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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hillsy7" data-source="post: 7161153" data-attributes="member: 6689191">True - I went for a mid point. Interstingly, using the numbers you have below and using non-extreme to hit ranges (4-17 for the GWF = 2-15 for the crossbowman), you get a damage output increase of between 3% and 30%. An even chance to hit gives a 10% differenceWhich is fair - also worth including then the propensity of certain types of magic weapons - e.g. are you more likely to find a magic bow, or a magic crossbow, a magic sword or a magic halberd. Having said that, I suspect polearm and hand crossbow magic weapon rarity is about the same, so yeah, you might get a bit of a swing to the crossbow due to additional damage on a hit (or 10% of the weapon bonus damage)Again fair - I picked 12 because 1) I've never like the 4 attack evaluation (level 20 only), and prefer 3 attacks. and 2) it's the 4 ASI mark, so you can have both feats AND max out your attack stat, so it feels like the optimal level.Yup - about 1d6. That's mebbe the top end AC of general CR 8 (A quick scan through Orcpub has only the 2 dragons at >16AC and the rest are mostly 15-16).....but that's probably not an unfair pick.That however is a bit unfair. If GWF can't use a polarm, Crossbowman can't use a Hand Crossbow........Hmm...fair point - though a couple of things. If you go eldrich knight, you lose the extra damage options of the other 2 archetypes (More crits or Superiority Dice). A dispel costs you 3 AC or an action (20-40 damage depending on enemy AC)......This is where realistically the real argument lies about Crossbow Vs Polearm. 1) Situationally, which is better, and 2) how much extra damage does a Polearmer get from OAs, or how much damage is his locking down preventing the rest of the party taking (using DPR as the only measure here - the question is why build a STR fighter after all so you have to convert other perks into DPR), and finally 3) how much skill/concentration do you need to keep running at optimal DPR, and what's the DPR drop off for "poor play"?Problem is those 3 things are very hard to measure compared to simple DPR calculations, which makes D&D pretty amazing. However, I would certainly argue that the situations and arguments are non-trivial (i.e. Ranged wins every argument/situation), which kinda brings the argument back to the OP: Why build a Strength fighter? To which the answer is: Lots and lots or reasons. Maybe Ranged is slightly better overall, doesn't mean you're not going to have fun or be brilliantly effective as a Melee Fighter....</blockquote>

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