Some munchkin: "You can't use a shield and reload a hand crossbow at the same time" History: *pulls out shields with cross-straps, vertical straps, a horizontal strap, and a cross-slinging (over the shoulder) strap* "No?" *pulls out ancient tapestries depicting exactly that happening* "Really?" *Jams a pavise into the ground* "Okay."
Well it works out because your use to infusing your weapons/items with magic and now your just infusing them with your magic blood lmao, or I guess a little bit of both. I feel like this is just a different kind of hex blade
Honestly, the melee build you shared at the end is exactly how I would imagine a Dwarven Bloodrager SHOULD feel! Survivawhatnow? Just Walk it off- you'll be fine!
"Awh, who's a good little Mechanical construct? You are! You want a biscuit?" *Metal grinding chomping sounds* "Yeah, I don't know why I thought it could actually eat."
With regards to Hunter's Mark vs Hex damage type, normally necrotic damage would be less resisted but all of your attacks have been magical weapon damage since level 3 and is therefore one of the least resisted damage types in the game. Just don't pick too many fights with skeletons, plants, or swarms since your weapon does piercing damage.
Ha ha - thank you for noticing! My friend Mr. Rogers has been editing the last couple and he's doing a bang up job. I actually snorted water out my nose with the "macabre" montage as well :P
I played a battle smith 11/mutant blood hunter 3 for a bit and absolutely destroyed everything with sharpshooter, haste and crossbow expert and the sharpshooter penalty completely negated by sagacity (19 base intelligence +3), archery fighting style, and the +2 weapon infusion. I kind of figured you would go a similar direction with this haha.
Same man! But im like 3 levels in fighter woth blood hunter! And i jave a blood spear like weapon that returns after thrown. Absolutely in love with my current build. But after watching this video i might change it up a bit on the next blood hunter i play
Another melee version could be three levels in Artificer for Armorer. Lower damage than Zealot Barbarian but you get higher AC and your weapon is your gauntlet so you don't need to keep a weapon in your hand all day to keep Crimson Rite going.
At first I read this as Blood Hunter Merchant, and was very curious about how one would optimize such a build. That's it. That's all I wanted to share.
When the subclass was updated, Blood Curse of the Eyeless was changed and it no longer gives disadvantage. It now decreases their attack roll by a roll of your hemocraft die :(
24:14 about the "never let go of the weapon" problem, as a DM, I would rule that the weapon must be on your person, isted of on your hand. So, your weapon is sheathed at you hip or back? Great, it keeps the crimson rite. You put that weapon on a bag of holding or is desarmed? It loses the rite.
Thanks for making this! I watched this when it came out and have been playing this build for the past 4 months in my current campaign. It has thus far been the most fun I have had playing D&D!
Very cool, I tend to try first tank builds so I made Mutant Blood Hunter with couple of levels in Bladesinger. Incredible AC and those sweet D10 hit points
@@DnDDeepDive Coby At 14 level (Blood Hunter 11th) is available the Precision mutagen formula which makes the weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20. and since 10th level (Blood Hunter 7th), the number of mutagens it can create when finish a rest increases to two. Meaning that it can have both Sagacity and Precision mutagens at the same time. Maybe you could add this to the pdf of the build.
Cursed as a forever DM I have only ever gotten to play in a game one time. It was the one shot with the frog people. This was the build I used and I loved playing it so much that I introduced him in a campaign as an NPC. I ended up turning him into a bad guy. Now every campaign I run he makes a guest appearance, taking many forms and causing all sorts of problems. It's to the point that my players all speak of him in legend and distrust any and all artificers and blood hunters they meet in the world. Thank you for the inspiration you provided in building this character. All my players love to hate the adventuring party hunter Mortdecai Von Montrose. You Rock Colby!
23:40 The Crimson Right feature description says "you can activate any rite you know on one weapon you’re holding. The effect of the rite lasts until you finish a short or long rest." IOW, you only need to be holding your hand crossbow when you ACTIVATE the feature, so it's fine to holster it when out of combat.
I feel most accurate would have to be a combo with archery fighting style battlemaster, precision maneuver, and devotion paladin. 2+dex+cha+BMdice+proficiency to hit
@@adamkaris yes I was thinking that but also war domain cleric 3 has that channel divinity where you add +10 to a single attack. and then Hexblade 1 lets you use your CHA for attacks so when paired with DevoPally channel divinity you add CHA again on top of that because of how the DevPally feature is worded. and thats not including spells like magic weapon which gives a +1 that increases when upcasted. And then at Artificer has the Enhanced Weapon Infusion (another +1),
I really appreciate the Blood Hunter's ability to keep its dex relevant even as it's taking CBE/SS early. Especially on Custom Lineage where 17->20 at 3. Of course that comes with some problems, such as just kinda dying when someone points a wis save at you. Turning it into triple advantage via Lucky is funny though. Too bad Bhunter starts to fall apart compared to fighter in all ways except direct sustained damage as a monoclass, multi-ing with Arti is probably better.
On the melee build, Path of the Beast could be an option for a little more flavor and defense. When you rage you can grow a tail to use your reaction to swipe your tail and roll a d8, applying a bonus to your AC equal to the number rolled, potentially causing the attack to miss you. Also, what's cooler than a Monster Hunter who is part monster? Or Ancestral Guardian... the souls of the monsters you have slain (or innocents) swirl about the battlefield. With a polearm, you could run in, hit from reach, then move away so the enemy is forced to attack your friends at disadvantage and half damage. Good team player option. Plus, with the bad AC of a two-handed medium armor fighter who has to have a 13 INT minimum to multiclass with Blood Hunter, (point buy stats I came up with were STR15 DEX14 CON12 INT14 WIS8 CHA8 - rolling for stats could help a lot), you might want to be a backline fighter or rely on that rage resistance when you dive in and hope for no non-physical damage.
Oh wow, I'm actually playing a very similar character right now. (Or at least I will - the campaign starts in like 3 days). Excited to see what you came up with, maybe I'll have to make some last minute changes haha!
Awesome job as always. Quick question. I've found myself having to go back and skim through the video to find the level breakdowns fairly frequently. Would it be possible in the spreadsheet to do something simple like class 1 x lvls -> class 2 x lvls -> etc? Doesn't have to be a breakdown of every level, just whenever the class is switched. If not, I understand, but I just noticed it was something I kept trying to piece together on some of the videos. Anyways, loved the build!
I really can't. It doesn't help that Mr. Rogers and Preston are neck deep in them now and we always want to talk about "that one part" they just read over lunch :)
Now that you've covered Mercer's Blood Hunter, I'm very intrigued to see how you'd build Colville's Illrigger. (That Blood Hunter build sounds so cool, I kind of just want to pester my DMs to play it on one of our occasional one-shots!)
I'll take a crack at it. 1. Have a clear concept in mind of what you want your character to do: skill monkey? a theme? ranged single target nova? controller? summoner? 2. Don't be limited by classes unless your DM indicates a multiclassing limit (like my DM sets the limit at 3 so all my builds have only 3 classes at most). Then pick the classes which have abilities that increase the numbers/support the concept you have in mind. 3. Swing the action economy your way. Fighter 2 for action surge is always an excellent multi/starting class for any kind of character. 99% of my builds have fighter 2 at least. then, make sure your concept (if it's combat oriented) has something to do with its action, bonus action, reaction (at least for the 1st couple of rounds). Tacking on free action abilities (you get bonuses without using an action but using a resource like battlemaster maneuvers) help in this aspect as well. 4. once you have a draft of the build, play out theorectically how your character would play the 1st 2-3 rounds just so you know if you picked up irrelevant levels. 5. whatever your concept is, aim to excel at one thing and accept being good/mediocre in others. Trying to be a jack of all trades will end up pulling you in different directions/another build. *bonus: be aware what the usual ending levels are at your table and make your builds be done before those ending levels so you can experience it more. For example, at my table the DM typically ends at level 13-14 (he hates simulacrum abuse) so i make sure my builds are done by level 9-10.
