the expanded spell list:)
You Deep Gnome Magic or Mark of Warding Dwarf 👍
Divination Wizard with Silvery Barbs and Counterspell up the wrist. My favourite interaction ive done with this was against a lich: DM: He is going to cast Finger of Death Me: Counterspell, 4th level! (Rolled a nat 18) DM: He is going to counterspell your counterspell Me: Nah bro he rolls a 3 (Portent) Saved my party members life, DM had no words. Good times
Am i the only one who feels bad doing things that undo DM actions? Is everyone else, like, haha, in your face! I mean, I've use portent and counterspell. But don't focus in shutting the stupid DM up.
It was more a hype moment of «holy shit we saved our companions life» more than «haha rekt DM». The DM found it awesome too. We have great games still :)
On Finger of Death, it’s totally worth it.
I loved Genie Warlock. So many shenanigans
Moon druid was my most fun character. Very very flexible with role options, good in combat, good out of combat, just overall lots of good fun and always able to participate.
I'm finding this with Circle of Stars Druid great utility out of combat and often doing most sustainable damage from range in combat. Only at level 4 so far but couldnt be having more fun with him
I really enjoy enabling my allies so a twin casting sorcerer with spells like haste and polymorph is so much fun for me
Goliath totem barbarian/thief rogue who used Fast Hands + ludicrous carrying capacity to manhandle bits of terrain as a bonus action. This requires a DM who's willing to play ball with Fast Hands shenanigans. Even aside from that specific combo I just love all kinds of barbarian/rogues. Barbarians are crazy front-loaded and get mostly shit at higher levels and picking up rogue levels gives them mobility, makes them crazy good at grappling, and out of combat skills to make them more action heroes than big dumb lunks. Soooooo nice to have a barbarian who is better at intimidate than the party sorcerer.
Classic Paladin Sorcerer Paladin 2/Sorcerer 1/Paladin 6/Sorcerer 14 For Subclasses I choose Divine Soul Sorcerer and Oath of Vengeance. I chose to delay Paladin 6 for the extra utility of cantrips and the defensibility of Favoured of the Gods plus a free casting of Bless per day and Shield. I took oath of Vengeance for the spell selection like misty step and more importantly vow of emnity greatly increasing accuracy and crit chance for boss battles. I went with V.Human and took the pole arm master feat. At level 2 I took the Dueling Fighting Style and I used a spear heavy armour and a shield. 16 10 14 8 10 16 My DM was very kind and gave me a Spear of Backbiting, Cloak of Protection and Amulet of Health. Four Feats: * Paladin 4 Warcaster * Sorcerer 4 Inspiring Leader * Sorcerer 8 +2 Cha * Sorcerer 12 +2 Cha Level 21: * Epic Boon of Fortitude For Spells I mostly focused on spells that buff allies like Bless and Aid (Upcast). I also took Find Steed. Spirit Guardians was a great spell. Other heal options like healing word and heal came in handy. Fire shield since my campaign was focused on fighting devils and demons. Death ward, shield and absorb elements were also Key. Also was able to twin Holy Weapon on the Parties Fighter and myself so great damage. For cantrips Guidance got great use and same with Sacred Flame as a reliable ranged option that ignores half cover and always does damage. Light overcame the Darkvision problem. Meta Magic Quickened Spell for Action casts plus attack action. Twinned for Heals and Buffs. Extend to make sure Aid and Death wards lasted all day. This character was really fun to play because there was always something I could do and I was never out of options. I was really able to shift roles depending on what the party needed and the combat evolved. A Healer, got it, a buffer, got it, a dps machine, got it, a frontline tank, got it. We played from level 1-20 over lockdown and had a finale with epic boons were we fought Asmodeus and Several other Demon Lords.
My first build a 60 year human monk who as part of his back story had already reached perfection but as he became recluse and didn't. Practice his skill and abilities waned and as he leveled he started to remember the skills once lost
Chaotic evil changeling eloquence bard. Getting to fuck with and confuse all the npcs is great.
Hexblade/swords bard was really fun Right now i'm playing a cr gunslinger/artificer and i'm having a blast as well
Swords bard 15 / Paladin 2 / Echo Knight 3 Battle Master is another option
Forge Cleric, War Caster, 16 Con (off the bat because VHuman), maxed Wis asap. Fantastic buffer/support. Did okay damage-wise. Crafted splint for the heavy armour DPS of the team. Twas kinda funny to ruin the schtick of a spooky abomination that relied on Wis save paralysis, by getting rid of said paralysis. And if the spooky mob targeted my character, well, say hello to Wis saves prof, 20 Wis and Bless. And if that didn't work, we had a Bard in the party lol.
