Maximum Use Out of Lance?

[SociopathFriend]

The Lance might be the only weapon on the 5e weapon table that I've never seen used.

I've always assumed this was because you basically needed to be mounted to get the most out of it and using it without a mount is generally regarded as too inferior to be worth bothering.

As such- I'm curious. What's the maximum effectiveness you can get out of a Lance build? What class would you want and what feats would you desire?

To define, "Maximum effectiveness" I will suggest the following:
1. Most damage inflicted with the Lance over the course of ten rounds
2. If a source of the build's damage does more per-hit than the lance (like Paladin smites) it's not a Lance build
3. Same as 2 but the mount (I assume a mount will be involved) cannot outperform the Lance either

[diplomancer]

The problem with lance builds is the same as with mounted builds in general: i.e, you can't get your mount to every place. So, first thing, you should play a small race and get a medium mount. I've played a Halfling Devotion Paladin with a lance on a clawfoot raptor (inspired a bit by Don Quixote) and had a ton of fun.

Important observations from my experience:
1- it's not so much about the damage, but about the mobility. With the Lance's reach, you can attack and go back pretty safely. This is even better if all the party is ranged/skirmisher and you're in an open space. You have a high AC, and can tank if need be, but it's better to leave monsters with inferior options when possible.
2- keep the mount alive! As your mount is medium, Mounted Combatant loses a lot of its value, though it might still be worth it at tiers 3 and 4 just for the defensive abilities. But there are other ways. If you're a Devotion Paladin like I was, you can attack, cast Sanctuary at yourself and at the Steed at the same time, get protection for yourself for one round and for your mount for the entire combat. Another good idea is the Interception fighting style. If you're a Paladin (or a Bard with Find Steed), consider also Inspiring Leader, those THP will be very good at keeping the mount alive (and make the rest of your party very happy as well).
3- number 2 is specially important because one of the big advantages of the Lance is that you can use it with a shield, but only if you're mounted. Which means you WILL be wielding a shield, and if your mount dies you will either have to switch to an inferior weapon (which is not horrible if it's a Long Sword and you're Str-based, but can be crippling if the Lance is your Hex weapon), or waste an action doffing the shield.
4- try to find a good bonus action, as there are not many that go well with lance and shield. Maybe one possible option is getting dual wielder and wielding two Lances. Costs a feat (and a not very good one at that), and slightly worse AC, so I'm not sure if it's worth it (though if you're a Paladin, it's yet another smite opportunity. You can't be a Hexadin, though, your attack bonus with the offhand lance will be pretty bad).

[Martin Greywolf]

What stops most people, in my experience, is not that the lance can't be used, even as a medium adventurer on a horse - if you look at the rules only, you will be able to fight on most maps and almost the only things that can stop you (that you see semi-regularly) are ladders. (assuming these are medieval horses, a mounted man would reach a bit under 2 meters of height, if you are riding clydesdales, well, things change)

What really stops people is how stupid it looks in their head. A mounted knight charging someone in a dungeon kinda breaks verisimilitude, even if you can do it by the rules.

Sidenote: what stopped people from doing this in sieges is that while that initial charge would be pretty powerful, insides of buildings would force you to stop when directly next to a whole bunch of people with sharp sticks. Also, many places weren't a 5 feet wide and 10 feet high corridor.

[Kane0]

Ive only seen it used once, in a one-shot by a Satyr that leaped with it for divebomb attacks. It was very silly, but he died as he lived.

[Osuniev]

I've seen it used quite a bit, in a campaign from level 1 to 10 which had quite a lot of mounted combat. The user was a Cavalier fighter, and there were TWO frontliners (him+a Paladin), which meant encounters had an actual frontline.

Basically the lance is the best Strength weapon if you're mounted. So any build that assumes you're mounted (for any reason) is going to benefit from it.

Even dismounted, it's a decent weapon if you can benefit from your reach. Which happened very frequently in said campagin, but again that may be unusual.

[Unoriginal]

I made several characters for an one-shot earlier this month, and I gave a lance to the Cavalier Fighter.

It proved pretty effective, especially to poke a Venom Troll without getting covered in their poison blood and to hit enemies who were climbing the walls of the fort the PCs were defending.

[RogueJK]

The Lance might be the only weapon on the 5e weapon table that I've never seen used.

The dual issues of flimsy, overly large mounts and the lack of optimization options for a Lance are why you rarely ever see the Lance in use.

Besides the obvious problem of fitting the typically Large mounts into all areas the PCs might go, the primary issue with mounted builds is keeping the mount alive. A Cavalier Fighter on a warhorse is fine in Tier 1, but the warhorse doesn't scale. Even sharing spells and boosting the saves of a warhorse like a Paladin with Find Steed isn't a total solution, as their HP still doesn't scale, so there are still plenty of ways to one-shot the Paladin's mount as you get into Tier 2+.

So the solution to both of those mount issues of size and durability would be to get a scaling Medium-sized mount, and the only realistic way of doing that RAW is to be a TCoE Beast Master Ranger with a Small PC riding a Medium Beast of the Land. They're the only subclass that gets a scaling companion/mount and whose companion/mount acts and moves during their turn, instead of after their turn. (And this combo has only been available for the comparatively short time since TCoE came out, which is why it's not commonly seen.)

Stuff like the Drakewarden and the Battle Smith get scaling companions that a PC could ride as mounts, but these specifically go after your turn, which means your movement and positioning is limited since the mount can't move/reposition until after you've taken your turn, resulting in turns when you're not close enough to attack any enemies on your turn but your mount can't do anything about it until after your turn. A DM would have to bend the RAW in order to allow a Drake or Steel Defender to act and move during your turn and therefore become a viable mount.

Therefore, you're looking at something like this:
Small Custom Lineage TCoE Beast Master Ranger
STR 14+2
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 14
CHA 8
ASIs: Piercer (14 DEX) at 1, Mounted Combatant at 4, 18 STR at 8
Fighting Style: Dueling
Wear Medium Armor and wield a Shield and a Lance.

This is a viable scaling mount build wielding a Lance. But the problem from there is that you're wanting an optimized build, but this is not optimized and there's not really a way to optimize it. The damage reroll from Piercer and +2 damage from Dueling helps a little, but a Lance can't benefit from stuff like Great Weapon Master or Sneak Attack to greatly boost its damage output, and the Beast Master doesn't get anything that specifically adds to their Lance damage other than the usual Ranger stuff like Hunter's Mark/Favored Foe. So you're maxing out at something like 1d12+1d6+7 damage with your Lance. Plus, multiclassing to try to further pad the Lance's damage isn't really an option, since the Beast Master relies on Ranger levels to scale their companion/mount, so any significant multiclassing outside of a 1 level dip or so just serves to weaken your mount's capabilities. And by focusing on maximizing Lance damage by boosting STR and taking feats like Piercer and Mounted Combatant, you're not able to raise your WIS so your companion/mount's attacks suffer since they're based off your WIS, resulting in you being a better Mounted Lancer but a worse Beast Master.


So other than the Beast Master's scaling companion/mount, you're looking at homebrew solutions, like altering the rules of a Drakewarden or Battle Smith companion, or implementing an alternative homebrew solution that I've seen of allowing a PC's warhorse to take Warrior Sidekick levels and scale that way.

But even those homebrew changes to allow for a scaling mount don't alter the fact that it's tough to optimize the Lance specifically. Unless you really want both Reach and a Shield, you're better off with a Halberd/Glaive with GWM and PAM if you're wanting to optimize your base weapon damage output.


And if you do decide both Reach and a Shield are necessary, then something like a Martial Class 5/Rogue X with a Sneak Attacking Whip and Shield has a higher potential damage output than a Lance, despite the whip's smaller base damage dice. (Plus the Whip doesn't rely on constantly being mounted since it's always one-handed.)

Lance with Dueling and 20 STR: 1d12+7 (13.5 average damage)
Whip with Dueling and 20 STR/DEX: 1d4+7 (9.5 average damage)

So you're only -4 average damage behind with a Whip, and each Sneak Attack d6 adds +3.5 average damage per turn. So even with Extra Attack, starting at 3d6 Sneak Attack damage at Rogue 5 you're already ahead in weapon damage compared to a Lance, and the Whip just continues to outstrip it from there with further Sneak Attack dice:

Martial 10 with Lance, Extra Attack, Dueling, and 20 STR: 2d12+14 (27 potential average damage)
Martial 5/Rogue 5 with Whip, Extra Attack, Dueling, and 20 STR/DEX: 2d4+3d6+14 (29.5 potential average damage)

Even a single-classed Rogue can match or exceed a Lance's damage output at certain points with a Whip, like Level 3-4 and potentially Levels 11+ (barring the Fighter's 3rd Extra Attack):

Rogue 3 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+2d6+5 (13.5 average)
Rogue 5 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+3d6+5 (17 average)
Rogue 7 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+4d6+5 (20.5 average)
Rogue 9 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+5d6+5 (24 average)
Rogue 11 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+6d6+5 (27.5 average)

[diplomancer]

The dual issues of flimsy, overly large mounts and the lack of optimization options for a Lance are why you rarely ever see the Lance in use.

Besides the obvious problem of fitting the typically Large mounts into all areas the PCs might go, the primary issue with mounted builds is keeping the mount alive. A Cavalier Fighter on a warhorse is fine in Tier 1, but the warhorse doesn't scale. Even sharing spells and boosting the saves of a warhorse like a Paladin with Find Steed isn't a total solution, as their HP still doesn't scale, so there are still plenty of ways to one-shot the Paladin's mount as you get into Tier 2+.

So the solution to both of those mount issues of size and durability would be to get a scaling Medium-sized mount, and the only realistic way of doing that RAW is to be a TCoE Beast Master Ranger with a Small PC riding a Medium Beast of the Land. They're the only subclass that gets a scaling companion/mount and whose companion/mount acts and moves during their turn, instead of after their turn. (And this combo has only been available for the comparatively short time since TCoE came out, which is why it's not commonly seen.)

Stuff like the Drakewarden and the Battle Smith get scaling companions that a PC could ride as mounts, but these specifically go after your turn, which means your movement and positioning is limited since the mount can't move/reposition until after you've taken your turn, resulting in turns when you're not close enough to attack any enemies on your turn but your mount can't do anything about it until after your turn. A DM would have to bend the RAW in order to allow a Drake or Steel Defender to act and move during your turn and therefore become a viable mount.

Therefore, you're looking at something like this:
Small Custom Lineage TCoE Beast Master Ranger
STR 14+2
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 14
CHA 8
ASIs: Piercer (14 DEX) at 1, Mounted Combatant at 4, 18 STR at 8
Fighting Style: Dueling
Wear Medium Armor and wield a Shield and a Lance.

This is a viable scaling mount build wielding a Lance. But the problem from there is that you're wanting an optimized build, but this is not optimized and there's not really a way to optimize it. The damage reroll from Piercer and +2 damage from Dueling helps a little, but a Lance can't benefit from stuff like Great Weapon Master or Sneak Attack to greatly boost its damage output, and the Beast Master doesn't get anything that specifically adds to their Lance damage other than the usual Ranger stuff like Hunter's Mark/Favored Foe. So you're maxing out at something like 1d12+1d6+7 damage with your Lance. Plus, multiclassing to try to further pad the Lance's damage isn't really an option, since the Beast Master relies on Ranger levels to scale their companion/mount, so any significant multiclassing outside of a 1 level dip or so just serves to weaken your mount's capabilities. And by focusing on maximizing Lance damage by boosting STR and taking feats like Piercer and Mounted Combatant, you're not able to raise your WIS so your companion/mount's attacks suffer since they're based off your WIS, resulting in you being a better Mounted Lancer but a worse Beast Master.


So other than the Beast Master's scaling companion/mount, you're looking at homebrew solutions, like altering the rules of a Drakewarden or Battle Smith companion, or implementing an alternative homebrew solution that I've seen of allowing a PC's warhorse to take Warrior Sidekick levels and scale that way.

But even those homebrew changes to allow for a scaling mount don't alter the fact that it's tough to optimize the Lance specifically. Unless you really want both Reach and a Shield, you're better off with a Halberd/Glaive with GWM and PAM if you're wanting to optimize your base weapon damage output.


And if you do decide both Reach and a Shield are necessary, then something like a Martial Class 5/Rogue X with a Sneak Attacking Whip and Shield has a higher potential damage output than a Lance, despite the whip's smaller base damage dice. (Plus the Whip doesn't rely on constantly being mounted since it's always one-handed.)

Lance with Dueling and 20 STR: 1d12+7 (13.5 average damage)
Whip with Dueling and 20 STR/DEX: 1d4+7 (9.5 average damage)

So you're only -4 average damage behind with a Whip, and each Sneak Attack d6 adds +3.5 average damage per turn. So even with Extra Attack, starting at 3d6 Sneak Attack damage at Rogue 5 you're already ahead in weapon damage compared to a Lance, and the Whip just continues to outstrip it from there with further Sneak Attack dice:

Martial 10 with Lance, Extra Attack, Dueling, and 20 STR: 2d12+14 (27 potential average damage)
Martial 5/Rogue 5 with Whip, Extra Attack, Dueling, and 20 STR/DEX: 2d4+3d6+14 (29.5 potential average damage)

Even a single-classed Rogue can match or exceed a Lance's damage output at certain points with a Whip, like Level 3-4 and potentially Levels 11+ (barring the Fighter's 3rd Extra Attack):

Rogue 3 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+2d6+5 (13.5 average)
Rogue 5 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+3d6+5 (17 average)
Rogue 7 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+4d6+5 (20.5 average)
Rogue 9 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+5d6+5 (24 average)
Rogue 11 with Whip and 20 DEX: 1d4+6d6+5 (27.5 average)

That was a very good and informative post, and I hate to be that guy: but the bolded part here: and whose companion/mount acts and moves during their turn is not the only way DMs run Mounted Combat. In my experience, DMs let your mount on the same turn as yours, and this is not a houserule at all, but a valid reading of the RAW.

[RogueJK]

That was a very good and informative post, and I hate to be that guy: but the bolded part here: and whose companion/mount acts and moves during their turn is not the only way DMs run Mounted Combat. In my experience, DMs let your mount on the same turn as yours, and this is not a houserule at all, but a valid reading of the RAW.

For a normal mount like a warhose, yes that's how their Mounted Combat movement/action works. But a normal mount doesn't scale.

And for the Battle Smith or Drakewarden, the other examples of scaling companions who can be mounted, the text specifically states they act after your turn. Both the Drake and Steel Defender read: "In combat, the [companion] shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours."

Therefore, my statement was that the TCoE Beast Master is the only one with access to a companion/mount who both scales and can act on your turn. Their Primal Companion ability reads: "In combat, the beast acts during your turn."

The other potential mounts do one (act/move on your turn) or the other (scale to stay alive), but not both, RAW.

[DarknessEternal]

Dual wield.

[MadBear]

I've seen it used a number of times (I ran a switch hitting fighter on horse who used it). I think there are a few things working against why we don't see it much on the forums though.

1. If you're looking to optimize, you want something that works consistently. The lance only works well mounted, and you're not likely to be mounted all the time.

2. If you're looking for flavor, someone walking around swinging a lance without a mount, seems like a silly look. So you're not likely to see people pick it for that reason.

3. The abilities that make it work are pretty straightforward, so you're not likely to ask for advice on how to make it work on the forum.

[CTurbo]

#1

Custom Lineage (small) Beast Master Ranger and start with 17 Str

Level 1 take Dual Wielder
Level 2 take TWF style
Level 3 get a wolf or panther
Level 4 take Mounted Combat
Level 8 take Piercer (+1 Str)

Level 12 take +2 Str

At this point you're making 3 attacks of 1d12+5 per round with bonus crit damage from Piercer. Add 1d6x3 if you're got Hunter's Mark up.

Build comes online at level 4. If you could use the UA Revised Ranger, this build is pretty solid overall as you + your beast would get a total of 4 attacks each round.


#2

Custom Lineage or Vhuman Devotion or Vengeance Paladin and start with 17 Str

Level 1 take Dual Wielder
Level 2 beg your DM to let you take TWF style. If not, Defense.
Level 4 take Mounted Combat
Level 5 grab Find Steed Spell
Level 8 take Piercer(+1 Str)
Level 12 take +2 Str

At this point, you're making 3 attacks of 1d12+1d8+5 per round with bonus crit damage from Piercer. Vengeance gets access to Hunter's Mark and Haste too.

That's about the most optimized I can think of for a lance build. Duel wielding 2 lances on a mount is a silly thought though and not sure what you'd do when you're not mounted. I guess two longswords?

