Wally DM

An homage to my favorite distraction from 2021-2026, Slay the Spire – a single-player rogue-like deck-builder that defined a new genre. The Ironclad is the first of four playable characters; the last survivor of his clan, desperate to seek revenge. He wields a bronze draconian mask, a great-sword, and gains access to magical hellfire from his demonic benefactors as he builds up power each delve. He has lots of access to direct melee damage, armor stacking, as well as hellfire multi-target attacks, and various abilities that provide immediate bonuses and heals. I’ve created this build primarily to emulate the character and stay on-theme, and while there are stronger choices available (Hexblade>Fiend, Paladin>Fighter, etc), this build is both viable and fun to play from 1-20.

This guide assumes 5e 2014 rules as well as Fizban’s dragonborn balance re-haul, though any differences should be small. I do not care for Tasha’s character creation changes but in this case it made no difference as dragonborn give +2 Str and +1 Cha – exactly what we’re after. There is no intended rule twisting or gimmick to this build, all options are both RAW and as far as I can tell, RAI.

Level 0

First and foremost we pick dragonborn to represent the Ironclad, and pick Brass for the fire line breath and resistance per Fizban’s updated PC rules. The stats (mentioned above) are great for making our starting stat spread work: Str 17 (15+2) Dex 12 Con 14 Wis 10 Int 8 Ch 14 (13+1). Though we see a little face behind the mask in some art, I’ve always interpreted the mask as having some emotive features and I like the idea of it just being a big brass dragonborn head. Regarding background I’m going to pick Folk Hero to gain land vehicles, as well as proficiency in Animal Handling & Survival. On first glance it seems like Soldier is a better fit but we’re going to gain Athletics & Intimidation from other sources, and I think our Ironclad should be handy with artisan’s tools (cooking utensils) if he’s going to be camping in dungeons, surviving on what he finds and starting camp fires w/ his breath.

Level 1

We start our build proper with a level in Fighter. This gives us all weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies, as well as Athletics & Intimidation. Gear picks are chain-mail, a great-sword and shield, two hand-axes, and a dungeoneer’s pack. We’re going to be wielding a great weapon most of the time so the shield is primarily for +2 AC when outside of melee range, and dropped or slung otherwise. That said, Fighting style Great Weapon Fighting to re-roll all 1s and 2s on the damage dice is going to carry our output for now. Finally we get 2^nd Wind in order to heal up when necessary. We’ll need this as our AC is not going to reach high enough to prevent all incoming damage. HP 12 per starting stats.

Default attack: Great-sword (1x +5 2d6*+3 (*re-rolls 1s and 2s per Great Weapon Fighting) slashing)

Level 2

Fighter (2) to gain Action Surge. Best use cases of this are swinging twice when you have advantage and/or there’s any buff that applies per attack such as +hit chance or +damage. We also gain a bit more of a health buffer which we will certainly need as we’re about to take a lot of warlock levels.

New trick: Bully. If your party is melee heavy use your action to push an enemy unto the ground (spellcasters are prime targets for this b/c they usually lack strength). Action surge and swing with advantage vs the now prone target. Best used when the rest of your party will act in Initiative, giving the whole team advantage on their attacks. (Keep in mind that ranged attacks actually have disadvantage on prone targets so consider your party make-up)

Level 3

Finally we get our hands on our first level of Warlock. We’ll choose Fiend in order to get the extended fire spell list and to represent the dark patron who we’ve offered our soul for the power to fuel our revenge. We’ll pick up Green Flame Blade & Bonfire, as well as the 1^st level spells Hellish Rebuke & Hex. Because our spell attack stat (Charisma) is lacking we are skipping to-hit spells altogether, priotizing Hex over Hellish Rebuke outside of opportunity targets.

Our default attack now becomes Green-Flame Blade via Great-sword (1x +5 2d6*+3 slashing and an extra 2 magical fire to a second creature within 5′ of the first. Not much but this still can trigger a DC10 Concentration check on an enemy, wake a friendly target, give an enchanted friendly an extra save, or even keep a Barbarian’s rage going when it would otherwise end early. Since the material component is the great-sword itself (worth at least 1 sp) we do not need a free hand to perform the somatic component requirement of the spell, so this build will not require item interaction juggling to make it work.

Improved trick: Bully has evolved into Hex-Bully. Same as level two but start with a bonus action Hex to give the target disadvantage on Dexterity or Strength, whichever is better, forcing them to either use their worse attribute or else risk the disadvantage roll on the subsequent push. As a bonus you’ll deal the extra 1d6 necrotic damage on the follow-up swing.

New trick: War Crime. If an enemy is ever paralyzed, stunned, or unconscious you can Create Bonfire under them as they’ll auto-fail the Dex saving throws and take damage every turn. Concentration is required though so skip this Hex is in play. Speaking of fire, keep in mind that you can stop troll and mummy regeneration, burn spider webs and natural plants, spook Flesh Golems, damage magical ice barriers, obliterate Scarecrows, and concern pirate/zeppelin crew. Save your Hellish Rebukes for these targets to double your return.

