The Best Build for Each Level (1-5): D&D Build

[@DnDDeepDive]

Use my code D4 to get $5 off your delicious, high protein Magic Spoon cereal by clicking this link: sponsr.is/magicspoon_d4_0524

[@cdnarmymedic]

Dude, the "Particle Man" riff at the start had me in stitches. I usually skip through the sponsor roll, but had to give it a watch today.

[@BLynn]

This is a great video. Thank you for doing this.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@cdnarmymedic Ha ha - was hoping someone would pick up on that ;)

[@michael3105]

Well, I do not share the enthiusasm: While I understand that you need to earn money for all your work, I'd prefer if you stayed with sponsors, who thematically have something to do with RPGs.

[@zztoppinseve]

I do love the new ad roll Colby, it definitely seems like you’re having fun with it!

[@JamesTaylor-oh1sd]

This is a fantastic concept for a series. I also really appreciate your openness with the whole "Sorry, it will just get more clicks y'all." Most people won't do that, and it shows that you don't want to manipulate your audience.

[@gavinlangston603]

Colby earned a smidgen more respect for that today

[@The-27]

No it just shows that he wants to be open about it, we still are manipulated just knowingly this time

[@bshorrar]

"who do you think I am, Treentmonk?!?!" I died 🤣

[@scotthalfhill7501]

Chris is always saying "I like to make my saves". Colby is like "I like overkill everything".

[@Carter933]

I highly enjoy both of these guys. 😊

[@RLKmedic0315]

I can not stand Treantmonk. He irritates me to no end.

[@Bacon_and_Busch]

I like Treantmonk. He definitely has some hard opinions. However, he'll give you some good reasons not to believe some of the hype... or anti-hype (we need a word for that, we probably do). Ah, but Colby, this man spells out the best ways to commit fantasy murder in such a calming voice... How can you not be relaxed with your shoulder shredded in a cloud of daggers while dragging your enemy directly through it?

[@GlenFinney]

I cracked up too!

[@lordginnnity]

YES MORE LIKE THIS! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! I'd like you to make an entire series like this please. Do burst damage for 1-5, tank for 1-5 first, then start working up in levels for all 3. You're the best man!!

[@xaveir7787]

this! ❤️

[@bora7494]

Yes

[@CompWiz17]

Definitely. Not only is this really useful by itself, it'll be a great way to promote many of your other build videos.

[@tillfangohr9286]

Best burst damage at level three: the Bugbear War Wizard casting Scorching Ray for 3x 2d6+2d6 (av. 42) against a creature that hasn't taken a turn in combat and War Wizard gets a bonus to initiative. Or go Sorcerer for a quickened SR and twin firebolt for a total of 10d6 surprise damage! I appreciate your low level builds and want more of them!

[@CompWiz17]

Surprise attack damage is harder to get than most people expect. For example, let's say it's a dark night. Your human (no dark vision) enemy is facing away from you towards a fire, standing behind a wall with only their left leg and left arm visible around the edge of the wall. You fire an arrow at them from a dark, well-concealed location 600ft away using a longbow from. They roll a higher initiative than you when you fire the arrow. You do not have surprise attack.

[@tillfangohr9286]

@@CompWiz17 But you don't need surprise to trigger the extra damage, only that a creature hasn't taken a turn yet in the current combat. And it's not even limited to once per turn or creature. Completely broken and worth to make a build around it!

[@CompWiz17]

It does sound very powerful, and that's a fair point that you don't need surprise. It is still dependant on the initiative rolls, although as you point out, you do have a bonus to initiative.

[@ethanjohnson2849]

It's a cool option but assuming a +5 spell attack against an AC 15 creature you have 60% chance to Hit. 42*60%+42*5%=27.3 The cost... a 2nd level spell slot...meh and there is a chance of doing 0 if you miss... I'll pass

[@tillfangohr9286]

@@ethanjohnson2849 So You would rather not spend a 2nd lv spell slot for potential 12d6 damage? Do you have a better option for single target burst damage on that level?

[@wesslan_]

You already earned a like with "Who do you think I am? Treantmonk?", but I also appreciate the inclusion of all-day, no setup builds. As somebody who chronically hoards resources for when I'll "really" need them, I much prefer builds that are lighter on resources... and setup rounds are boring.

[@kida4313]

Considering Vecna Eve of Ruin came out today, I'd be stoked if this series continued to 20

[@ericgonzales419]

Go to any build that goes to 17 and add 3 more levels

[@matthewhelmers1426]

I just started reading Vecna, Eve of Ruin. Since that adventure runs from level 10-20 I have a video/series idea: Take your 10-20 most popular builds. Do a rundown on how you might change it to start at level 10 and a summary of how you'd finish it to 20. I watch all of your videos, but this might be really useful for those who might be jumping into higher level play for the first time!

