EDIT: I found a few mistakes in my analysis that i have corrected. It doesn't really change the overall conclusion, but its important for accuracy.
1) I realized that the barb could get a better AC for the same price if he went with mithral scale instead of the shirt, and it literally has no drawback.
2) A fire giant actually gets two attacks per round, so the damage taken is doubled.
I did an analysis of a Barbarian vs a Fighter in a previous thread. I decided to add in the monk as well and make it its own thread.
First a disclaimer, i do not think analysis like this is the end all be all of class discussion, especially when its only a single analysis. That said, i think it can give us a ballpark of where the classes stand with each other, and can point out some interesting trends.
Legend:
(A) - Advantage
AB - Ability Bonus
DPR: Damage per round
DTPR: Damage taken per round.
First comparison: 10th level vs Fire Giant, no magic items, best armor afforded. All characters fresh with full abilities.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 10th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, all stats assume rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 16 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Dex: +1 AB. Con: +1 race, + 1AB)
Feat: 2 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +8 (A) / +8 (A). Gets another attack if he misses.
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 8, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 95
AC (mithral scale): 17
Takes half damage from piecing/slashing/bludgeoning.
Misc:
Speed: 40
Init: +3 (A)
Immune to Fear
Immune to Charm
Cannot be surprised
VS
Iron Heart: 10th level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 19 Dex: 12 Con: 16 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Str: +2 AB, +1 AB. Con: +1 race, +1 AB. Wis: +1 race)
Feats: Heavy Armor Master, 2 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+8/+8
Damage: 1d8+4. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 18-20).
Defense:
HP: 94 (141 if we count second wind).
AC (mithral plate, shield, +1 race, +1 class): 22
-3 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
Misc:
Speed: 25
Init: +1
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 10th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 20 (+1 race, +1 AB, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10
Feats: AB x2
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +8/+8/+8/+8 (flurry of blows adds an additional attack. Its a bit unclear if TWF can be used with flurry of blows. FOB says 1 additional attack, but then again TWF usually lets you turn one attack into 2. I'm going to assume 2 attacks in this analysis).
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+5. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 63
AC: 18 (+5 dex, +3 wis)
Misc:
Speed: 35 (50 with ki)
Init: +5
To test these guys out, i chose a bruiser monster around the 10th level mark, and came upon a fire giant. A lot of math is going on behind the scenes. I've got it if people need it, but for presentation i will just lay out the results:
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 79%. DPR: 29.855
Fighter %hit per swing: 55%. DPR: 10.6
Monk: %hit per swing: 55%. DPR: 12.9 (19.35 with flurry).
Here are the major factors. The barbarian's advantage on every swing adds a big accuracy bonus, and it does more flat out damage. Further, if the barb misses at least one attack, it gets one more swing. The fighter does crit more often, but the barb crits harder. The monk's off hand attacks do contribute a little bit of damage (about 28% of the pairing of main and off hand attack). Flurry seems to add a decent amount, giving it the midrange between the three.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 65%. DTPR: 17.2
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 40%. DTPR: 19
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 60%. DTPR: 31.8
This one is very interesting. Even though the fighter is harder to hit, the barb takes a lot less damage whenever it does get hit. Further, both of them take crits with the same regularity, which favors the barb. The monk, even though i maximized his base AC potential, is taking much more damage than the other two. However, there is more going on here. The fighters deny death ability needs to be factored in, and i decided to use his action surge to get him a free second wind, which effectively increases his hitpoints. With all of that factored in, how many rounds would we expect each guy to stay up?
Barbarian: 5 rounds
Fighter: 8.3 rounds (without defy death and second wind, the fighter only lasts 4 rounds - less than the barb!. However, the big boost of extra hitpoints makes the most difference, defy death gives him 1.3 more rounds of fighting).
Monk: 2 rounds (technically the monk can only take 1 round of pain, but the difference on 2 was so close on the math that i gave the monk an extra round to account for some of those speed intangibles and stunning fist abilities that deny attacks).
