Best ranged dmg output

[SliceandDiceKid]

Between ranger, fighter, and warlock (at early levels) who dishes out the most damage strictly with ranged attacks? Assuming longbow vs eldritch blast and including agonizing blast/hex/colossus slayer etc.

[DrLemniscate]

Between ranger, fighter, and warlock (at early levels) who dishes out the most damage strictly with ranged attacks? Assuming longbow vs eldritch blast and including agonizing blast/hex/colossus slayer etc.

For Physical, Fighter is going to be better than Ranger at lvl 1, then Ranger will be better at lvl 2, then Fighter again after you start getting extra attacks and archetype features.

So in general, Ranger is better at low level. To optimize, be a Human and pick up the Sharpshooter feat. If you are really trying to min/max, you can later pick up the Crossbow Expert feat and 2 Hand Crossbows. Crossbow Expert is good anyway for a removing the disadvantage from attacking in melee. If you build your character with the starting gold, you can also start with Heavy Crossbow.

For the long run, the best build will be a few levels in Ranger, with the rest in Fighter. This gets you Colossus Slayer and Hunter's Mark, while getting more extra attacks and martial die from Fighter.

For Spellcaster, Warlock 2 / Sorcerer x will probably get you the most blasting early on. Warlock 2 gets the CHA bump and range bump to Eldritch Blast.

For the long run, going Warlock until all slots are 5th level, then the rest in Sorcerer might be the most blasting. The extra 5th level slots means you can get more Sorcery Points than a straight Sorcerer. Sorcerer/Wizard is also an option, eventually letting you add your CHA as well as INT modifier to some spells.

As for comparing them, the physical ranged character is probably going to be doing more at first, thanks to the damage bumps from the Ranger features. Especially if you are able to start with the Sharpshooter feat. Early on, creatures will have lower AC, so your -3 to hit (-5 from Sharpshooter, +2 from Archery) isn't going to be too bad. Of course, the caster will have more burst, from using their spell slots.

[SliceandDiceKid]

Also I don't quite get how multiclassing effects damage output of Cantrips. Multiclassing is actually really confusing to me. I've been playing 3.5 for a few years. Does it treat your total level as the level you're casting from? Maybe an example would help?

[Edge of Dreams]

For cantrips, you use your total character level to determine the damage.

[SliceandDiceKid]

For cantrips, you use your total character level to determine the damage.

That's AWESOME

[DrLemniscate]

That's AWESOME

The damaging Cantrips are supposed to be a sort of default attack for casters, so it's hard to abuse them. Unless maybe you have some weird build designed to grab as many cantrips as possible; always having the right damage type.

[BW022]

Assuming an 16 dex and cha (just for argument sake) vs. an AC 16 target.

1st-level
Fighter is +7 to hit (archery style) and does 1d8+3 damage. Has a 55% chance to hit doing an average of 7.5 damage. Total average 4.125

Ranger is +5 to hit, d8+3 damage. Total average 3.375

Warlock is +5 to hit, d10 (5.5 avg.) damage. Total average 2.475
With hex, which he can't do every combat, is it another 3.5 damage per hit, or 9. Total 4.05.

2nd-level
Fighter is same with total average 4.125
Ranger gains archery style. Same with 4.125
Warlock gains agonizing blast (d10+3, 8.5 avg.) Total average is 3.875
If the warlock gets hex up (which he may not be able to do each combat), that is an extra 3.5 per hit, or 12. Total 5.40.

All are fairly equal. As your opponents ACs go up, the fighter or ranger likely average more damage. They would also do better when firing with a disadvantage, obviously are longer ranges. Finally, they are likely tougher and better armored so able to handle being forced into say melee. Warlock is about even on lower AC targets and only ahead if he gets hex off. I don't consider this that even since he can only cast it once or twice per rest -- and may have to cast other spells for defensive purposes.

[Surrealistik]

Don't forget Darkness + Devil Sight for auto-advantage (with Agonizing Blast, and a CHA mod of 3):

(5.5+3)*0.6525 + (5.5*2+3)*0.0975 = 6.91125

[Rummy]

Don't forget Darkness + Devil Sight for auto-advantage (with Agonizing Blast, and a CHA mod of 3):

(5.5+3)*0.6525 + (5.5*2+3)*0.0975 = 6.91125

Better hope the rest of your party has two levels of warlock or loads of patience.

[Person_Man]

Warlock 2 with Eldritch Blast Cantrip (which are all at-will) with the Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast Invocations deals 1d10 + Cha damage + automatically pushes enemy 10 feet (very useful for a number of applications), and it scales decently with levels.

When they cast a direct damage spell of 1st level or higher, they typically deal around the same or slightly higher average damage that a Fighter of the same level might deal to a single enemy using all of his attacks and bonuses. But if they can target 2+ enemies with an area of effect spell, then it's 2+ times as effective, an ability the Fighter never gets, and the Ranger only gets mid-late progression in a weaker form.

[Surrealistik]

Better hope the rest of your party has two levels of warlock or loads of patience.

Just stay away from them; the radius is only 15 feet. I'm using this in two games without problems.