What are folks' experience of the new Brutal Critical feature on 2024 Barbarians? While the bonus damage & effects seem cool, the price seems fairly steep: loss of any Advantage on the Brutal Strike attack. With only have 2 attacks (maybe a Bonus Action attack), it'd really stink to miss and not get any benefit. I get that this gives an option for some battlefield control, but again only if you hit, which is now less likely. Instead Barbarians could be gaining something that builds on what they are doing, like Fighter's extra attack or Monk's growing perks. It'd be nice at least to perhaps regain Advantage as you level up, so it simply adds a benefit. Am I missing something?
Well, the obvious point is don't use it against a high AC target. By the time you have it your base to hit should be something like +7 or +8, soon to go up one more with the PB bump at level 9. Means you already have better than even odds to hit against 17 AC, so it's not like you'll only have the chance against fodder mobs- although that is another good use, letting you clear out the minions faster than you otherwise might. It's a secondary tool, use it when appropriate.
Edit: Brain fart, it does come at level 9 so you've already got the PB bump, meaning your to hit will typically be +8 or +9. Point being, your to hit is going to be on the high end against a lot of enemies even before any magic weapons or other possible buffs come into play.
Hmmm. That sounds useable I guess. I am wary of a "don't use it against high AC target" feature though. Especially for a mid/high-level feature that really should help you with tougher challenges ideally, no? Other classes are getting more than secondary tools at this point.
Question: As your to-hit improves, doesn't enemy AC as well? Or does that scale more slowly?
Honestly, brutal strike is likely a net DPR loss until you get improved brutal strike at level 17; it's a way of trading damage for status effects. On a typical great weapon fighting setup using a +1 greatsword at level 9, your damage without brutal strike is 2d6+13 (Strength +5, Rage +3, PB +4, Magic +1) so an extra 1d10 damage is a 25.5% damage increase. The damage increase for advantage is equal to your miss chance on a single attack, so if your base hit chance is less than 75% you're losing damage (at that level, your attack bonus is +10, so AC 17+).
Hmmm. That sounds useable I guess. I am wary of a "don't use it against high AC target" feature though. Especially for a mid/high-level feature that really should help you with tougher challenges ideally, no? Other classes are getting more than secondary tools at this point.
Question: As your to-hit improves, doesn't enemy AC as well? Or does that scale more slowly?
AC scales more slowly. If you look at the CR 10-11 monsters in the current MM, AC is typically in the 16-18 range. As I said, baseline stats already give you better than even odds to hit that range at level 9. Straight rolling is supposed to be more effective than not in most cases for 5e.
And just because it's a late tier 2 feature, it doesn't necessarily follow that it's supposed to be particularly effective against boss monsters. As I said, it's pretty good for clearing out mobs faster since they'll typically have lower AC. It's a secondary tool, it gives you some extra options you can use in the right circumstances.
Honestly, brutal strike is likely a net DPR loss until you get improved brutal strike at level 17; it's a way of trading damage for status effects. On a typical great weapon fighting setup using a +1 greatsword at level 9, your damage without brutal strike is 2d6+13 (Strength +5, Rage +3, PB +4, Magic +1) so an extra 1d10 damage is a 25.5% damage increase. The damage increase for advantage is equal to your miss chance on a single attack, so if your base hit chance is less than 75% you're losing damage (at that level, your attack bonus is +10, so AC 17+).
"Likely" assumes that you're only fighting monsters with a CR about even with the player/party level. As I said, mobs are still a thing in higher levels, so even if this doesn't reliably let you pound a boss monster's face in harder, most campaigns are still going to have a lot of mob fights where the typical enemy AC should be a couple of points lower.
"Likely" assumes that you're only fighting monsters with a CR about even with the player/party level. As I said, mobs are still a thing in higher levels, so even if this doesn't reliably let you pound a boss monster's face in harder, most campaigns are still going to have a lot of mob fights where the typical enemy AC should be a couple of points lower.
Even then, it's generally not much of an improvement; it's about a 5% improvement per point by which the target AC is less than 17 (and this gets worse at higher levels), and by that level mook swarms are prone to dying to AoEs so your performance against mooks isn't super important. The simple rule is: us brutal strike if you want to apply the status effect it applies. If all you care about is damage, brutal strike will occasionally be worthwhile but is mostly not worth worrying about.
"Likely" assumes that you're only fighting monsters with a CR about even with the player/party level. As I said, mobs are still a thing in higher levels, so even if this doesn't reliably let you pound a boss monster's face in harder, most campaigns are still going to have a lot of mob fights where the typical enemy AC should be a couple of points lower.