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat). Since the barb lasts the fight with his rage in tact, i gave him full rage benefits. Since the monk lasts 4 rounds, and has 5 ki, i let him use flurry of blows for each round.
Barbarian: 149.275 (beats Monk by 286%, Fighter by 101%)
Fighter: 74.2 (beats Monk by 91%)
Monk: 38.7
Analysis: Again, one analysis is not going to make or break anything, but should at least give us some insights.
1) At least in this scenario, the barb's damage resistance is very powerful, it is actually better than the most defensive character i could make for a fighter. As damage per swing decreases the fighter is more comparable but i think it proves it is worth several points of AC all on its own.
2) The barb's offense was hugely greater than the fighter's. The advantage bonus played a lot, and that extra swing on a miss also contributed a decent amount. The Monk's output was actually better than i expected, even without flurry. I will say though that i don't know how much fun rolling an attack roll for a single d6 of damage is going to be for people with TWF.
3) I did not factor in surprise. On a readiness score of 10, the fighter had a 35% chance of not even going in the first round, the Monk: 30%. The monk has great initiative, but with advantage so does the barb.
4) The barb/monk are potentially much better with ranged weapons than the fighter.
5) The monk seems to have some real deficiencies in defense right now. I would never expect him to hold up as well as a fighter or barb, but the difference was pretty stark.
6) Way of the Open Palm is the much simpler of the two disciplines, and i tried to keep it simple for all classes. That said, the discipline didn't help the monks combat potential at all. The monk does get a huge boost at 11th level, by adding in damage on the off hand attack.
[/sblock]
Second Comparison: 5th level vs Ankylosaurus. No magic items. All abilities.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 5th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, all stats assume rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 14 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Con: +1 race) Feat: 1 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +7 (A)
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 7, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 50
AC (scale): 17
Takes half damage from piecing/slashing/bludgeoning.
VS
Iron Heart: 5 level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 16 Dex: 12 Con: 15 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Con: +1 race, Wis: +1 race) Feats: Heavy Armor Master
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+6/+6
Damage: 1d8+3. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 19-20).
Defense:
HP: 44 (66 with second wind).
AC (banded mail, shield, +1 race): 20
-2 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 5th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 18 (+1 race, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10 Feats: AB
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +6/+6 (flurry of blows adds an additional attack. Its a bit unclear if TWF can be used with flurry of blows. FOB says 1 additional attack, but then again TWF usually lets you turn one attack into 2. I'm going to assume 2 attacks in this analysis).
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+4. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 33
AC: 17 (+4 dex, +3 wis)
This time i chose an Ankylosaurus to challenge them.
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 87.75%. DPR: 13.3575
Fighter %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 10.3
Monk: %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 6.95 (11.625 with flurry).
Looks like the general factors are still in play. The barb leads the way but not by a huge margin. The monk falls behind even with TWF, but with flurry goes to the middle of the pack. It shows that the fighters two attacks don't trump the barb, though considering he's a defensive oriented style it certainly puts him in the running.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 5.675
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 35%. DTPR: 6.65
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Barbarian: 8 rounds
Fighter: 9 rounds (including second wind).
Monk: 2 rounds
So a similar picture to last time. The barb's resistance still shows supreme over the fighter's AC in terms of raw damage soak. Now that AC isn't wasted, this monster has a proning attack that the fighter would be less vulnerable to, so its not cut and dry. But i think we can say with increasing confidence that the barb's resistance is actually a very powerful defensive ability. Also, once again the monk seems to fall well behind in the defense department, barely holding his own for a few rounds compared to the 8/9 rounds of the other two.
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat). Since the barb lasts the fight with his rage in tact, i gave him full rage benefits. I let the monk have flurry for each round. The fighter used his second wind.
