D&D 5E Heavy Armor Master VS higher Constitution

[Benjamin Olson]

Heavy Armor Master will be way better at low levels. At the point where you take it you will be better off on hit points if you manage to take damage twice than if you had a higher con mod.

I would go that route because a) ambitious campaign plans often fizzle, you've got to enjoy the low levels too, and b) you have plenty of ASIs if you want to do something about the hit points, and Con makes more sense as an investment later when it instantly adds a bunch to your max HP.

 

[kigmatzomat]

The other question is, as a ranger, how many spells will you have with Concentration? Lowering damage by 3pts can reduce the concentration DC by 1-2 points or eliminates the need for a DC10 save. (There is a window of 4-20hp attacks where it has no impact)

Those small differences have definitely benefited our cleric.

 

[aco175]

Does the DM give out magical plate armor? Is there more players with heavy armor like fighters that will take it?

Side note: I'm always amazed by threads like this where someone has things planned out to 20th level. I never do that and just wing it along the way or just stick to one class and see where things go.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'm always amazed by threads like this where someone has things planned out to 20th level. I never do that and just wing it along the way or just stick to one class and see where things go.

I figure most people have some kind of goal. Some people prefer to think in the "I want to be rich/famous" goal, but that's not in conflict as you still need a way to achieve wealth and fame. "I want to be an actor (bard)", "I will be an athlete (warrior)", "I will rob banks (rogue)", etc. Level plans are the d&d version of it and it gives your character some specific tasks.

Much like life, I have never seen anyone have a character level up exactly as planned.

 

[ECMO3]

Does the DM give out magical plate armor? Is there more players with heavy armor like fighters that will take it?

Side note: I'm always amazed by threads like this where someone has things planned out to 20th level. I never do that and just wing it along the way or just stick to one class and see where things go.

We might find magic plate but we generally haven't with this DM as far as I remember. More to the point if I go with a 13 Dex medium armor is not generally a good option and will likely tie me to heavy armor whether magical or not.

I don't have everything planned. I do have my first 3 feats and level progression and I can always deviate if I decide to. but I do need to take a feat or ASI at level 4 and that is coming up quick.

If you don't plan at all you can get painted into a box a lot where things are not possible. For example if I did not plan to multiclass to Ranger then I would have put my Dexterity somewhere else probably and then I would not be able to multiclass to Ranger.

 

[TwoSix]

The relative availability of higher-tier magic items plays a role here too, especially if the game is planning on going to 20. If being able to target (or craft) certain magic items is something the DM allows, then grabbing an amulet of health in the mid-levels (right when the value of HAM vs more Con starts to decrease) could be something to look into, and would favor leaving Con at 12.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The relative availability of higher-tier magic items plays a role here too, especially if the game is planning on going to 20. If being able to target (or craft) certain magic items is something the DM allows, then grabbing an amulet of health in the mid-levels (right when the value of HAM vs more Con starts to decrease) could be something to look into, and would favor leaving Con at 12.

Not a bad idea, but from my experience, using one of you precious attunement slots on stat increasing items hurts.

 

[ECMO3]

Not a bad idea, but from my experience, using one of you precious attunement slots on stat increasing items hurts.

True, but it is more true if you have a somewhat high stat there already.

For example giving the 18 strength Barbarian a Girdle of giant strength to boost strength to 22 is generally not as effective as giving it to the 8 strength Rogue.

Point being I can make a decision on the fly if a AOH is worth it, but if I have a 14 Con and use the AOH it is decidedly worse than using it with a 12 Con but either case I can make a value-driven decision based on what items are available to attune to.

With a Fey Wanderer I will give up just about anything to attune to a Wand of Fear.

 

[jgsugden]

Heavy Armour Master doesn't scale with level, whereas monster damage does. So unless you know you will only use that character at low level, it's pretty much trash.

As noted, fixed in OneD&D.

It is never really trash, though. High level melee PCs with heavy armor tend to get hit a lot. You reduce a smaller percentage of each hit with the feat, but you also tend to take more hits overall to offset as you advance. In some games, especially those in which DMs prefer to use a lot of low level monsters, it can be very effective all the way up to 20th level.

However, I would not take a Strength ASI in 5E. There are a lot of Strength items in 5E that exceed the bounds of what you can get by raising the strength of a PC through ASIs. They also tend to be favored by DMs as treasure as a selected choice. More often than not there is a Belt of Giant Strength in the party by level 10. As there are so many good melee feats out there, I would not take the strength increase when it might be negated by a magic item soon. This is, howeverm something that I might not say if the DM were to allow the player to reverse an ASI and take a feat instead.

 

[Stalker0]

I say you got to survive the low levels to get to high, and I think people seriously underestimate how much HAM reduces damage. Most monsters get their damage through multiple attacks, the feat comes up a lot!