D&D Episode 155

The Hand of the Open Sea

Level 1
 Class: Fighter
 Species: New High Elf or Shadar Kai/Eladrin/Half Elf
 Background: +2 Dex, +1 Wis, Stealth, Perception, and Thieves’ Tools
 Background Feat: Tavern Brawler
 Abilities: 15 Dex (+2), 15 Wis (+1), 14 Con
 Equipment: Scimitar and a Shortsword (maybe scale mail too if starting at level 1)
 Fighting Style: Two Weapon Fighting
 Weapon Mastery: Short Sword (Vex), Scimitar (Nick)
 Second Wind

Level 2 (Monk 1)
 Martial Arts
 Unarmored Defense

Level 3 (Monk 2)
 Monk’s Discipline
 Uncanny Metabolism
 Unarmored Movement

Level 4 (Monk 3)
 Deflect Attacks
 Subclass: Warrior of the Hand
 Open Hand Technique

Level 5 (Monk 4)
 Slow Fall
 Feat: Elven Accuracy (18 Dex)

Level 6 (Monk 5)
 Stunning Strike
 Extra Attack
 Martial Arts Die = d8

So, at level 6 it’s time for our first Damage Report! Let’s talk about what combat should look
like for us at this level – it’s fairly straightforward at the moment – on round 1, we’re running
up to our target and opening with Flurry of Blows. We want to knock them prone so we can
have advantage, so feel free to try and do so with both unarmed strikes if they succeed on the
first. If they fail on the first, I’d probably Addle with the second so you can flit away safely if you
want. Regardless, with our Action, we’d attack with our Short Sword, then Scimitar, and then,
thanks to Nick on the Scimitar, we still get one more attack this turn and should be able to
make it with either weapon (or an unarmed strike, for that matter), so use whichever you want,
maybe favoring the better magical weapon for example if you’ve got one. All told, we’d be
making 5 attacks on our turn, so long as we had the discipline to spend (and with 5 points, that
should get us through most if not all combat encounters), and all but the first *should* have
advantage – it’s not a guarantee but between two prone attempts *and* vex, it’s very likely
that most of our attacks will benefit from Elven Accuracy’s super advantage, with each attack
hitting for a d8 plus our dexterity modifier for a total of 5d8+20.

Damage Report! Vs 10 AC: 44 DPR, Vs 15 AC: 41 DPR

Level 7 (Druid 1)
 Spells: Thornwhip, Healing Word, Goodberry, Cure Wounds, Faerie Fire or Entangle
 Druidic
 Primal Order: Magician

Level 8 (Druid 2)
 Wild Companion
 Wild Shape

Level 9 (Druid 3)
 Subclass: Circle of the Sea
 Wrath of the Sea
 2nd level Spells: (Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, Ray of Frost, Shatter, Thunderwave for free!),
Moonbeam

And so, at level 9 it’s time for our next damage report! Things have changed quite a bit for us
since last check. Here’s what I kinda want to do: on round 1, bonus action aura of sea mist,
action to moonbeam then at the end of our turn, push our enemy into moonbeam. We’d do
more damage on that round making attacks with our bonus action. Especially since the push we
get is a con save, right? But getting them *into* that moonbeam so they take damage both
when we move them *and* at the start of their turn is pretty important – and I want to be
firing on all cylinders on round 2, not wait a round to bonus action Aura of sea spray *then* so
we can be firing on all cylinders on round 3, ya know? But do what you want – the point is, once
we *are* firing on all cylinders, on our turn we’re running up to an enemy and making our 5
attacks but *this* time we’re pushing them into moonbeam. Now, we can do that with one of
our flurry of blows attacks, but they might succeed on their save against that push. We can
push them with our Wrath of the Sea stuff, but they might succeed on *that* save as well.
Know what they don’t even get to save against? That’s right, the Tavern Brawler shove. There’s
no size limitation, there’s no saving throw, they just move – it’s only 5 feet, and it has to be part
of our attack action, but there’s not reason why we couldn’t, with the 3 attacks we get with our
action, make one of them with our short sword, one with our scimitar, and one with an
unarmed strike, right? Right. So I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that they’re going to be
pushed into the Moonbeam. On subsequent rounds, if we need to move the moonbeam with
our action and then push the enemy in, we can do so – it’s less ideal, but doing 4d10 damage,
half on a save, over the course of a round, is going to be very comparable to making 3 attacks
with our action, right? Depending on the enemy’s save and AC etc. Anyways, I’ll assume that
we’re making all 5 attacks *and* pushing them, though of course we won’t be able to necessary
do that *every* time, considering that we can potentially push 15 feet with *each* of our flurry
of blows attacks, plus 5 more for Tavern Brawler, plus 15, potentially, with our end of turn
Wrath of the Sea… that’s a lot of pushing, and I like our chances.

