Are there good enough incentives for a fighter to wear light armor, though?
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D&D 5E What are the Roles now?
- Thread starter Unwise
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Are there good enough incentives for a fighter to wear light armor, though?
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Well, let's see.
Unless you want a double-digit damage die (say that five times fast!), it doesn't matter whether you specialize in Dexterity or Strength; that is, at least one d8 weapon uses either your Str or your Dex for hit and damage. This is sort of a mixed thing: on the one hand, there's a "disincentive" in that you can't get the best damage dice with Dexterity, but on the other hand, Dex-based fighting has never been easier nor has it shared as much of the "damage space" as it does in 5e. On the flipside, you cannot carry those weapons and use a shield--but two-weapon fighting (which massively favors Dex-based) generally falls behind since 5e puts such emphasis on number of attacks as an advancement mechanic. I'll call this a slight win for Dex, simply because they've removed the hassle of picking up "Finesse Fighting" or the like.
Dexterity powers initiative, AC in light armor (max +2 in medium armor), the Dexterity save, and ranged attack hit and damage values, IIRC. Initiative has always been a great thing to improve. One stat that governs both melee and ranged attacks? That, too, sounds like a pretty strong incentive. On top of that, it affects one of the most common saves (what would in 3e be called a Reflex save, and in 4e the Reflex defense), and improves your general defenses as well. Dexterity checks, particularly for legerdemain, acrobatics, and stealth, bring lots of utility. Further, light armor (plus max Dex, of course) keeps pace with heavy armor--so there's neither a loss nor a gain in AC, relatively speaking, yet that Dex bonus (AFAIK) cannot be lost while armor can.
Strength improves melee accuracy and damage, carrying capacity, and "athletic" skills like running, swimming, marching, etc. If you have the proficiencies, Strength lets you wear the heaviest armor and wield the highest-die weapons (d10s and d12s), though (as noted) this denies you a shield. Strength saves are rarer (I don't know the official numbers for the core books, but in the playtest there were only a handful--half a dozen at most), but from what I've heard they can be somewhat nasty, much like Int saves. Strength does nothing to directly improve defenses otherwise.
So we have, from Dex: Speed, melee accuracy and damage, ranged accuracy and damage, common magical defense, physical defense, stealth, ancillary skills. On the minus side, you can't get the absolute best damage dice, and if you outright dump Strength you may end up with a terrible carrying capacity.
From Str: Melee accuracy and damage, carrying capacity, higher possible damage dice, highest AC from items, "athletic" skills/checks, rare (but dangerous?) magical defense. On the plus side, high Str = carrying capacity = alternate weapon sets (there are Str-based thrown weapons, IIRC). So Str isn't completely inflexible, just less so than Dexterity.
Admittedly, I may be missing things--I'm tired, and I already believe that Dexterity is very much the "god stat" of melee characters in 5e. But as it stands, I'm pretty sure Dexterity is outright superior, numerically, unless one goes in with a very particular build in mind (for example, polearms don't really work with a Dex build IIRC, though I've heard they require 1-2 feats to really shine.)
Edit:
And all of the above is with (essentially) zero knowledge of the feats available in 5e. Throw in the aforementioned stuff like Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert and things are even nicer for the Dex Fighter. I'd also say that any subclass of Fighter can do well with it--EKs get spells to enhance mobility and defenses; BMs get maneuvers; Champions get the second fighting style, and thus can have both the Archery bonus and their pick of the remaining set (probably Dueling or Defense).
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FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Lets you preserve mobility without going MAD on strength. You're pumping DX anyway so you might as well use light armor and be stealthy.
Your speed (movement rate in 5th Edition) is not reduced by medium or heavy armor that I can tell, though. If you use the variant encumbrance rules, you could easily get a reduced speed if you don't have a high strength, but a common strength score will work fine provided you don't carry a lot of gear. I couldn't find swimming in the index, so I don't know what rules there are for trying to swim while wearing armor.
Traditionally, a fighter-classed character would wear light armor instead of what we'd call medium or heavy in those systems, for greater mobility and lighter encumbrance. Swimming in particular was a big concern, so if you were on a ship or likely to go into the water in another scenario lighter armor was preferred. This and the temperature were big factors. You wouldn't wear heavy armor in a desert or jungle, not if you were traveling for any length of time. It depended on your preferences, of course, as to what level of detail and realism to go into, but I've yet to meet someone who would let a character swim in plate armor without the use of magic.
Stealth, of course, is another matter entirely. If the fighter was to accompany the thief or the ranger on their scouting missions, they would need to take off all their armor, and not even just the suit but they'd have to switch into soft boots so their footfalls could be silent. Only the thief and the ranger could hide in plain sight, of course, but small troops of fighters and soldiers would often sneak past guards such as after the thief raised the portcullis.
The typical group might always stick together, though, and be ready for combat at all times. I am not sure why someone would wear light armor if they could still do ranged combat as well wearing something heavier.
Iosue
Legend
Chain mail, splint, and plate all have a STR score associated with them. If you don't have this much STR, your movement in reduced by 10 feet. It's STR 13 for chain mail, and STR 15 for splint and plate.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
That's a negative. Review the Strength column of the armor table on PHB 145. Even without variant encumbrance, you will have reduced speed in heavy armor unless you pumped Strength.
So it is a give away.
Strength shouldn't let you move at full speed.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
STR 15 is no kind of giveaway. For point-buy, that's the maximum you can buy. For rolled stats, it's the top 9%. You asked what the incentives are for ranged combatants to wear light armor--and there's the answer: it gives them the same AC without hampering mobility. It's a rare ranged fighter who will have 15 STR.
And yet, it does.
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Hussar
Legend
Why not? If I'm strong enough to carry it, why should armor slow me down?
