Me right now
"Patrick, write that down write that down!

To those who what a simple summary. These are the OP builds:
- I have silvery barbs or,
- I rolled really well on character creation or,
- there was a homebrew item/rule or,
- I combine hexblade with some other CHA class or,
- I just think wizards are OP or,
- I misinterpret rules or,
- I have a high level character (in one of the stronger subclasses) or,
- I use some feats that have decent synergy,
Or some combination of the above.

Was in a campaign that went from 1 to 20. By the end of it, my Gloom Stalker Ranger (12 levels), Arcane Archer Fighter (8 levels) that was a blue dragonborn had an ascendant dragon longbow (Blue) and got access to the Blue Dragon Mask which gave me immunity to lightning damage. I have Close Quarters Shooter, and the long range one that let me attack at at normal rolls all the way out to the long bow's max range. I once dropped an adult green dragon to less than half hp on my first turn, and that was before the dragon wrath bow and mask. I was a menace, and it is the only time I would ever consider myself to have "power gamed"

I love how some people think making 1 attack with 18 dexterity and some dice added on top is somehow overpowered. 3:00

8:32 Munchkin reference, I'm very pleased

For the first build, it is worth noting that since you only have one reaction per round, he has to *choose* between using either Silvery Barbs, Uncanny Dodge, or Shield, since they are all competing for that single reaction

I used the Sonic build made by "Tulok the Barbarian" yes that is his YouTube name. But the build allows you to bolt across multiple maps in one turn going up to over a thousand feet, with the final speed actually being calculated to be 763 mph. almost the speed of sound.

So, an update with Rezvon, he's retired, but to add on to him. we had a cult of the dragon  encolunter before doing the avernus storyline, and rezvon got a certain mask, which with a few dm mods made him immune to fire damage... while in avernus

Pathfinder 1E -

I was running the stereotype Barbarian for my brother's campaign (aka. Me Big, Me Dumb, Me Rage, Me Kill). During a few of the encounters, our Wizard (Tom'Hina is Evil, if you see this PlayerSlayer) casted Enlarge Person on me. This led to the extended reach, increase to strength, etc. and became a common fight tactic. Eventually, I have him use permancy for it on me so it doesn't waste his spell slots. This gave my brother a desire to see how far we could push the limits of my character's prowess.

So, my brother home brewed a special rage power that enlarges me (basically superceding the abyssal version). He also gave me permission to stack it, knowing it was definitely not approved normally. Combining the permanent enlarge, the rage power, and the ridiculously high strength he had before hand; led to consistent high damage output. It got so ridiculous when you factor in Power Attack and a few others, that we needed a spreadsheet to properly calculate output.

This did however, lead to some downsides when someone was near me (always our Druid) and they ran the gamble of life or death if I missed. Ended up killing the Druid outright twice and nearly a third time until the Wizard created a spell that moved the axe head from one target to the next (homebrew). The campaign ended at level 13, but was slated to go to 20... but the Wizard did what he did. (AGAIN, Tom'Hina is evil).

not necessarily the most broken but it was absolutely beautiful as a build. It was a Dhampir with 3 levels in Paladin for Divine Smite and Oath of Vengeance, so  I could Hunter's Mark my targets. After that I went 6 levels into Bladesinger Wizard and boy the fun during combat was through the roof. I would either cast the Vow of Enmity or start my bladesong out of combat when I could, and I go to town BITING people with the Dhampir's fanged bite. If the DM agreed that a Dhampir's fangs would be worth at least 1 Silver Piece, so on my turn I would bite and smite, then cast either booming blade or flaming blade on my second attack and smite again (all at Advantage). I had a crazy high AC (Bladesong, Defense Fighting Style, Shield spell) and run around biting people to death and also healing myself occasionally. The short campaign ended around that time but from there on out the possibilites are endless. A couple levels in rogue gives cunning action to disengage, and pretty much all of the Battlemaster Fighter's manouvers work with the Fanged Bite. A friend suggested a dip in Sorcerer as well but I don't really remember what for.

