Given that Harengon will be found in Monsters of the Multiverse, which is a general book meant for all settings, I would call the Harengon a setting agnostic race.
@@LoreFoundry No. Obviously nothing in D&D is strictly setting agnostic, but every true D&D setting has the Feywild, or some equivilant. Harengon are no more setting agnostic than orcs. A DM can obviously make a setting without Harengon just like they can without Orcs, but both are core to the game itself, not a specific setting.
Free subtle spell with Psionic Spells makes Aberrant Mind close, though. (But you're right, not enough to beat the insane spell variety of Clockwork Soul.)
@@ezdepaz4363 Yes, I'm of the opinion that the subtle metamagic is redundant and feats can make up for clockwork sorcerer advantage, making aberrant sorcerer have better spell economy, especially if you're not going to play tier 4.
I think Divine Souls offers more through 2 levels, and Shadow more at L6. The amazing clockwork ability doesn't come until L14, but all those extra great spell choices just help so much.
In the context of Hexblade Sorlocks, Clockwork Soul has easily the most powerful spell list, but Aberrent Mind has a big edge in terms of resource efficiency. They are number one and two respectively. A Hexblade Divine Soul though is very unique and can be built to function very differently and be optimized to fit into many roles, so easily number three but the best if you are just dipping.
You can cast Sleep on the same group of creature twice. The ones that fell asleep the first time are then excluded from the hit point count the second time, and so you can get even more opponents unconscious. 😴
15:05 Hexblade effectively gives you moderately armored feat, that's the crux of it. For a campaign I love the fun utility you can you have with Genie though. Carrying a 10ft pole around is obtuse and often isn't long enough, no problem, pull out your 28ft gaff from your vessel when you need it. Need to scale a 3 story smooth wall or tower, go go gadget ladder, like a magic clown. Something is going to sneak in invisible? take me in my vessel, now invisible too, with you. You or some object can't fit through the small gap? but your vessel can ☺ Need to do some serious heavy moving? Ransack the mansion, statues, fountains, banana trees, it doesn't matter, take it all wherever you want, venders will be impressed.
It wasn't mentioned in the video, so I'll point it out here. At (likely) Sorcerer level 2 (Char lvl 4) Sleep is swapped out for Absorb Elements. Noticed it on the Character Sheet, but it was not explicitly stated in the video. Great vid as always Chris.
Chris: since you’re thinking of redoing bladesinger, a thought. It is my humble opinion that one of the very best use cases for Harengon is the Bladesinger, inasmuch as every feature gets use. Wizards like going first, perception is always fantastic, lucky footwork is important for a melee wizard, since you might actually end up in range of a draconic breath attack, and the rabbit hop is your bonus action disengage, which again, a mobile melee wizard will want. Melee war wizard could work too ofc. And I say wizard btw because perception is NOT on the wizard list. That raises the value of leporine senses for a Harensinger.
The Harengon is in the top tier of lineages for me. Perception is always a good skill to pick up, lucky footwork is a nice addition, hare trigger is fantastic, and that rabbit hop ability... oh man.
Harengon is easily my new favorite race, even moreso than the feat races. Feats aren't unique, getting one at first level is just an acceleration. What the Haregon gives is not quite unique either, but proficiency to Initiative is rare, as is the pseudo-teleportation without using spell slots.
Hmm...a couple aspects of this build raise question marks for me. 1. It never picks up warcaster. If your DM doesn't give out magic items this will be fine, but if your DM gives out items like Wand of the War Mage +X or Rod of the Pact Keeper +X, since we're holding a shield we now don't have a hand free to use that stuff (assuming we still want to cast counterspell and shield). 2. This build is really slow to max out Charisma. Character Level 18 before hitting 20 CHA? The gap between 18 CHA and 20 CHA is like...20% more damage on eldritch blast. (Plus all the other benefits of 20 CHA, including increasing the chance to shove, more spell DC). At character level 10, we get Resilient Wisdom--sure, I'll give you a free pass on that one--Treantmonk builds get saving throws. But I'm not sure the value added by Telekinetic at level 14 is worth delaying 20 CHA. Telekinetic is most valuable when your resource count is low (low resources = harder to justify blowing quicken to get an eldritch blast = more value for a resource-free bonus action). Telekinetic is also more valuable before Eldritch Blast scales--at character level 14 EB is already 3 shoves, and will be 4 shoves soon. The value of spending a quicken to get EB just goes up as EB scales, and then you're not using the Telekinetic shove. Everything else feels pretty normal for a sorlock build. (I.e. basically a sorcerer build that invests heavier into cantrips and gets quicken to use those cantrips). But these two points feel a little off to me.
The telekinetic thing is really confusing to me as well, given that the build already have EB. And yes I would prioritize Warcaster as well. Probably Warcaster > Charisma > Charisma into Polearm Master for reaction spell upon contact or Gunner/Crossbow Expert for melee EB.
Eldricht blast with 18 or 20 cha goes from 9.5 to 10.5 damage per blast (and plus 1 to hit) so basically it is a 10% damage increase. I think he delayed 20 charisma because he has so many spells he can target any saving throw he wants, so having a 18 or 19 dc against a +0 ST is a small difference
@@deru72 20% overall damage increase on eldritch blast, not 10%. 10.5% damage increase from the added damage on hit. But also: 8.3% damage increase from +1 to hit. Multiplying both of those together gives us...19.7% damage increase (about 20%). Also going from getting 1.8 knockbacks per EB to getting 1.95 knockbacks from the increased hit rate. It's a noticeable difference.
Another use for subtle spell which has come up at our table is the ability to cast a spell whilst unable to breathe or to not start drowning underwater. This is more likely to happen with spelljammer on the horizon if your character leaves an air bubble for example
I think you are right about subtle spell being a little context dependent. On some channels (that are generally very good), they have argued scrolls can never be counterspelled because there are no material or somatic components. Seems to me pretty obvious that if you are busting out a SPELL scroll in combat, someone is going to be able to anticipate that you are casting a spell
from what I understand the only thing that isn't required when casting from a spell scroll is material components so unless the spell being casted only had material components( as far as I know this doesn't exist ) I'd allow it to be counterspelled. Just personal standing but its how I am reading the rules for spell scrolls.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Totally true, and I would love to burn a scroll with a reaction Fire Bolt, but I don't see how we can RAW, even with Warcaster. But if your DM allows it, it would be cool. But then we would all have to get fireproof scrolls! Only 100gp more....
34:10 What about an Elf that does 1-4 extra short rests while the party is doing an 8 hour long rest (the Elf only needed 4 hours to long rest) how taboo is that?
Agreed. I've called it "1st level Dispel Magic," and used it exactly that way. Oh, you thought you were going to escape our party by casting Gaseous Form? Nope!
It does all the damage simultaneously though, hence the 1 damage roll. The con saves come from "Whenever you take damage" which is only once regardless of how many missiles.
@@SpiderWaffle yes but it is 3 missles. They all hit simultaneously, yes, but since you can hit up to 3 people at once it's hitting the target 3 times. It's not 3d4+3 but 3x 1d4+1. If it was the former, yeah only one save; but it's not, so 3 saves.
It's worth noting though that successfully sleeping the target would also disrupt concentration. Might be even more reliable than casting MM at levels 1-4 or so, assuming you can isolate the caster. That said I doubt many campaigns put PCs up against many casters concentrating on spells at those low levels.
Personally, I always look for interesting multi classes that come into play early, for example at level 8 (5+3 mostly) or earlier and are fun till level 12 or 14. Because while theory crafting is fine and fun in the end we never even get to level 20 or if we hit it campaign end follows closely. And as far as I know, that's true for most. Maybe a fun multi class at level 8 video would be an idea.
Warlock 2 can be substituted with Extra Invocation. You do lose a fair bit (Repelling Blast & Feat being the big items), but you do get that extra level of spell progression.
