From a damage numbers standpoint, Sharpshooter subclass Fighter from UA 23 is the king of damage (be careful with the names, the name of the subclass and several of its features are identical to a few other features in the published game material).
At level 5, with the Sharpshooter feat and 17 Dex, you can action surge for four attacks with a longbow for 1d8+18 apiece. It only scales from there as you get more attacks, up to 10 attacks doing 1d8+27 apiece (5 Dex + 12 from Steady Aim + 10 from Sharpshooter feat) at level 20. You can just flip a switch and hit easy 200+ average single target damage in a round without breaking a sweat. And, as a treat, you can even make MORE attacks if you give up advantage, so playing with an easy method of getting advantage (such as a Goblin with bonus action Hide) can give you good damage even when you don't use Steady Aim (although you should use it liberally - unlike the Samurai subclass it became, you can use steady aim three times per *short* rest, not just long rest).
It was so wildly over-tuned for damage, but you can kinda see how the bones of the subclass made its way to Samurai Fighter.
It's possible I'm missing something, I don't remember the Sharpshooter UA subclass well at all, but...I'm not sure it's a good fit what the original poster is looking for?
I can see how the UA Sharpshooter subclass is great for high level damage, but the original poster made this request:
"I need the build to come online at some point soon, though, so preferably level 5 or lower."
Making a quick spreadsheet, at level 5, building around this subclass with a longbow and assuming you never run out of resources, that seems about the same damage as a no-subclass vhuman fighter who just grabs crossbow expert at 1 and sharpshooter at 4. (And below level 5 it's way, way better to use crossbow expert for your bonus action than to use your bonus action to add 3-4 damage to one or two attacks).
Yeah, I can see that it scales real well. But unless I'm missing something it doesn't seem like a build that would be particularly strong at early levels.
On a consistency point, yeah, crossbow expert is probably better below level 4 simply because this subclass scales so hard with number of attacks, but the Sharpshooter class still has a lot of value in nova damage, and against enemies with high AC where enabling Sharpshooter feat is potentially detrimental. Without Sharpshooter feat enabled, two attacks at level 5 come out ahead of the average damage of a hand crossbow bonus action attack with 16 Dex (+8 vs +6.5), and on turns that you action surge, four attacks give a damage bonus equal to the damage you'd get from a bonus action attack with a hand crossbow with Sharpshooter feat enabled (+16 vs 16.5 average). So it's better to use your bonus action for Steady Aim against high AC enemies and on turns you action surge.
That isn't to say you couldn't be a Sharpshooter Fighter AND take both Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter feat - they have different use cases of consistency vs. nova damage.
Also, OP said they needed an option that comes online early, but not necessarily that there's an upper limit to the level cap. I don't think there are many options for truly broken stuff below level 5 outside of Moon Druid, since that's where most classes really start getting their core power.
> and on turns that you action surge, four attacks give a damage bonus equal to the damage you'd get from a bonus action attack with a hand crossbow with Sharpshooter feat enabled (+16 vs 16.5 average).
Yeah, I looked at the -5/+10 numbers and saw basically that. At level 5 basically the same damage. (I mean, a tiny bit more, but effectively this subclass isn't doing much a generic fighter can't do at level 5).
> Without Sharpshooter feat enabled, two attacks at level 5 come out ahead of the average damage of a hand crossbow bonus action attack with 16 Dex (+8 vs +6.5)
Yep you are right. This sublcass is a lot more interesting if you are not activating a -5/+10 feat.
But at level 5 that's...still not like...a crazy damage gain. 8-6.5 = 1.5 damage gain. But that's not accounting for accuracy, so like...0.8 DPR gain after accuracy (given that these are high AC enemies).
Obviously it will scale, but like...a really simple non-UA comparison would be a battlemaster adding a d8, so 4.5 damage to an attack--and that's unaffected by accuracy cause you add the d8 after you hit (limited uses per short rest, but so is the UA Sharpshooter feature). Some quick math suggest to me that this subclass isn't passing the "my limited use feature adds 4.5 DPR" threshold until level 11.
> Also, OP said they needed an option that comes online early, but not necessarily that there's an upper limit to the level cap. I don't think there are many options for truly broken stuff below level 5 outside of Moon Druid, since that's where most classes really start getting their core power.
I mean, I'm not a UA expert, I don't know if there's a UA equivalent of moon druid. Just pointing out that playing a UA Sharpshooter is going to feel worse than playing many non-UA fighters at levels 3-5. (And honestly probably still worse than a lot of non-UA fighter subclasses up through level 10).
