Blood Hunters use their Intelligence modifier for some class and subclass features, but with the DM’s permission, they can use their Wisdom modifier for all blood hunters. Their brand can be dispelled with Dispel Magic and is treated as a spell with a level equal to half their blood hunter level (maximum 9th level). Blood Hunters cannot cast spells unless they take the Order of the Profane Soul subclass. From seventh level, they can learn second-level Warlock spells, third-level spells at level 13, and fourth-level spells at level 19.
The core flavor of Blood Hunters is the arcane magic of “Hemocraft”, using blood rituals and rites to perform magical spells that make them effective at their job. They are based on sacrifice, knowledge, and fear, and their guide will help players understand how they work, the best races, and feat choices.
Spellcasting doesn’t work on blood hunters, only Pact Magic does. Blood Hunters can augment their combat techniques with the ability to cast spells when they reach 3rd level. They can also get a similar benefit from Blood Counterspell, but they cannot cast high enough level spells to make this meaningful. Blood Hunters are clever warriors driven by an unending determination to destroy evils old and new. They gain half as many warlock spells at half the rate, and all bonus abilities are tied to their choice of warlock patron.
From seventh level, Blood Hunters can learn second-level Warlock spells, third-level spells at level 13, and fourth-level spells at level 19.
📹 Blood Hunter Class Guide for Dungeons and Dragons 5e
TIME STAMPS Please note this video contains spoilers for Critical Role Season 2, Episode 26. 0:00 – Opening 2:05 – Inspiring a …
Do blood hunters get spell slots?
Wikidot has been blocked in Russia and Belarus due to hacking attempts and abuse of human rights, international laws, and sovereignty. The decision was made following a recent hack on Wikidot servers from Russia, which has increased in numbers since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Russian state has silently approved or encouraged these attacks on foreign companies and institutions, making it difficult to provide services in countries that do not respect common human values and pose a threat to Wikidot itself. To cast a 1st-level spell, one must spend one of the expended spell slots, and then cast it as a 2nd-level spell.
What race is best for Bloodhunter?
The satyr is a highly mobile character with high movement speed and Magic Resistance, making it a suitable choice for blood hunters. Its mobility and durability make it a solid D and D 5e race. Blood Hunters can use Adrenaline Rush and Relentless Endurance to quickly enter combat and replace damage with temporary hit points. Despite prioritizing physical skills, blood hunters should not neglect their Wisdom or Intelligence-based skills.
Far Traveler’s Insight and Perception capitalize on a blood hunter’s high Wisdom, while Sailor provides Athletics and Perception to compensate for low-Strength blood hunters’ climbing and running abilities or make high-Strength ones suitable grapplers.
How to make an OP blood hunter?
The blood hunter build should prioritize Dexterity and use finesse or ranged weapons to maintain their high Armor Class. Dexterity is essential for combat and avoids the need to juggle multiple stats. Strength is only necessary for those who want to use great weapons. Wisdom is more valuable than Intelligence, as it is associated with important skills like Perception and Insight. Intelligence has few synergies with other parts of D and D, but is less useful unless needed for skills like Arcana and History.
Constitution is another necessary ability score for a blood hunter 5e build, as they are more fragile than other martial characters and need a high Constitution to prevent Crimson Rite and amplified Blood Curses from causing damage.
Do blood hunters have red eyes?
Blood hunters are professional monster hunters in Aerlon who undergo a dangerous rite by consuming an alchemical concoction called the Hunter’s Bane. This allows them to absorb and channel sangromantic powers, and they are feared by the general populace for their ability to kill evil. Surviving blood hunters have red eyes due to the unholy magics involved. The blood hunter order consists of three institutes: Schule Seele, Schule Verstund, and Schule Körpe, each specialized in different magical techniques and fighting styles. Despite sometimes finding themselves at odds, they are all members of the same family, tracing their origins back to the three brothers who created the Hunter’s Bane centuries ago.
Are blood hunters magic?
Blood hunters are warriors who use hemocraft magic to enhance their fighting abilities. They originate from Wildemount and were involved in the Marrow War when a high cleric of the Julous Dominion partnered with a devil of the Nine Hells to repel the Dwendalian Empire. However, the Marrow Valley became overrun with devils and undead. Priest Trence Orman sought help from The Raven Queen, who granted him the secrets of hemocraft magic. Trence and his followers formed the Claret Orders, banishing devils and undead from the realm. However, the Dwendalian Empire managed to advance and conquer the Julous Dominion.
Do blood hunters get spells?
Blood Hunters at third-level gain access to Pact Magic, which allows them to learn two cantrips from the Warlock spell list and two first-level spells. Additional DnD cantrips are unlocked at tenth-level, and more 5e spells are learned at various levels. From seventh to 19th level, they can learn second-level Warlock spells, third-level spells, and fourth-level spells. They can also use their hemocraft ability to cast spells and Rite Focus to gain extra benefits, depending on their chosen patron.
How do blood hunters get their powers?
Incorporating Matthew Mercer’s blood hunters into Eberron would involve a unique approach to the character. Blood hunters are warriors who can strengthen their attacks and weaken their enemies at the expense of their health. They can invoke the Crimson Rite to infuse a weapon with elemental power or invoke a Blood Curse on an enemy, but this requires damage based on their Hemocraft die role. They also have a knack for hunting monsters, with checks made to track or recall information about fey, fiends, or undead.
The Brand of Castigation allows blood hunters to mark a creature and always know its path towards it. Ghostslayer blood hunters specialize in dealing with the undead, while Lycan blood hunters take on aspects of the curse of lycanthropy. Mutant blood hunters alter their own physiology, and Profane Soul blood hunters forge pacts with dangerous entities to gain their powers. The defining feature of blood hunters is their ability to burn their own essence to bring down their foes. The power of blood hunters could be based on blood or consumed by the character’s soul, as long as the core mechanics remain the same.
Who gets the most spell slots?
The number of spell slots available to characters is contingent upon their class. Those who are capable of casting spells fully, such as wizards and bards, are able to utilize a greater number of slots than those who are only capable of casting spells partially, like paladins. The manner in which spells are cast differs between classes. This topic will be elaborated upon in subsequent posts.
Can Hunter use magic?
In The Owl House, Hunter, formerly known as the Golden Guard, is a character who was once the right-hand man of Emperor Belos and the former head of the Emperor’s Coven. He was believed to be Belos’ nephew and dedicated to ending wild magic in the realm. However, Hunter is actually the latest version of the Golden Guard clones created by Belos to serve him faithfully in his quest.
After becoming the head of the Emperor’s Coven, Hunter becomes the main enforcer for Emperor Belos and antagonist to the Owl House residents. A chance encounter with Luz Noceda and the meeting of a mysterious palisman named Flapjack gives Hunter a new perspective on life outside the Emperor’s Coven. This realization leads Hunter to abandon Belos and the Emperor’s Coven, moving to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics to hide from the emperor’s reach.
Hunter finds acquaintances in Hexside’s students and aims to help them stand against Belos’ plan to wipe out the Demon Realm. He aims to make sure no one is hurt again and to continue his quest to end all wild magic.
