The Over-Reactor: D&D Build #157

what is the value of a reaction in DND for a  spellcaster with the shield spell it's really   high for those of us making weapon attacks or  using the warcaster feet it can potentially   provide some nice opportunity attacks once in  a while but that's not all that reliable well   what if we tried to build a character  who could almost guarantee a reaction   attack on every single turn would it be  worth sacrificing damage otherwise to get   there that is the question that I'm trying  to answer in my build this week welcome to [Music] before hey everybody so here at D4 each  week I take a deep dive into character builds for   my favorite role playing games I like to crunch  numbers about them theorycraft about them not   to try and tell you like the right way or the  best way to play a character necessarily but   to explore one potential way to build something  with the hopes of creating a character that is   both really powerful but also really fun to  play so if if you enjoy creating characters   for your role playing games almost as much as you  enjoy playing the actual game itself or if you're   just looking for tips or ideas on how to build  something that you're thinking about playing   then welcome home this is where you belong and  I'm so glad you're here so thanks for watching   my name is Colby I put out these character build  videos every Tuesday so if you enjoy what you see   I would appreciate it if you'd consider joining  the channel as a member there's a little join   button down there and just for a couple three  bucks a month you can get like access to the   library of writeups that I create for each of  these builds to help you recreate the character   yourself a little easier access to the community  Discord server access to our monthly live Q&A   hangout sessions it's a great way to support  me support the channel so huge shout out and   thank you to all of my channel members you guys  are fantastic I couldn't do this without you I   really couldn't and for everybody else thank you  just for being here watching liking subscribing   these are also fantastic ways to support the  channel and I appreciate you whether you're   a channel member or not right so I get a lot of  requests from people to do a video on like how I   come up with character builds or how I optimize  characters and my response to those requests   is generally youd want to see that it would be  the most boring video of all time basically it   would just be me sitting in front of my computer  for like 8 hours with 12 tabs of D and D Beyond   open and Going H wait wait oh no that wouldn't  work because yeah oh but what if we well point   is there's not a lot of Rhyme or reason to the  madness for me that said there are a few things   that I do think about with pretty much every  character build and maybe the easiest way to   describe it would be that I try to like get the  most out of every resource that I have available   to me as a player that is we get an action so  I'm going to make sure okay what are we doing   with our action what can we do to get the most out  of our action right then I try to figure out how   I might potentially weaponize my bonus action for  example can I do anything potent with my movement   other than just position myself every character  can concentrate on one spell I think of that as   like a resource right should I be concentrating  on anything if so what etc etc one thing that I   don't often consider though when going through  that sort of checklist is my reaction we get one   reaction every round right but it's not always  easy to guarantee that we can like reliably   weaponize our reaction so outside of a few builds  like the eldrich Whisperer for example who was   using dissonant Whispers to force an opportunity  attack essentially or a handful of Rogue builds   most recently the Arcane trickster so that we  could get sneak attack twice per round right with   a reaction attack or maybe like the Law and Order  cleric build from a few weeks ago who was taking   advantage of their companions reactions anyways  I I don't really build around it but what if we   did I mean there are a lot of Feats and features  in the game that tell us that if x happens then   we get to make a reaction attack right I'm not  talking about like rebuke the violent or hellish   rebuke or those things that are more kind of  like spell effects or just spells I'm talking   full-on weapon attacks here what if we tried  to combine all of the best and most reliable   of those features into one build could we safely  assume that we would get a reaction attack every   round or almost every round if so that would be  incredibly powerful on a marshall character who's   already making three or four big damaging weapon  attacks every round taking it from 3 or 4 to four   or five would be like a 20 to 25% damage increase  over character who aren't getting an attack out   of their reaction every round right maybe that  would be sacrificing say spell or Smite damage   or ability score increases Etc at the very least  someone should crunch the numbers on that I offer   myself as tribute and so I proudly present DND  build number 157 the chain reactor the nuclear   reactor I like that except probably works better  on a Nova damage build and this one is sustained   damage by the way how about then just the  overreactor huge thanks to my good friend   Randall Hampton for the art that he put together  for this build he does this every week he is such   a fantastic artist you guys know that already  I'm sure if you're interested in following him   on social media or potentially commissioning him  to create some art for your character or maybe   even your entire party I will as always put links  in the video description on how to do so and also   I am really excited to tell you guys about the  sponsor for this week a new sponsor Emy Ramen o   m mhm so