Need some advice and if this has been asked before, I apologise. Let me start by saying my attributes are 16/12/14/8/10/14. I am variant human and have polearm master already. At level 4, should I go ahead and grab sentinel feat or raise my strength? If it matters, I am using a spear and shield with the dueling fighting stance. Thanks in advance and again, I apologise if this has been asked already.

It sounds as if you wanted a damage build and im pretty sure all damage calculations show the +2STR will equal more damage over the long run than a feat. (In fact, the ASI is generally a better value in the long run than taking a feat).

The 18 and  then 20 in STR is really really nice when attacking.

What Oath are you?  Some feats might be a better fit if you take the ASI at 4 and wait until 8th for the feat (charger, sheild master, mounted combat, Inspiring Leader, Tough).

But of course, the best advice is to make the choice that would give you the most enjoyment!

Quote from novumorganum >>

It sounds as if you wanted a damage build and im pretty sure all damage calculations show the +2STR will equal more damage over the long run than a feat. (In fact, the ASI is generally a better value in the long run than taking a feat).

The 18 and  then 20 in STR is really really nice when attacking.

What Oath are you?  Some feats might be a better fit if you take the ASI at 4 and wait until 8th for the feat (charger, sheild master, mounted combat, Inspiring Leader, Tough).

But of course, the best advice is to make the choice that would give you the most enjoyment!

 I am Oath of Vengeance. And yes I want to go with the battlefield controller/striker role. I feel with heavy armor and a shield, I am fairly tanky already so I want to boost my damage. Correct me if I am wrong but sentinel will give me consistent damage at all stages of combat and the ASI will make me more bursty. Unless I am looking at it wrong?

It really depends on your DM and party composition. If the DM tends to have monsters target squishy party members OR you have other melee fighters and you stay within 5ft then Sentinel can get a ton of mileage.

Getting a full extra attack even once per combat with Sentinel will outpace the ASI drastically over the campaign.

I would recommend getting your primary stat up to 20 before grabbing feats. The extra damage and accuracy it provides can really help at lower levels and in my personal experience feats such as sentinel aren't as helpful (or can be a hindrance) if you don't have the stats to back them up. However if you really want that feat and you think it would be helpful to the party synergy or just what your character would go with then have at it.

There is only one feat worth taking before an ASI and that is Magic Initiate (Wizard) granting Find Familiar, Prestidigitation, then either Mage Hand or Minor Illusion depending on how your GM decides to let you utilize/detect Minor illusion. Existing in a RP world were combat and utility are valued equally, this one feat grants you three of the best utility spells in the game to round out almost any weakness you think your character might have. If you are in a combat only/heavy game they can assist or distract an opponent, freely scout, act as watch, survey a battle field, and a myriad of other tasks that would be off your PAMs ability list. The value added to a group is immeasurably disproportionate to almost anything else in the game. The only other feat might be ritual caster, but that comes down to your GM and length of a game.

Other feats can be nice if you have designed them into you character build, but for general effectiveness your warrior being able to hit better and your caster being able to have their spells stick better is much more valuable than any feat in the game. Unless it is for a story element or you really are attached to an idea that can only function with a feat or an odd attribute value that nets you a +1 anyway.