Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Best Gish
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Kreinas" data-source="post: 6832571" data-attributes="member: 6819242"><p>You're entirely correct. I was fairly tired when I wrote this up, and I have edited my post to not include proficiency bonus in the damage. Thanks for catching that!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If you have access to Heavy Armor through paladin, Heavy Armor Master is a great pick, though 3 damage from melee attacks isn't a ton without resistance. With an AC of 18/20 (plate armor w/ and w/o shield), being able to cast Shield as your reaction is an amazing boost in survivability as well, if you ever dip into sorcerer.</p><p>Shield of Faith is a good substitute since it lasts 100 rounds instead of 1, while Bless and Heroism are great party boons. The biggest downside to these spells, however, is that they use up your concentration slot, and can't be used together with hex; the main reason I decided against paladin. </p><p></p><p></p><p>With hex not scaling well with Pact Magic spell slots (only duration increases, and you'll probably either lose concentration or short rest), you'll almost always want to cast it through a level 1 spell slot from another class. Paladin gets so few spell slots per day (which you'll probably be spending on Shield of Faith and Divine Smite), you lock yourself out of increased spell versatility. </p><p></p><p>Regarding the UA and Splatbooks, many of the spells are so/so IMO, but as stated in my previous post, UA's Sorcerous Origin: Shadow gives Strength of the Grave. From your 1st level in sorc, you get to make a CON save of 5+damage taken whenever your HP drops to 0. If you pass the save, you're at 1 HP instead. There's no limit on how many times you can use this, and with the amount of mitigation a Heavy Armor Gish is packing, you might be getting up quite a few times. If you have War Caster and Resilient/Fighter start, you have both proficiency AND advantage on the roll. If you're choosing Fiend in warlock and are at least level 6 in warlock, you can use Dark One's Own Luck to add a d10 to the saving throw once per SHORT rest, which can make up for bad rolls, or allow you to survive against a DC you didn't think was possible.</p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>I love the idea of Booming Blade being used by a Gish! Correct me if I'm wrong, but the spell's damage increases with total level, correct? As far as survivability goes, rolling with shield from sorcerer, a dex based build with Mage Armor, and Mirror Image, you increase your survivability quite a bit. With a dex modifier of +3 (the lowest I would consider viable for attempting a melee build), your AC is 16. Not bad. Using ASI's on dex will allow you to cap out at AC 18, which is the equivalent of plate armor. You can use a warlock invocation to cast it at-will, it doesn't require concentration, and it lasts 8 hours. You should always have it on, even while sleeping! </p><p></p><p>So even without dipping into a physical-focused class, you can hit an AC of 18, and boost it to 23 on a 1st-level reaction. Misty Step let's you get out when you run into trouble in melee.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kreinas, post: 6832571, member: 6819242"] You're entirely correct. I was fairly tired when I wrote this up, and I have edited my post to not include proficiency bonus in the damage. Thanks for catching that! If you have access to Heavy Armor through paladin, Heavy Armor Master is a great pick, though 3 damage from melee attacks isn't a ton without resistance. With an AC of 18/20 (plate armor w/ and w/o shield), being able to cast Shield as your reaction is an amazing boost in survivability as well, if you ever dip into sorcerer. Shield of Faith is a good substitute since it lasts 100 rounds instead of 1, while Bless and Heroism are great party boons. The biggest downside to these spells, however, is that they use up your concentration slot, and can't be used together with hex; the main reason I decided against paladin. With hex not scaling well with Pact Magic spell slots (only duration increases, and you'll probably either lose concentration or short rest), you'll almost always want to cast it through a level 1 spell slot from another class. Paladin gets so few spell slots per day (which you'll probably be spending on Shield of Faith and Divine Smite), you lock yourself out of increased spell versatility. Regarding the UA and Splatbooks, many of the spells are so/so IMO, but as stated in my previous post, UA's Sorcerous Origin: Shadow gives Strength of the Grave. From your 1st level in sorc, you get to make a CON save of 5+damage taken whenever your HP drops to 0. If you pass the save, you're at 1 HP instead. There's no limit on how many times you can use this, and with the amount of mitigation a Heavy Armor Gish is packing, you might be getting up quite a few times. If you have War Caster and Resilient/Fighter start, you have both proficiency AND advantage on the roll. If you're choosing Fiend in warlock and are at least level 6 in warlock, you can use Dark One's Own Luck to add a d10 to the saving throw once per SHORT rest, which can make up for bad rolls, or allow you to survive against a DC you didn't think was possible. I love the idea of Booming Blade being used by a Gish! Correct me if I'm wrong, but the spell's damage increases with total level, correct? As far as survivability goes, rolling with shield from sorcerer, a dex based build with Mage Armor, and Mirror Image, you increase your survivability quite a bit. With a dex modifier of +3 (the lowest I would consider viable for attempting a melee build), your AC is 16. Not bad. Using ASI's on dex will allow you to cap out at AC 18, which is the equivalent of plate armor. You can use a warlock invocation to cast it at-will, it doesn't require concentration, and it lasts 8 hours. You should always have it on, even while sleeping! So even without dipping into a physical-focused class, you can hit an AC of 18, and boost it to 23 on a 1st-level reaction. Misty Step let's you get out when you run into trouble in melee. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Best Gish
Top