The Lockadin Bard - D&D: Optimized #27

[@Lloydy1916]

I love the idea of this being your warlock patron is Shar and your paladin oath is to Selune and you're essential in a never ending tug of war between the two and you just go "NO I'M DONE! I'M GOING TO PLAY MY LUTE IN PEACE!"

[@Vognar6]

Two years later, this comment aged really well ^^

[@Alex413xAlien]

Amy advice for getting advantage without darkness? My party doesn't love the idea of this big Bubble od blindness. P.s. my DM doesn't allow (advantage given by) flanking. Tnx

[@esbeng.s.a9761]

@@Alex413xAlien Knocking them prone or being on a mount is my first idea, 2 lvl off barbarian

[@dekuneki9129]

I'm rewatching this video after a year. You actually did what you said about exploring all the options this game offers. It's so cool how you stayed loyal to your words and how far you've come to this day

[@cultivatedjerk5574]

I appreciated the poll, it’s fun and awesome to participate as a viewer. Don’t feel too beholden to them (not saying that you do). You’re the one putting together the content, you certainly don’t need to apologize for any perceived “bait-and-switch”. If anyone grumbles, it’s because we optimizers are terribly passionate. It’s good to be here on a Tuesday friends.

[@GodOf-Hammers]

In regards to crit fishing "I am not saying one way is right and one way is wrong..." So nice to DMs as always. RAW, though, one way is definitely right and one way is definitely wrong, but I like that you are so positive and inclusive of everyone's opinions!

[@dungeondojo]

Yeah that's right. :) The wording is "when you hit" meaning... after the roll and when you know you've hit... I think we know where Colby lands on this one lol

[@alex2legit]

48:52 RAW Divine Smite's trigger is "when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack"- there is literally no way for the PC (or DM for that matter) to know whether the PC hits or not before the attack roll. Any ruling otherwise is homebrew

[@Wesmin]

It's RAW, it's RAI (paladins have limits spells lots which is why the rule is like this, so they don't waste smites on misses) and it's also good RP flavor a paladin waits until they solidly hit, and when they feel the attack connected, channel the divine power of their god into that enemy through their weapon. A DM that is doing this has come up with a homebrew rule interpretation with the intention to limit the players. It's not just homebrew, it's bad homebrew because a rule like that negatively effects so many class abilities that can normally be applied after a hit, not just pally, (some sorcerer metamagics and -half- the battle master maneuvers come to mind right away, class abilities that now won't be picked because they become pretty bad with that ruling) but most importantly it's -way- easier to just give enemies bigger HP pools if rampant critting is a consistent problem at your table, not only easier, but better because it doesn't make the players feel sad/limited, and 95% of players will never even know the monster had higher than average HP. Heck it's something I have done on the fly before. If the party is finishing encounters before a single round has passed (so some roll initiative then don't get to even have a turn which is no fun) The next room that next kobold group no longer has just 5hp, but a full maximized die roll of 10, and if that works better without being to hard for the team, then the whole rest of the dungeon has just become similarly increased.

[@jjjbjbbnjbjbjbjbjb9415]

It is raw, you "hit" if your attack roll meets or exceeds the ac of the target.

[@adamkaris]

Nah you got that backwards buddy. When you hit with an attack. When you roll that attack roll and the dm says "you hit" then you can decide to trigger smite. Just like when a wizard gets hit, then they can trigger shield, potentially making the attack miss. You don't have the wizard have to decide on using shield before the creature hits. It just happens in between the step of making the attack roll, and the step of rolling the damage.0

[@KatanaKamisama]

Just finished a session where a boss enemy had our ranger AND paladin grappled(level6), and was about to use a 500ft sight based teleport to escape. I had control of the paladin's character because the player was late to the game, and I would hate to get his PC killed / captured while he was away from the table. So I used bonus action smite spell, and dropped 2 2nd level smites in one round for over 60 dmg in 1 turn, and finished off half of the bosses HP saving the ranger and paladin characters. NOTE: If you land an attack, and NEED concentration free advantage, Eldritch Smite DOES knock a target prone if they're Large or Smaller. Sustained DPR with the Oathbreaker Lockadin, taking Hexblade to 12 gets you Lifedrinker which is another +5 damage per attack.

[@davidjohnson4657]

One backup plan for advantage is the Eldritch Smite. As the smite will knock the victim prone. (Huge or smaller) So if you get help on the first hit the rest in the round can have advantage.

[@RPCauldron]

Nice catch!

[@leodouskyron5671]

49:00 It is RAW and RAI and varied in questions with JC that you use smite after the fact except for if you cast a spell smite (and as noted in those spells) you can cast and concentrate on those spells until you connect. The former is a feature and the latter is a spell.

[@ryanharner2092]

What about trying to optimize for damage over 3-4 rounds? Seems like it would be a nice balance between nova and sustained damage and also happens to be about the length of combat in the games I've played.

[@saoirsehall7588]

I love these builds so much! It's a great source of inspiration for my own characters and let's me better build myself. I personally love the theming and aesthetics for my characters and have the most fun treating that as a build requirement similar to the touch only caster you made. Keep up the good work friend

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you!

[@Bentron88]

A story idea for this build would be a half drow hexblade that served Lolth for a while, but when he/she found Eilistraee they wanted to repent and became a Paladin for the Dark Maiden. Eilistraee is a musical deity that encourages her followers to play music and to sing, so taking only two levels of Paladin and then going all bard makes sense. Of course college of swords is what would be used instead of whispers… so the burst damage might not be as big, but the extra armor you can give yourself with the flourish will help considerably when your DM is just done with your crit fishing

[@DnDDeepDive]

love it!