I built a Blood Hunter who I really liked. Race Dhampire, for the Vampiric Bite, 35 ft movement and Spider Climb (MAX constitution for bite and health). Fighter 5 for weapons and armour proficiency, Action Surge, double attack and battle master. Then Blood Hunter Lycan 3 for Transformation (including Feral Might and resistance). Then Ranger 3 for Colossus Slayer, double proficiency on Athletics and Hunters Mark. Then up to 11 for Blood Hunter for massive upgrades. I put the last one in fighter 6. (total lvl 20) Results, use the superiority die to disarm with a vampire Bite, (Free action Kick weapon away), next attack, use superiority (Vampiric Bite) die to trip, Action Surge, Use (Vampiric Bite) superiority Die Grapple. Then if you want you can Bite one more time. You can actually do that combo pretty early on, but it gets progressively more powerful as you shift from more of a demi vampire to powerful werewolf. (Backstory she was created by Blood Hunters to combine vampire, werewolf and human into an unstoppable warrior. The experiment failed, and she was feral and angry, so she killed her creators and escaped into the night. Now she is learning how to integrate her monster instincts with her partial humanity) If you unleash the combo when you are below half Health then you have advantage on all attacks. Stack countless abilities for mad nova damage. Your enemy is grappled prone, and you have Advantage and +14 on athletics checks (grappling), they are disarmed (either took weapon or arcane focus). You heal over 60 HP. Also by lvl 19 you regenerate health every turn if you are below half, and half is still well over 100hp. Plus you can use the dhampire bite to massively boost your Skill Checks (+15-25 on rolls). This is just a really rough sketch, but I had so much fun building her. She can be a pretty effective spider climbing long distance archer from early on (And especially with the Blood Hunter and Ranger), but if she is hurt or angry, her enemies become her food. Feel free to comment, I'd be happy to hear feedback or questions :D
Just putting it into the ether: Lycan Blood Hunter multiclassing Monk gets you a lot of damage from making tons of melee attacks, especially if you can convince your DM that the Blood Hunter should be able to take the Unarmed Fighting fighting style.
I used a similar build for my Carmen Sandiego inspired character. Plucky reporter who doesn't mind a bit of breaking and entering with her trusty gadgets to get a scoop going on a mission to recover her lost memories.
Alternative to this build: 1. Choose a race that addresses the negatives of mutagen (Yuan-Ti, Saytr, Vedalken, Gnome - cannot use heavy weapons without having disadvantage). I think Vedalken would fit great role play wise as someone looking to improve their weapon then enchanse their body's capability. 2. Crossbow expert is not needed, use your steel defender to attack OR use a blood curses until Blood Hunter Level 7 (level 10). I'm not taking a feat to attack within 5 feat, Artificer repeating shot takes care of reload, bonus action attack is only for hand crossbow and works better until level 10. 3. Use a Heavy Crossbow instead of Hand Crossbow. D10 vs (D6 +2 AC from Sheild) 4. Fey Touched is a trap. Since we are already using a bonus action for attacks you are taking 2 turns (1 for Crimson Rite, and one for Hex), then having to move it to over creatures. Unless you are often fighting 1 big creature vs multiple creatures it is not worth it. I would choose a different half-feat, like skill expert to get expertise in an Intelligence-based skill for a completely absurd bonus, or gift of Gem Dragon for a knockback + damage + prone (combos with blood curses) 5. Blood curses that did not talk about: Curse of binding, keep enemies away OR if knocked prone keep them prone 6. Skipped over Blood Hunter level 7 Cruelty grants another attack as a bonus action (at which point makes heavy crossbow better than hand crossbow would be great for a heavy crossbow) and at Blood Hunter level 15 - Precision grants crits at 19 and 20. Hand Crossbow could forgo Cruelty and just get precision, but it is just a minor boost and not one that beats out Heavy Crossbow. Getting to level 15 Blood Hunter removes any advantage hand crossbow would have.
I would love to see a Gunslinger Cleric build! Gunslinger grit comes from wisdom. Forge cleric gets a +1 weapon from their Blessing of the Forge. High Dex build with sharpshooter and bless seems pretty good!
@@DnDDeepDive Would be interested in a gunner as well (using the new tasha's feat) that feels a bit different from the usual sharpshooter core while actually using the firearms and explosives in the DMG.
Bladesinger 7/Mutant 13 could be pretty crazy. Using sagacity and celerity mutagens would boost AC from both DEX and INT, as well as spell save DC. Strange metabolism to get rid of disadvantage WIS saving throw because it comes up more often. Shadow blade, rite damage, improved ability scores, fighting style, blooming blade + extra attack
@@joshuacr I would probably go: Wizard 2 BH 5 Wizard 2 BH 6 Wizard 2 At that point you’re level 17, you could go more wizard or more BH depending on preference. Might be a little sloppy, but it seems like a lot of fun. Adding Bladesong and some lighter spell casting makes it feel that much more Witcher-y
I just made my BloodBorne/Blood Hunter mini on hero forge thanks in part to this video. The artificer really helps fill some of the little tricks and contraptions that the hunters use. I’d want to work with a DM to make trick weapons, my main idea is a durable bladed scimitar that transforms into a long bow. The bonus action allows it to make an attack into the new form of an enemy is in range, just like in blood borne. Even without that, ugh! The build has such flavor.
I actually thought of this same concept with the Blood Hunter when I first read it, because the Sagacity Mutagen and BH features all already stack together so well with Battle Smiths' intelligence-based damage. But going Artificer at level 1 for the better saves, and adding in a repeating crossbow, just takes the idea to the next level. Such a simple and elegant build that I could easily see being incredibly powerful!!
23:35 I could be wrong but, maybe the dropping the weapon aspect is in context to shapeshifting? Melee version of this build screams more like a 80's horror movie icon. Love it! Sorry the closest I have to a tock tic is on my wrist.
This is a fun build. I like the combination of battlesmith with blood hunter now that they are int based. Also I love Nerdarchy and am looking forward to the interview.
This was a fun build! I will say though, as you mentioned in the preamble, I do appreciate you generally sticking to official DND content. I know my table abides by the "official content" mantra. But, this was a cool build to see. I've avoided reading too much on the blood hunter because it wouldn't be allowed at my table but those mutagens are pretty dope.
Hey great video, I recently saw the guidelines to build a support ranger that is basically a walking safety bubble, it's a revised Primeval guardian bugbear ranger that takes sentinel and polearm master, and then to guardian aura can constantly heal all the parties backline. Idk if it can be optimized further but wanted to bring it up in the comment in case you see it as a possible build. Keep up the great work.
Best survivability, Ravnica Vedalken, artificer armorer 16 levels, 3 levels bear barbarian, 1 level cleric, (peace or forge) Resulting in: 5 infusions, 3 rages, 5th level spell slot, homunculus to cast and concentrate on shield of faith from a spell storing item (may require a nice DM), Haste, resist all dmg while raging with infusion, can't easily drop concentration with infusion, defencive dualist feat, magic initiate to grab shield and blade ward, metamagic initiate for quicken, and ideas?
@@DnDDeepDive give up haste for rage, shield for defensive dualist depending on situation, with resistant armor, take half damage from everything While not using rage you will have access to blade ward to offset the resistance loss with haste
Masterful! I've never really looked into Blood Hunter, but I will now. This just might be my favourite build of yours so far, though it's a tough call. As you said, it's really well balanced, versatile and sounds like it would be so much fun to play. Congrats on the Nerdarchy team up, I'd expect to see your numbers rocket when that comes out. Thanks Colby, stay safe.