How does Hunter have magic?
Hunter, a character in The Owl House, initially lacks magic but harnesses it from his palisman staff, allowing him to recreate magic spells like teleportation, energy blasts, and earth magic. He desires to leave the Emperor’s Coven, study wild magic, and learn how to carve palismen. Hunter, formerly known as the Golden Guard, is the latest version of the Golden Guard clones created by Belos to serve him faithfully in his quest.
After becoming the head of the Emperor’s Coven, Hunter becomes the main enforcer for Emperor Belos and antagonist to the Owl House residents. A chance encounter with Luz Noceda and the meeting of a mysterious palisman named Flapjack gives Hunter a new perspective on life outside the Emperor’s Coven. This realization leads Hunter to abandon Belos and the Emperor’s Coven, moving to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics to hide from the emperor’s reach. He finds acquaintances in Hexside’s students and aims to help them stand against Belos’ plan to wipe out the Demon Realm. Hunter’s goal is to ensure no harm is done to anyone again.
How do blood hunter curses work?
The Blood Curse of the Marked is a bonus action that allows the player to mark a creature within a radius of 30 feet. Upon striking the creature with a weapon bearing an active crimson rite, an additional hemocraft die is rolled. It should be noted that this effect is only available when JavaScript is disabled or blocked by an extension.
📹 HOW TO PLAY BLOOD HUNTER
I actually really like this class, thanks Mercer. PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/xptolevel3 TWITTER: …
My wife want to start playing blood hunter genasi of fire, that slowly dying of inner fire in Curse of Strahd where I’m DMing. I love her concept and this article is pretty useful for me, because I never played with BH. And I never saw Critical role, because it’s english and I’m not:( Btw you, guys, have a pretty good and understandable speech 🙂 thank you so much! Hello from Russia;)
I’m currently running a Blood Hunter/Artificer multiclass. I pumped INT first and then used the Mutant’s DEX-increasing potion to power up attacks with my weapon of choice: firearms. Running Blood Hunter as a ranged warrior (using the Repeating Shot Artificer Infusion and Curse of the Eyeless to protect myself and others) has been an absolute blast.
Here’s my idea for a Blood Hunter: He’s under the service of a Vampire. Where normally most Blood Hunters you’d imagine would be hunting Vampires, he’s working for one along with a group of others. They are more of specialized group of mercenary force tasked with securing the domain of their Vampire Lord. Any foreign undead or monsters that would threaten the Vampires Domain (Likely creatures from rival Vampires), they are tasked to eliminate them. But furthermore, This group of Blood Hunters also dabble in local politics. Acting more as spies that embed themselves within other Monster Hunter groups. To ensure loyalty, These Hunters are infused with some sort of Werebat creature. This not only gives the Hunters unique abilities, but also keeps them loyal, knowing that if that secret was revealed, they’d likely be hunted just as much as the Vampire. TL:DR: A Monster Hunter that serves a Monster.
I’m playing a Dwarven Eldritch Knight/Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter (6 and counting) and absolutely love it! I wasn’t planning on multiclassing away from Fighter, but ended up being driven that way due to story events. Those two work together so well, especially now that Matt updated BH to make it Int based rather than Wis. He’s a lot of fun from an RP standpoint, is quite the tank, and puts out great damage. I love that dwarven werebear!
My girlfriend has been planning a Profane Soul crossbow expert, and we did some math and realized something valuable: unless you’re going up against a huge tanky boss monster, it’s not worth it to bother with using a bonus action to get Hex swapped over every couple of turns. Activating your rites is generally worth it for one reason: it affects your weapon, not a specific target, so once you turn it on it stays useful for the whole fight. As for spells, she chose roleplay-focused cantrips, and the two 1st level spells she got at level 3 were Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke to try and make her a risky target for melee enemies. We haven’t gotten to see it in action, but I’m excited to see what she can do with it!
The Blood Hunter got a small update not long ago. You can now choose whether to use INT or WIS for your spells and features, and they added all the new warlock patrons as possible patrons for the Profane Soul. The Ghostslayer also got this Aether Walk ability, which I’m not sure is new, but you don’t mention it in this article.
Currently playing a level 2 BH. He is an Urchin Feral Teifling. It’s very cool! He’s going to be a Lycan on level 3. Nobody knew about the class before we started and now everybody want’s to play one! I planned with the DM that I won’t tell the others about the Lycan thing. It’s going to be a fun surprise!
This came at just the right time as I was considering a Blood Hunter. My character would be a changeling given the Right of Lycantrope as an infiltrator, possibly adopting a wereraven instead of a werewolf, allowing him to pose as a Kenku in his hybrid form and subvert expectations by melding the raven’s mimicry with the changling’s shapeshifting.
After perusal this, I decided to play as the Order of the Ghostslayer on my friend’s campaign. Archery build with sharpshooter feat. This is my first time playing as a ranged DPS as well. Literally having a blast. It is very fun to play and rp as a blood hunter. And my friend’s campaign have a lot of undead. So that double Rite of the Dawn die feels very awesome
I am currently running a battlemaster/ghostslayer combo, and it is simply AMAZING. I don’t do the most damage in the group (that would be the two weapon barbarian/hunter ranger) but I consistently outpace the rogue/monk. And the sheer battlefield control I have is just gross (protection FS, tavern brawler feat, battlemaster abilities, defense oriented blood maledicts), and it all comes back on a short rest. There is nothing better than knocking a vampire to the ground, pinning it in place with a grapple, then action surging and wailing away with 2 dice worth of radiant damage on top of my weapon damage.
I play a Blue Dragonborn Blood Hunter of the Mutagen named Shok. I also multiclassed as a tempest cleric. Lightning breath, lightning crimson rite, plus lightning or thunder damage as a reaction from tempest cleric. I get lightning spells and can self heal on the fly. I have the dual wiellder feat and use 2 longswords. He can pop mutagen potions to gain resistance to fire damage or cold damage to help as well as different damaging types (ie. Slashing, bludgeoning, piercing) These guys had it right, you have to know your enemy before you pop a mutagen potion. If things go wrong though, you can just burn a bonus action to flush it from your system if you messed up. Playing class has helped me better plan ahead and to know my enemy before recklessly drinking vials that can be my demise instead of a boon. As always, though great article guys! One thing i would have added was the blood hunter table due to that being a big confusion to players that i have seen.
Order of the Mutant is the most risk vs reward, but the whole class feels like it’s supposed to be about risk vs reward, and the Mutant has most of that. If I didn’t want all the risks and drawbacks I wouldn’t want to play Blood Hunter. The Mutant subclass is the most appealing to me for that reason. Ghostslayer and Profane Soul don’t have much drawbacks at all outside the core class features, and Lycan has the potential to attack an ally which is a risk but DC 8 isn’t too hard to beat and when you do fail the risk is to your party, not to your character specifically, and that’s not as much fun. Getting your own character killed because you took a risky mutagen isn’t as bad as accidentally killing your friends wizard because you rolled a 6 and had to hit them with your Greataxe because of it.
