Ah well. 5E isn't a competitive game, and if y'all out there building suboptimal Tier 1 fighters with GWM (or even PAM) while still nursing a 17 str... that's an issue between you, your party, and the enemies you're leaving on the table I suppose. "Get your attack stat to 20" is boring and obvious advice for a reason, because there's pretty much never an excuse not to (unless you've got a build that consistently attacks with advantage, like a Barbarian, in which case you can fudge that rule a little if needed to pull off a thematic Stupid Player Trick, but would still probably be better off just eating your wheaties and building like you ought to).
I thought the game was about having fun. I'm sorry if you can't seem to do that with a 'suboptimal build' but that's on you.
Yeah, it should be pretty obvious PAM is a bigger power boost than an ASI. At tier 1 it's just shy of doubling your DPR. At tier 2 it's just shy of a 50% damage increase.
"Just shy" because it's a d4 instead of your normal weapon damage.
I’d be curious to know how many of you REALLY wait until level 12 to improve your Barbarian or Melee Ranger’s Strength, and level 16 to bring it to 20, versus those that just are just pretending that makes sense in order to win the argument. As the conversation has worn on, the fact that the “Champions are bad” crowd has largely turned out to be a “don’t increase your strength until Tier 3” crowd has been a surprising self own that I hadn’t seen coming! 😂
I’d be curious to know how many of you REALLY wait until level 12 to improve your Barbarian or Melee Ranger’s Strength, and level 16 to bring it to 20, versus those that just are just pretending that makes sense in order to win the argument. As the conversation has worn on, the fact that the “Champions are bad” crowd has largely turned out to be a “don’t increase your strength until Tier 3” crowd has been a surprising self own that I hadn’t seen coming! 😂
It's just a fact that GWM and PAM gives more DPR than +2 to Strength. It's not about pretending. +2 strength will turn a miss into a hit an average of once per 20 attacks, and it adds 1 damage on a hit. How soon I personally would increase strength really depends on my build concept. That aside, objectively the two feats in question - FACTUALLY add way more DPR. This isn't a matter of opinion. If you disagree, you are factually wrong.
You all ever think about joining a discord together? I enjoy clicking and reading up on the replies. Y’all can go for days though lol.
I still think the idea of crusher/slasher champions is cool. Perhaps more critical hit based features would breathe life into this subclass, especially ones that aren’t directly damage focused.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
I feel the superior "simple" subclass is samurai now.
At least you get to decide when you get to be big and bad
As the conversation has worn on, the fact that the “Champions are bad” crowd has largely turned out to be a “don’t increase your strength until Tier 3” crowd has been a surprising self own that I hadn’t seen coming! 😂
My dude, I know you're bad at math but come on. Any PM+GWM or CE+SS build is picking a feat at first level. The fighters will have max strength by level 8 and the Rangers have Archery and Hunter's Mark and things infinitely more useful than Improved Critical (e.g. Colossus Slayer, Dread Ambusher) so who cares that they'll be sitting at +4 DEX instead of +5. They're still doing double the damage of the ASI-only Champion builds you're proposing.
Even if the feats didn't blow the ASI out of the water it's crazy you think anyone would wait until 12th level to play the character they want to play. They might never even get to that level.
As the conversation has worn on, the fact that the “Champions are bad” crowd has largely turned out to be a “don’t increase your strength until Tier 3” crowd has been a surprising self own that I hadn’t seen coming! 😂
My dude, I know you're bad at math but come on. Any PM+GWM or CE+SS build is picking a feat at first level. The fighters will have max strength by level 8 and the Rangers have Archery and Hunter's Mark and things infinitely more useful than Improved Critical (e.g. Colossus Slayer, Dread Ambusher) so who cares that they'll be sitting at +4 DEX instead of +5. They're still doing double the damage of the ASI-only Champion builds you're proposing.
Even if the feats didn't blow the ASI out of the water it's crazy you think anyone would wait until 12th level to play the character they want to play. They might never even get to that level.
I have seen the math literally play out in this forum so many times I have lost count....it always turns out the same once you actually sit down and do it.
It just doesn't matter much unless the AC is 18+.....its just the way the math shakes out.
Also the way it works most of the time is the creatures you face for about 90% of the game (levels 5-10) have an AC below 18.....So it really does not matter your STR is 16 for a good long while...especially for those builds who get at will advantage (barbarian) or get a way to modify their to hit (Battlemaster).
You are still pumping out high level damage and looking for ADV any way you can get it.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
I feel the superior "simple" subclass is samurai now.
