The Flame Thrower Sorcerer - D&D: Optimized #45

Today's D&D 5e build is a burst / nova damage character that is a bit of a pyromaniac who just wants to watch the world burn. In their defense, they are descended from dragons...
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/ @dnddeepdive
/ dndoptimized
/ dnddeepdive
/ colbypoulson
Character Concept:(0:00)
Level 1:(8:30)
Levels 2-6:(16:05)
Levels 7-9:(29:29)
Interelude:(42:22)
Levels 10-13:(46:37)
Levels 14-17:(54:39)
Final Thoughts:(1:05:55)
Math/Graph for this episode: docs.google.co...
Master Nova Damage Comparison:
docs.google.co...
Thanks to LudicSavant for the amazing DPR calculator! forums.giantit...)
Music Credits:
Achaidh Cheide - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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Angevin 120 loop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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Artist: incompetech.com/​
Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
Source: incompetech.com...
Artist: incompetech.com/​
Fiddles McGinty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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Lord of the Land by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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Master of the Feast by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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[@haggisdurrant6882]

"If you are under direct sunlight, you are in trouble" Me, a ginger: *nods understandingly*

[@jpperron1835]

Hahahaha same

[@dragonhearthx8369]

This is actually hilarious, because I made a brass draconic sorcerer kobold last week. He thinks he is a small gold dragon

[@juicedchannel]

Might steal this idea! xD

[@Baalthulhu]

Great minds think alike. I have a blue scaled kobold Draconic Sorc/tempest cleric that is convinced he's a Blue dragon, but someone or something messed with him while he was inside his egg. My DM let me reflavor Shocking grasp as a small breath weapon, have so much fun with him

[@gaidencastro9706]

*"I cast fireball"*

[@graemeclark3181]

The minute my DM did the math he would laugh. Then he would murder me. 😂

[@eldoriath1]

"No, I don't care how big the room is, I cast fireball!"

[@roblusk8988]

I resend all my barbarian levels

[@danielclark-hughes692]

Sir, this is a session 0

[@vernonhampton5863]

@@danielclark-hughes692 "Yes, this is my character introduction".

[@BLynn]

Level 1:(see above) [sorcerer 1, race & sub-class] Level 2:(see above) [sorcerer 2] Level 3:(@17:03) [sorcerer 3 & metamagic] Level 4:(@22:40) [sorcerer 4 & ASI] Level 5:(@24:40) [sorcerer 5] Level 6:(@26:04) [sorcerer 6] Level 7:(see above) [fighter 1 & fighting-style] Level 8:(@35:53) [fighter 2] Level 9:(@37:06) [warlock 1 & sub-class] Level 10:(see above) [cleric 1 & sub-class] Level 11:(@48:49) [cleric 2] Level 12:(@51:51) [cleric 3] Level 13:(@52:52) [cleric 4 & ASI] Level 14:(see above) [cleric 5] Level 15:(@57:29) [cleric 6] Level 16:(@1:01:59) [sorcerer 7] Level 17:(@1:02:42) [sorcerer 8 & ASI] Hope that helps.

[@alex2legit]

THANKS

[@skecchi3201]

"I'm sorry for my voice, it's sexy af today" fixed it for you~

[@DnDDeepDive]

LOL!

[@gavinruneblade]

Sage advice answered the question about sunlight sensitivity talking about wildshaped druids still suffer from the penalty "unless the beast form lacks sight. Sunlight Sensitivity requires sight". So the upshot is that no matter how you can see, if you're using your eyes you have the penalty, but if you're not using your eyes, you don't. So it appears the blindfold+blindsight is legit per sage advice.

[@mrjek01]

I'm with you on the interpretation that blind-fighting would eliminate the disadvantage on perception and attack rolls in direct sunlight(within the first 10'). Thematically, I would say, a deep hooded cloak and blindfold during such times would be really cool!

[@clo8076]

Not to mention the idea of a partial dragon resistant to fire would be harmed by sunlight on its skin. Lol! Kobolds are supposed top be subterranean creatures, that just tells me their eyes aren’t used to bright light. As a DM, I’d totally let a kobold lose disadvantage if they blindfight, especially with a hood, as in your idea.

[@josephlieberman8295]

@@clo8076 At our table while you'd be welcome to avoid the penalty by doing this, it literally means you can't see enemies, terrain, etc greater than 10' away and raising or lowering such a hood or similar blindfold would be an action. In short, there's really little benefit to doing this unless your opponents are standing still.

[@Ichiryu000]

@@josephlieberman8295 a whole action!!! Free object interaction maybe

[@josephlieberman8295]

@@Ichiryu000 I imagine this more than just a hood. You're talking about putting a blindfold on. A turn is 6 seconds , it's not like it's an elastic sleep mask, you'd have to secure it in place. But hey, everyone's table is different. Essentially this is a debate about how to sidestep a built-in disadvantage, some tables are just going to flat out say "you can't" - For instance the argument that being IN sunlight is the trigger for this disadvantage, regardless of if you can see. So RAW this achieves nothing to begin with.

[@guyfawkes8873]

Blindfighting in my interpretation isn’t mutually exclusive with vision. I mean why is your blindsight turned off just because your eyes are open? Doesn’t make much sense if you look at animals with sonar or similar. There’s no reason why you couldn’t use your blindsight within 10’ and your vision beyond that.

[@ovbrook3057]

I lost it at one shotting Baphomet, that's fucking funny

[@DnDDeepDive]

Errata: Kobolds only get a +2, not a +2 *and* a +1, so we'd have to take a hit to either Dex or Con if we wanted to go 13 Wis for Cleric (another reason to consider just doing Divine Soul). Also, to clarify: I realize that pushing your enemy away would likely move them away from your ally and move them out of the 10' reach of your spirit shroud damage, thus greatly reducing the nova damage numbers - my intent was *not* to transmute scorching ray to lightning during the nova round, simply present all the amount of enemy movement you could potentially do as an option. Carry on!

[@snazzyfeathers]

Have not watched the whole video just yet, but could we take the same build here and do it with lightning or cold?

[@jrgenchristensen7240]

@@snazzyfeathers I would highly recomend asking your dm to just act like if the spell list and carracter cheet say "fire", you deside it is cold(or a single other type). www.google.com/amp/s/www.sageadvice.eu/would-it-alter-the-balance-of-the-game-to-change-a-weapons-damage-type-from-piercing-to-slashing/amp/ It is fun to think about tho❤

[@AliceEverglade]

have you done a video on fighter 2 / hexblade 3 / bladesinger/lorehold 15 yet? they make 19 attacks by doing a combo like this: weapon attack + eldritch blast [4 beams] (action) weapon attack + eldritch blast [4 beams] (action surge) quickened scorching ray at 8th level [9 beams] stacking this with a 7th level spirit shroud and hexblade's curse for 3d8+6 on each beam.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@snazzyfeathers Sort of... only if you could transmute Scorching Ray every time. So you'd either need a lot of Sorc points or to go Scribes Wizard, I guess.

[@theonlymatthew.l]

@@DnDDeepDive The RP of the Dragon Sorcerer is quite fun to play around with. As is the Dragon 'Mage Armor'. But the huge amount of versatility and the extra points we get to put into important stats (especially if ur using the Kobold) IMO makes the Divine Soul the optimal choice. Personally I'd Go with Custom Lineage for 'Race' choice & pick up Fey Touched as my bonus feat. Thus starting with an 18 Cha and making a capped modifier much quicker. I honestly still feel that Elemental Adept is a bit redundant, and a Feat is a heavy investment. I would probably go with Tough or Lucky. I've been subscribed to this channel since about episode 13, it's fantastic to see the expansive growth that you've brought about. Keep up the excellent work!! 👍

[@landrycannon9677]

P L E A S E do a storm sorcerer or tempest cleric build, like a- lighting master

[@DnDDeepDive]

keep watching... :)

[@MrRogersReviews]

Watch til the end. You might be surprised.

[@jakobchaney6819]

Treantmonk did a video on this, seemed pretty cool

[@eshansingh1]

@@jakobchaney6819 Treantmonk's build was Tempest Cleric/Scribes Wizard, and in the video he specifically talked about how Tempest/Storm doesn't really make much sense.

[@jakobchaney6819]

@@eshansingh1 meant to say *similar video* thanks for catching it

[@crownlexicon5225]

Y'know.... generally, I'm a pretty strict dm. But I like this interpretation of sunlight sensitivity and blind fighting

[@jackhuckelberry8405]

To me, it makes sense for RAW and RAI, plus it uses the rule of cool. They also pass up getting +1 AC to obtain it, which I feel is a worthy tradeoff.

[@anonymous36247]

I love catapult because it only requires somatic components. I don't know why but I'm always looking at the components and thinking of situations where I'm hiding in an illusion or if I'm tied up but not gagged. When I spell just has an S or a v it gets me excited for those weird edge cases

[@michaelpetrovich2959]

I laughed out loud when you said 'it won't happen again' talking about starting sorcerer. 🤣😂🤣

[@beckerscantbechoosers6768]

I'm a monster: Critlander: "Try to avoid broad daylight." Me: "Ah yes, I'll pursue a more specific daylight then."

[@DnDDeepDive]

Narrow Daylight = 👍🏻

[@jacobstallard2678]

Dial up daylight was too slow and it often would go down for no reason. Thank the many gods we upgraded to broadband daylight so much more consistent.

[@Apextle]

The Thor build would be cool to see, however I would like to see an optimized use of the heavy crossbow

[@daltondavidson7997]

2 levels of Artificer would be in order (or an artificer companion)

[@TheRobversion1]

@@daltondavidson7997 agreed. repeating shot infusion will allow him to skip crossbow expert (since the bonus action of an artificer is always full anyway).

[@IronShinsDicello]

Check out the Double Phantom Rogue build.

[@bananabanana484]

I’ve seen people point out find familiar as a way to permanently activate pack tactics, and I love the idea of a seeing eye bird on your shoulder.

[@alexpratt8533]

“I know, I’m making a sorcerer build and starting sorcerer. It won’t happen again” Can confirm. Three years later, has never happened lol

[@flyingcrocodile422]

Always excited to watch your newest video! Thank you Colby!

[@michaelbalcom5233]

I love the idea of tossing out a fireball action surge toss a lightning ball

[@ArReaper45]

Never heard of you until your collaboration with The Dungeon Dudes. Loved yalls mini shots. Found you now. See ya have a live play, now I will watch yalls until I finish it or The Fate of Drakkenheim drops, then I'll finish yours in between episodes! Bunch of fun watchin you bud. Very informative n cool as well!

[@jmoyamendez]

Your nova build countdown brought me here. Holy moly this build, and viable roleplay for multi-classing.

[@DYMTWrecks]

I really hope they keep the Way of the Ascendant Dragon in the UA the way it is. Tempest Cleric, three levels of Monk, go anywhere you want after that. It’s the melee version of this and it seems great on paper.

[@matthewstooksbury]

love these videos so much. my friend got me into your channel and I'm kind of just jumping around different videos right now, but these builds are amazing

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad you're enjoying!

[@VivianAckers]

I know youre gonna mention a lightning version probably, but Ill just say it now anyway Please do a Thor build. Like the norse mythology version

[@jacobstallard2678]

Storm cleric or wiz\sorc?

[@VivianAckers]

@@jacobstallard2678 way too squishy, I've seen a decent Fighter 12/ tempest cleric 8 idea thrown around but idk about it, not 100 on it

[@ATMOSK1234]

@@VivianAckersif you are worried about HP just take dwarf and start with a decent CON.

[@VivianAckers]

@@ATMOSK1234 while I see your point, Thor is very much not a dwarf

[@Booklat1]

@@VivianAckers why going above fighter 8 tbh? yes, third weapon attack, but if you're mixing in casting with weapon attacks that should be less of a concern. I could see fighter 5/ tempest cleric x or fighter 6/tempest cleric 2/ fighter 2 Rune knight and eldritch knight both have good options that add to Thor's abilities. Rune knight can even try to get booming blade and use it alongside cloud rune.

[@jacobbrutcher1690]

Burn bright dragon man, burn bright

[@alexbeernink729]

In your divine soul build you don't have to wait to upcast spirit shroud, you can create a 5th level spell slot with sorcery points as soon as you have the spell. Granted that requires sacrificing spell slots for sorcery points, but in the spirit of going nova it must be said.

[@clarioneversole9013]

RAW, "You can never have more sorcery points than shown on the table for your level." so you can't do that till 7th level since it costs 7 sorcery points to make a 5th level spell slot. Still, that's 2 levels early!

[@DR-wz4gh]

As Johnny Storm once said, "FLAME ON!!"

[@leohale6449]

Made my self a Dwarven (Hill), Dragon Sorcerer so he gets good HP every level. 1d6, +1, +1, and a decent Con to start 3 for 1d6+5 HP every level. Colby was watching again and was wondering if it would make sense to take another level of Warlock to get Invocations or the Eldritch Adept Feat to get Devil's Sight? Darkness and Devil's Sight would keep us from having to worry about Sunlight Sensitivity. Also in the sneak peak of Mordenkainen's Guide to the Multiverse (Nerd Emersion Channel) showed kobolds without Sunlight Sensitivity, +2, +1, and No Pact Tactics.

[@dragonhearthx8369]

That is grinch build: green draconic sorcerer and Warlock cloak of flies

[@MaxMidnight]

Hey great video. I came back to comment about a similar build I’m playing and last night we had our big boss fight for chapter 1. I’ve been playing a UA Phoenix sorcerer and I’m a tiefling. Doing the same strat with scorching ray + hex + mantle of flame. We’re currently level 4 and during my 3 nova rounds I did 55, 42, and 32 damage. The boss had 15AC. It was crazy doing that much damage. While I don’t get advantage for not being a kobold I love this character and I’m still doing really good in combat. Cant wait for level 5+ :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Sound awesome!

