Dwarvin Polearm build--HELP PLEASE

[smbakeresq]

1. You clearly don't play Adventurer's League, which is understandable. It's not for everyone. But if you did you'd know that you take average health at each level (max at first). As my last ASI I took +2 Con (after having Toughness already). So yes, that health is literally feasible because it's the only HP I can have. Good job on checking the math but horrible job at reading comprehension (I'm so sorry for how badly you must have done on your LSAT) where I said at higher levels you can take that 12th level of fighter if you'r really looking for an ASI.

2. Seriously man, did you get like a 160 LSAT or something (I'm sorry but it's ridiculously stupid that you think you're the only lawyer here. I mean, did you even look at my name?)??? Without being troubled to go quote myself, I stated that I either Bless or Rage in a fight, depending on the needs of my party/the enemy we're facing. A bunch of Storm Giants? Rage because they hit hard but don't force a lot of saves. Fighting a bunch of Archmages? Bless for the +to saves. Lower levels I used Divine favor for added damage, or higher levels if I need radiant damage. Shield of Faith? Never used, because as shown above, AC tanking in upper T3/T4 is pointless outside lots of +AC magic items pushing you up above 25 AC (and getting access to the Shield spell).

3. And finally we come to your claim that because you are a juris doctorate, you can end discussions. First, seriously? I mean, really? You think that's something anyone is going to do anything other than laugh at? I feel sorry for your clients, I really do. You can't even maintain enough logical reasoning and reading comp to remember the distinctions made between Raging or Casting as stated earlier.

Secondly, being a lawyer means jack squat about being a good optimizer. This is especially true given how stupidly easy it is to get into any sort of law school and then take one of the joke UBE states (sadly NY is becoming one of those). Please take this as a true piece of a advice, never throw down that you're a lawyer when (a) you're wrong; and (b) you want the people you're saying it to have any remote amount of respect for you.

*edit*

Forgot your "description" of the Tiamat. Again, you obviously didn't do the actual Rise of Tiamat adventure. Come on man, I'm not saying malpractice or anything but at least do some bare minimum due diligence here. Was about to write up a lengthy description of how the fight runs (fought her at level 14 not 17 so there's a bit of a difference in build, but whatever) but there's no point since you've never ran it.

First off, AL is not in any way the super hard test of "real" players you think it is. Its easier, I have done it. Its also amazing how many players in AL know just when to search for secret doors, know just when to cast combat prep spells, etc. Its hard to find one that didn't read the adventure beforehand. That doesn't happen in IRL games, people know and respect their DM. Plus the DM changes it anyway. No AL DM will run you through 6-8 encounters between short rests, and the idea of using Leomunds tiny hut to take a short rest is a joke in home campaign.

Second, in AL, then you didn't roll abilities. That's means at level 14 (as your now claim) you were no were near "around 200+" hp, as you said. You also said this:

3. You went too many levels into Fighter, imho. That's hurting your tankiness. Anything above 11 (or 12 if you really want that ASI for Toughness/stat bump) is losing you better options. For level 19 I would be 12 Fighter/1 Cleric/4 Barbarian/2 Rogue. Cunning Action for free Dashing/Disengaging when you don't feel like using the Polearm butt end. Plus Expertise in Stealth (or Perception) & Athletics.
This build yields 1 feat at creation (Variant H) and 5 ASIs.
In order, PAM, GWM, Sent, Res (Wis), Tough, +2 either Str or Con, your pick. With the option of having Bless up, you can face down spell casters pretty well since you have STR/CON/WIS proficiency + Bless. For brawler fights, you have a 1/2 damage from everything and can do 3 attacks, disengage for free, and force PAM/Sent triggering attacks every round, potentially locking enemies out of range. If they have 15ft or less of reach, hit them with a Pushing attack when they trigger PAM AoO to lock them out of range (if Large or smaller).

