D&D 5E Best Non-GWM, Non-SS, Non-PM, Non-CE Damagers

You should really rule out GFB, or impose a ratio for bounces (how often is a second foe within 5' of first foe?). And a ratio for SA conditions and Sentinel conditions being met by having allies nearby, and SA conditions being met for advantage (or does poster need to specify how they're yielding or not requiring advantage?) Also target AC, saves, Athletics and HP. And opening distances (could be a random point with in a range with a flat distribution, or a normal distribution.)

I see a lot of theory-crafting around damage-dealing that ignores applicability. A better abstract construct for force will identifies that "For damage to be effective, we must apply it". When you write that down you think - "That's hardly rocket science!" - don't you?! Think of the contrary construction, "For damage to be effective, we need not apply it". Application requires awareness of target, range to target, ability to move to target: our ability to dominate in those dimensions will act as force multipliers. What would be really great would be to have an improved construct.

Most people seem to simply go

damage*accuracy

the elements that I think we need to see in the estimate are

damage*accuracy
a construct for distance, range and movement
constructs for satisfying a few major preconditions (e.g. Sneak Attack, cleave, advantage, Sentinel, Riposte, GFB bounce) which of course some builds will be able to demonstrate are obviated and treat as some pre-decided fraction

You're saying what I've been content to just keep in the back of my mind and apply as an overlay to these calculations. The one game I play a fighter/warlock almost never gets to fully use GFB. Same goes for the bladesinging wizard in the game that I run.

I'm not into number crunching, but I'd imagine a simple ranger or rogue would do the most consistent and reliable damage without loosing steam. The rogue requirement for an adjacent ally would be the biggest hindrance, compared to a rangers need to just have the opponent be damaged.

If anyone cares to do the math feel free to tag me. This thread has me thinking about running a female whip wielding rogue...
 

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Almost any major martial build with high STR and shield master. Not only do I get a big uptick from the high likelihood of having Advantage on all my attacks, I also get all the bonus damage my teammates do as a result of having advantage for free on their turn.

:lol:
 

If anyone cares to do the math feel free to tag me. This thread has me thinking about running a female whip wielding rogue...
Men have used whips far more than women, I should think. An Indiana Jones for instance. Or in history, any number of slave-owners, blackguards etc.
 
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Men have used whips far more than women, I should think. An Indiana Jones for instance. Or in history, any number of slave-owners, blackguards etc.

Would never argue to the contrary, however a honey-pot style succubus is just the right amount of crazy to interest me. Which was completely unrelated to the math statement in case there was any confusion.
 


Gender verisimilitude in weapon choice? Really?
More an attitude that doesn't jump to a "female" (man/woman) objectified stereotype as soon as a whip is mentioned. If you take a look into choice of sex and role in D&D products, it's an unfortunate tradition that powerful women are evil, and women generally are objectified. There are many shining exceptions of course. Our casual choices are normative ones.

Why I'm marking that here is that there is work before us in that regard, noting that gamers worldwide are making credible progress.
 

Level 5 - Beastmaster Ranger. Velociraptor pet. Dueling feat. Every round your pet gets 2 attacks at advantage with +7 to hit and advantage, one for 1d6+5 and another for 1d4+5 Then you should get an attack for (assuming +4 str/dex mod) +7 to hit and 1d8+6 for 26 damage per round. With the 6 combats of 4 rounds each, he can use a hunter's mark every combat for +3.5 damage per round. for 29.5 Damage per round. At level 5. If any of the fights are within an hour of each other, it clears a spell slot to use an AoE ability to boost potential damage if there is a good encounter for it.

Granted a sharpshooting crossbow master would potentially do (1d6+13)x3 a round for 49.5, but that would be a much much lower success rate than the 2/3 advantage attacks this uses. And I assume you accept not using the widely regarded as over powered feats will lower your damage output. Also two short rests per long rest is really a big bonus for fighters, as that means 3 action surges.

Speaking of .. Next build

Fiend Warlock - Level 5. 6 of the 24 rounds he will fireball for 8d6 damage (probably x 2-6 for multiple targets) The other rounds he will deal 3d10+12.
So 84 damage x 6, 28.5 damage x 18. So 42.375 damage per round assuming all hits and failed saves with 3 targets per fireball.
 

