D&D 5E Fighter: Feat / ability score decisions.

[ShogunAssassin]

My level 5 V human noble knight battle master fighter has taken great weapon master & has a 18 str, 16 con

We have finished LMOP & now going into a homebrew OOTA. Super stoked.

I was hoping for input into ideas about where to take my char now?

I was going for mounted combatant but now we are in the underdark i'm on the fence about this feat (unless I tame a giant spider!)

So now I'm deciding either taking

- +2 str
- +2 con
- Resilient (wisdom) for the save (I have 12 wis)
- Martial Adept (would be useful to have another dice and more maneuvers
- Alert

I'm questing for a families greatsword so thats why I dont want to take polearm.

 

[pdegan2814]

My level 5 V human noble knight battle master fighter has taken great weapon master & has a 18 str, 16 con

We have finished LMOP & now going into a homebrew OOTA. Super stoked.

I was hoping for input into ideas about where to take my char now?

I was going for mounted combatant but now we are in the underdark i'm on the fence about this feat (unless I tame a giant spider!)

So now I'm deciding either taking

- +2 str
- +2 con
- Resilient (wisdom) for the save (I have 12 wis)
- Martial Adept (would be useful to have another dice and more maneuvers
- Alert

I'm questing for a families greatsword so thats why I dont want to take polearm.

For starters, what are your current stats? If you're level 5 and a variant Human, that means you got a feat at Level 1, and an ASI/feat at Level 4, yes? What'd you take at Level 4? Was that to boost the Str to 18?

I would say at Level 6 just go ahead and max your Str out to 20, you can't go wrong there. You're gonna want to do that at some point anyway. Martial Adept is probably not a great pick unless you REALLY want lots of maneuver options. By the time you hit Level 15 you'll have 9 maneuvers(and you'll be able to swap out ones you end up not using) and 6 dice that recharge every short rest. Martial Adept gives you just 2 more maneuvers and 1 more die. I'm betting there are stronger choices for your feat slots. Resilient(Wis) isn't a bad choice, especially if you're looking to even out some odd-numbered stats.

 

[Weathercock]

+2 Str is going to basically be a given at some point, but you have a lot of leeway as for when you get it, what with being a Fighter. It is worth noting, however, that your power attack with GWF benefits hugely from every bit of accuracy you can get, wherever you can get it. Every point of strength you get is basically working double-duty just because of the value of that early increase in accuracy mod. If you didn't want to go with that though, feats I'd recommend:

Alert: Easily one of the best feats out there, +5 initiative is no joke. Although a GW fighter might not need it quite as much as other classes, especially casters, it's still great.
Sentinel: The instant tank feat, this makes you sticky as all hell, and gives you more opportunities to get more attacks in with that nice and meaty power attack of yours. Better for Paladins and Barbarians, who get more damage out of fewer attacks, but still really nice to have on a Fighter.
Lucky: Not particularly characterful, but incredibly powerful.

I wouldn't recommend Martial Adept, as the benefit isn't really big enough to justify the cost, especially since as a GW fighter, the only maneauver you really need is Precision Attack for your power attacks, everything else is just icing.
Resilient is an okay ability, but if you already have 12 Wis, you're going to end up with a wasted stat point.

 

[ShogunAssassin]

Great, this is exactly the conversation I was hoping for. Great suggestions and giving me a lot to think about

More info on my char:

18,10,16,9,12,10 are my stats

I have GWF & GWM

The party is . Paladin , barbarian, cleric, warlock, ranger & myself

I feel the defender feat would be taken by the pally(21AC) though I really like the flavour and would get alot of use of this feat.

I was thinking take resilient (wis) at level 6 and then take a +1 wis +1 int at level 8 to round out my char & help with skills and saves. (I wanted to take resilient and the +1s on two improvements close together so I don't have many levels with uneven scores. Otherwise i would take this at 12 & 14)

The reason I wanted Martial Adept is the extra die and to have alot of options , taking things like commanding strike and interesting situational techniques but I feel this feat is underpowered.

Im leaning towards:

Level 6: +2 Str
Level 8: Alert, Lucky, Martial adept, Tough or Mage Slayer
Level 12: Resilient (wis)
Level 14: +1 Wis +1 Int
Level 16: Mounted Combatant
Level 19: +2 con or one of the unchoosen feats (not to worried as I might not live this long)

 

[pdegan2814]

Yeah, putting the pair of Resilient(Wis) and Wis+1/Int+1 in there at some point is probably a good idea. Failing a Wisdom save can SUCK. Alert should definitely be on your shortlist, as much for the surprise prevention as for the Initiative boost.

 

[Ahrimon]

I'm a big fan of heavy armor mastery. -3 damage from (almost) every hit will add up quickly. Then at level 8 you can take the ASI and round your Str up to 20 and shore up that 9 to a 10.

 

[Grimace59]

I'm in the same boat with my level 4 battlemaster fighter and been ttying decide between alert and heavy armor master since I want to play that tank character. Leaning more towards the heavy armor myself.

 

[pdegan2814]

I'm in the same boat with my level 4 battlemaster fighter and been ttying decide between alert and heavy armor master since I want to play that tank character. Leaning more towards the heavy armor myself.

Also keep in mind that several of the Battlemaster's maneuvers involve the target making a saving throw, with either your Strength or Dexterity used to determine the DC. In your case I'm assuming Strength, so you'll want to max that out fairly quickly, possibly prioritizing it over feat selection.

 

[Grimace59]

I ended up personally taking the heavy armor master at lvl 4. Got my strength up to 18, and will help me out with my bad rolls this entire campaign I'm in. The Battle Master, my Maneuvers are Parry, Rally, Riposte which does have the strength save checks as of yet. My focus was survival since I seem to average rolls of 5/6 with my d20 when attacking, the rest of my party has also adopted my bad rolling.

Being a Noob to D&D, and reading info from other people I would Alert or Heavy Armor Master at lvl8.