Lae'Zel level 8 feat

[craig234]

Between increasing STR from 18 to 20, or Great Weapon Master. Both seem good.

[Pat Fenis]

Alert is one of the best feats. GWM is also very good, advantage is easy to have with trip attack or other party doing reverb things. Fighters get 4 feat so you can have it all in the end, 20 str alert and gwm.

[Weresponge]

Great Weapon Master *FIRST*. +10 to damage is immense plus getting a Bonus Action attack if you crit/down an enemy. +2 Strength is great later, it's just a +1 to attack and damage conpared to GWM!

[Synavix]

GWM comes out ahead if you're using potions/elixirs/oils on the character. The more setup you do, the better GWM is. Though personally I think it's a little cheesey to use Strength elixirs on every character. I'd still probably take GWM first though if those are your two choices, but it depends on how often you can get advantage. Alert is good but I don't think you need it on everyone.

[ahsanford]

Originally posted by Weresponge:

Great Weapon Master *FIRST*. +10 to damage is immense plus getting a Bonus Action attack if you crit/down an enemy. +2 Strength is great later, it's just a +1 to attack and damage conpared to GWM!

I bee line to this position with Karlach or if your Barb is a main. Reckless attack is a transformative enabler for GWM.

Battlemasters, as I said above, I'd rather more consistently hit the target.

But yes, once melee advantage items fall into your possession + fighters get 4 feats, it's hard not to take the +10 damage eventually. But I personally don't. I just dig a sword and board character that never misses and reliably lands goad / menacing /
disarm / ripostes.

- A

[craig234]

For some reason, fighter Lae'Zer at level 8 is only showing 1 feat, getting the next.

[MoneyCat]

If you're playing on normal I'd take Great weapon master as it adds more fun stuff you can do.. Plus if you don't use it much or don't like it can always change it with withers. Alert is great, but not really needed unless your're on honor mode and don't have characters with high dex + gear that gives extra initiative.

[Aerohank]

Originally posted by ahsanford:

I honestly think alert is overrated, esp. for melee classes that lack a hard taunt. Disarming or goading is nice, but passing up either a +2 ASI or +1 ASI / athlete or +1 ASI / Heavy Armor Master seems a poor trade. (If you are a huge AOE or CC dealer, Alert makes a ton of sense -- lock down half the room or vaporize a few enemies before they get to act. Alert has more merit there for me.)

I think GWM is a miss if you don't have advantage absolutely on lock. If you do obtain one of the 3 (or is it 4?) items that give you all-day melee advantage, then yes, GWM is a good call if it suits Laez's build (i.e. she's not dueling or DW now). But I usually don't give it to her in favor of Karlach being my big hitter.

With Laez in all my playthroughs, I use her as a sword and board battlemaster:

Feat at 4: HAM (should take her to STR 18)

Feat at 6: ASI STR to 20

Feat at 8: You've got options -- ASI to get CON to 18, Savage Attacker, Tough, but I love Athlete with high STR players. Even if you are already at 20 STR, it's huge for leaping mobilty and getting to the melee target in the first turn without blowing a misty step or Gith jump to get it. Laez just flies all over the map at STR 20 with that feat.

Feat at 12: Same options as 8, whatever you didn't pick there.

- A

Nah man Alert is the best feat by far.

Getting it on your entire team enables you to kill high priority targets before they even get to make a move. Especially when you combine it with a Surprise round, where your whole team gets to make 2 turns before the opponent even has a chance to move. Fights are over before they even begin. In fact the feat is so good that it kinda trivializes a lot of the fights in the game.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by craig234:

Lae'Zel level 8 feat
Between increasing STR from 18 to 20, or Great Weapon Master. Both seem good.

Mathematical

Great Weapon Master > Ability Score Improvement

[Lunar Shower]

I mean... honestly? Depends entirely on your playthrough. If you are hoarding up on consumables like Hill Giant Strength elixirs, and oils of accuracy, GWM is AMAZING to take as early as possible. +10 damage is nothing to sneeze at. Can even funnel early on more with spells like Bless to buff up attacks, and if you're a barbarian on top of that, or a Vengeance Paladin, Reckless attack in the former gives you advantage whenever you want increasing chances, and likewise, vow of emnity on yourself (probably unintended frankly) gives you advantage on attack rolls against everything.