At least you get to decide when you get to be big and bad
Which is fine to say generally, but you still have things that you have to keep track of (Fighting Spirit uses) as opposed to keeping track of 19 and 20. Some people just don't want to have to worry about more things to strategize with or worry about using things optimally. Crits are fun and people get excited by them.
Most more experienced players will probably want to go with something more nuanced and plenty of newer players will appreciate it as well. That doesn't mean that Champion doesn't have a place in the game aside from multiclass gimmicks for 3rd and 4th tier builds. Not every subclass has to be fun for every player and each player has fun in a different way. As long as you understand that the subclass choice is not as powerful as others, particularly in on demand delivery, then you are good.
Also the way it works most of the time is the creatures you face for about 90% of the game (levels 5-10) have an AC below 18.....So it really does not matter your STR is 16 for a good long while...especially for those builds who get at will advantage (barbarian) or get a way to modify their to hit (Battlemaster).
If anyone was wondering on the stats, AC < 18 makes up 80% of the stat blocks in MM + Volo's + Mordenkainen's. 12-15 make up 50%. AC > 20 make up 2.5% and that only goes up to AC 22. If you're only counting MM there's practically no AC > 20 monsters below CR 20. Monsters tend to play by the same rules as players when it comes to AC.
For some additional perspective, Bless is a 1st level spell that gives three people an average of +2.5 attack bonus (or a 75% chance to give you something better than +1, if you prefer that framing.) If you've got a druid, bard, artificer or archfey warlock instead of a cleric or paladin, there's always Faerie Fire. Yes, it has a save, but as a rule of thumb monsters don't have save proficiencies, and high AC monsters tend to have lousy DEX.
Monsters generally don't have Athletics or Acrobatics proficiency while players can stack skill bonuses like crazy, so grappling and shoving is also really easy to abuse. If you just put Bless on a raging Barbarian odds are the monster will fail every opposed roll until it's dead.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
I feel the superior "simple" subclass is samurai now.
At least you get to decide when you get to be big and bad
Which is fine to say generally, but you still have things that you have to keep track of (Fighting Spirit uses) as opposed to keeping track of 19 and 20. Some people just don't want to have to worry about more things to strategize with or worry about using things optimally. Crits are fun and people get excited by them.
Most more experienced players will probably want to go with something more nuanced and plenty of newer players will appreciate it as well. That doesn't mean that Champion doesn't have a place in the game aside from multiclass gimmicks for 3rd and 4th tier builds. Not every subclass has to be fun for every player and each player has fun in a different way. As long as you understand that the subclass choice is not as powerful as others, particularly in on demand delivery, then you are good.
Yes, I know someone like this. She doesn't really want to know the rules or keep track of abilities. The DM knows she crits on a 19 and gets bonuses to certain checks so all she needs to do is pick a thing and attack it every round. Champion is for people like this and its absolutely useful for that purpose.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
I feel the superior "simple" subclass is samurai now.
At least you get to decide when you get to be big and bad
Which is fine to say generally, but you still have things that you have to keep track of (Fighting Spirit uses) as opposed to keeping track of 19 and 20. Some people just don't want to have to worry about more things to strategize with or worry about using things optimally. Crits are fun and people get excited by them.
Most more experienced players will probably want to go with something more nuanced and plenty of newer players will appreciate it as well. That doesn't mean that Champion doesn't have a place in the game aside from multiclass gimmicks for 3rd and 4th tier builds. Not every subclass has to be fun for every player and each player has fun in a different way. As long as you understand that the subclass choice is not as powerful as others, particularly in on demand delivery, then you are good.
Thats a fair take.
Honesty is the name of that game then and letting them know what to expect from it would be the baseline to shoot for.
I agree that the Champion's design philosophy is useful, but "brain dead simple to play" and "performs roughly as well as other subclasses" aren't mutually exclusive. Life Domain is the Champion equivalent for cleric and it's actually good. All it does is take your heals and make them way better. School of Evocation actually manages to make the base wizard class easier to play because it removes positioning from the equation, while simultaneously letting advanced players take advantage of the new positioning possibilities it enables.
It's impossible to fix a problem if no one wants to admit it exists though. I'm not pointing out it's flaws because I want Champion players to go away, I'm pointing them out because I want WotC to make the subclass better. And if they won't, I want players to understand what they're getting into, and DMs to become aware of the issue so they can even the playing field. It could be something as simple as giving the Champion a +2 weapon where they would've otherwise handed out a +1, or a Flame Tongue to not only raise their base damage but give them even flashier crits.