[kingcheesepants]

You guys are missing the best mount option, a fellow PC. The appropriate anatomy clause of the mounting rules prevents most races from acting as mounts but a small sized PC on a med sized centaur PC totally works. Take mounted combat and then boom your friend has evasion at low level (without needing to be a rouge or monk) and you can take the hits for them whenever they're targeted directly. And btw a lance is the best option for a small PC, it does more damage and has more reach than any non heavy weapon. The main problem with it is that it isn't compatible with either Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master which are some of the best damage boosting feats in the game and are generally considered top tier for melee DPS build. But if you focus more on tanking and being content with regular damage than a lance is excellent.

[diplomancer]

You guys are missing the best mount option, a fellow PC. The appropriate anatomy clause of the mounting rules prevents most races from acting as mounts but a small sized PC on a med sized centaur PC totally works. Take mounted combat and then boom your friend has evasion at low level (without needing to be a rouge or monk) and you can take the hits for them whenever they're targeted directly. And btw a lance is the best option for a small PC, it does more damage and has more reach than any non heavy weapon. The main problem with it is that it isn't compatible with either Polearm Master or Great Weapon Master which are some of the best damage boosting feats in the game and are generally considered top tier for melee DPS build. But if you focus more on tanking and being content with regular damage than a lance is excellent.

Interesting idea, but, on the other hand, another PC will explicitly have a different initiative, so coordinating actions will be particularly tough. You also are sacrificing on mobility (since your fellow PC will probably not be taking only the dash or disengage action).

[JellyPooga]

To all those thinking that wielding a lance dismounted "looks silly"...I'm curious why you think wielding a long spear two-handed also looks silly. A lance designed for, y'know, actually hurting people as opposed to the "tournament lance" (you know the one; the one with the almost comedically flared hand-guard) which was designed implicitly *not* to hurt people, is basically just a spear.

As an infantry weapon, the lance is remarkably good. The d12 damage plus reach is awesome, allowing you to deal Greataxe damage from the relative safety of 10ft away. Yes, you suffer disadvantage at 5ft, but there's plenty of mitigating options on that front, from simply dropping the lance in favour of a closer-quarter weapon, all the way up to specifically building for it with the likes of the Sentinel Feat or movement shenanigans (e.g. Cunning Action). That's not even mentioning having a friend to hide behind and attack around/over.

I've really wanted to build/play a "lancer" character for a long time. I think the tactical considerations are worth it for the benefits it provides and while, yes, the specific benefits are minimal compared to wielding another polearm, it's fairly unique and many of the options available to the foot lancer are also beneficial to the mounted one, giving you some flexibility for when you have the convenience of a mount.

Is it an OP power build? No. Could it still be fun? Of course.

[Damon_Tor]

I use it on my gnome battlesmith, while mounted on his defender. I basically just treat the defender like a mech. A Saddle of the Cavalier keeps them from ever being separated, and the defender has a humanoid shape which means it has no difficulty with things like ladders and stairs that otherwise make mount use impractical indoors. The build uses its bonus action for Magic Stones in a 3-servant TSAR, but a build really dedicated to the concept could get the Dual Wielder feat and wield two lances at once.

The same concept would work well on a Beastmaster ranger. In many ways this would work better, in fact.

[SociopathFriend]

As an infantry weapon, the lance is remarkably good. The d12 damage plus reach is awesome, allowing you to deal Greataxe damage from the relative safety of 10ft away. Yes, you suffer disadvantage at 5ft, but there's plenty of mitigating options on that front, from simply dropping the lance in favour of a closer-quarter weapon, all the way up to specifically building for it with the likes of the Sentinel Feat or movement shenanigans (e.g. Cunning Action). That's not even mentioning having a friend to hide behind and attack around/over.

You don't even have to drop it really. AFAIK You only need to hold the thing in one hand when you're not wielding it as a weapon and you only need one free hand to draw a different weapon.

[RogueJK]

I use it on my gnome battlesmith, while mounted on his defender.

Which works fine so long as your DM is willing to bend the rules to allow the Steel Defender to move/act during your turn to get you into range to use your lance, rather than after your turn as RAW with a Steel Defender.

[DarknessEternal]

Which works fine so long as your DM is willing to bend the rules to allow the Steel Defender to move/act during your turn to get you into range to use your lance, rather than after your turn as RAW with a Steel Defender.

I ready my attack action to when something in is in range. No dual wielding though.

[RogueJK]

I ready my attack action to when something in is in range. No dual wielding though.

You can only ready one attack, which means from Level 5+ you're robbing yourself of 50% of your normal attack/damage output.

