The most common combat action to take is the Attack combat action, whether you are swinging a sword, firing an arrow from a bow, or brawling with your fists. With this action, you make one melee or ranged attack.
When making an attack roll you follow these steps:
- Target: Choose a creature, an object, or a location within range.
- Modifiers: Apply bonuses or penalties from proficiency, ability modifiers, spells, cover, special abilities, and other effects to the attack roll.
- Roll: Roll a d20 and add your modifiers. If the roll is equals to or exceeds the target's Armor Class (AC), the attack hits. On a hit, you roll damage, unless the particular attack has rules that specify otherwise. Some attacks cause special effects in addition to or instead of damage.