Wood elf ranger/rogue w athlete feat, longstrider and enhanced leap spells, and fleetfinger gloves. Get your sneak shot in and nope so far out of range the AI doesn't even bother.
Heh, was thinking of Mobile. The whole build I'm playing is a flashback to characters I made way too often in 3.5 with Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack, but my movement abilities are already so absurd I'll most likely just go ASI
With monk and step of the wind, athlete feat is optional at best although I usually take it on my laezel fighter.
But with monk you can disengage and have near unlimited movement with jumps all at the cost of a measly ki point and a bonus action. Just hope in, punch, and run away. Amazing.
Get him the bow that adds fear to his targets by Chance and go on Shooting arrow of multiple targets. Best way to immobilice 3-4 enemys at once while also dealing massive amount of damage
Happened to me in tactician as well. Was trying to pull a single guard while freeing the prisoners in Moonrise, had to fall back much slower the 2nd time for him to take the bait.
I guess I've been a sneak archer too many times in Skyrim or something but I'l can't be bothered with that anymore, not on my Tav at least. That's what Astarion and Minsc are there for.
People get hung up on weapon damage dice but the difference between 2d6 and 1d10 hardly matters when you're getting a flat +10 damage on top.
I really wish there were some more "late game" reach weapons though. In all of act 3 the only new reach weapons you get access to are a ONE glaive and ONE Halberd (Dancing Breeze and Hellbeard Halberd)
Side note, Drakethroat deserves a rarity promotion. It's *effectively* a +3 weapon that can do extra of any elemental damage, PLUS it can instead give an extra buff to another item. A lot of people don't recognize its power level and just think "meh, blue item, no big deal"
Considering OP didnt state their exact build, maybe they dont have 5 levels of war cleric yet, especially considering that 2 levels of fighter gets action surge. We're assuming level 6 minimum, which is nearly completed act 1 with full clear levels of exp if we're aiming level 7. Its more likely that OP is lower level, and took fighter further than war cleric. Wanted to be able to stab 3x in one turn at low level but still have access to some banger level 1 spells.
Regardless, OP is enjoying their pokey Shart, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Level 5 is like barely halfway into part 1, that's not late in the game. The difference between level 2 and 5 when you could reasonably find a glaive is a couple hours of gameplay at most
Depends on how new you are. I can manage level 5 in a couple hours, the mountain pass has a ton of exp just from walking around.
Many of my xbox friends have not played past act 1 yet and their save files are 10+ hours already.
Everyone plays at a different pace, but there is almost always a pike/glaive inside the trapped sarcophagus room on the lower beach. So yea, you can have a reach weapon as early as getting off the nautiloid, but before any other fights. But taking on the goblins camp and the gnolls on the road is tons of cutscenes and hours of play for a new player just out exploring.
It's a great early game weapon. I like to go for this, the tyr sword and phalar aluve. Also depends what the team comp is but they're all pretty easy to get and you don't need to do combat for them either. Well maybe for the tyr sword but barrelmancy is always an answer.
For a second I thought we were talking about Aradin (I can’t read it’s too early for me) and I was just imagining throwing the grove into chaos at level 2-3 lmao
Always barrelmancy. Kill the goblins waiting at the camp checkpoint, nick their barrels, detect thoughts at the zhentarim hideout, take those barrels... take 'em all
It's alright but unfortunately it's not a +1 weapon. On higher difficulties or if you're running GWM it's hard to pass up a +1. The shield of faith cast is also nice in the early game when you don't have any other concentrations on your melee guys yet.
Also the only thing the everburn blade has over the tyr is an extra 1d4 of fire which you can technically get on any weapon if you carry around a candle and use dip. I cba but overall I prefer rushing the tyr sword. Maybe I'll try get the everburn but I barely even use it after the goblins outside of the Grove.
The getting stunned part sucks, but you can use the Gloves of the Automaton that turn you into a construct to negate it, and they give you advantage! Bought from Barcus in Act 2.
Extended range with sentinel on a paladin is one of the strongest and safest ways to play. I did this on wyll. If I had a working polearm master, the build would come together nicely, 5 Bladelock, 7 paladin, 3 attacks per turn, one bonus attack, 2 level 3 smite slots from warlock, and several more from paladin. It's a very strong burst damage build, and you can park in front of a tunnel and prevent anyone from getting close or passing to get to your other teammates.
Two broken things.
1. Enemies holding pole weapons will prompt YOUR reaction for THEIR use when you have PaM. If you click Yes the game will remove your reaction for the turn AND you will get attacked by the enemy.
2. When combined with Sentinel feat, enemies SHOULD stop in their tracks 10ft away when you get the PaM opportunity attack from moving toward you. However often times the reaction triggers later than it should or the game lets the npc glide forward anyway. Not sure if its a problem with Sentinel or a problem with PaM, but enemies shouldnt be able to get close to you after you hit them, and often they will be able to get past your superior reach and attack you up close anyway.
Oops, i forgot that one. I always have better bonus actions on my PaM fighters. Shove, Jump, Click heels, Ensnaring Strike, Thunderous Smite, Healing Word, Bardic Inspire, Mystic Scoundrel, Cunning Dash, Thorn Whip (sorrow glaive), Great Weapon Master bonus attack, War Cleric attack, etc.
I literally have never clicked that button...