[@The1WiThe6un]

Yes please! Starting that one next week and need to commit to a super fun martial build for levels 10-20 before then (party already has a ton of casters, so thought I’d go the other way)

[@plebiain]

This is so perfect for filling in the gaps between the builds that you present in these videos. I rarely get the chance to level up a character so far and play in a lot of shorter campaigns / one shots so this will be really useful for me :)

[@EdibleFriend05]

I would love a "Saving Grace" build. The concept would be a support character all about buffing the party's saving throws specifically, ideally with Paladin or Artificer as the bulk of the build as both classes get a bonus to saving throws that they can share with party allies. There are an insane number of ways to boost saving throws, from Bless to Divine Soul Sorcerer and even Cutting words. I'm sure you could come up with something that puts a level 17 paladin with 20 charisma to shame. I know you have a very similar cleric build, but it really feels like it can be a lot better than just advantage on a saving throw because that hardly matters to characters with a low saving throw modifier to begin with

[@blackluna7385]

This sounds pretty fun to play, off the top of my head a divine soul sorcadin (watchers? ancients?) potentially with bard levels would fit great. Nice bonus of being just a conventionally strong gish build

[@NotYourAverageNothing]

I gotchu: Bard (Eloquence) 9 Cleric (Peace) 1 Paladin (Watchers or Devotion) 7 Sorcerer (doesn't matter; Aberrant Mind I guess) 3 STR / DEX / CON / INT / WIS / CHA 14+1 / 9 / 13+1 / 8 / 13 / 15+1 Race/Species: something that increases mobility; recommend Tabaxi Progression: Sorcerer 1 Paladin 2-7 Cleric 8 Sorcerer 9-10 Paladin 11 Bard 12-20

[@beckerscantbechoosers6768]

Low level build concepts are really excellent for real play. Love to see more like this!

[@witec83]

I always watch your videos at 1.5 speed because if I don't I fall asleep because your voice is too soothing.

[@jyabriel08]

I absolutely love "I can do this all day" builds. No matter how long the day is I can stab + sneak attack + booming (or green flame) blade. I dont get tired and my damage may not be the highest but I'm always consistent.

[@relaxedfantasyreview]

More of these please!

[@SortKaffe]

I love how you highlight the difference between all day, reasonable, and out there builds. I'm surprised too see how close you can get without assuming best case scenario - at some levels at least.

[@indigoblacksteel1176]

I haven't been watching your videos as often recently, but you definitely caught my attention with this one. I recently participated in a massive 5th level one-shot with no long rests, and I went for the Fiend Warlock for damage. 2 Fireballs per short rest really softened up the hordes of enemies. Plus decent sustained DPR after that with standard warlock tricks. That's the best I could come up with.

[@shlomgar]

Cool way to break the mold. Wish you would do the 13 lvl1 next: Build 13 optimised lvl 1 characters, rapid round style: * You must use a class once, and no more than once (so once you build a variant human archery fighter, no more fighters) * You must use a lineage once, and no more than once (so once you build a variant human archery fighter, no more variant human) * You care only about the math of 1st level. NO PLANNING AHEAD! I've done it a year ago, but have no idea how well optimized my choices were...

[@Slobrojoe]

If there’s no planning ahead how are you supposed to crunch the numbers properly?

[@shlomgar]

I guess you don't. 😂 Only crunch them for level 1.

[@KurtSchwind]

@5:43 "you might even want to slow it down from two times speed to like one and a half times today". I feel so called out.

[@EmilyMemily-it3xp]

Saaaame.

[@KMT719]

Commenting to show my support for this series! I love your videos, and for this I appreciate the look at "I can do this all day" and "reasonable" builds. While I love watching the builds that assume best case scenarios to explore what is possible, I get more excited for the builds I feel I could cleanly bring to my table without much issue or setup required. Our table has fairly short combats (3-4 rounds) so even a single round of setup feels like a pretty significant investment.

[@paulnamesa]

Fab idea for a series, all the suggestions at the end sound good to me. Burst, survival and higher levels, all sounds interesting. Would be cool to see these numbers in comparison to Treantmonks "baseline damage" graphs when you get all 20 levels haha

[@kevinboles3885]

Saw the title and was TOTALLY STOKED for this one! I was even happier with the 3-tier-per-level arrangement!! Can't wait to enjoy what is coming. Oh, and being you, I was fully expecting it to be damage-dealing 'BEST'! :-D

[@kevinboles3885]

Yep, LOVED IT! And I really appreciate the effort you put into this. Even for just this "limited" project the permutations are enormous. I do request a follow up post with a bit more coverage of the options for tables that flat out deny the spike growth mechanics. I certainly would not allow them at my table if I were DMing, and the flying is totally out of the question at all tables I have played at. Thanks in advance!