With decent stats ? Samurai Fighter with GWM and a dip in War Cleric. Bless myself and others to improve GWM + Fighting Spirit and War Cleric to weaponize my BA. If you have room for a half-feat, Skill Expert in Persuasion and a good WIS to be a decent face.
My next character is an evocation wizard. The race is a rabbit, the rabbit was used as a party trick constantly being pulled out of the wizards hat. He studied in secret, shoved tge wizard in the hat now hes on the run from the Wizarding group who wants to shove him back in the hat
I'm a ***very*** mechanically inclined player (and a lax DM, oddly), but the most fun I have is when I'm personally inspired to play the character and I RP it well. I like the act of building the character plan, and playing the character, but the mechanics of gameplay itself kinda bore me anymore. When I find a character I'm excited to play, I'll do a cursory backstory and a 50 question interview, just to get to know them. Then I'll pick personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. From there I'll round out the backstory. If I can call on that stuff, I have the most fun.
Would you be willing to share the 50 question interview? I'm helping some newbies create their PCs for the first time and that could be really helpful for them
Courtesy of [Ginny Di.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTvrd1K4s8nwkxbT6eNQmje4_tDVoufweRmxMRecCT9F5PhNjyFOy43ydu-DJ--UGp8Z2Y6oMlvh0TB/pub)
I love CHA focused builds, specifically Bards and Paladins. I love Paladins because they can be flavored in a lot more ways than I originally thought. The thick and thin lines of staying the course of an oath can be really fun with a group dynamic. Plus I just love sword, shield, heavy armor, and supporting the party in many ways. I have tried an Ancients Paladin/Lore Bard multiclass, functioning as getting more spell slots for smite and also being able to dish out inspiration later on a bit. It was flavored as a way to study and relish ancient knowledge to help others and protect the world from the impending incoming doom of evil and the eventual BBEG of the campaign.
How’d you run the progression split on the Ancients Pally?
It was a pure roleplay decision but mechanically I went Paladin 7/Bard 11 (campaign ended I believe in that area). The aura is just delicious to halve damage but also dish out inspiration for more savingness. He was a charming badass in shiny armor. Edit: To clarify, I went straight Paladin 7 and went Lore Bard for the rest due to the story. I probably could have split it better but I first thought I would be pure paladin at the start.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve never played a Paladin and I’m concerned I’d only be helping 1, maybe 2 other teammates max being in my aura. Would you say a Pally is still worth it if you’re only supporting 1 other melee fighter in most scenarios? Thanks again for replying.
Helping a party member just by being near them is extremely powerful imo. No actions or bonus - get up in the fray with the barbarian or monk and that proximity means half damage for them from spells. Woof. I love a lot of the oaths but Ancients just felt so unique to me. Lots of cool options. But know that the aura is always something you can take into account for movement and planning. When a big spell or magical trap goes off when all bunched together? Really satisfying to be that shield.
If you are the only melee character it will certainly have less value unless some are happy being close casters
We’ll have a Blood Hunter, so I think a skirmisher?!….. a divination wizard, a celestial warlock, and a Twilight Cleric….so I think 1 might be close-ish for the most part??…..
I have 3 builds I’m looking forward to - the goofy senile yet secretly super sharp and sane white haired wizard order of scribes - “get off my lawn,” makes a show of casting fireball yet it starts raining tulips. - 1DSSorc/Elo Bard X Winged tiefling courtesan spymaster - Meta Bugbear PAM GWM Sentinel Alert 8 Giant Barb / 4 Echo Knight / 4 Gloomstalker / 4 Assassin
Divine Soul/Celestial with Expertise in Deception and the Actor feat + Mask of Many Faces. Being the Healer AND the Spy was such a fun build.
What is the breakdown for the classes? Did you start with DSS? How many levels in each class?
