As more detailed information comes out about the new rules in the 2024 DnD Player’s Handbook, the powergamers are getting stuck in, finding busted interactions and combos that will make DMs throw out their carefully balanced encounters in frustration, at least until the upgraded Monster Manual comes out in 2025 to level the playing field.
Already, we’ve seen theorycrafting players devise the unstoppable Horse Cleric, and now they have spotted an easy exploit using the new weapon masteries feature. Specifically, it seems you can take advantage of a combination of DnD feats and weapon masteries, to do a bunch of extra attacks in your turn.
According to Reddit posts by users Roguestrike and Associableknecks, you can wreak mayhem with scimitars, taking advantage of the wording of the Nick weapon mastery, the Light weapon property, and the Dual Wielder feat.
We’ve nearly given ourselves migraines figuring out the intricacies of the rules interaction in question – as Mollie Russell mentions in our DnD 2024 Player’s Handbook review, the book suffers in places from confusing wording.
The gist is that Nick lets you turn the extra bonus action attack from the Light property into a free attack that comes bundled into the same Attack action. Dual Wielder lets you make an extra attack as a bonus action when you attack with a different Light weapon than you used for your first attack. So that’s three attacks total, before we even consider the extra attacks many DnD classes get from leveling up. Still with us?
The thing that makes it really jammy is you don’t even need to actually dual wield to pull this off. The rules as written don’t specify which hand you use for which attack, so you can hold a shield the entire time and benefit from the extra AC from a shield.
The combo functions because of how easy weapon swapping is in the new DnD rules. You can stow or equip a weapon each time you make an attack as part of the Attack action, and do this before or after the attack takes place.
So, since Nick gives you an extra attack as part of the Attack action, you can attack, then stow a scimitar, then attack again with Nick, getting a second scimitar out before you do so. You’re now wielding a different weapon, enabling you to use the bonus attack from Dual Wielder. Stop, they’re already dead!
The idea that all this happens in the six second span of one DnD turn is frankly laughable. Rather than simulationist battles, it’s more reminiscent of combat in a Bethesda game, where you can pause time to instantly swap around all your equipment, or see off 39 cabbages and a bottle of Nord Mead.
Of course, in a tabletop RPG the DM holds ultimate power, and I foresee a homebrew weapon switching rule swiftly coming into being if you try and pull off this stunt. It is pretty funny though, and an example of something Wizards of the Coast should probably errata if they can.
For more RPG content, check out our guide to all the different DnD races and species. Or you might enjoy this look at all the weirdest changes in the new 2024 rules.
Source: Wargamer
