D&D 5E Fighter crit fishing, need some mathletes to help.

[MindxKiller]

Hey everyone, the character I plan on playing is an orc berserker barbarian/champion fighter, I had read that with improved critical and advantage the crit chance is around 19%, and once the fighter picks up superior critical at 15 it increases to around 28%. My question is whether that increase of 9% crit chance is greater dpr than the barbarians brutal critical giving me an extra d12 when I do crit, I'm no good at math and so I bring this question to those of you who are. My idea is either fighter 15/barbarian 5 or fighter 11/barbarian 9 and the choice pretty much hinges on if the extra d12 is comparable in dpr to 9% crit. I would rather go with the 9 levels of barbarian but not if it's less effective at what the ultimate goal of the build is. I suppose ultimately it wont matter since I likely wont get to max level where it starts to matter, I guess this is just to sate my curiosity?

 

[mellored]

Multi-attack does not stack. So barb 5 only gives you fast movement. Better to go fighter 16/barb 4 and take mobility.


Anyways...
assuming you arn't raging, 20 Str, and just using reckless attack...
1d12+5 * 84% = 9.66 from normal attacks.

Fighter 16/barb 4
+2d12 * 27.75% = 3.6075

fighter 11/barb 9
+3d12 * 19% = 3.705


So you get 1 more damage with barb 9.
Also, you get 1 extra rage and 1 more point of damage when you do.

On the downside, you lose a 2 ABI/feats. (IMO feral instincts > indomitable)

 

[MindxKiller]

Well the thing is I'm starting as a barbarian, it doesn't make much sense from a role play perspective to begin my career without rage, which is why I had barb 5/fighter 15, since I wouldn't want to delay extra attack. But yes, if we were building solely a level 20 then 16/4 is much better than 15/5 =P. Thank you for the math, I think in the end I'll go for the 11/9 build, I love feral instincts, and its nice to know its on the same level of damage as the alternative.

 

[Kithas]

You're playing a half-orc so you start with one brutal crit die
Fighter 16/barb 4
+3d12 * 27.75% = 4.7868

fighter 11/barb 9
+4d12 * 19% = 4.37

otherwise his math is right.

 

[mellored]

You're playing a half-orc so you start with one brutal crit die
Fighter 16/barb 4
+3d12 * 27.75% = 4.7868

fighter 11/barb 9
+4d12 * 19% = 4.37

otherwise his math is right.

I factored that in.

1d12 from your weapon.
1d12 half orc
= 2d12 crit damage.

 

[Kithas]

ah I though the ones you had where total damage for the crit.

Another option is barb 17/Fighter3
Since all you really want from fighter is the 19-20 crit action surge and GWF you get all that by 3 so you don't really need more :/ Plus you get the sweet lvl 14 reaction from barbarian.

 

[MindxKiller]

ah I though the ones you had where total damage for the crit.

Another option is barb 17/Fighter3
Since all you really want from fighter is the 19-20 crit action surge and GWF you get all that by 3 so you don't really need more :/ Plus you get the sweet lvl 14 reaction from barbarian.

There's also the 3rd attack from fighter 11 that is a big deal when you're going for the crit fishing, more attacks = more dice = more chance to roll 19 or 20 on one of them, in addition to the fact that action surge becomes that much more powerful since I then make 3 attacks extra instead of 2. There's also remarkable athlete which is a pretty decent initiative increase, but thats certainly less important than the 3rd attack.

 

[mellored]

ah I though the ones you had where total damage for the crit.

Another option is barb 17/Fighter3
Since all you really want from fighter is the 19-20 crit action surge and GWF you get all that by 3 so you don't really need more :/ Plus you get the sweet lvl 14 reaction from barbarian.

Total damage would be...

Fighter 16/barb 4
13.2617

Fighter 11/barb 9
13.365

*each attack.

 

[Kithas]

I understand liking the idea of extra attack(2), but honestly I don't see it being worth 8 levels :/ You get so much more from barbarian in those 8 levels.
With 17barb/3fighter you end up with 3 attacks on your turn(while berserking) and one as a reaction from Retaliation, a total of 4, with action surge that's 6. With Fighter you end up with 4 attacks on your turn and surging for 7. If you manage to get lucky with opportunity attacks sure, but in my experience it is pretty rare. So at most you are behind one attack per short rest, now what do you gain?
(17/3 vs 4/16)
13 more health
+2 Rage damage
3 rages per LR
Fast Movement
Mindless Rage
Feral Instinct
3 more dice on your criticals
Relentless Rage
Persistent Rage

All of these are waaay better than the extra asi's and pretty mediocre stuff you get from champion. Also who doesn't want to crit for 5d12s? I do <.<

 

[MindxKiller]

I understand liking the idea of extra attack(2), but honestly I don't see it being worth 8 levels :/ You get so much more from barbarian in those 8 levels.
With 17barb/3fighter you end up with 3 attacks on your turn(while berserking) and one as a reaction from Retaliation, a total of 4, with action surge that's 6. With Fighter you end up with 4 attacks on your turn and surging for 7. If you manage to get lucky with opportunity attacks sure, but in my experience it is pretty rare. So at most you are behind one attack per short rest, now what do you gain?
(17/3 vs 4/16)
13 more health
+2 Rage damage
3 rages per LR
Fast Movement
Mindless Rage
Feral Instinct
3 more dice on your criticals
Relentless Rage
Persistent Rage

All of these are waaay better than the extra asi's and pretty mediocre stuff you get from champion. Also who doesn't want to crit for 5d12s? I do <.<

Well I wouldn't go fighter 16/barb 4 =P I would do fighter 11/barb 9, but I definitely see your point about relentless and persistent rage plus the extra crit dice. It's a tough choice to make =/