Barbarian: 106.86 (beats Monk by 360%, Fighter by 15%)
Fighter: 92.7 (beats Monk by 298%)
Monk: 23.25
Analysis:
1) its interesting to see that my offensive barb is more defensive than i thought, and my defensive fighter more offensive.
2) While the barb still came out on top, the difference was much closer. I think the fighter's second attack helped to narrow that, and the lower damage of the monster helped his defense to matter more. If we had factored in the fighter's increased resistance to the monster's tripping, it might have been even.
3) The monk is continuing to trail behind the main combat classes by a large margin. Their defense continues to be a source of concern as they do not appear to be able to handle this fighter type monsters very long at all. There offense appears to be okay at first glance, at least close enough that it is not a major concern.
[/sblock]
Third Comparison: 5th level vs Ankylosaurus. No magic items. All per rest abilities exhausted.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 5th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, no rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 14 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Con: +1 race) Feat: 1 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +7
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 5, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 50
AC (scale): 17
VS
Iron Heart: 5 level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 16 Dex: 12 Con: 15 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Con: +1 race, Wis: +1 race) Feats: Heavy Armor Master
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+6/+6
Damage: 1d8+3. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 19-20).
Defense:
HP: 44
AC (banded mail, shield, +1 race): 20
-2 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 5th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 18 (+1 race, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10 Feats: AB
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +6/+6
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+4. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 33
AC: 17 (+4 dex, +3 wis)
This time i chose an Ankylosaurus to challenge them.
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 65%. DPR: 8.25
Fighter %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 10.3
Monk: %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 6.95
We get a difference this time. Without his rage, the Barb's offense does drop noticeably falling behind the fighter. That's an important difference, the defensive fighter build is out DPSing the offensive barb when he has no rage. The monk without his flurry drops to third.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 35%. DTPR: 6.65
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Barbarian: 4 rounds
Fighter: 6 rounds
Monk: 2 rounds
Without the barb's rage resistance, his durability drops noticeably, and the higher AC of the fighter now reigns supreme. Still, the barb's hitpoints offer him a lot of durability compared to the monk, who still lags behind. The fighter also lost a number of rounds due to the loss of second wind.
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat).
Fighter: 61.9 (beats Monk by 345%, Barbarian by 87.5%)
Barbarian: 33 (beats Monk by 137%)
Monk: 23.25
Analysis:
1) A barbarian with rage truly is a different beast. While he dominated the stats with rage, without it the fighter takes a solid lead.
2) The monk continues to lag behind in a noticeable way, having no advantage in either offense or defense compared to the other two.
[/sblock]
So my overall impression. The barb is probably the most combat oriented class right now, the fighter has a bit more generalist flavor to him and wins out when there are a lot of fights in a day. That said, i think the analysis showed that both the barb and fighter look pretty good on paper compared to each other, at least close enough that i don't think the numbers show any real warning signs. I will say my only concern with the barb may be that he is TOO polar. A new player playing a barb who just rushes in may be in for a big wake up call when his rage ends.
I had started this analysis with some concerns about the monk's combat potential, and i think the numbers show that at first glance there is some justification for the concern, primarily around his defense. The monk shouldn't be as good as the first rate fighters, but i think the degree of difference right now is a bit stark. Also i worry that the monk is going to become a healing burden for the party. While the barb gets hit often he effectively soaks a lot of that damage so the healing needed isn't as much. I wonder if a ki based after combat healing would be good for the monk, so at least while he gets beat up in combat, he can somewhat take care of himself.
1) I realized that the barb could get a better AC for the same price if he went with mithral scale instead of the shirt, and it literally has no drawback.
2) A fire giant actually gets two attacks per round, so the damage taken is doubled.
I did an analysis of a Barbarian vs a Fighter in a previous thread. I decided to add in the monk as well and make it its own thread.
First a disclaimer, i do not think analysis like this is the end all be all of class discussion, especially when its only a single analysis. That said, i think it can give us a ballpark of where the classes stand with each other, and can point out some interesting trends.
