Fighter 5e: The Complete Class Guide

The Fighter is the class people recommend to new players and then stop thinking about. "Play a Fighter. You hit things with a weapon. It's easy."

This is technically true and wildly underselling it. The Fighter is the class with the most attacks per turn in the game. The class with the most feats. The class with a single-short-rest ability that lets it take two turns in a row. The class with three subclasses ranging from "I hit it again" to "I also cast spells" to "I name a specific attack and do a specific thing because I am a tactical genius."

Fighters are simple on the surface and deep if you want them to be. This guide covers both.

The Pitch

Fighters are martial specialists. No spellcasting by default, though one subclass gets some. The core features:

• Fighting Style at level 1. Pick a combat specialty (defense, dueling, great weapon fighting, archery, protection, or two-weapon fighting). This shapes your damage or defense profile.
• Second Wind. Once per short rest, bonus action, heal yourself 1d10 + Fighter level.
• Action Surge at level 2. Once per short rest, take an additional action. Attack twice with two attacks becomes attack four times with two attacks.
• Martial Archetype (subclass) at level 3.
• Extra Attack at level 5, improving to three attacks at level 11 and four at level 20. No other base class reaches four attacks per action.
• Indomitable at level 9. Reroll a failed saving throw once per long rest, scaling up.
• More Ability Score Improvements than anyone else. Fighters get ASIs at levels 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 19. Seven. Everyone else gets four to five.

Fighter's chassis is "stable, durable, high damage, and full of feats."

Stat Priorities

1. Strength or Dexterity. Depends on your build. Strength for heavy armor and melee. Dex for finesse weapons, ranged weapons, and AC in light or medium armor.
2. Constitution. HP, concentration (Eldritch Knights).
3. The other physical stat. If you went Strength, 14 Dex for initiative and AC. If Dex, you can dump Strength.
4. Wisdom and Charisma. 12 in one of them for decent saves and social.
5. Intelligence. Dump unless you're Eldritch Knight.

A classic Strength Fighter: STR 16, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 10. Plate armor, a greatsword, and a problem with gravity.

Fighting Styles

You pick one at level 1. The big ones:

Great Weapon Fighting: Reroll 1s and 2s on damage dice with two-handed melee weapons. Small boost, but consistent. Best with big dice weapons like greatsword.

Dueling: +2 damage when wielding a one-handed melee weapon with nothing in the other hand. Pair with a shield for high AC + solid damage. Excellent defensive build.

Defense: +1 AC when wearing armor. Simple. Always useful.

Archery: +2 to attack rolls with ranged weapons. This is possibly the single strongest fighting style in the game. A +2 to attack is massive.

Two-Weapon Fighting: Add your ability modifier to off-hand damage. Makes two-weapon fighting viable.

Protection: Impose disadvantage on an attack against a nearby ally. Requires a shield. Situational but strong when in a party.

For solo play, Archery is the clear winner if you're going ranged. Dueling + shield or Defense if you're going sword-and-board. Great Weapon Fighting if you want to swing big.

Subclasses

Champion

The simplest subclass in the game. You crit on 19 or 20 starting at level 3 (18-20 at level 15). You get a second Fighting Style at level 10. You're harder to kill at level 18.

Champion is the "I want to play D&D without thinking about D&D" subclass. You attack. You crit a lot. You don't track resources, ki, spells, or maneuvers. Your only decision each turn is what to attack and when to Action Surge.

Don't underestimate this. Champion is mechanically solid and genuinely strong. The crit chance increase compounds because you get so many attacks.

Battle Master

The tactical subclass. You get Combat Superiority: a pool of dice (d8 at low levels, scaling) you spend on Maneuvers. Maneuvers let you do things like:

• Riposte. When an enemy misses you, use your reaction to attack them.
• Commander's Strike. Spend your bonus action to let an ally make an attack.
• Trip Attack. Knock an enemy prone on hit.
• Menacing Attack. Frighten an enemy on hit.
• Precision Attack. Add a maneuver die to a missed attack roll to potentially turn it into a hit.

You pick three maneuvers at level 3, with more at 7, 10, and 15.

Battle Master is where Fighters become mechanically interesting. You have meaningful choices every turn. Trip Attack on the caster to knock them prone. Menacing Attack on the brute to frighten them. Precision Attack on the crucial miss to save it.

Eldritch Knight

You gain Wizard spellcasting (a subset of the Wizard list, mostly abjuration and evocation). You get Weapon Bond (summon your weapon to your hand as a bonus action). At higher levels, you can cast a spell and then attack as a bonus action.

Eldritch Knight is "what if Fighter, but spells." You're not going to outcast a Wizard. But you get Shield (a +5 AC reaction spell that's arguably the best 1st-level spell in the game), Misty Step (teleport 30 feet as a bonus action), and various damage and utility spells on top of your weapon attacks.