Otherwise, bumping up your chance to hit seems better to me overall, plus the added benefit of resisting shove, improved shove odds, jumping range, all that good jazz.

Also, worth noting that while a lot of people *are* suggesting Alert, while it is a pretty strong feat for tactical advantage, its far from being the best. Benefits more greatly on classes that have heavy CC or one shot/burst potential, and if you're not fully aware of the encounters and potential encounters that might lie ahead (ones that can put you in the Surprised state). Still good overall, but its value is definitely, GREATLY being overstated here, even on honor mode, as pretty much any build so long as its played well, or has some sense of theme to it, can beat honor mode just fine, even Arcane Trickster, arguably the worst subclass in the game.

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by craig234:

Between increasing STR from 18 to 20, or Great Weapon Master. Both seem good.

I'm gonna slide in here and mention that Lae'Zel, being the Battlemaster by default, can get a bit of bonus benefit from the Martial Adept feat (2 bonus maneuvers for more utility, plus getting the big ticket maneuvers earlier, plus a bonus Superiority Die which comes back on a SR, is a lot). For most other players, Martial Adept gives you one d6 per SR for a bit of extra damage and utility, but that one d6 auto-scales if you have BM levels, and adding it to the pool for BMs can be huge (it can be the difference between a SR and an additional encounter especially if you're frugal with your dice, great for resource management).

Beyond that, it really depends on the build. If she's an EK thrower or gish, picking up War Caster can be clutch while grabbing Elemental Adept can help with her damaging spells (give her Headband of Intellect and her spellcasting is actually pretty fire). Heavy Armor Master can really help with tank/lockdown builds. Sentinel's great for keeping pressure on a target. Magic Initiate can be clutch to get her spells like Bless or Heroism.

Overall, like Lunar Shower said, it REALLY depends on the build and what you plan to do with your Lae. No one answer is more correct than the other. GWM is tasty tasty damage but overall not overly needed especially on a Gith who will likely be repping any of the special yanki weapons that give damage bonuses. Boosting STR can help with Athletics rolls, shove resist, STR saves & checks, jump distance, and even encumberance, but will be the smallest DPR increase as a trade. Alert's great if Lae's built to be a rushdown burst DPS, less so if she's a typical lockdowner or persistent DPS. Hell, you could even boost CON for increased HP & CON saves, or boost DEX for higher AC with medium/heavy armor, higher initiative, better ranged rolls, DEX saves & checks, etc. It honestly comes down to user preference.

[Kamuizin]

I normally go GWM, AI and savage attack, in this order with her, but this alertness tip look right.

Of course, if you’re single fighter or multing in 8/4, you still have 4 feats.

[fwhite0782]

STR > GWM. Flat plus to hit and damage is better. Plus with cap strength you can drink a different potion in the morning.

[Revan619]

Originally posted by Popsicles:

Alert feat. Initiative is most important.

Noob comment. You can literally surprise attack every encounter in the game. Not worth wasting a feat.

Go with great weapon master. You can get a potion in act 2 for another +2 strength or just farm the elixirs for 21 strength in act 1. Later on you can farm for the 27 strength elixir.

[Farsha]

I'd go 20STR first and the GWM. It's very simple but effective build.
Fighter gets 3 ASI/Feats lvl-ups on 4,6 and 8. So you can have both.

In late game there are gloves that give 23STR I believe, so you can respec for more feats after that, if you want to min-max.

[DontMisunderstand]

Originally posted by ahsanford:

Originally posted by craig234:

FYI, playing on normal difficulty. Hard to pick more STR or Great Weapon Master.

Maybe either if I get another feat at 10.

I really think it depends on her role in your party. I play her as a battlemaster, and she is regularly moving to goad, menace or disarm. Throwing to hit away for extra damage is a fair trade, but when I'm trying to goad/menace/disarm, she needs to hit to have a chance to trigger the intended effect.

Also, your riposte chance (if you get riposte) suffers as well.

If you have advantage melee items, go for it, but I feel that's not what I ask battlemasters to do in my party. You may have a very different party setup where GWM would make more sense.

- A

You can toggle the -5 to attack rolls. To be honest, I'm using GWM on Laezel and most of the time I don't use the extra damage. However, the extra attack you get with a bonus action if you get a kill or a crit is very useful.