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

[FrogReaver]

I'm getting more and more impressed with lucky.

 

[RangerWickett]

1st level orc cleric of Gruumsh. I order him to obey me or be punished eternally by his god.

 

[FrogReaver]

Can I get one other character test?

I would love to see the a human barbarian with martial adept and one of the d6 damage die adding abilities and parry.

I'm not sure if parry or the damage die maneuver would be optimal or some combination of the 2.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Can I get one other character test?

I would love to see the a human barbarian with martial adept and one of the d6 damage die adding abilities and parry.

I'm not sure if parry or the damage die maneuver would be optimal or some combination of the 2.

IIRC Martial Adept only grants one superiority die, so there's not much point in having multiple maneuvers. Also, parry is pretty bad as maneuvers go.

If you specify a martial adept maneuver and how you want to use it (e.g. "Riposte whenever he misses me") I can test it out, but I can almost guarantee it's going to be worse than just taking Polearm Master or Lucky. A single d6 superiority die is quite weak.

 

[FrogReaver]

IIRC Martial Adept only grants one superiority die, so there's not much point in having multiple maneuvers. Also, parry is pretty bad as maneuvers go.

If you specify a martial adept maneuver and how you want to use it (e.g. "Riposte whenever he misses me") I can test it out, but I can almost guarantee it's going to be worse than just taking Polearm Master or Lucky. A single d6 superiority die is quite weak.

Use parry if Orcs attack would drop me to 0 hp if I haven't already used the die yet.
Use menacing on the first attack I land on him if I haven't already used the die yet.

Character concept is a barbarian with a greatsword.
I'd also be interested in the longsword and shield variant.

 

[FrogReaver]

3d6 + 5 should have a decent chance of killing the Orc in a turn. Parry helps keep me alive on first turn if I lose initiative and he hits and rolls high damage.