[@Bentron88]

@@DnDDeepDive 😍. You responded to me!!! Thank you!!!! Love your stuff by the way!!

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Bentron88 Hey thanks! :)

[@alexhenry9586]

I'm late to the party but I'm doing a similar lore drop except I chose to force a good character into a service with Orcus then turn towards Eilistraee. When I was lore researching, I noticed one of Orcus' underlings was Soneillon, Queen of Whispers. What better way to turn a character from paladin to College of Whispers than the queen of them herself?? lol

[@andrewduplesis]

I really love your content! I play D&D every Tuesday and I love to watch your videos to help me get into the D&D mindset before I play! Find Greater Steed would be very thematic and advantageous for Magical Secrets. You'd be able to share Shadow of Moil/Greater Invisibility with your steed. Even if you don't take advantage of it being a pet for extra damage, you could definitely take advantage of the extra maneuverability a Pegasus gives you to fight enemies that would normally be out of reach.

[@brettmajeske3525]

Well now that you've done a ultimate Chr build, lets see the ultimate Int or Wis builds!

[@nickm9102]

Predictions for INT build 1 Artificer and 19 Wizard.

[@Wesmin]

D&D Optimized has a nice blade singer build that I would say is a pretty good contender for ultimate Int build. :)

[@Ramschat]

@@Wesmin It's amazing, though it is more a dex build than int in practice :)

[@Wesmin]

@@Ramschat That's true.

[@Drahven]

​@@nickm9102Battlesmith gets to use Int for attack and damage. Art 3 / Bladesinger X

[@davidlewis8814]

This is super fun, as always! I would like to point out that the on-screen graphic for “Mantle of Whispers” has a typo, at around the 53:00 mark. You rule!

[@fathernightroadgaming3435]

all your builds are amazing. You grab your audience with your theory crafty and story building of the character. Please continue making amazing videos

[@fenrismarks876]

As for the critic fishing thing if your DM tells you you need to tell them before you roll the dice that your smiting their wrong that is not held ability works it actually States and I "starting at 2nd level when you hit a creature with your melee Weapon attack you may expand one spell slot " So know if the DM tells you that you have to tell them beforehand there all unless that's the house rule and that has been stated before the campaign even starts

[@jbowers56]

One thing to note is that you can't change invocations without taking an additional level in warlock - "Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level."

[@baloobrand]

Well spotted. If I were DM’ing, given that the Tasha’s feat allows a non-lock to switch invocations are level up regardless of class, that the spirit of that the spirit of that design would extend to all Warlocks. A warlock is going to negotiate AT LEAST as good a deal as a non-lock, after all.

[@Wesmin]

The most fun I personally have with a new character is combining strong mechanics with themes that lend themselves to supporting an RP-idea for the character, so I can have fun RP'ing them and feeling that I'm not just 'making up' the RP, that it's supported with abilities. This warlock(evil/power) into paladin (good/redemption) into disillusioned with both (lets just live as a bard) is the first triple multiclass idea I've heard of that really feels like it would work well and be fun to play.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you! I do tend to build the character first, and *then* form a story around those mechanics, but I *do* take that part very seriously and try really hard in game to stay true to whatever story I'm trying to tell with the character - for me it's just a lot easier to begin with the mechanical framework and dress it with story than the other way around :).

[@jeffdietz630]

It also occurs to me that this build is somewhat concentration dependent. It relies on darkness/shadow of moil and devil sight to generate advantage (triple advantage via elven accuracy). Without this advantage, the Bardockadin is extremely gimped. Most DMs will rp their monsters as smart enough to understand go for the caster and do whatever they can to break concentration. The build without obscurement advantage suddenly becomes not only gimped on offense but vulnerable defensively due to Lowish AC and saves that are average (not getting the benefit of Pal6 aura). Darkness is a great spell coupled with Devil site but the combo can be defeated a number of ways. Spells that provide cloud style obscurement (Fog cloud, Pyrotechnics, Stinking cloud, Cloud kill. Etc.) Also continual flame upcast at 3rd level slot. My suggestion to combat this, is rely on blindfight style rather than devilsite and consider finding a means to deliver a lit arrow/torch/flame source to the battle area. Finally opt to create a Pyrotechnic cloud of smoke obscurement. Its not concentration based and although fixed ( and not mobile like darkness spell on a carried item) it isn't subject to winking out at the exact wrong time because you took a point of damage and failed a concentration save. Concentration-free obscurement generation is huge. Pyrotechnics ( or if you ever find an eversmoking bottle) become superior options coupled with blindfight in their ability to generate and maintain advantage across a larger variety of circumstances.

[@mutatgaming8627]

One thing to add is that the first part of GWM also gives you a bonus attack with the pointy end of your weapon when you crit or kill an enemy.

[@MrSHADOWANGEL999]

an awesome build as always just an idea, but maybe do some builds based on the other roles, like what would you view as the ultimate infiltrator, the best support, and maybe some of those fun broken combos like a tabaxi monk

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

Love to see a paladin of Sune atomizing an fiend, then playing a tune.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Note! If you were following this guide by taking Elven Accuracy with Custom Lineage, make sure you discuss with your DM as it conflicts with advice given by Jeremy Crawford. See our discussion about it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaPUk3l8bsuCjK8

[@Now-gn1vk]

Am I mistaken or can you not take darkness until level 5

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Now-gn1vk It's a level 2 spell so is available at character level 3 :)

[@Now-gn1vk]

@@DnDDeepDive I read that with drow magic you can cast faerie spell when at 3rd level and when you get to 5th level you can cast darkness with the trait drow magic

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Now-gn1vk Truth! But Faerie Fire is still a 1st level spell, and Darkness a 2nd level one :)

[@Now-gn1vk]

@@DnDDeepDive but I thought that darkness is only available to you when you reach 5th level :) Sorry if I’m being hard to deal with,new with this and trying to understand

[@kaemonbonet4931]

Have built this before. Tons of fun. Definitely the way to dual wield. Started paladin 2, then sword bard 11, then 1 warlock then 2 more bard. Stole shadow blade, tensers transformation. Spirit shroud wasn't out at the time, might have tried that had it been out. Used short swords the whole game and they hit like a couple of trucks.

