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I am a player in a group, and I've noticed that our last few sessions have ended with bitter disputes over the division of spoils. In order to mitigate this problem in the future, I want to propose some sort of formal treasure division policy. I realize that a formal policy is not a replacement...

Nice job, Treantmonklvl20, you've definitely put lipstick on the pig!

I agree with this. I started my series of posts in an effort to debunk a commonly held belief I've encountered (a product of group-think I would guess), that Booming Blade is strictly better than TWF for Swashbucklers. By the numbers, TWF yields higher non-situational DPR at every level of...

I see. I thought you were trying to use it as a consistent source of advantage, but you are instead using it to up the probability that your rider damage will trigger against opponents with no ranged capabilities. Sure, I'll buy it. I still very much doubt you'll reach the frequencies you need...

All very good points, though also very situational. I play in a lot of groups where the players are not very tactical.

As it happens, I have those numbers right here. The percentage for each level represents the minimum frequency with which the BB rider damage has to trigger in order for the DPR of a BB Swashbuckler to exceed that of a TWF Swashbuckler, without factoring in the Dual Wielder feat. If the...

Yes, the inability to use Reckless Attack in conjunction with Elven Accuracy pretty much derails the build. I agree that, with some way to generate advantage on every attack, Booming Blade becomes a lot better. Without something like Reckless Attack, how would you do it? I know a lot of people...

I was wondering how long it would take for the infamous EnWorld snark to rear its head! It's why a lot of people I know don't bother with these boards any more. This whole thing is purely an academic exercise, since there is very little chance you are ever going to get your BB rider damage with...

The break-even point for Booming Blade over TWF is actually much higher if you weight the averages based on which levels see the most play, since TWF performs better over all at lower levels, while Booming Blade really starts to take over at the highest levels.

The numbers I posted do not rely on holding back sneak attack unless you crit, but I did fail to realize that Elven Accuracy does not apply to Strength-based attacks any more! That pretty much derails the efficacy of the build.

I edited my post to expound a bit more on the specific math I am using. Feel free to cross-check.

I see. I am multiplying the frequency with which we expect the rider to trigger by the average rider damage at each level and adding that to the Booming Blade DPR at each level. I am then adjusting the frequency with which we expect the rider to trigger until the average DPR across all levels...

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?553760-Repeatable-DPR-Kings Simply put, more attacks means more chances to crit. When I assume a 60% hit probability, and plug this into my DPR calculator program, I get the following, which is the best I've seen for TWF...

My experience is that Booming Blade triggers far less than 38.61% (closer to 10%), but YMMV. That's why I consider it highly situational, and why I stand by the statement you quoted that "TWF provides higher non-situational DPR for Swashbucklers on average". By the way, your TWF Barb 2 /...

And thank you for your politeness. You were absolutely right to point out the potential flaw in my computations. My original numbers were off in exactly the way you described. Your input and input from @Esker helped me apply the necessary corrections, which appear in my second post. Even with...

You are trading more reliable hits and sneak attacks with TWF for situational control/damage with Booming Blade. Ultimately, it's a matter of preference. I've never played in a game where Booming Blade extra damage triggers every round or even most rounds. If I'm lucky, it triggers once per...

This observation is accurate. There is a way to compute the crit chance to account for this as covered by @Esker. Assuming there are two attacks, a1 and a2: critProb(a1|a2) = critProb(a1) + (missProb(a1) * critProb(a2)) If there were three attacks, it would look like this: critProb(a1|a2|a3)...

Thanks for cross-checking my work, @Esker I actually agree with your computation for sneak attack crit damage, since it corresponds with the observation @Blue made, which is that most people are likely to apply Sneak Attack damage the first time they hit. When I adjust my math to use your...

I was looking over your Swashbuckler build, and I wanted to point out that DPR for Rapier + Booming Blade lags behind DPR for dual wielding shortswords at every level. If you're choosing it, you are doing so for the added control effect and nothing more. Here's a breakdown, assuming a base hit...

Insignia of Claws from HotDQ grants +1 to attack rolls and damage while in Wildshape. Define a +2 or +3 variant as needed.