good so a lot of you guys already know  that I am a huge fan of like finding foods that   taste great but that are like lower carb and  higher protein right so along those lines let   me tell you about my new favorite Ramen company  imy Ramen one of the worst things about loving   noodles is that most of the time there's not a  ton of nutritional content in them right they   tend to be pretty high in carbs and and fairly  low in nutrients otherwise well that is not the   case with Emy they are the tastiest way to cut  carbs from your diet but still get your noodle   fix without the uh food coma that often comes with  it each packet of em Ramen has 21 g of protein and   only 6 G of net carbs those are some amazing stats  for ramen some seriously optimized noodles best of   all honestly it tastes delicious you can pick  from six Chef crafted and vegan flavors black   garlic chicken spicy beef spicy red miso oh I  hate when you do that always scares me or my   favorite roasted pork tonkatsu which I'm actually  enjoying today that seriously reminds me of like   the ton KATU that I order at the ramen place just  down the street but a lot more affordable simpler   and with few carbs and more protein they have  like a perfect density to them they're like just   the right amount of chewy the broth is creamy  Savory it makes a great snack or A light meal   and sometimes I like to add like a hard-boiled  egg maybe some beef or pork jerky some steamed   veggies if I want like a hardier but still really  easy to prepare meal so I think you guys should   try them out go to the website that I've Linked  In the video description if you would if you use   that link they'll know I sent you and then if you  decide to make a purchase at checkout use the the   code D4 and you'll get 15% off your order you're  welcome and Emy even has a 30-day moneyb guarantee   so that if you don't like it just ask for a refund  and they'll give you one you don't even have to   return the ramen big thanks to Emy Ramen and let's  get back to the build just as soon as I finish my noodles all right at level one for our starting  class we are going to go fighter but guess what   unlike other builds this isn't a one or two level  dip and then out no way we are actually going   almost 100% fighter on this baby something I very  rarely do I actually had someone in my comments   recently and I apologize for not remembering who  it was or writing it down they said something like   this hey none of your tier one Builds on your  spreadsheets whether Nova or sustained damage   are mostly Fighters can you try and make one  and I was like I mean every build that I do I   try to make the best that I can sure sometimes I  will artificially restrict myself in the name of   character concept like I'm doing today a little  bit with this focus on reactions but I mean every   fighter that I've ever done I've tried to get into  tier one right every non-f fighter that I've ever   done for that matter my goal is really to try  and make them the very best that I can think of   how to make them right it's not my fault that  spellcasters are comparatively overpowered in   this game and I'm not trying to throw shade at  that commenter for the record it was a valid   point and it got me thinking because maybe today  could be the day that we create an exception to   that no mostly fighters in tier one rule we'll  see as for our race um what do you think are we   going to go custom lineage variant human you  know I would really love to honestly um there   are 1.21 gigawatt of Feats that I would like to  take on this character what the hell is a gigatt   and I'm going to talk more about that in the final  thoughts actually but no I think that in the name   of character concept here we ought to take a race  that can help us on our mission to be the ultimate   overreactor and for my money the best race to help  us in that Quest would be a dragon born actually   that's right and not just any dragon born but  specifically the ravenite dragon born that comes   to us from the wild Mount book I love it when a  build uses a race that I've never used before hoay   so now some of you might not be able to use that  book at your table which is a bummer I understand   but just be sure to remind your DM that even  though the book came to us for from critical role   it is published by Wizards of the Coast right it's  considered official 5V material if that helps your   argument if not we've always got a runner up here  the half orc who thanks to the orcish Fury feet   can sometimes get a reaction attack as well it's  just less frequent than the ravenite dragon born   and requires an extra feat to work so I prefer the  dragon born if we can get it as for the rest of   us yes uh the ravenite dragon born those tailess  hearty dragon born who actually get dark vision   so that's a bonus but the main reason we're here  of course is because they get the vengeful assault   feature which says that if you take damage from  a creature doesn't have to be weapon damage by   the way any damage which is nice if that creature  is in range of a weapon you are wielding you can   use your reaction to make an attack with that  weapon against that creature awesome reaction   attack Numero Uno now unfortunately we can only  do this once per short rest but with all of the   other ways that we will have to get a reaction  attack I don't mind that so much it'll be a nice   tool to have in our reaction-based tool belt as  for our ability scores I assume that we're going   to point by Method as always and say let's take a  15 strength a 15 Constitution and a 15 dexterity   and take a plus one in each of those right giving  us a 16 in all of them you wouldn't have to take a   16 dexterity here I feel like it's important for  saving throws and initiative roles but you might   prefer to go 14 dexterity and 12 wisdom and if so  I wouldn't blame you as for equipment