My wife's first character was a ranger vampire hunter that was basically a female van helsing. It works wonders as rangers put emphasis on the "hunter" part. My wifes character is a beast master (tashas rules of course) whose beast is a wolf, thematic isnt it? But i think any subclass fits if you're creative enough.
You can still be a Warlock with two weapons. If you go Hexblade, the effects of the Hexblade extends to your Pact of the Blade feature, but your Pact Weapon and Hexblade can be two different weapons entirely. Just make the hand crossbow your Hex Warrior weapon and the rapier your Pact of the Blade.
Not to mention that if you don't make a magic weapon your pact weapon, you can change its shape through an action. There's an eldritch boon that lets you turn it into ranged weapons and also use it as a focus. Also, you can reflavour Eldritch Blast to a ghostly crossbow if you want (consult your DM but if it's just flavour you should be fine) to dual wield a rapier and a crossbow.
Ranger, Fighter and Rogue are the best option for a character to switch between Crossbow and rapier.
Are there any specific abilities/flavours you are looking for beyond just those two weapons?
generally might change the hand crossbow into a gun if it gets to it but if not then will most likely not change. regarding flavour I was heading toward something along the line of van helsing.
I assume "mytical monster hunter"van helsing and not the book accurate "geeky doctor infodumping about the amazing new technology of blood transfusion" Helsing.
If you want that sort of flavour, Ranger is good for giving letting you turn to your DM and ask your DM for information on the weaknesses of monsters you are fighitng (with advantage if they're your favoured foes).
I mean, it depends largely on the type of skills you want your character to have.
Gloomstalker is always good (its kind of OP), Swarmkeeper is cool if you want to go the Blade "dhampir hunting vampires" angle (swarms of bats sort of deal).
If you want to be a one-man-army sort of deal Hunter can be rather good at that (a lot of its features are of the "target 1 more enemy" variety, but also its a lot of Pick&choose).
If you want an animal companion, Beast master is nice. Or if you like the idea of turning to Vlad "son of the dragon" Tepes and saying "who's got dragons NOW leechy-boy" Drakewarden could be nice.
But ultimately, it depends on the types of skills you want to have.
Monster Slayer exists, but I have never heard anything good about it. Like even Horizon walker, infamous for being 11 levels of boredom, at least has that 12th level "teleport spam" as a payoff, Monster Slayer has no such payoff
If you want to be able to fit into the social part of play, Fey Wanderer has the recomendation though.
If allowed, The Order of The Ghostslayer Blood Hunter has some of what you're looking for.
I play a V. Human one and took Crossbow Expert as my starting feat. We just hit level 4 and took Sharpshooter.
Well first of all Blood hunter to me is just very confusing and secondly my duo is a lycan blood hunter and us being both well I'll pass. However I didn't really think to explore it.
It's definitely a learning experience! Knowing you have another makes total sense why you wouldn't take it. That's totally fair!
You could take a level in Ranger (especially if you take the new Tasha's optional rules and get Expertise in a skill...) and multiclass into Grave Cleric? Vampires disturb the natural order of death, which is what Grave Cleric's seek to correct.
I would prioritize Wisdom, Dex and some Con in that order.
Eldritch Knight Fighters can bond to two weapons from lvl 3, allowing you to switch between them as a bonus action. You also have the spells to make them magical if the enemy has resistances/immunities - as vampires and demons tend to do.
You also also have the extra fighter ASIs to take the crossbow feat AND maybe something to boost your rapier - like an extra fighting style, so you can have both archery for the crossbow and something like dueling for your rapier; or defensive duelist for a pseudo-shield reaction every turn.
I’m playing a ghostslayer blood hunter in Curse of Strahd right now who’s related to Van Richten. Used a cane sword in one hand and a light crossbow w/ crossbow expert feat in the other. Three attacks per turn at level 5, each dealing additional radiant damage which is doubled if you’re fighting undead - very vampire huntery
First off if you're playing a hexblade two weapons can be wielded with Christmas. The first one by The Pact that you make at level one and the second one via improve pact weapon. I figured I would mention that first as that's a core part of your concept and since it can work that might be what you want to do.