[@runefire8127]

I have a character I want to play that is extremely similar but paced differently. Start with 1 bard. Then 2 warlock and take the invocations Mask of Many Faces and Misty visions. Then up to level 10 bard. At this point he’s consistently been a support caster. Time to change things up. Maybe a friend fell in combat or you found a new fury inside yourself. Take 2 levels of Paladin and buy some medium armor. Now you can turn those spell slots into smites. Concentrate on mirror image for added defense or learn Bigby’s Hand for bonus action damage. Finish off with 6 more levels of bard.

[@kaemonbonet4931]

@@runefire8127 so the reason I chose paladin first is twofold. One: smite early, it's a cool ability and with two weapon fighting it's actually worth the concentration on something else. Two. Extra attack is gonna be delayed no matter what but this way I get basically full spell slot progression. Basically if I need to turn on damage I usually can but I still get to be a support caster. I think the naturalist way of building characters is really cool, picking up multiclass levels when it's story appropriate, but I couldn't manage it. I always build and rebuild 15 levels out. This character was a drow who lived in mezzoberanzan but secretly worshipped elistraee and was made a slave when his loyalties were found out. I hope my reasoning is helpful to you but I think you have a plan and a good game already so right on.

[@Vielden]

33:15 Eldritch/warlock smite does NOT require a melee weapon, only your pact weapon. So if you take improved pact weapon and summon a bow you can smite with a bow.

[@cesargeney5268]

But the divine smite does. The idea is to smite with both at the same time

[@Samuel_Kabel]

Hey, great vid. Couple things i wanna be a p.i.t.a. about. Take pally level one, use the superior heavy armor, dump dex, boom. Use the extra points to boost strength. Level 1 is quite short and 14 STR is definitely enough to make it to 2nd level (Warlock 1). Next, Pact of the Blade counts as magical no matter what you do with it. Besides that, you'd need to take more warlock levels to change invocations. The source material states: "Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level."

[@Samuel_Kabel]

Another thing i have issue with is the starting with "Elf" custom lineage. I feel like this is something not intended by the rules. For a couple of examples: 1 - If i want the Dragon Fear feat, but i don't want to use the underpowered Dragonborn race, i couldn't just say i'm "Dragonborn" and just grab a variant of the Breath Weapon that i don't have. This isn't an ability that the Custom Lineage has, so we shouldn't assume the DM would let us have it. For all intents and purposes, it is a completely different race. 2 - One more example could be the Svirfneblin Magic feat. If i wanted to play an abjurer who kept their Arcane Ward up all of the time, this interaction would let me do this from level 2, since if i'd say i was a "Deep Gnome" i could grab the feat with Custom Lineage at level 1. 3- To give an example of a different race, we can look at the Simic Hybrid. Many of them are genetically modified humans, who's parents are human. Full Stop. The rules don't allow Simic Hybrids to take the Prodigy feat. I genuinely believe that if you are going to include the Custom Lineage for elven accuracy or similar, then IT should be the footnote that you could ask your DM about, not the default that you build your character around. I'd love to hear back from ya. What's your opinion on this?

[@ershin_chaos5815]

I like calling it a Hexadin.

[@kencutpro]

Hexardin... just to represent all the classes. Haha.

[@garrettessary4224]

Warlock+paladin=Wardin. He's just a prison boss lol

[@Ramschat]

Great video! For my second magical secret, I'd take steel wind strike. Shadow of moil gives us advantage on each of those 5 attacks and it gives us a great option for dealing with a small crowd of lesser threats.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

Ah, making Tuesday’s worth looking forward to.

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

Definitely making Tuesday great again!

[@Cesoide_]

Dude, I LOVED this build. Man, it is so cool to nerd out about character creation.

[@wreckedgamerqq5001]

I favor sustained damage over burst damage. Burst damage to me has always been like “save or suck” spells where either the target makes the save or the damage rolled is below average. Sustain just seems far more reliable but hey I get folks love going nova and the awesomeness of it when it actually does well.

[@Erothaur]

Us warlocks would never seek redemption. We double down. Our patron IS our god.

[@johnathonelliott530]

I remember you saying Seredan was based around this build in the session 0 video. It will be so cool to see her power grow in a similar way that you describe in this video as well as her backstory of how she gains all this power. This build would make a crazy final boss to battle lol. Looking forward to watching the next session on Wednesday!

[@delaraphilip]

I’ve built out Colby’s Hexblade build and the Ultimate Support build to verbatim. I’m ready with pencil and paper for this build.

[@Nurk0m0rath]

I don't recall you mentioning this in the video but bards also get Faerie Fire at first level to generate advantage, for those situations where you're up against invisible creatures or darkness is not desirable (side benefit, unlike darkness it also helps the party). I know it's a leveled spell and you could use that slot to smite instead, but you're not going to be using first level slots to smite until you run out of higher level ones anyways, so this gives you a second warlock smite. I might consider a 1 level dip into bard before finishing warlock just to pick this up and avoid the need for darkness/devil's sight.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Faerie Fire is a great alternative - the only things that would make darkness superior is that they can't make a save and resist it, and darkness gives them disadvantage when they attack you. Regardless, I plan on using it occasionally when I try playing this build myself next month, so we'll see how it goes :).

