#every single concept and shot are targeted attacks at my biggest weaknesses

[wuxxxian]

he’s absolutely gorgeous and i can’t resist beauty

#xiao zhan #xiaozhan肖战 #my art #so #elle magazine photoshoot #whew right?? #it's like #every single concept and shot are targeted attacks at my biggest weaknesses #it's so unfair #i love it #step on me xiao zhan

[tigerkirby215]

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything subclass Tier List

(Artwork from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Posted by @robmichel_art on Twitter. Copyright Wizards of the Coast.)

I was going to make some comparison posts between the UAs and the full release of Tasha’s but other more qualified people are doing that, so instead in my continued effort to pretend that this account is for more than just me satisfy my character building obsession I decided to make a little tier list ranking the subclasses from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything from my least favorite to my favorite.

This list is going to be comparing the subclasses from Tasha’s to each-other, but is also going to be comparing the subclasses to the other available subclasses for the class they’re from. So even if I really like a subclass it’ll lose points if the class already had better options. I’m not going to talk about any of the reprinted classes from Eberron or Ravnica but I will talk about the reprinted Theros subclasses (Eloquence Bard / Glory Paladin) as for many people this will be their first time seeing them.

Also it goes without saying but this is just my opinion! So sorry if you really like the next class you’re about to see because it’s at the bottom of my tier list!

F TIER

Psi Warrior (Fighter)

Well something had to be the worst. Truthfully I really wasn’t interested in the Psi Warrior during UA but wow its full release leaves a lot to be desired.

First let’s get the obvious out of the way: “Worse Battlemaster LUL!” It is laughable how bad this subclass is when compared to Battlemaster. BM gets to give itself advantage, give allies advantage, move allies, fear enemies, grapple enemies, give enemies disadvantage... and by comparison Psi Warriors get to do a little more damage or reduce a bit of incoming damage.

The fact that this subclass requires Intelligence confuses me to no end. They changed both Rune Knight and Soul Knife to not require intelligence (even though Rogues are kinda expected to have good Intelligence to help with skill checks) but Psi Warrior still needs INT? It amazes me that Battlemaster, Rune Knight, and Echo Knight are all SAD (single ability dependent) yet Psi Warrior of all subclasses is the one they consider too strong if you can min-max.

The biggest problem with this class by far is the Psionic Energy Die. Having your main class resource only come back after a Long Rest is insulting. (It’s the problem that Samurai Fighter has had since it was printed and it’s really sad that Wizards of the Coast didn’t learn from that.) While Battlemaster gets bigger die that have more effects which come back on a short rest Psi Warrior can only recharge one die per short rest. Honestly this subclass would be so much better if you regained Psionic Energy Die when using Second Wind (as well as having a dedicated action for it) so at least then you could have more than one die per short rest.

The only good level in this subclass is level 7, entirely because you get to Fly when you Dash. I mean, sure the UA Dragon Monk can also do that but at least this is in the official rules. Everything else that this subclass gets is weak: Telekinetic Thrust lets you do what Battlemasters were doing at level 3,  Guarded Mind is just bad (Monk? Never heard of ‘em!), Bulwark of Force is mediocre at best (I know like 3 people who actually understand how cover works in 5e), and Telekinetic Master is a laughably weak capstone. Your capstone as a Fighter is a situational 5th level spell that takes away your ability to attack? Meanwhile actual spellcasters are casting 9th level spells, and other martials are doing upwards of 50 damage per turn.

At first I was largely indifferent to the Psi Warrior but after reading over all its abilities its laughable how bad it is. It at least surpasses Purple Dragon Knight in terms of mediocrity (ironic considering that the two of them are beside each-other on D&D Beyond) but it’s the only true stinker of Tasha’s, and it gets the honor of being the second weakest Fighter subclass and the weakest subclass in this book.

D TIER

Aberrant Mind (Sorcerer)

This is the best subclass to play if your only desire is to cast spells, and I mean that in the worst possible way. While every other Sorcerer has a defined class role Aberrant Mind feels like the most generic milk-toast subclass that you pick simply because you didn’t know what to play. While Clockwork Soul defends, Divine Soul heals, Draconic Bloodline blasts, Shadow Magic sneaks, Storm Sorcerer evades, and Wild Magic does memes Aberrant Mind’s only major strengths come online at level 14+.

Telepathy at level 1 is a joke when compared to the other Sorcerers. CS can negate advantage, DS gets Super Bless on top of access to the Cleric spell list, DB gets free Mage Armor, SM gets super Darkvision and the Half Orc racial trail, SS gets goddamn flight, and WM gets to kill the party at level 1 with a level 3 fireball. Meanwhile AM gets the Message cantrip with a longer range.

Psionic Sorcery is okay. Getting cheaper* (citation needed) spells that you can Subtle Spell for free is alright. The subclass spell list is good and seeing as you can sub out the spell to take better ones if needed you can really get some useful magic for your kit.

SPELLS TO LOOK AT AS AN ABBERANT MIND SORCERER

LEVEL 1

Dissonant Whispers is honestly a really good spell to have, but Arms of Hadar is a bit situational. If willing you can swap it out with: the utility Divination spells (Detect Magic / Identity - remember that Sorcerers can’t Ritual cast so it might be better for someone else to take these), Hex, Sleep, or Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.

LEVEL 2

Gift of Gab from Acquisitions Incorporated is either going to be a complete joke of a spell or the most useful spell in your arsenal. Hold Person is the most obvious choice from second level. Tasha’s Mind Whip is a great single-target damage spell with some added utility, and is almost objectively better than Mind Spike because it doesn’t require Concentration.

LEVEL 3

Both Hunger of Hadar and Sending are great spells, and there really aren’t a lot of Divination / Enchantment spells at third level. The only one I can really recommend is Tongues if you need the utility.

LEVEL 4

Evard’s Black Tentacles and Summon Aberration are both extremely strong spells, but if you want to replace them for some reason: Arcane Eye is essentially just a better familiar, Confusion is a great AoE disruption spell, and Locate Creature can be useful in a pinch.

LEVEL 5

Honestly the spell list really opens up at 5th level. Just about any choice is good, so look on D&D Beyond to see what to take. If you know me I’m going to recommend Synaptic Static.

Psychic Defenses, like with Psi Warrior, seems to have been taped onto the class because WoTC realized how weak it was so they just threw more situational garbage into its kit to compensate.

Revelation in Flesh is pretty much the only good ability you get. And granted there’s some insane utility with this ability. Not-quite-Blindsense, fly speed (best one), swim speed (worst one), and the folding ability that I’m sure will result in some interesting stories on Reddit. Warping Implosion is also a great escape-utility ability but like it’s your 18th level capstone of course it was going to be good.

If I was going to play in a level 20 one shot I’d perhaps roll up a level 20 Aberrant Mind. (Or more like a level 18 Aberrant Mind with 2 levels in Warlock because Sorcerer’s level 20 capstone sucks lol.) But unless I knew the campaign was going to at least level 15 I wouldn’t even bother.

Oath of the Watchers (Paladin)

It was boring in UA and it’s boring now. I feel bad that I have so little to say about Oath of the Watchers, especially after writing massive paragraphs about Psi Warrior and Aberrant Mind. But Oath of the Watchers feels like the worst parts of Arcana Cleric to me. Only difference is that while Arcana Cleric gets Wizard spells you get Moonbeam and help with Initiative. This subclass feels more campaign-specific than PHB Ranger and that’s really saying something.

Swarmkeeper (Ranger)

It’s certainly the most unique Ranger, both in terms of concept and in terms of abilities. It actually has a lot of utility with a good spell list and the Gathered Swarm feature providing a lot of great utility to a martial character. The thing is that in all honesty this subclass is kinda boring until level 15. And the other big problem is that the fantasy and roleplay that this subclass provides is so strange. When you think “Ranger” do you think master of the hunt, traveling through multiple dimensions and slaying powerful foes from the shadows with a tamed beast at their side? Or do you think “hurr durr bugzzz”?

This subclass feels like the one you pick when you've played literally every other subclass available, or when you get them from a random character generator. Ironically enough I do actually have a friend who made a Swarmkeeper for a one-shot I ran back when this subclass was in UA. But the fact that they made the character just to test UA shows just the type of characters that will be made with this subclass.

Way of Mercy (Monk)

You either love it or you’re completely indifferent, is what I have found the general opinion of Way of Mercy to be. Guess which camp I’m in. This subclass literally just feels like a Cleric with mobility whose healing comes back on a short rest. Time will see how OP “I can heal every turn and get my Cure Wounds back on a Short Rest” not-Cleric will be, but until then the subclass is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. For the people who wanted to play a healing Monk I’m happy for them.

Path of the Beast (Barbarian)

If I can sum up Path of the Beast in one word it’s “underwhelming.” Form of the Beast gives you three above-average weapons to choose from, Bestial Soul gives you some movement buffs, Infectious Fury lets you do some decent crowd control or damage spiking, and Call the Hunt lets you buff your party.

The thing is... you’re fighting against “resist all damage” (Totem Warrior), “protect your allies with your JoJo Stand” (Ancestral Guardian), “smite with the wrath of God” (Zealot), or “shoot lightning out of your goddamn chest.” (Storm Herald.) It’s not a bad subclass and honestly compared to some of the existing Barbarians (Beserker, Battlerager, and honestly Storm Herald is bad too) it’s pretty strong. But it’s just so, so boring.

I need to preface this by saying that Barbarian is probably my least favorite class in 5e and for what it’s worth I’m certainly more interested in playing Path of the Beast than say Battlerager, but I can’t help but feel that this subclass just lets you hit things better as the class that does nothing other than hit things. The only real positive I see to this subclass is the flavor, which absolutely carries it above the likes of Totem Warrior and Zealot. (Both of which I think are objectively stronger than Beast Barbarian.)

Clockwork Soul (Sorcerer)

It been mostly unchanged from playtest even though as I stated Clockwork Soul was one of the subclasses I was a little worried about. But even then the subclass just feels so boring to me. It seems like this subclass is entirely designed to be the “no fun allowed” character who just says “No U” to everything the DM does. Don’t get me wrong it’s certainly a strong defensive subclass but I feel like if you want to play a defensive spellcaster you’re more likely to play an Abjuration Wizard or a Cleric in general.

And the lore just doesn’t really click for me? I can understand how you’d have dragon blood magic, shadow soul magic, and celestial infusion magic. But how the heck do you get a Clockwork Soul? I know Mechanus is a thing in D&D but I feel like for the average normie this won’t make any sense.

Also RIP in piss Heat Metal from the subclass spell list. Here’s my suggestion for spells if you want to play a CSS:

LEVEL 1 - Absorb Elements, Armor of Agathys, Featherfall, Mage Armor, Shield

LEVEL 2 (Aid and Lesser Restoration are good but Aid chews through your spell slots) - Enhance Ability, Enlarge / Reduce

LEVEL 3 - Blink, Counterspell, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Slow

LEVEL 4 (Tasha’s Summoning Spells are good but Freedom of Movement is highly situational) - Banishment, Polymorph

LEVEL 5 - Animate Objects, Passwall

C TIER

College of Creation (Bard)

It has a lot of interesting abilities. Performance of Creation in particular is arguably one of the strongest abilities for someone who knows the equipment page well in the PHB. The problem is just that unless you have a very specific build in mind I don’t really know why you’d play the College of Creation? It feels like a Conjuration Wizard... but it’s a Bard. Perhaps the biggest irony is how much stronger this subclass feels when compared to the Conjuration Wizard, but you really have to be in the mood to play a conjurer.

Oath of Glory (Paladin)

Having some experience playing this subclass in a one-shot (Theros yay!): it’s very hit-or-miss. The spell list is amazing, the Channel Divinities are mediocre at best, the aura is garbage (10 foot +10 movement aura LUL), Glorious Defense is insane, and Living Legend is a capstone ability so of course it’s going to be good.

I think the main reason you’ll pick this subclass is for their subclass spells. And don’t get me wrong: Guiding Bolt and Haste are crazy good. But considering that Paladins usually want to blow everything on Smites?

When I played this character it was a 9 level dip into Paladin with a 3 level dip into Warlock. I didn’t use a melee weapon and opted for Eldritch Blast spamming. And that’s essentially this subclass as a whole: it wants you to be a spellcaster, which is great if you multiclass into a spellcaster (Aura of Protection is always good) but it feels bad as an actual Paladin.

The new Fighting Style that lets you get some cantrips as a Paladin might make this subclass better, but you’re still stuck being a half caster. Can’t escape the feeling that an actual caster would be better.

Path of Wild Magic (Barbarian)

It’s fun, is all I can really say. The subclass is built almost entirely around the Wild Surge table you get at level 3 and all the effects are strong. (Thankfully none of them are OP like in UA.) Unstable Backlash means that with luck you should eventually get a good Wild Magic effect.

The use of a d3 for Bolstering Magic is still a crime. It should just be a d4, with the spell slot restoration thing being “reroll on a 4.” (Or better yet: “roll a d4 and take half the roll, rounded up.” I still think having an RNG chance to get back a Haste or Fireball is a bit too strong.)

B TIER

Fey Wanderer (Ranger)

All I can say is thank god this subclass got better. It went from a weird pseudo-Paladin to a subclass with its own identity and theme. The only ability that’s really weak currently is Dreadful Strikes since it encourages you to spread out your damage for no particular reason. Horizon Walker had a similar problem but you could still focus damage as Horizon Walker. And you were doing more than a d4 of extra damage.

But beyond that this subclass is great! The subclass spell list is very strong. Otherworldly Glamour gives you some utility as a party face. Beguiling Twist... is honestly a little hit-or-miss. But it’s made up for by Fey Reinforcements and Misty Wanderer. Having a non-concentration summoning spell along with near-unlimited Misty Step is so insanely powerful to keep out of harm and to keep your DPS up.

Fey Wanderer seems really good at a lot of the things a Ranger wants to do. It’s a good skill monkey (being good at Charisma which other Rangers usually aren’t), a good damage dealer, a strong defensive support, a great single-unit summoner, and incredibly slippery and mobile. I don’t know if it’s enough to make me play the class (Ranger’s flavor is still iffy for me overall) but it’s definitely on my list for subclasses to try someday!

Order of the Scribes (Wizard)

Order of the Scribes is the best default Wizard, which is its biggest strength and its largest weakness. Getting a free colored pen is fun and flavorful, being able to get all your spells back if you lose your spellbook is insanely useful, always having an Arcane Focus is great, being able to replace the damage type of your spells is MASSIVE, getting to cast a Ritual Spell with its normal casting time is situationally fantastic.

Getting what essentially amounts to a free familiar is amazing. Getting what essentially amounts to a free spell slot (to upcast a second level spell) is great, and is honestly worth multiclassinging into for a lot of classes. Being able to negate incoming damage as a Wizard (IE squishy d6 hit die baby) is huge, even if you lose a lot of spells in the process. (I assure you by level 14 you’re going to have some useless spells that you’re never going to cast.)

But the problem with Order of the Scribes is that it has to compete with Divination, Evocation, Chronurgy, and War Wizard. If you have any specific build you want to go for then the specific schooled subclasses are better. But if you “just want to cast spells or whatever” Order of the Scribes is a lot of fun.

I actually have a character who’d fit Order of the Scribes very well, it’s just that Chronurgy feels so much more fun even if it doesn’t fit him as well. And that’s literally the exact problem with Order of the Scribes summed up in one anecdote.

Peace Domain (Cleric)

You may be forgiven for thinking this subclass is just a Life Cleric that doesn’t wear Heavy Armor, but the Emboldening Bond and the upgrades it gets are incredibly useful. Protective Bond in particular is such a massive power boost to the tanks of your party, giving them mobility and letting them take damage for squishy allies.

Peace Domain is by far the best party buffing spellcaster. They make everyone else amazing, and while that may not be fun for everyone I’m a garbage Yuumi main so it’s right up my alley.

Circle of Wildfire (Druid)

“iT dOeSn’T hAvE fIrEbAlL aNyMoRe It’S bAd BeCaUsE nO fIrEbAlL” oh get over your Fireball fetish Reddit. Circle of Wildfire is carried pretty much entirely by its flavor. It’s such a unique take on a Druid it’s impossible not to find at least some build to make with this subclass.

That’s not to say that it’s a bad subclass! The summon feels weak but you get two of them per short rest. Having a powerful subclass feature tied to short rests is really nice as a spellcaster. All your other features are very useful and flavorful, though my one complaint is that Cauterizing Flames is hard to use in Theater of the Mind.

It’s just a very fun and unique subclass that offers a unique flavor to Druids that they don’t normally have. I’m sure a lot of players will be motivated to try a Druid just to take a crack at this class. Hopefully they realize that only you can prevent forest fires.

A TIER

Phantom (Rogue)

I’m actually surprised how much I like this class to be honest. I made a Phantom Rogue once as a joke for a one-shot and to my surprise the subclass is actually very powerful and fun! It surprisingly just feels like a better Rogue, but considering how strong Rogues are normally that’s all the better for Phantom Rogue. You can easily fill any skill proficiencies your party needs thanks to Whispers of the Dead, and Wails from the Grave really lets you increase your DPS.

Tokens of the Departed got a major boost from UA since it now lets you use Wails from the Grave more, but the flavor of being able to ask the souls of the dead for information is also great. Ghost Walk is just insanely useful in general, and Death’s Friend lets you do double Sneak Attack damage every turn! Imagine how much damage you’d do with a crit!

The flavor is the one thing that I think hurts this subclass, as it’s really hard to make essentially an undead Rogue without immediately being labeled as an edgelord. But if a party ever needs a Rogue to do all the things that a Rogue does this character is perfect!

I’m personally awaiting the day to bring back Bill, the Undead Kobold Detective.

Way of the Astral Self (Monk)

JoJo subclass. I like JoJo. This subclass was overpowered in UA but the final release manages to capture the same feeling without being broken. Let’s go over the features one by one:

Arms of the Astral Self gives you a JoJo stand rush against everyone close to you, letting you recreate the flavor of JooJ without breaking action economy too much. But being able to prioritize Wisdom is huge to keep your Stunning Strike DC high while still getting good attack damage. But it’s still not OP since Dexterity is tied to your AC. It’s perhaps a little strong for multiclass builds (you can use your spellcasting modifier to attack) but multiclassing into Monk has always been kinda iffy, and Shillelagh has existed since the PHB was released. It should also be said that having Reach weapons as a Monk is huge, since you don’t have to get the Mobile feat to do hit-and-run.

Visage of the Astral Self is a nice social feature for a subclass that doesn’t normally get social features. Body of the Astral Self gives you more defense and offense. And Awakened Astral Self just further increases your defense and offense.

Excluding weeb shit this subclass just has awesome flavor. I’m actually planning on playing this subclass soon. (I’m playing a Cleric / Monk multiclass and I’m only level 2 in Monk currently.) I’m surprised myself that my first Astral Self character isn’t a fucking JoJo OC, considering that I already have a grand total of about 5 JoJo OCs.

Twilight Domain (Cleric)

Twilight domain also surprised me with how interesting it is. I don’t really have much to say other than it has a good mix of defensive, offensive, and utility abilities. Your subclass spell list is very strong for the most part. Eyes of Night and Vigilant Blessing are both just generally useful. Twilight Sanctuary isn’t insane but it’s consistent and it’s nice. Steps of Night is very strong and has a nice aesthetic. And Twilight Shroud is a good boost to your Channel Divinity.

The honest truth is that Twilight Domain feels kinda weak by comparison to some of the other Clerics. It’s no Forge, Grave, Life, or even Order Domain is all I can say. The fact that all your features only work in the dark is iffy if you don’t have shadows to sulk in. But along with just generally having good abilities the flavor is really what carries this subclass.

Here’s a meme:

Armorer (Artificer)

Artificer is one of my favorite classes so it’s no surprise that a new Artificer subclass excites me. Armorer fills a niche that I think Artificer didn’t have, and surprisingly it’s not the “tank” archetype. Armorer is still a good tank but the Infiltrator armor also gives you an option to play the subclass at range.

What I like is that Armorer is a subclass that doesn’t have a summon and puts more focus on your infusions. Armor Modifications is such a great feature that really brings the customization to Artificer. It truly lets you make your character your own instead of focusing on concrete class features. It doesn’t surpass Warlock Invocations for customizability, but it’s still great to get two personal magic items of your choice.

Yeah this subclass is going to be used a lot for min-maxing. Giving Wizards easy access to Heavy Armor is a little scary. But really if a Wizard wants to take a 3 level dip just for armor and the Guidance cantrip let them. Let the squishy boys have some AC for once.

Circle of Stars (Druid)

Full disclosure: I’ve been wanting to make a Stars Druid after the Rise of the Mountain expansion came to Legends of Runeterra. My first Druid had Telepathy (I took the Telepathic feat as a joke since I had a floating ability score) and it helped me realize how crazy a Druid with telepathy was for espionage. After seeing The Trickster celestial card from LoR I felt the artwork hit all three of my qualifiers for a character: class I want to play, great theme, and furry.

(Artwork by Kudos Productions. Made for Riot Games.)

My personal interest in this subclass aside: it has such a wonderful aesthetic that’s perfect for any character who wants an astral connection. The features are also great: Guiding Bolt is a strong spell to have as is Guidance, and having reactionary Bardic Inspirations is nice for a spellcaster.

But of course the main feature of Starry Form lets you still play the game normally while also benefitting from your Wild Shapes. Stars Druid is probably the second best Wildshape Druid despite not actually Wildshaping. Free Bonus Action attacks is huge, extra healing is always helpful, help with concentration (and Flight later) is really swell, and resisting all damage while not-Wildshaped is very helpful and lets you play as a pseudo Frontliner.

Stars Druid just does so many nice things and I think it’s a great subclass that can fit into any team comp. Druids are already insanely useful (arguably one of the strongest classes in 5e) so to have one that can do so much is massive.

Soulknife (Rogue)

Much like Phantom Rogue this subclass feels just really good in general. You can boost your skill checks and also add not-Bardic Inspiration to your attack rolls to do more guaranteed damage. However this subclass is by far the best Rogue for infiltration. Yes: even better than Assassin. (Though I’d perhaps suggest learning how to use a Disguise Kit.) 1 mile telepathy, teleportation, and invisibility all seem to be built for infiltration. If you have a DM who likes infiltration, espionage, and other encounters that don’t involve combat then Soulknife is by far the best subclass on offer.

But of course you aren’t picking Soulknife just to sneak around! The Psychic Blades are easily the most useful feature not just for Rogues, but for many builds! Having an unlimited supply of thrown weapon suddenly makes a lot more builds viable. My dreams of a ranged Paladin or ranged Barbarian are somewhat crushed by RAW, but there are still some niches that can be filled with unlimited throwing weapons.

Fun fact: you can’t do extra Rage damage with thrown weapons, but you can use Reckless Attack on thrown Finesse weapons. What’s more interesting is that you can’t use Divine Smite on thrown weapons, but you can use Improved Divine Smite on thrown weapons. But of course you can always talk to your DM to see what their final ruling is.

Rune Knight (Fighter)

You can become Giant which makes my stupid furry ass horny for Volibear and Nasus.

I mean I’ve gotta be honest like 75% of the reason I’m hyped for Rune Knight is to become a giant. But the runes are also very strong, giving the subclass some Battlemaster-esque gimmicks that have a bit more magical flavor than the other martials. I also really like that the subclass gets boosts to their skills, allowing you to help out of combat as a Fighter.

There isn’t much I can specifically praise about Rune Knight because the whole subclass is fantastic. It’s a very good mix of defense, offense, and utility both in and out of combat.

The Fathomless (Warlock)

Sheeyutu Nagakabouros. Nagakabouros-shee-shok.

Having played a Fathomless Warlock in UA I can safely say: it’s a good subclass. Having a consistent source of Bonus Action damage is nice, and being able to use it defensively is also great. Extra spells known as a Warlock is nice (and Evard’s Black Tentacles is a great spell!) And a teleport with a mile distance is rather crazy.

So much of the subclass is built around the tentacle which is great because the tentacle is such a great Bonus Action damage source. I really wish I had more to say but the power of this subclass starts and ends at how great having what amounts to an extra Eldritch Blast as a Bonus Action every turn is.

S TIER

College of Eloquence (Bard)

Yup. One of the best subclasses in this book was also in Theros. It helps that my favorite D&D character of all time was a College of Eloquence Bard.

This subclass got so much better since UA. Reliable Talent for Charisma checks at level 3 is fucking nuts! And on top of that Unsettling Words is a great way to soften enemies up for devastating spells. Universal Speech at 6th level pretty much singlehandedly enables the “peaceful” route with a lot of enemies, allowing you to talk your way out of problems.

But this bard is the king of inspiration! Unfailing Inspiration fixes the biggest problem with the Bard class, and Infectious Inspiration multiplies your Bardic Inspiration to a ridiculous degree. This Bard is just so reliably fantastic at Bard things, all while still being a full spellcaster that can make it harder for enemies to deal with spellcasters. It doesn’t get anything special from its subclass but you only got 3 features from your subclass as a Bard anyways. Baseline Bards are amazing and the insurance on your features from this subclass makes it all the better.

The Genie (Warlock)

If the fact that I stick Warlock levels into literally every build didn’t prove it I really like Warlocks, and Genie Warlock is easily the best Warlock subclass. Period. I actually have a post in the works where I go in-depth as to why Genie Warlock is so good. But in short:

Being able to choose between four subclass spell lists is crazy good. Like ridiculously good. A single level in this subclass gives you a Bag of Holding, a (single person) Leomund’s Tiny Hut, and a damage boost to all your attacks every turn!

6th level gives you damage resistance which is always good, but I seriously can not stress how ridiculous non-concentration Flight is for a Warlock. Your spell selection and spell slots are already so limited, and this subclass lets you get all the utility of flight pretty much whenever you please. Just think about how strong Aaracokra are and then consider that this is basically the Aaracokra’s only racial trait.

Sanctuary Vessel lets you upgrade your Leomund’s Tiny Hut power to affect the whole party. By this point you can indeed Long Rest in the lamp, and I need to stress how less suspicious a lone lamp is to a giant bubble of magical force. You could easily hide the lamp somewhere and (if the party is traveling light) be practically undetectable.

Oh and Limited Wish? So you know how the best feature of the Bard is their Magical Secrets? What if you got to choose (practically) any spell of 6th level or lower whenever you please? The only “problem” with Limited Wish is that you have to know every spell that you can pick from, but whenever “too much choice” is a problem in a game of infinite choices you know it’s a good feature.

Genie Warlocks do everything that Warlocks want to do so well. More damage on all your attacks to maximize the value of cantrip spamming, mobility to keep safe without spending spell slots, more high level spells, and giving the party a safe place to rest and recharge. I played a full Genie Warlock and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend this subclass to anyone who wants to play a Warlock. It’s just so versatile and useful I’m sure anyone can find a way to enjoy playing it.

#Tasha's Cauldron of Everything #ranking #tier list #dnd #dnd 5e

[acradaunt]

Saw one of those ask things around for Etrian Odyssey, and I felt like doing it, so. I think someone's supposed to ask you particular numbers first. That's dumb. I'm just gonna answer those that interest me. Which is pretty much all of them.

1. What is your Guild Name? -It's never been the same. Usually it's a compound word and/or related to the game's region. Skyquake was EOII, Riptide for the watery EOIII, Zephyr for the airship-oriented EOIV. It's Starlight in EOV, which was a really fitting coincidence.

2. Favorite class? -Chasers/Linkers/Chainers. Which, at the end of the day, are all the same thing. They're all sorts of nifty, but I think I like them the most when subpar attackers get a little something extra out of it, like a Medic with a Polar Rod or a Botanist with a Bow. The downside is you really gotta build around them, but I kinda like doing that, personally. Weirdly, I never liked Buccaneers. I also really like Runemasters. The Runes putting two contrasting functions into a single spell is an amazing idea. It saves so many Skill Points and makes them really versatile. Them also 'fixing' magic to not be painfully straightforward is worth big points, too. Shamans having 'take less damage from Fire/Ice/Volt, but also do Fire/Ice/Volt damage' was a huge black mark against them, and ultimately why I stuck with a Poison Botanist. Contrasting is cool, contradictory is not. Apart from the 10F boss, I can't think of an instance where that wouldn't be actively detrimental to you. No, I'm actually not sure if that Fire/Ice/Volt is bonus damage on top of normal damage or an affinity change. That would change everything, but I never assed myself to find out. I may be petty.

3. Favorite NPC? -Jenetta. Full stop. No contest. I guess Edie would be a diiiistant second place.

4. Favorite monster? -At this moment, gotta give it to the Sword Saurians (shame they weren't an actual race). I'm a huuuuge sucker for any enemy that makes you go 'hey, that's exactly one of our moves'. Them being an enemy chaser, well, it was pretty obvious I'd like 'em. Most commonly, this concept has shown up throughout the series on turtle/coral/crab monsters being wannabe Protectors / Hoplites / Fortresses.

5. Favorite FOE? -This probably needs more thought than I'm going to give it, but fresh off of EOV's caves, any of those three get points for puzzle design. The sound thing is a big step up from EOIV's moths only moving when there's combat. Once Atlus figured out what to do with them, the Pumpkin trio became great too. They were practically a third superboss in EOIV if you didn't handle them properly.

6. Favorite Boss? -EOV has had exceptionally good bosses so far, so this answer could certainly change, but I still gotta give it up to the Warped Saviour from EOIV. Unlike every other boss or FOE, which is one big, nasty healthbar, it changes between forms that favour multi-target attacks and single attacks. It's a fight that keeps you on your toes and adapting, but pretty much every class can find a way to contribute. Unlike almost every other superboss. Ur-Child at least gets props for one-shotting himself on Painless Counters, though. That's just hilarious.

7. Favorite Stratum? -Aethsetically, EOII's Auburn Thicket, hands down. Literally just autumn isn't much of anything, but I'm apparently a colossal sucker for that. It then probably loses all those points by being the biggest difficulty spike in the series. EOIII's Undersea Grotto and EOV's Jagged Reach get big points too. None of them have too much in the way of puzzles, though. They're also all second stratums. Weird. Hall of Darkness's final floor also deserves a huge shout-out for really seeing EOIV take the gloves off. That's probably the most synergy you'll ever see a collective group of monsters have. Having a mini-section for nearly every previous gimmick in the game is worth points, too.

8. Favorite game? -EOIII probably did the most to solidify the series, and EOIV is easily the one I'd recommend to new players, and I'm still going through EOV, but I think it's the winner here. Normally, I'm not one to go 'yay difficulty', but EOV really did nail the difficulty just right.

9. Favorite song? -EOIII's Porcelain Forest, without a doubt. EOIII's volcano deserves mention too, especially since nobody else seems to like it. I'll admit it sounds very Streets of Rage-y next to everything else.

10. Least favorite class? -The easy answer would be the classes that fundamentally don't work, like Beast and Yggdroid. But that's too easy. Probably Troubadour. They do one or two buffs, then are completely useless for the rest of a fight. At least later buff-boys like Sovereign and Dancer do it right.

12. Least favorite monster? -Any answer that isn't a Petaloid is wrong. Muskoids primarily, though. Party-wide petrification is borderline cheating. Yes, they need to be hit first for the range-increase, but make it an ambush and throw in a Hollow Magus, and, well, you can be wiped before having a single action. Stun Eryngii doing loads of damage on death is also really annoying. I'm sure EOV's final stratum will have new horrors to add to the list. ...After writing 13, I changed my answer. EOV's 1st floor doggos and EOIII's Great Lynxes being able to instantly kill anybody, even if they're blocking, have probably done plenty to turn people away from the series. They're stupidly unfair at that point, and why I'd sooner recommend EOIV over the others to a new player. At least with Baboons, it's at least sort of your fault for not being attentive enough.

13. Least favorite FOE? -Not a fan of a petrification goats, especially since you need to kill loads of them for Formaldehyde. On further thought, my answer's gotta be the Baboons from the very start of EOIV. I know more than one person who got to mining, got ambushed by not noticing that FOEs move when you mine, wiping, then promptly throwing their 3DS off a building.

14. Least favorite Boss? -In contrast to Warped Saviour, shitlord dragon is a bunch of crap. Lots of classes are nigh useless against him, and it's very much one of those 'know exactly how he works or you're screwed' fights. Weirdly, he's like a carbon-copy clone of the last sea boss from EOIII, and that wasn't half as annoying, despite having to put up with idiot NPC AIs for it.

15. Least favorite Stratum? -EOII's fifth stratum is an eyesore, even if the music's pretty good. Not a fan of the enemies, either.

16. Least favorite game? -The most honest answer would be EO2. Looking back, it's a really poorly balanced game. Like, REALLY poorly. I'm super-biased against the Untold series, because I don't feel it needs to exist, and Story mode feels six kinds of wrong for this series. Especially because I loathe every party choice in EO2U (well, Sovereign is okay, but otherwise). Ohwait, forgot EMD exists. Let's go with that.

17. Least favorite song? -Any of the more ambient ones, like the caves in EOIV and EOV, or the second stratum in EOIV. ...EOIV had really weak dungeon themes all around, thinking back. EOIII's second battle theme is pitiful compared its glorious first battle theme.

18. What is your favorite floor mechanic? (ie: warping, dead zones, etc.) -Looking back, these really didn't go anywhere until EOIV. EOIII had the gates in the shrine and EOII had sliding ice puzzles and damage tiles. Whoo. Then IV had things like FOEs breaking walls, being literal walls, changing the fire cave to an ice cave, and more. EOV's just taking things a step further, with knocking pillars down, day/night FINALLY meaning something, and an actually good teleporting puzzle. A couple rooms (especially 3F's redux) where I had to sit down and actually think. Only one puzzle in EOIII made me stop and think (the NW tentacle on B25F). I mean, there's a puzzle in EOV where you've got to use a falling pillar as a (painful) speed boost. That's freaking awesome. Exploring in and of itself is a lot more fun in EOIV and especially EOV than it was in earlier titles. I imagine EOU and EO2U did things to un-borify some stratums. Again, wouldn't know.

