D&D 5E Basic Char-Op (mellored)

Clockwerk66

First Post
Originally posted by mellored:


At the moment, there's not alot to char-op. Just race/class/stats. And spells for those classes.
But let's get started.

Life Cleric: Hill dwarves are the best clerics. Bonus HP helps you stay upfront in the mix. Given that your spells, including cure wounds, is based on Wis, it's probably best to make Str third, and boost Wis first.. Swinging only if your in melee and no one needs a heal. Otherwise cantrip damage will be close enough (4d8 vs 3d8+Str), and you can use a shield.

That said, if your going to be a weapon light cleric, use 2-weapons for a better chance to land the bonus damage.

Shield Fighter: Stout Halfing are the winners. Reroll on 1's is a nice boost to saving throws, along with attacks, and you get advantage against several other saves. Using a shield means you don't suffer the big weapon penalty. And you can get around in melee's to where you need to be better. Hill Dwarves make a good second.

2-handed fighter: +2 Str +2 Con from mountain dwarves are the way to go.

Bow fighters: Wood elves win here. Extra speed is very useful to kiting archers. Halflings short bow hurts them too much, dispite their bonus to-hit with lucky.

2-weapon fighter: 2-weapons fighting should only used as a backup for bow fighters, and only at low levels. At higher levels, use a shield. If you are going to be a 2-weapon fighter anyways, be a halfling.

Rogues: Lightfoot Halfings (melee) or Wood Elf (ranged) depending on the campaign. Both give you an extra place to hide, and while lucky helps land your blows and keeps you safer, the extra speed, darkvision, and longbow range keeps wood elves competing.

Str Rogue: Mountain dwarve rogues are pretty useful. You can sneak attack with hand axes, take expert athletics to grab people, and move them around with cunning action, and then shove them off a cliff.

Evoker Wizards: Moutain dwarves. You save alot of stat points by not needing to boost dex and keeping medium armor. Con is also very helpful for overcharging. Boost Int to 20, keep 14 Dex, then Con when you have the chance.


Overall, the difference between optimized and non-optimized is pretty minimal. As long as you arn't making an 8 Str 2-handed fighter, you would be hard pressed to notice any difference in game.

Thoughts?




Originally posted by himrin:


mellored wrote:
Evoker Wizards: Hill dwarves. You save alot of stat points by not needing to boost dex and keeping medium armor. Con is also very helpful. Boost Int to 20 then Con when you have the chance.
Think you may mean Mountain. Hill dwarves get bonus HP, not armour proficiency.

I ended up rolling stats for this because I've always enjoyed a dwarven mage, and he's got better stats than most fighters...


Str: 17
Dex: 13
Con: 17
Int: 15
Wis: 12
Cha: 12

A lot of odds too. Level 4's stat boost will end up being Dex and Int. And then Int to 20 as they come. But, yeah. Fun stuff.




Originally posted by pukunui:


My one beef with halflings always being set up as the best rogues (indoors at least) is that they can't see in the dark. What's the point of being the king of sneaking around if you have to carry a torch or lantern with you wherever you go? It's not so bad if you've got other halflings or humans in the party, since one of them can potentially carry the light source, but if it's all elves and dwarves, you're screwed.




Originally posted by E-Tallitnics:


This is not a facetious question, but since 5e is Story First, and is balanced around all three pillars of play, shouldn't your builds include skills/proficiencies too?

Your current examples are also pretty much inline with the playtest classes. I'm playing a Mountain Dwarf Cleric of Light in Encounters right now and he's pretty awesome. An armored healer with some serious attack spells? Yes ma'am!




Originally posted by Reg06:


Obviously we don't have the multiclass rules yet (or are they in the physical Starter Set?), but a Fighter|Rogue seems like it'd be strong. Rogue to get extra actions to hide and for sneak attack, and Fighter for the bonus attacks and bonus to hit (via the fighting style). It'd be a sniper style character, and a bit slow to start.




Originally posted by mellored:


Reg06 wrote:Obviously we don't have the multiclass rules yet (or are they in the physical Starter Set?), but a Fighter|Rogue seems like it'd be strong. Rogue to get extra actions to hide and for sneak attack, and Fighter for the bonus attacks and bonus to hit (via the fighting style). It'd be a sniper style character, and a bit slow to start.
Rogues sneak attack would do reall well with expanded crit ranges.