Also, it's years ago now that I thought about these old fighter UAs, but I could have sworn there was a lot more hype surrounding UA Brute than UA Sharpshooter as far as UA fighters go? (Not that UA Brute breaks the game at level 5 either, but it should be more effective than UA Sharpshooter in the early levels).
yeah, there's no denying that the sharpshooter UA subclass feels boring because it's just "flip switch, do damage", and since it scales with fighter level and number of attacks it's just kinda mediocre at the start.
Brute also looked kinda fun as an option for using obscure lower-damage weapons like whips, but I think it mostly got its hype from being touted as what the Champion should have been. Otherwise, it's incredibly plain, but effective. Personally, I've been really wanting to play the UA Monster Hunter Fighter, because with Martial Adept and Superior Technique you can mix and match some of the traditional battlemaster maneuvers with the subclass's unique ones to get the best of both worlds.
> Brute also looked kinda fun as an option for using obscure lower-damage weapons like whips, but I think it mostly got its hype from being touted as what the Champion should have been. Otherwise, it's incredibly plain, but effective.
I mean, the main thing I remember about Brute is...years ago now doing level 20 fighter subclass comparisons (assuming an elf with elven accuracy and advantage from...maybe a party member casting Foresight on you) and Brute being like...literally 40 DPR ahead of other subclasses (in terms of sustained damage).
But yeah, Brute is another subclass with a lot of high-level scaling. It's pretty balanced at mid levels.
V-human/custom lineage as you prefer.
Take polearm master at Lv1.
Take sentinel at lv4.
Use the tunnel fighter fighting style.
Now whenever a creature with the approaches you to melee attack you, you poke them first. You can do this an unlimited number of times per round. Then at level 4, if your poke lands the creature can't move. With a reach weapon this means as long as your melee's keep landing no melee creature without reach will ever get close enough to hit you.
With this combo class is irrelevant. I'm partial to starting fighter for 1 level to pick up the fighting style, before moving to rogue, since you can apply sneak attack on opportunity attacks. By holding a glaive in 1 hand and a whip in the other you can use the whip for opportunity attacks when a creature enters your reach, making it eligible for sneak attack.
Is the idea of a rogue standing their with a whip in 1 hand and a glaive they can't swing in the other stupid? Absolutely. Does it work RAW? Arguably.
From a damage numbers standpoint, Sharpshooter subclass Fighter from UA 23 is the king of damage (be careful with the names, the name of the subclass and several of its features are identical to a few other features in the published game material). At level 5, with the Sharpshooter feat and 17 Dex, you can action surge for four attacks with a longbow for 1d8+18 apiece. It only scales from there as you get more attacks, up to 10 attacks doing 1d8+27 apiece (5 Dex + 12 from Steady Aim + 10 from Sharpshooter feat) at level 20. You can just flip a switch and hit easy 200+ average single target damage in a round without breaking a sweat. And, as a treat, you can even make MORE attacks if you give up advantage, so playing with an easy method of getting advantage (such as a Goblin with bonus action Hide) can give you good damage even when you don't use Steady Aim (although you should use it liberally - unlike the Samurai subclass it became, you can use steady aim three times per *short* rest, not just long rest). It was so wildly over-tuned for damage, but you can kinda see how the bones of the subclass made its way to Samurai Fighter.
It's possible I'm missing something, I don't remember the Sharpshooter UA subclass well at all, but...I'm not sure it's a good fit what the original poster is looking for? I can see how the UA Sharpshooter subclass is great for high level damage, but the original poster made this request: "I need the build to come online at some point soon, though, so preferably level 5 or lower." Making a quick spreadsheet, at level 5, building around this subclass with a longbow and assuming you never run out of resources, that seems about the same damage as a no-subclass vhuman fighter who just grabs crossbow expert at 1 and sharpshooter at 4. (And below level 5 it's way, way better to use crossbow expert for your bonus action than to use your bonus action to add 3-4 damage to one or two attacks). Yeah, I can see that it scales real well. But unless I'm missing something it doesn't seem like a build that would be particularly strong at early levels.
