D&D 5E Is a fighter with 2h weapons worth it?

[Horwath]

with feats best 1H+shield combo is quarterstaff(lol) because of Polearm master(spear should also be on that list IMO).
You get extra attack for 1d4+str+2(dueling) and can get AoO most of the time due to PaM feat.

but 2Handed wins generally because of GWM and PaM combo. extra attack with extra +10 damage.

+2 AC only really pays off if you already have very high AC and oponents have low attack bonuses.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

In isolation, Duelist Style is a much bigger boost than Great Weapon Fighting. Duelist style mathematically puts a d8 on par with a d12 while keeping the shield bonus to AC. Great Weapon Fighting adds .75 to a d10 roll, .83 to a d12 roll, and 1.33 to 2d6. All are less than the +2 from Duelist.

The above is only in isolation. Using a 2hd weapon opens up some powerful feats, and if you are going Battlemaster the reroll from Great Weapon master will also apply to the extra damage from maneuvers.

I'd say Duelist Style is best for generic purposes, but Great Weapon Fighting is better if you're building towards some specific strategy.

 

[Xeviat]

At low levels, a TWFing Fighter compares very well to a THFing Fighter as long as Great Weapon Master isn't involved. Past 6th level, though, the TWFing Fighter starts to fall behind if magic weapons aren't readily available, and even then only with certain ones like Flametongues and other ones with +damage.

It's difficult to compare them to a Shield fighter. TWFing plus the Dual Weapon feat will be ahead in damage but behind in AC, and DWFing doesn't really add anything until you reach Dex20 anyway.