Most damage out of a hand crossbow?

[blackjack50]

Just wondering who y’all think could deal the most damage using a hand crossbow. I’m thinking it might be a rogue with their first attack. Anyone else think differently? This character won’t be multi class (friend is new to the game and just wants a gunslinger type character) and will only be around for a couple of games. Level 6

[msfnc]

Need more parameters. Damage per attack? Per round? Per short rest? Per day?

[blackjack50]

Need more parameters. Damage per attack? Per round? Per short rest? Per day?

Added. Basically just a per day type of fighting.

[Lunali]

Class with archery fighting style and extra attack, race that gives a starting feat, crossbow expert, sharpshooter.

[Frogreaver]

Just wondering who y’all think could deal the most damage using a hand crossbow. I’m thinking it might be a rogue with their first attack. Anyone else think differently? This character won’t be multi class (friend is new to the game and just wants a gunslinger type character) and will only be around for a couple of games. Level 6

Variant Human (Crossbow Expertise), Battlemaster Fighter with archery style using precision attack on near misses, Level 4 feat = Sharpshooter (use -5/+10 often).

[Valorant]

Best in vaccum? Level 18 bard\2 Fighter with xbe, SS, archery style and elven accuracy with tenser Transformation on + haste from his simulacrum attacking with triple advantage 4 X (1d6 + 15 +2d12) and his simulacrum attacking for 3x (1d6 +15). Both riding on Pegasuses from greater steed which also benefits from tenser. That's not nova, that's DPR. Nova with actionsurge is 6x (1d6 + 15 +2d12) and simulacrum 5x 1d6+15.

But that's late game (15+) combo.

Overall Battlemaster because it's super strong since level 1 and online by level 8.

[msfnc]

Don’t sleep on a Fey ranger with archery style, crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Fey Wanderer for dreadful strikes, plus hunter’s mark, at level 5 you’ll be hitting 6d6+1d4+3xdex, ~35 hp per round vs a single target. Not bad for tier 2.

[blackjack50]

Don’t sleep on a Fey ranger with archery style, crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Fey Wanderer for dreadful strikes, plus hunter’s mark, at level 5 you’ll be hitting 6d6+1d4+3xdex, ~35 hp per round vs a single target. Not bad for tier 2.

Oh interesting. No multi class required here? It might fit well with the character motif too

[Frogreaver]

Don’t sleep on a Fey ranger with archery style, crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Fey Wanderer for dreadful strikes, plus hunter’s mark, at level 5 you’ll be hitting 6d6+1d4+3xdex, ~35 hp per round vs a single target. Not bad for tier 2.

Since it takes a bonus action to attack with the hand crossbow and a bonus action to use and move hunters mark, the bonus action management will tone down that damage quite a bit in practice.

[msfnc]

Since it takes a bonus action to attack with the hand crossbow and a bonus action to use and move hunters mark, the bonus action management will tone down that damage quite a bit in practice.

Very true, hence the “single enemy” qualifier. When faced with multiple weaker enemies, one may choose to forgo the hunter’s mark fiddling to focus just on the BA attack, spreading out the dreadful strikes to up to three separate targets each turn. And use concentration for something fun like entangle or zephyr strike.

[Frogreaver]

Very true, hence the “single enemy” qualifier. When faced with multiple weaker enemies, one may choose to forgo the hunter’s mark fiddling to focus just on the BA attack, spreading out the dreadful strikes to up to three separate targets each turn. And use concentration for something fun like entangle or zephyr strike.

Even then a typical fight lasts maybe 3-4 rounds. You'll make between 9 and 12 attacks in that timeframe. Giving up 1 attack on your first turn to cast hunters mark is still a 10% decrease from the DPR you cited.

[Valorant]

Very true, hence the “single enemy” qualifier. When faced with multiple weaker enemies, one may choose to forgo the hunter’s mark fiddling to focus just on the BA attack, spreading out the dreadful strikes to up to three separate targets each turn. And use concentration for something fun like entangle or zephyr strike.

Moving hunters mark is DPR decrease, same as casting it. Also battlemaster will still have much more average DPR because he can use precision strike to make missed into hits with sharpshooter. Ranger if missed with attack - nothing can be done. Accuracy is the biggest factor of realistic DPR ( not average damage as that says nothing of true DPR) and so when it comes to GWM or SS builds - offsetting -5 penalty in as many ways as possible will result in best DPR numbers.

So to sum it for you OP- nothing changed in last year's. Battlemaster is still range DPR king

[Keravath]

For level 6 ... I think the suggested Battlemaster fighter is likely to get the most out of the hand crossbow.

Variant human starting with 16 dex and crossbow expert, Sharpshooter at level 4, dex to 18 at level 6. Use maneuvers to turn near misses into hits. Comes with the archery fighting style.

Other contenders which have some other features they can use.

Variant human gloomstalker ranger - 16 dex to start, archery fighting style, Cross bow expert and sharpshooter ... hunters mark can be useful against tough targets but the bonus action conflicts with crossbow expert - some additional spells and skills which can be useful. Can obtain advantage on all attacks if fighting in darkness against creatures using darkvision or who lack darkvision.

Variant human hexblade warlock - 16 dex and cha to start - use darkness+devils sight for always on advantage (to make up for missing the Archery fighting style) - crossbow expert+sharpshooter.

Variant human Artificer - use repeating shot infusion to wield both shield and a hand crossbow. Better defence but reduced offense without either archery or a method to generate advantage like darkness+devils sight or just fighting in the dark like a gloomstalker.

