Oh my god. He has snapped. Having enough of the vicious mockery, he has fully embraced his title and channeled it into divine critical hits.

Silvery barbs as a reaction to a failed saving throw is a very interesting addition to Critlander's toolbelt

Glad to see the Echo Knight getting some love. For my friend's Campaign I've made a 10th level Dwarven Ancestral Guardians Barbarian including a 3 level dip into Echo Knight. So now while my Guardians make the hits on my allies harder and reduced damage I Unleash Ancestry and me and Great Uncle Bulgaria bisect foes with great axes.

Holy shit that little intermission with the ASMR was hilarious

I miss the open room background, honestly. This almost makes me claustrophobic in a way. The ASMR was 10/10 though. I might have to loop the dice sound from that.

The thumbnail shows, that Colby has achieved his final form. We should all pick a direction and start running.

He’s gone full Homelander for this one. Be afraid

My biggest complaint the last time you did this - delaying your extra attack feature - was that you didn't have a melee cantrip to at least rely on for at least an alternative. You took booming blade here - problem solved. Also, don't forget that every attack that you calculate as a miss in your calculations is a spell slot you didn't spend on a smite, so that resource is available for following attacks or for a 2nd round. So while the nova round against a higher AC target doesn't do as much damage, it ironically preserves your resources from being spent.

Oath of the Watchers for the initiative boost could be really good here. Paralyze the enemy before they move…

I'm glad you finally embraced your inner Homelander. I've always felt like I'm hearing about optimized builds from Homelander's secret identity!

Level 1:(see above) [paladin 1 & race] Level 2:(see above) [paladin 2 & fighting-style] Level 3:(@14:53) [sorcerer 1 & sub-class] Level 4:(@19:02) [sorcerer 2] Level 5:(@19:43) [sorcerer 3] Level 6:(@23:43) [sorcerer 4 & ASI] Level 7:(@30:05) [fighter 1 & fighting-style] Level 8:(@31:47) [fighter 2] Level 9:(@32:13) [fighter 3 & sub-class] Level 10:(@39:09) [paladin 3 & sub-class] Level 11:(@43:08) [paladin 4 & ASI] Level 12:(@45:34) [paladin 5] Level 13:(@47:22) [paladin 6] Level 14:(@49:37) [sorcerer 5] Level 15:(@51:09) [sorcerer 6] Level 16:(@52:11) [sorcerer 7] Level 17:(@52:27) [sorcerer 8 & ASI]

Highly recommend if anyone wants to do something like this with less nova damage and more support and utility, take levels in Order Domain Cleric. Let's you cast Hold Person as a bonus action, as well as any other enchantment spell. Nothing better than handing out crits without using your action!

Amazing build! The amount of levels and effort you put into getting Hold Person as a bonus action (and the long delay on Hold Monster) makes me playfully wonder about the best two-person DPS duos. Imagine what the Paladin/Fighter could do, at earlier levels, if they had a Divine Soul Sorcerer partner doing the Holding. If the extrapolations and permutations seem endless for one character, they are truly unfathomable for two. The new background is good, but personally I really liked your previous background. It felt very warm and wholesome, like a fireside chat.

OK, I laughed out loud so hard at the dice rattling...

Love, love, love this! Excited and proud of y'all. This sounds fun!

That thumbnail is amazing.

No joke that ASMR bit at the beginning was actually really nice hahaha

I loved how creative and fun the editing was this time around! So refreshing in you lengthy videos! Haha

I love how you take things all the way to their potential, its so awesome to see characters like this that actually feel like the protagonist from books or movies that can singlehandedly kill dragons and other powerful creatures. It could also be a really cool side quest npc, like the Ebony knight in Skyrim. An adventurer who has done it all and is just looking to finally be defeated in combat, adds some cool worldbuilding and also a late game boss fight to give some strong items to your players before the real plot conclusion

I'm stoked to see you lean into your real identity!

22:30 Ask your DM if they allow you to use empowered metamagic to reroll sleep spell D8's. That can rapidly increase the "damage" that one can deal. Its also worth noting that MANY enemies have strong Armor Class, resistances, legendary or just high saves, etc. etc. A foe like that at half hit points is still very dangerous... yet at half hitpoints they are much closer to the range a sleep spell will effect. And sleep has a 90' range - its eminently useful against fleeing foes. The iconic use of a sleep spell like this is exemplified in Critical Role Season 2, one of the early episodes, where the group is participating in a gladiatorial tournament. (SPOILER!!!) They put an ogre or some such that they are fighting (and getting fairly beat up by) to sleep mid-battle, take a round or 2 to heal/prepare/etc. and then all unload on it at once.

