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Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master and Why They Are Broken 101.
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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6935081" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>From your attempt to describe spellcaster strengths here, I think what's going on is that you <em>are</em> "bad" at playing spellcasters. You're superficially correct in your criticisms of a certain caricature of spellcasters, but the very criticism reveals a simplistic first-order view of how you think spellcasters ought to be played: reactively, haphazardly, relying on luck, with an eggshell perimeter defense instead of defense in depth. Even the way you describe losing control of an elemental is revealing. If you're putting yourself in a position where losing control of an elemental is disastrous, let alone <em>likely</em> and disastrous, you must be courting disaster already. (It's like those people who claim that an inconvenient critical hit is disastrous for them--if it is, either you're playing extremely challenging scenarios already or you're doing it wrong.)</p><p></p><p>Yes, spells known and spells prepared are very real constraints, and so is concentration. That is <em>precisely</em> where my observation about multi-wizard parties comes from: some of the best combos and synergies come from removing those constraints. I already mentioned the brokenly-good Wall of Force + Cloudkill combo, and it should be obvious that having 3x as many wizards in the party goes a fair way towards removing that "you won't always have the right spell known + prepared" constraint you yourself mentioned. I could name a few other multi-concentration combos (Haste + Polymorph into T-Rex is amazingly fun and effective, especially if you exploit the mobility aspects; and it works just as well on a wizard as it does on a fighter unless you have an unusual interpretation of Polymorph) but the deeper point is simply that: spellcasters have more affordances, and in particular more <em>proactive</em> affordances; and non-spellcasting affordances in 5E are front-loaded. Yes, Rogues are great; but a Rogue 2/anything 18 is approximately as amazing as a Rogue 20, so you can afford to fill up the rest of your levels with something that gives you more affordances, like Rogue 2/Bladesinger 18. And now you're a Rogue who can use his invisible familiar to scout ahead while he follows invisibly behind, and can Teleport to safety if he needs to.</p><p></p><p>I don't want to derail this thread much more, but the criticisms you make ("you don't always have the right spells prepared") reveal a reactive mindset that to my eye explains why you've struggled with spellcasters. And I agree with your criticisms to an extent--many people who like to moan about "caster supremacy" are just wrong, and they're wrong in exactly the ways you identified. A wizard <em>doesn't</em> have unlimited spell slots, and you <em>can't</em> judge merely by peak performance in ideal situations. But the next step is to look at the actual proposed party (e.g. necromancer, summoner, two bladesingers if I recall correctly which thread we're in) and consider what is the number and variety of situations in which the party is prepared to excel. If you choose your spells wisely, that number will be very high.</p><p></p><p>As an aside: Rope Trick should be a mandatory spell for any party which includes members (bladesingers, moon druids, warlocks) who have important abilities that recharge on a short rest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6935081, member: 6787650"] From your attempt to describe spellcaster strengths here, I think what's going on is that you [I]are[/I] "bad" at playing spellcasters. You're superficially correct in your criticisms of a certain caricature of spellcasters, but the very criticism reveals a simplistic first-order view of how you think spellcasters ought to be played: reactively, haphazardly, relying on luck, with an eggshell perimeter defense instead of defense in depth. Even the way you describe losing control of an elemental is revealing. If you're putting yourself in a position where losing control of an elemental is disastrous, let alone [I]likely[/I] and disastrous, you must be courting disaster already. (It's like those people who claim that an inconvenient critical hit is disastrous for them--if it is, either you're playing extremely challenging scenarios already or you're doing it wrong.) Yes, spells known and spells prepared are very real constraints, and so is concentration. That is [I]precisely[/I] where my observation about multi-wizard parties comes from: some of the best combos and synergies come from removing those constraints. I already mentioned the brokenly-good Wall of Force + Cloudkill combo, and it should be obvious that having 3x as many wizards in the party goes a fair way towards removing that "you won't always have the right spell known + prepared" constraint you yourself mentioned. I could name a few other multi-concentration combos (Haste + Polymorph into T-Rex is amazingly fun and effective, especially if you exploit the mobility aspects; and it works just as well on a wizard as it does on a fighter unless you have an unusual interpretation of Polymorph) but the deeper point is simply that: spellcasters have more affordances, and in particular more [I]proactive[/I] affordances; and non-spellcasting affordances in 5E are front-loaded. Yes, Rogues are great; but a Rogue 2/anything 18 is approximately as amazing as a Rogue 20, so you can afford to fill up the rest of your levels with something that gives you more affordances, like Rogue 2/Bladesinger 18. And now you're a Rogue who can use his invisible familiar to scout ahead while he follows invisibly behind, and can Teleport to safety if he needs to. I don't want to derail this thread much more, but the criticisms you make ("you don't always have the right spells prepared") reveal a reactive mindset that to my eye explains why you've struggled with spellcasters. And I agree with your criticisms to an extent--many people who like to moan about "caster supremacy" are just wrong, and they're wrong in exactly the ways you identified. A wizard [I]doesn't[/I] have unlimited spell slots, and you [I]can't[/I] judge merely by peak performance in ideal situations. But the next step is to look at the actual proposed party (e.g. necromancer, summoner, two bladesingers if I recall correctly which thread we're in) and consider what is the number and variety of situations in which the party is prepared to excel. If you choose your spells wisely, that number will be very high. As an aside: Rope Trick should be a mandatory spell for any party which includes members (bladesingers, moon druids, warlocks) who have important abilities that recharge on a short rest. [/QUOTE]
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