Even then, it's generally not much of an improvement; it's about a 5% improvement per point by which the target AC is less than 17 (and this gets worse at higher levels), and by that level mook swarms are prone to dying to AoEs so your performance against mooks isn't super important. The simple rule is: us brutal strike if you want to apply the status effect it applies. If all you care about is damage, brutal strike will occasionally be worthwhile but is mostly not worth worrying about.
Exactly this. A level 9 ability should absolutely be more than "occasionally worthwhile." It should add value not just a "secondary option" on a martial, which will be falling way behind quickly. Spells have been adding both value and options for a while and will continue to do more as the game progresses. It's not like when you upcast a spell you have to make a choice like Brutal Strike does - it just adds damage/targets/etc. Fighter's extra attack is pure addition.
These status conditions are so slight, they could be added straight, and Barbarian would still be weaker. At the very least you should be able to claw back some of the tradeoff as you level up: at 13 regain Advantage from a source other than Reckless, then at 17 regain it altogether. Simply put, why the tradeoff? The cost is already that you've leveled up in that class. That is what earns benefit. Again especially for a weaker class.
Oh noes, they gave you a less than perfect feature! How dare they!
It's a tool in your belt with unlimited uses; spell use is very limited. You're getting the pure addition of a boost to your Rage bonus at 9 as well, and Barbarians are also far more frontloaded than Fighters, so it's a non-sequitur to compare the gains at one specific level- particularly when the Extra Attack for Fighters comes two levels later, at the same level where Barbarians are getting their "roll a strong save to not die" ability. You know what Fighters get at level 9? One save reroll with a decent bonus per day, and the option to sub in Push, Sap, or Slow for their weapon masteries. Not exactly grade A performance enhancing stuff there either, eh?
Exactly this. A level 9 ability should absolutely be more than "occasionally worthwhile."
Eh, it's similar to cunning strike -- situationally useful. The levels that reliably grant major bonuses are 3, 5, 11, 17, and 20 (now, I'm not very impressed by relentless rage either, but that's a different story).
"Perfect" was never the bar. That's a straw man. The above breakdowns & comparisons stand.
And this is not just a level 9 feature. Different Brutal Strikes is the main thing Barbs get as they progress, aside from +1 rage damage to what, two attacks? Three if you've weaponized another attack? Again, not even close to the better and more spells or an extra attack.
Spells' "limited" use is not much of a limit when most groups run 1-2 combats per rest. In theory, yes reusability would be an important benefit to martial class features, if constantly doing 4-6 combats per rest. But the reality is that spellcasters can be dialed up to 100 most of the time because they will get to rest often enough to reset their superpowers. Maybe mimic that and give Barbs a limited number of times they can use Brutal Strike WITH Advantage per short or long rest? I mean if we are talking options.
Oh, and forgot to also remind that another cost of Brutal Strike is still being hit at Advantage since you have to attack Recklessly to use it. Bottom line: already plenty of cost built into this feature, IMHO.
And this is not just a level 9 feature. Different Brutal Strikes is the main thing Barbs get as they progress, aside from +1 rage damage to what, two attacks? Three if you've weaponized another attack? Again, not even close to the better and more spells or an extra attack.
Barbarians, like a lot of martials, have a scaling problem -- they're really strong in tier 1-2, and tier 3 is a bit of a dead zone -- ASIs that often don't do much because you already took the stuff you really wanted (and can be gotten by multiclassing anyway), and features that don't do a whole lot. However, that's not a problem with brutal strike, it's a problem with the tier 3 features.
Matter of opinion- Monks expand their defensive reaction to all damage types and gain prof in all saving throws; Barbarians have an option to set up enemies for incoming saves or set a buff that would offset not taking advantage in addition to their "it takes two or three tries to down me" ability; Rogues steadily improve their Sneak Attack throughout, get to try for two Cunning Strikes at once, and get the tools to seriously reduce action economy, hobble spellcasting, or outright take a creature out of the fight for several rounds/set them up for an auto-crit; Fighters get a second use of Indomitable which is effectively "actually, I make the save", get Advantage after every miss, and of course their third attack per action. It's a decent kit; for all the drama people make about spellcasters in tier 3, here's the reality- they get 1 to 3 high end spells per long rest. They'll be flashy, but compared to early levels their progression slows to a crawl.