um I mean I   probably start with a great swword or a maul here  as they're going to do a little more damage but   before too long we're going to want either hird  or a glaive and then yeah start off with some   chain mail armor we will be switching to medium  armor later as a fighter one then we get the   second win feature which lets us heal ourselves  for a d10 plus our fighter level once per short   rest as a bonus action and that's actually being  improved uh for 1 D and D which is nice and then   we get a fighting style and we are going to want  to grab Superior technique unque here this lets us   learn a maneuver from the battl master maneuver  list along with a single superiority die which   is annoyingly a D6 for some reason instead of the  usual d8 like other superiority dice we might end   up getting later it resets on a short rest as for  the maneuver that we should learn it's absolutely   repost okay actually you might want brace here but  that's going to eventually be a little redundant   for us later maybe take brace now and then swap  it out later if you want but anyways repose tells   us that when a creature misses us with a melee  attack we can spend our superiority die and make   a reaction melee attack against them if we hit  we add the superiority die in damage and thus   reaction attack numeral do off to a great start at  level two we get action Surge and though we're not   building for burst damage here I will not say  no to some if it just Falls in my lap so yes   now we'll be able to take two actions on our turn  once per short rest and that's I mean arguably the   single best like Base Class feature in the game  that's not spellcasting I don't really know how   you'd quantify that but it's at least got to be in  the running right what else R of protection extra   attack I guess but if we're talking things that  are unique to one class bartic inspiration anyways   that's a whole different video action surge is  awesome at level three we get our subass our   martial archetype and of course we're going Battle  Master because we need more superiority Dice and   more Maneuvers so as a Battle Master we get combat  superiority this tells us that we now have four   more superiority dice resetting on a short rest  these are d8s as is proper and we get to learn   three more Maneuvers as for what those should be  um sure take brace this tells us that we get to   make a reaction attack against an enemy when they  move into our reach so with an opportunity attack   right we get to make an attack against them with  our reaction when they move out of our reach and   now it's like coming and going problem is we will  shortly have something that will let us do that   when they move into our reach by default without  spending a superiority die and it's arguably   better doesn't do extra damage but we'll get into  it anyways maybe take brace for now and then swap   it out later and actually yeah do that because  thanks to Marshall versatility the optional class   feature that came to us from Tasha's cauldron of  everything we could swap out the brace maneuver   like at the very next level when we get a feat so  go ahead and take it for now other than that I'm   probably taking yeah my favorite trip attack which  lets you attempt to knock an enemy prone when you   hit them adding the superiority die in damage then  forcing them to make a strength save or be prone   meaning we and others uh making attacks within 5  ft of them get advantage on our attacks very nice   and I think I'm probably taking Precision attack  here as well it lets us add our superiority diet   to the attack role and we can even wait until  after the roll to decide super nice when we   really need to hit and I guess we feel pretty  confident as to what the enemy Armor class is   right so we are pretty sure that that superiority  die is going to help us get there at level four   we get our first ability score increase or feet  and yeah of course we are going to go with polar   arm Master not only because it lets us use our  bonus action to make an opportunity attack with   the blunt end of the weapon right if we're using  a Halbert or a glaive here which if you're not yet   if you're not up until this point make sure you  switch to but also and most importantly for this   build because it lets us make yes an opportunity  attack when a creature moves into our reach and   the wording here is important actually so far  the things that we've gotten to make a reaction   attack were not called opportunity attacks just  an attack with our reaction so remember that for   later but anyways yes now we get an opportunity  attack whether they're moving into our reach or   leaving our reach and thus the redundancy with  the brace maneuver so feel free to swap that   out for something else now there's definitely  an argument to be made here that you should go   great weapon Master Instead at at this level if  I weren't prioritizing getting reaction attacks   above all else I just might do so I mean I would  hate giving up a free bonus action attack every   turn that polar arm Master gives us but the plus  10 to damage at a minus 5 to hit that we get from   great weapon Master just might outweigh that bonus  action attack depending on the enemy Armor class   right especially at like low enemy armor classes  and I mean if we can knock him prone with a trip   attack then if you add Advantage great weapon  Master is going to out damage even moderate   enemy AC's when compared to Polar AR master and  great weapon Master does give us a bonus action   attack if we crit or kill an enemy on our on our  turn which can happen with some regularity and   we could keep that brace maneuver letting us  keep the if they move into our range we get a   reaction attack thing but no I want to consider  this damage sustainable and I want to use trip   attack when I can but more important is saving  those superiority