Three Fighter Builds to Show Why Fighters Are NOT Boring!

Fighters are versatile

“Fighters are boring!” is a sentiment often heard when we discuss Dungeons & Dragons classes. It’s easy to imagine the vanilla knight in shining armor when we hear fighter. But the fighter is among the most versatile classes in D&D. By choosing the right subclass, a fitting weapon, and a specific mechanical niche, we can build an almost endless number of unique fighter characters.

In this article, we will show the versatility of the fighter by imagining a single fighting academy: Foxblood Academy. Even though all students undergo the same basic training of a fighter, the graduates of Foxblood are as unique as they are skilled. Three fighter builds give us a glimpse how effortlessly versatile, and NOT boring, fighters can be.

Fighters inspire awesome descriptions

More complex classes do not always lend themselves to evocative descriptions. Spellcasters are complex but they can often feel less unique in play. For example, wizards use a spell book from which they cast spells. Clerics heal the party, and cast spells. Sorcerers have innate magical talents — and they cast spells. But when we play a fighter, we don’t have the default of casting a spell, or many other fancy, complex mechanics to fall back on. The physicality of a fighter can push us as players to lean into the descriptions of our character’s actions. There is an intimacy to the fighter using their body and their weapons which seemingly more complex classes can lack.

Three graduates of Foxblood Academy

To illustrate the versatility of the fighter class, let’s imagine a fighting school: Foxblood Academy.

Foxblood Academy is the premiere institution for training the elite fighters of tomorrow. On the outskirts of a bustling metropolis, parents send their children from all over the continent to take the entrance exam. After years of rigorous practice under the most prestigious trainers in the world, students graduate ready to forge their own legends.

The diversity of graduates illustrates the variety of what it means to be a fighter. Let’s look at three fighter builds of three graduates:

Kaelan Stonebrow – The Spellsword. Kaelan is a dwarf who learned to combine dexterous rapier technique with arcane enhancements.
Olympia of Thunderhold – The Hawkeye. Olympia is an elf-halfling hybrid who can hit a single mosquito with multiple crossbow bolts from over a hundred feet away before the insect touches the ground.
Averyka La’arcan – The Dominator. Averyka is a bugbear who controls an entire frontline by maneuvering enemies with powerful swipes of their halberd.

Each of these Foxblood graduates has received the basic physical training of every fighter. But their specializations are clearly pronounced.

Kaelan Stonebrow – The Spellsword

Kaelan comes from the Stonebrow clan. The clan sends three young dwarves to Foxblood Academy every 10 years. In his decade, Kaelan was the only one who passed the entrance exam. He quickly showed an aptitude for battle magic, and was trained in the combination of fine rapier command, and arcane support.

Kaelan’s subclass is the Eldritch Knight. As a mountain dwarf he starts out with the necessary Ability Score Increases to support a high score in Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence. With the rapier and a shield, we can start out with a great armor class and decent damage thanks to the dueling fighting style. With the booming blade and green-flame blade cantrips Kaelan unlocks his signature move as a spellsword. Thanks to the War Magic feature of the Eldritch Knight, Kaelan can use one of these cantrips, and also make another weapon attack. At higher levels, Kaelan will be relying on the shadow blade spell to boost his damage, and live up to his true potential as an arcane-infused dexterous fighter.

Olympia of Thunderhold – The Hawkeye

Olympia is the bastard daughter of an elvish noble, and a halfling adventurer. She arrived at Foxblood Academy with some advantage thanks to the training she received by her elvish family’s officers from the moment she could hold a bow. But Olympia’s work ethic impressed even the instructors at Foxblood. She would spend long hours at the archery range, eventually leaving the traditional elvish bow behind for a crossbow, which allowed for even faster shots.

Olympia’s martial archetype is the Champion. Her effectiveness as a marksman comes from sheer physicality combined with excellent technique. As a Custom Lineage character, she can quickly gain both the Crossbow Expert feat, and the Sharpshooter feat, allowing for powerful, rapid and accurate shots thanks to the archery fighting style. As a champion, she lands critical hits twice as often.

Averyka La’arcan – The Dominator

Averyka is a nonbinary bugbear who stumbled into the entrance exam of Foxblood Academy by accident. After seeing the young bugbear’s immense control over the battlefield, the instructors convinced Averyka to stay. Throughout their time at Foxblood, Averyka bended the rules wherever they could but still excelled in training. Their exceptionally long limbs allow for an incredible range of motion while wielding the halberd.

Averyka is a Rune Knight. They were taught specific runes which, when inscribed on weapon and armor, allow for even greater control of an enemy line. The bugbear lineage allows for a 15-foot reach with the halberd. If Averyka invokes their Giant’s Might feature from the Rune Knight, they can cover a 40-foot diameter sphere with their weapon. By using the Polearm Master feat, the fire rune of the Rune Knight, and later the Sentinel feat, Averyka can stop enemies in their tracks before they can get close.

Play more fighters!

Foxblood Academy has dozens of graduates each year. And each one of them is as specialized, flavorful, and unique as Kaelan, Olympia and Averyka. Go out there, and play a fighter. The class is far from boring.

Links & Resources

Guide for the Spellsword build – Treantmonk’s Temple: “Eldritch Knight Build Guide” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJ7ASALF
Guide for the Dominator build – d4: D&D Deep Dive: “The Rune Knight – D&D Optimized #38” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mDvbaXu8JI

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