Important note on the "hardliner DM" issue with the lightning launcher. There is not really such a thing as the "one-handed" property that a DM could argue was missing from it. There *is* a two-handed property, which is what tells you which weapons are *not* one-handed, and the lightning launcher does not have that property. So unless your DM wants to argue that one-handed weapons don't exist, they'll have to concede that the lightning launcher is a one-handed weapon, since it does not have the two-handed property.
Idea for the background of this character: long ago, the god Zeus was turned to stone and his stone body shattered, sending fragments across the realms. You work for the secret organization Z.E.U.S. (Zealous Enigmatic Undercover Soldiers) who are tasked with finding the fragments of Zeus, as each fragment grants a portion of his lightning powers. The lightning launcher you use is powered by one of these fragments you have retrieved
Great video, the synergy between Lightning Launcher, Sneak Attack, and Destructive Wrath is an amazing mechanic I've never considered. Truly inspiring, fantastic job as always.
Thunderball alternative build: 2 tempest cleric/ 18 Order of Scribes wizard. It's a heavy armor full caster, with nova combo with channel divinity. Order wizard can change the spell into lighting/thunder dmg, and tempest cleric's divinity can deal maximum damage with that spell. For example, a Thurber fireball with max dmg at level 7.
I did something similar to this not too long ago. In my theorycraft build, I went with a Half-Elf in order to pick up Elven Accuracy mainly, and went with a "crit fish" build by framing it as a 5/2/13 build. Feats involved included CBE/Gunner, Sharpshooter, Elven Accuracy, and the option of choosing between +2 Int./+2 Con., or the Lucky feat and one ASI of player's choice. This allowed for the prioritization of Int. over Dex., while still maintaining the 14 Dex. needed for Medium Armor. By proxy, this also increased the effectiveness of all spellcaster related abilities for the PC without suffering on damage much (if at all). In any event, +1 on the vid. 👍
With spells and feats like Aid and Inspiring Leader, I'd love to see a "Pre-healer" (prealer?) build that makes use of not having to heal in combat too.
I mean, you basically made the build right there yourself, because unfortunately, there arent many resources for this build. I’d love to be proved wrong though!
#93 The Battlefield Commander video is basically this. Inspiring Leader and several other features to boost the team while allowing them to make additional attacks.
@@cockman8437 Aside from Aid Inspiring healer and perhaps heroes feast (which is a lot of hp). A stars druid might be your best bet, since chalice increases healing by d8+modifier, add that healing to goodberries (they will do about as much healing as a regular healing potion) and give them out to the party. Maybe add chef so they have an additional way of getting temp hp. Since they get heroes feast as spell I would say 11 lvls of stars druid and either 6 lvls of life cleric (for extra healing from the goodberries and their 6th lvl feature leads me to believe that any time they eat 1 of your berries, you heal for the same amount, effectively doubling it's healing) or 1 lvl of life cleric and 5 lvls of alchemist. (and cast goodberry through the alchemist supplies adding your int also to the healing) (Although preventing damage/reducing someones damage taken can be seen as a very similar concept to pre-healing, as there is less that needs to be healed. For this psi warior, rune knight, Ancestral Guardian, clockwork soul or abjuration wizard can be looked at. The advantage with psi warrior is you need only 3 lvls and it is not dependant on your stats, while still being very helpful.) The more they can take care of themselves by eating berries, treats and maybe they have some way of getting resistance on their own.
@@JugglingAddict that's such a late build though, like super late, something I love about this channel's builds is a lot come online around tier 2 maybe tier 3, but you're talking tier 4 which is pretty unrealistic. Let alone it also just be not what the original prompt is, which is what I was trying to be proved wrong on, being a "pre-healer", I already know healers work and exist in 5e. But nice goofy healer build, will definitely keep it in mind
Great build as ever! :) As for using the zappy gem together with hand crossbow, strict interpretation of rules is on your side. It counts as simple ranged weapon, with short and long range. It does not have Two-Handed (or even Versatile) property. The full list of Weapon Properties on PHB p. 146-147 (or the chart on p. 149) doesn't recognize "One-Handed" as a thing, so a weapon without Two-Handed should qualify for CBE. Rules don't care that the zappy gem is in fact attached to your chest plate ;)
I have to mention a ruling technicality here: The "you can fulfill the somatic requirement of spells with your focus" ONLY applies to spells that have a material component Fortunately, artificer has a workaround where all artificer spells have material components, but the same can't be said for your cleric and arcane trickster spells since they're not artificer spells Meaning without warcaster, you can't shield without dropping your crossbow (and whether you can drop your crossbow as part of your reaction is up to the DM to decide) At least silvery barbs is just V
I once played a 8 tempest cleric / 12 armorer artificer using lightning launcher in a norse themed one shot and it was an "archer" supporting Thor. Not as much damage, but a lot of fun!
This is a fantastic character. I do love those ideas of having a character that doesn't fall into a 'class' or 'multi-class' box. Coming up with something that is such a great mixture and cosmetically making it's own 'class' is wonderful.
Really cool video! Really want to mention Mark of shadows as race (amazing spells and d4 stealth bonus). If you use optional rule with floating ability bonuses - literally "pick me" race)) And as infusion Wand of Secrets is ideal for special agent. Like you don't want to waste your time looking for hidden chests 😂. Great video!
Something I'd be really interested in seeing is your take on the heavy armored monk that Treantmonk tried doing. But, I think it'd be really interesting to do an artificer armorer monk which can still use the lightning launcher with dex, and use sharpshooter with it? What could you do with that?
I'm gearing up to do a Magnum P.I., 1980's style buddy cop action movie short run campaign for a couple friends. Gonna steal this build for the FBI agent who comes in, tries to pull jurisdictional grievance, and impedes the case. :3 Great build this week!
38:25 When I saw where you were going with this my jaw literally dropped, that is an amazing combination of three different class/subclass abilities that all harmonize to create such an amazing build.
I would love to see a build where you try to optimise a character using only things from the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide. If that is too hard (which it probably is) you can add Xanathars Guide to Everything. Love the content, can't wait for episode 100!