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...Polearm-build-HELP-PLEASE/page5#ixzz40dV7iP00


So now you claim your took CON bump and toughness in a different order. That's ok, you changed it, but "whatever" as you say. At 14 the level you would now have 15 con at most with toughness. You would never be around 200+ at level 14 taking AL HP, you wouldn't get to around anything, you would have an exact amount. You would have 160, 90 for levels and 70 for CON + Tough. At level 17 you would have 193, but you said you were not 17, and 193 is around 200 but not around 200+. But then you wouldn't have the other feats either at level 14 with a 3 level barb dip and 1 level cleric dip. You have 4 feats, 4th, 6th, 8th and human variant. Which of the 2 did you drop to take toughness and con early? Sentinel? GWM? Res? Also, your str will only be 16, so you will be +1 or +2 to hit behind all others at that level.


Also about your strategies, once again, how do you keep passing concentration checks taking multiple damages each turn to keep that bless up to fight those Archmages? You still wont answer that question. How do you keep any spell up, did you magically pass all those saves? About those rages, you know you can be frozen out of rages, did you DM do that?

Can you post your character and ONE, CONSISTENT STORY? Until then, giving your everchanging builds, your not credible.

And my LSAT was 42, out of 48. I took it long ago. I don't know what that converts to today as the test is scored different, but I know its good. Regardless, anyone now can spot your shiftiness in your ever-changing stories. If you are a lawyer, then try to pick one story and stick to it.

On second thought, don't bother posting a character. It wont matter, you are probably making it up right now.

 

[smbakeresq]

Guys good luck with the thread. I should have known not to bother when someone starts a post with "Disregard all prior builds." But I checked out RulesJD other posts and they are all the same, his opinion is always valid and yours never is. Just ask him. He plays Adventurers League too, the be all to end all for only the select few players who are good enough, ask him about that too.

Bye.

 

[RulesJD]

*snip*

Second, in AL, then you didn't roll abilities. That's means at level 14 (as your now claim) you were no were near "around 200+" hp, as you said. You also said this:

*snip*


So now you claim your took CON bump and toughness in a different order. That's ok, you changed it, but "whatever" as you say. At 14 the level you would now have 15 con at most with toughness. You would never be around 200+ at level 14 taking AL HP, you wouldn't get to around anything, you would have an exact amount. You would have 160, 90 for levels and 70 for CON + Tough. At level 17 you would have 193, but you said you were not 17, and 193 is around 200 but not around 200+. But then you wouldn't have the other feats either at level 14 with a 3 level barb dip and 1 level cleric dip. You have 4 feats, 4th, 6th, 8th and human variant. Which of the 2 did you drop to take toughness and con early?


Also about your strategies, once again, how do you keep passing concentration checks taking multiple damages each turn to keep that bless up to fight those Archmages? You still wont answer that question. How do you keep any spell up, did you magically pass all those saves? About those rages, you know you can be frozen out of rages, did you DM do that?
*snip*

And my LSAT was 42, out of 48. I took it long ago. I don't know what that converts to today as the test is scored different, but I know its good. Regardless, anyone now can spot your shiftiness in your ever-changing stories. If you are a lawyer, then try to pick one story and stick to it.

On second thought, don't bother posting a character. It wont matter, you are probably making it up right now.

Got some time, so let's do this. Relevant text has been bolded.

Timeline:
1. OP asks for optimized dwarven PAM builds geared towards being "make as powerful as possible."

2. OP posts further info about rolling stats and having taken a PAM before level 4 as a dwarf, so clearly some homebrew going on, choose to ignore that and revert to AL because advice doesn't apply to homebrew where you can change everything on DMs whim. As mentioned, some like that, some don't.

3. People post builds that are sub-optimal (see: joke of using HAM as a feat) or flat out wrong by RAW.

4. I post my build. At the very end, which is usually where reading comp dies out, I post "Switch between Cleric buffs and Raging depending on the need."

5. Someone asks about how you can have the stats needed for a Fighter/Barb/Cleric.

6. I make disclaimers about using pointbuy and show how a Dwarf could get sufficient stats. (+3 Str/Con, +2 Dex because Medium Armor cap, 13 Wis for multiclassing Cleric (14 eventually with Res (Wis))).

7. Kithas (great name btw) posts a level 19 build. Makes several claims about my build (which hadn't yet been defined as a particular level yet, albeit I did say to go Fighter 11) not being tough enough to last in combat.Makes several other claims about how PAM + Sent works, most bad guys having reach, and several other incorrect claims.

