D&D 5E Treantmonk's Guide to Everything Xanathar

Treantmonklvl20 · Nov 17, 2017

My guide to Xanathar's Guide to Everything, where I assess the options, then you use the comments below to either shower me with praise (yay!) or tell me how terrible it is (boo!)

Seriously though, I value feedback. I'm not too concerned about the occassional grammatical mess up, but if I read something wrong, or you noticed something I didn't, I would love to hear about it!

Treantmonk's Guide to Everything Xanathar

Ganymede81 · Nov 17, 2017

Are you going to add the racial feats?

Zene · Nov 17, 2017

Thanks for doing this! Reading it now.

FrogReaver · Nov 17, 2017

Nice list.

First thing that stands out to me is that you have the ancestral guardian features all out of whack.

His best abilities are the reaction damage reduction at level 6 that gets damage added to it at level 14.

2d6 averages to 7. It will be used almost every turn on some ally. That's a lot of damage you are preventing. By level 14 it's preventing 14 damage almost every turn and causing 14 damage almost every turn. All that is required is an enemy damages an ally within 30ft of you. At level 14 it's causing more damage than the zlot oath feature at this level (albeit not directed damage like the zlot oath) and it's also mitigating damage on allys while it's doing that.

If any features of his should be green it's that level 6 and 14 one IMO. I would actually rate the level 3 ability right behind those.

Gladius Legis · Nov 17, 2017

Note about Holy Weapon (5th level, Cleric/Paladin): It doesn't have to be your own weapon. You can touch an ally's weapon instead of your own. So cast it on that Fighter with 3 attacks/round who's about to Action Surge ...

Also note for Oath of Conquest and frightening options: Wrathful Smite, Paladin 1st-level spell, is already one of the best frightening options in the game and becomes even nastier with the Aura. That'll be your bread-and-butter, AFAIC, far moreso than the Channel Divinity power would be. Note you also get the excellent Fear as a 3rd-level Oath spell.

By the way, also for Oath of Conquest: Shield Master goes great with it. Shove an enemy prone and they're not getting up, since their speed is 0. Wrathful Smite, again, is especially nasty with this combo, since they have to waste an action to even try to shake off the frightened condition.

Treantmonklvl20 · Nov 17, 2017

Ganymede81 said:
Are you going to add the racial feats?

Take another look - the racial feats are already there. You'll find them right between the Subclasses and the Spells. They don't take up much room, because there is much less to go over for each one.

mellored · Nov 17, 2017

Radiant sun bolt (sun monk), can use their ranged attack with "any of the attacks".
So you get 2 bolts at level 5, with the option of a third for a ki and a bonus action.

Still, i'd rate it brown considering you can just use a shorbow with more than twice the range (damage dice still scale). It's a main feature that only saves you from having to cary around a weapon.

Really, i'd rate the whole subclass brown. Searing sunburst is the only thing coming close to being an actual ability.

basmith7 · Nov 17, 2017

Have you ever thought about using a numbered ranking system instead of colors, or in conjunction with colors so its easier for the reader?

Captain Panda · Nov 17, 2017

A couple notes. I would rate the healing spirit higher than you have, it's possibly the best out of combat heal in the game. A lot of people (not me) think it should be nerfed, and nerfed hard.

I'd also note that on maelstrom you should reread the description. It now works on the ground -or- in water.

Treantmonklvl20 · Nov 17, 2017

FrogReaver said:
Nice list.

First thing that stands out to me is that you have the ancestral guardian features all out of whack.

We have our first disagreement. Let's get into the details.

FrogReaver said:
His best abilities are the reaction damage reduction at level 6 that gets damage added to it at level 14.

Can't say I agree, but let's dive into the numbers.

FrogReaver said:
2d6 averages to 7. It will be used almost every turn on some ally.

This is the first point we disagree. If you are fighting one big bad guy, then you are probably locking him on round 1, and it becomes unlikely your allies are being attacked at all. You are being attacked. In which case, this isn't being used at all. If you are fighting multiple baddies, it's another story. That said, it depends on what you are fighting and how the battle is going, and what defenses your allies have, and whether they are being hit. Saying it will be used on almost every turn I would consider a fairly major overstatement.

FrogReaver said:
That's a lot of damage you are preventing.

This is the second point we disagree. I don't think 7 HP in one round is a lot of damage or healing by level 6. That's subjective I know, but that's my take on it. Now maybe if a combat goes on and on, then that could add up to remarkable amounts. In my experience, 3 to 4 rounds is pretty average for combat length. Even if you used the ability every round, which I would consider unlikely, we are still talking maybe 21-28 HP. That's a decent amount of healing, but not remarkable.

FrogReaver said:
By level 14 it's preventing 14 damage almost every turn and causing 14 damage almost every turn. All that is required is an enemy damages an ally within 30ft of you.

Again, we disagree on the effectiveness of locking. Also, we disagree on how much 14 HP is when you are 14th level. That's 1 hp per level. We also disagree on how often this will be used. We are disagreeing on a lot here.

FrogReaver said:
At level 14 it's causing more damage than the zlot oath feature at this level (albeit not directed damage like the zlot oath)

Sorry, but it sounds to me like you are expecting me to be impressed with a 14th level ability doing more damage than one gained at 3rd level. I would expect a 14th level ability (that only does damage) would be doing massive amounts more damage than a 3rd level one. Not 14 compared to 10.5. Also, the latter doesn't use up your reaction.

FrogReaver said:
and it's also mitigating damage on allys while it's doing that.

True, but that is another ability. Yes, the two abilities happen at the same time, but they use up 2 of the subclasses abilities.

FrogReaver said:
If any features of his should be green it's that level 6 and 14 one IMO. I would actually rate the level 3 ability right behind those.

I might actually rate both those abilities higher if it weren't for that 3rd level ability. It's that 3rd level ability that makes allies less attractive targets, which reduces the likelyhood they will take damage from that enemy every round. (even possibly any round)