D&D 5E Most powerful class in 5e

[KarinsDad]

Attack with longsword: 1d8 (longsword) + 1d8 (improved smite) + STR, x2 dice for critical because target is paralyzed in melee range = 4d8 + STR
Rider/smite (4th level slot, cost: 6 SP): 5d8 (base) + 1d8 (improved smite), x2 dice for critical = 12d8
Total damage on hit: 16d8 + STR

Extra attack means he does the longsword twice, so 32d8 + Str x2 = 32 * 4.5 = 144 + Str x 2, with Str 16 is 150 damage. You could swap out your longsword for a greatsword to boost your damage slightly but it hardly seems necessary.

You added Improved Smite in twice for each attack or four times total. ((1D8 weapon + 5D8 smite + 1D8 improved smite) * 2 + Str) * 2 = 28D8 + 4x Str = 132 damage with 16 Str.

 

[Ashkelon]

Also, using a greatsword significantly boosts damage. This is because Great Weapon Fighting style increases the average of each d8 from 4.5 to 5.25.

 

[Wulfang]

Barbarian of the bear tribe is completely overpowered, pretty much has a ton of Hit Points and has resistance to -everything-.

Paladin is also overpowered due to the smite ability, the 12th level paladin in my game consistently deals ridiculous damage.

Mages are under-powered in this edition I find, there defensive spells (due to the Concentration rule) are rather weak, which makes quite vulnerable. Their damage doesn't even outweigh the other classes either due to the 'Save for half damage' factor and due to the fact of how powerful, Resistance to Fire/Lightning can be.

 

[Ashkelon]

Barbarian of the bear tribe is completely overpowered, pretty much has a ton of Hit Points and has resistance to -everything-.

Paladin is also overpowered due to the smite ability, the 12th level paladin in my game consistently deals ridiculous damage.

Mages are under-powered in this edition I find, there defensive spells (due to the Concentration rule) are rather weak, which makes quite vulnerable. Their damage doesn't even outweigh the other classes either due to the 'Save for half damage' factor and due to the fact of how powerful, Resistance to Fire/Lightning can be.

A few things to note:

1. You can bypass resistance to your elemental damage spells with a single feat.
2. If you are trying to deal damage as a spellcaster, you are doing something wrong. AoE spells are good for clearing away mooks, but against single targets or powerful enemies, spells like hold person/monster, polymorph, walls, forcecage, banishment, contagion, reverse gravity, hideous laughter, etc are far more powerful.
3. The paladin and barbarian are both limited to primarily melee combat, as a result, they have many "wasted" rounds in high level combat where many enemies are twice as fast as them and have much better mobility due to flight, teleportation, etc. A smart DM can make it so melee PCs are almost never able to get into combat without assistance from magic (such as flight or haste).
4. You rarely need to use concentration for defensive buffs. It is much better to use it on spells that completely disable enemies.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You added Improved Smite in twice for each attack or four times total. ((1D8 weapon + 5D8 smite + 1D8 improved smite) * 2 + Str) * 2 = 28D8 + 4x Str = 132 damage with 16 Str.

I added it twice on purpose. Improved Smite on PHB 85 is explicit that you add the extra d8 to both your regular attack and your smites.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Otherwise good but dragon sorcs get their stat damageboost only on one ray per casting, due to errata.

I think most people misunderstand that errata. Errata says, 'Elemental Affinity (p. 102). The damage bonus applies to one damage roll of a spell, not multiple rolls.' One roll, not one ray. Crawford has made it clear on Twitter that PHB 196's ruling on damage to multiple targets at once (roll once, apply to each) is also intended to be applied to spells like Magic Missile that can attack the same target more than once. Specifically, he said that Empowered Evocation is allowed to boost Magic Missile even if all the missiles attack the same target. You roll once, add Empowered Evocation, multiply by the number of missiles that hit. Just like Fireball.

http://www.sageadvice.eu/tag/evocation/

Empowered Evocation does benefit magic missile's damage roll.

@JeremyECrawford +x per bolt,even on same target?

Yep. It's one damage roll, just like fireball, but that roll can damage the same target more than once.

Ergo, you roll your Scorching Ray damage (2d6+5) once, and multiply by however many rays hit.

UngeheuerLich is right about it only being 2d6 though, not 3d6. Sorry, I totally goofed on that one due to AFB. Scorching Ray is the type of spell I never cast so I misremembered the details.

 

[Celtavian]

I think most people misunderstand that errata. Errata says, 'Elemental Affinity (p. 102). The damage bonus applies to one damage roll of a spell, not multiple rolls.' One roll, not one ray. Crawford has made it clear on Twitter that PHB 196's ruling on damage to multiple targets at once (roll once, apply to each) is also intended to be applied to spells like Magic Missile that can attack the same target more than once. Specifically, he said that Empowered Evocation is allowed to boost Magic Missile even if all the missiles attack the same target. You roll once, add Empowered Evocation, multiply by the number of missiles that hit. Just like Fireball.

http://www.sageadvice.eu/tag/evocation/



Ergo, you roll your Scorching Ray damage (2d6+5) once, and multiply by however many rays hit.