If you’re gonna spend the first round always casting a spell you can take the Gift of the Chromatic Dragon feat for the additional 1d4 each round and since it is a bonus action you can spend your first turn casting Faerie Fire/Web/Bless and enhancing your weapon with the feat 😁 Especially cool if your deity is some type of dragon! P.S. You can make the damage lightning to add a small amount to your destructive wrath burst!
I was actually sorta counting on you to calculate the ability of this character to serve as a tank, since not only does it get remarkably good AC and a slew of powerful defensive abilities (Shield and Absorb Elements, Uncanny Dodge, Bonus Action Dodge/Disengage, Evasion, self-healing abilities) but you can even convert the armor model into a Guardian model to provide the all-important Soft Taunt, and have a pretty decent to-hit bonus to the Thunder Gauntlets. I imagine it would actually hold its own in the tank rankings reasonably well.
Colby, I love this character. Along with other viewers, this has to be my favorite as well. I had no idea what I was in for coming into this. With each level, each new class, each explanation, each new ability - it just kept getting better and better. I was delighted at every turn. And then saying at the end that this was the most well-rounded character you've created! I love well-rounded characters! And the bloopers were just the cherry on top. Thank you, sir.
This may have already been suggested before, but I think a fun maximization with limitations challenge could be to find optimal builds for Character Races you feel like you don't use in your usual builds. Such as a Gnome build, a Lizardfolk build, or a Tabaxi build, etc. As a man with 720 character concepts, finding builds for every single option that WotC has published, as well as homebrew I find inspiring on DnD Beyond or the DnD Wiki, is something I find fun as a character designer. Speaking of those 720 characters, another fun challenge could be to find an optimal build for a random, pre-determined Stat arrangements (of which there are 720 possible combinations), such as, going from highest to lowest, a Str-Int-Dex-Cha-Con-Wis build or a Dex-Con-Cha-Wis-Str-Int build, etc. After replacing some of my closest matching characters with my favorite ideas from here, I have to rearrangement to do in that regard.
I enjoy very much how it feels as if you are speaking to Me, not to an Audience, as seems more common Thanks, keep being you and doing what you do, I will keep watching and appreciating
Yeah. I feel you on the Assassin. While it looks great on that nova round in perfect conditions; setting up those conditions is usually only doable if the whole party are stealth-focused. And also, at high level Assassins get very little to recommend them.
I was working on this exact build last week, literally the exact same four classes working in the exact same way. I even contemplated trying to reach out to you to see how you would go about building it, this is so crazy!
love this build! We have a generous DM who provides a free feat so i decided to attempt to flavor it after "Mr. Leung" from altered carbon as an inflitration mystic. went shadar-kai for the misty step resistance and for elven acc to bump agi from 17-18 at ASI2. I just gotta say though i LOVE the way you made use of destructive wrath in this build, it's one of my absolute favorite features in the entire game and so glad to see someone put it to good use!
Request for a build: The Skylark [Eladrin Paladin/Rougelock/Bard or the like.] They teleport around and use daggers in melee as well as having god tier stealth and video game level abilities.
You take fighter at first lvl for Heavy Armor Proficiency. Then proceed to take Armorer Artificer and Tempest Cleric, both of which also give you Heavy Armor Proficiency as part of their subclass features. Kind of funny. Interesting build, I like it :D
I love the “custom class” way of thinking of a build like this. It gives players a framework for legally “home brewing” a class without creating something the DM needs to balance. And thinking of it this way doesn’t force onerous role playing justification requirements on each multi class choice. I do believe such characters should have a rational, and Colby sets a great example with how he describes this one (and so many of his other builds) throughout.
Love the build as always. But I wanted to hit on how much I love just all the positivity you put into your videos. I always look forward to your videos.
Have you considered doing a Warlock build optimized to fill the role of a Rogue? Focus on DEX/CHA, get proficiency in thieves tools, the Actor feat, and use invocations that maximize your infiltration potential, like Disguise Self at will, going invisible in shadows, making illusions to hide in, and summoning a shadow blade to assassinate people. All while being some respectable member of society as your mild-mannered alter-ego.
Warlocks are so cool in a combat-lite or short rest heavy game. I love them, the amazing utility of some of the invocations and the disguise self one is my favourite :)
Currently playing a full party of your builds including a version of this build on Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Pamlock, Death Cleric, Sorlock and this build all on one team... pretty badass. Thanks for these amazing concepts! 👍
Looking back at your skill monkey build, I'm finding more creative build ideas: -> new Kenku's; Kenku Recall (gives Adv on proficient skills, proficiency bonus times per Lrest) -> Rogue-Soulknife; Psionic Power - Psi-Bolstered Knack (spend a Psionic Energy die on a skill you're proficient in. Failures don't spend the die) -> Battle Master Fighter; Maneuvers (just picking the ones that boost skills) I did follow your Lore Bard idea, however this skill-monkey-bird build can not only do many skills, they will pass them more often.
Love this build! I love playing characters like this with lots of flexibility and multiple options to fit the situation. Your Flame Thrower Sorcerer is pretty simple to convert to have a quality sustained DPR option as well as the Nova option. You've already got warlock. Just add the eldritch invocations to power up eldritch blast, and you've got the sorlock eldritch blast cannon built in as well. I'm playing my version of that character right now and loving it. Using aberrant mind sorcerer instead. I've got both the nova option and a sustained DPR option, and I rarely use either because I have so many other spell options for control, buff, and debuff as well. And with the new MOM kobold, I can give myself and other party members advantage consistently too. It's a very flexible build to be whatever the party needs most in almost any situation.
VIDEO IDEA: (maybe for Ep 100 or maybe for something else). What build would you (Colby) play if you were playing at X specific level? You go through all 20 levels, saying which build you would most prefer to play at that level, and why. (Assume it's a one-shot at that level or something). I like this because a lot of folks start campaigns/one-shots at different levels, and it would be a nice insight into who you are and what you prefer to play. It would also give you a chance to highlight some previous builds on your channel. You wouldn't have to go through the whole build for each one, just enough info to explain why you picked it to someone who might not know how the build works. Love the vids, keep up the great work! :)
Love this concept so much! I picture this character kinda like the albino bad guy in The Da Vinci Code. Feels super cool to be the secret enforcer of a powerful religious group!