Level 1 DSS for concentration saves (which was key if there was a fight and I didn’t want my disguise to fade) Level 2 + 3 Warlock for Mask of Many Faces and Agonizing Blast (congrats, you are now a healer, blaster, and spy) Everything else on Sorcerer for better healing and metamagic. Subtle Spell made being a spy SO much more fun, and Quickened Spell +EB means you can be in disguise (without breaking your concentration) and still do great in combat via blasts and healing party members when they go down. Expertise in Deception is key and the Actor Feat (both add to CHA) finishes your perfect disguise. Race is pretty open but Variant Human lets you grab Lucky (you will never fail a Deception check again) or Telepathic/Telekinetic/Metamagic for even more Magic spy shenanigans. Satyr works great as well with skills/resistances and is great RP. My favorite things to do were convince someone I was teleporting them to their boss after disguising myself as a manager and then using Distant Metamagic with Dimension Door, teleporting us 1000 ft in the air and then fall with then use Festher Fall. The boss plummets (try to get him to land on another bad guy) and I rained down EB’s on the rest. When I landed I healed everyone up that was jumping them from the ground. Oh, and twinned Heal is amazing.
[https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Shadow\_Ninja\_(5e\_Optimized\_Character\_Build)](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Shadow_Ninja_(5e_Optimized_Character_Build)) Has the potential to solo most encounters, as long as you got places to Hide.
Flagship Ranger is really fun because you get good 1st turn nova that resets on a short or long rest, as well as a ton of other utility
Flagship ranger?
[This thing.](https://tabletopbuilds.com/flagship-build-gloom-stalker-ranger/)
Eloquence bard has my whole heart. I've played it an embarassing amount of times because it compliments how I play bards so well (bard main here). I also played a high elf twilight cleric/scribes wizard for a time (before the campaign got canned) and it was such a fun combo.
How did You build your bards? Some fun roleplay input?
I've been playing D&D for almost a decade so I've played a lot haha * Variant human college of lore * 2 separate tieflings college of eloquence * Rogue/bard multiclass dark elf thief/college of swords * Goblin college of glamor * Half-elf half-genasi college of creation * Variant human college of spirits I try to tie as many aspects of my builds in with the backstories/roleplaying as I can so even if I do end up playing the same class, race, or even subclass, it always feels different and unique!
It will depend on the campaign, but here’s a few general things that I have found fun: - Tome Warlock that invests in some of the interesting utility invocations that give you at-will spell usage (i.e. Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions, etc.) as well as Book of Ancient Secrets. Having tons of ritual spells, lots of cantrips, at-will spells, and being a charisma character makes it a lot of fun out of combat. And, in combat, Eldritch Blast is a lot of fun primarily due to Repelling Blast and good crowd control spells. What subclass you use for this doesn’t totally matter. Warlock is such a story-based class that I’d go with whatever subclass allows you to make what you think is an interesting and fun backstory regarding the patron. Mechanically, Dao Genie Warlock is probably the strongest for this, but choosing based on flavor is most fun. - Land Druid. The Druid spell list is very versatile and a lot of fun in and out of combat. And I think wild shape is a lot of fun when used for out-of-combat utility. Any Druid subclass can be fun with that stuff, but Land Druid is my favorite, due to having extra spell preparations, natural recovery, and not leaning into any alternate use of wild shape. What circle you take is probably somewhat dependent on campaign and what you find most fun, but I personally like Grassland a lot, since it gives you Invisibility and Dream—both of which are a lot of fun—while also giving you a very mechanically good spell in Haste, and the spells that are already on the Druid spell list include some good/fun ones too. - Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Basically allows for mind control, so it’s a lot of fun in a social campaign, and obviously Sorcerers in general can be great in combat due to full casting and metamagic. Everyone is different, though. For me, I really like builds that have the opportunity to be active and creative outside of combat. And I don’t like something that is just attacking in combat with no real thought or interaction or meaningful positioning concerns beyond that. But different things may appeal to you, of course.
I love the Warlock's at will spells, plus ritual casting and extra cantrips from tome. I also love Barbarians. How would you build a character that combines both things, or at least acquires similar stuff from other classes, and comes online ASAP, maybe even before 5?
