Big Change to the Channel!

[@nikcantsnipe]

I agree with someone here that suggested to make your previous builds, legacy videos and start with build #1. That way the difference is clear. I do this is the more realistic and fair approach. I'm very happy with the change.

[@chrisg8989]

17min? Is this the shortest video to date?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha it might be!

[@murderyoutubeworkersandceos]

Its cuz he didnt multiclass

[@DojoBelok]

A four minute video was released to celebrate 1000 subscribers! 🎉 ​@@DnDDeepDive

[@probablythedm1669]

​@@DnDDeepDiveI suspect a shapeshifter... this feels unnatural. 😂

[@DnDDeepDive]

@ ha ha that’s true!

[@dungeondojo]

I think this is a good change. I might argue going a little further though... You often say jokingly that you're a "slave to the spreadsheet"... and I get why. However, I bet there is a large percentage of us (maybe a majority) who really would just like to know what you would do for a build in an actual game and have that be the real build. Personally, I think that's the more helpful build. Thanks for what you do!

[@airone8893]

Totally agree

[@vitaly2422]

Petition to refer to the New "Baseline" as the Captain America.

[@ashmirgaming4769]

or America's Ass.

[@sortehuse]

... but the damage base line shouldn't be the "Cap" 😁

[@aasekristoffer]

Finally! This has been my biggest pet peeve watching the calculations through the years!

[@garion046]

A welcome improvement. I always felt a DPR calculation on round 3 was worth very little in reality. And i think this will highlight how some martials can really compete or exceed caster, especially in tier 1 and 2 (by tier 3 casters just pull away in power through versatility if not always pure damage as well). I'd still prefer a 2 combat day with SR in between, because even if your table might get only one combat per day you don’t often know that going in, which means you're likely to conserve at least some resources. Not to mention things like spell slots etc might be used outside of combat. Still, ill take this because its a fair indication and not too imbalanced between builds (probably undervalues warlocks and monks tbh).

[@Are_Eye_Gee_Bee_Why]

I can only assume you recorded this yesterday due to the N7 shirt. Also, It's ok that the bladesinger took a hit, I still love it as much as you do. I used your original Bladesinger 2.0 video as a rough guide for my current character,and I have to say, bladesinger is by far my favorite class that I have ever played now. The utility, the gishy-ness, the fact I found a ring of protection so now my AC while bladesinging and throwing up shield is 26 so I am damn near unhittable - even if you need a round or two to set up and deal the most damage possible, it's just so much fun to play.

[@haiclips3358]

I support this change. It was frustrating as a listener when you were talking about sustain dpr but then prefaced it with an assumption that wasn't sustainable.

[@matthewhelmers1426]

This would be a great time to start taking builds all the way to 20... let's see that aspirational pinnacle of D&D! (I want to see you get some 2x epic boon builds especially.)

[@gaidencastro9706]

I was trying to rank your 2024 builds by situational-ness. Here's what I had so far: - Bladesinger: Very situational. It takes two turns - Cleric of Chaos: Not bad if your campaign doesn't revolve around fighting celestials, but AoE means assuming you'll hit 3 or more enemies in a 15 foot radius, which is a very generous assumption, but the setup is minimal. - Baseline requires a little setup and also has no innate magic damage. It's still at the top because you can craft them relatively easily in 2024 and can keep fighting without resources.

[@JamesSonOfBaboonzo]

Given how much you can move to hit those enemies, I think 3 targets taking damage is a fair assumption. You can dash with your BA and your Reaction so that's basically 90 move speed. How many combats against multiple enemies have you had where they were more than 90 feet away from any allies?

[@gaidencastro9706]

@JamesSonOfBaboonzo You might not have 3 enemies to hit to begin with, though.

[@JamesSonOfBaboonzo]

@gaidencastro9706 This is very true, but in my experience fights against groups of 5+ monsters are more common than fights against exactly 1 or 2 enemies. And there are many normal situations where you can get more than 3 targets. While it is true that sometimes you get less, I think 3 is a fair average considering how easy it is to move around to hit all available enemies more than once.

[@gaidencastro9706]

@@JamesSonOfBaboonzo That is fair. It's not as situational as I assessed in that case.