Originally posted by Reg06:


Yes. Yes it would. And the character wouldn't be bad in melee either, as it could use Finesse weapons.




Originally posted by aw4e:


E-Tallitnics wrote:This is not a facetious question, but since 5e is Story First, and is balanced around all three pillars of play, shouldn't your builds include skills/proficiencies too?

Your current examples are also pretty much inline with the playtest classes. I'm playing a Mountain Dwarf Cleric of Light in Encounters right now and he's pretty awesome. An armored healer with some serious attack spells? Yes ma'am!
The difficulty with this is that in the basic rules there are extremely few ways to gain new skills or proficiences. Pretty much you are locked in to a few from your background. Race generally only provides some weapon proficiencies and maybe a tool one or two. Your class provides the rest with little choice to make.




Originally posted by Psikerlord:


Can you sneak attack twice in a round with action surge? If so fighter2/rogueX will be very strong in melee or at range with a friend on target - second wind, action surge, uncanny dodge, fast hands (bonus action potion/magic item use). At 13th the rogue can use all magic items, duplicating many spells, and possibly better than casters if concentration is not required for wand spells etc (I have no idea if they use concentration or not).




Originally posted by borg285:


SA is 1/round.
Do we know the most damaging build w/o feats for level 1, 6, 12, and 20?
My guess is Rogue, but I could be mistaken.




Originally posted by Psikerlord:


AFter 13th rogue should easily pull ahead in damage, using fast hands to spam wand of magic missiles or similar for auto damage as a bonus action, in addition to regular SA.




Originally posted by AaronOfBarbaria:


Psikerlord wrote:AFter 13th rogue should easily pull ahead in damage, using fast hands to spam wand of magic missiles or similar for auto damage as a bonus action, in addition to regular SA.
For the short term, sure... but if you burn all the charges (all 7) you have a 5% chance of the wand being destroyed, and given the overal down-play of magic items, you aren't likely to be swimming in wands of magic missiles to "spam" with - at least not unless you have already decided to go outside the standard game and make such wands readily available, and as such it is your job to make sure that your change to the rules isn't having an impact that you don't like.


Originally posted by Psikerlord:


AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Psikerlord wrote:AFter 13th rogue should easily pull ahead in damage, using fast hands to spam wand of magic missiles or similar for auto damage as a bonus action, in addition to regular SA.
For the short term, sure... but if you burn all the charges (all 7) you have a 5% chance of the wand being destroyed, and given the overal down-play of magic items, you aren't likely to be swimming in wands of magic missiles to "spam" with - at least not unless you have already decided to go outside the standard game and make such wands readily available, and as such it is your job to make sure that your change to the rules isn't having an impact that you don't like.
glad you agree.


Originally posted by mellored:


borg285 wrote:SA is 1/round.
Do we know the most damaging build w/o feats for level 1, 6, 12, and 20?
My guess is Rogue, but I could be mistaken.
How many rounds are we talking about?How many items are do can we use?

2-handed fighter's are the winner in at-will DPR, without any boosts.




Originally posted by Lharn:


I am by no means good at charop, but when the PHB hits I am looking forward to a TWF rogue/fighter (TWF style).


Originally posted by mellored:


Lharn wrote:I am by no means good at charop, but when the PHB hits I am looking forward to a TWF rogue/fighter (TWF style).
Fighter/Rogues is looking to be a good combo.The extra attacks help make sure you land sneak attack at least once, and the expanded crit range is great with sneak attack.

Not to mention the distance you can jump.

But TWF would be less useful since you want your bonus action for cunning action or second wind. It's good at low levels, but it looses steam as you go up. Probably best to swap for a shield at some point.




Originally posted by borg285:


mellored wrote:
borg285 wrote:SA is 1/round.
Do we know the most damaging build w/o feats for level 1, 6, 12, and 20?
My guess is Rogue, but I could be mistaken.
How many rounds are we talking about?
How many items are do can we use?

2-handed fighter's are the winner in at-will DPR, without any boosts.
I was thinking 4 rounds and no magic items to serve as a baseline. 2-handed greatsword fighter it is. Does the halfling's lucky feature trump the +2 strength, or does it only pull out ahead when both reach 20 strength?




