The Stealth Bomber: D&D Build
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- An Arcane Assassin? I'm not talking about a gish; I'm talking about a build that Assassinates with spells and spells alone. And my goodness can it burst!
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Intro 0:00
Magic Spoon 5:10
Level 1 7:33
Level 2-6 13:48
Level 7-9 26:41
Level 10-13 35:13
Level 14-17 44:36
Final Thoughts. 48:22
Outtakes 51:54
Math/Graph for this episode: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Master Nova Damage Comparison (5 tabs):
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Great ad read in the video, please enunciate 4 to 5 grams of net carbs. I thought you said "45 grams of net carbs, which is so low for cereal"
Don't forget! Bugbears automatically get Stealth proficiency 🤓
So does Owlin, but you trade the bugbear's reach for flight.
EDIT: I forgot about bugbear surprise attack
I don't even play DnD but there's something calming about his voice and interesting in the creativity of the builds. Keep thinking there may be new ideas to bring into BG3 that creep in
Same here
You should definitely start playing, you probably know at least half of the basic rules from Colby already
In contrast, I play D&D, but I typically DM so I watch these videos mostly just for fun.
@@TreebohrOr get inspiration to make truly terrifying villains ;D
I mean this build could be a deadly encounter altogether
The obvious trigger for Contingency is: When I apply my hexblade's curse to a target, invoke the 5th level spirit shroud. Alternatively, the trigger could be yelling "Surprise!"
If you want to get a higher chance of going first you could also get the uncommon warning weapon. You can’t be surprised and advantage on initiative rolls.
Yup! Sentinel Shield also gives advantage on initiative, as well as on perception checks--I think it's my favorite uncommon item in the game
@@ColinKillickit’s what I gave the fighter in my campaign, they built themselves as a tank joining a campaign 3 sessions in specifically because I had 5 players all pick casters and they were having the classic problem of always rolling near the bottom of initiative
For the fighting style at level 1, superior technique with the ambush maneuverer could be a good option to help with initiative rolls maybe?
And swashbuckler instead of assassin to get CHA added to your initiative rolls
@@Trauma284if you go swashbuckler you can’t get the instant crit.
@@MrSpectralfire the instant crit is circumstantial. It's not reliable. The bugbear surprise attack is more reliable than a surprise status. So having a higher initiative will reliably get you those 2d6 and if you are stuck in melee range you can always get that 1v1 sneak attack with a booming blade in a pinch. Just keep a shortsword or rapier on hand. 1d6+2d6 sneak+1d8 thunder(at lvl 5 scaling on higher levels)+modifier(+1d6 hex if it's already active) plus swasbuckler now gives you a free disengage from fancy footwork for taking that swing so you can get your squishy self out of danger and still bonus action dash to get further away.
It's not gonna compare to a scorching ray. But in melee you'll have dis advantage and have to use you BA to disengage instead of a free one.
There was another channel that has a similar build that used the maneuver and alert feat to almost guarantee going before the enemies. It's really disappointing when you can't do the nova round because of a bad initiative
Could you imagine switching the damage type to slashing or piercing as the only requirement for sneak attack? A arcane assassin can dream …
I recently played a lvl 6 one shot where I played your War Priest where we got ambushed by a hill giant while taking a long rest. The look on everyone's face when the seemingly harmless cleric grabbed the fighter's greatsword and took out the giant in one round was priceless. I already have the character locked in for the next campaign I play in.
You mentioned that Scorching Ray has 120ft range and Spirit Shroud only has 10ft "range". I think it's also very important to mention that Hexblade's Curse also only has 30ft range to apply (you can run away after applying it). So if you aren't confident you can get within 30ft of your target and still surprise them, probably better to skip the Warlock level.
This.
But even so I think the warlock dip isn't completely useless if hbc isn't used. You'd still have eldritch blast as an emergency surprise cantrip (low pluses but advantage and crit on multiple attacks), and can pick hex and use it with your warlock slots or use hbc on rounds after the burst
My thought here is you are going to need invisibility going in most non dark situations, in order to get within 60', then move in 30' and nova. And that goes to hell if anyone can see invis or smell or otherwise sense you.
@@osmunlo6 remember the EB only uses you CHR mod to attack with.
My favorite part of this is that overkill damage isn't terribly wasted breaking up rays across multiple enemies. In best case scenarios.
That is a very good point. Bonus points for not wasting dps.
Colby has been so creative since Mom came out 😂.
Love it that even after so many years this game can still SURPRISE. Thanks Colby. P.S. Just noticed the pun
What a great build! You might consider to take Lucky instead of Alert. Additionally, if you've reached a high level in this build and have the chance to encounter the enemy before the actual battle (quite rare, but we're here to explore every possibility, right?), for instance, if you want to kill a noble the day after an encounter, you can use the bag of rats trick. Cast a fifth-level hex on a rat, sneakily release the rat during the noble's encounter, pretend to be frightened by the rat's companion, and kill the rat. Then, with a bonus action, transfer the hex to the noble without them noticing, choosing Dexterity as the ability check for disadvantage. Bid farewell to the noble, go to bed, and recover the fifth-level slot. The next day, stealthily approach the noble, following Colby's description, without casting Spirit Shroud but maintaining concentration on the hex from the previous day (a fifth-level hex lasts up to 24 hours). Even though you have an additional 1d6 for an attack instead of Spirit Shroud's 1d8, initiative is a Dexterity ability check, so the noble has disadvantage. Moreover, with Lucky, you can reroll your stealth check (although you already have advantage as a bugbear), your initiative, and the rolls to hit with Scorching Ray if you happen to miss.
Very interesting! My only gripe with any build around the "Assasinate" ability is that, like the wild Magic sorcerer, you are totally dependent on your DM, allowing you to use your class ability. But it's still an awesome and fun build, Colby!
Indeed - I think it still works really well if you *don't* have surprise, as long as you can attack at least one enemy before their first turn, but yeah, surprise makes it broken.
@@DnDDeepDiveIf I'm not mistaken, with manifest mind, the spell you cast through it are treated as you being in the space that your mind is in. So you could cast spirit shroud outside of a dungeon, have your mind run in, and blow up an enemy. This also makes surprise MUCH easier to get. So once you hit level 12, I daresay you could RELIABLY have both spirit shroud and surprise
@aidandunne5978 RAW surprise is 100% DM dependent. So "Reliable" is a bit of a stretch. Just gotta butter up your DM when presenting this Character concept at session 0. 😅
@@chrisg8989 Well yeah, assuming DM buy in though, it's a way to mostly guarantee spirit shroud
@@chrisg8989Remeber that Assassin Rouge get advantage on every attacks against an enemy that hasn't go in combat yet, independent if it's surprised or less.
I wanna just say that you’re the highlight of my Tuesdays! Thanks for the hard work man!
Colby, you're awesome! I love the concept and creativity on this one, there's a couple of things you mentioned I hadn't yet thought of or missed eventhough I rummage through the books all the time. Thanks for the inspiration!
Two things immediately came to mind:
- This build in general makes me want to make a Warlock variant where you're a Fighter/Rogue/Lock based around Eldritch Blasts and Rogue/Lock just fits so well thematically in my opinion, you could even make it more of a multiclass monster and throw in sorcerer for quickened spell, Action: Eldritch Blast, BA: Quickened Eldritch Blast, Action Surge: Eldritch Blast... that's a lot of pew pew. And the best thing is that all of them add your charisma modifier and can potentially knock your targets back.
- Using scribe to deal bludgeoning damage with a spell.. whenever I hear bludgeoning I think Crusher feat, Crusher also reads "An attack", so essentially you can give scorching ray the Repelling Blast effect this way.
Ive played a Sorcerer Assassin (So11, Ro4) who was lethal due to the metamagic options (Subtle spell, Empowered, Quickened with Mind Sliver). The high charisma help with getting out of delicate situations too. Great in a city game or with high population games.
I would love to see a build featured around the graviturgy wizard. It gets a lot of flack but I think I has a lot of potential and you are the best person to bring out the best in this subclass. ❤
Treantmonk made a graviturgy Wizard Build just not a completely damage focused one.
I do appreciate you laying down surprise rules in this video, well done!
Honestly one of the best things for doing this build at my groups table is that we use bg3 multiclassing rules. So the charisma isn't needed. I might play this if the shadow blade blade singer I'm playing dies (thank u for that build Colby)
Lol Colby, a sphere of bludgeoning damage is... a bomb 😂
Incredible build!
If the DM allows it- Gift of Alacrity would be a great spell to boost initiative.
that is an incredible build, and since i've heard of it, scribes wizard has always been one of my personal favorite subclasses for wizard. i can think of so many fun character concepts based around it
I was really expecting a tempest cleric do at the end to max one of the scorching ray rolls (that you have changed to lightning damage).
I was watching DnD CZcams for like a year before I got my books without knowing what a Scribe Wizard was. Its really undervalued and I appreciate this video bc its such a cool subclass!
I feel like the chronurgy subclass is possibly a bit better by the numbers for this build. Also, gift of alacrity
I feel like I'm missing something. Why do wizard? Why not sorcerer instead?
1) It's more SAD with the Warlock dip
2) You get Con save proficiency and could start sorc rather than fighter to get the build more functional earlier and dip fighter later
3) Metamagic could change the fire damage type when you need to very easily
4) Draconic Sorcerer could give a bit of extra damage to our fire blasts, a good dex based AC, and a bit more health than a wizard
With this one could even dump INT and raise WIS to take a dip into Tempest Cleric to max damage with transmute spell
I said the same thing. I guess he wanted more damage type options, but idk
Spirit Shroud is not on the Sorcerer list. You could go Sorcerer after Wizard 5; this choice allows you to upcast both Scorching Ray and Spirit Shroud with the multiclass slots. I would probably go War Magic instead of Scribes Wizard if you do though.
@@psheehytrue, but a Divine Soul Sorcerer gets access to the Cleric spell list, so they would get access to spirit shroud. I know the original comment said Draconic and that wouldn’t work but Divine Soul works fine.
Colby, you're a mad man. I love it.
Came for the build, stayed for the fight against the camera.
back in D&d 3.5e era there was a prestige class "magelord" (Lost Empires of Faerun I guess).
Everything about ruthless arcane casters-duelists with some roguish dirty tricks in their bag (or book?) - very similar vibes of it.
Thanks!
Love the sfx in this one, and the Mob abides!
The one I came up with was Bugbear Tempest Cleric 2 (of course)/Scribe Wizard X/Assassin 3. Guaranteed 168 on each hit with Steel Wind Strike, makes 840 assuming you have enough opponents to target with it. Second best option is Scorching Ray for 10 hits (thanks to Transmuted Spell bypassing the limits on Scribe Wizard) at 48 each giving 480 total damage that you can spread in 48-point increments as you please.
My version of "stealth bomber" that I used in a post apocalyptic setting, was mostly rogue(1+4-12) with a 2-lvl dip in conjuration wizard. I used minor conjuration to make dynamite since it is not considered magical. Many much boom. XD
Though probably less optimal, I went with arcane trickster so I could build onto the spells I got with wizard. The invisible mage hand, misty step and invisibility all came in really handy. :)
Thank you! You really got me thinking about this build.
Oh, how I love wizard's builds.
It's like "you have this incredibly powerful burst option for when the planets align, but when they don't, you have a dozen other options that are fun, diverse and pretty powerful too"
Thank for one more amazing episode. I think this one went directly to my top 3 "to play next" list
The title and thumbnail caption remind me of the Ordinator mod perks from skyrim. There's a perk that allows you to cast silently and I think one that buffs your spells while in stealth.
Watched your channel for the first time and I enjoyed it. You left off at level seventeed, so I took some time and thought about what I would do with the last 3 levels to reach 20. After some thinking, I decided to take 3 levels in Ftr. Better Hp's in the last lap. Martial Archetyple (I choose Eldritch for obvious reasons) +1 ability or a feat (still mulling that over) and an extra attack. Haven't finished crushing the math, and when I do...I'll posr the results. Keep doing a great job. I am working on a 20 level build for a one-shot and I'm building an Aasaimir (Protector sub-class) Paladin (Oath of Conquest), Divine Soul Sorcerer and Celestial Warlock. Version one is 7 Pal, 8 Sorc, 5 War..staying with the whole radiant theme, I'm a pretty good mid-level Cleric (Light Domain) by default. Still tweaking though. Any Imput is welcomed.
Thank you for sharing this fun and creative character build! Awesome!!! I would add only to check with your DM to make sure that your Scribes Wizard will be able to find spell scrolls and books, gold, and materials for inscribing new spells to maximum effect
I played an assassin/magic user dual class in first edition AD&D. My favorite character from 1981 to early 2000’s. Have always longed to create one in newer editions. Thank you.
I’ve never seen someone harbor a grudge against their own creation like Colby does against the Shepherd Druid build 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Haven't gotten far into the video but I just have to say that it's always fun when you get a magic spoon sponsorship because of how sincerely enthused you are about them. 😊
Wow. Just wow. I feel like I could make some drastic changes to this character simply for preference and it would still perform great. Just, wow.
