The Controller Wizard - D&D:Optimized #62

you guys guess what it's time for another episode  of d d optimized i know i'm super excited also so   welcome everybody to dnd optimized part of the d4  network uh this is this show where each week we   take a deep dive into one sometimes two specific  character builds for dungeons and dragons 5e   we crunch numbers about them usually and we  always theorycraft about them and basically   try to create a character that is really fun to  play in game but also really powerful so if you   enjoy creating characters for d almost as much as  playing the actual game itself then welcome home   this is where you belong and we are super happy  to have you so thanks for being here my name's   colby and i'll be your host i am actually  super excited about today's episode because   the character that we've created is is a fairly  unique character concept for me and also even   though the character is built to do practically  zero damage which i know is a shocker for those of   you who have been watching this show for a while  they might just be might be the most powerful   character that i think i've ever made i've done  a lot of burst damage characters on this channel   uh as i've argued doing big damage in a single  turn to one or even multiple enemies is both fun   i think but also incredibly valuable from just  a mechanic's perspective right as it can really   turn the odds of the battle sharply in your  party's favor right at the beginning of the fight   making what would otherwise perhaps be an even  match of like four of you versus four of them into   something lopsided in your favor making it four of  you versus three of them right action economy in   dnd is very important and more often than not the  side that gets to take the most turns round over   round is going to win the fight so that begs the  question why don't i talk about control characters   more often i mean if eliminating one target by  killing them is good wouldn't eliminating one   at least for a portion of the fight via control be  almost as good what if you could control multiple   targets and take a fight from four of you versus  four of them to four of you versus two of them or   maybe even one of them by controlling everybody  else by locking half of the enemies behind a wall   or putting most of them to sleep or otherwise  incapacitating them yeah that would be amazing   i mean okay sure when the controlled status ends  on the enemy you still have to deal with them so   it's not quite just completely eliminating them  forever right but it's a heck of a lot easier   to deal with the enemy party if you only have  to fight say half of them at one time and then   the other half after the first ones are dead right  divide and conquer so why don't i do more control   focused builds i mean in my defense i've done a  couple uh i did a roon knight fighter mixed with   a sorcerer build a few months ago with trent monk  actually that was that we had a lot of fun with   that that character i think was really kind  of focused on battlefield control more than   anything and i think it turned out quite well  though admittedly most of the control provided   in that build dealt with like slowing and snaring  your enemies not necessarily like totally locking   them down i also did an undead warlock mixed with  a conquest paladin and a lot of you have been   asking for conquest paladins lately so anyway  there's one there it felt i think both fun and   powerful it was primarily focused on like fearing  and then snaring your enemies and even like the   fey wanderer although it was built primarily for  damage had a lot of really nice sort of similar   features as well but i continue to get a lot of  requests for like building the ultimate controller   and i understand why as i've said controlling  the battlefield and your enemies in dnd can be   a lot of fun and is really strong tactically  but i'll be honest i'm not 100 sure what the   ultimate controller really means i mean there are  so many ways to control in dnd right you can slow   you can stun you can move enemies around the  battlefield you can reduce their speed to zero   you can trap them behind a wall you can even turn  them into a goldfish or mind control them so how   do we determine what like the best form of control  is or the ultimate form of control is right is it   the character who can disable the greatest number  of enemies or the one who can shut enemies down   the longest or like the hardest because you know  preventing an enemy from doing anything at all is   obviously better than just slowing them down or  reducing their speed to zero right as a person   who likes to quantify things the idea of trying  to create like the ultimate controller presents   a little bit of a conundrum or a challenge or at  least a puzzle and i like puzzles so that's okay   the point that i guess i'm trying to make is  that today for the character that we build   it's going to be one of those rare examples  where i don't really think too hard about the   numbers because when it comes to building like  an ultimate controller i think there are just   so many things to take into consideration and  it's difficult to sort of try and quantify it   and reduce it down to some sort of usable data  point for me one of the most important things when   trying to create a controller type character is  how like sustainable their control features are   the most powerful control features i think are  often spells but i mean i don't want like the   ultimate controller to basically just be  the character who uses spells x y and z   it doesn't make for an interesting discussion  on creating a controller character right and   spells are of course limited by your spell slots  outside of cantrips so when i build a controller   character i'm looking for spells naturally but  i hope to augment spells with other features and   abilities that make it feel like you could exert  some form of control at least every turn or nearly   so meaning that we're going to need a mix of both  like limited use control features and ideally   control features that are usable as often as you'd  like so my priorities are to create a character   who has access to the strongest control spells  that do more than just slow or snare enemies   but actually totally disable them as i think  that's kind of the strongest form of control   right preventing them ideally from harming you  or your allies at all in addition i want to find   a way to exert control over multiple enemies  but also have powerful single target options   so i want some variety some diversity as well as  you know diversity and saving throws and you know   some charm and fear effects but some that could  work well against creatures that have immunity   to determine fear things like that finally i want  a character who has more than just spells but who   also has some great control capabilities innately  worked into their classes or subclasses then find   other things like feats etc to help us in our  battlefield control so a bit of a longish winding   rambling preamble there but without any further  ado i am super excited to present episode 62 the   control freak let's jump into the build at level  one for our class we're going to start fighter i know but listen the way that i'm planning on  using this character they will actually often be   in melee range what's more we are consistently  going to be using concentration based spells   and so for these reasons i'd like to really have  both access to good armor and armor class and   shield proficiencies right and proficiency in  