I’ve just recently started a campaign with a new group of friends and this is my first time playing DND! As with all games, I try my best to be fully invested and using systems to my full advantage. So far, my plans are to be a Human Variant, Blood Hunter with Order of the Profane Soul Subclass, Specializing in Finesse Weapons. High Dex as to not get hit but an even higher Con because of the blood magic. My Feat of choice is “Magic Initiate” choosing the Wizard Class in order to secure the lvl 1 Shield Spell. because a +5 AC should help save me from some nasty attacks. Using Int as my spell casting for it helps a lot too. Here’s hoping that this campaign turns out to be a grand adventure! (Also open to ideas and suggestions on tactics)
I’ve always wondered why Bladesinger wasn’t a subclass of Bard. I mean, it would kind of make more sense thematically for it to be part of the singing, music playing, magic coming from music, Bard. It at least would make more sense to me… If anyone can tell me why it’s a Wizard subclass, that would be awesome.
I play an Alchemist Artificer/Mutant Blood Hunter multiclass in a very very RP centric mystery campaign, and specifically using the Conversant mutagen to gain advantage on INT checks while trying to recall old knowledge or gain new knowledge is extremely helpful. In another campaign I played a Profane Soul Blood Hunter, and regarding the point about action economy with Eldritch Blast vs. weapon attacks, the 7th level feature Mystic Frenzy gives you the best of both worlds as by this point you’ll be able to fire two Eldritch Blasts and then you can make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Also this character was really fun because of how I built her. Curse of the Marked + Hex was a great combo despite the setup, and she was a scourge aasimar which made the setup process a bit longer due to Radiant Consumption factoring into the combo. What made her great though was her near inability to lose concentration on Hex, as she had access to Mirror Image as well as Resilient Constitution for the saving through proficiency and Eldritch Advocate so that she could take Eldritch Mind, and make those saving throws with advantage, and that’s if she was hit through the Mirror Image. This led to a character that was incredibly fun to play once she got the ball rolling, as she was able to do 10d6+18 in a single attack action.
Just a reminder, Order of Mutant lets you (as a bonus action) to overcome the negative side affect of a mutagen for 1 minute. Useful in combat, as like the situation you said “what if a vampire who can dominate you, because you have disadvantage on wisdom save?” could over come the negative side affect for a round of combat. However, you do become vulnerable once that round ends but doesnt mean your totally defensless
Thanks for the class review. I’m playing an Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter in a campaign now and love the class. I probably wouldn’t go Polearm Master/Great Weapon Master with this subclass. One big bonus of taking Order of the Lycan is the baked in ability to use your predatory strikes as a finesse weapon and to get a bonus action unarmed strike if you take unarmed strike as an action – and you can apply your Crimson Rite damage to your unarmed strikes as a single weapon. So pump your dexterity and create a flexible martial character that can effectively wade into melee with their Predatory Strikes or attack with a ranged weapon plus Crimson Rite.
I have made an Order of the Mutant Blood Hunter. There are side effects but, at a certain level (cant think of it right now) you can ignore the side effect of the mutagen for 1 minute. I like how the subclass and class as a whole comes with a risk. As a mutant, you can build up as the turns pass in combat and I really love that feature.
I have been playing a tabaxi order of the lycan that turns into a weretiger. She has been one of my favorite characters. Curse of the fallen puppet has come in handy, especially against giants, and damage resistance has saved me more times than I can count. I took the crossbow except feat so I can be a badass at ranged, then transform when in melee.
I have much love for the blood hunter (the old, Wisdom-based version). I played a shifter blood hunter bounty hunter. He was NE (though later changed to TN; nearly dying will do that) that only took bounties he could kill. It certainly was a learning experience for me trying to balance an evil character that didn’t play well with others with a largely neutral or good party.
Built an aarakocra lycan blood hunter/barbarian who I’ve used as a one-shot NPC and am hoping to play in a campaign one of these days. Ability scores favor Dex, Con, and Str. Put crimson rite on the talons and swoop down onto enemies while transformed, raging, and holding a shield to stack with unarmored defense. Or put the CR damage on a crossbow, perch up somewhere hard to get to, and stay ranged. Tough to hit, tougher to kill, deals tons of damage. So much fun.
I put a very different spin on the Bloodhunter. My character is Isaac is an accidental blood hunter. He dove headfirst into a ritual for a demon lord in order to save a young girl and ended up absorbing said demon lord’s powers. He’s an Order of the Profane Soul blood hunter. His spells mostly are ones that let him fight better in close combat, like being able to create mirror images. I’m also planning on multiclassing to sorcerer so I can cast more of my buffing spells, as well as just use it as an excuse for rping that all my spells draw on my blood, like turning Ice Knife into a blood knife, or Acid Spray as boiling hot blood.
I played the old version 2.0 Blood Hunter (V1.4 Lycan) in our Out of the Abyss game. It was very fun and had some great story hooks, with the character ending up looking pretty monstrous. The one problem was that this was before the change for amplified curses to ignore the requirement that the target have blood, so many curses failed. Now that’s fixed I would certainly recommend a Lycan Blood Hunter. My Lycan was Dexterity based, and leant into the Monk/Barbarian mix of abilities they gain. Even though at this revision Crimson Rite did damage (and reduced max HP) by your character level he was still pretty difficult to kill with a very high AC.
I think the crossbow expert/sharpshooter combo would pair well with a ranged mutant. Take the celerity potion to boost dexterity, offsetting the sharpshooter penalty with an addition +1 or 2, stay at max range and fire away with your hand x-bow. That should keep you out of range of most spells that need a wisdom save.
We’re running a campaign that deals with undead heavily, and we’re ending with fighting death. I’m a tabaxi vampire (I opted to turn) ghost slayer blood hunter, and it’s awesome. The amount of damage I can do is insane, and I haven’t really seen another class pull that kind of damage with weapons. I average around 60 (and have done close to 100) with my crossbow on a turn and can reanimate a dragon or anything else once it dies. I do have the oathbow and get flaming arrows from my wizard party member, so that helps with the damage. This is one of my favorite characters to play!
I played the original version of this class when it was Wisdom based, so I didn’t have as many curses to call upon, nor the Brand of Castigation. I will say however that some things weren’t mentioned here. As my character was also an Order of the Lycan, that damage resistance also said, “non-magical weapons that aren’t slivered,” meaning the weaknesses of that subclass (removed from the newer version) when transformed becomes deadly when the enemy has silver weapons, magical or not due to being vulnerable (a rogue using sneak attack can easily kill such a player back then, but can still bypass the resistance even now witha silver weapon.) Also, in the older version, the Crimson Rite not only damaged the user, but lowered max HP until the effect ended making the ability more risky if dual wielding or applying the effects to a weapon and werewolf claws at the same time. In short, the newer features also made the risks of the class not so bad, so I suppose a DM that wants to combine elements of both the old and newer versions of this class can make this much more interesting.