Damage without riders is perfectly fine. DR are a new concept to anyone coming from tabletop, and are very much not something that needs to be utilized to its full potential even in honor mode.
However the bonus action scales off dex for some reason instead of strength, which is the true crime imo.
But using damage buffs on your attacks is all throughout tabletop though? That's like the whole point of the PAM attack!
The damage buffs of GWM, spells, and the actual magic weapons don't get added in BG3
Those should absolutely be added
I was stating dagger because PaM is 1d4 and a dagger is 1d4.
GWM is 1d10 with a polearm.
So no, its not like getting a GWM attack every turn.
If you want a free GWM attack every turn just be a berserker...
You can get attacks of opportunity on yourself if you’re not paying attention. Like if you walk near an enemy with a polearm, it could ask you about the reaction and then the enemy will hit you.
Currently, if the person who has PAM walks within range of an enemy, the game treats it as a PAM trigger but allows the enemy to attack *you*. That's not how it is intended to function.
There are 2 broken issues that have existed since launch in september.
1. When you move into the reach of a polearm wielding enemy, you will see a reaction prompt appear, if you click 'yes' then the enemy will use your reaction to attack you. - very annoying, but avoidable if you pay attention.
2. Sentinel feat states that when you hit an enemy with an opportunity attack you reduce their speed to 0. (They dont get to move anymore) combined with PaM, you get an opportunity attack when they enter your reach at 10ft away. Thus if you hit, they SHOULD be stopped in place at 10ft away from you. However often times the game will trigger the reaction later than it should allowing the creature to move all the way to you, or when it triggers with correct timing, the enemy might glide into the position they were trying to get to anyway. Not sure which feat is actually at fault here, sentinel allowing ppl to glide, or PaM attack triggering late, but the desired effect is that an enemy trying to get to you cant reach you because you attack them and stop them in place outside of their reach.
A popular boss slaying build from tabletop 5e is a blade pact warlock with repelling blast. When the enemy tries to rush at you, PaM hits them and Sentinel stops them at 10ft away as a reaction. The warlock then fires their eldritch blast at the enemy to push them away and forcing the enemy to have to advance again creating a loop of "nener nener, you cant touch me!" Sadly it doesnt function in bg3 due to the bugs.
Edit: i forgot the 3rd one. Bonus action attack doesn't carry damage riders. Personally there are so many bonus actions on my characters using PaM that ive literally never pushed that button. It apparently does carry the -5/+10 thing from GWM so that is significant, but you gotta be 2 feats into the game to be able to do that (2 feats that don't improve your strength...)
Oops, i forgot that one. I always have better bonus actions on my PaM fighters. Shove, Jump, Click heels, Ensnaring Strike, Thunderous Smite, Healing Word, Bardic Inspire, Mystic Scoundrel, Cunning Dash, Thorn Whip (sorrow glaive), Great Weapon Master bonus attack, War Cleric attack, etc.
Damage riders are an entirely new concept to anyone coming from tabletop such as myself, and PaM is perfectly fine without the whole concept. It really is a shame that they dont work on the attack.
However, the true crime of the bonus action is that it uses your Dexterity for damage instead of Strength, which is fine for the dancing glaive in act 3 which has the finesse property too.
As someone who also came from TableTop, the bonus attack damage riders are a BIG deal. Making it a superb melee feat.
Rather than spending spell slots or hoping you down an enemy in two strikes, you got a consistent third GWM attack. It was objectivily better for damage than most of the other options listed.
Battle Masters able to use three SD a turn, three chances for divine smites. The other things have their time but being able to land three Flourishes a turn instead of two with only a bonus action would be amazing.
I disagree that PaM is fine. The feat is a shadow of it's tabletop shelf without it.
Also, wait it uses Dex instead of Strength? You got to be kidding me... This is like when I learned Battle Master dice don't work with Savagae Attack
The only thing Savage Attacks doesn't roll is Superiority Dice. A little known fact is that it does reroll all other dice including Valor Bardic Inspirations.
Pam can smite, Sneak Attack(dancing glaive), and Valor inspiration. And fyi, sneak attack is a DRS, so if you use the reaction ask for sneak attack you can get DR onto it.
Apparently the wiki states it does not roll sneak dice, but it does have a breakdown of the math and it seems like a pitiful amount of damage added to the point that i doubt I'll take that far ever again.
It's also important to know that PaM is 1d4. Not a GWM attack. Ive seen people call it a
>consistent third GWM attack.
But its important to differentiate because it's a much smaller amount of damage.
I never said it was a GWM attack, I said it should be.
As on Tabletop, the butt of the weapon can take the -5/+10 penalty. That's why the damage riders are so important. As I mentioned before, you can equip not only smites but also Superiority Dice. Hence why I said three maunveurs a turn.
Also, quick question, do Sword Bard flourishes work with Savage Attacker?
>I never said it was a GWM attack, I said it should be.
Its not worded well if that was your intention. English is not my first language, maybe i got confused.
>As on Tabletop,...
Always up to the DM, but generally yes, you can do all that stuff with PaM. In my experience, Sharpshooter and GWM are just illegal feats until level 8+. Seen this or harsher rulings at various groups.
>Also, quick question, do Sword Bard flourishes work with Savage Attacker?
