A versatile weapon can be used with one or two hands, and has different damage values depending on which. Versatile weapons always deal more damage when wielded with two hands (one size die bigger, to be exact). However, this prevents you from using a shield with the weapon, or wielding a different weapon in your offhand.
In the Player’s Handbook, Versatile is listed as a weapon property, followed by a parantheses including a damage die. This damage die in parantheses always refers to the weapon’s two-handed damage. The damage type is the same as the weapon’s normal damage.
| Weapon | One-handed damage | Two-handed damage |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterstaff | 1d6 | 1d8 |
| Spear | 1d6 | 1d8 |
| Battleaxe | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Longsword | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Trident | 1d6 | 1d8 |
| Warhammer | 1d8 | 1d10 |
Matt Zane
Author, DnD Lounge
Matt Zane started DnD Lounge in 2021. Matt began playing DnD 5e in 2015, and has been DMing since 2017. He loves optimization, but also enjoys looking for creative ways to use spells and abilities that follow the spirit and letter of the rules. He also eschews pure optimization in favor of a more balanced approach, where building a character is primarily about serving an interesting story arc and party dynamics rather than maxing out DPR.