Hey All,
So, looking for guidance on a character build. I suck at the number crunching and stuffs. Going to be playing in an adventure where characters go from 7th level to 15th level. Going to be evil bad guys bent on world domination or some such shenanigans and tom foolery. min-maxing / munchkin-ing is allegedly encouraged.
With that in mind, was hoping you good folks could possibly give me some idears for builds on:
a combination of the most:
dps,
defenses / saves
attacks / round
survivability
in short, something that essentially can tank / dps from levels 7-15.... annnnnnd.... go! 
appreciate it.
Also, for what it's worth, starting stats are retarded-high:
18, 17, 16, 15, 15, 15
And as far as dps goes, looking more for regular damage versus relying on crits, if that makes any sense?!?
Thanks ladies n gents!
Barbarian 5, Moon Druid x is a nigh-invulnerable tank that can soak up enormous amounts of damage. It's especially good with your high stat array since that helps with its Unarmored Defense and mitigates this build's multiple attribute dependency. The key feature of this build is the fact that Rage, Extra Attack, and Unarmored Defense stack with Wild Shape, dramatically improving the power of your wild shape forms. Even when you're not tanking in Wild Shape, you still have great melee damage from Rage, Reckless Attack and Brutal Critical. On top of that you still have all your druid spells at the ready to use in case you need them.
The Barbarian Archetypes are a huge part of this build. If you choose Wolf Totem for your Barbarian archetype, you can give all your melee allies advantage against anything you're standing near. This is a ludicrously powerful ability. While it won't affect your damage, it will absolutely skyrocket your group's damage, and will synergize extremely well if any allies have Great Weapon Master. If you choose Bear totem, your Rage's resistance expands from just mundane weapons to all damage types except Psychic. If your group has several melee characters, I'd recommend Wolf over Bear.
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Paladin has the best saves in the game with their Aura of Protection, and boosts nearby allies saves by a large amount as well. Vengeance Paladin is a candidate for best DPR class, and Paladins in general have very good damage. Ancients Paladin has an aura that gives resistance to all magic damage. Paladins also have some of the best nova capability in the game with their Divine Smite ability, and have a wide array of built-in healing and support abilities like Lay on Hands and Cleansing Touch on top of their spellcasting.
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If your group doesn't already have a Paladin, I'd highly recommend that. Aura of Protection will be a huge boon to your group. If they do have a Paladin, then the aura of protection doesn't stack, so go with the Barbarian/Druid build.
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As far as Feat strategies go, Great Weapon Master is good with Barbarian since Reckless Attack gives you a better crit chance. However, Barbarian/Druid won't benefit from it when Wild Shaped, so I'd instead recommend Sentinel. It's a great way to protect your party and boost your damage at the same time. You've gotta be careful though, because Sentinel is less effective if multiple party members have it. Make sure you coordinate with your party to decide who should get it.
For the Paladin, Polearm Master synergizes really well with Improved Divine Smite, but Great Weapon Master synergizes better with Haste and Hunter's Mark for Vengeance Paladins. If your party has a reliable source of Advantage, such as a wolf-totem barbarian, go with Great Weapon Master. Otherwise go with Polearm Master. It's worth noting that Polearm Master synergizes extremely well with Sentinel, since it lets you stop enemies in their tracks before they can even get close enough to attack you.
If you decide you'd rather favor tankiness slightly more than damage, and want to use a Shield over a 2-hander, then Shield Master is a good choice for the Paladin. For the Barbarian, however, it's useless in Wild Shape. Shield Master lets you shove enemies with your bonus action, potentially knocking them prone for an easy source of Advantage. If you already have an easy source of advantage, like a wolf-totem barbarian,, this won't be very useful. Also note that huge or larger creatures are immune to shoves.
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Let me know if you'd like me to go into any more detail.
awesome advice, thanks man!
So far, from what I know, it's a large party actually which consists of damn near every class. haha:
paladin
ranger
fighter battlemaster
rogue assassin
sorcercer
cleric (war domain)
illusionist
So it sounds like the Barb / Druid combo would be nice. I know that Flame Blade and Shillelagh are pretty sexy when not in wild shape, for druids.
I kind of also had wild delusions of grandeur with like a druid / monk, using shillellagh and smackin fools in the face. Haha.
awogaman wrote:
With those crazy stats a monk/barbarian can be awesome.
Use str as your to hit stat, two levels in barbarian gives you advantage plus the rage damage on every hit. Three to give all melee allies advantage.
Normal human to max those odd scores, 19/18/17/16/16/16 which will be 20/18/18/16/16/16 after your ABI at 4.
I'd go monk 1-5, barbarian 6-8, then I'd probably return to monk. You can grapple like a mofo too, when necessary.