So i decided to make a bit of a Utility blood hunter, so i took variant human, crossbow expert, order of the lycan, hand crossbow, rapier, leather armour, and point buy, leaving me with str -1, dex +4, con +2, int +2, Wis 0, char +1. The mistake I made is not realizing that i could have used wisdom as my spell save dc modifier, which would have fit better thematically anyways. We’re only level 3 so i’m trying to sort it out right now, but i’m kinda painted into a corner. After perusal your multi-classing article, I was also thinking of Multi-classing 2 levels into Twilight cleric, mainly because of the scouting abilities and the temp hitpoints that the website divinity gives, plus the cantrips. Overall i’m really happy with it, but I did not realize how often I would fail my wisdom saves, and we play it that a nat 1, you lose control the whole turn and burn every melee attack you can, and on a 20 you get advantage on the next one, so it can be pretty devastating if it goes bad. in your opinion, am I trying to do too much with it? i really do like it because it gives me the flexibilty of going ham with my claws close range, or sitting back and chipping away with the crossbow, or even sneaking around and finding a fantastic flank and going ham from there. I’ll likely take the resilience feat at level 4, but that still doesn’t bring my wisdom up to a usable level for maledicts/spells, especially if i multi-class into twilight cleric. Thoughts?
I’ve got a reborn ghostslayer blood hunter with a glaive & polearm master and it’s so so nice to wreck house in battle. She’s got garbage charisma and I roll terribly outside of combat, but the amount of damage I can do in combat is super satisfying. I might even multiclass her in fighter for a few levels to get the action surge and REALLY rock battles
As for the mutant, I think it depends mostly on your GM’s style. If your party is constantly chasing down the answer and never quite knowing what is going on or what to expect, he sucks. But if your can get to a town, find out why they are there and where they are going or what they are doing next, you can use the very next rest to prepare for what you found out in town. And I think there’s a lot of role-playing and good ol’ dice rolling opportunities there, have them roll to see how much they find out or how reliable their info is and maybe if the investigation check was a 3 then they think they’re going out for a small party of kobold but in fact it’s a horde of goblins that’s been causing the trouble.
I’ve had a chance to play a couple of Blood Hunters in some home games. We had a one-shot where I played a Goblin Lycan in a high-level “boss rush” one shot where we were all level 20. I flavored my character as a dragon slayer, and we did end up fighting an avatar of Tiamat, and I was able to deal the final blow. We also had a one-shot where a few characters were investigating a haunted mansion, and was playing a Tiefling Gost Slayer, and that ended up being fun as well. We’re just starting Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, and again I’m playing a goblin BH, but the rest of the party doesn’t know that and thinks I’m a rogue. My real class will be a surprise reveal, and I am strongly considering going Profane Soul (haven’t decided on Patron yet) at level 3.
I am currently playing a fallen aasimar blood hunter, order of the lycan (Order of the Lion Radiant) with the haunted one background. I promise he is far less edgy than his background would suggest. I am still figuring out and trying to memorize his abilities but I look forward to pulling off both necrotic shroud and hybrid transformation in the same combat. Let the werelion murder angel do his thing.
I’ve been playin a BloodHunter for 2 yrs but dont get to play it often for some DMs in league wont allow it. And only a few outside of league will allow it. I play a Kenku BloodHunter that uses a flail and hand crossbow, and use Curse of the Fallen puppet and Order of Lycan, with a subclass as a rogue assassin I enjoy playin it
I’ve had an interesting experience playing Bloodhunter and I’ve come to a few conclusions: 1. Its hard to spread that stats on the Bloodhunter since many of their abilities use different stats and you don’t really want to take too many dump stats. 2. Playing a tank, frontline, strength-based Bloodhunter is very difficult since you don’t get Heavy Armor Proficieny and have to rely on your Dexterity Modifier to have decent AC. 3. The early levels of Bloodhunter are very painful. That d4 damage is difficult in large encounters, especially if your AC and HP are not very high. Also the combat abilities are very limited; only 1 Blood Maledict ability with a very low DC if Intellugence is not your highest stat. 4. Multiclassing is very useful. Start off as another class to get the Proficiencies and abilities that compliment the Bloodhunter (Fighter for Heavy Armor/Fighting Style/Second Wind/Action Surge OR Rogue for Expertise/Sneak Attack/Uncanny Dodge are especially good). Also the majority of Bloodhunter proficiencies still apply if you multiclass into it, unlike some other classes. CONCLUSION: Multiclass into Bloodhunter, favor Dexterity builds, avoid large numbers of enemies, and don’t rely on your Blood Maledict ability because it rarely works if it relies on a Save DC using your Intelligence Modifier.
I get to play with the author of healthy punk who is riding DND campaign. So I have decided to create an elf character a Eldridge variance. Normally I play arranger. And I have maybe I should try this.I wanted to see what options I should go with on this and I am talking with her now to see what would be recommended typically in any of these worlds are sick out the holy avenger and use that on monsters. But I wanted to get your take. Keeping within the constraints of the world and designing a character best suited for the missions
You underestimate the mutagen bloodhunter, until you have a polearmmaster with a +2 on all attacks and +2 on all their damage slashing at you. I was at 17 str, so with the +3 I was at a +7 to hit and +5 to damage at level 1. At level 5 this mutant attacks 3 times per round, 3 times with a d10+5, a d6 (magical) and one time a d4+5(!) +D6 (magical). This is a solid damage output, that you spend a d6 hp and disadvantage on Dex saves on. This becomes even better if you anyways would get disadvantage because of other reasons (exhaustion, wounds). I used to have the mutagen active most of the time. If you get in a situation that you might worry about Dex saves, you can flush it out. The crimson rite I also often started before combat if we didn’t get surprised. So in many cases I would deal that damage from round 1. You have an enemy that is hiding in the distance? Take your bow, put a blood maledict on it and take the +3 Dex mutagen to be a decent range attacker. Is it the best/strongest melee fighter in the game? Probably not. But I was doing more damage during the first levels than the barbarian and even the rogue was looking jealous at me, if he missed on his sneak or didn’t manage to get his sneak attack. Even if he got it, with 3 attacks I often did more damage. (And I often did great damage on PM reaction)
I have an idea for blood hunter/arteficer, the scientist who once cut herself while dissecting a vampire and got an uncontrollable urge to find and gather information, no matter what it is (rumors and random stalking for people including). My DM doesn’t allow any of these classes thought (and I can’t really make it work for me with any other classes for some reason), so… Perhaps once in a future…
I played order of the lycan for the first time in a level 13 one shot (Battle royale to see who the next person to become the vampire lord is). And I misread the attack options. You can get 3 attacks per turn, 2 per action and 1 as a bonus action, with rite activated, youre doing 3d8 + 21 + 3d8 (from rites) with an average damage of 51 which is nice. If I knew this, I wouldnt taken cross bow expert and I would’ve also taken something else rather than a sun sword. I also didn’t know this was intelligence based so I dumped everything into dex and con. I took lycan as a type of creature that tranforms, so I took mine after vampire form (took some reading around reddit, you can lycanthrope into a vampire but a vampire cannot lycanthrope into anything else). So basically I was a lycantrope vampire, who just finished off killing a vampire lord and now we had a bloodlusting battle royale to see who the new vampire lord is. (ironic, i know). I found this class really fun and I wanted something where I could use blood to use abilities. Definitely my favorite and will be playing this in as many oneshots/campaigns as I can.
