What archetype and feat for dps greatsword fighter?

[Rfkannen]

Howdy! I need help making decisions about how to build my fighter, we are currently level 2, and I am thinking about what archetype to take at level 3 and what feat at level 4.

My character is a variant human fighter, has the great weapon master feat. Uses a greatsword. Her backstory is that she was a member of the gaurd for a big city, but went full The Punisher/ Judge Dred and got fired.

Our party has figured out pretty clear roles for everyone:

dream druid: healer
paladin (going to be redemption): The tank
and me, fighter: Big damager.

Any tips on how to make the character? I don't want to go into the tank role, just get better at killing the things.

I am thinking battle master, but samurai is also appealing. Which would you pick? If battlemaster, what maneuvers?

Any tips on feats? I have no ideas on this one. Don't want to take an asi.

[Unoriginal]

Why don't you want to take an ASI, just to know?

Getting your STR to 18 and then to 20 would significantly augment how much damage you inflict.

[Rfkannen]

Why don't you want to take an ASI, just to know?

Getting your STR to 18 and then to 20 would significantly augment how much damage you inflict.

Good point, I probably should have said this in the post.
The dm is running a high magic setting, I think I might be able to get my hands on gauntlets of ogre power at some point.

[Xihirli]

My fighter has Magic Initiate: Warlock.
Busting out Hex for an extra d6 of necrotic damage against that boss will feel great, and if you have the charisma for it EB can replace your ranged weapon.
If you’re not worried about your strength score you might want CON or Toughness. If you can absorb more punishment that’s two more rounds you can use to stay up.
Resilient: Wis is never a bad idea, but Samurai get proficiency in WIS saves at level 7 so you might want that instead.
Samurai are really fun for people with two-handed weapons. Fantastic cap and decent features all throughout. Pairing your advantage ability with Action Surge is going to be fun every time.

[strangebloke]

Howdy! I need help making decisions about how to build my fighter, we are currently level 2, and I am thinking about what archetype to take at level 3 and what feat at level 4.

My character is a variant human fighter, has the great weapon master feat. Uses a greatsword. Her backstory is that she was a member of the gaurd for a big city, but went full The Punisher/ Judge Dred and got fired.

Our party has figured out pretty clear roles for everyone:

dream druid: healer
paladin (going to be redemption): The tank
and me, fighter: Big damager.

Any tips on how to make the character? I don't want to go into the tank role, just get better at killing the things.

I am thinking battle master, but samurai is also appealing. Which would you pick? If battlemaster, what maneuvers?

Any tips on feats? I have no ideas on this one. Don't want to take an asi.

Honestly all the archetypes are good. Samurai and Champion are slightly weaker, but nonetheless perfectly playable. Some people dislike arcane archer for various reasons but you eight be considering that one anyway. Play what you think is cool!

Nonetheless, the technically correct answer is Battlemaster. Great weapon fighting synergizes greatly with precision strike. You get to apply the attack bonus after your see the attack roll, which means that most of the time that gwm would cause you to miss, you can counteract it with precision attack.

As to a second feat, the usual combo is PAM, but if you're keeping the greatsword and not going EK, magic initiate is very strong. Your familiar can give you the help action on every turn for constant advantage. Sentinel is a great tool for getting reaction attacks. Prodigy is a personal favorite of mine for out of combat power. Observant, alert, and lucky are all generally strong.

[DeTess]

Good point, I probably should have said this in the post.
The dm is running a high magic setting, I think I might be able to get my hands on gauntlets of ogre power at some point.

Those aren't actually worth it if you expect to get a lot of magic items, as they take up an atunement slot. I'm currently playing in a setting in which we get a lot of magic items, and I regret having been dependent on those gauntlets, as I need that atunement slot for something else.

That's my experience anyway. Your mileage may vary.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Another option would be going Champion and crit-fishing. With a 19-20 crit range, two attacks per round and action surge, you'll dish out some crits. This synergizes well with GWM. The Sentinel feat will also give you more chances to score crits.

[Unoriginal]

Are UAs allowed?

Because the Brute would be pretty great if your goal is high damage.

[Ganymede]

You will do lots of damage no matter what archetype you take.

You could decide your archetype with a die roll and take a non-combat feat at level 4 and you'll still do plenty of damage. Let that put your mind at ease.

[smcmike]

Battlemaster for straight fight. Champion with 2 levels of barbarian is awfully nice for crit fishing.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Battlemaster for straight fight. Champion with 2 levels of barbarian is awfully nice for crit fishing.

Question: would it be worthwhile going for a 3rd Barbarian level to take the Berserker archetype and get that extra attack with the greatsword as a bonus action?

[Caelic]

Question: would it be worthwhile going for a 3rd Barbarian level to take the Berserker archetype and get that extra attack with the greatsword as a bonus action?


Debatable. Bear in mind that you'll get bonus attacks fairly regularly anyway, when you drop an opponent with your greatsword. The level of exhaustion after a frenzy can also be a headache.

[Citan]

My character is a variant human fighter, has the great weapon master feat. Uses a greatsword. Her backstory is that she was a member of the gaurd for a big city, but went full The Punisher/ Judge Dred and got fired.

Our party has figured out pretty clear roles for everyone:

dream druid: healer
paladin (going to be redemption): The tank
and me, fighter: Big damager.

Howdy. ;)

Honestly I'd say Battlemaster for a few reasons.