[@airone8893]

Thank you for this change! I think it’s a great idea, and it makes it a lot easier for me as a player to be able to recognize how a build will actually play out in game😁

[@EdibleFriend05]

Very happy for this change, like you said its a much fairer way of representing the damage output and when you build the characters prep rounds will be properly reflected I think you shoul also use this opportunity to renumber your videos. The legacy videos will still largely work, just adapting changed mechanics as needed, but your new stuff is not backwards compatible at all. Starting again back from 1 helps keep the two kinds of videos separated. Granted, youre probably a little far along in new build videos to be doing this so i can understand if it doesn't happen

[@shifttheshaman]

Good for you. Always trying to do better even when it's not easy.

[@James-kv3ll]

Hey Colby, something interesting I’ve noticed is that now multi-classes Rogues can use Heavy Weapons with the weapon stow/draw rules. This is even easier on the Soulknife. So if you ever revisit the Soulknife consider messing around with this. 5 Levels in Barbarian Remaining Levels in Rogue Attack 1 - Psychic Blade with Reckless Attack and Sneak Attack. The blade disappears after the attack. Attack 2 - Greatsword with GWM. Then swap the hand holding the weapon. No rules against doing this. Bonus Action - Psychic Blade attack with your other hand that is now free. RAW you only need 2 hands to attack with a two-handed weapon, not to just hold it. So you have hands free to use one-handed weapons or summon your psychic blades.

[@breathetyb8467]

Brilliant change! 10/10

[@majinsole8554]

The “All Day” build actually sounds like a good title for that one. ~_~

[@violet3693]

This is probably the best time to make a change like this, thank you for caring about your work

[@teambellavsteamalice]

An idea for a separate base series: All single class builds, and only up to, say level 8. For each class you only need to do the best subclass, but you could give honorable mentions to others that are close but offer more besides damage. In the average damage you can continue to mention only a few levels, but average all of them. This might better handle big jumps in dpr just before or after the damage calculation, and you can graph them like treantmonk does. The main benefit is that a lot of builds require a lot of levels to setup, being suboptimal or just weird in the meantime. I'd pick singleclass so viewers can make their own variants with single class as a baseline. You could mention some suggestions, maybe even go into detail on the benefits of 1 or 3 level dips or make a 4-4 mix. You'll notice that with only 8ish levels this is a huge sacrifice compared to level 17+.

[@warrenm72]

Thank you for making this change and keeping your builds ground in reality

[@RaethFennec]

Heyyyyy! I'm so happy to see this video! Ever since I started watching you, any time I refer someone to your channel, I always had to caution them that your numbers are, as I would say "optimistic", and to take them with a grain of salt. I usually recommended the numbers be dropped by at least 20-40% to set a more realistic expectation. But the comparative analysis BETWEEN the various builds, and the builds and features chosen? All really solid, with a fantastic extra element of flavor added that most build sources lack. A bit of color and story, an example of a reason why the choices might be taken that speaks to making a playable character for a game and not just a combat stat block for a 1-shot boss rush. lol It also makes the builds look a LOT MORE palatable if they're sent to DMs for review! :P Big number = big red flag, for many tables. 100% good on you for making this change, and for the hard work you put in adjusting the builds! 8:25 This song sounds JUST LIKE the song, "Moderate" from Star Ocean: The Second Story! I honestly thought it was a sped up version at first, maybe altered so it doesn't get detected. lol

[@shellieholmes]

Even with the drop in the Bladesingers damage it’s still one of my favourite subclasses to play. Depending on the combat it’s normally between my Bladesinger, the rogue (she gets my Wizard’s familiar to make sure she can Sneak Attack) or fighter (the bard casts Haste on him) on who does the most damage.

[@stoneguard]

I think it’s a great change! Thanks for putting in the thought and work 😊

[@Wanderingsage7]

Personally speaking I prefer to calculate based on minimum damage because it's the only constant. Like, you will always do at least this much damage when you hit no matter how finicky the dice are, and i think we've all seen some finicky dice. Or even min/max damage to give it a range Also, the 4 round thing is odd to me because I have rarely had a combat go for exactly 4ish rounds. That's probably just personal experience though. All this to say, good on you and treantmonk for being able to understand any of this math to any extent. (Im a writer, i don't really deal with math all that much.) your work is appreciated.