Let’s say I’d like to play a Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter. I am still not sure about some things. 1. Is there an objectively better choice between Wisdom or Intelligence Hemocraft Dice? 2. Am I better off fighting with unarmed strikes or with a melee weapon or does it depend on your current transformation status (normal vs. werewolve)? 3. How does Dual Wielding affect my gameplay with the Crimson Rites if I can cast it once with a bonus action and then the weapon / or melee stays that way until the next short rest and why can’t I just use Crimson Rite instantly after the short rest – is there any downside? I hope you can help me with this one. My idea is to play a relatively tanky Blood Hunter who is using rather light weapons like two daggers or just one dagger. I thought about just using unarmed strikes if it is worth it due to the Order of the Lycan subclass. I’d prefer Wisdom over Intelligence for the Character Traits and “Sub-Abilities” (Survival, Perception, etc.) so I wanted to use the Wisdom Hemocraft Die rather than the Intelligence one cause I wanted to have a relatively high Wisdom score anyways. I’ve read online that Intelligence is probably the better option and I would like to know why that could be the case and if I’m missing out on a really great opportunity for the character building. Thanks 🙂
So for those of you who are worried about Blood Hunter being underpowered I have something to share. When it was added to DNDBeyond it was updated. Now it has numerous buffs to make it better to play. You have a Hemocraft die that your Blood Maledicts scale off of, your Crimson Rite uses the same die, you get better armor proficiencies (according to some other comments) and finally your Blood Maledicts scale off of Intelligence. This means your main stats will be Strength/Dexterity, Constitution and Intelligence.
Finally perusal this after creating a Lotusden halfling order of the lycan that changes to a corgi hybrid. At fourth level took feytouched. He was cursed for drinking tea that didn’t belong to him by a ruler in the feywild and turned into the ruler’s dog for a number of years. Now he is the role of scout/ranger until it’s time to fight.
I’m currently playing a high elf Ghostslayer Blood Hunter in a Tomb of Annihilation campaign, and I’m absolutely loving it. Its perfectly suited for the strong sylvan, fiendish, and undead themes in the module. I’m playing it a little more reckless with a two-weapon fighting style, and it was risky at first to activate the Crimson Rite on both weapons, but once I got to level 5 and gained more max hp and got extra attack the build really started to come online.
7 levels of bloodhunter mutant plus 2 levels of wizard to get bladesinger and you can have 22 AC with shield to take you up to 27 without having to spend a feat on an ASI. 17 dex and 15 int from point buy with a high elf, boost to 20 dex 18 int with mutagens, mage armor AC=13+5, blade song to add int 13+5+4=22 with a rapier and a handbow so still get good damage, disadvantage on wis and charisma saves, but advantage on dex and concentration. Stay near a paladin and you’re golden. Dont need resistance if nothing can hit you.
Currently I’m playing a Beasthide Shifter Blood Hunter (Lv 2), I find the Temp HP combo’s well with the Hemocraft Die. I’ve got a shield, whip (love the flavour) and Longbow and I took the Archery Style. My intention is to go Order of the Lycanthrope next level and run into the heart of combat using my claws for all the added bonuses and the Bow if things need to be tackled at range. My only worry is stat balance, I’ve gone point buy and even with racial bonuses I’ve only got 10, 15, 15, 14, 13, 8 so while I’m balanced I don’t really excel. Given the nature of the class I feel like there’s a lot of calls on your ASI’s and I don’t feel like I can take a Feat. Probably just me trying to play it safe though.
Why not play a barbarian bear totem re-flavored as a werewolf shapeshifter when you rage? Or an eldritch-knight, and instead of wizard spells, choose from the warlock spell list I like the concept of the blood hunter, but I feel like most of it could be done with other classes by minimally re-flavoring the class/subclass or making very small adjustments (like the warlock eldritch knight for example)
Can’t say that I’ve played as a Blood Hunter, as our group has a rule about using only Official Content, although it looks cool, and I’d love to play as a werewolf-type of character. Still, I’ve read up on it, and I actually understand it better than some of the official classes, especially the spellcasters, but that’s just me. If Matt Mercer and WotC came to an agreement, and got this class made Official, and printed in a book, say Wildemount 2, I would use it. As it is, made a few Lycanthrope-type Blood Hunters in some stories – Tabaxi Weretiger, Kenku Wereraven, Yuan-Ti Weresnake, and a Feral Tiefling Werewolf.
Had my first game with one earlier and as I was going through my abilities I realized there are SO MANY things fighting for my bonus action. Weapon enhancement? Bonus action. Order of the Mutant’s mutagen feature? Bonus action. Applying the curse to an enemy? Bonus action. My racial feature? Bonus action. And so on and so on and so on. It feels awful because, in comparison, my weapon that uses my action is so simple. I feel like it should be less bonus-heavy but what do I know.
I’m currently\tplaying a Bloodhunter ghost slayer in our Curse of Strahd game and it’s been a lot of fun. Early levels are terrifying, I fell unconscious in most of our fights until around 3rd or 4th lvl. My character was actually inspired by Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. We’re 6th lvl (5 Bloddhunter, 1 Fighter) gonna go eldritch knight since I can’t do anything at range. I love this character and even got art commissioned for him.
I’m playing a Kenku Mutant, and having a blast. Boosting Dex up for a shocking 24 score and comboing with Reconstruction for auto-healing lets this Dex-Duelist tank and strike reliably, and putting together Cruelty and Precision for three strikes with crits on 19’s (which some judicious Curse of the Marking only sweetens) means that my damage per turn often gets into the 40-60 range, with no offensive-based feats required.
A while ago I found this interesting homebrew someone made. docs.google.com/document/d/1KH1BIvzWbVB_V67DXZL7h_mvLH_cE_nU9zg21EnUVOY/edit I liked it. Mostly because it’s dragons and dragons are cool, but it’s still nice. So I decided to make my own homebrew. That’s not exactly what happened, but it still happened. I put it all into Google Docs documents because it was faster and I was too lazy to put it into other places except into mobile apps. Here it is. drive.google.com/folderview?id=1DDD-SiWKTZlRdTu7k29YOuy6BwRGZFxB I organized all the homebrew into named folders with the documents inside. It’s full of items, classes, monsters, spells, game rules/ mechanics, and more! Or something like that.
We got a pretty relaxed group when it comes to using UA or off source classes, so with a quick run by the DM I decided to create a Dwarven BH(OoLycan)/Barb(PoBeast) to go full featured werebeast berserker. Sadly our campaign has been on hold due to COVID and work pressures, but I can’t wait to resume playing that character.
Has anyone who played an order of the Lycan done an unarmed attack build and if you have post could lay out your general build? Whenever I see abilities that force you down one path I usually take them, but it’s weird because the unarmed attacks of the lycan doesn’t really synergies with any of the given fighting styles and damage-wise it doesn’t seem very effective.
A Jekyll and Hyde mutant would be fun to play, not to mention adding in personality traits to the base persona would be fun. A profane soul would be great in a one-off; I’d model mine after Arnold Rimmer in Quarantine, complete with Mr. Flibble familiar. Maybe even go with the Madness Cleric you guys are working on, or an Old One Warlock.
