Level Up (A5E) Sharpshooter (5E) nerfed to Deadeye in Level Up?

[kevbeck45]

One of the most powerful feats, especially since you can take it at first level if creating a Variant Human in 5e, is Sharpshooter. I notice that the closest Feat to this in Level Up is Deadeye and you need to be 8th level or higher to get it. I don't know if the developers read these threads but I'm not just asking them; does anyone here feel the nerfing of this 5e feat is justified? I'm just curious about the community's opinion and their reasons behind it. I like Sharpshooter in 5e but can live without it.

 

[tetrasodium]

One of the most powerful feats, especially since you can take it at first level if creating a Variant Human in 5e, is Sharpshooter. I notice that the closest Feat to this in Level Up is Deadeye and you need to be 8th level or higher to get it. I don't know if the developers read these threads but I'm not just asking them; does anyone here feel the nerfing of this 5e feat is justified? I'm just curious about the community's opinion and their reasons behind it. I like Sharpshooter in 5e but can live without it.

Sharpshooter effectively created a situation of asymmetrical drone warfare that was even worse if multiple players used it or it+spell sniper for crossfire & kiting*. That was even more pronounced at lower levels where level appropriate challenges rarely had any ways of meaningfully reacting to it. Getting rid of use long range without disadvantage was very much needed & limiting it to level 8+ makes it so monsters are likely to have progressed to a point that allows them to do more than just die when faced with a PC using it.

*It may not seem a big deal if you are using a battlemat where "the map only goes so far" or "totm" where "he ducks behind total cover & starts weaving through it" is always an option but in a vtt capable of modeling those ranges & beyond you quickly see how drastically problematic it is.

 

[scaramouche]

I have played every edition of D&D ever made, physically and virtually, and I think in 40 years of playing I have had maybe one or two fights that involved 300+ feet of open field to do this kind of optimization. The Sharpshooter tuning honestly feels like a response to white room pontificating more than anything else.

 

[tetrasodium]

I have played every edition of D&D ever made, physically and virtually, and I think in 40 years of playing I have had maybe one or two fights that involved 300+ feet of open field to do this kind of optimization. The Sharpshooter tuning honestly feels like a response to white room pontificating more than anything else.

five or so years ago I'd agree with you. Somewhere in there I switched from a chessex mat & minis to a tvbox & local vtt capable of handling maps with theoritical tens or hundreds of thousands of squares. At first players kinda kept to the old thought processes constrained by the chessex mat but slowly over time they started pushing the boundaries more & more till someone one day grabs sharpshooter. I didn't mention two players with sharpshooter/spell sniper engaging in a crossfire out of hypothetical whiteroom, I mentioned it because I've seen more than one campaign try it & eventually just had to put up with the hurt feelings that went with saying "no I'm not allowing that any more bob"

 

[TwoSix]

One of the most powerful feats, especially since you can take it at first level if creating a Variant Human in 5e, is Sharpshooter. I notice that the closest Feat to this in Level Up is Deadeye and you need to be 8th level or higher to get it. I don't know if the developers read these threads but I'm not just asking them; does anyone here feel the nerfing of this 5e feat is justified? I'm just curious about the community's opinion and their reasons behind it. I like Sharpshooter in 5e but can live without it.

It's justified. Sharpshooter makes ranged combat strictly superior to melee, unless there's a strong bias towards giving out melee-centric magic items.

And that's not white rooming, that's seeing multiple campaigns with the archer characters dominating combat. Not soloing combat, or anything like 3.5 caster dominance, but enough that the ranged characters were notably more effective.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's justified. Sharpshooter makes ranged combat strictly superior to melee, unless there's a strong bias towards giving out melee-centric magic items.

And that's not white rooming, that's seeing multiple campaigns with the archer characters dominating combat. Not soloing combat, or anything like 3.5 caster dominance, but enough that the ranged characters were notably more effective.

Question: isn't ranged combat strictly better than melee anyway? Much harder to hit you when you're waaay over there.

 

[tetrasodium]

Question: isn't ranged combat strictly better than melee anyway? Much harder to hit you when you're waaay over there.

often yes but the degree was so extreme that it was laughable

 

[Micah Sweet]

often yes but the degree was so extreme that it was laughable

I mean, I didn't like Sharpshooter either, but people use guns now for a reason.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I have played every edition of D&D ever made, physically and virtually, and I think in 40 years of playing I have had maybe one or two fights that involved 300+ feet of open field to do this kind of optimization. The Sharpshooter tuning honestly feels like a response to white room pontificating more than anything else.

All you need is a couple combats on plains or in deserts, and its not really that hard. Especially when the people with the long range capability can set things up to choose the range.

 

[Morrus]

I mean, I didn't like Sharpshooter either, but people use guns now for a reason.

Those people aren't playing a game that's meant to be fun for all participants.