D&D 5E Level 1 Character in 1v1 duel with standard Orc: Who do you bring?

[FrogReaver]

1. Are you adding in the barbarians rage damage bonus?

2. I would be interested in seeing a lucky babrbarian now.

Fighter uses 2nd wind whenever he is below 80% HP and has an unused bonus action after making his attacks.

Here's my sim results for FrogReaver and Plaguescarred. Check my stats here to see if they're what you expected:

let frogReaver() = Combatant(nameOf humanNames "FrogReaver", (16, 14, 16, 8, 10, 12, 15), Prof = +2, AC = 17,
                        Traits=[Rage 2; DoubleCrits; RelentlessEndurance],
                        Actions = [
                            Action.Create("Attack", Attack [Attack.Create "cuts" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 8, 3)]])
                        ])
let plagueScarred() = Combatant(nameOf humanNames "Plaguescarred", (16, 14, 16, 8, 10, 12, 15), Prof = +2, AC = 16,
                        Traits=[Rage 2; PolearmMaster (Attack.Create "cuts" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 10, 3)])],
                        Actions = [
                            Action.Create("Attack", Attack [Attack.Create "cuts" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 10, 3)]])
                        ],
                        BonusActions = [
                            Action.Create("Haft Attack", Attack [Attack.Create "bludgeons" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 4, 3)]])
                        ])

Robin Hood the Valerian wins 82 out of 100 matches against Mudd the orc, with 8.99 HP remaining (69% of total)
Lux the Fortunate wins 89 out of 100 matches against Platt the orc, with 10.65 HP remaining (81% of total)
Kitty the Fortunate wins 92 out of 100 matches against Splatt the orc, with 11.65 HP remaining (89% of total)
Grizzabella the Agile wins 77 out of 100 matches against Dredd the orc, with 9.17 HP remaining (70% of total)
Platt the Cimmerian wins 61 out of 100 matches against Splatt the orc, with 7.02 HP remaining (53% of total)
John the crossbow expert wins 81 out of 100 matches against Platt the orc, with 7.93 HP remaining (61% of total)
Daniel Pinkwater the FrogReaver wins 93 out of 100 matches against Platt the orc, with 8.72 HP remaining (58% of total)
Rupert Grint the Plaguescarred wins 94 out of 100 matches against Platt the orc, with 9.98 HP remaining (66% of total)

Code is here: https://repl.it/EnFq/20

Both versions of the Barbarian are better than anything else I've tested so far, including the Lucky fighter. (The usual way the orc wins against the fighter is by one-hit kills which don't allow Second Wind to come into play; the Barbarian is far less vulnerable to those. So is a 2nd-level fighter, or a fighter with a party around him.)

 

[Parmandur]

Nobody is a Champion at first level. You have to earn the title by killing 900 XP worth of giant rats first.

Touche! Still, Hill Dwarf Fighter would be my choice

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

1. Are you adding in the barbarians rage damage bonus?

2. I would be interested in seeing a lucky babrbarian now.

Whoops, I forgot the rage bonus on lines 263 and 277. Corrected version: https://repl.it/EnFq/22

Latest results after correction:

Platt the Valerian wins 77 out of 100 matches against Mudd the orc, with 8.05 HP remaining (61% of total)
Platt the Fortunate wins 84 out of 100 matches against Dank the orc, with 9.88 HP remaining (76% of total)
Rupert Grint the Fortunate wins 95 out of 100 matches against Mudd the orc, with 11.57 HP remaining (89% of total)
Lux the Agile wins 77 out of 100 matches against Grrrronk the orc, with 8.91 HP remaining (68% of total)
Kitty the Cimmerian wins 79 out of 100 matches against Gronk the orc, with 9.20 HP remaining (70% of total)
Kitty the crossbow expert wins 77 out of 100 matches against Dredd the orc, with 7.71 HP remaining (59% of total)
John the FrogReaver wins 93 out of 100 matches against Dank the orc, with 8.78 HP remaining (58% of total)
Grizzabella the Plaguescarred wins 95 out of 100 matches against Dank the orc, with 11.27 HP remaining (75% of total)

Lucky is tricky because there is player skill involved in using it. If I just use Lucky for rerolling hits against me (LuckyDefender) and initiative totals under 18 (LuckyInit), that is done by

compare [orc] [heavyArmor1;lucky1;lucky1b;swash1;gwm1;crossbowExpert1;frogReaver; plagueScarred; fun () -> Combatant(nameOf humanNames "Lucky Barbarian", (16, 14, 16, 8, 10, 12, 15), Prof = +2, AC = 17,
                        Traits=[Rage 2; LuckyDefender; LuckyInit],
                        Actions = [
                            Action.Create("Attack", Attack [Attack.Create "cuts" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 8, 3)]])
                        ])]