constitution saving throws for the benefit of   our concentration checks and i think the easiest  way to do that is by starting with a level and   fighter so that's what we're going to do and it's  really purely for defensive purposes so yes when   we first meet our adventurer they are a lowly  guard or a soldier or even a mercenary perhaps   but they're not very good at the soldiering life  i'm thinking that they doubt their own abilities   somewhat they might be having a bit of a an  identity crisis and they might even be shaken up   somewhat by their inability to prevent  their comrades from dying in battle   they might be frustrated or saddened or even  enraged i think at the well the lack of control   that they have in actually impacting the outcome  of the battle in deciding who lives and who dies   they crave a way to exert more control and they  are seeking it out so that's our seed as for the   race that we're going to start with i will admit  i'm pretty torn here on what race to go with   uh yes there is a feat that i very much want of  course but i think for this character we could do   even better than a free feet at level one i'm  not gonna say custom lineage or variant human   i actually have two recommendations though number  one the leonan leonans give us a couple of things   that are really nice first up you get 35 feet  of move speed and that's actually going to be   pretty important for our character also well our  claws are natural weapons though i don't think   we'll be making much use of that but then  we get daunting roar and this is probably   the main thing that we're here for so once per  short rest as a bonus action we can roar causing   all creatures within 10 feet of our choosing and  that's nice that can hear us to make a wisdom save   against our constitution based dc which that's  kind of a bummer it's the one kind of weakness   about this i think but if they fail that save  they will be frightened for us until our next turn   this means that they have disadvantage on ability  checks and attack roles as long as they can see   us and they can't willingly move closer to us if  they're frightened so right off the bat we get   our first control ability now the range isn't huge  we can only use it once per short rest and it's a   fairly soft control but the other things that the  frightened condition brings with it are really   nice it's a nice debuff for us and for our allies  so yeah leonan great option um if you don't have   access to the theros book where leonans are found  or you're just really not a cat person i guess you   do have some other fear-based options in like the  fallen asmr the dragonborn unfortunately for both   of those their spell dc is charisma based which  you know isn't much better than constitution for   us and they both require an action to use their  fear as opposed to a bonus action and in the case   of the dragonborn they actually even need to take  a feat before they can fear right there are some   tiefling sub-races that get some nice control  spells that's not bad but again those spells are   going to be charisma based so not fantastic for  us i think my my number two recommendation here   actually would be uh just to go with a half elf  um specifically the wood elf half of because they   also get move speed bonus potentially we are going  to be pretty mad multiple ability score dependent   and so having all of those nice bonuses to ability  scores from half elf would be fantastic anyway   lots of great potential options to choose from i'm  gonna go with the leonan as for our ability scores   i assume as always that we're using the point  by method and i also assume as always that   we're going to be using the feature from tasha's  cauldron of everything that lets us assign   the ability score increases from our race wherever  we want right so with that in mind i'd recommend   starting with a 15 intelligence and taking our  plus 2 there so we're at a 17. a 14 constitution a   13 charisma plus one so we have 14 there and then  a 13 dexterity that we mostly need for our fighter   multi-class as for equipment you are the  worst level one character of all time stay alive that's that's all we're focused on so  for equipment just kind of standard stuff chain   mail armor a shield a rape here so we can use  dexterity for our attack right now now of course   some of you may be thinking why are you wearing  heavy armor you have a really crummy strength   score you're gonna suffer a movement penalty right  and that is all true and that's part of the reason   why i wanted to go with leonan because they get  35 feet move speed and so yes if you are wearing   armor that has a strength requirement that we are  not going to meet then your move speed is reduced   by 10 feet and that's really the only penalty  that you suffer as a character with 35 move   speed we are reduced to 25 and that doesn't feel  too bad that's 5 feet less than most characters   right of course you could go dwarf in order to not  suffer any move speed penalty from wearing heavy   armor but dwarves only have a 25 feet move speed  so if that's the only reason you're going dwarf   there's not really much point it feels pretty  manageable to me and so i'm actually going   to plan on using heavy armor throughout this  character's career even though they're really weak   as a fighter at level 1 we get the second wind  feature and that gives us once per short rest as   a bonus action a d10 plus our fighter level in  healing survivability is super nice especially   when you're the worst level one character  of all time so we're happy to have that and   then of course we get a fighting style too at  level 1 which is a not unwelcome benefit i would   personally choose either the interception fighting  style or the defense fighting style the truth is   you are going to be in melee range a lot of the  time i think as we'll see in a couple of levels   and so you'll likely be in a position to fairly  regularly use your reaction to intercept the   interception fighting style as a reaction you  impose a shield or a weapon and when an enemy   makes an attack against an ally that's within five  feet of you and you can reduce the damage that the   ally takes if they get hit by one d10 plus your  proficiency bonus i don't anticipate that you'll   be using your reaction a ton otherwise or at least  not for a very long time so yeah if you want to be   a team player this is the fighting style to take i  think of course the defense fighting style simply   gives us a plus one to our armor class if we're  wearing armor and that's really nice despite your   decent ac that you'll have with a shield and heavy  armor you will largely be a low hit die caster   for your career and if you're dead you're not  going to be intercepting anything let alone   controlling anything and of course by the same  token not getting hit means you're much more   likely to maintain concentration on your control  spells among other things so you decide i think if   it were me i'd probably take the selfish route  and go defense here at level two our character   has found something or perhaps someone that they  think might be an answer to their prayer or their   search to their quest for more power and control  perhaps it was a magic using npc that saw their   potential and or like consoled them in their grief  or rage at their inability perhaps it was simply   a spell book that they found or had given to them  which they were drawn to and somehow knew that if   they could only unlock the book's secrets it would  give them what they've been looking for whatever   your reasons