dice for ripost attacks when   I need them so swapping to a pull arm now and  getting a resource free opportunity attack on   an enemy when they move into reach is the way  to go at least for this build I think anyways   at level five we get yes extra attack so now with  polearm master we're getting two attacks with our   action one with our bonus action and then yeah a  fourth with our reaction a lot maybe most of the   time on our turn and that is fantastic but at  level six things get even better because yeah   one of the main reasons that we're going mostly  fighter on this build is for all of those Juicy   and Delicious extra Feats that they get we need  them all so at this level I'm actually still not   going to take great weapon Master remember  we're prioritizing reaction attacks and so I   think we need just one more to secure our place  in the greatest overreactor of all time yes I'm   talking about Sentinel here this really is such  an amazing feat you should consider getting it   on every melee Marshall character that you ever  play honestly I don't give it enough love in my   builds it gives us some wonderful benefits first  off it tells us that when we hit a creature with   an opportunity attack specifically not just  an attack with our reaction right and that's   why that distinction was important but when we  hit them with an opportunity attack their move   speed becomes zero for the rest of the turn so  yeah of all of our reaction attacks available   to us aside from just a normal opportunity attack  that everybody gets the one from polearm Master is   the only one considered an opportunity attack but  now if we make one against an enemy who is moving   into our reach I mean since we've got a 10-ft  reach glaive or halir if that opportunity attack   hits as they're as they're moving towards us they  are stopped dead in their tracks and if they're a   melee enemy with only a 5ft reach and that's like  the majority of melee enemies in D and d5e then   they're just stuck sitting there looking stupid  likely unable to hit their intended target this   is a pretty well-known stick in 5e uh Chris Trant  Monk and I talked about it way way back in our   Rune KN video years ago but yeah such a fun combo  there that's probably really going to frustrate   your DM apologies to DMS who have to deal with  this but this is not even the best part for us   anyways the best part is that with Sentinel we  get to make a reaction attack against a creature   simply for attacking someone other than us it  doesn't matter where that other creature is by   the way that they're attacking and that is so  awesome we just have to be within 5 ft of the   enemy when they make the attack right also we get  to make opportunity attacks against creatures even   if they take the disengage action so good so good  okay at level six it is time for our first damage report let us take stock of where we're at with  this character right now here are all the ways   that we have currently to use our reaction to  make an attack against an enemy one if they try   to move out of our reach just like everybody two  if they try to move into our reach three if they   they do damage to us any damage granted this is  only once per short rest but still four if they   miss an attack against us thanks to the repost  maneuver and finally five if they make an attack   against anyone other than us and we're standing  next to them when they do so so basically if they   try to approach or run away from us and if they  try to attack us whether they succeed or fail or   someone else whether they succeed or fail it  feels to me like we've got our bases pretty   well covered here so the question is how of often  should I assume that we're realistically getting   an attack with our reaction and surely it's not  every single time but I mean it's got to be the   vest majority of the time doesn't it if I assume  that we're getting a reaction attack 90% of the   time is that too much feels about right to me the  only times we won't get a reaction attack as if   the enemy successfully harms us but we've already  used our ravenite reaction since our last short   rest if no enemy within 5 ft of us ever attacks  anyone else in our party or tries to attack us   but misses and like no one ever moves towards or  away from us so sure there will be rounds when   like none of the triggers happen for us but it  feels to me like that's going to be the exception   to the rule anyways I'm going to assume a 90%  chance at a reaction attack and you can adjust   the number slightly lower if you want other than  that should I assume that we've got advantage on   our attacks I'd love to but probably not we kind  of talked about this already trip attack is great   but I feel like I probably need to be saving those  superiority dice for repost granted there will be   plenty of times that I'll be getting a reaction  attack without needing to use repost but with five   superiority dice currently it's tough to assume  that I'll be able to knock an enemy prone every   round and still have a superiority die whenever  I need it for repost plus it only works on large   enemies or smaller and they get a strength save  so I'm not going to assume that we are spending   a superiority die for trip attack every round  thus I'm just going to assume on our turn that   we are getting three attacks two with the d10  sharp end of our pole arm one with the D4 butt   and that 90% of the time we're getting a d10 sharp  end reaction attack each one of those is going to   add three for our strength modifier and once per  turn I'll assume that we're getting an extra d8   from a maneuver sometimes that'll be for repost  sometimes we'll get a reaction attack otherwise   and maybe we can use trip attack then right  we've got five of them they reset on a short   rest and most combat Encounters in 5e at most  tables are over by round five so I don't think   it's