D&D 5E Dodge and Opportunity Attacks

[BookBarbarian]

Good point, though in my experience few NPCs have athletics proficiency.

 

[Satyrn]

Good point, though in my experience few NPCs have athletics proficiency.

That's not really needed, though. If you send half a dozen mooks to do it, one of them oughtta get lucky enough.

 

[BookBarbarian]

That's not really needed, though. If you send half a dozen mooks to do it, one of them oughtta get lucky enough.

Ah that is a good idea.

If the first one doesn't succeed at worst they eat an AoO as they get out of the way for the next mook (if necessary) then he's worry free for AoOs unless you allow tunnel fighter (which I never have) so the next mook in the chain is up.

 

[Li Shenron]

Dodge is one of the underrated actions in my opinion. on a crowded battlefield, i often see it as better than disengage for instance in many of the typical disengage type situations.

Mmm... I am a bit surprised by this.

In a very simple one-on-one scenario, when you take either Dodge or Disengage but the enemy catches up and keeps attacking, Dodge (which bestows disadvantage also on regular attacks until your next turn) gives a small statistical advantage. But if the enemy does that then you've failed at retreating anyway and should think something else.

Against multiple melee enemies, I think it's much better to use Disengage which means no OA certainly.

I'd rather use Dodge in the presence of many ranged attackers, and even then it might be better to use Dash to reach cover asap.

Too many variables to generalize, but this article is a good start: http://themonstersknow.com/dodge-dash-disengage/#more-212

 

[5ekyu]

Mmm... I am a bit surprised by this.

In a very simple one-on-one scenario, when you take either Dodge or Disengage but the enemy catches up and keeps attacking, Dodge (which bestows disadvantage also on regular attacks until your next turn) gives a small statistical advantage. But if the enemy does that then you've failed at retreating anyway and should think something else.

Against multiple melee enemies, I think it's much better to use Disengage which means no OA certainly.

I'd rather use Dodge in the presence of many ranged attackers, and even then it might be better to use Dash to reach cover asap.

Too many variables to generalize, but this article is a good start: http://themonstersknow.com/dodge-dash-disengage/#more-212

The reason i find dodge more often beneficial rhan disengage is that its fairly rare that we see "simple one on one".

In a case where a single enemy,must remain static then you have the exception.

But if he can move, if he has multi-attack then disengage gives him no penalty on the multi-attack etc when he catches. Dodge does.

Often the AO reaction is not as threatening as the full in-turn options.

But again, its a situational decision - but i find that more often than not if one looks at it from "what happens between now and my next turn" and not just "as i move right now" dodge is morevoften the stronger defense move of the two.

 

[Satyrn]

Ah that is a good idea.

If the first one doesn't succeed at worst they eat an AoO as they get out of the way for the next mook (if necessary) then he's worry free for AoOs unless you allow tunnel fighter (which I never have) so the next mook in the chain is up.

Thank you, but the credit really belongs to Kevin Sorbo. After watching him get pummeled by half a dozen mooks in nearly every episode of Hercules, the lesson finally stuck.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Thank you, but the credit really belongs to Kevin Sorbo. After watching him get pummeled by half a dozen mooks in nearly every episode of Hercules, the lesson finally stuck.

I did not expect a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys reference today.

I'm pleased with the unexpected.

 

[André Soares]

Mmm... I am a bit surprised by this.

In a very simple one-on-one scenario, when you take either Dodge or Disengage but the enemy catches up and keeps attacking, Dodge (which bestows disadvantage also on regular attacks until your next turn) gives a small statistical advantage. But if the enemy does that then you've failed at retreating anyway and should think something else.

Against multiple melee enemies, I think it's much better to use Disengage which means no OA certainly.

I'd rather use Dodge in the presence of many ranged attackers, and even then it might be better to use Dash to reach cover asap.

Too many variables to generalize, but this article is a good start: http://themonstersknow.com/dodge-dash-disengage/#more-212

To me it comes down to this: Disengage is great when you have a big meat shield to run behind. But if you are the tank of the group its better to use dodge, so you don't bring enemies closer to your squishy friends and try to stay alive while they deal with the NPCs

 

[Li Shenron]

But if he can move, if he has multi-attack then disengage gives him no penalty on the multi-attack etc when he catches. Dodge does.

Yes but my point is that if he catches up then you should not have retreated. The theoretical scenario of retreat-catch-retreat-catch illustrates that withdrawing successfully requires to think (e.g. use the environment or coordinate with others), and cannot be used to build a comparison, because whatever action you use, if you are being always caught up you're always going to lose. If truly desperate and counting on the enemy to give up, Dash is better than anything else (and doesn't allow the enemy to multiattack at all).

 

[Li Shenron]

To me it comes down to this: Disengage is great when you have a big meat shield to run behind. But if you are the tank of the group its better to use dodge, so you don't bring enemies closer to your squishy friends and try to stay alive while they deal with the NPCs

Well yes! This is pretty much the right way to think about retreating: in a vacuum all actions options are nearly statistically equivalent, but you never retreat like that i.e. just moving away trying to pick the presumably statistically better option, because they all lose on the end. You need a PLAN to retreat successfully.