[@MaxMidnight]

@@DnDDeepDive Yo you replied! That's awesome! :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@MaxMidnight Nah, that dude was an imposter. This one is the real me. >.>

[@storyspren]

For the question at ~33min about sunlight sensitivity and blind fighting, I'd say the most intuitively sensible interpretation is that the "that rely on sight" bit applies to both. The context (it's given to races that in the lore have traditionally lived mostly underground), the co-text (the phrasing being in a way that makes it interpretable when, if they wanted to say all attack rolls rather than just sight-reliant ones, they could've easily specified that), and the mechanics (the fact that you don't have to be in direct sunlight, so long as your target is) all point to that. Bright light make eye go aegh

[@DnDDeepDive]

100%

[@Reoh0z]

> I love the idea of a gold Kobold. I'd like to introduce you to Goldy, she's very proud of her Gold Teeth.

[@fasterpet]

Just realized that a light domain cleric would also have a pretty solid nova round. Could take metamagic adept to get a few twinned spells or a quickened one or fey touched for more damage at levels 3/4. Would innately have spirit shroud, lots of channel divinity to turn to spell slots, and potentially higher level cleric spells... worth a consideration.

[@TheRobversion1]

sadly metamagic adept doesn't get you twinned. you'd really have to dip into sorc for that. going light also means not going tempest and you lose out ona lot of dmg on destructive wrath + transmuted scorching ray.

[@rookzero]

I’m playing a version of this kobold (currently 11th level in a Red Opera campaign), and last Sunday was the first time firing on all cylinders (5th level Spirit Shroud, Action Surge, two 4th level Scorching Rays): hit AC 22 w 6 out of 10 and 1 crit. Rolled 14d6 + 14d8. Totaled 119 dmg. Me, before rolling: “I’ll lay down some covering fire.” Friend, as the last die rolled to a stop: “That wasn't cover fire, I saw that. That was an orbital strike.” Well done, sir 🔥

[@malachimclean3638]

8:16 I know that you meant the professional basketball team, but I like to imagine that there are competitions where jazz musicians try to out-jazz each other, and Colby screams wildly in attendance.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I would be screaming the loudest.

[@joshtownsend8807]

Coming back to these from the bg3 videos feels like the video is nearly over, then wups several more levels to go

[@horstmeier2664]

Well, if your goal was to deal pure damage, I think tiefling+flames of phlegethos deserves a special mention and is stronger then the kobold if you can't get pack tactics to trigger. Winged tiefling is obviously broken, but the others from MtoF are decent options. Nowadays you probably want to go custom lineage. Since you already are a hexblade, you should consider green flame blade. Especially with quicken spell. I would definitely pick up shield for one of the hexblade spells known. The two levels of Fighter do wonders to your one round burst damage, but I think they are otherwise pretty lackluster. You have a short rest single target ability from hexblade already, I don't think action surge to burn through your resources quicker is that necessary in actual play. Getting more spells, slots, sorcery points and faster ability score improvements seems more valuable overall. You will be less of a one trick pony overall and still do great damage. Special mention to magic missile which also does great damage with hexblade's curse in case you need to circumvent fire resistance/immunity or high armor class. There are a number of easy ways to thwart your calculations in actual play: Sunlight, no ally adjacent (e.g. because the target teleported), opponents near you just to name a few. Just adding a level of hexblade to a fire heavy draconic sorcerer seems much more versatile while giving up very little.

[@WillowGreenheart]

"My draconic ancestor told me what to do! I'm now not scared of sun!"

[@lord6617]

25:34 Thunderball is literally a James Bond movie. 30:49 "Has been passed down for generations in your family" Sooo... someone found it last tuesday?

[@DnDDeepDive]

lol. Poor short-lived Kobolds.

[@lord6617]

@@DnDDeepDive I mean, they CAN live to be 120. Assuming they don't encounter terrible death.

[@limac5871]

That's a solid build. I actually play as a tiefling sorcerer with two core talents: Flames of Phlegethos and Elemental Adept. Basically, whenever I make an attack with fire damage, I have the ability to reroll any 1s that come up on the dice. In the event that I'm unlucky and roll another 1, it is treated as a 2 instead. But that's not all. When I use a fire magic attack, Phlegethos grants me a fire armor that causes anyone who hits me to be lit up and take an additional 1d4 fire damage. And to top it off, I can ignore fire resistance. I absolutely adore this build. If you choose the Draconic Bloodline for your sorcerer, at level 6, you can add your Charisma modifier to every attack made with your ancestral element, resulting in a significant amount of damage per turn.

[@theonlymatthew.l]

Scorching Ray was a favourite spell of mine back in 3- 3.5 era. Having played very sparingly in 5th edition, I was somewhat disappointed to see the spell was often somewhat maligned. It's nice to see somebody make a awesome character build around that spell.