Im in somewhat of a disagreement about the loop. Yes, forcing other players to conform to that characters need of short resting is not nice, it should be avoided. If you finish the long rest, you shouldnt tell your party "I need 2 more hours" just to do it twice. But. What if you are playing an elf that only needs 4 hours of sleep? Elf, especially pre-tasha variant abilties scores, is not a good choice for a charisma based character. Lets say you take the first watch in the night, 2 hours pass. You sleep 4 hours. That still leaves 2 more hours. Even if you stand watch, that doesnt interrupt or prevent you from short resting. So my question is this: is an elf doing the sorcery points - pact slot loop after having completed the 4 hour long rest considered bad form, even tho nothing you could be doing during the remainder of their long rest conflicts with your short rests?
i'd say coercing the party to short rest constantly would be annoying, but doing it with an elf race would be fine since it does not interfere with other PCs, as long as DM is ok with shenanigans
Yep, this is a less disruptive way (imo) to accomplish a similar thing. I'd recommend checking with the DM first though, since it is RAW-legal but could be seen as a cheesy exploit and is probably not RAI. A bit like taking Svirfneblin Magic feat from Mordenkainen's on a duergar abjuration wizard to recharge the ward quickly at will. The fly in the ointment is that you might not immediately go from "when the party wakes up" to "exploring the dungeon," and even the 8-hr spells might wear off when you still need them. But you can pretty much fix that with the extended spell metamagic. Clockwork Soul and Divine Soul sorcs can get Aid and other good long-term buff spells. Mix that with short-rest slot recovery, and extend to double length. Give everything mage armor that might benefit from it (even your ally's familiars, etc.), extra HP, and other goodies. If your DM allows gift of alacrity, take that with fey touched and stack it on. Once you are out adventuring, even 1-hr effects can be cast, extended, before the party takes a short rest so you can, for instance, get an hour of upcast (using pact slot) Armor of Agathys essentially for the cost of one sorcery point. Clockwork soul can even take rope trick (transmutation spell) to make short rests safe and available in situations they normally wouldn't be. If there isn't already a character who can put a bunch of temporary HP on the party, the inspiring leader feat lets you pile more free buffing on top of all that. You can be an extremely effective "healer" with minimal resource costs and without using a single action in combat, allowing you to focus on the usual good combat spells (Web, Hypnotic Pattern, and so on). Just make sure the DM is on board with all the short rest abuse.
@@nathansmith9597 I dont think I agree with the svirfnebling magic feat, because abjurers can already spend 1 hour of ritual casting alarm isntead of short resting. You pay a feat so that it doesnt take your short rest. And with Eldritch Adept, you dont have to be a certain race to do it.
@@texteel Yes, armor of shadows does a similar thing and (for that reason) might be nixed by some DMs. Personally, I don't think I would, but I could definitely see why a DM might choose to. In most practical situations, I agree that mage armor or nondetection at will are going to be very similar for this purpose. I strongly disagree that ritually casting alarm (e.g.) is in the same league as either of those. With ritual casting you are restoring 2 HP per 11 minutes (alarm takes 1 minute, + 10 for ritual casting). So, a level 8 wizard whose ward has 21 HP will need about two hours (!) to fully recharge their ward, during which they can't be doing anything but ritually casting alarm over and over. If the same wizard has Armor of Shadows or can cast nondetection at will, they can recharge their ward entirely in about one minute. Granted, you won't always need to fully recharge the ward, but it really is a huge difference.
@@nathansmith9597 either in the case of nondetection or armor of shadows, it takes a feat. A feat that isnt spent improving DCs or securing concentration. Yes, the ward being up at the beginning of a fight can prevent concentration checks, but it doesnt stand up to focus fire. You pay a very expensive price to do something more efficiently
I wish you would do "impossible" builds. Monk/warlock Druid/bard Barbarian/wizard Etc. If anyone can, you're the guy. Ps. Also, the fact that I want to MC my druid into bard is not the point 🤣
It would be fun to get a followup discussing some of the alternative options around the Sorlock-such as other subclasses and how they could interact, potential dips into Bard or Paladin, Feats, and magic items (Bloodwell Vial vs Rod of the Pact Keeper is an interesting conversation!).
Great video as always! I was wondering if you are ever going to make a build for every sorcerer subclass, just as you did for wizards, as i now think sorcerers (trough expansions to the spell list, optional class features and new subclasses) are a very compelling alternative to wizard, and i think it would be very interesting to see how you would optimize each sorcerer subclass
This was a really awesome video! Unfortunately, the link to the character sheet doesn't work for me. I keep getting "Error Code: 403" when I click on it. Is this happening to anyone else?
Divine soul sorcerer has received a significant stealth buff. It has access to the new spell called spirit shroud. Using that instead of hex pushes up the DPR of a sorclock from 160 to 273 (with same attack modifiers). It also allows for nova above 500.
Eladrin has been my favorite race! 👍🏻 I’ve been working on a Troop Transport Teleportation Specialist: • Strixhaven Background • Strixhaven Initiate (Quandrix College for Vortex Warp from the added spell list) • Eladrin (Spring Season to teleport yourself or an ally) • Peace Cleric for the 6th Level Protective Bond • Wildfire Druid for Fiery Teleportation (only 2 levels) • Strixhaven Mascot feat (Fractal Mascot for Huge Troop transport & 60 foot teleportation swap with familiar • Fey Touched for 8th level feat What do you think? I might switch to Shadar-Kai, depending on how the new Mordenkainen’s version comes out. It would give resistance to the necrotic damage taken from Wither and Bloom, which would then be a better spell option.
@@theydon_bois: I guess so! LOL There are three questions I ask myself: Q1. Is this a character that I would enjoy playing? A1. Yes! Q2: Is this a character the other players would enjoy me playing? A2: Yes! Q3: Is this a character the DM would enjoy me playing? A3: Yes! This character checks all the boxes, for me anyway. ☺️
@@RavarSeer doubles your metamagic versatility and gives you 50% more sorcery points at that level, while misty step is slightly redundant with rabbit hop.
@@elliotbryant3459 misses out on the cha bump and tasha's hideous laughter or gift of alacrity though. Maybe after either fey touched or telekinetic so you have an even cha.
@@micahswerens2472 That's a good point, I did gloss over the cha bump, though if you had a 16 cha it would leave 2 points to redistribute into other base stats. I'd probably pick up meta adept with either the 1st or 2nd asi just to get to use them more often. Metamagic use is my favorite aspect of playing a sorcerer so I really appreciate doubling the tools available. Personally I'm not really crazy about telekinetic outside of psionic themed character builds. It's really flavorful but the potential 5' push/pull benefit just doesn't seem crazy impactful to me as a feat commitment.
@@elliotbryant3459 Might depend on how much forced movement you can use as part area of effect spells, eg web or spike growth, hypnotic pattern, if the char has consistent BA use (wildfire druid would not want telekinetic), and perhaps if the invisible no component mage hand would also be useful or not. This build in particular does focus on forced movement, so having another bit to add to repelling blast could be useful especially if you have a wizard or druid also helping with AOE concentration spells. Or shove a bunch of enemies into cleric sprit guardians lol. I suppose how much teamwork you can rely on would be part of it too.
A point of contention for Hex Warrior: You said that the best damage you could do is a d8, and proceeded to name longsword. Hex warrior stats that a weapon cannot have the two-handed property, not that you can't attack while holding a weapon with two hands (versatile) so you could indeed get your longsword to do a d10 of damage. Just because you can attack with two hands doesn't mean that it's a two-handed weapon, also attacking two-handed doesn't mean that your off-hand is now stuck to the hilt until next turn, either. So this wouldn't even impact spellcasting, regardless of focus or component pouch.
I know shields are important and make sense but I'm so bored of my characters having to carry that clunky thing everywhere to be decently survivable It would be awesome If there were other options to increase AC, even if it's just flavor A Magic staff or maybe something like Bracers of Defense Idk, just seems more interesting than always having to carry a shield
I think that Fire bolt has one other use that isn't mentioned. Fire bolt is a single attack and situationally it could be better to have only one attack. It a target has a incredibly high AC. Like 20-22 or something. If you have advantage on your next attack, like from Guiding Bolt, I could see fire bolt being more useful, because at higher levels the eldritch blast would only get advantage on the first attack. Again totally situational but I think fire bolt is just as good as eldritch blast without invocations.
For argument's sake, let's say this character is an elf instead. Would you allow the PC to take the 4 hour long rest alongside the party, and then take 4 short rests while everyone else finishes their long rest?
@@TreantmonksTemple That's fair. I don't think choosing Elf is better than the options you suggested for this build anyway, it just seemed like the best way to utilize the specific interaction between Font of Magic and Pact Magic, without resorting to infinite loops. Thanks for the reply! :D
My favorite Sorlock build is divine sorcerer healer/damage Sorlock... It's not an original build as I'm fairly sure it's pretty popular however it is rather fun. 2/3 levels in Warlock the rest in Sorcerer. (3 if you want to be spelly and take the "Pact of the tome" invocation. Otherwise, always take Agonizing blast & a fun bonus for roleplaying like "Mask of many faces" or "Eyes of the runed keeper". (However, you can sub the role-playing invocation for a more active invocation if you desire) I find as warlock you use eldritch blast as your main damage most of the time anyways. So taking divine sorcerer to get cleric spells for support really feels like your worth in combat is more warranted party-wise. It also gives a lot of challenging and unique combat interactions you might not have planned for by being a damage-only player. Even more so if you are one of the only healers in the party. I would take a protector Aasimir for flight coverage (blasting with eldritch and healing word from the air). You also get a bonus radiant damage per eldritch blast hit + agonizing blast bonus.. meaning you can still do a lot of damage. Once you unlock quickening and twinning you can twin heals and quicken eldritch blasts for insane 1 turn damage if needed. All and all I think it is a rather fun and enjoyable build.
