I just hit level 5 and have gained extra attack. Up until this point, I have used Dueling as my Fighting Style, to get the +2 to Damage and +2 to my AC from using a Shield.
In our most recent session while at Level 4, Vampire Spawn were able to get three attacks against me. I got myself into a sticky situation where it was 6 Vampire Spawn and 4 swarms of Bats against just me and I was extremely lucky to survive the encounter.
Since enemies are getting three attacks against me, I am wondering if I should trade my Dueling Fighting Style for Defense. I will lose the +2 damage to all of my hits, but will gain +1 to my AC, increasing it to 19 against any enemies who attack me? Is that extra 5% to prevent taking hits and damage, worth the sacrifice of losing +2 damage to all of my hits?
I think it depends a lot on the rest of your party's composition, and what you would like your role to be in the party. Based on your post it sounds like there isn't really anyone else who can get in the enemy's face to tank damage, right? If you want to play the Tank and be surrounded by enemies in fights, then getting extra AC is a good move. If you would rather be a striker and hit enemies while moving or avoiding being near them, then the extra damage would be more fun.
It all comes down to what you think would be more fun and how your party dynamic looks, IMO.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
I think it depends a lot on the rest of your party's composition, and what you would like your role to be in the party. Based on your post it sounds like there isn't really anyone else who can get in the enemy's face to tank damage, right? If you want to play the Tank and be surrounded by enemies in fights, then getting extra AC is a good move. If you would rather be a striker and hit enemies while moving or avoiding being near them, then the extra damage would be more fun.
It all comes down to what you think would be more fun and how your party dynamic looks, IMO.
There is a Paladin and a Barbarian. I actually got to go first this time, so I went into a Church and all of the baddies got to go next, and several used the Dash action. I got to attack once, missed and then I got surrounded by 3 Vampire Spawn and 2 Bat Swarms. The other 3 Spawn and 2 Bat Swarms essentially blocked the entrance. There was one space to move into. All of the other players stayed just outside at the entrance. One came in (The Bard) to grapple me to help me escape part of the way. I took a lot of opportunity attacks on my way out. I probably should have used Riposte with my Warhammer for the Push Mastery, but that's in hindsight. I just wanted to get out a live. My AC was 18 and I had Blade Ward cast and the baddies were getting a lot of high rolls (+6 to hit). I believe I currently do more damage than the Paladin thanks to Dueling, but the Barbarian probably does more damage then I do with Rage, Reckless Attack, etc., unless I use my 1d8 from a Battle Master Maneuver (Trip Attack, Feinting Attack, and Riposte).
I’d be hesitant to change just because of a single fight. And, big picture, there will always be times when whatever choice you make is the right one, and other times when it was the wrong one. If you stick with dueling, every time someone rolls an 18 and hits you, you’ll think, damn, I should have switched. (That one number is the only one that will matter, higher would hit you either way, and lower will miss you either way.) If you switch, every time a monster has 2 hp left, and dueling would have meant killing them, you’ll think, damn, I should have stuck with it.
Of course, neither of those scenarios will happen all that often. Fighting style, mechanically, is a pretty small benefit. I’d say just go with whatever flavors your character better.
Typically a character who already has high defense is better off increasing offense unless the defensive buff is far better than the offensive buff, which is not true in this case -- +1 AC rarely increases durability by as much as +2 damage increases damage.
2024 rules have increases the enemy chances to hit, so AC will pretty quickly get outpaced by enemy attack modifiers (against a +12 to hit, AC18 vs AC 19 makes very little difference), whereas as a fighter you'll continue to get more and more attacks to a bonus to damage will keep getting better as you level up, whereas a bonus to defense gets worse and worse as you fight higher CR enemies.
If you want to boost your defense pick up Defensive Duelist, that will make much more difference than the Defense Fighting style.
Yeah, Defensive Duelist or the Parry maneuver are better investments for tanking on this build. This was a fairly uncommon occurrence, and even if it crops up again a panic button to boost your AC by multiple points will carry you further than 1 extra static point.
Personally, i'd keep Dueling Fighting Style and would instead look for Maneuvers such as Evasive Footwork or Menacing Attack to help against attacks or AC.
Defense fighting style adds +1 AC bonus which maintains its efficacy regardless of how many enemies are attacking you. Bonus damage on attacks is a boost, but the scaling is limited by the number of attacks you make.An Action Surge at the begining of combat to take out as many enemies as possible if they are mobs would be good to thin out incoming damage, but I believe swarms take reduced damage from mundane sources. Tough encounter.
I know the encounter you are talking about, but really I think this is just one encounter were the enemies happened to get particularly high rolls, and the rest of your party just happened to not be there when it happened. Might even be a tactical oversight, but nothing really to do with your current fighting style. In the future, when you can do a whole bunch of attacks, the barbarian and paladins will become more tankier than almost always while your damage output gets larger. If you like taking a more defensive approach definitely take Riposte and Parry. But I think you're dueling feat will do the trick right now, especially if you're keen on keeping the shield. Things like shield master and sentinel are great feats you can get in the future. You'll realize, especially with the late game encounters, that that extra 2 damage will start to add up.
