D&D 5E Martials v Casters...I still don't *get* it.

[Asisreo]

Please demonstrate how a 9th level Battlemaster fighter can kill a mummy lord in one turn, using only a torch.

Torches guarantee fire damage. If he's a dueling fighting style, he can do (1+7)*2 damage per attack. Action surge means that's 8*8. Add in the battlemaster manuevers per attack, that's (1+7+4.5)*8 = 100 damage, which kills the mummy.

 

[Sithlord]

Well, Polymorph is an extremely useful spell both in combat and out of combat. And as I mentioned, at 9th level, a wizard can cast the spell 5 times total (3 times with a 4th level slot, 1 with a 5th level slot, and 1 more with Arcane Recovery).

So, yeah, this hardly seems like a stretch. At higher levels, the wizard has even more high level slots.

I rarely ever see a wizard not have polymorph prepared. Don’t always cast it, but the eh generally have it. It’s like why not have it there. It has so many applications even out of combat. And it uses up one of your slots. So really nerf yourself if you want unless u have a badass build not to do it.

 

[Oofta]

Hume’s Guillotine. No.

It's the only solution with the current ruleset if you are unwilling or unable to have the suggested number of encounters per long rest.

On the other hand if you average 6-8 encounters between long rests I find things balance out.

That doesn't add any complexity to some variations of fighter but I think having some dirt simple classes is a good thing.

But go ahead. Selectively quote me and ignore the rest.

 

[Undrave]

Conjure Animals: If your DM lets you choose the animals, this is just crazy strong. Throwing a few bears into a fight helps a lot with the action economy and just adds a lot of meat shields to divert attention from your allies. Out of combat she just called Giant Eagles to fly us out of a cursed battlefield instead of having to sneak or fight our way out, saved a lot of effort.

Oh boy... A Shepperd Druid able to summon EIGHT WOLVES can make short work of any encounter. You can speak to animal whenever so you just tell them to pair up and their ridiculous stacking of Advantage will usually result in one hit to land, usually resulting in the target being knocked prone. And with the bonus HP from Shepperd AND the potential to give them Temp HP on top you can really gum up the work. At some point I just started to go for like giant spiders because it was simplier to manage and not too cheesy.

 

[Garthanos]

Oh boy... A Shepperd Druid able to summon EIGHT WOLVES can make short work of any encounter. You can speak to animal whenever so you just tell them to pair up and their ridiculous stacking of Advantage will usually result in one hit to land, usually resulting in the target being knocked prone. And with the bonus HP from Shepperd AND the potential to give them Temp HP on top you can really gum up the work. At some point I just started to go for like giant spiders because it was simplier to manage and not too cheesy.

I remember that is that the 3e Druids Bear is more useful than the fighter meme in a different form?

 

[Stalker0]

the hypothetical is absurd because it ignores that after the polymorphed creature is killed it goes back to the original as is. That's the reason why people don't generally use it as you decribed

Agreed. How people actually use it is that everyone gathers around the tiny helpless creature and:

A: Readies action so that everyone just whales on the creature as it transforms back. So maybe get its an action....or maybe its just toast.

B: Throw it into a bag of holding. If the original creature is medium or maybe large just toss it in there. The little creature suffocates, transforms back into the original one, who then suffocates. Some DMs rule the bag can be ripped from the inside, some don't, so depends on that.

C: Cast Charm Monster on the little guy, who has basically no saves. Then when he changes back, he'll be someones buddy!

 

[Stalker0]

In fact, a monk can OTK a mummy lord.

Sorry I GOT TO STOP THE THREAD RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.

The Mummy Lord.... is a joke. Its hitpoints are so embarassingly low for its CR....a stiff breeze can kill it. A mummy lord should never be used in any example anywhere to provide anything.... except that Mummy Lords suck.

Ok that is all, back to your regularly scheduled thread

 

[Asisreo]

The Mummy Lord.... is a joke. Its hitpoints are so embarassingly low for its CR....a stiff breeze can kill it. A mummy lord should never be used in any example anywhere to provide anything.... except that Mummy Lords suck.

Its called a "Glass Cannon" type monster. Very fragile but hits like a truck.

Its also very resistant to alot of magical effects, has dispel magic, and other forms of anti-caster features. Really, the only fullcaster that would be a good matchup against it would probably be a cleric.

A good counter to casters, in general, is a good martial. Think about an Archmage, for example, you'll have a hard time getting a good spell effect to stick without relying on a good portion of luck but martials easily threaten their concentration and can hurt any concentration spells they're enforcing.

And before you bring it up, no, wall of force on the martial isn't a good action for the Archmage because there's literally 3 other characters that can just break it out. Sure, it might work for the turn, but they could have just kept up Globe of Invulnerability and easily avoid the more potent spells.

If its okay to take a monster that's notorious for being weak to magic, I think its okay to take a monster notorious for its weakness to damage.

 

[Undrave]

I remember that is that the 3e Druids Bear is more useful than the fighter meme in a different form?

Not QUITE to that effect, it's just REALLY good crowd control because of how much effort and action it would take to clear all 8 wolves.

Getting like 2 Giant Spiders or 4 Dire Wolves is already less effective because most things you get with Conjure Animals have subpar To Hit numbers compared to the level you get the spell at. It's the shear number of targets and the number of attacks with advantage that make the 8 wolves so effective. And they're only good against certain types of creatures who can fail a DC 11 STR check.

Some other animals, like the spiders, have mobility options that make them useful in certain environments and they get really useful IF their status condition hits. That's a big IF depending on the target.

I wouldn't use Conjure Animals on small groups of target, for exemple.

 

[ECMO3]

NM