Love the video and the guide. Sorlock builds have been very popular for a long time and it was actually the first build I've played in 5e. However, jumping from 3e/pathfinder straight to 5e made me have a bias against delaying spellcasting. Despite how much I like this build, I'm afraid your video strengthened that bias. I'm not convinced the AC and the Eldritch Blast forced movement is enough to justify delaying spells for 2 levels. Unless you have more than one short rest per day (not the case in most tables I played) there is no advantage in converting pact slots into sorcery points since you lose 2 sorcery points by multiclassing into Warlock for 2 levels. The telekinetic feat, in my experience, gives you enough forced movement to keep enemies in harmful areas. Granted, you can push more than one creature with EB and cause damage. But again, at 5th level you are missing counterspell, fireball, fly, hypnotic pattern, sleet storm. At 7h level you have dimension door, greater invisibility and, of course, polymorph. At 9th level is animate objectos, bigby's hand, synaptic static. Not to mention transmute rock and wall of force that are available from clockwork magic. You are also delaying class features. Even at level 20, when the sorlock has access to 9th level spells, a full Sorcerer has 2 more sorcery points, one extra 6th and 7th level spell slot and can recover 4 sorcery points after a short rest. I would argue that your Tuff the Buff build is more interesting and less punitive than this sorlock as you delay spellcasting for only one level. This isn't by any means critcism, just personnal bias against the sorlock in general, specially after Tasha. Now, if you want to play a sorlock, this is a great way to do it.
I find Sorlock to be quite a different sort of character than a Sorcerer. You are quite correct in that it loses a lot of spellcasting and, early on at least, Eldritch Blast doesn't really do that much. I think of this character as a ranged attacker rather than a spellcaster. using Pact Slots for sorcery is a minor benefit to the setup, in my opinion. The fact that you are effectively getting a Fighter-level progression of Extra Attack through Eldritch Blast is much more significant. Once you reach 11th level and have 3 beams with Eldritch Blast the Sorlock really comes online. You can cast 2 Eldritch Blasts (6 beams) every turn for quite a long time as you convert spell slots into sorcery points to continue doing it. While doing so, you have a lot of high-impact options for your concentration as well that you can prop up in turn 1 or in the setup to the fight in the DM allows. If your damage is the only one likely to be useful in the fight, then you can simply Hex early on, providing an extra 3d6 damage (minus misses) on the first turn and 6d6 every turn afterward until you need to start burning slots for more points. Alternatively, you can use the typical battlefield control or you can pick up Twinned Spell and get some very high value out of team buff spells like Haste, Polymorph, or Greater Invisibility which are fantastic when Twinned. Bless is a great option when using the Divine Soul subclass as well. This tactic starts getting good in at level 7 when you have 2 beams with Agonizing Blast and level 3 spells but tier 3 is where it really shines. Basically, think of it not as a pure spellcaster, but a ranged attacker that has high-value team support with their concentration, has good defense with counterspell, shield, and absorb elements, and has other utility spells for various situations. If you go Hexblade, you can also do this with medium armor and a shield, though it may require War Caster do be able to use EB with a wand + shield, depending on your DM.
You should realize this isn't setting out to be his best sorcerer build, it's his best sorlock build. That means optimal eldritch blast damage (need agonizing blast at warlock 2, or I guess warlock 1 and a full feat) with as little disruption to the utility of being a sorcerer.
Your point about loops is misguided and exclusionary. I agree that loops should not be exploited, don't do it, it is very rude. However, expecting players to simply KNOW not to do it lest they get kicked out of the group? This is unacceptable. A very similar issue happens in Magic the Gathering in the Commander format. Commander players are expected to just inherently know what the social rules within the game are, such as which cards are not allowed, even though the official rules do not list them as being so. You risk making everyone have a bad time, getting harassed, and not being invited back if you do not follow these secret social rules. If someone is exploiting a loop at your table, ask them to stop and inform them of why. If they refuse, then yeah kick 'em.
I'm curious if you would update anything on The Voice from Beyond regarding invocations, spells, ancestry, feats. Also, i can't seem to find a primary Hexblade warlock in the archives?? I'm brewing up how to reskin a Hexblade into a Cyberpunk setting Malware Street Samurai
4:12 I'm not so sure the web lasts, in the air, a whole round. It says "the conjured web collapses on itself," with a comma, thus concluding that separate instruction. What "collapses on itself" means is subjective but I would think if it were the air and collapsed on itself it wouldn't say in the air. Then, after this, the spell ends at the start of your next turn. Commas matter.
The only other choice for me was Celestial Lock, which gives you more support utility, in larger groups where you can largely expect to not get hit a lot due to numerous meat shields...Err party members standing in front of you.
Good call discussing subtle spell with material components. Popped up for me last week. DMG says using a material component is perceivable. It's going to be DM fiat and depend on how spellcasting works in the world, but the usual depiction of use of components is that there are visible magical effects when using them.
Reborn from Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft could be a great option as they don’t sleep or can be made to sleep and get a +2 to any stat. They don’t even meditate like elves, they sit and stare off into space. Although they’re presented in Ravenloft they’re basically an Awakened Zombie or someone who was Resurrected not quite right so as a DM myself I’d allow it anywhere. You could also say something like your Warlock Patron resurrected you for its purposes. As for the Loop, I really disagree with broadly saying Loops are bad. They’re tools, like any tool they should be used responsibly. You can Long Rest for 4 hours as an Elf, Reborn or Custom Lineage with that feature and then chain 4 Short Rests to get some extra Sorcery Points while everyone else is sleeping. This doesn’t break the game, you’re just more magical, you are still limited to one or two spells per turn.
hey treant, i know this is not completely related, but in general do you think hexblade should be removed/reworked? Maybe have some of it's features incorporated in pact of blade at level 3 instead. It would be cool to have your take on this. Personally i would delete hexblade, put the charisma thing in pact of blade, and have pact of blade give 2 weapons or 1 weapon + 1 shield.
One other acceptable approach to the loop might be playing an elf since they have trance. That gives you enough time for 4 short rests before the rest of the party awakens.
A player should speak to their DM about using web on flying creatures. I'd rule that "the web collapses in in itself" happens immediately but in a way that still allows wings to flap etc. The webbing would then disappear as the spell ends at the end of the turn.
I 'm at the part about web and it got me thinking; couldn't you combine the flying creature thing with a fire attack? the web brings them down, but it expires in 1 round, why not have it burning in that round dealing fire damage on the way down? So a quickened web with a fire bolt chaser on a flying creature :)
The idea of piling a bunch of enemies in a web and dropping a delayed blast fireball on top of it while they're unable to make a dex save is just funny. Whether they take an extra 8d4 or just the 2d4, that's just a hilarious way to end them.
Halfling is always good esp with lucky. Almost worth custom to swap racial feat for lucky...almost. and level 5 or 6 glyph of warding is sweeeet if you multi genie and take catnap.
Getting an error message from D&DBeyond when trying the build link. As you try to enter the 403rd level of the endless dungeon, the ancient dragon Rylzrayrth rises up to block your path. The dragon has forbidden you from traveling any further. In other words, you don’t have access to complete the action. Error Code d5a7cae703b6473990e0b3e6ec94ef00 Version @dndbeyond/character-app@1.17.2
Setting fire to a web that will expire at the start of your next turn still makes sense, though probably only if you can do it without using an action better used blasting the targets
Almost certainly, that was a long time ago and a lot of new options have come up since then. It's hard to say what those would be without reviewing the build though.
What a great idea! Of course your videos & builds are solid no matter how much they've aged, but selecting a few of the more popular builds to revamp is awesome. The name made me do a double-take. ;) If you're up for a puzzle, I'm noodling a Hexblade/Wildfire druid, leveraging the spirit to do an unlimited mini-Misty Step in combat, with melee crit fishing. I haven't figured how to optimize this one yet!!!