[@TheRobversion1]

i think it's maligned because most casters prefer aoe dmg blasters or control. they leave single target to the martials. single target is what scorching ray does best. personally at my table, i rarely cast fireball anymore as my DM has shifted from mob/minion heavy combat to multiple bbegs for less bookkeeping/more challenge.

[@zombieloki9575]

@@TheRobversion1 Rob! Hi

[@TheRobversion1]

@@zombieloki9575 hello. Um, do i know you from somewhere?

[@zombieloki9575]

@@TheRobversion1 We discussed a build on some other video. Minmax munchkin probably,

[@TheRobversion1]

@@zombieloki9575 oh cool. nice of you to remember me. how's it going? by the way, feel free to search my main comment here in case there's something you wanted to ask or discuss as i wouldn't want us to hijack shadowfaux's thread. :)

[@RightHandElf]

The new Bugbear gets an extra 2d6 damage on every attack as long as the target hasn't taken a turn yet in the current combat. It would be cool to see it used for something like this or a Gloom Stalker. Assassin Rogue could give advantage to either build.

[@mjmakin2993]

This build makes me think of Bahammut’s mega flare from final fantasy and I love it! 😍

[@jackhuckelberry8405]

After the core of the build is finished, I like the idea of picking up another warlock level, so we can get Agonizing Blast and Eldritch Mind.

[@PapilioMemnon_]

I would personally go for genie warlock purely because it adds a base level of fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus which works to trigger elemental affinity on every spell. It also scales much better than hexblade for a multiclass.

[@EitherProductions]

Since Kobold has been changed so much in MotM, I wonder how that would affect this build. No reliable advantage and no need for Blind Fighting could theoretically change the entire build.

[@SkyNinja759]

MotM makes me want to run a red chromatic Dragonborn dragonic sorcerer instead. Get resistance to fire naturally instead of having to spend a sorcery point for temp resistance. Then immunity to fire for a minute as an action to nuke yourself with a quickened fireball. You also get a few uses of the breath weapon to save on spell slots per long rest. The option to have a sorcerer just coat himself in lingering fire while immune somehow/way and laugh while he has 13 + dex AC is also a funny situation. Then there's taking a dive in lava if the DM allows it, because you are _immune,_ bonus points if you hug an enemy before you dive in.

[@snezeire]

I would love to hear your thoughts on updating this since Kobolds have been changed re: pack tactics/sunlight sensitivity

[@jpri26]

Evocation wizard lvl 14 ability: Overchannel. Pretty sure you can use it on two lvl 5 scorching rays on the same turn. Ignores even immunity to fire.

[@nottelling6727]

Excited for video. Commenting before I watch because I'm slow, and don't want to forget! :)

[@zombieloki9575]

I know this is a single target build; however, at lower levels, Dragon's Breath + Quickened Burning Hands is a wonderful combo worth mentioning.

[@TheRobversion1]

hey francisco. i think you should've put this comment on his burst build vid.

[@silverjaiden2450]

There has never been any other mention of the suns effects on sunlight sensitive creatures other than vision in all of dnd history until now (outside of vampires). Why start now?

[@starbomber]

Blind Fighting also gives you blindsight within 10ft so I think that this works regardless.

[@theautisticveteran2466]

"Why did you cast prismatic wall horizontally over everyone's head? Are you dumb?" **Casts reverse gravity**

[@jacknewhouse3676]

Spiritual Weapon allows you to add spellcasting ability modifier to attack damage.

[@anonymous36247]

That's a much better answer. My brain went to Magic Stone lol

[@demonwombatofdoom8391]

Really like your build, looks fun. Would love to see your take on a short rest nova type build. Someone who can deal out a lot of damage multiple times a day. Maybe a combination of divine intervention, action surge and spell?

[@BadgerPride89]

i know this is an older vid but warlocks also get spirit shroud too so you could forego the cleric levels for more hexblade levels (unless you wanna do the push back). i know that your full caster slots won't go up with adding warlock levels but meh, something to think about.

[@martuchovdm]

You should do a Twilght Cleric build, it would be awesome

[@xenonuke1194]

Any twilight cleric will be strong, they're OP

[@lukerazer9565]

Prioritize Wisdom, don't multiclass, use your Twilight Sanctuary as often as possible. Now you're more defensively powerful than any build ever created. :)

[@emerson1818]

Awesome video. I love builds that take 3+ different classes

[@icebarrierangel6610]

With tashas optional rules, i made a half orc +2 dex, with draconic resistance and a shield i have 18 ac, and i started as a paladin defence fighting style defence +1, im not wearing any amor and have a Ac of 19, and when my Dex is better will be 21, and with a shield spell just for funzis

[@johngagon]

I really like the story and blast power of this build. Was just reading: Kobolds, between 2-3' tall, if somehow could get wizard 1 hour Tenser's Floating disk (with blanket on it) 3' off ground at place of choice (above head) short rest, free following umbrella? (it should block sunlight) . (that might just convince a DM to allow blindfighting) Disk + Phantom Steed, Rope Trick, Immovable Rod etc. All kinds of utility. I wonder how many stunts can be done with pocket dimension/game spell / item physics.

[@hungreyginger7478]

Whilst I love this, here’s another idea (will need DM’s aproval) Race: Aarakocra Class: phoenix soul sorcerer (UA) You’d be a funny firebird.

[@cyanibexe4418]

I'm curious if the Pyromancy subclass for Sorcerer's from Kaladesh is a good fit here. It allows you to put out crazy Dave even against fire resistant and eventually immune enemies

[@cesargeney5268]

Thank you. My love for sorcerers, and more so draconic blodline, is well put on this build. Thought im not a fan of multiclasing, I do love the idea of the little kobold that could... And will destroy you all

[@meredithsalt8397]

I got invited to a game we are a party of Kobolds. I needed ideas for a sorcerer - thank you!

[@Quintal100kg]

If you couldn't convince you DM that Blind Fighting would mitigate Sunlight Sensitivity then your best bet is Twilight cleric. It creates 30 foot radius of dim light around you, which will solve all of the problems with sunlight which you could ever had. And Twilight cleric is also absolutely busted support subclass even without that

[@adventurer3288]

Does that turn bright light into dim?

[@Quintal100kg]

@@adventurer3288 Yes. Doesn't matter what it was before total darkness or bright light: everything becomes dim light in this area

[@Scaphism36]

The conjunction “and” means that attack rolls are included as part of the “relying on sight”. That’s the English language, it’s in the lore that only kobolds eyes are affected by the sunlight, etc. If you want to be a crappy dm that’s on you, but don’t say you’re ruling RAW

[@steved2719]

Drizzt Do'Urden, in the books it took him months above ground to get used to the Sunlight.

[@torunsmok5890]

I wonder if it would be a worthwhile trade, with the forced movement from tempest cleric, to switch the warlock levels to genie and take enough to get spike growth from the Dao list?

[@UnkaputtbarEU]

Greetings from Austria! Thanks for your Videos, Especially the Sliding into my DMs. I really enjoy it and watched almost all builds you make, especially the Tanky builds. Would it be possible for you to list your Levelpath in the video description? I tried to build some characters like you and it would be really helpful to have a listing: Which level was skilled in which class. Keep doing what you are doing! Its really cool stuff you make here!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Danke! I *do* put out written “cheat sheets” for the builds, but it *is* actually the one thing I give as a benefit to members of the channel - here’s a little video I did explaining why if you’re at all interested - I’d love to have you as a member! (it’s pretty cheap : ) ) kzbin.info/www/bejne/paHCgoGvnL6paac

[@mjust7119]

Sorry for the school of Necromancy comment but, at cleric 5 you also get Bestow Curse, which adds 1d8 damage to all attacks and doesn't require concentration (when cast with a 5th level slot, which you have by then in your build.)

[@mjust7119]

Maybe action economy isn't ideal? Would definitely set it all back a turn but I would be interested in how crazy the numbers go with an additional damage die lol

[@ashamael]

Is there any other reliable way to gain advantage since pack tactics has been essentially removed? How much is the build nerfed without advantage? I was wanting to do a different race concept with this but still focus on the flame throwing aspect.

[@normal6483]

You can get even more damage with Bestow Curse (+1d8 on every attack) and Hold Monster/Person (crit on every attack that hits).

[@TheRobversion1]

i personally use the hold option for the concen spot (over spirit shroud/bestow curse/hex) as it adds a control element to it as well.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Right - the only problem with Bestow Curse is the extra round of set up - I love it for fights against a BBEG that you *know* are going long. With the Hold spells, I ultimately decided against because, as they require your concentration and take an action to cast, on your nova round, you'd get half the attacks for double the dice, minus the extra damage from Hex or Spirit Shroud. Also, the crit only counts if you're standing 5 feet away from the Paralyzed target, so you'd now need to get the Crossbow Expert feat to keep advantage. Just got a little weird. Overall might be better damage for your entire party, depending on your party. Worth considering.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@DnDDeepDive you dont need to use crossbow expert to keep advantage. The disadvantage for "melee" ranged attacks only applies if the enemy isn't incapacitated. The enemy is incapacitated while paralyzed. Little addendum to the above: you get to keep advantage on "melee" ranged attacks as well if the enemies cant see you like via illusions, obscurement like shadow of moil/fog cloud, blindness and invisibility.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@TheRobversion1 Good catch on the incapacitated. As for the "enemy can't see you" bit - I just had to look it up in the PHB and somehow never realized that the disadvantage only applies if they can see you. Nice.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@DnDDeepDive yup. I dont worry about it too much in my experience as optimized ranged martials typically have advantage generators and most advantage generators involve not being "seen."