Extra Attack
5th-level Battle Smith feature
You can attack twice, rather than once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Readied actions are taken on someone else's turn. In this case, it's on your Steel Defender's turn. Therefore, no Extra Attack when you ready the Attack Action.

Plus, readying that lone attack uses both your Action to Ready and your Reaction to trigger, thus removing the possibility of you using your Reaction to make an OA, cast spells like Shield or Absorb Elements, use Flash of Genius to boost a saving throw or ability check for yourself or another ally, or trigger any of the various Reaction-triggered Infusions like Mind Sharpener/Radiant Weapon/Armor of Magical Strength/Shield of Repulsion/etc.

(As you can see, Artificers have a number of useful things to do with their Reactions.)


That's a lot of very significant drawbacks, severely impeding both your offensive and defensive capabilities, just to allow your Battle Smith Lancer to ride its Steel Defender using the RAW initiative/turn rules.

[Schwann145]

The disappointing thing about lances is that mounted combat is a huge disappointment.
You can't ride a foe down. You don't get extra damage for charging at an enemy at mount-speed. Unless you jump through hoops, your mount is going to die to a stiff enough breeze. The lance itself is fine, if a little under-valued damage wise (which is true of a lot of weapons, if we're being honest), but the weakness of mounted combat really seals the deal on it being such a let down.

[PallyBass]

You maximize the Lance damage (without smites/buffs etc) by making as many attacks as possible. So pick Fighter for extra attack at levels 5,11,20 and action surge. Your mount will die, so you have to be willing to switch to a longsword/battle-axe when that happens. Upside is dueling fighting style works with all those weapons.

If you want to optimize the amount of time in combat you can use the Lance then you need to maximize the mounts survivability. In this case a Paladin or Valor Bard for Find Steed/Greater Steed and various spells to buff the steeds health.

[Kane0]

The disappointing thing about lances is that mounted combat is a huge disappointment.
You can't ride a foe down. You don't get extra damage for charging at an enemy at mount-speed. Unless you jump through hoops, your mount is going to die to a stiff enough breeze. The lance itself is fine, if a little under-valued damage wise (which is true of a lot of weapons, if we're being honest), but the weakness of mounted combat really seals the deal on it being such a let down.

Random thought, if your mount has a charge or trample type ability add that you your attack routine instead of their own

[Witty Username]

When I am DMing I use a house rule that PCs with equine build (centar) can one hand a lance. If that is in play it makes lance a much more usable weapon.
If a PC is a more regular character though, access to phantom steed or find steed makes the squishy mount alot less of an issue.
I would add if a PC is interested in mounted combat to take a look at the Tasha's sidekick rules, if they want to have fun might as well invest the horse as a supporting character.

[Damon_Tor]

Which works fine so long as your DM is willing to bend the rules to allow the Steel Defender to move/act during your turn to get you into range to use your lance, rather than after your turn as RAW with a Steel Defender.

Controlled Mount rules override initiative and turn order. And the community can go back and forth over what exactly the mounted rules actually mean for how mounts behave, but at our table we interpret "the controlled Mount can move and act on the turn you mount it" as evidence that controlled Mounts are meant to take their turns simultaneously with their riders.

[greenstone]

I think the big issue is that mounted combat has few upsides and many downsides.

The biggest downside being that the first fireball takes out all of your mounts.

[strangebloke]

Mounts aren't that hard to keep alive. Once you factor in that the mount can dodge on its turn, can have plate barding, and can receive various boosts to health (inspiring leader) You end up with a target that isn't exactly squishy even if it technically has fewer HP than the average party member. And if you're serious about mounted play at some point you'll get Mounted Combatant which gives it evasion and lets you take damage for it....

at which point is probably harder to kill than the average party member.

and that's assuming a normal mount. If you can get something like a peryton or hippogriff or pegasus the defenses get even better.

[RogueJK]

and can receive various boosts to health (inspiring leader)

Not all mounts can benefit from Inspiring Leader, since the feat states that it applies Temp HP to up to 6 "friendly creatures who can see or hear you and who can understand you".

So something like a TCOE Beast Master's Primal Companion or Battle Smith Artificer's Steel Companion could benefit, since its stats explicitly state that it understands the languages you speak. Similarly, a Paladin's Find Steed specifically gains the ability to understand one language you speak.

