The War Caster feat (PHB p170) allows a Sword and Board Paladin to cast spells with Somatic components with their hands full. However, if the spell requires Material components, the sword must be put away to access the component pouch or focus item. A Sword and Board Paladin with a holy symbol shield can cast any spell with both Somatic and Material components, but not a spell with only Somatic. This is only applicable for components that have no cost and that are not required.
You can wield a sword+shield and cast spells (assuming the holy symbol shield) only if the spell requires material components. If no material components are required, you need to have a somatic component. You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands. When a hostile creature’s movement occurs, a Sword and Board Paladin with a holy symbol on the shield can cast any spell with a material AND somatic component (Sheild of Faith/Bless).
To cast somatic spells with a sword and shield, you need the other hand free, or the War Caster feat, which allows you to cast spells with somatic. Paladins can use a shield as a holy symbol and use the shield arm for somatic components. However, in the PNP game, Paladins can use their shields as holy symbols and use the same hand holding their focus to cast.
In D and D 5e, the War Caster Feat allows the caster to still perform the somatic components of spells even if they have weapons or a shield in their hands. If the holy symbol is being used as the material component of the spell, the spell requires a somatic component, and a hand-free spell is not possible. However, as a free additional action within your action, sheathe or draw the somatic component of a spell.
📹 Davvy’s D&D 5e Paladin Spell Guide
What is the dual wielding rule in 5e?
Dual-wielding is a combat mechanic that allows a character to use their bonus action to make an extra attack on an enemy, provided they are wielding light weapons. This is only allowed when the PC’s weapons are classified as “light”. Dual-wielding is not the official term for equipping a PC with a main and off-hand weapon in D and D, but it is called “Two-weapon fighting”. However, when making a bonus action attack with the PC’s off-hand weapon, they cannot add their ability modifier to the total damage.
Ability modifiers are values based on the PC’s ability scores and are usually added to attack rolls to supplement damage rolls. Off-hand attacks only incorporate whatever damage is rolled on the dice.
Can you cast somatic spells while dual wielding?
The Warcaster feat permits the performance of somatic spell components even when weapons or a shield are being used in one or both hands, thereby indicating that the term “weapons” is plural.
Can Paladins cast spells with a shield and sword?
Clerics and paladins are permitted to utilize their holy symbol as the spellcasting focus, thereby enabling them to cast spells with both hands occupied in the event that the symbol is visible on a necklace, integrated into their armor, or displayed on their shield.
Can you cast somatic spells with a shield 5e?
It is possible for paladins and clerics to mark their shield with the symbol of their deity, thereby rendering it a material component that can be manipulated in a manner analogous to a somatic component while in hand. It should be noted, however, that spells with somatic components cannot be cast with a full hand.
Can you cast somatic spells with a sword and shield?
Shield of Faith requires Verbal, Somatic, and Material components to cast. Casting a spell requiring Somatic or Material components requires a feat or feature, such as War Caster in D and D 5e RAW. Spells with Somatic and Material components require a free hand, with some exceptions. The same hand can utilize both components if the Paladin’s Shield is their Divine Spell Focus. Wielding a 2-Handed weapon bypasses the free-hand restriction. Swapping or sheathing weapons is a free action in Solasta, but it is a 1-per-turn ordeal due to the 6-second round time limit.
What does Teferi’s protection not protect against?
It should be noted that Teferi’s Protection does not prevent damage; therefore, it is dealt with if it cannot be prevented. Examples of such cards include “Vorpal Sword,” “Strixhaven Stadium,” and “Phage the Untouchable.” In the event that the Questing Beast is in play, the Atemsis card is only capable of inflicting combat damage. In the event that an opponent has Synth Eradicator on board and activates Synth’s ability to deal three points of damage to the opponent, does that damage inflict a successful hit?
Can Paladin cast spells?
The Paladin table displays the number of spell slots available for casting spells. To cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. All expended spell slots are regained after a long rest. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, a 5th-level paladin with a 14 Charisma can have four 1st or 2nd-level spell slots. Casting a 1st-level spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.
Can you cast spells while Teferi’s protection?
A player with protection from everything is safeguarded from all forms of damage, auras cannot be attached to them, and they cannot be the target of spells or abilities. However, there are certain events that are either prevented or rendered illegal, as specified.