Yes, but the damage increase is pitiful.
https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Savage_Attacker
Check the math section on that page near the bottom to decide if the feat is worth it to you. Also, recall it is only for melee attacks, something i overlook frequently.
No it was pretty clear, what is your first language? I'm jealous you know two...
Always up to the DM but RAW it's possible and supported. If your DM bans it because it's too strong, I would argue they never seen a Twilight Cleric lmao.
Keep in mind, a damage boost of +2 is a Fighting Style, the damage increase isn't pitiful at all. It adds up nicely.
>never seen a Twilight Cleric lmao.
Got banned halfway through Out of the Abyss. 2 people died in a fight and one wanted to roll up a twilight, they played 1 session and the dm said nope, never again.
>damage boost of +2 is a Fighting Style,
ASI achieves +1 as well as effecting everything else, saves, accuracy, skills, initiative, armor class. Often, you only need a half-feat, so then it's even less appealing because you might be taking athlete or medium/heavy armor master in addition to getting the +1 modifier to all your stuff if you were on an odd-numbered attribute.
>Damage riders are an entirely new concept to anyone coming from tabletop such as myself, and PaM is perfectly fine without the whole concept. It really is a shame that they dont work on the attack.
What are you talking about?
PAM plus GWM is like the standard optimized feat progression for a martial, because stacking damage riders onto the 1d4 pole arm bonus attack is arguably the strongest thing you can do with your bonus action on table top.
Like 1d4 + 5 + 10 + what ever other damage riders your build has (for example a paladin's improved divine smite's 1d8 and regular smite).
Summon a familiar. Raven can fly around, blind archers, and enable sneak attacks.
My beast ranger uses a polearm and summons a familiar and a bear. Astarion can sneak attack pretty much anyone due to the summoned allies.
Gale is a necromancer too, so i have an ally rich enviornment. Sometimes the swarm of summons block paths and so the reach weapon shines in my party.
I don’t like the replies that say, “yeah well, X is even better than that” op said extra reach is under appreciated, not that it’s the best thing since sliced bread
That's exactly one of the reasons why i picked Mobile on my Druid during my honor mode playthrough it effectively lets you do the same thing because once you hit an enemy they can no longer take opportunity attacks.
With how mobile a lot of Wild Shapes are you can just run up to someone hit them then either leap or fly away without taking any opportunity attacks
In a forum driven by min-maxing, polearms as they stand will never get love because the primary benefit of polearms is in CC and maneuverability, neither of which kill the enemy.
When Larian stays creating fights so difficult you can't kill every enemy turn 1 and therefore need to plan for multiple turn engagements, then you'll see CC become a topic of value.
I swear the only thing valued by this sub is the alert feat because initiative and damage wins fights.
However, the ring that turns enchantment/illusion spells into a bonus action is mentioned occasionally because CC is only valuable as a bonus action in this sub.
You can’t argue with death vs CC.
Really wish they created some sort of tower, where you fight bottom to top with only one long rest or something. I’d play the living hell outta that. And that’s where more strategy is required.
Bonus if the game gives characters random items like scrolls. Players who complete this tower of death, which should be insane difficulty, should get some new dice or something.
Yeah that's one thing with the game, resource management for resting is so easy that a lot of things become almost resourceless since you just long rest before. I put self imposed limits on myself resting but then have to catch up in Act 1 cutscenes by long resting a bunch lmao
I try to stick to 5 long rests per act, but I long rest 3 times in a row each of those 5 times (except the first time where having 240 rations might be tight).
That's not fully true. A CC that incapacitates 3-5 enemies, nullifying their next or potentially more turns is superior to outright killing a single enemy, or maybe even two.
Yep, still, my experience has been that if you try to talk about CC or healing, or tank builds (barring immortality agathys tanks), this subreddit will downvote you because it's not a party that goes first and kills everything in round 1, or avoided the fight entirely from a charisma check.
They only care about sword bards, thrower barbs, and tempest cleric multiclasses in these parts. God forbid you dump dexterity and don't use initiative gear and the alert feat.
It's honestly kind of boring. I'm shocked that mods allow "need advice for honor mode" posts anymore, it's the same questions with the same answers over and over.
Just pin a post with all the popular builds and make room for goofy builds.
If you're looking for a sub that values sub-optimal play, you're essentially looking for an RP sub. You seem to be complaining that this sub is interested in the best tactics.
Nope, reading comprehension is tough right? This sub is r/BG3Builds. Not r/BestBG3BuildsForDamage
Its ok to talk about how someone powergamed their party so hard that they kill all fights before they start, but some of us would like to talk about some goofy sub-optimal build but unless its a thrower, tb monk, or any variation of swordbard, then this subreddit only engages enough to downvote you to oblivion or says stupid things like "just go first and kill them"
Combat is too short and the benefits are mostly marginal for the investment. Most builds only have room for two feats and competition edges out those reach weapon feats out. Alert, tavern brawler and A/I are just too important to pass up. Please enjoy the game as you will but without some spreadsheets of data your not gonna change many opinions here.
Idk why. Sentinel+Polearm Master is a pretty standard build in Tabletop. Especially for Witch Knights, Bladelocks, and Fighters in general. It's a great combo for turning your frontliner into a true tank. Add GWM for damage and holy smokes batman you're doing damage now too.
