Horde Breaker (Melee)

See also: Horde Breaker (Ranged)

Horde Breaker (Melee) is a Hunter Ranger class action. It allows them to deal damage to an additional nearby target.

Description

Target two creatures standing close to each other. Attack the first creature and get a free shot at the second.

Properties

Cost

 Action

Damage:

Normal weapon damage

Details

 Melee weapon attack roll

 Range: Normal weapon range

 AoE: 2 m / 7 ft (Radius)

 Recharge: Per turn

Grants:

•  Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Melee)
•  Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Ranged)

Condition: Horde Breaker

 Horde Breaker

Duration: 1 turn

• Can attack a second creature close to its first target.

Condition: Horde Breaker (Target)

 Horde Breaker

Duration: 1 turn

• Creature is open to a follow-up attack.

How to learn

Classes:

• Class level 3: Hunter

Notes

• This action triggers  Extra Attack and similar features.
• Every creature within 2 m / 7 ft of the target receives the  Horde Breaker condition, even if the attack misses, marking them as eligible targets for the follow-up attack. A Hunter can then use a Horde Breaker Follow-Up to make an attack against any of these creatures as a Free Action.
• The follow-up attack can be either a  Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Melee) or a  Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Ranged), even if the initial attack used a different weapon type. Using either of the follow-ups ends the condition on other creatures.
• To make use of Horde Breaker more regularly, a Ranger can use features which reposition enemies closer to each other without costing a whole  Action:
  •  Shove
  • Weapon actions and spells like  Sorrowful Lash,  Pushing Attack (Titanstring Bow), and  Absolute Power
  • Class features like  Pushing Attack (Melee),  Mobile Flourish (Melee),  Flurry of Blows: Push, and  Boot of the Giants

Bugs

• Some features and equipment that would normally affect the initial Horde Breaker target might instead trigger on a random creature within the Horde Breaker AoE. The game appears to use some kind of alphabetical order to arrange targets in the Horde Breaker AoE and decide who will be affected. This is known to happen with  Sneak Attack,  Ability Drain,  Divine Strike: Weapon, and  Luck of the Far Realms.
• As Horde Breaker adds the  Horde Breaker condition to targets, equipment requiring the application of a condition will always be activated. This is the case for the  Diadem of Arcane Synergy and  Coldbrim Hat. The  Boots of Stormy Clamour trigger twice, and can trigger even more times if the attack activates certain other features such as  Mortal Reminder and  Radiant Shockwave. As described above, the Boots of Stormy Clamour and Coldbrim Hat can add conditions to unexpected targets within the Horde Breaker AoE.
• Despite seeming like a single-target attack, Horde Breaker actually rolls "invisible attacks" (i.e. not displayed in the combat log) against all enemies in the AoE, and the game then evaluates their results (i.e. hit, miss, or critical hit). Most of the time, these attack rolls do nothing, as most game abilities require damage to trigger secondary effects. However, there are some features and equipment that do not require damage to be activated – Horde Breaker will trigger these effects on all targets within its area of effect.
  • Weapons forcing enemies to roll saving throws to avoid receiving a condition when hit by Horde Breaker's invisible attack:

    –  Vision of the Absolute ( Blinded)

    –  Bow of the Banshee ( Frightened)

    –  Sussur Greatsword ( Silenced)

    –  Staff of the Ram ( Stunned, limited to 1 enemy/turn)

    –  Twisted Oak Crook ( Entangled)

    –  The Baneful ( Bane, if bound)

    • As opposed to the above weapons, a Horde Breaker attack using  The Watcher's Guide adds  True Strike to all enemies which the invisible attack misses.
    • This behaviour may be undesirable, for example, the  Unseen Menace loses  Invisible Weapon, thus losing advantage on attack rolls, if an invisible attack misses. Since more attack rolls are made, the chance of losing this condition is greater than when Horde Breaker is not used.
  • Some weapons are capable of dealing actual damage to multiple characters through invisible attacks when using Horde Breaker, additionally causing any damaged character to be affected by rider effects, such as coatings:
    •  Rat Bat,  Shortsword of First Blood, and weapons using the  Prepare action affect all targets in the AoE (the last two do not work in Honour Mode).
    •  Duellist's Prerogative hits up to two extra targets via the Withering Cut reaction.
    • Weapons using the  Tenacity reaction can affect one additional target on a miss.
    •  Valiant Damage can damage one additional target, and  Divine Smite can damage multiple targets with the same attack (by expending multiple spell slots). These features can be used with any weapon, or they can be combined with the weapons above.
  • There are also some non-damaging features capable of triggering once per target in the Horde Breaker AoE, depending on the result of the invisible attack roll:
    • On any result:  Bladesong Healing Charge,  Aspect of the Beast: Wolverine,  Mobile: Evade Opportunity Attack, and  Fancy Footwork
    • On hit:  Perilous Stakes,  Inquisitor's Might ( Daze only), and  Hexed Weapon (as well as the effects of  Hexblade's Curse)
    • On critical:  Mortal Reminder and  Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack
• Due to a conditional requirement check bug, Horde Breaker may not be usable on the turn immediately following a turn in which it was used.