Hei all!
Been playing my Orc Rune Knight Fighter for a while now and it has been a blast! He grapples basically anything that the DM throws at us including an Owlbear and a Giant (rune knight, fuck yeah). Of course, sometimes he grapples successfuly, sometimes he doesn’t.
I think the build is pretty solid but surely there are ways to improve. I’m not sure if I want to keep grappling that much or if I want to go more the direction of brute force fighting.
I’ve been playing with a warpick and a shield to get that juicy +2 for AC and use it to steamroll enemies but not sure if I should keep the shield.
Current stats at level 7:
- STR: 20
- DEX: 14
- CON: 16
- INT: 12
- WIS: 15
- CHA: 14
I already took the “Skill Expert” feat to get expertise in Athletics and now have a juicy +11 in that skill. If I activate my frost rune, I get another +2 on top of that.
So, any ideas for fighting styles, multiclassing, ASI, feats, weapons or anything else that could make him even more of a badass while fighting?
How are you grappling if you have both hands full?
I dish out some damage with the warpick and usually throw it at an enemy or simply drop it in the middle of combat. Sometimes I throw away the shield too or use it to grapple, like topple an enemy and then use the shield to pin them down as a ‘grapple’. I try to flavor it differently, depending on combat situation, as not to make it too boring for everyone while just going “Imma grapple them”.
I mean, if your DM is letting you grapple with a shield definitely keep doing that lol.
But apart from that, remember the old grapple-shove combo. A prone creature cannot stand up while grappled. So if you can do both to the same target, they can’t move until they beat you in 2 athletics contests, and they have disadvantage on attacks while prone.
He only lets me do it when I have one hand free to technically ‘grapple’ and I have to topple/shove them to make them prone. But thanks for the reminder!
I try not to do ‘unrealistic’ grappling and try to use the tools I have to grapple. For example, use the pick to pierce their limbs and keep them in place or pin them down with the shield when prone. But always with a hand free to make the condition to grapple legit.