Originally posted by mellored:


borg285 wrote:
mellored wrote:
borg285 wrote:SA is 1/round.
Do we know the most damaging build w/o feats for level 1, 6, 12, and 20?
My guess is Rogue, but I could be mistaken.
How many rounds are we talking about?
How many items are do can we use?

2-handed fighter's are the winner in at-will DPR, without any boosts.
I was thinking 4 rounds and no magic items to serve as a baseline. 2-handed greatsword fighter it is. Does the halfling's lucky feature trump the +2 strength, or does it only pull out ahead when both reach 20 strength?
Halflings loose more from 2-handers then they gain with lucky. +2 (or +1 assuming point buy and starting 15) Str or Dex is going lead the pack for a while.

Unless your a rogue, who get's both +2 Dex and Lucky.
Or cantrip casting, though the +1 Int from high elf would be better until you hit level 12 and get your 3rd stat bump.

In short
rimshot.gif
lucky only wins when everything else is equal.




Originally posted by Nausicaa:


mellored wrote:Or cantrip casting, though the +1 Int from high elf would be better until you hit level 12 and get your 3rd stat bump.
Stat bumps that probably will be ignored (mostly) as you, at very least, will need some feats.




Originally posted by mellored:


Nausicaa wrote:
mellored wrote:Or cantrip casting, though the +1 Int from high elf would be better until you hit level 12 and get your 3rd stat bump.
Stat bumps that probably will be ignored (mostly) as you, at very least, will need some feats.
I imagine most people putting their attack stat to 20 first (especially if it's Dex), then getting feats, then secondary stats.
But it's hard to say untill we see the feats.




Originally posted by Be3Al2:


Question: If spell attacks (such as Fire bolt) are possible to use for all attacks when using the Extra attack option (imagine High elf Fighter with high Int), would that be overpowered compared to fighter weapon attacks? How about a 16 Dex/16 Int character (before stat bumps at level 4) with Dueling and a rapier being allowed to use a cantrip for one attack and then the sword with the rest of the attacks from Extra attack?




Originally posted by mellored:


Be3Al2 wrote:Question: If spell attacks (such as Fire bolt) are possible to use for all attacks when using the Extra attack option (imagine High elf Fighter with high Int), would that be overpowered compared to fighter weapon attacks? How about a 16 Dex/16 Int character (before stat bumps at level 4) with Dueling and a rapier being allowed to use a cantrip for one attack and then the sword with the rest of the attacks from Extra attack?
I'm not sure what you are asking, but i think the answer is yes.
The cantrip scales by itself, if you allow it with multi-attacks, it would scale twice as fast.

A high elf fighter will do 4d8 damage = 18 damage
A bow wielding fighter would be dealing 1d8+3 * 4 attacks = 30 damage.
If you could use a firebolt for every attack, you would deal 4d8 * 4 attacks = 72 damage.


If you want to have a bladesinger type character... you'll need to make a new cantrip (or 2) that doesn't scale.

Dancing Fire
You may use dancing fire in place of a ranged attack, including if you get multiple attacks. You can use light weapons as a focus.
Make a ranged attack against a target within 50'. If you hit deal 1d10 fire damage.

Slow Touch
You may use Cool Touch in place of a melee attack, including if you get multiple attacks and oppertunity attacks. You can use light weapons as a focus.
Make a melee attack against a target within 5' of you. If you hit, deal 1d10 cold damage, and the targets speed is reduced by 10'.




Originally posted by Squad:


Currently, is the best melee option for a rogue to go two-weapon fighting with two shortswords? It doesn't seem like there's any reason (yet) to single wield a rapier instead, unless I'm missing something.

Also, the best ranged option would appear to be a longbow for an elven rogue. The light property of the hand crossbow doesn't seem to matter, given that the two-weapon fighting rules mention specifically light melee weapons.




Originally posted by mellored:


Squad wrote:Currently, is the best melee option for a rogue to go two-weapon fighting with two shortswords? It doesn't seem like there's any reason (yet) to single wield a rapier instead, unless I'm missing something.
Also, the best ranged option would appear to be a longbow for an elven rogue. The light property of the hand crossbow doesn't seem to matter, given that the two-weapon fighting rules mention specifically light melee weapons.
I don't see any big reason for a raiper rogue (other then being cool).
Your either in melee, in which case, use your bonus action for a second chance for sneak attack.
Or your ranged, in which case, use your bonus action to hide for advantage.