Damage Report! Vs 10 AC and +0 to Con Save: 77 DPR, Vs 16 AC and +6: 64 DPR

Level 10 (Druid 4)
 Feat: +Dex (20)

Level 11 (Druid 5)
 Wild Resurgence
 3rd Level Spells: (Sleet Storm, Lightning Bolt for free), Conjure Animals

Level 12 (Druid 6)
 Aquatic Affinity

Level 13 (Druid 7)
 Elemental Fury
 4th level spells: (Control Water, Ice Storm for free), Conjure Minor Elementals

If we upcast Conjure Animals as a 4th level spell, it’d do 3d10 plus our wisdom modifier in
damage, twice, potentially, on a round. So 6d10 plus 6. But it has a lower hit chance, since it’s
based on our Wisdom. On the other hand, if we used Conjure Minor Elementals, it would add
2d8 bludgeoning, cold, fire, or lightning damage, our choice, to all 5 of our attacks plus make
the area within 15 feet of us difficult terrain for our enemies. So over the course of 5 attacks
that would mean 10d8 damage, with a greater hit chance. So in a vacuum, Conjure Minor
Elementals has a slight edge, damage-wise. That edge increases when we get 5 th level spells, as
at that point the damage jumps from 2d8 to 4d8 per hit, which… is kinda crazy to me. It doesn’t
scale *beyond* 5th level but yeah, as it’s written, at 4th and 5th level spell slots it’s doing twice as
much damage as Spirit Shroud. I have a feeling this is going to get nerfed before release. But
yeah, sure, as much as I love Conjure Animals, beholden to the spreadsheet as I am, I’ll assume
that we’re using Conjure Minor Elementals when I crunch numbers here in a second, but let me
just add something first – if you have another player on your team that can do forced
movement – whether by pushing or grappling and dragging, Conjure Animals is going to be
much better for your party. Especially since you can move it freely. It’s also going to be a lot
better at doing damage to multiple enemies every round. What’s more, Conjure Minor
Elementals requires an action to use, not a bonus action, so the damage from Conjure Animals
would actually be better on round 1, and then Minor Elementals takes the lead on subsequent
rounds, again, in a vacuum. So I think very often, in game, it’s going to be the better spell to
use. But since I’m working in a vacuum here and I can’t know who is in your party, I’m just going
to assume Minor Elementals here but advise you to still use Conjure Animals if and when the
situation calls for it. Cool?

Ok so yes, that brings us to our level 13 damage report! We’ve had some nice bumps since last
check, primarily in the form of our fancy new druid spells – I’m assuming we’re adding 2d8 to
every attack now thanks to Minor Elementals, but we’ve also added a 1d8 to one of our
weapon attacks, thanks to Elemental Fury, and we’ve capped our Dexterity Modifier as well.

Damage Report! Vs 10 AC and +0 to Con: 116 DPR, Vs 17 AC and +7: 104 DPR

Level 14 (Druid 8)
 Feat: +Wis (18)

Level 15 (Druid 9)
 Commune With Nature
 5th level spells: (Conjure Elemental, Hold Monster for free!), Conjure Woodland Beings

Level 16 (Druid 10)

 Stormborn

Level 17 (Druid 11)

 6th level spells: Heal, Heroes’ Feast

And speaking of, yes, we have arrived at our final damage report! Since last check the main
increases to our damage have come in the form of the scaling on Conjure Minor Elementals, but
we’ve also picked up some fantastic utility, support, and defensive options as well.

Damage Report! Vs 10 AC and +0 to Con: 175 DPR, Vs 18 AC and +8: 157 DPR