Introduction
This is one of those patch 8 builds that was obvious from the get go that it’s going to be super strong. It combines the 1 Hexblade dip — possibly the best 1 level dip in the game, with Battle Master Fighter 11, already a known powerhouse. The 11/1 split almost feels like a match made in heaven, unlike a few other builds that can’t really make room for the 1 dip. We are combining both Arcane Synergy from a build like Great Wisdom Fighter, and single-ability dependence of a natural STR Fighter 12 build. We are also combining Booming Blade with Battle Master maneuvers for maximum damage. In my opinion, this is going to be one of the top “meta” builds.
Class Progression
The end goal is 11 levels of Battle Master Fighter and 1 level of Hexblade Warlock, with the starting class being Fighter.
Class Features
Fighter Level 11 Battle Master
- Level 1: full weapon and armour proficiencies, Great Weapon Fighting style
- Level 2: Action Surge
- Level 3: Battle maneuvers x3
- Level 4: Feat #1
- Level 5: Extra Attack
- Level 6: Feat #2
- Level 7: Battle maneuvers x2
- Level 8: Feat #3
- Level 9: Indomitable
- Level 10: Improved Combat Superiority, maneuvers x2
- Level 11: Improved Extra Attack
Warlock Level 1 The Hexblade
- Level 1: Bind Hexblade (mono CHA scaling), Shield, Expeditious Retreat, Booming Blade
Character Creation and RP
Race
High Elf and High Half-Elf now become very respectable options and often the best choice, because you can pick up Booming Blade from their racial cantrip. This is particularly important if you choose one of the leveling routes that spends a significant amount of time without the Hexblade dip, particularly after level 5.
Otherwise, Wood Elf/Half-Elf, Githyanki, Half-Orc are all still good choices.
Background
If you pick a leveling route that will spec into CHA early, then background does matter a little. Fighter can pick up Intimidation, but ideally, we want to pick up another CHA conversation skill here. Charlatan, Criminal, Guild Artisan and Noble are the backgrounds that give us either Deception or Persuasion.
This build is also a pretty decent candidate for The Dark Urge, as The Deathstalker Mantle is a great addition.
Illithid Power
This build benefits greatly from Partial Ceremorphosis, with the key reason being the on-demand Fly. In the rest of this post, I will assume that in Act 3, this build has Partial Ceremorphosis. However, in my opinion RP is the most important thing to consider for any build, so whenever possible, I will point out alternatives.
Favourable Beginnings is one of the impactful IPs for this build: it adds proficiency bonus to your first attack roll against a target. This is already a big boon in Act 1, and it becomes a whopping +4 by Act 3, which almost completely offsets the -5 from GWM. At this point of the game, you’re one-shotting most enemies, so Favourable Beginnings will be in effect more often than it’s not. And against enemies that you can’t one shot, usually you want Hold support for that anyway.
Initiative
In the endgame, we are naturally at +5 Initiative: +3 from DEX, and +2 from Bhaalist Armour.
In Act 3, we can acquire another free +3 Initiative from the Sentinel Shield trick: equipping the shield before combat, and then unequipping it (which costs no action economy) at the start of combat. This brings us to +8. This means we reliably win initiative against almost all Act 3 enemies, but there are some exceptions like Cazador and Orin — in these situations, Elixir of Vigilance usage is recommended.
Key Endgame Items
Bhaalist Armour
It is a Light Armour that projects an Aura of Murder around the wearer, which makes enemies nearby vulnerable to piercing damage (or neutral to piercing damage, if they are naturally resistant). This will essentially double the build’s damage output.
Shar’s Spear of Evening
The best 2H weapon in the game. Edge of Darkness not only is an AOE weapon attack, but also reliably sets Darkness to trigger Shadow Thief and Shar’s Blessing.
Diadem of Arcane Synergy
Once fully built, this items adds a whopping +6 damage to every weapon hit, which turns to +12 thanks to Bhaalist Armour. You can trigger this simply by approaching an enemy (to apply Aura of Murder).