Can paladins cast spells?
The Paladin table displays the number of spell slots available for casting spells. To cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. All expended spell slots are regained after a long rest. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, a 5th-level paladin with a 14 Charisma can have four 1st or 2nd-level spell slots. Casting a 1st-level spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.
Can Paladins cast spells with a two-handed weapon?
It should be noted that certain spells necessitate the use of a free hand for the creation of air designs. However, it is possible to cast such spells with two hands, provided that the player in question belongs to one of the two subclasses that permit this action. Paladins have the option of switching to their ranged weapon, utilizing a two-handed weapon, or selecting the custom difficulty setting to circumvent this rule.
Can a Paladin cast spells with a two handed weapon?
It should be noted that certain spells necessitate the use of a free hand for the creation of air designs. However, it is possible to cast such spells with two hands, provided that the player in question belongs to one of the two subclasses that permit this action. Paladins have the option of switching to their ranged weapon, utilizing a two-handed weapon, or selecting the custom difficulty setting to circumvent this rule.
📹 How bad is Sword and Board In D&D 5e?
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So speaking of game roles, Adam Miller – Game Architect has a really good article on the topic called “Why Do So Many Games Have Tanks, Healers and DPS?”. Adam points out that the three Roles directly line up with the three main kinds of interaction players have to deal with, ie Player to Enemy, Enemy to Player, and Player to Allie. DPS are offensive builds that focus on interacting with the enemy until they fall over dead, Healers interact with their allies, keeping them in the fight, and Tanks focus on controlling the ways that enemies can interact with their allies. Under this paradigm, taunting enemies isn’t the only way to tank, it’s just the main way tanking works in mmo’s so we keep trying to port it to whole other mediums/genres where it doesn’t fit. Look at 3.5/pathfinder, where grapple builds were pretty common as a way to lock down enemies, and prevent them from taking actions. Tanks, or perhaps it might be better to call them Defenders, do exist in 5e as well. The defender fighting style, vicious mockery, and the fear condition all apply disadvantage on your enemies attacks. Sentinel and Mage Slayer let you restrict a key enemies from taking certain actions. Counterspell and Silvery Barbs let you lock down key spells. Evard’s Black Tentacles grapples a bunch of people. Of course, this just further backs up your point, that Casters are better at protecting their allies than martials.
I kinda feel that Martials should have shield mastery as a base feature. This way they have a tiny bit more options while casters like Cleric need to make a more conscious decision to use shields for more than just an AC buff. It probably wouldnt change much, but at least they are less replaceable lol (And maybe then they can buff shield mastery too)
What is strong about it is that you have two sources of AC that scale. If your DM is more liberal with magic items, and you get a +2 on both your armor and shield, that is a +4 on AC, unlike your friends, who only got a +2. It makes your defenses very strong. IF your DM gives you magic armor and shields, that is
Your point about raising the DPR floor is really important. If character options are being boosted across the board, it just means monsters get stronger. The game doesn’t change. What really needs to happen is that outliers need to be toned back, and that most notably means casters… and yet casters are getting buffs across the board in OneD&D. It’s a serious issue and most of the commentary I see about OneD&D seems to lose itself in evaluating new features for casters as “good” and “strong” when they need to be thinking about whether or not it brings casters to the same level as martials.
Kobold! World Anvil is incredible, I am so happy I used your code a month ago, now my players can actually find the information they’re looking for! Also, this was a pretty depressing article for someone who has always loved the flavour of sword and board. Your quarter staff and shield vs sword and shield breakdown made me eat an entire bag of chocolate covered peanuts to try and feel a better about my poor choices.
I think the underlying intended use of “wrath of the sea” is that you are on a ship or dock or near water in combat. So it literally pushes enemies off of ships into the ocean. It is very situational, but the subclass is kind of made to be used at sea. So if your DM is running a nautical themed campaign, this ability is actually quite good.