Legend:
(A) - Advantage
AB - Ability Bonus
DPR: Damage per round
DTPR: Damage taken per round.
First comparison: 10th level vs Fire Giant, no magic items, best armor afforded. All characters fresh with full abilities.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 10th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, all stats assume rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 16 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Dex: +1 AB. Con: +1 race, + 1AB)
Feat: 2 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +8 (A) / +8 (A). Gets another attack if he misses.
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 8, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 95
AC (mithral scale): 17
Takes half damage from piecing/slashing/bludgeoning.
Misc:
Speed: 40
Init: +3 (A)
Immune to Fear
Immune to Charm
Cannot be surprised
VS
Iron Heart: 10th level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 19 Dex: 12 Con: 16 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Str: +2 AB, +1 AB. Con: +1 race, +1 AB. Wis: +1 race)
Feats: Heavy Armor Master, 2 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+8/+8
Damage: 1d8+4. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 18-20).
Defense:
HP: 94 (141 if we count second wind).
AC (mithral plate, shield, +1 race, +1 class): 22
-3 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
Misc:
Speed: 25
Init: +1
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 10th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 20 (+1 race, +1 AB, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10
Feats: AB x2
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +8/+8/+8/+8 (flurry of blows adds an additional attack. Its a bit unclear if TWF can be used with flurry of blows. FOB says 1 additional attack, but then again TWF usually lets you turn one attack into 2. I'm going to assume 2 attacks in this analysis).
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+5. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 63
AC: 18 (+5 dex, +3 wis)
Misc:
Speed: 35 (50 with ki)
Init: +5
To test these guys out, i chose a bruiser monster around the 10th level mark, and came upon a fire giant. A lot of math is going on behind the scenes. I've got it if people need it, but for presentation i will just lay out the results:
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 79%. DPR: 29.855
Fighter %hit per swing: 55%. DPR: 10.6
Monk: %hit per swing: 55%. DPR: 12.9 (19.35 with flurry).
Here are the major factors. The barbarian's advantage on every swing adds a big accuracy bonus, and it does more flat out damage. Further, if the barb misses at least one attack, it gets one more swing. The fighter does crit more often, but the barb crits harder. The monk's off hand attacks do contribute a little bit of damage (about 28% of the pairing of main and off hand attack). Flurry seems to add a decent amount, giving it the midrange between the three.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 65%. DTPR: 17.2
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 40%. DTPR: 19
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 60%. DTPR: 31.8
This one is very interesting. Even though the fighter is harder to hit, the barb takes a lot less damage whenever it does get hit. Further, both of them take crits with the same regularity, which favors the barb. The monk, even though i maximized his base AC potential, is taking much more damage than the other two. However, there is more going on here. The fighters deny death ability needs to be factored in, and i decided to use his action surge to get him a free second wind, which effectively increases his hitpoints. With all of that factored in, how many rounds would we expect each guy to stay up?
Barbarian: 5 rounds
Fighter: 8.3 rounds (without defy death and second wind, the fighter only lasts 4 rounds - less than the barb!. However, the big boost of extra hitpoints makes the most difference, defy death gives him 1.3 more rounds of fighting).
Monk: 2 rounds (technically the monk can only take 1 round of pain, but the difference on 2 was so close on the math that i gave the monk an extra round to account for some of those speed intangibles and stunning fist abilities that deny attacks).
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat). Since the barb lasts the fight with his rage in tact, i gave him full rage benefits. Since the monk lasts 4 rounds, and has 5 ki, i let him use flurry of blows for each round.
Barbarian: 149.275 (beats Monk by 286%, Fighter by 101%)
Fighter: 74.2 (beats Monk by 91%)
Monk: 38.7
Analysis: Again, one analysis is not going to make or break anything, but should at least give us some insights.
1) At least in this scenario, the barb's damage resistance is very powerful, it is actually better than the most defensive character i could make for a fighter. As damage per swing decreases the fighter is more comparable but i think it proves it is worth several points of AC all on its own.
