[Top 5] D&D Best Damage Builds That Wreck Hard!

Updated:

15 Aug 2024

In RPG, do you always play Carry? Then you're in the right page!

Towering ice spikes, destructive strikes, and blazing fireballs, of all the roles in RPG, Damage Dealers are the most glorious to witness of them all.

So, it’s not a surprise that many game tables commonly have Damage-Dealers. Heck! Even the Cleric can be the most powerful damage-dealer!

Let’s get on with the builds!

Side Note: The builds presented here are usually maxed out at Level 20 already to obtain the ridiculous damage they do.

5. The Ultimate Assassin

by: Min/Max Munchking

If you want to play a badass elf archer that you always see in video games, then this one is definitely for you.

This build is really good for players who like ranged combat and the potential to deal a whopping 500 damage in one turn granting the player can regularly find situations that grants Advantage since most of the damage activates during Advantage.

The build presented here is specifically an elf (wood elf for Wisdom) so that the player can access the Elven Accuracy feat when a class turns Level 4. The goal here is to re-roll 1’s on an Advantage and possibly do a critical hit. Then, later, pick up Archery Fighting Style when you finally take levels in Fighter. You will also be taking levels in Rogue for Sneak Attack and Assassinate, and levels in Ranger for Gloomstalker and Hunter’s Quarry.

The character’s fighting style revolves around archery and hiding which is akin to guerilla warfare.

Strategy

When combat starts, your goal is to be the first one to act in order to activate the Rogue’s Assassinate feature which grants Advantage against all enemies who have not yet acted. If you can do this, you can potentially delete one enemy before combat even begins. So, to achieve this, you have to max out your Dexterity for initiative rolls, then take the Alert feat to add another +5 bonus to the roll, then choose the Gloomstalker subclass of the Ranger to access the Dread Ambusher feature which lets you add your Wisdom bonus to initiative rolls. Also, in case of emergencies where you really need more bonus to act first in combat, you can use the Ambush Maneuver of the Battle Master Fighter (a class you will take also).

Your bread-and-butter on every turn is to find a way to grant Advantage on yourself to fully maximize your damage rolls. And speaking of damage rolls, this will be the list of your sources of damage:

Sneak Attack
Hunter’s Mark
Any Combat Superiority Maneuver that adds to your damage rolls
The +10 to damage from the Sharpshooter feat
The two Extra Attacks granted by your Level 11 Fighter
Finally, Action Surge repeats the previous three attacks, making a total of six attacks in one turn.
Note: in cases where your attack misses by a small margin because of the attack penalty from Sharpshooter, you can opt to use the Precision Attack Maneuver instead to add your Superiority die to your attack roll.
Extra Note: As much as possible, learn the Lucky feat so that you can always re-roll failed attack rolls.

If you need more information about this build, such as class progressions, you can visit the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY-r2Z5gcME

4. Shadow Blade Assassin

by: Treantmonk’s Temple

While the first one was a wood elf, this one is its subterranean cousin, the dark elf.

The build is still an Assassin, but it will largely be played as a melee swordsman with the devastating burst damage of a Paladin’s Divine Smite. It will also multiclass into a Battle Master Fighter and 12 levels of College of Swords Bard to gain access to Magical Secrets in order to learn your key spell: Shadow Blade.

This build revolves around a single Illusion spell: Shadow Blade. The goal here is to cast this spell at its maximum level (which is a 7th-level spell slot) so that it can do 5d8 psychic damage per hit.

Strategy

You play this character as an instant “delete-r”. The most crucial round you will ever encounter is the very first round of combat since your Assassinate feature only works on enemies who have not acted yet. But unlike the previous assassin build who had many means of improving its initiative roll, this one doesn’t. So, you really have to rely on your maximum Dexterity score and, maybe, use the Ambush maneuver of your Battle Master.

Once you get the opportunity to act first, your priority is to delete one enemy immediately, preferably an important enemy since you have the potential to deal a whopping 1,000 damage in just one turn. If things don’t go your way, you can do an average of around 400 damage.