[@MickvdValk]

You really produce excellent DnD content man. Favourite DnD person on the internet 😄

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you so much!

[@eventon9372]

Awesome video! If you have a party that does a good job of giving you advantage, for 2nd Magical Secrets spell I would take 'Haste' for +2 AC, more movement and attacks (issue with this build is that its strictly melee so more movement can help) or 'Holy Weapon' if you don't want a set up turn and want to attack twice right away for an extra 2d8 each, plus some AoE damage on the follow turn and the blind can give you advantage on further turns if needed.

[@Stupacalypse82]

I do a similar build (The Raven Herald), but take a few more Paladin levels to get some pretty serious crowd control in exchange for some damage. Essentially, the breakdown looks something like Hexlock 3/Conquest Pal 7/Whisperbard 10. There's probably a tradeoff in some burst dpr here, but in exchange, you get some pretty solid crowd control from the Conquest Paladin's aura as long as you have a reliable means of pumping out fear effects (which, with this build, you will). Might be a neat alternative for those who still want some more than respectable damage, while having some really nice lockdown options. I'd still love to figure out how to work eldritch smite into this without sacrificing more dpr, since being able to knock something prone while reducing movement to zero means you have something in a virtually permanent state of prone, which means perpetual advantage on attacks.

[@TheRobversion1]

great concept on eldritch smite + conquest aura! Reminded me of grapple + shove prone but with better dmg. plus eldritch smite has no save either. I think sacrificing bard levels for this is fine. in fact i'd say , the build is finished at level 12 as a conquest 7, hex 5. moreover, personally id take away those bard levels and replace at least with fighter 2 or take it up to battlemaster for menacing attack (another fear source).

[@Stupacalypse82]

That's actually a solid idea. I might have to do some tinkering with this.

[@originalhighwayman]

3:20 totally agree! always stock up "just in case i need it" only to never ever allow me to use those "one use only" items

[@TheAllardP]

Those consumable are filling my inventory too. I should use them for sure, definitively. Buuuutttttttttt what if later I would really need them.

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha right!? It kills me.

[@GaiusTulliusCatallusXXC]

Maybe you all aren’t Fire Emblem players but I think that Mekkah’s first episode of Fire Emblem Pitfalls about hoarding is fantastic content to teach about how to use your resources wisely (it mostly talks about Fire Emblem but can be applied more widely)

[@kaemonbonet4931]

I've definitely been sitting on a quals feather token forever before. Totally worth it when I finally spent it.

[@stephenharris4997]

I would argue that any DM who says you can't crit fish with your smites is a bad DM. Rules as written, you choose to smite when you hit with an attack, so you wouldn't know if you want to smite until you know if you hit

[@markdewey6788]

Came here to say this. The dice have to be rolled already before you know if you hit or not.

[@carllunden800]

Just found your channel and love it so far. Its really informative, mathematically sound, and easy to listen to. Really happy to hear you touched on crit fishing in this vid, as it's one of my favorite playstyles. Have you considered a video purely about Crit Fishing builds? I've theorycrafted a bunch of different ones and my favorite is Half-Orc Champion Fighter 3/Zealot Barb 17 with a Greataxe and GWM. That one has HUGE damage while being really sustainable, and you don't have to worry about your DM saying you have to smite before rolling or anything. But I'm sure there's builds out there than can crit more frequently so I'd love to see a vid on your takes!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks and glad you’re enjoying! Will add to the list :)

[@michaelbeal1400]

This build is ridiculous.... Holy hell

[@ignis.valorant]

I'm 3 years late to the party, but turns out this is very similar to a build I'm running right now. A half-elf prince whose kingdom fell to ruins escaped with the heirloom of his noble house. He then took refuge in a paladin order before finally delving deeper into the untapped power of the heirloom. Realizing the errors of his way, he turned to Corellon to provide him guidance, and music is one of the ways for him to ease his mind. However, at some point of his life, he once again gave in to the temptation of power and treaded the path of a whispers bard. Amazing combo by the way. The only difference is that I didn't get the darkness combo because it would terribly hinder my other party members. I went with oath of vengeance for the advantage, which has the downside of being able to crit fish only onto one target per short rest, but that's usually fine for me. Hexblade 1 / Vengeance Paladin 5 or 6 / Whispers Bard X

[@joecci1]

FINNALLY someone realizes the potential of the college of whispers. Here's a tip tho. Considering you're a bard you can cast Hold person or hold monster on the target you want to burn down instead of casting greater invisibility or shadow of moil and that way not only do you get advantage but any hit you land is a crit. Now you can basically just double all your damage dice automatically and guarantee a 3rd hit with GWM. Another homebrew change I like to make is to give "thirsting blades" the same benefit that the blade singer's extra attack gets where you can cast a cantrip as one of your attacks, thereby being able to add green flame blade to your repertoir. So at level 20 in a single round with hold person/monster with hex thats 22d6 + 34d8 + 15(CHR) + 18 (HBC) +30 (GWM) (without the Greenflame blade it's 30d8 vs 34d8)

[@RPCauldron]

my magical secret of choice for lv 10 bard would be Steel wind strike! With triple advantage and one of the hits going on the cursed target, yes please. If there are a bunch of big enemies, that is a must cast I'd say. AND IT'S COOL!

[@8684LYFE]

Thanks for sharing this build. Respectfully, I feel like this build works best in theory and may have some serious practical application in play. The build relies heavily on concentration to gain advantage, but has a mere +2 bonus to concentration checks all the way up to level 17 as presented. This is compounded by the fact that it takes a full turn to set up the darkness + devil sight advantage combo. Needing to full turn to set up a turn your burst damage already devalues the effect of the nova (since it adds a turn to total kill time). But there is the additional risk of not even getting to keep your buff the following turn due to the concentration concerns.