I haven't played IRL DnD in ages, and I was DM'ing mostly, but I still watch from time to time and this channel is an easy sub.
I did sorc / assassin in BG3, and you've added me a couple ideas for sure.
I had to pause making my breakfast and cackle with laughter when I realized where your build was headed. Monstrously clever, Colby. Well done.
Love it as always Colby! Just wanted to add one potential spell since I don't see it mentioned anywhere. If your table allows Acquisitions Incorporated, you can prepare Jim's Magic Missile. It seems like it would have great synergy with the assassin, not only reducing the chance of a nat 1 but autocritting with surprise as well. If all went according to plan, you could be doing 15d4 + 12d6 FORCE DMG for a level 1 spell slot. Best part is, upcasting adds additional missiles :)
Stealth bomber build hits on average with 792 dmg from 240 feets away
Hi Colby
You will get more nova damage if you go sorcerer instead of wizard, especially if you go divine and get bestow curse. Then you quickend and eldrich blast.
Since you don't have to stats divide so much i will take the matamagic feat so you have four metamagic.
race Bugbear (Surprise Attack)
Levels
2x fgt, 3xrouge(ass), 1xhex, 11x sor(divine)
figthing style (Superior Technique, Ambush +1d6 to initiative and stealth
Assassinate
Metamagic
Transmute, Quickend, Extend, Distend.
Bonus action (scorching ray lvl 6 quickend)
(7x(2x(crit) (2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 2d8 (spi))+6) = 56d6+42d8+42
Action. Eldrich blast.
(4x(2x(1d10(eld), 2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 2d8 (spi))+6 = 8d10+16d6+24d8+24
Action surge. (scorching ray 5 lvl)
6×(2x (2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 2d8 (spi)) +6 = 48d6+36d8+36
sum
120d6+102d8+8d10+102 = 420+459+44+102=1025 average dmg
Scenario:
You studie your foe, you manage to bestow curse as an upcast 5th lvl spell (extended), you take a long rest. your victim is unaware that he is cursed so he is extra vulnerable to damage dealt by you (1d8 nec) per hit.
next morning you have sneak in on him and do all as Stealth bomber build which is if all hit 1025 average dmg
Hex instead of Spirit Shroud.
Bonus action (scorching ray quickend)
(7x(2x(crit) (2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex))+6)= 70d6+14d8+42
Action. Eldrich Blast
(4x(2x(1d10(eld), 2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex))+6 = 8d10+40d6+8d8+24
Action surge.(scorching ray)
6×(2x (2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex)) +6 = 60d6+12d8+36
sum
170d6+34d8+8d10+102 = 595+153+44+102 = 894 average dmg
Scenario:
You studie your foe, you manage to bestow curse as an upcast 5th lvl spell (extended), you take a long rest. your victim is unaware that he is cursed so he is extra vulnerable to damage dealt by you (1d8 nec) per hit.
next morning you sneaked within 180 feet and cast hex 3 lvl (distend) (disadvange on dex ability aka initiative) on him then wait, maybe take a short rest get into position until the victim doesn’t suspect anything, when the time is right and the target is in position within 30 feet you hexblade cursed him, wait 6 sec then attack. The target feels weakened, but unaware of what is going to hit him since you are doing all of this in stealth mode. You 1d6 to initiative your target has disadvantage) and if you hit with all you give 894 on average at 29 feet away..
A little nugget,
If you don’t think you can hexblade curse or Spirit Shroud before an encounter in your game.
consider not to go for hexblade cursed, but you need hex and Eldrich blast, you can choose another pact.
If you choose an extra feat instead of ability increase go for Spell Sniper.
Now you can bestow cursed at 60 feet, hex at a distance of 360 feet, you can be up to 240 feets away from the target, and first act up to 7 hours later from when you cast the hex and bestow curses, before you supernova. plenty of time to noticed when the victim is unaware.
Bonus action (scorching ray quickend, sad you can’t use distant spell also)
(7x(2x(crit) (2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex)) = 70d6+14d8
Action. Eldrich Blas
(4x(2x(crit)(1d10(eld), 2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex) = 8d10+40d6+8d8
Action surge (scorching ray).
