Best weapon for using a shield?

[Spacehamster]

quarterstaff + shield and polearm master for guaranteed bonus attack?

[Sigreid]

I like spear simply because if you need to hit an archer or fleeing opponent for that last silencing kill you have your ranged weapon ready to go. I also think the shield and spear warrior is very thematic.

Not claiming this is the most optimized.

[DanyBallon]

quarterstaff + shield and polearm master for guaranteed bonus attack?

I think RAI for quarterstaff and Polearm Master, you need to hold the quarterstaff with both hand. At least that's how it would play at my table. But RAW ain't this restrictive.

[Spacehamster]

I think RAI for quarterstaff and Polearm Master, you need to hold the quarterstaff with both hand. At least that's how it would play at my table. But RAW ain't this restrictive.

Ah well we are doing it as it says in the book cause it makes sense if you bonk somebody with one end of the stick you can bonk him with the other end also. :)

[Tanarii]

I like spear simply because if you need to hit an archer or fleeing opponent for that last silencing kill you have your ranged weapon ready to go. I also think the shield and spear warrior is very thematic.

Not claiming this is the most optimized.
I wish spear & shield warriors were a little more powerful. On the one hand there's a reason they were ancient weapons that fell by the wayside in favor of axes and swords. On the other hand, I've been reading The Stormlight Archive again ... although Kaladin could probably be represented by a Spear wielding Monk fairly well.

Then there's that fight scene between Achilles and Hector in the movie Troy. IMO they are *the* penultimate Champion Fighters. Str, Dex, Con, Leather Armor, 1H Spear, Shield, backup Shortsword. Unfortunately, far from optimized.

[Reshazedek]

quarterstaff + shield and polearm master for guaranteed bonus attack?

Shield + Hand Crossbow (with Crossbow Expert to negate loading)

[JoeJ]

Shield + Hand Crossbow (with Crossbow Expert to negate loading)

Crossbow Expert only negates the Loading property, not the Ammunition property, so you'd only get one shot before you'd have to drop it and use something else.

[Sigreid]

I wish spear & shield warriors were a little more powerful. On the one hand there's a reason they were ancient weapons that fell by the wayside in favor of axes and swords. On the other hand, I've been reading The Stormlight Archive again ... although Kaladin could probably be represented by a Spear wielding Monk fairly well.

Then there's that fight scene between Achilles and Hector in the movie Troy. IMO they are *the* penultimate Champion Fighters. Str, Dex, Con, Leather Armor, 1H Spear, Shield, backup Shortsword. Unfortunately, far from optimized.

Well, spears in one form or another have made it into even modern warfare as a last resort (bayonet). Even up through med-evil times they were common because they're cheap, and can allow the second rank of your shield wall to fight as well.

That aside, what I was thinking of is the roman legionnaire, and the Hopolite soldier. With both you fought with your spear until it was lost or broken, then your sword, and if necessary a final fallback to a knife. Similarly, while a short sword is less than ideal for individual combat, it's the side arm of choice for shield walls due to it's ability to flick around edges in close quarters.

[unwise]

If you DM allows the quarterstaff + shield combo, and you can put up with other players raised eyebrows, then nothing competes with it for a 1-handed option. Probably nothing competes with it full stop.

Personally IMC I just say that all most simple weapons are d6 and martial d8. So just pick what you want. E.g. A fighter wants to wield an axe, it will be 1d8. A Lore Bard wants to wield an axe, it is d6. Either it is a different sort of axe, or it is just better in the hands of a more experienced combatant. E.g. I could whack you with a nunchuku and it would hurt, somebody that knows what they are doing with it would do it properly and it would break something. Give me a Katana, Falchion, Scimitar or Longsword, it makes no difference, I will do the same damage with them (because I just whack with em, being a noob) put them in the hands of a warrior and they are different weapons. The reasons don't matter, its more that this lets everybody play the style they want.

[Slipperychicken]

quarterstaff + shield and polearm master for guaranteed bonus attack?
It's a pretty standard combo. Also get the one-handed fighting style so your damage is still good.


I still have a hard time bringing myself to play it in a real game. I just wish they made spears work with polearm master, so I could at least do a hoplite thing with it.

[Coidzor]

Quarterstaff for Polearm Mastery, Javelin/Handaxe for versatility, Whip for bottlenecks and must-have Reach situations, and anything with a d8 in whatever one's favored damage type is. Or go the golf caddy route and have a 1d8 onehanded weapon of each damage type on hand for the rare cases where damage type matters.

And any Str-based melee character can trivially carry all of the above along with several additional handaxe and javelins for throwing purposes.

Oh, right, and then Lance if mounted, for raw damage+reach.


I like spear simply because if you need to hit an archer or fleeing opponent for that last silencing kill you have your ranged weapon ready to go. I also think the shield and spear warrior is very thematic.

Not claiming this is the most optimized.

Amusingly, fighting with a javelin is superior to fighting with a spear if you never take advantage of the spear's Versatile property, because when you do throw a javelin, you've got better range compared to the spear, but the same damage.

[Slipperychicken]

Quarterstaff for Polearm Mastery, Javelin/Handaxe for versatility, Whip for bottlenecks and must-have Reach situations, and anything with a d8 in whatever one's favored damage type is. Or go the golf caddy route and have a 1d8 onehanded weapon of each damage type on hand for the rare cases where damage type matters.


It matters more often than you'd think. Quite a few monsters* care about which BPS damage types are used, including some frequently-used ones. It's frequent enough that it's well worth the investment in gold and carry capacity. Between a War Pick, Warhammer, and Longsword, you've got all three covered for a total of 7 pounds and 35 gold. There's no excuse for a melee fighter to not be ready to deal all three damage types.

*Oozes, skeletons, ice mephits, treants, rakshasa, flameskull, xorns, and more