we are taking wizard levels  now and shall be for quite some time   okay so at wizard level 1 we get arcane  recovery once per day after a short rest   we can recover spell slots equal to half our  wizard level rounded up they can't be higher   than fifth level spell slots and this is  very very nice and then of course we get   spells so wizards have access to more spells  than any other class in dnd and there are several   good control spell options at every single spell  level i'm not going to try and talk about each and   every one instead i'm going to try and focus  on my two or three favorites at each spell   level with special emphasis on spells that would  help us sort of accomplish the priorities that i   discussed at the beginning right that would that  would work particularly well for this particular   version of a control centric character trusting  you guys to figure out the rest so you know namely   we're looking for strong concentration based  control spells and maybe let me just say this   now since i guess it's not always readily apparent  to every viewer even though our intent and focus   for this character is for maximum control of the  enemy in combat please don't just assume that   this means that i think you should always just  use control spells and never throw out a good   old-fashioned fireball or even magic missile when  the situation calls for it right you are a wizard   be a wizard do all of the good wizard things not  just some of them you just happen to be really   really good at locking down your enemies but  that's not the only thing that you should do   unless of course you really want to play  your character as sort of a like a pacifist   non-violent type who refuses to enact violence  on another creature though are for some reason   okay with holding their enemies down while their  friend enacts violence on them you're the worst   conscientious objector ever but yeah in that  case go for it as for cantrips that we get here   at level one my favorite here for our purposes is  mind sliver as an action you hit one enemy within   60 feet with a spike of psychic energy and unless  they make an intelligence saving throw which is   very unlikely for most enemies in dungeons and  dragons they take one d6 in psychic damage and   have to subtract 1d4 from their next savings  row the damage scales like all cantrips and   so here we have a nice little move where  you could run in mind sliver as an action   and then hit a group within 10 feet of you anyway  with your daunting roar as a bonus action for   example and cause at least one of those enemies  the one that you hit with the mine sliver to   have to subtract a d4 from their save against it  and make the likelihood of that fear sticking a   lot higher this can trip will be even stronger if  you have teammates that are also doing things on   their turn that's going to require the enemy to  make a saving throw as for first level spells my   favorites for control would be sleep and hideous  laughter so sleep of course lets you put to sleep   up to five d eight hit points of creatures um you  roll 5d8 on average that's going to be 22.5 right   and then within a 20-foot sphere of a point that  you choose you can put creatures to sleep starting   with the lowest hit point creature right up  to the amount that you rolled on those 5d8   if they have fewer hit points than the number  that you rolled the enemy just falls asleep   and then you move on to the enemy with the next  highest hit points and if you still have enough   left over to put them to sleep then they also  fall asleep and so on until you're all out of hip   points the enemies get no saving throw no nothing  they just go to sleep it's fantastic at early   levels it doesn't scale very well as we've talked  about but for now it's incredible hideous laughter   requires concentration and only works on one  enemy but if that enemy fails their wisdom save   they fall prone and are incapacitated for one  minute meaning no actions no reactions they do   get to repeat that save if they take damage and in  that case they'll actually have advantage because   getting stabbed with a sword is super unfunny and  they also get to try and save again at the end of   their turn this is a super strong single target  control option and has the benefit of also being   hilarious at level 3 we are a wizard 2 and we  get our arcane tradition our wizard subclass   can you guess what it's going to be survey says  not chronergy not gravaturgy but enchantment   i love this subclass a lot and i've never  used it before in a build so that's always   extra fun here's what we read about the school  of enchantment wizard as a member of the school   of enchantment you have honed your ability to  magically entrance and beguile other people   and monsters some enchanters are peacemakers there  we go who bewitched the violent to lay down their   arms and charm the cruel into showing mercy others  are tyrants who magically bind the unwilling into   their service most enchanters fall somewhere in  between some really really great abilities we   get here to help us be the best control freak we  can be first up we get enchantment savant it makes   it easier to copy an enchantment spell into our  spell book if we you know come across a scroll or   another wizard spell book etc it's half the cost  in gold and time and then we get hypnotic gaze   which is really the main thing that drew me to  this subclass our soft words and enchanting gaze   can magically enthrall another creature as  an action if the target can see or hear us   and is within five feet of us hence the need for  heavy armor and a shield you can basically try   to hypnotize them look deep into my eyes if  they fail a wisdom save against our spell dc   they are charmed by us now normally charmed  it just means that they can't attack us   or target us with harmful magical effects and we  have advantage on social interactions with them   but charmed very often also comes with additional  things as it does for us here so in this case with   hypnotic gaze their speed drops to zero and they  are incapacitated meaning no actions no reactions   so for all intents and purposes they are frozen  stiff totally shut down the beauty here is that   once they fail their initial save they don't get  to repeat it also it doesn't require concentration   to maintain this hypnotic stupor that you've  put them in the bad news is to maintain it you   have to spend your action each turn to keep it up  also the effect ends if they can no longer see or   hear you or you move more than five feet away  from them you have to maintain eye contact or   if they take damage so make sure your friends know  the plan and they are careful not to wake them up   also once the effect ends you can't use that  feature again on that creature until you take   a long rest but there is otherwise no prohibition  against using this as often as you'd like whenever   you like and that's actually my favorite thing  about this ability this gives us a pretty strong   if admittedly action-dependent lockdown ability  that we can sustainably use and that was really   important for me with this build is it the thing  that you should always do with your action every   single turn of course not but i would imagine that  we would be using it a lot on this character maybe   most of the time because again since it doesn't  require concentration you could and should start   combat by say throwing out hideous laughter  on an enemy locking one of them completely   down and then on your next turn hypnotize  another and keep them locked down as