Back in 1st edition D&D, a shield gave you +1AC, a long sword did 1d8 damage and a 2H sword did 1d10 damage. It was a very small tradeoff. Eventually, they increased the damage of 2H sword to 2d6 and then decided to balance things, shields needed a +2AC. Now they have feats which can greatly increase 2H damage but they haven’t really added anything to make sword and board more balanced.
yes, there are not many ways for forcing enemies to hit you specifically as a tanking method in 5e but on the other hand if this was the case every dnd party should be built around the holy trinity of tank healer and dps imho. to me a good “tanking method” in 5e is the frightned condition with features like: oathbreaker and conquest paladin website divinity, undead and fey warlock, I think they could be another way to see “tanking” in 5e
The DMG has rules regarding marking that makes it allot easier for martial classes to control enemies. Whenever you hit an enemy with a melee attack, you can mark them for one turn. When a marked enemy provokes an attack of opportunity, you gain advantage on a single opportunity attack against them while not expending your reaction. So it effectively gives a martial character the ability to have a number of opportunity attacks equal to the number of creatures they hit on their turn. Combine that with Sentinel that reduces a creature’s movement speed to 0 when hit by an opportunity attack and Polearm Master, you can effectively lock down an area preventing them from reaching your party members.
A personal opinion based on a War Master Fighter I’m currently playing, but I’ve found that the Dual Wielder feat is arguably more useful and flavorful than Sword and Board. You’ll get a +1 to your AC, and you’ll get two weapon options to choose from while out in combat (perhaps a longsword and a quarterstaff, if you wanted the spellcasting focus discussed in the article?). Pair that with your Extra Attack, your Action Surge, and (should you choose it) a Bonus Action attack using two-weapon fighting, you become a swirling storm of oppressive steel.
There is no myth about the party roles – it is just from old editions. In the day, you played in dungeons so you literally could control enemy movement and focus that on a very powerful defender. The issue we have today is that if you are a Marshall character or a skills based one this game does not support well unless you become a caster.
Actually, if you have spike growth, this wrath of the sea might be busted. C’mon, you push enemy 15ft, he has to come back it again, it’s 12d4 + 3d6 on 3rd lvl with point buy. Plus, as a druid you can have shield, medium armor, and have some great healing spells, so you don’t have to worry about taking one hit from time to time.
I’m thinking the first change I’d make is removing concentration from melee weapon-enhancing spells to encourage using them more. Tell me, is it more beneficial to shut down the enemy completely with flaming sphere or web or is it better to give the fighter a +1 to damage with magic weapon? Keep in mind that both of these cost a LV2 slot and concentration. Secondly, Add an additional attunement slot to characters, but make component pouches and arcane foci cost attunement. And no skirting around it by making a magic item that counts as an arcane focus. The idea is to give martials something that doesn’t feel like just giving them spellcasting, but giving them something that increases their power without casters hijacking it (like with armour) These aren’t massive changes, but incremental changes can help lower the power gap.
Terchnically, a “quarterstaff” does not count as an Arcane Focus, an Arcane Focus staff counts as a quarterstaff. The difference? About 4g, 8s. Quarterstaff is 2s, Arcane Focus staff is 5g. Possibly relevant to a starting character. Also worth asking if your DM is willing to house-rule that a spear can be an Arcane Focus staff with a bladed head.
One problem with the “quarterstaff and board” option for the crown paladin: unless you pay the 5gp for an actual staff focus (which is separate from a quarterstaff despite being similar enough shape-wise), then you cannot use the quarterstaff as a focus, due to the fact that a weapon, on its own and without the war caster feat tax, cannot be a focus, as well as the focus itself needs to be able to be USED as a quarterstaff in that capacity. Instead, you could make the shield you’re holding into a divine focus MUCH easier, and is supported in the rules WITHOUT needing an additional cost for function. It can even be part of your starting equipment, whereas the staff focus has to be either in your starting equipment as a focus, or purchased with 5 gold. 5 gold you could’ve spent on other things, such as a ranged option for in case you can’t reach the enemy with your movement ok your turn, but still want to deal some damage. As for the sea druid, the only “problem” is that you’re not using your aura effectively. The shove is on top of the damage you deal, which is a number of d6s equal to your wisdom modifier, at the end of your turn. Do I have to mention how many spells you could use in conjunction with this feature that makes this much more worth your time than just simply “running and potentially having to soak an attack of opportunity”? I thought we were better than this Kobold, it’s free damage! You can use it in conjunction with wildshape! You can even use it after you cast a spell!