Man i dunno about wish. Prismatic wall with a character that can push and pull enemies back and forth through all 7 layers of the wall potentially multiple times in one single turn is insane!
Cat lady hoarder fills genie bottle with conjured animals to hurl at enemies with catapult. Double cast transmute rock to lock em in or drop the roof on em too
i feel that subtle spell is a little less valuable in actual play of published content at the level it was taken here. YMMV but this was my experience playing at random tables when i took subtle spell, both AL-style heavily RAW & some more RP-focused homebrew tables: 1. almost no one ever pays attention to VSM in 90% of situations, unless suddenly you're in a vat of honey holding a dozen limes or something. in my experience, it truly rarely came up. subtle metamagic was clutch for avoiding VSM
I agree with most of your points. However, even if you will use Eldritch Blast constantly, eventually you will use your bigger spells (otherwise, why go Sorcerer instead of full Warlock) and when that happens, Subtle Spell can make your spells imine to Counterspell when facing enemy spellcaster. It's highly situational, although. I think that should be the Sorcerer's last Metamagic pick, as you pointed out (T3).
Critical issue right off the ‘hop’ ;) : from many hours of dm playing experience I never theory craft anything without saves in both con AND wisdom. Must have both or hard pass imo
@@delilahfox3427 regular lev4 class feat as soon as it becomes available I like. Then +2 cha at class asi 8th if the campaign lasts that long. I’ve played n DM’d long enough that lacking either con or wis saves is like having a super cool character concept turn into a paper weight for half the campaign battles, just my humble opinion
I disagree on one thing: "medium armor without shields isnt significantly better than magearmor" Ok, i agree obviously that shields ad +2, but what the racial proficiency with medium armor does is 1: free up your points (assuming pointbuy) to have a dex 14 and a con 16 to start, so higher con mod, good for hp and concentration, and a max ac of 17 without magic items. Alnd 2: armorproficiencies means potentially access to magical armors, that dont require attunement, this is good as most magic items you want as a caster tend to require attunement. Now ofcourse i agree that medium armor+ shields is better than just medium armor, but medium armor without shields for free at lvl 1 is perhaps better than medium armor+shields at the cost of a feat at times and IMO significantly better than magearmor, not to mention that you dont need to have magearmor as a spell known, and spells known is a limited resource. For this specific build i agree its probably anyhow better with hexblade though.
I think you have to customize the spell by merely changing the name of the spell. So click "Alarm", then the customize tab, then just change the name to the new spell you want. That's the only way I can find to do it
Its easy to quell this desire of exploiting the sorlock infinite slots: announce before the campaign or dungeon that time matters and they have 1 long rest and 2 short rests if they want to complete the adventure before something worse happens. At lower levels you won't be getting that much SP per Warlock slots. Considering Wizards have a lot more options, this balances quite well. Sorcerors are filled with uncontrolled power, as a Warlock because of his patron, even being a 5e classic combo its very theme-friendly.
The problem is that the Sorlock can say "Actually, I'll just take 10 short rests, 8 of them back to back while everyone else sleeps". It's funny the first time. Then having attained ungodly powers while everyone else merely slept becomes old hat.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 But then again you wouldn't be rested. Maybe with some racial feature or feat, but even so its easy to say that there is no such thing as 10 short rests, only a long rest lol. On top of that, would he adventure alone while the party rests normally?
@@KorhalKk You snort a line of Restoration to fix the fatigue if you're that far, or just eat the pretty chill first two levels of exhaustion. Or as an Elf, you trance for 4 hours, and then get 4 short rests. It doesn't need to be what you do every day (even though it can), it's more that you can supercharge over the course of a day or two, especially if you have a downtime day, and accumulate a massive pool of sorcery points. Even if you lean far more Sorcerer than Warlock, and are only converting second or third level pact slots, that's a loooot of juice if you're converting slots 10 times a day, let alone 24.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 You'll have 4 level 5 slots when you reach a certain level with Warlock. If you make this build you won't have that much reserve because the Warlock levels are low in this situation. You'll get a maximum of 20 SP if you reach level 17, but in this build you'll have a reserve of 4 SP. Its really not much, and you CAN'T do this 10 times a day, rarely adventures go this far, even in a day of adventuring. If you're planning on banking extra slots without using them on cannon fodder, still its not that much. All these combos expect a certain kind of situations that don't happen very often, sometimes not at all.
A wonderful build, but why did you choose demiplane over meteor swarm? I also think you're overrating summon draconic spirit. Compare it to the air elemental wizards and druids can summon with conjure elemental, which is also a 5th level spell. It has 90 hit points and resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. That's 180 hit points in most fights, whereas the draconic spirit only has 50 hit points. I'd give summon draconic spirit a weak orange rating.
Thumbs up if the name "The Clock Blocker" made you laugh
Makes me 80% sure treantmonk has read Worm
Around the 3min mark, I had to pause the video to laugh, look at the comments to search for a comment like this, and continue the video
Worm Reference? Let’s name the character Dennis.
Given that Harengon will be found in Monsters of the Multiverse, which is a general book meant for all settings, I would call the Harengon a setting agnostic race.
Maybe, except the race to my knowledge was never mentioned before 5e.
@@LoreFoundry That doesn't matter.
@@Awoken0 my point is it's a feywild race. Which by definition isn't agnostic.
@@LoreFoundry No. Obviously nothing in D&D is strictly setting agnostic, but every true D&D setting has the Feywild, or some equivilant. Harengon are no more setting agnostic than orcs. A DM can obviously make a setting without Harengon just like they can without Orcs, but both are core to the game itself, not a specific setting.
07:00 "So let's talk a little bit about what Clockwork Soul does for us." It wins at Sorcerer is what it does.
Free subtle spell with Psionic Spells makes Aberrant Mind close, though. (But you're right, not enough to beat the insane spell variety of Clockwork Soul.)
Allowing 1 sorc point casts of silvery barbs is also amazing!
@@ezdepaz4363 Yes, I'm of the opinion that the subtle metamagic is redundant and feats can make up for clockwork sorcerer advantage, making aberrant sorcerer have better spell economy, especially if you're not going to play tier 4.
I think Divine Souls offers more through 2 levels, and Shadow more at L6. The amazing clockwork ability doesn't come until L14, but all those extra great spell choices just help so much.
In the context of Hexblade Sorlocks, Clockwork Soul has easily the most powerful spell list, but Aberrent Mind has a big edge in terms of resource efficiency. They are number one and two respectively. A Hexblade Divine Soul though is very unique and can be built to function very differently and be optimized to fit into many roles, so easily number three but the best if you are just dipping.
So I know that Harengon was chosen for mechanical reasons, but I love the thematic combination with a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer. Very Lewis Carrol.
You should do a re-do of the conjurer with the new summoning spells, that would be helpful
This!
Yes please
You can cast Sleep on the same group of creature twice. The ones that fell asleep the first time are then excluded from the hit point count the second time, and so you can get even more opponents unconscious. 😴
Hyped for Sorcadin and Palalock revision, I've been wanting to play a variation on those.
Seconded. Getting started for a game and picking one of these
What about the cursed sorlocadin?
@@AyamesChronicles the bardsorlocdin
@@AyamesChronicles the ultimate griefer
I'm so happy to see you update some builds. I just played a version of your cockroach build in a one shot vs Tiamat and she could not touch me.
Is the DND beyond link to this dead or did you delete it?
15:05 Hexblade effectively gives you moderately armored feat, that's the crux of it.
For a campaign I love the fun utility you can you have with Genie though. Carrying a 10ft pole around is obtuse and often isn't long enough, no problem, pull out your 28ft gaff from your vessel when you need it. Need to scale a 3 story smooth wall or tower, go go gadget ladder, like a magic clown. Something is going to sneak in invisible? take me in my vessel, now invisible too, with you. You or some object can't fit through the small gap? but your vessel can ☺ Need to do some serious heavy moving? Ransack the mansion, statues, fountains, banana trees, it doesn't matter, take it all wherever you want, venders will be impressed.
You sir made me spill my coffee
Take my like, you filthy heathen. Lol.
Seriously though, I have done this with a Genie Pact Chain-lock before, in a one-shot. It was fun.
@@simondiamond9628yup, invisible flying familiar carrying your clown car around…priceless.
It wasn't mentioned in the video, so I'll point it out here. At (likely) Sorcerer level 2 (Char lvl 4) Sleep is swapped out for Absorb Elements. Noticed it on the Character Sheet, but it was not explicitly stated in the video. Great vid as always Chris.