Thanks Tom! It’s now on my short list for characters to play in our next campaign, though I might have to give in and go with the melee version because I’m such a sucker for damage... :P
Tried to pull off similar build in CoS campaign, but with Profane Soul (archfey patron) BH. DM build-blocked me hard :D "Sure thing, if you find artificer teacher in Barovia." Still turned into a beast with one-hand crossbow by going scout-rogue after reaching lvl8 BH.
I played a mutant blood hunter in a game, and it was really quite MAD. This build is actually great with the artificer levels to make it way more SAD, which I love
@@DnDDeepDive This will always be a special flower. Just annoys me that people do that clickbaity thumbnail of '1000+ damage per round' then find out they tested it against an immortal training dummy with 0 AC.
Great build Colby! I was thinking it could also be fun to go Beast Barb/Lycan BH/ and a short dip into moon druid for a fully realized werewolf build. Maybe not as optimized but I'm definitely considering for my next one shot. So proud of you for getting on Nerdarchy, those dudes are super well established and I can't wat to see what it does for your channel!
Thanks! Yeah, I was looking at the Lycan/Beast Barb thing and... there are some weird compatible things happening that make it tough with questions around what constitutes a weapon and what doesn't... I think if you could get your DM to sign off on the Lycan's claws essentially working like the Beast Barb's, then you'd be in business :).
Currently playing a half elf profane soul bloodhunter 5/inquisitive rogue 3/artificer 2 in Descent into Avernus. Xbow expert, no elven accuracy, haven't even maxed Dex at level 10 as the damage output is already so high. Damage is ~220% baseline when Hex is up, ~170% without hex. Bonus action intensive but a lot of broad capabilities from the multiclass.
Colby "Not only am I gonna make a build with one of the most complicated classes, I'm gonna combine it with the other most complicated class." But the end of this I will not know what the character can do at all.
Finally, I'm so, grateful that you uploaded this video. Coby, may I ask you a question? What do you think about order of the lycan (my personal favorite blood hunter subclass)?
I really liked the order of the lycan, not only because I like werewolves, but also because (in my opinion) it is the most well-rounded blood hunter subclass. And I absolutely looove character optimization. Of course there's a big difference in flavor between a beast barbarian and a lycan blood hunter. The blood hunter makes me feel like a monster that fights other monsters (maybe that's because I like being a werewolf), while the beast barbarian makes me feel like a mere beast. Anyway, hopefully I'm not disturbing you, I wanted to ask you if you think you could optimize the so powerful order of the lycan even further.
A fun thing to do with blood hunter is go order of the lycan but take archery fighting style and make a build that does well in melle and range. Claws and bow take dex. You can play like a reluctant Bruce Banner type character who stays far away from combat but goes berserk flaming wolf melle when angry.
Make sure to activate your crimson rite before concentration spells, since the self damage still triggers a con save. You'll never really fail it... unless you get a nat1
Hey, loving the videos so far. One thing you could do with this build from lvl 1 is take the Faerie fire spell as an Artificer. it may take an action to cast but allows for potential advantage (for both you and all your allies) in an initial 20ft cube of enemies for 1minute. Also works since there is no other spell to really concentrate on with only 3 lvls Artificer.
Nice vid man, I was thinking about a similar build, going 2 levels artificer, 4levels mutant and the rest as a hunter ranger. With the addition of ranger u get access to hunter's mark and another fighting style (+1ac?/UA close quarter shooter) and in certain scenarios u could attack 4 times!! Plus crimson rite, hunters mark and sharp shooter, big damage
I just found this channel and I'm super excited I love all of this content, also I almost missed you saying "gloryspren" but the Stormlight Archive is probably my favorite series ever.
Artificer gets Faerie Fire, why not take that to get advantage consistently? You aren't using your concentration for most of the early levels, so it's not costing you anything other than the spell slot.
So here's a fun idea for the future that could play into a sort of mutant/Lycan artificer: The weapons you gain from the alter self spell are magical, meaning you could still use intelligence for them
@@DnDDeepDive If you play in a campain where a feat att lvl 1 isne't an option would you recommend the mele barb build or the ranged int build. I play in a campain with custom raceses and high death rate so this character would probably start att lvl 5 or 6
You know I love the video dude, they are very helpful. I'm not sure if you're soft spoken or what it is, but your mic is very low and when the commercials come on they are like banshee screaming. lol, but thanks for the video I have been wondering about this so called Blood Hunter. I look forward to playing one one day. I have always wanted to play something like the Witcher, though I thought that was the Eldritch Knight?? But, this Blood Hunter does sound more like him.
What I would love to see is a sort of undetectable caster build. A really sneaky and unassuming character, that abuses subtle spell and the like to fall under everyone's radar.
@@nicoruppert4207 Sure shadow sorc is a good pick as well. Aberrant mind is just better for the theme you're going for as you can use subtle spell and pair it with another metamagic like heighten or twin or quicken. None of the abilities of the shadow sorc really lends itself towards the concept you're going for (you mentioned subtle spell which is from the sorc base class). The shadow sorc is more geared towards a single-target blaster, controller, summoner type of playstyle.
@@TheRobversion1 yeah, I think the aberrant mind is probably the best pick, partly because telepathy is a great Form of undetectable communication. I was just imagining that the shadow hound would be interesting as it is an offensive ability that can't easily be traced back to you.
See I love the idea of a blood hunter mutant grappler. Just the raw strength you can bring to bear and the synergy with curse of bloated agony making them have disadvantage on either athletics or acrobatics and punishing them for trying to fight in your grip. I chose simic hybrid for crab claws and theme and its like a game of attrition you pick the biggest bad and just lock them in place and severely limit their combat options.
I played a fifth level bloodhunter mutant in a oneshot, with the sharpshooter feat, a lot of fun! would love to play her again, and oh how nice a repeating hand crossbow would be.. Did not know that it means that you can hold a shield and do bonus action attack, though makes sence
Hey colby, after seeing you answer some more recent comments on this video I have a question for you. The revised version of this class allows you to wisdom instead of intelligence for the abilitites. How beneficial do you think a 3 level dip into gloomstalker instead of artificer would be for this build? Thanks!
If starting at higher levels, battlesmith 3/mutant 3(or 11)/ bladesinger 6(or 14) would be super fun Int attacks, +3 int max, cantrip part of extra attack
Hey there. Loved this build, but I thought the DPS is higher? Or am I misunderstanding something :(? You finished as a 3/14 Artificer/BH, but could finish in other ways. For simplicity sake, let's assume a 3/17, and no ASI/Feat selected @16, which could be +2 into Intelligence or Piercer? If finishing as 3/14, the only difference would be Crimson Rite and BC:Marked reducing to 1d8's. Infusion is +1/+1 hit/damage. Intelligence gives you +7/+7 (24 Intelligence). Hand Crossbow is 1d6 x3. Idk how rare it is, but a Hand Crossbow +3, as well as Bolts +3, would be an effective +6/+6. Hunter's Mark/Hex is 1d6 x3. Crimson Rite is 1d10 x3. Blood Curse of the Marked would give you an additional 1d10 x3. OR, Blood Curse of Corrosion would provide a 4d6 per turn debuff (21 Con save seems pretty irresistible). Sharpshooter would be +10 damage x3. 3d6+42(3+18+21), +3d6, +3d10, +3d10, +30. Low-End: 12+72, 84. High-End: 168. Idk if that makes the average 104, 120, or 126? I'm not sure if it helps, but I think the best mutagens would be Sagacity (obviously), Precision, Vermillion, Mobility, and Rapidity. Also seems that you can be affected by 3 different mutagens.