6×(2x(crit)(2d6 (ray),2d6(bug), 1d8 (cursed) , 1d6 (hex)) = 60d6+12d8
sum
170d6+34d8+8d10= 595+153+44+102= 792 average dmg
If all hit is it 792 average dmg 240 feet away, (if your DM allow distant and quickend spell on same spell, you can do this at 480 ft away)
yes you need to act before your victim in the first run, but I think you will, at 240 feets away and you have initiative +1d6 and the victim has disadvantage. You have advantage to hit on the surprised victim.
Have fun
Kasper
Actually, for the level six damage report (and very possibly others, I haven’t gotten to them yet) there is a condition: having a high enough initiative in the initiative order that there is an enemy who hasn’t gone yet when you take your first turn.
I have COVID this week but listening to this after the positive test dulls the pain for me. Thanks for the builds!
Thanks for the excellent surprise mechanic explanation!
i had a similar idea a couple months ago but with a evoker instead, though i was thinking about level 20,i was using multiple over channels to max out the damage of either a pair of scorching rays or steel wind strikes and an fifth level spirit shroud, it saves some higher level slots since over channel uses fifth level slots for even better damage, great video as always and it makes me happy that we had a similar idea
Hey, nice build again!
I would like to mention here that for those who have Acquisitions Inc. content available, you should pick Jim's Magic Missile instead of Scorching ray.
It is flat out superior in pretty much every way for this build (more damage overall with auto-crits and that extra attack compared to Scorching Ray), and since it is force damage, there is no need for damage type swapping. This way, you could take Chronurgy wizard subclass for that extra initiative instead.
Also, chronurgy provides gift of alacrity
Came here to Say exactly this
Just love when that chill intro music starts. Then I just know I'm in for at treat!
I still have quite a few older ones to watch...but this!!!! This is my favorite video yet! Just told my son I want him to do a one-shot for level 17 so I can play this at it's full potential! Flippin' Awesome! Oh my gosh! I just can't with this!
33:08 re: Hexblade’s Curse - I might rule that it depends on the creature’s WIS. A creature that’s never been to the doctor probably gets weird pains all the time and chalks it up to that 😂 but a creature with high wisdom, like a monk, would know immediately there’s been a disturbance with the force
Creature can do a wis save vs your spell save dc to see if they notice perhaps, or ask for a spellcasting stat Stealth check perhaps could be a fun way to rule it
picking up subtle spell with MMA may be fun here for trying to get away with spirit shroud without being noticed
For the algorithm:
Hex does not have any noticeable effects, however it does have Verbal, Somatic, and Material components. It does not state what gesture you perform (see Message) nor what you say (see Message and Command) so it could be very well argued that you would be noticed for the casting of the spell. It is certainly how I run my spellcasters. You could ignore this with subtle spell.
Additionally I would allow someone to cast hex, which would initiate combat, and then on your turn you would have all your actions, so you could then scorching ray. Even if you follow BG3's standard of removing the action resource used to initiate combat, (which I would also borrow BG3's Assassin's Alacrity) I would run it as a new turn which would mean you could still cast using your action
This one was deliciously fun! Made me giddy more than once, and elicited some delighted chuckles!
Also fun to think about Bugbear with Aberrant Mind Sorcerer - dip 2 levels Warlock (hex/agonize) and dip 2 fighter. Now first round, you can Scorching Ray, quicken Eldritch Blast, Action Surge, Scorching Ray adding more blasts for 2D6. Can also get Dissonant Whispers and Warcaster to use reactions with E.B. or other spells for sustained damage. Kind of combined this one and the Whisper build. Thanks for the amazing build- gears are turning on variations! @DnDDeepDive
Best part of the day, thanks Colby! 😎
This goes perfectly with the Volstrucker Agent background from EGtW! A brainwashed, arcane assassin in the service of a secret organization.
Love the build kolby I was tweaking around with this concept. If anyone was doing a 20th level one shot and knew the enimes were not going to be fire immune you could instead of scribes go evocation for the 14th level feature overchannel. With this i havent run the numbers yet but now taking the "maxium damage on the spell" you can make these crits even sillier im assuming 800+ damage in the nova at the cost of 5d12 to yourself
A Dave outro? Heck yeah! "All Along the Watchtower" if covers are aloud, otherwise it's "Bartender". Oh, and love the build. Hopefully get to use it in at least a one-shot!