My son was so excited when I showed him this build. He loves his shadow sorcerer and his Paladin. I asked him if he wanted to mix them and we followed your build. He's in heaven. Only modification we made was switching sorcerer to shadow. The hound helps give disadvantage to the person you're trying to land a hold on. It takes 2 rounds instead of 1, but it's so cool when he can set it up and it's more consistent.

Congrats on 20k! Enjoy your time off

This video was great! Great build and lots of fun jumps and drops. 👍

No Elvish Accuracy? Colour me surprised! Also, awesome thumbnail, and glad to see you embrace the name :)

Impressive. Scary. Holy crap. Thanks for including Echo Knight!

Self deprecating humor. I love it.

You do such a good job of editing. My wife and I love watching your work.

"Naturally, I am going all in on damage, and everything else be damned." Madness and I love it.

I did a weird version of this a couple years ago in a one-shot. I combined Hold Person/Monster with a point-blank Scorching Ray. I really thought that's what this was gonna be due to the title/theme lol. I recommend the Heighten Spell Metamagic if you are going to rely on a save or suck spell. Was a really fun build. I killed a hill giant in one round from full hp with my combo. Felt really cool.

AAAAY :) Also, I'm so glad you decided to embrace the eye lazer critical hitting aspect of homelander, instead of the milk drinking aspect of him :P Also also, sleep works great to create the unconscious condition, so your crit range just becomes their hitpoint total. Also Also Also, I hope you work in 2 levels of fighter, so you can paralyze them then REALLY go all out.

really easy to turn this crazy build into a hyper tank with stuff like shield, silvery barbs and absorb elements all available at any time as well as having haste, shield of faith and misty step when needed

For this build, I would take Half-Orc and use a Greataxe instead of a Maul. But there’s something thematic about an angry Dwarf breaking skulls open with a Maul. :’)

I’m so glad the team battle is going down! I recommended that originally in the Q&A :)

Im liking your edits ! Keep at it !!

Really fun build with lots of roleplay value. I like the idea that in rnd 1 you set up your divine weapon and echo as an Avatar of yourself (unless you have time to pre-cast). Then rnd 2 nuke! Then become team support back with the group (for aura) while occasionally attacking from echo's position.

I was searching for this build fpr the last few days!

I out here on vacation in Hawaii and I'm still out here watching you're videos! Love you and keep up the good work :)

I think I'll be using this build for a NPC enemy build! Great work.

I had an arcane trickster character whose whole thing was sleeping his enemy for control, then waking them all up with a crit stab. Was highly effective at the low levels that I played him at.

Ok, you convinced me, Sthrad is a sorcadin now.

That thumbnail had me dead. But yes, my favorite build at last. > = ) The Sorcadin!

A year ago you were celebrating hitting 20k subscribers, one year later and now you're at just over 60k subscribers! Happy to be a new one :D

hey colby! love the thumbnail! hahah. perfect! yeah enjoy the break. don't worry about the comments. i'll be here. haha. oh and congrats again on the 20k subscriber milestone! i like the plain background. it helps make whatever you write or show on screen pop. from an audio standpoint, i would appreciate if the volume was a bit louder or you tweaked the acoustics. guidance is also great for initiative checks. i'd pick heightened spell to make sure your hold spells stick. i would've picked conquest so you can use your guided strike if needed for your trip attack (since you don't get advantage for that 1st attack). spirit shroud is already a bonus action. no need to quicken. imo catnap should be an integral 3rd level spell to the build as it allows you get back your superiority dice, channel divinity, action surge, etc back faster.

Haha my buddy and look you a lot a like and I always call him Homelander too. Good to see you embracing your inner villain!

I knew it! Finally, he reveals his true identity!

I was planning to make a Janne D'Arc type of character, I wanted her to be a Divine Soul Devotion Sorcadin too, good thing I stumbled upon your video to make the build shine

Me, 6 minutes in : Nope, that's definitely impossible. Me, 7 minutes in : Oh, good point...

Ngl, haven't been subscribed, just started watching a week or two ago. This thumbnail was more than worth the sub lol

Seradon looks great! Always love Randal's work.