well   possibly throwing out a bonus action you know aoe  roar to fear a bunch of other enemies and really   doing quite a bit of control here right at level  three without spending a ton of resources to do so   and that is gorgeous so at level four we're a  wizard three and we get second level spells and uh   there are so many to talk about i only want to do  two or three that i focus on or else we're going   to be here all day and again focusing primarily on  concentration spells here assuming that our action   is often spoken for with hypnotic gaze crown  of madness is great but it requires your action   to maintain as well as concentration so not my  favorite for this build whole person of course is   incredibly strong paralyzing an enemy who fails  their save which is one of the best conditions   that you can put an enemy under in dnd a paralyzed  creature is incapacitated which we've already   gone over they can't move they can't speak they  automatically fail strength and dexterity saving   throws attacks against them have advantage and  if that attack is coming from one of your allies   that's within five feet of the paralyzed enemy  any attack that hits is an automatic critical hit   so yeah paralyzed is amazing or horrendous  depending on which side of the paralysis you're   sitting on maximilian's earthen grasp is one that  you don't hear a lot about at least i don't care   a lot about but it's it's pretty strong you summon  a hand in an unoccupied space and then it reaches   for one creature that's within five feet of it  if that creature fails a strength save so among   the stronger saves for most enemies but they  will take 2d6 damage and they are restrained   meaning no move speed attacks against them have  advantage and their attacks have disadvantage   as do their dexterity saving throws as an action  you could try and crush them for a little bit more   damage but i assume our action is spoken for it's  not a ton of damage anyway that enemy will stay   restrained as long as you maintain concentration  but they do get another saving throw each turn if   they use their action for it the really nice  thing though about the spell i think is that   you can move the hand and like repeat the grasp  with an action you know if the creature you have   restrained either breaks out of it and runs away  or they die and you want to continue trying to   restrain others and then we have suggestion which  is particularly powerful i think the duration for   suggestion is eight hours and it lets you suggest  a course of action to an enemy that they have to   follow through with so long as they fail their  wisdom save and it doesn't encourage them to try   to harm themselves now this suggestion has to  sound reasonable that sound reasonable bit is   the tricky part that's often going to be open to  dm discretion i think i have to imagine that like   you're exhausted you should try to go to sleep  right now or or your family really needs you you   should run home and save them right would probably  work without question at most tables something on   the other hand like your companions are secretly  plotting to stab you in the back you should try   to kill them i can see some dms considering  that maybe slightly less reasonable if it works   that's insanely powerful and if they fail that  initial saving throw they don't get to repeat it   i would actually really love to know like how some  of you have used this spell or seen it used in a   way that's particularly effective or strong or  you know if you have if you've seen your dm shut   something down saying that it's unreasonable i'd  love to hear about that as well i'd also love to   hear any like really funny stories that somebody  might have about when a suggestion spell was   used maybe you gave somebody a suggestion to run  home to their family but then after the character   dropped concentration or eight hours later when  the co when the duration just simply wore off   they came back and tried to find you and kill  you still or something like that because that   would be awesome and hilarious finally that's  the second level spell i'll just mention web   it's a 20-foot cube that you cast it in so it's  a 4x4 on a grid not huge but you know it creates   sticky webs that are difficult terrain a creature  that enters that area or starts their turn there   has to make a dexterity saving throw or they  are restrained and then they have to spend   their action on future turns to try and make a  strength saving throw to break free at level five   we are a wizard four and we get our first ability  score increase or feet so we don't have a lot of   uses for our bonus action at the moment right  now the total number of spells we could cast   as a bonus action if we had them are relatively  few and i don't imagine us using any of them very   often while we're trying to stay within five feet  of our hypnotic gaze target and also concentrating   on another spell for control so i'm gonna say we  grab the telekinetic feet here this is half feet   so it lets us bump our intelligence by one so now  we're at an 18. hooray we learned the mage hand   can trip if we don't already know it and we can  cast it without using verbal or somatic components   that's nice we can make it invisible that's nice  and then also thanks to this feat as a bonus   action we can try to shove one creature who has  to make a strength saving throw against our spell   save dc or be moved five feet toward or away  from us a target like your ally can willingly   fail that save if they want to be moved closer to  you for example admittedly five feet isn't amazing   but there will definitely be times where it will  be just enough to like move an enemy into harm's   way or perhaps position them for an area of effect  control spell you're about to cast right or push   them back into a web that they've just escaped  from right or move an ally out of harm's way and   moving an ally in this way should not provoke  an opportunity attack from an enemy because   the ally is not using their move speed to move so  they should be safe and that could really help out   a squishy friend who is in need of a safe retreat  it'll definitely be nice to have this feature   and while it isn't super strong control it is  something and it's a nice use of our bonus action   that we don't have a lot of other use for anyway  and of course it got us to an 18 intelligence so   it's it's pretty perfect for us here i think at  level six we're a wizard five and that means third   level spells and okay there are so many good ones  again bestow curse i'm gonna mention because even   though it requires you to touch your enemy and  the enemy gets to make a wisdom saving throw   at the start of each of its turns to avoid its  effects which is kinda crummy one of the things   that you can curse them with is to spend their  turn just standing there doing nothing you may   think suggestion is a more powerful spell and i  generally agree with you except that suggestion   like many other control spells we've talked  about and will talk about won't work on creatures   who are immune to charm and there are several  others that aren't going to work on creatures   who are immune to fear including your roar of  course so i think it's important that we get   plenty of control options that don't rely on the  charm or fear effect especially as we get higher   and higher level and start potentially running  into more of those types of enemies and bestow   curse fits that niche nicely this also has the  benefit of not breaking if say your allies attack   them etc speaking of fear-based