You'd only use the raiper if your in melee and need to use your bonus action for something (such as drinking a potion). But even then, it's only slightly extra damage.

That said, light armor is cheap, encumberance is high, and it's free to switch weapons while running around, so you could simply carry both.


And yea, longbows are the best ranged weapon for a rogue. The damage won't be very noticeable beyond the first level, but the range certainly could be.
Wood elfs bonus speed is quite useful as well, since that can get muliplied with cunning action.

But if your closer, throw 2 daggers instead.

Hmm... do hand axes count as ranged weapons?




Originally posted by mellored:


Yup. Dwarf rogues.... can sneak attack with hand axes, at range.

Not super useful, and won't make up for halfling's lucky, but still something.




Originally posted by Squad:


mellored wrote:Yup. Dwarf rogues.... can sneak attack with hand axes, at range.

Not super useful, and won't make up for halfling's lucky, but still something.
True, but it would have to be a Str-based attack (since it's a melee weapon without the finesse property). I suspect it's not worth it to a dwarf rogue to keep high dex and str.

As for ranged, I take it that the main reason to throw 2 daggers is that it could give you a 2nd chance at sneak attack if your 1st attack fails? There are of course special circumstances where you might want two attacks against low hp targets rather than one more damaging attack.




Originally posted by mellored:


Squad wrote:
mellored wrote:Yup. Dwarf rogues.... can sneak attack with hand axes, at range.

Not super useful, and won't make up for halfling's lucky, but still something.
True, but it would have to be a Str-based attack (since it's a melee weapon without the finesse property). I suspect it's not worth it to a dwarf rogue to keep high dex and str.

As for ranged, I take it that the main reason to throw 2 daggers is that it could give you a 2nd chance at sneak attack if your 1st attack fails? There are of course special circumstances where you might want two attacks against low hp targets rather than one more damaging attack.
2 attacks > 1 attack with advantage > 1 attack.
But you can totally build a Str/Con Mountain Dwarf rogue with hand-axes.




Originally posted by Squad:


mellored wrote:2 attacks > 1 attack with advantage > 1 attack.
I take it that's true all things being equal. But is it still true with the difference in damage between the longbow (1 attack with advantage, d8) and the dagger (2 attacks, d4)? I'm not sure how to run the numbers on that, else I'd figure it out for myself.




Originally posted by Nausicaa:


mellored wrote:I imagine most people putting their attack stat to 20 first (especially if it's Dex), then getting feats, then secondary stats.

But it's hard to say untill we see the feats.
That may be true, unless you have Ogre Gauntlets-like items for every stat.




Originally posted by mellored:


Squad wrote:
mellored wrote:2 attacks > 1 attack with advantage > 1 attack.
I take it that's true all things being equal. But is it still true with the difference in damage between the longbow (1 attack with advantage, d8) and the dagger (2 attacks, d4)? I'm not sure how to run the numbers on that, else I'd figure it out for myself.
Yes, for all other things being equal.
For instance, attacking with a 2d6 weapon and advantage > attacking with 2 d4 weapons without advantage.
2-handed fighters are simply going to outclass 2-weapon fighters, even with less attacks (though 2-weapon fighters should be using bows).


But it's going to be true for rogues in general, since the 1 extra damage from a lager weapon isn't going to make up for the lower chance to land sneak attack.


Updated the first post.




Originally posted by Squad:


mellored wrote:
Squad wrote:
mellored wrote:2 attacks > 1 attack with advantage > 1 attack.
I take it that's true all things being equal. But is it still true with the difference in damage between the longbow (1 attack with advantage, d8) and the dagger (2 attacks, d4)? I'm not sure how to run the numbers on that, else I'd figure it out for myself.
Yes, for all other things being equal.

For instance, attacking with a 2d6 weapon and advantage > attacking with 2 d4 weapons without advantage.
2-handed fighters are simply going to outclass 2-weapon fighters, even with less attacks (though 2-weapon fighters should be using bows).