I’m sure you will outpace yourself at some point lol. Every time I think you couldn’t possibly break through another ceiling, you do. I used to think the cheese grater was the craziest thing I’d ever seen in D&D lol
This is absolutely heinous. It just keeps getting more wild every time I think I have a handle on it. I love it.
I like the Scribes Wizard a lot but I feel like going Sorcerer would be a better play in the long run, you can focus on your Charisma for all the attacking and even take a second level of Warlock eventually for Agonizing Blast for great damage on subsequent rounds. Also Sorcerers get Subtle spell which would just be amazing for casting Spirit Shroud undetected. Also Coffeelocking can give you that damage multiple times a day if your DM allows it, since all your resources would be restored on a short rest.
One thing I almost forgot is that going SAD on Charisma would allow you to take Fey Touched for Gift of Alacrity to have better Initiative.
All in all this is a great Nova damage build and a fun character idea I will surely try out in a one shot.
Honorable mention although I think it might actually be higher for, Jim's Magic Missle from the AC Inc book. which starts with 3 2d4 attacks at lvl 1 and one more for every level after with the risk of all the bolts blowing up on your face if you roll a 1
And if you have an advantage from "assassinate" getting a 1 is extremely unlikely
@@solarissv777 1/400 chance lol so with the number of attacks this character will make in a lifetime it might come up a couple times so maybe grab lucky to fix that
Using spells for assassinations has always been fun, I had a Psionic assassin, College of Whispers/Soul Knife. Raulothim’s Psychic Lance was the best spell for the job, you can stay hiding around a corner as long as you knew the targets name. Now with the inclusion of the Adept of the Black Robes feat it makes it an even better spell.
Could you imagine sneaking two levels of tempest cleric on this build and casting ‘Shocking’ Ray with your channel divinity for Maxing out your (many) damage dice rolls on the auto crits you are landing?
Love your videos Colby, you always inspire me!
Thanks! I went that route with the flamethrower, but, unfortunately the max damage would only apply to one ray, rules as written :(. Your DM might allow it though!
I noticed an interesting option here - If you have Tasha's Mind Whip in your repertoire, you can nova as follows: Win Initiative, Scorching Ray on up to 7 targets for 4D6 Psychic each, if you achieved surprise, auto critting makes that 8D6 each effectively, then Mind Whip up to 4 survivors for 5D6 each, and muddle them on failed saves. Not quite the raw damage of double SR, but very handy CC added in!
I’m glad you explained the squishy bowl bc I immediately went what’s going on with that bowl
Another option for this is to use sorcerer instead of wizard here. Use the transmuted spell meta magic to change the damage type instead of scribes wizard. This avoids the requirement of having a different damaging spell of the same level known as a wizard which means if you multi class into other casters and have higher level spell slots then spells known, you can still transmute into a different damage type at those upcasted spell slots.
Yup! Just limits us to elemental damage types only, which shouldn’t be too big a problem against most enemies, though it does cost us sorc points.
@@DnDDeepDive I never even considered the spirit shroud that was amazing.
I used hex with subtle metamagic to get spells off before combat and still get surprise.
This is outstanding. I wanna play it right now
If you went Sorcerer instead of wizard and replaced your Hexblade dip with Genie Warlock, you wouldn't need to spend your bonus action to get the bonus damage, and you can use that bonus action to cast Scorching Ray as a bonus action. You'd deal even more damage per turn.
yep - spirit shroud + scorching ray. So good :)
I did this combo on a bladesinger 2 campaigns ago (so, no auto-crits, but elven accuracy + foresight..) and my party one-rounded the final boss of our campaign.. was fun :)
Very cool build. Also, you can never go wrong singing Dave.
Loving this build!!
Never forget
Dimension door, rules as written, deals force damage to yourself when you clip into the walls and therefore is valid for scribes wizard damage swapping, perfect for an upcasted fireball, or five forcing rays :)
One thing you are forgetting about Hex (which you keep discounting): it's duration is 1 hour (or 8 hours with a 3rd level slot). So if you are already concentrating on it from before initiative is rolled (say from the previous fight of the day), then I think applying hex to your target on round 1 isn't a spell cast, just a bonus action from a spell you are already sustaining. Obviously this would be INSTEAD of the hexblade curse, but is also usable on targets after the first round of combat once your first target is dead.
Aye - worth using if you’re planning on continuing to blast after your nova … I’d personally prefer to use my concentration for control I think, but know your options!
