Who is stronger between UA Brute Fighter 5e vs. the Champion Fighter PHB

Let us see who is better among the two? Is it the Brute Fighter 5e or the Champion Fighter in dnd.

Who is Brute Fighter 5e?

Brutes are spartan warriors who rely on powerful attacks and their durability to overcome their enemies. Some brutes combine this physical might with tactical cunning. Others just hit things until those things stop hitting back.

Source: Unearthed Arcana 46 – Three Subclasses

Brute Force

Starting at the 3rd level, you’re able to strike with your weapons with ruthless force. Whenever you hit with a weapon that you’re proficient with and deal damage, the weapon’s damage increases by an amount based on your level in this class, as shown on the Brute Bonus Damage table.

Brutish Durability

Beginning at 7th level, your toughness allows you to shrug off assaults that would devastate others.

Whenever you make a saving throw, roll 1d6 and add the die to your saving throw total. If applying this bonus to a death saving throw increases the total to 20 or higher, you gain the benefits of rolling a 20 on the d20.

Additional Fighting Style

At the 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

Devastating Critical

Starting at the 15th level, when you score a critical hit with a weapon attack, you gain a bonus to that weapon’s damage roll equal to your level in this class.

Survivor

At the 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of your turns in combat, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 hit point). You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or more than half of your hit points left.

Who is a Champion Fighter 5e

The archetypal Champion fighter in dnd 5e focuses on the development of raw physical power honed to deadly perfection. Those who model themselves on this archetype combine rigorous training with physical excellence to deal devastating blows.

Source: Player’s Handbook

Improved Critical

Beginning when you choose this archetype at the 3rd level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Remarkable Athlete

Starting at the 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus. It is rounded up to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus.

In addition, when you make a long-running jump, the distance you can cover increases by several feet equal to your Strength modifier.

Additional Fighting Style

At the 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

Superior Critical

Starting at the 15th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.

Survivor

At the 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.

Comparing the UA Brute Fighter 5e with the PHB Champion Fighter.

We’ll consider the zealot barb with a longsword instead of the battlemaster, and the same assumptions above except for the fighting style is different (due to barbs not natively having a fighting style):

The barbarian has no fighting style but has a rage bonus. He’ll do 1d8+1d6+13 for one attack per turn and 1d8+8 for the second attack. His one turn average damage is 33.5. The Brute fighter is doing 3d8+3d6+15 total, for an average of 39.

The Brute has an extra attack over the zealot. So he’s already behind even with the zealot’s bonus damage once a turn. And that’s not considering action surge or that the barb can only do that for 4 minutes a day at that level. If we think of the berserker barb, we get the following results:

The Brute’s development is the same as above, so an average of 39. the berserker is doing 3d8+24, for an average of 37.5. so the Brute’s still ahead, isn’t long rest limited and isn’t gaining levels of exhaustion to get three attacks per round.

Hitting on every attack moves the DPR heavily in favour of the Brute. If you hit every attack, 15% of a Champion’s hits are crits, while if you only hit on an 11+, then 30% of a Champion’s hits are crit.

Assumptions: 3rd level, Great Axe, +4 Str, average damage on hits (6.5 from Greataxe dice and 2.5 from Brute die), and no other sources of bonus damage except Brute/Champion 3rd level features (for simplicity)

If they hit 100% of the time, the Brute deals 13 damage 95% of the time, and 22 damage 5% of the time, for 13.45 damage on average; the Champion fighter 5e deals 10.5 damage 90% of the time, and 17 damage 10% of the time, for 11.15 damage. (Brute does ~20.6% more damage). Suppose they hit 50% of the time. In that case,

The Brute fighter 5e  deals 

• 13 damage 45% of the time 
• and 22 damage 5% of the time 
• for 6.95 damage on average

The Champion Fighter deals 

• 10.5 damage 40% of the time,
•  and 17 damage 10% of the time
• for 5.9 damage on average

(Brute does only ~18% more damage)

If they hit 10% of the time, the Brute deals 13 damage 5% of the time, and 22 damage 5% of the time, for 1.75 damage on average; the Champion deals 17 damage 10% of the time for 1.7 damage on average. (Brute deals only ~3% more damage)

Generally, the lower the chance to hit, the better the Champion will fare unless the opportunity to hit is less than the Champion’s crit range (in which case the Brute wins by a lot). The Champion also tends to benefit more from Advantage and be hurt more by Disadvantage. However, as you can see from the above numbers, the Brute still outpaces the Champion by a lot (just less than your numbers make it appear). That is partly because the Brute benefits more from hitting a Crit than the Champion, even at low levels. The Brute deals extra dice, and 5e crits favour dice over static bonuses. If the Champion can get extra dice from some source (such as from a Flame Tongue), it will narrow the gap further in low hit chance scenarios.

Brute fighter 5e is much better and more robust than Champion fighter in 5e dnd. Let us see the table.