I’m currently playing a Paladin/Fighter subclass that’s built around being the “tank”. I grabbed both the Interception and Protection fighting styles, Shield Master feat, and my next level is getting me the Cavalier subclass for the Unwavering Mark and mount-based features. I throw all of that in combination with a summoned warhorse from Find Steed and I’m blazing across the battlefield taking the hits for my party. In retrospect I should probably ditch one of the fighting styles to either pick up Defense or Dueling but for now I like having the option of assessing and going “okay, this is an attack we have the resources to recover from” and just blocking some damage, or “oh snap, this is better to possibly avoid entirely” and inflicting disadvantage.
It’s actually pretty good as a paladin. Your damage isn’t as good as two-handed, but smites make your damage still really high. Getting the +2 AC from the shield is often more useful than more damage when you’re already dealing so much. As a cherry on top, the PHB says that to use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for divine spellcasters like Paladins, it just had to be “worn visibly”. So you don’t have to worry about it clogging up your hands.
I like the shield and sword on my cleric. More AC, and with warcaster I’m still slinging spells when needed (most of the time). But I guess it really isn’t optimal for a fighter. D&D really has no MMO style tanking, but I think you can still kind of fill that role if you have high defenses and can stop enemies from moving close to other players. But the funny part is that casters do that better with spells like web anyway.
I’m currently playing a cleric with Shield and Rapier (little bit of homebrew with proficiency, because of STR of 6 thanks to dices), 18 AC, does hardly any damage but dodge tanked so much damage away last session, enemies lost at least 2 crits. 😀 This comparison only considers damage output of the player, but not damage denial. Of course you need natural barriers if you want to block enemies from just running pass you, depening on how smart they are 🙂
I played a kender swashbuckler with a dip into hexblade warlock. I would booming blade a target, fancy footwork disengage, then bonus action taunt melee enemies. Either they A- stayed in place and glared at me giving up a turn B- reveal they had some form of range attack (90% of the time they didn’t) C- would be forced to move to attack me and take the booming blade magic damage D- Attack another PC/NPC with disadvantage It was a obnoxious!
i couldnt agree more with this article. im actually doing a pretty unique build right now where im basically a “control paladin” im oath of ancients, satyr race. shield in one hand and my other hand is free. everyone in the party has higher damage than my d6+3. So i dont even try to compete for damage until its time to fight bosses. I stand shoulder to should with the cavalier fighter, we force enemies into choke points so that they cannot flank our healer. I will often sacrifice attacking enemies on my turn to either dodge, or use objects and the environment. dodging encourages enemies to attack the fighter, and I use my reaction for protection(i swapped it out for interception recently though). ill also use spell slots for shield of faith or heroism, heroism usually pulls more weight during boss fights because the monsters usually will out hit the +2. recently we fought goblins coming over a small bridge, i could have held the line against them, but even with heavy armor master i should avoid taking unnecessary damage. i head butted the bridge and collapsed it, effectively removing the goblins ability to attack me in melee or shoot arrows at my party behind me due to the elevation difference. I can also website divinity to restrain targets, which is super useful for our cavalier fighter and drake warden ranger. in conclusion tanking isn’t a build, its a type of team work. everyone at the table needs to be committed to helping create situations in which 1 or 2 people with specialised defenses force enemies to attack them.
……..ok, a few things if i may? 1;One of the best Fighting Styles is The Protection Style, which gives disadvantaged against 1 ally within 5ft of you per turn. It only costs you a reaction. 2; The base +2 to AC plus any magic bonuses is really useful in 5E. High AC is rewarded here more so than older editions. 3; “But if your using a shield in your off hand, you cant use 2 weapon fighting or great weapon master so your damage suffers.” Well, there’s ways around that. You can use a shield as a off hand (Even getting spikes put on and giving magic weapon bonuses is optional) and to use Great Weapon Mastery, you can just drop the shield as a move action (Or wear a buckler and release the holding strap as a reaction, although you cant shield bash with a buckler so keep that in mind) 3; There’s alot of feats and magic enchantments for shields that are amazingly useful. (Sentinel Shield, Dancing Shield, resistance vs whatever) If you dont like the idea, thats fine play however you want. I just dont think its accurate to say its bad.