[@Flaraen]

Really good change, it's been my one complaint with your videos for years, love it!

[@KaitlynBurnellMath]

I'm pretty happy with this change in calculation.

[@Rabijeel]

A Char should be able to: 1. Burst out his Peak Damage within 3 Rounds starting within the first 1 or 2 Rounds (as shorter as better). 2. Do "His Thing" sustainably on Average over 5 Rounds. 3. Be at least working in his Role for 7 Rounds on a "minimum Level". 4. Have at least one or Two "Combo-Options" that support/boost another Players Actions; best is one In-combat and one Out-combat for at least 2 Players. Things to mind: - One-Trick-Ponys with one huge Peak that require various Conditions are not meant to be done "Alone" and are more of a "Group-Action"-Thing. A "Cheese Grater" is mainly a Group-Action-Thingy f.E. - Mind your Actions outcome, even advantageous for you, can be hugeley disadventageous for your allies. Like, fucking an Enemy prone with an Eldritch Smite right before the Archer attacks; or knocking a Foe out of Range of your Rogue without him having his Opportunity Attack for additional Sneak Attack Damage etc. - Have Different Ways of "alternativeley Dealing Damage" - as a Barbarian should be able to have a "Ranged Option" at hand when nothing is in Range - just to attack and not loode his Rage. Tavern Brawler is a really Powerful Thing for that as it grants Profession with everything as "improvised Weapon" aka makes all Weapons "Throwing Weapons", even some Stones or Vials of Acid. - Have more than just "DPS Combat Functionality" - like, a Fighter profits greatly from taking one "Magic Initiate"-Feat to get Thaumaturgy to boost his Commanding Skills (Fighters should have Charisma for Intimidation-Rolls, a AoE-Fear-Effect Recourcefree for just an Action) - This means you get average 12+Profession+Abilitybonus, so at least a base of DC:16 Fear-AoE on Charisma-Savingthrows. This also can save your Ass in a "Melee-Setting" when your Sorc is the Danger of "getting swarmed" and such Stuff. There are only a few Mindless Creatures that are immmune to that. - Do NOT Rely on Equipment rather than have it support your Options and eventually give you additional Ones (I.E. adding Support Actions" to your Palette. NEVER have a Build that relys on a Specific Item to make it Work out. When you suck without your Sword of Supersharpness (+2 Sword/+3D6 Slashing), then your Build sux. All your Builds should work out naked as well - at least on a minimal Level of functionality. You should be able to stand your Ground in a Tavern Brawl, meaning "Do enough nonlethal Damage without getting pummeled by a Group of Peasants". And no, Fireballing them is not a good Option. - Regarding Items: Try remove "Problems" on your Char as well as "getting better Option". Examples are: - As nice as a +1 Armor seems, a +1 *Ring of Protection (rare)* does better at same costs. *Mithral Armor(uncommon)* on the other Hand removes for a simple 500G (usually, depends on your Tables Settings) the Restrictions opn Dex-Checks and Str-Requiremenbts on Armor - so no "cling-clanging Plate" anymore, no "Shit, CLIMBING? I am dead for sure soon..."). - Also, a "Cloak of Elvenkind (uncommon)" is a huge Thing for every Rogue as it allows a softcore Version of "Hide in plain Sight" as it grants Camouflage - which is RAW considred "half Cover" which is needed to use the "Hide"-Action without autofailing whilst making detection when moving harder for Observers. - *Ring of Spell Storing(rare)* is a Huge Boost for everyone in Utility. Shiled and Elemental Absorption are everyones Friend - and with "Magic initioate" even the Fighter can relaod it slowly. To be able to throw an Emergency-Sanctuary with the DC of your Cleric is also insane as well as all other Options are - because this allows a Caster a Workaround around the 1-Spell-concentration-Rule if there is a Char that has "Free Concentration" - and Fighters have advantage on that shite and regulary no Concenmtration used. - Also, to have some additional Heals or such is also a great thing in Combat - especially "Healing Word"'s Bonus Action Thing is insane when your Fighter can do so as well. - And I do not go into the Advantages of kicking a "Circle of Power" or a "Spirit Guardian" Upcast to 5 just "for Free" as Frontliner - or other 4th or 5th Levels.