The D&D Beyond link currently isn't working for me. Could you please check on it, and possibly re-link it?
Chris: since you’re thinking of redoing bladesinger, a thought. It is my humble opinion that one of the very best use cases for Harengon is the Bladesinger, inasmuch as every feature gets use. Wizards like going first, perception is always fantastic, lucky footwork is important for a melee wizard, since you might actually end up in range of a draconic breath attack, and the rabbit hop is your bonus action disengage, which again, a mobile melee wizard will want. Melee war wizard could work too ofc. And I say wizard btw because perception is NOT on the wizard list. That raises the value of leporine senses for a Harensinger.
Or a Melee Abjuration Wizard. Not saying it’s optimal, but it works for any somewhat defensive mage
The Harengon is in the top tier of lineages for me. Perception is always a good skill to pick up, lucky footwork is a nice addition, hare trigger is fantastic, and that rabbit hop ability... oh man.
Rabbit hop is also hilarious.
Be a wizard.
Cast jump on your self.
Bonus action hop 30 ft into the air.
Die when landing.
Gee, a playerlikes OP choices. Imagine that.
@@Briansgate why so salty? Did someone take your foot or something?
@@dragonhearthx8369 Just stating the obvious.
@@Briansgate just dont be salty m8. Its ok to be fun sometimes
Harengon is easily my new favorite race, even moreso than the feat races. Feats aren't unique, getting one at first level is just an acceleration. What the Haregon gives is not quite unique either, but proficiency to Initiative is rare, as is the pseudo-teleportation without using spell slots.
"Jump. It isn't shit anymore."
@@remyb6854 except without using spell slots, and multiple uses of Misty Step.
I love the Idea of revisiting old builds, Hope to see more of this!
That's the plan!
@@TreantmonksTemple just a suggestion but please change your dndbeyond character sheet to dark mode for your videos from now on, thanks.
@@TreantmonksTemple Can't wait!
@@TreantmonksTemple I'd love to see if you would change your God Mage at all
What have we done to deserve this bounty of content lately? I might have to change alignments.
From which alignment to which?
The clock Blocker. Well played sir i love it
Hmm...a couple aspects of this build raise question marks for me.
1. It never picks up warcaster. If your DM doesn't give out magic items this will be fine, but if your DM gives out items like Wand of the War Mage +X or Rod of the Pact Keeper +X, since we're holding a shield we now don't have a hand free to use that stuff (assuming we still want to cast counterspell and shield).
2. This build is really slow to max out Charisma. Character Level 18 before hitting 20 CHA? The gap between 18 CHA and 20 CHA is like...20% more damage on eldritch blast. (Plus all the other benefits of 20 CHA, including increasing the chance to shove, more spell DC). At character level 10, we get Resilient Wisdom--sure, I'll give you a free pass on that one--Treantmonk builds get saving throws. But I'm not sure the value added by Telekinetic at level 14 is worth delaying 20 CHA. Telekinetic is most valuable when your resource count is low (low resources = harder to justify blowing quicken to get an eldritch blast = more value for a resource-free bonus action). Telekinetic is also more valuable before Eldritch Blast scales--at character level 14 EB is already 3 shoves, and will be 4 shoves soon. The value of spending a quicken to get EB just goes up as EB scales, and then you're not using the Telekinetic shove.
Everything else feels pretty normal for a sorlock build. (I.e. basically a sorcerer build that invests heavier into cantrips and gets quicken to use those cantrips). But these two points feel a little off to me.
The telekinetic thing is really confusing to me as well, given that the build already have EB.
And yes I would prioritize Warcaster as well. Probably Warcaster > Charisma > Charisma into Polearm Master for reaction spell upon contact or Gunner/Crossbow Expert for melee EB.
Eldricht blast with 18 or 20 cha goes from 9.5 to 10.5 damage per blast (and plus 1 to hit) so basically it is a 10% damage increase.
I think he delayed 20 charisma because he has so many spells he can target any saving throw he wants, so having a 18 or 19 dc against a +0 ST is a small difference
@@deru72 20% overall damage increase on eldritch blast, not 10%.
10.5% damage increase from the added damage on hit. But also: 8.3% damage increase from +1 to hit. Multiplying both of those together gives us...19.7% damage increase (about 20%).
Also going from getting 1.8 knockbacks per EB to getting 1.95 knockbacks from the increased hit rate.
It's a noticeable difference.
Another use for subtle spell which has come up at our table is the ability to cast a spell whilst unable to breathe or to not start drowning underwater. This is more likely to happen with spelljammer on the horizon if your character leaves an air bubble for example
I think you are right about subtle spell being a little context dependent. On some channels (that are generally very good), they have argued scrolls can never be counterspelled because there are no material or somatic components.
Seems to me pretty obvious that if you are busting out a SPELL scroll in combat, someone is going to be able to anticipate that you are casting a spell
I mean, I guess the question there is if counterspell is even necessary when you could put a fire bolt to the scroll itself.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 can't cast Fire Bolt as a reaction.
from what I understand the only thing that isn't required when casting from a spell scroll is material components so unless the spell being casted only had material components( as far as I know this doesn't exist ) I'd allow it to be counterspelled. Just personal standing but its how I am reading the rules for spell scrolls.
@@kirin347
I mean... with Warcaster you totally can, spells for attacks of opportunity, and such.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Totally true, and I would love to burn a scroll with a reaction Fire Bolt, but I don't see how we can RAW, even with Warcaster. But if your DM allows it, it would be cool. But then we would all have to get fireproof scrolls! Only 100gp more....
34:10 What about an Elf that does 1-4 extra short rests while the party is doing an 8 hour long rest (the Elf only needed 4 hours to long rest) how taboo is that?
Thanks to Monsters of the Multiverse, this month's HC release, Harengons are no longer setting specific!
One good thing about magic missile is that it is a concentration disruptor. 3 con saves with a 1st level spell.
Agreed. I've called it "1st level Dispel Magic," and used it exactly that way. Oh, you thought you were going to escape our party by casting Gaseous Form? Nope!
It does all the damage simultaneously though, hence the 1 damage roll. The con saves come from "Whenever you take damage" which is only once regardless of how many missiles.
@@SpiderWaffle yes but it is 3 missles. They all hit simultaneously, yes, but since you can hit up to 3 people at once it's hitting the target 3 times. It's not 3d4+3 but 3x 1d4+1. If it was the former, yeah only one save; but it's not, so 3 saves.
It's worth noting though that successfully sleeping the target would also disrupt concentration. Might be even more reliable than casting MM at levels 1-4 or so, assuming you can isolate the caster. That said I doubt many campaigns put PCs up against many casters concentrating on spells at those low levels.
@@spencercurcillo8148 but you have no control of who you put to sleep first.
Personally, I always look for interesting multi classes that come into play early, for example at level 8 (5+3 mostly) or earlier and are fun till level 12 or 14. Because while theory crafting is fine and fun in the end we never even get to level 20 or if we hit it campaign end follows closely. And as far as I know, that's true for most.
Maybe a fun multi class at level 8 video would be an idea.
Warlock 2 can be substituted with Extra Invocation. You do lose a fair bit (Repelling Blast & Feat being the big items), but you do get that extra level of spell progression.
Since damage isn't the primary focus probably best forgoing agonizing if going this route.
And you don't give up warlock spell slots either, would probably be best for a L4 5 or 6 character.
@@SpiderWaffle a 1st level warlock only has 1 spell slot.
@@Kurse_of_Kall 😯
Currently running a bladesinger. Looking forward to the new build!
Im in somewhat of a disagreement about the loop.
Yes, forcing other players to conform to that characters need of short resting is not nice, it should be avoided.
If you finish the long rest, you shouldnt tell your party "I need 2 more hours" just to do it twice.
But.
What if you are playing an elf that only needs 4 hours of sleep? Elf, especially pre-tasha variant abilties scores, is not a good choice for a charisma based character. Lets say you take the first watch in the night, 2 hours pass. You sleep 4 hours. That still leaves 2 more hours. Even if you stand watch, that doesnt interrupt or prevent you from short resting.
So my question is this:
is an elf doing the sorcery points - pact slot loop after having completed the 4 hour long rest considered bad form, even tho nothing you could be doing during the remainder of their long rest conflicts with your short rests?
i'd say coercing the party to short rest constantly would be annoying, but doing it with an elf race would be fine since it does not interfere with other PCs, as long as DM is ok with shenanigans
Yep, this is a less disruptive way (imo) to accomplish a similar thing. I'd recommend checking with the DM first though, since it is RAW-legal but could be seen as a cheesy exploit and is probably not RAI. A bit like taking Svirfneblin Magic feat from Mordenkainen's on a duergar abjuration wizard to recharge the ward quickly at will.