As a DM I do a lot to make the longsword more attractive for my players, as well as sword and board, in case it’s what they want to do. I have a Fighting Style for fighters literally called sword and board. When using a shield in one hand and a martial (Keyword, martial.) in the other, the fighter may spend their bonus action to bash the target for 1d4 + strength modifier in damage. I have the Longsword Master feat: +1 to strength or dexterity. You can attack with your choice of Piercing or slashing with longswords. When wielding a longsword in one hand the damage becomes 2d4, in both hands it becomes your choice of 2d4 or 1d10. Once per short rest, you may perform one of the following actions based on how you are wielding the blade. One Hand: on a successful attack, you may choose to forgo one of your attacks to roll damage as if you struck the target twice (2d4 + an additional 2d4.) . 2 hands: You may forgo one of your attack actions to impose advantage on the target for the next attacking creature including yourself, or disadvantage on the targets next melee attack. Prerequisites: Strength of 16, character must be proficient with the longsword from their starting class. My homebrew Feat plus fighting style equals lets say for example: a minimum of 23 damage in a round if the fighter had a str of 18 and a total of three attack actions, and used the bonus action to shield bash. I also have homebrew rules for Mordaugh (Turns the longsword into a 1d8 club if used with both hands by the blade.
PT you are forgetting another part of the dps race… the enemy does damage, the Fighter is going to have a higher CON than the Cleric (a fair assumption) and they have higher hit dice. What the sword & board fighter needs to be more interesting are maneuvers around using Shield Bash, that has always been the case in 3.5 and Pathfinder. The problem with “tanking” in D&D comes from how the players and GMs roleplay the combat. If you do something like chess, yeah… kind of dull, there aren’t many things that pull you into melee. You can test a bit the Mark mechanic in the DMG 141pg… at least it’s a free reaction. Back in the older editions, the Fighter was attacked simply because it was in the front line and probably the corridor is only 10ft. wide… on the wilderness monster could gang up everyone at the same time or a worse scenario you got ambushed by monsters in a corridor and suddenly your backline is your front line.
I feel like this article is more “Why Martials are bad” as opposed to why Sword & Board is bad. Of course if you take a caster of any type vs sword and board, there’s no comparison. That is true even without shields, or even if the caster has lesser AC. I think the better comparison would be for Sword & Board Martials vs Two-Weapon Martials. At lower levels, where most campaigns are played, that +2 bonus to AC is a fair trade vs an extra few points of DPR. Of course it gets worse as you level and your enemies start to force more saves versus making attacks.
I’ve never understood the purpose of single handed weapons and the lack of an equivalent feat to great weapon master. The smaller and more nimble a weapon is, the more extra attacks or other options it should give. Light weapons get +1 attack. Sword and Board Master feat gives +1 attack to both Light and Versatile weapons. All of this stacks with class features. Sounds overpowered? Just go and test this against a great weapon master fighter. Adjust in smaller ways, like damage dice, to get them to around the same level. Maybe this also helps fix rogue damage output.
tanking isnt real, but your AC being so high that your enemy needs to crit to hit you is fun. One argument to be made for the sword and board build is very campaign and DM dependant though, and not something you can really math out in testing: a vast majority of magic weapons are longswords or single handed/versatile weapons. not counting the dragons wrath series there is barely any notable ranged/heavy weapons that are not just +X, so you are much more likely (again, DM and game dependant) to find a good magic weapon if you are playing either a sword and board or dual wielder. too vague to optimize what might happen, but is worth it if you know the module or if your dm likes giving out weapons.
Tell that to King Dokvan my level 20 lawful evil Hobgoblin fighter battle master with 1AC from fighting style, 1ac from ring, 1AC from cloak, 5AC from shield, 5 AC from armor, 3AC from my defender shortsword, and 6AC with defensive duelist. 29 AC before reaction / defender transfer. 38 with both, and over 40 with my groups cleric/bard buffs, along with movement restriction spells. if they try to manuver around you to hit an ally, use maneuvering strike to cancel them out. it and the fear / disarm are by far the best maneuvers if you can use them well. The dice from the combat master gives you consistent damage paired with your multi attacks will keep you on the higher end of damage with short rests / bard cleric ally. we had a lot of fun, and unless the enemy had magic, or saving throws, Dokvan coming for you was a nightmare. god that was a good 3 year session. cast hast on the fighter with 40AC, fighter rushed up to the boss who cant hit him, bard casts force cage and feeblemind if it takes too long. EZ
Give duelist fighting style free ripostes (w/o superiority die). Shield increases chance of enemy missing = more ripostes. Speeds up martial combat significantly and removes reliance on polearm mastery. It’s also pretty accurate to how sword/shield fighting works irl. I also think the polearm reaction should be a fighting style perk because the other fighting style “mastery” feats have a corresponding fighting style.