[@Aokitadamitsu]

I like it, I try to have around 15-20 rounds of combat normally split into a 5 and a 10 or two 5's and a 10.. with the occasional pullathon with a solid 15-20 combat.. My players however strive to make what we could call good sustained damage with some burst capability.. IE if they see a big bad, they will start burning spell/scrolls/charges/pots to focus down the big bad before they can mess up the party to badly.. But for most fights they will try and leverage the two Rouges and get some flanking on the minions for higher probability of hits and damage.. So I like the new longer averaged damage timeframe..

[@davidterlecki7594]

Not sure how you would do it but I think it would be nice if you had a set up that stimulated the reality of quality of target access. Example of a target starting with in the range of a monk's movement speed. Letting the monk get the full vaule at round 1 but say a fighter would have to burn resources or use a back up option instead of their melee damage round. And it might help show the vaule a range weapon dealer in the numbers since it would easier to get their targets with their ideal damage routine. Something similar to how you did tanks with a predetermined situations might be starting place. Your videos are always entertaining. Thanks for the detail breakdowns.

[@hfix307]

Under the 2014 rules, I used to do damage calculations as follows. a 3 round fight vs lots of enemies (so i would assume spirit guardians hit 3 as opposed to 2) and then another 5 round fight against bags of hitpoints (so hunter mark only requires 1 ba) followed by a SR. Id then take 2 short rests and 6 fights total (and use LR resource turns as needed to arrive at zero resources a day). It was a bit more math work, but I got much fairer numbers. Under the 2024 rules, without the adventuring day the problem is we have no idea how many LR resources we will have. So eg is more than 2 rages even necessary anymore for barbarians before we simply assume they always have it.

[@jacobchristensen2098]

Could you make a calculation on the standard wild magic sorcerer? 🙏 Includung a focused tides of chaos and wild magic surge trigger. Including the option of 21-24 all spells are bonus actions 🤯 action economy. Or is this to "wild" to make statistiscs about ? Love your videos, both as focused build ideas and as ASMR send me to dream land. Keep it up ❤️

[@WTH13SERIOUSLY]

I agree with your change! Love the videos but this is something I was always thinking about anyway. I think I can see that it was already causing you to rethink things in meaningful and halepful ways about how it will actually play. I think this will change the way you build for the better.

[@insertname5371]

When I do mine I try to do 5 and 10 turns I like your change.

[@Wintermute909]

Whew! That was quite a few heartstopping seconds before realising the change was on the calculation side of things!

[@davec8385]

Thanks for putting in all of this work! I hope you have a great rest of your day :)

[@richardrdotson]

Cannot wait for you to crunch the numbers on the classes we’re working on.

[@ashmirgaming4769]

Makes sense. Good timing to do this now before you got too far into the 2024 builds.

[@mykullthecimmerian7183]

I know it can suck, but every time you make an exception for a spell or spellcaster, you increase the casters power. The divide between caster and mashall gets smaller when you make spellcasters adhere to all the fiddly rules.

[@jbowers56]

Fantastic change! Love it!!!

[@flysteel288]

Happy belated N7! I'm begging for an Eldritch Knight build, maybe inspired by the Vanguard from Mass Effect?

[@MegaRyuki]

I will post this on the old video as well I suggest the following changes for a more streamlined progression for elemental monk If custom background is allowed select mage of high sorcery and take the feat it gives, by RAW it is given in place of a origin feat, thats okay tavern brawler is good but not essential, we start with any class that gives constitution proficiency, our stats using point buy should be 15 on dex, 12 on cons, 15 on wisdom and 13 in whatever class you choose, weapon mastery is good but absorb elements can be very handy, up to you Then we go full monk, on lvl 5 we choose Adept of the red robes and get spike growth as our second level spell, now we can cast it once a day for free, on level 9 then get grappler, now you dont need extra movement to move your grappled foe, after that just max out your dexterity,wis and cons and you are fine. Alternatively you can take halfling lotusden, the main halfling was updated but the older subraces are still available, with that you can pick any background and grappler at lvl 4 and you are good to go to cast it when you reach lvl 5 as a pure monk with 18 on your dexterity and a high dc on your grapple checks, with grappler you can use the grapple action as part of your attack sequence and having cast spike growth you can just cheese then away, if grapple fails just use the elemental monk to push then around

[@TheBucketOfTruth]

It should have always been an average the only question is how many rounds to account for when averaging. Shadow of Moil vs Spirit Shroud on a Hexblade was always a bit of a toss up depending on the encounter because Shadow of Moil you lost a full action on the first turn. That has to be accounted for.