0:30 guy has never heard of Saving Throws apparently lol

0:11 first build is not crazy. He has 3 spell slots across the day for shield and silvery barbs, so save himself from 3 attacks at most. Elven accuracy is nice, but since he’s melee he’d presumably have to give up his bonus action to use steady aim to get the triple advantage. Now that he’s hit he’ll deal damage, but he has no way to escape since he gave up his bonus action and movement with steady aim. Booming blade’s actual effects wouldn’t be helpful since the enemy has no reason to move too. At level 5 it improves but this is a pretty meh build in terms of rogues. It’s just that booming blade does decent damage on its own.

I should probably mention, I haven't read the 2024 rework.

0:09 Shield, Silvery Barbs, and Uncanny Dodge all consume your reaction. So you can't use them on the same turn.
0:35 Homebrew. Although it's worth noting that using warlock spell slots to fuel paladin smite is completely legal in 5e.
1:10 Yes illusion wizards can really do that starting at lvl 14. Wizards in general are broken at higher levels.
1:45 Aberrant Dragonmark should only allow you to cast silvery barbs once per short rest. Spell Mastery is a lvl 18 wizard feature. I know some people think silvery barbs is broken, but IMO either this player is cheating, or this build is not broken.
2:30 You're level 9 and you still don't have extra attack. I'm glad you're having fun, but this is not broken.
3:20 Legit! It's surprisingly easy for spellcasters to gain proficiency in medium/heavy armor and shields. If you can get access to the shield spell on top of that, you'll have a higher AC than most martials. More people should take advantage of this.
3:40 Another armor user who can cast the shield spell, but this time because of homebrew. Also another player who's probably getting away with casting the shield spell and silvery barbs on the same turn even though they both consume your reaction. And in spite of all that, the real MVP is the bard who simply cast Slow.
5:32 Gloomstalker ranger 5 / assassin rogue 3 with bugbear is a very strong build! I've seen it before. Only note here is that surprise rounds are less reliable than some people think.
7:25 Hexblade warlock 2 / sorcerer x (aka Sorlock) is a strong build! Also quite popular, and simple to play. Hexblade includes the entire medium armor + shield + shield spell combo right out of the box at lvl 1. Not sure why this player chose to take a 3rd level in warlock, maybe they wanted access to darkness faster. Not the end of the world. More concerning is the choice to use your bonus action on spiritual weapon, instead of quickening a 2nd eldritch blast. The darkness + devil's sight combo is technically legit, but be careful to avoid accidentally griefing your teammates. If an enemy ends up inside your darkness radius, your allies will have disadvantage to attack them, if they can target them at all. Taking fighter levels is not worth it, unless your DM allows the ghostlance combo, which they probably shouldn't.
8:57 Yeah there's a reason quicken spell doesn't allow you to cast 2 leveled spells on the same turn. However, taking 2 levels of fighter and using action surge to cast 2 leveled spells in the same turn is completely legal.
9:26 Yeah that would be broken! Which is why it's not allowed. Also, if you've got 18 levels in wizard, there are so many better things you can do than upcasting scorching ray. Like using wish to reduce the casting time of simulacrum to 1 action.
10:55 Great Weapon Master + Polearm Master is a classic combo, but paladins aren't the optimal class class to take advantage of it, unless you rolled really well for stats. You'd probably be more effective as a fighter, barbarian, or a multiclass of both. Also those "racial considerations" are bunk. For this build, the 2 optimal choices are variant human or custom lineage so you can start with polearm master at lvl 1.
12:03 Sorlock is indeed an infamous and highly effective build, we already talked about it at 7:25 . Wild magic is not an optimal sorcerer subclass for this build, though. Divine soul is strong, but you don't want spiritual weapon. Maybe people don't understand that you need to use your bonus action each time you attack with spiritual weapon, not just when you cast it. Taking 5 levels of warlock is a mistake, unless your DM allows short rest shenanigans. It's generally best to stop after 2 levels of warlock. Starting sorcerer at lvl 1 is a strong choice, optimal if your campaign starts at lvl 3+. But it's important to get your 2 lvls of warlock ASAP. 16 CON is NOT "key". For stats you want CHA to be as high as possible, DEX to be 14+ (for AC), and then CON as high as possible, without sacrificing the prior 2 priorities. If your DM allows short rest shenanigans, then yes elf is clearly best. Otherwise race isn't important, pick your favorite. Now we need to talk about short rest shenanigans, aka The Coffelock. The mistake everyone makes is that they assume, since there's no rule saying a lvl 3+ sorcerer cannot have more than 4 lvl 1 spell slots, then Flexible Casting must allow you to create as many lvl 1 spell slots as you like. That's how Rules As Written (RAW) works, right? Wrong. The fact of the matter is there's no rule that explicitly says you can use Flexible Casting to create additional lvl 1 spell slots, beyond the normal amount you would get after a long rest. Also there's no rule that explicitly says you cannot use Flexible Casting to create additional lvl 1 spell slots. When there's no rule that says you can do X, and no rule that says you cannot do X, then by RAW the DM makes a ruling as to whether you can do X or not.