Honestly, damage aside, did a sword and board combo before and it was relatively effective, not great, but did it’s job. Was using an Eldritch Knight in a high level one shot, so between heavy armor, a shield, the shield spell, and shield master for half/no damage on spell saves, and some cheeky counter spells, they were a nuisance. Sure, not great damage, but could stop up a caster using disintegrate, tank fireballs like nothing, then go in for an action surge to target high priority targets.
Yes Sword and Board is only ok, mostly it has to do with how AC works, if a shield was realistic it should do something more like a free or Bonus Action to take the Dodge Action. Tried it, did not work, it just slows down the game. As for making a S&B build, I am running two with the One-D&D rules, that helps a lot because it is about building around it. My Champion has: Dueling, Protection and Sword Mastery. He is doing good damage, knocking foes down, and giving Disadvantage to those attacking the Artificer (The other ‘Tank’) who keeps Marking them, so no matter what the first Attack is probably at Disadvantage. Then half the party can usually get Advantage. Sword and Board is not about being the Damage Dealer, it is about taking control of the hex you are in and all the hexes adjacent to you which is enough to bottle up a corridor.
one of things that I liked about 2d 2.5 and 3 and 3.5d is that you couldn’t cast arcane spells and wear armor EXCEPT elven chain, which usually the martials would still take because they needed better magical armor vs the casters. Thus magical items like Bracers of Defense, Rings of Protection and Robe of the Magi which gave better AC or bonuses to AC that arcane casters would wear. But you also might have Mage Armor or Shield (which lasted 1 round/level instead of only lasting for 1 turn and cast as a reaction) I also feel like martials were stronger too. I remember having one friend playing a fighter who at level 12 we nicknamed “The Blender” because she had so many attacks that she managed to KO a young green dragon in a single round because we got surprise on it, and she rolled first initiative. I don’t know how she did it but our DM was still shocked. Mind you, this was a random encounter we had while flying over a swamp.
There needs to be more/better options for covering allies, redirecting attacks, block damage mitigation, “thorns” damage, crowd control abilities (stuns with shield, disarms, trips, knockdowns, shoves, etc), morale effect bonuses of some sort that allies can use (similar to a bardic inspiration), just to name a few things. If you can’t tank and do damage, tanking and controlling the battlefield while limiting monsters actions would be just as useful… until you get turned into a dragon – then it doesn’t matter… boost martials…😅
I made some changes because one of my players wanted to play sword and board but as you pointed out, the game doesnt really offer that playstyle in a fun or effective way. DISCLAIMER: we do not use 5e Monster Manuals or Adventure paths, the balancing is based around our own monsters and world so it might not work with yours. Change 1: Assuming your are proficient, a shield also gives you the “Shield Bash” Bonus Action. When you take the Attack action and attack, you can use a bonus action to attack with your shield. When doing so you reduce your to-hit modifier by -2. Hitting your target causes 1d6 (blunt) damage. Shield Bash does qualify for the Two-Weapon Fighting style but does not count as a weapon (for the purpose of the Dueling fighting style). When using the Parry Maneuver you add your Shield AC and Enhancement Bonuses to it. Change 2: All martial classes gain what we call the four “basic” Maneuvers. Those being: Feint, Parry, Riposte and Brace. These can be performed without any Superiority Dice, their effect is determined by your Proficiency. If you have Superiority Dice they are added to that effect (Proficiency + Superiority Die). Change 3: Too many feats to list them all here but they are related to reactions, shoving, tripping, attacks of opportunity etc. also stuff like causing flying creatures to stay grounded, cause damage over time effects (bleed mostly), punishing enemy casters etc. Regarding Shield Bash and it being a contender for the lackluster dual wielding concept: if you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and a light melee weapon in the other you may attack with the light melee weapon twice.
