Which class is the best at defeating enemies within a 5 or 10 foot reach?

[Makorel]

So I was thinking about Orcs and how they can get on top of their foes pretty well with aggressive (bonus action dash) and it got me wondering what class would be best for a pound for pound no-holds-barred slugfest if not having to catch enemies is an issue. Barbarians have good survivability with rage and power with reckless attack + feats. Fighters have good at will damage with extra extra attack and some sustainability with second wind and action surge. Paladins are good at nova. I guess in this scenario if a rogue or monk is fast enough they can weave in and out without getting damaged at all.

So basically what class is best at winning a one on on close quarters fight with any given enemy?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Barbarian, because having resistance to your opponent's damage on top of a d12 HD means you'll outlive your opponent and you'll survive wading into the thick of combat. Plus you'll have advantage on Athletics checks so you can grapple an enemy, lift them over your head, and thanks to your increased carrying capacity walk them over to a ledge and (shove) hurl them over the side.

Also, use an Orc of Eberron or an Orc of Exandria, neither has the -2 Int penalty and both get to choose from a list of skills instead of the Intimidation proficiency (you can still pick Intimidation).

[Man_Over_Game]

My vote is also Barbarian.

Grapple and Shove is a single turn's worth of actions that guarantees disadvantage for your enemy and Advantage for you. Since you're Raging, they're stuck trying to beat your Athletics check while you have Advantage on your checks.

The kicker is that a Grapple is an attack on the offender, but an Action to break it.

So basically the non-Barbarian gets one turn against the Barbarian's Rage and AC. And then proceeds to lose.

[Yakmala]

Against a single enemy in an all-out slobberknocker? Barbarian. Hands down.

If you attack recklessly, both you and your opponent are going to land their hits, but you are going to outlast them.

I once had a Level 4 Hill Dwarf Barbarian with the Tough feat. That's 57 HP. Effectively 114 HP while raging. Very few enemies designed for a party of Level 4's is going to be able to chew through all that HP before the Barbarian takes them down.

[Bobthewizard]

Barbarian likely wins against a single orc if you cannot leave 5-10'. A nova build paladin might be in the running here too. Kill it before it gets too many hits in.

If you can use Wildmount and count keeping the echo in 5' of the orc, echo knight with sentinel would be better. The orc would never get to hit you.

Against a lot of orcs then a spell caster would be better, use magic get out of range then ranged AOE to kite them, but that might not be the question you are asking.

If you are asking what would be good without moving away, EK might be in the running against a swarm of orcs. Higher AC and shield might beat out the higher HP of the barbarian. At higher levels, more attacks would let you take out more each round.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Against a lot of orcs then a spell caster would be better, use magic get out of range then ranged AOE to kite them, but that might not be the question you are asking.

I think he's making the Orc character, and wants to capitalize on their aggressive nature to get into the thick of combat quickly and slug it out with everything he meets.

[Lunali]

Would generally go with barbarian, but at very high levels I'd have to give it to monk. They get roughly the same damage resistance as barbarian, similar advantage on attacks, but give disadvantage on attacks against them instead of advantage.

[Makorel]

Consensus seems to be Barbarian. Thanks playground.

The kicker is that a Grapple is an attack on the offender, but an Action to break it.

Oh man I didn't realize it was a full action. Now I need to be a Bigbarian for larger targets.

[Misterwhisper]

Consensus seems to be Barbarian. Thanks playground.



Oh man I didn't realize it was a full action. Now I need to be a Bigbarian for larger targets.

More specifically multi attack doesn’t work with it, if the enemy has multiple attacks with the attack action from having class levels or something, it replaces one attack.

Grappling really shuts down single attack enemies, like rogues or more physical clerics.

[Eldariel]

Probably a Wizard. Whatever the enemy, it can generally be disabled with a single spell and there's no disadvantage to casting in melee as long as you don't use spells with attack rolls. Which is obviously kind of a copout answer but generally in these kinds of things, being able to disable the enemy in a single action gives you the largest amount of effective survivability. Of course, details depend on the level. Diviner in particular excels in fair 1v1s, though of course there's something to be said for Abjurer and their EHP (Bladesinger should get a honorary mention). Higher up Illusionist and their no-save CC is nice but of course, by that point you already have Magic Jar for permanent body upgrades and whatnot to give you full martial capabilities on top of your spellcasting.