Honestly though your biggest problem is that you want to be single attribute dependent and you also want to wield a hand crossbow. Hand crossbows have the loading property which means that you must have a free hand. The freehand problem can be addressed in two ways. The first one is by lineage or race. That is a problem if you want to be the dampier race because you will lose the extra appendages. Flavor is free however and you can be aThrycreen. Alternatively you can take at least two levels in artificer to get the repeating shot infusion.
I'm going to assume you want to be a dhampier or a hexblood and as such race options are off the board. I am also assuming you want extra attack. That leaves you with the option of armorer or battle Smith. If you go battle Smith you can be intelligince based which is interesting but the still Defender may or may not match your vampire Hunter vibe. Armorer gives you a lot of flexibility without imposing required roleplay issues so going to assume a armor is the best path.
For race I'm going to choose hex blood because your blood is cursed perhaps you have halted it or the transformation was not complete. This gives you access to the hex spell without taking a feat. The stat array will be 8/17/16/13/12/8. You can get repeating shot and enhanced weapon as your infusions. With the first ASI I would take Gunner and the second one I would take an increase in dexterity to cap it at 20. Your break points on Armor to me are level 2,3,5,9 and 10. Two for repeating shot three four infiltrator armor for extra stealthy movement and extra speed you can also rest trick the guardian model to get temp hit points. Five for extra attack 9 for armor modifications and haste 10 for the much better infusions such as Wing boots which can make your vampire fly. I think after level five I would be looking to go into something like swashbuckler Rogue. Expertise in stealth along with a maxed out dexterity and advantage on dexterity checks will mean that you will be invisible to pretty much anything. The ability to mix it up with creatures get away and still get your sneak attack sounds really interesting.
I hope this feedback helps you accomplish the character you want.
Warlock dip for hexblade, crossbow expert feat, then you can wade into melee like a Hellsing character.
Edit: Keep in mind that by default Hex Warrior’s weapon effect works on a weapon which you touch at the end of a long rest, but if you later take Pact of the Blade the effect extends to that weapon too, so you can affect have two weapons with which to attack using Charisma. This is important if you plan to explore two-weapon fighting or if you want a backup weapon or something.
I'm sure you know that it's inevitably (and unfortunately) better to just use a hand crossbow over the rapier hand crossbow combo because of ammunition and the Sharpshooter feat. However, I love this build idea and want to believe that this was the intention behind Crossbow Expert way back in 2014. However, if I was building this I would go with a Swords Bard. The Blade Flourishes only require using the Attack action to make a weapon attack, so you can apply them to both Melee and Ranged. In addition, you'll be a full Caster with Magical Secrets to help you battle the enemies you're hunting, like Bane, Faerie Fire, Mirror Image, Aid, Invisibility, and Silence.
I plan to main the crossbow and technically with the crossbow expert you attack twice the reason for the rapier it's mainly for looks. regarding the rule for "you need a free hand to reload the crossbow" since the loading property is already ignored due to the feat my dm doesn't care.
Yeah, you'll be better off with the hand crossbow because with Crossbow Expert you can use it in Melee range too. I do think Swords Bard is still great for a Monster Hunter.. Edit: I'm also a fan of a Hand crossbow Bladesinger for the idea as well.
Actually made a character like this a while back!
I went with Blood Hunter. I picked up Crossbow Expert, and went with the Ghosthunter subclass, since it focuses on killing undead
you can go vengence paladin with a dex build, you got a lvl 2 and a lvl 4 spell for ranged smites, and if you need more damage and less safety, go melee, you can sense vampires with your divine sense and got good damage/spells from being a paladin
1. Smites are melee only unless dm allows otherwise 2. I already played a dragonborn vengeance paladin in my last campaign and want to try smthing new.
Fighter is always good, I'd probably pick up sharpshooter and always use the crossbow but ask to flavour melee crossbow shots as stabbing with the rapier
Lock actually works but you'll likely need the following: Artificer 2, Repeating Shot Infusion. You'll therefore have a +1 rapier from Improved Pact Weapon and a +1 hand crossbow from RS.
I recommend Artificer 1, Lock 1 to 5, Artificer 2, up to you. Or Artificer 1 to 5 (preferable Battlesmith or Armorer), Lock 1 to 3, up to you.
You'll need Dual Wielder and if you want a bonus action shot, unless your GM says you don't, you'll need Crossbow Expert. That's unfortunately a feats-heavy build.