[@RunesonWargaming]

I think this was a good call. Keep up the good work!

[@caosisaac]

I still would love to see you do a tempest monk build colby. 11 levels 4 elements monk 6 levels tempest cleric. Use electric damage along with the class abilities to continuously push an enemy into the sky while you fly up after them delivering hit after hit. You'd have access to spirit shroud, 5 attacks per turn with attack action + flurry of blows (all of which can push 10-20 feet depending on enemy saves), and all the fall damage + prone condition once the enemy crashes back down. You can use a blue dragonborn for limited flight as well as more lightning damage, an aasimar for flight and extra radiant damage, or a human for a bonus feat.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@caosisaac it’s fun, it just takes so long to get good :). Cleric 6 is a *big* investment :).

[@caosisaac]

@DnDDeepDive very true. Ive been interested in seeing how you would take the build to make it work through several levels; especially since it caps at 17 which is your limit. Like using ither races flight to make up for not getting monk flight until 11, the charger feat as well as the 4 elements own pushing abilities to do more limited pushing until cleric 6, ect... Edit: also stoked senpai noticed me. Love your content.

[@plixeon]

I like the consideration of start-up. Of course, Enspelled equipment from the 2024 DMG will offer ridiculous ramp-up options to everyone.

[@bigkang13]

What is enspelled equipment

[@plixeon]

@@bigkang13 Enspelled Equipment is Armor, a Weapon, or a Staff that holds a spell of 8th level or lower and 6 Charges to cast the spell with. Armor is limited to Abjuration and Illusion; Weapons are limited to Conjuration, Divination, Evocation, Necromancy, or Transmutation; Staves are not limited. Cantrip and 1st level are uncommon, 2nd & 3rd level are rare, 4&5 are VR, and above is Leg.

[@SpencerG82]

I would say most of the combat in the games I play last more than 5 rounds. I have to keep track of the 1 minute duration abilities/spells because they sometimes run out. My DM is pretty good at making things challenging.

[@jedfromyourlocallibrary]

Exciting change!

[@ai.Lofi93]

Colby talking big picture is actually very nice... I don't want "meta" but more general just how to think is very informative to be a "better" player not just moar dmaage

[@benin8or]

When you said there were big changes coming to the channel I was worried you were turning into a cooking channel.

[@JamesStewart-f5s]

Thank you for your content. I enjoy your channel and would love to get back into plankton and dragons one day, though I am legally blind and have not played since advanced dungeons and dragons. I have a question though. Pretty sure I already know the answer to this question, which is, do your beast for beastmaster or your familiar gain experience for the battles they are in? Pretty sure the answer is no but I am wondering why not Once your beast is dead do you have to start over with a new beast? Pretty sure as far as you’re familiar they just go back to whatever realm they are from and they get summoned again what you summon them.

[@mattdahm4289]

Thanks Colby! ❤

[@matthewhanson701]

Agreed, going back to re-do 2014 builds not worth the effort.

[@travislahne9189]

Now I want to watch the old phy blade build.

[@sortehuse]

That seems fair. I still prefer characters that don't have any, or very little setup to characters that have a lot of setup. 1) It seems more fun for me to get into the fight right away 2) Damage done in the first round is more important that damage in the last round, because enemies that are dead don't hit back.

[@adenkepford7605]

I know we just did the smart hulk barbarian build, but I'd really like to see how Colby could optimize a dual weilding beast barbarian. From what I've worked out it could be reliable 5 attacks per round at lvl 6 considering nick attack, extra claw attack and bonus action attack with the dual wielder feat.

