Battle Master Maneuvers Advice

[Nosta]

I got a battle Master who Fights with Two Battle Axes .

My question is what would be 3 good BM Maneuvers for me?

I want to look very skillful in combat on the map.

The enemies I face will be both humanoid and monstrous if that helps

[GeoffWatson]

Precision Attack and Riposte would be my recommendations for a "skillful" fighter.

Maybe Commanding Presence or Tactical Assessment from Tasha's if you literally meant skills.

[quindraco]

I got a battle Master who Fights with Two Battle Axes .

My question is what would be 3 good BM Maneuvers for me?

I want to look very skillful in combat on the map.

The enemies I face will be both humanoid and monstrous if that helps

Precision, Menacing, Tripping.

[Frogreaver]

I got a battle Master who Fights with Two Battle Axes .

My question is what would be 3 good BM Maneuvers for me?

I want to look very skillful in combat on the map.

The enemies I face will be both humanoid and monstrous if that helps

When using d8+5 damage weapons precision won't actually do much more than any of the +4.5 damage maneuvers. In fact, riposte probably out performs it with such a low on hit damage. So I'd take riposte instead.

I'd say trip attack will be your biggest DPR increase on your own attacks (on large and smaller creatures). Hitting with your first attack on a turn, using trip attack and proning the enemy and then using action surge leads to 4 attacks with advantage at level 5.

Precision can still be worthwhile as sometimes increasing your chance of hitting matters more than how much damage you can do (or if you get a high damage magic weapon). Anytime you miss by 1 precision will just feel amazing. Also, if you have any dex modifier you might consider parry as it can reduce quite a bit of damage if you get low.

[da newt]

IMO Precision, Tripping, Menacing, Brace and Riposte are all great choices, but to make the very best choice you'd need to look at the rest of your party to figure out which maneuvers will help the team the most.

Sometimes the moves that set up your allies (like a rogue off turn sneak attack via commander's strike) are even more beneficial than the ones that help you.

[Catullus64]

As someone who fights with two weapons, you naturally want to avoid any maneuver that requires your Bonus Action; Commander's Strike and Rally are out, but it seems those adhere less to your theme, so not to worry.

You can't go wrong with the on-hit-damage effects: Menacing Attack, Tripping Attack, Pushing Attack, Maneuvering Attack, and Distracting Strike are all excellent choices.

Disarming Strike is situational, as it requires you to be fighting enemies with weapons, but it's great in that situation, and really sells the deft warrior theme that you want. Lunging Attack is likewise situational, but allows you to do some nifty skirmishing tricks.

If you have access to Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, the Bait and Switch maneuver helps sell intricate footwork, on top of being a great way to bail out your allies. That same book also adds a series of fun maneuvers to add your superiority dice to non-combat and combat-adjacent ability checks.

[stoutstien]

I wouldn't overlook ambush. The fact it pulls double duty is nice and going first can be a pretty big swing in impact.

[Ir0ns0ul]

Although I really love Menacing Attack, I often fight against creatures with frighten immunity, so Goading Attack is usually a maneuver that I really like, specially when trying to act as a tank and protect allies.

[Mastikator]

Another maneuver to consider is Disarming. It can remove weapons and shields, component pouch/arcane focus are fair game as well. Not so great if you'll mostly fight enemies with natural attacks or aren't holding anything.

[Chugger]

While a poster above argued that you shouldn't take Commander's Strike because it eats a bonus action, I'm not sure I would agree in all cases.

If you have a rogue or Paladin in the party - and if they're capable of hitting hard (i.e. the rogue hasn't multiclassed so much that their sneak attack is weak) - it will sometimes be very much worth it to give up a weak attack and b.a. attack (the fighter's) for a very hard-hitting blow from someone else.

This is situational, but the situation happens often enough to at least think about this. Your group is fighting something that really needs to be put down right now - a Beholder - a Mind Flayer, something like that. Your Paladin or Rogue is on it. Yes, a BM fighter should give up his 1d8 +5 attack - or two of them (two is only 14 pts averae) so a Rogue can land a 1d8 + 5 + 5d6 (almost 30 pts) or so a Pal can try to land a smite (1d8 or 2d6 +5 + 4d8 - also about 30 pts). A lot of people don't realize that while a Rogue can't do more than one sneak attack per turn (unless a hi lvl scout), they can do two sneak attacks per _round_ via a reaction. As long as as ally is near the target or the Rogue qualifies in some way, the Rogue can do a second sneak attack on the round (not his or her turn - on the round) with the reaction attack that Commander's Strike grants.

This is at least something to consider - in some cases it can be very effective. However, with all that said up there, I'd not take Commander's Strike if you're inexperienced or struggle with nuanced rule manipulation. This sort of thing isn't for all players - you have to understand when to take this and when to use it - it has to make sense for the party you're in - and you have to understand what combat situations make Com Strike a go-to option, and what situations you don't use it.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I wouldn't overlook ambush. The fact it pulls double duty is nice and going first can be a pretty big swing in impact.

I was looking at that for an upcoming character and I'm not sure if it's good, great, or poor. Assuming you know your own roll, but not your opponents at the time you declare to use it, then you probably have some confidence that it will help make a stealth check. This is particularly true if you are assuming you are rolling against passive perception, so might have some idea what the target is.
So far as initiative it's really a stab in the dark. If your DM rolls multiple initiatives for multiple enemies then you have a better chance of doing something, but if the DM is only rolling once it's really a gamble (25% chance). Yes, if it works it's great, but more often than not: nothing.
So for my character I'm basing it on whether +5 and Stealth proficiency will be enough to overcome heavy armor and dex dump to actually try and stealth occasionally. I'd say ambush is situational at best.