8. You and others proceed to ignore the emphasized text and seem to indicate that I believe you can Rage and Concentrate on a spell at the same time.

9. I make fun of you. Both for not reading what I wrote and for somehow thinking your +1 AC (not assuming magic items for builds is standard practice) is more tanky even though I'll be taking 1/2 damage. I post a hypothetical level 19 build, NOT claiming to have that build. Just a hypothetical one.

10. You proceed to have horrrrrrible reading comprehension and assume I made a level 15 build. I didn't. I made recommendations on taking at least 3 Barb for Bear Totem and 1 Cleric, and up to 11 Fighter. These were parameters, not an exact build level. You make maaaany assumptions (yes, I give up advantage if I want, but I don't have to unlike your assumption).

11. For the first time, I state my actual build levels. Yup, it was 14 when I fought Tiamat. But wait, what's this??? I also wrote: "Currently sitting at level 17 AL legal." Everything that came afterwards was stated as from the level 17 build, not the level 14 build. Reading comp. I make several statements about HAM still being pointless (especially when you're trying to say your build would be better to survive big hitting BBEGs. Enjoy that -3 compared to my 1/2 of whatever damage. Pretty sure it will be significantly more).

12. You change your tune (again) and start claiming you're fighting 2x group size of CR15-18. You will later change your story (again) to discuss a CR 30 Tiamat fight. You claim a 55% chance of hitting is "trouble".

Additionally, you switch between comparing builds as against hordes of CR15-18, and BBEGs. Yet again, I try to adjust to your inconsistencies.

13. Despite my repeated efforts, you proceed to ignore that I stated that I know you can't concentrate and rage at the same time. You claim my story is changing. I haven't said anything remotely aluding to the fact that I thought you could. Please see reference above in big, bold text where I stated that I know you can't and to adjust use of spellcasting/Rages depending on the need.

You also claimed to have ran the published adventures, then proceed to describe a Tiamat fight that isn't remotely how the published adventure's fight plays out as against Tiamat. Again, inconsistencies are aboud because you either played it and knew that's now how the fight happens, or you didn't and lied about playing the published adventures.

Lastly, you make the completely baffling claim about the discussion being over because of your "real" lawyer superpowers.

14. I sadly have to admit that I share a profession with you and advise you that claiming to be better at something than someone else just because you're a lawyer is a bad idea. It's likely why people hate us so much (and rightfully so in many instances).

I make the 212 HP statement because that's what my level 17 (as mentioned above, NOT level 14) AL Fighter/Barb/Cleric has for health.

15. Despite repeatedy pleas to actually read what I write, you insinuate that I claimed to have 212hp in my fight against Tiamat, despite me never, ever having said anything even remotely like that.

16. You AGAIN change your claims, so I adapt to your inability to read and retain information, putting it in a nice list for you and providing emphasizing font adjustments.

Tada. Fyi, 212hp at level 17:
16 starting Con V Human Barbarian first level. Bumped to 18 Con (as stated above in a prior post, I can highlight it for you if you need the help) + Toughness so starting health de facto 18hp.
Every level of Barb after = 7 (average of d12) + 2 (tough) + 4 = 13hp
Fighter = 12hp
Cleric = 11hp
4 levels of Barb, 12 of Fighter, 1 of Cleric.
Math = 18 + (3*13) + (12*12) + (1*11) = 212hp. I say again, TADA. 212hp Raging PAM Fighter/Barb/Ceric at level 17. I'll take my getting hit ~25% as much for taking 1/2 damage from everything. Let me know how that AC works out for you against those Dex/Con save (that you wont be at advantage on for Dex unlike the Barb build) spells.

Oh, and how do I maintain concentration on Bless?