[@oshermdaddy2058]

Waiting for the updated shadow blade build with the new rules. Honestly think bladesinger probably ends up still being the best. Also would love to see a psi warrior/soul knife build that is melee

[@letskatedawg]

I understand why, according to the numbers damage-wise, jt makes sense to Spirit Shroud on the Vengeance Pally first but in actual combat scenarios I think I'd prefer casting Divine Favor in Round 1, rather than risk losing concentration before getting all the damage riders set up.

[@biodude15]

The only arguement against the DM approving the psychic blades getting light is that light and heavy are not properties of the weapon's weight. Light weapons are 1-3 lbs, but there are a more weapons in that range that aren't light*. For heavy they tend to by 6-10 lbs, but the greatclub (10 lbs) isnt heavy whlie the longbow (2 lbs) is. I would say the property that is based on weight would be two-handed. *You could say this is disingenuous, only the scimitar is 3 lbs, the other 7 are 1 or 2 pounds. Of all the weapons under or at 2 lbs, exactly half are light.

[@tyllua]

N7 SHIRT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! IM COMMANDER SPARETIME! AND THIS is my favorite channel on the citadel :D

[@zell8873]

Comment about the bladesinger build have you considered the use of contingency to reduce setup time for the class as given the trigger can be just about anything it seems ridiculous to assume at least some of those wouldn't either be part of movement or an object interaction. Obviously this only works once a day and does not apply to the old design but under this new method it can get you running full power turn 1.

[@LumenPlacidum]

Can you also add to your tank builds an expected number of rounds spent crowd-controlled? It should simplify to (probability of failing save)/(probability of passing the save) if the save can be repeated each round.

[@CidYoroki]

Colby, i so adore the N7 shirt, as N7-day just passed and am happy to know we share another nerdy hobby and shirt! Looking forward to the new ME? 😁

[@SeanClaudeVanQuam]

If people want you to do all your legacy aka 2014 builds, ignore them. That's too much work. If anyone wants to replicate those builds for play, they're just going to have to watch the video and figure out how to manage their expectations. And watching this, I'm feeling like you've been appropriately influenced by Chris. His math system is more complicated, but does account for not being able to fire on all cylinders on round one when determining DPR. I think it is a good thing you're accounting for that now as well. Kudos, Colby. I love you too, and I'm looking forward to your next builds. Wish I could play more of them, but the group I play in doesn't do much for 1-shots and I'm still playing my elven accuracy version of the sorlock cheese grater, and loving it.

[@dylankandoll3756]

Hey I know it's not quite your style but I think it would be a fun idea to think of what a truly optimized party could do. Maybe a good idea for members or something. Me and my friend are doing a fun thing where we are trying to push a party as far as they can go before they break and when they break they level up.

[@EdibleFriend05]

There are waaaaayyy to many factors for such a thing to be reasonable to make. My closest suggest would be to use the balances party suggestion on page 36 of the PHB to have everyone pick a "role", then research a video of his that uses those classes as a base

[@dylankandoll3756]

@@EdibleFriend05 Yeah we have one tank (Paladin), one support (twilight cleric), One damage (sorelock), and one controller (wizard). At level 5 it has taken out a young blue dragon, and 4 zombie beholders. (Those are two different encounters).

[@SamanthaVimes177]

HELL YEAH!!! I'm SO SO HAPPY!!!

[@abydosianchulac2]

Main change to crunching the numbers: Colby will be swapping between the right and left sides of his mouth more frequently to avoid excess wear of his left molars his dentist is concerned about.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@abydosianchulac2 he really is

[@probablythedm1669]

In my experience, even when I run really deadly combat (like CR 10+ vs level 4 characters) I very rarely see a combat last more than 2-3 rounds, because if they're still fighting by turn 4 it's probably a borderline TPK or I've distracted them with something more urgent than the fight, so some are doing that instead of fighting. 🤔

[@vinspad3]

Commander Colby!!!

[@partyontheobjective]

Happy belated N7 day! ❤

[@apjapki]

A magic item that granted one immediate bonus action (no attavks or attack spells) at the beginning of combat 1/day would be extremely sought after.

