D&D 5E What would you prefer, and why? A question on attacks
- Thread starter Slit518
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Personally, 5 attacks at disadvantage. I like making attacks, as many as possible. Rolling more dice is just icing on the cake. Also, the 5 attacks has the highest potential damage, assuming a reasonable to-hit chance. I might lean more towards the 3 or 2 if my target AC was something like 24, and I only have a +6 to hit, but 5 attacks is good for any AC lower than 20, IMO.
Depends entirely on my expectation of the odds of successfully hitting. If I think I need to roll at least a 1, I'll take the 5 attacks at disadvantage without a second thought, for example. Likewise if I think I need something very close to a 20 to hit, I'll take 2 with advantage.
Also factoring in would be my expectation of achieving the modifiers from other sources. If I think I can generally force Advantage when I need to, 5 normal attacks need to be compared to 3 advantaged attacks and taking the first option is a trap.
Also factoring in would be my expectation of achieving the modifiers from other sources. If I think I can generally force Advantage when I need to, 5 normal attacks need to be compared to 3 advantaged attacks and taking the first option is a trap.
Player accuracy in 5e sits around 65-75% for most enemies across every level.
As such three attacks represents around 200% of normal damage.
Two attacks with advantage represents around only 180% of normal damage.
Five attacks with disadvantage represents around 240% of normal damage.
As such numerically, 5 attacks at disadvantage tends to be the superior choice.
However, if you are a great weapon fighter or a sharpshooter with GWM or Sharpshooter, these numbers change significantly. Accuracy drops down to 40-50% but normal damage increases significantly.
Three attacks represents ~135% normal damage, 2 with advantage represents around ~140% normal damage, and 5 with disadvantage represents around 100% normal damage.
The better choice overall seems to be 2 attacks with advantage if you have access to great weapon master or sharpshooter feats or 5 attacks with disadvantage if you do not.
That being said, rolling so many attacks with disadvantage is both tedious and time consuming and leads to combat slog which is boring for other players at the table and is already a significant problem with 5e combat. So my answer is 3 attacks without advantage or disadvantage. This is because you can roll all 3 Attack rolls at once without needing to keep track of which dice represent advantage or disadvantage, leading to faster turns and more fun at the table as a whole.
As such three attacks represents around 200% of normal damage.
Two attacks with advantage represents around only 180% of normal damage.
Five attacks with disadvantage represents around 240% of normal damage.
As such numerically, 5 attacks at disadvantage tends to be the superior choice.
However, if you are a great weapon fighter or a sharpshooter with GWM or Sharpshooter, these numbers change significantly. Accuracy drops down to 40-50% but normal damage increases significantly.
Three attacks represents ~135% normal damage, 2 with advantage represents around ~140% normal damage, and 5 with disadvantage represents around 100% normal damage.
The better choice overall seems to be 2 attacks with advantage if you have access to great weapon master or sharpshooter feats or 5 attacks with disadvantage if you do not.
That being said, rolling so many attacks with disadvantage is both tedious and time consuming and leads to combat slog which is boring for other players at the table and is already a significant problem with 5e combat. So my answer is 3 attacks without advantage or disadvantage. This is because you can roll all 3 Attack rolls at once without needing to keep track of which dice represent advantage or disadvantage, leading to faster turns and more fun at the table as a whole.
Depends on the target's AC and my attack bonus.
If I have a +7 or higher attack bonus and the target has an AC at or below 10 (oozes, zombies, etc)? 5 attacks at disadvantage.
If I have a +5 to +8 attack bonus and the target has an AC of 16+ ? Two attacks at advantage.
If I have a +5 to +8 attack bonus and the target has an AC of 11 to 15? Three attacks at normal.
Generally, I'd prefer the two attacks at advantage. Better chance of hitting mid-to-high AC's, and more chances to crit than with 3 normal attacks. Especially if I can add extra dice of damage to the attack (hex, smite, weapon with extra damage dice, etc.) The more dice you roll for damage, the more you are rewarded for crit fishing.
If I have a +7 or higher attack bonus and the target has an AC at or below 10 (oozes, zombies, etc)? 5 attacks at disadvantage.
If I have a +5 to +8 attack bonus and the target has an AC of 16+ ? Two attacks at advantage.
If I have a +5 to +8 attack bonus and the target has an AC of 11 to 15? Three attacks at normal.
Generally, I'd prefer the two attacks at advantage. Better chance of hitting mid-to-high AC's, and more chances to crit than with 3 normal attacks. Especially if I can add extra dice of damage to the attack (hex, smite, weapon with extra damage dice, etc.) The more dice you roll for damage, the more you are rewarded for crit fishing.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
This question doesn't compute to me. Advantage and disadvantage are situational--so are you asking about what I would prefer in the moment during play? In that case I'd prefer whichever one has the most advantageous expected DPR. If I don't know exactly what the enemy AC is, I prefer the one which has the most advantageous expected DPR against my (subjective) maximum-likelihood AC. (I wouldn't compute the DPR comparison explicitly but I'm pretty good at intuitively eyeballing it.)
If you're asking about what I would prefer as a character power, well, there are ways to negate disadvantage with advantage, so 5 attacks at disadvantage probably has the most powergamer potential--5 attacks at regular do more damage than 3 attacks at advantage, so opting for "five attacks at disadvantage" and then hoping to eliminate the disadvantage (e.g. via Darkness spell) is a pretty smart bet.
But it's really hard to answer the question meaningfully without more context. So my overall answer is, "Does not compute."
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That's why you need more dice, all color coded so you can roll multiple attacks at once.
L
lowkey13
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