Action Surge: Understanding the Feature

Action Surge gives you an extra action on your turn. Once per short rest.

At level 5, you have Extra Attack (two attacks per action). An Action Surge turn is: two attacks (normal action) + two attacks (extra action) = four attacks. At level 11, it's 3+3=6. At level 20, 4+4=8.

But you can also use the extra action for other things:

• Cast a spell (Eldritch Knight casts a leveled spell and attacks twice in one turn)
• Dash for extra movement
• Dodge for defense
• Disengage to retreat safely

The default is always "attack more." But knowing the flexibility exists is important.

Feats: The Fighter Dividend

Fighters get seven Ability Score Improvements. Each can be taken as a +2 to one stat, two +1s, or a feat. With seven of them, Fighters can afford to pick up three or four feats and still max out their primary stat.

Feats worth considering:

• Great Weapon Master. -5 to hit, +10 to damage when you choose. Bonus action attack on a crit or killing blow.
• Polearm Master. Bonus action attack with the butt of a polearm. Also lets you make opportunity attacks when enemies enter your reach.
• Sharpshooter. Ranged equivalent of GWM. -5 to hit, +10 to damage. Ignore cover.
• Sentinel. Opportunity attacks reduce enemy speed to 0. Bonus attack when an ally is hit nearby.
• Crossbow Expert. Bonus action attack with a hand crossbow. Great for Dex fighters.
• Tough. +2 HP per level. Good defensive pickup.
• Resilient (Wisdom or Constitution). +1 to the stat and proficiency in its saving throws.

A Fighter who takes both GWM and Polearm Master with a glaive or halberd is a multi-attacking, crit-hungry, opportunity-attacking wall.

Fighter in Solo Play

Fighter is A-tier for solo play. The strengths:

1. Consistent damage. You don't have bad days. Your DPR is predictable.
2. Action Surge. Two turns in a row is huge for solo play, where you're outnumbered in most fights.
3. Second Wind. Self-healing, bonus action, once per short rest. Not a big heal but always available.
4. Durability. Heavy armor + d10 HP + high Con = tank.
5. Feats. Customization options mean you can build a Fighter tailored to your specific solo adventure needs.

Weaknesses:

• Limited out-of-combat utility. Fighters don't have spells, ritual casting, or extensive skill lists. You're great in a fight and okay outside it.
• Champion gets repetitive solo. Battle Master and Eldritch Knight give you more decision-making.

For more, see our classes ranked for solo play.

Leveling Path

• Level 1: Fighting Style, Second Wind.
• Level 2: Action Surge (1 use).
• Level 3: Martial Archetype.
• Level 4: ASI.
• Level 5: Extra Attack.
• Level 6: ASI.
• Level 7: Archetype feature.
• Level 8: ASI.
• Level 9: Indomitable (1 use).
• Level 10: Archetype feature.
• Level 11: Extra Attack (2nd), scaling to 3 attacks per action.
• Level 12: ASI.
• Level 13: Indomitable (2 uses).
• Level 14: ASI.
• Level 15: Archetype feature.
• Level 16: ASI.
• Level 17: Action Surge (2 uses).
• Level 18: Archetype capstone.
• Level 19: ASI.
• Level 20: Extra Attack (3rd), 4 attacks per action.

Common Fighter Mistakes

Dumping Constitution. Low Con on a frontline class is a dead class.

Never using Action Surge. It's meant to be used. It's once per short rest. Don't save it for "the right moment" that never comes.

Forgetting Second Wind. Bonus action heal. Always available. Doesn't stack with anything so there's rarely a reason to skip it when you're bloodied.

Playing Champion without committing to Champion. The Champion is optimized by hyper-focusing on attack rolls and crit chance. Great Weapon Master + a halberd + Champion is peak crit fishing. If you build Champion without embracing the simplicity, you'll feel underwhelmed.

The Endlessness and the Fighter

Our AI Dungeon Master handles Fighter bookkeeping automatically: attack counts scaling with level, Action Surge and Second Wind uses, maneuver dice for Battle Masters, spell slots for Eldritch Knights, Champion's expanded crit range. You describe what you do. The AI resolves it.

For related reads, our action economy guide (crucial for understanding Fighter turns) and combat rules guide will give you the tactical layer to pair with this class guide.

Final Verdict

Fighter is the class to pick when you want to hit hard, hit often, and not spend your turn flipping through a spell list. It scales beautifully. It's durable. It has the most customization options of any class through feats and ASIs.

For a new player, Champion is the simplest D&D class in existence. For an experienced player, Battle Master is one of the most tactically rich. Pick your flavor.

Start a Fighter on The Endlessness, pick Archery + a longbow, and find out why four attacks per turn is one of the game's most satisfying sounds.