Do you think you will be doing a Controller build at some point? (maby you have already and I just missed it?) I can see how it could be a hard project though considering how you tend to go pretty deep with these.
@@DnDDeepDive Yea it gets hard to get numbers when you are not working with damage since in this case you are probably trying to prevent it from happening in the first place. What class do you think? honestly, Id make a strong case for Divine Sorc with the new feat sorcerer is looking pretty great not sure what I would add on for multi-class if any (the new sorcerer in tashas are sweet too but I know you don't use items in your builds)
@@Gradeius Multiclass is easy, 2 levels of fighter always (for action surge and con save/armor profs). There are many routes you can go with the controller but the 1st "bomb" you get is at 4th level spells (banishment/polymorph). So its best to take a class with that. I agree sorc is the best controller since you can twin the above spells or apply heightened spell to ensure they fail. I wouldn't say divine sorc is the best controller. That honor imo belongs to the wild magic sorc (bend luck) if you can stomach the wild magic surges or shadow sorc (hound of ill omen so you can impose disadvantage to saves and twin those control spells). You can also multiclass with eloquence bard for more save reduction. Aberrant mind is more for making sure you don't get counterspelled so if your DM doesn't throw alot of mages at you, it won't have much value in the control dept. Clockwork is more for a summoner or tank sorcerer build. Divine sorcs are more for booming blade/atk based sorcerers. If you want to keep it simple, I'd recommend a simple start as 2 levels of fighter, then go shadow sorc all the way. pick up the significant control spells such as web or hold or maximillian's earthen grasp and of course hypnotic pattern.
I know you just did a blood hunter, but would it be too much to ask, and consider sometime, help us fullfill the werewolf savage(nice with some magic/utility) fantasy?? its something i have been struggling, and didn't find much ideas or info about, going with claw, and bite attacks, even if you only read me and take it into consideration, thanks a lot!!!! and keep the great work, its very pleasing seeing how much joy you bring to yourselfs and the community with all this fun builds and all you other videos!!(sorry also if this was not the correct place to ask for a build).
I think it would be better to go back to artificer after Blood Hunter 11. Extra spells like levitate and haste (you don't get haste until L20 sadly)and an extra infusion but the most important thing is flash of genius(+7). And arcane jolt is not that great but you can use it 7 times with no action so extra damage is allways good.
Some munchkin: "You can't use a shield and reload a hand crossbow at the same time"
History: *pulls out shields with cross-straps, vertical straps, a horizontal strap, and a cross-slinging (over the shoulder) strap* "No?" *pulls out ancient tapestries depicting exactly that happening* "Really?" *Jams a pavise into the ground* "Okay."
Roleplay angle: you start with a fascination of augmenting items with magic but that interest shifts into augmenting yourself
"I never asked for this."
@@vladimirserpov6773 actually in this case I did ask for this
Well it works out because your use to infusing your weapons/items with magic and now your just infusing them with your magic blood lmao, or I guess a little bit of both. I feel like this is just a different kind of hex blade
NANOMACHINES SON
That's how I run this character and it's so cool!
"Welcome to nerdarchy, where we discuss news, views, and home-brews. Hanging out with this nerd, Colby."
Honestly, the melee build you shared at the end is exactly how I would imagine a Dwarven Bloodrager SHOULD feel!
Survivawhatnow? Just Walk it off- you'll be fine!
"Awh, who's a good little Mechanical construct? You are! You want a biscuit?" *Metal grinding chomping sounds* "Yeah, I don't know why I thought it could actually eat."
With regards to Hunter's Mark vs Hex damage type, normally necrotic damage would be less resisted but all of your attacks have been magical weapon damage since level 3 and is therefore one of the least resisted damage types in the game. Just don't pick too many fights with skeletons, plants, or swarms since your weapon does piercing damage.
So pumped for you on the Nerdarchy interview! Up and up for you as a creator!
Thanks!
@@DnDDeepDive When will that be?
@@alanschaub147 Monday at 11am Central! I'll post something in the community tab over the weekend to remind people.
The editing on this is top tier. The little pictures are hilarious and macabre had me on the floor.
Ha ha - thank you for noticing! My friend Mr. Rogers has been editing the last couple and he's doing a bang up job. I actually snorted water out my nose with the "macabre" montage as well :P
I played a battle smith 11/mutant blood hunter 3 for a bit and absolutely destroyed everything with sharpshooter, haste and crossbow expert and the sharpshooter penalty completely negated by sagacity (19 base intelligence +3), archery fighting style, and the +2 weapon infusion. I kind of figured you would go a similar direction with this haha.
Same man! But im like 3 levels in fighter woth blood hunter! And i jave a blood spear like weapon that returns after thrown. Absolutely in love with my current build. But after watching this video i might change it up a bit on the next blood hunter i play
That build is why I'm here tbh
Another melee version could be three levels in Artificer for Armorer. Lower damage than Zealot Barbarian but you get higher AC and your weapon is your gauntlet so you don't need to keep a weapon in your hand all day to keep Crimson Rite going.
Obviously, the hand crossbow was broken and you spent the last two levels tinkering on it to get it to work!
Oh yeah. It’s Witcher time.
Been low-key refreshing all afternoon
At first I read this as Blood Hunter Merchant, and was very curious about how one would optimize such a build.
That's it. That's all I wanted to share.
Ha ha!
I for one, very interested in an optimized moneymaking build
When the subclass was updated, Blood Curse of the Eyeless was changed and it no longer gives disadvantage. It now decreases their attack roll by a roll of your hemocraft die :(
That's right - thanks for the notice. (Still a pretty decent way to help protect an ally, but yeah, not quite as good, statistically, on average :) ).
@@DnDDeepDive Yep! It's still good and now it doesn't feel like the best one to take for most circumstances! Great video as always!
24:14 about the "never let go of the weapon" problem, as a DM, I would rule that the weapon must be on your person, isted of on your hand. So, your weapon is sheathed at you hip or back? Great, it keeps the crimson rite. You put that weapon on a bag of holding or is desarmed? It loses the rite.
Thanks for making this! I watched this when it came out and have been playing this build for the past 4 months in my current campaign. It has thus far been the most fun I have had playing D&D!
Very cool, I tend to try first tank builds so I made Mutant Blood Hunter with couple of levels in Bladesinger. Incredible AC and those sweet D10 hit points
Been waiting for this build!!!
Heck ya!
Holy smokes, Nerdarchy reached out for an interview? I've been listening to them since they started putting out 5e content, that rocks!
Yeah I'm excited! :)
@@DnDDeepDive Coby At 14 level (Blood Hunter 11th) is available the Precision
mutagen formula which makes the weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20. and since 10th level (Blood Hunter 7th), the number of mutagens it can create when finish a rest increases to two. Meaning that it can have both Sagacity and Precision
mutagens at the same time. Maybe you could add this to the pdf of the build.
@@Darkningvolt Blast! I had a note to mention the second Mutagen and completely skipped it in the video - nice catch! Will add to the written version.
Your voice is so ASMR-esque. An absolute joy listening to you.
Thanks! Hopefully I can help people sleep, if nothing else :P
Cursed as a forever DM I have only ever gotten to play in a game one time. It was the one shot with the frog people.
This was the build I used and I loved playing it so much that I introduced him in a campaign as an NPC. I ended up turning him into a bad guy.
Now every campaign I run he makes a guest appearance, taking many forms and causing all sorts of problems. It's to the point that my players all speak of him in legend and distrust any and all artificers and blood hunters they meet in the world.
Thank you for the inspiration you provided in building this character. All my players love to hate the adventuring party hunter Mortdecai Von Montrose.
You Rock Colby!