1. +3 from Con
2. +1d4 (average 2.5) from Bless (assuming that's what I'm concentrating on because I like to help my party)
3. +2-6 proficiency
4. Total = 7.5-11.5 bonus to my Con saves. (7.5 at level 1, 11.5 at level 17)
5. If you take a level of Cleric early, you're minimum Concentration save would be 8.5 (if you roll a 1), so you would have a 85% chance of sucess at your Concentration saves for any damage under 21 (almost almost all of it). Each proficiency bump after that it goes up 10%. By level 5, you have a 95% chance of making it for 21 damage or less. By level 13, you will automatically succeed Concentration saves of 21 damage or less. Depending on when you bump Con, you could have automatic success earlier.
6. That's how I would (and have many times) made my concentration saves against Arch-mages, or anything else for that matter. Lots of ways to lose it (Hold Person, etc), but (a). I'd be significantly better prepared to make those saves with Bless up than your build; (b). I'd rather lose my Bless than my party Wizard/Cleric/Sorc/etc lose their concentration spell.

 

[RulesJD]

Lastly, just because I get really annoyed by lawyers dropping their profession in expectation of adoration and respect.

A 42 out of 48 roughly equates to a 165/166 on the current LSAT scale. No, that's not a great score, especially if you want to get anything close to a "worth it" legal job in today's world. Considering the scale switched in 1991, you obviously went into a completely different legal market than exists today, so you can be forgiven for not knowing that. What you can't be forgiven for is assuming just because you can take a multiple choice test and write a few essays that you get to end discussions when you want. Especially here, only mods get to do that (which I suspect they will shortly).

 

[Kithas]

Holy wall of text batman! I'm not even gonna partial quote because it's already bordering on a short novel around here.

Honestly I'm gonna have to agree with sm overall, it really doesn't seem like you are even entertaining our points and just postulating yours because we don't always play in AL. I've sat in on an AL game before and I've played some non-AL Wizards adventures. It seems like sm has too. It's just common decency to take someone's word when they said they've had an experience. Otherwise we can't even have a real discussion, it really boils down to the playground "my dad can beat up your dad" style arguments.

I would like to clarify some points;
I was speaking of Polearm master builds in general, not yours, when I said that they aren't the most tanky. I've played the same build you have for more levels and longer time, currently I am 17ftr and 2 barb, i have all the survivability your build does minus bear totem. We also made the mistake of letting me use heavy armor and HAM while raging. We have since realized and rectified this mistake(mistakes like this happened left and right at the AL games I've been to as well so they aren't immune). Even with that added amount of AC and damage reduction I go down literally all the time. To the point that I've taken to carrying around a sword and shield for tough looking fights because I need the extra AC. I try to caution people looking at this build that they shouldn't expect to always have smooth sailing just because they have medium/heavy armor and can rage, it doesn't work that way.

Sm's claim that your health would be sub-200 was for level 14 when you said you fought tiamat. Not your current level 17 health. Also the 'take the average rounded up' rule for health isn't an AL thing, it's in the rules of each class. You can roll or take the average, you can do either in AL aswell.

You've also brought up him being a 'lawyer' twice as much as he has sooo...

Also an Ancient level dragon has 3-6 attacks, one bite at 35 average and two claws at 17, then up to 3 tail hits at 19 each. That's 120+ average damage per turn, not to mention the flame breath turn which is well over 150, you need to roll a 22 to pass that dex save. Easily enough to drop your 450 health in 3-4 turns. Much less if he manages to crit. They also have 10-15' reach so you won't be stopping him from hitting you.

I think the op has gotten what he wants from this thread. I'm happy to discuss the finer points of pole-fighting with you if you'd like. I just ask that you give me the respect that I am affording you in this situation. /

p.s. I really can't tell, was that supposed to be an insult on my name? It's just a name I cobbled together 12 years ago and have been using since, not sure the joke there...

 

[RulesJD]