[@DnDDeepDive]

True! I think the low concentration check is somewhat mitigated by most attacks having disadvantage to hit, but it's definitely a potential weakness.

[@andrewarmstrong5957]

I would have to look into the specifics of the spell and how it interacts with the other abilities but steel wind strike would be a good choice for that extra magical secrets spot

[@dravencallisto]

I LOVE Nova builds. Right now I'm playing a Warlock 5/Sorc 4/ Pal 2 and am doing dumb amounts of damage per round for an 11th level character. I actually like the role play of a Pre-Oath Paladin/Warlock combination too, given my DM is amazing about keeping what my patron actually is in the dark. We suspect he's a drow/devil prince, given I've spoken both infernal and undercommon to him when I talk to myself out loud 🤪

[@dravencallisto]

Also, I would've considered Bard first, but it didn't fit the character's story. It's too long to post here, but he started out a noble with inate magical talents that was scouted, for lack of better words, by the largest religious order of the city to become one of their crusaders, and was betrayed by said organization, thus swearing vengeance, but it wasn't his God that called out to him... just realized I rambled the overarching story too lol my bad.

[@jeffdietz630]

Interesting the build optimized for burst damage reassembles in many respect the ultimate tank concept Treeantmonk developed in The Eternal Cockroach. I think he used warlock/paladin/sorcerer/bard. Later edit it was wizard not sorc.

[@TerranceForde]

Treantmonk's build is phenomenal I think he used hexblade paladin war wizard and Bard the rest of the way.

[@GodOf-Hammers]

Thoughts on getting a Greater Steed to give this a small damage boost? Sharing spells could give your steed damage bonuses or advantage as well.

[@DnDDeepDive]

oh no, no more Steed considerations for a long time plox! ;) - j/k - definitely worth considering, depending on your DM would treat it in game!

[@kaemonbonet4931]

Greater steed works with tensers transformation and is probably the only case where it's actually worth losing the action. Turns your griphon into a tank. Like 110 hp hits for 2d6+2d12+5 or something.

[@GodOf-Hammers]

@@kaemonbonet4931 This is one of my favorite theoretical archer builds, this part just kicks in so late I have never gotten to play it. Throw in a simulacrum with it's own steed and you are getting to ridiculousness

[@kaemonbonet4931]

I have played some extremely high level games with my sorc they get really silly. I twincasted a wish/ simulacrum on my self and a paladin and then my simulacrum aimed the cleric. Going from a party of 3 to a party of 6 was hilarious. The DM had to turn it up all the way on the difficulty scale.

[@2khalfani2]

What do you guys think about a psy knight warrior/ battle Smith artificer?

[@NitroHavok]

Having played that build myself , I can say its quite fun, and alleviates the potential MADness that it would normally have.

[@DraconicFlare]

Hey Cody, been watching some of your older builds and been working my way to present day, and I just noticed: at 3:31, is that GW2? Huge fan of the game and I didn't expect to see it pop up here. Anyway, great vid, I love your videos, keep up the great work!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! And yes, it is :). Still my favorite MMO of all time.

[@martsm528]

I went to make this build on DnD Beyond. The ability score point-buy does not seem to add up. I can only manage a 12,14,14,8,8,15 ability point-buy. e.g. the ability point buy is wrong on this build unless I am mistaken. Sorry to point that out. Otherwise, a great looking build.

[@alanofyale9624]

dude, i was thinking the same thing. i was like, "is a 28 point buy a thing?". Glad i wasnt the only one that noticed.

[@chosenone4224]

Love your content man but could you do a PDF or a comment of the levels and when to multiclass ?

[@louiscann9905]

Loving the videos! Keep up the awesome work! I’d love to see an Order of the Mutant Blood hunter/Battlesmith artificer multiclass. Specifically taking the Sagacity mutagen. I was thinking it would be an interesting crossbow expert build!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks, glad you're enjoying! I'll add this to the list, though I will say I've been a little hesitant to do a Blood Hunter as they're not yet considered "official content" by WotC. But that could change!

[@louiscann9905]

@@DnDDeepDive Of course! That is very understandable! I just thought it was an interesting idea :)

[@originalhighwayman]

55:35 how can you drop an invocation when you gain a level in another class? i thought you could d this "swap" only when gaining a level in that particular class....

[@hurpingtongaming3783]

if i was to do a similar build i would probably go warlock 5,paldin 3,and bard 13.and use tensers tranformation.that extra 2d12 per attack is glorious

[@Julianboy31]

Happy Tuesday! Love the videos. What are your thoughts on the peace domain from tashas for a support build?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Super strong :). I used it is a dip for my Armorer but haven't done a full build with it yet!

[@tusken5536]

I love your content

[@jeffdietz630]

I wouldn't say any changes are required but I think it would be remiss not to indicate the build is a bit squishy particularly limited to medium armor and no shield. I understand the intent of the optimization regarding burst damage but think crediting use of upcast armor of agathyst to contribute to both survival as well as damage reflected would be a worthy point to discuss. Yes it may cost you a paladin smite but your going to have a plethora of spell slots without available learned spells to cast and the reflected damage will be huge whilst allowing you some measure of survival particularly at presumably lowish AC.

