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
Level 20 Assassinate Crit build.
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="Gavin O." data-source="post: 7429081" data-attributes="member: 6941440"><p>Theoretical level 20 nova builds are fun to make! Here's one I'm working on:</p><p></p><p>Wood Elf, Fighter(11)/Paladin(2)/Ranger(4)/Rogue(3) (Eldritch Knight, Gloom Stalker, Assassin)</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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:</p><p>Wood elf:</p><p>13 Strength, 13+2 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 13+1 Wis, 13 Cha</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>How damaging?</p><p></p><p>Our full Nova round consists of the following:</p><p></p><p>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)</p><p></p><p>= over 400 damage if all eight hits land</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>So what if you don't plan to hit level 20?</strong></p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>Thoughts and comments are appreciated.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gavin O., post: 7429081, member: 6941440"] 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 [B]So what if you don't plan to hit level 20?[/B] 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. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Level 20 Assassinate Crit build.
Top