Level Up (A5E) DPR for the Eldritch Blasts: Quick, Detailed, and Messy Observations

[TwoSix]

Interesting. That makes Eldritch Spasm inferior to Eldritch Ray after tier 1, damage-wise. I did that calculation before I ultimately switched to 0.9.
I’ll get that updated eventually.

The balance between Spasm and Ray looks pretty good to me. Even at 17, the delta is only around 12%, and doing auto damage is a nice perk.

Plus, there’s a whole different suite of abilities that impact AC defense versus save defense, so the abilities will be more or less effective against very different groups of enemies.

Only the weapon attack combos strike me as possibly being problematic, and even those require melee plus feats plus (possibly other stats?). Is Cha melee a thing with A5E warlock?

 

[VenerableBede]

I'm a little confused. How are you making weapon attacks in addition to Eldritch Scythe in the same turn?

Isn't Eldritch Blast an Action to activate, and not the "Attack" Action, which would seem that two-weapon fighting with Eldritch Blast is not legal?

Or have I missed something? If so, then I apologize.

Page 271, "Once per turn when you would make a melee weapon attack as part of the Attack action or an opportunity attack, you can instead make a melee spell attack, lashing out with an ephemeral and unearthly blade."
I think the general consensus is that this means "If I have Extra Attack, I can take one of the attacks available to me and turn it into an Eldritch Scythe attack." This also means that, when Eldritch Scythe gains extra attacks, you can do your full set of Eldritch Scythe attacks when you replace a single Extra attack.
Not everyone agrees with this interpretation, however. If you disagree, then just ignore those damage calculations.

 

[VenerableBede]

The balance between Spasm and Ray looks pretty good to me. Even at 17, the delta is only around 12%, and doing auto damage is a nice perk.

Plus, there’s a whole different suite of abilities that impact AC defense versus save defense, so the abilities will be more or less effective against very different groups of enemies.

Only the weapon attack combos strike me as possibly being problematic, and even those require melee plus feats plus (possibly other stats?). Is Cha melee a thing with A5E warlock?

Discussion with TwoSix has persuaded me that the Disturbance damage should actually be a little lower. The chance to hit should be calculated as 0.8 instead of 0.9.

A5e warlock adds its spellcasting ability modifier to hit and damage if it is Pact of the Blade and if it is using its pact weapon. This makes for some pretty nutty damage potential when combining Thirsting Blade and Eldritch Scythe. You'll get the most out of this as a single-class warlock, which means that you'll have a lower HP and AC than most melee warrior. I think that's the trade-off: you are a glass cannon.

 

[Vampersan]

Page 271, "Once per turn when you would make a melee weapon attack as part of the Attack action or an opportunity attack, you can instead make a melee spell attack, lashing out with an ephemeral and unearthly blade."
I think the general consensus is that this means "If I have Extra Attack, I can take one of the attacks available to me and turn it into an Eldritch Scythe attack." This also means that, when Eldritch Scythe gains extra attacks, you can do your full set of Eldritch Scythe attacks when you replace a single Extra attack.
Not everyone agrees with this interpretation, however. If you disagree, then just ignore those damage calculations.

I have no position on the matter, so I neither agree nor disagree with your interpretation. I was just wondering where the notion came from, and how the rules possibly supported it. Thank you for showing me the page number where I can investigate it on my own.

 

[Steampunkette]

So here's a thing, Venny!

Average damage on a d10 is 5.5, half that is 2.75. Assuming a 60% hit rate and a 40% half-damage rate you just hit (5.5*.60)+(2.75*.40)= 4.4 DPR.

Slightly less than your 4.95 at level 1, but it gives you the full basis to go forward with more accurate values!

 

[WanderingMystic]

... oh.

So. Dual Wielding is a thing...

Thirsting blade Longsword+Dagger at 20.

4 Eldritch Scythe Swings, 1 Longsword, 2 Dagger Strikes as a Bonus Action.

... and a partridge in a pear tree.

So as written Thirsting Blade let's you attack twice but it dosenot say it grants an "extra attack" so thirsting blade won't proc the second attack from dual wielding. This also means that a multi classed warlock who gets an extra attack from a different class can stack this attack. So a dual wielding 5/11 (warlock/fighter) has 4 main attacks and 2 offhand attacks.

 

[VicWeave]

Extra Blast counts as Extra Attack.

 

[Mark Essel]

Just caught up on this thread (great work putting it together!)

It appears from this wording that Eldritch Scythe when activated with one of multiple attacks doesn't benefit from multiple scythe attacks.

"Beginning at 5th level, your Eldritch Blast becomes more vicious. When you use Eldritch Ray, Eldritch Scythe, or Eldritch Whip as part of your action on your turn, as long as you make no weapon attacks you can attack twice instead of once. At 11th level you can make three attacks, and at 17th level you can make four attacks."