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tigerkirby215 · 2 years

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5e Nilah, the Joy Unbound build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Pan Chengwei. Made for Riot Games.)

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Guys Nilah's balanced she's not a 200 years champion I swear this isn't my first time playing Nilah and the Ahri wasn't 13/2 I swear this is perfectly balanced there's absolutely no problems with Nilah as a champion.

Nilah is super fun but oh my lord she’s overtuned as hell. The funny thing is if they gave her like 400 extra health and removed all her free lifesteal and armor penetration she’d probably be more balanced overall. But cheers to another 200 years champion that can consistently 1v2 because memes I guess. At least she has a fun kit that’s interesting to recreate in D&D.

GOALS

My waters cut deep! - We need a whip. This doesn’t sound too special, but that’s kinda the main thing that’s special about Nilah.

Triumph and exaltation - We need to be able to heal by cutting down and cleaving our foes. Because what do you mean Nilah has way too many free stats just for existing?

That was fast; should I have held back? - Honestly recreating Nilah’s ult was probably the hardest part about her kit. I think I managed something... pretty good.

RACE

Nilah is a human (as far as we know) and even though I like popping out the Eberron subraces more-often-than-not making her a Variant Human is actually the better play. Increase both your Constitution and your Dexterity by 1, grab the Survival skill, the Infernal language (for talking to demons and devils.)

For your feat I’d love to grab one of the UA feats relating to water, but that’s not official not that it’s stopped me before. And Fey Touched is more generally useful: sell your soul to Ashlesh (who’s a Fey now, I guess) for +1 to your Intelligence, the Misty Step spell (for Flash), and the Hex spell! The main reason I’m going for Fey Touched is in fact Hex, as it will give you your main source of damage for the early levels, and can even carry your DPS late game.

ABILITY SCORES

15; INTELLIGENCE - There was a girl before Nilah; one who studied a lot. But she’s gone now, and Nilah is here!

14; DEXTERITY - You need Dexterity to swing a whip and slice through your foes!

13; CONSTITUTION - More like we don’t need anything else, and health is always good.

12; CHARISMA - Nilah’s... charming enough. People always love someone who smiles.

10; WISDOM - We just need everything else more and when most folk tales are about you doing something stupid you don’t tend to pick up on that wisdom.

8; STRENGTH - Again: we just need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

You were a Sage before making a deal with a demon to wipe your emotional spectrum and become a monster slayer... but the Sage background still fits you well for Arcana and History proficiency as well as some languages.

Honestly though I’d maybe swap your background feature with the Far Traveler trait “All Eyes on You” (that will get all eyes on you for being a hero from a far off land) or the Celebrity Adventurer’s Scion feature “Name Dropping” (that will allow you to mention some of the famous people you know and famous beasts you’ve slain.) Basically modify those backgrounds with Arcana and History proficiency because you don’t remember much about being a Sage.

(Artwork from Champion Insights: Nilah. There’s like no fan art of this character...)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for proficiency in 4 skills: Acrobatics, Athletics (because your Strength is bad), Stealth (because you’re a Rogue), and Perception (because why not.) You can also get Expertise in two of your skills and I’d actually suggest both Arcana and History, so you can know the tales of great beasts to slay them!

You also learn Thieves’ Cant to communicate about secret stuff in Bilgewater, and Sneak Attack. Basically if a foe is flanked or they don’t see you coming, you can get some armor penetration for an extra d6 of damage! If you fight alone the latter will happen more but the former is more likely while fighting with a team!

Now you may be wondering: Rogues don’t get whip proficiency. That is correct, as we’ll get the whip in a bit. But if you’re starting at level 1 you have a few options:

Beg your DM - The whip does piss-poor damage anyways and it’s only marginally better than a dagger anyways. I doubt any DM wouldn’t let you use a whip for flavor.

Don’t use a whip to start - A shortsword or rapier works just as fine, although you can’t keep your distance.

Just use the whip anyways 4head - The only thing stopping you from using a whip is your proficiency bonus, which is a mere +2 anyways. You can still swing a whip without proficiency FYI. It might not hit as often but if you want to stick to the aesthetic its your best choice.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action, letting them Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. The first two are obviously more in-character for Nilah, and now you can double dash because what do you mean giving a champion Samira’s old dash twice isn’t good design?

LEVEL 3 - WIZARD 1

You were once a scholar, and unfortunately while Warlock would make more sense Wizard provides us with some magic that we need to recreate Ashlesh’s abilities. But first of all you get Spellcasting for 3 cantrips and 6 spells at level 1:

CANTRIPS

Seven hands means at least one can be lent to Mage Hand.

Prestidigitation is good for general demonic magic stuff.

Green Flame Blade may do fire damage but it’s the best way to get cleaving damage. At least from a cantrip.

