D&D Fighter 5e Guide

D&D 5e Fighter Overview

Playstyle

Fighters are meant to be among the best damage dealers and soakers in 5e. This means that you will be at your most useful whenever Initiative gets rolled. Outside of combat, fighters can definitely still be effective additions to the party but they will feel out of their element in tricky situations where punching isn’t going to help.

Strengths

Funnily enough, fighters are good at fighting. They get access to all weapons and armor, and by 2nd-level they are given skills to heal themselves. These class features plus their extra attacks at the 5th, 11th, and 20th-level ensure that the fighter class is the epitome of a melee damage dealer.

Some people may be put off by this and say that they don’t want to play a character that is a one-dimensional “hack and slasher”, but that’s not the case with fighters. Because of the fighter’s varied subclasses, you can definitely go for the straight-up damage-dealing Champion, but you could also play as an Eldritch Knight who uses magic to supplement his melee capabilities or a Battle Master that allows you to influence the battlefield in a strategic manner. No matter what type of fighter you build, you can be sure that they can put down more pain than just about any class in a combat situation.

Weaknesses

While fighters are amazing at combat, some complain that they lack versatility outside of combat. Because of their need to output and soak damage in combat, they usually have to put all of their eggs into the STR/DEX and CON basket. This means having low CHA for social interactions and low WIS/INT for problem-solving and spellcasting.

Best Races for Fighters

When selecting a race for your Fighter, make sure to pick one that complements your chosen fighting style. Do you want to wielding massive weapons? Become and unbreakable bulwark of defense? Or dart through the battlefield and overcome your enemies with a flurry of attacks? For a deep dive into the best racial options for Fighters, check out our Guide to Fighter Races.

If you’re looking for a solid pick to start with and you’re using the Basic Rules or Player’s Handbook, Half-Orcs make for an excellent choice. With a +2 bonus to Strength and +1 to Constitution, they’re perfectly suited to a Fighter’s need for power and durability. Their Savage Attacks feature adds extra damage on Critical Hits, which pairs excellently with a Fighter’s Extra Attacks. Additionally, their Relentless Endurance allows them to stay standing when they’d otherwise fall, making them even tougher in the heat of battle.

Best Backgrounds for Fighters

For this section, due to the sheer number of backgrounds available, I am simply going to list the most useful fighter Backgrounds.

• Criminal: This will be a great choice for DEX based fighters. Proficiency with Stealth and Deception and thieves’ tools can help your ability to sneak around and lie, increasing your utility for the party.
• Sailor: Proficiency in Athletics and Perception would be good enough to make this a great option. If you are playing in a campaign that involves boats in any way, this turns into an amazing option.
• Soldier: Proficiency with Athletics and Intimidation is certainly a good choice, especially because Intimidation can add to your utility for the party. Proficiency in the gaming set and land vehicles isn’t awesome but could be useful in certain circumstances.

Ability Scores

Ability Score Increases (ASI) at 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 19th level.

Fighters get more ASIs than any other class, which allows them to easily max their important stats and grab a bunch of feats to vary their gameplay.

Fighters can be built in many ways. melee fighters are the simplest, but DEX-based fighters and Eldritch Knights all have different needs.

STR: As STR affects your attack rolls, melee damage, and ability to grapple and shove, melee fighters need Strength above anything else. DEX-based fighters can dump this stat.

DEX: DEX will be important for DEX-based fighters as this will contribute to their AC and attack/damage roll. Melee fighters don’t necessarily need DEX, but it is always a worthwhile ability to have.

CON: Every fighter needs hit points.

INT: The only time you should consider stacking INT would be if you are an Eldritch Knight as they cast spells using INT as their spell attack modifier. Even then, an optimized EK build doesn’t necessarily need a high INT modifier for spells.

WIS: WIS is helpful for Perception (the most important skill in the game) but this would be best left up to classes that need WIS for other class features (Rangers, Monks, etc.).

CHA: Again, fighters should typically leave the CHA skill for classes that will make better use of it (Warlocks, Bards, etc.)

Fighter Class Progression

1st Level

Hit Points and Hit Dice: Having a d10 hit dice gives the fighter the second-best hit dice around. The only class that gets a higher one is the Barbarian. Combine this with a high CON score, Second Wind, and heavy armor, this means your fighter will be hard to put down.

Saves: STR saving throws are rare, but you may see them more than other classes because you will be in melee combat. CON saves are a common save for all sorts of nasty abilities.

Proficiencies: All armor, weapons, and shields? Yes, please. You don’t need to worry too much about utility skills like Stealth or Persuasion as the party’s enforcer.

Skills: Athletics (being the only STR-based skill) is a shoo-in for the fighter’s most important skill. The rest of their skills aren’t going to be stellar for most fighters as they are mostly INT, WIS or CHA-based.

