D&D 5E (2024) 5.5 Fighter Best Eince 2E

[Gladius Legis]

Ok time to bring some real math into this discussion assuming an actual Monster.

Against an Ancient Red Dragon (2014 version) AC22 +16 Con save with 3 legendaries

A 2014 Monk using FOB, Focused Aim and Stunning Strike over 2 rounds averages 57 damage and uses 9.6 ki on average

A 2014 Monk using FOB, Focused Aim and Stunning Strike on the first round and QP on the second round averages 83 damage and uses 7.8 ki on average.

Don't know what the point was of doing numbers with Stunning Strike in the first place when you would not even bother using that against an Ancient Red Dragon.

The base 57DPR Monk numbers above are without any subclass. For comparison a Fighter with no suclass, GWF and a Greatsword does 57 average over two rounds burning both Action Surges.

If that Fighter is a battlemaster he does 100 DPR over 2 rounds using all his dice on precision and Trip attack and all his action surges.

A Long Death Monk using Touch of the Long Death twice in a row does 121 over 2 rounds if the dragon relies on his saves or 110 if he is going to use Legendaries to lower the damage on a failed save. Note this includes no bonus actions, but does use all of his ki.

Rather dishonest the way you're framing it.

The base Attack + Flurry Monk does 28.5 DPR, adding up to 57 stretching it to 2 rounds.

The subclassless Fighter with Action Surges 1st two rounds actually is 57 DPR, taking that up to 114 over 2 rounds.

The Battle Master Fighter with Action Surges and Precision Attacks is 100 DPR, 200 taken over the 2 rounds.

Pretty bad when the most damaging 17th-level Monk subclass feature only barely outdamages a base Fighter's Action Surge with no other resource expenditure. Also that Long Death Monk has no ki left, now stuck until the next rest with a base DPR of 16.6, compared to the base Fighter's 28.5 with no resources used.

If that Long Death Monk is up against a Battle Master Fighter the comparison is a joke.

Is the 2014 Monk more powerful than the 2024 Monk? No, it is not even close. In tier 4 the 2014 Monk is well below most (maybe all?) of the 2024 non-casters and all the casters as well.

Is the 2014 Monk more fun to play with other 2014 characters than the 2024 Monk is with other 2024 characters? Yes absolutely.

Weird, but whatever.

 

[ECMO3]

Don't know what the point was of doing numbers with Stunning Strike in the first place when you would not even bother using that against an Ancient Red Dragon.

BEcause stunning strike is supposedly better than QP and all the other things I listed.

The subclassless Fighter with Action Surges 1st two rounds actually is 57 DPR, taking that up to 114 over 2 rounds.

The Battle Master Fighter with Action Surges and Precision Attacks is 100 DPR, 200 taken over the 2 rounds.

You are correct about a subclassless fighter it is 113 over 2 rounds if he action surges both rounds. The battlemaster is less than 200 over 2 rounds, it is 158 over 2 rounds because he only has 6 maneuver dice and uses them on his first 6 attacks (first one and a half actions).