Variant human Eldritch Knight fighter - take blind fighting style and use fog cloud to create areas where other creatures can't see but you can - this gives you advantage on all attacks where it can be set up (replaces the archery fighting style) - cross bow expert + sharpshooter + dex increase.

Multiclass doesn't really work well in this case unless it can be done with a single level since you don't want to give up the extra attack feature at level 5.

Fighter 5 + Artificer 2 - gains extra AC from use of a shield with the repeating shot infusion.

Warlock 5 + Fighter 1 - keeps the extra attack + spell slots and darkness+devils sight but adds the fighting style from level 1 fighter - with archery this is probably the highest DPS since advantage makes SS more appealing though it is hard to assess the impact of battlemaster maneuvers.

[renzdog]

Just wondering who y’all think could deal the most damage using a hand crossbow. I’m thinking it might be a rogue with their first attack. Anyone else think differently? This character won’t be multi class (friend is new to the game and just wants a gunslinger type character) and will only be around for a couple of games. Level 6

LudicSavant has a couple of samurai builds in his An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds

The Ancient Kyujutsu Master
The Modern Gun-Kata Master

They are mostly the same except the second uses a musket. Note that they don't use the hand crossbow, (rather relies on fighting spirit + action surge + eleven accuracy to do big burst damage). Ludic describes it as "almost as simple as the Champion, but stronger" ... and you mentioned its for a new player (and gunslinger-although the gun-kata guy can't use musket until level 8 i think).

Gloomstalker is also makes a strong archer- the extra attack in the first round is obviously good ... and they are killing machines in any kind of darkness.

[Talionis]

Devotion Paladin 5(6)/Hexblade 2/Whisper Bard 10+

You can use Hex, Whisper damage, Eldritch smite, double charisma to hit with Devotion Turn use and Hexblade so no issue withSharpshooter, Improved Pact Weapon, plenty of spell slots for smite. Crossbow Expert feat for three attacks, but you can pick up any spells with Magical Secrets so haste, Swift Quiver are options.

[RogueJK]

Under the OP's parameters of:
-Level 6
-No Multiclassing
-New player

I agree that a Variant Human Battlemaster Fighter 6 with the Archery Fighting Style, Crossbow Master and Sharpshooter feats, and +2 DEX would be a good fit, a decent damage dealer, and a simpler option than many of the alternatives. (Champion, while undoubtedly simple, can also be rather boring... So I tend to steer new player away from that subclass.)

Going up slightly in complexity, a Variant Human Hunter or Swarmkeeper Ranger 6 with the Archery Fighting Style, Crossbow Master feat, and Sharpshooter feat is similar, just with the added complexity of spellcasting added in and a slightly lower DEX than the Fighter due to the Fighter's extra ASI.

Then going up another step in complexity, a Variant Human Arcane Trickster Rogue 6 with Crossbow Master and a +DEX feat or half-feat is also a good option for a solid Hand Crossbow damage dealer, but is a bit more complex than either the Ranger or Fighter, due to also having to understand extra stuff like when Sneak Attack applies. (Assassin would also work here, and would remove the spellcasting aspect, reducing the complexity down a bit.)


I'd pick one of those three (Fighter/Ranger/Rogue), based around how comfortable the friend is with the rules.


(There are a few even more complex options from there, like a Battlemaster Artificer or Hexblade Warlock, but I don't think that either would be a good option for a new player.)

[Kvess]

Just wondering who y’all think could deal the most damage using a hand crossbow. I’m thinking it might be a rogue with their first attack. Anyone else think differently? This character won’t be multi class (friend is new to the game and just wants a gunslinger type character) and will only be around for a couple of games. Level 6

For a crossbow wielder, I think Fighter’s the class to beat. At level 6 you can snag Crossbow expert and Sharp Shooter for 3 attacks that do up to something like 3d6+42 points of damage in a round, or 5d6+70 points of damage if you action surge and all attacks hit.

If you go Battlemaster, you get a bunch of situationally-useful trick shots that increase your damage and refresh on a short rest. If you go the Samurai route, you can trade your bonus action attack on your Action Surge round to make four sharpshooter attacks with advantage and increase your chance to actually land those attacks. I’d be tempted to suggest that if you go Samurai then you don’t need Crossbow Expert, but being able to use your crossbow effectively in melee is nice.

[samcifer]

I've been experimenting on builds using Haste, extra attack, Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter for 4 attacks per turn with +10 damage per hit. Add in Hexblade's Curse and/or the Hex spell and by turn 3 you can dish out a lot of damage per turn.

[Joe the Rat]

For a crossbow wielder, I think Fighter’s the class to beat. At level 6 you can snag Crossbow expert and Sharp Shooter for 3 attacks that do up to something like 3d6+42 points of damage in a round, or 5d6+70 points of damage if you action surge and all attacks hit.

If you go Battlemaster, you get a bunch of situationally-useful trick shots that increase your damage and refresh on a short rest. If you go the Samurai route, you can trade your bonus action attack on your Action Surge round to make four sharpshooter attacks with advantage and increase your chance to actually land those attacks. I’d be tempted to suggest that if you go Samurai then you don’t need Crossbow Expert, but being able to use your crossbow effectively in melee is nice.

For a new player, this is a really solid approach. Fighter is straightforward to run, and Battlemaster gives you a resource pool to boost damage (either through increasing your attack roll on a SS near miss, or adding damage on another maneuver (I like maneuvering and distracting on a shooter - it's never too early to teach teamwork).
If you could get your hands on a reloading crossbow (a la Artificer), you could even add a shield to the mix