Orcpower quick summary – Barb thru Paladin

This one can’t be quite as complete as the prior builds, but it will at least put all the characters on the same scale, using the Orc-o-Matic v2. 

This will either look at melee attacks or cantrip-based Orcpower, the basic “what can I do every round, forever, until they kill me?” question. We can look at spells uniquely, and other special abilities like Hunter’s Mark, Colossus Slayer, and the Rogue’s sneak attack with a bit of fiddling with the program. I’ll round to an approximate number.

So, here we go. Consider these a base from which clever play and builds can start.

Barbarian Pirate


While raging, his high HP and resistance to mundane attacks give him ridiculous staying power. The undisputed orcpower melee champion of the bunch (well, until we maybe get to Ranger).

Orcpower: 32-33
Rounds before slain: 37
Attacks per kill: 2.65
Effective Attacks per round: 2.4

Bard of Valor


This guy is a full-power spellcaster and can bestow buffing dice (bardic inspiration) to his fellows. His basic damage output is with a rapier, a finesse weapon doing 1d8+3. With spells like Shatter and Thunderwave, he can do ridiculous things to clustered foes, but the spells aren’t quite powerful enough to kill orcs outright, so multiple castings will probably be required to finish off wounded.

Orcpower: 7-8
Rounds before slain: 13
Attacks per kill: 3.4
Effective Attacks per round: 2

Cleric of the Tempest


Another full caster, and this one has some strange benefits. The Wrath of the Storm feature hits for 2d8 radiant damage four times per long rest; this will probably account for an average of an extra two orcs before he’s slain.

His melee strikes are limited due to the number of attacks (one), which cuts his orcpower down. His AC and decent HP (51) keep him standing for 16 turns. His cantrip (Sacred Flame) is 2d8 on a DEX save, which will strike home 65% of the time, but is zero damage (like a regular attack) on a save. 2d8 is like 1d8+4.5, but hits a bit less often and doesn’t benefit from a critical hit. So basically a wash.

The Cleric of the Tempest has some very powerful spells in his arsenal, and one of the interesting ones is Spirit Guardians. Whenever a fresh foe steps into range, you can nail him for 3d8 radiant damage. That makes the next melee hit a near-certain kill for an orc.

Orcpower: 4-5 + 2 (Wrath of the Storm)
Rounds before slain: 16
Attacks per kill: 3.4
Effective Attacks per round: 1

Add Spirit Guardians

Orcpower: 11-12 + 2 (Wrath of the Storm)
Rounds before slain: 16
Attacks per kill: 1.4
Effective Attacks per round: 1

So long as you can maintain concentration while fighting and getting hit, you are going to be more effective than the Bard. Reality will probably fall in between, so figure a baseline Orcpower of about 10.

Druid with Bear Fetish


The Druid is like several dudes in one. The rules (shapeshifting gives full HP) mean I can probably just add the orcpower of the following phases in place:

1. Man phase
2. Polar bear phase
3. Two brown bears summoned

This, of course, does not account for spells, and the two of note are Thunderwave and Erupting Earth.

Man phase (2d12 vs CON save or 1d20+3/1d10+3 vs AC 13)


The Poison Spray cantrip is nice, but the CON 16 of the orc makes it a tough one. Still better than the battleaxe.

Orcpower: 3-4
Rounds before slain: 11
Attacks per kill: 3
Effective Attacks per round: 1

Polar Bear phase

Orcpower: 2-3 (bite) + 3 (claws) = 5-6
Rounds before slain: 7
Effective Attacks per round: 2

Two friendly brown bears


Orcpower: 3.4 each = 6-7 total
Rounds before slain: 6
Effective Attacks per round: 2


So the total Orcpower of the Druid is in the neighborhood of:

Total Package
Orcpower: 14-17
Rounds before slain: 18 (the brown bears will last 6 rounds each)

Again, the spells are the force multiplier, and you can probably eke out a few more by hitting dense formations with Erupting Earth or Thunderwave.

Champion Fighter


Here’s the basic Dwarvish badass, in two versions.


Melee Dual-Weapon Attack Option


The dual-weapon attack is pretty good at 6th level because you’re hitting with 1d8+5 weapons three times per round. The Great Weapon fighter, though, gets that -5/+10 damage if you can sneak in Great Weapon Master, and I believe part of that feat is an extra attack if you crit or kill someone – that tends to work out to be pretty good. Still, the original build I worked out was a dual-weapon guy in plate.

Nothing to see here: three whacks per turn, 10% chance of crit, and Second Wind to effectively give an average of 12 HP more for a total of 70. 

Orcpower: 25
Rounds before slain: 22
Attacks per kill: 2.5
Effective Attacks per round: 3

Melee Great Weapon Master Option


Orcpower: 26
Rounds before slain: 19
Attacks per kill: 1.8
Effective Attacks per round: 3

Archery with Sharpshooter Option


Orcpower: 21-22
Rounds before slain: 17
Attacks per kill: 1.55
Effective Attacks per round: 2

The really interesting thing here is that the most lethal of the bunch is actually the Archer. The extra +2 he gets for hitting means he’ll finish off an orc more frequently than the great weapon master . . . and if you can keep your archer in the back row, the “rounds before slain” drop from 19 down to 17 won’t impact much. 

The Battle Master plugs into the Orc-o-Matic basically the same as the Champion, with a few extra bonus d8s for damage tossed in (four, in fact). Maybe an extra orc or two.

Monk of the Four Elements


Another mixed-damage class like the Druid. The two primary strikes are going to be with the quarterstaff, for 1d8+4 each; the unarmed strike is treated as adding an average of 2.8 points of damage to each blow, as well as as a whole separate additive stream.

Orcpower: 10-12
Rounds before slain: 13
Attacks per kill: 2-3
Effective Attacks per round: 2-3

He’s got some special abilities too, which might be worth a few more orcs. He’s a particularly dangerous foe to shoot or chuck weapons at, since he can catch them and fling ’em back at you.

Paladin


With AC 20 and a sword-and-board style, the paladin is a solid fighter.


Orcpower: 13 + 6 for Divine Smite = ~19
Rounds before slain: 19
Attacks per kill: 2.9
Effective Attacks per round: 2

The addition of Divine Smite, twice at 3d8 and four times at 2d8 extra damage is probably enough to kill six extra orcs, if you choose your smite timing right. 

Parting Shot

More later. Tired now. Right now, the classes shake out how you’d expect. The Barbarian rules, the Champion is next, and the Druid and Paladin and Cleric are the second-line guys. The Monk and the Bard are to be kept off the primary field. 

Wild cards are the spells, with the Bard and Cleric especially being able to hit large clusters of bad guys at once for a powerful force multiplier.