Originally Posted by
x3n0n
And an important note it is!
Consider 2 hypothetical encounters:
* 3 40-HP enemies or
* 15 8-HP enemies
The 16 damage-per-target (half on save) AoE (think Fireball) is exceptionally good in the second case, and not great in the first.
The 48-damage single attack (think Sneak Attack or Divine Smite) is great in the first case, and not good in the second.
An attacker with 3 or 4 attacks of 10-12 damage each (think Fighter or Monk or Swift Quiver) is somewhere in between: almost as good as the Smite at stopping the big guys, and able to knock out several little guys per turn.