To deal that amount of damage, you must do the following:

Act first during combat and summon your Shadow Blade as a bonus action using a 7th-level spell slot.
Then target an enemy who hasn’t acted yet to activate Assassinate and aim for a critical hit (Note: You have the Elven Accuracy feat for better chances).
Burst your enemy with all your attacks. You have a total of 4: 2 attacks on your turn, and another 2 from Action Surge (Note: All four attacks have advantage due to Assassinate).
If, and only if, one of your attacks lands a critical hit, immediately activate Divine Smite using the highest spell slot possible to double the total dice that can be rolled.
Add-in as much extra damage as you can, like your Battle Master maneuvers and Slashing Flourish from your College of Swords Bard levels.
Note: On subsequent turns, your Bonus Action will be available for use. Reserve this for the additional attack granted by Great Weapon Master feat whenever you score a critical hit or kill an enemy. If those situations don’t come up, simply use it to attack with your secondary weapon for Two-Weapon Fighting.

If you need more information regarding this build, the link’s here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eJDWG0UlsM

3. Blade Booming Assassin

by: Moon Illusion

If the previous build wielded a Shadow Blade, this build uses a Booming Blade and focuses on thunder damage.

Unlike the previous two entries which can dish out absurd amounts of damage, this one can deal a decent amount. What makes this good is that it can regularly deal a decent amount since Booming Blade (which is the core spell) is a cantrip.

This build will be a Rogue Assassin build with just two levels of Tempest Cleric.

Since Booming Blade is the heart of this character, the easiest way to get it is to choose the Variant Human race and get the Magic Initiate feat in order to gain access to the Booming Blade cantrip. Note that the beautiful thing about Booming Blade is that it doesn’t use any ability for casting it since it simply relies on your attack roll – in this case, dexterity-based rapier strikes.

Strategy

Compared to a regular rogue that relies on Sneak Attack to do a turn-per-turn massive damage, this build deals much greater damage since Booming Blade deals an extra 3d8 thunder damage by Level 17, not including the 4d8 thunder damage it deals later when the target willingly moves.

This is why it’s advisable to take two levels of Tempest Cleric so that you can gain access to its Channel Divinity feature, specifically Destructive Wrath which lets you use the maximum amount.

Note: In the official rules, the damage type of Sneak Attack is unclear. So, you have to talk with your DM if Destructive Wrath can also max-out Sneak Attack damage if it’s used together with Booming Blade. But, if you do a little research online, Jeremy Crawford of Wizards of the Coast agrees that Sneak Attack damage type adjusts to the weapon it was delivered.

With 18 levels of Rogue, your Sneak Attack deals 9d6 of extra damage and, since you’re an Assassin, you gain access to the Death Strike feature by Level 17 which doubles the total roll of your damage granting you attacked a surprised target and the said target failed a saving throw. Assuming it does fail, here is the calculation:

1d8 from your rapier (2d8 if crit)
9d6 from your Sneak Attack (18d6 if crit)
3d8 from your Booming Blade (6d8 if crit)

So, as you can already see, your goal is to hold on to Destructive Wrath until you can fish a critical hit (note that Destructive Wrath is a free action to activate). When you correctly do this, you’ll be maxing out 18d6 of Sneak Attack and 6d8 of Booming Blade. That’s a whopping 108 + 48 = 156 thunder damage! Then double that from Death Strike! A whopping 312 thunder damage WITH JUST ONE SINGLE CANTRIP ATTACK.

This is much more consistent compared to the previous two!

Final Note: You can take the Warcaster feat so that you can use Booming Blade for opportunity attacks which gives you another chance to activate Destructive Wrath in case it crits.

For more information about this build, link’s here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_r2vD1qRZE

2. The Bladeslinger

by: Min/Max Munchking

For the first time, this entry is not an assassin. It’s a warrior-mage that uses Shadow Blade and Booming Blade together.

Compared to Assassin Rogues, mages can’t really match their absurd damage. But what it has is a utility of spells for all kinds of situations.

This build uses the variant human race so that you can immediately learn a feat at Level 1. The feat specifically chosen will be Warcaster because you need to have access to the cantrip Booming Blade during opportunity attacks since you will be in melee combat most of the time.

You will be leveling Shadow Sorcerer most of the time, but you’re getting six levels in College of Swords Bard and just one level in Hexblade Warlock.