23:40 The Crimson Right feature description says "you can activate any rite you know on one weapon you’re holding. The effect of the rite lasts until you finish a short or long rest." IOW, you only need to be holding your hand crossbow when you ACTIVATE the feature, so it's fine to holster it when out of combat.
Grats on your Nerdarchy interview! Don't know enough about blood hunters to say much about the build, but I did learn a bit from the video.
Thanks!
You had me at Hank. I've never understand how that bow is not a magical item in any official book.
Some deep dives I would like to see is the best healer (in and out of combat), the most Temp HP, and the most accurate attacker builds.
I feel most accurate would have to be a combo with archery fighting style battlemaster, precision maneuver, and devotion paladin.
2+dex+cha+BMdice+proficiency to hit
@@adamkaris You're forgetting a way to generate advantage easily then combining with elven accuracy,
@@adamkaris yes I was thinking that but also war domain cleric 3 has that channel divinity where you add +10 to a single attack. and then Hexblade 1 lets you use your CHA for attacks so when paired with DevoPally channel divinity you add CHA again on top of that because of how the DevPally feature is worded.
and thats not including spells like magic weapon which gives a +1 that increases when upcasted.
And then at Artificer has the Enhanced Weapon Infusion (another +1),
I really appreciate the Blood Hunter's ability to keep its dex relevant even as it's taking CBE/SS early. Especially on Custom Lineage where 17->20 at 3. Of course that comes with some problems, such as just kinda dying when someone points a wis save at you. Turning it into triple advantage via Lucky is funny though. Too bad Bhunter starts to fall apart compared to fighter in all ways except direct sustained damage as a monoclass, multi-ing with Arti is probably better.
On the melee build, Path of the Beast could be an option for a little more flavor and defense. When you rage you can grow a tail to use your reaction to swipe your tail and roll a d8, applying a bonus to your AC equal to the number rolled, potentially causing the attack to miss you. Also, what's cooler than a Monster Hunter who is part monster? Or Ancestral Guardian... the souls of the monsters you have slain (or innocents) swirl about the battlefield. With a polearm, you could run in, hit from reach, then move away so the enemy is forced to attack your friends at disadvantage and half damage. Good team player option. Plus, with the bad AC of a two-handed medium armor fighter who has to have a 13 INT minimum to multiclass with Blood Hunter, (point buy stats I came up with were STR15 DEX14 CON12 INT14 WIS8 CHA8 - rolling for stats could help a lot), you might want to be a backline fighter or rely on that rage resistance when you dive in and hope for no non-physical damage.
Oh wow, I'm actually playing a very similar character right now. (Or at least I will - the campaign starts in like 3 days). Excited to see what you came up with, maybe I'll have to make some last minute changes haha!
Awesome job as always. Quick question. I've found myself having to go back and skim through the video to find the level breakdowns fairly frequently. Would it be possible in the spreadsheet to do something simple like class 1 x lvls -> class 2 x lvls -> etc? Doesn't have to be a breakdown of every level, just whenever the class is switched. If not, I understand, but I just noticed it was something I kept trying to piece together on some of the videos. Anyways, loved the build!
Yeah I'll try to remember to add that going forward - thanks for the suggestion :)
Stormlight reference! Haha you can't help yourself can you.
I really can't. It doesn't help that Mr. Rogers and Preston are neck deep in them now and we always want to talk about "that one part" they just read over lunch :)
@@DnDDeepDive it's all in good fun, after all... journey before destination
Now that you've covered Mercer's Blood Hunter, I'm very intrigued to see how you'd build Colville's Illrigger. (That Blood Hunter build sounds so cool, I kind of just want to pester my DMs to play it on one of our occasional one-shots!)
Now there's something I'm not familiar with...
45:11
The Witcher + Batman = Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing 😈🦇
What's the mental process of a powerbuild? How could we figure out how to make the ones that don't suit your channel on our own?
I'll take a crack at it.
1. Have a clear concept in mind of what you want your character to do: skill monkey? a theme? ranged single target nova? controller? summoner?
2. Don't be limited by classes unless your DM indicates a multiclassing limit (like my DM sets the limit at 3 so all my builds have only 3 classes at most). Then pick the classes which have abilities that increase the numbers/support the concept you have in mind.
3. Swing the action economy your way. Fighter 2 for action surge is always an excellent multi/starting class for any kind of character. 99% of my builds have fighter 2 at least. then, make sure your concept (if it's combat oriented) has something to do with its action, bonus action, reaction (at least for the 1st couple of rounds). Tacking on free action abilities (you get bonuses without using an action but using a resource like battlemaster maneuvers) help in this aspect as well.
4. once you have a draft of the build, play out theorectically how your character would play the 1st 2-3 rounds just so you know if you picked up irrelevant levels.
5. whatever your concept is, aim to excel at one thing and accept being good/mediocre in others. Trying to be a jack of all trades will end up pulling you in different directions/another build.
*bonus: be aware what the usual ending levels are at your table and make your builds be done before those ending levels so you can experience it more. For example, at my table the DM typically ends at level 13-14 (he hates simulacrum abuse) so i make sure my builds are done by level 9-10.
I built a Blood Hunter who I really liked. Race Dhampire, for the Vampiric Bite, 35 ft movement and Spider Climb (MAX constitution for bite and health). Fighter 5 for weapons and armour proficiency, Action Surge, double attack and battle master. Then Blood Hunter Lycan 3 for Transformation (including Feral Might and resistance). Then Ranger 3 for Colossus Slayer, double proficiency on Athletics and Hunters Mark. Then up to 11 for Blood Hunter for massive upgrades. I put the last one in fighter 6. (total lvl 20)
Results, use the superiority die to disarm with a vampire Bite, (Free action Kick weapon away), next attack, use superiority (Vampiric Bite) die to trip, Action Surge, Use (Vampiric Bite) superiority Die Grapple. Then if you want you can Bite one more time.
You can actually do that combo pretty early on, but it gets progressively more powerful as you shift from more of a demi vampire to powerful werewolf. (Backstory she was created by Blood Hunters to combine vampire, werewolf and human into an unstoppable warrior. The experiment failed, and she was feral and angry, so she killed her creators and escaped into the night. Now she is learning how to integrate her monster instincts with her partial humanity)
If you unleash the combo when you are below half Health then you have advantage on all attacks. Stack countless abilities for mad nova damage. Your enemy is grappled prone, and you have Advantage and +14 on athletics checks (grappling), they are disarmed (either took weapon or arcane focus). You heal over 60 HP. Also by lvl 19 you regenerate health every turn if you are below half, and half is still well over 100hp. Plus you can use the dhampire bite to massively boost your Skill Checks (+15-25 on rolls).
This is just a really rough sketch, but I had so much fun building her. She can be a pretty effective spider climbing long distance archer from early on (And especially with the Blood Hunter and Ranger), but if she is hurt or angry, her enemies become her food.
Feel free to comment, I'd be happy to hear feedback or questions :D
Just putting it into the ether: Lycan Blood Hunter multiclassing Monk gets you a lot of damage from making tons of melee attacks, especially if you can convince your DM that the Blood Hunter should be able to take the Unarmed Fighting fighting style.
I used a similar build for my Carmen Sandiego inspired character. Plucky reporter who doesn't mind a bit of breaking and entering with her trusty gadgets to get a scoop going on a mission to recover her lost memories.
Alternative to this build:
1. Choose a race that addresses the negatives of mutagen (Yuan-Ti, Saytr, Vedalken, Gnome - cannot use heavy weapons without having disadvantage). I think Vedalken would fit great role play wise as someone looking to improve their weapon then enchanse their body's capability.