Just started playing a variant human Sentinel/Polearm master Profane Soul BH starting at level 5. In order to be tanky enough I decided to start with a level of fighter for the heavy armor and defensive fighting style and backstory. Really enjoying it. The Blood Curse of Binding really adds to my ability to control enemy movement.
I just started playing D&D and when my friend mentioned what Blood Hunter was to me, I immediately thought of Skarlet from Mortal Kombat. So I picked a homebrew water genasi made out of blood, and obviously blood hunter for the class. The weapons were basically x2 scimitar but I renamed them wakazashi to fit the look of Skarlet’s weapons. Most sources say she has tanto, but the only difference is the length of the blade and I personally chose wakazashi. Then I asked the DM if I could swap the light crossbow for darts because Skarlet has miniature kunai she can throw. I know there’s a lot more to the character and class, but I was just so excited about creating this character since the DM was cool with it.
My brother added me to his D&D game, it was my first time in a long time playing. I saw the BH and wanted to play it so I did, with my Hill Dwarf. I went Order of the Lycan and found out that if I rushed in with my 2H Long Flametongue, light it on fire again, and just slashed away it was devastating. One feat I did pick up was Alert, only to ensure I went first on the battle field.
I play a reskinned version of the lycan – as a kenku. I’m a human variant with blade mastery and magic initiate. I use a rapier shield combo and use parrying stance for my bonus action. Occasionally I’ll use shield of faith on myself too. I’m in a large party but tend to be the only front line fighter so I need to draw attention for as long as possible while allowing the others to get attacks in. So survivability over damage was my focus.
I find like you said, that the blood Hunter rewards the methodical player. Especially the Order of Mutant. With the right skill setup, a good main dps stat, and Intelligence being you 2nd best skill. using your knowledge, and a good survival roll. You’ll know what your up against, and quite possibly how to handle them. You guys didn’t forget to mention that each Order gets a different variation on their brands, and their very own bloodcurse. Also, on the Order of the Mutant, they do get an ability that lets them ignore the side effects of their mutagens for a minute. A minute in combat is a very long time.
Ik this is wacky but I based my bloodhunter sort of off of the red priest’s I’d game of thrones. We are playing curse of strahd and I retired my old character because he wasn’t fun to play. He was a tiefling rouge hexblade multiclass. But at level 4 no body trusted him and he was annoying to play. So I Made Ser William Sword of the morning(Me and my dm like GoT so he was fine with the name). A Scourged Aasimar born under a eclipse and bound to the Sun God along with the other Sun Swords. He was a knight that fought evil and I even got heavy armour due the intelligence gives proficiencies with tools and weapon homebrew. He is so fun to play and is fun to roleplay as. Oh yeah hes a ghostslayer
I’m playing a water genasi order of the mutant Blood Hunter with a trident and shield and it’s super effective. My ability scored are such that even when I’ve got my strength potion on and I’ve got disadvantage on dex saving throws I’ve been incredibly resilient regardless. My high HP pool protects me and taking a feat like Skill Expert makes me really feel like this Witcher character who is really well learned. It’s super effective to be able to boost my abilities as I need and to give myself features really helps me cover my gaps. I love the high risk and reward gameplay because it keeps me on my toes and I’m never face rolling in my decision making and I have to be engaged in the situation the DM is setting or I will die. Shield Expert will be key when you play this class and getting the level 7 ability to ignore the disadvantages of my potions is going to be super rewarding.
I let a new to DnD player choose the Blood Hunter. And I have a lot of regrets. I don’t watch Critical Role. I know of it obviously but it’s not something I’m overly familiar with. It’s been challenging. And I’m here to try to learn how to play this class so that I can instruct him. But it’s not something I’ll ever allow a non-experienced player to use again. It’s difficult to play. It causes massive delays in our combat. Lesson learned!
Played a LE Kalashtar Blood Hunter, order of the mutant. She was noble whose family was one of three members of dedicated to cleansing the world of evil. Xenophobic, massive superiority complex. She grew softer over time and learned to love and trust her teammates. My point here. Because of my character backstory i spoke to my DM about homebrewing my background. After some work we established that as a member of this group I’d get proficiency with and access to a “mutagenic kit.” By taking the blood from monsters, i could make a mutagen from it, giving me traits from that said monster. I would have to homebrew the mutagens though. Using the monster manual for specific traits, and the relic section in the dmg for other bonuses and drawbacks. I think if you’re creative enough you could make alot of this work.
Starting a second group (this time with people I’ve been friends with for years and feel comfortable around. The first group I DM’ed shortly for were complete strangers to me) and one of my friends wanted to build a Blood Hunter mainly because of how cool the class sounds haha. Neither of us got how perfect the class is as far as theme goes…considering we’ll be playing through The Curse Of Strahd! I can’t wait! 😀
Previously, I was a bard4 warlock2 multiclass. Unfortunately I was bitten by a were wolf and transformed in the middle of the night and lost my memory due to low Con saves. The dm told me to wipe my bard classes and my “backstory” memory along with my equipment etc. so as I came back to consciousness I became a blood hunter/ warlock with the lycan order. Now I have complete control of my werewolf abilities along with having eldritch blast/green flame blade and hex. My goal as a bloodborne hunter in Dnd is achieved.
I made a mutant character, He was an urchin whom was abducted by a shady group taking in street kids. They used him as a test subject for chimaera creation. He would eventually escape leaving him with semi-controllable shifter ability, turning him into a large bipedal lizard hulk ( like the saurus from Warhammer). I flavored in alchemical runes etched into his flesh that would glow when he activated BH feats.
I found playing a Shifter Race with the Monster Slayer subclass of Ranger also does a great job of playing a Witcher with almost no downsides. The biggest Drawback is that Rangers are Jack of all trades, master of none. My suggestion to maximizing combat, focus only one Stat when building. I found Dexterity to be the most useful.
I’m actually gonna play my first Blood Hunter this Saturday, for the first session of a Dark Fantasy campaign, and I went for the Order of the Mutant, and even though you guys are kinda scaring me with your comments on this subclass, I do believe that this subclass, made with the right build, can be pretty damn good: I made a Dexterity based melee two weapon fighting Blood Hunter, and the Mutagen increasing the Dexterity score by 3 is going to add on my AC, my initiative, my attacks and my damage, and even though the side effect of giving disadvantage on wisdom saving throws can be a pretty terrible thing to have, not only could you say that most enemies don’t involve wisdom saving throws, but if you encounter one who does, it only takes an action to flush out the toxins. I will say I understand how it is not as OP as the Lycan, but the whole rp vibe that you can get from being that sort of Alchemist (my character crafts healing potions, which can be a pretty nice perk) and changing from one day to another what you’re gonna boost (charisma checks when you enter cities, Dexterity score when in the wilderness, probably facing beasts etc…) is very nice, it has a nice flavour and a nice adaptability to it that can compensate the risk, I believe. But I can let you guys know that you were right if I die quickly! That being said, great article, and nice imput for the Curse of the Eyeless blood curse, you actually helped me choose which one I’d start with 😉
I’m currently playing a Blood Hunter in my friend’s campaign. We’re still low level, but my plan for my character is to wield two finesse weapons, activate Crimson Rites on them and go to town with it. Something about being that meat blender, slashing through the enemies in the front line speaks to me.