Matter of opinion- Monks expand their defensive reaction to all damage types and gain prof in all saving throws; Barbarians have an option to set up enemies for incoming saves or set a buff that would offset not taking advantage in addition to their "it takes two or three tries to down me" ability; Rogues steadily improve their Sneak Attack throughout, get to try for two Cunning Strikes at once, and get the tools to seriously reduce action economy, hobble spellcasting, or outright take a creature out of the fight for several rounds/set them up for an auto-crit; Fighters get a second use of Indomitable which is effectively "actually, I make the save", get Advantage after every miss, and of course their third attack per action. It's a decent kit; for all the drama people make about spellcasters in tier 3, here's the reality- they get 1 to 3 high end spells per long rest. They'll be flashy, but compared to early levels their progression slows to a crawl.
The problem with high tier martials is that, absent effective tanking mechanics (which are mostly absent in 5e), high defense/low offense doesn't really work; you just turn into a low priority target that gets cleaned up after the high priority targets are down, and for martial characters damage just doesn't keep up with average monster hit points after level 5 (at level 11 average monster hit points are doubled; no martial actually doubles in damage over that level range, though fighters come moderately close).
Matter of opinion- Monks expand their defensive reaction to all damage types and gain prof in all saving throws; Barbarians have an option to set up enemies for incoming saves or set a buff that would offset not taking advantage in addition to their "it takes two or three tries to down me" ability; Rogues steadily improve their Sneak Attack throughout, get to try for two Cunning Strikes at once, and get the tools to seriously reduce action economy, hobble spellcasting, or outright take a creature out of the fight for several rounds/set them up for an auto-crit; Fighters get a second use of Indomitable which is effectively "actually, I make the save", get Advantage after every miss, and of course their third attack per action. It's a decent kit; for all the drama people make about spellcasters in tier 3, here's the reality- they get 1 to 3 high end spells per long rest. They'll be flashy, but compared to early levels their progression slows to a crawl.
The problem with high tier martials is that, absent effective tanking mechanics (which are mostly absent in 5e), high defense/low offense doesn't really work; you just turn into a low priority target that gets cleaned up after the high priority targets are down, and for martial characters damage just doesn't keep up with average monster hit points after level 5 (at level 11 average monster hit points are doubled; no martial actually doubles in damage over that level range, though fighters come moderately close).
Gee, if only several of the abilities I pointed out boosted offensive capability in some way...
I won't say they magically double damage output, but speaking as someone who's playing in tier 3 right now, our Barbarian is most definitely not slacking on the damage.
I forgot to mention that Monks get an additional attack roll for FoB in tier 3 as well. Seriously, at a glance I'd put this tier 3 stuff for martials at about even with 6th and 7th level spells, possibly a little ahead. Stuff like Disintegrate, Prismatic Spray, and Finger of Death look good on paper, but tier 3 is also when there's a lot more Legendary monsters, meaning LR's to shrug off half the damage on the off chance they don't make the save- all the damage for Disintegrate. For all practical purposes, casters are not getting much more of a combat glow up than martials in tier 3. Frankly, a lot of the martial stuff looks better for combat than trying to time a cast so your spell goes through but you're not just overkilling something you could have just blasted with a Fireball.
Gee, if only several of the abilities I pointed out boosted offensive capability in some way...
They don't get nothing. They just don't get very much. To a large degree barbarians are coasting based on their (arguably excessive) tier 1-2 performance -- a perfectly reasonable berserker barbarian build does around 35 dpr at level 5, and by level 15 that has increased to around 55.
There is that too; all the martials are somewhat frontloaded if only because most of their abilities are unlimited use or they work off separate resource pools so they're easier to stretch through an intensive day compared to spell slots.
Gee, if only several of the abilities I pointed out boosted offensive capability in some way...
They don't get nothing. They just don't get very much. To a large degree barbarians are coasting based on their (arguably excessive) tier 1-2 performance -- a perfectly reasonable berserker barbarian build does around 35 dpr at level 5, and by level 15 that has increased to around 55.
Exactly - they are absolutely coasting on their level 1-8 abilities, which I enjoy. I just want the rest to mature with the game as other classes do. More damage, better tanking, something. Beserker is a great example of a well-designed subclass with little waste. It's level 10 Reaction attack when it gets hit is exactly the kind of smart feature that adds value without a tradeoff and allows Beserker to keep up with fighter on damage. It's the base class that's the issue.