I've wondered about sneak attack and alternate damage types. Here, I completely agree, it's lightning, so you can do that. I've seen arguments both ways about weapons like flame tongue, frostbrand, or booming blade, some saying that SA is the weapon itself, some saying you can choose the fire/cold/thunder, and a few people saying SA is "true damage" since the books don't list a type, JC's tweets are unofficial, and there are several monsters in the DMG that do untyped damage.
Ahahaha! My weekly D&D fix. Colby, I just want to say thank you for introducing me to the power of the Bladesinger. I'm about to start playing a 9th level character and this subclass is going to be the star of the show. Umbero, Prince of the Xhendu tribe, devotee of Shango the Thunder God, and the main sustained dpr build of the team. I have a very powerful magic spear (and a level of Monk), so I'll actually be using Haste instead of Shadow Blade, but I have found some awesome synergy here that you really ought to look at! Bladesinger 6 lets me replace the extra attack from Haste with a cantrip like Booming Blade. I'm using PAM and Warcaster so I can cast Booming Blade as a reaction too. Three Booming Blade attacks per round, one regular attack, and one butt attack. I have Action Surge too 😂
@@jiminkpen9750 it's true, you can't make more than a single attack, but the cantrip replacement feature is not contingent on the number of attacks made.
You never fail to shock me! With the short about the build released I thought I had a good idea of what you were up to, but the Thunderball was much more cool and unique than my idea. Way to go!
I thought of a character concept that does great nova damage and insane (sustained) dpr, but only for one encounter per long rest: A straight class devine soul sorcerer, halfling that uses DoT spells like Spirit Guardians + Spiritual Weapon, Crown of Stars: or even a stand alone Blade of Desaster. And then casts leveled spells like: Guiding Bolt (potentially twined), Fireball or Disintegrate (potentially twined) on the following turns. This can be easily tier 1 for both nova and sustained dpr for one glorious combat encounter.
This is the build i have been waiting for! i have something sim but I truly think this is the my fav build you have done at all time! the utility you can do is amazing
Instead of focusing on damage you could focus on control by getting the tempest cleric 6 feature thunderbolt strike to move enemies around and push them back into the web or other hazards.
Every time you bring up dragon age, I get so happy 😂. And my character of two years now is an inquisitor for the church of Tyr. Inquisitive Rogue 6/Order Domain 6. So this will be interesting! :D
Love your videos. At Artificer 2 you mention the restriction that only 1 infusion can be applied to a single item, but then say that you'd use both Repeating Shot and Enhanced Weapon. Unless I'm missing something, that conflicts with the 1 infusion per item restriction.
12:12 Potentially: if your table makes use of the variant rule "Flanking" going bugbear might be worth it. It's nearly always possible to get into position assuming you have more than one melee character in your party. (I did DM one game where we used flanking, but the party only had 1 fighter so it was a bit hard to actually get that advantage, the positions just never worked out in the begining.)
For Rogue subclass, Scout has some strong options for ranged--reaction moving to keep distance is nice for avoiding enemies, and you get expertise in two extra skills. Getting Find Familiar from Arcane is probably still stronger mechanically though.
In the Homebrew world my group has been using for 30 years has a Deity that is all about uncovering hidden lore or secrets. He is also a major choice for Rogues to take as well.
It just occurred to me, after the seventh video of yours that I watched in a row, that it would be really cool to see you build entire parties (of four characters) that have synergy and work together, and compare the sustain and nova damage of those combinations. So for example you could have cheese grater builds where the caster isn’t necessarily the one doing the grating, darkness builds where everyone benefits from the darkness but only one or two party members need to cast it, or of course even more complicated combinations that require three of four concentration spells to pull off. Thanks for the interesting ideas!
I would ask the DM when you build this "Spymaster" character that you can use the UA portion of the Armorer which states that the Infiltration Armor can be easily worn under clothes, a la, the bioskin suit Iron Man wears which allows him to always have his suit to be on him, and not needing to carry a briefcase MK 5 suit or have a bodyguard lug it around. This being not added to TACOE was something I openly Vader Nooo!'d because it was something I'd had planed on wanting to build.
I love your stuff! Thanks a lot man. I have to say I would absolutely love to see the figures for all builds even if it was just going forward. Rtd, dpr and nova. I get if it's too much work, but I was editing the bardbarian build and I was trying to work out if the changes I made were having a significant impact but its hard to compare to just straight tank builds
Have you ever considered the interplay between artificer, bladesinger wizard and psi-warrior fighter? They all gain from high INT and are some of your favorite classes.
I’m playing an Art 1 / Psi Warrior X that uses magic stone and am having a blast. The issue about going deeper in into Art or Blade Singer is just how the Psi Warrior’s coolest stuff comes online a bit late. The lvl 7 ability mainly, but then why not go to 11, in which case why not go to 15?
My thoughts were something like Artificer Armorer or Battle Smith 5, Then Bladesinger Wizard 2 and then Psi warrior Fighter 3. Back to Bladesinger Wizard for 10 levels. But I am not sure what the best way to slice up this "cake" would be.
Hmm that's hard. It all comes down to which class features you want most. Based on the order you put the classes I would suggest 10 Armorer, 6 Bladesinger, and 4 Psi Warrior. In the order; 1 Artificer, 6 Bladesinger, 9 Armorer, 4 Psi Warrior. I think you might be happier with 14 Armorer and 6 Bladesinger. Going 1 Artificer, 6 Bladesinger, and 13 Armorer. Alternatively 16 Battle Smith and 4 Psi Warrior. Going 10 Battle Smith, 4 Psi Warrior, and 6 Battle Smith. You also might like 14 Psi Warrior and 6 Bladesinger. Going 6 Bladesinger and Psi Warrior the rest of the way. Finally, I would suggest 14 Bladesinger and 6 Psi Warrior. Going 6 Bladesinger, 4 Psi Warrior, 2 Bladesinger, 2 Psi Warrior, and 6 Bladesinger.