SPELLS

Shield, Mage Armor, and Absorb Elements are all universally good for defense.

Detect Magic and Identify are useful to know what danger you’re walking into.

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter fits the character, I suppose. It’s also a good debuff. Honestly you can only prepare 4 spells and I’d just take the 3 defensive spells and maybe Detect Magic.

Arcane Recovery also helps you get some of your spell slots back on a Short Rest: an exact number equal to half your Wizard level (rounded down.) There’s some other things to explain about the ability but you can read it yourself to understand. The point is that you can get a spell slot back for Hex once per Long Rest.

LEVEL 4 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition, and Wizard is my favorite martial class! Choose the Bladesinger for Training in War and Song to give you proficiency in the Performance skill, Light Armor which you already have, and most importantly: Whip proficiency!

Most notably however if you want to channel your inner hero with some demonic aid Bladesong will let you become awesome for a time. You can use a bonus action to start Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute and ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don medium / heavy armor or a shield (which you shouldn’t), or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. (But thankfully whips are one-handed weapons.) Alternatively you can dismiss the Bladesong at any time with no action required.

During Bladesong your movement speed increases by 10 feet, you get advantage on Acrobatics checks, an increase to your AC equal to your Intelligence, and a boost to your Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence. Basically you won’t get hit and won’t lose concentration. Theoretically. Anyways you can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per Long Rest, so don’t go picking too many fights.

Finally you learn two more 1st level spells: Feather Fall is a good defensive spell when scaling titanic foes, and Find Familiar will let you roleplay a Star Guardian a little better. Plus Find Familiar is a good spell.

(More images from Champion Insights: Nilah.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 3

3rd level Wizards can learn 2nd level spells, and since we already have Flash we can concentrate on other things like Blur for your Jubilant Veil, and Wither and Bloom for a version of your ultimate that can be used at range! But really while Wither and Bloom is meant to recreate your ult using it at range for a cleave that can also heal an ally is rather useful.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards finally get their first Ability Score Improvement and because you’re using a whip the Slasher feat is particularly good for kiting enemies. Along with a +1 to your Dexterity you will slow an enemy you hit with a slashing weapon (whips deal slashing!) by 10 feet once per turn. Additionally, if you score a critical hit your opponent will have disadvantage on their attack rolls until the start of your next turn!

Additionally you can learn two more spells like Rime’s Binding Ice to bind your foes in place (yeah duh) and Vortex Warp to pull a friend out of danger as needed (or pull them into danger!), and another cantrip like Message to keep in team chat.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 5

Third level spells time, and this is where most of the spells I want are! Start by taking Spirit Shroud to add a d8 to all your whip strikes (instead of just your attacks against one target, which makes it marginally better than Hex.) Alternatively if you need some sustain Vampiric Touch can let you lifesteal back to health. Vampiric Touch will force you in melee range (instead of letting you keep 5 feet back with your whip) but you’ve gotta get in the fight to sustain after all!

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 6

6th level Bladesingers get an Extra Attack, because Wizard is my favorite martial class. What’s special about this Extra Attack is that it allows you to use a cantrip in-place of one of your attacks, meaning you can use Green Flame Blade with your first attack and still strike with your second attack!

And you can pick up your final two spells! Although you can always get more from scrolls or other such scholarly ventures. Ashardalon’s Stride is good if you need mobility and don’t mind the thematic weirdness of doing fire damage, and Leomund’s Tiny Hut is rather universally useful when traveling the world to slay mighty foes. A safe place to rest is always useful!

(Artist unknown. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 9 - ROGUE 3

Now that you’ve lived a little as a scholar it’s time for that bookish girl from Kathkan to die, and for Nilah to be reborn as a Phantom! Whispers of the Dead gives you a skill or tool proficiency you lack that can be swapped out during a Short or Long Rest, allowing you to be up for the task at all times.

But what we’re mostly here for is Wails from the Grave for some more cleave damage! When you trigger Sneak Attack you can choose another target within 30 feet of the original to take half your Sneak Attack damage in Necrotic damage. Talk about a big cleave! You can only do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus currently, but you needn’t worry: that will change with time. Oh and to top it off your Sneak Attack now deals 2d6 damage.

LEVEL 10 - ROGUE 4

More ASIs are fun. You can either increase your Intelligence for more spells prepared and a harder saving against your like... 3 spells that have saves. Or you can increase your Dexterity for more damage, hit chance, AC, initiative, skill checks...

Yeah you’re gonna want to increase your Dexterity by 2.

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

Are your foes proving too much to face with just the Shield spell alone? Well Uncanny Dodge also uses your reaction, but you can use it to take half damage when struck! Save Shield for when you think you’re going to be hit multiple times, but if you take one big blow then Uncanny Dodge can help if you can’t block. I mean it only works against attack rolls you see coming, but it’s still a powerful asset. And speaking of powerful assets: you now deal 3d6 Sneak Attack damage, and since Wails from the Grave rounds up that now deals 2d6 damage!