You can just have a little pre-battle good luck ritual: cast Hex on a pet, knock the creature out (or sacrifice a casting of Find Familiar), then you can transfer the hex to a new creature silently as a bonus action once you are in position, within the hour.
Part of me wants to go full Predator with 3 levels of Armorer Artificer... keeps some spell progression! Also, War Mage for initiative bonus seems juicy for this concept.
Ok, kept thinking about this today. It does get MAD. F6 (EK or Psi knight?) ART infiltrator)3 R (ASSASSIN)3 W the rest. I don't have spreadsheets though.
Hey Colby .... Just so you are made aware.. When you go to D4 the channel, and choose D&D Optimized builds, some of them are out of numeric order (43,47 for example). And some are missing (152-154 specifically). Also, it would be cool to rearrange the list so the newer ones are on top. Don't get me wrong, I go back and rewatch the older ones sometimes, but I'm usually looking for the newer ones.
You gave me a great idea for a bg3 build in here. Why not a Great Old One warlock 2, assassin 3, fighter 3 sorcerer 4? In bg3 you could still get 22 charisma,(hat+hair+mirror) take spell sniper and champion to crit on 18, and with certain robes, starting from stealth you could get 258 damage on average against an AC 16 along with frightening everyone in addition to their surprise! You will have to convert spell slots to sorcery points throughout the day, but even after the nova round, you'd still have a good eldritch blaster!
Your understanding of the stealth rules and how combat works is correct. _Any_ offensive action at all rolls initiative RAW. A nice DM might be cool with it, but casting a spell on a target intending to kill them is clearly leading to combat, you roll initiative.
13:22 Fighting style, I think it should be superior technique to get the ambush maneuver so you can add 1d6 to your initiative rolls. Only note I have.
I love this build concept and might use it for my next character but swap wizard for sorcerer to quicken eldritch blast instead of trying to deal with different bonus action buffs on turn one.
Things to consider:
-on passive perception range: Twilight Clerics grant darkvision for 300ft for what I assume is to simulate vision at day, I'd assume the passive perception would work at least that long (but keep in mind dim lit areas grant disadvantage so -5 on the passive
-Spells:
-beg one of your friends to use pass without trace, you want to surprise and that is your party's best tool, the casting friend would more than likely also enjoy it greatly to enable so much damage for the entire team
-take speak with dead (if allowed) to strike first and ask questions later, literally!
-addendum:
maybe you can convince your dm that the manifested mind can be stealthed by your arcana or int based stealth roll? I think I'd like the latter a lot and would definitely allow that in my campaign. It might not get disadvantage from dim light in darkness (but a bit counter intuitively in other dim light) and couldn't stealth in a straight line of sight even when in darkness, but could still interact with pass without trace.
Great build! But i would go with sorcerer instead of wizard personally, for a more SAD build and quickened spell eldritch blast + agonizing blast (with 2lv in warlock), at higher lvs thats 4 blasts that do 2d10+2d8(spirit shroud)+4d6(bugbear)+5(cha) each (with assassinate).
You could also go for subtle spell to have guaranteed surprises, and later grab metamagic adept to use trasmuted spell (for thunderous rays) and distant spell (for either 240f rays or up to 600f blasts if you pick eldritch spear at warlock2, thats a 600f assassinate with no spellslots).
Also also you can still have spirit shroud if you go divine soul for those wondering
This video came out just as I was making a Wizard/Rogue for my next campaign. Perfect timing
Ive personally been playing around with a similar build, taking 2 levels in tempest cleric(instead of hexblade) for Destructive Wrath... i hadnt considered dipping fighter for Action Surge though!
The sheer impact Destructive Wrath would have here is insane, on top of not halting your spellslot progression, it would nearly double your current burst damage.
I also appreciate the fact u mentioned SteelWindStrike, as its one of my favorite spells and almost seemlessly fits into this build(dealing upwards of 800dmg spread amongst 5enemies when using this build)
So, I remember playing Pathfinder 1 that the topic of whether or not Sneak Attack damage applied to EACH ray in a scorching ray spell or just once was a subject of major contention, particularly AFTER Paizo came out and said it only applied once (largely because, in Pathfinder, the Scorching Ray/Sneak Attack build wasn't even close to the top of the damage charts). I fought heavily on the side of each ray receiving sneak attack, because it was a bit gimmicky and really just took a concept and made it decent instead of middling.
That said, it makes me SO happy to hear that the Scorching Ray "Sneak Attacker" actually functions in 5e. My love for the magical-shotgun rogue is near and dear.