The fly in the ointment is that you might not immediately go from "when the party wakes up" to "exploring the dungeon," and even the 8-hr spells might wear off when you still need them. But you can pretty much fix that with the extended spell metamagic.
Clockwork Soul and Divine Soul sorcs can get Aid and other good long-term buff spells. Mix that with short-rest slot recovery, and extend to double length. Give everything mage armor that might benefit from it (even your ally's familiars, etc.), extra HP, and other goodies. If your DM allows gift of alacrity, take that with fey touched and stack it on.
Once you are out adventuring, even 1-hr effects can be cast, extended, before the party takes a short rest so you can, for instance, get an hour of upcast (using pact slot) Armor of Agathys essentially for the cost of one sorcery point. Clockwork soul can even take rope trick (transmutation spell) to make short rests safe and available in situations they normally wouldn't be. If there isn't already a character who can put a bunch of temporary HP on the party, the inspiring leader feat lets you pile more free buffing on top of all that.
You can be an extremely effective "healer" with minimal resource costs and without using a single action in combat, allowing you to focus on the usual good combat spells (Web, Hypnotic Pattern, and so on). Just make sure the DM is on board with all the short rest abuse.
@@nathansmith9597 I dont think I agree with the svirfnebling magic feat, because abjurers can already spend 1 hour of ritual casting alarm isntead of short resting. You pay a feat so that it doesnt take your short rest.
And with Eldritch Adept, you dont have to be a certain race to do it.
@@texteel Yes, armor of shadows does a similar thing and (for that reason) might be nixed by some DMs. Personally, I don't think I would, but I could definitely see why a DM might choose to.
In most practical situations, I agree that mage armor or nondetection at will are going to be very similar for this purpose.
I strongly disagree that ritually casting alarm (e.g.) is in the same league as either of those.
With ritual casting you are restoring 2 HP per 11 minutes (alarm takes 1 minute, + 10 for ritual casting). So, a level 8 wizard whose ward has 21 HP will need about two hours (!) to fully recharge their ward, during which they can't be doing anything but ritually casting alarm over and over.
If the same wizard has Armor of Shadows or can cast nondetection at will, they can recharge their ward entirely in about one minute.
Granted, you won't always need to fully recharge the ward, but it really is a huge difference.
@@nathansmith9597 either in the case of nondetection or armor of shadows, it takes a feat. A feat that isnt spent improving DCs or securing concentration. Yes, the ward being up at the beginning of a fight can prevent concentration checks, but it doesnt stand up to focus fire.
You pay a very expensive price to do something more efficiently
I wish you would do "impossible" builds.
Monk/warlock
Druid/bard
Barbarian/wizard
Etc.
If anyone can, you're the guy.
Ps. Also, the fact that I want to MC my druid into bard is not the point 🤣
It would be fun to get a followup discussing some of the alternative options around the Sorlock-such as other subclasses and how they could interact, potential dips into Bard or Paladin, Feats, and magic items (Bloodwell Vial vs Rod of the Pact Keeper is an interesting conversation!).
"the clock blocker" are you kidding me
Great video as always! I was wondering if you are ever going to make a build for every sorcerer subclass, just as you did for wizards, as i now think sorcerers (trough expansions to the spell list, optional class features and new subclasses) are a very compelling alternative to wizard, and i think it would be very interesting to see how you would optimize each sorcerer subclass
This was a really awesome video! Unfortunately, the link to the character sheet doesn't work for me. I keep getting "Error Code: 403" when I click on it. Is this happening to anyone else?
Same for me.
Divine soul sorcerer has received a significant stealth buff. It has access to the new spell called spirit shroud. Using that instead of hex pushes up the DPR of a sorclock from 160 to 273 (with same attack modifiers). It also allows for nova above 500.
Oh noes!! Your character sheet went down for this build!!
I love my sorlock, (Celestial Warlock Divine Sorcerer) Eldarin!
Eladrin has been my favorite race! 👍🏻
I’ve been working on a Troop Transport Teleportation Specialist:
• Strixhaven Background
• Strixhaven Initiate (Quandrix College for Vortex Warp from the added spell list)
• Eladrin (Spring Season to teleport yourself or an ally)
• Peace Cleric for the 6th Level Protective Bond
• Wildfire Druid for Fiery Teleportation (only 2 levels)
• Strixhaven Mascot feat (Fractal Mascot for Huge Troop transport & 60 foot teleportation swap with familiar
• Fey Touched for 8th level feat
What do you think?
I might switch to Shadar-Kai, depending on how the new Mordenkainen’s version comes out. It would give resistance to the necrotic damage taken from Wither and Bloom, which would then be a better spell option.
So you end up being an Uber for your party?
@@theydon_bois: I guess so! LOL
There are three questions I ask myself:
Q1. Is this a character that I would enjoy playing?
A1. Yes!
Q2: Is this a character the other players would enjoy me playing?
A2: Yes!
Q3: Is this a character the DM would enjoy me playing?
A3: Yes!
This character checks all the boxes, for me anyway. ☺️
@@alanschaub147 and that’s all that counts mate! What’s your lads (or lasses) name? My Sorlock is Soylent Green.
@@theydon_bois: Übermensch! 😂
with all these harengon builds you're gonna go from treantmonk to harengonfullcaster
Y'know, I don't care for the Harengon, but at the very least it's nice to see fewer Variant Humans for a while.
I feel like metamagic adept would be much more valuable at level 4 sorcerer. Especially as a harengon.
Why?
@@RavarSeer doubles your metamagic versatility and gives you 50% more sorcery points at that level, while misty step is slightly redundant with rabbit hop.
@@elliotbryant3459 misses out on the cha bump and tasha's hideous laughter or gift of alacrity though. Maybe after either fey touched or telekinetic so you have an even cha.
@@micahswerens2472 That's a good point, I did gloss over the cha bump, though if you had a 16 cha it would leave 2 points to redistribute into other base stats. I'd probably pick up meta adept with either the 1st or 2nd asi just to get to use them more often. Metamagic use is my favorite aspect of playing a sorcerer so I really appreciate doubling the tools available.
Personally I'm not really crazy about telekinetic outside of psionic themed character builds. It's really flavorful but the potential 5' push/pull benefit just doesn't seem crazy impactful to me as a feat commitment.
@@elliotbryant3459 Might depend on how much forced movement you can use as part area of effect spells, eg web or spike growth, hypnotic pattern, if the char has consistent BA use (wildfire druid would not want telekinetic), and perhaps if the invisible no component mage hand would also be useful or not. This build in particular does focus on forced movement, so having another bit to add to repelling blast could be useful especially if you have a wizard or druid also helping with AOE concentration spells. Or shove a bunch of enemies into cleric sprit guardians lol. I suppose how much teamwork you can rely on would be part of it too.
Just a heads up, the DnD beyond link isn't working.
A point of contention for Hex Warrior:
You said that the best damage you could do is a d8, and proceeded to name longsword. Hex warrior stats that a weapon cannot have the two-handed property, not that you can't attack while holding a weapon with two hands (versatile) so you could indeed get your longsword to do a d10 of damage. Just because you can attack with two hands doesn't mean that it's a two-handed weapon, also attacking two-handed doesn't mean that your off-hand is now stuck to the hilt until next turn, either. So this wouldn't even impact spellcasting, regardless of focus or component pouch.
I know shields are important and make sense but I'm so bored of my characters having to carry that clunky thing everywhere to be decently survivable
It would be awesome If there were other options to increase AC, even if it's just flavor
A Magic staff or maybe something like Bracers of Defense
Idk, just seems more interesting than always having to carry a shield
I think that Fire bolt has one other use that isn't mentioned. Fire bolt is a single attack and situationally it could be better to have only one attack. It a target has a incredibly high AC. Like 20-22 or something. If you have advantage on your next attack, like from Guiding Bolt, I could see fire bolt being more useful, because at higher levels the eldritch blast would only get advantage on the first attack. Again totally situational but I think fire bolt is just as good as eldritch blast without invocations.
For argument's sake, let's say this character is an elf instead. Would you allow the PC to take the 4 hour long rest alongside the party, and then take 4 short rests while everyone else finishes their long rest?
Would I allow it as a DM? Yes. Would I do it as a player? Probably not.