spells we get  fear here the fierce bell is really strong so it's   a 30-foot cone it requires a wisdom-saving throw  and if the enemy fails their save they're not just   frightened of you but they have to literally drop  whatever they're holding weapons whatever it may   be and then spend their turn using the dash action  to move as far away from you as possible in a safe   manner they're not gonna run over lava or anything  they don't even get a chance to to make another   save to break that effect unless they get out  of line of sight of you like they can no longer   see you and by then even if they make their save  they're gonna have to run all the way back pick up   their sword that they dropped right before they  can actually even do any any serious damage in   in many cases at that point they might just decide  that discretion is the better part of valor right   there is of course the incredibly powerful  hypnotic pattern spell which i really love because   it pairs so nicely with our hypnotic gaze making  us the supreme master hypnotist so with hypnotic   pattern creatures within the 30-foot cube area  have to make a wisdom save or they become not only   charmed but also incapacitated with a move speed  of zero just like our hypnotic gaze there is no   save to break it on their turn which is amazing  although it does end if they take damage or if   someone uses their turn to sort of shake them out  of their stupor break up still with a 30 foot cube   area and on a subsequent turn your hypnotic gaze  i mean i could easily see you often controlling   every single enemy on the battlefield and just  letting your allies sort of casually decide are   we gonna attack this guy this guy next okay great  surround them and then go and just kind of pick   them off one at a time in that manner right so  powerful but you know what maybe just as powerful   i think is the spell in sight greed what i love  about this spell is that it lets you choose any   number of creatures that are within 30 feet of you  so it's not a defined area potentially letting you   impact even more targets right and keeps you from  inadvertently maybe casting the spell over an area   that contains your friend and thereby hypnotizing  them too with insight greed you simply present the   gem that's used in the casting of the spell and  then every creature who fails their wisdom save is   charmed and must then spend their turn simply  approaching you in a safe manner and stare   greedily at the gem they do get to make a saving  throw at the end of their turn to try and break   this and it breaks if they're harmed by your  friends but still i just love the idea of you   holding the majority of the enemy party enthralled  holding out a gem to most of them and then staring   into the eyes of another to you know keep them  hypnotized while the enemy all just stand there   dumbfounded and your allies just pick them off one  by one finally i do want to mention slow it's one   of the best debuff spells in game i think you get  to choose up to six creatures in a 40-foot cube   and if they fail their wisdom save they're just  hit with a whole cornucopia of nastiness they   have half move speed they have minus two to their  armor class and their dexterity savings throws   they don't get to take reactions and then on their  turn they have to choose whether they take either   a bonus action or an action each turn and they  can't make more than one ranged or melee attack   per turn so multi-attack extra attack no for you  and if they try to cast a spell that costs an   action you roll a d20 and on an 11 or higher  the spell doesn't go off until the next turn   and they have to use their action on that turn to  cast it crazy it's not necessarily a hard control   like some of the others that we've been talking  about but it can affect a lot of targets and   really kind of weighed them down in the mud and  the mire and keep them from doing lots of things   that they would like to be doing they do get to  make a wisdom saving throw at the end of their   turn to try and break out of the effect and this  is another great one to potentially use for like   groups of enemies who happen to be immune to to  being charmed for example or if you just really   want your team to basically plow through a combat  encounter on easy mode okay so normally at level   6 9 13 and 17 i do a damage report to report on  damage numbers right or sometimes healing numbers   or tanking numbers i'm not gonna try to make up a  formula here for determining like how much damage   you might be helping your team avoid or something  it's just it would just depend on so many things   that i just don't want to have to try and come  up with an average or a mean or a control group   for but maybe we could instead do something like  a control report or maybe a tactics report control   report sounds like a really lame like prime  time news tv show i'm colby paulson and this is   the control report so tactics wise you know  i think your strongest move here is basically   going to be round one you run up to a group of  enemies you probably start with a bonus action   like telekinetic movement on one enemy if you need  to nudge someone into like the area of effect of a   spell that you're about to cast and then throw  out the most appropriate group concentration   based control spell that you've got likely fear  or hypnotic pattern i think but that could be   like bestow curse if there's a high priority like  really dangerous big bad or maybe if there's a   humanoid hold person or suggestion if you're out  of third level spell slots on subsequent turns   assuming that you've still got concentration going  i'd probably be locking down any stragglers that i   didn't get in like an area control spell with my  hypnotic gaze using a bonus action to roar when   i need it and if i've got it or to move allies  out of harm's way or enemies into harm's way   with telekinesis when you need it as your bonus  action your dm is not going to like you very much   your allies on the other hand will think you're  the greatest thing since press to digitization   level seven we are a wizard six and we get the  instinctive charm feature from the school of   enchantment that's a fun feature when a creature  within 30 feet of us makes an attack roll against   us so it's just an attacker it doesn't have to be  a weapon attack doesn't have to be a melee attack   you can try to make that attack target another  creature in range if the attacker fails their   wisdom saving throw then they have to make that  attack target the nearest creature to them not   including you now if multiple targets are closest  then the enemy gets to choose who that target is   if they make their saving throw you can't use  this feature again until you finish a long rest   but otherwise you can continue using it which  is awesome this costs our reaction and of course   obviously there are going to be times when  this is going to be amazing and there will   there will be times where it's just kind of okay  or even downright bad if you could choose you   know who the enemy attacked if they failed their  saving throw like say the cloud giant rune from   the rune knight that would be amazing right but  the reality is this might end up hitting one of   your allies and thereby causing a bit of a ruckus  or there might not even be another target in range   what might be even worse is if they're making  a melee attack against you and you use this   and the only other creature in range is the one  that you've got under your hypnotic gaze i mean   great now your enemies taking damage