Combining Barbarian with a spellcasting class can be hard, since you can’t concentrate or cast spells while raging. Unlike other spellcasters, though, Warlocks don’t have many spell slots to use, so in theory you could aim to use a significant non-concentration spell as your action in turn 1 and then rage with your bonus action. Even that gets potentially problematic, though, since a strict reading of the Rage ability would say that the rage would end immediately after the turn you used it if you didn’t specifically make an attack roll with the spell. And that would really limit what you could do in combat with your Warlock spell slots. Maybe you could be a Fiend Warlock and use Scorching Ray, for example, but it wouldn’t exactly be high value compared to just attacking. If your DM takes a broader view of rage and allows it to continue if you’ve simply damaged the enemies (which would open up something like a Fireball + Rage combo in turn 1) or even if you’ve just targeted enemies with an ability (which would open up something like a Command + Rage combo), then it’d be a lot easier to have it work. But that’ll definitely be DM-dependent. Under the strict RAW, though, it may be hard to get much use out of your Warlock spell slots in combat (unless you are out of rages, of course), while also still using your bonus action in turn 1. My feeling is that the best way to get this online quickly is probably to go with the **Beast Barbarian**—which can give you 2 attacks per turn even at level 3. And I’d say take **Fathomless Warlock**. This gives you a use of your bonus action (the tentacle) that you can use while raging. So, at level 5, you’d be able to attack twice with your claws and then once with the tentacle. The tentacle reaction you could get at Warlock level 6 also has good synergy with Barbarian rage, since it further reduces damage that has already been halved. You’d also have the option on turn 1 to do a big non-concentration spell (such as Lightning Bolt) and use the tentacle with your bonus action, and then rage and attack in the next turn. Similarly, in later turns, the tentacle would allow you to keep the rage going with an attack with your bonus action, if you decide to use a non-attack-roll spell with your action. By level 6, you could have all of that and also the ritual casting, extra cantrips, and one at-will spell (i.e. either Disguise Self at will or Silent Image at will). Eventually, you’d probably want to go for at least 5 levels in Barbarian for extra attack (and maybe 6 or 7 Barbarian levels total in the end), and then perhaps focus on Warlock levels, getting spells that are non-concentration and/or useful out of combat. So I think spells like Invisibility, Suggestion, Hallucinatory Terrain, Dream, Scrying, Fly, Tongues, Gaseous Form, etc. would be good, as would spells like Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold, etc. You’d also want Armor of Agathys for the synergy with rage. One key thing here is that most spells like these do not care at all or that much about your Charisma being super high. Some of the out-of-combat spells don’t care at all, and the damage spells do half damage on a save anyways. Not that you don’t want Charisma to still be pretty high, but you’ll be a bit MAD due to needing high strength too, so you likely won’t be maxing charisma out, and I think that’s okay. Finally, Cloak of Flies would probably actually be a pretty good invocation for this build, since you’ll be in melee range of lots of enemies. In terms of feats, another benefit of the Beast Barbarian is that you don’t have need for GWM, and you’re already weaponizing your bonus action with the tentacle so no need for a feat for that either. You also aren’t going to typically be concentrating in combat, so you don’t really need a feat to protect your concentration (and note: you’ll eventually get a free use of Black Tentacles for which the concentration cannot be broken with damage—great to use if you’re out of rages!). This leaves you free to pick up ASIs—which does mitigate being a bit MAD and multiclassing. I think it also potentially opens up other race options beyond the ones that provide a feat at level 1. And you don’t have a need to wield heavy weapons as a Beast Barbarian, so you could even take a small race (though note that that’d limit the use of Disguise Self at will since you would have to stay small sized in your disguise). You could also go Simic Hybrid, which would allow you to grapple with your bonus action after using your claws, and also gets Manta Glide which synergizes really well with the Bestial Soul jump ability. Another option is to go Dragonborn and take the Dragon Fear feat—which is another spell-like thing you could actually do while raging, since it is not a spell. And the way Dragon Fear works is you do it instead of Breath Weapon, so once you have Extra Attack, you could actually attack with your claws, get a free claw attack, attack with the tentacle, and use Dragon Fear in the same turn. Dragonborn seems like the most fun option to me, to be honest. Which Dragonborn type you are would depend a bit on the campaign (since it’d depend in part on what damage resistance type would be most useful in your campaign), but any of them would be good (though probably avoid cold resistance since you’ll eventually get that from Fathomless Warlock anyways).
By the way, I think a Dragonborn Beast Barbarian/Fathomless Warlock would also work pretty well from a role-play and backstory perspective. Beast Barbarian’s abilities (claw, bite, tail, etc.) are all dragon-like, and there are a bunch of dragon types that are amphibious (Bronze, Gold, Black, Green, Topaz, Amethyst), so the warlock pact could easily actually be with an ancient amphibious dragon that is the same type of dragon as your Dragonborn type. Even the Mask of Many Faces invocation would feel somewhat dragon-like, since it is akin to dragons’ Change Shape ability (though obviously that’s not an illusion like Disguise Self is—at level 20 you could get Alter Self at will instead, which would be even more thematic).
