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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 6981724" data-attributes="member: 6785785">The archer's goal is certainly to deal damage, and has an edge compared to melee combatants. But if we're going to talk about balance between the two approaches then we have to look at other areas of combat beyond just DPR. Melee combatants usually have more durability or more AC or some other factor that helps offset the lesser damage they may have compared to a specialized archer build.Sure if a party can pour out damage at a rate that drops most enemies quickly, that is an effective way to cut down on damage taken. I don't know if I'd agree that it always makes more sense to focus on damage output at the expense of all else, though. It varies quite a bit, depending on circumstances. But they do often start off together. They rarely remain side by side, though. Our ranged expert does indeed try to maintain distance and hit enemies from afar. And they react differently to events in combat. The archer does not threaten opportunity attacks; he uses a bow and doesn't keep a weapon in his offhand. Can't he throw more than one weapon? But what ranged weapon is your crossbow archer using? A hand crossbow? Or does he need to use his item interaction to draw his dagger one round, and then use it to stow the dagger next round? Does your DM allow you to load your weapon without a free hand? Not sure on the math, or the frequency of them, but that's fine. Are you telling me that your crossbow expert just wades into melee? That he actually DOES threaten enemies with OAs? They didn't seem too big a deal to you at all, and attacking from a distance was something a lot of folks mentioned as an advantage...so how does it actually play out?HP fluctuate, no? At some point, every monster is a 10 HP creature. The idea is about dealing damage outside of your turn. It's bonus damage. Any enemy that has to choose between moving and possibly taking an OA (or maybe two or more depending) or else taking his action in some other way is being forced to behave in response to the party. Maybe the bad guy has to spend his turn disengaging. Again, this goes back to well designed encounters. If all your DM is worrried about is the total HP of damage your party can put out in relation to a group of enemies....then yes, combat will favor the high damage characters. Is that surprising?</blockquote>

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