2. Crossbow expert is not needed, use your steel defender to attack OR use a blood curses until Blood Hunter Level 7 (level 10). I'm not taking a feat to attack within 5 feat, Artificer repeating shot takes care of reload, bonus action attack is only for hand crossbow and works better until level 10.
3. Use a Heavy Crossbow instead of Hand Crossbow. D10 vs (D6 +2 AC from Sheild)
4. Fey Touched is a trap. Since we are already using a bonus action for attacks you are taking 2 turns (1 for Crimson Rite, and one for Hex), then having to move it to over creatures. Unless you are often fighting 1 big creature vs multiple creatures it is not worth it. I would choose a different half-feat, like skill expert to get expertise in an Intelligence-based skill for a completely absurd bonus, or gift of Gem Dragon for a knockback + damage + prone (combos with blood curses)
5. Blood curses that did not talk about: Curse of binding, keep enemies away OR if knocked prone keep them prone
6. Skipped over Blood Hunter level 7 Cruelty grants another attack as a bonus action (at which point makes heavy crossbow better than hand crossbow would be great for a heavy crossbow) and at Blood Hunter level 15 - Precision grants crits at 19 and 20. Hand Crossbow could forgo Cruelty and just get precision, but it is just a minor boost and not one that beats out Heavy Crossbow. Getting to level 15 Blood Hunter removes any advantage hand crossbow would have.
I would love to see a Gunslinger Cleric build! Gunslinger grit comes from wisdom. Forge cleric gets a +1 weapon from their Blessing of the Forge. High Dex build with sharpshooter and bless seems pretty good!
will put it on the list!
@@DnDDeepDive Would be interested in a gunner as well (using the new tasha's feat) that feels a bit different from the usual sharpshooter core while actually using the firearms and explosives in the DMG.
@@DnDDeepDive Race: Human.
Class: 16 Gunslinger Fighter / 3 Gloomstalker Ranger / 1 Forge Cleric.
Background: Variant Folk Hero. (Changed Proficiencies).
*Tactics:*
Round 1:
Hunter’s Mark
Attack
Violent Shot
Dread Ambusher
Violent Shot
Action Surge
Attack
Violent Shot
Dread Ambusher
8 STR, 16 DEX, 14 CON, 16 WIS, 8 INT, 10 CHA.
Lv. 1 (Fighter 1):
Feat: Sharpshooter.
Proficiencies: Strength, Constitution, Tinker’s Tools, land vehicles, Sleight of Hand, Deception, Stealth, Perception, Acrobatics, all armor, Shields, and all weapons, Common, Dwarvish.
Equipment, Standard: A set of Tinker’s Tools, a Shovel, an Iron Pot, a set of common clothes, a pouch containing 10gp, A set of Studded Leather armor, a Pepperbox, 20 Bullets, a Rapier, a Shield, a Light Crossbow, 20 Bolts, and an Explorer’s Pack.
Fighting Style: Archery.
Lv. 3 (Fighter 3):
Proficiency: Tinker’s Tools.
Trick Shots: Bullying Shot, Violent Shot.
Lv. 4 (Ranger 1):
Canny (Expertise): Stealth.
Canny (Languages): Elven, Goblin.
Lv. 5 (Ranger 2):
Spell Slots: 2/1st.
Spells: Absorb Elements, Goodberry, Detect Magic, Fog Cloud.
Lv. 6 (Ranger 3):
Ranger Conclave: Gloomstalker.
Spell Slots: 3/1st.
Spells: Speak with Animals, Disguise Self.
Lv. 7 (Fighter 4):
ASI/Feat: +2 DEX.
Lv. 9 (Fighter 6):
ASI/Feat: +2 DEX.
Lv. 10 (Cleric 1):
Divine Domain: Forge.
Blessing of the Forge: Pepperbox.
Spell Slots: 4/1st, 2/2nd.
Spells: Searing Smite, Identify, Sanctuary, Detect Poison and Disease, Purify Food and Drink, Healing Word.
Cantrips: Guidance, Light, Word of Radiance.
Lv. 11 (Fighter 7):
Trick Shot: Disarming Shot.
Lv. 12 (Fighter 8):
ASI/Feat: +2 WIS.
Lv. 14 (Fighter 10):
Trick Shot: Piercing Shot.
Lv. 16 (Fighter 12):
ASI/Feat: +2 WIS.
Lv. 18 (Fighter 14):
ASI/Feat: Alert.
Lv. 19 (Fighter 15):
Trick Shot: Dazing Shot.
Lv. 20 (Fighter 16):
ASI/Feat: Lucky.
Now I just need a backstory…😅
I’m also putting another reply here because IDK if addressing it to Colby still gave the original guy a notification.
Bladesinger 7/Mutant 13 could be pretty crazy. Using sagacity and celerity mutagens would boost AC from both DEX and INT, as well as spell save DC. Strange metabolism to get rid of disadvantage WIS saving throw because it comes up more often. Shadow blade, rite damage, improved ability scores, fighting style, blooming blade + extra attack
Interesting. What is your class level progression order?
@@joshuacr
I would probably go:
Wizard 2
BH 5
Wizard 2
BH 6
Wizard 2
At that point you’re level 17, you could go more wizard or more BH depending on preference. Might be a little sloppy, but it seems like a lot of fun. Adding Bladesong and some lighter spell casting makes it feel that much more Witcher-y
I just made my BloodBorne/Blood Hunter mini on hero forge thanks in part to this video.
The artificer really helps fill some of the little tricks and contraptions that the hunters use.
I’d want to work with a DM to make trick weapons, my main idea is a durable bladed scimitar that transforms into a long bow.
The bonus action allows it to make an attack into the new form of an enemy is in range, just like in blood borne.
Even without that, ugh! The build has such flavor.
This is actually the only Blood Hunter subclass I haven't messed with at all and I'm stoked for this.
Thanks!
I actually thought of this same concept with the Blood Hunter when I first read it, because the Sagacity Mutagen and BH features all already stack together so well with Battle Smiths' intelligence-based damage. But going Artificer at level 1 for the better saves, and adding in a repeating crossbow, just takes the idea to the next level. Such a simple and elegant build that I could easily see being incredibly powerful!!
23:35 I could be wrong but, maybe the dropping the weapon aspect is in context to shapeshifting? Melee version of this build screams more like a 80's horror movie icon. Love it!
Sorry the closest I have to a tock tic is on my wrist.
Ha ha yeah - good points. Re:Tok - you’re not missing much! 😂
This is a fun build. I like the combination of battlesmith with blood hunter now that they are int based. Also I love Nerdarchy and am looking forward to the interview.
Thanks! Me too :)
Thanks Colby, excited to see the build!
Shifter, beast barbarian / blood hunter could be fun
This was a fun build! I will say though, as you mentioned in the preamble, I do appreciate you generally sticking to official DND content. I know my table abides by the "official content" mantra. But, this was a cool build to see. I've avoided reading too much on the blood hunter because it wouldn't be allowed at my table but those mutagens are pretty dope.
Hey great video, I recently saw the guidelines to build a support ranger that is basically a walking safety bubble, it's a revised Primeval guardian bugbear ranger that takes sentinel and polearm master, and then to guardian aura can constantly heal all the parties backline. Idk if it can be optimized further but wanted to bring it up in the comment in case you see it as a possible build. Keep up the great work.
Thanks! Added to the list :)
Best survivability, Ravnica Vedalken, artificer armorer 16 levels, 3 levels bear barbarian, 1 level cleric, (peace or forge)
Resulting in: 5 infusions, 3 rages, 5th level spell slot, homunculus to cast and concentrate on shield of faith from a spell storing item (may require a nice DM), Haste, resist all dmg while raging with infusion, can't easily drop concentration with infusion, defencive dualist feat, magic initiate to grab shield and blade ward, metamagic initiate for quicken, and ideas?
