Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana Fighter: Samurai, Sharpshooter, Arcane Archer & Knight

I'm getting, like, unhealthy amounts of mad, clicking on that broken link.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Rapid Strike seems like an odd ability for a knight.

I'm glad they branched out rather than just using the superiority dice mechanic again.

 

[Staffan]

For the Sharpshooter, I do wonder if steady aim could be changed to spend your move action instead of 3x/short rest. It might have to reigned in a little, but I think that would be a better option.

There is no move action in 5e. During your turn you can move, and you can perform an action (and possibly a bonus action), but the move is not part of an action. It's just move.

 

[ad_hoc]

On second read the Arcane Archer is very limited. They only get 2 magic arrows per short rest and that number never goes up.

Battlemasters get 4 dice, then 5 at 7th level, then 6 at 15th.

Arcane Archers have 2 arrows throughout. They get more attacks as they level but their arrows remain as good.

 

[MechaPilot]

I'm really liking all of these fighter archetypes. I have already reviewed them and approved them for my table.

 

[ZeshinX]

Quick thoughts.

Arcane Archer - Nifty. Ever-Ready Arrow is a tad ugly in how it functions. Just make Arcane Arrow "always on" (since this ability really wants to do that)...it already costs a bonus action to use anyway.

Knight - Fulfills its role well. Likely needs some tweaks, but I don't care enough about the concept of it to come up with any (I find it boring).

Samurai - The Samurai found in Heroes of the Orient on DM's Guild is far more interesting that this. UA Samurai seems to work well enough, but it's pretty boring.

Sharpshooter - A Ranger without the druidy-ness is what this feels like to me. I like it. Nothing fancy, good at what it does. Definitely like it.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Having done a quick read I like those. The best in this weekly series. I miss the use of superiority dice as they did in the Kits of Old UA. I also would like to have a gladiator archetype. I hope the 2017 mechanical expansion will take in consideration options from previous UA.

I think they will. The only reason to repost something from a previous UA is if the feedback was negative before and they want to see if the new version gets more love, or if they were doing a massive redo of a class (the last UA ranger).

 

[pdegan2814]

I really quite like these, I especially like the fact that we have two archery subclasses that weren't pushed into ranger. I think that if I was to play a fighter, all four of these would be considered.

For the Sharpshooter, I do wonder if steady aim could be changed to spend your move action instead of 3x/short rest. It might have to reigned in a little, but I think that would be a better option.

I like that idea, something along the lines of "If you have not moved yet on your turn, you can expend all your movement and take a bonus action to steady focus your aim on a given target, gaining the following benefits to each of your attacks against your chosen target on this turn:". It might be too powerful that way without some other limiting factor, or penalty. I just finished playing a rogue/fighter archer that was basically the party's sniper, and often I would just post up somewhere to take potshots, barely moving if at all during combat. The fact that the ability only works on one target per turn helps, I suppose. I would probably add something like "You cannot take a reaction until the start of your next turn", or maybe a nerf to Perception checks(unless it involves your target), or Disadvantage on attacks against other targets that turn, something to emphasize the tunnel vision aspect of the ability.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I like that idea, something along the lines of "If you have not moved yet on your turn, you can expend all your movement and take a bonus action to steady focus your aim on a given target, gaining the following benefits to each of your attacks against your chosen target on this turn:". It might be too powerful that way without some other limiting factor, or penalty. I just finished playing a rogue/fighter archer that was basically the party's sniper, and often I would just post up somewhere to take potshots, barely moving if at all during combat. The fact that the ability only works on one target per turn helps, I suppose. I would probably add something like "You cannot take a reaction until the start of your next turn", or maybe a nerf to Perception checks(unless it involves your target), or Disadvantage on attacks against other targets that turn, something to emphasize the tunnel vision aspect of the ability.

It's flavorful and makes sense in this case, but in the grand scheme of things WotC seems to be trying very very hard to avoid the "stand still and full attack" style of 3E, so I expect there to be a continued taboo on using movement for non-movement-based things.

 

[pdegan2814]

So, quick impressions.

I like the arcane archer. It is incredibly powerful, I think at first blush. An extra 4d6+awesome ability a day until level 15 when I believe the intent is that you essentially get 2, and then 1 for every combat after that. The Ever-Ready arrow gives you another arrow after you have used your last one, which then you use your last one and gain another arrow. I think this is the intent. All of the arrow abilities seem powerful and useful too, but I love Seeking arrow, hit someone anywhere within 600 ft as long as the arrow could potentially trace a path. Very awesome.

I checked with Crawford on Twitter, and the intent for Ever-Ready Arrow is that after using your 2 normal "per-rest" uses, you have unlimited uses after that, but with a 1-minute recharge time in between. So basically, one per combat. Still feels like it's not enough, basically the whole archetype is built around getting a single trick shot per battle, maybe two. I wonder how it would be if the number of uses was increased to be on par with the Battlemaster, and the Force damage was reduced somewhat to compensate.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I really like the samurai, but I'm a little concerned that Fighting Spirit is too good. Take a bonus action at the start of your turn, get advantage on all attacks for that turn, the rest of the round, and your next turn? Three times/short rest? That's really good, even before you take the resistances into account.

I'm happy to be convinced I'm wrong, but it looks a little much to me.

I'm not crazy about the arcane archer only getting two special shots/rest, but I'm not sure how to increase that and maintain balance.

Overall, though, I'm fairly happy with the whole thing.