One thing I find myself struggling with when playing my fighter is lack of bonus action usage. It seems like I don’t use my bonus action very much unless I use one of my battlemaster maneuvers, which are limited with my current fighter I am playing (just hit lvl 3) in a local AL game. Second Wind is also used occasionally but not much.
Variant human battlemaster, sword and board, strength based, heavy armor master feat. Maneuvers I chose are Riposte, Distracting Strike, and Feinting Attack (which does use a bonus action)
Wondering if I should take a feat at lvl 4 even though my str and wis are odd scores. Was planning on increasing them on next ASI So my question to all of you is, what am I not thinking of to use my bonus actions more often on a straight (no multi class) fighter during combat? I feel like I am missing something that I should be doing more often. Or do I just need to get a feat that helps like shield master? Definately not a fan of min maxing, but I do feel like I could be doing something more while staying true to my character/class type.
You are not alone in that feelings. The base fighter class doesn't have much that takes up bonus action or even reaction (unlike the monk). What are curent stats if I may ask? There are many different ways you can obtain usage of your bonus action:
Shield master - bonus action shove is a fun option to keep on deck. Also you gain evasion.
multiclassing: depending on the class, you can find some helpful feature and spells
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The only multiclass I am thinking of doing is possibly cleric. I waffle back and forth on staying straight fighter or not as I look ahead at how my character develops. I won’t just go into another class unless there is a valid character reason to do so. If I do go fighter/cleric it will mainly be for buffs and healing and prob no more than a few levels. That should help with options for bonus actions, but I won’t consider multiclassing until I get fighter to lvl 5 and pick up 2nd attack. That will take a while to get there.
Problem with Shild Master Shove is, you can only use it it after your attacks.
This was a subject of much contention a few weeks ago, when Jeremy Crawford reversed his previous ruling on the matter. You're right though, the current ruling is the same as RAW - you must complete your attack action before you can use the bonus action for shield master.
Yeah not a huge fan of that ruling on shield master, makes it good for other party members attacks (unless they are ranged). Really sucks if the enemy is next in line in initiative after you, because he just stands back up (movement penalty is pretty situational).
You're basically praying for a crit or the bonus action attack you get for killing someone using Great Weapon Master.
Another good one is taking magical initiate and grabbing Hex.
Taking MI for Hex would be a waste. You can cast your 1st level spell once a day. Hex once a day is not worth a feat, alternatively taking Wizard and Find Familiar would make more sense. Plus you could take either booming blade or green flame blade.
One thing I find myself struggling with when playing my fighter is lack of bonus action usage. It seems like I don’t use my bonus action very much unless I use one of my battlemaster maneuvers, which are limited with my current fighter I am playing (just hit lvl 3) in a local AL game. Second Wind is also used occasionally but not much.
Variant human battlemaster, sword and board, strength based, heavy armor master feat. Maneuvers I chose are Riposte, Distracting Strike, and Feinting Attack (which does use a bonus action)
Wondering if I should take a feat at lvl 4 even though my str and wis are odd scores. Was planning on increasing them on next ASI So my question to all of you is, what am I not thinking of to use my bonus actions more often on a straight (no multi class) fighter during combat? I feel like I am missing something that I should be doing more often. Or do I just need to get a feat that helps like shield master? Definately not a fan of min maxing, but I do feel like I could be doing something more while staying true to my character/class type.
You are not alone in that feelings. The base fighter class doesn't have much that takes up bonus action or even reaction (unlike the monk). What are curent stats if I may ask? There are many different ways you can obtain usage of your bonus action:
Shield master - bonus action shove is a fun option to keep on deck. Also you gain evasion.
multiclassing: depending on the class, you can find some helpful feature and spells
"Time is money. Nobody knows how much time they have, but you can always count how much time you spent. So spend it wisely."
Str 17, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10
The only multiclass I am thinking of doing is possibly cleric. I waffle back and forth on staying straight fighter or not as I look ahead at how my character develops. I won’t just go into another class unless there is a valid character reason to do so. If I do go fighter/cleric it will mainly be for buffs and healing and prob no more than a few levels. That should help with options for bonus actions, but I won’t consider multiclassing until I get fighter to lvl 5 and pick up 2nd attack. That will take a while to get there.
Dual Wielder, get two longswords, use your bonus action for extra attacking every turn.
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Problem with Shild Master Shove is, you can only use it it after your attacks.
You're basically praying for a crit or the bonus action attack you get for killing someone using Great Weapon Master.
Another good one is taking magical initiate and grabbing Hex.
This was a subject of much contention a few weeks ago, when Jeremy Crawford reversed his previous ruling on the matter. You're right though, the current ruling is the same as RAW - you must complete your attack action before you can use the bonus action for shield master.
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I think you're better off raising stats this go round, although I too like the idea of Magic Initiate.
Don't sweat the Bonus Action, its called bonus for a reason.
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Yeah not a huge fan of that ruling on shield master, makes it good for other party members attacks (unless they are ranged). Really sucks if the enemy is next in line in initiative after you, because he just stands back up (movement penalty is pretty situational).
Taking MI for Hex would be a waste. You can cast your 1st level spell once a day. Hex once a day is not worth a feat, alternatively taking Wizard and Find Familiar would make more sense. Plus you could take either booming blade or green flame blade.
I agree, don’t worry about not having a bonus all the time. I play recanted characters often so I rarely have a reaction, but I don’t think about it.