Holy wall of text batman! I'm not even gonna partial quote because it's already bordering on a short novel around here. Honestly I'm gonna have to agree with sm overall, it really doesn't seem like you are even entertaining our points and just postulating yours because we don't always play in AL. I've sat in on an AL game before and I've played some non-AL Wizards adventures. It seems like sm has too. It's just common decency to take someone's word when they said they've had an experience. Otherwise we can't even have a real discussion, it really boils down to the playground "my dad can beat up your dad" style arguments. I would like to clarify some points; I was speaking of Polearm master builds in general, not yours, when I said that they aren't the most tanky. I've played the same build you have for more levels and longer time, currently I am 17ftr and 2 barb, i have all the survivability your build does minus bear totem. We also made the mistake of letting me use heavy armor and HAM while raging. We have since realized and rectified this mistake(mistakes like this happened left and right at the AL games I've been to as well so they aren't immune). Even with that added amount of AC and damage reduction I go down literally all the time. To the point that I've taken to carrying around a sword and shield for tough looking fights because I need the extra AC. I try to caution people looking at this build that they shouldn't expect to always have smooth sailing just because they have medium/heavy armor and can rage, it doesn't work that way. Sm's claim that your health would be sub-200 was for level 14 when you said you fought tiamat. Not your current level 17 health. Also the 'take the average rounded up' rule for health isn't an AL thing, it's in the rules of each class. You can roll or take the average, you can do either in AL aswell. You've also brought up him being a 'lawyer' twice as much as he has sooo... Also an Ancient level dragon has 4(to 6 with legendaries but I assume you aren't getting everything) attacks each doing 35-45 damage. That's 140-180 damage per turn. Easily enough to drop your 450 health in 3 turns. Much less if he manages to crit. They also have 10-15' reach so you won't be stopping him from hitting you. I think the op has gotten what he wants from this thread. I'm happy to discuss the finer points of pole-fighting with you if you'd like. I just ask that you give me the respect that I am affording you in this situation. p.s. I really can't tell, was that supposed to be an insult on my name? It's just a name I cobbled together 12 years ago and have been using since, not sure the joke there...

*sigh*
1. I didn't address your points? Which ones, exactly, did I miss with my aforementioned short novel?

2. I take someone at their word when they've said they've had an experience. Until they make a statement that clearly indicates that no, they have not had that experience.

3. The difference in survivability of taking 1/2 damage from BPS and 1/2 damage from almost everything (in addition to another Rage per day) cannot possibly be understated. This only gets more relevant the further up you go. It turns a 66 damage dragon breath into 33 or 16. In one attack that is not B/P/S it will do more damage reduction than HAM would over an entire fight.

4. I know that was his claim, that I couldn't possibly have 200ish health at level 14. The reason I called it out is because he is blatantly wrong. I never claimed to have 200ish health at level 14, nor when we ran the Tiamat fight. Given that he choose to claim I was shifting my builds and having inconsistencies, I decided it was appropriate to showcase that I had been completely consistent. His perceived changes were because he didn't bother to actually read what I wrote.

5. No, you can't roll for health in AL. You have to take the average rounded up.

6. I brought up being a lawyer to laugh at his claim that he gave him any sort of authority. Odd coincidence I'll grant you.

7. Please, please stop making statements that are blatantly incorrect.

Ancient dragons do not have 4 attacks. They have 3 + Frightful Presence. Their attacks do not do 35-40 damage. They do 17-21 (Ancient Red) while the Bite does 35. With Rage, that's 8-11 and 17. Except that your build takes an additional 7 because it can't resist the Fire damage from the Bite.

At 5 attacks per round (eating all Legendary Actions) that would take roughly 4 rounds. If only 1 legendary per round, then only 4 attacks per round so it would take roughly 5 rounds. If my party can't take down an Ancient Dragon in less than 4-5 rounds with every single attack directed at 1 character, that isn't a very good party. I could account for (roughly) 250hp of damage in those 5 rounds alone (roughly 1/2 of its HP and assuming hitting 66% of the time).

Each round he will have to reenter to use its Claws (only 10ft of reach) so I get PAM attacks every round. Sent locks him down so he can't chase after my party. Sent also means that he can't run away.

Also, if you want to talk about which build is tougher...their breath is 91 fire, which your non-Bear totem will take, at best, 45 fire damage from if you make the DC 24 Dex save. Except you can't make that save in your build, so you'll take 91 fire damage. I can't make the save in my build either, but I can take 1/2 damage so only 45. I don't care how much higher your AC is, you're going down way, way before my build against an Ancient dragon. It has +17 to hit, so your 22 AC or whatever literally makes no difference to survivability.

8. Not an insult. I took your name as a play on the Mike Tyson internet meme "Now kith". Kithas, when sounded out, seems like it would be pronounced kissa**.

 

[Kithas]

*sigh*
1. I didn't address your points? Which ones, exactly, did I miss with my aforementioned short novel?

