D&D 5E Rune Knight Is The Best Fighter Overall IMHO.

[fluffybunbunkittens]

there's nothing in the PHB afaok about being able to take you hand off when it's not your turn.

They errataed two-handed from 'requires two hands to use' into 'This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it'.

It remains the only thing in the rules about this - you need a free hand available for it, then you can attack. It doesn't matter what the hand's doing the rest of the time - there is no rule about it being stuck to the hilt any more than caster hands are stuck buried in their component pouches after casting a spell - both just have the requirement for a free hand, boom, condition fulfilled.

 

[ECMO3]

I think it depends what you mean by "best tank". The EK can be more durable, yes, 100%. But the RK is better at protecting the party.

OK.

When I said tank, I meant guy taking attacks themselves and blocking some area. RK can absolutely protect allies, I would think of that more as a control or defender function of sorts and in that RK is better.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

When I said tank, I meant guy taking attacks themselves and blocking some area.

You cannot really attract attacks in 5e, besides physically covering more squares to block off a passage, which both RK and EK can do. But, as it takes EK's concentration to be running Enlarge, RK wins in this comparison (and has the benefit of stacking with Enlarge in case you need to block a 3x3 area).

 

[ECMO3]

however - the RK is without a doubt the best tank. The damage resistance rune only activates at level 7 but once you have that you're extremely durable. giant might makes you take more room (and thus better at blocking foes). And also, the runic powers are great to defend party members - the cloud rune, the storm rune are great, and so is Runic shield.

Agree on defending allies. RK is not as durable as a EK though.

An EK has a higher effective AC due to shield, is much harder to hit without shield due to PEG, Blur and/or Mirror Image, resistance to elemental damage through Absorb Elements and at will resistance to PBS (not just one fight a day) from weapons through Blade Ward. The only time an RK is going to be better is an enemy that does PBS without using weapon attacks or posion AND that can also reliably punch through the EKs much higher effective AC and that is only one fight a day she is better against most of those those. Even against that one kind of foe that does PBS without weapons and has very high attack rolls, the EK is still going to be more durable in every fight after the RK has burned his Hill Rune.

I have played both extensively and EK is definitely more durable than RK.

RK is no slouch and it is IMO the best fighter overall, with a high CON it is the best fighter controller, is one of the best two defenders, and the best at skills, but IME it is not the equivalent of an EK in durability (assuming the same ability scores and appropriate spell choices and feats).

 

[ECMO3]

You cannot really attract attacks in 5e, besides physically covering more squares to block off a passage, which both RK and EK can do. But, as it takes EK's concentration to be running Enlarge, RK wins in this comparison (and has the benefit of stacking with Enlarge in case you need to block a 3x3 area).

I never use enlarge, I don't even have it on my EKs. You can only block enemies within 1 size of you, so getting large means you can't block Goblins or Kobolds or any other small enemies at all. They move right through your square. If you stack Enlarge and Giants Might Humans and Orcs, Ghouls and Hobgoblins can move right through you. In most maps being large causes more problems than it fixes due to squeezing, reducing ally movement and give more enemies cover. With a RK you can keep from getting large by activating inside a small area, and it is nice to be able to grapple Giants and Dragons when you want to, so it is a good ability that you can decide when to use and usually you can decide to stay "little" when you do use it, but it is not a panacea and do not agree that being large is automatically better than being medium (or small) in a typical encounter. More often than not it is worse (to be clear I am talking about the size, not the damage).

That said, if you use miniatures; positioning, regardless of size, will usually dictate who melee enemies attack because movement is typically the limiting factor and moving around an enemy (or through one) to get to a back-line player is not usually easily doable without using an action to dash on most battle maps. This is even more true if you have a caster throwing things like Dissonant Whispers, Command, Cause Fear, Spirit Guardians or Spike Growth, all of which are common and usually completely remove the ability to attack someone else.

What it comes to for me is the Rune Knight is not as durable as an EK, not nearly as durable against most foes. In tier 2 it will go down in half the time an EK goes down, a EK will even outlast a RK using Hill Rune by a substantial margin against most foes (assuming they still have spell slots).

 

[niklinna]

Agree on defending allies. RK is not as durable as a EK though.

An EK has a higher effective AC due to shield, is much harder to hit without shield due to PEG, Blur and/or Mirror Image, ....

 

[ECMO3]

View attachment 331800

Sorry - Protection from Evil and Good.

Probably the second best 1st level Tanking spell. A must have on EKs, Bladesingers, melee Warlocks and melee Clerics if you really want to grind against enemy hordes (less important on Clerics due to high Wisdom saves).

 

[Sacrosanct]

RK was one of my favorite PCs. And the cause of some pretty epic moments. Many of you will know of the two…unique gnomes in RofFM. They were kicking our butts. Then one went to use its special ability that technically is an attack. I redirected it to his buddy. That evened things up a bit

It’s also a great ability when you want to save a buddy.

 

[bedir than]

You cannot really attract attacks in 5e,

Cavalier

 

[Zardnaar]

They errataed two-handed from 'requires two hands to use' into 'This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it'.

It remains the only thing in the rules about this - you need a free hand available for it, then you can attack. It doesn't matter what the hand's doing the rest of the time - there is no rule about it being stuck to the hilt any more than caster hands are stuck buried in their component pouches after casting a spell - both just have the requirement for a free hand, boom, condition fulfilled.

I'm aware but I'm the only one in the group who knows that.

Not that most of them know or care acout the issue or play an EK.

Think I'll just errata it so your bonded weapons count as a spellcasting focus.