Great build as always Colby . When I went for my spy I went more for ninja flavor . Assassin Rogue 3 Gloom Stalker Ranger 3 Shadow Monk 6 and back to Rogue . A real night stalker . I might redo with a couple levels of Twilight Cleric . The new Bugbear would work well with this build or variant human . I did it with Wood Elf .
27:00 Yes, it definitely works. I don't know why it isn't talked about more and more players don't use this in other ways like attacking with a heavy xbow then hand xbow (dropping heavy) or rapier twice, maybe with flanking, then hand xbow.
@@juanitodecadente I've used it a lot, never been much of an issue. Particularly great when a priority target might be immune or resistant to piercing damage or you can get advantage on the melee attack. I guess track were I dropped weapon with something small or make small drawing on online map. Almost always it doesn't matter and can pick up after combat.
So it'd be a cool video series if you categorized all your builds into nova, sustain, tank, support, and then compared each of the build types to themselves for all around (best tanky Nova, best Nova tank, bust sustain support, best tanky sustain, etc.). Then take the best of each subtype (best of the tanky Nova vs tanky support, vs tanky sustain, etc.) And then a best of the all-rounder characters, vs a custom all-rounder character as the payoff for what would effectively be a tournament of builds. Jus an idea, neat character idea, good video.
I'm actually playing a Fighter 1/Artificer 3 at the moment (pretty much exact same build as this), with plans to go at least to Artificer 5. This has given me some new options to consider!
The reason that Web might not be as good as Faerie Fire, is the same reason it's better. Multiple saving throws. If they failed the saving throw, they could still break free later. However, if they make the saving throw, if they don't leave the spell area, they might fail next turn. It balances out. It's worth it. It's great.
I think getting Artificer 6 on this build would be stellar. Getting expertise in Thieves' Tools, Gloves of Thievery, and Cloak of the Elvenkind are amazing for any rogue.
Love the James Bond reference! This does look like an exciting build with a lot of options... only I would have to have the patience to stick to the build plan each level until it comes online. 🤓
The ending song sounds like Thunderstruck but I don’t recall those lyrics perhaps I’m loosing it. Awesome build I love the mechanic’s and the flavor add it to the list of builds I really wanna play but will never get to play.
Can't wait to see what Coby has selected for episode 100
Absolutely I'm certain it'll be something great!
Bladesinger 4.0?
@@MisterDiceGuy Dang! Beat me to it.
Was just going to comment this. My prediction is a hexblade monk.
I am hoping for a full party
Level 1:(see above) [fighter 1, race & fighting-style]
Level 2:(see above) [artificer 1]
Level 3:(@16:48) [artificer 2]
Level 4:(@18:32) [artificer 3 & sub-class]
Level 5:(@23:16) [artificer 4 & ASI]
Level 6:(@24:27) [artificer 5]
Level 7:(see above) [fighter 2]
Level 8:(@30:34) [cleric 1 & sub-class]
Level 9:(@34:25) [cleric 2]
Level 10:(see above) [rogue 1]
Level 11:(@40:04) [rogue 2]
Level 12:(@40:16) [rogue 3 & sub-class]
Level 13:(@44:26) [rogue 4 & ASI]
Level 14:(see above) [rogue 5]
Level 15:(@48:39) [rogue 6]
Level 16:(@48:50) [rogue 7]
Level 17:(@49:34) [rogue 8 & ASI]
Important note on the "hardliner DM" issue with the lightning launcher.
There is not really such a thing as the "one-handed" property that a DM could argue was missing from it. There *is* a two-handed property, which is what tells you which weapons are *not* one-handed, and the lightning launcher does not have that property.
So unless your DM wants to argue that one-handed weapons don't exist, they'll have to concede that the lightning launcher is a one-handed weapon, since it does not have the two-handed property.
Well. That's true. But in case of gem node on the chest would it be still one handed? This is kinda a tough case of RAW and RAI
@@FriendlyOne_ It's been a long time since I watched the video. Can you remind me of the context of this issue coming up?
@@SamFinklestein Does firing lighting launcher fulfill "When you use the Attack action and attack with a one handed weapon" from crossbow expert
Idea for the background of this character: long ago, the god Zeus was turned to stone and his stone body shattered, sending fragments across the realms. You work for the secret organization Z.E.U.S. (Zealous Enigmatic Undercover Soldiers) who are tasked with finding the fragments of Zeus, as each fragment grants a portion of his lightning powers. The lightning launcher you use is powered by one of these fragments you have retrieved
Im just going to assume #100 will be a bladesinger or a monk 😂
Bladesinger 3.0 let's go!
or just a bladesinger monk
I would prefer a monk
Yes! Updated bladesinger with new races and rules!
Nah bruh Hexblade Warlock
The real nova round is how fast Coby burnt through those cards
1 episode away from episode 100! Congrats and thanks for all the builds !
The Bob Ross of DnD is back!! Congrats on ep. 99, keep up the awesomeness :)
"Bob Ross of Dnd" that is an EXCELLENT representation of exactly what this guy is. He's SO satisfying to watch and listen to.
Just add a happy little DEX score.
This comment is severely underrated. I busted out laughing since it's just so true lol
Great video, the synergy between Lightning Launcher, Sneak Attack, and Destructive Wrath is an amazing mechanic I've never considered. Truly inspiring, fantastic job as always.
Thunderball alternative build: 2 tempest cleric/ 18 Order of Scribes wizard. It's a heavy armor full caster, with nova combo with channel divinity. Order wizard can change the spell into lighting/thunder dmg, and tempest cleric's divinity can deal maximum damage with that spell. For example, a Thurber fireball with max dmg at level 7.
Boy I do love a minimum of 21 damage against each of any cluster of enemies at level 7.
You would need to find a thunder/lightning damage wizard spell for every level tho.
TreantMonk already did that build - it’s called the ShockJock
I did something similar to this not too long ago.
In my theorycraft build, I went with a Half-Elf in order to pick up Elven Accuracy mainly, and went with a "crit fish" build by framing it as a 5/2/13 build.
Feats involved included CBE/Gunner, Sharpshooter, Elven Accuracy, and the option of choosing between +2 Int./+2 Con., or the Lucky feat and one ASI of player's choice.
This allowed for the prioritization of Int. over Dex., while still maintaining the 14 Dex. needed for Medium Armor. By proxy, this also increased the effectiveness of all spellcaster related abilities for the PC without suffering on damage much (if at all).
In any event, +1 on the vid. 👍
With spells and feats like Aid and Inspiring Leader, I'd love to see a "Pre-healer" (prealer?) build that makes use of not having to heal in combat too.
I mean, you basically made the build right there yourself, because unfortunately, there arent many resources for this build. I’d love to be proved wrong though!
Issue is temp HP not stacking
#93 The Battlefield Commander video is basically this. Inspiring Leader and several other features to boost the team while allowing them to make additional attacks.
@@cockman8437 Aside from Aid Inspiring healer and perhaps heroes feast (which is a lot of hp). A stars druid might be your best bet, since chalice increases healing by d8+modifier, add that healing to goodberries (they will do about as much healing as a regular healing potion) and give them out to the party. Maybe add chef so they have an additional way of getting temp hp.
Since they get heroes feast as spell I would say 11 lvls of stars druid and either 6 lvls of life cleric (for extra healing from the goodberries and their 6th lvl feature leads me to believe that any time they eat 1 of your berries, you heal for the same amount, effectively doubling it's healing) or 1 lvl of life cleric and 5 lvls of alchemist. (and cast goodberry through the alchemist supplies adding your int also to the healing)
(Although preventing damage/reducing someones damage taken can be seen as a very similar concept to pre-healing, as there is less that needs to be healed. For this psi warior, rune knight, Ancestral Guardian, clockwork soul or abjuration wizard can be looked at. The advantage with psi warrior is you need only 3 lvls and it is not dependant on your stats, while still being very helpful.)
The more they can take care of themselves by eating berries, treats and maybe they have some way of getting resistance on their own.
@@JugglingAddict that's such a late build though, like super late, something I love about this channel's builds is a lot come online around tier 2 maybe tier 3, but you're talking tier 4 which is pretty unrealistic.
Let alone it also just be not what the original prompt is, which is what I was trying to be proved wrong on, being a "pre-healer", I already know healers work and exist in 5e. But nice goofy healer build, will definitely keep it in mind
Like just for the thunder struck solo at the end. Great build as well but the songs is what earned it 👍😆
I love the Zeus angle. It gives me shades of Daedalus for all the invention stuff. Maybe he's your "Q."
Great build as ever! :) As for using the zappy gem together with hand crossbow, strict interpretation of rules is on your side. It counts as simple ranged weapon, with short and long range. It does not have Two-Handed (or even Versatile) property. The full list of Weapon Properties on PHB p. 146-147 (or the chart on p. 149) doesn't recognize "One-Handed" as a thing, so a weapon without Two-Handed should qualify for CBE. Rules don't care that the zappy gem is in fact attached to your chest plate ;)
Colby singing thunderstruck was fantastic!
When I checked the kickstarter 1 hour after this video went live, they were already at 75,000 out of 10,000. Nice work, everyone!
This is definitely the most convincing Batman build I've seen! Infiltrator, Holy Knight, Big Hitter, inspired tech of every kind!
I'm not sure a ranged lightning attack fits the Batman archetype
@@johannesstephanusroos4969 Just have to reflavor it to his Red Sun Generator he used against Kryptonians.
I have to mention a ruling technicality here:
The "you can fulfill the somatic requirement of spells with your focus" ONLY applies to spells that have a material component
Fortunately, artificer has a workaround where all artificer spells have material components, but the same can't be said for your cleric and arcane trickster spells since they're not artificer spells
Meaning without warcaster, you can't shield without dropping your crossbow (and whether you can drop your crossbow as part of your reaction is up to the DM to decide)
At least silvery barbs is just V
But doesn't he have a "free" hand, considering the gauntlet of the armor that shoots lightning
@@riccardoguidolin6085 one hand has crossbow
The other has shield
He has no free hand
I once played a 8 tempest cleric / 12 armorer artificer using lightning launcher in a norse themed one shot and it was an "archer" supporting Thor. Not as much damage, but a lot of fun!
This is a fantastic character. I do love those ideas of having a character that doesn't fall into a 'class' or 'multi-class' box. Coming up with something that is such a great mixture and cosmetically making it's own 'class' is wonderful.
Really cool video! Really want to mention Mark of shadows as race (amazing spells and d4 stealth bonus). If you use optional rule with floating ability bonuses - literally "pick me" race))
And as infusion Wand of Secrets is ideal for special agent. Like you don't want to waste your time looking for hidden chests 😂. Great video!
Something I'd be really interested in seeing is your take on the heavy armored monk that Treantmonk tried doing. But, I think it'd be really interesting to do an artificer armorer monk which can still use the lightning launcher with dex, and use sharpshooter with it? What could you do with that?
Love the flavour behind this, I wanna see what Colby would do with this concept too.
On the to do list!
You mentioned heavy armor prof as reason for fighter start, but artificer gets it from the armorer subclass.
Yeah, that confused me as well
It just about coming online earlier
I think it's more for Archery and less for heavy armor.
and on top of that, i would probably go medium armor on this build anyways, assuming a point buy setting.
Yeah, it was for Archery only.
Love Thunder and Lightning builds! This was great!
I'm gearing up to do a Magnum P.I., 1980's style buddy cop action movie short run campaign for a couple friends.
Gonna steal this build for the FBI agent who comes in, tries to pull jurisdictional grievance, and impedes the case. :3
Great build this week!
38:25 When I saw where you were going with this my jaw literally dropped, that is an amazing combination of three different class/subclass abilities that all harmonize to create such an amazing build.