Strategy

The way you play this character is you play it like a Fighter. You are not an assassin that can one-shot enemies and dash around in combat. You must be aware of your surroundings and situation because, although you deal more damage than a Fighter, your health is one of the lowest due to the fact that you are a Sorcerer.

Your goal here is to summon your Shadow Blade immediately using your highest spell slot so that it can potentially deal 5d8 psychic damage per hit. Then summon your Hound of Ill Omen to harass your intended target until it dies.

You will be using Booming Blade most of the time during combat and you can also combo it with Dissonant Whispers (preferably the target of your Hound) to activate the second part of your Booming Blade. You can also add your Warlock’s Hex spell to augment your damage total by 1d6.

Note: To increase survivability, be sure to learn the following defensive spells: Shield, Mirror Image, and Armor of Agathys.

If you need more details about this build, check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJfpo5phHeM&t=1308s

1. Most Damage EVER done in Dungeons and Dragons

by: Offbeat Outlaw

This one is quite unique compared to the previous four entries because, although the build focuses on one character’s damage output, it needs the supplementation of six other allies – each one casting one crucial spell to make this build really work.

This will be a very complex character.

Strategy

First, you must choose a variant human race for the free feat at Level 1. Choose the Metamagic Adept feat and learn Quickened Spell.

Then you’re going to multiclass to the following:

8 levels in Bladesinger Wizard for the higher spell slots, Booming Blade, and Extra Attack.
2 levels of Paladin to get Divine Smite.
3 levels of Gloomstalker Ranger for Dread Ambusher.
2 levels of Fighter for Action Surge.
5 levels of Hexblade Warlock for charisma-based basic attacks and Eldritch Smite.
Great Weapon Fighter feat

Before anything else, make sure also that you have the following allies with their following spells ready (Note: These allies must act before you in order for this to work):

A mage who can cast Haste on you before you take your first turn.
Another mage, like an Artificer, who can cast Elemental Weapon on you.
A cleric to cast Holy Weapon on you.
A mage who can cast Hold Monster to your intended target.
Another mage who can cast Enlarge on you.
Finally, a druid to cast Contagion on your target.

Note: Due to the nature of randomness, the chances of pulling this off is slim since your entire team really needs to act first before your one intended target can act on the first round of combat.

And then, these are the steps you need to pull off during the first round of combat:

1. All of you must roll higher in initiative against your intended target.
2. Let the mage with Haste cast it on you so that you will have one more attack.
3. Let the mage with Elemental Weapon cast it on you at the highest possible spell slot to add +3d4 to your damage roll .
4. Let the cleric cast Holy Weapon on you to add +2d8 to your damage roll.
5. Let the mage with Enlarge cast it on you to add +1d4 to your damage roll.
6. Let the mage with Hold Monster cast it on your target to paralyze it, converting all of your attacks into an automatic critical hit, doubling all your damage dice.
7. Let the druid cast Contagion (Flesh Rot) on your target so that the target gains Vulnerable doubling your total damage roll.
8. With Dread Ambusher, approach your paralyzed intended target and use all your three (3) attacks on it. The attacks must all use Booming Blade and the +10 to damage activation of your Great Weapon Master feat. They all must also activate Divine Smites at the highest possible spell slot.
9. Use Actions Surge and repeat the previous three attacks.
10. Finally, use the extra attack granted by Haste to repeat the same attack once more.

Note: I will not show you the damage calculation because it is (no joke) ridiculous. Try doing it yourself or watch the original video to see the math. But, to give you a hint, your single turn can deliver up to 2,000 total damage to a single creature!

Extra Note: I really don’t think any living monster in the Monster Manual can survive that damage.

If you’re really curious seeing the math, here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVgbTFtUQQ8

Closing

I hope you enjoyed and found this read useful. Also, be sure your Dungeon Master will be emotionally ready for you.

You know, in case.

You may also be interested in:

Email us about this article

Silvin Federic Maceren

Silvin had always wished that life was a fantasy. He does not want to be a lawyer protecting the innocent, he wants to be a paladin protecting the innocent. But alas, lawyers are the closest thing.

Gamer Since:

1996

Favorite Genre:

RPG

Currently Playing:

League of Legends

Top 3 Favorite Games:

League of Legends, Mass Effect, Diablo

More Top Stories