[@bluckabang7858]

I love the thought of this being a series. As a new player getting into D&D this is so fun and enlightening. Thank you for all you do.

[@michaellavy4482]

5:48 as someone who always listens to your videos at 2x speed, I appreciated the call out lol

[@ryanscanlon2151]

Very fun new series, I think the "best at X" 1-5 format is pretty cool. I've got a pretty out there but extremely strong option, Pixie Warrior (or spell caster they both have their perks) sidekick, at will greater invisibility and polymorph available from lvl 1 it does some pretty gross combos. Lvl 1 brown bear polymorph lvl 2 cave bear or saber tooth tiger for up to 3 attacks a turn lvl 3 giant scorpion, level 4 elephant level 5 Brontosaurus. Just saying lol, embrace the power of sidekicks...DO IT( Palpatine voice)

[@Sockacroc]

I love this idea I’m excited. I would absolutely love a series on each of your archetypes (sustained damage, nova, tank, multi-target, etc)

[@mattdodson1272]

This is awesome! Love the concept for this video series!

[@prygrama9313]

This is the video I was waiting for!!!

[@beastslayer8729]

And we still got the art! I was just starting to think we wouldn't get one and boom, big art for all the builds.

[@tytenor]

Really love you mixing it up like this! Including the different levels of buy-in really is a great touch because it feels like every level you talk about is viable regardless of the DM/Table. I’d love to see this done with burst damage.

[@gusinwv]

This is such a needed video. I can't tell you how many times we've run a level 5 one shot and I've needed a character fast. ❤

[@nickjensen1004]

This is a massively useful video, exactly as is. I would love to see this exact same format taken to levels 6-8. One thing that stands out from your offhand comments during the builds is that you looked at multiple builds, ran the numbers, and presented to us a quick guide for the top 1 of each category. It would be great to hear what class/subclass combinations were runner(s) up, even without going in depth like you do for the winner.

[@TheBadRandolph]

This Advertisement... I was listening to this without watching the video; and it looks exactly like what played in my head 😂

[@keithpowell8611]

That was awesome! Love the concept and I would love to see more 1-5 builds like this. I also enjoy your "acted out" ads; so much fun to watch

[@michaellavy4482]

I love this series idea! It’s refreshing to see characters evaluated at different levels from the normal damage reports. It’s also good inspiration for one-shot characters that don’t have to worry about their performance at different levels

[@joshuaclendenon]

Came for the build(s), stayed for the second guessing of oneself!! 😂 Fun stuff this week, Colby. I enjoy breaking the mold every now and again (and this one isn't *that* different lol).

[@DnDDeepDive]

Oh, there was so much of the second guessing. You'd think after 3 days I'd be done but nope... right up until the middle of the recording

[@joshuaclendenon]

@@DnDDeepDive, that's the beauty and curse of optimization. 💯 😂

[@Zorbas85]

Holy cow this Is EXATCLY what I needed for the one shots that I'm playing right now 😂 Love you Colby!

[@midgetcb3557]

Been watching your videos for months now and as somebody who is about to start a brand-new campaign from level one with a bunch of noobs - this couldn’t have come out a better time! Love your standard build videos, but would really appreciate some more love looking at lower levels like this in the future! Looking forward to the next upload ❤

[@Baguettezzz]

I vote in favor of making this a series 👍🏻

[@AccursedGnome]

Keep up the great work, Colby!

[@astrogamer158]

Hey, IDK id you've done this before, but I found a funny build combo for semi-resource less burst damage. Bugbear Hexblade 2/Bladesinger 6/Battlemaster 4/Gloomstalker 5/Assasin 3 Use pass without trace to get suprize, Assasin to always have advantage and crit, and a combo of eldrich blast and bladesinger extra attack and dread ambusher to get 2 hand crossbow attacks and 4 repelling eldrich blasts per attack action. Add on the 2d6 damage per attack from bugbear and a 6 damage to each attack from hexblade, and well: THATS ALOT OF DAMAGE! And if you want to forgo the hexblades curse, you can get pushing attack and stack that with crusher to send the enemy 140ft in the air. Or, if you can get a good setup, you can use phantom steed to set up a spike groowth and circling it to push the enemy through it from all angles.