I would love to see a build where you try to optimise a character using only things from the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide. If that is too hard (which it probably is) you can add Xanathars Guide to Everything. Love the content, can't wait for episode 100!
If you’re gonna spend the first round always casting a spell you can take the Gift of the Chromatic Dragon feat for the additional 1d4 each round and since it is a bonus action you can spend your first turn casting Faerie Fire/Web/Bless and enhancing your weapon with the feat 😁 Especially cool if your deity is some type of dragon!
P.S. You can make the damage lightning to add a small amount to your destructive wrath burst!
Wow. I've never considered the Armorer/Tempest cleric synergy. That's fantastic.
Thanks so much!
I was actually sorta counting on you to calculate the ability of this character to serve as a tank, since not only does it get remarkably good AC and a slew of powerful defensive abilities (Shield and Absorb Elements, Uncanny Dodge, Bonus Action Dodge/Disengage, Evasion, self-healing abilities) but you can even convert the armor model into a Guardian model to provide the all-important Soft Taunt, and have a pretty decent to-hit bonus to the Thunder Gauntlets. I imagine it would actually hold its own in the tank rankings reasonably well.
Colby, I love this character. Along with other viewers, this has to be my favorite as well.
I had no idea what I was in for coming into this. With each level, each new class, each explanation, each new ability - it just kept getting better and better. I was delighted at every turn. And then saying at the end that this was the most well-rounded character you've created! I love well-rounded characters! And the bloopers were just the cherry on top.
Thank you, sir.
My new favorite build.
New Humblewood content? Lessgo! My group and I are just about to embark on our first foray into the setting, so that's exciting news.
This may have already been suggested before, but I think a fun maximization with limitations challenge could be to find optimal builds for Character Races you feel like you don't use in your usual builds. Such as a Gnome build, a Lizardfolk build, or a Tabaxi build, etc. As a man with 720 character concepts, finding builds for every single option that WotC has published, as well as homebrew I find inspiring on DnD Beyond or the DnD Wiki, is something I find fun as a character designer. Speaking of those 720 characters, another fun challenge could be to find an optimal build for a random, pre-determined Stat arrangements (of which there are 720 possible combinations), such as, going from highest to lowest, a Str-Int-Dex-Cha-Con-Wis build or a Dex-Con-Cha-Wis-Str-Int build, etc. After replacing some of my closest matching characters with my favorite ideas from here, I have to rearrangement to do in that regard.
Amazing!! I was thinking you'd go paladin 2/ trickery cleric/ whispers bard multiclass... Caught me off guard though, CONGRATZ ON THE ALMOST 100
I enjoy very much how it feels as if you are speaking to Me, not to an Audience, as seems more common
Thanks, keep being you and doing what you do, I will keep watching and appreciating
Yeah. I feel you on the Assassin. While it looks great on that nova round in perfect conditions; setting up those conditions is usually only doable if the whole party are stealth-focused. And also, at high level Assassins get very little to recommend them.
I was working on this exact build last week, literally the exact same four classes working in the exact same way. I even contemplated trying to reach out to you to see how you would go about building it, this is so crazy!
colby's been spying on you
I have watched this like 4 times, I think this is hands down my favorite build ever. Definitely my next character
love this build! We have a generous DM who provides a free feat so i decided to attempt to flavor it after "Mr. Leung" from altered carbon as an inflitration mystic. went shadar-kai for the misty step resistance and for elven acc to bump agi from 17-18 at ASI2. I just gotta say though i LOVE the way you made use of destructive wrath in this build, it's one of my absolute favorite features in the entire game and so glad to see someone put it to good use!
Request for a build: The Skylark [Eladrin Paladin/Rougelock/Bard or the like.] They teleport around and use daggers in melee as well as having god tier stealth and video game level abilities.
Colby, you make our days better.
Thank you man!
I hope you have big plans for next week. We’re expecting nothing but the best! 😛 Love you.
You take fighter at first lvl for Heavy Armor Proficiency. Then proceed to take Armorer Artificer and Tempest Cleric, both of which also give you Heavy Armor Proficiency as part of their subclass features. Kind of funny.
Interesting build, I like it :D
I love the “custom class” way of thinking of a build like this. It gives players a framework for legally “home brewing” a class without creating something the DM needs to balance. And thinking of it this way doesn’t force onerous role playing justification requirements on each multi class choice. I do believe such characters should have a rational, and Colby sets a great example with how he describes this one (and so many of his other builds) throughout.
warmest video greeting on TH-cam period
Love the build as always. But I wanted to hit on how much I love just all the positivity you put into your videos. I always look forward to your videos.
Looking forward to seeing that ep 100. Humbly requesting an astral self monk in the future. Keep up the great work!
The names Agent, Secret Agent! Such a fund build thank you!
Every video of Colby's I get super excited when everything really starts coming together! Love the combination of Armorer and Tempest!
I haven't seen anyone comment on it but you're killing it on arm day in your thumbnails ⚜️💪
Have you considered doing a Warlock build optimized to fill the role of a Rogue? Focus on DEX/CHA, get proficiency in thieves tools, the Actor feat, and use invocations that maximize your infiltration potential, like Disguise Self at will, going invisible in shadows, making illusions to hide in, and summoning a shadow blade to assassinate people. All while being some respectable member of society as your mild-mannered alter-ego.
Warlocks are so cool in a combat-lite or short rest heavy game. I love them, the amazing utility of some of the invocations and the disguise self one is my favourite :)
Currently playing a full party of your builds including a version of this build on Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Pamlock, Death Cleric, Sorlock and this build all on one team... pretty badass. Thanks for these amazing concepts! 👍
I thought Solasta didn't have multiclassing?
Looking back at your skill monkey build, I'm finding more creative build ideas:
-> new Kenku's; Kenku Recall (gives Adv on proficient skills, proficiency bonus times per Lrest)
-> Rogue-Soulknife; Psionic Power - Psi-Bolstered Knack (spend a Psionic Energy die on a skill you're proficient in. Failures don't spend the die)
-> Battle Master Fighter; Maneuvers (just picking the ones that boost skills)
I did follow your Lore Bard idea, however this skill-monkey-bird build can not only do many skills, they will pass them more often.