[@MellonVegan]

Interesting, only just watched this but ended up building sth similar, these past couple weeks. Hexblade 1 (really just for the curse and even more for being SAD), Paladin (Vengeance) 2-4 and Swords Bard for the rest. Keep switching back and forth between exact builds bc I can't decide what to prioritise. Vengeance is great for advantage on the big boss of the day but makes setup even longer (and lvl 4 after that for an earlier ASI is self explanatory). Then again, that would free up concentration for haste and part of my idea for the build is stacking AC (shield or dual wielder, shield spell, flourishes, fighting style, haste) as well as dishing out damage. And if I were to play with other options for advantage (like flanking), I may not need vow of enmity. But with 17 levels of bard, I could eventually get foresight (though that is really only the last level of the game.. do I want to be better earlier or be a god killer eventually?). I've test rolled it for fun, 1/2/17 with the right options can solo a Tarrasque in 5 rounds (without magical items). Given my character's motivations and story, that would be a really cool final place to be. Also unsure about dual wielding vs. spiritual weapon. The latter has more potential (if upcast) but any enemy could just run away from it and it uses up spell slots (that go quickly as is, especially with shield and smite). I also thematically like the idea of a basket hilted broadsword in one hand and an offhand weapon + targe (the targe is just for style, not mechanics) in the other.

[@hankdriskill6153]

I'd probably take Steel Wind Strike for my second magical secret, it can be fun with lots of trivantage attacks.

[@chaddon7685]

Omg... I'm with you on the odd numbers!

[@Mrjosifal]

Another great build homela...Colby! You are takling about that the 10+ dmg aint worth the -5 to hit after the AC 18, but does the bar raises when you get a weapon with +1/+2/+3 or your charisma mod is higher?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks ha ha - and yes, the 18 threshold was specifically for the way *this* specific build was functioning at *that* particular level, no magic items, etc. more +to hit would raise that threshold!

[@philma8398]

Love your vids! Is the bonus action attack from PAM worth the damage delay from GWM? Especially if the DM doesn't allow Elven accuracy for custom lineage

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! *I* think so - *especially* if we're building for smites. One additional smite opportunity per turn > +10 damage at a -5 to hit on only two attacks... (not to mention all of the extra attacks of opportunity you'll get from PAM)

[@darrenromanko2414]

The best part of Eldritch Smite is the prone state. 1st attack hits blow just and Eldritch Smite. 2nd attack is with advantage (which you should have) and any hit counts as a Crit. Amazing build I have ran a couple times. Outside of combat the spell selection and high Char makes this a very fun character. My first go at this was with Sorc instead of Bard. However : Sorlock and Hexadin means your enemies have to get close to you at range and if/when they do the smites will cut them down nice. Considering the much lower HP over a martial class at high level makes ranged (cantrip and sorc points) AND Melee Burst (spell slots) is amazing and allows higher survivability for first round or two normally.

[@TheRobversion1]

how does the 2nd hit count as a crit? the prone condition nor eldritch smite does that. survivability s of minimal consequence if you have that much burst. enemies will just be dead before they can deal dmg (and that's your dmg mitigation).

[@darrenromanko2414]

@@TheRobversion1 Using Eldritch Smite cause the prone condition on top of the damage. I mistook prone for paralyze. Still have advantage, no auto critb on hit. Still a good condition, bit my bad

[@TheRobversion1]

@@darrenromanko2414 yup. I use eldritch smite too. Ideally though i gain advantage in a different way (like fire rune, trip attack, quickened hold) so i can reserve eldritch smite for when i roll a crit.

[@fossar_]

Nice vid! Got me thinking about making a ranged version ditching the Paladin levels for earlier Bard. Bards have a ton of use for their bonus actions so taking Sharpshooter and a bow as your Pact Weapon can bridge the gap between DPS and support really well. Plus you can always get those 4 ranged attacks per round by taking Swift Quiver if the situation calls, while critfishing with Eldritch Smite and better Psychic Blades. One last thing, Eldritch Mind invocation seems essential for these builds to get the concentration benefit of War Caster early and without using an ASI as they don't use the other bonuses War Caster gives.

[@bodemantube]

I"m making a hexblade for a campaign and I've already posted a question on the Hexblade video (The Hexblade Warlock - D&D: Optimized #1). After looking at this video you made me realize that the lock smite is very limited due to only being able to use lock spell slots, of which there are too few. So now I'm likely going to follow this build instead as previously I wanted to add bard levels for more eldritch smites, which I now know is not possible so will likely go with the 2 pally levels for more smites. My question at this point is whether going back to warlock after bard level 5 or staying bard would make too much of a difference ( what would be gained or lost from going back to lock instead of continuing bard? ) since both lock and bard seem to only get 1 use of 6th or 7th level spells at that point? Would what you get from those extra 5 levels in whispers bard really be better than specter, armor of hexes, lifedrinker and anything else that I might not remember right now?

[@DjBekky]

Oh there it is!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha - you found it before I could recommend :P

[@chacepassmore6474]

59:17 Find Greater Steed. It will benefit from shadow of moil aswell

[@doreevee4671]

One of my favourite builds of yours, looking forward to your Moon Druid! By the way, do you think you'll ever take on a Rogue/Barbarian combo? I'm trying to make the idea work and I think it has some good synergy, with the Reckless Attack and those tasty Sneak Attacks, just not sure how to optimize it. Would love to see your take!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Well, I *did* do a Rogue/Barb as part of the combo episode last week :). I think I might combine them again for a Rogue tank build one day...

[@doreevee4671]

@@DnDDeepDive Oh, I'll check that then! I just found out your channel this week, I haven't watched everything yet, I mainly watched the one character episodes for ideas since I have a new campaign starting next week.

