D&D 5E Companion thread to "5E Survivor - Subclasses (Part VI: Fighters)"

[Undrave]

I feel like the Brute had potential to be a better version of what the Champion wanted to be.

 

[Corinnguard]

I feel like the Brute had potential to be a better version of what the Champion wanted to be.

Which do like better? The 5e Brute or the A5e Brute? curious

 

[TwoSix]

This is a pretty decent description of the Hexblade.

Yea, I think the Hexblade (certainly the pact magic casting + Invocations) is pretty close to the ideal for a gish. Perfect world, it would be a full class to open up more subclass and flavor options, lose Eldritch Blast and gain the Bladesinger weapon + cantrip attack.

 

[Undrave]

Which do like better? The 5e Brute or the A5e Brute? curious

The UA Brute was a first pass at it that was dropped, so I'm certain the A5e Brute is automatically better.

 

[CleverNickName]

Hack Your Eldritch Knight
Here are some tips and tricks for adding flavor and panache to your Eldritch Knight. No complete rebuilds here, just minor tweaks...but even minor tweaks should be discussed with your Dungeon Master beforehand.

If you're disappointed with how you're Eldritch Knight is playing, consider one or more of the following tweaks. I've used them all, and I can vouch for each one.

• Ignore the "two of which must be Abjuration or Evocation" requirement. It's silly.
• Choose your spells from a different class list. I've played EKs who used Warlock spells and Druid spells, and they were a lot of fun. If you are one of the folks stuck in the "green flame blade and shield" rut, this can help nudge you out of it.
• Playing a high-magic campaign and need more power? Add more spell slots per level.
• Playing a low-magic campaign and need to curb the magic a bit? Reduce the number of spell slots per level.
• Frustrated with a lack of versatility? Add more Spells Known. I let the players add their Intelligence bonus to the number of spells known, but that might be a bit much for some campaigns. Even one extra spell at 1st level can make a big difference.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Hack Your Eldritch Knight
Here are some tips and tricks for adding flavor and panache to your Eldritch Knight. No complete rebuilds here, just minor tweaks...but even minor tweaks should be discussed with your Dungeon Master beforehand.

If you're disappointed with how you're Eldritch Knight is playing, consider one or more of the following tweaks. I've used them all, and I can vouch for each one.

• Ignore the "two of which must be Abjuration or Evocation" requirement. It's silly.
• Choose your spells from a different class list. I've played EKs who used Warlock spells and Druid spells, and they were a lot of fun. If you are one of the folks stuck in the "green flame blade and shield" rut, this can help nudge you out of it.
• Playing a high-magic campaign and need more power? Add more spell slots per level.
• Playing a low-magic campaign and need to curb the magic a bit? Reduce the number of spell slots per level.
• Frustrated with a lack of versatility? Add more Spells Known. I let the players add their Intelligence bonus to the number of spells known, but that might be a bit much for some campaigns. Even one extra spell at 1st level can make a big difference.

The ability to pick up spells from race, background and feats makes these not needed any more. And I think an EK with the warlock spell list is very much more powerful than an EK with the wizard spell list.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Because what they do best is have a really high AC. And there is no point in having a really high AC unless you are in front getting hit.

There is no reason to hyper-focus AC. It isn’t worthwhile.

Also, you can make a great EK archer by picking up Hunters Mark or Hex, but the lineage and feat that enable that are relatively new to the game, and not everyone is an early-adopter. Fighting Styles in Tasha's are also great for rapier+bow EKs. Quickened Enlarge is also cool, but requires Tasha's and MoM.

So later books don’t count. Nah.

What I have seen tried that actually doesn't perform very well is an EK built for melee, but uses spells for ranged. This is where MAD hurts.

Eh depends on the table.

Hack Your Eldritch Knight
Here are some tips and tricks for adding flavor and panache to your Eldritch Knight. No complete rebuilds here, just minor tweaks...but even minor tweaks should be discussed with your Dungeon Master beforehand.

If you're disappointed with how you're Eldritch Knight is playing, consider one or more of the following tweaks. I've used them all, and I can vouch for each one.

• Ignore the "two of which must be Abjuration or Evocation" requirement. It's silly.
• Choose your spells from a different class list. I've played EKs who used Warlock spells and Druid spells, and they were a lot of fun. If you are one of the folks stuck in the "green flame blade and shield" rut, this can help nudge you out of it.
• Playing a high-magic campaign and need more power? Add more spell slots per level.
• Playing a low-magic campaign and need to curb the magic a bit? Reduce the number of spell slots per level.
• Frustrated with a lack of versatility? Add more Spells Known. I let the players add their Intelligence bonus to the number of spells known, but that might be a bit much for some campaigns. Even one extra spell at 1st level can make a big difference.

These are great. I prefer to just add a few spells to the EK spell list, myself, but these are very fun too.

The ability to pick up spells from race, background and feats makes these not needed any more.

Totally false. There are other things to spend those features on, and the game shouldnt encourage playing X Race because Y Class can make good use of its features, rather than for conceptual reasons.

Also just above you talk like those new options don’t matter because they’re very recent.

And I think an EK with the warlock spell list is very much more powerful than an EK with the wizard spell list.

Not really.

 

[CleverNickName]

And I think an EK with the warlock spell list is very much more powerful than an EK with the wizard spell list.

It's a feature, not a bug! (If you're in the camp that thinks the EK is too weak, anyway.)

 

[RealAlHazred]

In the earlier version of the Variant Fighter I posted, all fighters get 2 maneuvers at 2nd level, and then an additional maneuver at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level. There's some maneuvers any Fighter can take (Arresting Strike, Disarming Strike, Distracting Strike, etc.) and then there are maneuvers specific to your subclass. For example, in the Eldritch Knight variant, you can take Ethereal Edge (where you change a weapon's damage type to force damage on your turn) and Infused Strike (where you deliver a spell's damage, but not a cantrip's, through a weapon attack) in addition to the usual options. This is in addition to the usual spells and abilities of the Eldritch Knight. Frankly, the only thing I was unhappy with in this variant is I wanted more maneuver options for several subclasses, but that's easier to homebrew.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Hack Your Eldritch Knight
Here are some tips and tricks for adding flavor and panache to your Eldritch Knight. No complete rebuilds here, just minor tweaks...but even minor tweaks should be discussed with your Dungeon Master beforehand.

If you're disappointed with how you're Eldritch Knight is playing, consider one or more of the following tweaks. I've used them all, and I can vouch for each one.

• Ignore the "two of which must be Abjuration or Evocation" requirement. It's silly.
• Choose your spells from a different class list. I've played EKs who used Warlock spells and Druid spells, and they were a lot of fun. If you are one of the folks stuck in the "green flame blade and shield" rut, this can help nudge you out of it.
• Playing a high-magic campaign and need more power? Add more spell slots per level.
• Frustrated with a lack of versatility? Add more Spells Known. I let the players add their Intelligence bonus to the number of spells known, but that might be a bit much for some campaigns. Even one extra spell at 1st level can make a big difference.

So all of these.

Which is rebuilding it into a better subclass.

Doesn't actually make the base, unmodified version good, imo.