What do players think is the reasonable damage per round expected from various builds?
I've been playing AL now for a few months and have seen some crazy swings in numbers. Just saw a Discord chat line talking about 100 points of damage. I'm assuming that's a Tier 3 or Tier 4 character but still, is that a number that people are typically seeing?
There are some builds that can do a lot of damage. However, not everyone plays those characters. There is a very wide variety of options.
In terms of maximum single target damage characters ...
- sharpshooter+xbow expert with extra attacks and archery fighting style - ranger or fighter does a good job thought there are other options - gloomstalker ranger can be a popular choice due to invisibility in darkness against creatures using darkvision to see.
- paladin with smites - can be combined with PAM and/or great weapon master
- barbarian + fighter multiclass with GWM and/or PAM - reckless attack increases the odds of landing GWM. Often paired with champion fighter for improved critical range.
- sorcerer + 2-3 levels of warlock using agonizing blast + quickened agonizing blast - really begins to be effective about character level 11 but can work ok in tier 2 for occasional rounds of higher damage
- pact of the blade warlocks can also be combined with xbow expert+sharpshooter or GWM+PAM - in this case they tend to use darkness+devils sight or shadow of moil to reliably obtain advantage on attack rolls.
---
However, most of these characters have to devote several ASIs to feats and can be less effective at other aspects of the game like social and exploration elements. On the other hand, some folks like optimizing and you will find a wide range of people playing AL.
What do players think is the reasonable damage per round expected from various builds?
I've been playing AL now for a few months and have seen some crazy swings in numbers. Just saw a Discord chat line talking about 100 points of damage. I'm assuming that's a Tier 3 or Tier 4 character but still, is that a number that people are typically seeing?
Depends on too many things.
Paladins, Rangers, and Sorlocks tend to be the more consistent power damagers vs a single target.
But if you are being attacked by a group of say pixies indoors, then Fireball will kill them ALL, doing a total amount of damage far higher.
There are some builds that can do a lot of damage. However, not everyone plays those characters. There is a very wide variety of options.
In terms of maximum single target damage characters ...
- sharpshooter+xbow expert with extra attacks and archery fighting style - ranger or fighter does a good job thought there are other options - gloomstalker ranger can be a popular choice due to invisibility in darkness against creatures using darkvision to see.
- paladin with smites - can be combined with PAM and/or great weapon master
- barbarian + fighter multiclass with GWM and/or PAM - reckless attack increases the odds of landing GWM. Often paired with champion fighter for improved critical range.
- sorcerer + 2-3 levels of warlock using agonizing blast + quickened agonizing blast - really begins to be effective about character level 11 but can work ok in tier 2 for occasional rounds of higher damage
- pact of the blade warlocks can also be combined with xbow expert+sharpshooter or GWM+PAM - in this case they tend to use darkness+devils sight or shadow of moil to reliably obtain advantage on attack rolls.
---
However, most of these characters have to devote several ASIs to feats and can be less effective at other aspects of the game like social and exploration elements. On the other hand, some folks like optimizing and you will find a wide range of people playing AL.
A reasonable expectation for damage would be 1/12th of the hp of a same CR monster, or 1/9th if you're ignoring accuracy.