All D&D 5e Weapons RANKED (by 9,000 Players)

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I've always liked the idea of giving the whip the statistics of the "Thorn Whip" cantrip, just with reduced range and only 5ft pull.

Daggers could have a bonus when used in a grapple or against a grappled target. Like reducing the target's AC or criting on 19. Because they were used to bypass armour usually by wrestling the armoured person and working the dagger into a gap.

Darts are already unique, people just don't know about it. Darts are ranged weapons, meaning they can be affected by Sharpshooter and Archery, while also being a thrown weapon, which means they can be affected by the Thrown Weapon Fighting Style. It also has finesse, which means it can be used with Strength instead of Dexterity. A bunch of unique interactions. Darts are clearly underrated

I disagree with the people's views of the humble dart! The entire point (get it) of the dart is to be cheap! You can buy 20 darts for the price of 1 measly little dagger! I can arm a mob with darts, I can only arm steve with a dagger.

My favorite dagger feature is one I call "extra light." It allows you to use the dagger for a 2 weapon fighting bonus action even if the weapon you used for your first attack wasn't light.

There's zero reason to use different stats for a katana, the longsword stats make perfect sense. I agree that a katana could be a finesse weapon, but the longsword historically would be equally valid as a finesse weapon.

I think that the Pike should be able to reach 15’ because these things are effing massive. They clock in at a 18’ length minimum. Make them cool. I would like to do some stuff myself on some of these weapons. Love your work.

There’s a simple fix for the lance: instead of being a one-handed weapon that needs two hands when not mounted, make it a two-handed weapon that only needs one hand while mounted. Aside from the existing rule being oddly written, this changes what feats apply. You lose dual-wielding but gain both greatweapon master, which gives a power attack option (for devastating charges) and a cleave effect (for plowing through crowds)

The sickle shouldn't be removed as it is a great "found weapon" along with hand axes and clubs etc. If you want a violent mob of villagers then it is also a good weapon pick. It is also forms the basis of more complex weapons like the Kusaragima (sickle and weighted chain).

I would reason that the club got ranked higher than the light hammer because this ranking is not about power level, it's just about if we would change it and i think it's plausible that a lot of people think the club is perfectly fine as it is, being basically the most simple weapon there is (viable or not), and same thing with the handaxe

A Battle Master Fighter with a Whip means you can do all your Maneuvers with Reach and still wear a shield and be entirely Dex based. Take the Sentinel feat plus the Brace Maneuver with Reach and you will likely have the option to do an AoO every round while not giving up a shield.

The maul is at 21? The maul is, as we speak, the strongest weapon in the game. Yes it has 2d6 like the greatsword, but it's objectively better. There are creatures that specifically resist slashing damage, but this doesn't exist for bludgeoning. On top of that, the crusher feat is also better then the slasher, though that is a bit more subjective.

Just my take on certain weapons in the list: 36 ) Whip ~ Having been in the BDSM community, I can attest that the /damage/ for the whip is appropriate, but there are other aspects which are commonly overlooked. Foremost among these is the ability to inflict pain (rather than damage), which would make it seriously effective against spellcasters trying to maintain concentration on a spell. It would also be highly effective in 'subdual damage' (perhaps adding a 1d6 of such to the usual damage roll) against opponents who are unarmored or lightly armored. And let's not forget just how many cool tricks Indiana Jones taught us in utilizing the insane versatility of whips. 35 ) Flail ~ The 'classic' fantasy flail (a spiked ball on a length of chain) never actually existed - actual flails were more like a nunchuku on steroids; a club attached to the end of a short staff, originally used as a farming tool for threshing grains. The fantasy flail and the classic mobster length of chain are more closely related to the manriki-gusari, which was a length of lighter chain (lengths varied, but typically around 5') with heavier weights on the ends. Though it could be used as a bludgeoning weapon (with reach, in 5e parlance) it's primary purpose is to restrain an opponent's more traditional weapon (variation of grappling) and/or attempt to disarm them. 33 ) Trident ~ I would argue that a trident is better treated as multiple daggers (though lacking Finesse) - 2d4 base damage, 3d4 damage as 2-handed melee. The construction makes it wholly impractical for 'catching' an opponent's weapon, though I could see it having an inherent +1 attack bonus (increasing to +2 vs Small opponents and +3 vs Tiny ones). 24 ) Scimitar ~ No, it is NOT mechanically identical to the Short Sword: the Scimitar (or Cutlass) is a slashing weapon while the Short Sword is a piercing weapon. Remember that each damage type has its own separate Resistance (some creatures like Skeletons are/should be harder to damage with Piercing weapons, though this confers no benefits against Slashing weapons - by some metrics, Skeletons should be more susceptible to Bludgeoning damage) and quite a number of Feats specifically apply bonuses to weapons of certain damage types. On a related note, there is one specific category of weapon which is wholly absent from D&D 5e... There are Strength-based weapons and Dexterity-based (Finesse) weapons of every damage type (slashing/piercing/bludgeoning) and general power (d4, d6, d8) /EXCEPT/ for a d8 Slashing Finesse weapon - this is where Falchions, Sabers, Katanas, and the like stand apart from both the Rapier (d8 Piercing Finesse) and Longsword (d8 Slashing Strength). (There /technically/ isn't a d8 Bludgeoning Finesse weapon either, though I would argue that the humble Flail is ideally suited for this role. It weighs less than the Scimitar [3lb, Finesse, Light] and the chain portion most certainly makes dexterous control the dominant aspect for effective use.)