If monk/druid really appeals that is a totally legit Gish build. I'd take land druid as you don't need wild form to melee. You want 5 monk levels at least to start, after that you can go pure druid or go half and half overall depending how much you want to focus on melee vs spells.
Monk/cleric is also nice, some really cool concepts available there too. Like knowledge cleric monk who'll read minds.
awogaman wrote:
Since I'm almost positive Warlocks double attack stacks with the extra attak a barbarian grants. you could probably put out some terrifying damage as a STR warlock/barb wielding a Gaxe. I dont have my book so I cant be sure on the exact details of how it would work out but im pretty sure it does, and with 20STR/CHA up you could be doing 8d6+40 each attack even before the rage buffs it would leave you a bit less tanky than a dedicated barbarian build but the dps would would be staggering and you could also run Armor of Agathys and Flame shield nonsense at the same time.
Yag007 wrote:
Wolf totem barbarian for sure. Then go with the moon druid combo Strill suggested above since you got the stats for it. Since it sounds like the DM is going for an epic save the world kinda of build I suggest you roleplay the character as the noble savage rather than a wood chipper. Take some good social skills and make friends with the NPC’s.
Strill wrote:
Order of Shadows Wood Elf Monk 6/Rogue 1 with Skulker (and 18 dex becomes 20). Invest more levels in Rogue for more backstabbing damage and possibly assassin or arcane trickster abilities. Take the Ritual Caster feat for Wizards and get a poisonous familiar. Invest in the Stealth skill. Operate at night or underground (in darkness) whenever possible. This gives a speed of 50 (10 squares, if you use a grid) and a bonus action to move another 60 ft (or 12 squares) with the possibility of another 50 if you Dash. Further, darts do a minimum of d6+5 damage and you have two chances to hit and add sneak attack from range. Unarmed attacks can stun in addition to being able to make 3 per round, do d6+5 damage, and possibly add sneak attack damage.
Cleric 1/Wizard (Necromancer) 6 High Elf (17 Int becomes 18, 18 wis, 16 dex becomes 18). Get a breastplate or full plate ASAP (and use your shield). Take War Caster (and eventually Spell Sniper). Take the Animate Dead spell (and find corpses...). Advance as a Wizard and think about taking the extra HP feat at wizard 12 instead of boosting Int. Copy all the spells. Inflict Wounds at higher spell slots as an opportunity attack because of War Caster. Use your shield. Wear rings for holy focus and arcane focus on the same hand (non shield, not that it matters as much with War Caster). Don't bother with weapons other than to carry one (cantrips should take care of this: shocking grasp, chill touch, fire bolt, ray of frost, prestidigitation, light, mending, guidance).
Other people have mentioned great melee builds.
EDIT: Mount a crystal focus in a ring for the Arcane Focus.
Are those stats your starting level 1 Stats (ie: you can add ability advances on top of that if you take a character over level 4 in a class.) or are they your level 7 stats (advancement included)?
could also roll with an arcane archer build:
Go variant Human and bump the 17 and 18 and take Resilient CON for
19DEX,18CHA,16CON,16WIS,15INT,15STR
Grab Sharpshooter for your level 4 feat, and take your 8th level in ranger for your second feat
ranger3/bard4 (eventual ranger4/bard16). at 7 you would be rocking 3d8+2d6+10 per attack and when you snagged swiftquiver at lvl 10 you would be doing 5d8+20 whil having tons of spell versatility as well
With those stats I would go Paladin/Sorcerer.
What's nice about this build is that you'll have 4th level spell slots to smite by level 8 which will make the other pally at the table cry foul. The sorc spells will also make you super tanky or dps depending on what each combat calls for. If facing a baddy with lots of attacks cast blur. If youre looking for another attack and some AC then cast haste. Shield spell will be a main staple.
Go Human, Starting Stats at lvl 7 would be:
HP: (averages) 60 AC 20 (halfplate, dex, fighting style, shield) 22 with haste (27 with shield spell)
Saves: Str: +4, Dex: +2, Con: +6, Int: +2, Wis: +3, Chr: +7
Str: 18, Dex: 15, Con: 16, Int: 15, Wis: 16, Chr: 18
Level Progression:
1st: Sorcerer(1), start with sorc for Constitution Save Prof.
2nd: Pally(1) Pick up medium armor and light and martial weapons, Lay on Hands, Divine Sense
3rd: Pally(2) Smite, Pally Spells, Fighting Style (I recomend +1 AC sense you said you want to Tank)
4th - 10th: Sorcerer(2-8): Meta Magic (huge for fast buffs via quicken spell), Font of magic for more smites
11th-15th: Paladin (3-7): Divine Health, Sacred Oath (being an evil group youll only be able to take the Oath of Veneance) Extra Attack, Aura of Protection
Feats/Ability Boost:
Human: Polearm Master-This feat is really important for this build, the bonus action attack will be great for your smites and the reaction AoO will come into play a lot.
