D&D 5E 5e Build help

[Steve 'Raziel' Davis]

I am about to start playing in a 5e game starting at 4th level. I have chosen to be the battlefield control, debuffing enemies and such. My build is Sorc 1, Warlock 2, Mystic 1. Someone told me that this is not a very good idea, but I want more opinions from outside people (the one who told me has already complained that I had made a "tank" character and that's what he wanted to play, so I changed my build, and now he is complaining about mystic being too "op").

So here is the build breakdown

Sorcerer, Origin Sea Sorcery
Warlock, Otherworldly Patron Queen Mab (Reflavored Raven Queen)
Mystic, Order of the Nomad

Here is why I chose this.

1. I am a flying creature with an 18 Charisma
2. I took mostly CC type Cantrips (I have 6 total cantrips, 7 if you count the psionic talent)
3. These two are important because of these features working together.

Curse of the Sea
When you choose this origin at 1st level, you learn the secret of infusing your spells with a watery curse. When you hit a creature with a cantrip’s attack or when a creature fails a saving throw against your cantrip, you can curse the target until the end of your next turn or until you curse a different creature with this feature.
Once per turn when you cast a spell, you can trigger the curse if that spell deals cold or lightning damage to the cursed target or forces it to move. Doing so subjects the target to the appropriate additional effect below, and then the curse ends if the spell isn’t a cantrip (you choose the effect to use if more than one effect applies):
Cold Damage. If the affected target takes cold damage from your spell, the target’s speed is also reduced by 15 feet until the end of your next turn. If the spell already reduces the target’s speed, use whichever reduction is greater.
Lightning Damage. If the affected target takes lightning damage from your spell, the target takes additional lightning damage equal to your Charisma modifier.
Forced Movement. If the target is moved by your spell, increase the distance it is moved by 15 feet.

Grasp of Hadar
Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with your eldritch blast, you can move that creature in a straight line 10 feet closer to you.

I also have Shocking Grasp, Lightning Lure, and Ray of Frost, possibly Energy Beam that work with Curse of the Sea.

My plan is this, Fly 30+ feet above an enemy, hit it with a cantrip, curse it, next turn, use E.Blast and pull it 25 feet into the air, causing them to fall, taking an extra 2d6 damage and knocking them prone. This also works for lightning lure, though I would have to be within 15 ft. and it only pulls 10 ft, it would deal an extra 4 lightning damage, take an extra 1d6 falling, and still be prone. At 5th level, I would be able to do it all in one round with two beams of E.Blast.

I don't plan on overusing this, but knocking down enemies for the Rouge and Paladin seems like a good CC and give them advantage, so once I do it once, I am sure it will be requested more.

What do you guys think? If you want more information, let me know.

 

[FrogReaver]

I am about to start playing in a 5e game starting at 4th level. I have chosen to be the battlefield control, debuffing enemies and such. My build is Sorc 1, Warlock 2, Mystic 1. Someone told me that this is not a very good idea, but I want more opinions from outside people (the one who told me has already complained that I had made a "tank" character and that's what he wanted to play, so I changed my build, and now he is complaining about mystic being too "op").

So here is the build breakdown

Sorcerer, Origin Sea Sorcery
Warlock, Otherworldly Patron Queen Mab (Reflavored Raven Queen)
Mystic, Order of the Nomad

Here is why I chose this.

1. I am a flying creature with an 18 Charisma
2. I took mostly CC type Cantrips (I have 6 total cantrips, 7 if you count the psionic talent)
3. These two are important because of these features working together.

Curse of the Sea
When you choose this origin at 1st level, you learn the secret of infusing your spells with a watery curse. When you hit a creature with a cantrip’s attack or when a creature fails a saving throw against your cantrip, you can curse the target until the end of your next turn or until you curse a different creature with this feature.
Once per turn when you cast a spell, you can trigger the curse if that spell deals cold or lightning damage to the cursed target or forces it to move. Doing so subjects the target to the appropriate additional effect below, and then the curse ends if the spell isn’t a cantrip (you choose the effect to use if more than one effect applies):
Cold Damage. If the affected target takes cold damage from your spell, the target’s speed is also reduced by 15 feet until the end of your next turn. If the spell already reduces the target’s speed, use whichever reduction is greater.
Lightning Damage. If the affected target takes lightning damage from your spell, the target takes additional lightning damage equal to your Charisma modifier.
Forced Movement. If the target is moved by your spell, increase the distance it is moved by 15 feet.

Grasp of Hadar
Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with your eldritch blast, you can move that creature in a straight line 10 feet closer to you.

I also have Shocking Grasp, Lightning Lure, and Ray of Frost, possibly Energy Beam that work with Curse of the Sea.

My plan is this, Fly 30+ feet above an enemy, hit it with a cantrip, curse it, next turn, use E.Blast and pull it 25 feet into the air, causing them to fall, taking an extra 2d6 damage and knocking them prone. This also works for lightning lure, though I would have to be within 15 ft. and it only pulls 10 ft, it would deal an extra 4 lightning damage, take an extra 1d6 falling, and still be prone. At 5th level, I would be able to do it all in one round with two beams of E.Blast.

I don't plan on overusing this, but knocking down enemies for the Rouge and Paladin seems like a good CC and give them advantage, so once I do it once, I am sure it will be requested more.

What do you guys think? If you want more information, let me know.

You don't have a spell that is moving the creature. You have an invocation that moves the creature. There is a difference. As such its very questionable if Curse of the Sea and Grasp of Hadar would interact in any way.

 

[Steve 'Raziel' Davis]

Lightning Lure, however does specifically move the creature and still works with the curse. That was actually the inspiration for this combo. I'm not sure about why the invocation wouldn't work since it requires a spell to be used. Would that mean if you had an ability that let you increase the range of the darkness spell, and an invocation that let you cast the darkness spell once a day that the two wouldn't interact? I could see the mystic stuff not working with things that say "spell" but most invocations are giving or augmenting spells, or giving outright features.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

What race are you playing?

Is the game expected to last beyond 4th level? You've built the character around a single trick, but next level a normal spellcaster is going to be throwing fireballs and haste around.

Do you have an idea about what the style of the game is going to be? Are you expecting lots of combats between rests, or a few more dangerous ones?

 

[FrogReaver]

Lightning Lure, however does specifically move the creature and still works with the curse. That was actually the inspiration for this combo. I'm not sure about why the invocation wouldn't work since it requires a spell to be used. Would that mean if you had an ability that let you increase the range of the darkness spell, and an invocation that let you cast the darkness spell once a day that the two wouldn't interact? I could see the mystic stuff not working with things that say "spell" but most invocations are giving or augmenting spells, or giving outright features.

Because it's the invocation doing the pulling. The other ability triggers when a spell does pulling

 

[Steve 'Raziel' Davis]

The race is a fey flavored winged tiefling, yes it is expected to go past 4th level. From what I understand, it is going to be more of a "journey" type game, spanning different continents in search of a lost city, (think Atlantis). As far as combat I am not sure, though I do know I am the only arcane caster in the group.

As originally stated, I had made a "tank" like character that was an immortal mystic. I offered to change so that the other person who had also made a tank character wouldn't feel as if his toes were being stepped on. In the group we have a warforged Oath of Conquest Paladin, a human Rogue Swashbuckler (with black powder pistol proficiency), an NPC dragonborn Cleric (no idea what domain), and myself, the attack every save CC caster. The Paladin is one of those "I gotta do the most damage and be unkillable" type players and the rogue is a pretty heavy role player, while I am the "I want to play the obscure combination" kind of player (not that a tiefling sorclock is that obscure).

I plan on taking the rest of my levels in mystic, getting utility from the different disciplines. Yeah, I am not going to be doing much damage, but that's why I took spells that cause status effects and plan on getting magic initiate Bard, and taking Vicious Mockery, and Bane (with Prestidigitation cause why not?).

These are my spells Cantrips/Talents; Toll the Dead, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, Lightning Lure, Eldritch Blast, Frostbite, and Energy Beam.

My first level spells are Chromatic Orb, Mage Armor, Puppet, Arms of Hadar, and Healing Elixir.

My disciplines are; Nomadic Chameleon, Nomadic Step, and either Precognition or Mastery of Ice. Precognition gives advantage on Initiative and a minute long d4 self buff to attacks, saving throws, and ability checks while Mastery of Ice gives cold damage resistance, Ice spike (1/2 targets speed on failed save), and Ice Sheet (slip n' slide save or fall prone for those that try to move more than 10 ft).

