Quote Originally Posted by Hael View Post
So for instance, you mean something like if I was a bard and took conjure animals as my secret (which on paper greatly outdamages anything a rogue can do in an encounter) but I misuse it and get them all killed, or pick the wrong encounter to waste the resource on?

I’d agree with that sort of thing, except for the fact that my experience is that rogues (and other melee range martials) tend to have more things that muck up their potential dpr than other classes relatively speaking. Skirmishers in particular (monks/rogues) tend to have a lot of bad rounds where they can’t quite go in, b/c they could potentially risk death. Eg a rogue with low hitpoints coming out of hiding is always one surprise away from dying to a crappy kobold with a bow, and therefore might choose not to come out. Meanwhile, that SS artificer who is busy plinking away from range is doing constant reliable damage and is far less at risk of losing a round of contribution.
Rogues have a lot of EHP to toss around and skirmishing just doesn't work in 5e so I'd assume in this comparison that it's not attempted. You can use the mobility to bait enemies out of position but I wouldn't call that skirmishing.

Rogues and monks are not easy classes to play because you have to read encounters rather than your PC sheet but that doesn't make them worse off.

If you are getting them enemy to ready an action to shoot you as you dip out to attack then your are also providing a sizable amount of mitigation as well. You don't want a rogue to get into an position to deal damage without hindrance but doing so takes a lot of time(actions). Unlike say a fighter or or barbarian you can't edge them out temporality to buy time.

**Won't get much argument from me that the artificer is the best consistent damage dealer in the game in 99% of the challenges a party will see but they don't have spike threat. They tend to do a lot of damage because it's not worth avoiding but a rogue hanging around makes your HP threshold before retreating is going to be higher. You can't bait out their damage and block it. You just have to try to prevent them from getting advantage and hope.**