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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Can A Spell Caster Out Damage a Martial Consistently?
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<blockquote data-quote="ECMO3" data-source="post: 9663806" data-attributes="member: 7030563"><p>Ok I believe you are wrong and I have yet to see any common generalizations that "more often than not" held true across multiple levels in a campaign.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Your premise is based on the idea the PC is weaker in ranged combat and therefore should close. A GWM-PAM does not have good ranged options either.</p><p></p><p>Also you can't reload in combat because you don't have a free hand. You only use it once.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It is actually 90 feet.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Being less than something else does not mean being bad.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It depends entirely on the number of attacks against a single enemy. If they have unlimited attacks against a single enemy it approaches 15 DPR at infinity.</p><p></p><p>I admit that is never going to get there, but as long as they attack an enemy twice it is also ALWAYS going to be statistically more than 10.2 DPR. How much more depends on what assumptions you lay down on number of consecutive attacks against a single foe.</p><p></p><p>Going 5 rounds against a Boss with 2 attacks a round and a 60% hit chance it is going to be a lot closer to 15 than it will be to 10.</p><p></p><p>I will also say in play it will <u>generally</u> outrun a GWM build due to the damage riders you get from things like Hunter's Mark which are also affected by Vex.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And look with 6 attacks you are already ahead of the GWM-GWF ... which if they are a caster they don't have GWF.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>When you take the Attack action on your turn <span style="color: rgb(41, 105, 176)">and attack with a Light weapon</span>, you <span style="color: rgb(184, 49, 47)">can make one extra attack as a Bonus Action</span> later on the same turn. <span style="color: rgb(184, 49, 47)">That extra attack must be made with a different Light weapon</span></em></p><p></p><p>If I am holding a shield and I attack with a short sword I fulfilled the part in blue. This means I can make another attack with the Scimitar as per the part in red. There is nothing in the rules about needing to use two different hands or needing to be holding both weapons simultaneously.</p><p></p><p>Using nick you can make the extra attack without using a bonus action.</p><p></p><p>It is perhaps not RAI and I have not seen it in play, but it darn sure is RAW and was covered extensively on this board when the 2024 rules were released.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>No I haven't. I've given up very little damage statistically.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Can is not the same as do and giving up damage theoretically is not the same as giving it up in play.</p><p></p><p>Casters have a ton of options available but <u>generally</u> martials do the most damage in a campaign by a large margin.</p><p></p><p>I will say the Druid in one of our campaigns has been one of the top 2 damage dealers since level 7 (we are now level 16), but she is using Conjure Woodland Beings with wild shape and a Wand of Fireballs.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think the martial is <u>generally</u> going to do substantially more damage in play over the course of levels 1 to level 20.</p><p></p><p>Not just a little bit more either, but<u> generally</u> substantially more damage in combat.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You mean the stuff full casters<u> generally</u> do?</p><p></p><p>Also 24 AC with the shield spell is not nearly as tanky as 23/24/25/26/27 AC without using a spell slot, or 26 AC with the Shield spell with either of these examples also having an average of 11.5 more hit points and giving the enemy disadvantage regularly. It is really not even close. A 24 AC Druid is actually closer to a 17 AC Rogue than he is to a maxed out sword and board with sap when it comes to being tanky.</p><p></p><p>As a matter of fact I would say a 9+ level GWM fighter with an 18AC and nothing else is about on par with that druid, due to the disadvantage from Sap.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A Wizard can be the most tanky character in the game, but usually not while concentrating on summon fey. They need to concentrate on Blur, PEG or have mirror image up and those cut into damage because they take a round to cast.</p><p></p><p>Also summon Fey is not constant DPR in play. It is like action surge, you can't really count it in DPR because it is so limited use. Between it being fragile with a very low AC and concentration it is not going to last very long in combat if you are using it aggrssively. Summon Fey last longer than the other summons due to the defense afforded by the charm ability, but that is highly situational and doesn't work well with large numbers of enemies. By the time you get 4th level spells a single action by an enemy directed at the Fey is often going to kill it. As a result, either your Fey is fighting carefully and avoiding high danger, which limits effectiveness, or it is dying very quickly.</p><p></p><p>By the way I use this spell a lot on my PCs, mostly on Fey Wanderer Rangers, which is the most common class/subclass I play in both 2014 and 2024. Despite lacking the higher level slots, their kit works better with SF than the Wizard's kit does.