1) Versatility of choices : you start with 4 manoeuvers, quickly get two others, and those replenish on short rest.
Champion has no versatility at all (well, unless you get creative with STR checks).
EK has some versatility, but unless you're ready to pump a bit of INT for benefits in the long run you will basically use slots on Shield and Absorb Elements, which make you tanky, which you are not interested in.

2) Party synergy:
- Although you don't want to tank, you could use Evasive Manoeuvers to open the path to your Pal pal (;)) by provoking yet evading several OA.
- You could also accelerate the quick fall of a dangerous enemy by using Commander's Strike to your Paladin's benefit so he can land an early Smiting strike.
- And there are always the Precision attack (to help that big hit land) and Trip Attack (to help both you and Paladin against one enemy, or gain some quickstart advantage if you need to pull back).
Later you could also take the manoeuvers that help allies with mobility too. :)

AND that doesn't prevent you from taking a utility feat later to help your party, with Ritual Caster: Wizard being the prime choice...
Or gain another die early with Martial Adept...
Or get extra pain in the *** against some people with Mage Slayer...

3) Most immediate fun.
Not saying that other archetypes are unfun, certainly not. ;)
But at level 3 and until level 7 at least...
Champion is just some "stats improvements".
EK has cantrips (which you could get otherwise) and so few spell slots that it basically amount to "better defense three or four times a day" (yippieeee.... Or not).
Battlemaster immediately gives you 4 interesting things do do every short rest.

Of course, this does implies that your DM at least enforce the recommended rests. If you feel short rests are hard to go by, then Battlemaster, as great as it may be, will have to take the back door and let the front scene to EK or Samurai. ^^

As for first feat: GWM is the obvious choice if you feel confident in using the high damage feature, or Mobile to improve your effective reach and sometimes defense all at once.
Otherwise I'd just go with +2 STR or, if Battlemaster, Martial Adept (another die per short rest is always good) or Magic Initiate (Trip Attack on Booming Blade is a nasty but efficient trick ^^)

[mephnick]

I like Samurai just for the ability to Omnislash (Fighting Spirit + Action Surge) once per short rest.

Yeah, yeah a Barb/Fighter can do that whenever but it doesn't feel the same.

[Xihirli]

In regards to maneuvers, you can’t go wrong with Trip Attack and Menacing Attack - use the latter for the big dumb ones. Feint before you GWM Attack works well but so does Precision Attack. Disarm and Push Attack both work well depending on your DM. Against stronger enemies you’re better off with menacing attack, but if you can disarm someone then toss their weapon off a bridge or knock them off of said bridge, you take them out of the fight entirely. Broken powerful in some circumstances, useless in others.
All of your party members seem like they can stand to be in melee at least a little, so Maneuvering Attack to get them out of it may not be a good choice. Commanding Strike to let the Pally Smite is good but if your role is DPR then you might be better off just hitting your enemy. If your AC is good and your enemy’s AC isn’t, Riposte is great, but if you miss that’s a die wasted from a fairly limited pool. If your Charisma is alright Rally can help your friend tank.

[bid]

I am thinking battle master, but samurai is also appealing. Which would you pick? If battlemaster, what maneuvers?
You can't beat BM for damage.

Take precision (if your GWM misses) and riposte (if they miss you). Menacing attack is nice with thrown weapons. Remember that you roll the attack dice before you choose to spend your SD.

Fighting spirit is maybe as good as precision, but SD dice size increases.


Samurai is good for the extra skill/language and the Wis save. I'd take it if you prefer those pillars.

[Paeleus]

I'd have to say Battle Master. Trip, Disarm, Precision, Pushing, Menacing, and Riposte are all universally considered the better maneuvers overall.

Just food for thought, a 2 or 3 level dip into Hunter Ranger flavors well with your build and grants some pretty handy features and spells: Defense (or any) fighting style, Favored Enemy, Horde Breaker and the spell Hunter's Mark. The d6 from Hunter's Mark qualifies for GWF rerolls as it is of the same damage type. Horde Breaker helps fighting mobs, though it can be argued that the extra level expenditure isn't worth it.

[Xihirli]

The d6 from Hunter's Mark qualifies for GWF rerolls

That is not the case (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/13/great-weapon-fighting-rerolling-smite-hex-and-hunters-mark/). Hunter's Mark is still good, but it's not a "delay your third attack" good I don't think. The Fighter Cap is one of the better ones.

[strangebloke]

That is not the case (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/13/great-weapon-fighting-rerolling-smite-hex-and-hunters-mark/). Hunter's Mark is still good, but it's not a "delay your third attack" good I don't think. The Fighter Cap is one of the better ones.

In any case I don't know why you'd go ranger 2 instead of Hexblade 1. Hex is pretty much strictly better than Hunter's Mark.

Also, technically, GWF, does work with all the dice you roll. There's no official Errata that says otherwise. JC has said that it doesn't, but odds are most DMs don't know that. By RAW, GWF works on everything.

Frankly, if you aren't playing with feats and you use JC's tweet, it's still barely worth going GWF over dueling or even defense.

[Rogerdodger557]

Are UAs allowed?

Because the Brute would be pretty great if your goal is high damage.

Seconded. I love the Brute archetype.

[GlenSmash!]

Both Battlemaster and Samurai have good ways to offset the -5 from GWM. I say, take your pick.