The Best Feats for Fighters: D&D 5e Martial Training 🗡🏹

[@ShardPF2e]

Some subclass specific recommendations :) I like Fey Touched on an Arcane Archer, for Hex or Hunter's Mark (they don't get to use their abilities with Hand Crossbows). Mounted Combatant is particularly appropriate for a Cavalier, and Sentinel and Polearm Master are beastly at higher levels of play when Cavaliers get multiple reactions. Elven Accuracy on a ranged Samurai is amazing. Fighting Spirit + Action Surge with Elven Accuracy, Sharpshooter and Piercer is another beast of a combo. Prodigy or Skill Expert can give a Rune Knight expertise in Athletics, which along with Giant's Might and the Frost Rune is an really strong grappling/shoving combo. Prone and grappled creatures can't get up without breaking the grapple, and the party gets advantage on every melee attack against them.

[@FlutesLoot]

As I was editing the video, I realized my subclass recommendations were lacking. Thank you for helping me fill those out :P These ideas are solid.

[@andrewbriggs1192]

love that other people talk and theorize builds. even when the table doesn't. that's my kind of place

[@FlutesLoot]

I've learned that my friends don't want to talk about D&D nearly as much as I do, so I turn to the internet for solace :P

[@gabrielhale9127]

You have my Odachi(greatsword). Im an Orc battlemaster flavored as a samurai. My character paints, makes poems, and brews his own sake. My feats are: Great weapon master, orchish fury, and tough. Right now I am the only front liner so thats why I ended up taking tough.

[@FlutesLoot]

Hi Gabriel! The Half-orc is one of my favorite classes because of the concept that they feel their emotions as pain and other measurable responses. Orcs would be the same. I love roleplaying their inherent fury as a manifestation of their Gruumsh curse. Also, I have a Half-orc Fighter character who is an old samurai-type fella who enjoys brewing and reading. You and I are on a similar wavelength! :P

[@genuinejoe2103]

Wow! That's so cool man! I want to copy that for my next pc hahaha

[@morganpetros9635]

Heavy Armor Master actually drops off less than you might think at higher levels, since higher-CR monsters tend to have multiple attacks. Granted, it drops off SOME in effectiveness, but -3 damage times three attacks is still -9 damage per round ... and most monsters don't actually have magic weapons, so that's usually less of a factor. And we can never forget that it basically makes you invulnerable at low levels. 🤣

[@FlutesLoot]

I agree with everything you said! My caveat would be that many DMs I've played with have ruled that monsters' natural attacks are magical (bummer).

[@jordanraiber2102]

My only experience with the feat at higher levels, I had resistance to the damage so the actual reduction in damage only averaged 1-2 dmg per hit

[@BrandonRodriguez-pp1fl]

I built my Samurai fighter to be a pain to take down. He has Heavy Armor Master and the subclass gives wisdom save proficiency. He also Skill Expert to combo with the Shield Master bash.

[@FlutesLoot]

I hadn't thought about Shield Master coupling well with Skill Expert to help those Athletics checks to shove. Nice one! And I think the Wisdom saving throw proficiency is often overlooked, but it's an excellent feature for the Samurai.

[@deantitus9734]

Hey there, I'm surprised that you didn't even mention the Alert feat for the fighter!! With a +5 bonus to initiative rolls and not being surprised, what fighter wouldn't want to go into combat sooner, right?!?!

[@FlutesLoot]

Alert is a great feat! Going first is huge. I find most DMs pull punches when it comes to surprise, but +5 to Initiative is great.

[@theper4sho]

AND MY RUNIC GREAT-AXE!

[@FlutesLoot]

OH YEAH!

[@logan9189]

You have my !

[@FlutesLoot]

You have my !

[@fledgling9097]

Half-Orc/Champion fighter/dueling fighting style/polearm master/crusher/piecer/shield and spear. 10th level, get thrown weapon fighting style. Convince your Artificer friend to make you a returning spear. Big picture build. 12th level max str, each time you throw the spear you deal 1d6+10 damage, if you land a crit it's 4d6+10 damage. On your bonus action attack through PAM, you push an enemy 5ft away because of crusher. When you do, they have to move back into your melee range, which gives you a reaction attack through PAM. If you land a crit on your PAM BA attack you deal 3d4+8 damage and all your allies have advantage. That's also the perfect time to action surge so you can land more crits.

[@klausdalgaard]

You have my saber (my homebrew rapier, except it does slashing damage, but is still a finesse weapon). Anyway, while not a fighter per se, one of my most memorable and surprisingly versatile characters was a V. Human Swashbuckler Rogue with a 5-lvl dip into Hexblade (for Thirsting Blade). Feats taken included Defensive Duelist, Piercer and Medium Armor Master. It was a surprisingly tanky front-liner who also dealt consistently high damage, while still being stealthy and great at social interactions, and with a few utility spells to boot!