2. I take someone at their word when they've said they've had an experience. Until they make a statement that clearly indicates that no, they have not had that experience.

3. The difference in survivability of taking 1/2 damage from BPS and 1/2 damage from almost everything (in addition to another Rage per day) cannot possibly be understated. This only gets more relevant the further up you go. It turns a 66 damage dragon breath into 33 or 16. In one attack that is not B/P/S it will do more damage reduction than HAM would over an entire fight.

4. I know that was his claim, that I couldn't possibly have 200ish health at level 14. The reason I called it out is because he is blatantly wrong. I never claimed to have 200ish health at level 14, nor when we ran the Tiamat fight. Given that he choose to claim I was shifting my builds and having inconsistencies, I decided it was appropriate to showcase that I had been completely consistent. His perceived changes were because he didn't bother to actually read what I wrote.

5. No, you can't roll for health in AL. You have to take the average rounded up.

6. I brought up being a lawyer to laugh at his claim that he gave him any sort of authority. Odd coincidence I'll grant you.

7. Please, please stop making statements that are blatantly incorrect.

Ancient dragons do not have 4 attacks. They have 3 + Frightful Presence. Their attacks do not do 35-40 damage. They do 17-21 (Ancient Red) while the Bite does 35. With Rage, that's 8-11 and 17. Except that your build takes an additional 7 because it can't resist the Fire damage from the Bite.

At 5 attacks per round (eating all Legendary Actions) that would take roughly 4 rounds. If only 1 legendary per round, then only 4 attacks per round so it would take roughly 5 rounds. If my party can't take down an Ancient Dragon in less than 4-5 rounds with every single attack directed at 1 character, that isn't a very good party. I could account for (roughly) 250hp of damage in those 5 rounds alone (roughly 1/2 of its HP and assuming hitting 66% of the time).

Each round he will have to reenter to use its Claws (only 10ft of reach) so I get PAM attacks every round. Sent locks him down so he can't chase after my party. Sent also means that he can't run away.

Also, if you want to talk about which build is tougher...their breath is 91 fire, which your non-Bear totem will take, at best, 45 fire damage from if you make the DC 24 Dex save. Except you can't make that save in your build, so you'll take 91 fire damage. I can't make the save in my build either, but I can take 1/2 damage so only 45. I don't care how much higher your AC is, you're going down way, way before my build against an Ancient dragon. It has +17 to hit, so your 22 AC or whatever literally makes no difference to survivability.

8. Not an insult. I took your name as a play on the Mike Tyson internet meme "Now kith". Kithas, when sounded out, seems like it would be pronounced kissa**.

1. i didn't say you missed my points just that I wanted to clarify as it seemed that you didn't get some of what I was saying.

2. You still think I'm talking about your build in particular when it comes to survivability(in this case vs mine). I am not talking about your build, or my build, but polearm builds in general.

3. I don't understand why you wouldn't be able to roll for health in AL. It's part of the RAW so I really don't understand why you couldn't. That said it is a terrible idea to roll for health.

7. I read that straight from the MM entry for an ancient red. they have 3 attacks, 2 claws and 1 bit as I said, claws are 17, bite is 35 that's 69, then he has 3 legendary actions, one of which is a tail attack for 19 damage. that's 57 more damage, welcome to 126(I said 120+). As I mentioned on the Fire breath round he does 91 for the fire and 57 on legendaries, that's 148. That's also the average, usually for a big bad the attacks are rolled but the dm can do either. Feel free to check the MM I have copied it exactly.
Big red also has a +17 to hit, which means he will always hit you (5% chance to crit miss but everything has that). With your stated ~450 effective health that is exactly 3-4 rounds. That's also assuming you pass your Wis save to not be frightened and even get into your rage in the first place. If you fail that save you drop in 2 turns easy. If Big red get's a higher initiative than you, you would only get one turn to do anything before going down, that turn would be spent running if you were feared. That's another good point, you may not get to even start the combat raging, so if the dragon goes first, hits you with the flame breath and 3 tail swipes you're down to 50hp before you get to rage, you die next turn. So really the 3-4 rounds is a best case scenario. Not someone I would rely on to be my tank. A welcome part of the party as a damage dealer, but tank you are not.