12:57 Twilight cleric is very strong, primarily due to their channel divinity, but also because of their domain spells. I personally wouldn't call them broken, though. Not sure why lvl 10 is specified here.
13:09 Protective Bond has a reputation for being broken, but personally I've never seen it abused effectively. Keep in mind you can only teleport when an ally takes damage, and it consumes your reaction. The D4 from Emboldening Bond can only be used once per turn, unlike bless. Again, not sure why lvl 10 is specified, you get protective bond at lvl 6.
13:22 Moon Druid is indeed broken at levels 2 through 4! Other classes tend to catch up when they unlock extra attack or lvl 3 spells.
13:30 Chronurgy Wizard is broken in general. Casting Tiny Hut as an action isn't even the best use of Arcane Abeyance. Most shenanigans that can be accomplished with Tiny Hut can also be accomplished with Rope Trick, which already has a casting time of 1 action. One way to abuse arcane abeyance is to allow your ally, or even your familiar, to cast a concentration spell for you, effectively allowing you to have multiple concentration spells going at once. This allows microwave shenanigans like sickening radiance + wall of force.
14:02 Uh, sure? I mean, if you want to min-max your persuasion checks, this seems like one of the best, perhaps even optimal, way to do it. I guess my question is, how does your DM run social interactions, such that min-maxing your persuasion check is even something that would occur to you in the first place?
15:02 Bruh, what are you even talking about? The build is not specified, but dimension door is mentioned, so you must be taking at least 13 cleric levels. Therefore cleric is your primary class. Sneak attack damage is also mentioned, so you must be taking rogue levels as well. Taking any amount of rogue levels, when your primary class is cleric, is just not a good idea. It delays both your spell progression and spell slot progression. I'm glad you're having fun, but this build is not good. Just play a trickery cleric.
16:20 Strong build! Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter + Archery Fighting Style is another classic combo. I dunno why you'd stop at lvl 4, though. Extra attack is the linchpin of this build. Also, for anyone who's not aware, the reason crossbow expert is important enough to get at lvl 1 is because it allows you, when wielding a hand crossbow and nothing else, to make an additional attack with your bonus action.
16:50 If you as a DM are having trouble balancing around a grappler, then chances are you're reading the Grappled condition wrong, or more likely you haven't read it at all. Being grappled does not prevent you from attacking. It does not penalize you when attacking, at least not directly. It does not prevent you from casting spells. It does not prevent you from using most of your abilities. The only thing it literally does is reduce your speed to 0.
17:28 True! But I don't know why anyone would say that's broken. Fun fact, due to the way the rules for bear totem barbarian are worded, they are resistant to homebrew damage types by default. Nothing beats the look on a DMs face when you tell them you're resistant to their shenanigans damage type they made up just now.
17:34 Oh hey, it's the sorlock again. 12D10+60 sure does sound like a lot, until you remember that those are numbers for lvl 20, and they can only do it once per short rest. More to the point, who stops at sorcerer lvl 16? You do realize you get lvl 9 spells at lvl 17 right?!
17:49 Sorlockadin is my personal favorite build. It is, in fact, exceptionally strong when built and played well. It does not however, break the game the way high level spellcasters tend to do.
18:02 We talked about GWM+PM at 10:55 already. Champion is arguably the worst fighter subclass for this build. Best is probably echo knight, but battle master is a close 2nd. Sentinel is a strong feat, and synergies well with PM, but GWM and PM should both be higher priority. Divination wizards and the lucky feat are both strong in general, but there's nothing especially broken about combining them. Halflings are not particularly strong unless your DM uses critical fumble rules, in which case they are often the strongest race in the game.
18:23 Sorry, but from a mechanical perspective, I don't understand what the concept is you're going for. If you're trying to mitigate bad luck, why play a wild magic sorcerer? Do you realize that portent, halfling luck, and the lucky feat all do not apply to rolls on the wild magic table?

