Polearm Master 5e: How It Works in 2024

What does Polearm Master do in 2024?

Polearm Master is a General feat for level 4 and up. You need Strength or Dexterity 13 or higher. It gives you:

• Ability Score Increase: +1 Strength or Dexterity, to a maximum of 20.
• Pole Strike: right after you take the Attack action with a qualifying weapon, you can use your bonus action to attack with the other end. That hit deals bludgeoning damage with a d4 instead of the weapon's normal die, plus your ability modifier.
• Reactive Strike: while holding a qualifying weapon, you can use your reaction to make one melee attack against a creature that enters your reach.

Qualifying weapons are the quarterstaff, the spear, and any weapon with both Heavy and Reach: the glaive, halberd, pike and lance. With a glaive or halberd your reach is 10 feet, so enemies walking up to you trigger Reactive Strike before they can swing.

How is 2024 Polearm Master different from 2014?

The biggest change is subtle. In 2014, a creature entering your reach provoked an opportunity attack. In 2024, Reactive Strike is simply a melee attack you make with your reaction. That matters for combos: features that key off opportunity attacks, such as Sentinel's Halt, do not trigger from it as written. The 2024 version also adds the pike and lance to the bonus attack, and the +1 ability score makes it a half-feat.

How much damage does Polearm Master add?

Expected damage per round against AC 15 for a fighter with a glaive (1d10), counting critical hits. The level 5 fighter attacks twice at +7 with +4 Strength; the level 11 fighter attacks three times at +9 with +5 Strength. The level 4 character has one attack at +6.

The bonus attack matters most early, when you have fewer attacks, and it adds an extra 4 to 6 damage per round all game. That number ignores Reactive Strike, which is often another full glaive attack each round when enemies have to come to you. In the last column, Great Weapon Master's proficiency bonus applies only to the main glaive attacks, because the butt-end strike is a bonus action, not part of the Attack action.

Is Polearm Master good in 2024?

Yes. It is one of the few feats that gives you a new attack every round and a reliable use for your reaction. The catch is that it competes for your bonus action. Barbarians need it to rage on round one, paladins want it for Divine Smite and other bonus action spells, and monks already have bonus action attacks of their own.

The 2024 version is also friendlier to sword-and-board characters: a spear is not two-handed, so you can carry a shield and still get the d4 bonus attack, though you lose the 10-foot reach.

Best users

• Fighters: the best fit. Their bonus action is usually free, and a Battle Master can add maneuvers to the reaction hit.
• Paladins with a glaive: strong, but on turns you cast a bonus action spell you lose the butt-end strike.
• Spear-and-shield characters: a solid defensive build that still gets an extra attack.
• Not great for: rogues (they want Cunning Action) and monks, whose martial arts attacks fill the bonus action.

Does Polearm Master still combo with Sentinel?

The 2014 combo was famous: an enemy walks into your 10-foot reach, provokes an opportunity attack, and Sentinel drops its speed to 0 before it ever reaches you. In the 2024 rules, Reactive Strike is not an opportunity attack, so by the written rules that hit no longer stops the creature. Sentinel still pays off when enemies try to leave your reach or attack your allies, and many DMs keep the old combo as a house rule. Agree on it at session zero.

Quick build: polearm fighter

1. Wield a glaive or halberd for 10-foot reach and 1d10 damage. The glaive's Graze mastery deals damage even on a miss.
2. Take Polearm Master at level 4, starting with 17 Strength so the +1 rounds you up to 18.
3. Add Great Weapon Master at level 6 for bigger main hits.
4. Stand where enemies have to walk through your reach to get to the casters, and save your reaction for the first creature that steps in.

Roll the d4 butt-end hits alongside your main attacks with the dice calculator, and read up on opportunity attacks to see where Reactive Strike differs.

FAQ

What weapons work with Polearm Master in 2024?

The quarterstaff, the spear, and any weapon with both the Heavy and Reach properties: the glaive, halberd, pike and lance. The 2014 bonus attack worked with the glaive, halberd, quarterstaff and (after errata) spear.

Does Polearm Master work with a spear?

Yes, in the 2024 rules and in the 2014 rules after errata. That lets you use the feat with a spear and a shield, since the spear is not two-handed.

Does Polearm Master work with Sentinel in 2024?

Less well than in 2014. The 2024 Reactive Strike is a reaction attack, not an opportunity attack, so Sentinel's Halt benefit (speed 0 on an opportunity attack hit) does not trigger from it by the written rules. Many tables still allow the old combo.

Does the Polearm Master bonus attack add your ability modifier?

Yes. It is a normal melee attack that uses a d4 damage die, so you add your Strength modifier to the damage as usual, the same as your main attacks.

Related

• Roll a d4
• Great Weapon Master 5e: How the 2024 Feat Works (and What Changed)
• Sentinel Feat 5e: Lock Down Enemies (2024 Rules)
• Opportunity Attacks in 5e Explained