[@bye1551]

Ranged weapons absolutely should do less damage. In pathfinder, its a core element of balance, and especially in 5e where AoO make movement rare, attacking from a safe distance has to be worth less or it becomes the default. Sharpshooter crossbow expert was the DEFAULT build in 2014 for good reason. The enemy had to provoke at least one, usually 2 attacks for free just to impose disadvantage on you, and that's not even factoring in sentinel or other abilities. That combined with the fact that most tables ignore the sheath and draw mechanics, letting ranged characters always have a mele backup option, and not having a ranged character or 2 on the party was legitimately nonsensical. For the health of the game, ranged builds have to do less damage, even when optimised. I've been vocal in how I don't think think wizards changed enough with this "rules update" and the refusal to actually adapt so they won't scare off new, slightly enfranchised players from buying more books wasted a fantastic opportunity to address major pain points in the design of 5e and ranged builds has been a perfect example. Sure, they lowered the damage, but they haven't given anything back like utility or battlefield control. So now, the best ranged character... Is a spellcaster. All the same damage as a mele character, all the safety of a ranged one, all the utility martials don't get outside of masteries (which are limited, even if they are a fantastic change). The best archer you can have now, is a wizard. Which is what happens when you don't give designers enough room from the chain to address actual problems because you're so terrified of what that will do to the brand image.

[@bshorrar]

I think you should start the build numbers over with all the different changes. It would also let you add magic weapons if you want, since you've brought it up a few times.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@bshorrar the biggest issue with magic weapons is that, even though there are simplified rules for crafting them in the new DMG, there’s still no guarantee that every DM will just let every player make whatever they want, ya know?

[@bshorrar]

@@DnDDeepDive Only food for thought since the change is so large, add all the changes you've ever wanted to make in one sweep.

[@cory849]

My combats always last three rounds with so much consistency that even four seems too long. When I argue this on Reddit I get a lot of push back but it is so very consistent at our table over ten years that I would really like some hard data demonstrating that we're on the short side.

[@life-destiny1196]

We just finished up an eight-round boss fight the other night (the only reason I know is that I had the foresight to track the time on my one-minute concentration spell! the DM did mention afterwards that particular boss was meant to be on the tanky end, to be fair). One thing that can extend the duration of combat is what MMO players call "adds," extra minor enemies that appear as the combat goes on. This can involve literal conjured summons, or enemies that just happen to be a few hundred feet away and can't quite get there immediately, or whatever else. This also prevents combats from running into the "padded sumo" feeling if they start to run long--because the total HP the players have to chew through is spread out among more enemies, who can also be more individually deadly if they don't all attack at once. Three round combat feels very short to me, unless (as I've seen argued) the point is more that it should be obvious how the encounter is going to resolve by the end of round 3, rather than everything being dead by then. I do think round 1 is the most important round in a typical combat, so leaning shorter in white-room calculations weights things against "setup round" builds in a way that is arguably helpful even if it's not strictly accurate.

[@charleshaines9715]

Got anymore of those Pathfinder videos?

[@zmsays]

Pathfinder videos are a tough sell. Not nearly the same volume of players care about it. Plus, the cross classing feels a lot more "on rails" in the PF2E rules system...at least in my experience.

[@apjapki]

This is a good change.

[@allanon3031]

Aww, I was hoping the big change was that you were dumping wotc and fully embracing pf2. Oh well, I'll keep watching your vids either way 😊

[@mpwendel21]

Would love a combo Psi Warrior/Soulknife build. Make the ultimate Psionic killer

[@Ziphmiester]

an idea you could do, (its a lot of effort) go back to all of your old builds and re up them to the 2024 rules with the build in mind, i'd presume a lot of the burst magic/divine smite builds will be worse but i think it would be fun to see how the build "still holds up"

[@xxthevampirate]

I think round 1 and 2 should be weighted more important than damage round 3 and 4. Dead enemies early on is huge getting in a last hit is much less important. So that should impact tier scores a ton.

[@JamesStewart-f5s]

I am also wondering, what is your top pick for sustain damage, not nova damage for 2024?

[@KingRickardttv]

Regarding spells/abilities lasting an encounter/a day that was a thing in 4E... and people complained about the edition non-stop so the vocal people complaining about it basically scared WotC out of using that type of terminology.