@@TreantmonksTemple That's fair. I don't think choosing Elf is better than the options you suggested for this build anyway, it just seemed like the best way to utilize the specific interaction between Font of Magic and Pact Magic, without resorting to infinite loops. Thanks for the reply! :D
Wouldn't Elven Accuracy be an ideal feat for any Eldrich Blaster?
Elven Accuracy is an idea feat for any elf race that uses the increased attribute to make attack rolls.
My favorite Sorlock build is divine sorcerer healer/damage Sorlock... It's not an original build as I'm fairly sure it's pretty popular however it is rather fun.
2/3 levels in Warlock the rest in Sorcerer. (3 if you want to be spelly and take the "Pact of the tome" invocation. Otherwise, always take Agonizing blast & a fun bonus for roleplaying like "Mask of many faces" or "Eyes of the runed keeper". (However, you can sub the role-playing invocation for a more active invocation if you desire)
I find as warlock you use eldritch blast as your main damage most of the time anyways. So taking divine sorcerer to get cleric spells for support really feels like your worth in combat is more warranted party-wise. It also gives a lot of challenging and unique combat interactions you might not have planned for by being a damage-only player. Even more so if you are one of the only healers in the party.
I would take a protector Aasimir for flight coverage (blasting with eldritch and healing word from the air). You also get a bonus radiant damage per eldritch blast hit + agonizing blast bonus.. meaning you can still do a lot of damage. Once you unlock quickening and twinning you can twin heals and quicken eldritch blasts for insane 1 turn damage if needed.
All and all I think it is a rather fun and enjoyable build.
"Blocking opponents is VERY IMPORTANT".
I know a certain Harengon druid that would strongly agree.
Clock Blocker 😅😅😅
Love the video and the guide. Sorlock builds have been very popular for a long time and it was actually the first build I've played in 5e. However, jumping from 3e/pathfinder straight to 5e made me have a bias against delaying spellcasting. Despite how much I like this build, I'm afraid your video strengthened that bias. I'm not convinced the AC and the Eldritch Blast forced movement is enough to justify delaying spells for 2 levels. Unless you have more than one short rest per day (not the case in most tables I played) there is no advantage in converting pact slots into sorcery points since you lose 2 sorcery points by multiclassing into Warlock for 2 levels. The telekinetic feat, in my experience, gives you enough forced movement to keep enemies in harmful areas. Granted, you can push more than one creature with EB and cause damage. But again, at 5th level you are missing counterspell, fireball, fly, hypnotic pattern, sleet storm. At 7h level you have dimension door, greater invisibility and, of course, polymorph. At 9th level is animate objectos, bigby's hand, synaptic static. Not to mention transmute rock and wall of force that are available from clockwork magic. You are also delaying class features. Even at level 20, when the sorlock has access to 9th level spells, a full Sorcerer has 2 more sorcery points, one extra 6th and 7th level spell slot and can recover 4 sorcery points after a short rest. I would argue that your Tuff the Buff build is more interesting and less punitive than this sorlock as you delay spellcasting for only one level. This isn't by any means critcism, just personnal bias against the sorlock in general, specially after Tasha. Now, if you want to play a sorlock, this is a great way to do it.
I find Sorlock to be quite a different sort of character than a Sorcerer. You are quite correct in that it loses a lot of spellcasting and, early on at least, Eldritch Blast doesn't really do that much. I think of this character as a ranged attacker rather than a spellcaster. using Pact Slots for sorcery is a minor benefit to the setup, in my opinion. The fact that you are effectively getting a Fighter-level progression of Extra Attack through Eldritch Blast is much more significant.
Once you reach 11th level and have 3 beams with Eldritch Blast the Sorlock really comes online. You can cast 2 Eldritch Blasts (6 beams) every turn for quite a long time as you convert spell slots into sorcery points to continue doing it. While doing so, you have a lot of high-impact options for your concentration as well that you can prop up in turn 1 or in the setup to the fight in the DM allows. If your damage is the only one likely to be useful in the fight, then you can simply Hex early on, providing an extra 3d6 damage (minus misses) on the first turn and 6d6 every turn afterward until you need to start burning slots for more points. Alternatively, you can use the typical battlefield control or you can pick up Twinned Spell and get some very high value out of team buff spells like Haste, Polymorph, or Greater Invisibility which are fantastic when Twinned. Bless is a great option when using the Divine Soul subclass as well.
This tactic starts getting good in at level 7 when you have 2 beams with Agonizing Blast and level 3 spells but tier 3 is where it really shines. Basically, think of it not as a pure spellcaster, but a ranged attacker that has high-value team support with their concentration, has good defense with counterspell, shield, and absorb elements, and has other utility spells for various situations. If you go Hexblade, you can also do this with medium armor and a shield, though it may require War Caster do be able to use EB with a wand + shield, depending on your DM.
You should realize this isn't setting out to be his best sorcerer build, it's his best sorlock build. That means optimal eldritch blast damage (need agonizing blast at warlock 2, or I guess warlock 1 and a full feat) with as little disruption to the utility of being a sorcerer.
Clock blocker….. i died
DnD Beyond doesn't let me change the clockwork spells
What I do is right click "customize" then rename the spells.
@@TreantmonksTemple Oh I see, thanks
Your point about loops is misguided and exclusionary. I agree that loops should not be exploited, don't do it, it is very rude. However, expecting players to simply KNOW not to do it lest they get kicked out of the group? This is unacceptable. A very similar issue happens in Magic the Gathering in the Commander format. Commander players are expected to just inherently know what the social rules within the game are, such as which cards are not allowed, even though the official rules do not list them as being so. You risk making everyone have a bad time, getting harassed, and not being invited back if you do not follow these secret social rules. If someone is exploiting a loop at your table, ask them to stop and inform them of why. If they refuse, then yeah kick 'em.
I'm curious if you would update anything on The Voice from Beyond regarding invocations, spells, ancestry, feats.
Also, i can't seem to find a primary Hexblade warlock in the archives??
I'm brewing up how to reskin a Hexblade into a Cyberpunk setting Malware Street Samurai
4:12 I'm not so sure the web lasts, in the air, a whole round. It says "the conjured web collapses on itself," with a comma, thus concluding that separate instruction. What "collapses on itself" means is subjective but I would think if it were the air and collapsed on itself it wouldn't say in the air. Then, after this, the spell ends at the start of your next turn. Commas matter.
The only other choice for me was Celestial Lock, which gives you more support utility, in larger groups where you can largely expect to not get hit a lot due to numerous meat shields...Err party members standing in front of you.
Good call discussing subtle spell with material components. Popped up for me last week.
DMG says using a material component is perceivable.
It's going to be DM fiat and depend on how spellcasting works in the world, but the usual depiction of use of components is that there are visible magical effects when using them.
Reborn from Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft could be a great option as they don’t sleep or can be made to sleep and get a +2 to any stat. They don’t even meditate like elves, they sit and stare off into space. Although they’re presented in Ravenloft they’re basically an Awakened Zombie or someone who was Resurrected not quite right so as a DM myself I’d allow it anywhere. You could also say something like your Warlock Patron resurrected you for its purposes.
As for the Loop, I really disagree with broadly saying Loops are bad. They’re tools, like any tool they should be used responsibly. You can Long Rest for 4 hours as an Elf, Reborn or Custom Lineage with that feature and then chain 4 Short Rests to get some extra Sorcery Points while everyone else is sleeping. This doesn’t break the game, you’re just more magical, you are still limited to one or two spells per turn.
hey treant, i know this is not completely related, but in general do you think hexblade should be removed/reworked? Maybe have some of it's features incorporated in pact of blade at level 3 instead. It would be cool to have your take on this. Personally i would delete hexblade, put the charisma thing in pact of blade, and have pact of blade give 2 weapons or 1 weapon + 1 shield.
I think any blade pact warlock should be able to use Cha for their weapon personally.
If they exert themselves one day the next they might become a sorelock.
One other acceptable approach to the loop might be playing an elf since they have trance. That gives you enough time for 4 short rests before the rest of the party awakens.
Just don't do the loop. It isn't fair to the other players.
A player should speak to their DM about using web on flying creatures. I'd rule that "the web collapses in in itself" happens immediately but in a way that still allows wings to flap etc. The webbing would then disappear as the spell ends at the end of the turn.
Spilled the water I was drinking when you revealed the name of the build, nice one Chris
I 'm at the part about web and it got me thinking; couldn't you combine the flying creature thing with a fire attack? the web brings them down, but it expires in 1 round, why not have it burning in that round dealing fire damage on the way down? So a quickened web with a fire bolt chaser on a flying creature :)
46 in. You say take jump.
Never. You never jump in 5E, because you take damage. Check out pack tactics for the breakdown.
The idea of piling a bunch of enemies in a web and dropping a delayed blast fireball on top of it while they're unable to make a dex save is just funny. Whether they take an extra 8d4 or just the 2d4, that's just a hilarious way to end them.
Halfling is always good esp with lucky. Almost worth custom to swap racial feat for lucky...almost. and level 5 or 6 glyph of warding is sweeeet if you multi genie and take catnap.
With the coffeelock my house rules is that you recover spell slots instead, zero short rest cheese yet still useful through the adventuring day.
Getting an error message from D&DBeyond when trying the build link.
As you try to enter the 403rd level of the endless dungeon, the ancient dragon Rylzrayrth rises up to block your path. The dragon has forbidden you from traveling any further.
In other words, you don’t have access to complete the action.
Error Code
d5a7cae703b6473990e0b3e6ec94ef00
Version
@dndbeyond/character-app@1.17.2
Setting fire to a web that will expire at the start of your next turn still makes sense, though probably only if you can do it without using an action better used blasting the targets
How do you switch out the spells on d and d beyond? I can’t figure out how to switch out alarm?
The easiest way is to right click the spell on your character sheet and then select "customize" then rename alarm to the spell you want instead.
Thought. Web against flying creature, I would argue that being restrained in web even if you have hover, would cause the creature to fall prone.
I don't understand the significance of taking magic missile or shield with warlock vs sorcerer. Someone please explain?
Would you change anything on your Forge Cleric build?
Almost certainly, that was a long time ago and a lot of new options have come up since then. It's hard to say what those would be without reviewing the build though.
Hey Treant, the DnD beyond link is down. I wonder if there is somewhere else it is uploaded. Maybe on Patreon? Thanks.
I still don't get clockwork over divine soul. Doesn't seem that powerful. I don't get it.
Wat about a sorcerer paladin?
What a great idea! Of course your videos & builds are solid no matter how much they've aged, but selecting a few of the more popular builds to revamp is awesome. The name made me do a double-take. ;) If you're up for a puzzle, I'm noodling a Hexblade/Wildfire druid, leveraging the spirit to do an unlimited mini-Misty Step in combat, with melee crit fishing. I haven't figured how to optimize this one yet!!!
Druid warlock is tough, though you can certainly get away with a 13 wis and just go 3 to get wildfire. That spirit teleport is mega-useful.
Man i dunno about wish. Prismatic wall with a character that can push and pull enemies back and forth through all 7 layers of the wall potentially multiple times in one single turn is insane!
Cat lady hoarder fills genie bottle with conjured animals to hurl at enemies with catapult.
Double cast transmute rock to lock em in or drop the roof on em too
Goblin seems like it'd also be pretty good. Bonus action disengage every turn and you can bonus action hide in your own minor illusions.
"Clock Blocker"
Instant Classic.
Critical role content is outlawed at the tables i play with. DM views matts content as OP or broken.
Oh hells yes, 1 hour and 4 min. Can listen to this while I work!
How can you cast Eldritch Blast wearing a focus and a shield without Warcaster feat?
So... are sorlocks officially better than wizards yet?
Amy thought of going back to create a sorlocks mastery video?
Great stuff
7:03 for the aesthetic of magic circles spinning into place like cogs and gearworks?
The Clock Blocker character sheet doesn't load on Beyond; is there anywhere else we can check it out?
damn i didm't realise you could use hexblade's curse with magic missiles
Link to build appears to be broken is anyone able to repost it or a duplicate character please, and thank you.
i feel that subtle spell is a little less valuable in actual play of published content at the level it was taken here. YMMV but this was my experience playing at random tables when i took subtle spell, both AL-style heavily RAW & some more RP-focused homebrew tables:
1. almost no one ever pays attention to VSM in 90% of situations, unless suddenly you're in a vat of honey holding a dozen limes or something. in my experience, it truly rarely came up. subtle metamagic was clutch for avoiding VSM
I agree with most of your points. However, even if you will use Eldritch Blast constantly, eventually you will use your bigger spells (otherwise, why go Sorcerer instead of full Warlock) and when that happens, Subtle Spell can make your spells imine to Counterspell when facing enemy spellcaster.
It's highly situational, although. I think that should be the Sorcerer's last Metamagic pick, as you pointed out (T3).
I love this build. Love most of your builds, so that's nothing new, but I'm really glad you are revisiting old builds 😊👌
Character sheet link has been broken since they did an update awhile back.
Critical issue right off the ‘hop’ ;) : from many hours of dm playing experience I never theory craft anything without saves in both con AND wisdom. Must have both or hard pass imo
That means your playing Variant Human or Custom Lineage all the time for resilient? Or are you spending a regular feat for Resilient?
@@delilahfox3427 regular lev4 class feat as soon as it becomes available I like. Then +2 cha at class asi 8th if the campaign lasts that long. I’ve played n DM’d long enough that lacking either con or wis saves is like having a super cool character concept turn into a paper weight for half the campaign battles, just my humble opinion
It would be cool to see builds that work with your own houserules. We have adapted them at our table. So now many builds are kinda screwed 😆
I did a houserules build for patrons, but in my main channel, I think it would be confusing to viewers as a lot may not have seen that video.
I disagree on one thing: "medium armor without shields isnt significantly better than magearmor"
Ok, i agree obviously that shields ad +2, but what the racial proficiency with medium armor does is 1: free up your points (assuming pointbuy) to have a dex 14 and a con 16 to start, so higher con mod, good for hp and concentration, and a max ac of 17 without magic items. Alnd 2: armorproficiencies means potentially access to magical armors, that dont require attunement, this is good as most magic items you want as a caster tend to require attunement.
Now ofcourse i agree that medium armor+ shields is better than just medium armor, but medium armor without shields for free at lvl 1 is perhaps better than medium armor+shields at the cost of a feat at times and IMO significantly better than magearmor, not to mention that you dont need to have magearmor as a spell known, and spells known is a limited resource. For this specific build i agree its probably anyhow better with hexblade though.
How do you change the Spells gifted by the Clockwork magic feature? Can't seem to find the feature on Beyond.
I think you have to customize the spell by merely changing the name of the spell. So click "Alarm", then the customize tab, then just change the name to the new spell you want. That's the only way I can find to do it
Its easy to quell this desire of exploiting the sorlock infinite slots: announce before the campaign or dungeon that time matters and they have 1 long rest and 2 short rests if they want to complete the adventure before something worse happens. At lower levels you won't be getting that much SP per Warlock slots. Considering Wizards have a lot more options, this balances quite well. Sorcerors are filled with uncontrolled power, as a Warlock because of his patron, even being a 5e classic combo its very theme-friendly.
The problem is that the Sorlock can say "Actually, I'll just take 10 short rests, 8 of them back to back while everyone else sleeps". It's funny the first time. Then having attained ungodly powers while everyone else merely slept becomes old hat.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 But then again you wouldn't be rested. Maybe with some racial feature or feat, but even so its easy to say that there is no such thing as 10 short rests, only a long rest lol. On top of that, would he adventure alone while the party rests normally?
@@KorhalKk
You snort a line of Restoration to fix the fatigue if you're that far, or just eat the pretty chill first two levels of exhaustion.
Or as an Elf, you trance for 4 hours, and then get 4 short rests.
It doesn't need to be what you do every day (even though it can), it's more that you can supercharge over the course of a day or two, especially if you have a downtime day, and accumulate a massive pool of sorcery points. Even if you lean far more Sorcerer than Warlock, and are only converting second or third level pact slots, that's a loooot of juice if you're converting slots 10 times a day, let alone 24.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 You'll have 4 level 5 slots when you reach a certain level with Warlock. If you make this build you won't have that much reserve because the Warlock levels are low in this situation. You'll get a maximum of 20 SP if you reach level 17, but in this build you'll have a reserve of 4 SP. Its really not much, and you CAN'T do this 10 times a day, rarely adventures go this far, even in a day of adventuring. If you're planning on banking extra slots without using them on cannon fodder, still its not that much. All these combos expect a certain kind of situations that don't happen very often, sometimes not at all.
A wonderful build, but why did you choose demiplane over meteor swarm? I also think you're overrating summon draconic spirit. Compare it to the air elemental wizards and druids can summon with conjure elemental, which is also a 5th level spell. It has 90 hit points and resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. That's 180 hit points in most fights, whereas the draconic spirit only has 50 hit points. I'd give summon draconic spirit a weak orange rating.
The link to character sheet is broken.