But it's going to be true for rogues in general, since the 1 extra damage from a lager weapon isn't going to make up for the lower chance to land sneak attack.


Updated the first post.
I guess since we're talking about rogues landing sneak attack, we already have to assume you have advantage. So 2 attacks with advantage > 1 attack with advantage, but I assume 1 attack with advantage > 2 attacks without advantage for the rogue. So if you can get advantage with both attacks when throwing 2 daggers, then that's better than taking an action to hide and attacking once with a longbow. But if you can't get the advantage with the dagger attacks, then hide+longbow.




Originally posted by mellored:


Squad wrote:I guess since we're talking about rogues landing sneak attack, we already have to assume you have advantage. So 2 attacks with advantage > 1 attack with advantage, but I assume 1 attack with advantage > 2 attacks without advantage for the rogue. So if you can get advantage with both attacks when throwing 2 daggers, then that's better than taking an action to hide and attacking once with a longbow. But if you can't get the advantage with the dagger attacks, then hide+longbow.
1 attack with sneak attack is better then 2 attacks without sneak attack, yes. Except maybe at level 1 and 2.
But, you can also get sneak attack as long as an ally is near the target. I'm presuming there will be someone nearby.




Originally posted by awaken_D_M_golem:


mellored wrote:Halflings ...
... In short
rimshot.gif
...
Ha ha.
My kitty avatar's tail , finds this to be F -
fireball.gif
- ing hilarious.




Originally posted by Gunthar:


E-Tallitnics wrote:This is not a facetious question, but since 5e is Story First, and is balanced around all three pillars of play, shouldn't your builds include skills/proficiencies too?

Your current examples are also pretty much inline with the playtest classes. I'm playing a Mountain Dwarf Cleric of Light in Encounters right now and he's pretty awesome. An armored healer with some serious attack spells? Yes ma'am!
“Story First” is a meaningless marketing phase to appease the unaware and excuse sloppy design. The game is, was and always will be focused however/wherever the group wants. Good rules and balanced mechanics don’t “detract from the story”, they enhance it.
I’ve always preferred my RP more free-form but when combat happens, yeah, it’s good to have a solid foundation to work from. Right now, 5E doesn’t. We’ll see when the PHB comes out as I hope it balances things.




Originally posted by mellored:


Gunthar wrote:
E-Tallitnics wrote:This is not a facetious question, but since 5e is Story First, and is balanced around all three pillars of play, shouldn't your builds include skills/proficiencies too?

Your current examples are also pretty much inline with the playtest classes. I'm playing a Mountain Dwarf Cleric of Light in Encounters right now and he's pretty awesome. An armored healer with some serious attack spells? Yes ma'am!
“Story First” is a meaningless marketing phase to appease the unaware and excuse sloppy design. The game is, was and always will be focused however/wherever the group wants. Good rules and balanced mechanics don’t “detract from the story”, they enhance it.
I’ve always preferred my RP more free-form but when combat happens, yeah, it’s good to have a solid foundation to work from. Right now, 5E doesn’t. We’ll see when the PHB comes out as I hope it balances things.
That and it get's into the stormwind falacy.
You can both optimize and be story driven at the same time.


And also, the difference between an optimized character and non-optimzed character is pretty minimal. As long as your not playing an 8 Dex, 8 Str rogue with terrets, you'll be fine.
At least so far. There hasn't been much to do yet.




Originally posted by Backlash3906:


borg285 wrote:SA is 1/round.
Do we know the most damaging build w/o feats for level 1, 6, 12, and 20?
My guess is Rogue, but I could be mistaken.
As of the Basic rules, SA is 1/turn, so it should be Opportunity Attack eligible.




Originally posted by Noctaem:


My thought on optimization is that in the end everything will revolve around advantage/disadvantage. In essence making you have it at all times while making sure that enemies have disadvantage at all times. I worry that the entire optimized game will be about that more so than anything else. If you have the choice between giving an enemy the slowed condition, immobilized, etc vs double rolls take lowest.. there's only one choice from an optimization point of view unless you're talking about disabling the opponent completely (stun and unconscious IE). Yes, the DM can arbitrarily decide to hand out this mechanic, but it's also possible for players to force it into play. So then all the options that don't revolve around giving yourself the equivalent of +5 to your roll or -5 to an opponents roll aren't nearly as interesting.

