How useful is advantage on strength checks?

[RealCheese]

So I guess it really boils down to another question for me. Is a melee attack a strength (or dex with finesse) check? Could you reference me a page number in phb or base rules that answer this?

[Slipperychicken]

Attack rolls aren't ability checks. I think this paragraph is enough to distinguish them.


Ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws are the
three main kinds o f d20 rolls, forming the core o f the
rules o f the game. All three follow these simple steps.

And AFAIK, nothing else says they're the same. Basically, attack rolls and saving throws aren't ability checks. They just add the ability score to a d20 roll. Additionally, the Barbarian's entries for rage and reckless attack (which call out ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls separately) would be redundant if there was overlap between strength checks and attack rolls.

As for the usefulness of advantage on strength checks, Strength(Athletics) can be used to attempt just about every combat maneuver, including grappling, shoving (i.e. bull rush and trip), shove aside (reposition), and climbing a larger creature. Since athletics is just one skill which is on many classes' skill lists, getting proficiency is easy.

Characters with high strength, proficiency, and advantage on Strength(Athletics) will have a high chance of success with combat maneuvers against all but the strongest enemies.

[Oscredwin]

Characters with high strength, proficiency, and advantage on Strength(Athletics) will have a high chance of success with combat maneuvers against all but the strongest enemies.

I keep wondering how useful a 1-2 level rogue dip is on a barbarian for expertise and cunning action.

[Slipperychicken]

I keep wondering how useful a 1-2 level rogue dip is on a barbarian for expertise and cunning action.

It's pretty darn good if you like being fast or using combat maneuvers. With bounded accuracy, doubling your proficiency bonus in an opposed check is quite strong. Dipping Rogue or Bard for expertise is already a staple of grapple builds.

[Gwendol]

So I guess it really boils down to another question for me. Is a melee attack a strength (or dex with finesse) check? Could you reference me a page number in phb or base rules that answer this?

Since grappling is awesome in this edition, advantage on strength checks is awesome too. And as noted above, gaining expertise on those checks even more so.