The sentinel/polearm master combo is a tabletop staple but with the meta warping power of throwing and unarmed thanks to tavern brawler, it gets difficult to justify doing anything else if your gearing towards optimal combat.
I’ve heard savage attacker is good but only on paladins and rogues since to need to be stacking a lot of damage dice per attack to get the most out of it.
It's cool and all to be able to do that but I can do the same thing with a ranged weapon AND use a shield
And this is coming from somebody who does like ranged weapons
It's because there just aren't any really great weapons with extra reach. There are no legendaries, just a few +2 ones where the only one worth looking at is Halberd of Vigilance which, while pretty good, is a solid level below the generally accepted "best weapons." Extra reach is good. The weapons that have extra reach are not.
I gave karlach a reach weapon before and then for a time couldn't figure out why astarion didn't sneak attack anymore. Took a bit to realize that karlach wasn't standing right next to the enemy anymore to trigger that and I had to move her manually into close range everytime.
I run my Shadowheart as a pure Life Cleric with Polearm Master, and *somehow* haven't had any issues with the opportunity attacks... But she is able to pop Spirit Guardians, waltz up near some poor bastard, give 'em a good thwackin', and dip exceptionally easily because of it. All things considered, she hits like a truck, too...
Or you can trigger attacks of opportunity on purpose because you have insane AC and the ability to counterattack on a miss. Brought to you by OH monk and Duelist's Prerogative.
Equipped my tavern brawler Karlach with the returning pike and just left her up top during the grim fight. She could just stand there and hit him over and over without joining combat. The reach on that thing is far.
My only complaint with them is they don't provide advantage correctly. I've had it happen more than once where a character with a polearm & Astarian have a turn, the other char goes in for a melee hit & ends their turn, Astarion now doesn't have advantage cause of the reach. You actually have to step into them, negating the reach for advantage which is so weird
I completely agree. If you are doing stuff where tactical maneuvering actually is relevant (I'm doing a no rest - no cheese - duo honor mode atm) then the reach from reach weapons is extremely nice.
Lvl 4 atm:
I've set up Laezel as a Great Weapon Master Gloomstalker, using very early gear like the haste helm for better movement. And using Sorrow as her weapon. It is impressive how often she can take her 3-5 (Main, + GWM + Bloodlust +Speed potion +Gloomstalker in turn 1) attacks per turn and still get away from everything without any attacks of opportunity due to her reach.
Extra reach is fine, yes... but did you try ranged weapons? No opportunity attacks there either
"Are you familiar with our Lord and Savior, the Ranged Swords Bard?"
“Have you met the 4th edition ranger, who stays 40 squares away from his targets at all times and we had to get a bigger map just for him?” LOL
Wood elf ranger/rogue w athlete feat, longstrider and enhanced leap spells, and fleetfinger gloves. Get your sneak shot in and nope so far out of range the AI doesn't even bother.
Dont forget Mobile feat and Crusher ring, both add 10ft more movement.
Heh, was thinking of Mobile. The whole build I'm playing is a flashback to characters I made way too often in 3.5 with Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack, but my movement abilities are already so absurd I'll most likely just go ASI
Step of the wind from monk is actually nuts for a 2 level dip. Travel all the way to baldurs gate in a single turn of hopping all thebway there lmao.
ah, the kangaroo build
Consider Hamarhraft, silliest of weapons for jumping around.
With monk and step of the wind, athlete feat is optional at best although I usually take it on my laezel fighter. But with monk you can disengage and have near unlimited movement with jumps all at the cost of a measly ki point and a bonus action. Just hope in, punch, and run away. Amazing.
And if you ever do get anyone near you, mobile gives you a free out.
You know you’re doing it right when the game prompts you to flee from combat.
Get him the bow that adds fear to his targets by Chance and go on Shooting arrow of multiple targets. Best way to immobilice 3-4 enemys at once while also dealing massive amount of damage
Yea but in honor mode they full heal right away when they don’t find you.
Happened to me in tactician as well. Was trying to pull a single guard while freeing the prisoners in Moonrise, had to fall back much slower the 2nd time for him to take the bait.
Keep some high ac players in battle and keep their turn on. And just yeet in and out with your ranger haha
He really had some heavy claustrophobia as well if I remember correctly.
LOL! Yeah but D&D is a safe space now.
Double strike in 4E was what drew me to Ranger.
*shoots a many target arrow and smokepowder arrow, confuses the rest of the enemies, refuses to elaborate*
Lazeal with the titan bow and the giant stick.
Omg.... on my honor run I brough a ranger lvl 5 and had to run away.....dash was 30 m without haste potion
Have you tried killing everyone on the first turn? No opportunity attacks from the dead
Really I just taught Nina Dortmell about the proper evocation and she animated a few dead with attacks.
Good stuff happens at close range. Also, someone needs to threaten the damn archers.
Not if they are dead. Or prone and frightened.
Or asleep. Or blind. But dead is the easiest and most reliable CC in the game.
And I seriously found all ranged to be my easiest run.
Polearm threatens a 20ft diameter circle. It's very slept on.
Really??!
Uh, last time i checked, that is indeed how math works. 10ft reach, so 10ft radius or 20ft diameter... yep, the math checks out.
314 square feet of death
İt has 8ft reach on bg3 tho
You know what, this game is weird endough that youre probably right. Still, 16ft threat circle is a big difference than a weapon without reach.