Sounds fun and tanky - how are you concentrating on Haste while raging?
@@DnDDeepDive give up haste for rage, shield for defensive dualist depending on situation, with resistant armor, take half damage from everything
While not using rage you will have access to blade ward to offset the resistance loss with haste
Quicken would let you cast haste round one, and still get a full action
Isn't it the ammunition property, not loading, that makes it so that it requires two hands?
I think you are right
Yes it is
Correct. Ammunition property requires a free hand to reload, loading property limits the attacks per round to a single one.
Correct, but thanks to Xbow Xpert we're good on all fronts, regardless.
Masterful! I've never really looked into Blood Hunter, but I will now. This just might be my favourite build of yours so far, though it's a tough call. As you said, it's really well balanced, versatile and sounds like it would be so much fun to play. Congrats on the Nerdarchy team up, I'd expect to see your numbers rocket when that comes out. Thanks Colby, stay safe.
Thanks Tom! It’s now on my short list for characters to play in our next campaign, though I might have to give in and go with the melee version because I’m such a sucker for damage... :P
Tried to pull off similar build in CoS campaign, but with Profane Soul (archfey patron) BH. DM build-blocked me hard :D "Sure thing, if you find artificer teacher in Barovia."
Still turned into a beast with one-hand crossbow by going scout-rogue after reaching lvl8 BH.
I’m excited to try this one out! Would be awesome to see a gunslinger build too!
You know, I think you're the first to request Gunslinger, oddly enough! On the list now!
I played a mutant blood hunter in a game, and it was really quite MAD. This build is actually great with the artificer levels to make it way more SAD, which I love
Fun stuff as usual. I've not looked at Blood Hunter extensively so this was cool. Thanks, Colby.
You're welcome!
I really wish more channels took this approach in character builds.
I don't! >.> Because then I wouldn't be a special flower - lol ;)
@@DnDDeepDive This will always be a special flower. Just annoys me that people do that clickbaity thumbnail of '1000+ damage per round' then find out they tested it against an immortal training dummy with 0 AC.
@@AnoNYmous-bz2ef Don't underestimate Immortal Training Dummies. Things are nasty.
Coincidentally, that also happens to be the name of my new band.
@@DnDDeepDive That makes me want to make a statblock.
Omygod you have a band?!
@@AnoNYmous-bz2ef ha ha I do now! Need a drummer, and a bass player, and some songs to sing.
Love the collaborations!!!
Great build Colby!
I was thinking it could also be fun to go Beast Barb/Lycan BH/ and a short dip into moon druid for a fully realized werewolf build. Maybe not as optimized but I'm definitely considering for my next one shot.
So proud of you for getting on Nerdarchy, those dudes are super well established and I can't wat to see what it does for your channel!
Thanks! Yeah, I was looking at the Lycan/Beast Barb thing and... there are some weird compatible things happening that make it tough with questions around what constitutes a weapon and what doesn't... I think if you could get your DM to sign off on the Lycan's claws essentially working like the Beast Barb's, then you'd be in business :).
Just remember the lycan transformation has the bloodlust feature which you auto fail if you are raging. Might not work out well for your allies.
@@mrjek01 Good point ha ha - stay far away from friends before you shape change :P
@@DnDDeepDive or just group up with the wild mage sorcerer and a scourge Aasimar Oath of Conquest pally. Then everyone would need their space hehe.
@@mrjek01 >:)
If you auto-fail though and your positioning is good you can get an insane # of attacks tho... (sorry allies)
Currently playing a half elf profane soul bloodhunter 5/inquisitive rogue 3/artificer 2 in Descent into Avernus.
Xbow expert, no elven accuracy, haven't even maxed Dex at level 10 as the damage output is already so high.
Damage is ~220% baseline when Hex is up, ~170% without hex. Bonus action intensive but a lot of broad capabilities from the multiclass.
Colby "Not only am I gonna make a build with one of the most complicated classes, I'm gonna combine it with the other most complicated class."
But the end of this I will not know what the character can do at all.
I appreciate the reference to glory spren @36:17 ...
sidenote: I'm making a swarmkeeper ranger so that I can have all sorts of spren buzzing around me :)
@@maggiecearley3061 LOVE!!!
Blood curse of the eyeless doesn't give disadvantage anymore. It's more like cutting words
Finally, I'm so, grateful that you uploaded this video.
Coby, may I ask you a question?
What do you think about order of the lycan (my personal favorite blood hunter subclass)?
It would be fun to be a Werewolf! I feel like Wizards of the Coast tried to get there with Beast Barbarian... not sure which is the better Lycan :)
I really liked the order of the lycan, not only because I like werewolves, but also because (in my opinion) it is the most well-rounded blood hunter subclass. And I absolutely looove character optimization. Of course there's a big difference in flavor between a beast barbarian and a lycan blood hunter. The blood hunter makes me feel like a monster that fights other monsters (maybe that's because I like being a werewolf), while the beast barbarian makes me feel like a mere beast. Anyway, hopefully I'm not disturbing you, I wanted to ask you if you think you could optimize the so powerful order of the lycan even further.
@@riccardofoti2372 On the list!
@@DnDDeepDive I'm really thankful you answered me. Thank you so much Coby
A fun thing to do with blood hunter is go order of the lycan but take archery fighting style and make a build that does well in melle and range. Claws and bow take dex. You can play like a reluctant Bruce Banner type character who stays far away from combat but goes berserk flaming wolf melle when angry.
Make sure to activate your crimson rite before concentration spells, since the self damage still triggers a con save. You'll never really fail it... unless you get a nat1
Hey, loving the videos so far. One thing you could do with this build from lvl 1 is take the Faerie fire spell as an Artificer. it may take an action to cast but allows for potential advantage (for both you and all your allies) in an initial 20ft cube of enemies for 1minute. Also works since there is no other spell to really concentrate on with only 3 lvls Artificer.
I love Faerie Fire!
35:50 You got those schools backwards. But I forgive you, because you're excited.
You get a like before I even watch the video. Just so shocked to see the mutant used in a positive way :)
Nice vid man,
I was thinking about a similar build, going 2 levels artificer, 4levels mutant and the rest as a hunter ranger. With the addition of ranger u get access to hunter's mark and another fighting style (+1ac?/UA close quarter shooter) and in certain scenarios u could attack 4 times!! Plus crimson rite, hunters mark and sharp shooter, big damage
I just found this channel and I'm super excited I love all of this content, also I almost missed you saying "gloryspren" but the Stormlight Archive is probably my favorite series ever.
Woo hoo! Welcome! Journey before destination. You might enjoy the Wind runner episode :)
@@DnDDeepDive That's funny you mention that, I am watching it right now
Artificer gets Faerie Fire, why not take that to get advantage consistently? You aren't using your concentration for most of the early levels, so it's not costing you anything other than the spell slot.
love love love the editing, with music and that hair. LOL
Ha ha - yeah my friend Dallin did this one, and did a fantastic job :).
Tik Tok ate my wife's soul... Looking forward to the Nerdarcy video.
So here's a fun idea for the future that could play into a sort of mutant/Lycan artificer:
The weapons you gain from the alter self spell are magical, meaning you could still use intelligence for them
Thank you for the build ! Keep up the good work ! Love you !
You could use faerie fire to get advantage maybe. Your spell dc would be good, and you have con save proficiency from artificer for the concentration
I love blood hunters so much 😢
Colby, how much damage would be the difference between an ArtificerxBH and a pure mutant BH with celerity instead of sagacity?
Was about to ask you to do a blood hunter build and imidiatly saw this video in my recomended
I am psychic.