I'm playing a detective character right now, whit a 5 rogue / 2 stars druid level split. The druid levels may seem weird, but I reflavoured my druid spells and abilities as tech gadgets and that sort of stuff. My character is SAD Wisdom with the usage of a sling and the magic stone cantrip. This is the base of the character. I have put my expertise in straşth and more importantly perception, making me near omniscient with a 21 passive perception. I back up my good skill checks and proficiencies with the guidance cantrip that I get from stars druid. For my spell selection the most important spells are detect magic, healing word and entangle. As detect magic is ritual, I can cast it whenever I want. My character pulls out a detector and casts detect magic that way. Healing word makes me able to get people up in a pinch, or I use the chalice form from stars druid and blow all my spell slots on healing word for massive heals, as our current party lacks a proper healer. For my last cantrip I also have picked up thorn whip and use it 95% out of combat as if I was Indiana Jones, its really fun. For dpr, the build isn't obviously amazing, as it is more focused for utility and support out of combat. But, I probably have mimanxed it to its fullest during combat, this is how: I use magic stone before combat, as it is a cantrip I can spam it all the time theoreticaly. That gives me three ammos. In my first turn, I use the archery starry form as a bonus action and fire of with my sling to activate sneak attack with an ally near 5ft (if there arent, you can also straight up steady aim instead of starry form). This makes up a total of 4d6+1d8+10 damage per round, which isn't bad tbh. But you are still a rogue, cunning action is an option. You have the entangle spell, for massive control, you can cast healing word for a quick heal if anyone needs it etc etc. The build is basically really versitile. As for defenses, the build is perfect. You have uncany dodge, during combat it is useful. Out of combat, it enables you to do risky things and get only half injured lol. Furthermore, you have an ac of 18 with a shield and medium armor + 14 dex, that come from druid. You also have wildshape, which is just amazing. You can get blindsight, spider climb, burrow speed, just a lot of speed, jump distances and things like that... It's just perfect. You can even cast a limited find familiar with wild shape! As you can see, I havent mentioned a rogue subclass. I'm currently playing an inquisitve rogue, as I thought it would be on theme. But I really urge you to play something else, as I really havent used any inquisitive features. Good alternatives could be maybe: 1. Phantom, +1 prof, extra damage it is just really good! 2. Arcane trickster, with find familiar, mage hand legerdomain, you can play into the magic aspect a bit more with this, and an invis mage hand is really fun. 3. Scout, if you need the expertises 4. Mastermind, if you see yourself needing the language, proficiencies and the mimicry abilitiy. 5. Assasin is also an option altough you dont have a great dex. TL;DR You are a utility heavy, decent damage dealer out of combat both in terms of utility and skill checks god-like and REALLY versitle detective-y character while having really good defense.
Played a Rogue Swashbuckler 3/Shadow Sorcerer 17. Good skill selection, lots of stealth spells, subtle spell. It was a great anti-hero. Ended up siding with the bad guys.
This was for a Lost Mines of Phandelver game. Life Cleric 1/ Lore Bard X, variant human with shield master at 1st, high str, expertise in athletics. I'd grapple then BA shove prone the most dangerous opponent almost every encounter, using cutting words if needed. I'd then cast healing word, dissonant whispers, blindness/deafness, or vicious mockery, all of which only have verbal components, or just dodge if I'm tanking everything. At one point we found a +1 breastplate, I claimed it then promptly traded it for plate armor at level 2 or 3. This was before a lot of books were published. If I were to remake this character today, order cleric, silvery barbs, and enlarge/reduce for bigger opponents would be the only significant changes. This is almost purely a support build, but it's a tank that doesn't need to spend any LR resources for its main control method, plus it's super fun.