[@Silfar]

Hey I just realized...something. I have a theory that with the release of the MM 2024, you might want to yet again adjust a bit. Why? Because those critters in there will be adjusted to whoop our asses, according to the creators. At the moment we are using 2024 Heroes vs 2014 monsters and it feels...yeah, like we're just blasting our way through almost everything.

[@JamesStewart-f5s]

Sorry for so many comments, but I was wondering if I’m not mistaken I believe I have heard from your channel and others, not sure about that, but seems that the level 19 epic Boone is for total character level rather than a specific class level 19 and then at level 20 if you have it built correctly in the level you taking it would give you another feet you can pick a second epic boom? Is that correct? At level 20?

[@leofachin]

Came here just to leave my like after seeing the N7 t-shirt

[@adamguy1984]

I love it. I’ve always loved your content. And I think your eternal optimism has always been a fun counterweight to Treantmonk (though I like him even more 😮) The “dedicated to the spreadsheet,” while it has its place in its time, has to be updated. I love the commitment to recalibrating what the spreadsheet means. You’re not changing that core principle. You’re making it better translate for all of us that are inspired by the build. You’re creative and fun and that’s going to shine through the builds you make, regardless of the constraints. I’ll still never miss a build video. But I respect the dedication to “real life dnd” lol… don’t think it will go unnoticed that d4 is doing creative builds on a higher level of difficulty.

[@colinlynch6491]

Comment for comments sakes

[@jonathancummins6234]

Happy N7 day!!

[@JetBlackRage]

Happy N7 day!

[@N7spectre117]

N7 ranked Alliance soldier, turned Citadel Coucil spectre!

[@jimtaylor2850]

hey love the channel & the vids, can you do some kind of build with spirts bard? love ya work

[@phasestar7787]

As a separate question, have you considered coming up with some kind of survivability index and adding that as one of the measures of a build?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@phasestar7787 only for tank builds

[@Mass0404]

Hey Colby, I'm posting this a few minutes in so forgive me if you answered it already: will there be any plans to update how you do healers and tanks in this vein? Say you made a tank build that was an Eldritch Knight, at the Level 6 Tanking Report it would only be able to cast Shield three times, and assuming there's four rounds of combat, going that last round without it would make an impact on the numbers. It could also help determine if a tank build really needs to spend all their resources solely on tanking, or if they can let off a bit to use resources offensively instead.

[@carsonlake3842]

I like this new system. I'm playing a bladesinger right now, and round one is always a little underwhelming. Which is totally fine, I LOVE my bladesinger, but this way of reporting numbers will give newer players more reasonable expectations.

[@joshlawrence2510]

Maybe I got distracted, but I didn't hear any mention of taking a Fighter level.

[@michalberanek2783]

Ah, an old fashioned D4 short

[@Putoaduh]

The Friday night special

[@Wintermute909]

Due to the magic of an imaginary thing named the International Date Line I'm watching it on Saturday afternoon! Which is weird because depending how one thinks about it, this can sound like 14 hours after release.....or half a day ahead of release

[@themorganrobertson]

It feels odd to me people are averaging such short combats, telling me theres very little range, and geography being used in play. Often I find one "setup round" for all melee is okay, as they're still closing distance to start.

[@xyo5417]

I would definitely welcome more pf2e builds from you, specially now after the remaster

[@smiegto]

honestly 4 rounds seems to always make sense. at boss fights you are gonna be burning a lot of resources. the minor fights you'll preserve resources making it take longer. and the boss with his big booms will probably kill you if you take longer than 4 rounds anyway.

[@jamesfoster9613]

Point of clarity, in the Refined Berserker vid you said you were going to start adding Action Surge into the 4 round average. Did you account for that in any of the 2014 builds that had Action Surge?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@jamesfoster9613 nope! I used it exclusively to calculate burst damage

[@jamesfoster9613]

@@DnDDeepDive oh sorry I meant 2024 builds.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@ I have accounted for them, yes. Except the “All Day” build, of course. Meaning that we only have 1, so far ;).

[@jamesfoster9613]

@@DnDDeepDive thank you for the insight! I just assumed there were more fighter levels in there ;p I wasn't sure about the all day build, as you said it was for average of four turns, but it fits with the "no resources" spent logic. Thank you for the response!

[@williambowen8054]

It is 10 am. I am not taking a drink for BG3.