Act 1/2 Transitional Items
- Haste Helm: this helmet is available very early on and we will likely stick with this helmet until Act 3
- Crusher’s Ring: similarly, this ring will also stick around for a while
- Caustic Band: the only damage increasing ring at that level range
- Sword of Justice: the best super early game weapon, being a +1 Greatsword and bringing a long rest concentration spell on Fighter — a character that doesn’t have a lot of competition for concentration slot
- Jorgoral’s Greatsword / The Mourning Frost: the best Act 1 weapons. Jorgoral’s Greatsword is a +1 greatsword with a strong area of effect weapon action. Meanwhile, Mourning Frost’s elemental damage allows Booming Blade to interact with Ring of Elemental Infusion and Boots of Elemental Momentum in Act 1
- Silver Sword of the Astral Plane. This is somewhat cheesy/exploitative, but if you manage to get this Legendary +3 Greatsword in Act 1, it will be hands down the best weapon until Shar’s Spear
- Avoid Sussur Greatsword! Silence makes the target immune to Thunder damage from Booming Blade
- Halberd of Vigilance: the best Act 2 weapon, and should be prioritized (considering Drakethroat and Risky Ring are in the same location)
- Adamantine Splint Armour: best Act 1 torso option
- Potent Robe: best Act 2 torso option and will be best in slot in Act 3 if another character carries Bhaalist Armour
- Gloves of the Growling Underdog: the earliest source of Advantage from gear
- Flawed Helldusk Gloves: once Growling Underdog is no longer needed, this will be the next best gloves option until Martial Exertion
Consumables
- Elixir of Bloodlust is by far the best elixir, and our ability to use this elixir instead of STR elixirs is the main reason to play this build over a non Hexblade Arcane Synergy build.
- Elixir of Vigilance is also handy in situations where it’s needed, as suggested in the Initiative section above.
- Elixir of the Colossus adds 1d4 piercing damage to every attack, which is nothing to laugh at. It’s the 2nd best option after Bloodlust for fights where Vigilance isn’t needed.
- Elixir of Hill/Cloud Giant Strength are very strong alternatives during “STR phase” of the build. Instead of going natural STR during those phases, a good alternative would be to use STR elixirs and stack INT to still enjoy Arcane Synergy.
- Potion of Speed is very strong if there are no external sources of Haste. Terazul is even stronger as it doesn’t even require a Bonus Action to consume. Potion of Flying is also a great addition, especially if you opt out of Partial Ceremorphosis.
Gameplay Tips
Maneuver or Booming Blade?
Booming Blade adds 1d8 Thunder from levels 5 to 10 and 2d8 Thunder for levels 11 and 12. The movement damage is nice but unreliable, because usually we want to kill an enemy with our own blade to trigger GWM Bonus Attack and Bloodlust. Maneuvers deal 1d8 weapon prior to Fighter level 10, and 1d10 afterwards.
In a vacuum, with Savage Attacker and GWF added, 1d8 = 6.125 damage, 1d10 = 7.490 damage, and 2d8 = 12.25 damage. So Booming Blade should be prioritized over maneuvers after level 10. However, with Bhaalist Armour, the 1d10 weapon damage is doubled, which means maneuvers do more damage. But also, if using Ring of AS, Booming Blade needs to be used first to proc Arcane Synergy as early as possible.
So a typical nova sequence in Act 3 looks like this: Booming Blade -> Maneuver x2 -> Action Surge -> BB -> Maneuver x2 -> Martial Exertion -> Maneuver -> BB (Hasted Action) -> BB (Terazul) -> BB (Bloodlust) -> GWM: Bonus Attacks
This reflects why Booming Blade is a massive addition to this build: it does similar damage to a maneuver, and you can plan your nova turn so that every attack except the Bonus Attacks is either a Booming Blade or a Maneuver.
Turn off the lights as you go
Shar’s Blessing and Shadow Thief are actually surprisingly easy to proc. Even just turning some candles off can change a target to lightly obscured. Use SHIFT key to find out if an area or a target is obscured or not. Use Edge of Darkness weapon action from Shar’s Spear to obscure targets if necessary, if you’re going to be attacking it multiple times.
Acquire Bhaalist Armour without ritual murder
Bhaalist Armour is the most important item to prioritize once we enter Lower City. There is a pretty metagame-y way to get this piece of gear without committing ritual murder and becoming an Unholy Assassin.
Minimize the Carnage after Killing Nightsong
Shar’s Spear of Evening is our best-in-slot weapon, but the cost of acquiring it can be steep.
If you allow the abduction of Isobel to happen before rescuing the Ironhand Gnomes from Moonrise Tower, you can keep Jaheira alive, and later buy Martial Exertion Gloves in Act 3, while acquiring Shar’s Spear. This is still a heavy loss of friendly NPCs. However, there is a metagame-y method of saving most NPCs.
Damage
See this post for detailed calculations. TLDR: 1000+ nova damage in Act 3.