Love this build! I love playing characters like this with lots of flexibility and multiple options to fit the situation.
Your Flame Thrower Sorcerer is pretty simple to convert to have a quality sustained DPR option as well as the Nova option. You've already got warlock. Just add the eldritch invocations to power up eldritch blast, and you've got the sorlock eldritch blast cannon built in as well.
I'm playing my version of that character right now and loving it. Using aberrant mind sorcerer instead. I've got both the nova option and a sustained DPR option, and I rarely use either because I have so many other spell options for control, buff, and debuff as well. And with the new MOM kobold, I can give myself and other party members advantage consistently too. It's a very flexible build to be whatever the party needs most in almost any situation.
VIDEO IDEA: (maybe for Ep 100 or maybe for something else). What build would you (Colby) play if you were playing at X specific level? You go through all 20 levels, saying which build you would most prefer to play at that level, and why. (Assume it's a one-shot at that level or something).
I like this because a lot of folks start campaigns/one-shots at different levels, and it would be a nice insight into who you are and what you prefer to play. It would also give you a chance to highlight some previous builds on your channel.
You wouldn't have to go through the whole build for each one, just enough info to explain why you picked it to someone who might not know how the build works.
Love the vids, keep up the great work! :)
Love this concept so much! I picture this character kinda like the albino bad guy in The Da Vinci Code. Feels super cool to be the secret enforcer of a powerful religious group!
I've wondered about sneak attack and alternate damage types. Here, I completely agree, it's lightning, so you can do that. I've seen arguments both ways about weapons like flame tongue, frostbrand, or booming blade, some saying that SA is the weapon itself, some saying you can choose the fire/cold/thunder, and a few people saying SA is "true damage" since the books don't list a type, JC's tweets are unofficial, and there are several monsters in the DMG that do untyped damage.
Yes! Masterpiece hybrid! Now is time for my beast barbarian/soulknife rogue (5th atempt). Love your work.
Would love to see you break phantom rogue more. Can't wait to see what your hundredth build is!
So excited for episode 100. Been watching since the very beginning and I've seen every one so far.
your voice and way of speaking makes this almost an ASMR
Ahahaha! My weekly D&D fix. Colby, I just want to say thank you for introducing me to the power of the Bladesinger. I'm about to start playing a 9th level character and this subclass is going to be the star of the show.
Umbero, Prince of the Xhendu tribe, devotee of Shango the Thunder God, and the main sustained dpr build of the team.
I have a very powerful magic spear (and a level of Monk), so I'll actually be using Haste instead of Shadow Blade, but I have found some awesome synergy here that you really ought to look at! Bladesinger 6 lets me replace the extra attack from Haste with a cantrip like Booming Blade. I'm using PAM and Warcaster so I can cast Booming Blade as a reaction too. Three Booming Blade attacks per round, one regular attack, and one butt attack. I have Action Surge too 😂
Hmm. 103 sustained dpr against 2 targets. Admittedly with a d12 spear (even on butt attacks) and the dueling feat, but that's still cool.
I was under the impression you couldn't use booming blade for the haste attack as you aren't allowed to use the extra attack feature on it?
@@jiminkpen9750 it's true, you can't make more than a single attack, but the cantrip replacement feature is not contingent on the number of attacks made.
You never fail to shock me!
With the short about the build released I thought I had a good idea of what you were up to, but the Thunderball was much more cool and unique than my idea. Way to go!
In my head you were gonna paladin + arcane trickster for some shadowblade sneaking smite, the thunder launcher was inspired 😇.
I thought of a character concept that does great nova damage and insane (sustained) dpr, but only for one encounter per long rest:
A straight class devine soul sorcerer, halfling that uses DoT spells like Spirit Guardians + Spiritual Weapon, Crown of Stars: or even a stand alone Blade of Desaster.
And then casts leveled spells like: Guiding Bolt (potentially twined), Fireball or Disintegrate (potentially twined) on the following turns.
This can be easily tier 1 for both nova and sustained dpr for one glorious combat encounter.
This is the build i have been waiting for! i have something sim but I truly think this is the my fav build you have done at all time! the utility you can do is amazing
Instead of focusing on damage you could focus on control by getting the tempest cleric 6 feature thunderbolt strike to move enemies around and push them back into the web or other hazards.
This is the coolest build I've seen from you! Love it
Every time you bring up dragon age, I get so happy 😂. And my character of two years now is an inquisitor for the church of Tyr. Inquisitive Rogue 6/Order Domain 6. So this will be interesting! :D
Love your videos. At Artificer 2 you mention the restriction that only 1 infusion can be applied to a single item, but then say that you'd use both Repeating Shot and Enhanced Weapon. Unless I'm missing something, that conflicts with the 1 infusion per item restriction.
He is applying repeating to the crossbow and enhanced weapon to the special armorer weapon, the lightning launcher.
12:12 Potentially: if your table makes use of the variant rule "Flanking" going bugbear might be worth it. It's nearly always possible to get into position assuming you have more than one melee character in your party. (I did DM one game where we used flanking, but the party only had 1 fighter so it was a bit hard to actually get that advantage, the positions just never worked out in the begining.)
For Rogue subclass, Scout has some strong options for ranged--reaction moving to keep distance is nice for avoiding enemies, and you get expertise in two extra skills. Getting Find Familiar from Arcane is probably still stronger mechanically though.
This is probably my favorite build you've ever done
In the Homebrew world my group has been using for 30 years has a Deity that is all about uncovering hidden lore or secrets. He is also a major choice for Rogues to take as well.
This character gives me big Percy vibes. Especially if you flavor the repeater crossbow as a firearm.
It just occurred to me, after the seventh video of yours that I watched in a row, that it would be really cool to see you build entire parties (of four characters) that have synergy and work together, and compare the sustain and nova damage of those combinations.
