Quote Originally Posted by Segev View Post
Is dex-based melee significantly weaker than str-based melee? Not asking for any point-proving purpose (at least not directly) but in attempting to set up a mental comparison scenario of twins, one of whom goes Bladesinger and one of whom goes Eldritch Knight. If I can set both to using Dex without cheating the EK, that makes things easier to keep thematic, but I don't want to let theme overcome scientific rigor for a comparison study.
The dex eldritch knight has grown on me a bit. Its value vs the strength one is now something I think is pretty close.

So in terms of defense, you are not much worse in AC (a bit maybe, depending on what str does) but dex is a better save to be good at than strength I think.

You get a boost to initiative - having 4 turns per combat instead of three is a 33% increase in damage.

In terms of stats/feats etc. it gets a bit complex. Dex lets you shoot a bow well for great flexability, which can make dump in Int a bit less painful (should they chose). Strength builds are generally worse than dex builds without feat support from shield master, pole arm master or great weapon master feats. This commitment effectively gives the dex fighter an extra ASI.

The extra ASI was something I valued less before but with Tasha's we have new cool feats to spend it on and potentially some of the racial feats opened up. With great options like fey-touched that extra feat is worth a LOT.

So yes, I think it fair to build a dex EK for comparison with a BS, in fact possibly more fair if you go down this path as you will be looking at similar initiative rolls, similar frequency of prefered weapons on treasure tables, similar value to access to spells like misty step. One thing the EK has over the BS here is proficiency in CON saves, which should not be underestimated in your comparison.