[@FlutesLoot]

Grabbing a few spells can make a Rogue incredibly versatile. The Swashbuckler plays well into Warlock Charisma, too. I can totally picture it.

[@cgooch7056]

You have my giant candy cake sharpened into a point to make a festive holiday sword! I'm about to play a Christmas one-shot, and I've never built a fighter before. I appreciate videos like this that break down some good options for different goals. With all of the feats available in the game, it can be overwhelming to go through all of them, weigh pros and cons, and narrow them down. Especially for a one-shot, I mostly want to just try out something new without stressing too much about what works and what doesn't. Thanks for the tips.

[@FlutesLoot]

That's what I'm here for! :) Good luck with the one-shot.

[@jamesp.8564]

Battlemaster Fighter/War Cleric with GWM and Martial adept with a greatsword, using bless, channel divinity, and precision attack to never miss.

[@FlutesLoot]

It's a beautiful thing

[@GoblinLord]

fun little synergy: Polearm Master + Sentinel + Cavalier, the main weakness to Cavaliers is the disengage action, but now Sentinel ignores it hope you like your dm crying

[@FlutesLoot]

Cavaliers are great for locking down enemies in this way!

[@novadrake9232]

Even worse if you start with sentinal as variant human

[@imppmi6973]

Dungeon Delver . You get 4 abilities with this feat but the 2 best ones are advantage on saving throws made to avoid or resist traps and resistance to the damage dealt by traps. If the trap affects your mind you have adv. on the save. Trap damage is always resisted magical or not as the feat does not specify. All party members should take this feat because it auto works against traps.

[@FlutesLoot]

If I were playing in a campaign that constantly used traps, Dungeon Delver would certainly inflate in value!

[@ericpeterson8732]

You have my bow. And that's a long bow, not any of that hand crossbow stuff. As for my favorite fighter feats, Toughness for extra hp is a solid. Once you've taken the feats necessary for your build, there are a few odd choices that are good. Like Eldritch initiate, because they are many invocations that could aid a fighter. Like Eldritch sight for detect magic any time you want. Devil's sight to see in magical darkness. Fiendish vigor for a little more temp hp whenever you need it. Ritual caster and magic initiate for extra spells for Eldritch knights. The dwarven fighter you mentioned earlier could benefit from the Durable feat. Durable ensures you get double your Con mod whenever you roll a hit dice. And dwarven fortitude allows you to spend a hit dice when you take the dodge action. So you always get the most out of your hit dice. And it prevents the dreaded wasted hit dice when you spend hit dice. Even if the DM doesn't allow you to add your Con bonus, you're still getting the most out of your hit dice.

[@samuelpierce639]

Dig the Bob Ross landscapes.

[@FlutesLoot]

Haha thank you, Samuel. Opal comes from a family that enjoys painting. :)

[@parkenbrown2210]

You have my shovel. Also I really like elven accuracy combined with the champion fighters crit on an 18-20. The only issue being that it can be harder to get advantage at a range.

[@FlutesLoot]

Elven accuracy can be extremely useful for crit fishing. Getting advantage is the hard part, but with a little help from your friends, life finds a way!

[@troyyrob]

@@FlutesLoot I think you can play a Rogue with a dip into Champion Fighter... or a Champion Fighter with a dip into Rogue. Getting steady aim or being able to hide as a bonus action will make it so you can always have advantage on your first shot.

[@FlutesLoot]

@@troyyrob Steady Aim from Tasha's is a cool addition to the Rogue. It does make advantage much easier to obtain.

[@tsavin]

I'm glad you mentioned saves, I think Resilient Wisdom is essential to resist magic, surely the biggest problem for fighters. Conditions like Frightened, Paralyzed and Restrained are also ones I would like to avoid - any feats to help resist those in particular?

[@FlutesLoot]

Lucky feat

[@dulcereveronavila3226]

Love me some Polearm Master with a Spear, Dueling fighting style & a Shield: AC 20, 1d6+7 damage, 3 to 5 attacks per turn at level 5.

[@FlutesLoot]

I enjoy how spears are compatible with shields and PM simultaneously.

[@BiggousDiccous]

Currently playing a protection stance warforged rune knight barbarian.. my DM hates me lol. Whether it’s giving enemy attacks disadvantage, completely negating enemy damage, or using action surge to rage twice in one turn.. my fighter is a menace lol. Thanks for the video and all the great ideas! You have my sword!

[@novadrake9232]

In my idea a great legendary gear for fighter is the defender ( it can switch between offence and defence )

[@FlutesLoot]

I do like that item when I'm playing non-heavy melee!