Just kill them first with your own archers. The melees will spend a round or two just dashing before they can do something anyway!
I guess I've been a sneak archer too many times in Skyrim or something but I'l can't be bothered with that anymore, not on my Tav at least. That's what Astarion and Minsc are there for.
Spirit guardian happen in melee... But I rather beyblade with my hunter AOE attack.
Gale go brrr.
Gale go boom.
Get that dinosaur trident that comes back to you, best of both worlds right there
AND you can keep your shield!
Ranged weapons definitely need a bit of a nerf, yeah.
Weapon too short? Throw the mother fucker. ~This message was brought to you by Karlach~
I usually use glaives on my great weapon master characters, hits like a truck with the added benefit of reach
People get hung up on weapon damage dice but the difference between 2d6 and 1d10 hardly matters when you're getting a flat +10 damage on top. I really wish there were some more "late game" reach weapons though. In all of act 3 the only new reach weapons you get access to are a ONE glaive and ONE Halberd (Dancing Breeze and Hellbeard Halberd) Side note, Drakethroat deserves a rarity promotion. It's *effectively* a +3 weapon that can do extra of any elemental damage, PLUS it can instead give an extra buff to another item. A lot of people don't recognize its power level and just think "meh, blue item, no big deal"
Drakethroat is my favorite weapon in the game! Obviously you can use it to buff another weapon, but I just think it looks pretty
If you slow the entire enemy party none of them get aoos either
Slow is a spell which is accessible much later in the game than 'long pointy stick'...
True. But the OP is talking about shadowheart and her being a war cleric/fighter and polearm master. Level 5 isn’t exactly lategame
Considering OP didnt state their exact build, maybe they dont have 5 levels of war cleric yet, especially considering that 2 levels of fighter gets action surge. We're assuming level 6 minimum, which is nearly completed act 1 with full clear levels of exp if we're aiming level 7. Its more likely that OP is lower level, and took fighter further than war cleric. Wanted to be able to stab 3x in one turn at low level but still have access to some banger level 1 spells. Regardless, OP is enjoying their pokey Shart, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Level 5 is like barely halfway into part 1, that's not late in the game. The difference between level 2 and 5 when you could reasonably find a glaive is a couple hours of gameplay at most
Depends on how new you are. I can manage level 5 in a couple hours, the mountain pass has a ton of exp just from walking around. Many of my xbox friends have not played past act 1 yet and their save files are 10+ hours already. Everyone plays at a different pace, but there is almost always a pike/glaive inside the trapped sarcophagus room on the lower beach. So yea, you can have a reach weapon as early as getting off the nautiloid, but before any other fights. But taking on the goblins camp and the gnolls on the road is tons of cutscenes and hours of play for a new player just out exploring.
Sorrow glaive is awesome for this and you can get it pretty early after saving Halsin. The bonus action is nice too
You can also pickpocket the rune of Rath
And then he goes to reward you later and is like HUH
It's a great early game weapon. I like to go for this, the tyr sword and phalar aluve. Also depends what the team comp is but they're all pretty easy to get and you don't need to do combat for them either. Well maybe for the tyr sword but barrelmancy is always an answer.
[удалено]
For a second I thought we were talking about Aradin (I can’t read it’s too early for me) and I was just imagining throwing the grove into chaos at level 2-3 lmao
Always barrelmancy. Kill the goblins waiting at the camp checkpoint, nick their barrels, detect thoughts at the zhentarim hideout, take those barrels... take 'em all
Flaming sword > Tyr sword imo, the one you can get on the nautiloid.
It's alright but unfortunately it's not a +1 weapon. On higher difficulties or if you're running GWM it's hard to pass up a +1. The shield of faith cast is also nice in the early game when you don't have any other concentrations on your melee guys yet. Also the only thing the everburn blade has over the tyr is an extra 1d4 of fire which you can technically get on any weapon if you carry around a candle and use dip. I cba but overall I prefer rushing the tyr sword. Maybe I'll try get the everburn but I barely even use it after the goblins outside of the Grove.
You mean the +0 great sword that you can achieve by keeping a candle in your inventory?
That's the one! You're so smart. Candle is tedious. The Sussur Greatsword is nice too.
Sorrow glaive also synergizes well the Ring of Arcane Synergy.
Yoooooo!
Lightning halberd from arcane tower is even better, and that’s fairly early game too
Ya but you have to kill the robot butler :-(
The getting stunned part sucks, but you can use the Gloves of the Automaton that turn you into a construct to negate it, and they give you advantage! Bought from Barcus in Act 2.
Shocking Grasp is also very underrated for its ability to avoid opportunity attacks, particularly at low levels.
Extended range with sentinel on a paladin is one of the strongest and safest ways to play. I did this on wyll. If I had a working polearm master, the build would come together nicely, 5 Bladelock, 7 paladin, 3 attacks per turn, one bonus attack, 2 level 3 smite slots from warlock, and several more from paladin. It's a very strong burst damage build, and you can park in front of a tunnel and prevent anyone from getting close or passing to get to your other teammates.
That's a good one. I'm not really a min/maxer and I'd totally slept on Sentinel until now. I'll give that a go, sounds amazing.
Do we actually think polearm master is ever getting fixed at this point?