But something like a mundane warhorse would not benefit from Inspiring Leader, nor would a summoned Phantom Steed.

[strangebloke]

Not all mounts can benefit from Inspiring Leader, since the feat states that it applies Temp HP to up to 6 "friendly creatures who can see or hear you and who can understand you".

So something like a TCOE Beast Master's Primal Companion or Battle Smith Artificer's Steel Companion could benefit, since its stats explicitly state that it understands the languages you speak. Similarly, a Paladin's Find Steed specifically gains the ability to understand one language you speak.

But something like a mundane warhorse would not benefit from Inspiring Leader, nor would a summoned Phantom Steed.

Mundane warhorse wouldn't benefit from IL unless you could cast speak with animals as a ritual, or you awakened it, but there are also lots of slightly more exotic beasts that understand languages. Giant Owls, Pegasi, etc. Overall though my point is just that in general there are lots of ways of extending your mount's health bar. IL is one sometimes, but there's also stuff like Twilight Sanctuary, Aid, and Healer. Because the mount is dodging and can effectively have evasion and plate barding, those relatively small bonuses to HP get extended by a LOT to the point that you'll be happy when someone tries to attack your mount.

All this is fairly build and gold intensive ofc, but such things are manageable as you progress into t2. The primary issue with these builds is NOT hp damage. The problem is the logistics of having/replacing/feeding a mount, and getting your DM to approve anything other than a mastiff or warhorse.

Mechanically in combat the main threat to your mount are CC effects like fear. This is yet another reason why paladins are the pre-eminent mounted cavalier in 5e, even better than rangers and artificers, since found steeds have better mental saves by default and are in range to benefit from the aura.

[Waazraath]

Taking a lot of the stuff already mentioned above together:

The main advantages of the lance are
- the damage die (d12)
- the reach;

The price you pay for this is
- the requirement to be on a mount
- keeping said mount alive
- not being able to capitalize on staple damage feats like Great Weapon Master or Polearm Master

All in all, the advantages aren't that big. The damage die is not that much bigger than a standard d8 for a one handed martial weapon (about 2 damage difference per hit), you lose out on other damage options, and the class with most attacks (fighter) does not give you a mount so keeping it alive gets really difficult. On the other hand, the Piercer feat works best on big damage dies, so having a lance instead of a rapier or short sword makes it a littlle bit better. But even when wielding 2 lances (yes looks silly but we need all the help you can get to optimize this) and extra attack, a lance wielder does 1d12 / 1d12 / 1d12, while a polearm mastery glaive wielder has 1d10 / 1d10 / 1d4. That's only +/- 6 damage of difference per turn. Both have reach (though using the haft end of your polearm against somebody 10 ft away is just as silly as wielding 2 lances, but that's just me). Both use a feat. And the polearm user can later pick GWM as well.

Just saying, 2 lances will never be the best damage dealer. But oh well.

To get the most out of the advantages, you need:
- as many attacks as possible (two weapon fighting, haste, extra attack)
- probably a hit & run skirmisher approach to combat (allows you to be hit less often, won't need a very high con score)
- a class that provides some kind of special mount (ranger, paladin, bard, arteficer)

If you take a build like: paladin (any) 13, fighter (BM) 3, vhuman or custom race, you can get:
- 3 attacks at level 5
- a special mount
- from lvl 11 onward a bonus on these attacks

Depending on what paladin you grab, you can add haste to your spell list (for another attack), upgrade the speed of your steed (glory paladin), or protect the steed from harm (peace paladin). give the special steed more hp with aid, or provide temporary hp (glory, or with feat). With the fighter levels, you get dual wielder fighting style, and some extra maneuvers, possibly reaction attacks (though those does not match per se with hit & run tactics). If you plan to enter a lot of dungeons, go for a small race and a medium mount. You can grab the mounted combat feat, but its not needed per se. Piercer is very nice though, probably take it at 1 (increasing str to 18), and dual wielding at 4. Use find steed, and later find greater steed (pally 13).

At level 14, with 3 attacks and max str, you do 3x (1d12 + 1d8 + 5 damage) assuming all hits, with some extra damage with piercer - not gonna calculate it exactly, but it should be a little over 50 damage, without having to take a malus to attack which many damage builds do include. Class features & spells are free to either upgrade said damage or better protect the mount. Won't be best build ever, but good enough imo.