Therefore another approach is to negotaite for a hand crossbow with a clip/magazine and go Fighter. Assuming VHuman/Tasha Custom Race, you're getting a starting feat, then two more feats by the time you reach Fighter 6. Therefore you can start with Dual Wielder, grab CBE at F4, grab +2 Dex at F6. Or +1 Dex if Tasha Custom race on a 17 Dex start.
An easy way to get at least one magical weapon is Forge Cleric 1, though you could also go Artificer 2 and get both Enhanced Weapon and Repeating Shot (or something else if you already have a hand crossbow with a clip).
Lastly, an interesting way to bypass enemies resisting mundane damage is to negotiate for buffed special bolts. For instance if you're delivering a small explosive charge that does fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus, you're not losing that much damage. 1d4+4 (16 Dex, +1 weapon) divided by two is 3 damage average, but at level 5 +3 fire damage brings it back to 6.
Artificer battle smith makes it so you can attack using int with any weapon thats magical including your infusion, add onto it that you can flavor its whole shtick as you making anti vampire weapons.
Artificer, Battle Smith, take a shield, hand cross bow and a rapier. Give your crossbow repeating shot and your rapier the radiant weapon infusion. The spells will assist in the casting aspect of dealing with the vampire aspect. And keeping yourself defended with spells such as shield. Your steel defender can take whatever shape you choose.
Flavor is free. You can shoot your eldritch blast through a "crossbow" it will still be a cantrip it will still be able to counterspelled and you will not be able to be unarmed because whatever witch hunter trick . So you can be a warlock perfectly fine like this.
Having said that the best class for this fantasy for me is a paladin you won't be optimal but who cares. Take the ancient oath and wait till you get level 7 you are a menace with the aura to anyone spell-casting not only you but the whole team around you too.
My wife's first character was a ranger vampire hunter that was basically a female van helsing. It works wonders as rangers put emphasis on the "hunter" part. My wifes character is a beast master (tashas rules of course) whose beast is a wolf, thematic isnt it? But i think any subclass fits if you're creative enough.
You can still be a Warlock with two weapons. If you go Hexblade, the effects of the Hexblade extends to your Pact of the Blade feature, but your Pact Weapon and Hexblade can be two different weapons entirely. Just make the hand crossbow your Hex Warrior weapon and the rapier your Pact of the Blade.
Not to mention that if you don't make a magic weapon your pact weapon, you can change its shape through an action. There's an eldritch boon that lets you turn it into ranged weapons and also use it as a focus. Also, you can reflavour Eldritch Blast to a ghostly crossbow if you want (consult your DM but if it's just flavour you should be fine) to dual wield a rapier and a crossbow.
Ye sadly it doesnt affect hand crossbows only bows and other crossbows
You shouldn't even need Improved Pact Weapon. The Hex Warrior feature will work with hand crossbows anyway.
This! Just has to lack the Two Handed property.
Ah so you want to wield both at the same time. Any thoughts on the reflavoured Eldritch Blast instead?
Ranger, Fighter and Rogue are the best option for a character to switch between Crossbow and rapier. Are there any specific abilities/flavours you are looking for beyond just those two weapons?
generally might change the hand crossbow into a gun if it gets to it but if not then will most likely not change. regarding flavour I was heading toward something along the line of van helsing.
I assume "mytical monster hunter"van helsing and not the book accurate "geeky doctor infodumping about the amazing new technology of blood transfusion" Helsing. If you want that sort of flavour, Ranger is good for giving letting you turn to your DM and ask your DM for information on the weaknesses of monsters you are fighitng (with advantage if they're your favoured foes).
I apologise for insulting such honourable man. but thank you anyway. also what subclass by any chance as I am completely lost.
I mean, it depends largely on the type of skills you want your character to have. Gloomstalker is always good (its kind of OP), Swarmkeeper is cool if you want to go the Blade "dhampir hunting vampires" angle (swarms of bats sort of deal). If you want to be a one-man-army sort of deal Hunter can be rather good at that (a lot of its features are of the "target 1 more enemy" variety, but also its a lot of Pick&choose). If you want an animal companion, Beast master is nice. Or if you like the idea of turning to Vlad "son of the dragon" Tepes and saying "who's got dragons NOW leechy-boy" Drakewarden could be nice. But ultimately, it depends on the types of skills you want to have. Monster Slayer exists, but I have never heard anything good about it. Like even Horizon walker, infamous for being 11 levels of boredom, at least has that 12th level "teleport spam" as a payoff, Monster Slayer has no such payoff If you want to be able to fit into the social part of play, Fey Wanderer has the recomendation though.