Gives:

Graal Tiger the Lucky Barbarian wins 96 out of 100 matches against Gronk the orc, with 12.67 HP remaining (84% of total)

If I quite reasonably bump his AC up to 18 due to scale mail + shield, then that is

compare [orc] [heavyArmor1;lucky1;lucky1b;swash1;gwm1;crossbowExpert1;frogReaver; plagueScarred; fun () -> Combatant(nameOf humanNames "Lucky Barbarian", (16, 14, 16, 8, 10, 12, 15), Prof = +2, AC = 18,
                        Traits=[Rage 2; LuckyDefender; LuckyInit],
                        Actions = [
                            Action.Create("Attack", Attack [Attack.Create "cuts" 5 [DieRoll.Create(1, 8, 3)]])
                        ])]

John the Lucky Barbarian wins 100 out of 100 matches against Grrrronk the orc, with 12.95 HP remaining (86% of total)

 

[FrogReaver]

Impressive results!

 

[Ogre Mage]

I think my choice is an human arcana domain cleric with the lucky feat, medium armor and shield casting magic missile.

Assuming 27 pt. buy, 14 Dex and 14 Con, you should have 18 AC and 10 HP. This + the lucky feat used to disadvantage the orc's attacks will hopefully be enough to keep you alive. Cast magic missile on your turn, which never misses.

 

[FrogReaver]

Love the concept. Just curious, i thought magic middle minimum damage was lower? Maybe I'm mistaken?

I think my choice is an human arcana domain cleric with the lucky feat, medium armor and shield casting magic missile.

Assuming 27 pt. buy, 14 Dex and 14 Con, you should have 18 AC and 10 HP. This + the lucky feat used to disadvantage the orc's attacks will hopefully be enough to keep you alive. Cast magic missile on your turn, which never miss. If you can survive till your second attack round, the orc is dead unless you rolled all 1s on your magic missile damage both rounds (most unlikely).

 

[Ogre Mage]

Love the concept. Just curious, i thought magic middle minimum damage was lower? Maybe I'm mistaken?

Oops I thought the Orc had 13 HP. It actually has 15 HP. Hm, that makes the strategy slightly weaker. But hopefully it will still work.

Magic missiles do anywhere from 6-15 damage per round. So to kill it in two rounds you would need to do an average of 8 per round -- which seems pretty likely. If you got really lucky and rolled 4s on all three dice you could one-shot kill it.

And I'm glad you like the concept.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I think my choice is an human arcana domain cleric with the lucky feat, medium armor and shield casting magic missile.

Assuming 27 pt. buy and 14 Dex, you should have 18 AC. This + the lucky feat used to disadvantage the orc's attacks will hopefully be enough to keep you alive. Cast magic missile on your turn, which never miss. If you can survive till your second attack round, the orc is dead unless you rolled all 1s on your magic missile damage both rounds (most unlikely).

Nitpick: rolling all 1s would be 6 * 2 = 12 damage. You could also roll 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 and wind up with only 14 HP of damage, which leaves the orc still alive.

To respond to your main point: yes, that's a pretty good strategy. Winds up like this:

compare [orc] [heavyArmor1;lucky1;lucky1b;swash1;gwm1;crossbowExpert1;frogReaver; plagueScarred; fun () -> Combatant(nameOf humanNames "Lucky Magic Missiler", (12, 14, 16, 8, 14, 12, 15), Prof = +2, AC = 18,
                        Traits=[LuckyDefender; LuckyInit;],
                        Actions = [
                            Action.Create("Magic Missile", Instant(SingleEnemy, Damage.Unavoidable(DieRoll.Create(3, 4, 3), Force)), 2)
                            Action.Create("Mace attack", Attack [Attack.Create "cuts" 3 [DieRoll.Create(1, 6, 1)]])
                        ])]

Kitty the Lucky Magic Missiler wins 96 out of 100 matches against Mudd the orc, with 13.23 HP remaining (88% of total)

Code: https://repl.it/EnFq/23

Generally between 93 and 100 matches won.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Kitty the Lucky Magic Missiler wins 96 out of 100 matches against Mudd the orc, with 13.23 HP remaining (88% of total)

lol now I am tempted to name a future PC after this.

 

[CTurbo]

Aarakocra Archer Fighter - Fly out of range and never miss with +7 to attack

Goliath TWF - Kill the Orc quickly with 1d6+3 x2 each round and high AC, good hp, 2nd wind, and racial ability makes you hard to kill

Half Orc TWF - Same as above

Vuman TWF with Dual Wielder feat - Same as above but with +1 AC and 1d8+3 x2 each round

Basically a two weapon fighter is very strong for level 1.

Using an Aarakocra is like cheating haha