6th level (4th lvl Sorc): War Caster (being the tank you'll want to have advantage on your Con saves, also you'll need it to cast spells being you'll have a weapon and shield in your hands)
10th level (8th lvl Sorc): +2 Strength
12th level (4th lvl Paly): +2 Charisma
At level 15 you'll have 4 Attacks around with your Haste and Bonus Attack.
You'll have a great spell list and be very tanky and dps.
Some sort of answer to the above post. You can't have a shield and a glaive/halberd at the same time. You are only left with the quarterstaff option, which is pretty meh, both in terms of damage and style (personally cannot imagine an evil pally set out for world domination to get his sweet revenge on the fouls that once wronged him by smacking them with a wooden staff). Also your extra attack come pretty late in the game with this level progression.
Add mirror image to the spells that let you tank (not as good as blur, but it does not require concentration). Also twinned spell and haste is a powerfull combination. If you can manage to fit in there somewhere 2 levels of fighter, you also get action surge. If so, start as a fighter. You still get con save proficiency, also proficiency with heavy armors (that's essentially +1 to AC), and 3 more hit points. I am not sure if it's worth it though, but you will sure have a rediculous high nova if you use action surge, smites, and a quickened spell. My opinion is to go with a maul or a greataxe, as you will need the bonus actions for other staff than to attack with the secondary end of the polearm, and you get +10 damage from the great weapon master feat (sure you get -5 to your attack but you ll have advantage by vow of enmity when you go for those extra damage).
Yag007 wrote:
With those stats I would play a mountain dwarf abjuration wizard. You get medium armor proiciency, access to versatile hammers and axes, so you don't need to worry about the warcaster feat. (you wouldn't just wielding a two handed weapon anyway)
I'm assuming the starting stats are before racial modifiers, which would leave you with
Str: 19
Dex: 15
Con: 18
Int: 18
Wis: 15
Cha: 15
You would have access to all the utility of a wizard, plus good martial weapons and half plate for an ac of 17, before the shield spell.
This build makes you able to mitigate damage for yourself or others with Arcane Ward. At level 10 you become an amazing counter-spell and dispell magic caster, removing some of the toughest aspects of challenges against casters. At level 14 you get Spell Resistance, which makes you an even more amazing tank.
Feats to consider: Alert, +2 to Int, Observant, +1 to str and dex, sentinel, mage slayer, constitution resiliency, dexterity resiliency, +2 to con
good skills: Perception, insight and or Investigation, Arcane, Athletics best background features would be sage or acolyte with modified skills and tools/languages depending on campaign I think.
*the above skills will help you perceive threats, counterspell, and break grapples.
Amazing spells to consider..shield, fire-shield, mirror image, see invis, blur, misty step, protection from good and evil, chill tough, shocking grasp, banishment...well the list goes on.
I don't think any other tank would have as much utility or as many answers to variable threats as this build. The stable damage will come from spells, you will have more aoe attacks than any other tank, and more ways to get around pesky immunities and resistances. Plus enemy lockdown and removal is so much better than damage in some combats where you need a threat gone now, not after ten rounds of whittling away at hp.
awesome builds everyone! Thank you all. a lot to consider.
Also, yes, those are the stats at level 1. Pretty redonkulous I know. hahaha.
I've heard a lot of people say the barb / moon druid combo is pretty sexy.
I do have some questions about the shape changing or whatever for druids. I thought they got all the stats of the animal but kept their mental attributes? Do they get to use the higher of their stats for physical as well, or are they hosed with the animals? The strongest animal I saw at starting would be brown bear I believe; with +5 to hit.
It seems like the barb rage stuffs will work w/ the shape change, but wasn't sure if the characters base stats and abilities would.
anywho's, thanks all for your help!
Nope, you'd take the physical stats of the bear, even if they are lower then your normal stats. You might actually be losing stats if you go druid... the free HP in animal form is really nice... but not sure if its the best for your stats.
You might want to try monk.
1)Monk is very stat dependant.
2) Monk is at its worse low levels which you are skipping.
3) Monks can tank VERY well.
Stats look something like this at lvl 7:
WoodElf Monk: AC: 20 (naked) Base Speed: 50ft
str: 15, dex: 20, con: 16, int: 16, wis: 20, chr: 15
With this simple yet amazing character you'll be a stealthy tank, that is stunning people left and right. You'll have evasion, 3-4 attacks a round, or 2 and dodge action... Your two weapon attacks can stun peoplewith stunning strike. Go way of the open hand so you can knock your targets prone when you flurry which will help your party memembers that are in melee with you.
awogaman wrote:
Yeah, AC-wise, Barbarians can have the highest. Level 20 could have a 24 con and 20 dex, with shield could potentially be AC: 24, not counting any sort of ring of protection and such and who knows if there'll be anything else to stack it up higher when the DMG comes out.