Matter of opinion- Monks expand their defensive reaction to all damage types and gain prof in all saving throws; Barbarians have an option to set up enemies for incoming saves or set a buff that would offset not taking advantage in addition to their "it takes two or three tries to down me" ability; Rogues steadily improve their Sneak Attack throughout, get to try for two Cunning Strikes at once, and get the tools to seriously reduce action economy, hobble spellcasting, or outright take a creature out of the fight for several rounds/set them up for an auto-crit; Fighters get a second use of Indomitable which is effectively "actually, I make the save", get Advantage after every miss, and of course their third attack per action. It's a decent kit; for all the drama people make about spellcasters in tier 3, here's the reality- they get 1 to 3 high end spells per long rest. They'll be flashy, but compared to early levels their progression slows to a crawl.
This is exactly my point - most other 2024 martial base classes continue to get real benefits as they progress. Monks also get Heightened Focus and Self Restoration at level 10, which again help them do more of what they do and/or add resiliency, no sacrifice. And at 14, not only do they get proficiency with all saves (huge), they can re-roll failed saves. Fighter's new indomitable is simple but very effective since it now adds your Fighter level to the save, shoring up a main weakness right when gnarlier saves are cropping up. All solid additions for these martial classes, while certainly not overpowered, absolutely help you feel like you are gaining something.
Casters - again, already addressed how their spell limits really don't mean that much in the common 1-2 combats per rest. The power gap is real. And I am mostly okay with that so long as martials can progress and contribute in their own way. I feel the new class features for the other martials do that sufficiently, but not Barbarian's level 9+ features.
If the attack deals more damage than 15.71 and we assume the 65% hit, then advantage deals more damage than BrutalStrike (see below). That is your opportunity cost. It only gets worse if the AC of the target is higher. At level 9 you deal 17.5 expected damage with PAM+halberd, GWM, STR18, rage, +1 Weapon and that is where BrutalStrike begins to fall behind. However, you loose only 0.634 expected damage and that pays off for the additional control. So I think the feature is okay but BatteringRoots from Barbarian 10 WorldTree is much better or TacticalMaster from Figher9.
Let X be the damage of the attack. Advantage means we hit with 1 - (1-0.65)^2 = 1 - 0.35^2 = 0.8775 (see this post for formula). Brutal strike improves damage by 1d10 expected 5.5 and we compare when advantage (right hand side) would be better:
Frankly, if it takes that specific of an arrangement to make Brutal Strikes nominally worse, that just proves that it is an effective class option, just not an S tier one for an optimized build.
Frankly, if it takes that specific of an arrangement to make Brutal Strikes nominally worse, that just proves that it is an effective class option, just not an S tier one for an optimized build.
Under typical conditions it's not worse, it's just kind of useless.
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What are folks' experience of the new Brutal Critical feature on 2024 Barbarians? While the bonus damage & effects seem cool, the price seems fairly steep: loss of any Advantage on the Brutal Strike attack. With only have 2 attacks (maybe a Bonus Action attack), it'd really stink to miss and not get any benefit. I get that this gives an option for some battlefield control, but again only if you hit, which is now less likely. Instead Barbarians could be gaining something that builds on what they are doing, like Fighter's extra attack or Monk's growing perks. It'd be nice at least to perhaps regain Advantage as you level up, so it simply adds a benefit. Am I missing something?
Well, the obvious point is don't use it against a high AC target. By the time you have it your base to hit should be something like +7 or +8, soon to go up one more with the PB bump at level 9. Means you already have better than even odds to hit against 17 AC, so it's not like you'll only have the chance against fodder mobs- although that is another good use, letting you clear out the minions faster than you otherwise might. It's a secondary tool, use it when appropriate.
Edit: Brain fart, it does come at level 9 so you've already got the PB bump, meaning your to hit will typically be +8 or +9. Point being, your to hit is going to be on the high end against a lot of enemies even before any magic weapons or other possible buffs come into play.
Hmmm. That sounds useable I guess. I am wary of a "don't use it against high AC target" feature though. Especially for a mid/high-level feature that really should help you with tougher challenges ideally, no? Other classes are getting more than secondary tools at this point.
Question: As your to-hit improves, doesn't enemy AC as well? Or does that scale more slowly?
Honestly, brutal strike is likely a net DPR loss until you get improved brutal strike at level 17; it's a way of trading damage for status effects. On a typical great weapon fighting setup using a +1 greatsword at level 9, your damage without brutal strike is 2d6+13 (Strength +5, Rage +3, PB +4, Magic +1) so an extra 1d10 damage is a 25.5% damage increase. The damage increase for advantage is equal to your miss chance on a single attack, so if your base hit chance is less than 75% you're losing damage (at that level, your attack bonus is +10, so AC 17+).