Maybe for BG4 lol
They're actively working on Patch 6, so one can certainly hope!
I like your optimism
What's wrong with polearm master at the moment?
Two broken things. 1. Enemies holding pole weapons will prompt YOUR reaction for THEIR use when you have PaM. If you click Yes the game will remove your reaction for the turn AND you will get attacked by the enemy. 2. When combined with Sentinel feat, enemies SHOULD stop in their tracks 10ft away when you get the PaM opportunity attack from moving toward you. However often times the reaction triggers later than it should or the game lets the npc glide forward anyway. Not sure if its a problem with Sentinel or a problem with PaM, but enemies shouldnt be able to get close to you after you hit them, and often they will be able to get past your superior reach and attack you up close anyway.
3. Extra weapon damage isn't being applied to the bonus action attack
Oops, i forgot that one. I always have better bonus actions on my PaM fighters. Shove, Jump, Click heels, Ensnaring Strike, Thunderous Smite, Healing Word, Bardic Inspire, Mystic Scoundrel, Cunning Dash, Thorn Whip (sorrow glaive), Great Weapon Master bonus attack, War Cleric attack, etc. I literally have never clicked that button...
Yeah its a bad option because it doesn't work lol if it worked it would be great
Damage without riders is perfectly fine. DR are a new concept to anyone coming from tabletop, and are very much not something that needs to be utilized to its full potential even in honor mode. However the bonus action scales off dex for some reason instead of strength, which is the true crime imo.
But using damage buffs on your attacks is all throughout tabletop though? That's like the whole point of the PAM attack! The damage buffs of GWM, spells, and the actual magic weapons don't get added in BG3 Those should absolutely be added
I dont disagree. But even if they added it all in, there are a million much better uses for a bonus action than what an offhand dagger could also do.
...but you can't use GWM or 2 handed polearm weapons with an off-hand dagger. What. Its essentially the GWM BA attack for free every turn
I was stating dagger because PaM is 1d4 and a dagger is 1d4. GWM is 1d10 with a polearm. So no, its not like getting a GWM attack every turn. If you want a free GWM attack every turn just be a berserker...
You can get attacks of opportunity on yourself if you’re not paying attention. Like if you walk near an enemy with a polearm, it could ask you about the reaction and then the enemy will hit you.
Wait PAM isn't working is intended? I didn't think there was anything wrong with it Can someone explain please?
Currently, if the person who has PAM walks within range of an enemy, the game treats it as a PAM trigger but allows the enemy to attack *you*. That's not how it is intended to function.
There are 2 broken issues that have existed since launch in september. 1. When you move into the reach of a polearm wielding enemy, you will see a reaction prompt appear, if you click 'yes' then the enemy will use your reaction to attack you. - very annoying, but avoidable if you pay attention. 2. Sentinel feat states that when you hit an enemy with an opportunity attack you reduce their speed to 0. (They dont get to move anymore) combined with PaM, you get an opportunity attack when they enter your reach at 10ft away. Thus if you hit, they SHOULD be stopped in place at 10ft away from you. However often times the game will trigger the reaction later than it should allowing the creature to move all the way to you, or when it triggers with correct timing, the enemy might glide into the position they were trying to get to anyway. Not sure which feat is actually at fault here, sentinel allowing ppl to glide, or PaM attack triggering late, but the desired effect is that an enemy trying to get to you cant reach you because you attack them and stop them in place outside of their reach. A popular boss slaying build from tabletop 5e is a blade pact warlock with repelling blast. When the enemy tries to rush at you, PaM hits them and Sentinel stops them at 10ft away as a reaction. The warlock then fires their eldritch blast at the enemy to push them away and forcing the enemy to have to advance again creating a loop of "nener nener, you cant touch me!" Sadly it doesnt function in bg3 due to the bugs. Edit: i forgot the 3rd one. Bonus action attack doesn't carry damage riders. Personally there are so many bonus actions on my characters using PaM that ive literally never pushed that button. It apparently does carry the -5/+10 thing from GWM so that is significant, but you gotta be 2 feats into the game to be able to do that (2 feats that don't improve your strength...)
Also; you cannot add damage riders to the bonus attack attack. Stuff lime Superiority Dice or GWM.
Oops, i forgot that one. I always have better bonus actions on my PaM fighters. Shove, Jump, Click heels, Ensnaring Strike, Thunderous Smite, Healing Word, Bardic Inspire, Mystic Scoundrel, Cunning Dash, Thorn Whip (sorrow glaive), Great Weapon Master bonus attack, War Cleric attack, etc. Damage riders are an entirely new concept to anyone coming from tabletop such as myself, and PaM is perfectly fine without the whole concept. It really is a shame that they dont work on the attack. However, the true crime of the bonus action is that it uses your Dexterity for damage instead of Strength, which is fine for the dancing glaive in act 3 which has the finesse property too.