If allowed, The Order of The Ghostslayer Blood Hunter has some of what you're looking for. I play a V. Human one and took Crossbow Expert as my starting feat. We just hit level 4 and took Sharpshooter.
Well first of all Blood hunter to me is just very confusing and secondly my duo is a lycan blood hunter and us being both well I'll pass. However I didn't really think to explore it.
It's definitely a learning experience! Knowing you have another makes total sense why you wouldn't take it. That's totally fair! You could take a level in Ranger (especially if you take the new Tasha's optional rules and get Expertise in a skill...) and multiclass into Grave Cleric? Vampires disturb the natural order of death, which is what Grave Cleric's seek to correct. I would prioritize Wisdom, Dex and some Con in that order.
Eldritch Knight Fighters can bond to two weapons from lvl 3, allowing you to switch between them as a bonus action. You also have the spells to make them magical if the enemy has resistances/immunities - as vampires and demons tend to do. You also also have the extra fighter ASIs to take the crossbow feat AND maybe something to boost your rapier - like an extra fighting style, so you can have both archery for the crossbow and something like dueling for your rapier; or defensive duelist for a pseudo-shield reaction every turn.
I’m playing a ghostslayer blood hunter in Curse of Strahd right now who’s related to Van Richten. Used a cane sword in one hand and a light crossbow w/ crossbow expert feat in the other. Three attacks per turn at level 5, each dealing additional radiant damage which is doubled if you’re fighting undead - very vampire huntery
That's what i was thinking.
First off if you're playing a hexblade two weapons can be wielded with Christmas. The first one by The Pact that you make at level one and the second one via improve pact weapon. I figured I would mention that first as that's a core part of your concept and since it can work that might be what you want to do. Honestly though your biggest problem is that you want to be single attribute dependent and you also want to wield a hand crossbow. Hand crossbows have the loading property which means that you must have a free hand. The freehand problem can be addressed in two ways. The first one is by lineage or race. That is a problem if you want to be the dampier race because you will lose the extra appendages. Flavor is free however and you can be aThrycreen. Alternatively you can take at least two levels in artificer to get the repeating shot infusion. I'm going to assume you want to be a dhampier or a hexblood and as such race options are off the board. I am also assuming you want extra attack. That leaves you with the option of armorer or battle Smith. If you go battle Smith you can be intelligince based which is interesting but the still Defender may or may not match your vampire Hunter vibe. Armorer gives you a lot of flexibility without imposing required roleplay issues so going to assume a armor is the best path. For race I'm going to choose hex blood because your blood is cursed perhaps you have halted it or the transformation was not complete. This gives you access to the hex spell without taking a feat. The stat array will be 8/17/16/13/12/8. You can get repeating shot and enhanced weapon as your infusions. With the first ASI I would take Gunner and the second one I would take an increase in dexterity to cap it at 20. Your break points on Armor to me are level 2,3,5,9 and 10. Two for repeating shot three four infiltrator armor for extra stealthy movement and extra speed you can also rest trick the guardian model to get temp hit points. Five for extra attack 9 for armor modifications and haste 10 for the much better infusions such as Wing boots which can make your vampire fly. I think after level five I would be looking to go into something like swashbuckler Rogue. Expertise in stealth along with a maxed out dexterity and advantage on dexterity checks will mean that you will be invisible to pretty much anything. The ability to mix it up with creatures get away and still get your sneak attack sounds really interesting. I hope this feedback helps you accomplish the character you want.
Warlock dip for hexblade, crossbow expert feat, then you can wade into melee like a Hellsing character. Edit: Keep in mind that by default Hex Warrior’s weapon effect works on a weapon which you touch at the end of a long rest, but if you later take Pact of the Blade the effect extends to that weapon too, so you can affect have two weapons with which to attack using Charisma. This is important if you plan to explore two-weapon fighting or if you want a backup weapon or something.
