D&D 5E Are ranged attacks too good in 5e?

[Guest 7034872]

I've never seen a player take one of those feats without making sure their accuracy suffers as little as possible, one way or another.

I always made a point of it.

 

[James Gasik]

I've never seen a player take one of those feats without making sure their accuracy suffers as little as possible, one way or another.

Well of course, like I said, missing is bad for a martial type character! Though I would probably take Sharpshooter just for it's other benefits, and save the "power shot" for special occasions, since I can't really count on some other player to help me attain super accuracy, lol.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well of course, like I said, missing is bad for a martial type character! Though I would probably take Sharpshooter just for it's other benefits, and save the "power shot" for special occasions, since I can't really count on some other player to help me attain super accuracy, lol.

In my experience, its just not that hard to hit most things, and for the few that are hard to hit, you just don't take the -5. I have players do it all the time (or st least i did before I switched to Level Up).

 

[Guest 7034872]

In my experience, its just not that hard to hit most things, and for the few that are hard to hit, you just don't take the -5. I have players do it all the time (or st least i did before I switched to Level Up).

Suppose I take this feat as a battle master; further suppose I take the Archery fighting style. Well, now that -5 To Hit is already down to -3. Now as an archer battle master I also, let's suppose, have the wits to take the Precision Attack maneuver and I use it against my especially hard target. Mean average, I'm now up to +1.5 on the attack and the bard and/or cleric hasn't even done anything to buff my attack yet. If we throw in things like Bless, Bardic Inspiration and what-not, I'll be confident of my odds even against a very hard target.

And that +10 damage--it does a lot.

 

[James Gasik]

Suppose I take this feat as a battle master; further suppose I take the Archery fighting style. Well, now that -5 To Hit is already down to -3. Now as an archer battle master I also, let's suppose, have the wits to take the Precision Attack maneuver and I use it against my especially hard target. Mean average, I'm now up to +1.5 on the attack and the bard and/or cleric hasn't even done anything to buff my attack yet. If we throw in things like Bless, Bardic Inspiration and what-not, I'll be confident of my odds even against a very hard target.

And that +10 damage--it does a lot.

Yeah but then again, to do that, you're giving up just dropping a bonus die of damage on a regular attack and maybe making the enemy frightened for a turn or something equally fun. So while it's a strong option, it does compete with other things you could do. That's not OP in my book.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah but then again, to do that, you're giving up just dropping a bonus die of damage on a regular attack and maybe making the enemy frightened for a turn or something equally fun. So while it's a strong option, it does compete with other things you could do. That's not OP in my book.

For a lot of folks I've gamed with, the extra damage outweighs any status effect. As they say, the most effective status to inflict is always "dead".

 

[James Gasik]

For a lot of folks I've gamed with, the extra damage outweighs any status effect. As they say, the most effective status to inflict is always "dead".

I've run into that philosophy, and there is something to it, but the way I see it, I can use my resources to push damage or I can mitigate incoming damage, and still do decent damage. I don't see how one is better/worse than the other, objectively.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I've run into that philosophy, and there is something to it, but the way I see it, I can use my resources to push damage or I can mitigate incoming damage, and still do decent damage. I don't see how one is better/worse than the other, objectively.

I agree, and yet experience has taught me that those I've gamed with almost always err on the side of getting the enemy closer to dead. Probably because my formative gaming years were spent in 1st ed.

 

[Ancalagon]

The big offender is sharpshooter feat.

That feat going away takes care of most if the problems.

GWM is less bad but still not good.

in my drakkenheim game, my spouse plays a hafling swarsmkeeper ranger (very fun subclass, incidentally). She found a hand crossbow and at level 4 took crossbow expert. Even without sharpshooter she's a terror now. Edit: and if someone closes into melee... crossbow to the face

 

[Zardnaar]

in my drakkenheim game, my spouse plays a hafling swarsmkeeper ranger (very fun subclass, incidentally). She found a hand crossbow and at level 4 took crossbow expert. Even without sharpshooter she's a terror now. Edit: and if someone closes into melee... crossbow to the face

Yeah CBE is probably better low level.

The best debuff in every edition is still death. A lack of opportunity attacks doesn't really matter when something is dead already.