too big a stretch to make that assumption as  always I'm trying to explore the limits of what's   possible right if all of our attacks landed then  we would be looking at 3d10 plus 1 D4 + 12 damage   in a round and so against enemies with a 10 Armor  class we would on average do 39 damage per round   and against an enemy with a 15 AC it would be  29 DPR and that's good not top of the class or   anything but compared to other sustained damage  builds that I've done to date at this level that   puts us kind of middle of tier 2 definitely above  average and hey you've got some decent control   capabilities with Sentinel and polearm master some  decent burst damage capabilities with action Surge   and we're decently tanky as well we're in a really  solid place here and it's only going to get better   now at level seven we are at a bit of an impass I  really want great weapon Master again if it were   me playing this character in game I might have  taken it instead of polar master or Sentinel or   more likely I would have gone like variant human  or custom lineage instead of ravenite dragon born   so that I could have gotten everything I needed  by six there is a problem though as nice as the   plus 10 damage we get from great weapon Master is  thanks to the minus 5 to hit penalty we incur when   using it right now if we had it turned on we would  do less damage on average against enemies with   as little as a 14 AC and higher how many enemies  are you fighting at level 7 with a 13 AC or Worse   right my guess is not that many now if someone in  your party is reliably casting bless and you have   like a plus one plus two magic weapon or maybe  someone's throwing out fairy fire Etc then sure   maybe stay fighter here and grab great weapon  Master at eight right but since I'm building this   character in a vacuum not knowing what magic items  you might have nor what your companions are doing   the number one thing that we need right now before  even getting great weapon master in my opinion is   a reliable way to get advantage on our attacks and  for a strength-based Melee character the easiest   way to make that happen of course is by taking  some Barbarian levels so I think that's what I   would do here this means at Barbarian 1 we'd get  rage and this lets us twice per day for now as a   bonus action go into a raging Fury granting us an  extra two damage per strength-based melee weapon   attack resistance to all bludgeoning piercing and  slashing damage really nice and even advantage on   strength checks and saves all great things don't  forget you can't concentrate on or cast spells   while raging and it ends early if you don't  make an attack or take any damage in a round   we also get unarmored defense at Barbarian 1 and  this gives us us an armor class equal to 10 plus   both our dexterity and Constitution modifiers if  we're not wearing armor but that's a trap for us   we're going to stick with armor though note that  we are going to want to be using medium armor from   here on out as our most important features rage  and Reckless attack don't work if we're wearing   heavy armor right but yes speaking of at level  eight we would be a Barbarian 2 and that means   we get the almighty Reckless attack letting us  on our turn decide to attack recklessly give   giving us advantage on our attacks at the cost of  giving enemies advantage on their attacks against   us until our next turn totally worth it in my  opinion one note currently Reckless attack only   gives us advantage on attacks that we make on our  turn meaning if we're attacking on someone else's   turn with our reaction no Advantage which is lame  Wizards of the Coast realizes this lameness and is   changing it for 1 D and D so that it just lasts  until your next turn good job Wizards here's   hoping that your dungeon Master takes the hint  and allows for the same at your table but make   sure to talk with them beforehand to clarify  we also at Barbarian 2 get danger sense this   gives us advantage on dexterity saving throws so  long as we can see the thing that we're saving   against not bad but at level 9 with that most  important feature Reckless attack secured I   think we go back to fighter both for Feats and  for other fighter features to come so yes this   means we would be a fighter 7even and as a Battle  Master we get know your enemy this is actually a   pretty fun bit of utility that you don't often  get with Fighters you spend a minute observing   or interacting with a creature outside of combat  and then can learn if they are equal Superior to   or inferior to you in two like character features  of your choice the requirement to spend a minute   doing this makes it tough to find a combat use  for it I think unless you can like get a villain   monologuing or you've managed to like stealth  up on an enemy and can study them before they   know you're there but even then it'll still come  in handy fairly frequently over the course of a   campaign I think right outside of combat no  question we also get uh well what would be a   sixth superiority die here per short rest and two  new Maneuvers and as far as which Maneuvers to   take I'm just going to say pick your favorites  I love menacing attack to make enemies afraid   goating attack is great to really lean into like  your capabilities as a tank right giving enemies   a bit of a soft taunt imposing disadvantage if  they attack anyone but you but you might prefer   other things to provide Buffs or utility or that  make your allies stronger pushing attack also is   great if you're fighting on a bridge especially  or if you have an ally using you know moon beam or   something lots of really great options here have  fun okay at level 9 it is time for our next damage report since last check the biggest gains  that we've made have come from that extra   two rage damage per attack we get as well as more  importantly the advantage we now have on