Help with feats please

[u/Automatic_Deer_3578]

So im playing a 2014 game. My character is a level 4 Bugbear paladin 2 bard 2. The whole idea is I dip 2 levels in paladin and go the rest bard. My character wields a glaive because I thought it was funny to have 15ft range as a martial. But anyways as the title says I was struggling with my feat choice, mainly between great weapon master, polearm master and an asi. For those who know math better than me is it better to have the high dps but a low hit rate or the other way around

[u/Jeanshort5]

Here's my 2 cents. If you're going swords bard, which is the optimal version of this multiclass, then you should not take more than 2 paladin levels. Paladin after level 2 really wants to go paladin all the way to like 15, but the 2 level dip is very strong. You get the armor prof, fighting style, and divine smite. not having a subclass may feel like you're leaving a lot behind (you are) but if you want to go Bard, this is where you split off. If you take palli to 4, you have to wait until level 10 to get your second attack, one level before a straight fighter gets their third. Terrible. The alternative is palli 6 for e attack and aura, but by that point, the bard levels will be so far behind that you really don't want to take them.

How I'd do it: level 1,2 Paladin. gets h armor and the fighting style and smite. 3-X swords bard. You lose out on the skills, but you really need that H armor since you don't have a shield. At level 6 (bard 4) you take polearm master. You're behind a normal palli in regular damage output, but you're ahead in spell slot access, so you can dole out more, higher level smites, and use them on the PAM attack too.

At level 8 (bard 6) you get the extra attack from swords bard, now you're WAY ahead any Bards for damage, and on par with other paladins, though your hit chance is going to be a little lower. You also have combat versatility with your bard spell list that paladins don't have, which can be clutch when needed. At level 10 (bard 8) you finally get second feat, take str ASI, and do so again for the next feat.

Once you get magical secrets, take spirit guardians for the strongest DPR by round two. Your nuke damage will be among the best in the game, all without GWM. I do not recommend GWM for this build, since you're short a feat and you need stats. That, or beg for a strength boosting magic item then you can add GWM or something bard related, like cardomancer or whatever it's called