D&D 5e: Which Fighting Style is Best?

Sword and shield? Two swords? One big sword? A spear? A bow? Sword and dagger? It's often a topic of contentious debate which fighting style is best. In Dungeons and Dragons it's possible to offer a bit more objective analysis.

In the real world, spears often reigned supreme, for their simplicity, leverage, and reach. But D&D does not do a particularly good job representing those things. Certainly there are rules for reach, for simple weapons versus martial weapons. But most fighting classes can use all of the martial weapons, and reach simply allows one to attack opponents further than 5 feet away, rather than giving the wielder the valuable first strike such a weapon would really afford.

Let's say you're making a fighter in D&D 5th Edition. Which fighting style should you choose? Unlike previous editions of the game, where two-weapon fighting was rather weak (unless you were a rogue) and two-handed weapons reigned supreme, the different fighting styles are much closer to each other in power level in 5th Edition. Which one is best? The answer is complicated. If you want the quick summary, scroll to the bottom.

First, let's define what we mean by "best." In 5e D&D, damage is king. Many attack forms that bypassed hit points (ability damage, death effects, and the like) no longer exist, and function differently if they do. As a result, the best way to defeat an enemy is to deal as much damage to it as possible. Thus, the best way to judge a fighting style might be by figuring out its DPR (damage per round). This is the expected value of damage one can expect the style to deal to an enemy. This may sound complicated to calculate, but it can be found with a relatively-simple formula.

DPR = (# of attacks)(% to hit)(damage on hit)

Simply put, this just means that your damage per round is your number of attacks, times the chance each of those attacks have to hit (expressed as a decimal), time the damage each hit does. Obviously, the chance to hit depends on the opponent's Armor Class, which can vary. However, going by averages, we can get a rough guess by using the expected Armor Class of a monster whose Challenge Rating equals the character's level. The Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table on page 274 of the Dungeon Master's Guide gives the expected Armor Class of a monster at various Challenge Ratings. This varies of course, but is a good average to measure by.

Attacks in 5e use either Strength or Dexterity for their attack and damage. For simplicity, we are going to use the default ability score array, and human for the race. We're also going to focus on 1st level characters for now. Whether variant human or default human is selected, the character will be able to have a 16 in at least one score. Depending on which score is desired, this means a character will have +5 to hit (+2 for proficiency, +3 for ability score). The CR table suggests a CR 1 monster (and below) have AC 13. This means a level 1 character will hit on an 8 or higher, meaning that he hits 65% of the time. How do we figure this out? We can use the formula:

% to hit = (0.05)(21-AC+AB)

where AC is the target's Armor Class and AB is the attacker's attack bonus. The 0.05 reduces this to a decimal in increments of 5%. Why 21 instead of 20? Well, a d20's average roll isn't 10, it's 10.5; or rather, exactly between 10 and 11. And since Armor Class must be equaled or exceeded, not exceeded, it means that there is a 55% chance of hitting a target with AC of 10 with no bonus to hit. Dividing by 0.05 we get 11, which added to 10 gives us 21 for our base constant. Using any other set of attack bonuses and Armor Classes yields the same result. 

So with that, let's look at what the different fighting styles do. In the Player's Handbook there are six fighting styles available: 

• Protection, which allows a shield-wielding fighter to give an opponent attacking his allies disadvantage. We will ignore this one for now. It doesn't affect damage output much, and is also quite situational. 
• Defense, which gives you +1 Armor Class while wearing armor. In a roundabout way, Armor Class could be said to affect damage-per-round, but the link is weak enough to justify disregarding this one as well.
• Great Weapon Fighting allows you to reroll 1s and 2s on damage die rolls with two-handed weapons. Note that it is not the damage roll overall, but the individual dice. More damage dice let you take great advantage of this style. The design decision here is questionable, but we'll get to that in a moment.
• Two-Weapon Fighting lets you add your ability modifier to the damage of both attacks when attacking with two weapons (normally your off-hand attack only deals the weapon's damage die). This one greatly boosts the efficacy of two-weapon fighting. It effectively gives you +3 damage. 
• Archery gives you +2 to hit with ranged weapons. Not extremely powerful by itself, but in combination with certain feats, it becomes the best choice. More on that later.
• Dueling gives +2 to damage rolls with a one-handed weapons while you are wielding it in one hand and not using any other weapons. Note: shields are not weapons. This is the fighting style for dealing more damage while using a sword and shield.

