Unearthed Arcana: PRAISE THE SUN!

[Wilb]

New UA is up, lets discuss its contents here!

Link: https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/02_UA_Underdark_Characters.pdf

EDIT: I don't get the ranger, the sorcerer one seems kinda useful and the warlock is very strange but disconnected. The fighting styles look like 3.5 ranged rogue and Dwarven defender with combat reflexes, stand still and all those old aoo feats...

EDIT 2 : Is it me or this new warlock can triple dip CHA on melee damage by multiclassing with sorcerer? - TRUE -

Sorlocks just became even more cheesy, Positive locks (Posilock) gain CHA to radiant and fire damage at level 1. A Blade pact Posilock 11/Sor 6 can use Greenflame blade with a greatsword and GWM to deal 2d6+3d8+10+strmod+3xchamod (+hex?) and another poor soul takes 3d8+3xchamod (as the cantrip deals chamod damage to secondary targets already)
All hail posilocks, kings of ordinary single attacks! (or two attacks, when one quickens the cantrip) < this post got kittywned

[awaken_D_M_golem]

... or two attacks When one quickens the cantrip

Zoma pic, say perhaps avatar sized?

[Wilb]

`Lovable Zoma pic and English is not my first language... 

Considering 20 cha and 18 str endgame, the damage becomes 49.5 (+ 27.5 for the 2nd target), without spending anything. quickening it makes the total 99 for the primary target and 55 for the secondary, kinda ok for a single sorcery point.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Well to be fair, you can't Quicken everything all the time.
"If" is correct usage, but my kitty avatar's Tail  wants it all, right now.

[Gnomes2169]

The warlock patron is just hillarious. Bladelock with that pact and Greenflame Blade just... wow. Though a rapier on a Dexlock is more likely to work/ appear, given it would keep the warlock far less MAD. Since the difference between a rapier and a greatsword is only 2.5 damage anyway, it's not really that big of a sacrifice for higher AC and better dex saves (so better survivability), along with going first more often.

Sorcerer looks rather useful and fun... though the hound doesn't seem like it will be utilized all too often. It DOES give the sorc a summon though, and that summon is useful while it lasts if the shadow sorc uses more debuffs or saving throw attack spells. Resistance to all damage in the shadow form is great.

The Ranger actually looks rather fun. Especially since it can potentially get five attacks in a round (with twf+surprise round+missing one of the four attacks they get already). Looks like it would be fun as far as a stealthy character goes.

[sambojin]

Darksorc might have some synergy with its wolf/hound if you can communicate with it easily (druid'y stuff or GOOlock mindspeak). It's essentially blindsight then. "Where is he Laddie? Good boy!"

This is another form of scry&die as well. No range limit from you (just the target), you just have to see the target. Then your wolf attempts to eat the target. Cast scry, sorc up a wolf near them, eat popcorn and laugh.

Then do it again. Plane-wide one-blink-dog attack! Another will be blinked in shortly. There is seemingly no limit to the amount of them you can have other than sorcery points. There's a 5min time limit on the hunter-killer doggies, so go wild, but they whiff out fairly quickly. But you'll still find what direction the baddies went, even on teleport (I don't even know what would happen if they planeshifted). Burn slots for sorc points and have an entire kennel of them. It's an insurance policy against sucking too, because they'll always move towards the target (probably even after teleports for 5mins). "Good Laddie! Find the BBEG for us. C'mon! Kill him! That's a good boy! Which direction? All of you. Get him!"

It can also be a friendly little puppy for your chainsorclock's imp (well worthwhile 6 levels of sorc). Daawwww. How cute. They're eating and poisoning stuff for their master while you taunt them. This may be better than raven swarms (or can be combined with them for super-long-distance attacks, with wolf support too). They literally can't hide, and the doggies can go through walls (and pretty much everything else too).

It's like they want scry&die to be a thing again

[sambojin]

ps. Another shittily named UA.

WotC, they all begin with UA_whatever. Not 02_UA_whatever. It's a system. Don't change it.