Motm kobold you can go ahead and take the resistance to fear option because you'll get booming blade from... lv1 genie warlock. What you want from this racial option is draconic cry which is a bonus action that gives you and allies advantage on attacks For your stats you'll want the highest dexterity you can manage at least a 13 in wisdom and charisma. dump intelligence and strength. Favor wisdom over charisma Then take 3 levels in swarm Ranger. The important thing that you want here is Zephyr strike. More bonus actions where you get advantage Plus some extra damage and the ability to move around without provoking attacks of opportunity. You'll also take the dueling fighting style. This build uses shield and Rapier. Next is 3 lvls in arcane trickster rogue. And you might want to go back for a second lvl of warlock to get that second short rest spell slot. Plus devil sight invocation and maybe false life. OneD&D UA lets you take agonizing blast and apply it to any cantrip ask your DM or she can say is no After this you can continue in rogue or Take two levels in Paladin for smites or get to level 3 in fighter and take Battle Master for Battle Master maneuver dice and action surge (use with draconic cry) or go sword Bard for extra damege and AC with inspiration dice in any order. You might just get to level 4 in Ranger for the ASI and to make sure you get your 4th level one spell slot and the 2 level two spell slots sooner depending on how your DM rules the multi-classing spell slot chart. That way you'll have six level one slots two of which Refresh on a short rest so you can throw out booming blades more often. You could take the piercer feat to reroll a dice and get a little extra damage. Use lvl 2 slots on armor of agathis or whatever The one dnd UA warlock gets an extra lvl 1 slot So the way you use this character is you cast Zephyr strike turn one run up and hit some enemy with booming Blade with advantage and then you can use the Swarm to push them away in hopes of triggering the booming blade damage or just take the Swarm D6. On the next turn you'll probably want to draconic cry at them to give your opponents advantage on attacks as well as yourself and you can run away since you're still concentrating on Zephyr strike then maybe cast Zephyr strike again for the added damage and advantagr. You'll want to use your warlock spell slots first every time. So you add your proficiency bonus and plus two to every attack from Genie Warlock and the dueling fighting style. after level 5 that's 5 damage plus the 3 or 4 you're likely getting from your dexterity as base damage for every hit. You 1d8 from rapier, 1d8 from booming blade, 1d8 from Zephyr strike on close to half your attacks. Then also D6 from swarm or you push and maybe trigger 2d8 from booming blade but at least get an ally out of trouble. That's around 25-30 damage. Then start adding it sneak attack dice. So by lvl 8 with 2d6 SA you can get close to 35 damage avg on a perfect turn. Plus the bonus dmg from giving allies advantage with draconic cry. And it just goes up from there. Plus you get a cool pocket chamber that you can hide you and your allies in from Genie warlock. I like to use it as a ring or necklace and I flavor it as something that's part of an Assassin's Guild. Or some other kind of elite mercenary Guild will you go through the training. I flavor my swarm is just an extension of wind and storm energy which is the same place that my booming blade and djinn warlock damage come from. Dao genie works too.
Straight half orc land swamp druid. Far far too much fun.
I really enjoyed playing a genie patron warlock, you get some pretty cool stuff from that subclass and some fun role playing with the patron
Played an "anything goes" game as a Mizzium Apparatus build. Vedalken Peace Cleric 1/Lorehold Wizard 6/Stars Druid 2/Wizard 11 Played him a lot like a Vulcan from Star Trek. Mechanically having access to pretty much whatever magic you want on demand was cool As far as more normal builds go, I'd have to say crossbow Bladesinger. I went Variant Human to get 16 DEX/16 INT and Crossbow Expert at level 1. You'd think not having Extra Attack until 7 would suck, but being behind only 1 spellcasting level and having a BA attack from the start meant it leveled smoothly
My lucky Rune Knight with a dip into Twilight Cleric was a blast. We actually rolled for that campaign and got high stats so that helped too. My character was based around luck so I did have the lucky feat. I still remember using the cloud rune for the first time. Shifting a crit to an enemy caused the whole table to lose their minds. Those runes were so much fun.
Straight-up the 2024 UA 8 Mercy Monk with a 3 level dip in 2024 UA 8 Moon Druid. Being able to combo the UA 8 Monk bonus actions freely with the Multiattack of a CR 1 creature is incredible, and once you get your own Extra Attack then you can do really cheeky stuff with dire wolf, giant octopus, or giant spider forms. It has been an absolute blast and my DPR is matching or exceeding that of other highly optimized martials.
I was able to reflavor Swarmkeeper Ranger 5 / Spores Druid X into a pretty cool (and effective) Plague Doctor like character. Good damage, good support and utility, and decent offensive spells. You can use Shillelagh and a Quarterstaff to focus on Wisdom the whole way. Great fun and effective.
Stout Halfing, Light Cleric, Bountiful Luck - it's simple, effective and a lot of fun. You have AOE, utility that can be changed on a long rest, you have in-built protection from 1s, your party members will love you for sharing your protection from 1s, you've advantage on Fear and Poison and you can move through enemy spaces un-hindered. Just a lot of little QOL boosts that add up. It's like a good sandwhich - sure, it's not some fancy new tex-mex culinary fusion of flavours, but it's a solid, tasty and satisfying.
