Cavalier Feat Choice Help

[Master O'Laughs]

So I just got my copy of Xanathar's yesterday and I was immediately excited about the Cavalier. Looking at the class sub-type, what is the best approach for building a bruiser/tank with him?

I was thinking PAM and GWM with Sentinel not needed since a bunch of the effects are worked into the class itself.

Fighting style I would assume Armored or Great weapon fighting.

If y'all would be so kind to help me brainstorm a build I would be much obliged. Assume Point-buy and only official sources allowed.

EDIT: I am guessing the Cavalier wants to get both STR and CON to 20 so he has more uses of his abilities. Which potentially only allows 2 to 3 feats dependent upon race selection.

[Master O'Laughs]

So upon reading the sub-class again, I realized the marking feature only works for creatures within 5' of you, would I be better off then going GWM and maybe either Heavy Armor Master, Charger, Martial Adept, or Mobile? I assume Mounted Combatant would be heavily dependent on the campaign but if a lot of open terrain is expected and a mount is available then this would not be that bad of a feat.

What would be the ranking of other feats for the Cavalier if they started with higher than normal stats and therefore could spend more ASI's on feats?

[PeteNutButter]

Mounted Combatant is a great feat. It's basically mobile + more movement + advantage on 80% of foes with the downside that sometimes you can't use it. If you want to be mounted at all, it's a must.

A few things about the mark:
-It does not require you to be within 5 feet, but they only get disadvantage on attacks against others if you are within 5 feet.
-There is no limit on how many foes you can have marked. Spreading your attacks around is a good idea if you actually want to tank with this. That of course, is not often a wise decision though, as damage focus is usually your best bet.
-Spreading your attacks around would maximize the chance that you both get your bonus attack and get "aggro" from foes, assuming the DM plays the creatures as if they know the disadvantage thing.
-Building your character around the 3-5 times per day abilities is probably a mistake, as that is not a lot considering you can expect 9-15 average rounds of combat per long rest. (Very DM dependent)

So what does all this mean? Well in my opinion the designers did an excellent job of stealthily making the cavalier actually want to be cavalry. Your only "always on" ability is basically to encourage foes to attack you, therefore you should have high AC, ergo use a shield. But you get 3-5 bonus action attacks per day, so you don't want your damage to be pathetic. What's the easiest way to have a shield, but still have hard hitting one-handed attacks? Well use a lance.

Remember if your mount takes the disengage action, neither you nor it provoke opportunity attacks, so you can attack from 10 feet away, and end your turn within 5 feet of foes. The added reach just boosts the ability of your level 10 feature.

Anyways i wouldn't worry about maxing con, the feature is nice, but there are probably better options out there. Resilient Wisdom, Mounted Combatant, and 20 str should take you 4 ASIs, or 3 if human which is optimal.

[Master O'Laughs]

Thank you. Good insight there. Do you think the Cavalier loses something if being mounted is not going to be practical?

[mer.c]

From my perspective, the Cavalier is great even when fighting without a mount.

[PeteNutButter]

Thank you. Good insight there. Do you think the Cavalier loses something if being mounted is not going to be practical?


From my perspective, the Cavalier is great even when fighting without a mount.

I'd agree. It's a good subclass regardless, but don't be afraid to use it is intended, i.e. on horseback.

[Master O'Laughs]

Cool. I think it would really awesome if stats were rolled and good scores achieved to allow additional feats. Then GWM might be worth picking up for additional utility if there is ever a single big baddie or such.

I am looking forward to playing this class soon regardless. It has so much fun flavor involved.