D&D 5E Looking to make my first 5e character, feeling pretty overwhelmed and looking for help

[Ark the Pie King]

I mean that's 2d8+10. That's not a small amount by any means. What's your non rage damage?

 

[bid]

I mean if I used Eldritch Blast in the above the calculations would all be the same except it'd be 1d10 instead of 1d8 and not getting the duelist stuff at level 4, but I see where you're coming from. I'll be perfectly capable in combat. Baller, that's what I needed to read ha ha.

It's still 1d10 if you use versatile weapons with both hands.

 

[gargoyleking]

It's still 1d10 if you use versatile weapons with both hands.

Can't do that and cast most spells at the same time.

Squirrels are evil!

 

[Ark the Pie King]

Wasn't there errata that says you can hold the weapon with one hand while you cast the spell? I thought I read that on Reddit somewhere.

 

[neogod22]

Ahoy ahoy! Title says it all, here. I've been reading threads and guides and articles for two solid days now, but the more I look into things the more I get confused. I'll confess I don't really know the rules super well, but I'm an old 3.5/4e vet so I know most of the terminology pretty well. The problem really lies in the fact that I don't know precisely what I should be looking for, and from what I've been reading there are a hefty number of trap options which is also making he hesitant to commit to any one idea.

So, I really like Gish types. Swordmages, Duskblades, Hexblades, Maguses, Eldritch Knights, Bladesingers, Battle Mages, Red Mages, whatever you want to call them. I'm all about that guy who can swing a sword and blast someone else with a spell, and in a perfect world also cure a buddy but I'm not gonna be greedy because I realize that last one is probably out of reach. I've been looking over several of the different options but I'm having a lot of trouble telling what the actual differences in them are and which ones are worth taking. Eldritch Knight, Paladin/Sorcerer multiclass, Mystic Soulknife, Bladelock, Favored Soul, etc. I'm not sure which ones are really going to support what I want to do and still be effective on the battlefield and assistance in figuring this out would be super helpful.

Since this is your first character. I suggest you stick with the PHB material only until you learn the game. Also, if you are thinking of playing in or are playing in organized play, there are some additional rules that you have to go by anyway. Multi-classing is not going to make you that much more in power, this game is pretty well balanced, if you use the book material only.

After you learn the game, you're ready for more exotic stuff, ask your DM what is allowed.

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[gargoyleking]

Wasn't there errata that says you can hold the weapon with one hand while you cast the spell? I thought I read that on Reddit somewhere.

Haven't seen the errata. But that was how I understood it. Still, for the melee weapon cantrips at least you wouldn't be able to do Somatic components at the same time as 2h weilding.

Squirrels are evil!

 

[Yunru]

Sure you would, the weapon is the material component, and you can make somatic gestures with the material component.

 

[bid]

Wasn't there errata that says you can hold the weapon with one hand while you cast the spell? I thought I read that on Reddit somewhere.

Yep.

Two-Handed (p. 147). This property is relevant only when you attack with the weapon, not when you simply hold it.

You only need 1 free hand to cast, and the only time you can somehow cast and attack concurrently is with BB/GFB, and then you can hold the sword/somatic componenet in both hands.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

So if my math is right, at level 3 swinging a 1-handed sword (back to one handed again, ho hum) I'll be doing 1d8+3(cha)+2(Hexblade's curse)+3(burning hex)+1d6(Hex spell) totaling out at 1d8+1d6+8(with curse) 1d8+1d6+3(no curse), and then Cha to another enemy with Green-Flame Blade. Is that...sorta low? I dunno, maybe I'm misunderstanding the fundamental math of the game but that seems awfully low to me. Now it will go up pretty significantly at level 4 because I'll get my cha up to 18 and I'll be multi-classing into Fighter for the Dueling fighting style which will bump my damage to 1d8+1d6+12(with curse) total, 1d8+1d6+6(no curse) without. I dunno. It just seems underwhelming, but maybe that's normal? I don't really have a baseline to compare anything to here so I'm kind of just guessing.

Just to note on your future plans, you can't get an Ability Score Improvement (ASI) at level 4 if you also multi-class into Fighter at level 4. Unfortunately ASI's are tied to Class levels and not Character levels.

As for something to compare you potential damage to, my Cleric/Fighter character has been doing 1d8+3 damage for the first 5 levels (granted, he has been using a Shield so this is "tank" damage). Recently, thanks to a magic sword and the DM allowing me to swap my Fighting Style from Protection to Dueling, I'm at x2 Attacks with +8 To-Hit doing 1d8+7 (not counting an extra 1d8 from Battlemaster's Menacing Strike). This is as a level 7 character (Fighter 6 / Cleric 1).

The Warlock in our group is a 7th level Warlock and doing 2d10+10 (x2 1d10+5) Eldritch Blast per round. She does not use Hex despite my valiant attempts at trying to get her to. She uses EB pretty much every round. She uses her spell slots mainly on Hellish Rebuke, so that boosts her damage per round significantly when used. But normally I am in the front preventing enemies from swinging at anything else.

Coming from 3.5ed myself, I can see your concern about damage scaling, but as you can see with the examples above your damage theorycraft is not bad for 5th Ed. You'll come to see that the ways people are "breaking" the damage curve are by abusing Feats such as Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master. There is no way you can compete with those numbers without using those Feats (and the supplements to counter the To-Hit penalty). But that's another topic. =)

 

[neogod22]

Yep.

Two-Handed (p. 147). This property is relevant only when you attack with the weapon, not when you simply hold it.

You only need 1 free hand to cast, and the only time you can somehow cast and attack concurrently is with BB/GFB, and then you can hold the sword/somatic componenet in both hands.

You don't need any free hands for that cantrip. It's only requires a verbal command and hitting get with the weapon. But as far as other spells, according to the rules, you need a free hand to cast spells unless you have the Warcaster feat.

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