Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion The Bully Bouncer

So I am in love with no save push effects. I use them quite a lot in a variety of builds, with Warlock (via Repelling Blast) and Tempest Cleric (via Thunderbolt Strike) being among the best. Using them lets you clump up enemies, drastically ramping up the power of Owlbear Jumps, Ranger Multistrike Abilities, Elemental Arrows, AOE Spells, you name it. Push them all together, pop an Arms of Hadar on them or some other AOE CC effect, blast them to smithereens, it's very fun and effective gameplay.

At the same time, a build which came up early on was the Hamarhraft Jumper, which does a minimal amount of AOE damage on landing, which when combined with the Monk Step of the Wind which makes jumping not require a bonus action, lets you jump in circles around your enemies, slowly killing them. Which is kinda cool, maybe, I guess, but it's super cheesy and more importantly painfully boring to do as it's just not a lot of damage per jump.

However, what I've never done before and definitely intend to during my current playthrough is combine the two, to make a character that can absolutely bully opponents by jumping around them as a way to clump up enemies like never before. Item support for this concept is incredible, too, which makes it even more appealing.

Race: Whatever, but Wood Elf is optimal.
Classes: Tempest Cleric 6+ / Monk 2+ / ???
Stat Priorities: Wis (Cleric DCs, Unarmored Defense), Con (HP and Concentration saves, you're getting in close), Str (for jump distance), Dex (Unarmored Defense and Initiative), dump Cha and Int

Key Items:
Headgear - Hat of Storm Scion's Power, whenever you deal thunder damage you gain 2 stacks of Arcane Acuity, granting +2 to your save DCs and Spell Attack rolls. And you'll deal thunder damage a lot, easily maxing out at +10 to each if you need / want to.
Gloves - Gloves of the Belligerent Skies, whenever you deal lightning, thunder, or radiant damage you inflict 2 turns of Reverberation on the target, giving them -2 to Str, Con, and Dex saves
Boots - Boots of Stormy Clamour, whenever you inflict a Condition upon the target you also inflict 2 turns of Reverberation.
Rings - Ring of Spiteful Thunder is the most important, dealing thunder damage to a creature with Reverberation requires them to make a Con save or become Dazed. Ring of Absolute Force to deal +1 thunder damage with thunder spells and attacks is also nice, but not as important, and other rings may take priority.
Weapon - Hamarhraft deals 1d4 Thunder Damage in an AOE upon landing from a jump (or fly), which is the main at-will thunder damage effect.
Cloak - Thunderskin Cloak is thematic and good, when a creature with Reverb on them deals damage to you they must succeed on a Con save or become Dazed.

What do these conditions do?
Arcane Acuity - +1 to spell attack rolls and spell save DCs per stack, max 10 stacks, lose 1 stack per turn and 2 stacks each time you take damage (gained in this build every time you deal thunder damage)
Reverberation - -1 to Str, Dex, and Con saves per stack, if you have 5 or more stacks you take 1d4 Thunder damage and must succeed a Con save or fall Prone, which removes the condition (inflicted in this build whenever you deal thunder damage or inflict a condition on someone)
Prone - Cannot move or take actions, bonus actions, or reactions, have disadvantage on Str and Dex saves, attacks against you have Advantage if made within 3m / 10ft, on your turn must spend 1/2 your movement speed to stand up. If you do not have movement speed when your turn starts, your turn is skipped. (Inflicted by a failed Con save triggered by having 5 or more stacks of Reverberation)
Dazed - Disadvantage on Wis saving throws, can't take reactions, lose your Dex bonus to AC (Inflicted in this build by dealing thunder damage to someone with Reverberation or someone with Reverberation dealing damage to you)

Other notable synergistic conditions:
Maimed - Movement Speed is reduced to 0, which if the target is prone will skip their turn. Most easily and consistently applied via Aspect of the Beast (Wolverine) on Wildheart Barbarian, which inflicts Maim (no save) when you attack a Bleeding or Poisoned Target.
Bleeding - Take 2 slashing damage at the start of each turn, have disadvantage on Con saves (such as those required to avoid falling Prone from Reverb). Most easily and consistently applied via Tiger's Bloodlust on Wildheart Barbarian, which inflicts Bleed (no save) on up to 3 enemies at once.

So how does this work in practice?
You bonus action Step of the Wind, which makes it so Jump no longer requires a bonus action, then jump around enemies, dealing thunder damage to them by doing so, giving them reverb, and most importantly pushing them. You bounce around, shoving them into a nice cluster. Every other jump they need con saves to avoid falling prone and becoming dazed, and every jump increases your save DCs and spell attack rolls. Once everyone is clumped up, and ideally dazed, prone, with reverb stacks on them and you sitting at max stacks of arcane acuity, then you unleash a thunder / lightning spell on them (with the option to max damage it via Channel Divinity if appropriate) or a Crowd Control spell which is virtually guaranteed to stick, depending on what's situationally appropriate. A Wildheart Tiger Barb is your best friend, as they can bleed and maim everyone and between the two of you it's trivially easy to completely stunlock your opponents, making for a safe and satisfying combat.

I'd love ideas on ways this can be improved upon or additional synergies like Potions of Vaulting or anything else. I also have 4 more levels to play with after achieving the "core" of this build, and would love ideas on what would significantly enhance the capabilities and power of it. Another Monk level to get to 4 Ki points and Harmony of Fire and Water for Ki point recovery could give it more legs, but caster synergies with Storm Sorc or Wizard aren't out of the question either (even if you don't use the spells very much you might use the fly effect for example), there's lots of potential here and I'm excited to try it out and to see what people can come up with.

Thanks!