For my first run, I focused largely on engaging the roleplay elements and didn’t worry too much about optimization.
For my tactician run, I’m attempting to utilize about as much OP shenanigans in my party as possible, and I’m having a great time with it so far. What are your favorite OP builds to actually play?
Bonus points if they’re viable all the way through the game without respec-ing.
My party:
Smiter: Paladin 5 / Warlock 7
Progression: P2 -> W5 -> P5 -> W7
Starting stats: 16, 10, 14, 8, 10, 16
Feats: PAM/GWM/Cha+2, Cha+2
Equipment: 2H weapon, best heavy armor, anything that grants advantage
Notes: Smite with warlock slots. Subclasses don’t matter much, but choose Pact of the Blade (extra attack stacks with Paladin’s).
Alternates: P5/W5/F2 for action surge.
Thrower: Berserker 6 / Thief 3 / Champion 3
Progression: B5 -> Ro3 -> F3 -> B6
Starting stats: 17, 14, 16, 8, 10, 8
Feats: Tavern Brawler (Str+1)
Equipment: Sword-and-board, best medium armor, throwing bonuses
Notes: Throw everything and everyone. Keep a few nice magic 2H weapons for bonus throws.
Alternates: B6/R4/F2 or B8/R4 for additional feats.
Sniper: Assassin 3 / Gloomstalker 5 / Champion 4
Progression: Ro3 -> Ra5 -> F4
Starting stats: 14, 16, 16, 8, 12, 8
Feats: Sharpshooter, Dex+2
Equipment: Dual hand crossbows, best light armor (until later…), anything sneak- or surprise-related
Notes: If surprising a group, drink a haste potion and end the encounter solo.
Alternates: Any combination of A3/G5/F2 or A3/G3/F5 seems viable.
Bear: Moon Druid 12
Starting stats: 14, 10, 17, 8, 16, 8
Feats: Tavern Brawler (Con+1), Warcaster, Wis+2/Resilient (Con+1)
Notes: Be a bear. Enough said.
Alternates: D7/C5–cast Spirit Guardians before assuming bear form.
The best build I’ve played is my Bard in this playthrough. Swords bard, dex based sharpshooter, 2 hand crossbows, 2 hand fighting style, and 2 levels in paladin oath of the Ancients. You’re a skill monkey with dex and charisma, so you can do almost anything in the game as good as any other character, you have sleight of hand and persuasion expertise so you can disable traps, pick locks, and persuade conversations. You get medium armor proficiency, or heavy if you take pally first, so you have high AC and high dodge, so you can front line. You have smite and a ton of spells slots. You can one-shot big bads. With the ranged slashing flourish you can attack 5 times in a single turn for high damage. And to top it all off you have heals, crowd control, and a pretty great spell arsenal. There’s literally nothing this build can’t do. Not only can it do everything, it can do most things better than dedicated classes. The only two things I’ve found done better by other classes are mass healing from a cleric, or lots of AOE damage from a wizard. Anyways, I absolutely LOVE this build.