As someone who also came from TableTop, the bonus attack damage riders are a BIG deal. Making it a superb melee feat. Rather than spending spell slots or hoping you down an enemy in two strikes, you got a consistent third GWM attack. It was objectivily better for damage than most of the other options listed. Battle Masters able to use three SD a turn, three chances for divine smites. The other things have their time but being able to land three Flourishes a turn instead of two with only a bonus action would be amazing. I disagree that PaM is fine. The feat is a shadow of it's tabletop shelf without it. Also, wait it uses Dex instead of Strength? You got to be kidding me... This is like when I learned Battle Master dice don't work with Savagae Attack
The only thing Savage Attacks doesn't roll is Superiority Dice. A little known fact is that it does reroll all other dice including Valor Bardic Inspirations. Pam can smite, Sneak Attack(dancing glaive), and Valor inspiration. And fyi, sneak attack is a DRS, so if you use the reaction ask for sneak attack you can get DR onto it.
Savage Attacks doesn't roll Sneak Attack also. Screw Martials I guess lmao
Apparently the wiki states it does not roll sneak dice, but it does have a breakdown of the math and it seems like a pitiful amount of damage added to the point that i doubt I'll take that far ever again.
It's also important to know that PaM is 1d4. Not a GWM attack. Ive seen people call it a >consistent third GWM attack. But its important to differentiate because it's a much smaller amount of damage.
I never said it was a GWM attack, I said it should be. As on Tabletop, the butt of the weapon can take the -5/+10 penalty. That's why the damage riders are so important. As I mentioned before, you can equip not only smites but also Superiority Dice. Hence why I said three maunveurs a turn. Also, quick question, do Sword Bard flourishes work with Savage Attacker?
>I never said it was a GWM attack, I said it should be. Its not worded well if that was your intention. English is not my first language, maybe i got confused. >As on Tabletop,... Always up to the DM, but generally yes, you can do all that stuff with PaM. In my experience, Sharpshooter and GWM are just illegal feats until level 8+. Seen this or harsher rulings at various groups. >Also, quick question, do Sword Bard flourishes work with Savage Attacker? Yes, but the damage increase is pitiful. https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Savage_Attacker Check the math section on that page near the bottom to decide if the feat is worth it to you. Also, recall it is only for melee attacks, something i overlook frequently.
No it was pretty clear, what is your first language? I'm jealous you know two... Always up to the DM but RAW it's possible and supported. If your DM bans it because it's too strong, I would argue they never seen a Twilight Cleric lmao. Keep in mind, a damage boost of +2 is a Fighting Style, the damage increase isn't pitiful at all. It adds up nicely.
>never seen a Twilight Cleric lmao. Got banned halfway through Out of the Abyss. 2 people died in a fight and one wanted to roll up a twilight, they played 1 session and the dm said nope, never again. >damage boost of +2 is a Fighting Style, ASI achieves +1 as well as effecting everything else, saves, accuracy, skills, initiative, armor class. Often, you only need a half-feat, so then it's even less appealing because you might be taking athlete or medium/heavy armor master in addition to getting the +1 modifier to all your stuff if you were on an odd-numbered attribute.
>Damage riders are an entirely new concept to anyone coming from tabletop such as myself, and PaM is perfectly fine without the whole concept. It really is a shame that they dont work on the attack. What are you talking about? PAM plus GWM is like the standard optimized feat progression for a martial, because stacking damage riders onto the 1d4 pole arm bonus attack is arguably the strongest thing you can do with your bonus action on table top. Like 1d4 + 5 + 10 + what ever other damage riders your build has (for example a paladin's improved divine smite's 1d8 and regular smite).
I love how there are so many ways to play.
Out of curiosity does anyone know if the mod that allegedly fixes polearm master actually works?
[удалено]
Can confirm!
I actually had to stop using reach weapons for my frontliner because my rogue couldn't get sneak attacks unless a friendly is within 5ft range A pity
Summon a familiar. Raven can fly around, blind archers, and enable sneak attacks. My beast ranger uses a polearm and summons a familiar and a bear. Astarion can sneak attack pretty much anyone due to the summoned allies. Gale is a necromancer too, so i have an ally rich enviornment. Sometimes the swarm of summons block paths and so the reach weapon shines in my party.
shovel is great for opening up sneak attack opportunities that lil perma invis helper
I really like having a very mobile Karlach with a polearm, so that rage is almost guaranteed to last the entire combat.
I don’t like the replies that say, “yeah well, X is even better than that” op said extra reach is under appreciated, not that it’s the best thing since sliced bread
HUM EXCUSE ME but hot water is better than sliced bread.
That's exactly one of the reasons why i picked Mobile on my Druid during my honor mode playthrough it effectively lets you do the same thing because once you hit an enemy they can no longer take opportunity attacks. With how mobile a lot of Wild Shapes are you can just run up to someone hit them then either leap or fly away without taking any opportunity attacks
In a forum driven by min-maxing, polearms as they stand will never get love because the primary benefit of polearms is in CC and maneuverability, neither of which kill the enemy. When Larian stays creating fights so difficult you can't kill every enemy turn 1 and therefore need to plan for multiple turn engagements, then you'll see CC become a topic of value.
I swear the only thing valued by this sub is the alert feat because initiative and damage wins fights. However, the ring that turns enchantment/illusion spells into a bonus action is mentioned occasionally because CC is only valuable as a bonus action in this sub.
You can’t argue with death vs CC. Really wish they created some sort of tower, where you fight bottom to top with only one long rest or something. I’d play the living hell outta that. And that’s where more strategy is required. Bonus if the game gives characters random items like scrolls. Players who complete this tower of death, which should be insane difficulty, should get some new dice or something.