most of   our attacks at least from Reckless attack in  addition we've picked up some decent decent   survivability thanks to damage resistance and  dexterity saving throw advantage and even some   additional utility via more Battle Master  features and Maneuvers and superiority dice   but at this point against an enemy with a 10  Armor class we would on average do 53 damage   per round and against a 15 AC it would be 47 DPR  and that's much better actually especially against   those middle and high enemy armor classes we're  still though kind of middle to bottom half of   tier 2 compared to other sustained DPR builds at  this level but that is both solid damage coupled   with a nice bit of tankiness and even utility as  well and of course it's about to take a huge step   forward because yes now that we finally have  a decent hit chance thanks to easy Advantage   it's time to grab great weapon master so level  10 we'd be a fighter eight we get another feat   and that's absolutely the feat that I'd want to  take here as we've already discussed yes this   lets us make a bonus action attack when we get  a crit or kill an enemy and I mean for us the   only difference there is we'd be using the sharp  end even for our B bonus action as opposed to the   butt right but more importantly let us add 10  flat damage to our hits with heavy weapons if   we're willing to take that minus five to hit  penalty for doing so at this point it makes   a lot more sense to use the feat and we wouldn't  need to turn it off until about enemy AC of 18 or   higher and of course that goes up if we're using  a weapon that gives us a bonus to our hit chance   or if someone's casting bless on us Etc and don't  forget we've got Precision attack as well right   we don't necessarily want to burn through all of  our superiority ice spamming Precision attack but   if it can turn a hit into a Miss that's better  damage on a single attack at least than saving   the superiority die to add a d8 to a different  attack that already hit right right at level 11   we would be a fighter nine and that means we get  indomitable probably my least favorite fighter   feature in the current version of 5e they are  fortunately greatly improving this for 1 D and   D but for now it just lets us once per day roll a  failed saving throw one once in a while it'll be   a big Lifesaver most of the time you're probably  going to just fail your saving throw anyway that's   my experience I suppose but regardless don't go  blowing this on a fireball or anything take that   damage save it for like mind control at level  12 we would be a fighter 10 and that means as   a Battle Master we get improved combat superiority  which turns all of our superiority dice into d10s   not huge but it's a nice little bump and then  we do get two new Maneuvers here as well so   feel free at this point to splurge and grab that  tactical assessment maneuver that you've been   eyeing but having a hard time justifying so yeah  PF pick your favorites at level 13 we would be a   fighter 11 and this of course is the promised  land for Fighters because unique to this class   we get extra extra attack making three attacks  now with our action every single time we take   the attack action and that's incredible meaning  that we will potentially have five great weapon   Master infused attacks every single round if we  can get our reaction attack in and we are doing   so fairly reliably and that's pretty amazing  so let's see what the numbers look like with   our level 13 damage report since last check we  have finally added great weapon Master bumped   our superiority die to a d10 and picked up that  sweet sweet third attack every action we've also   grabbed a bit of defensive and utility capacity  along the way and so against enemies with a 10   Armor class here we would on average do 107 damage  per round and against a 17 AC it would be 72 DPR   there we go that feels much better launching us  well into the middle of Tier 1 compared to other   builds that I've done to date at this level and  enjoying a lot of nice benefits outside of damage   thanks to our durability and Battle Master utility  at level 14 we are going to be a fighter 12 and   that means another ability score increase or feat  and that means we can finally bump our strength   score score wait a second have we gone this whole  time sitting at a 16 strength I know it's hard to   believe but yeah prioritizing reaction attacks  above all like we have it's left us languishing   a bit uh with a good not great strength score  all game here's hoping that you've managed to   get yourself a nice belt of giant strength or  at least gauntlets of ogre power or something   but now we're finally bumping it to an 18 at level  15 we would be a fighter 13 and that means we get   indomitable twice per long rest oh good because  if there's a way to take a bad feature and make   it really good it's just by giving us more of that  bad feature right seriously though in 1 D and D   it's going to let us add our fighter level to that  reroll on a failed Save which take something from   I guess I'll roll but I'm probably going to fail  again anyways to an almost guaranteed success and   that's super nice can't wait for that change DMS  Implement now please at level 16 we would be a   fighter 14 and hooray for Fighters and their many  many Feats and ability score increases because   yeah we get another one here I mean imagine if we  were trying to do this build with any other class   we'd be screwed but now finally we get to cap  that strength score at 20 improving not only our   damage but don't forget if we have a maneuver that  allows for an enemy saving throw right it uses our   strength or dexterity modifier for the DC so this  really helps us in a ton of ways and then finally   for us at level 17 I mean we could stay fighter  here and grab the Battle Masters Relentless   feature it tells us that when we