I've been tinkering with building a battle master recently and I really want a defensive option, but parry as written seems very underwhelming ...
"Parry - When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die + your Dexterity modifier."
I have two problems with it, one is conceptional and one is practical. Conceptually, parry should make it less likely for one to be hit, not reduce damage after being hit. Practically, as you character levels up it becomes pretty underwhelming - 1d10+dex isn't especially helpful in 3rd or 4th tier encounters.
I think it would make more sense for it to function like the spell shield does:
"Parry - When another creature [rolls above your AC] with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die [to increase your AC against that attack by the number rolled with your superiority die. If the attack still hits you,] reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die."
So that would mean an average of 4.5 increase to AC against one attack to try an parry it. It would be similar to shield, but not last for an entire round. That feels more like what parrying actually is to me, and would likely be more useful at higher levels since it might negate some hits entirely. Is it too strong? Too weak? What am I missing?
I've been tinkering with building a battle master recently and I really want a defensive option, but parry as written seems very underwhelming ...
"Parry - When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die + your Dexterity modifier."
I have two problems with it, one is conceptional and one is practical. Conceptually, parry should make it less likely for one to be hit, not reduce damage after being hit. Practically, as you character levels up it becomes pretty underwhelming - 1d10+dex isn't especially helpful in 3rd or 4th tier encounters.
I think it would make more sense for it to function like the spell shield does:
"Parry - When another creature [rolls above your AC] with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die [to increase your AC against that attack by the number rolled with your superiority die. If the attack still hits you,] reduce the damage by the number you roll on your superiority die."
So that would mean an average of 4.5 increase to AC against one attack to try an parry it. It would be similar to shield, but not last for an entire round. That feels more like what parrying actually is to me, and would likely be more useful at higher levels since it might negate some hits entirely. Is it too strong? Too weak? What am I missing?
I think it’s great to be honest, but I’ve been underwhelmed by parry as well.