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills. You can choose whatever you want (as long as it’s not your Whispers of the Dead skill) but I’d choose Athletics (because your Strength is trash but you can probably get your DM to allow you to roll Athletics for most Strength-based things anyways) and Stealth (because you are a Rogue, after all.)

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

By this point you’re probably facing down foes that breath fire, acid, and all sorts of nasty things. Up your dodging skills with Evasion! The concept is simple: if you succeed a Dexterity save you take no damage, and if you fail you still only take half (instead of full damage.) No fire trap is going to stop Nilah, especially with 4d6 Sneak Attack damage!

(I think this artwork is official idk if it’s not please PM me.)

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

Finally you can max out Dexterity! You need that crit chance for you free damage, lifesteal, armor penetration, and ally healing because what do you mean Nilah is overtuned?

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

It’s about time you got to cleave more often. 9th level Phantom Rogues can grab Tokens of the Departed; trinkets to aid with your epic tales of heroism. You get a Soul Trinket as a reaction whenever a creature dies within 30 feet of you, and Ashlesh will grant you a number of benefits for having them.

You get advantage on death saves and Constitution saving throws. (CON saves in particular is nice because that helps you keep Concentration on your spells!)

You can use one of the tokens to trigger your Wails from the Grave, in case you ran of out charges for that.

You can also ask questions to the dead, although it might not be too useful as they’d rather just move on.

And to top it off with more Wails from the Grave your Sneak Attack does 5d6 damage, and Wails from the Grave scales up to 3d6!

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 10

Rogue is a fun class because you get an Ability Score Improvement at level 10. You can now invest in your Intelligence for more AC and better concentration while in Bladesong! And more spells is nice too.

(Artwork by @MRmarraine on Twitter.)

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent which means I get to do the fun little thing where I list all the bare minimum rolls you can now get as a Rogue:

27 in Stealth

26 in Arcana and History

22 in Athletics and Acrobatics

17 in Persuasion

16 in Survival and Perception

And as an added bonus Sneak Attack now deals 6d6 damage!

LEVEL 18 - ROGUE 12

One last Ability Score Improvement means one last increase to Intelligence for capped-off spellcasting and AC while in Bladesong.

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 13

Now Nilah can’t walk through walls... not currently anyways, but 13th level Phantom Rogues get Ghost Walk to walk through walls... and fly too because why not? And a hover? And all attack rolls have disadvantage against you? Wow, this overtuned ability that probably took 200 years of collective game design experience is perfect for Nilah! Especially since it lasts for 10 goddamn minutes and you can use it at any time with a Bonus Action if you have a Soul Trinket on hand.

Well at least your Sneak Attack does 7d6 now, which also means that Wails from the Grave does 4d6 due to how that ability scales upwards.

LEVEL 20 - WIZARD 7

(Funny sticker from Legends of Runeterra.)

Put bluntly Blindsense is bad, so if you hypothetically hit level 20 4th level spells are more useful overall.

Grab whatever you want; Evard’s Black Tentacles and Storm Sphere are good I guess. But we’re really just here for spell slots and better Arcane Recovery. Not like you’re going to hit level 20 anyways lmao.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Conquer the foe before you, no matter how great - You do good damage, and notably fight well against multiple targets unlike most martials. You don’t even need that much magic to cut down swaths of foes!

No foe can match me! - You also have great survivability with tons of AC from Bladesong and mobility to spare, not to mention that using a whip lets you keep your distance and you have tons of aid for your Concentration checks to keep your spells up.

I slay foes the size of mountains! You were... fine, I guess - While you have some nice tricks at higher levels you can get by with your lower level spell slots quite well, meaning that you won’t have to worry about running out of steam too fast.

CONS

True happiness lies in the heart of battle; let us claim it! - If you’re playing Nilah “as intended” triggering Sneak Attack might be hard. Sure it becomes easier with allies around but hiding with a whip can be hard. Sorta a “meta” issue I won’t lie.

I exist in but a single moment - It’s tough for you to keep going on a long day, as your spell slots will run out over time and you won’t be getting Tokens of the Departed until level 15.

Master one evil, then destroy the rest - You are going to be a very squishy Fighter with d6 hit die for a very long time. Before you get your Rogue abilities you’ll have a tough time keeping Concentration, your damage output won’t be great, and worst of all your survivability is really going to suffer.

But you are an ADC after all and it takes some grinding to become powerful. Slay the greatest of foes and tell the greatest of tales with many great allies at your side! Even if you can take down armies it helps to let others in on your epic as well, less you be taken down by a bat.

(Artwork by @beeccoe on Twitter.)

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