The Fighter is one of the most powerful and versatile weapon-based characters in BG3. When it comes to single-target damage, few can keep up. If you want to maximize your Fighter’s abilities, the best possible feats in BG3 should be your focus.
Fighters in Baldur’s Gate 3 are weapon-based damage dealers capable of using either Strength or Dexterity to tear through single enemies in combat. They can serve as durable frontliners or deadly long-rangers, making many feats great options for a growing Fighter.
The best feat options for Fighter in BG3
There are many powerful feats for different Fighter builds in BG3, but the best ones massively improve a Fighter’s turn-to-turn damage. These feats either improve damage per hit or give you more opportunities to deal damage. That said, there are several opportunities to improve your durability through feats, one of which is really worth considering.
The Fighter is one of two classes in BG3 that receives an additional feat at level six, on top of the three all classes get at level four, eight, and 12. This means the Fighter can very reliably reach 20 in one of their Ability Scores as well as gaining two feats for their build.
5) Martial Adept
Martial Adept isn’t fantastic for most Fighter builds, but it’s a great option for a Battle Master. This is because it grants a Superiority Dice and two Maneuvers. For a Battle Master, this dice is added to your pool and scales with your other Superiority Dice, meaning Martial Adept can be a big boost to your Battle Master’s per-rest prowess.
Martial Adept is useful for any Fighter, as long as you use it wisely. One Superiority Dice means any Fighter can use strong abilities like Menacing Attack or Trip Attack once per rest. These are relatively impactful debuffs that can massively improve your damage or decrease the enemy’s effectiveness.
Bear in mind that Martial Adept is best for a Battle Master. This is largely due to the extra superiority dice used for all Maneuvers a Battle Master can learn. With this feat, you can get up to nine Maneuvers. That’s enough to get some of the more niche options that are otherwise hard to justify, like Goading Attack or Commander’s Strike. By level 10, the bonus Superiority Dice is a d10, which is a great boost to your Maneuver damage.
This is a legitimately great choice for a Battle Master’s second feat, but there are more pressing options you should get first.
4) Lucky
Lucky is the best defensive feat for a Fighter, as it lets you reroll up to three d20 rolls per day, or force an enemy to reroll an attack roll. In general, this should be used to guarantee a kill or try to make an important saving throw, such as against Hold Person. But it can also be useful to have additional out-of-combat rerolls, making Lucky a valuable feat to have in your pocket.
This is the most useful type of reroll in BG3. You can use it when you fail something without taking up your Reaction. You’ll never waste Lucky like you can waste an ability that provides advantage one time, like Guiding Bolt. In fact, you can use Lucky with advantage or disadvantage to get yet another chance at success, à la Inspiration. This can be huge for guaranteeing success or going for a Hail Mary on a disadvantaged check.
Lucky’s biggest drawback is its limitation. You get three Luck Points for reroll purposes, and the pool resets on a long rest. This means you only get to reroll three times. That’s pretty great, generally, since it means you get three more chances to avoid lethal saving throws or ensure an enemy is dead. That said, it also means that you can’t use them whenever you want. Try to make sure every Lucky reroll is spent on something significant.
3) Sentinel
Sentinel serves as a fantastic feat for any melee-range Fighter, for both defensive and offensive reasons. You gain the ability to swing on enemies who attack nearby allies, gain advantage on opportunity attacks, and prevent enemies from moving if they’re hit by an opportunity attack. This primarily serves as an additional method to let your Fighter land attacks, and is one of the best ways to land additional attacks for a dual-wielding build.
Sentinel is actually more of an offensive feat than a defensive one. The only really defensive part of Sentinel is preventing movement after an opportunity attack. This is helpful for when the AI decides to ignore everything on their way to Smite your Wizard.
Everything else is mostly damage-oriented. You get another way to use your reaction to swing at a foe, and advantage whenever you swing. Since you get to swing with both weapons on a reaction, this makes Sentinel the best damage boost a dual-wielding Fighter can ask for.
Even so, Sentinel has a few restrictions. You’re fairly reliant on bad enemy AI, so you should have an ally with lower AC than you in the party, such as a Monk or Rogue, to consistently trigger your bonus reaction. You can have fun moments where enemies dive out of your reach, but that’s also reliant on the AI being wonky. And there aren’t many ways to get extra opportunity attacks outside of Duelist’s Prerogative, a one-handed weapon.
Still, this is a great feat to grab for any melee Fighter.
2) Polearm Master
Polearm Master allows a Fighter that wields a Glaive, Pike, Quarterstaff, Halberd, or Spear to swing with the butt end of their weapon as a bonus action. It also gives them an attack of opportunity if an enemy enters their range.
This feat is fantastic for Fighters, giving them a very strong bonus action to boost their damage. Polearms tend to be two-handed, but a Spear is one-handed, so a Sword and Shield Fighter can get a bonus action to boost their damage as well. That’s very difficult to do without using items or Illithid Powers, so this feat can really let your Fighter reach higher numbers.
Perhaps the most important part of Polearm Master is how the bonus action attack interacts with on-hit abilities. It counts as an attack using your weapon, so on-hit effects like bonus damage or condition saving throws can apply if you hit with the butt end. This makes Glaives and Halberds the epitome of Fighter DPS, especially alongside the Great Weapon Master feat.
And the attack of opportunity expansion is great, too. Enemies often run right into a Fighter’s arms during combat, so getting the first hit is exceptional. This can disrupt concentration and give you a head-start in a DPS race.
Consider this feat if you’ve found a Glaive, Halberd, or Spear you adore. It’s important for a Fighter build to max out damage.
1) Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter
These two feats are useful for very similar reasons, and both are the most important feats in the game for high-damage Fighters. Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter provide a minus five to attack rolls but a +10 to damage rolls for two-handed weapons and ranged weapons, respectively. Great Weapon Master provides more bonus actions for a two-handed build while Sharpshooter gives you better attack rolls if enemies have the high ground.
We had to group these feats together because, depending on your Fighter build, they’re each just as important. That’s because a plus-10 to damage rolls is like increasing your Ability Score by 20—an absurd boost in damage.
You might be skeptical of the minus-five to accuracy, but don’t worry. You can toggle these features off if an enemy has high Armor Class. Then, turn it back on if you get advantage on the attack roll or an effect lowers your target’s AC. Many Fighter items in BG3 boost attack rolls significantly anyway, such as Legacy of the Masters, so you can easily end up with a Fighter that has a 95 percent chance to hit. In these cases, you might as well take a hit to accuracy for +10 to damage.
Great Weapon Master and Polearm Master is a ridiculous boost to damage per round, granting up to +100 damage alongside Haste and Action Surge. If you use a Hand Crossbow or Bow, you can make great use of Sharpshooter’s bonus damage to reach similar numbers from afar. These feats are a big reason Fighter is viable in BG3, and they’re must-haves for any DPS Fighter.
