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Crossbow Expert Sharpshooter vs. Defensive Duelist in a cage match
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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6982434" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>In a cage match, there's a limit to how much the archer can do. Archers should avoid getting into cage matches in the first place. He can't really be built to do the grapple/prone trick effectively because of low Str and because he needs both hands to work his crossbow. If he tries to push prone every round without grappling first, in order to gain advantage on his attacks, he winds up losing more damage on average than he gains.</p><p></p><p>If it weren't for the two-handed requirement on his crossbow, the archer could take Magic Initiate (Hex) to counteract his low Strength and then just ignore his crossbow and stab the enemy to death with a rapier. I actually think Sharpshooter + Mobile or Sharpshooter + Defensive Duelist is a better combination than Crossbow Expert, partly because you don't usually want to use a crossbow while in melee anyway, and partly because I find the "you can shoot twice with the same crossbow using Crossbow Expert" ruling cheesey and dumb: the plain text indicates (to me) that you're intended to be firing an already-loaded hand crossbow in your off-hand while you attack with an epee or something, not that you're changing a hand crossbow into a semiautomatic weapon.</p><p></p><p>There are some other things the archer could try, both at build time (fighter/rogue multiclass; be an Eldritch Knight instead of a Champion; take Lucky) and at game time (accept an opportunity attack, Action Surge to gain distance, and then kill the Slaad from range, possibly dropping caltrops along the way), but with the specified build and without room to maneuver there's a limit to what you can achieve purely by changing the archer's AI. Of course in a real game you are very rarely restricted in your maneuverability. After all, if you got into the 20' room, there's probably a way to get out.</p><p></p><p>[rant]This is why DMs who build their adventures around permanent magical one-way teleportals are so very annoying; as annoying as DMs who give NPCs permanent, selective anti-magic zones in their fortresses that the NPCs are immune to. It's okay to do those things once in a very long while, but if it happens more often it's a clear sign of adversarial DMing.[/rant]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6982434, member: 6787650"] In a cage match, there's a limit to how much the archer can do. Archers should avoid getting into cage matches in the first place. He can't really be built to do the grapple/prone trick effectively because of low Str and because he needs both hands to work his crossbow. If he tries to push prone every round without grappling first, in order to gain advantage on his attacks, he winds up losing more damage on average than he gains. If it weren't for the two-handed requirement on his crossbow, the archer could take Magic Initiate (Hex) to counteract his low Strength and then just ignore his crossbow and stab the enemy to death with a rapier. I actually think Sharpshooter + Mobile or Sharpshooter + Defensive Duelist is a better combination than Crossbow Expert, partly because you don't usually want to use a crossbow while in melee anyway, and partly because I find the "you can shoot twice with the same crossbow using Crossbow Expert" ruling cheesey and dumb: the plain text indicates (to me) that you're intended to be firing an already-loaded hand crossbow in your off-hand while you attack with an epee or something, not that you're changing a hand crossbow into a semiautomatic weapon. There are some other things the archer could try, both at build time (fighter/rogue multiclass; be an Eldritch Knight instead of a Champion; take Lucky) and at game time (accept an opportunity attack, Action Surge to gain distance, and then kill the Slaad from range, possibly dropping caltrops along the way), but with the specified build and without room to maneuver there's a limit to what you can achieve purely by changing the archer's AI. Of course in a real game you are very rarely restricted in your maneuverability. After all, if you got into the 20' room, there's probably a way to get out. [rant]This is why DMs who build their adventures around permanent magical one-way teleportals are so very annoying; as annoying as DMs who give NPCs permanent, selective anti-magic zones in their fortresses that the NPCs are immune to. It's okay to do those things once in a very long while, but if it happens more often it's a clear sign of adversarial DMing.[/rant] [/QUOTE]
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Crossbow Expert Sharpshooter vs. Defensive Duelist in a cage match
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