roll initiative  and have no superiority dice remaining we can   regain one I mean maybe if it were like half of  our superiority dice or something I just yeah   that's that's not amazing if we were going to keep  playing to level 20 I might stay fighter anyways   just to get two action surges and our superiority  dice up to D12 I suppose or maybe better yet take   some Ranger levels we could go Hunter and then  then take the Giant Killer option that gives us   a reaction attack when a large or larger creature  within 5 ft of us tries to hit us whether they hit   or miss I was tempted to build this in earlier  but the large or larger thing kind of kept me   away from it it's a little too situational for  my taste and maybe while I'm at it let me give   some honorable mentions to some other things in  the game that can give us reaction attacks I mean   there is The disant Whispers trick if we wanted to  be a caster and you cast it they fail their save   they have to move away from you and yes that would  provoke an opportunity attack Jeremy Crawford even   says so look it up if you have to the Mage Slayer  feet potentially lets us make a reaction attack   against someone if they're casting a spell uh the  monks deflect missiles technically kind of could   count as long as you reduced the damage enough  right against a ranged attack and that actually   wouldn't be bad we don't have a lot of great ways  to deal with ranged attackers here the way of a   Cobalt Soul uh gives an additional reaction it's  to reactions potentially though that is unofficial   material technically so I probably wouldn't want  to use it Monster Slayer Ranger gets a reaction   attack but it's not until Level 15 Drunken Master  can redirect an attack with a reaction Berserker   barbarians get a feature but not until Level  14 right uh tunnel Fighters are really great   for this concept but they're also unearth Arana  not official content level 18 Cavaliers might be   the best of all potten getting an opportunity  attack on every creature's turn but not until   Level 18 and then there are other things that  are little more spell like warlock rebuke of   the Talisman as a reaction attack but not a weapon  attack hellish rebuke like I've mentioned gift of   the gem dragon feat the same thing it just does  damage it's not a it's not a weapon attack so I   really kind of tried to just focus on the things  that either worked a little more reliably and or   that we could pick up at a relatively early level  right thus for us here at level 17 I say we just   go ahead and end the build back in Barbarian  doing so is going to give us a much desired   third rage prong rest we've been trying to get  by on two thus far meaning a lot of us probably   aren't getting to rage every single fight but also  Barbarian 3 would let us pick up a subass feel   free to go bare totem for damage resistance or  giant if you want to grow big or maybe ancestral   Guardian to improve your tanking capabilities but  my favorite here is Zealot so that's the way that   I'd go I think that's going to give us Divine  Fury so that we can on our first attack per   turn do an extra D6 plus half of our Barbarian  Level in damage not a massive bump but building   for damage like we are I'll take it and then also  there's Warrior of the Gods uh which simply lets   people who try to resurrect us from like actual  death do so without spending the very expensive   Spell components and that's just thematically  really cool I think and also potentially useful   on those rare occasions when you totally kick  the bucket and you're cheap a cleric doesn't   have any diamonds on him I suppose but anyways  at level 17 it is time for our final damage report since last check we have capped our  strength score and picked up that little bit   of extra damage from Divine Fury other than that  we've just gained some nice quality of life and   defensive benefits mostly but against an enemy  with a 10 Armor class here we would now do 130   damage per round on average and against an 18  AC it still almost breaks that century mark at   97 DPR and that is awesome it keeping us kind  of still in that middle maybe bottom half of   tier one compared to other DPR builds at this  level without a single spell and with a lot of   tankiness and a little utility to boot so let's  bring it all home here in some final thoughts   the tier score for this character if you were to  take the damage that they do at all of the armor   classes that we calculate for at each of the  four damage reports just average it all into   one big number we end up with a 57 and this puts  us very near the top of tier 2 sorry commenter   I tried I really did but okay here's the thing  I mean the most common complaint that I get on   my videos second only to dude your videos are so  long the build doesn't even start until 7 Minutes   in you talk too much is variant human or custom  lineage again pick something less boring you use   it as a crutch and believe me I get it but had we  gone with variant human here would we have made   tier one with a free feat at level one letting us  take polar AR Master there we could have gotten   Sentinel at level four still kind of prioritizing  that reaction attack theme and then great weapon   Master at level six in time for our first damage  report now giving up that ravenite racial feature   would probably cost us a reaction attack per  short rest I mean maybe not it's it's possible   that between polar Master Sentinel and ripost  we'd have what we need to still get a reaction   pretty much every turn but I have a feeling  that we would feel that loss of being able to   make a reaction Attack Just when we take damage  that we got from ravenite Dragon porns right I'd   probably have to adjust my assumptions on how  often we were getting a reaction attack from   like 90% down to 75% of the time or something and  that would negatively impact the