@@DnDDeepDive If you play in a campain where a feat att lvl 1 isne't an option would you recommend the mele barb build or the ranged int build. I play in a campain with custom raceses and high death rate so this character would probably start att lvl 5 or 6
@@huglings6558 hmmm... if there’s a high death rate I’m probably going ranged for the improved survivability :)
@@DnDDeepDive Thanks
You know I love the video dude, they are very helpful. I'm not sure if you're soft spoken or what it is, but your mic is very low and when the commercials come on they are like banshee screaming. lol, but thanks for the video I have been wondering about this so called Blood Hunter. I look forward to playing one one day. I have always wanted to play something like the Witcher, though I thought that was the Eldritch Knight?? But, this Blood Hunter does sound more like him.
Thanks! Hm... sorry about that. Will have to try turning up the sounds when we do post-processing so there’s not such a difference...
What I would love to see is a sort of undetectable caster build. A really sneaky and unassuming character, that abuses subtle spell and the like to fall under everyone's radar.
On the list!
An aberrant mind would be a good baseline for you then just augment with stealth stuff.
@@TheRobversion1 Yes true, but the shadow sorcerer got some good abilities as well, they can still use subtle spell, right?
@@nicoruppert4207 Sure shadow sorc is a good pick as well. Aberrant mind is just better for the theme you're going for as you can use subtle spell and pair it with another metamagic like heighten or twin or quicken.
None of the abilities of the shadow sorc really lends itself towards the concept you're going for (you mentioned subtle spell which is from the sorc base class). The shadow sorc is more geared towards a single-target blaster, controller, summoner type of playstyle.
@@TheRobversion1 yeah, I think the aberrant mind is probably the best pick, partly because telepathy is a great Form of undetectable communication. I was just imagining that the shadow hound would be interesting as it is an offensive ability that can't easily be traced back to you.
Congrats on the youtube partnership! Looking forward to the Nerdarchy interview and taking your advice and staying off tiktok lol
See I love the idea of a blood hunter mutant grappler. Just the raw strength you can bring to bear and the synergy with curse of bloated agony making them have disadvantage on either athletics or acrobatics and punishing them for trying to fight in your grip. I chose simic hybrid for crab claws and theme and its like a game of attrition you pick the biggest bad and just lock them in place and severely limit their combat options.
I played a fifth level bloodhunter mutant in a oneshot, with the sharpshooter feat, a lot of fun! would love to play her again, and oh how nice a repeating hand crossbow would be.. Did not know that it means that you can hold a shield and do bonus action attack, though makes sence
yeah! I did the same in our Halloween One-shot. It was a blast :). czcams.com/video/KkJwbadsOGk/video.html
How well would the other way around do? Mostly Artificer levels with 3 in Bloodhunter for sagacity and a bit more on-hit damage.
Hey colby, after seeing you answer some more recent comments on this video I have a question for you. The revised version of this class allows you to wisdom instead of intelligence for the abilitites. How beneficial do you think a 3 level dip into gloomstalker instead of artificer would be for this build? Thanks!
If starting at higher levels, battlesmith 3/mutant 3(or 11)/ bladesinger 6(or 14) would be super fun
Int attacks, +3 int max, cantrip part of extra attack
Hey there. Loved this build, but I thought the DPS is higher? Or am I misunderstanding something :(? You finished as a 3/14 Artificer/BH, but could finish in other ways. For simplicity sake, let's assume a 3/17, and no ASI/Feat selected @16, which could be +2 into Intelligence or Piercer? If finishing as 3/14, the only difference would be Crimson Rite and BC:Marked reducing to 1d8's.
Infusion is +1/+1 hit/damage.
Intelligence gives you +7/+7 (24 Intelligence).
Hand Crossbow is 1d6 x3. Idk how rare it is, but a Hand Crossbow +3, as well as Bolts +3, would be an effective +6/+6.
Hunter's Mark/Hex is 1d6 x3.
Crimson Rite is 1d10 x3.
Blood Curse of the Marked would give you an additional 1d10 x3. OR, Blood Curse of Corrosion would provide a 4d6 per turn debuff (21 Con save seems pretty irresistible).
Sharpshooter would be +10 damage x3.
3d6+42(3+18+21), +3d6, +3d10, +3d10, +30. Low-End: 12+72, 84. High-End: 168. Idk if that makes the average 104, 120, or 126?
I'm not sure if it helps, but I think the best mutagens would be Sagacity (obviously), Precision, Vermillion, Mobility, and Rapidity. Also seems that you can be affected by 3 different mutagens.
When you said “gloryspren bursting all over the place.” I knew.
I knew we had a real one here. 🤘
Journey before destination.
Great video. I don't know much about the class but it looks like it would be fun to play and really strong too.
Thanks!
As an artificer, the crossbow could have just been broken or inoperable until you fixed it.
Name drops Grey Wardens,
Me...”Oh, I’m subscribing.”
Huzzah for Dragon Age!
Do you think you will be doing a Controller build at some point? (maby you have already and I just missed it?) I can see how it could be a hard project though considering how you tend to go pretty deep with these.
It's on the list - I haven't figured out a good way to quantify it yet :). I might just have to forego the spreadsheets for that episode :P
@@DnDDeepDive Yea it gets hard to get numbers when you are not working with damage since in this case you are probably trying to prevent it from happening in the first place. What class do you think? honestly, Id make a strong case for Divine Sorc with the new feat sorcerer is looking pretty great not sure what I would add on for multi-class if any (the new sorcerer in tashas are sweet too but I know you don't use items in your builds)
@@Gradeius Multiclass is easy, 2 levels of fighter always (for action surge and con save/armor profs). There are many routes you can go with the controller but the 1st "bomb" you get is at 4th level spells (banishment/polymorph). So its best to take a class with that. I agree sorc is the best controller since you can twin the above spells or apply heightened spell to ensure they fail. I wouldn't say divine sorc is the best controller. That honor imo belongs to the wild magic sorc (bend luck) if you can stomach the wild magic surges or shadow sorc (hound of ill omen so you can impose disadvantage to saves and twin those control spells).
You can also multiclass with eloquence bard for more save reduction.
Aberrant mind is more for making sure you don't get counterspelled so if your DM doesn't throw alot of mages at you, it won't have much value in the control dept. Clockwork is more for a summoner or tank sorcerer build.
Divine sorcs are more for booming blade/atk based sorcerers.
If you want to keep it simple, I'd recommend a simple start as 2 levels of fighter, then go shadow sorc all the way. pick up the significant control spells such as web or hold or maximillian's earthen grasp and of course hypnotic pattern.
I know you just did a blood hunter, but would it be too much to ask, and consider sometime, help us fullfill the werewolf savage(nice with some magic/utility) fantasy?? its something i have been struggling, and didn't find much ideas or info about, going with claw, and bite attacks, even if you only read me and take it into consideration, thanks a lot!!!! and keep the great work, its very pleasing seeing how much joy you bring to yourselfs and the community with all this fun builds and all you other videos!!(sorry also if this was not the correct place to ask for a build).
Thanks, and yes this is fine! I've got the Lycan on the list :)
I wonder if this build gets a bit stronger if you're in a setting that allows firearms, particularly the revolver that does 2d8 on a hit
Thank you!! Really nice build I'll try to play!!
I think it would be better to go back to artificer after Blood Hunter 11. Extra spells like levitate and haste (you don't get haste until L20 sadly)and an extra infusion but the most important thing is flash of genius(+7). And arcane jolt is not that great but you can use it 7 times with no action so extra damage is allways good.
Alchemist/Mutant version.. poisoner w/ curse of exposure. Now poison works on all of those immune creatures and the feat takes away the resistance.
Nice im actualy think about some artif build, we ussualy dont touch UA stuff, so before Tasha it was banned on our table. Ty for great build.