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Valor Bard with the 2024 rules is a high damage dealer statistically. At level 10+ Bards can get any of the Wizard, Cleric or Druid spells, so they have all those options plus a better attack action than any full caster except a Bladesinger.</p><p></p><p>The Valor Bard we had in the first 2024 campaign I played was trounced by the Champion when it came to damage though (as were all of us).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ECMO3, post: 9663806, member: 7030563"] Ok I believe you are wrong and I have yet to see any common generalizations that "more often than not" held true across multiple levels in a campaign. Your premise is based on the idea the PC is weaker in ranged combat and therefore should close. A GWM-PAM does not have good ranged options either. Also you can't reload in combat because you don't have a free hand. You only use it once. It is actually 90 feet. Being less than something else does not mean being bad. It depends entirely on the number of attacks against a single enemy. If they have unlimited attacks against a single enemy it approaches 15 DPR at infinity. I admit that is never going to get there, but as long as they attack an enemy twice it is also ALWAYS going to be statistically more than 10.2 DPR. How much more depends on what assumptions you lay down on number of consecutive attacks against a single foe. Going 5 rounds against a Boss with 2 attacks a round and a 60% hit chance it is going to be a lot closer to 15 than it will be to 10. I will also say in play it will [U]generally[/U] outrun a GWM build due to the damage riders you get from things like Hunter's Mark which are also affected by Vex. And look with 6 attacks you are already ahead of the GWM-GWF ... which if they are a caster they don't have GWF. [I]When you take the Attack action on your turn [COLOR=rgb(41, 105, 176)]and attack with a Light weapon[/COLOR], you [COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]can make one extra attack as a Bonus Action[/COLOR] later on the same turn. [COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]That extra attack must be made with a different Light weapon[/COLOR][/I] If I am holding a shield and I attack with a short sword I fulfilled the part in blue. This means I can make another attack with the Scimitar as per the part in red. There is nothing in the rules about needing to use two different hands or needing to be holding both weapons simultaneously. Using nick you can make the extra attack without using a bonus action. It is perhaps not RAI and I have not seen it in play, but it darn sure is RAW and was covered extensively on this board when the 2024 rules were released. No I haven't. I've given up very little damage statistically. Can is not the same as do and giving up damage theoretically is not the same as giving it up in play. Casters have a ton of options available but [U]generally[/U] martials do the most damage in a campaign by a large margin. I will say the Druid in one of our campaigns has been one of the top 2 damage dealers since level 7 (we are now level 16), but she is using Conjure Woodland Beings with wild shape and a Wand of Fireballs. I think the martial is [U]generally[/U] going to do substantially more damage in play over the course of levels 1 to level 20. Not just a little bit more either, but[U] generally[/U] substantially more damage in combat. You mean the stuff full casters[U] generally[/U] do? Also 24 AC with the shield spell is not nearly as tanky as 23/24/25/26/27 AC without using a spell slot, or 26 AC with the Shield spell with either of these examples also having an average of 11.5 more hit points and giving the enemy disadvantage regularly. It is really not even close. A 24 AC Druid is actually closer to a 17 AC Rogue than he is to a maxed out sword and board with sap when it comes to being tanky. As a matter of fact I would say a 9+ level GWM fighter with an 18AC and nothing else is about on par with that druid, due to the disadvantage from Sap. A Wizard can be the most tanky character in the game, but usually not while concentrating on summon fey. They need to concentrate on Blur, PEG or have mirror image up and those cut into damage because they take a round to cast. Also summon Fey is not constant DPR in play. It is like action surge, you can't really count it in DPR because it is so limited use. Between it being fragile with a very low AC and concentration it is not going to last very long in combat if you are using it aggrssively. Summon Fey last longer than the other summons due to the defense afforded by the charm ability, but that is highly situational and doesn't work well with large numbers of enemies. By the time you get 4th level spells a single action by an enemy directed at the Fey is often going to kill it. As a result, either your Fey is fighting carefully and avoiding high danger, which limits effectiveness, or it is dying very quickly. By the way I use this spell a lot on my PCs, mostly on Fey Wanderer Rangers, which is the most common class/subclass I play in both 2014 and 2024. Despite lacking the higher level slots, their kit works better with SF than the Wizard's kit does. Valor Bard with the 2024 rules is a high damage dealer statistically. At level 10+ Bards can get any of the Wizard, Cleric or Druid spells, so they have all those options plus a better attack action than any full caster except a Bladesinger. The Valor Bard we had in the first 2024 campaign I played was trounced by the Champion when it came to damage though (as were all of us). [/QUOTE]
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