but it's  gonna break their hypnotic gaze so use this wisely   but be aware of when using it will be really great  because it very often will at level 8 where wizard   7 there are some good control spell options as  fourth level spells though admittedly i think the   third level control spells are a little stronger  banishment is a favorite so it's a charisma saving   throw that's amazing even better than wisdom on  most monsters and if the target fails they're just   banished to another plane of existence  where they are incapacitated and remain   until the spell ends which is after one minute  or you lose concentration no questions asked   just gone the best part i think is if the creature  is originally from another plane of existence   like a demon or something then they are and  i quote banished with a faint popping noise   so yeah it really makes that sound and they're  gone i love that they included that if if you cast   this spell on a demon and the dm doesn't make the  noise you gotta make them make the noise make the   noise and in those scenarios as long as you don't  lose concentration before the one minute is up   then the extra dimensional being that you  just banished just stays home also you can up   cast it to affect more targets which is fantastic  another favorite of course is polymorph obviously   we all love to turn ourselves or our allies into  tyrannosaurus rex's and cause havoc but of course   you could also cast it on an enemy and turn them  into a newt she turned me into a newt the only   problem there is that in theory they could take  just a little bit of damage reduce them down to   zero in nude form and thereby end the spell i  got better i love the tactic of turning them   into something with like one hit point and then  throwing them off a 500 foot cliff or something   for massive damage the other control-ish spells  that we get at fourth level like black tentacles   confusion resilient sphere even wall of fire for  pure control options they're okay and often do   some okay damage in addition to the control but  i think we have better lockdown options available   to us at this point personally and then at level  9 we are a wizard 8 and we get another ability   score increase or feet almost every single thing  that we do for control purposes at least gives the   enemy a chance to save against it nothing is more  important than getting our spell dc as high as   possible as quickly as possible obviously for this  reason there is a strong argument to be made for   taking custom lineage as your race right and then  taking telekinetic as your free feet that you get   at level one thereby letting you start with an 18  intelligence right at level one and then when you   get your first ability score increase you'd have  a 20 at level five i just couldn't resist the move   speed bump that we got from leona knowing that  we'd be wearing heavy armor with a low strength   score and the free area of effect fear as a bonus  action for leonans anyway it's nice to finally   get that intelligence capped now so as for a  tactics report you know not much has changed since   last time actually the enemy is just less likely  to make their saving throw than they used to be   and we probably have a new like best single target  control option i think in banishment and then we   have level 10 which means that we're a wizard9  and that means we have fifth level wizard spells   la creme de la creme of control spells as  far as i'm concerned so okay bigby's hand   gets a lot of attention it can restrain  and even squeeze people whoa bigby's hand   for damage and push them 25 feet away which  is situationally really great but telekinesis   is better i think the spell telekinesis because it  can restrain and move all at once and for 30 feet   they don't take damage but the damage from bigby's  hand is a little weak anyway gesh the spell has   a nice damage component to it as well though  it's a little bit of a softer control for me   the three big standouts at fifth level spells for  control purposes are hold monster dominate person   wall of force so hold monster just like old person  but now it works on any creature except undead not   just humanoids and again paralysis is like the  worst condition to be under in game next to dead   the dead condition that is worse i guess dominate  person only works on humanoids who aren't immune   to being charmed but is the quintessential mind  control spell if the enemy fails their wisdom   saving throw you can telepathically issue commands  to them no action required by you and they simply   do their best to obey it's almost as though they  were say like a summoned creature or a skeleton   that you've raised you can even use your action to  take total and precise control of them although i   would think in most cases having them just obey  your specific and general directions as we're   told we can do in the spell description should be  sufficient and leave you with your action free for   hypnotic gaze among other things they do get to  make a new saving throw when they take damage so   using them to attack their allies might  backfire if the allies fight back up casting   it increases the length of time that the spell  can last up to eight hours wall of force though   is to me one of the most powerful control  spells in the game you create an invisible   wall of force consisting of either 10 10  foot by 10 foot panels that you can kind   of shape however you want they just have to be  touching or you can create a hemispheric dome or   sphere with a 10 foot diameter nothing can  pass through the wall it's immune to damage   and it can't be dispelled by this by the  dispel magic spell you basically have to   cast disintegrate on it to get rid of it or wish  i suppose it even extends into the ethereal plane   blocking ethereal travel through it it's super  versatile you can potentially trap several enemies   behind it they get no saving throw against this  and most enemies are not gonna have any way to   get out of it it just works and for that reason  it's super powerful at level 11 we're a wizard 10   and we get the split enchantment feature from  enchantment wizards and this ability is just   potentially really fantastic when you cast an  enchantment spell of first level or higher so   no cantrips and that targets only one creature so  no area of effect spells but of course those are   already hitting multiple enemies ideally you can  instead of one creature target two why can't all   wizard subclasses be this good some of my favorite  spells to use with this now for control purposes   include but are not limited to hideous laughter  hold person and hold monster suggestion would be   fantastic for this targeting two people now  dominate person now becomes dominate people   oh and here's one that i haven't even talked  about yet because it's not a concentration   spell that persists it's just a use your action  every time you want to do this kind of spell   but it is enchantment and it targets one person  tasha's mind whip it's already fairly amazing and   now the target well targets now make an  intelligent saving throw which we love or they   take 3d6 damage can't take reactions and then on  their turn they have to choose between an action   or a bonus action or movement like the hold spells  up casting it lets you target additional creatures   here's a question what happens if you hit a group  of enemies with slow and then follow it up the   next round with this can they only take an action  or a bonus action every other round anyway so at   level 12 i think it might be time for a detour  