I’ve successfully “tanked” using a shield over the years with an Armorer Artificer, a Zealot Barb, a OotA Pally, a Battlemaster Fighter, and a Fighter/Bard/Rogue. By focusing on inflicting Conditions through de-buff actions, abilities and spells, tactical positioning, and consistent attacks, your job is to strategically force the enemy to make decisions. By forcing the enemy to make specific tactical decisions, you are keeping them from advancing their own possibility of victory.
I enjoy you ending the article with “Play what you want to play” I enjoy shield and battle axe for flavor, I play the bulwark warrior with slasher and shield master. So I have a taunt and durability with temp hp over time. I have a rogue and hexblade warlock as my strikers that dip in and out of melee. With a wizard, cleric, and ranger being or versatile dps. She dips in and out of melee and keeping the wizard and cleric safe
The only thing this proves is that balance is so insanely bad, and on the caster’s favor, that even a bare bones cantrips only build is better than most Martials who don’t fully abuse ALL the damage increasing feats and mechanics available and even then, the second the caster uses a spell slot in combat it once again wins in DPR
I’m playing a sword and board rogue/fighter. Works so well in helping me get in close to the enemy, and actually stay in the fight with the enemy and get plenty if not all my sneak attacks off. It does also allow me to position myself in front of my allies to provide an actual tank like role while still dishing out plenty of damage. Plus there are a lot of options for shield wielding that isn’t restricted of course to a sword and board build, but is often utilized with it. Shield master alone is honestly a fantastic option if you’re planning on using a shield quite a lot. If you’re going duelist for your fighting style, there’s almost no reason to NOT have a shield as another example. I don’t disagree with the roles fallacy though. I was playing a druid that almost did nothing but tank damage and it worked phenomenally well. Play how you want to play your character, just remember that rounding out abilities, skills, and spells is what you’re really wanting to aim for if you want to balance the team.
the armor artificer also has the ability to impose the disadvantage on targets they hit. not sure if that wasnt included because its a half caster or not. but i have been playing one for a while now and i do believe they have a few abilities that allow them to tank. they have the ability to mark targets as mentioned but also at higher levels they can pull enemies to themselves to keep them off your back line, they have really high AC (currently rocking a 28 as a warforged) and with the right feats i have stupid high saves (take the resilient feat to gain wisdom save, the shield master feat to gain the shield + to dex saves and evasion for tanking dragons breaths, on top of soul of the artificer gives like a +6/7 to all saves and make yourself a belt of hill giant str to boost str dump stat.) coupled with things like absorb elements and stoneskin to reduce incoming damage. and because i have cantrips like green-flame blade and booming blade the sword(fist) and board aspect still works.
I think using sword and shield works better if the character has a protection fighting style so that he can use the shield to impose a disadvantage to an attack against an ally within five feet. If there are multiple fighters, all armed in a similar manner fighting in a shield wall, they can work together to reduce incoming hits against them, just as these formations worked historically. In this case, it isn’t about the damage being done, it is the damage being denied while other party members can cast spells, shoot arrows, etc.
Lance + Shield. Hexblade L1 + Sword Bard L10. Get the Dueling fighting style. Get a Pegasus with Find Greater Steed and the Mounted Combatant feat. Now you have a 10 ft. range d12 one-handed weapon that uses Charisma instead of Strength and always have Advantage on creatures smaller than your mount, and get to equip a shield. Apply single-target buffs like Enlarge and Freedom of Movement and they get twinned for your mount as well. Enlarge also makes it so your lance attacks also have Advantage against Large size creatures. Get barding (Splint Armor barding offers 17 AC and is rather cheap compared to Plate Mail barding). Give your mount a Bardic Inspiration die during combat to help its lower Saving Throws. Bard gives access to Hypnotic Pattern, Dimension Door (targeting only yourself lets you bypass the creature size limit when it twins for your pegasus), Plant Growth (you can fly so you don’t care) and Silvery Barbs. Magical Secrets can also get you access to Counterspell (or Fireball if you want to rain down hell from above, or Holy Weapon if you like poking stuff).
My favorite sword and board is the college of swords bard, I’m dual wielding is simply not worth it feat wise since I would probably be casting spells using my bonus action when doing blade flourishes, this also technically let’s me using war caster as the sword becomes a focus for a college of swords bard.