[@BobbyKnuckles21]

The 3 last levels in Echo Knight would be crazy, also Banishing Smite is a good pick for the magical secret

[@Yell0wFU]

While I agree with your assessment when it comes to custom lineage and feats, I feel like it doesn't say anywhere that you also get to have those races special abilities. You get an extra feat but you do not get to have (as a Drow Half-Elf) a cast of Darkness. It doesn't say anywhere that you also get to have the special abilities and I don't understand where you get the implication that you can use those special abilities! [This being the first instance I actually disagree with your interpretation of the rules] Aside from that I am really enjoying your channel! Keep up the good work! 🙂

[@snarkback]

Thank you for the great content!

[@DnDDeepDive]

You're welcome - glad you're enjoying!

[@jwraper1498]

Is this the build that you plan to play in the new campaign?

[@peterlochmaier5887]

As flavor I can just imagine an elf who is super nice but in an annoying way and is always trying to make new friends and then stumbles upon a patron, accidentally making a pact, but eventually the patron just gets so annoyed that they stop talking and so the character goes to God and gets rejected even quicker, so the character just takes a hint and starts forgoing their own path making friends through music. All the while nonchalantly destroying everything in its path

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha! I love this! Way better than the dark/broody version :P

[@justinbutt6220]

YES! Finally!

[@Tanthalasa83]

Well the patron is in my eyes easy choice... Hexblade, is after all The Raven Queen... so you are one of her try-outs, until you become her champion, a paladin... after all defeating undead is just her game...and then in the end going the road of her assassins, who secure those who try to cheat their fate, and the Raven Queen......

[@lolpaladins]

This build works amazingly well in BG3. You lose out somewhat on the hexblade, but more than makeup for it with the improved pact of the blade (extra attack that (at least currently) stacks with regular extra attack) But even if they nerf improved pact of the blade, it'll likely still be worth it for 3 levels, and not be as OP as 1 level in hexblade. But 5 bard 5 lock 2 paladin will also still be very strong.

[@sohkaswifteagle2604]

If a DM request you to let him know about smiting before you roll, it's called hombrew, it's not RAW. Per RAW it's clearly say once you HIT the target you declare if you smite or not (not even after seeing the roll, you declare your smite after the DM confirm that you hit the target, as per RAW. It's not even half explained, or weirdly said, you don't need to twist your eye in order to see what you want: PHB p.85: "when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one paladin spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage." When you HIT. meaning you need to now that you did HIT the target. Sure DM can homebrew and nerf whatever they want, but they shoudl warn player BEFORE character creation about any homebrew so the player can create it's character knowing about the homebrew rules.

[@MrNicster]

A really interesting build I have tried, you can throw yourslf at was a Kalashtar Barbarian/Rogue subclassing into Bear Totem and Swashbuckler. The way those classe mesh and the fact that you backstab with finesse weapons using strength is awesome. The only downside I could find, is not being able to use the rage damage bonus, but hey :). Now it can aslo be argued that you don't need Swashbuckler because you can just reckless attack, but sometimes you just want that extra bit of defence, while still being able to sneak attack someone to the face. Naratively I play the sneak attack less of a precise attack to a specific vulnarable body part and more like a brutal gory cut that just fucks you up. Without getting into any more details I will let you do the nose dive at see it yourself, but survivability and great sustained great damage combined with a lot of utility is it's key features. Hope you can use it for something :)

[@MrNicster]

Of course if you're curious and want to ping pong ideas or ask something. Let me know.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I do have plans for a full Rogue tank build, and yes, a dip into Bear Barb would likely be part of it :). Not sure when I'll get there, but one day!

[@jk2l]

For my choice i think best for Lockadin is Shadar-Kai. They worship the Raven Queen as deity so perfect choice for paladin, and also they can either have the Raven Queen as their Patron or they have something from shadowfell that give them power.

[@Phaze_MC]

Adding Assassin for those last 3 levels will skyrocket those numbers

[@DnDDeepDive]

*if you can get a surprise round off! :) Also, 2 levels in fighter would give you a round where you potentially smite 5 times in a single turn, at the expense of some Psychic Blades damage and some spell slots for smiting, but I wanted to keep the multi-classing at 3 here :).

[@jeffdietz630]

Ensuring all hits are crits is nice but I think action surging provides biggest nova burst. If faced with a hard choice of 3 levels of rogue vs 2 levels of fighter Ild probably opt the fighter route. Both options are considered here in Treenantmonks 1000 dpr build. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5atdYp9Zbqfqa8

[@MasterCrambY]

I love the combination of paladin and warlock. its like a deathknight. i will play something like this in the next campain. But i have a question. At the first damage report at level 6. How can you cast hex, darkness and use eldritch smite with 2 spellslots or am i getting something wrong?

[@DnDDeepDive]

It’s darkness *or* hex. Both require concentration. Gotta choose. Usually advantage will get you more damage than 1d6.

[@raizenzero7025]

FINALLY able to watch this....I love to comment as I watch so here's my comment about Nova vs Sustained. I am a massive can of nova cause it feels "epic" but lately I have felt myself really holding back cause I don't like the burn out.

[@mariofuentes2433]

hi Im going to start a campaing at 14 lvl and I like this build but we are going to be bad guys and divine smite isnt going to be really great, could you give me advise a change for the paladin class? please

[@dennisjordan5917]

I would love to see a sorlock that is optimized as a support tank. I was playing a sorcerer and shortly after taking one level in hexblade the party composition changed significantly and we were in need of a tank/frontline fighter. My character had been the main blaster up until that point but I shifted a couple things around and to my surprise I became a very effective tank. I didn’t have super high hp but with the shield spell and mirror image I was pretty hard to hit and still did decent range damage with hex and eb/scorching ray or fireball, decent melee damage with quickened booming blade, and good support with twin haste or protection from energy. I would love to see you compare the difference between 1/2/3 levels of warlock. You would get more spell slots/sorcery points back on a short rest with more warlock, and would gain invocations/pact boon, but would get more total sorcery points and higher level spells with more sorcerer. I ended up going straight back to sorcerer for animate objects and to get counter spell quicker, and I was a wild magic sorcerer which is far from optimal, but going divine soul or clockwork would be great for support and going aberrant mind would give more control and debuff options. Idk maybe it’s more interesting to me that others, but I think the idea of a sorcerer/hexblade support tank would be really unique and interesting. There are so many different ways you could go with the different subclasses I kind of got lost, but it might be a fun exercise for you to narrow down to the most optimal build.