So, end-game build from the above:

Sorc (dark) 6, Lock (chain) 3, Druid (whatever) 11.
Needs Voice of the Chainmaster and the Scry spell.
Lock slots to blow for sorc points every encounter (as well as plenty of slots/spells), a funky imp, summons to send with imp, happy little puppies (of hell) to help out BIG raids. You could drop 2 levels of druid for 2 levels of fighter if you wanted, because AS works for two bonus actions in most groups. Insta-nomnomnom. For funsies.

It would be like the bad side of being an awesome druid. You almost should be a WHFB vampire or something. You can just generally make stuff die from summons. Anything within a few miles. Or just drop doggies on stuff anywhere. Scry&die, imp swarm kills, everything. Yay!

[Gnomes2169]

The dogs only last for 5 minutes, though, so a teleporting enemy is probably going to get away. And kennels won't be filled for long (unfortunately).

[sambojin]

Arrrfgfff. Didn't read the last sentence. Still useful for scry&die, imp drops, and finding out what direction they did teleport to.

A compass for target of sorts. Plus, you'll know them a little better for scrying.

Edited the above though.

[M@xim]

I like the ShadowSorc, but I like the Shadow walk/form abilities he gets later. It'd be hard to MC and still get these..

[SorO_Lost]

A Blade pact Posilock 11/Sor 6 can use Greenflame blade with a greatsword and GWM to deal 2d6+3d8+10+strmod+3xchamod (+hex?)

Lifedrinker requires Warlock 12th instead of 11th, it's out-of-sync for some reason. 
And it comes out to 56/rnd to the main target (if 29 str & 20 cha), which is still below Barbarian/Fighter figures so it could use some more help.

I'm honestly more interested in the Ranger, can you combine them?
Class: Skirmish Ranger 1 / Deep Ranger 3 / Assassin Rogue 3 / Battle Master Fighter 11 / Anything 2
Feats: Alert, Martial Adapt.
Items: Oathbow*, +3 arrows, Bracers of Archery*, Ioun Stone(mastery)*.
Actions: Bonus to cast Hex, Attack (ambuscade) + Ud Scout, Attack, Action Surge->Attack.
Attack: 1d20, +7 proficiency, +5 dex, +2 archery style, +3 magic, +3 advantage's odd tweak. & +1d10 precision attack x6.
Damage: 1d8, +3 magic, +5 dex, +3d6 oath, +2 bracers, +1d6 hex. & +2d6 sa x2.
So vs AC 25 (aka Tiamat), 1d20+1d10+20 is an 99.75% hit (double 1s), deals 47 (2d8+8d6+10), six attacks is 281.295 damage.
The remaining four are done at 1d20+20 (75%) for +141, then don't forget SA's +28 (2d6*2*2).
For a total of 450+ in a single round as a solo build with two levels to spare.

"Do you like Rangers yet?" ~WotC on their bow fetish.

[Gnomes2169]

Sneak attack is still only 1/turn, so your damage is a bit off on how much it gets/ round. And I don't think a variant ranger being multi-classed with a normal ranger is exactly intended (especially since the variant ranger is so obviously broken). You also need to actually be hiding from Tiamat/ the 25 AC target and be close enough despite your cover to attack them (underground, this is difficult to get, and creatures with tremorsight/ blindsight can hide in hard-to-reach craigs, allowing them to get the surprise round, or at least make the distance between the ranger and themselves insignificant enough that their special senses give them the ability to spot the ranger regardless of hiding... which is the typical state of being for such creatures, given blind/ tremorsight is the best hunting tool such creatures have).

However, the combo is still scary given how many attacks you can get off at the start of the battle, especially since the attacks are all auto-crits. Give them an open plain or forest, and this combo can make creatures literally explode with arrows. Which is something I WOULD approve of, if it also allowed melee to be as explosive. 

[TenaciousJ]

Forget pact of the blade stuff, undying light warlock 1/draconic sorcerer 6+ has charisma to all fire damage spells twice.  Now there's a warlock patron that synergizes well as a dip for the sorcerer that wanted to dip warlock 2 for agonizing blast.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

sambojin --- ah nice, more fodder for the Barb 6 Eagle.