I predict that the most powerful builds will revolve primarily around constant advantage which can't be arbitrarily removed by the DM (basically creating the avenger from 4e).




Originally posted by iserith:


Noctaem wrote:My thought on optimization is that in the end everything will revolve around advantage/disadvantage. In essence making you have it at all times while making sure that enemies have disadvantage at all times. I worry that the entire optimized game will be about that more so than anything else. If you have the choice between giving an enemy the slowed condition, immobilized, etc vs double rolls take lowest.. there's only one choice from an optimization point of view unless you're talking about disabling the opponent completely (stun and unconscious IE). Yes, the DM can arbitrarily decide to hand out this mechanic, but it's also possible for players to force it into play. So then all the options that don't revolve around giving yourself the equivalent of +5 to your roll or -5 to an opponents roll aren't nearly as interesting.

I predict that the most powerful builds will revolve primarily around constant advantage which can't be arbitrarily removed by the DM (basically creating the avenger from 4e).
Agreed. I'm also concerned that since the DM can grant advantage or disadvantage at will, then we get into a situation where gaming the DM is another route to optimizing game play. Some people think that's not fair play, but if the game sets it up that way, then it's fair in my view (the group's social contract notwithstanding).




Originally posted by Noctaem:


And so how do they balance the game when one group optimizes around the mechanic while another doesn't and while another has a DM that hands it out like candy or denies it at every turn? It's basically impossible imho because it can change the game in such massive ways. The mechanic can affect everything except for RP and fluff, and depending on the DM the first might be affected as well.




Originally posted by iserith:


Noctaem wrote:And so how do they balance the game when one group optimizes around the mechanic while another doesn't and while another has a DM that hands it out like candy or denies it at every turn? It's basically impossible imho because it can change the game in such massive ways. The mechanic can affect everything except for RP and fluff, and depending on the DM the first might be affected as well.
I don't think they can, but I also think it was not a design priority for them. The way I'm handling it in my own games is to never grant advantage or disadvantage except up front (e.g. stand on this terrain feature to gain advantage) or via the PCs earning it as part of the stakes (e.g. spend actions and roll some dice to earn advantage on a future thing with a cost for failing those actions, kinda like a skill challenge). I won't be going, "Cool, I like what you did there, have some advantage." I'll likely be house ruling Inspiration to limit the ability of the DM to be gamed as well. I otherwise have no problem with a player optimizing to gain advantage through the game - it's a game and being good at it should be rewarded. I just don't like them trying to gain it through the DM. That's a different sort of challenge and I'm not up for that kind of game.




Originally posted by Be3Al2:




mellored wrote:
Be3Al2 wrote:Question: If spell attacks (such as Fire bolt) are possible to use for all attacks when using the Extra attack option (imagine High elf Fighter with high Int), would that be overpowered compared to fighter weapon attacks? How about a 16 Dex/16 Int character (before stat bumps at level 4) with Dueling and a rapier being allowed to use a cantrip for one attack and then the sword with the rest of the attacks from Extra attack?
I'm not sure what you are asking, but i think the answer is yes.

The cantrip scales by itself, if you allow it with multi-attacks, it would scale twice as fast.

A high elf fighter will do 4d8 damage = 18 damage
A bow wielding fighter would be dealing 1d8+3 * 4 attacks = 30 damage.
If you could use a firebolt for every attack, you would deal 4d8 * 4 attacks = 72 damage.


If you want to have a bladesinger type character... you'll need to make a new cantrip (or 2) that doesn't scale.

Dancing Fire
You may use dancing fire in place of a ranged attack, including if you get multiple attacks. You can use light weapons as a focus.
Make a ranged attack against a target within 50'. If you hit deal 1d10 fire damage.

Slow Touch
You may use Cool Touch in place of a melee attack, including if you get multiple attacks and oppertunity attacks. You can use light weapons as a focus.
Make a melee attack against a target within 5' of you. If you hit, deal 1d10 cold damage, and the targets speed is reduced by 10'.
That math was exactly what I was looking for. I think I also have a question in one of the other forums regarding if it is allowed or not. However, I really like the Dancing Fire cantrip.
 

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