[@Haveuseenmyjetpack]

What you want is the ULTIMATE nova/sustainable DPR build. If you need to melt a Big Bag, you can, if you want to trickle use the resources through 4-5 rounds of combat, with no long rest, you can do that too! Barbarian Path of Beast Barbarian 3, Paladin 5, Fighter Echo Knight 3 (then, Hexblade Warlock 1, and War Cleric 1-2, or Monk 2 for Flurry if Blows, if you want). With an eldritch claw tattoo, +1 insignia claws, displacer cloak, half plate adamantine armor, and butcher's bib, *you MELT* -- especially with crits + smites, action surge -- and you'll be critting a LOT with so many attacks (4-5 standard, up to 8-11 depending on whether you use action surge, if hasted) combined with reckless attack.

[@tomtomlinson2835]

It's Tuesday at last! Huzzah! Hi Colby.

[@DnDDeepDive]

/wave

[@MellonVegan]

I know you said you're not here to argue about crit fishing but... why would anyone ever be against that? The wording is quite clear. When you hit, you can use smite (or flourish or whatever). So you hit and then you expend. I think deciding one after the other is quite clearly implied. Anything you call before the attack would otherwise be lost on a miss (with spells and other abilities).

[@raizenzero7025]

I would love to see you do Pathfinder builds now lol

[@cornycornsnake]

How are we still using a D10 weapon during the critfishing section? I thought we had to give that up when we chose to keep devil sight over improved pact weapon?

[@DnDDeepDive]

At level 3 we'd have Devil's Sight and Improved Pact weapon for our Invocations (dropping Fiendish Vigor). At level 5, when we get our 3rd invocation, we'd pick up Thirsting Blade. I wouldn't drop Improved pact weapon unless I had a magic glaive/halberd of +1 or better.

[@oljigg1202]

Wish he'd speak a little faster. I've only recently started watching this channel but I keep having to set playspeed to 1.5. That is basically a very small complaint because I am thoroughly enjoying his content. Keep up the great job. Subscribed.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hey thanks and welcome! I definitely tend to ramble and take no offense if you kick it up to 1.5 :). That said, I *think* my last few vids have been a little bit more up tempo, thanks to Mr. Rogers editing skills, but I doubt I'll ever be particularly speedy >.>

[@oljigg1202]

Wow fast reply. Great content. I actually enjoy the rambling. I'm just a speed listener. I listen to critical role on 1.5x standardly.

[@Reepicheep-1]

The music tempo would be off though. The calm confidence (CHA +4) benefits from the slower speaking.

[@sebastiannilsson3309]

What’s your view on the UA stone sorcerer? Does it seem balanced or OP to you? I’m doing a multiclass with rogue to get some smites and still have two attacks from quickened GFB. Not as high dmg as your builds, I know :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hm... Stone Aegis feels a wee bit OP to me - I think to keep in line they'd need to put a limit on the # of times you could use it per long rest (Charisma Mod, Proficiency Bonus, etc.). Even then, a 1 minute long damage reduction that *also* leads to extra movement and damage is really strong. Would be fun to try out!

[@sebastiannilsson3309]

@@DnDDeepDive yeah I would agree. But it feels sooo good to be able to more reliably get that out of turn sneak attack damage!

[@Ragenarok]

Did you consider a bladesinger wizard (picking up crossbow expert at wiz4 in this video, in addition to a small dip in Sorcerer. Main action: Weapon attack, with eldritch & divine smite second attack forgone for a casting of eldritch blast Bonus action: Quickened spell eldritch blast Add bestow curse/hex/ spirit shroud to this and that's a spicy meatball

[@DnDDeepDive]

I *always* consider Bladesinger. For every single character build 😛

[@kbowman772]

Do bards get hold monster? I mean with hold monster for a 1v1, you can guarantee a crit for your crit fishing

[@Zedacuequinha]

A cool advantage in going sorc instead of bard is saving a feat since you wont need PAM since your bônus action is already weaponized with quickened spell and booming blade

[@DnDDeepDive]

Good for burst, bad for when you’re out of Sorc points :). Also, we wouldn’t be able to do this until… level 10, I believe? But mid/late game is strong.

[@Zedacuequinha]

@@DnDDeepDive indeed the bard variant deals damage more consistently but in regard tô the level, the bard variant would Also need lvl 10 to deAl that extra dmg Edit: oh now i see you were refering tô the quickened spell vs PAM

[@Loenardo36]

Hey, great content, love your videos, there is only one thing that I ask. When you’re talking about spells, could you just throw their description up on the screen? Maybe a shortened version for the longer ones. It would just help understand where these numbers come from a bit easier. Either way great content!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Lots of things on my "to do" list for improvements, and this is one :). Need more time! Or an employee... >.>

[@fernandobroca]

why in 6th level we do 3 atacks? 2 from polearm master, ok, but where is the 3rd?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thirsting Blade Prerequisite: 5th level, Pact of the Blade feature You can attack with your pact weapon twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

[@fernandobroca]

@@DnDDeepDive TKS