In an arena game i played in years ago, I played a Dwarf Swashbuckler Rogue with a two level dip in Barbarian. I used STR for my main weapon to stack both sneak attack and rage damage, and during one encounter under the Haste spell, I one-shot four or five cockatrice in one turn.

5:44 Can confirm that sin rogue / gloomstalker ranger does some serious work. In BG3 on my first Durge playthrough, I had gotten the invisibility cloak from a certain... unfortunate nighttime camp event... and the titanstring bow from the zhentarim hideout. At level 5 with 1 level in rogue and 4 in gloomstalker ranger, (started as rogue for early proficiencies and expertise in skills), and the sharpshooter feat, I left the party at camp and rolled mr Durge through the goblin camp, picking everyone off 1-by-1. Every shot found it's mark, ensured a fallen foe, and returned the Durge to a turn of invisibility, where they would go undetected and could reposition and restealth. Once the trash was cleared, I called in the party to gang-up on the leaders / bosses. And my Durge was able to have a repeat performance in Moonrise towers in act 2 after progressing and leveling up more.

Personal favorite was building the T-800. 3.5e in eberron. Played a warforged artificer 15 levels, and 5 levels warforged juggernaut prestige class. I now count as a construct so i don't take critical hits or non-lethal damage, immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities, immune to necromancy and death effects, and immune to ability damage or drain.
I bought x2 wand sheaths, a warforged component that allows you to equip a wand in your bracer slot and simply point and think of using the wand to cast the spell in the wand. Effectively, this gave me the use of a silent spell feat without needing the feat., Just 2000 gp for the component. You could then apply meta-magic feats to the wand thanks to the artificer class ability, metamagic spell trigger, at the expense of additional charges. So, with maximize spell, extend spell, heighten spell, quicken, empower etc etc, I could point my finger and cast a ray of disintegrate for 360 damage, expend all my wand charges and have it act as a level 50 ray of disintigrate to overcome the spell resistance on near god-like beings like Graz'zt. I two-shot Graz'zt the Demon Prince, a CR 24, at level 20.
My other wand was usually a wand of total repair which when maxed out let me repair myself (since healing magic doesnt work on constructs) for 150 hp and remove a bunch of status effects as well.

Personal favorite of my characters was my Gunslinger Fighter with a revolver, which was infused by our Artificer to have infinite ammo.... And by the end of that campaign, I was regularly exceeding 30 on my attack rolls without a Nat 20 and could attack so many times with my fighter abilities, then double it with action surge... Shit got out of hand quickly and I became a DPS monster. Was even more fun with my trick shots.

The most broken thing I've ever seen was when our Warlock hit a Tarrasque with Contagion, specifically Slimy Doom, which essentially stun locked it for the rest of combat. We beat it to death.

I'm having fun with a Tempest Cleric 2, Scribe Wizard 3+ build where I use scribe wizard to change damage to lighting/thunder and tempest cleric to automatically deal max damage for those damage types once per short rest. I haven't been super into picking the best spells, it's mostly what that character would pick and of course fireball

18 swords bard, 2 paladin, MotM hobgoblin with the inspiring leader feat, and a some point pick up summon celestial with magical secrets. You can pass temp hp out like candy, have the ac to block most attacks, and have the spell slots to smite every turn

In a game for my family, my brother's cleric got a homebrew spell that was essentially a reflavored meteor swarm that did thunder and lightning damage.  He could then deal max damage for those types with his tempest Domain.  Add in a spell save DC of 23 or 24, and his ability to all but end any encounter he wanted was insane.