So what does this mean? At 1st level: 

Sword and Shield fighting style deals an average of (1)(0.65)(9.5) = 6.175 damage per round. This is using a longsword (d8 damage, average 4.5) and having a 16 in Strength.

Two-Weapon fighting style deals an average of (2)(0.65)(6.5) = 8.45 damage per round. This is using two shortswords (d6 damage, average 3.5) and having a 16 in Strength or Dexterity.

Great Weapon fighting style deals an average of (1)(0.65)((2)(4.16)+3) = 7.366 damage per round. This is using a greatsword (2d6 damage, average 8.332 with Great Weapon fighting style to reroll 1s and 2s) and having a 16 in Strength. 

Archery fighting style deals an average of (1)(0.75)(9.5) = 7.125 damage per round. This is using a longbow (d8 damage, average 4.5) and having a 16 in Dexterity. 

So it would seem that, at level 1, two-weapon fighting reigns supreme for damage output, beating great-weapon fighting by more than a full point of damage. Sword and shield trails a bit, as does archery, but the former has the advantage of +2 to AC, and the latter has the advantage of being able to attack from range. 

Great Weapon Fighting style provides the greatest conundrum to our damage calculations. The others give a bonus to attack rolls, or damage rolls, all of which can be factored into our expected damage formula. However, Great Weapon Master involves rerolling dice and taking the second result.... but only once, no matter what the second roll is. This provides a bit of a clue. We can figure out the expected value of a d6 damage die (seeing as a greatsword or maul is the best weapon to use to take full advantage of the Fighting Style) by treating it as a roll of 2d6, with 36 possible outcomes. This sounds like a bit to grapple with, but we can ignore 24 of these: the rolls where the first die is 3 or higher. On a 1 or 2, the dice are rolled again. So effectively, one third of the possible outcomes are divided up and "spread out" over the remaining 6. What is the chance of getting a 1 on a 1d6 reroll 1s and 2s? It is 2/36: where the first die is 1 and the second die is 1, and where the first die is 2 and the second is also 2. Effectively, 2/36 is added to the probability of each result being rolled, giving the chance of a 1 through 6 result as 2/36, 2/36, 8/36, 8/36, 8/36, and 8/36 respectively. The expected value formula then gives us an expected value of 150/36 or 4.166 for a d6 rolled under this system.

This calculation also doesn't take feats into account. Normally, feats are unavailable to a level 1 character, but by playing a Variant Human we gain access to one feat (and still increase two ability scores by 1, allowing us to maintain our 16 in our highest score.)

Let's take a look at some of the most influential feats involved here. Dual-Wielder allows a character to use weapons other than light weapons while dual-wielding. This allows him to upgrade to two longswords (or equivalent d8-damage-dealing weapon). Two other feats that strongly influence the outcome of this fighting style comparison are two feats that greatly influence the game in general: Great Weapon Master, and Sharpshooter. We're going to ignore the peripheral benefits of these feats for now, and focus on their greatest strength: the option to take -5 to hit, for +10 to the damage roll if the attack does hit. This is truly game-changing (no pun intended), and we will see why when we reevaluate our damage formulas below:

Great Weapon fighting style now has the option of attacking at +0 for 2d6+13 damage. In our formula, this looks like (1)(0.40)((2)(4.16)+13) or (0.40)(21.33) or 8.533 average damage per round. This puts it just ahead of two-weapon fighting, it seems, until we figure that as well...

Two-Weapon fighting style now wields longswords, for (2)(0.65)(7.5) or 9.75 average damage per round, regaining its place as the champion, with an extra +1 AC to boot.

Archery fighting style can now attack at +2 for 1d8+13 damage. That gives a formula of (1)(0.50)(4.5+13) or 8.75 average damage per round, putting it ahead of Great Weapon Fighting. The +2 bonus to hit has a shocking effect; and the large static bonus to damage provided by both feats mitigates the importance of the difference in damage dice. 

As of now, it seems like two-weapon fighting has a strong lead. And at level 1, it certainly does. This is mostly due to the fact that Two-Weapon Fighting style gives effectively double damage, something not even the GWM and Sharpshooter feats afford. Dual-wielding does not impose a penalty to hit in D&D 5e, merely to damage. Negating that makes two weapons better than one.

But something interesting happens as the levels go on. Can you guess what it is? A hint: it has to do with a class feature that fighters first gain at level 5.

Extra Attack.