some of you may think a detour would be crazy   here six level spells are one level away that  means mass suggestion among other things and force   cage a couple levels later right if you wanted  to continue with the wizard enchantment route   i wouldn't blame you higher level spells are  always a good thing here's the thing in my mind   we already have exceptional fantastic control  options among the best in the game we have   powerful single target control we have powerful  multi-target control and we even have fantastic   non-fear non-charm control options for those that  are concerned about that and control spells based   on lots of different saving throws too i don't  feel like we need a lot more control options   personally i think what would make this build the  absolute strongest that it could be would not be   more control options but a way to help ensure  that our control spells stick to the target a   little more reliably if i had to choose between  yet another great control spell at this point and   making sure that my enemies failed their saving  throws against the control spells that i already   had i take the ladder no question so for that  reason we're going to multi-class now i think that   our character has become so good at manipulating  and especially charming people that the magic has   almost altered their very personality and persona  where they might once have lacked confidence   in their abilities feeling awkward out of place  long months or years of being able to enthrall   and command both friend and foe alike has gotten  them interested in honing their previously latent   skills and talents allowing them to captivate  an audience with nothing more than their words   perhaps laced with a bit of magic to help so  yes we are going to take some bard levels here   at level 12 we are a bard one and that means we  get bardic inspiration of course charisma modifier   times per day so that's only two for us right now  we can as a bonus action give a bardic inspiration   die to an ally which is a d6 for now and that ally  can then use that bardic inspiration diet within   the next 10 minutes to add to their attack roll  saving throw or ability check and then of course   we get barred spells so the ones that i'm going  to highlight here are just ones that we didn't   have access to before unfortunately as they are  barred spells they're going to use our charisma   modifier to the you know plus to hit and like  spell dc and those kinds of things so they won't   be nearly as reliable but just for fun vicious  mockery is maybe my favorite cantrip in the game   you basically insult someone so hard that they  take 3d4 damage now because we're you know   at 11th level it goes up to 3d4 if they fail  their wisdom saving throw and they then have   disadvantage on their next attack i doubt we'll be  using this all that much right now since we have   tons of spell slots available to us including a  six level spell slot thanks to multi-classing with   a reliable control option for our action no less  that doesn't require a spell slot so i just don't   think we're going to be using a ton of cam trips  at this point but it's still fun to have end use   unfortunately though it's an enchantment spell  it doesn't work with split enchantment because   remember it has to be a spell of first level  or higher there's dissonant whispers here as   well which would qualify for split enchantment  because it doesn't have to be a wizard spell   just has to be an enchantment spell meaning that  for the lowly cost of a first level spell we could   target two creatures thanks to split enchantment  and have them make a wisdom saving throw or take   3d6 psychic damage and then immediately use their  reaction to move as far as its speed allows away   from you and yes this would provoke opportunity  attacks from you and your allies because they are   using their movement i would make sure to grab  healing word as well here using telekinesis as   a bonus action is fun and often very useful there  will be times where you just don't really have a   target that absolutely needs to be moved five feet  and there will definitely be times when being able   to throw out a 1d4 plus charisma modifier quick  heal as a bonus action to an ally within 60 feet   will come in very handy and that's what we get  with healing word most likely i think we'd just be   using this to like bounce up an ally who's  gone unconscious right definitely nice to   have in a pinch at level 13 we are a bard level  2 we get jack of all trades i absolutely love   this feature for utility purposes it lets us  add half of our proficiency bonus to skill and   ability checks that we're not already adding our  proficiency bonus to and we also get song of rest   which lets us add an extra d6 of healing  to anyone who spends hit dice to heal   during a short rest we're singing or most  likely i think for us telling a soothing story   and our friends just really love to have us around  the campfire all right tactics report at level 13   i mean you know bonus action telekinesis move an  enemy into just the right area and then throw up   while force to trap half of them behind a wall  that they can't escape from on the next turn   hypnotic gaze one who didn't end up getting  trapped and then roar to fear any stragglers   that might be left or i mean even throw out a  mind whip that hits the rest of the entire party   so that they all take a little damage and have to  either move or take an action or a bonus action on   their turn the possibilities are both incredibly  potent and seemingly endless but it's at bard   level three where we really take our lockdown  ability to yet another level so yes at level   14 we're a bard three we get expertise so pick  your two favorite skills that you're proficient   in and double your proficiency bonus for them  very handy and then we get our bard college   our bard subclass and it's the main reason that  we came barred in the first place mechanically   at least because we are going with the super  fantastic never before used on my channel   college of eloquence naturally oh this is just so  good so here's what we read about the college of   eloquence adherents of the college of eloquence  master the art of oratory persuasion is regarded   as a high art and a well-reasoned well-spoken  argument often proves more persuasive than facts   these bards wield a blend of logic and theatrical  wordplay winning over skeptics and detractors with   logical arguments and plucking at heartstrings  to appeal to the emotions of audiences   oh this is such a perfect blend thematically for  our charming hypnotic enchanter i love it so much   so as an eloquence bard we get silver tongue  which means that our persuasion or deception   check roles are always treated as at least a  10 if we roll lower than a 10. we're definitely   improving our non-magical persuasive skills here  and then there's the amazing fantastic unsettling   words as a bonus action which is so awesome you  expend a use of your bardic inspiration choose one   creature within 60 feet and force it to subtract  the number rolled from the next saving throw   it makes before the start of your next turn be  still my beating heart so right you've got a   really dangerous enemy that you worry might have a  decent wisdom saving throw but you really need to   lock him down how about we bonus action subtract  a d6 from their save and then action hold monster   just to make sure it sticks maybe maybe apply the  negative d6 to the enemy who looks particularly   wise and then thanks to split enchantment and  maybe even upcasting