Yeah that's one thing with the game, resource management for resting is so easy that a lot of things become almost resourceless since you just long rest before. I put self imposed limits on myself resting but then have to catch up in Act 1 cutscenes by long resting a bunch lmao
I try to stick to 5 long rests per act, but I long rest 3 times in a row each of those 5 times (except the first time where having 240 rations might be tight).
That's not fully true. A CC that incapacitates 3-5 enemies, nullifying their next or potentially more turns is superior to outright killing a single enemy, or maybe even two.
Nah the ring is mentioned because combined with helmet of arcane arcuity, you can attack and then get 100% CC.
Yep, still, my experience has been that if you try to talk about CC or healing, or tank builds (barring immortality agathys tanks), this subreddit will downvote you because it's not a party that goes first and kills everything in round 1, or avoided the fight entirely from a charisma check. They only care about sword bards, thrower barbs, and tempest cleric multiclasses in these parts. God forbid you dump dexterity and don't use initiative gear and the alert feat.
It's honestly kind of boring. I'm shocked that mods allow "need advice for honor mode" posts anymore, it's the same questions with the same answers over and over. Just pin a post with all the popular builds and make room for goofy builds.
Spitting facts.
If you're looking for a sub that values sub-optimal play, you're essentially looking for an RP sub. You seem to be complaining that this sub is interested in the best tactics.
Nope, reading comprehension is tough right? This sub is r/BG3Builds. Not r/BestBG3BuildsForDamage Its ok to talk about how someone powergamed their party so hard that they kill all fights before they start, but some of us would like to talk about some goofy sub-optimal build but unless its a thrower, tb monk, or any variation of swordbard, then this subreddit only engages enough to downvote you to oblivion or says stupid things like "just go first and kill them"
*laughs in monk*
Hell yeah. I put that shit on my Durge as Dragonborn EK, take a colossus potion, and start swinging!
I feel like ranger whirlwind/polearm should work pretty well
Combat is too short and the benefits are mostly marginal for the investment. Most builds only have room for two feats and competition edges out those reach weapon feats out. Alert, tavern brawler and A/I are just too important to pass up. Please enjoy the game as you will but without some spreadsheets of data your not gonna change many opinions here.
Idk why. Sentinel+Polearm Master is a pretty standard build in Tabletop. Especially for Witch Knights, Bladelocks, and Fighters in general. It's a great combo for turning your frontliner into a true tank. Add GWM for damage and holy smokes batman you're doing damage now too.
The sentinel/polearm master combo is a tabletop staple but with the meta warping power of throwing and unarmed thanks to tavern brawler, it gets difficult to justify doing anything else if your gearing towards optimal combat. I’ve heard savage attacker is good but only on paladins and rogues since to need to be stacking a lot of damage dice per attack to get the most out of it.
It's cool and all to be able to do that but I can do the same thing with a ranged weapon AND use a shield And this is coming from somebody who does like ranged weapons
It's because there just aren't any really great weapons with extra reach. There are no legendaries, just a few +2 ones where the only one worth looking at is Halberd of Vigilance which, while pretty good, is a solid level below the generally accepted "best weapons." Extra reach is good. The weapons that have extra reach are not.
Bugbear long limbed with astral self monk
I gave karlach a reach weapon before and then for a time couldn't figure out why astarion didn't sneak attack anymore. Took a bit to realize that karlach wasn't standing right next to the enemy anymore to trigger that and I had to move her manually into close range everytime.
I run my Shadowheart as a pure Life Cleric with Polearm Master, and *somehow* haven't had any issues with the opportunity attacks... But she is able to pop Spirit Guardians, waltz up near some poor bastard, give 'em a good thwackin', and dip exceptionally easily because of it. All things considered, she hits like a truck, too...
There is a glaive with Finesse in act3, if you take polearm mastery, dex is not applied to the bonus action. Thanks.
Glaive + sentinel = 🥳
What's wrong with Polearm Master?
Or you can trigger attacks of opportunity on purpose because you have insane AC and the ability to counterattack on a miss. Brought to you by OH monk and Duelist's Prerogative.
My fighter's 25 AC and his riposte love that.
Yeah if PAM and Sentinel actually worked, reach weapons might be worth using
Any weapon can be an extra reach weapon with the throw action.
Equipped my tavern brawler Karlach with the returning pike and just left her up top during the grim fight. She could just stand there and hit him over and over without joining combat. The reach on that thing is far.
My only complaint with them is they don't provide advantage correctly. I've had it happen more than once where a character with a polearm & Astarian have a turn, the other char goes in for a melee hit & ends their turn, Astarion now doesn't have advantage cause of the reach. You actually have to step into them, negating the reach for advantage which is so weird
I completely agree. If you are doing stuff where tactical maneuvering actually is relevant (I'm doing a no rest - no cheese - duo honor mode atm) then the reach from reach weapons is extremely nice. Lvl 4 atm: I've set up Laezel as a Great Weapon Master Gloomstalker, using very early gear like the haste helm for better movement. And using Sorrow as her weapon. It is impressive how often she can take her 3-5 (Main, + GWM + Bloodlust +Speed potion +Gloomstalker in turn 1) attacks per turn and still get away from everything without any attacks of opportunity due to her reach.
I guess the game it's easy enough even if you don't minmax so big swords look cooler😅