AC scales more slowly. If you look at the CR 10-11 monsters in the current MM, AC is typically in the 16-18 range. As I said, baseline stats already give you better than even odds to hit that range at level 9. Straight rolling is supposed to be more effective than not in most cases for 5e.
And just because it's a late tier 2 feature, it doesn't necessarily follow that it's supposed to be particularly effective against boss monsters. As I said, it's pretty good for clearing out mobs faster since they'll typically have lower AC. It's a secondary tool, it gives you some extra options you can use in the right circumstances.
"Likely" assumes that you're only fighting monsters with a CR about even with the player/party level. As I said, mobs are still a thing in higher levels, so even if this doesn't reliably let you pound a boss monster's face in harder, most campaigns are still going to have a lot of mob fights where the typical enemy AC should be a couple of points lower.
Even then, it's generally not much of an improvement; it's about a 5% improvement per point by which the target AC is less than 17 (and this gets worse at higher levels), and by that level mook swarms are prone to dying to AoEs so your performance against mooks isn't super important. The simple rule is: us brutal strike if you want to apply the status effect it applies. If all you care about is damage, brutal strike will occasionally be worthwhile but is mostly not worth worrying about.
Exactly this. A level 9 ability should absolutely be more than "occasionally worthwhile." It should add value not just a "secondary option" on a martial, which will be falling way behind quickly. Spells have been adding both value and options for a while and will continue to do more as the game progresses. It's not like when you upcast a spell you have to make a choice like Brutal Strike does - it just adds damage/targets/etc. Fighter's extra attack is pure addition.
These status conditions are so slight, they could be added straight, and Barbarian would still be weaker. At the very least you should be able to claw back some of the tradeoff as you level up: at 13 regain Advantage from a source other than Reckless, then at 17 regain it altogether. Simply put, why the tradeoff? The cost is already that you've leveled up in that class. That is what earns benefit. Again especially for a weaker class.
Oh noes, they gave you a less than perfect feature! How dare they!
It's a tool in your belt with unlimited uses; spell use is very limited. You're getting the pure addition of a boost to your Rage bonus at 9 as well, and Barbarians are also far more frontloaded than Fighters, so it's a non-sequitur to compare the gains at one specific level- particularly when the Extra Attack for Fighters comes two levels later, at the same level where Barbarians are getting their "roll a strong save to not die" ability. You know what Fighters get at level 9? One save reroll with a decent bonus per day, and the option to sub in Push, Sap, or Slow for their weapon masteries. Not exactly grade A performance enhancing stuff there either, eh?
Eh, it's similar to cunning strike -- situationally useful. The levels that reliably grant major bonuses are 3, 5, 11, 17, and 20 (now, I'm not very impressed by relentless rage either, but that's a different story).
"Perfect" was never the bar. That's a straw man. The above breakdowns & comparisons stand.
And this is not just a level 9 feature. Different Brutal Strikes is the main thing Barbs get as they progress, aside from +1 rage damage to what, two attacks? Three if you've weaponized another attack? Again, not even close to the better and more spells or an extra attack.
Spells' "limited" use is not much of a limit when most groups run 1-2 combats per rest. In theory, yes reusability would be an important benefit to martial class features, if constantly doing 4-6 combats per rest. But the reality is that spellcasters can be dialed up to 100 most of the time because they will get to rest often enough to reset their superpowers. Maybe mimic that and give Barbs a limited number of times they can use Brutal Strike WITH Advantage per short or long rest? I mean if we are talking options.
Oh, and forgot to also remind that another cost of Brutal Strike is still being hit at Advantage since you have to attack Recklessly to use it. Bottom line: already plenty of cost built into this feature, IMHO.
Barbarians, like a lot of martials, have a scaling problem -- they're really strong in tier 1-2, and tier 3 is a bit of a dead zone -- ASIs that often don't do much because you already took the stuff you really wanted (and can be gotten by multiclassing anyway), and features that don't do a whole lot. However, that's not a problem with brutal strike, it's a problem with the tier 3 features.