• Acrobatics (DEX): Acrobatics won’t have much use for your STR based fighter but a DEX based fighter can make good use of it.
• Animal Handling (WIS): Animal Handling is rarely used and certainly isn’t worth investing in WIS for.
• Athletics (STR): Athletics will remain your domain as an STR based build.
• History (INT): I thought you wanted to punch stuff, not be a historian?
• Insight (WIS): Insight is an important social skill, but let your other party members deal with that kind of stuff.
• Intimidation (CHA): Intimidation rolls can be made with STR using the “Skills with Different Abilities” variant rule. Talk to your DM before you rely on this option.
• Perception (WIS): Perception is an extremely important skill to have, gaining proficiency will help offset any negatives you have taken to your WIS modifier by dumping WIS.
• Survival (WIS): Survival checks will come up every once in a while, but this should be left to the Ranger, Druid, or another WIS-based caster (if you have one).

Fighting Style: One of the fighter’s iconic abilities, and a great reason to multiclass into fighter.

• Archery: The go-to for DEX-based fighters (specifically Ranged). +2 to ranged attacks? Yes, please.
• Defense: +1 to AC isn’t overly exciting but seeing as AC is hard to scale it can make a difference in the early and long game.
• Dueling: Being able to wear a shield while dealing close to two-handed weapon damage is a very, very tempting option.
• Great Weapon Fighting: Not an awesome option, only adds about 1 damage per attack. It would be better to pick up Defense to make up for the fact you aren’t wielding a shield.
• Protection: Only being useful when within 5ft is a major disadvantage for this skill, especially if you’re the tank of your party as most of your party members will be staying back while you are up in the fray.
• Two-Weapon Fighting: While Two-Weapon Fighting can make you hit a lot easier with your offhand weapon, there are some disadvantages to being a dual-wielding fighter. Mainly, the fact that attacking with your offhand takes your bonus action. This doesn’t cause your offhand attacks to scale with your extra attacks. This will cause the damage you output to quickly become overshadowed by something like using a Greatsword or taking the Dueling Martial Archetype.

Second Wind: 1d10 + fighter level as a bonus action is certainly a great feature for someone who is going to be in the middle of most fights.

2nd Level

Action Surge: An extra action allows you to do a lot of really powerful things, including a pile of additional attacks. This is a good reason for nearly any class to multiclass into fighter.

3rd Level

Marital Archetype: The 5e fighter archetypes dictate the way your fighter will play. The Fighter’s strength will always be in its ability to provide consistent damage in combat by attacking more than any other class in the game. As your Fighter levels up, their chosen archetype gives them more distinct features that can set them apart in different combat situations, whether they excel in defense, offense, or tactics.

To explore the unique options available through each archetype, take a look at our Guide to Fighter 5e Subclasses.

4th Level

5th Level

Extra Attack: Fighters get more attacks than any class except for the Monk. This allows Fighters to be incredibly reliable when dealing damage.

Get a 3rd attack at 11th-leveland a 4th attack at 20th-level.

9th Level

Indomitable: The ability to reroll failed saving throws will be extremely important in the upper tiers of play.

Get a 2nd use at 13th-level and a 3rd at 17th-level.

Best Feats for Fighters

Fighters can choose more feats than any other class because of how many Ability Score Increases they get as they level up. This allows you to customize your Fighter as you see fit and tailor their playstyles to your preferred method of play.

Make sure you get your Strength (or Dexterity, for Finesse or Ranged builds) and Constitution to respectable levels before you begin investing too many ASIs into feats, as these abilities will ensure your hits land, they do more damage, and you can take enough damage to keep swinging.

But, once you’re happy with your damage-dealing ability score and Constitution, starting thinking about what you want your Fighter to specialize in.

Want a vicious damage-dealer who uses Heavy weapons to crush their foes? Choose Great Weapon Master. Want a stalwart tank that can defend their party members? Combine Sentinel and Polearm Master.

Looking for more information on how feats can customize your Fighter build Check out our Guide to Fighter Feats.

Best Multiclass Options for Fighters

Barbarian: No one is shocked here. The Barbarian class gets you Rage and a d12 hit die at 1st-level though, unfortunately, your Unarmored Defense will likely go to waste. Depending on how long your campaign intends to run, 2nd-level and 3rd-level Barbarian is also worth a dip to get Danger Sense, Reckless Attack, and a Path feature. As for Paths, Path of the Berserker and Path of the Totem (Bear) will give you the best features for the lowest amount of trade-off.

Rogue: The Rogue class will synergize best with a DEX Fighter build. A one-level dip gets you access to Sneak Attack and Expertise. A two-level dip gets you Cunning Action. Three levels nets you a Roguish Archetype, the Assassin and Swashbuckler are usually best when combined with the Fighter’s strengths.

Ranger: Rangers are where things get a bit further away from ideal. Luckily, you aren’t restricted with either being a DEX or STR fighter when you choose a Ranger multiclass. Favored Enemy and Favored Terrain are nice, but are much more restricted in their usage than either of the Barb’s or Rogue’s 1st-level features. A two-level dip nets an extra Fighting Style and Spellcasting. Make sure to choose spells that don’t need WIS to be effective, Hunter’s Mark is the best choice here. Absorb Element, Good Berry, and Zephyr Strike are all solid picks for your second spell. A three-level Ranger dip nets a Ranger Archetype, the Hunter is definitely the most conducive towards the Fighter’s strengths though any of the other Ranger subclasses will work if you like the flavor more.