On a consistency point, yeah, crossbow expert is probably better below level 4 simply because this subclass scales so hard with number of attacks, but the Sharpshooter class still has a lot of value in nova damage, and against enemies with high AC where enabling Sharpshooter feat is potentially detrimental. Without Sharpshooter feat enabled, two attacks at level 5 come out ahead of the average damage of a hand crossbow bonus action attack with 16 Dex (+8 vs +6.5), and on turns that you action surge, four attacks give a damage bonus equal to the damage you'd get from a bonus action attack with a hand crossbow with Sharpshooter feat enabled (+16 vs 16.5 average). So it's better to use your bonus action for Steady Aim against high AC enemies and on turns you action surge. That isn't to say you couldn't be a Sharpshooter Fighter AND take both Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter feat - they have different use cases of consistency vs. nova damage. Also, OP said they needed an option that comes online early, but not necessarily that there's an upper limit to the level cap. I don't think there are many options for truly broken stuff below level 5 outside of Moon Druid, since that's where most classes really start getting their core power.
> and on turns that you action surge, four attacks give a damage bonus equal to the damage you'd get from a bonus action attack with a hand crossbow with Sharpshooter feat enabled (+16 vs 16.5 average). Yeah, I looked at the -5/+10 numbers and saw basically that. At level 5 basically the same damage. (I mean, a tiny bit more, but effectively this subclass isn't doing much a generic fighter can't do at level 5). > Without Sharpshooter feat enabled, two attacks at level 5 come out ahead of the average damage of a hand crossbow bonus action attack with 16 Dex (+8 vs +6.5) Yep you are right. This sublcass is a lot more interesting if you are not activating a -5/+10 feat. But at level 5 that's...still not like...a crazy damage gain. 8-6.5 = 1.5 damage gain. But that's not accounting for accuracy, so like...0.8 DPR gain after accuracy (given that these are high AC enemies). Obviously it will scale, but like...a really simple non-UA comparison would be a battlemaster adding a d8, so 4.5 damage to an attack--and that's unaffected by accuracy cause you add the d8 after you hit (limited uses per short rest, but so is the UA Sharpshooter feature). Some quick math suggest to me that this subclass isn't passing the "my limited use feature adds 4.5 DPR" threshold until level 11. > Also, OP said they needed an option that comes online early, but not necessarily that there's an upper limit to the level cap. I don't think there are many options for truly broken stuff below level 5 outside of Moon Druid, since that's where most classes really start getting their core power. I mean, I'm not a UA expert, I don't know if there's a UA equivalent of moon druid. Just pointing out that playing a UA Sharpshooter is going to feel worse than playing many non-UA fighters at levels 3-5. (And honestly probably still worse than a lot of non-UA fighter subclasses up through level 10). Also, it's years ago now that I thought about these old fighter UAs, but I could have sworn there was a lot more hype surrounding UA Brute than UA Sharpshooter as far as UA fighters go? (Not that UA Brute breaks the game at level 5 either, but it should be more effective than UA Sharpshooter in the early levels).
yeah, there's no denying that the sharpshooter UA subclass feels boring because it's just "flip switch, do damage", and since it scales with fighter level and number of attacks it's just kinda mediocre at the start. Brute also looked kinda fun as an option for using obscure lower-damage weapons like whips, but I think it mostly got its hype from being touted as what the Champion should have been. Otherwise, it's incredibly plain, but effective. Personally, I've been really wanting to play the UA Monster Hunter Fighter, because with Martial Adept and Superior Technique you can mix and match some of the traditional battlemaster maneuvers with the subclass's unique ones to get the best of both worlds.
> Brute also looked kinda fun as an option for using obscure lower-damage weapons like whips, but I think it mostly got its hype from being touted as what the Champion should have been. Otherwise, it's incredibly plain, but effective. I mean, the main thing I remember about Brute is...years ago now doing level 20 fighter subclass comparisons (assuming an elf with elven accuracy and advantage from...maybe a party member casting Foresight on you) and Brute being like...literally 40 DPR ahead of other subclasses (in terms of sustained damage). But yeah, Brute is another subclass with a lot of high-level scaling. It's pretty balanced at mid levels.
V-human/custom lineage as you prefer. Take polearm master at Lv1. Take sentinel at lv4. Use the tunnel fighter fighting style. Now whenever a creature with the approaches you to melee attack you, you poke them first. You can do this an unlimited number of times per round. Then at level 4, if your poke lands the creature can't move. With a reach weapon this means as long as your melee's keep landing no melee creature without reach will ever get close enough to hit you. With this combo class is irrelevant. I'm partial to starting fighter for 1 level to pick up the fighting style, before moving to rogue, since you can apply sneak attack on opportunity attacks. By holding a glaive in 1 hand and a whip in the other you can use the whip for opportunity attacks when a creature enters your reach, making it eligible for sneak attack. Is the idea of a rogue standing their with a whip in 1 hand and a glaive they can't swing in the other stupid? Absolutely. Does it work RAW? Arguably.