[@steveaah]

I love the idea of Resilient, but just take Lucky instead.

[@FlutesLoot]

If Lucky is fun for you, take it! It will effectively give you advantage on three rolls of your choice, averaging to +5 on those rolls. It can also turn disadvantage into "super" advantage. Resilient can even-out a stat (+1 to modifier) and scale with proficiency bonus to +6 eventually for a total of +7 to that save without expending a resource. And of course, taking both would be great.

[@fatbean2000]

Resilient is great took it for my cleric for con saves.

[@dlingeman1]

I'd love to see a breakdown of which martial feats translate best to rogues. For example, dueling is just +2damage, not very good for a rogues single attack. But Sentinel to get off-turn sneak attacks seems pretty powerful. But what about edge cases like martial adept? Is it worth a feat to get a riposte once per short rest? IDK.

[@FlutesLoot]

I have an article/video about Rogue feats (best martial-based feats are Alert, Mobile, and Sentinel, in my opinion): www.flutesloot.com/rogue-feat-selection-dnd-5e/ I'd say Riposte once per short rest is not worth a feat. I'd go for Sentinel instead. However, three levels of Fighter will get you Battle Master so you can Riposte much more, or Action Surge to Ready an attack on someone else's turn so you can Sneak Attack twice in one round. Fighter+Rogue is excellent and good fun.

[@dlingeman1]

@@FlutesLoot I refer to that art8cle often. I'm about to start an Arcane Trickster for a 20 level Waterdeep campaign. I know I want to abuse Sentinel + Mirror Image. Of the other feats that grant off-turn attacks, which come up most often? Mage Slayer seems like it obviously fits that campaign book (the mage is literally on the cover), but does getting an OA when someone casts grant you more off-turn sneak attacks than taking riposte would? Maybe it's totally DM dependent, but I am toying with this idea of maximizing my character's action economy to get off-turn sneak attack

[@FlutesLoot]

@@dlingeman1 Mage Slayer's pro is it's not limited in uses, but its con is it's situational. Riposte is limited in uses and is still situational. Rogues also may want to use Uncanny Dodge as reactions against attacks instead of attacking ("decisions, decisions"). Also remember that even if you're attacking out of turn, you have to qualify for Sneak Attack. It's actually better, in my opinion, to get a Battle Maneuver like Feinting Attack to gain advantage on the next attack against a creature as a bonus action (after attacking), then try to get the OA with advantage. This is assuming you won't have adv or an ally adjacent already. Having said that, I think Mage Slayer would be fun for you. My first character was an Arcane Trickster with Mage Slayer, and I had a blast with it. We faced many acolytes/cultists/mages in that campaign.

[@dlingeman1]

@@FlutesLoot thanks for replying. I enjoy reading your (collective) articles a lot. I have some time to think about that. I'm sort of new, and have only played one other character, so I'm not sure how jammed-up my reaction gets as a rogue. I am very aware that their bonus action is something I should try and use every turn with cunning action. But does the bonus action become precious as well? How often will I be using uncanny dodge and evasion?

[@FlutesLoot]

@@dlingeman1 I agree that you don't want to gunk up your bonus action economy since Cunning Action and Steady Aim (from Tasha's) will usually get you what you need. You could also wield two light weapons so you can fight with two weapons to utilize your bonus action. For your reaction, it may depend on your party composition. If there aren't many frontliners, you will probably be attacked often while you're going melee. Otherwise, you can function as a striker going in and out of the fray, but that would defeat the attempt to get an OA for another Sneak Attack each round. So since your intent is to be in melee and get the OAs, I'd stick to Sentinel and/or Mage Slayer. I still think three levels of Fighter would do wonders, but if you want 20 levels of Rogue, I understand that too. When a foe is sticking around to attack you, you might use Sentinel to defend an ally adjacent, or you might defened yourself when you get attacked. Depends on the situation.

[@TheRobversion1]

Ah fighters. some people think this is my fave class (it's not) since they are the most used class in my builds (they are on 70% of my builds). this is because i love action surge as it's one of the most powerful and versatile abilities in the game. tbh i've never played a main class fighter. most of the time i use them as dips (fighter 2 being the most common) so i'll just name my fave feats i've use on builds that have had at least a fighter subclass dip: 1. piercer/gunner- great way to round out dex and eke out a little bit more dmg. 2. crusher- great on battlemasters for the crusher + brace combo and round out str. 3. feytouched- great on arcane archers for the hex + grasping arrow combo and round out int. 4. sharpshooter- one of the best ways to pump martial dmg in the game. of course this will be here. 5. martial adept- more maneuver options and superiority dice for the battlemaster.

[@FlutesLoot]

Solid choices! Fighters make excellent multiclass dips.

[@isaackarr6576]

Magic Initiate can be a beefy upgrade level one spells like magic stone,cloud of blades,detect magic,faerie fire,GOOD BERRY,bless and feather fall.Not to mention the fighter has no need of attack cantrips so you can afford utility here the only to improve this is a DM who lets you prepare other spells.

[@FlutesLoot]

It's a solid feat!

[@bramcakes]

You have my quarterstaff!

[@FlutesLoot]

And I am grateful!

[@troyyrob]

You have my... cat of nine tails? Idk. I think that or hands. (Catch these hands!) I think unarmed fighting and whips are underrated. Monks are underrated too but that is a diff story.

[@FlutesLoot]

After years of playing 5e, I enjoy using fringe/underrated mechanics and options. I find that my DMs tend to make combat too easy for optimized characters, so it's easy for me to make the most of optimizing "less relevant" concepts. And I think the Monk gets too much flack when it'll do just fine in 95% of campaigns (statistic made up by me).

[@blingwraith6951]

Tracker, tough, dual wielder, and even healer are all fun IMO

[@FlutesLoot]

Oh, what is Tracker? I don't know that one.

[@hefaistos23]

Bellpepper here. A young gnome fighter who is still baffling about which feat to pick

[@FlutesLoot]

Sounds like a crossbow expert if I ever saw one!

[@lonnieowens8745]

Know I'm late but I got a echo knight lvl 8 variant human picked up heavy armor master running a Warhammer and shield with a 20 ac. Just picked up eldritch adept for devil's sight and about multiclass drop shield for 6lvl in chronurgy wizard get shield spell and most important find familiar for advantage on attacks few other util spells

[@FlutesLoot]

Fantastic! And you're never too late to comment on our videos :P

[@JustMe-yq8uh]

Mounted Combatants… if you can draw a bow on a horse you can hold a two handed weapon.. my point is, coming from someone who has ridden horse since they were five, you can ride a horse without reins.

[@FlutesLoot]

That's good to know! Do you find that's true during full speed and turns? Genuinely asking. Jousting on horses in a straight line clearly works.

[@JustMe-yq8uh]

@@FlutesLoot honestly it all depends on the horse. If the horse is well trained (war horse) that makes a huge difference. If I’m riding a young horse they may not listen to the pressure I give them with leaning my hips, and pressure from my legs. Older, more experienced horses are much better at it if they are taught. Everything is harder at full speed and reins are better. If the horse is used to receiving commands without reins, had been with their rider, knows them and trusts them, then the rider and the horse become a team and you can do just about without reins.

[@WolfHreda]

Sharpshooter makes Darts and Slings into ridiculous weapons. 1d4, you say? Think again.

[@FlutesLoot]

That's right! It's not just for archers. There are other ranged weapons that can use Sharpshooter.

[@jamesp.8564]

Forgot that darts are ranged weapons because they have the thrown property, definitely need to play a dart thrower in my next campaign!

[@FlutesLoot]

@@jamesp.8564 Most importantly, in my opinion, darts are classified as ranged weapons (not melee weapons that can be thrown). This qualifies them to be used with Sharpshooter.

[@WolfHreda]

Ooh! And with the Sling, you can also use the Magic Stone cantrip to turn your first three shots into 1d6 of magical bludgeoning damage before the Sharpshooter even gets added. 1d6+10 magical bludgeoning damage. Yikes.

[@FlutesLoot]

@@WolfHreda you sure can! Sharpshooter Druid, haha.

[@Blobby_hill396]

You have my maul. And I'm in my early 40s, playing DnD for the first time in my life, and I'm lucky to get one game a week, so I'd game with you my friend.

[@FlutesLoot]

Dang it, Blobby! haha I'd love to play once a week right now but it has been a bit of a break so far this year.

[@Blobby_hill396]

@@FlutesLoot I'm playing my second character ever. A Goliath rune knight who uses a maul and a big bag of light hammers combined with the thrown weapon fighting style, crusher, and GWM. But he likes to cook more than fight.

[@FlutesLoot]

@@Blobby_hill396 I haven't played a Crusher thrower before but that sounds fun to me

[@Blobby_hill396]

@@FlutesLoot I use the maul in melee range, but I didn't want to slow up the game for everyone else by rerolling all my 1 and 2 damage rolls, so I chose thrown weapon fighting style. If I need ranged attacks, I can reach into my bag like a hammer brother and, without worrying about drawing or stowing weapons due to TWF, "cast" my one and only "spell", as he calls it. The spell "light hammer", lol. The forced movement and +10 damage from my feats makes it worth throwing a light hammer in the first place, haha.