Concepts → Sharpshooter break-even

Sharpshooter — when does `-5/+10` beat the to-hit penalty on ranged attacks?

The ranged twin of Great Weapon Master. Same trade — eat a −5 to attack for +10 to damage — but the closed-form rule shifts when you're using a Crossbow Expert / Hand Crossbow build, when you're shooting at long range, and when you're using Bracers of Archery. The break-even AC follows almost the same pattern as GWM, with one wrinkle worth knowing.

The math (same as GWM, ranged version)

Damage-per-round without Sharpshooter:

DPR_without = hit_chance(A, B) · E[base_damage]

With Sharpshooter (or against a long-range / heavily-obscured target where you'd be at disadvantage anyway):

DPR_with = hit_chance(A + 5, B) · (E[base_damage] + 10)

Break-even at DPR_with = DPR_without gives the same structural rule as GWM — just shifted by a couple of points because Longbow / Heavy Crossbow base damage is lower than Greataxe / Greatsword.

The break-even table

Numbers below assume a Longbow (1d8+DEX) for the base damage. A Heavy Crossbow (1d10+DEX) shifts the table up by ~1 AC point in Sharpshooter's favour; a Hand Crossbow (1d6+DEX) shifts it down by ~1.

Attack bonus (`+B`)	DEX mod	E[base damage]	Break-even AC	Below this AC, SS wins
`+5`	`+3`	`7.5` (1d8+3)	`≈ 12`	AC ≤ 11 — most goblins, kobolds, low-tier humanoids
`+7`	`+4`	`8.5` (1d8+4)	`≈ 14`	AC ≤ 13 — most monsters in the early-tier MM
`+9`	`+5`	`9.5` (1d8+5)	`≈ 16`	AC ≤ 15 — covers most armoured humanoids
`+11`	`+5` + magic weapon +1	`10.5` (1d8+6)	`≈ 18`	AC ≤ 17 — covers nearly everything except plate

The pattern: break-even AC ≈ attack-bonus + 7 for a Longbow build. That's one point lower than the Great Weapon Master rule because the lower base-damage roll means the flat +10 has more relative impact on every successful hit.

The damage rolls themselves

Side-by-side: a +5 DEX Longbow attack (left) vs the Sharpshooter-boosted version (right). Same shape, mean shifted right by 10. Click any percentage to see the exact rational.

1d8+5

min 6 max 13

6 12.50%
7 12.50%
8 12.50%
9 12.50%
10 12.50%
11 12.50%
12 12.50%
13 12.50%

1d8+15

min 16 max 23

16 12.50%
17 12.50%
18 12.50%
19 12.50%
20 12.50%
21 12.50%
22 12.50%
23 12.50%

Variance stays at (8² − 1)/12 = 63/12 = 21/4 for both — flat modifiers don't shift spread. The break-even AC is determined entirely by hit-chance × mean trade.

The Crossbow Expert wrinkle

The most common Sharpshooter pairing is with Crossbow Expert and a Hand Crossbow. CBE gives you a bonus-action attack with a Hand Crossbow when you Attack-action with one. So a CBE+SS Fighter at level 5 (Extra Attack) gets three attacks per round at 1d6+DEX+10 each.

The break-even math is per-attack, not per-round — but because every CBE+SS attack is 1d6+5 base (mean 8.5) instead of 1d8+5 base (mean 9.5), the table shifts down by ~1: break-even AC ≈ attack-bonus + 6 for a CBE+SS build at +9 = AC 15, not 16.

The aggregate effect is famously lopsided: three attacks at 1d6+15 against AC 15 produces enormous DPR, which is why CBE+SS Fighter has been the default 5e ranged optimisation answer for a decade.

The long-range wrinkle

Sharpshooter's other clause: ignores half-cover and three-quarters cover, and ignores the disadvantage from long-range shots. The first two are situational; the third is straight-up free — whenever the GM puts the target past your normal range, Sharpshooter converts the disadvantage to no-penalty.

Disadvantage is much worse than a flat −5: it multiplies the miss probability by itself. See advantage and disadvantage for the curve. Against AC 15 with a +9 attack bonus, disadvantage drops your hit chance from 15/20 to (15/20)² = 56.25% — a ~19-point swing. The −5 that Sharpshooter charges you to ignore that disadvantage is a 25-point swing in the other direction. Net: Sharpshooter is worth turning on at long range almost regardless of AC, even against targets where you'd otherwise leave it off.

Try it yourself

↦ /vs/1d8+5/1d8+15 — Longbow base vs Sharpshooter, +5 DEX ↦ /strike/1d8+15 — Sharpshooter Longbow distribution ↦ /strike/1d8+5 — base Longbow distribution

Drag the HP slider in the /vs view above. Below the Sharpshooter mean (15.5), the +10 dominates; well above, the −5 to-hit starts mattering more — same threshold-vs-tail logic as kill probability applied per-shot.