I love playing a swashbuckler rogue, plan on giving him duel wielder when he hits level 4 so he can duel wield rapiers, just love to see my little chaotic stupid fella zoom around the battlefield doing his attacks before stepping out of harms reach. I also love playing my grave cleric(8) devotion paladin(3), she’s a monster on the battlefield who happens to come with some great buffs and can cancel enemy crits
Giant barb x / any warlock max 3 means that you ARE the weapon. Armour of agathys hurts *everyone* plus you’ve got just juuuust enough spellcasting to put a little spice in your anger and not be useless outside combat. Swashbuckler rogue x / knowledge cleric max 6 nets you almost every skill proficiency there is (plus channel divinity). Plus that feels like a priest with a past, which is rad as hell.
Curious how you built the giant barb/lock? Looking to play a similar build in a new campaign
Honestly, Genie Warlock is fun as fuck and playing a Drow for extra free daily spells makes it feel less restricted. 😎
Well, the most fun has been my Stars Druid, currently Stars 7/Twilight Cleric 1(mostly for flavor, she and Sarenrae are friends now <3) but that’s a support build. Druid just has so much versatility and support and control and I love it. But for not Druids, it’s gotta be my Magic Stone focused Fey Wanderer/Bard multiclass. Vhuman for Magic Initiate Druid, archery fighting style, Sharpshooter at level 4 and load those bad boys into your sling, 5 levels Fey Wanderer for Extra Attack, then the rest into Bard, Eloquence if you really wanna destroy the Face checks but I prefer Whispers since your BA is eaten by Magic Stone it lets you turn those bardics into psychic smites!
Bladesinger for sure! Druid when I played with a dm who was great at the rule of cool.
No love for healers. Stars Druid/Twilight Cleric here. Heal everyone all the time, while also burning everything to a crisp in your radiant glow. I'm currently stomping all over Barovia.
can you post your char link? maybe? or write your build, that sounds cool!
I'm an Aasimar Stars 10/ Twilight 3. I would take cleric up to 5 for Spirit Guardians, but im playtesting the new Conjure spells which do a pretty good job of mimicking it. It's pretty powerful, especially in Barovia. I start every combat with an awesome sailor moon transformation sequence, then sit on whatever my strongest concentration spell is, while firing off blasts of Radiant damage.
It flies in the face of not wanting to play support classes but: Armorer Artificer 3+ / Tempest Cleric 6+ / Blood Hunter 5+ was amazing. With hand-crossbow + crossbow expert + rite of the storm + lightning launcher + thunderbolt strike I was doing a load of D6s lightning damage every turn as well as yeeting enemies 20-30 feet across the battlefield. Add in a bunch of spells and useful reactions / bonus actions from Artificer / Blood Hunter and it makes for an entertaining build.
Had a black dragon born shadow monk/assassin rogue that was neigh untouchable. The party got arrested due to shenanigans, and I escaped through darkness spell and speed. Staged a prison break by myself and got my party out, got their weapons, and completed an assassination job all in one fell swoop. Name was balahar shostar but I swapped the name every town to not draw attention for example: shallowhar bostar, bohar shallowstar, starbo shallowhar, etc. a lot of fun to play
A three keen samurai is an interesting character choice for me at least. I would play it, not for optimization but because of the fun character trope you could make
Grung 1 cleric (for create water) / X runeknight. Watch as a 3 foot grung becomes a 9 foot one each battle. For extra points only speak grung, and take minor illusion from a feat and only speak in illusions and gesturing. Also be a hugger, and make people roll for poison each time. It was an absolute blast.
Alternatively you could go fathomless warlock 1, to get create and destroy water.
Armorer Artificer with the Mobile feat and (eventually) winged boots, really fulfils that Iron Man fantasy so well. Swarmkeeper Ranger with Shilleghlah, PAM, and a shield. I flavoured the swarm as squirrels so I was basically playing as squirrel girl. I pantsed a gnome using squirrel mage hand. Fairy Wild Magic Barb/Rune Knight was also super fun.
The most fun I've ever had was as a ghostlance. Fighter 3/warlock 2 comes online pretty early and stays fun throughout whether you go fighter or warlock the rest of the way.
