- To Hit : H (Your to-hit as given by charbuilder)
- Level : L (Your Level)
- Bow Dice: B
- Quarry: U
- CritChance: C
- CritDamage: D
- Static Modifier: S
HitChance (T) = 1-((L+14-H-1)/20)-C
Odds of Quarry (Q) = 1-( (1-T)^2 ) * U + 1-( (1-C)^2)*max(U)
Average Damage = ( T*(B+S) + C*(max(B)+S+D) )*2 + Q
In english: Calculating twin-strike without quarry is trivial, you simply apply the average damage calculation as presented here and then calculate the odds of hitting at least once and multiply that through the quarry. I will assume that you are competent to add misc bonuses into your hit modifier and your static modifier.
In terms of optimization, for double-attackers, getting accuracy and the staticMod as high as possible is key. Hunter's quarry is "meh" in comparison.
Edit
Running the numbers provided from your comment with the following:
If it's not to much to ask... what would the average damage for Twin Strike be for: Ranger, Level 26, To-hit +32, Weapon Ench +5, Weapon Focus Feat giving +3 damage, hit chance 10% (epic tier feat making crits 19-20), Quarry 3d8, and +2 to damage (due to Bracers giving +2 item bonus to melee attacks). He's using 2 bastard swords (d10 damage). –
We start by listing assumptions and requirements.
Requirement: Does a twin-bastard sword ranger do excessive damage?
Assumption: Excessive damage will be defined as being able to drop a standard monster in less than two rounds, as per the DPR king thread.
Assumption: PP and ED play a significant role in this calculation. Therefore we must calculate damage with and without an optimal PP and ED.
Assumption: An optimal PP is one that is sky blue here as is ED
Assumption: Weapon choice has a significant impact, therefore we must also perform these calculations with and without magical weapon.
Assumption: Stated +32 to hit resolves into an 18 strength at level 1 pre-racial or ED. Therefore, I will assume a +2 due to ED, and not apply racial cheese.
Assumption: Feat choice has a significant impact, therefore I will assess the damage with and without the paragon-tier prime * feats. I will not perform further calculations as to frostcheese or other damage strategies.
Therefore:
Build 1, semi-competent damage: Half-orc, two-blade ranger, Heavy weapon expertise, bastard sword prof, Stormwarden PP, Indominable Champion ED (Boring as *, but whatever), Lethal Hunter, Heavy Blade Mastery, Called Shot, Prime Punisher, Slashing Storm, Weapon Focus (Heavy Blade), Iron Armbands of Power (Heroic Tier?)
There are so many more optimizations possible, but this is a good "Not too glassy" option leaving many feat, items, and so-forth.
Character builder produces the following attack: +32 v. AC // 2d19+10 damage,+3d8 quarry, +5 to damage rolls due to called shot, prime punisher, +1 to accuracy due to prime shot.
The complete expression to be evaluated is, therefore:
(32 accuracy, AC of 26+14, extra -1 due to prime shot)
Base damage, before quarry. (1-(26+14-32-1-1)/20-.1)*(5.5*2+10+5)*2+.1*(10*2+10+5+3.5*5)*2 = 41.700
Rounds to drop 1 enemy, before quarry = 5.5 = absolutely pathetic for a striker. Minimum recommended striker rounds = 4
Quarry damage, calculated correct follows the following pattern: Odds of hitting the first time * quarry + odds of critting the first time * quarry + (odds of hitting the second time * odds of missing first time) * quarry + (odds of critting the second time - odds of missing the first time) * quarry.
Odds of hitting: (1-(26+14-32-1-1)/20-.1)
60%
Odds of critting: 10%
Odds of missing: (26+14-32-1-1)/20)=30%
Total odds =1
.6*4.5*3+.1*8*3+.6*.3*4.5*3+.1*.3*8*3=13.65 expected quarry damage from one twin strike
Total DPR:
13.65+41.700=55.130
(8*26+24)/55.130=4.208
Not quite in minimum striker level damage.
Extra DPR 2*Dex (stormwarden, assuming both 11 and 16 come into play) + Wis (slashing storm)= +8+8+2 = +18
55.130+18=73.130
(8*26+24)/73.130=3.172
Just about right for a semi-optimized ranger at-will.
Dropping prime punisher and called shot gets twin-strike DPR to: 32.6, 13.257 quarry damage
32.6+13.257+18 = 63.857, 3.633 rounds, just right.
Dropping stormwarden:
32.6+13.257+2 = 47.857, 4.847 rounds, unacceptable.
Therefore, based on the parameters you described, the ranger's damage probably fits into the low end of the "striker damage" window or below and should be allowed into your game.
Flip back to pages 54 and 55 of the Starter Set's adventure booklet, at the beginning of Appendix B: Monsters. This section explains how to read the monster's stats. I want to bring your attention in particular to the text in the heading Actions (p. 55, bolded phrase my emphasis):
Hit. Any damage or other effects that occur as a result of an attack hitting a target are described here. As DM, you have the option of taking average damage or rolling the damage; for this reason, both the average damage and the die expression are presented.
So "Hit 13 (2d8 + 4)" tells you what happens after you've already made a to-hit roll and it landed: an average of 13 damage, which is the average of 2d8 + 4 damage. You can either just deal 13 damage, or you can roll for it (but not both). The average is the same, so it's up to you. Since taking the average for damage isn't an option for players, no average is listed beside die expression for damage on character sheets and they always roll for it.
The "+X to hit" is what you add to the d20 roll to hit a target AC.
Putting this all together, you can interpret the notation on the character sheet too: "+4, 2d6 + 2 slashing" means that the attack roll gets +4 to hit, and (if it hits) does 2d6+2 slashing damage.
Best Answer
Lets break this down even more just to be clear. Here is an example:
Goblin has 7 Hit Points, 15 AC. Character swings a short sword which they are proficient with. Short sword has the finesse property, so the character can choose between Strength or Dexterity. Let's say they choose strength and a +1 STR MOD.
Character rolls for attack -- rolls D20 to hit against the Goblin's Armor Class and succeeds with a roll of 14 + 1 STR MOD + 2 PROFICIENCY BONUS = 17 to hit (which is >= 15).
Character rolls damage for short sword rolls a D6 and gets 3 + 1 STR MOD = 4 damage. Damage doesn't include proficiency. The modifier is the smaller derived from the larger ability score.
Goblin calculates remaining HP. 7 - 4 = 3 HP left for the Goblin.
The goblin flees. Finds a place to take a short rest of 1 hour (or more) and chooses to roll its hit dice to heal some of that damage...