Best Feats for Fighters 5e in D&D

In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, feats are special abilities that characters can choose instead of taking an Ability Score Improvement (ASI) at certain levels. For fighters, feats can significantly enhance their combat abilities, provide new tactical options, and help specialize their role within the party. Here are some of the best feats for fighters 5e, along with detailed explanations:

What is the Purpose of Feats in Dungeons and Dragons?

Feats in Dungeons & Dragons serve as a way to customize further and enhance a character’s abilities beyond the standard class and race features. They provide players unique advantages, skills, or capabilities that can significantly impact their gameplay and strategy. Feats allow for greater specialization or diversification, enabling characters to excel in combat, magic, or skill use. By choosing appropriate feats, players can tailor their characters to fit specific roles within the party, address weaknesses, or complement their existing strengths. Ultimately, feats enrich the role-playing experience by offering more depth and options for character development, making each character more unique and versatile.

1. Great Weapon Master

• Description: This feat is ideal for fighters who use heavy weapons like greatswords or great axes. It allows them to make an additional melee weapon attack as a bonus action after scoring a critical hit or reducing a creature to 0 hit points. Additionally, it provides the option to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll for a +10 bonus to the damage roll.
• Benefits: Increases damage output significantly, especially with the Extra Attack feature. It’s perfect for fighters who focus on dealing massive damage.

2. Sharpshooter

• Description: This feat benefits ranged fighters, improving their accuracy and damage. It allows for attacking at long range without disadvantage, ignoring half and three-quarters cover, and taking a -5 penalty to the attack roll for a +10 bonus to the damage roll.
• Benefits: Greatly enhances the effectiveness of archers and ranged combatants, making them deadly from a distance.

3. Polearm Master

• Description: This feat is excellent for fighters using polearms like glaives or halberds. It provides an opportunity to make an attack with the opposite end of the weapon as a bonus action and allows making an opportunity attack when a creature enters their reach.
• Benefits: Adds versatility in combat, increases the number of attacks, and enhances battlefield control by threatening a larger area.

4. Sentinel

• Description: Sentinel works well with melee fighters, especially those focused on tanking or controlling the battlefield. It allows a reaction attack when an enemy within reach makes an attack against a target other than the fighter and stops enemies in their tracks by reducing their speed to 0 when hit with an opportunity attack.
• Benefits: Enhances battlefield control and protection for allies, making it difficult for enemies to move freely.

5. Resilient (Constitution)

• Description: This feat increases the chosen ability score by 1 and grants proficiency in saving throws using that ability. Choosing Constitution helps fighters resist effects that require Constitution saving throws, such as poison or other detrimental conditions.
• Benefits: Boosts durability and survivability by improving hit points and saving throw proficiency.

6. Lucky

• Description: This versatile feat grants three luck points that can be used to roll an additional d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, potentially replacing the original roll. It can also be used to impose disadvantage on an attack roll made against the character.
• Benefits: Increases overall effectiveness by providing more opportunities to succeed on critical rolls or avoid dangerous situations.

7. Martial Adept

• Description: This feat gives access to two maneuvers from the Battle Master subclass and a superiority die (d6). It enhances the fighter’s tactical options in combat.
• Benefits: Adds flexibility and tactical choices, even for fighters not in the Battle Master subclass.

8. Crusher, Piercer, and Slasher

• Description: These feats improve the fighter’s abilities based on the damage type of their weapon (bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing). Each provides unique benefits such as increasing the ability score by 1, additional effects on critical hits, and other tactical advantages.
• Benefits: Enhances specific weapon types, providing fighters with more strategic options in combat.

9. Alert

• Description: This feat increases the fighter’s initiative bonus by +5 and prevents them from being surprised while conscious. It also prevents enemies from gaining advantage on attack rolls from being hidden.
• Benefits: Ensures fighters act quickly in combat, reducing the risk of being caught off guard.

10. Tough

• Description: This feat increases hit points by an additional 2 per level.
• Benefits: Significantly boosts the fighter’s durability, making them harder to bring down in battle.

FAQs Feats for Fighter

Final Thoughts About Best Feats For Fighters 5e

Choosing the right feats can significantly enhance a fighter’s capabilities in D&D 5e. Each of these feats offers unique advantages, from increasing damage output and improving survivability to providing new tactical options and controlling the battlefield. The best feats depend on the fighter’s role, fighting style, and personal preferences. Still, each of the feats listed above is considered highly beneficial for optimizing a fighter’s performance in various combat scenarios.

Sources in MLA Format

• Wizards of the Coast. Player’s Handbook. 5th ed., Wizards of the Coast, 2014.
• Crawford, Jeremy. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Wizards of the Coast, 2017.
• “Feats.” D&D Beyond, Wizards of the Coast, https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats.