Battle Master is less effective when you remember that RAW, your maneuver save DC is based on DEX/STR, not WIS. Samurai would give you another Face skill and advantage on all attacks in one turn, and fits with the Fey court vibe. Echo Knight has an extra attack feature that scales with your invested CON modifier, and fits with the Fey trickery vibe.
I would definitely go Undead Warlock 3/Fey Wanderer 17. 5 lv spell from Ranger and lot of cool stuff from Warlock: 2 invocations (Beguiling Influence and Eldritch Mind) and Pact of the Chain to have a Sprite Familiar (So thematic, you can also chose Voice of the Chain Master).
8:00 "It is terrible, it's unoriginal, etc. etc." It is, but it's a staple of multiclassing for a reason. CON saves, all armor and weapons, a fighting style of your choice, AND Second Wind. I saw a video that equated taking even a one level Fighter dip as roughly equivalent to five feats. And for, say, a Wizard or Sorcerer, that's true. - Lightly Armored - Moderately Armored - Heavily Armored - Fighting Initiate - Weapon Master Now, of these, only Fighting Initiate is a feat I would ever take. But there they are. Also, the nice thing about Favored Foe is that it's a free action. Coincidentally, so is Dreadful Strikes. That's why I made one whole singular Ranger character who uses Two-Weapon Fighting. Both of my attacks do 1d6+1d4+Dex mod. While FF isn't as good as Hunter's Mark at first blush, it also doesn't take a spell slot to use, which grants it some grace, especially in campaign where you might be doing more encounters than usual. Martial Adept is the feat you're thinking of for maneuvers. It gives you two maneuvers and one superiority die to use with them.
Perhaps I missed something but on level one with fighter what are you supposed to attack with? You said grab a quarterstaff but that's a strength based weapon not finesse and your strength is at 10 so are you to swinging with for the entire 2 levels (fighter 1 and Ranger 1) with just a +2 modifier for attack rolls? Everything else I like how everything starts synergizing.
Yes you will be stuck with Strength until getting Shillelagh. Seeing how a lot of campaigns are moving toward starting at level 3 or at the very least you spend a small number of sessions at levels 1 & 2 it really isn't that bad.
In my opinion, get a short sword. They're relatively cheap and they're Finesse and Light weapons. Unlike other d6 Light Finesse weapons I could mention... (Seriously, Scimitars, why are you so expensive?!)
That would also work here. Levels 1-3 are always going to be "fighting for survival" just due to the lack of HP on all PCs so typically I like to think about the long term effects. Additionally, a lot of tables seem to be shifting to starting at level 3 for the same reason so in both cases the Fighter ends up working.
Keep in mind, it’s an often overlooked detail, that you can’t cast Shillelagh while wielding a shield. This strategy is commonly suggested in these builds, but RAW, it doesn’t work. Shillelagh requires a Focus/component pouch. A Quarterstaff doesn’t count as a staff, thus not a Spellcasting Focus, and you can’t cast Shillelagh on a staff. Which means you need a second hand to cast regardless. Of course, this is usually disregarded/ignored at most tables. But it’s still worth pointing this out.
Battle Master is less effective when you remember that RAW, your maneuver save DC is based on DEX/STR, not WIS.
Samurai would give you another Face skill and advantage on all attacks in one turn, and fits with the Fey court vibe. Echo Knight has an extra attack feature that scales with your invested CON modifier, and fits with the Fey trickery vibe.
I would actually recommend non-DC maneuvers like Ambush, Riposte, and Distracting Strike/Commander's Strike.
I would definitely go Undead Warlock 3/Fey Wanderer 17. 5 lv spell from Ranger and lot of cool stuff from Warlock: 2 invocations (Beguiling Influence and Eldritch Mind) and Pact of the Chain to have a Sprite Familiar (So thematic, you can also chose Voice of the Chain Master).
If we add sheppard being a kobold might help since you can give advantage to those summons with your bonus action.
8:00 "It is terrible, it's unoriginal, etc. etc." It is, but it's a staple of multiclassing for a reason. CON saves, all armor and weapons, a fighting style of your choice, AND Second Wind. I saw a video that equated taking even a one level Fighter dip as roughly equivalent to five feats. And for, say, a Wizard or Sorcerer, that's true.
- Lightly Armored
- Moderately Armored
- Heavily Armored
- Fighting Initiate
- Weapon Master
Now, of these, only Fighting Initiate is a feat I would ever take. But there they are.
Also, the nice thing about Favored Foe is that it's a free action. Coincidentally, so is Dreadful Strikes. That's why I made one whole singular Ranger character who uses Two-Weapon Fighting. Both of my attacks do 1d6+1d4+Dex mod. While FF isn't as good as Hunter's Mark at first blush, it also doesn't take a spell slot to use, which grants it some grace, especially in campaign where you might be doing more encounters than usual.
Martial Adept is the feat you're thinking of for maneuvers. It gives you two maneuvers and one superiority die to use with them.
Perhaps I missed something but on level one with fighter what are you supposed to attack with? You said grab a quarterstaff but that's a strength based weapon not finesse and your strength is at 10 so are you to swinging with for the entire 2 levels (fighter 1 and Ranger 1) with just a +2 modifier for attack rolls? Everything else I like how everything starts synergizing.
Yes you will be stuck with Strength until getting Shillelagh. Seeing how a lot of campaigns are moving toward starting at level 3 or at the very least you spend a small number of sessions at levels 1 & 2 it really isn't that bad.
In my opinion, get a short sword. They're relatively cheap and they're Finesse and Light weapons. Unlike other d6 Light Finesse weapons I could mention...
(Seriously, Scimitars, why are you so expensive?!)
Starting from level one I think it would be better to go druid 1, ranger x, otherwise you would be just surviving up to level 3
That would also work here. Levels 1-3 are always going to be "fighting for survival" just due to the lack of HP on all PCs so typically I like to think about the long term effects. Additionally, a lot of tables seem to be shifting to starting at level 3 for the same reason so in both cases the Fighter ends up working.
Keep in mind, it’s an often overlooked detail, that you can’t cast Shillelagh while wielding a shield.
This strategy is commonly suggested in these builds, but RAW, it doesn’t work.
Shillelagh requires a Focus/component pouch.
A Quarterstaff doesn’t count as a staff, thus not a Spellcasting Focus, and you can’t cast Shillelagh on a staff.
Which means you need a second hand to cast regardless.
Of course, this is usually disregarded/ignored at most tables. But it’s still worth pointing this out.
I have seen a cool build for Undead warlock + Fey wanderer
Mordenkainen: Presents Monsters of the Multiverse Aasimar can do it as a bonus action.
video is 55 seconds old? I am too slow