[@DnDDeepDive]

something similar, yes, but not focused on bladesinger :) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHbLm6OQrNdrfdE

[@donaldcrankshaw1627]

This might be fun to do with BG3. It's more restrictive, in that a lot of tabletop tricks won't work (no custom lineage or readied actions), but you actually can change your build every level.

[@RoninXDarknight]

100% would love to see your highest damage "I can do this all day". More tier 1-2 builds would definitely be cool too though given that's where most campaigns exist.

[@ryanscanlon2151]

22:55 hahaha I was literally using a bear as one of my examples about how strong a character with 20 Strength actually is not knowing you were actually gonna be a bear doing the dragging lol! Small world and great minds I guess lol

[@Rellyks]

Another idea that bumped into my head while watching this video was "Better fighter at x levels", for each class, and "Better survivability at x levels" the same way this video, but to another concept. Great video man, really funny!

[@littlernemo4055]

Great idea for a video! As we get to the end of this version of 5e, I'd love to see more retrospective/wrap-up-this-edition videos!

[@davidnelson1871]

Like the idea as a series! Totally understand the limitations of how many levels you could cover at once. Best tank, best burst, best support... lots of categories

[@GeoffreyDuke]

Really like this video focusing on the lower levels, where most folks actually play. Hope to see more of these.

[@mattdahm4289]

Thanks Colby! ❤

[@isfaqualalam9909]

"From 2x to 1.5x" How did you know?! :O

[@vinspad3]

34:19 having watched your bard grappler build... yes, we know. We're the cool kids. Wink*

[@vinspad3]

39:00 THERE IT IS!

[@sirelfinjedi]

Good timing. This was very helpful for a game I'm currently playing.

[@datdejvtho2581]

This! Most campaigns end before the builds even start working! Early game is so much more important!

[@Irongineer]

This was great. Looking forward to seeing more of this however it looks.

[@ericliberti4359]

Loved the video, loved the concept, and absolutely loved the TMBG song at the end. Favorite TMBG album for me has to be The Else. Great band. Great video!

[@johnfranklin87]

I would love to see a build that can be applied to all party members in BG3, so essentially the entire party would be the same class/multi class that actually works off of each other. Love the videos, haven't played DnD yet but when I do I'll know kind of what to do lol

[@SamFinklestein]

I've actually made some DPR calculations that compare both to Treantmonk's baseline and to the "infinitely sustainable" rotation of the given build, and it's fun to try finding something that works "all day, every day" in addition to having the capacity to do a lot more.

[@Level_OneGames]

I love this. Most of the builds I min max are at level 1 for the fun of it. But the "Best" build I found was variant human taking mounted combatant then going fathomless warlock. Getting two attacks each turn at advantage adding a d6 to both attacks. Dealing about 20 damage accounting for ac.

[@andrewmiddleton3487]

I love the concept of this video, thanks for doing this.

[@Keith_catlong]

Oh man, that ad skit genuinely brought a smile to my face

[@androlgenhald476]

Great video! Would love to see a mini-series of this concept. Low-level stuff that are more likely to be useful.

[@antoninhutar2357]

Absolutely mad video, great job Colby

[@500gmatt6]

Aiming for lower or mid-range characters is perfect. Thanks!

[@JHutch-ts4nl]

Loved this episode! It shows a great range of options for one shots!

[@linkatronic]

The BG3 training has paid off, 15 builds in a single video! "Take a shot" Loved seeing these low level builds. Would definitely like to see a burst damage build or healer builds variation of this episode!

[@Sarzah]

Loved this! Thanks!

[@jAfr0Thunder86]

Hi Colby! Nice video! I like the idea of a series of 1-5 builds with themes like maybe 3 different elemental casters or something. I’m also interested in a comparison of throw/force movement up to drop people builds. I hope you enjoy these ideas. Have a good one!

[@Merin512]

Great idea to bring different levels than the normal. I have found lv 3 and 5 to be very important because a lot of games I've played have started at those levels.

[@Streamsofsilver996]

Love this idea, especially for one shots, specially levels 8-20 (big range!) which are more common for one shots. At those higher levels there are soooo many options!

[@garion046]

I love that you presented a 'do it all day' version for those of us with tables that are not full of optimisers 😂 Seriously though, barbs are so good at low levels. Probs the most consistent damage and resistance to most damage as well. But i think that's good because they have very little else going for them in terms of features.

[@TheNinja4124]

This is awesome! I would really love to see these types of builds for levels 15-20!