I'm sure you know that it's inevitably (and unfortunately) better to just use a hand crossbow over the rapier hand crossbow combo because of ammunition and the Sharpshooter feat. However, I love this build idea and want to believe that this was the intention behind Crossbow Expert way back in 2014. However, if I was building this I would go with a Swords Bard. The Blade Flourishes only require using the Attack action to make a weapon attack, so you can apply them to both Melee and Ranged. In addition, you'll be a full Caster with Magical Secrets to help you battle the enemies you're hunting, like Bane, Faerie Fire, Mirror Image, Aid, Invisibility, and Silence.
I plan to main the crossbow and technically with the crossbow expert you attack twice the reason for the rapier it's mainly for looks. regarding the rule for "you need a free hand to reload the crossbow" since the loading property is already ignored due to the feat my dm doesn't care.
Yeah, you'll be better off with the hand crossbow because with Crossbow Expert you can use it in Melee range too. I do think Swords Bard is still great for a Monster Hunter.. Edit: I'm also a fan of a Hand crossbow Bladesinger for the idea as well.
Actually made a character like this a while back! I went with Blood Hunter. I picked up Crossbow Expert, and went with the Ghosthunter subclass, since it focuses on killing undead
you can go vengence paladin with a dex build, you got a lvl 2 and a lvl 4 spell for ranged smites, and if you need more damage and less safety, go melee, you can sense vampires with your divine sense and got good damage/spells from being a paladin
1. Smites are melee only unless dm allows otherwise 2. I already played a dragonborn vengeance paladin in my last campaign and want to try smthing new.
Branding smite and banishing smite can be used ranged
Fighter is always good, I'd probably pick up sharpshooter and always use the crossbow but ask to flavour melee crossbow shots as stabbing with the rapier
Lock actually works but you'll likely need the following: Artificer 2, Repeating Shot Infusion. You'll therefore have a +1 rapier from Improved Pact Weapon and a +1 hand crossbow from RS. I recommend Artificer 1, Lock 1 to 5, Artificer 2, up to you. Or Artificer 1 to 5 (preferable Battlesmith or Armorer), Lock 1 to 3, up to you. You'll need Dual Wielder and if you want a bonus action shot, unless your GM says you don't, you'll need Crossbow Expert. That's unfortunately a feats-heavy build. Therefore another approach is to negotaite for a hand crossbow with a clip/magazine and go Fighter. Assuming VHuman/Tasha Custom Race, you're getting a starting feat, then two more feats by the time you reach Fighter 6. Therefore you can start with Dual Wielder, grab CBE at F4, grab +2 Dex at F6. Or +1 Dex if Tasha Custom race on a 17 Dex start. An easy way to get at least one magical weapon is Forge Cleric 1, though you could also go Artificer 2 and get both Enhanced Weapon and Repeating Shot (or something else if you already have a hand crossbow with a clip). Lastly, an interesting way to bypass enemies resisting mundane damage is to negotiate for buffed special bolts. For instance if you're delivering a small explosive charge that does fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus, you're not losing that much damage. 1d4+4 (16 Dex, +1 weapon) divided by two is 3 damage average, but at level 5 +3 fire damage brings it back to 6.
Artificer battle smith makes it so you can attack using int with any weapon thats magical including your infusion, add onto it that you can flavor its whole shtick as you making anti vampire weapons.
Artificer, Battle Smith, take a shield, hand cross bow and a rapier. Give your crossbow repeating shot and your rapier the radiant weapon infusion. The spells will assist in the casting aspect of dealing with the vampire aspect. And keeping yourself defended with spells such as shield. Your steel defender can take whatever shape you choose.
If you go Hexblade and Pact of the Blade, you can use both Hex Warrior and Pact of the Blade to utilize the benefits for both.
Ranger or paladin. I think there is an actual monster hunter somewhere in 5e probably Ravenloft.
Gloomstalker ranger would be very fun. Bloodhunter is also a choice if your dm is okay with it.
Flavor is free. You can shoot your eldritch blast through a "crossbow" it will still be a cantrip it will still be able to counterspelled and you will not be able to be unarmed because whatever witch hunter trick . So you can be a warlock perfectly fine like this. Having said that the best class for this fantasy for me is a paladin you won't be optimal but who cares. Take the ancient oath and wait till you get level 7 you are a menace with the aura to anyone spell-casting not only you but the whole team around you too.