New trick: Focus Up. Start with Hex (1, bonus action) & Action Surge 2x Green Flame Blade great-sword strikes. As GFB is a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action and Hex is a bonus action they may be cast in the same turn. The Ironclad may now use their Action Surge to take another action, casting another GFB cantrip and taking another swing. Don’t forget to add Hex damage to each hit, as well as 2 automatic fire damage to an enemy within 5′ of the first.

A build note: I have prioritized obtaining ~Extra Attack at level 7, something tricky outside of melee-stacking multi-class builds. This does mean that it will take awhile for the Fighter subclass to come online. You may want to prioritize this first to make use of these abilities in the interim but know this will delay your ~Extra Attack by a level-up unless you decide to delay all Warlock levels until 7. It is possible to obtain this at level 6 instead but you’d have to delay Fighter (2) – Action Surge until 7.

Level 4:

We continue Warlock (2) to pick up the Eldritch Invocations Devil’s Sight (see in mundane/magical darkness) & Fiendish Vigor (False Life at will, primarily used between battles to maintain an HP buffer). We also gain a new spell, Cause Fear (single target, use sparingly to either force disadvantage in low Wisdom targets or to separate/delay a single melee enemy).

Level 5:

Warlock (3) again! All spells scale to 2^nd level, Proficiency increases from 2 to 3 (+hit chance, +spell save DC), cantrip damage increases (GFB now does an extra 1d8 fire damage to BOTH targets). Trade out Cause Fear for Burning Hands (flamethrower), and take Scorching Ray to deal with multiple ranged targets with low hp. We’re going to gain Pact Boon – Subclass Blade, and trade out Devil’s Sight for Improved Pact Weapon

Dragonborn breath increases to 2d10 damage and also gains a use of a 15′ cone metallic breath once per long rest: Enervating (Con save vs incapacitation until the start of your next turn) or Repulsion (Str save vs a 20′ push and prone).

Default Attack: GFB Improved Pact Weapon Great-sword (1x +7 2d6*+4 slashing + 1d8 magical fire to the main target, w/ 1d8+2 fire damage bouncing to a 2nd nearby creature. (The +1 hit and +1 dmg is from IPW)

New trick: Line ’em up! 15′ Metallic Repulsion Breath to group enemies to maximize an ally’s upcoming aoe spell or ability attack. Likewise this can be used to knock low-Str creatures off of high positions or into hazards (such as your Bonfire cantrip).

New trick: Fly you Fools! 15′ Metallic Repulsion Breath to push your own allies 20′ away. No test necessary as players can always choose to fail a check if they wish. Best used to move vulnerable allies (such as low health, unconscious, or those in imminent danger) out of the effective melee range of slow or pursuing enemies. The prone effect means that ranged attacks and spells will be at disadvantage (unless they require a Dexterity check or automatically hit due to aoe), but do keep in mind that they will have to spend half of their movement the next turn to stand up again so use at your discretion.

New trick: Get Down! In addition to de-buffing enemies in the middle of battle, Enervating Breath can be used to facilitate an escape for the whole party w/o the need for individual Disengages in a tight scrap.

Level 6:

Another one! Warlock (4) gives us a new spell (Cause Fear returns), a new cantrip (True Strike – yes, really). We also gain an ASI/Feat so will take Slasher for the +1 Str boost to 18, increasing both hit chance and damage. Likewise we gain the bonus that crit targets have disadvantage on all attack rolls until the start of your next turn which gives the chance to increase survivability in boss fights. Certainly not as powerful as Crusher or Piercer, it does fit the character while the Ironclad’s average damage per turn keeps it competitive.

A quick aside about True Strike. Is it the best cantrip? No. But is it still good? Also no. It is a trap to use this in most combats – it is better to attack twice over two rounds than wait to attack at advantage just once. True Strike is best used in specific scenarios:
-You will not reach the only available target until the next round but also do not want to spend any spell slots to attack via range this round.
-You only have a single chance to hit and have the opportunity the round before to aim, such as an archery contest, a joust, carnival games of strength/accuracy, an ambush to be sprung, etc.
-You have an effect or bonus that will only apply on the next hit and you want to increase the chance of a crit to multiply that bonus, such as poisons, smites, sneak attacks, some feats, etc.

Level 7:

The last Warlock (5) level for a while. All spells scale to 3^rd level. Our patron gives us a new spell and access to Fireball – with our fire resistance, False Life HP buffer, and chance of passing the Dex save we can drop this at our feet when we are surrounded by the weak, the slow, and the flammable.

The Ironclad also gets access to another Invocation; we are going to take the Pact of the Blade feature requiring five levels of warlock: Thirsting Blade. This effectively gives us multi-attack (but since it does not stack with actual Multi-attack we’ll switch out the invocation later).

Improved Trick: Line ’em Up, Burn ’em Down! Action surge Repulsion breath to cluster a group of enemies to maximize target count, then drop your own Fireball on the whole group. Remember that the prone targets are at disadvantage for the Dexterity save to reduce. If Hex is already active feel free to use the Hex-Bully trick to make sure your main target gets the full force of this combo.

