Theoretical level 20 nova builds are fun to make! Here's one I'm working on:
Wood Elf, Fighter(11)/Paladin(2)/Ranger(4)/Rogue(3) (Eldritch Knight, Gloom Stalker, Assassin)
2 Levels of Fighter are needed for Action Surge, a staple of nova builds, and we're going up to 11 levels for the third attack. Eldritch Knight gives us extra spell slots to fuel Divine Smite.
3 Levels of Ranger are taken for the Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambusher ability. This gives us a free extra attack to each of our attack actions on the first round of combat (which triggers twice, since we're taking the attack action twice from Action Surge), with some extra damage rolled in. In combinations with the Fighter's Extra Attacks, this allows us to get up to 8 attacks per round. The last level is taken for the extra ASI.
3 Levels of Rogue for Assassinate. Gives auto-crits against surprised foes, as well as advantage to hit against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet.
2 Levels of Paladin for Divine Smite. Being able to burn our spell slots for 4d8 or 6d8 damage each is a huge boost to our damage.
Stats: Being a Paladin/Ranger requires 13's in four different stats that aren't Con, which means stretching yourself very thin. This is the point buy I would recommend:
Wood elf:
13 Strength, 13+2 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 13+1 Wis, 13 Cha
We have four ASI, which we spend on Elven Accuracy (+1 Dex), two Dex bumps, and Sharpshooter, which is just enough to get our dex to 20. Assassinate gives us free advantage to trigger our Elven Accuracy, helping us ensure our incredibly damaging hits land.
How damaging?
Our full Nova round consists of the following:
16d8 (Longbow damage dice, doubled) + 4d6 (Level 3 Sneak Attack, Doubled) +4d6 (2x Dread Ambusher bonus damage, doubled) +30d8 (three each of level 1 and level 2 divine smites, which is the number of spell slots we have, all doubled) +16d6 (Hunter's Mark bonus damage, Doubled) +40 (Dex flat bonus) +80 (Sharpshooter flat bonus)
= over 400 damage if all eight hits land
So what if you don't plan to hit level 20?
If you want to play a lower-level nova build, I don't think it's worth taking three levels of Rogue just for Assassinate, and Paladin Divine Smite is only good once you have quite a few spell slots. Instead I would recommend a Ranger(3)/Fighter(x) or Fighter(2)/Ranger(x), which comes online at about level 7-8. Gloom Stalker still combos very well with action surge without all the extra things.
Thoughts and comments are appreciated.
Wood Elf, Fighter(11)/Paladin(2)/Ranger(4)/Rogue(3) (Eldritch Knight, Gloom Stalker, Assassin)
2 Levels of Fighter are needed for Action Surge, a staple of nova builds, and we're going up to 11 levels for the third attack. Eldritch Knight gives us extra spell slots to fuel Divine Smite.
3 Levels of Ranger are taken for the Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambusher ability. This gives us a free extra attack to each of our attack actions on the first round of combat (which triggers twice, since we're taking the attack action twice from Action Surge), with some extra damage rolled in. In combinations with the Fighter's Extra Attacks, this allows us to get up to 8 attacks per round. The last level is taken for the extra ASI.
3 Levels of Rogue for Assassinate. Gives auto-crits against surprised foes, as well as advantage to hit against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet.
2 Levels of Paladin for Divine Smite. Being able to burn our spell slots for 4d8 or 6d8 damage each is a huge boost to our damage.
Stats: Being a Paladin/Ranger requires 13's in four different stats that aren't Con, which means stretching yourself very thin. This is the point buy I would recommend:
Wood elf:
13 Strength, 13+2 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 13+1 Wis, 13 Cha
We have four ASI, which we spend on Elven Accuracy (+1 Dex), two Dex bumps, and Sharpshooter, which is just enough to get our dex to 20. Assassinate gives us free advantage to trigger our Elven Accuracy, helping us ensure our incredibly damaging hits land.
How damaging?
Our full Nova round consists of the following:
16d8 (Longbow damage dice, doubled) + 4d6 (Level 3 Sneak Attack, Doubled) +4d6 (2x Dread Ambusher bonus damage, doubled) +30d8 (three each of level 1 and level 2 divine smites, which is the number of spell slots we have, all doubled) +16d6 (Hunter's Mark bonus damage, Doubled) +40 (Dex flat bonus) +80 (Sharpshooter flat bonus)
= over 400 damage if all eight hits land
So what if you don't plan to hit level 20?
If you want to play a lower-level nova build, I don't think it's worth taking three levels of Rogue just for Assassinate, and Paladin Divine Smite is only good once you have quite a few spell slots. Instead I would recommend a Ranger(3)/Fighter(x) or Fighter(2)/Ranger(x), which comes online at about level 7-8. Gloom Stalker still combos very well with action surge without all the extra things.
Thoughts and comments are appreciated.
Last edited:
