#league of legends nami | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tigerkirby215 · 2 years

Text

5e Nami, the Tidecaller build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

In terms of fantasy archetypes the water magic is a fairly common staple... shame that 5e doesn’t have many water spells. Regardless Nami is one of League’s staple champions, having been in the game since 2012 and having always been a decent pick if you were good at her. It’s fun to heal and harm with the power of the tides, so hopefully we can make due with what few water spells exist in 5e.

GOALS

People and their air... - A bubble is a good a stun as any to keep foes at bay.

Ride upon the waves - We need to do equal parts healing and harm with a bouncing wave that can sure through our allies.

Oceans spill forth! - When a fight grows dire we need to be able to summon the entire ocean!

RACE

You know I don’t get to make Tritons often, but then again aquatic races aren’t all that common. Well +1 to 3 stats doesn’t help, but at least Tasha’s lets you put them into Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom. (And I think Monsters of the Multiverse will give you much more flexibility.) You’re Amphibious of course and can breath underwater, and being used to underwater you’re a Guardians of the Depths with resistance to Cold damage.

You’re an Emissary of the Sea, allowing you to moonlight as a shark caller and communicate ideas to sea creatures. And finally Control Air and Water will give you some innate spells based on your Charisma, which is a bit of a shame given our stat array. But I’ll discuss those spells when we get there. Oh and you get Darkvision too.

ABILITY SCORES

15; WISDOM - Understanding the tides will be the key to understanding our magic.

14; CHARISMA - Nami may be a fish, but she’s a sweetheart of a fish. That, and we need it for our innate casting.

13; DEXTERITY - Something something medium armor that definitely doesn’t hinder your swimming.

12; CONSTITUTION - Feel free to swap Constitution and Charisma but we don’t need the other stats much.

10; INTELLIGENCE - As a Marai you haven’t learnt much of the outside world.

8; STRENGTH - You’re a fish, and an enchanter fish at that.

BACKGROUND

You certainly are a Far Traveler on land, and it’s good enough for our intended purposes. You get proficiency with Insight and Perception as well as a language and tool of your choice. Your feature All Eyes on You will get you around by virtue of being a very uncommon vastaya who scholars and socialites would gladly like to spend time with.

Depending on how common Tritons are in your world you might want to try for the Acolyte background instead, as you are essentially going on a holy quest to retrieve a religious artifact and find a demigod.

(Artwork Jessica “OwleyCat” Oyhenart. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - DRUID 1

Starting off as a Druid for now and forever more to attune yourself to the magic of the waves. You can grab proficiency in just about any Druid skill (I chose Medicine and Survival personally but legit all the Druid skills make sense for Nami.) You also learn Druidic to speak the language of the Marai (and other fishfolk perhaps.)

But most importantly you get Spellcasting. You get two cantrips but unfortunately Druid cantrips suck ass, so take Magic Stone to at least have something to defend yourself with and... well I mean Shape Water is kinda mandatory, isn’t it? At least your leveled spells are better, as you can prepare Healing Word to keep your allies alive in the fight, Goodberry to keep your allies alive out of the fight, Ice Knife for some offensive power, and Faerie Fire to surround your foes with luminescent plankton to make them easier to hit. You can also cast Fog Cloud once per Long Rest thanks to your Control Air and Water feature.

LEVEL 2 - DRUID 2

Second level Druids get Wild Shape to turn into an animal although you can’t turn into a fish yet, or Wild Companion to cast Find Familiar without material components. But if you choose the Circle of Stars for your subclass you get Starry Form, which allows you to use Wild Shape without transforming from a vastaya! You can call upon the moon to help turn the tides, causing you to sparkle and gaining an additional effect based on your choice of constellation. Archer lets you deal more damage with your Bonus Action, Chalice will let your healing spells bounce to nearby targets, allowing you to heal additional allies when you heal, and Dragon boosts your Intelligence and Wisdom checks (as well as your concentration saves) to make any roll of 9 or lower on the d20 into a 10.

Additionally you create a Star Map to help find the aspect of the moon. You can use it to cast Guidance as well as Guiding Bolt, and you can cast Guiding Bolt a number of times for free each Long Rest equal to your Proficiency Bonus. Also speaking of spells you can prepare Create or Destroy Water because... well I mean duh it kinda fits.

LEVEL 3 - DRUID 3

3rd level Druids can prepare 2nd level spells. I’d suggest getting rid of Faerie Fire and Ice Knife by this point to cast Healing Spirit for a bunch of healing spread around like waves, Hold Person for an early way to bubble your foes, and Wither and Bloom to actually damage your foes with the waves while healing your allies! And finally Control Air and Water lets you cast Gust of Wind once per Long Rest.

LEVEL 4 - DRUID 4

4th level Druids get the first of many Ability Score Improvements, but I kinda forgot that Druid cantrips are terrible (especially since we can’t take Produce Flame which is basically the only good one) so grab Magic Initiate to actually have some offensive power while concentrating on defensive magics. Take Cleric spells for good ol’ Sacred Flame as well as Spare the Dying to save your ADC. For your leveled spell Shield of Faith can be good in a pinch against powerful foes, even in the late game.

Hitting level 4 also means your Wild Shape can now turn into beasts of CR 1/2, and can also turn into one with a swimming speed! Of course keeping to a half-fish is still probably your best bet, but transforming completely gives you some unique problem solving tools.

Finally you can get more cantrips, and you can replace Magic Stone with something more useful. Grab Druidcraft for some more natural magics (which perhaps aren’t water-based, but you are the resident Druid) and Mending to keep your staff in good condition. You can also prepare a leveled spell but I’d suggest waiting until...

(Artwork by Michelle Hoefener. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - DRUID 5

5th level Druids get 3rd level spells and we’ll be grabbing your Tidal Wave with... Tidal Wave! I’d also suggest taking Aura of Vitality (ty Tasha’s) because it’s an incredibly strong healing spell that synergizes great with your Starry Form chalice.

And to top it off you get your final spell from Control Air and Water: Wall of Water! Along with Tidal Wave this will let you master the waves by level 5! Honestly if you don’t mind reflavoring some abilities you have a fairly good build for Nami by this point!

LEVEL 6 - DRUID 6

6th level Stars Druids can get a Cosmic Omen to aid them with their quest to find the Moonstone Pearl. When you finish a long rest roll a die (and die will do!) Until you finish your next long rest, you gain a new reaction based on whether you rolled an even or an odd number on the die.

An even result means Weal, allowing you to target a creature (ideally an ally) you can see within 30 feet of you when they’re about to make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. When you use your reaction, you roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the total.

Odd however means Woe. When a creature (ideally an enemy this time) you can see in 30 feet is about to make an attack roll / saving throw / ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and subtract it from the total.

Regardless of which option you get you can use it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. And finally you can cast Elemental Weapon on an ally’s weapon (assuming it isn’t already magical) to give them the Tidecaller's Blessing’s to turn their weapon into a +1 and make it do an extra d4 of damage on hit!

LEVEL 7 - DRUID 7

7th level Druids can cast 4th level spells like Watery Sphere, which officially gives you Aqua Prison for all your League abilities! What now? Well I guess we may as well finish the build.

LEVEL 8 - DRUID 8

8th level Druids get another Ability Score Improvement and more Wisdom would probably be good at this point so your spells can actually... ya know: hit? Magic Initiate perhaps isn’t the most useful feat but having good cantrips felt more important for Nami, since you’d usually be concentrating on healing magic.

Well at least you can prepare other spells like Freedom of Movement to give your ADC a Mikael’s, and Polymorph to turn your ADC into a fish. Trust me: it’s better this way. And speaking of better this way: you can Wildshape into beasts of CR 1; even beasts that can fly! It would be pretty easy to find the aspect of the moon if you could just fly up Mount Targon, huhn?

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 9 - DRUID 9

9th level Druid: 5th level spells. Grab Maelstrom because if you can’t tell we’re basically taking every water-themed spell available.

LEVEL 10 - DRUID 10

10th level Stars Druids are so attuned to both the stars and the tides that their Starry Form is full of Twinkling Constellations. Both your Archer and Chalice form gain an extra d8, and while in your Dragon form you gain a 20 foot flying speed. (Arguably) more important however is that you can change your form at the start of each of your turns while you have Starry Form active!

You also get another cantrip at this level, so take Primal Savagery to actually be a threat in melee range. And of course you get more leveled spells too! Should we have taken Lesser Restoration before? Well at least now you have Greater Restoration in case of emergency. But honestly Lesser Restoration is probably better.

LEVEL 11 - DRUID 11

More spells, this time of 6th level. And I mean Heal is kinda the only one that makes sense, right? I mean feel free to prepare Heroes' Feast from time to time but all the other spells don’t make sense for a Tidecaller.

LEVEL 12 - DRUID 12

12th level Druids get another Ability Score Improvement which means you can finally max out your Wisdom! And sure you can also prepare more spells (like you should really grab Lesser Restoration by this point) but again there isn’t much I want from this level so...

(Artwork by Pyeongjun Park. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - DRUID 13

7th level spells time! Regenerate is great to help your teammates stay in the fight but... that’s about it for spells that aren’t just... fire with fire all around? So maybe jump back to the earlier levels for options like Reincarnate? Honestly we’ve reached the point where you can pick whatever you fancy.

LEVEL 14 - DRUID 14

14th level Tidecallers are Full of Stars, resisting Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage while transformed which is good to keep your Concentration spells up.

And you get even more spells you don’t need! Just prepare whatever you think would be good in the moment.

LEVEL 15 - DRUID 15

Guess what you get now! I’ll give you a hint: it’s one above seven. Tsunami is a really big Tidal Wave that will do much more than your regular Tidal Wave! And uhhh... you can prepare something else instead of another 8th level spell that you won’t be able to cast.

LEVEL 16 - DRUID 16

Hey look at that another Ability Score Improvement: you’ve probably noticed that uneven Constitution score for all this time. Take Resilient Constitution to increase it and also increase your Concentration checks now that foes are truly hitting hard!

Oh and you can prepare more spells but I have nothing particular to suggest.

(Artwork by SixMoreVodka Studios. Made for Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games.)

LEVEL 17 - DRUID 17

I’ve been ignoring your spells in these later levels (because you honestly have too many to prepare lol) but I won’t ignore the 9th level spells! Sure Storm of Vengeance is cool and thematic but I’m going to suggest good ol’ Shapechange. Turn into a good ol’ dragon! Or like, a Category 3 Krasis. But you’re going to turn into a dragon let’s be real.

LEVEL 18 - DRUID 18

18th level Druids have a Timeless Body, causing you to age 10 times slower than everyone else so you can defend the ocean without tiring. Speaking of which have you been wondering what you’re supposed to do when Wildshaped into a CR 1 beast? Well at least with Beast Spells you can perform the somatic and verbal components of a Druid spell while in Wildshape. You still aren’t able to provide material components though.

Speaking of spells: more prepared spells which I do not have the energy to tell you specifically what to get. Prepare what you think will be useful. Maybe even prepare a Fire spell.

LEVEL 19 - DRUID 19

19th level Druids get one last Ability Score Improvement and honestly by this point the world is your oyster. Take a feat you think is fun! Or if you want to powergame just take Warcaster I guess.

Oh and more spells too I guess.

LEVEL 20 - DRUID 20

20th level Druids become an Archdruid! For one you ignore basically all the components for spells (which means you can’t be counterspelled, among other things), but more importantly you gain an unlimited amount of Wildshapes! Not only does this mean an infinite amount of Starry Form uses, but you can also constantly turn into wildlife to hide your presence from air-breathing people (and also constantly give yourself temporary hitpoints.)

And after reaching the peak of Druid power you can prepare just about any spell you want too.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

The ocean will sweep them away - I don’t make a lot of single-class builds, which means I don’t get to talk about capstone abilities quite often. Being an Archdruid makes you one of the best casters out there, and unlimited Wild Shapes allows you to dance around a lot of danger. Not to mention unlimited Starry Forms, and 9th level spell slots!

I'll find my path - Starry Form is also very powerful, giving you either a consistent source of Bonus Action damage, very strong healing amongst the party, or insurance for all your Concentration checks. Resisting damage and swapping between forms also helps to always be on the right path towards the aspect of the Moon.

Wash them away - You have plenty of damage and crowd control with your water magic, as well as plenty of healing to spread amongst your party!

CONS

We are all tied to the ocean - The choice to only take water spells is an odd one to be sure. A lot of the Druid spell list is strangely tied to fire or other elements which aren’t in-flavor for Nami. You’re obviously welcome to take them, but at that point you’re pretty much just playing a generic Druid.

Feet are strange - A universal problem of spellcasters is that your magic will run out over the course of a day, and a universal problem with Druid is that most of your spells are Concentration. It can be hard to pick the right spell for a chosen task just to be forced to swap them out on the fly.

My quest beckons - This build honestly peaks around level 8 or so, and while a 20th level Druid is more than powerful you will feel the roleplay restrictions and general weaknesses of Druid around Tier 3.

But the complications of where to go after your quest is too much to ask. Focus on the present and know that you’re on a quest to save your people, not for personal greatness. Use the ocean’s strength to empower your allies and flood your foes, knowing that your greatness is written in the stars.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #Nami #League of Legends Nami #mermaid #fish #dnd druid

10 notes · View notes