So I know you mentioned it for scribe damage type stuff, but steelwind strike also makes attacks so could benefit from assasinate and bugbear and things so double casting steelwind strike would possibly be 10 attacks all doing 6d10 plus all you other benefits which is some crazy aoe dmg also fits the theme of the character so much, the mage that just appears out of the shadows(possibly invisibility into combat) and just teleporting around the battlefield leaving corpse everywhere as they appear while all the bodies are falling around them.
Wow okay. I've never thought about surprise like that. You make some amazing points and I've been technically doing assassin rouges wrong. Technically I've been buffing them, but with how often my party goes in guns blazing, rather than stealthily. I think it's probably fine that the player got extra damage
I was waiting all video for a 1 level tempest cleric dip for automatic max damage for one of the scorching rays with the scribes wizard switching the damage type with their lower level spells. Just curious how nuch that dip might change on top of everything else.
More...WE WANT MOOORE!
Thanks for your great job Colby, fun and creative build as usual 💚
Death domain cleric, gets a type of twin spell ability if creature is within 5 ft. Would war caster let you cast this on 2 on reaction? IT’s says target 1 creature… it kinda targets 1, but 2.
If you go sorcerer, you can quicken spell Scorching Ray and hit with Shadow Blade if you cast it before combat
Great video colby i love your videos so much they give me so much inspiration as a long time veteran of dnd its very helpful i wish you and the family the best
I think spirit shroud is more of a "planned execution" spell than normal combat spell for this build, as a wizard assassin using this build its probably best used when you already know your targets location, have a root planned and spells ready to get into position.
Cast spirit shroud just before you use invisibility, portals or even disguise self to get the drop on someone you know will be at the location at the right time, again this leans into the assassin theme by having spells and tools that get more value the more you know and can plan around a kill attempt before hand. I'd argue that divination spells are also a must as this character, you are only able to be at your best if you came into a fight with a good plan to start with so knowing more is having more power to you :)
One other option if you want to take a subclass other than Scribes is Jim’s magic missile, which hits for one more slightly smaller missile compared to scorching ray, but applies the flat modifiers agaain. If you have advantage, you should never run into a situation where you roll a 1. Since force damage is reliable, you don’t need to spec into damage type conversion.
It’s not allowed at all tables, but the stringshaeven feats let you get Jim’s as a charisma spell, further consolidating stats into just the charisma and dexterity classes.
I'd say you cannot cast Hex "at round zero" and then start the fight with an enemy already hexed...
But you might be able to still concentrate on a Hex spell, you casted earlier on another creature, wich died.
Then you could "reappliy Hex to a new target" at round one and still cast Scorching Ray, as "reapplying Hex as a bonus action" is not "casting a spell".
But this would use your bonus action, thus not allowing you to also use Hexblade's Curse on the same turn.
But if you do automatic critical hits, Hex is always stronger than Hexblade's Cuse ;)
So maybe cast Hex on your familiar outside of combat, kill your familiar, recast your familiar and your'e good to go Hex on rounde one.
You know what this build does that a lot of other builds can't do. get's past legendary resistances. No bbeg is burning all of them to negate each separate instance of damage. The shepherd druid does this as well, but damn. This is hard core. Well done with your video.
If you can believe it, you could get “A LOT” more damage on this build by changing one thing!!! Take Jim’s Magic Arrow instead of Scorching Ray.
I didn’t really know about this spell because it is from the Acquisitions Inc. Book and don’t have it on my DnD Beyond account. I kept seeing it as an option for the wizard spell list and was curious so I looked it up. I bet you don’t have it as well or else you would have used it instead.
You start with 3 darts and each one does 2d4 force damage, which is much better than fire damage. The cool thing about this spell is that when you get a Crit, each one turns into a 5d4 instead of a 4d4! With the one big caveat, that if you roll a Nat One all of them come back at YOU! But they luckily only do 1 point of damage each not the whole amount. It’s a good thing that you have advantage😂 That’s an average of 12.5 damage per dart which is pretty comparable with the 14 you get with Scorching Ray.
But the big reason is that it is a 1st level spell not a 2nd level spell. So you get a whole extra projectile for each level you upcast!!! Thats two extra attacks for us with Action Surge.
Also you could get your build online by your level 6 damage report😊
The other thing I would change is to take War Mage instead, since we have Force Damage now.