Great Weapon Master

You've learned to put the weight of a weapon to your advantage, letting its momentum empower your strikes. You gain the following benefits:

Benefits

• Bonus Attack on Critical or Kill: On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
• Power Attack: Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage.

Analysis

Great Weapon Master is one of the most powerful feats in the game for melee damage dealers. The -5/+10 power attack option dramatically increases damage output when you can reliably hit. The bonus attack on critical or kill provides additional action economy, especially valuable when fighting multiple weaker enemies.

Best For

• Barbarians: Reckless Attack mitigates the -5 penalty
• Fighters: Multiple attacks means more chances to use power attack
• Paladins: Massive damage with Divine Smite
• Any strength melee build: Using greatswords, greataxes, or mauls