Unearthed Arcana Light, Dark, Underdark - November's Unearthed Arcana

Interesting stuff.

 

[Quartz]

The two fighting styles are way too overpowered for my tastes.

I'm guessing that they had feat-less crossbow users in mind when designing CQS. Limiting CQS to one attack per round - or two with an off-hand crossbow - seems reasonable. But as written it works for normal bows, and that makes it very broken indeed. The crossbow feats also break it. Really, just not having Disadvantage at close quarters is benefit enough.

TF is also way OP. Unlimited OAs? I suggest cutting it down to one OA - trading the bonus action for an additional reaction - and the stance means you cannot move (to avoid the paladin cheese).

I really like the new Warlock patron. But there too I would insist on a positive-energy or light-based patron. Interestingly, I recently dug out the 1e adventure Rod of Seraillian and Seraillian would make an excellent patron.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I wish they had made a Shadow Warlock instead.

 

[Jester David]

Yes. What's your point? To tell me that there is an alternate cost to taking a feat?

Well, I said the new close archery fighting style was better than archery and your point seemed to be "no, it's better if you take <feat X> and <feat Y>". So, my point was that if you have to take two feats for one option to be better than another and not factor in the cost then the first option *might* need work.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

So guys, can we just stop and talk about the fact that with the way the article is written RAW Deep Stalker can "Always cast these spells" rather than "Always have these spells prepared"

You don't have Spell Slots? You can cast these spells
You don't have the Components (Including the Verbal Component)? You can cast these spells

It may not be RAI, but atm, it is RAW to the playtest and will have to be changed/clarified if that wasn't the intention.

 

[TwoSix]

Well, I said the new close archery fighting style was better than archery and your point seemed to be "no, it's better if you take <feat X> and <feat Y>". So, my point was that if you have to take two feats for one option to be better than another and not factor in the cost then the first option *might* need work.

Archery/Sharpshooter/Crossbow Expert is the superior sniper and overall damage dealer, while CQS/+4 Dex is more versatile. Again, party composition and campaign expectations would be the biggest factor in deciding which one is the better option (barring playing to your imagined concept, of course.) I can see many scenarios where I would take Archery over CQS, and that's enough for me to considered it balanced. Too much of the criticism is knee-jerk "But it has more benefits than the other Fighting Styles!"

 

[Leugren]

Deep Stalker and Lightfoot Halflings:

Deep Stalker is the perfect class for Lightfoot Halflings that want to realize the full potential of their Naturally Stealthy ability without multiclassing.

• You pick up the Close-Quarters Shooter Fighting Style at Level 2, which lets you shoot arrows while hiding behind an ally without incurring a cover penalty.
• You get darkvision out to 90 feet at Level 3, which eliminates the biggest weakness of all Lightfoot Halflings in their role as the party scout. You haven't seen sad until you've seen a straight-class halfling rogue trying to sneak through a dungeon while waving his little lantern to and fro.
• At Level 3, you also get to hide as a bonus action at the end of each turn except the first, which is almost as good as Cunning Action in terms of letting you hide behind an ally every turn.

This is the first Lightfoot Halfling build that I would actually enjoy playing, since I'm generally averse to multi-classing.

Tunnel Fighter:

Finally an ability that lets the so-called party "tank" stop hordes from streaming past him with almost utter impunity! Combine with Sentinel to halt foes in their tracks. Great style if tanking is your schtick.

I love this article and hope to see it made official ASAP.

 

[Jester David]

Archery/Sharpshooter/Crossbow Expert is the superior sniper and overall damage dealer, while CQS/+4 Dex is more versatile. Again, party composition and campaign expectations would be the biggest factor in deciding which one is the better option (barring playing to your imagined concept, of course.) I can see many scenarios where I would take Archery over CQS, and that's enough for me to considered it balanced. Too much of the criticism is knee-jerk "But it has more benefits than the other Fighting Styles!"

Still 8-12 levels into the game before that distinction comes into play.

"It gets more powerful after level 10" was a poor balancing factor for wizards in 1/2e and it's a poor balancing factor for a fighting style.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

close quarters is only really good in close quarters... archery has unlimited range.

 

[mlund]

Both of the combat styles are excellent additions.

I especially appreciate that the Shooter style covers the pet peeves for Ranged Weapon Characters when you don't have access to Feats. Ranged Weapons are, in general, a raw deal in close-quarters settings since they have a poorer ratio of damage output vs. # of hands used. The overlap with a couple of feats doesn't bother me as one feat is still good enough to take with the overlap (Sharpshooter) and the other is a miserable feat-tax full of nonsense just to get the ability to ignore Disadvantage shooting freely in a melee (Bow archers need to take Crossbow Expert just for that? Forget it).

The part that really appeals to me is that it's an option to trade out +1 to hit for the piece of mind of ignoring a bunch of extra fidgety rules.

The Tunnel Fighter style is unfortunately named, but it provides a long-overdue combat style feature for a warrior who's shitck is the ground-control game. Negating all of a front-line warrior's blocking capacity by sheer weight of numbers vs. reaction economy was kind of disappointing. Now you can pay a price to provide true menace to everyone who enters your reach - finally a fighting style that's perhaps more beneficial to someone wielding a Polearm than a Greatsword.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

At least champion's additional fighting style feature is now worth something. Protection + Tunnel Fighting and Archery + Close Quarter Shooter both look awesome. It's a pity we almost never play far beyond 10th level.