[CTurbo]

I'm gonna throw out something different if we're talking about the Orc in the MM and say Tempest Cleric. I've played a lot of Tempests and a maximized Shatter or Thunderwave can kill an entire group of Orcs. Once I baited a tribe of Orcs into ganging up on me and killed like 6 or 7 of them at once with Thunderwave. I was only level 2 or 3.

Clerics, Tempest in particular, can have a really high AC, and have other means of damage besides attacking with your weapon. I know level 5 is a bit high to be fighting Orcs, but you could walk around taking the dodge action while Spirit Guardians is running and kill multiple Orcs per round.

[MaxWilson]

So I was thinking about Orcs and how they can get on top of their foes pretty well with aggressive (bonus action dash) and it got me wondering what class would be best for a pound for pound no-holds-barred slugfest if not having to catch enemies is an issue. Barbarians have good survivability with rage and power with reckless attack + feats. Fighters have good at will damage with extra extra attack and some sustainability with second wind and action surge. Paladins are good at nova. I guess in this scenario if a rogue or monk is fast enough they can weave in and out without getting damaged at all.

So basically what class is best at winning a one on on close quarters fight with any given enemy?

1 v 1 in a cage match? Probably Moon Druid.

[Hael]

It depends what levels and circumstances we're talking about here. A low lvl moon druid (or a lvl 20 moon druid) is going to be hard to beat, but lvl 8? not so much.

It also depends what sorts of cheese you're willing to accept. There are a lot of kiting builds that won't ever get hit (sentinel vengeance paladins with reach for instance).

[DevilMcam]

I would actually suggest NOT A BARBARIAN.

Agressive is a bonus action and thus compete with rage. also barbarian can get eagle totem for bonus action dash and already have bonus movement. you want something that lay the pain in close combat but does not have a lot of bonus action to use and doesn't already have som enhanced movement. You could go for a good old great weapon master fighter, or something like a bardadin.

One interesting thing also is that only the bonus action need to get you close to the ennemy so you couldmake a gread skirmisher with the mobile feat.
Bonus action go in, hit people, then use your movement to go out.

Or you could be some kind of grappling wizard/bard/whatev.
Use your action to cast haste. bonus action go in, haste action grapple, then drag the poor victim to the other side of the world with your enhanced movement. as a sword bard you could drag people 40fts on the first round of combat. that sounds so riduculus I now want to do it.

[Crucius]

The kicker is that a Grapple is an attack on the offender, but an Action to break it.

Not always true I think. Grapples are broken if the grappler is out of reach of the grappled creature, so the shove special attack allows for multiple attempts using one action.
Even then the barbarian has the edge with its advantage so I agree with the strategy!

Edit: Totally just realized that the counter-shove only works on high strength creatures, so Dex monsters still require an action to attempt to break free!

[Throne12]

Grappling
When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you're able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach. Using at least one free hand, you try to seize the target by making a grapple check instead of an attack roll: a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). You succeed automatically if the target is incapacitated. If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled condition. The condition specifies the things that end it, and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

Escaping a Grapple. A grappled creature can use its action to escape. To do so, it must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by your Strength (Athletics) check.

Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.

Shoving a Creature
Using the Attack action, you can make a special melee attack to shove a creature, either to knock it prone or push it away from you. If you're able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

The target must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach. Instead of making an attack roll, you make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). You succeed automatically if the target is incapacitated. If you succeed, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you.

[Mukade]

Oath of Conquest paladin with pole arm master and sentinel. Stunlock anyone who comes within 10ft of you.

IF the opponent isn't immune to fear and IF they fail their wis saves and they don't have reach themselves... wail away.

[Agent-KI7KO]

Oath of Conquest paladin with pole arm master and sentinel. Stunlock anyone who comes within 10ft of you.

IF the opponent isn't immune to fear and IF they fail their wis saves and they don't have reach themselves... wail away.

Was wondering if anyone was gonna say this. Between wrathful smite, fear, and channel divinity, you can keep quite a number of enemies out of arms reach while wailing away on them.

[MaxWilson]

It depends what levels and circumstances we're talking about here. A low lvl moon druid (or a lvl 20 moon druid) is going to be hard to beat, but lvl 8? not so much.

In a cage match, I'll take a level 8 Moon Druid any day. Resilient (Con), Warcaster, round 1 Conjure Animals/Woodland Creatures + wildshape (Giant Constrictor Snake). More effective HP than a Barbarian, especially against creatures with poison/elemental/psychic/etc. damage, and more DPR.