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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7562481" data-attributes="member: 2629">If you seek the highest average damage, yes.&nbsp; However, that is a really common fail approach.Optimize Effective Damage:&nbsp; 1.) Average DPR (damage per round) is a simplistic analysis that fails to consider a number of factors that often mean that there is more efficiency available if you deviate from maximum DPR.&nbsp; For example: If you deal 15 average with a hit without GWM, and 25 with it, and the enemy has 28 hps, you're better off not using it nearly regardless of the enemy AC.&nbsp;&nbsp; If the enemy has 20 hps, you're better off using the feat benefit even if the AC is higher than is optimal for DPR.&nbsp; Even further, if you eliminate 'overkill' damage (damage beyond what was necessary to take an enemy to 0) from damage dealt in your average damage calculations, you'll find that the optimal use of these feats is at a lower max AC than the simple calculations suggest.&nbsp; In other words: Targeting max DPR generally results in more overkill wasted damage.&nbsp; Just to make this point clearer: Would you rather have average DPR of 100 or 90?&nbsp; What if that 100 DPR was a 5% chance to deliver 2000 damage in a single blow (missing the other 95% of the time), and the 90 average damage was 9 attacks at 10 damage that hit 100% of the time?&nbsp; And if your foes all have 30 hps?&nbsp; Or 10 hps?&nbsp; What if your foe has 2000 hps and hits very hard and reliably?&nbsp; Average DPR is too simplistic to maximize efficiency - it is an overutilized crutch that results in a lot of misperceptions on the power of SS and GWM.Optimize Fun 2.) The player in question likes the big hit, so uses it inefficienctly from a DPR perspective to increase his fun.&nbsp; I played a Dwarf Barby that *always* used it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7562481, member: 2629"] If you seek the highest average damage, yes. However, that is a really common fail approach. [B]Optimize Effective Damage:[/B] 1.) Average DPR (damage per round) is a simplistic analysis that fails to consider a number of factors that often mean that there is more efficiency available if you deviate from maximum DPR. For example: If you deal 15 average with a hit without GWM, and 25 with it, and the enemy has 28 hps, you're better off not using it nearly regardless of the enemy AC. If the enemy has 20 hps, you're better off using the feat benefit even if the AC is higher than is optimal for DPR. Even further, if you eliminate 'overkill' damage (damage beyond what was necessary to take an enemy to 0) from damage dealt in your average damage calculations, you'll find that the optimal use of these feats is at a lower max AC than the simple calculations suggest. In other words: Targeting max DPR generally results in more overkill wasted damage. Just to make this point clearer: Would you rather have average DPR of 100 or 90? What if that 100 DPR was a 5% chance to deliver 2000 damage in a single blow (missing the other 95% of the time), and the 90 average damage was 9 attacks at 10 damage that hit 100% of the time? And if your foes all have 30 hps? Or 10 hps? What if your foe has 2000 hps and hits very hard and reliably? Average DPR is too simplistic to maximize efficiency - it is an overutilized crutch that results in a lot of misperceptions on the power of SS and GWM. [B]Optimize Fun[/b] 2.) The player in question likes the big hit, so uses it inefficienctly from a DPR perspective to increase his fun. I played a Dwarf Barby that *always* used it. [/QUOTE]

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