{darn quote button ain't working with firefox today}

[SorO_Lost]

Sneak attack is still only 1/turn, so your damage is a bit off on how much it gets/ round.

You're right on how it's once per turn, but...

Ambuscade
Rangers strike first and strike hard. When you roll initiative, you gain a special turn that takes place before other creatures can act. On this turn, you can use your action to take either the Attack or Hide action.

The UA Ranger gets a bonus turn through. It seems through I should really get around to factoring the possible Bonus Actions. 

You can alternatively do Fighter 17 / UA Ranger 1 while allows you to burn both your Action Surges over the two turns that happen basically on the same round. This 12+Bonus/Reaction attack nova is more stable than relying on Assassinate since the Critical Hits have the additional requirement of Surprising your foe but has less of a damage potential. Like imagine trying to factor Elemental Weapon, +3d4 on twelve attacks is 90 damage, but +6d4 on nine attacks is 135 damage.

Forget pact of the blade stuff, undying light warlock 1/draconic sorcerer 6+ has charisma to all fire damage spells twice.  Now there's a warlock patron that synergizes well as a dip for the sorcerer that wanted to dip warlock 2 for agonizing blast.

Fire Bolt: 4d10+ChaModx2=32
Eldritch Blast: 1d10+ChaMod*4=42
Green-Flame: 3d8+ChaModx2 (primary) & 3d8+ChaModx3 (second)=52
Blade Warsorcerer: 3d8+ChaModx3 (primary) & 3d8+ChaModx4 (second)=62
I'm actually impressed now.

[Gnomes2169]

Oh right, the UA ranger is still completely busted in every sense of the word. Silly me, I forgot that for a second. 

[TenaciousJ]

Blade Warsorcerer: 3d8+ChaModx3 (primary) & 3d8+ChaModx4 (second)=62
I'm actually impressed now.

The secondary target of green flame blade definitely does not get the draconic sorcerer bonus per errata, and it would be questionable if the undying light warlock bonus would not follow the precedent set by draconic sorcerer and evoker wizard errata.  The base spell gives charisma to damage on the second target, but 2 of those instances of charisma to damage are unlikely to apply to both targets.  What's the 4th instance of charisma on the secondary target?

e:  Radiant Soul uses the same language as Elemental Affinity and Empowered Evocation.  It's unlikely to apply to both targets hit by Green Flame Blade.

[Gnomes2169]

Blade sorsunlock would actually be 1d8+5 (dex, weapon damage)+3d8+15 (chax3) (38) to the primary target, and 3d8+15 (28) to the secondary target, for a total of 66 damage. With a +3 weapon instead of just a normal weapon, the damage goes up to 71. However, if the secondary attack doesn't actually get the double cha damage, it's still 61 damage from one hit with a +3 weapon, or 58 damage with a normal one... which is pretty dang good, given it's usable at-will. So it's something the sorsunlock can do all day long.

[TenaciousJ]

My break down is:
Weapon damage +3d8 +Elemental Affinity +Radiant Soul +Lifedrinker on the primary target and 3d8 +Charisma on the secondary.

Weapon damage +3d8+5+5+5 primary, 3d8+5 secondary gets you (average weapon damage+28.5) primary and 18.5 secondary on average, or simplifying for total damage, weapon damage+47.  Assuming the +3 rapier and maxed out Dex for the weapon, that's 59.5 on average split between two targets.  I won't deny it's good but it's not going to replace eldritch blast for a single target, especially with Hex in play.

[Gnomes2169]

Well, seeing as hex can also be applied to the Greenflame Blade and brings the average damage to 63 (an extra 3.5 on top of the 59.5) by your calculations, and Eldrich Blast with Hex gets you an average of 57 (42 (EB)+15 (hex 4x))if you hit four times instead of just once, I'd say that it's a competitive use of the action. Higher damage if the melee-focused bladelock is attacking multiple enemies, though a bit less focused.