Hey kobold, I love to play the tanky protector style classes in article games that’s what I find most fun for me. so I would like to ask, could you make a article on how you would improve sword/anything and board? Would adding something to select marshals be a way to go? For example say the fighter would probably do more damage close to what other martials do and on the other side maybe give cleric more tank like options but still hold there own with melee. Or maybe adding feats that are specifically for shield/weapon combos be a better option? If you are reading this thanks for your time. I really enjoy your articles and i really hope you make a article about this have good day!
There are still times tanks can really make a difference. I played a ‘sword and board’ level 1 lizardfolk ranger who was lucky enough to roll an 18 dex. I protected my whole team by standing in the middle of a hallway chokepoint and blocking melee enemies from getting past, using my 20ac and dodge to basically avoid any of us getting hit while my squishier ranged allies pummeled the enemies past me. I then later locked down the boss of that level with a grapple, forcing them to have to try to get past me as opposed to having free reign to hit the rest of my party. Was fun being a tank.
i’ts odd you didn’t mention battle master when talking about sword and board, all the useful options for dealing with enemies (shoving them, tripping them, shielding allies, hitting enemies that come at you without pole arm master (though a little weaker since it doesn’t pair with sentinel), swapping places with an ally and boosting him in the process, and any number of nice options.) admittedly it’s not unique to sword and board, some do need a shield but none need a sword specifically, just a melee weapon in general, some options don’t even need it to be a melee weapon. something i’d like to play is a multi-class battle master swashbuckler rogue, attack an enemy and get sneak attack, move away so he has to come to you, then use brace to make an attack against him on his turn, get sneak attack, repeat.
I played a straight up fighter build, sword and board in a six year campaign that went fromlevel one to level 23 epic. The entire game, my sword and board fighter was doing more damage than the whole rest of the party combined. I was able to keep the enemy off the rest of my group at least 75% of the time by good terrain placement, and ‘ordering’ my party into defensible positions. The advice Pack Tactics is good advice IF and only IF all the players know hoe to play well. I find myself playing with people who don’t know to actually wear armor. A cleric with a dex of 9 thinking the best thing for them to do in a fight is to shoot a light crossbow. I ask them why they don’t cast Bless, and they ask me “What’s that?” With players like that, if you the ‘tank’ go down because your AC sucks, the rest of the party dies next round. Wearing a shield is NOT +2 AC, it is rapidly +3 AC and goes to +5 AC when you get a +3 Shield. That extra AC is HUGE!!! And the damage difference you pay to get that AC is frankly quite negligible. I agree with using a quarterstaff though and polearm master is great to pair with it.
If you want to be a tank as your play style, you’re gonna want to be an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, since they have a taunt mechanic and means to reduce damage to themselves and others one per round, on top of the Barbarian’s natural resistance to damage. But the reason that Subclass works for the role is not only are they extremely durable, they also have a mechanic that punishes enemies for attacking anyone but them, and their reaction to reduce damage also works on them. Most people tend to say ‘Oh, Bear totem is best at tanking’, but it has no taunt mechanic to encourage enemies to attack them. And all the Ancestral Guardian’s abilities to make them able to do this don’t bite into their actual damage output. The taunt mechanic just happens automatically and Barbarians generally don’t have much to do with the reaction. Again, that’s only if that’s the playstyle you WANT to play, and our Barbarian in Dragonlance WANTED to play that style, and it combos well with my Grave Cleric. Spirit Shield plus Sentinel at Death’s Door can negate a good bit of incoming damage. But part of that is he’s also a Shifter who can give himself temp HP, I can give him Aid, and even then he still took Great Weapon Master and part of the synergy comes from me using Bless to partially negate its downside, and Path to the Grave to turn that Great Weapon Master into a big nova attack. Point is, if it’s a playstyle you want mechanically, there are ways to do it without eating into your DPR.
I mean, I play a paladin with sword and board and with using Command Duel and having the protection fighting style, I’m aggroing enemies pretty well, especially single enemies. Groups can be tough, but more often than not the worst threat or only threat has to go through my “tank” first, which started at an 18 AC. Add in lay on hands to he the few times I get hit and I’m letting the other members of the party deal damage while I soak up enemy hits.
Okay, but you left out the part about how we can get more out of a basic sword and board build… You also did not discuss how we could make it better. A lot of players paly for theme, not numbers. Help those who want theme get as much out of wielding a sword and a shield. Otherwise I love your vids. <3