So for example you could have cheese grater builds where the caster isn’t necessarily the one doing the grating, darkness builds where everyone benefits from the darkness but only one or two party members need to cast it, or of course even more complicated combinations that require three of four concentration spells to pull off.
Thanks for the interesting ideas!
I would ask the DM when you build this "Spymaster" character that you can use the UA portion of the Armorer which states that the Infiltration Armor can be easily worn under clothes, a la, the bioskin suit Iron Man wears which allows him to always have his suit to be on him, and not needing to carry a briefcase MK 5 suit or have a bodyguard lug it around. This being not added to TACOE was something I openly Vader Nooo!'d because it was something I'd had planed on wanting to build.
I love your stuff! Thanks a lot man. I have to say I would absolutely love to see the figures for all builds even if it was just going forward. Rtd, dpr and nova. I get if it's too much work, but I was editing the bardbarian build and I was trying to work out if the changes I made were having a significant impact but its hard to compare to just straight tank builds
Have you ever considered the interplay between artificer, bladesinger wizard and psi-warrior fighter? They all gain from high INT and are some of your favorite classes.
I’m playing an Art 1 / Psi Warrior X that uses magic stone and am having a blast. The issue about going deeper in into Art or Blade Singer is just how the Psi Warrior’s coolest stuff comes online a bit late.
The lvl 7 ability mainly, but then why not go to 11, in which case why not go to 15?
My thoughts were something like Artificer Armorer or Battle Smith 5, Then Bladesinger Wizard 2 and then Psi warrior Fighter 3. Back to Bladesinger Wizard for 10 levels. But I am not sure what the best way to slice up this "cake" would be.
Hmm that's hard. It all comes down to which class features you want most. Based on the order you put the classes I would suggest 10 Armorer, 6 Bladesinger, and 4 Psi Warrior. In the order; 1 Artificer, 6 Bladesinger, 9 Armorer, 4 Psi Warrior. I think you might be happier with 14 Armorer and 6 Bladesinger. Going 1 Artificer, 6 Bladesinger, and 13 Armorer. Alternatively 16 Battle Smith and 4 Psi Warrior. Going 10 Battle Smith, 4 Psi Warrior, and 6 Battle Smith. You also might like 14 Psi Warrior and 6 Bladesinger. Going 6 Bladesinger and Psi Warrior the rest of the way. Finally, I would suggest 14 Bladesinger and 6 Psi Warrior. Going 6 Bladesinger, 4 Psi Warrior, 2 Bladesinger, 2 Psi Warrior, and 6 Bladesinger.
Worth staying until the end for the awesome whistling.
I want to say whoever is doing your thumb nails is absolutely mint
Every time Coby says “welcome home” it just feels correct.
Great build as always Colby . When I went for my spy I went more for ninja flavor . Assassin Rogue 3 Gloom Stalker Ranger 3 Shadow Monk 6 and back to Rogue . A real night stalker . I might redo with a couple levels of Twilight Cleric . The new Bugbear would work well with this build or variant human . I did it with Wood Elf .
I was a little surprised you sang Thunderstruck for this, all I kept repeating Secret Agent Man.
Looking forward to the 100th episode. Betting it will be one hell of a build. Also nice thumbnail, very jealous of the bulging bicep there. XD lol
#100 so soon!! hope you're doing well :)
27:00 Yes, it definitely works. I don't know why it isn't talked about more and more players don't use this in other ways like attacking with a heavy xbow then hand xbow (dropping heavy) or rapier twice, maybe with flanking, then hand xbow.
The damage increase of what you mentioned is too small for how goofy that weapon juggling is, imo.
@@juanitodecadente I've used it a lot, never been much of an issue. Particularly great when a priority target might be immune or resistant to piercing damage or you can get advantage on the melee attack. I guess track were I dropped weapon with something small or make small drawing on online map. Almost always it doesn't matter and can pick up after combat.
always love how you say “welcome home”
Incidentally, this character gets heavy armor proficiency 3 times. One from fighter, one from armorer, and one from tempest. I think that's the max.
There's a feat for it too. Heavily armored. Prereq proficient in med. armor. Gain +1 STR and proficiency in heavy armor.
@@crownlexicon5225 Fair point, though you'd already be getting heavy armor at level 1, if you were getting it through fighter or paladin.
@@authorindisguise5173 true, or certain clerics. But the claim was "3 is the most time you can gain heavy armor proficiency"
So it'd be a cool video series if you categorized all your builds into nova, sustain, tank, support, and then compared each of the build types to themselves for all around (best tanky Nova, best Nova tank, bust sustain support, best tanky sustain, etc.). Then take the best of each subtype (best of the tanky Nova vs tanky support, vs tanky sustain, etc.) And then a best of the all-rounder characters, vs a custom all-rounder character as the payoff for what would effectively be a tournament of builds.
Jus an idea, neat character idea, good video.
I'm actually playing a Fighter 1/Artificer 3 at the moment (pretty much exact same build as this), with plans to go at least to Artificer 5. This has given me some new options to consider!
The reason that Web might not be as good as Faerie Fire, is the same reason it's better. Multiple saving throws. If they failed the saving throw, they could still break free later. However, if they make the saving throw, if they don't leave the spell area, they might fail next turn. It balances out. It's worth it. It's great.
I think getting Artificer 6 on this build would be stellar. Getting expertise in Thieves' Tools, Gloves of Thievery, and Cloak of the Elvenkind are amazing for any rogue.
I like the idea of a custom class. I had the same notion for a monk/druid/paladin. The way of the dragon.
King All-rounder and his devastating electro-beam! XD
Love the James Bond reference! This does look like an exciting build with a lot of options... only I would have to have the patience to stick to the build plan each level until it comes online. 🤓
I love that Crawford's tweet is out there to disappoint you that sneak attack damage can be resisted and you're using it to crush this Nova round.
I mean great video, as always. But that whistling at the end…incredible.
The ending song sounds like Thunderstruck but I don’t recall those lyrics perhaps I’m loosing it. Awesome build I love the mechanic’s and the flavor add it to the list of builds I really wanna play but will never get to play.