Saying there's nothing wrong with it just leaves the status quo the same.
Short of running through some published campaigns encounters in parallel, I’m not really sure how to reconcile this split between “just take GWM” perspective and “just max Str.” It isn’t that I dispute your math, it’s that I dispute the desirability of the result you show. Doubling your damage at the cost of being 35% less accurate than your peers is not something I think is desirable for the fighter/Barb/ranger/Paladin themself, let alone for their group. I don’t agree that the feat is the character concept, using a polearm or greataxe/sword without the feat is precisely the same concept.
Again… agree to disagree I guess but I really feel like recommending for inexperienced players that they start off using great weapon master before they’ve brought their strength up is a trap, pure and simple. Dunking on AC 12 opponents is not the standard in difficult encounters at any tier, building around that assumption is like building for Fireball against 20 tightly packed goblins, it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist.
Which is fine to say generally, but you still have things that you have to keep track of (Fighting Spirit uses) as opposed to keeping track of 19 and 20. Some people just don't want to have to worry about more things to strategize with or worry about using things optimally. Crits are fun and people get excited by them.
The problem being that the Champion doesn't crit enough, and the crits they do get aren't really that exciting because they don't get any intrinsic abilities that boost crits, so from the class itself it's just 1d8-2d6 bonus damage.
Short of running through some published campaigns encounters in parallel, I’m not really sure how to reconcile this split between “just take GWM” perspective and “just max Str.” It isn’t that I dispute your math, it’s that I dispute the desirability of the result you show. Doubling your damage at the cost of being 35% less accurate than your peers is not something I think is desirable for the fighter/Barb/ranger/Paladin themself, let alone for their group. I don’t agree that the feat is the character concept, using a polearm or greataxe/sword without the feat is precisely the same concept.
Again… agree to disagree I guess but I really feel like recommending for inexperienced players that they start off using great weapon master before they’ve brought their strength up is a trap, pure and simple. Dunking on AC 12 opponents is not the standard in difficult encounters at any tier, building around that assumption is like building for Fireball against 20 tightly packed goblins, it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist.
The thing is it doesn't matter as much because when you do hit its doing so much damage so it averages out to be sustainably higher overall than not taking the feat.
And you can choose at any time to NOT take the GWM swing if you want to ensure a better chance to hit but knowing the math and how it works out does help you determine when that is in your best interest.
If you have ADV the answer is always "yes I will power attack"
Is there any thought to the idea of trying to get more crits through multi-weapon fighting or multi-targeting (through Ranger/Horde breaker or similar) rather than trying to go for the 'one big hit' philosophy? In the CoStrahd game I was in a couple of years back our Horde Breaker Ranger with twin swords and a wizard with Haste was like a buzzsaw. We did the usual AoE stuff (fireball and Spirit Guardians) and the Ranger would bat cleanup.
I know the folks here do much better math than me so I wondered if anyone had tried that route.
Is there any thought to the idea of trying to get more crits through multi-weapon fighting or multi-targeting (through Ranger/Horde breaker or similar) rather than trying to go for the 'one big hit' philosophy? In the CoStrahd game I was in a couple of years back our Horde Breaker Ranger with twin swords and a wizard with Haste was like a buzzsaw. We did the usual AoE stuff (fireball and Spirit Guardians) and the Ranger would bat cleanup.
I know the folks here do much better math than me so I wondered if anyone had tried that route.
If you can reliably be surrounded by enough creatures the overall damage CAN be better.
However the GWM big swing mentality directly correlates to the best combat philosophy in 5e....Dead is always better
Its always better to try and just kill one enemy outright if you can...especially big threats. If you kill them they cannot take actions.....which usually leads to the "Can I kill it? No? Then can I help someone else kill it? No? Then Debuff!" pathway of thought which is the generally the best combat approach for efficacy.
If you do not care about combat efficacy and just want to have fun then it doesn't matter as you do what brings you joy...if being a whirlwind of blades does that then yes that is the correct build.
Dealing 20 damage in two hits is pretty much strictly superior than doing 0 damage in 1 miss and 20 damage in 1 hit a round later; it does just as much damage to single targets, while also minimizing wasted overkill damage on injured opponents, letting you clear the board faster (and as OG says, "dead is always better"). So yes, building for TWF Crits as your damage source rather than 'miss, miss, HIIITTTTTT, miss, miss' is quite good in practice.