[@shenpai1566]

Variant human (Crossbow Expert) Twilight cleric is my favorite 1st level character. Decent consistent damage, decent AC with starting scale mail and you're packing Sleep and Bless on top of it. Fun stuff.

[@HighTechWizard]

Impressive spread on getting the optimized levels and the info, I do have one shots of this nature that would be fun to try many builds out! Managing all 20 levels would be a huge help!

[@DMTip]

I love this kind of content. I'd like to see similar series that optimize at specific level ranges for different roles, like support, tanking, or utility/skill monkey

[@jaspermooren5883]

This video was definitely full of MASSively EFFECTive builds!

[@iTerra_]

I enjoy thinking the thematic flavoring of the Bard being forces the other person to dance with you, but you keep leading the enemy into the danger square.

[@drumlineking07]

Def saving this for future one shot ideas. Hoping there's more to come for higher levels.

[@andrewhowlin]

Amazing! Love the whistle stop tour of 3 classes level 1 to 5

[@nickv9298]

I'd love for you to continue this series, especially the Sustained DPR versions, through levels 6-10, then 7+ etc.

[@jonathanpearce6988]

Exactly what we need, looking forward to the grouping.

[@matthewdalzell2294]

Great concept for a video series! Keep it up! Also, maybe builds which MUST be a solo class to see how far you can take each class.

[@RetiredInMotion]

This is going to be a fun series. Also, as some others mentioned, I think you have more content than you realize with the "all-day" builds. I certainly have an appetite for them. In fact, I wonder if it's possible to have a build with majority of its levels in a full caster class that could be considered an all-day build or close to it.

[@10TARDIS]

Love this video series concept! Please keep it up!!

[@bookablebard]

love this! I would love to see levels 6-10, split over 2 or even 3 videos (and then 11-20). Honestly you should make it into a 20 video series where you go over the three categories of build for each level. One level, three builds per video. It would give people a resource to link to when asked about what build they should do for an X level one shot

[@pasqualecirone9755]

So much utility from this video. I’m going to create templates on DnDBeyond based off these.

[@GryphonDes]

This was just absurdly fun Colby!!! Never really expected it but it was hella fun!

[@matthewhanson701]

Enjoyed this. Would love to see a version of this with "all melee weapons," another with "all ranged weapons."

[@steve-ru9sy]

I thought about this a couple times. This is amazing. Please make more.

[@BovineTerror]

I’d love a tank version of this for sure!

[@Tletna]

Great song at the end. Also, I'm not surprised Bard did well but surprised that they did well at a low level and using physicality!

[@makbeth4245]

Ok, at the beginning it sounded like we're at "Avengers, assemble" stage, but that's more like Power rangers. Still amazing, give us more xD Been a while since we had a wizard build. And even more since we had something gimmicky, so here we are with two gimmicky wizards ideas. Pact Wizard: a wizard, who can only use their highest available spell slots to cast spells. You're wizard 9 with just one 5th spell slot and you have to cast Shield to survive? Too bad, you can't do your wall of fire anymore. Zawardo: a wizard, who's entire schtick is about time control or time control-like spells. Basically, delaying enemies movement and actions so from round to round they try to do something only to end up at the same spot after your turn while your team can be all over the place with their stuff. Extra points to Gryffindor in case you could place a few lvl of Astral self monk into it

[@johngillan4475]

Wow. A lot of work you have done here. Thank you

[@lukesandadordoceu4835]

Absolutely love this list and definitely want to see what you come up with for higher levels and for burst damage

[@christophersaczynski4790]

More of this! Most of my games, we start and finish at low levels!

[@stephenburley4581]

Blew it away with the commercial again! Best part of the video. XD

[@alexpratt8533]

I love this style of video! Would love to see this continue on to level 20. Also, really was not expecting to see the Lore Bard sneak into the mix. Suppose I should have, though. The Bardic Brawler still reigns as the best multi-target DPR build, and you only took Valor for extra attack.

[@michaelbenson6782]

This is a fun series idea. Great work as always.

[@jacobadams6277]

Commenting because I wanna see more of any type of this! Different levels, burst damage, tankiness, support! Gimme all of it!

[@peterlynch9929]

This was probably the best ad read I’ve seen from you. Stop making me want to buy Magic Spoon lol

[@eldoriath1]

I've always been a bit perplexed about dragging enemies through spike growth without it costing any extra movement. I would probably rule it as costing double move to move someone through it, the difficult terraig doesn't get less difficult just because the struggling target is dragged through it opposed to walking willingly through it.

[@donaldrodenbo7175]

Great video. At level 5 the obvious answer is just always Ashardalons Stride, even if the math doesn't support that, lol