This video was amazing! Much love from India. The Sorcadin is one of my favourite builds in 5E because of its roleplay and combat potential. There's an idea I've been tinkering with that I'd love to get your take on - The DEX-based Sorcadin. This build is my pet project, so please forgive the essay-length idea I'm going to throw at you. 6 Levels of Paladin, any Oath is fine but I prefer Vengeance, and 14 levels of Red/Gold Draconic Sorcerer. The Draconic Bloodline is the key to this. Start out with Sorcerer for a Con Save proficiency since you don't need heavy armour. Base AC of 13 + a maxed out Dex of 5 gets you to full plate without stealth disadvantages and a better saving throw skill. The six levels in Paladin also let us add our Charisma Mod to all our saving throws, giving us a +10 to Dex Saves without any feats. If you go with a sword and board build, as I think most paladins do, the rapier means that you're not missing anything in terms of damage. That brings us up to 20, 21 with Defensive Fighting Style, 23 if you cast Haste on yourself, and 28 if you proc shield. Now I know that you don't typically include magic items in your builds, but this concept got started since I'm joining a Rise of Tiamat campaign - which has the Red Dragon Mask. This magic item adds your Charisma Modifier to your Unarmoured Defense, which in our case gives the Sorcadin a base AC of 26 (!) and 33 with spells. A Tarrasque couldn't hurt you at this point. There's one more incredible benefit to a Red Dragon Mask- if you have resistance to fire damage, it becomes immunity, and immunity becomes healing. That's right, if you're immune to fire damage while wearing the mask, you instead heal for half the hit-points that you would have taken. Drink Lava like it was a health potion, and cast Create Bonfire on yourself for a healing cantrip! Even if you ignore the magic item, in terms of damage the Elemental Affinity feature means that Green-Flame Blade and Firebolt get even better. I'd be really interested to know how you could combine this Sorcadin with your 'Flame-Thrower' Nova build - the damage potential is mind-blowing. The many wonderful fire damage spells sorcerers get means that I have AOE damage for days, as well as Divine Smites combined with Hold Person/Monster for single-target demolition. Also, with skills and spell selections, I could be the Face, Tank, Striker, Healer (more like an emergency medic), and Controller of the party. Phew. That was a lot. If you did read through that wall of text, thank you. I hope this idea lit a spark of inspiration (hah-hah) for you the way it did for me. I'm going to be playing this character as one of the new Dragonborns once Fizban's is released for obvious reasons. Red Dragonborn can become immune to fire damage for 10 minutes. Tiamat, here I come!

Awesome video! I like the other background a lot more (a gray background can be a bit too cold imo, specially when talking numbers and stuff) but I really really like the editing in this one, super fun!

Earned my Sub with the Sturm Brightblade reference!!

ive only found your videos in the past week, but man im so glad i did

Coming back two years later with a PSA: even without the auto-crit from Hold Person, this build is still in the bottom of Tier 1 compared to other Nova builds he's done to date. absolutely mental

Oh my goodness the thumbnail is so good!

I have been playing something similar over the years. 2 Levels Paladin who does not want to commit to just one set of ideals. 5 levels Hexblade (ya, I know) for 2nd attack, Eldritch Smite, agonizing blast giving a consistent ranged attack while supporting team outside of burst rounds. Everything else is Divine Sorc. It has been super effective and offers so much versatility also. Great video as always. I love them all. And yes, it is good to be home.

Audio is great. And the visuals are very sharp.

I'm about to multiclass echo knight on my archfey bladelock, so I'm definitely eager to see a build that digs into echo knight's capabilities

Hope your vacation goes well!

Although you dont normally do anything with magic items if anyone does go for this build the shard of the shadowfell makes this type of build pretty insane letting you use your bonus action stuff and apply disadvantage to saves at the same time.

I love that the Joke he looks like Homelander came full cricle

Sturm Brightblade! Woot woot! Been years since I've heard about him from anybody.

Thumbnail gold! Congratulations, you’re hitting milestones rapidly. I don’t think I was the first to notice the Homelander resemblance, but I may’ve been the first one to comment the Critlander meme. It’s in the comments on one of your earlier videos. Then again, maybe I’m wrong.

You, Fine Sir, are a dead ringer for Homelander in the thumbnail! Almost skipped the video (b/c I'm not a fan), but glad I didn't! Top notch D&D stuff as always!

Can’t wait for the echo Knight build 🤩

He did the thing!!

I nearly crashed my car laughing at the ASMR bit XD

Oh man I wanna play a Vaught-Like 'Super Hero' now. Someone super powerful, cares about their public image and very much takes the easy way out. With a guild or group of PR people that spin all of their victories into much bigger than they really are.

An awesome, more sustained Paladin option if your group allows UA content is the Oath of Heroism, which gets Improved Critical (19-20) as its Channel Divinity and a 7th level ability of 1d6+CHAm temp HP for CHAm creatures for each turn you crit. Add on Elven Accuracy instead of GWM and your entire party is suddenly quite tanky.

Every time you said 'd4' when describing Bless, I was expecting you to point down to the d4: D&D Deep Dive logo, the way you point up to the title cards.