I thought the game was about having fun. I'm sorry if you can't seem to do that with a 'suboptimal build' but that's on you.
Yeah, it should be pretty obvious PAM is a bigger power boost than an ASI. At tier 1 it's just shy of doubling your DPR. At tier 2 it's just shy of a 50% damage increase.
"Just shy" because it's a d4 instead of your normal weapon damage.
I’d be curious to know how many of you REALLY wait until level 12 to improve your Barbarian or Melee Ranger’s Strength, and level 16 to bring it to 20, versus those that just are just pretending that makes sense in order to win the argument. As the conversation has worn on, the fact that the “Champions are bad” crowd has largely turned out to be a “don’t increase your strength until Tier 3” crowd has been a surprising self own that I hadn’t seen coming! 😂
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
It's just a fact that GWM and PAM gives more DPR than +2 to Strength. It's not about pretending. +2 strength will turn a miss into a hit an average of once per 20 attacks, and it adds 1 damage on a hit. How soon I personally would increase strength really depends on my build concept. That aside, objectively the two feats in question - FACTUALLY add way more DPR. This isn't a matter of opinion. If you disagree, you are factually wrong.
You all ever think about joining a discord together? I enjoy clicking and reading up on the replies. Y’all can go for days though lol.
I still think the idea of crusher/slasher champions is cool. Perhaps more critical hit based features would breathe life into this subclass, especially ones that aren’t directly damage focused.
Just going to leave Butcher's Bib here for the greatsword et. al. users and reiterate that GWM's bonus action triggers on a crit or a kill.
I don't think that Champion necessarily requires a bump in power level, but I also don't think it's quite on par with BM or a few of the other subclasses. However, it's simplicity has immense value that BM just can't deliver. If you value that simplicity, then it's much closer in value to the other subclasses mechanically than if you prefer all the bells and whistles you can get with something like EK or BM. In particular, a Champion Gladiator may prefer to focus on the narrative of the fight than whether they should use trip attack this round, or save the superiority die in case it's needed against the imminent BBEG of the dungeon. For those that prefer more complexity, there are plenty of other offerings to sate that desire.
I feel the superior "simple" subclass is samurai now.
At least you get to decide when you get to be big and bad
My dude, I know you're bad at math but come on. Any PM+GWM or CE+SS build is picking a feat at first level. The fighters will have max strength by level 8 and the Rangers have Archery and Hunter's Mark and things infinitely more useful than Improved Critical (e.g. Colossus Slayer, Dread Ambusher) so who cares that they'll be sitting at +4 DEX instead of +5. They're still doing double the damage of the ASI-only Champion builds you're proposing.
Even if the feats didn't blow the ASI out of the water it's crazy you think anyone would wait until 12th level to play the character they want to play. They might never even get to that level.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I have seen the math literally play out in this forum so many times I have lost count....it always turns out the same once you actually sit down and do it.
It just doesn't matter much unless the AC is 18+.....its just the way the math shakes out.
Also the way it works most of the time is the creatures you face for about 90% of the game (levels 5-10) have an AC below 18.....So it really does not matter your STR is 16 for a good long while...especially for those builds who get at will advantage (barbarian) or get a way to modify their to hit (Battlemaster).
You are still pumping out high level damage and looking for ADV any way you can get it.
Which is fine to say generally, but you still have things that you have to keep track of (Fighting Spirit uses) as opposed to keeping track of 19 and 20. Some people just don't want to have to worry about more things to strategize with or worry about using things optimally. Crits are fun and people get excited by them.
Most more experienced players will probably want to go with something more nuanced and plenty of newer players will appreciate it as well. That doesn't mean that Champion doesn't have a place in the game aside from multiclass gimmicks for 3rd and 4th tier builds. Not every subclass has to be fun for every player and each player has fun in a different way. As long as you understand that the subclass choice is not as powerful as others, particularly in on demand delivery, then you are good.
If anyone was wondering on the stats, AC < 18 makes up 80% of the stat blocks in MM + Volo's + Mordenkainen's. 12-15 make up 50%. AC > 20 make up 2.5% and that only goes up to AC 22. If you're only counting MM there's practically no AC > 20 monsters below CR 20. Monsters tend to play by the same rules as players when it comes to AC.
For some additional perspective, Bless is a 1st level spell that gives three people an average of +2.5 attack bonus (or a 75% chance to give you something better than +1, if you prefer that framing.) If you've got a druid, bard, artificer or archfey warlock instead of a cleric or paladin, there's always Faerie Fire. Yes, it has a save, but as a rule of thumb monsters don't have save proficiencies, and high AC monsters tend to have lousy DEX.