To me, the Blood Hunter has always felt like an urban/grimdark Ranger, with the great thematic overlap of these classes being overshadowed by how much the 5e Ranger sucks. I would much prefer these classes to be melded together as a Ranger 2.0, as the Blood Hunter has a lot of cool ways of interacting with your enemies and the Ranger (is supposed to) have a lot of cool ways of interacting with your environment.
Treantmonk has a great article going through every stage of the subclasses and clearly explains the complexities, highly recommend it to anyone rolling one up. I really like China Melvilles Scar (the sequel to Perdido Street station) with it’s blood scarring arena fighters whose blood congeals into armour, taking damage for protection. Worth a read for sure.
Been playing a bloodhunter, Order of The Lycan for over 2 years now and when this came out we updated my character when the class was re-released. Variant Human, order of the Lycan Blood Hunter. Took sharpshooter and crossbow expert immediately the combo and the martial prowess the class innately gives you is incredible. I can play this long range sniper with a heavy crossbow and I can run into the Frontline and get all attention on me to give the party a chance to recover and reposition. I love my bloodhunter, where I started getting a better Bloodhunter was with the artificer in our group and his infusions. Nothing better than a silvered +2 Longsword on a monster hunter. Not to mention, you can have one claw available as a lycan and still get that bonus action attack for a total of 3 attacks. My bloodhunter has been through the starter kit, descent into Avernus and still fighting fiends and undead and the flavor alone for this class drew me so hard, but this 2 years playing it and getting this character’s progression both RP and just combat effectiveness has been what made me really fall in love with this class. And that’s what I end up finding with most others that play this class. They truly love what they are playing.
One thing I think worth making sure to mention is that the version of the class I believe you guys were reading is the third (or fourth if you count the witch hunter) iteration of this class. In an older version, your crimson rite not only lowered your max hp, but the damage was static and based off of your level. This actually ended up being some signifigant damage, making them very much a glass cannon. However, what a cannon. The one player I had play one did go order of the Mutant, and went for the concotions that messed with ability scores, using them to cancel out some of the negatives of each one. They were a half-orc with dual-wielding battleaxes, and they were death. They could make three attacks a round and with their bonuses and concotions I think they averaged 3d8+3d6+18 damage. Which is a solid 42 damage a round. Also, I’m a little sad you didn’t mention some of the higher level abilities. Like the Ghostslayer actually has a super cool ability where if they are dropped to zero hp, their ghost forms above their body and continues fighting for a few rounds (very low hp, but you basically can just keep laying on the hurt until they drop you a second time). The new version also gives a unique maledict to each Order, which I think is a really cool way to show their different specialities, and I think the Lycan is an AOE fear effect called “Blood Howl”, which can be great since you want to be in the center dishing out damage.
I’m currently playing a Blood Hunter of the Profane Soul with a homebrewed Patron. I have a sword which has the soul of its Blacksmith trapped inside. (My Crimson rite flames are the flames of the smith’s forge) The patron grants me +1, +2, +3 (progressively) to hit if I have been landing attacks but -1, -2, -3 to hit if I miss attacks, further increasing the risk/reward of the class.
I’m in a game with a Blood Hunter and Paladin, and I’ll say. As a Barbarian, I feel damn useless xD. The combination of those two classes is just stupid. The ability to add Int to physical saving throws, and then gain the Paladin’s Cha to all saving throws makes it so it’s almost impossible to make a Blood Hunter fail saves. As the Blood Hunter is possibly the most unbalanced class when rolling for stats. Imagine a class that at level 6 could have a +13 to Dex saves on its own. And with a Paladin(if rolled just as well) could have a +18 to Dex saves. Even with a 10 in Str, Con, Wis and Cha, they could have. Str: +10 Dex:+18 Con:+10 Int:+13 Wis:+5 Cha:+5 It is bloody insane, especially for a d10 class that gets more survivability than a Dex focused Rogue. I will advice all DMs, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, allow this class with rolled stats. It will break game balance heavily, especially with a Paladin. And do advice your party to not pick a Barbarian if that combo is there. Cause, the Barbarian will feel redundant.
In one of our long running campaigns (ran for 2 years or so started at level 3 and we ended at level 18) I played a Protector Aasimar Ghostslayer Bloodhunter multiclassed with Rune Knight Fighter, Bear totem barb and Genie Warlock. Ran great weapon master on a greatsword with it & holy shit. The amount of damage I could deal, plus all of my useful short rest abilities paired with my tankiness and damage resistances made for an incredibly well rounded and wildly powerful/durable character. Man I loved playing Strider Bonesplitter. He excelled at burst damage, sustained damage and tanking, plus I had a tool/solution up my sleeve for almost any scenario possible. & the best part is other than rage, EVERYTHING recharged on a short rest. 10/10 would play again.
GUYS you never talked about how at lvl 7 you can IGNORE the NEGATIVE EFFECTS of all mutagens affecting you for 1 min, once per long rest, strong when you know theres a big fight, not requiring you to rely on a potential divination wizard (which btw, would be a nice combo). Edit: also lvl 11 mutegan grants SO many useful combat mutegens (including FLIGHT) never mind a mutegen that grants darkvision, with a sunlight sensitivity drawback, like EZ
As requested – experience as character.: I’m playing a Wood Elf Order of the Lycan. I’ve taken Elven Accuracy and Fey-Touched (w/ Hunter’s Mark) as my Feats. We have a Circle of the Stars Druid, a Valor Bard, and a Swashbuckler Rogue in this party. Between flanking and the advantage given often by the Druid and Faerie Fire, I spend a lot of time rolling 3D20 to hit, and then 3D6+dex damage on hit. at this point, 3x per round. Its brutal. Especially when I then turn back into an elf with strength 9.
20:00 I have just a question about the profane soul… There’s the whole section that is about multiclassing in warlock but I don’t understand well of it works with that 1/3 levels excetera. Futhermore, I convinced my DM to give me a double patron (1 from the profane soul and 1 from the warlock, since I’m a shifter I have a duality in my that make it sense) but we can’t decide how to treat those patrons (I mean, each patron give an ability at levels 1,6,10 and 14. Counting then together would be broken since I’d be leveling 2 patrons together but counting them separately will give me only the first ability from the second patron. Should I count also the bonuses levels for that?)
My Human Profane Soul and Forge Cleric (because I still use WIS like the OG) kills it in combat with his pair of Chinese Hook Swords(that have disarming properties etc.) He has a magical set of plate Armor thats basically a demonic environmental suit. His favorite spells are Mirror Image(Because who doesn’t lovethe idea of fighting next to 4 of you), Misty Step(which once let me essentially jump off a high rise building scott free), Cause Fear(I mean cmon) and Toll the Dead, because its hard to pass up that d12 of damage on failed saves especially with Mystic Frenzy allowing me to make 2 melee/ranged attacks after the cantrip. I think my average damage output is somewhere in the neighborhood of 48(30 slashing 18 fire/cold) damage per turn in melee combat(if all attacks hit). Thoughts?