Two attacks are better than one. Three attacks are also better than two, but not as better as two over one. Four attacks versus three? Still better, but the advantage is diminishing. Let's compare the average damage per round for two-weapon fighting against its runner-up in melee, Great Weapon Fighting. This is assuming use of the Great Weapon Master feat, as that provided an overall objective damage boost. Also note that we will be using the expected Armor Class of a monster of CR = character level to keep things in line with what characters will realistically be encountering at that level. And for the sake of simplicity, ability score increases go into Strength or Dexterity, whichever is required to keep making that main attack more effective. Once that score hits the cap of 20, we no longer worry where the score increases are going. 

And in doing so, we find that the to-hit chance remains pretty much the same. It seems like 5e expects you to increase your attack stat with your ability score improvements, at least as a fighter. Each time a fighter has a chance to increase his attack bonus, the expected AC increases as well. Except for some glitches around level 6 and level 8, most of the time a fighter will hit on a natural 8 or higher (or 13 or higher if using Great Weapon Master). So in our example, the fighter gets an 18 in his attack stat at level 4, and a 20 in his attack stat at level 6.

At level 5, when the fighter gains Extra Attack, two-weapon fighting outputs an average of (3)(0.65)(8.5) = 16.575 damage per round. Meanwhile, great weapon fighting, with the help of the Great Weapon Master feat, deals (2)(0.40)(22.33) or 17.864 average damage per round. This puts it just ahead of two-weapon fighting.

At level 11, when the fighter gains another Extra Attack, two-weapon fighting outputs an average of (4)(0.65)(9.5) =  24.7 damage per round. At the same level, great weapon fighting deals (3)(0.40)(23.33) = 27.996 damage per round. And thus, two-weapon fighting falls even further behind. 

At level 20, when the fighter gains his third and final Extra Attack (four total), two-weapon fighting outputs an average of (5)(0.65)(9.5) =  30.875 damage per round. At the same level, great weapon fighting deals (4)(0.40)(23.33) = 37.328 damage per round. Battlemaster fighter maneuvers such as Precision Attack can help make up for the lack of accuracy with great weapon fighting as well, helping it more than it helps Two Weapon Fighting (which has to split its maneuvers between two attacks), boosting the greatest weakness of great weapon fighting. 

Meanwhile, what's going on with archery?

Well, Sharpshooter works the same as Great Weapon Master, for the trade-off between attack and damage. Archery fighting style also gives +2 to hit, mitigating some of that Sharpshooter penalty. 

At level 5, a sharpshooter archer is outputting (2)(0.50)(18.5) or 18.5 average damage per round.

At level 11, a sharpshooter archer is putting out (3)(0.50)(19.5) or 29.25 average damage per round.

And by level 20, the sharpshooter archer is dealing (4)(0.50)(19.5) or 39 average damage per round. This outstrips even great weapon fighting, and does at every single level. Note that this also comes with a range of up to 600 feet (assuming a longbow) with no penalty, as well as ignoring cover. Archery truly reigns supreme in 5th Edition D&D. 

In Summary

Overall, the most powerful fighting style (in terms of damage output) is Archery, with the aid of the Sharpshooter feat. It outdamages the runner up, Great Weapon Fighting, at every level. The +2 to hit provided by the archery fighting style doesn't seem like much, but combined with Sharpshooter which allows the character to trade attack bonus for damage, it becomes quite powerful indeed. And +2 to hit is quite significant in the constrained-bonus, bounded-accuracy system 5e has set up. Two Weapon Fighting starts out the best, but rapidly grows weaker as levels go on and the advantage of a single extra attack fades as the fighter class piles them up. However, it is still a good fighting style for classes that do not get more than one extra attack (ranger, paladin, and barbarian, among the others).

We only analyzed damage output here. The +1 AC granted by Defense, the ability to defend allies given by Protection, the +1 AC granted by Dual-Wielder feat, and the fact that we did not even consider Polearm Master, obviously limit this analysis. But for the most part, damage is what matters most. Killing the enemy as fast as possible is perhaps the best form of defense. And in that matter, GWM and Sharpshooter reign supreme.  

That said, 5e does a good job of keeping the fighting styles at least somewhat in line. As opposed to 3rd edition D&D, where two-weapon fighting suffered from not being able to full attack on a move, reduced accuracy, doubling the penalties of damage reduction (as it applied to each attack) and being inferior in cases of Power Attack and the like, 5e allows any fighting style to be "viable" in the system with a variety of changes. Overall, for a high fantasy game like D&D, this is not a bad thing. 

So, pick the fighting style you like best, and have fun gaming.