D&D 5E Melee Combat Benchmarking (Class Comparison) [UPDATED]

[Tony Vargas]

Although I actually think the Champion isn't good enough at damage dealing, especially compared to the Battlemaster.

They are the same class, afterall. They should probably have more to do in the other two pillars, or more versatility, or both - either in addition to or instead of being able to throughput a little more DPR in the later rounds of each combat and/or day. That is, were a DM to make balancing classes a priority when coming up with house rules for his campaign. Obviously they're fine under the design assumptions of the standard game.

 

[Greg Benage]

By the way, someone on Reddit asked me to quickly look at Fighters vs. Wizards. This is obviously really hard! So I just looked at DPR. Main findings: over 21 rounds, the Fighter's DPR after miss chance is about the same as the Wizard's DPR before accounting for miss chance!

How would a sword and board tempest cleric 15 with Str/Dex 20 and Wis 20 do on gross damage (yuk, yuk)?

(14) attacks with improved divine strike (259)
(1) 8th-level spirit guardians (108)
(1) 7th-level spirit guardians (94.5)
(1) 6th-level spirit guardians (81)
(2) 5th-level spirit guardians (135)
(2) 4th-level spirit guardians (108)
(1) 4th-level spiritual weapon (28) - only get 2 rounds
(6) 2nd/3rd-level spiritual weapon (114) - only get 2 rounds each
(5) Destructive Wraths of the Storm (80)

Total: 1,007.5
DPR: 48 * miss chance/half-damage on saves

ETA: Without crits...stretching my math skill already

More assumptions, obviously:

* Only get one three-round encounter per 10-minute spirit guardians
* DM only lets it proc once/round
* Don't miss a Concentration check

I might have hosed the math, but spirit guardians is a pretty solid spell.

 

[Celtavian]

I don't want to get into ranged DPS here because DPR*RIS becomes a much worse measure of effectiveness.

You should do ranged some time. I'd like to see it.

Agreed! Although I actually think the Champion isn't good enough at damage dealing, especially compared to the Battlemaster.

I agree. Champion is far weaker than Battle Master or Eldritch Knight (at higher levels).

 

[Saeviomagy]

Your spreadsheet appears only to contain static values - was that intended? I wanted to take a look at some of the numbers.

How does the S&B ranger come only .1 dpr behind the twf ranger? 3 attacks with Shortsword + hunters mark + ability bonus should be significantly more than 2 attacks with rapier + hunters mark + ability bonus.

Also - why does hunter's mark only last 2 rounds? You can keep reassigning it as long as your foe dies, which is why higher level slots give you much longer durations.

 

[Zelc]

The tables contain static values -- I found it easier to just copy-paste the new values over, although that's not the best practice . The Melee Comparisons sheets have the formulas.

The reason the S&B ranger is only slightly behind is because casting Hunter's Mark consumes the bonus action. Since I assume it only lasts two turns, TWF only gets one extra attack off with Hunter's Mark. Add in the Dueling benefit and the larger weapon dice and TWF doesn't do so hot. Note when I apply a HR where TWF doesn't take the bonus action, the TWF Ranger's DPR goes up.

I assume Hunter's Mark lasts 2 turns because it's a concentration spell, and these are melee characters. The Ranger also isn't proficient in Concentration saves.

 

[Minigiant]

TWF is "trap" choice for colossus slayer rangers or anything else who don't have a buddy "tanking" for him or isn't switching from archery to swords and back very few rounds zippng around like a fly. Once you get past level 5, foes hit too hard, too often, and too much to keep hunter's mark up and not have a shield or defense fighting style or feats.

Maining TWF is for horde breakers, "archers", rogues, and battle masters.

 

[Belnorock]

I'm curious why you didn't use oath of Vengeance paladin or at least a great weapon one in comparison to fighter. If you're looking at dpr that seems to make more sense.