Monsters generally don't have Athletics or Acrobatics proficiency while players can stack skill bonuses like crazy, so grappling and shoving is also really easy to abuse. If you just put Bless on a raging Barbarian odds are the monster will fail every opposed roll until it's dead.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Yes, I know someone like this. She doesn't really want to know the rules or keep track of abilities. The DM knows she crits on a 19 and gets bonuses to certain checks so all she needs to do is pick a thing and attack it every round. Champion is for people like this and its absolutely useful for that purpose.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Thats a fair take.
Honesty is the name of that game then and letting them know what to expect from it would be the baseline to shoot for.
I agree that the Champion's design philosophy is useful, but "brain dead simple to play" and "performs roughly as well as other subclasses" aren't mutually exclusive. Life Domain is the Champion equivalent for cleric and it's actually good. All it does is take your heals and make them way better. School of Evocation actually manages to make the base wizard class easier to play because it removes positioning from the equation, while simultaneously letting advanced players take advantage of the new positioning possibilities it enables.
It's impossible to fix a problem if no one wants to admit it exists though. I'm not pointing out it's flaws because I want Champion players to go away, I'm pointing them out because I want WotC to make the subclass better. And if they won't, I want players to understand what they're getting into, and DMs to become aware of the issue so they can even the playing field. It could be something as simple as giving the Champion a +2 weapon where they would've otherwise handed out a +1, or a Flame Tongue to not only raise their base damage but give them even flashier crits.
Saying there's nothing wrong with it just leaves the status quo the same.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Short of running through some published campaigns encounters in parallel, I’m not really sure how to reconcile this split between “just take GWM” perspective and “just max Str.” It isn’t that I dispute your math, it’s that I dispute the desirability of the result you show. Doubling your damage at the cost of being 35% less accurate than your peers is not something I think is desirable for the fighter/Barb/ranger/Paladin themself, let alone for their group. I don’t agree that the feat is the character concept, using a polearm or greataxe/sword without the feat is precisely the same concept.
Again… agree to disagree I guess but I really feel like recommending for inexperienced players that they start off using great weapon master before they’ve brought their strength up is a trap, pure and simple. Dunking on AC 12 opponents is not the standard in difficult encounters at any tier, building around that assumption is like building for Fireball against 20 tightly packed goblins, it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
The problem being that the Champion doesn't crit enough, and the crits they do get aren't really that exciting because they don't get any intrinsic abilities that boost crits, so from the class itself it's just 1d8-2d6 bonus damage.
The thing is it doesn't matter as much because when you do hit its doing so much damage so it averages out to be sustainably higher overall than not taking the feat.
And you can choose at any time to NOT take the GWM swing if you want to ensure a better chance to hit but knowing the math and how it works out does help you determine when that is in your best interest.
If you have ADV the answer is always "yes I will power attack"
Is there any thought to the idea of trying to get more crits through multi-weapon fighting or multi-targeting (through Ranger/Horde breaker or similar) rather than trying to go for the 'one big hit' philosophy? In the CoStrahd game I was in a couple of years back our Horde Breaker Ranger with twin swords and a wizard with Haste was like a buzzsaw. We did the usual AoE stuff (fireball and Spirit Guardians) and the Ranger would bat cleanup.
I know the folks here do much better math than me so I wondered if anyone had tried that route.
If you can reliably be surrounded by enough creatures the overall damage CAN be better.
However the GWM big swing mentality directly correlates to the best combat philosophy in 5e....Dead is always better
Its always better to try and just kill one enemy outright if you can...especially big threats. If you kill them they cannot take actions.....which usually leads to the "Can I kill it? No? Then can I help someone else kill it? No? Then Debuff!" pathway of thought which is the generally the best combat approach for efficacy.
If you do not care about combat efficacy and just want to have fun then it doesn't matter as you do what brings you joy...if being a whirlwind of blades does that then yes that is the correct build.
Dealing 20 damage in two hits is pretty much strictly superior than doing 0 damage in 1 miss and 20 damage in 1 hit a round later; it does just as much damage to single targets, while also minimizing wasted overkill damage on injured opponents, letting you clear the board faster (and as OG says, "dead is always better"). So yes, building for TWF Crits as your damage source rather than 'miss, miss, HIIITTTTTT, miss, miss' is quite good in practice.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.