D&D 5E Solasta Playthrough

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
I'm starting up a new Solasta campaign and having some decision paralysis around my 4th PC bring. For those that don't know Solasta is a CRPG that fairly faithfully follows the 5e D&D ruleset. It has all the 5e classes except artificer. However, it has mostly custom subclasses. Races are SRD. However, many of the subraces are also custom. There are also custom feats, but no multiclassing.

In my playthroughs I try to hold myself to only resting at new campsites, ie not backtracking to previous ones to keep spamming spells. Campsites being the only places to long rest when exploring. However, 'm fine short resting after every encounter. You can short rest nearly anywhere.

So with that intro, my current 3 characters, not fully fleshed out but enough to give an ideal.

1. A Lowlife background Oath of Judgement Paladin (Oath of Judgement gives a damage increasing aura at level 7 as well as solid channel divinity and spell options). Primary focus is dex, but enough str for heavy armor (which also helps with jump distance which is needed to get some loot), a good charisma and the rest in con. He's my lockpicker due to the background and combat tank when needed. However, he typically starts an encounter with a bow near the rest of the party.

2. An Archery focused Commander Fighter. Can bonus action proficiency times per short rest to give each party member within 15ft advantage on their first attack. That along with action surge is to help take out enemies before they close in on the party. Fun interaction is that this gives advantage to all rolls of scorching ray, which makes for a nice combo. Also can function as an off tank - especially since Solasta allows swaping from bow to sword and shield once per turn with no action cost.

3. Shock Arcanist Wizard (Shock Arcanist casts direct damage dealing spells at 1 level higher). It's almost a requirement in Solasta to have someone that can cast identify. Also a good Int score really helps with crafting magic items. Add in all the exploration utility, misty step, knock for when the Paladin fails picking to pick a lock and all the control spells and it's really really hard to pass up a wizard of some kind in the game.


This leaves one last character slot. Only thing I can say here for certain is probably not another martial. I'm leaning toward sorcerer. Careful Spell and Fear or Hypnotic Pattern seem really clutch as I can cast them on top of my party if they get overrun. Also each subclass gets bonus spells, with usually a few really good ones included. I'm just kind of iffy on not having healing aside from paladin, though healing potions are craftable. Bard and Druid also both get a good healing subclass. Bard also gets a great social subclass. Cleric subclasses are great overall. Any thoughts?
 
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Mana Painter Sorcerer is a very strong and fun addition, especially since you can twin Fly as soon as you hit 3rd level casting, and many other flashy problem solving combinations with Careful Spell.

Cons: No healing.

Circle of Balance Druid is another major contender, with the almighty Goodberry and Spike Growth combined with support staples like Prayer of Healing. Having Revivify always prepared also helps with annoying game overs.

Cons: Low AC if you dump Dex.

College of Hope covers the same territory as CoB Druid, with the amazing perks of bardic inspiration. You just pick great problem solving or CC spells and let the class features handle any healing beyond Healing Word.

Cons: No Careful Spell or Goodberry.

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I don't want to narrow it down more than that. Sorcerer + Wizard can make everyone fly, and that's so absurdly powerful it's basically its own little power fantasy. Druid brings Goodberry, which is such a QoL improvement you'll wonder how you ever played without it (plus entangles, summons, etc). Bard is the happy middle ground that is good at everything.
 
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FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
Mana Painter Sorcerer is a very strong and fun addition, especially since you can twin Fly as soon as you hit 3rd level casting, and many other flashy problem solving combinations with Careful Spell.

Cons: No healing.

Circle of Balance Druid is another major contender, with the almighty Goodberry and Spike Growth combined with support staples like Prayer of Healing. Having Revivify always prepared also helps with annoying game overs.

Cons: Low AC if you dump Dex.

College of Hope covers the same territory as CoB Druid, with the amazing perks of bardic inspiration. You just pick great problem solving or CC spells and let the class features handle any healing beyond Healing Word.

Cons: No Careful Spell or Goodberry.

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I don't want to narrow it down more than that. Sorcerer + Wizard can make everyone fly, and that's so absurdly powerful it's basically its own little power fantasy. Druid brings Goodberry, which is such a QoL improvement you'll wonder how you ever played without it (plus entangles, summons, etc). Bard is the happy middle ground that is good at everything.

I think I've decided to go with Sorcerer. Though I think I'm going with draconic. The only thing that i really like about mana painter is entangle. It's such a great spell. Dragon saves me from taking alot of spells i'd probably take anyways which opens up some nice alternate options. It also will eventually buff my scorching ray blasting a bit which will be nice.

Only real question I have left is my first metamagic will be careful, but I can't decide on the 2nd, empowered, heightened and twin all seem really good.
 

The big selling point of Mana Painter is the extra sorcery points (effectively 10+ at 6th level). But Draconic works fine and I think you will enjoy all the fun combos your Sorcerer + Wizard can pull off.

Hope you have a blast!
 

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
The big selling point of Mana Painter is the extra sorcery points (effectively 10+ at 6th level). But Draconic works fine and I think you will enjoy all the fun combos your Sorcerer + Wizard can pull off.

Hope you have a blast!
Everything was going smoothly till surprised by 10 thugs at level 3 (11 AC, 32 hp, +4 attack, 1d6+2 damage, pact tactics)
 

Everything was going smoothly till surprised by 10 thugs at level 3 (11 AC, 32 hp, +4 attack, 1d6+2 damage, pact tactics)
Yep, some random encounters just wipe you. Long standing issue. On the plus side, they can be a fun romp for your casters to cut loose with a 5 minute adventuring day between actual plot important locations.

So your Sorcerer + Wizard can fireball with impunity. When you're not surprised.
 

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
Yep, some random encounters just wipe you. Long standing issue. On the plus side, they can be a fun romp for your casters to cut loose with a 5 minute adventuring day between actual plot important locations.

So your Sorcerer + Wizard can fireball with impunity. When you're not surprised.
It’s got me more thinking about whether I can make a 3rd level party that could defeat that specific encounter.
 



FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog
I've been thinking of some other ways I might could have beaten the thugs with my current party setup (possibly different spell choices).

Fog Cloud or Darkness could eliminate their advantage.
Shatter would be really strong.
Flaming Sphere where I could dodge and have it do damage as a bonus action could be really good.

Entangle may could have held a few at bay which would have really helped.

Calm Emotions from the Cleric is probably the true key as in Solasta it makes enemies indifferent to the caster's allies. Bards and Balance Druids can also get this spell.

Also, if I just took the OA's and tried to retreat up the cliff I might could have had a decent choke point to keep the party from being swarmed.
 
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