Champian Fighter 5e vs Brute Fighter 5e

Who is stronger between UA Brute Fighter 5e vs. the Champion Fighter PHB

Let us see who is better among the two? Is it the Brute Fighter 5e or the Champion Fighter in dnd.

Who is Brute Fighter 5e?

Brutes are spartan warriors who rely on powerful attacks and their durability to overcome their enemies. Some brutes combine this physical might with tactical cunning. Others just hit things until those things stop hitting back.

Source: Unearthed Arcana 46 – Three Subclasses

Brute Force

Starting at the 3rd level, you’re able to strike with your weapons with ruthless force. Whenever you hit with a weapon that you’re proficient with and deal damage, the weapon’s damage increases by an amount based on your level in this class, as shown on the Brute Bonus Damage table.

Brutish Durability

Beginning at 7th level, your toughness allows you to shrug off assaults that would devastate others.

Whenever you make a saving throw, roll 1d6 and add the die to your saving throw total. If applying this bonus to a death saving throw increases the total to 20 or higher, you gain the benefits of rolling a 20 on the d20.

Additional Fighting Style

At the 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

Devastating Critical

Starting at the 15th level, when you score a critical hit with a weapon attack, you gain a bonus to that weapon’s damage roll equal to your level in this class.

Survivor

At the 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of your turns in combat, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 hit point). You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or more than half of your hit points left.

Who is a Champion Fighter 5e

The archetypal Champion fighter in dnd 5e focuses on the development of raw physical power honed to deadly perfection. Those who model themselves on this archetype combine rigorous training with physical excellence to deal devastating blows.

Source: Player’s Handbook

Improved Critical

Beginning when you choose this archetype at the 3rd level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Remarkable Athlete

Starting at the 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus. It is rounded up to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus.

In addition, when you make a long-running jump, the distance you can cover increases by several feet equal to your Strength modifier.

Additional Fighting Style

At the 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

Superior Critical

Starting at the 15th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.

Survivor

At the 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.

Comparing the UA Brute Fighter 5e with the PHB Champion Fighter.

We’ll consider the zealot barb with a longsword instead of the battlemaster, and the same assumptions above except for the fighting style is different (due to barbs not natively having a fighting style):

The barbarian has no fighting style but has a rage bonus. He’ll do 1d8+1d6+13 for one attack per turn and 1d8+8 for the second attack. His one turn average damage is 33.5. The Brute fighter is doing 3d8+3d6+15 total, for an average of 39.

The Brute has an extra attack over the zealot. So he’s already behind even with the zealot’s bonus damage once a turn. And that’s not considering action surge or that the barb can only do that for 4 minutes a day at that level. If we think of the berserker barb, we get the following results:

The Brute’s development is the same as above, so an average of 39. the berserker is doing 3d8+24, for an average of 37.5. so the Brute’s still ahead, isn’t long rest limited and isn’t gaining levels of exhaustion to get three attacks per round.

Hitting on every attack moves the DPR heavily in favour of the Brute. If you hit every attack, 15% of a Champion’s hits are crits, while if you only hit on an 11+, then 30% of a Champion’s hits are crit.

Assumptions: 3rd level, Great Axe, +4 Str, average damage on hits (6.5 from Greataxe dice and 2.5 from Brute die), and no other sources of bonus damage except Brute/Champion 3rd level features (for simplicity)

If they hit 100% of the time, the Brute deals 13 damage 95% of the time, and 22 damage 5% of the time, for 13.45 damage on average; the Champion fighter 5e deals 10.5 damage 90% of the time, and 17 damage 10% of the time, for 11.15 damage. (Brute does ~20.6% more damage). Suppose they hit 50% of the time. In that case,

The Brute fighter 5e  deals 

• 13 damage 45% of the time 
• and 22 damage 5% of the time 
• for 6.95 damage on average

The Champion Fighter deals 

• 10.5 damage 40% of the time,
•  and 17 damage 10% of the time
• for 5.9 damage on average

(Brute does only ~18% more damage)

If they hit 10% of the time, the Brute deals 13 damage 5% of the time, and 22 damage 5% of the time, for 1.75 damage on average; the Champion deals 17 damage 10% of the time for 1.7 damage on average. (Brute deals only ~3% more damage)

Generally, the lower the chance to hit, the better the Champion will fare unless the opportunity to hit is less than the Champion’s crit range (in which case the Brute wins by a lot). The Champion also tends to benefit more from Advantage and be hurt more by Disadvantage. However, as you can see from the above numbers, the Brute still outpaces the Champion by a lot (just less than your numbers make it appear). That is partly because the Brute benefits more from hitting a Crit than the Champion, even at low levels. The Brute deals extra dice, and 5e crits favour dice over static bonuses. If the Champion can get extra dice from some source (such as from a Flame Tongue), it will narrow the gap further in low hit chance scenarios.

Brute fighter 5e is much better and more robust than Champion fighter in 5e dnd. Let us see the table.

Champian Fighter 5e vs Brute Fighter 5e