2) The barb's offense was hugely greater than the fighter's. The advantage bonus played a lot, and that extra swing on a miss also contributed a decent amount. The Monk's output was actually better than i expected, even without flurry. I will say though that i don't know how much fun rolling an attack roll for a single d6 of damage is going to be for people with TWF.
3) I did not factor in surprise. On a readiness score of 10, the fighter had a 35% chance of not even going in the first round, the Monk: 30%. The monk has great initiative, but with advantage so does the barb.
4) The barb/monk are potentially much better with ranged weapons than the fighter.
5) The monk seems to have some real deficiencies in defense right now. I would never expect him to hold up as well as a fighter or barb, but the difference was pretty stark.
6) Way of the Open Palm is the much simpler of the two disciplines, and i tried to keep it simple for all classes. That said, the discipline didn't help the monks combat potential at all. The monk does get a huge boost at 11th level, by adding in damage on the off hand attack.
[/sblock]
Second Comparison: 5th level vs Ankylosaurus. No magic items. All abilities.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 5th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, all stats assume rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 14 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Con: +1 race) Feat: 1 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +7 (A)
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 7, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 50
AC (scale): 17
Takes half damage from piecing/slashing/bludgeoning.
VS
Iron Heart: 5 level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 16 Dex: 12 Con: 15 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Con: +1 race, Wis: +1 race) Feats: Heavy Armor Master
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+6/+6
Damage: 1d8+3. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 19-20).
Defense:
HP: 44 (66 with second wind).
AC (banded mail, shield, +1 race): 20
-2 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 5th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 18 (+1 race, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10 Feats: AB
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +6/+6 (flurry of blows adds an additional attack. Its a bit unclear if TWF can be used with flurry of blows. FOB says 1 additional attack, but then again TWF usually lets you turn one attack into 2. I'm going to assume 2 attacks in this analysis).
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+4. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 33
AC: 17 (+4 dex, +3 wis)
This time i chose an Ankylosaurus to challenge them.
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 87.75%. DPR: 13.3575
Fighter %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 10.3
Monk: %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 6.95 (11.625 with flurry).
Looks like the general factors are still in play. The barb leads the way but not by a huge margin. The monk falls behind even with TWF, but with flurry goes to the middle of the pack. It shows that the fighters two attacks don't trump the barb, though considering he's a defensive oriented style it certainly puts him in the running.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 5.675
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 35%. DTPR: 6.65
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Barbarian: 8 rounds
Fighter: 9 rounds (including second wind).
Monk: 2 rounds
So a similar picture to last time. The barb's resistance still shows supreme over the fighter's AC in terms of raw damage soak. Now that AC isn't wasted, this monster has a proning attack that the fighter would be less vulnerable to, so its not cut and dry. But i think we can say with increasing confidence that the barb's resistance is actually a very powerful defensive ability. Also, once again the monk seems to fall well behind in the defense department, barely holding his own for a few rounds compared to the 8/9 rounds of the other two.
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat). Since the barb lasts the fight with his rage in tact, i gave him full rage benefits. I let the monk have flurry for each round. The fighter used his second wind.
Barbarian: 106.86 (beats Monk by 360%, Fighter by 15%)
Fighter: 92.7 (beats Monk by 298%)
Monk: 23.25
Analysis:
1) its interesting to see that my offensive barb is more defensive than i thought, and my defensive fighter more offensive.
2) While the barb still came out on top, the difference was much closer. I think the fighter's second attack helped to narrow that, and the lower damage of the monster helped his defense to matter more. If we had factored in the fighter's increased resistance to the monster's tripping, it might have been even.
3) The monk is continuing to trail behind the main combat classes by a large margin. Their defense continues to be a source of concern as they do not appear to be able to handle this fighter type monsters very long at all. There offense appears to be okay at first glance, at least close enough that it is not a major concern.
