I started a new campaign and one of my friends feels like he is mildly less useful then our two Gunslingers. (Gunslinger/Investigator & Gunslinger/Thaumaturge) both using a Jazail firearm. I am a Barbarian/Exemplar (Giant Instinct/Titan's Breaker). He is a Barbarian/Monk (Elemental Instinct (fire) & Stoking Flame Stance) but he is currently feeling like he doesn't belong in the group. Admittedly we are only level 3 but still. He is building for way too much speed, we are using Mythic rules as well.
So far he has the following feats. Barbarian - Sudden Charge, Exemplar Dedication (Gleaming Blade). Monk - Stoking Flame stance, Stunning Fist. I would like to know if there is any way we could squeeze out any more damage from his kit or anything which would help him in the future, such as any magic items.
Yes but we all know the +2 weapon proficiency is very good however that was not what I was asking. Is there any way to increase how the Barbarian/Monk is being played? Is there any items, runes or different feats we could use to increase his effectiveness or is it just the fact his dice rolls are general between 5-10?
Would it be more advisable to tell him he is better off dropping Barbarian for Fighter and keep monk since most of his concept revolves around the Monk class.
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Stoked Flame is maybe a bit much regarding to speed, which the monk already gets plenty of. Not much of a damage difference to other stances though, wolf has backstabber, dragon d10, but that is rather minor.
Would maneuvers be an option? Providing off guard for the ranged attackers is not your own damage, but still very effective.
I made a barbarian elemental (earth) and kineticist dual class. You want to be insanely brutal and immune or resistant to almost anything, give this build a shot.
I just picked up Rebirth in Living Stone for immunity to crit and precsion damage. This along with elemental resistance which became immunity to fire, cold, earth, poison, metal, electricity.
At level 20 he will get Unstoppable Juggernaut for resist all 8 or 9.
This character is absolutely brutal. Huge amount of hit points and massive resistances or immunities.
Gives you some ranged powers and movement as well.
I really wonder what he wants to achieve with being that fast
and I am also a bit worried about the sutainability of the group
I also don't quite understand WHY he is not feeling belonging in the group
Does he in his perception not do enough damage? (imo not a point for that)
Maybe a second barbarian is just not quite right?
or is there something else going around?
If he'd like to stay with these classes, more synergy could help. An animal barbarian with monk using support abilities (ki strike, stunning fist, no stances). Exemplar can stay with titan breaker if he wants.
An animal barbarian can use the monk flurry for action compressions. Exemplar gives a nice added damage with the immanence effect. Ki-strike adds to damage. Unarmed combat means he can use lots of trips, grapples etc. You can even add a shield for extra defense.
Oh I agree but flavor is what's holding him down. He wants to punch fire which is very niche and generally not that great. However long term the problem is just the fact he can not roll above a 10 reliably. Our DM checked his rolls in the last 3 sessions. Also our sustainability might not be that great but I was building to have some healing capability The Radiant Epithet and potentially Oracle Nudge the Scales is very useful to keep this party alive.
As for the speed, I have no idea why he wants to move more then 50ft per movement action. I suppose though with his insane speed he even makes Sudden Charge less impactful lol.
Oh I agree but flavor is what's holding him down. He wants to punch fire which is very niche and generally not that great. However long term the problem is just the fact he can not roll above a 10 reliably. Our DM checked his rolls in the last 3 sessions. Also our sustainability might not be that great but I was building to have some healing capability The Radiant Epithet and potentially Oracle Nudge the Scales is very useful to keep this party alive.
As for the speed, I have no idea why he wants to move more then 50ft per movement action. I suppose though with his insane speed he even makes Sudden Charge less impactful lol.
that sounds like he needs a new dice
there are some tests to see if a dice is actually balancedotherwise I think his setup does actually sound not that bad, its not the strongest instinct but still does decent damage and the difference to the strong ones shouldnt make that much of a difference in feeling
of course, with the stance he technically trades down damage, while its still a very good stance the d8 is ... well, many barbarians do d10 or even d12
but then it is again not so much that it makes a huge difference
maybe also tell your gm that he should throw him a bone
make a chase, make enemies that take cover in bigger distance where he has to cqc fight somewhere
but if it really comes down to his 'bad luck' with dice, well then there is never anything that will change it because of the system balance
someone really ought to make a balance change for the dice to be sure
Yes but we all know the +2 weapon proficiency is very good however that was not what I was asking. Is there any way to increase how the Barbarian/Monk is being played? Is there any items, runes or different feats we could use to increase his effectiveness or is it just the fact his dice rolls are general between 5-10?
I mean if his dice rolls are ACTUALLY averaging 7.5, he is going to have a bad time. Over the long term, that's either memory bias or unbalanced dice.
Start recording every d20 roll he makes to see if it's actually this bad. If it is, change dice.
If its still like that, the only thing you can do is either change it so that he's doing things that don't require him to roll (ie: make enemies roll saves), or get bonuses on him so a low roll works more often (aka: add Fighter).
Would it be more advisable to tell him he is better off dropping Barbarian for Fighter and keep monk since most of his concept revolves around the Monk class.
He's better off dropping one of them for Fighter, yeah. Fighter is pretty much the best dual-class option for every non-Fighter martial because that proficiency bump is so powerful.
Of course, even that might not be enough. Dual-class is just inherently imbalanced at its core and some combos work far better than others. There's no fixing that except to play the strong ones to keep up with everyone else.
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Start recording every d20 roll he makes to see if it's actually this bad. If it is, change dice.
I can suggest "The Dark Eye", "Das Schwarze Auge" in German - you have to roll low to succeed there.
We sometimes "promoted" D&D-dice to DSA-dice or vice versa - sometimes even threatening to do so helped!| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Start recording every d20 roll he makes to see if it's actually this bad. If it is, change dice.I can suggest "The Dark Eye", "Das Schwarze Auge" in German - you have to roll low to succeed there.
We sometimes "promoted" D&D-dice to DSA-dice or vice versa - sometimes even threatening to do so helped!
Don't suggest that xD
the fifth edition suffers from gameyfication, the fourth is a slog to work through and if you are even remotely getting used to the dynamic three action system from pathfinder the combat will be a slog too
and people who complain that blaster casters are not very good or lasting in pathfinder, never had to manage their mp (or AsP - Astral Points) in DSA :P