I also get all the bonus damage [from Shield Mastery] my teammates do as a result of having advantage for free on their turn.

This is true and, unfortunately, highly variable. My desire as a player to have shield master increases with the number of allies in melee. The more the merrier. I guess if you wanted to track it you could say that (assuming someone rolls both d20s at once) that if both dice hit then your Shield Master did nothing, if one die hits and the other doesn't it's a 50% chance it's because of Shield Master, and if one die crits and the other hits it's also a 50% chance it's Shield Master.

Regardless of its actual effectiveness I've found that things like this make the game more fun. It feels more like a team where you are all helping each other.
 

Using the 50% uptime assumption for sentinel. I can see a ranger 5 / rogue 1 with sentinel being a beast.

1d8(rapier)+7(stat and duelist)+1d8(colossus slayer)+1d6(hunters mark) + 1d6(sneak attack)= 23 damage. 15 dmg (if colossus slayer has sneak attack both cannot be used).

That's about 776 damage per day. (assuming a 65% chance to hit).

One minor damage difference is that if you are 5/1 you only have, at most, one ASI so your stat bonus will be +4 if you are variant human and +3 if you aren't (and you'll have a lower hit chance, too)

A slightly different take is instead of Sentinel and Colossus you take Shield Master and Horde Breaker, though that requires a high Strength to work best. You can use Shield Master to either knock prone and get advantage for you and your allies or move 5' for a chance to use Horde Breaker.

There are multiple possibilities here. You knock someone prone AND he's 5' from a foe. You DON'T knock someone prone AND he's 5' from a foe. You knock a foe prone AND he's NOT 5' from a foe. You DON'T knock someone prone AND he's NOT 5' from a foe.

All the above cases assume you can get a sneak attack on every attack because of an ally within 5'. I won't look at the possibly (yet) of what happens if you don't have an ally within 5'.

The first case is the best case scenario and it's a bit of a mess with two different hit probabilities and three opportunities to land one sneak attack. Also, no Hunter's Mark as your Bonus Action is also using your feat. Also, variant human so your Strength is 18 at by level 6.

First (and best)case scenario: 25.4 DPR
Second case: 20.9 DPR
Third case: 19.4 DPR
Fourth case: 14.8 DPR

Over 24 rounds that's somewhere between 355 and 610 damage at level 6.

It's not particularly amazing but it does get (a lot) better as you get more sneak attack dice, you don't have to use Relentless Attack and open yourself up to counter attacks, the Shield Master 5' shove is incredibly valuable above just defaulting to knocking someone prone, you can get that second attack at level 3 Ranger instead of waiting until 5, you can actually look at doing something else with your Ranger spells besides cast Hunter's Mark, and being a variant Human Ranger/Rogue you'll have a jillion skills.

Major downside, you've probably severely reduced your use of Cunning Action, one of the games best abilities. Though it does work with any Rogue subclass so you can go Swashbuckler and you can still escape or Sneak Attack more often.

It's exceptionally versatile. Heck since you probably have a 14 Dexterity, you can still shoot a bow 2 or 3 times and Dash or Hide if you are miles away from the enemy.
 

The thread title says it all. I want to see all the high damage dealers you can come up with that don't use those feats. Pick any character at any level you think is impressive for that level. Personally I don't care so much about level 20 builds but if that's your thing then post all those you want. I'm going to focus more on builds in the 5-13 level ranges myself. Make whatever assumptions you feel are justified. I don't really care about "at-will" DPR.

I generally assume a day consists of 6 combats that are 4 rounds each for a total of 24 combat rounds and 2 short rests.

Have fun!
If you're willing to assume 100% applicability, then Battlemaster 3rd, Arcane Trickster 8th, Sentinel, Magic Initiate, ASI, Dueling w. Rapier. Fights alongside an ally. Precision on 1-4.

Stacks GFB and Hex for about 65*/turn. Total 1566 over 24 rounds.

(Level 11, no magic items, PHB and SCAG only.)

*Action Surge twice for about +78 overall.
 
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