Level 8:

The long awaited Fighter (3) joins the build. We immediately gain access to Smith’s tools for background reasons and pick the Battlemaster subclass for its versatility. We pick up Commanding Presence, Precision, & Sweeping Attacks – our stats put our Maneuver save @ DC15 when applicable. These add a ton of fun to the build so read over how they work and make sure you’re spending these Superiority dice between rests while looking for situations where they’ll make a difference. Use your new Battlemaster Maneuvers to increase hit chance and secondary target damage. Commanding Presence boosts your out-of-combat social checks – you’re a flame-wreathed metal-clad dragonborn who smells of iron and sulfur – your Intimidation is a hammer and everyone else is a nail. Go nuts and show the rest of the team that you’re useful outside of combat too.

Level 9:

We hit level 9 and take another level of Fighter (4), giving us a +1 to our proficiency, boosting hit chance, spell save DCs, and our Battlemaster Maneuvers. We get another ASI but this time we’re going to increase our Str to the cap of 20. This further increases hit chance, melee damage, target pushing, and the rare Str saving throw.

Level 10:

Fighter (5) gives us even more health and a secondary source of Extra Attack. RAW these do not stack so we’ll remedy this overlap next level.

Level 11:

A big one, and the last level for Warlock (6) in the main build. Cantrip and Dragonborn breath damage both scale to 3-dice. We drop Thirsting Blade (+1 Attack) and regain Devil’s Sight. We pick up a new spell (Vampiric Touch) for some extra HP recovery. Our Fiend Pact grants us a +d10 to an ability check or saving throw per rest so make use of that – if not needed in combat you could otherwise save it for navigation or crafting rolls before bed.

Trick: I am the Night! Devil’s Sight allows you to see in normal and magical darkness so take advantage by jumping in feet first when Darkness is cast on the battlefield. – you’ll be attacking from hidden so gain advantage to your attacks, while anyone else without special senses trying to target you will have disadvantage – just make sure you kill the enemy caster last so you don’t lose your cover early.

Level 12:

The final level in the base build is another Fighter (6). We gain another Feat, increasing our AC by 1 via Fighting Initiate – Defense. This will reduce our chance to be hit by 5% and give us a bit more survivability.

Extending the build to 20, three options:

Oops all Fighter (+8)! 3x ASI/Feats (+Con upgrades and Dungeon Delver for character background), Extra Attack, and Indomitable.

+6 Fighter/+2 Warlock! Gain 4^th level spells, another Invocation, two ASI/Feats, and Extra Attack.

+4 Fighter/+4 Warlock! Gain Fiendish Resilience, another Invocation, two ASI/Feats, and upgrade to 5^th level spells.

Regardless of the build I would pick the following Superiority Maneuver attacks: Disarming, Pushing, Menacing, and Trip.

Mechanically, this build pairs well with:

Early game: Perception Bards/Rogues for scouting/traps, Artificer to supplement your AC
Mid-game:, Twinned Hold Shadow Sorcerers for auto-crits, Abjuration Wizards for Arcane Ward
At high level: Grapple Barbarians / Shadow Monks, Death Cleric/Spore Druid to maximize Vampiric Touch HP recovery via Contagion’s Flesh Rot disease: necrotic vulnerability over 10 rounds = 105 average HP regained over a full duration.

Magic Item Wish-list:

Early:
Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Str 19) – Delay the +Str feats until/unless you’re ready to replace.
Adamantine Armor (Cannot be crit) – Fantastic staying power will keep you standing.
Periapt of Wound Closure (Auto-stabilize & double hit die HP restoration) – Troll-like regeneration

Mid:
Ring/Cloak of Protection (+1 to AC & Saving Throws) – We need both since we lack the shield bonus.
Butcher’s Bib (Once/turn damage re-roll, slashing damage crits on 19 or 20) – Pairs well w/ Slasher feat.
Flame Tongue (great-sword) – on theme and still works w/ Improved Pact Weapon; Extra attack makes this a damage multiplier.

Late:
Animated Shield (Hands free armor bonus) – Needed protection for this hack & slash build.
Manual of Gainful Exercise (+2 to Str and cap) – Read it and reap (the benefits).
Belt of (Fire) Giant’s Strength (Str 25!) – Hopefully you didn’t spend all of your ASI/Feats before you got this amazing piece of gear. If you’re lucky enough to get a belt of giant’s strength feel free to pick up Tough, +Con, or +Cha if you decide to lean caster for Lvl.4 spells via Fighter 13/Warlock 7 instead.

Legendary:
Red Dragon Mask (Upgrades your fire resistance to fire immunity, your breath weapon gains Recharge (6), and when you deal fire damage to a creature or flammable object it burns until an action is spent to end it.) – Amazing, but incredibly rare as it is usually Rise of Tiamat campaign-specific. If you can somehow acquire fire immunity from another source you will literally heal when damaged by fire.

Good luck, have fun!
=Thorn=

Art credits: https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/
Jack Torrance 2024 @ Boardgamegeek.com/image/8315607/slay-the-spire-the-board-game (bottom-most)