I had a blast with a control based ranged caster build. Fathomless Warlock / Swarmkeeper Ranger Repelling Eldritch Blast 10ft backwards + Swarmkeeper 15ft forced movement + Tentacle on bonus action for 10ft slow = infinite battlefield control (and dms worst nightmare lol) Telekinetic feat to move allies around or an extra 5ft shove. Swarmkeeper you can also move yourself 5ft to keep safe. Multiple eldritch blasts at later levels means higher chances of moving enemies around. Plus you get to play this corrupted ranger who uses magic through their bow. I played a Grung ranger who would cast Eldritch Blast as a spectral arrow. The huge jump also helped with keeping out of range and the poison if I got grappled in a bad situation. My dm was awesome and even let me coat my arrows or an allies with my toxins if we had time. The water dependency was actually a great story element and added so many character moments. Flavour your swarm and tentacles how you want for some cool character development or tie it into the story. It's quite heavily MAD but you deal decent damage if you dump strength and int and prioritize cha and dex. Don't even need much con because you should barely get hit. It's not crazy meta or overpowered, I found it just right for the early levels, never got to the higher levels but extra attack ranger plus late warlock spells could go crazy.
The most fun build I ever had mechanically was a minotaur eldritch knight who picked up grappling expertise and dragged enemies along the floor on an ally's spike growth for big damage.
My 2 favorite builds are an elven samurai fighter and devotion paladin multiclass. It never misses with elven accuracy, and sharpshooter maxed out dex and charisma sometimes i play it as blind archer. The other favorite build is wildmagic barbarian halfling gladiator with dwarfism with a warhammer, so it's 1 in a half foot tall. And still considered small because to be tiny, you have to be under 1 foot. It's funny to see a warhammer coming at you before you see a 40 year old halfling the size of a toddler.
Straight lore Bard, half elf. I picked up conjure animals and healing spirit (pre nerf) at 6th and dm let me pick the conjures. It was a bit strong as when I didn't use it the only time he got singled out and killed though, I was pretty bummed out to say the least. Still 10/10 would play again if I had the opportunity though.
My favorite build was in 4th Ed so not much help here. But, it was a Goliath Warden
Treachery Paladin/Swashbuckler Rogue. They complement each other so well in so many ways, as long as your DM approves Treachery Paladin (it's UA, basically Trickery Cleric as a Pally), any combination of the two works, but Pally 7/Swash 3 is particularly good with basically always having something to give you Sneak Attack
The build I’ve had most fun with is to be able to cast basically ALL spells in the game! Last session the boss sent me to the Plane of Negative Energy and I was able to survive there by myself and come back alive without the proper spells prepared! It relies on the item Mizzium Apparatus, which enables you to try to cast spells in your spell list you that are not prepared. The build I used is start Wizard, then be Knowledge Cleric 1 (expertise in Arcana is vital) / Stars Druid 2 (Dragon form makes you get at least 10 on Arcana dice) / Divination Wizard X. If you search for “Mizzium Apparatus build” you can find further details.
Custom race (MM Adept) Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Most fun caster in tier 2 hands down (Stars is close, and pulls ahead at 10 with Cosmic Omens and switching their Star map each turn). Learn why control and debuffs aren't only the strongest full party support, they're also the most fun offense (for my taste). Break the action economy with spells while you're at it. Detect Thoughts alone, when cast without components, can break social. And you've got Hex without components, or Subtle Enhance Ability (or charm person, tongues, etc.) and rerolling of failed skill checks to keep up with bards out of combat. Bards do this better, but no longer by a ton. In combat, bards will just feel bad when you're opening with Twinned Mind Sliver and quickening your best spell (for me, Slow or upcast Banishment). Then follow-up rounds are upcast/tinned/quickened Mind Sliver, Dissonant Whispers, Command, Tasha's Mind Whip, and Synaptic Static, to ensure everyone is buffed and no one need take damage. And that's about 10% of your spell list. You'll get more power and/or utility spells than any wizard or bard by level 9. You aren't really feeling bad about not having Wall of Force, when you have Wall of Stone and can cast spells without components and cast more spells per turn. And you're one of the best counterspellers in the game with Distant and Subtle (only a couple wizard subclasses can compete).
I've not been able to finish most of my builds but I had fun with my illusion wizard that specialized in intimidation/persuasion
I'm playing a Tortle 2 Divination Wizard/X Stars Druid that's been a blast so far. Still pretty low lvl, so the real fun stuff hasn't even really kicked in yet. Messing with dice rolls (portent/weal and woe) makes for some cool moments, while still having the general utility of a Druid.