UngeheuerLich is right about it only being 2d6 though, not 3d6. Sorry, I totally goofed on that one due to AFB. Scorching Ray is the type of spell I never cast so I misremembered the details.

Try asking Crawford if that is correct. He specifically called out scorching ray as an example that the bonus damage does not add to each roll.

http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/06/28/scorching-ray-dd-errata/

 

[Celtavian]

I added it twice on purpose. Improved Smite on PHB 85 is explicit that you add the extra d8 to both your regular attack and your smites.

That is not what is meant in that text. You really do tend to read the friendliest, most over-powered interpretation don't you? It does not say also add it to smite damage. It's added to the total.

Once again, try asking Crawford. You are definitely a min-maxer, rules lawyer looking to squeeze every friendly interpretation possible out of a rule.

Does your DM really allow you to get this stuff by him? Or are you the DM allowing this stuff?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

If you're assuming a previous round of setup and a target that fails its saves like in this example, Quivering Palm can reduce any creature directly to 0, and a monk can do that all day. If someone casts haste on her, she can do it to a new target every round. Stunning Strike is also extremely powerful -- you can lay it on quickly enough to overwhelm even Legendary Resistance. It wins fights, though it doesn't show up as high DPR.

The first round of the combo is solid, though, with a quickened Hold X followed by smites. Cheap enough that the Paladin/Sorc can break it out for any particularly tough target, and it helps the rest of the party with damage and action economy as well. Quickened Bless is also nice to have around for fights where you don't want to spend the resources to nova.

Yes, of course. I wasn't recommending the paladin nova as a good strategy, just trying to answer the question about ways to get up to "60 dice of damage". But yeah, you can't count on tough enemies failing their saves, so save-or-die spells belong in an "efficient killing" strategy for when you e.g. face 8 Frost Giants at once (did that last night, 8 Frost Giants and 2 worgs vs. 4 10th level PCs, second fight of the day after having taken down 4 giants and 6 worgs in the first when negotiations failed disastrously). Therefore, save-or-die spells that hit an area are best, such as Hypnotic Pattern, whereas Hold Monster only hits one. Hold Monster does give you the auto-crit-in-melee effect, but other than that it is inferior in almost every way: hits only one target (vs 30' cube), lower range (90' vs 120'), doesn't affect undead (many undead are not immune to charm so can be hypnotized), gives a save every round to break free vs lasting until damaged/awakened. Hypnotic Pattern is more my style than paladin novaing--the paladin's job is to get the enemies to gang up on him and then cast a Quickened Hypnotic Pattern centered on himself, to which he is immune due to aura effects. (This paladin can't manage that yet but such is the eventual plan. This time we had a ranged duel with rocks instead.)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

That is not what is meant in that text. You really do tend to read the friendliest, most over-powered interpretation don't you? It does not say also add it to smite damage. It's added to the total.

Once again, try asking Crawford. You are definitely a min-maxer, rules lawyer looking to squeeze every friendly interpretation possible out of a rule.

Does your DM really allow you to get this stuff by him? Or are you the DM allowing this stuff?

I am the DM, and I allow lots of stuff, whatever is in RAW for the most part[1], although no one has ever gotten a paladin to 11th level yet. If your reading of Divine Smite is correct no one will ever bother doing so either[2], because the ability is marginal even under my reading--an extra 2d8 only when you spend a spell slot (otherwise 1d8) is still not enough to make smiting a good idea, usually. I'll think it over, but if you have a Crawford quote I'd like to see it.

[1] A memorable moment: 8th(?) level shadow monk/druid PC and his 1st level buddies snuck into the lair or what turned out to be a CR 12 Chain Worm. One of the 1st level guys got too close and got eaten. While the chain worm was busy eating him (several rounds of contented munching) I expected the 8th level guy to sneak past and run away. Instead the player spent several minutes poring over the books, then came to me with a plan involving his cursed Bag of Devouring: "If I can stuff one of the chain worm's legs in my Bag of Devouring, will it eat the chain worm?" I re-examined the text for Bag of Devouring and saw no reason why not, but told him he doesn't get to control its limbs unless it is stunned. So he used a Stunning Strike on it, which luckily succeeded, and then kept stunning it for several rounds until the Bag of Devouring woke up (50% chance per round) and sucked in the chain worm, right before it would have killed the monk (it had made its final save vs. stunning strike and was still at nearly full health; would have stunned him right back and eaten him). Score: 8400 XP! and some miscellaneous loot like rusty armor, from the lair.

[2] Better to invest the last two levels in warlock and become a pallysorlock, although from a RP standpoint that's unlikely to happen--but he might invest in sorc 11 instead of paladin 11 and get Wall of Stone/Mass Suggestion plus 8th level slots.