Matter of opinion- Monks expand their defensive reaction to all damage types and gain prof in all saving throws; Barbarians have an option to set up enemies for incoming saves or set a buff that would offset not taking advantage in addition to their "it takes two or three tries to down me" ability; Rogues steadily improve their Sneak Attack throughout, get to try for two Cunning Strikes at once, and get the tools to seriously reduce action economy, hobble spellcasting, or outright take a creature out of the fight for several rounds/set them up for an auto-crit; Fighters get a second use of Indomitable which is effectively "actually, I make the save", get Advantage after every miss, and of course their third attack per action. It's a decent kit; for all the drama people make about spellcasters in tier 3, here's the reality- they get 1 to 3 high end spells per long rest. They'll be flashy, but compared to early levels their progression slows to a crawl.
The problem with high tier martials is that, absent effective tanking mechanics (which are mostly absent in 5e), high defense/low offense doesn't really work; you just turn into a low priority target that gets cleaned up after the high priority targets are down, and for martial characters damage just doesn't keep up with average monster hit points after level 5 (at level 11 average monster hit points are doubled; no martial actually doubles in damage over that level range, though fighters come moderately close).
Gee, if only several of the abilities I pointed out boosted offensive capability in some way...
I won't say they magically double damage output, but speaking as someone who's playing in tier 3 right now, our Barbarian is most definitely not slacking on the damage.
I forgot to mention that Monks get an additional attack roll for FoB in tier 3 as well. Seriously, at a glance I'd put this tier 3 stuff for martials at about even with 6th and 7th level spells, possibly a little ahead. Stuff like Disintegrate, Prismatic Spray, and Finger of Death look good on paper, but tier 3 is also when there's a lot more Legendary monsters, meaning LR's to shrug off half the damage on the off chance they don't make the save- all the damage for Disintegrate. For all practical purposes, casters are not getting much more of a combat glow up than martials in tier 3. Frankly, a lot of the martial stuff looks better for combat than trying to time a cast so your spell goes through but you're not just overkilling something you could have just blasted with a Fireball.
They don't get nothing. They just don't get very much. To a large degree barbarians are coasting based on their (arguably excessive) tier 1-2 performance -- a perfectly reasonable berserker barbarian build does around 35 dpr at level 5, and by level 15 that has increased to around 55.
There is that too; all the martials are somewhat frontloaded if only because most of their abilities are unlimited use or they work off separate resource pools so they're easier to stretch through an intensive day compared to spell slots.
Exactly - they are absolutely coasting on their level 1-8 abilities, which I enjoy. I just want the rest to mature with the game as other classes do. More damage, better tanking, something. Beserker is a great example of a well-designed subclass with little waste. It's level 10 Reaction attack when it gets hit is exactly the kind of smart feature that adds value without a tradeoff and allows Beserker to keep up with fighter on damage. It's the base class that's the issue.
This is exactly my point - most other 2024 martial base classes continue to get real benefits as they progress. Monks also get Heightened Focus and Self Restoration at level 10, which again help them do more of what they do and/or add resiliency, no sacrifice. And at 14, not only do they get proficiency with all saves (huge), they can re-roll failed saves. Fighter's new indomitable is simple but very effective since it now adds your Fighter level to the save, shoring up a main weakness right when gnarlier saves are cropping up. All solid additions for these martial classes, while certainly not overpowered, absolutely help you feel like you are gaining something.
Casters - again, already addressed how their spell limits really don't mean that much in the common 1-2 combats per rest. The power gap is real. And I am mostly okay with that so long as martials can progress and contribute in their own way. I feel the new class features for the other martials do that sufficiently, but not Barbarian's level 9+ features.
[Old post but anyway]
Hi all.
If the attack deals more damage than 15.71 and we assume the 65% hit, then advantage deals more damage than BrutalStrike (see below). That is your opportunity cost. It only gets worse if the AC of the target is higher. At level 9 you deal 17.5 expected damage with PAM+halberd, GWM, STR18, rage, +1 Weapon and that is where BrutalStrike begins to fall behind. However, you loose only 0.634 expected damage and that pays off for the additional control. So I think the feature is okay but BatteringRoots from Barbarian 10 WorldTree is much better or TacticalMaster from Figher9.
Let X be the damage of the attack. Advantage means we hit with 1 - (1-0.65)^2 = 1 - 0.35^2 = 0.8775 (see this post for formula). Brutal strike improves damage by 1d10 expected 5.5 and we compare when advantage (right hand side) would be better:
(X+5.5)*0.65 <= X*0.8775
X >= 15.71
Cheers
Frankly, if it takes that specific of an arrangement to make Brutal Strikes nominally worse, that just proves that it is an effective class option, just not an S tier one for an optimized build.
Under typical conditions it's not worse, it's just kind of useless.