19. What floor mechanic annoys you the most? -Warping suuuucked in EO2. 29F, at least. Especially, especially, especially since you had no adequate way to mark them all. Not even by using random icons. You'd need duplicate icons well before you finished marking all those infernal teleporters. The 'invisible' areas in EOIII's last two stratums feels like a missed opportunity to me. I feel like those areas should be semi-randomly generated, rather than just 'oh, I can't see my little dot on the map'. No, they're not super-closely related, but it brings that to my mind.

20. Do you like the Grimoire system? If not what would you change? -I conceptually like what it stands for. Get a couple random skills from other classes. But that was the thing. It was either too random or too complex, if not both. It felt atrocious from EOU's demo alone. I can't imagine dealing with that all game. I don't like the idea of you getting monster skills. At all. Apparently, EO2U fixed some things. Wouldn't know.

25. Do you defeat any FOEs when you’re a higher level than them, the same level or a lower level? -My plan for FOEs is pretty much always ignore them until you've seen the stratum's boss. Or maybe just forever in EOII, where FOEs didn't give you anything of value, ever. Starting with EOII really discouraged me from fighting them, so that's probably influenced me.

26. Do you like the cooking mechanics in EOU2? EO4? EO5? -Short answer is no. Just looking at the food buffs made them seem pretty underwhelming, and finding/using the rare stuff was a pain, because Wiglaf and Kirjonen were constantly asking for them. In EO5, I just never seem to need food. A Botanist provides enough healing on her own, and when I pull out, it's more because I don't want to lose 40 minutes of mapping or save after a rough FOE fight than because I'm direly low on TP. Also, I never seem to have the ingredients to make anything, anyway. Maybe it's because nobody knows fishing, and all the good dishes require fish? Ramus hasn't shown me a dish since the start of the third stratum, so maybe he doesn't blab about them if you don't have the ingredients on hand. Memory is hazy, but I think EO2U's way of doing cooking was okay. You'd permanently have one food effect active until you ate something else, right? It doesn't make sense that that's what food would do, but from a mechanical standpoint, it's a neat extra modifier to play with.

30. What is one thing you wish Etrian Odyssey could improve on? -I certainly like the direction the series went. It could've been stuck in a mire of 'let's emulate early-early-ass dungeon crawlers' forever, and never really moved forward. But uuuuh, single thing I'd like to see the most? Gimme a reason to use multiple parties. It's a great problem to have, but seeing all these cool classes, yet never really having a chance to use them or good opportunities to swap guys around kinda hurts. EOIII and EOV's Learning/Memory Conch and EOIV's jump to lvl-25/35/45 books do help, but the former doesn't really keep them competitive and EOIV's are limited to two uses. And even that, that's more talking about individual characters. Yeah, I used EOIV's books to swap a second Fortress out for a Nightseeker and then again for an Imperial, but I wanna see a reason to use completely different parties. Simultaneous dungeon-exploring or characters being unavailable for multiple days after being bodied, whatever. I wanna reason to have 15+ characters viable and in play.

31. Do you think about Etrian Odyssey with other crossovers? (ie: Collab events) If so, what collab event would you like to see? -Screw mere collabs, I can seriously see a lot of potential for a Monster Hunter X Etrian Odyssey game. Basically, it'd be an EO game with some design changes, wearing a MH skin. Weapons would be instead of classes (Lance = Protector, Switch Axe = Imperial, Hunting Horn = Troubadour, etc.), and instead of beating up semi-generic squirrels and durians and doggos, it'd be iconic Monster Hunter monsters. And it'd be more like 'all FOEs, all the time'. Both series kinda sorta have this thing on 'get better drops by killing it in a certain way' that started this thought process. Rather than exploring through stratums, you'd have a dozen or so mid-sized maps, each with their own gimmicks and FOEs. Your goal, as always, is to killdoze one particular monster. It'd be a task of picking when and where to fight, as other FOEs would be eager to step and make things miserable for everyone. Running and re-initiating fights would be a thing, and monsters would maintain their health. Putting traps and using the field against the FOE would be a big thing. Things like Narmer (and every 1st stratum boss, really; why are the first guys always the most interesting?) the Boiling Lizard, and Primordiphant certainly influenced this thought.

32. Sea exploration or Sky exploration? -At the end of the day, Sky exploration is kinda... empty. It looks cool, and mini-dungeons isn't a bad idea, but it's more window-dressing than a real system. Sea exploration has a billion things wrong with it; it's too demanding that all your moves are perfect, putting a money cost on it is stupid, and so on and so forth. I don't like the Untold subseries, but I'd really like to see EO3U do it right. Some of those places are just begging for EO4 style mini-dungeons, like the Lighthouse, the Golem's Ruins, or the Pirate Island. Honestly, if they just straight-up transplant a couple stratums out of Yggdrasil and onto the other islands, that'd be cool with me. Reaching Deep City so early made it feel... not so very deep, really.

#Etrian Odyssey