Let’s talk Final Battle predictions (Spoilers for Class Features of Rat Grinders)

So we have classes. We have the trailer giving a ‘They’re level 20’ moment. If that means the Rat Grinders are the ones they’re talking about then we can evaluate their threat levels accordingly:

At the top we have Oisin. Conjuration Wizard.

Already strong past 10th level, Oisin seems like a big threat. Not only do his conjured creatures get 30 extra hit points, his concentration won’t be broken by damage. These are both terrifying things aside from the insane wizard spells available. A must focus target for the team.

Mary-Ann. Berserker barbarian.

Strong with frenzy, damage resistances, immunity to fear and charm, and the ability to retaliate against opponents who hit her within 5ft. This last ability might come in handy with a later entry through Kipperlily but as far as Barbarian classes go, this one is straightforward. With whatever is enhancing her strength, she’s a menace and a build that really doesn’t need a lot to succeed. Health pool is big, hits are gonna hurt, and she’ll be soaking up a lot of damage throughout.

Ivy Embra. Arcane Archer/Gloomstalker.

This is one of two wildcards. We don’t know the level progression but BOTH subclasses mesh well. She’ll have magical arrows that have several different effects from banishing to seeking to shadow. If I were designing this multclass I’d likely go 8th level Arcane archer and 12 Gloomstalker. Mechanically speaking, she’ll be able to miss a target and then bonus action to redirect it to another target. Also gloomstalkers first round multi attacks, plus they have their own miss mechanic that lets them take another attack if she misses. Basically she can miss, reattack, and bonus action attack another target. This also includes a wisdom saving throw proficiency. All around an incredibly dangerous build and one I’d say is the epitome of ranged min-maxing. Also two(?) action surges and second wind.

Now. The bottom three are all weaker in my opinion due to some information we either lack or being classes that excel in different ways.

Rueben Hopclap. College of Whispers Bard.

Rueben is not as big a threat to me due to Emily’s consistent efforts to throw him off. The reality is that college of Whispers focuses on taking shadows and embodying other people, causing fear effects, and being able to bring out other’s greatest fears. These abilities are great mechanically but speak to Kalina and the NMK and thus I feel like a lot of our heroes will be able to overcome or avoid these effects. THIS is where I think Chungledown Bim will come into play for Fabian but beyond that I believe Rueben will not be as effective beyond the fact that bards have an insane amount of variability for spells. Wisdom saving throws might be tougher for our team to succeed and this works in tandem with both KLCK and somewhat with Ivy. He’s a threat, but he might also turn heel.

Kipperlily Copperkettle. Mastermind Rogue.

Insanely good at sneaking around, embodying others, manipulating, and being generally annoying. I don’t believe she’ll be as effective at combat than Riz despite her rogue abilities. With see invisibility and the knowledge they have on her class, her only real utility in combat from her subclass are two abilities. One is an extension of the help action to 30 feet and as a bonus action. This is big for advantage and death saves and various other things. She will also likely have information about all the Bad Kids abilities but, I’ll be honest, this is more a DM privilege too. Brennan can roleplay her exploiting weaknesses that he himself is likely aware of as is. Her other ability is a misdirection when an opponent attacks her, if she’s using another creature as cover she can make the attack hit that target. Mary-Ann will likely be close. Mary-Ann has Retaliation. KLCK will likely abuse this to make sure her Berzerker gets more hits in and she suffers less direct damage.

Another factor not considered? KLCK doesn’t need Devils Honey if she’s above level 17. Soul of Deceit is a powerful ability from a roleplay perspective.

She may also start off as Sandra Lynn or Rueben could as well. Both of them have abilities to do this.

Now we get to my last wildcard.

Buddy. Dawn. Light cleric before his change and likely now a War Cleric.

Not only does he get an extra attack that gets a +10 bonus to attacks, he can also grant an ally this ability. Add to that the 17th level effect that gives him resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. ALSO add to that he can use an ability each turn to attack with an extra 2d8 on a successful weapon attack. This is all predicated on him being a war cleric as a light cleric will be good too but far less in line with the dynamic they’ve made with the previous subclasses.

Could also just be Jace and Porter who are level 20. No way to know! Thoughts? Theories? Let’s hear em.

Did this for fun and because I always love designing characters. One of my theories is Mary-Ann might be convinced to switch due to KCLK using her ability to make her get hit. Convincing Reuben to switch could happen as well.