How to Play Blood Hunter in D&D 5e

This year may not be good in some aspects, but for those who are fans of D&D (Dungeons and Dragons), it couldn’t be better. Why is that? Well, it’s because this game has spiced things up by adding a new class called the Blood Hunter.

What do we know about it? This class is part of 5e and it was made by Matt Mercer, who is a voice actor and he is also known for the popular YouTube series titled Critical Role. Those who haven’t seen this series or do not watch YouTube, in general, will not know who this guy is.

On the other hand, we are absolutely sure that (if you love this game) after 5e you will get the idea. Anyhow, what do we know about Blood Hunters? Well, they are quite similar to Fighters. The thing that sets them apart is how they utilize blood magic.

In this edition, it is called hemocraft. Namely, they have the ability to shape as well as control hemocraft magic. More importantly, their role is to hunt demons, monsters, and other nocturnal creatures. 

Since they are part of the latest edition, some players are a bit intimidated by this class and not sure how to play the game. Here in this article, we will briefly try to explain how you can do it by giving some guidelines.

Let’s Play the Game!

How to Start?

As we stated in the beginning Matthew Mercer basically created monsters that are designed to kill other monsters. The entire point is to get rid of evil from this world. These creatures are mostly martial class and your goal is to make sure your primary damage score is high. This refers to either Dexterity or Strength.

More importantly, you also have to ensure that your Constitution score is also high. Now, when it comes to fighting, you have to choose your weapon carefully. What does this mean? It means that, for instance, if you want to be good at archery, ensure that Dexterity has the biggest ability score.

On the other hand, if you are into powerful weapons, then it’s important to make a strong highest ability score. Namely, if you take a look at the official text, it’s recommended to make intelligence your next highest score.

However, keep in mind that you will be needing more hit points over a bump if you want to save DC. That’s why it would be recommendable to make constitution your second highest ability score.

What can we conclude about their fighting style? Just like in most games, here you have a certain fighting style, which means that blood hunters are actually fighters with additional spells and damage. You as a player should pick a style that you like the most and simply play it like a fighter for the most part.

Blood Maledict 

During the first level, you will be able to channel and at times sacrifice one small part of your vital essence in order to manipulate and curse these creatures as well. You will be doing that via hemocraft magic. 

Moreover, you will also get one Blood Curse of your choice. While playing blood hunter in D&D 5e you will get the opportunity to learn one additional blood curse. That means that you can pick one of the blood curses you already know and replace it with another. This can happen during the 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

Once you decide to utilize your Blood Maledict you get to choose which curse you want to summon. During this, you can choose to reinforce the curse by losing a certain amount of hit points equal to one roll of your hemocraft die, as seen in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table.

It’s worth mentioning that monsters that do not have any blood in their bodies are resistant to any blood curse. On the other hand, this rule doesn’t apply if you have already amplified the curse. This feature can only be utilized once. 

Once you start the 6th level, you can use it twice, at the 13th level you can utilize the Blood Maledict feature three times and at the 17th level, you can use it four times between rests.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

Dealing With Ghosts Too

The Order of the Ghostslayer is the first out of four subclasses for these hunters. Now, this may sound strange to some because we are not sure that ghosts even have blood to slay. Well, in any other world that would be the case, however, not in this one.

Namely, the Ghostslayer utilizes their own blood for various rituals when they are fighting against other creatures. Something similar occurred in Bloodborne as well as in Demon Slayer. In this game, Ghostslayers are killing both the dead and the undead and other monsters that are present in this fantasy world.

Do You Love Werewolves?

If the answer is yes, then you should choose the Order of the Lycan. These creatures obviously have some similarities with the Gangrel and Brujah classes from the Vampire: The Masquerade RPG system.

They think that if you want to properly fight against your enemies and beat them, that you must act like them. As this type of hunter, you have the ability to turn into a creature that resembles the wolf, plus you also have heightened senses.

Plus, in this form, you also have Barbarian-like resistance to damage, which means that you get the chance to frenzy attack a neighbor and better-unarmed melee attacks as well. Now, if you don’t like being a werewolf, this game allows you to be the other two creatures – a witcher or a warlock.

It doesn’t take too much to conclude that this class is very interesting and specific. It comes with various choices that are both huge and small. You as a player have to continuously use your imagination and inventiveness in order to enjoy this game to the maximum. This game is all about choosing the right tools and weapons. If you pick the right ones, you will have the time of your life.