[@jeffthurman1944]

Permanent advantage option for pack tactics: Purchase a Mastiff and get him some Barding (dog armor), possible to take the Mounted Combatant feat, not necessary, but you will always be within 5 feet of an Ally(Mastiff) and increase your movement speed. Should work for most DM's ruling of an Ally.

[@CraigAWSellars]

"Make sure you have some clothes" Well, that's just some generally good advice. 😃

[@TylerHyperFace]

Very cool concept; you had me until 32:32 where it starts feeling a little homebrew-esque, but I love the flavor and adhering to the elemental damage-type! :)

[@glitchking666]

With monsters of the Multiverse I went with a bugbear to build the nova draconic sorcerer using their new version of surprise attack that doesn't require surprise , it does 2d6 damage for each attack roll that hits provided the target(s) haven't had a turn yet, so taking alert at lvl 4 to build initiative and upcaste scorching ray on a quickened spell it effectively doubles the potential damage of each ray than do a fire bolt which also gets the 2d6 extra damage

[@eleishar18]

Divine Soul Sorcerer 13/Fighter 2/Hexblade Warlock 2 (for Agonising Blast, to crunch numbers, and maybe Repelling Blast, to make some survivability, by increasing distance). After You burn your high level spell slots for Scorching Ray (PUN intended 😁), and You don't want to go smaller Nova Round (like saving slots for healing, or reviving) You smash enemies with Eldritch blast for 1d10+3d8+5, four times per turn. That gives some sustained damage, maybe not much, comparing to your Sustained DPR builds, but I think it's still a decent number. And if You transmuted Spirit Shroud, You're still throwing flames 😉

[@knightwalker44]

I'm using this build in my next one shot! Sounds like it's going to be so much fun!

[@kevinguzmanvelez1456]

A golden kobold sorcerer casting scorching ray is absolute comedy gold

[@kevinmorris150]

25:33 It should be noted, Thunderball is the name of a James Bond Book and then Movie.

[@dennisjordan5917]

I have played at tables where spells like scorching ray and eldrich blast just roll damage once and all the rays do the same damage. Then if you used your channel divinity it should apply to all rays. Side note, while lighting ray is the obvious choice, I think thunder ray is more interesting and unique. Beams of sound that cause the target to vibrate so intensely that it damages them on a molecular level.

[@kbeazy_3050]

Theoretically spirit shroud could do some crazy damage if you could keep your target at 10 feet like blind fighting suggests Edit: oops should've finished before commenting

[@nevadamac8608]

An alternate version that trades some damage for control, versatility, and access to higher level spells: Hexblade 1 for armor, hexblade’s curse, and hex. Then Graviturgist 6 for Scorching Ray, Spirit Shroud, and Gravity Well. Then Fighter 2 for Action Surge. It would require a discussion with the DM, but a fair interpretation of the wording of Gravity Well is that you would get 5 feet of forced moment for every spell attack roll that you land, no saving throw. The direction is unspecified, so that could be straight up - which means you add fall damage to your attack, plus imposing the prone condition. At wizard level six it would be 2d6 bludgeoning for a 20 foot fall if you land all four rays from a third level casting (rather than the flat +4 from Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer’s Elemental Affinity), so not a ton, admittedly. But it would provide some of the forced movement that you liked about the Tempest cleric, add a bit of extra damage, and not sacrifice access to higher level spells from additional multiclassing- in addition to providing all the versatility of a Wizard when you’re not doing the nova round.

[@davewebster5120]

wow, hexblade's curse/hex+scorching ray is a great combo

[@izzaragoza]

Don't know if this is already clarified, but the Jeremy Crawford already spoke about the bonus action rule, and he said that it has NOTHING to do with Action Surge. So, you are able to cast a spell as Bonus action in your turn, and cast a spell in your aditional action granted by Action surge.

[@zachmullen2310]

This build reminds me a bit of a fire character I made, though mine is a grappler build (in an attempt to break Flames of Phlegethos and other auras like that.) It's a bit MAD, but it's so entertaining

[@GunnarWahl]

1: catapult flask of oil, adds 5 fire damage a round if covered in oil. 2: catapult doesn’t stop if the target saves, it keeps going till it goes 90ft or hits something, so line up an extra enemy or 2. And you got a few more chances to hit with it I had a sorcerer who’d quicken catapult flask of oil, and then do 1d10/2d10 + 5 and later he’d do scorching ray for another 6d6+5

[@GunnarWahl]

My dragon blood sorcerer was a trifling for the feat that allows you to reroll 1s on fire spells and my devil blood was aabashi, the devil guards of Tiamat. So I was a tiefling dragon born effectively

[@DJWidget]

Note on Catapult: if the target saves, the projectile keeps going to the next viable target in the path of the throw. Just had my wife's wizard Catapult a rock toward the back of the head of the enemy in front of her - it saved, she didn't and took a rock to the face. (Also had a party nearly kill a friendly NPC due to the baddie making the save and the ally being in the projectile's path)

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha! ouch!