numbers just for   fun though I redid them going variant human but  then assuming a 75% chance at a reaction attack   and the numbers were better at level six they were  way better actually at level 9 and they were still   a little better at 13 but then worse at 17 by the  time we actually finally got our strength score   capped and had all of our Feats and stuff right  in the end that build had a tier score of 60.3   which yeah I mean you've got to take all of these  numbers with a grain of salt right we're making a   lot of assumptions but 60.3 still keeps us in tier  2 if just barely so anyways that is why I go very   inuman or custom lineage all of the time a free  feat is just so potentially powerful in this game   you know this already I know but it's actually one  of the changes that I'm most excited about for 1   D and D the way that everybody is going to get a  free feat at level one but that most of like the   most powerful Feats aren't available until level  four so even humans who can get two Feats instead   of everyone else as one at first level aren't  necessarily going to be the no-brainer choice for   race or species I guess mean Al anyways opening  things up a little bit more for choosing other   species to build on and yeah it's why most of the  time when I'm making a racial Choice other than   variant human or custom lineage I'm usually doing  so in the name of like a stated character concept   goal that goes beyond simply do as much damage as  possible and it's why I'm sticking to my guns here   on the ravenite dragon born and it makes me happy  to know that generally speaking maybe outside of   a few levels levels 8 and N especially the numbers  aren't massively different either way so I have no   regrets but regardless here's the good news even  sticking to that artificial restraint this build   is still the best sustained damage dealer that I  have done to date that's mostly a fighter beating   out the previous front runner the eldrich blade  Master by a few points I think I have one card   left I hope so hey we are getting closer to tier  one and when you combine that great damage that   they do with the tankiness and utility and even  potential control and support that this build   could bring I think it would be an absolute blast  to play in game despite being mostly just a boring   old vanilla fighter so I certainly hope that you  get to try it yourself someday or that I get to   uh too for that matter but regardless that's  the build for the week I hope you guys enjoyed   it I hope you know how much I love you because  I do thank you so much for all that you do for   me for the channel you are awesome and I hope  that you have a great day and a fantastic week   and if you don't I believe that you can hang in  there so please do I hope that you will do good   and be kind and stay safe and that I see you  again very very soon but until then take care [Music] bye that felt short was that short I think  that was a little short sorry for everybody out   there who says that I shouldn't worry about length  and that I should go over an hour anytime I want   to um maybe D will just make the outakes extra  special long should I do something funny can't   you can't just do something funny on demand it's  got to be spontaneous okay all right let's see   you can't say you made the choice in the matter  of your birth who brought about that faithful   day you are here and born with Fire and Desire  you're the only one to stand in your own way way and there's no making cases forgetting out   Trading Places and there's  no turning back no you are here know you are here oh had to sing a wh and Jenny song  today cuz I got the I got the shirt the   best folk Trio of all time I'm not  going to be able to change my mind   on that one so good luck they are such  beautiful singers and songwriters check   them out if you haven't heard of them oh  Gandalf Gand you're falling into the pit   for your time wait yeah it's still off isn't  it dang fishey camera makes everything look a   little warped that's all right no that's still  bugging me it's like maybe it's down the fix whatever repost repost I think most people say  it repost with four superiority dice currently   five no five yeah I have five and take the  Giant Slayer killer the Giant Killer it's   giant killer not Giant Slayer and take  the Giant Killer option or is it Giant   Slayer gosh dang it now I got to look it  up this is slow need some elevator music or [Music] something feels like I'm playing Mass  Effect one just those interminable elevator   rides while my while my teleprompter Scrolls  all the way back to my Preamble come on still   not at level one level one there we go woo okay  now that's all of them that I could think of so   now I got to scroll back down hey Garis how's it  going it's tally what's up actually no I probably   wouldn't have tally I'd have Liara I know tal is  awesome she's awesome but I was always kind of a   Liara guy and I mean you can't not have Garis  cuz he's the best companion in any video game   ever made like no question second maybe to carlac  I now want a crossover game where I can play with   carlac and Garis as my companions I don't care  what the game is set in the Mass Effect Universe   great set in the balers gate universe awesome set  in a totally different Universe I'm okay with that   too just give me [Laughter] [Music] GAC level 11  level 12 level 13 move a little quicker at the   end okay almost there 14 15 16 back to where  I left off need to do some warm-up exercises today watermelon watermelon BL

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 34,445

Keywords: D&D, dnd, dungeons & dragons, fighter, damage, dpr, dps, best, how to, min max, optimize, barbarian, zealot, battle master, guide, tips, tricks, reaction, character, build, creation

Id: W1YPujNp15Q

Length: 45min 57sec (2757 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2024