I'M HERE FOR THE MEEEEEEEMEEEEEEEEE ! :) ... but will definitely watch it properly later ! lol

Super excited they brought out the new book. Fizban's Treasury of Dragons!

The first and probably all 8 times I saw the thumbnail I thought it said "sorcadian" which sounds like a resident of a badass country, so I'm gonna add that to may campaign world.

My Critlander was a half-elf Paladin 3 Hexblade 17 warlock with GWM, Elven Accuracy, a Vorpal Greatsword, and foresight for constant advantage. Sure she only has 4 5th level slots, and 3 1st level, but that's enough to make Shield usable, and to do a Divine Smite and an Eldritch Smite on the same hit. Throw in a potion of giant size from Storm Kings Thunder and she did 60d8, and 12d6 in one hit on the final boss, killing it in a turn.

Well! This thumbnail made my day. 🙏😂🙏

Excellent.

Can not wait to see you take on the Echo Knight. In one of my campaigns there is an Echo Knight/Gloomstalker , who has become kind of a meme with all those extra attacks turn 1.

Such a fun video. I loved the ASMR. A lot of enthusiasm building this was cool. The background: well, okay, now I can’t wonder what books you have on the left shelf. So let’s post that 😀 I like both ways, but prefer the bookshelves because it is uniquely you, rather than the grey background

Oh my god the thumbnail portrait!! So good

(41:40) - Sacred Weapon - If you know you are going into a fight... activate it before initiative. it lasts 1 min (10 rounds) and most fights dont last that long (especially if you are dealing out the damage)

Thank you! This build will definitely be the muscle for the BBEG in the next play-to-epic-level campaign I DM... which is currently in the works. :D I'll be sure to point my players to your channel before they build their characters just to make it fair. ;)

precision attack maneuver gives the dice number rolled to a failed attack roll when you miss

yooo, that thumbnail was too good

I play a dragonborn oath of vengence paladin and DA sorcerer. I went the first 5 levels with pali (to get my 2nd atk and 25LoH) and just took my first lvl of sorcerer. I've had hold person for a while. OOV gets it at lvl3. I took dueling that adds 2 dmg every atk plus I just got the sunsword last session. So far this build has been amazing. I'm hitting on avg around 35 to 60dmg at lvl6 overall. Most of the dmg is front loaded but we havent had a ton of combat encounters and rest has been easy to come by. My stats Str 19 (dragonborn boost) DeX 12 Con 12 Int 11 Wis 14 Chr 18 I'm playing CoS and I'm crushing it. +8dmg on each attack or +16 per round is amazing (+4 for str +2 sunsword +2 dueling) and the high Chr paired with persuasion and intimidation has been a great RP boon.

Fantastic show my friend! Btw. I took your advice for Swashbuckler Goblin for a long term game. My character has the voice of Gilbert Gottfried and is named Wilpher the Captivating! He is now lvl 4 and has taken the warlock initiate feat with booming blade, eldritch blast, and hex. We didnt get free feat in our game so I missed out on the attribute bonus at 4th. But our comedy-centric game is going dashingly! Thank you for your research on character optimization! Love and peace

Came for the cool build, stayed for the ASMR.

Love the thumbnail! Had to say that!

Very useful for campaigns that consist of multiple parties that might up in opposition to eachother...

Your ironic ASMR was actually really good lmao

Had a lot of fun with my half-orc war cleric inspired by this Saturday morning. Hold person on 2 gnolls and two others blinded. Crit for about 50.

Holy shit, You are Homelander. I just finished the latest season. Get paid as his double Immediately!! The guy is chill as hell!

Sleep can be used a psuedo power word kill at higher levels as you cast on creatures that are already damaged. At level 9 you get 21d8 which works out as 105 hps

Really nice build! Hogging the lime light just for one round and then letting other characters shine is a very good concept, I think. And absolutely love the conversation between the two Colbys 😄

Amazing Highlander pic.

Sleep can be used on an enemy after a mild beating reduces their current hit points to a more manageable number. A coordinated party can use this for bring-them-in-alive style bounties.

This build in a duo with the fate weaver would be... chefs kiss.

Just as I am writing to say that this is almost ASMR worthy, homeboy starts doing ASMR. Sub-freakin-scribed.

there is a 4th semi-viable way to garantie one crit. Divination wizzards portent, if a 20 is rolled and used for the attack but yeah not really reliable 30:49 Superior Technique lets you learn ONE maneuver, not two (not that it matters since you only have 1 dice to use XD) And thank you for this wonderfull build, my players are now facing THIS as a bbeg XD

First thought: HE DID IT! :)