I’m just saying…. Grey Wardens from Dragon Age. (The opening cinematic speech to DAO). “The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men which brought the darkspawn into our world. The mages had sought to usurp Heaven. But instead, they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption. They returned as monsters, the first of the darkspawn. They became a blight upon the lands, unstoppable and relentless. The dwarven kingdoms were the first to fall. And from the deep roads, the darkspawn drove at us again and again, until finally we neared annihilation… until the Grey Wardens came. Men and women from every race, warriors and mages, barbarians and kings, the Grey Wardens sacrificed everything to stem the tide of darkness, and prevailed. It has been four centuries since that victory, and we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the darkspawn to return. But those, who once called us heroes, have forgotten. We are few now, and our warnings have been ignored for too long. It may even be too late, for I have seen with my own eyes what lies upon the horizon. Maker help us all.” If I need to explain more I most certainly will! Also, remember Alistair explaining to Jory about sensing Darkspawn and how they have an innate ability to best slay the Darkspawn. (SPOILER. THE JOINING!!)
Man! I am new and just started playing. That being said I chose a Tiefling Blood Hunter with order of the mutant. Blood curse of the Bloated Agony. Crimson rite with Frozen damage. And Formulas Celerity, Mobility, Potency, and Vermillion. Soooo, there is that! Lol. But I do like it. What say everyone else. Curiosity killed the cat but hopefully not my Blood Hunter!!
I’ve made several bloodhunters of every variety and must say, my blade singer x ghostslayer dealt absolutely ridiculous amounts of damage with haste and spirit guardians up, the lycan ones always felt really fun for unarmed builds and brutal Frontliners, profane soul is pure flavor and fiend and undead were my 2 favorite choices given the rite enhancements. Finally the one with mutagens CAN be risky but It fits PERFECTLY into any mad scientist or crazy explosives/guns character, granting extra attacks, better hit rate and improved crits (the damage resistances and similar ones are mostly a trap) and the rp for it is VERY nice given how many affect you OUTSIDE combat too
Wizard (bladesinger) two or three levels. Then Mutant Blood Hunter for the rest. You can bump your INT (and INT maximum) by three (more at higher levels) with a mutagen and the only cost for that is disadvantage on Charisma saves. As long as you aren’t up against something that is gonna try to banish you, you’re golden. Your unarmed AC with Bladesong is absolutely amazing. And you’ve got things like shield and the SCAG cantrips, which make you a melee machine. By level nine, you’re buffing you’re DEX too. It gives a penalty to WIS saves, which matter more than CHA. But you’ve got ASI’s to use on getting proficiency. And you don’t necessarily dump them all into your primary stats cos you’ve got mutagens for that. You eventually get advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened through the base class. So that balances out your disadvantage on the worstWisdom Saves anyway. Mutant is absolutely lit. You’ve just got understand the rules. Being in a party with a divination wizard, knowledge cleric, scout/mastermind Rogue, etc helps a ton too. If you’ve got a paladin running around, by level six, they’re giving you enough of a bonus on your saves that disadvantage means next to nothing. Blood hunters rely pretty heavily on support casters anyway because they’re going around damaging themselves to use their class features. Lean into that and work with the party to get advantage when you need it and get information about when you’re about to go up against something that’s gonna be able to exploit a mutagen drawback.
A big problem with the Blood Hunter when it was first introduced was that it had to juggle too many different ability scores and was restricted to medium armor. Str or Dex for attacks, but Dex up to 14 for the +2 to AC, Con is even more important b/c of crimson rite and blood maledict (and back then lowered max hp an equal amount *ouch*), wisdom was the ability stat for blood curses, and many of your skills ran off of Int (knowledge (x) and investigation), and I think profane souls were CHA back then like other warlocks. It was a good move for matt to change that from Wis to Int and allow profane souls’ casting stat to be Int. You’re still basically MAD with certain builds if you do point buy or standard array but it’s less bad now. Running a Str build is the toughest unless you play a variant human and take Heavily Armored at lvl 1.
I’m planning on playing a mutagen bloodhunter and flavouring them as a doctor who experimented on himself, somewhat Jekyll and Hyde inspired… I was considering multiclassing into artificer for either alchemist or Battlesmith (flavour the defender as a Frankensteins monster) We’ll likely only be playing until level 10 though, and not sure if the 3 artificer levels will be worth it… Anyone got thoughts on if I can make that work?
I havent played D&D since middle school and im mid 20s now and just started playing 5e. I am not afraid to say im an edgelord supreme so when i saw this class i knew i HAD to play it. I took order of the profane soul cause dark magic and blood curses???? Whats more edgy than that. I’ve decided to make this character like a Dark Magic version of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. I took dual wielder and I have different swords for different situations. After playing it for about 5 sessions i cannot stress just how FUN this class is. The damage per turn after you get all your hexs/curses/rites keeps up with that of a raging barb and the rouge getting advantage every turn that are in my party. Cannot wait to combo this class with Echo Knight Fighter.
Bloodhunter is weak. He is too balanced. His bonus action is overloaded, he deals damage to himself, he can use his curses rarely and their effects are underwhelming, he suffers from MAD, having to put points into his casting ability (and it’s not charisma). When bloodhunter uses everything, and it takes 2-3 turns he might deal same amount of damage as paladin or warrior or rogue, but they can do same damage from turn 1. And after bloodhunter uses all of his extremely limited resources his only saving grace is crimson rite damage which is cool, if the enemy wouldn’t be dead already because paladin smitted him turn 2.
I sawed off all the edges of a blood hunter I built once. One of my fellow players was VERY squeamish about self harm so I made Taz, a leodin BH who was SUPER klutzy every time he was in a fight he would trip or bang his knee or accidentally grab the wrong part of his weapon when pulling it out. I choose order of the lycan and just made his transformation make his hair fluffier and when his HP was low and I failed the save he would get scared and clamber up random player cheracters/ enemies scooby do style and grip them in a death grip. Wasn’t EXACTLY What I wanted but it made the guy feel better. And considering his cheracter was a way of mercy monk it did lead to some fun interactions between our 2 cheracters
My hot take for the Blood Hunter, I suppose, is that it could (and maybe should) be reworked into a Ranger subclass. Crimson Rite and Blood Maledict are the defining features of Blood Hunter, so I think that Crimson Rite should be worked into a bonus to Hunter’s Mark and that Blood Maledict should be made the lvl. 3 feature, similar to Hunter archetype’s deal where you have a handful of options to choose from to enhance your subclass. Choosing one of the four subclasses to lean into for the Ranger-ification, I would easily pick Ghostslayer. Profane Soul is redundant, as Ranger already is a caster, Lycan treads to closely to Barbarian (especially the UA Path of the Beast), and Mutant is just too complicated to combine with Ranger. This all being said, the idea of “Monster Hunter” does not go too far from the core Ranger concept, as the Dudes mentioned early in the article, and there already exists a “Monster Slayer” Ranger archetype. The Blood Hunter could be reworked into an occult slayer type of Ranger, I feel, and it would not lose any of the flavor.