The Pride of Creche K’liir - Lae'zel
"Eager for battle."
She hits. Hard. Lae'zel is a Battle Master Fighter, commanding the battlefield and striking fear into the hearts of her foes. This build is a very basic fighter, but a ridiculously strong one nonetheless.
Gameplay Notes
Listen, it’s pretty standard. Get the biggest sword you can find and hit people with it as often as you’re allowed. You’re not here for a never-before-seen gameplay loop, and I’m not pretending that’s what I’m writing, either. The lore section will be more fun. [to be clear, I LOVE Lae’zel, but this is not my most creative build by any stretch of the imagination]
Stats and Leveling
Final build: Level 12 Battle Master Fighter
Lae’zel’s (default) stats: STR 17 / DEX 13 / CON 15 / INT 10 / WIS 12 / CHA 8
Level 1 - Fighter Level 1
- Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting
Level 2 - Fighter Level 2
- Action Surge [my love, my light, the love of my life]
Level 3 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 3
- Manoeuvres: Disarming Attack, Menacing Attack, Riposte
Level 4 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 4
- Feat: Great Weapon Master
Level 5 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 5
- Extra Attack
Level 6 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 6
- Feat: ASI+ STR>18, CON>16
Level 7 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 7
- Manoeuvres: Pushing Attack, Trip Attack
Level 8 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 8
- Feat: Alert [remember when I said this build was obvious? I’m not reinventing the wheel here]
Level 9 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 9
Level 10 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 10
- Manoeuvres: Goading Attack, Rally
Level 11 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 11
- Improved Extra Attack [Lae’zel will now shred enemies, which is hype]
Level 12 - Fighter (Battle Master) Level 12
- ASI+ STR>20
Items
Armor - Psionic Ward Armour (2 Reithwin Town)
Melee Weapon -
- Soulbreaker Greatsword (1 Creche)
- Silver Sword of the Astral Plane (3 Kith’rak Voss) [obvs]
Ranged Weapon - Githyanki Crossbow (1 The Risen Road)
Amulet - Aberration Hunters' Amulet (1 Creche) [this is a great example of gear that’s kind of nonsensical to choose from a mechanics point of view, but I think Lae’zel would love that it’s Githyanki specific. also it looks dope on her]
Helmet - Circlet of Psionic Revenge (1 Creche)
Ring 1 - Ring of Protection (1 Emerald Grove) [tip: you can steal the idol after the Goblin Camp is cleared out and it will no longer start ww3]
Ring 2 - Ring of Free Action (2 Moonrise Towers) [OR if you’re feeling fancy/didn’t equip it on a Rogue in your party, I really really love Risky Ring (2 Moonrise Towers) on Fighters with Great Weapon Master]
Gloves - Hr'a'cknir Bracers (2 Reithwin Town) [kinda useless for this build but the #aesthetic wins out for me… Battle Master Fighter is plenty strong already so idc]
Boots - Boots of Psionic Movement (3 Knights of the Shield Hideout)
Cloak - N/A [hot take, the cloaks are mostly good for casters, and since I don’t like the vibe of Fleshmelter in this build, I’m skipping it. and also I feel like I never see Gith with a cloak? so no cloak lmao] [but if you insist, Cloak of Protection (2 Last Light Inn) is standard for a reason]
Lore and Flavor
Part of the reason I’ve been dragging my feet about writing up this build is that it’s so… obvious. But, instead of just prioritizing the best possible armor and weapons across the board, I’ve continued my commitment to character and lore by picking Githyanki equipment as much as possible. Yes, in a good playthrough, Lae’zel turns her back on Vlaakith, but she remains deeply proud of her people. So yeah, I recognize it’s not the best armor set for an optimized run, but it’s the most fun armor set for Lae’zel!
One thing that I love so ardently about Lae’zel’s character design is the differing interactions between her independence and her loyalty — to me, the two strongest facets of her personality — in her possible endings. Lae’zel’s best ending shows her independence and her loyalty to her people shining through as her greatest strengths. However, my heart breaks every time I see the dark side of those very same qualities as she ascends to Vlaakith and… well… :(
Anyway, my main point is that most of the references for Lae’zel wearing metal armor and swinging a great sword are so surface level that they’re hard to reference directly. It’s just sort of… fundamental to her character design. There are arguments for other builds, to be sure, and I plan to write something up for both a Monk build and a Psionic Eldritch Knight build eventually, but I wanted to put this out in the world before I started getting too creative.