it let the other enemies   that you're gonna hit with this fail the spell  on their own this works for any save so it would   even apply for our hypnotic gaze and remember  once they fail that gaze on the very first time   they don't get to save against it again we just  have to make sure that we stay within five feet   and keep using our action to keep them hypnotized  and they don't take damage that's not always gonna   be under control but still i love the synergy with  this ability so much that although i could totally   excuse somebody for just staying enchanter like i  said i could also totally excuse somebody for like   taking eloquence barred right after you hit  wizard5 and get those third level control spells   relying on your quite powerful third and second  level control spells hypnotic pattern fear bestow   curse insight greed slow hold person and then  diving into bard at that point to grab this to   ensure that your good control abilities and  spells stick on the targets that you really   need them to stick to would be i think a perfectly  reasonable choice to make but anyway at level 15   we are a bard 4. i want to stick with bard for  a second i think there's good cause first up   we could really use another ability score increase  our feet which we would get here at bard for you   know a smart and or prudent person would probably  take resilient wisdom here in fact they might have   done that a long time ago our wisdom sucks and  since we started fighter we don't have proficiency   in wisdom saves which means that as the controller  we're incredibly likely to get controlled   ourselves by our arch nemesis control freak of  course i have never claimed to be particularly   cautious in my character builds so why start now  and honestly i kind of actually like to build   characters with some exploitable weaknesses  i don't know why maybe i like the challenge   maybe i'm too trusting in a kind dm if it were me  playing this character i would probably just make   sure i had counter spell in my spell book  and like keep my fingers crossed right to   hopefully avoid becoming controlled or charmed or  feared or whatever so what i would want to do here   i think is bump charisma because i want to hire  spell dc for my bard spells but more importantly   i want to be able to use the shiny new toy that  we got the unsettling words more frequently so i'm   taking charisma 216 you be the wise one and take  resilient wisdom oh that was terrible you take the   more reasonable and prudent route so for that same  reason of wanting more uses of unsettling words   i'm going to go bard 5 at level 16 as well um  because at bard five we get font of inspiration   which means we get our uses of bardic inspiration  back after a short rest and not just a long rest   so now we have three uses of it per short rest as  opposed to two per long rest which is way better   even better our buttock inspiration die jumps  from a d6 to a d8 now making our unsettling   wards that much more unsettling and then finally  for us at level 17 how you finish off your career   here continues to be filled with great and  therefore difficult choices i mean heck we could   actually take a second level of fighter here  and and arguably done so much earlier right   to pick up action surge which would let us among  other things throw out two full spell slotted   spells in a single turn as long as we didn't cast  a spell as a bonus action i mean imagine using   unsettling words as a bonus action lowering your  target's next save by a d8 right and then as an   action hitting that same target with mind sliver  lowering their their next save by an additional   1d4 and then using action search and hitting them  with hold monster or something even an enemy with   a pretty decent bonus to their wisdom saving throw  is really going to struggle saving against you now   eloquence bard six is equally appealing i think  thanks to the unfailing inspiration feature that   they get there if you really wanted to kind  of lean more into your support role i would   probably consider going that route i suppose if  it were me i would probably finish in wizard you   know we get six level spells by doing so and  that means mass suggestion uh not to mention   like disintegrate chain lightning contingency  right but mass suggestion works similarly to the   already very powerful suggestion spell except that  it lasts for 24 hours and you can target up to 12   creatures with it so that's really good and  for our final tactics report then i mean   we are arguably overpowered throw out mass  suggestion with a bonus action beforehand to   reduce the saving throw of the most dangerous  opponent by a d8 and then tell the entire group   of enemies to like run to baldur's gate because  there's a massive treasure trove awaiting them   there for those that somehow make their saving  throw you can lock at least one of them down   with your hypnotic gaze on the next turn lowering  their saving throw by a d8 if you really needed to   or if you didn't potentially throwing out a roar  to fear you know any stragglers that escaped your   mass suggestion and just laugh as your allies  make quick work of any stragglers who are left   there are so many powerful and fun options at your  fingertips and so final thoughts you know i put   this build off for a long time because i think if  i'm being honest with myself i was a little scared   there were so many spells to analyze that it  felt a little daunting but once i dug in man i   had so much fun i really haven't had this much  fun creating a character in a very long time   and i know i say this a lot but i think  this one has risen to the top of my i want   to play this next list it's so different  than anything i've played in game but so   so powerful and speaking of that to be honest i  think my biggest concern with this build is that i   really do fear that a character built in this way  might do more to trivialize combat encounters than   any other build i've done i know that controlling  isn't the same as killing and your dm could you   know just fill their combats with enemies that  are immune to fear and charm reducing your control   options somewhat significantly but having  the level of control that this character has   can turn the action economy of any fight in  your team's favor so heavily and so reliably and   in so many different ways that you could lock  down potentially most if not all of the enemies   on the battlefield and it might just be a  little game breaking and it makes me feel   a little less bad for leaving in some weaknesses  for the character because you might just need to   throw your diamond bone on this one so anyway  that is the build for the week thank you so   much for watching i love you guys you are so  fantastic i really appreciate you i hope that you   will like this video if you haven't already and  subscribe to the channel if you haven't already   and even consider joining as a member if you  haven't already but regardless i hope you have   a fantastic day and i hope to see you again  very soon so until then take care thanks guys then they also fall asleep  and so on until you don't have   you until you don't have enough wow  this is a difficult spell to explain until you're all out of hitpoints

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 91,586

Keywords: D&D: Optimized, dnd, dungeons & dragons, 5e, wizard, enchanter, enchantment, bard, eloquence bard, control, controller, how to, guide, battlefield control

Id: pp7eJVu2Hz8

Length: 62min 1sec (3721 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 12 2021