[@jomohunter4649]

You sure about that? In that case every arrow should go through as well doesnt it? I think there is no such rule in 5e but i as well ruled it like that in a narrow path where the party activated a dart trap^^

[@DJWidget]

@@jomohunter4649 Pretty sure. The wording on the spell in Xanathar's is "The object flies in a straight line up to 90 feet in a direction you choose before falling to the ground, stopping early if it impacts against a solid surface. If the object would strike a creature, that creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the object strikes the target and stops moving." I take it the same way I would a draconic line of lightning - everything in this line has a chance of taking damage - whereas a single arrow is meant to target just one person.

[@jomohunter4649]

@@DJWidget in that case i have to agree! Thanks for pointing that out :)

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

You can also catapult a bag with acid vials or alchemist fire inside it. On failed save they need to save against the substance DC or take additional damage

[@shadesofgray9]

Im mostly here to see what you might do with an optimized eldritch knight chasis. Preferably without warlock.

[@Chris-lu5co]

God damn it. Why did I laugh at the poo poo zoom 💀 well played editor

[@DnDDeepDive]

Mr. Rogers, killing it as always!

[@gasgiant4451]

If your DM will allow it, slide UNDER an enemy and shoot UP. Juggle them up 120ft into the air. Then side step 5ft so they don’t fall on you, and now you are the Roadrunner. Meep! Meep!

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

@25:25 Thunderball sounds like.... A James Bond movie!

[@u.v.s.5583]

Next time I see a kobold, I dash. Straight away!

[@kshea4231]

dont forget to add that almost no monsters have resistance to magical weapon attacks

[@snazzyfeathers]

I've always wondered when casting darkness or fog cloud or some other similar spell that makes it difficult for everyone to see if it would get rid of the sunlight sensitivity.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I would think so, yes.

[@clarioneversole9013]

Perhaps cast fog cloud just above your head level. Creatures taller than you would have obscured vision, while you wouldn't, DM allowing.

[@jordanprice6457]

I’m curious how this build might change if you went with an elvish ancestry so you could use Elven Accuracy for super advantage on all of the rays. What might you suggest to get reliable advantage now that pack tactics is out?

[@mformewtwo1492]

I would say that, since the playable races that have sunlight sensitivity come from places where there is not a ton of natural light, that the issue comes from how their eyes have adjusyed over time. As such, I believe the description of this trait is a combination of the interpretations you present. Meaning, that if the character is in direct sunlight, their target is in direct sunlight, or they both are in direct sunlight, then the character has disadvantage. As for Blind Fighting, it gives you Blindsight, which lets you perceive a target, even if blinded, or in complete darkness. That means you are using a form of perception that doesn't rely on your eyes, so it should negate the disadvantage given by sunlight sensitivity.

[@lacrosseman02]

I made a Drow fighter who is blind and fights using both blindsight and a familiar. My DM agreed that blindness (or basically closing your eyes) counteracts sunlight sensitivity.

[@emilyhasbrouck934]

Ok but the gap between this and the Divine soul starts quite a bit sooner, a 7th lvl sorcerer can trade 1 4th level slot and 1 sorcery point for a 5th level slot and can do this by lvl 10, also with access to aid sooner although more resource intensive it is more durable

[@torunsmok5890]

Huh, interesting. Never realized that the flexible casting doesn't require it to be slots of a level you're supposed to have

[@emilyhasbrouck934]

@@torunsmok5890 yeah for that reason when I take sorcerer levels I always take at least 7

[@duncanohio]

Can you please try to re-create the 3.5 foclucan lyrist? I would love to see how you handle the “can do everything pretty well, but completely own all social situations” build!

[@duncanohio]

E.G. a min-maxed build for social situations that is still fun to play in combat with high variety of options and very good support capabilities.

[@DnDDeepDive]

on the list!

[@jugglejunk]

@@DnDDeepDive Sounds to me like it would involve some eloquence bard.

[@duncanohio]

@@DnDDeepDive hooray!

[@shaunmcdonough7844]

Any chance of a quirky "monk tank" build? I think it would be a fun challenge and really interesting to see what you would come up with! :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

on the list!

[@scottbloomfield3655]

I agree with the monk tank build, I think I emailed you saying something about a monk tank but I may have forgot. I know you responded to my email but I don't remember if I actually put monk tank in there, I think you should use either a Satyr or a yuan-ti pureblood as the race