I just hit level 5 and have gained extra attack. Up until this point, I have used Dueling as my Fighting Style, to get the +2 to Damage and +2 to my AC from using a Shield.
In our most recent session while at Level 4, Vampire Spawn were able to get three attacks against me. I got myself into a sticky situation where it was 6 Vampire Spawn and 4 swarms of Bats against just me and I was extremely lucky to survive the encounter.
Since enemies are getting three attacks against me, I am wondering if I should trade my Dueling Fighting Style for Defense. I will lose the +2 damage to all of my hits, but will gain +1 to my AC, increasing it to 19 against any enemies who attack me? Is that extra 5% to prevent taking hits and damage, worth the sacrifice of losing +2 damage to all of my hits?
What are your thoughts on this?
TIA
I think it depends a lot on the rest of your party's composition, and what you would like your role to be in the party. Based on your post it sounds like there isn't really anyone else who can get in the enemy's face to tank damage, right? If you want to play the Tank and be surrounded by enemies in fights, then getting extra AC is a good move. If you would rather be a striker and hit enemies while moving or avoiding being near them, then the extra damage would be more fun.
It all comes down to what you think would be more fun and how your party dynamic looks, IMO.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
There is a Paladin and a Barbarian. I actually got to go first this time, so I went into a Church and all of the baddies got to go next, and several used the Dash action. I got to attack once, missed and then I got surrounded by 3 Vampire Spawn and 2 Bat Swarms. The other 3 Spawn and 2 Bat Swarms essentially blocked the entrance. There was one space to move into. All of the other players stayed just outside at the entrance. One came in (The Bard) to grapple me to help me escape part of the way. I took a lot of opportunity attacks on my way out. I probably should have used Riposte with my Warhammer for the Push Mastery, but that's in hindsight. I just wanted to get out a live. My AC was 18 and I had Blade Ward cast and the baddies were getting a lot of high rolls (+6 to hit). I believe I currently do more damage than the Paladin thanks to Dueling, but the Barbarian probably does more damage then I do with Rage, Reckless Attack, etc., unless I use my 1d8 from a Battle Master Maneuver (Trip Attack, Feinting Attack, and Riposte).
I’d be hesitant to change just because of a single fight. And, big picture, there will always be times when whatever choice you make is the right one, and other times when it was the wrong one.
If you stick with dueling, every time someone rolls an 18 and hits you, you’ll think, damn, I should have switched. (That one number is the only one that will matter, higher would hit you either way, and lower will miss you either way.) If you switch, every time a monster has 2 hp left, and dueling would have meant killing them, you’ll think, damn, I should have stuck with it.
Of course, neither of those scenarios will happen all that often. Fighting style, mechanically, is a pretty small benefit. I’d say just go with whatever flavors your character better.
Typically a character who already has high defense is better off increasing offense unless the defensive buff is far better than the offensive buff, which is not true in this case -- +1 AC rarely increases durability by as much as +2 damage increases damage.
2024 rules have increases the enemy chances to hit, so AC will pretty quickly get outpaced by enemy attack modifiers (against a +12 to hit, AC18 vs AC 19 makes very little difference), whereas as a fighter you'll continue to get more and more attacks to a bonus to damage will keep getting better as you level up, whereas a bonus to defense gets worse and worse as you fight higher CR enemies.
If you want to boost your defense pick up Defensive Duelist, that will make much more difference than the Defense Fighting style.
Yeah, Defensive Duelist or the Parry maneuver are better investments for tanking on this build. This was a fairly uncommon occurrence, and even if it crops up again a panic button to boost your AC by multiple points will carry you further than 1 extra static point.
Personally, i'd keep Dueling Fighting Style and would instead look for Maneuvers such as Evasive Footwork or Menacing Attack to help against attacks or AC.
Defense fighting style adds +1 AC bonus which maintains its efficacy regardless of how many enemies are attacking you. Bonus damage on attacks is a boost, but the scaling is limited by the number of attacks you make.An Action Surge at the begining of combat to take out as many enemies as possible if they are mobs would be good to thin out incoming damage, but I believe swarms take reduced damage from mundane sources. Tough encounter.
I know the encounter you are talking about, but really I think this is just one encounter were the enemies happened to get particularly high rolls, and the rest of your party just happened to not be there when it happened. Might even be a tactical oversight, but nothing really to do with your current fighting style. In the future, when you can do a whole bunch of attacks, the barbarian and paladins will become more tankier than almost always while your damage output gets larger. If you like taking a more defensive approach definitely take Riposte and Parry. But I think you're dueling feat will do the trick right now, especially if you're keen on keeping the shield. Things like shield master and sentinel are great feats you can get in the future. You'll realize, especially with the late game encounters, that that extra 2 damage will start to add up.
"Uh, I have Illusory Script. I think I can read that."