[/sblock]
Third Comparison: 5th level vs Ankylosaurus. No magic items. All per rest abilities exhausted.
[sblock]
Primal Rage: 5th level Half Orc Barb (Berserker, no rage)
Str: 20 Dex: 14 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 12 Cha: 10 Ability Bumps: (Str +2 race, +2 AB. Con: +1 race) Feat: 1 AB.
Offense:
Attack (Greataxe): +7
Damage (Greataxe): 1d12 + 5, Crit: +2d8+1d12 (i wasn't sure if the barb crit ability added to the base weapon or the special crit damage, i chose the base weapon).
Defense:
HP: 50
AC (scale): 17
VS
Iron Heart: 5 level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Path of the Warrior)
Str: 16 Dex: 12 Con: 15 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 10 (Con: +1 race, Wis: +1 race) Feats: Heavy Armor Master
Offense:
Attack (Battleaxe):+6/+6
Damage: 1d8+3. Crit: +1d12 (crits on 19-20).
Defense:
HP: 44
AC (banded mail, shield, +1 race): 20
-2 damage from bludgeoning/slashing/piercing.
vs
Leaf on the Wind: 5th level Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Str: 12, Dex: 18 (+1 race, +1 AB), Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 16 (+1 race, +1 AB), Cha: 10 Feats: AB
Offense:
Attack (Unarmed - TWF): +6/+6
Damage (Unarmed - Main): 1d6+4. Crit:+1d6
Damage (Unarmed - Offhand): 1d6. Crit: +1d6
Defense:
HP: 33
AC: 17 (+4 dex, +3 wis)
This time i chose an Ankylosaurus to challenge them.
Offense: (damage per round)
Barbarian %hit per swing: 65%. DPR: 8.25
Fighter %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 10.3
Monk: %hit per swing: 60%. DPR: 6.95
We get a difference this time. Without his rage, the Barb's offense does drop noticeably falling behind the fighter. That's an important difference, the defensive fighter build is out DPSing the offensive barb when he has no rage. The monk without his flurry drops to third.
Defense: (damage taken per round).
Barbarian: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Fighter: %chance to take a hit: 35%. DTPR: 6.65
Monk: %chance to take a hit: 50%. DTPR: 11.35
Barbarian: 4 rounds
Fighter: 6 rounds
Monk: 2 rounds
Without the barb's rage resistance, his durability drops noticeably, and the higher AC of the fighter now reigns supreme. Still, the barb's hitpoints offer him a lot of durability compared to the monk, who still lags behind. The fighter also lost a number of rounds due to the loss of second wind.
Overall Output: (damage x rounds alive in combat).
Fighter: 61.9 (beats Monk by 345%, Barbarian by 87.5%)
Barbarian: 33 (beats Monk by 137%)
Monk: 23.25
Analysis:
1) A barbarian with rage truly is a different beast. While he dominated the stats with rage, without it the fighter takes a solid lead.
2) The monk continues to lag behind in a noticeable way, having no advantage in either offense or defense compared to the other two.
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So my overall impression. The barb is probably the most combat oriented class right now, the fighter has a bit more generalist flavor to him and wins out when there are a lot of fights in a day. That said, i think the analysis showed that both the barb and fighter look pretty good on paper compared to each other, at least close enough that i don't think the numbers show any real warning signs. I will say my only concern with the barb may be that he is TOO polar. A new player playing a barb who just rushes in may be in for a big wake up call when his rage ends.
I had started this analysis with some concerns about the monk's combat potential, and i think the numbers show that at first glance there is some justification for the concern, primarily around his defense. The monk shouldn't be as good as the first rate fighters, but i think the degree of difference right now is a bit stark. Also i worry that the monk is going to become a healing burden for the party. While the barb gets hit often he effectively soaks a lot of that damage so the healing needed isn't as much. I wonder if a ki based after combat healing would be good for the monk, so at least while he gets beat up in combat, he can somewhat take care of himself.
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