So, for the Longsword-Katana matter, Katanas are actually heavier in the hand (similar actual weight) than their longsword counterparts. They tend to be slightly shorter in comparison with a further forward center of balance, leading to that feeling. So, hear me out, longsword gets the finesse property, katana does not. Especially since the dexterous elfs get proficiency with longswords as a trait. The way these weapons are used in real life reflects this as well. For erveryone wanting that ninja vibe, the swords that most people think of are actually shorter. Similar in length to an arming sword, which dnd doesn't have. Just just make them both 1d8, with slashing damage. You could easily justify it as either of these being finesse. Perhaps even light for that sick dual wielding aesthetic. These two can be marshal weapons and I would simply make the shorts word a simple weapon. I would also consider throwing the scimitar into the arming sword category.

Really surprised with the dart hate. It's a unique weapon in that it's the only ranged weapon with the thrown property, this allows it to make use of the Archery and Thrown Weapon fighting styles on top of Sharpshooter, as well as the Battle master's Quick Toss maneuver. A straight up underutilized weapon in my opinion

You mentioned wanting a sword with the ability to trip opponents, so I'm surprised you didn't put it in this list. The historically accurate Chinese Hook Sword has been a weapon available in D&D since long before 5e. The weapons are the one thing that basically don't change between editions so it should be fair game. -A Whip is less of a weapon than a multipurpose utility item. Indiana Jonesing your way over chasms and pits never gets old. -"A sickle is just a dagger you can't throw" You can throw any weapon in D&D. Sometimes even NPCs too. Sometimes you can wield an NPC as a weapon while already in flight towards your enemy. If anything a sickle as a weapon is designed to cut off your opponents weapon hand at the wrist when they attack you. -A blowgun has only one purpose. It's not a weapon, it's a delivery system for poison. -A sling is by far the worst weapon on this list. It's just stats slapped on throwing a pebble. If slings used ammunition that could do actual damage I'd consider them more than an annoyance. -Trying to claim the dagger needs to be taken out of D&D is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard concerning this game. It's basically the only actual weapon all spellcasters can use. Unless you count a staff, which I don't because you still require a free hand to cast. Not to mention the usefulness of the dagger when farming for free spell components. Granted "One D&D" is introducing an Arcane Focus that replaces all but the most expensive spell components, so maybe that last bit isn't such a selling point anymore.

Imo, I think the biggest failings of the Maul, Warhammer, etc (less loved versions of the short/long/great swords, with different damage types) is that they just don't have the magical weapon options. Swords just get so much more love. For example, on DDB the maul has 10 magic variants, including +1, +2 etc, only one of which is named and specific to the maul. The battleaxe does better with 16, 4 of which are specific to Battleaxes. The greatsword has 37, 7 of which are named. Most of that difference are the variants of magic items that specifically say "Weapon (any sword), [rarity]" I'd so much rather that they'd move towards having classes of weapons like they do for armor. There'd be a featherweight/light/medium/heavy ammunition (d4-d10's) weapons, and featherweight/light/versatile/heavy melee (d4-d12's). Slap on a trait like thrown, thrown-only, finesse, stealth, reach, tripping, silvered, Gun (which ups damage, but adds misfire and ammo cost) etc. to build your common weapon. And let the boons of magic weapons apply to all the relevant weapons. It would mean 4 ranged piercing weapons and 12 melee weapons to cover all the flavors that WotC can't possibly do with the current system. It'd be nice to have a structure to make the weapons we want instead of needing to homebrew things like a moon-touched maul, a katana being a slashing rapier, and adding features to make forgettable weapons usable.

So I have some notes about the Longbow. The English Longbow which is what most people think of was often over six feet long. That is wildly impractical for adventuring life - which makes sense! The longbow was a military weapon. In my games, with archers, I give them the option of a "horsebow" aka, a recurve composite bow. These can achieve the same or better ranges, accuracy, and penetration power that english longbows can achieve, but are often much smaller, and able to be used while mounted (hence "horsebow"). They achieve the same or better properties by putting in curves, and compositing materials to create different tensions. (IE, bone and wood. Bone is stiffer than wood, while wood lets the bow bend without breaking.) Recurve composite bows have been used everywhere, especially in places lower in wood growth, like the Mongolian Steppe, and enable certain societal structures, such as nomadic movement.

Congratulations to you and Grace on getting married. My daughter and I enjoy watching your videos. She is very pleased by this turn of events. On a weapons note, my wife likes to poi. We invented a rope dart mechanic to incorporate her love of poi into the game. It has range 5 or 10 and an opportunity to do damage as someone enters the spot next to her or completely keep them back. Rolls 18+ start these mechanics and she had to trade a magic potion to be taught these techniques at level 2 by a master. I like the thought of adding your tripping idea into it as well. The damage is currently 1d4 as a rogue but I plan on upping it once she "finds" a better blade to attach or uses it and gets "better".