Note; STR fighters can get up to 21 AC with Plate + Shield + Defensive Fighting Style, and 19 AC with a 2h Weapon. Dex fighters seem to be more versatile, but STR fighters lay out the damage from my experience.
Also, breaking down doors and stuff ends up being STR, as does grapple / shove / etc; which has proven way more useful in play than I ever imagined.
Also, I assume there will be a DEX based magic item as well?
THat is what it really boils down to +1 AC and str checks vs everything else dex does for you.
Dex-based dual wielders just about keep pace with GWF damage output through level 10. From level 11 onwards, however, they fall severely behind.Str also get a higher DPR using GWF with a 2d6 blade. Dex based fighters outside of ranged attacks don't really have a sweet spot.
Dex based fighter can get to AC 20doing the same thing. The other thing to consider is medium armor aout right sucks for the most part as you do not even get the +1 AC bonus the heavy armor fighter gets.
THat is what it really boils down to +1 AC and str checks vs everything else dex does for you.
Dex-based dual wielders just about keep pace with GWF damage output through level 10. From level 11 onwards, however, they fall severely behind.
Btw, 3e "solved" this issue, by just letting you add STR to damage, not DEX for finesse weapons or ranged attacks.
I agree, it didn't solve anything, it's why i said "solved".Naw it "solved" the issue by outright declaring strength more useful than dex, and even built in racial benefits and drawbacks to account for that declaration. Which was a bad solution in my opinion. It took later expansion books to try and "fix" dex based fighters, which just added to the constant increase in overall power as the game went on with expansion books.