This Build is takes full advantage of Halsin’s innate and conditionally free Misty Step.
So long as you never take a level 3 spell slot his Misty Step does not cost ANY resources, meaning you can Misty Step EVERY turn for FREE. By taking 4 levels in Druid you get access to his Misty Step and a Feat. The remainder are put into Battlemaster to avoid a level 3 spell slot, make him a strong fighter will Battle Maneuvers, and get 3 more Feats for a total of 4.
The build and gear is centered around Battle Field control. Between Polearm Master, Sentinel, and the Snowburst Ring he can Misty Step anywhere you need him and completely lock an area down with opportunity attacks that stop enemies as they enter his range and ice surfaces.
The nice thing is, by the time you recruit Halsin in Act 2 the build is already fully online with the major pieces. You will most likely be level 8 if you are thorough on completing quests which gets you access to two Feats and you can get the most important gear before he is fully recruited. You could opt to get Sentinel and Polearm Master first but I liked the extra damage earlier. Savage Attacker is very important because he has so many damage riders and the dice reroll applies to both the main hit and all of the extra dice.
IMPORTANT: to create ice surfaces you need to get the Drakethroat Glaive and use the elemental buff with COLD damage on his weapon. Drop your main weapon on the ground, equip Drakethroat Glaive and cast the elemental weapon buff on the weapon you dropped. The elemental buff will persist even after you unequip the Drakethroat Glaive and reequip your now buffed main weapon.
I created this for control but he turned out to also be quite the hitter. Between the extra Necrotic Damage from the Spore Druid, the Broodmother’s Amulet which procs every turn because of the Regeneration Ring, the damage from the Drakethroat buff, and the damage from Battle Dice he can be quite the Assassin. You can Misty Step to the back line mage or archer and either make them drop their weapon, or cause them to slip on ice, but often he just outright kills them.
You could change the build to simply be more of a hitter by abandoning the ice surfaces and swapping out the Battle Master Gloves for something like Helldusk Gloves with an extra damage rider and the Snowburst Ring for Caustic Band. That being said don’t underestimate how fun it is to Misty Step around every turn and lock down foes. The Battlemaster Gloves make a HUGE difference in how often he forces dropped weapons.
TIPS:
- I recommend using Giant Strength Elixers on him for some extra umph, especially earlier before you get the Potion of Everlasting Vigor and the Mirror of Loss increases to Strength as this build passes on Ability Score Improvement in favor of the utility Feats.
- DON’T waste your Reaction on the Spore Druid ability. You want to have your Reaction open for Opportunity Attacks
- He is AMAZING for exploration. Between the ability to Misty Step anywhere, high Perception, and his high carry weight I often found myself switching to him to loot an area.
- It can be fun to Misty Step every turn but if you don’t need to, often it’s better to use his Bonus Action on another hit from Great Weapon Master or Polearm Master instead.
- By using the Titanstring bow even if he absolutely can’t make it to a target or you deem it would be better to stay turtled up he can do pretty good damage from afar. You could however opt for Gontr Mael or Darkfire Bow for the self casted Haste if no one else is using it.
- By using the Mask of Soul Perception it increases his hit chance so you can pretty much always have Great Weapon Master’s passive turned on, he is a better explorer with the increase to Perception, and the higher initiative is good for getting him into position early in the fight.
- You could opt for the Moonglaive but I prefer the Halberd of Vigilance for the Initiative, Advantage on Perception, and Advantage on Opportunity Attacks before you get Sentinel. Also more enemies are resistant to Radiant damage than Force and you don’t have to worry about Radiant Retort which can HURT.
- Seeing as he has low Wisdom it is better to use his spell slots on Create Water for the Party, Healing Word to pick people up, Enhance Ability (which doesn’t feel bad spending a spell slot on as he isn’t a caster), and Spike Growth to lock a huge area down without relying on a spell casting modifier.
- If you mod at all, I HIGHLY recommend getting the Polearm Master Bug Fix and the Polearm Master Sentinel Bug Fix mods off of Nexus. Not necessary but definitely makes it play more like it is supposed to according to the descriptions on the Feats.
Have Fun and enjoy poking/getting poked by the bear if you know what I mean 😉