As you can see, I am not the "blaster caster" one normally thinks of when building an arcane caster, but my whole thing is to try and stay in the back (or the air) and help the other two players get any advantages that they can.

The DM has been nice enough to reflavor the tiefling into less devil more fey (adding fey ancestry) and change the Raven Queen to Queen Mab (sentinel pixie instead of sentinel raven, though with only druidcraft at will and entangle and sleep once a day for spells since pixies have no attacks, still get an invisible scout though)

We all got a little reflavoring in this way, the warforged got a shield that is attached to his arm, giving him a 20 AC and the ability to still use a 2 handed weapon, and the human got proficiency with pistols and a feat to attack with it as a bonus action after making a successful melee attack (he still had to use his human variant feat to take it).

 

[stoneagewar3]

A feature that gives a spell rider effects should not trigger other features based on those riders as the spell did not cause it. If the designer left out the once per turn clause, curse of the sea would repeatedly trigger itself except with cold dmg based on how you read it, does that sound right? Invocations that gave you a darkness spell 1/day obviously works with features that boosts darkness as you are still casting darkness.

 

[Steve 'Raziel' Davis]

How would it continuously trigger? You have to hit once to curse the target and again to trigger the effect. Once that happens, the curse ends at the end of your second turn and the process can be repeated if you hit the creature again in the third round. So the pattern goes prime, effect, 2 rounds every time. This is only because you can only cast one cantrip per round however. So is what you are telling me, if I were to Ray of Frost, hit, thus cursing the target, and then action surge (provided I had the feature) and Lightning Lure that the curse would not get it's effect that same turn? The curse says once per turn, and lasts until the end of your next turn.. That would suggest you can indeed trigger it twice before it ends. If that's not what you were talking about, then forgive me, I misunderstood. Regardless, I fail to see how using Eldritch Blast with a rider would be any different than using Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, or Lightning Lure, all three of those trigger the curse. I know of no other forced movement cantrip besides an augmented Eldritch Blast. Is there one I am overlooking?

As far as the question will they interact with each other, I have asked Jeremy and hope to get an answer soon. It appears some in the community consider invocations that grant or change spells are indeed spells with different names. Mage armor at will becomes armor of shadows, adding your charisma mod to Eldritch blast changes it to agonizing blast, etc. I'm not here to debate any of that, in reality, if my DM says that it does interact, then it really doesn't matter what I or anyone else say. The reason I was here was to get some build help on building a crowd control semi caster with utility options for survival. The 1 level of sorc and 2 of warlock are locked in. I was just looking where to go from there and thought mystic would be a good place to pick up more cc and great utility/survivability.

 

[FrogReaver]

How would it continuously trigger? You have to hit once to curse the target and again to trigger the effect. Once that happens, the curse ends at the end of your second turn and the process can be repeated if you hit the creature again in the third round. So the pattern goes prime, effect, 2 rounds every time. This is only because you can only cast one cantrip per round however. So is what you are telling me, if I were to Ray of Frost, hit, thus cursing the target, and then action surge (provided I had the feature) and Lightning Lure that the curse would not get it's effect that same turn? The curse says once per turn, and lasts until the end of your next turn.. That would suggest you can indeed trigger it twice before it ends. If that's not what you were talking about, then forgive me, I misunderstood. Regardless, I fail to see how using Eldritch Blast with a rider would be any different than using Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, or Lightning Lure, all three of those trigger the curse. I know of no other forced movement cantrip besides an augmented Eldritch Blast. Is there one I am overlooking?

As far as the question will they interact with each other, I have asked Jeremy and hope to get an answer soon. It appears some in the community consider invocations that grant or change spells are indeed spells with different names. Mage armor at will becomes armor of shadows, adding your charisma mod to Eldritch blast changes it to agonizing blast, etc. I'm not here to debate any of that, in reality, if my DM says that it does interact, then it really doesn't matter what I or anyone else say. The reason I was here was to get some build help on building a crowd control semi caster with utility options for survival. The 1 level of sorc and 2 of warlock are locked in. I was just looking where to go from there and thought mystic would be a good place to pick up more cc and great utility/survivability.

Does your DM say it works that way?

 

[Steve 'Raziel' Davis]

Does your DM say it works that way?

Indeed. So, any thoughts on where to go from here to continue building towards control? Keep on mystic? Replace it with a different class? Thoughts?