A 22 ac makes a world of difference, that takes it from a 95% chance to get hit, down to an 80% chance. To be honest I wouldn't rely on that either. I would prefer and ac of 27+(easily doable with Shield and/or Multiattack Defense), the Blur spell helps a ton aswell.

For an example, the Mage Tank I am playing in my next campaign. At the level we are talking about he will have an ac of 20 without magic items, if we assume a medium magic campaign let's say 22. With Shield that's 27, I can cast that 20 times so I'll have plenty. Blur gives anything that attacks me disadvantage to hit. That means Big red needs to roll a 10+ with disadvantage, that comes out to about 38%. He also has 240+ health, so once those run out I have about 2 turns. For the Fire breath he has Absorb Elements so he'll take 1/2 to 1/4 of it. This is just not comparable to a polearm build. I have several builds with similar survivability. I mention this build to give you a sense of what I am looking for in a tank. Even your 4-5 turns is nowhere near it.


8. Gotcha. Most people pronounce it that way, It's intended to be a long I sound and the as like us so kIthus.

 

[RulesJD]

1. i didn't say you missed my points just that I wanted to clarify as it seemed that you didn't get some of what I was saying.

2. You still think I'm talking about your build in particular when it comes to survivability(in this case vs mine). I am not talking about your build, or my build, but polearm builds in general.

3. I don't understand why you wouldn't be able to roll for health in AL. It's part of the RAW so I really don't understand why you couldn't. That said it is a terrible idea to roll for health.

7. I read that straight from the MM entry for an ancient red. they have 3 attacks, 2 claws and 1 bit as I said, claws are 17, bite is 35 that's 69, then he has 3 legendary actions, one of which is a tail attack for 19 damage. that's 57 more damage, welcome to 126(I said 120+). As I mentioned on the Fire breath round he does 91 for the fire and 57 on legendaries, that's 148. That's also the average, usually for a big bad the attacks are rolled but the dm can do either. Feel free to check the MM I have copied it exactly.
Big red also has a +17 to hit, which means he will always hit you (5% chance to crit miss but everything has that). With your stated ~450 effective health that is exactly 3-4 rounds. That's also assuming you pass your Wis save to not be frightened and even get into your rage in the first place. If you fail that save you drop in 2 turns easy. If Big red get's a higher initiative than you, you would only get one turn to do anything before going down, that turn would be spent running if you were feared. That's another good point, you may not get to even start the combat raging, so if the dragon goes first, hits you with the flame breath and 3 tail swipes you're down to 50hp before you get to rage, you die next turn. So really the 3-4 rounds is a best case scenario. Not someone I would rely on to be my tank. A welcome part of the party as a damage dealer, but tank you are not.

A 22 ac makes a world of difference, that takes it from a 95% chance to get hit, down to an 80% chance. To be honest I wouldn't rely on that either. I would prefer and ac of 27+(easily doable with Shield and/or Multiattack Defense), the Blur spell helps a ton aswell.

For an example, the Mage Tank I am playing in my next campaign. At the level we are talking about he will have an ac of 20 without magic items, if we assume a medium magic campaign let's say 22. With Shield that's 27, I can cast that 20 times so I'll have plenty. Blur gives anything that attacks me disadvantage to hit. That means Big red needs to roll a 10+ with disadvantage, that comes out to about 38%. He also has 240+ health, so once those run out I have about 2 turns. For the Fire breath he has Absorb Elements so he'll take 1/2 to 1/4 of it. This is just not comparable to a polearm build. I have several builds with similar survivability. I mention this build to give you a sense of what I am looking for in a tank. Even your 4-5 turns is nowhere near it.


8. Gotcha. Most people pronounce it that way, It's intended to be a long I sound and the as like us so kIthus.

1. We've seem to have completely dropped the last topic, so I'll just say that's now how legendary actions work. They can't do the same one twice in a row, so at best it could do it twice per round. That's why I had my numbers as they are.

 

[Kithas]

It says "only one legendary option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn." says nothing about not being able to use the same one consecutively...

 

[RulesJD]

You're right, I had it confused with Lair Actions. Woo, thanks.