The Great Weapon Fighting bonus is a combat feature in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition that significantly enhances a character's damage output when wielding a two-handed or versatile weapon with both hands. It allows you to reroll low-scoring damage dice, increasing the consistency and average power of your attacks.
Understanding Great Weapon Fighting
This fighting style is primarily available to martial classes like Fighters and Paladins. Its core benefit revolves around modifying the weapon's damage roll, not the attack roll or any other bonus damage you might add from abilities or spells. Essentially, it provides a chance to turn undesirable outcomes on your damage dice into more favorable ones.
How the Bonus Works
When you make a damage roll for an attack with a two-handed or versatile weapon that you are wielding with two hands, the Great Weapon Fighting bonus allows you to perform the following:
- Reroll Low Dice: If you roll a 1 or a 2 on any of the weapon's damage dice, you can choose to reroll that die.
- Use the New Roll: You must use the result of the new roll, even if it's another 1 or 2. You only get one reroll per die.
For instance, if you attack with a greatsword (which deals 2d6 damage) and roll a 1 and a 4, you can choose to reroll the 1. If your new roll for that die is a 5, your total damage for the weapon would become 4 + 5 = 9.
Practical Impact on Damage
The practical effect of Great Weapon Fighting is an increase in the average damage per attack. By eliminating the lowest possible outcomes (1s and 2s) from the initial roll and replacing them with new chances, the feature shifts the statistical probability towards higher results. While the maximum damage remains the same, the minimum damage you're likely to deal increases, as does the overall average.
Consider the following comparison for average damage per die:
Weapon Die | Standard Average Damage | Great Weapon Fighting Average Damage | Average Damage Increase |
---|---|---|---|
1d6 | 3.5 | 4.5 | +1.0 |
1d8 | 4.5 | 5.5 | +1.0 |
1d10 | 5.5 | 6.5 | +1.0 |
1d12 | 6.5 | 7.5 | +1.0 |
2d6 | 7.0 | 9.0 | +2.0 |
As seen in the table, for weapons like the greatsword (2d6), this feature can add an average of 2 damage per hit, making it a reliable way to boost consistent damage in combat.
Considerations and Limitations
It's important to note that the Great Weapon Fighting bonus applies only to the weapon's base damage dice. It does not affect:
- Ability modifiers (like Strength or Dexterity) added to damage.
- Bonus damage from spells (e.g., Divine Smite, Hunter's Mark).
- Extra damage dice from features (e.g., Rogue's Sneak Attack, Paladin's Improved Divine Smite).
- Damage from magical properties of a weapon that add a flat bonus or extra die of a different type (e.g., a "flaming" sword that adds 1d6 fire damage, unless explicitly stated otherwise by the Dungeon Master).
This fighting style is specifically designed to make your primary weapon attacks more impactful by improving the integrity of the initial damage roll.
For further details on fighting styles, you can refer to the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition SRD.