DnD 5E Quick Build Series: Melee Fighters
Author: Quetzalcoatlus / Moonsilver | Stefan
This article presents optimized, single-classed, melee Quick Builds for every Martial Archetype of the Fighter class in D&D 5E.
Though less reliable than their ranged equivalent, melee Fighters can output meaningful sustained damage complemented by good nova. They can accomplish this by utilizing a combination of the Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master feats, but in the absence of accuracy-boosting features and easy access to advantage from the main class, they need the right subclass features or party assistance to properly leverage the damage gain these feats can provide. Being limited to melee is a big drawback, and though the Fighter class scales relatively well as a single-classed martial build, it cannot keep up with spellcasters at higher levels. If your party is entirely ranged or your campaign will go to high levels, you may want to consider a different build, such as a ranged Fighter, which puts out similar damage without these drawbacks. Otherwise, a properly built Fighter can be a great asset to a party.
Adapting the Builds
If you want to adapt these builds to Variant Human from Custom Lineage, you can usually do so by simply picking +2 Strength instead of Crusher or Piercer at level 4 or 6 and starting with 15+1 STR 15+1 CON 15 WIS; or by picking +2 Strength instead of +1 STR +1 INT at level 4 or 6 and starting with 15+1 STR 14 CON 15+1 INT 10 WIS for subclasses that rely on Intelligence. If your party can easily provide you with advantage or accuracy boosts like bless or Bardic Inspiration, you can pick up the Great Weapon Master feat earlier. This usually means swapping the Strength increase or half feat at level 4 or 6 with the Great Weapon Master feat. Note that picking a race that does not grant a feat at level 1 will substantially decrease the power of these builds; in such cases delay feat selections one ASI, but be aware that the build drops at least one optimization level until you reach level 4 or even 6. If you have specific adaptation questions, the best place to ask is in our Discord server.
Swapping Fighting Styles
If you are allowed to use the Martial Versatility optional feature from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and your build uses a quarterstaff with a shield and transitions into a heavy weapon later on, you should be looking to pick the Dueling Fighting Style at level 1, and then use this optional feature to swap it to Defense when you take the Great Weapon Master feat.
Battle Master
Optimization level: mid (lower end).
Polearm Master (PAM) + Great Weapon Master (GWM) Battle Master centers around using a glaive for high nova damage damage rounds with Trip Attack and Precision Attack to offset GWM’s -5 penalty. Skilled play can get a lot of extra mileage out of PAM opportunity attacks, especially in conjunction with Crusher. Its consistent damage is worse than that of ranged builds, and its defenses are lackluster: if you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. Note that this build is worse than its ranged sister build.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Battle Master
Combat Superiority (Battle Master feature) – Menacing Attack, Precision Attack, Trip Attack.
Maneuver Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Student of War (Battle Master feature) – Mason’s tools.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Level 7
Combat Superiority (Battle Master Feature) – Disarming Strike, Rally.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel.
Level 10
Combat Superiority (Battle Master feature) – Ambush, Maneuvering Attack.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom)
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 15
Combat Superiority (Battle Master feature) – Bait and Switch, Tactical Assessment.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Cavalier
Optimization level: mid (lower end).
Polearm Master (PAM) + Sentinel Cavalier centers around using a glaive to halt oncoming melee enemies, making them waste their turn. Skilled play can get a lot of extra mileage out of PAM opportunity attacks, especially in conjunction with Crusher. Its consistent damage is worse than that of ranged builds until late in the game where Great Weapon Master can exploit the prone condition inflicted by Ferocious Charger. The build’s defenses are lackluster: if you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice – at least before level 10 where you start being able to hold your own.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Cavalier.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel. Yes this is redundant with your 10th level feature, but the temporary power boost it gives at levels 4-9 is just too good to pass up.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. In rare cases, the disadvantage from Unwavering Mark might outweigh the extra damage from the opportunity attack granted by Polearm Master causing you to not want to knock enemies away since Unwavering Mark only works while you are within 5 feet of the opponent, be mindful of that–even though this will rarely come up. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 15
Ferocious Charger – Make sure to use this as often as possible to either generate advantage for yourself to exploit with Great Weapon Master, or to stop a creature from advancing effectively (possibly using a javelin) and to force it to dash.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Champion
Optimization level: low-mid.
Melee Champion is a strong contender for the worst Fighter build, and yet we will be presenting two of them. This version focuses around the interaction of Polearm Master and Sentinel, with the support of Crusher and Great Weapon Master. Its damage is mediocre, worse than ranged builds, and its defenses are poor. If you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. This build is only here for completeness sake: If you are set on playing melee Champion, this is your build; if you want to play melee Fighter, or just Fighter, pick one of the other builds in this article, they’re quite noticeably better.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Champion.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Level 10
Additional Fighting Style (Champion feature) – Superior Technique (Trip Attack). Trip enemies, walk within 5 feet of them to gain advantage, and Action Surge.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Champion Variant
Optimization level: low-mid.
This version utilizes the Dual Wielder and Piercer feats in order to use two lances in mounted combat. Your damage is a bit better than your PAM/GWM counterpart starting at level 5 and it scales better, but it is truly below average during tier 1. Your defenses are still poor, but being on a mount and having +1 AC in the long run compared to the traditional PAM/GWM version helps to alleviate the problem. If you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle staying alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. This build is highly dependent on you being able to buy mounts regularly that will die very frequently, and varies wildly from table to table as to how mounted combat works and even whether or not the mules you’re using for this application are considered to be “trained for combat” (we are not using warhorses because they are unreasonably expensive when you are going through multiple of them in a day). Clear things up with your DM before showing up with this.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Small.
Feat – Dual Wielder
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), two lances (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy two flails to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons), and a longbow and a quiver with enough arrows. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Fighting Style – Two-Weapon Fighting.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Champion.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Piercer. Note that this raises our Str to 18 and enhances the impact of our underwhelming 3rd level feature.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Mounted Combatant. This allows your mount to survive better, so we will be picking it even if we’re not going to make use out of the advantage generation often at all.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement – +2 Str
Level 10
Additional Fighting Style (Champion feature) – Defense.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Echo Knight
Optimization level: mid.
Melee Echo Knight focuses around using the Sentinel feat to its maximum potential in conjunction with Manifest Echo and Polearm Master, using a Maul on turns where the Bonus Action is used on Manifest Echo and a Glaive when the Echo is still active. Positioning is crucial, the build is unlikely to do well in theatre-of-the-mind games, and even on a grid you must pay close attention to where you move. Try your best to stay 35 feet away or more from opponents depending on their reach and position your echo in a way that it’ll grant you opportunity attacks, while also setting up teleport opportunities and moving in ways to maximize the use of the Polearm Master reaction. The build’s damage is average, but it makes up for it in the damage it prevents the monsters from doing. The build’s numeric defenses are not stellar, but clever positioning (read: staying out of melee range) will keep you alive just fine.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master. If your game does not start at level 1, swap this and Sentinel from level 4.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 12 DEX, 15 CON, 8 INT, 13 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Echo Knight.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement – +1 STR +1 CON.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Alert.
Eldritch Knight
Optimization level: mid.
This melee version of Eldritch Knight makes use of the efficient defensive damage combo of Polearm Master and Dueling, while providing unmatched Fighter utility, area of effect capability, and strong defense. War caster allows Booming Blade to be cast in place of the Polearm Master reaction attack, with the support of the Crusher feat providing more opportunities to cast Booming Blade as well as force the enemy out of melee range and possibly take the rider damage of the spell more frequently.
Race: Custom Lineage
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 8 DEX, 14 CON, 15 INT, 10 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Wanderer.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Arcana (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a greatsword (sell this) and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Immediately buy a quarterstaff and a shield (if you cannot because your DM thinks it’s fun letting martials start with garbage items, leave the game; upon ignoring that piece of advice, start with a glaive instead of a greatsword). Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Make sure to have a component pouch and an arcane focus (staff) by level 3. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Dueling.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Eldritch Knight.
Spellcasting – fire bolt, booming blade; absorb elements, find familiar, shield.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – War Caster. You can now cast your reaction spells with your hands full. Furthermore, you can cast booming blade when you get an opportunity attack from Polearm Master (this becomes a lot more impressive next level when it deals extra damage).
Spellcasting – +protection from evil and good.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. You can now knock people taking your Polearm Master + War Caster opportunity attack back 5 feet, meaning they have to take damage to do something on their turn or pass. Note that this increases your Strength modifier. If your DM banned the RAW interaction of those two feats, take +1 STR +1 INT instead.
Level 7
Spellcasting – +Rime’s binding ice.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR. Spellcasting – +web.
Level 10
Spellcasting – +blade ward; +darkness.
Level 11
Spellcasting – +warding wind.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 13
Spellcasting – –warding wind, +counterspell, +fireball.
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (Silvery Barbs). Spellcasting – +sleet storm; +silvery barbs (feat), +misty step (feat).
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky. Spellcasting – +dispel magic.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Alert. Spellcasting – +banishment.
Level 20
Spellcasting – +rope trick.
Psi Warrior
Optimization level: mid (lower end).
Psi Warrior uses the combo of Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master to deal decent damage to priority targets early in a fight while having outstanding consistent damage through very efficient resource use and bringing one of Fighter’s best utility packages. Make sure to exploit Telekinetic Thrust knocking enemies prone with Great Weapon Master if you hit early in a turn, or the knock back with Polearm Master’s opportunity attack if you hit late in a turn. Scales unusually well into late tier 3 and 4. However, as most melee Fighters, this build too struggles with defense: If you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. Note that this build is worse than its ranged sister build.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 8 DEX, 14 CON, 15 INT, 10 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Wanderer.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Investigation (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Martial Archetype – Psi Warrior.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement – +1 STR +1 INT.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – +2 INT.
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – +2 INT.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom)
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky
Purple Dragon Knight / Banneret
Optimization level: low-mid.
Melee Purple Dragon Knight is a strong contender for the worst Fighter build. It focuses around the interaction of Polearm Master and Sentinel, with the support of Crusher and Great Weapon Master. Its damage is mediocre, worse than ranged builds, and its defenses are poor. If you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. This build is only here for completeness sake: If you are set on playing melee Purple Dragon Knight, this is your build; if you want to play melee Fighter, or just Fighter, pick one of the other builds in this article, they’re quite noticeably better.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Purple Dragon Knight.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Rune Knight
Optimization level: mid.
The Melee Rune knight makes use of oversized weapons while enlarged by Giant’s Might. It does great Nova damage by using a Maul on turns Giant’s Might is used, and during off-turns makes use of Polearm Master to maintain consistent damage. It also provides party support via its runes and the Inspiring Leader feat; all on a really strong defensive shell as well, thanks to the Hill Rune – though if you are the only melee character in your party, you might struggle to stay alive until you reach level 7 for said rune. This build is overall worse than its ranged sister build.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 12 WIS, 14 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Insight (background).
Tools – Mason’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Also, if your DM rules that your enlarged weapons from Giant’s Might don’t automatically count as oversized, make sure to get an oversized version of the following weapons (in order of descending importance): Maul, Glaive, Javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Rune Knight.
Rune Carver – Fire Rune; try to use this for Action Surge nova turns or use it on crits for double damage. Cloud Rune; use this to redirect critical hits.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 7
Rune Carver – -Fire Rune; +Storm Rune; try to use this on save-or-suck spells as much as possible, given no other opportunity, give yourself advantage; +Hill Rune; use this liberally to save HP.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement – Inspiring Leader.
Level 10
Rune Carver – +Fire Rune.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Resilient (Wisdom).
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 15
Rune Carver – +Stone Rune; try to use this before activating Storm Rune.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Alert.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless)
Samurai
Optimization level: mid (lower end).
This melee Samurai build centers around nova turns using Great Weapon Master, Action Surge, and Fighting Spirit. During off-turns, it uses the Polearm Master + Sentinel + Crusher combo for consistency and a modicum of control. The build’s nova damage is great, its consistent damage average and generally inferior to ranged builds. Its defense is lackluster: if you are the only melee character in your party, you will struggle to stay alive and you will likely cause your group to have to call off adventuring days early because you run out of hit dice. Note that this build is worse than its ranged sister build.
Race: Custom Lineage
Size – Medium.
Feat – Polearm Master.
Variable Trait – Darkvision.
Ability Scores
15+2 STR, 10 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 15 WIS, 8 CHA
Background: Investigator
Background Feature – Researcher.
Proficiency Selections
Skills – Athletics (class), Perception (class), Stealth (background), Survival (background).
Tools – Smith’s tools (background), thieves’ tools (background).
Languages – Common (race), Dwarvish (race; can be any language).
Starting Equipment
From background: magnifying glass (sell this), evidence from a past case (item 47, black thread), common clothes, 10 gp
From class: chain mail (a1), a glaive and a longbow (b2), light crossbow and 20 bolts (sell these) (a3), dungeoneer’s pack (a4)
Purchasing Goals
Sell the superfluous items you got at character creation. Buy a quarterstaff to exploit bludgeoning vulnerability (common in skeletons) before level 5, and a maul for after level 5–said maul is also your weapon of choice for your turns using Fighting Spirit. Get a quiver and enough arrows as well as javelins. Then invest into Splint and Plate Armor. For everything else refer to the mundane item guide.
Level 1
Fighting Style – Defense.
Fighting Style Options (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 3
Martial Archetype – Samurai.
Fighting Spirit – You generally want to use a maul instead of your normal polearm when you use this ability.
Bonus Proficiency – Insight.
Level 4
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Great Weapon Master.
Martial Versatility (TCoE) – Pick this optional class feature.
Level 6
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Crusher. This allows you to knock enemies back with the Polearm Master bonus action, thus allowing you to take a step back and forcing them to provoke an opportunity attack when they try to engage in melee again. Note that this increases your Strength modifier.
Level 8
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Sentinel.
Level 12
Ability Score Improvement – +2 STR.
Level 14
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Lucky.
Level 16
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Alert.
Level 19
Ability Score Improvement (Feat) – Fey Touched (gift of alacrity, fallback option is bless).
Interesting article, thank you for the effort!
And if I may ask, in the psi warrior section it mentions that the melee psi warrior is worse than its ranged sister build. What *is* the ranged sister build?
https://tabletopbuilds.com/quick-build-series-ranged-fighters/
this should be what they’re talking about
I’ll never use this guide but i appreciate that you did it for all the subs
I really appreciate this. I’ve been wanting to try out fighter subclasses for a while and this is a really good opener into the different options and styles I can go for.
In the future, because it’s often seen that the fighter class is generally weaker than it’s spellcasting counterparts and have little going for it, could you talk about maybe some multiclasses that can alleviate some of the fighter’s weaknesses a little while still keeping the core elements of it’s combat, like sorcerer / bard / rogue multiclasses? thank you!
Posting optimized, multiclassed builds for martials is definitely on the roadmap; it’s basically always only a question of if authors get around to actually doing it since the website runs 100% off of the free time and work of its authors.
All fighters like taking a peace cleric 1 dip at character level 9 because emboldening bond is crazy.
In general melee fighters will want to establish a core of polearm master and great weapon master through levels 1 and 4, and then take 2 barbarian levels at character level 6 and 7 to unlock reckless attack (which makes GWM substantially more powerful). You’ll also want a 3-5 level investment into Gloomstalker Ranger for the invisibility, additional attack (that synergizes with action surge), and potentially the ASI and spells.
For ranged fighters you usually want to take fighter to 5 or 6, then follow up with 3-5 levels of gloomstalker ranger and 3 or 4 levels of assassin rogue; along the usual peace cleric dip.
The objective of both these build paths is to maximize your potential to deal single target damage quickly, which is pretty much the only niche you can try to carve as a martial (though a druid might still overshadow you anyway).
There are some other valid strategies that pivot into up to 15 levels of one of cleric, wizard, sorcerer, warlock (druid is valid if the metal armor restriction is ignored); bard basically never features cause its level 1-4 are so insanely weak that you’ll probably never play to see the point where it reaches parity somewhere in late tier 3
Is it possible to do a melee fighter build WITHOUT polearm master?? Your list would say that it is not. *sigh* what about a sword and shield build? OR a dual wielder that isn’t using lances (which looks stupid anyway)? It seems as though you are mostly pursuing DPR which is a stupid barometric as it simplifies to the point of absurdity.
Unfortunately, it’s just not really possible without dropping a lot of things. Melee is already at a huge disadvantage, being a liability by draining party resources such as restcasted goodberries as well as making the job of a caster even more difficult as they run the risk of catching the melee in it. Melee running the risk of taking high damage also means they need to enhance durability as much as possible, hence favoring using a shield with a quarterstaff and either the Dueling (for a bit more damage) or Defense (for more AC) Fighting Styles.. Only Echo Knight does not immediately favor this, and that is due to being an inherently “ranged” character thanks to the Echo. Even then, if the Echo is constantly being killed, then the Bonus Action attack from PAM is going to be of great help. Also worth noting that dual wielding causes a drop in aforementioned defenses with not much return.
Additionally, melee lacks many good options, as do martials in general – due to the lack of flexibility found in martials, even Eldritch Knights and Battle Masters, their main purpose is being single-target DPR. Dropping that in any way worsens the build. Martials and weapon-users in general absolutely need a Bonus Action attack feat to even begin to compare (Power Attack feats are also needed, but due to Great Weapon Fighting not having an Archery equivalent save for Reckless Attack, it suffers). Going sword and board loses that.
tl;dr yes it certainly is possible to make a melee build that doesn’t use PAM, but then you fall behind in DPR by a bit or are otherwise giving up something big.
A possibility I see is running a shadow blade build with eldritch knight. War caster, Tough, Res Wis, and the rest of ASIs into CON/ Lucky mean you are at least sturdy and can deal decent damage with upcast shadow blade, especially in the dark. Just pray you never fight constructs. Good damage, good defenses, magical utility, gols HP. Generally sound, and doesn’t need PAM.
Shadow Blade is pretty terrible for Eldritch Knights.
It does marginally more damage than PAM, and that’s not accounting for extra opportunity attacks you might get from PAM with smart play or potential magic weapons
In dim light or darkness, Shadow Blade does a fair bit more than PAM, especially if PAM can’t get advantage otherwise, but it’s still nothing to write home about.
Even in optimal conditions, you have to consider the opportunity cost for Shadow Blade
First, it’s not an Abjuration or Evocation spell, meaning taking this means you either give up Find Familiar or you give up Web. Neither of those are worth the trade off
Second, you can only do this “slightly better than PAM” damage twice per day (3 times by level 10, wheeee) and in all the other fights, your damage is just abysmal.
Third, using all your spell slots on Shadow Blade means you’re not casting Binding Ice when you need AOE or Web when you need the control. You’re losing a ton of the versatility that makes Eldritch Knight worth playing.
But the biggest problem of all is that you spend levels 1-7 without it doing terrible damage in every fight. How can it be a Shadow Blade build if you don’t get Shadow Blade until the later half of Tier 2?
As an aside, upcasting doesn’t make it any better cause the opportunity cost is even higher. Casting Shadow Blade instead of Fireball, Counterspell, Sleet Storm, etc? No thank you.
If you’re taking echo knight / psi warrior and multiclassing into wizard to make some sort of arcane fighter, still being able to fight and deal damage in melee but have the benefits of spell casting, what level would be best to dip out. I get that level 5 for extra attack is standard but maybe level 7 for at least psi warrior to get the feature or is that simply not worth the spellcasting?
also side note. is there any subclass of wizard that synergizes well with fighters or any of these particular subclasses?
War wizard 2 is great to shore up da ING throws. You can also grab shield and a absorb elements, and none of those three options care about your int. A third level in wizard can get you misty step and some other good 2nd level spell as well. War wizard is a nice dip for basically anyone, but martials in particular because “only able to cast up to a cantrip next round” is a non issue for them.
Why does Pai warrior scale unusually well into late tier 3/4? The reliance on INT + strength saves (which are terrible to target) make that subclass look really weak to me, apart from the utility of getting rid of fear / charm and being able to clear large gaps with on demand flight.
crusher sounds pretty inconsistent with PAM and a glaive. you only get one bonus action attack to hit with bludgeoning damage. If you want to have that opportunity attack you can just walk back 5 feet because you’re using a reach weapon (or do a lunging attack if going battle master) instead of using up an ASI. if there is a mathematical or practical reason to take Crusher over something else, I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.
TLDR: Crusher is for enemies that will get within 5ft of you.
The alternative to crusher is taking +2 STR and re-arranging your point buy to give you +1 WIS, so you need to evaluate the utility of Crusher vs that specific thing, and it ends up still being worth it even if you only have one attack.
What’s more: your ‘walk 5ft back’ strategy *is* absolutely something you should consistently be doing with any reach PAM build, but what do you do after your enemy takes their turn and has walked within 5ft of you? Now you would have to trade an opportunity attack onto you so you get the PAM reaction later (usually not worth it) to do what you said. *This* is where Crusher comes in and gives you a greater than 50% chance to knock them back and get you that opportunity attack without taking one in return (and it also allows you to move an entire 30ft back, nullifying the next action of the incredibly common 5ft-reach melee-only 30ft speed monsters in this game).
from what you’re suggesting it sounds like Crusher would fill the same role as the sentinel feat in preventing monsters from being within 5 feet of you. Would the utility that comes out of it essentially be like a second sentinel in case you miss the opportunity attack and/or there is more than 1 monster approaching you? (another use I could think of is the rare instance of a monster teleporting next to you where sentinel doesn’t stop them from hitting you)
and would be worth it to take the pushing attack maneuver instead of the crusher feat since it’s guaranteed on hit?
It’s definitely Sentinel-adjacent, but a lot more aggressive.
It also comes with other significant benefits like the strength increase and the crit advantage generation, which adds a ton of damage to the build.
It definitely has great synergy with Sentinel as well.
Pushing Attack is not worth it because it only does something if: You don’t have Crusher, and the Crusher attack misses (which will be your last attack unless you action surge, so often times you’d waste it when Crusher ends up hitting), and they fail their saving throw, and the reaction attack hits. That’s just way too little expected value compared to the opportunity cost posed by using the superiority die on precision attack or menacing attack instead.
Throughout this article you can observe a deliberation between taking Sentinel and taking Crusher first. The rationale behind the ordering in the different builds is that builds that are good at doing damage will double down on that with the damage provided by Crusher, while builds that don’t do good damage (aka rather bad ones) take Sentinel first cause at least mitigating damage is *something* (the exception here being Echo Knight, which does just synergize amazingly with Sentinel)
I was wondering what you might think about the Rune Knight with the Rune Carver background to get the Rune Shaper Feat. The way I’m reading the Rune Knight’s Rune Carver feature and the Rune Shaper feat, nothing says that the benefits you gain from the inscribed runes have to come from the specific feature and that as long as the rune is on both lists, then you get benefits from both for each rune.
Both features start out saying how many runes you learn from that feature and that at the end of a long rest, you inscribe each rune you know onto an object. NOT, inscribe each rune you learned from this feature onto an object.
For the Rune Knight, each rune has an entry that says, basically, the same thing “Cloud Rune. This rune emulates the deceptive magic used by some cloud giants. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune,”. This doesn’t say that the inscribed rune has to be learned from the Rune Knight. The only feature that says that the rune has to be learned from the Rune Knight is the 15th level Master of Runes feature, and that says, “each rune you know from your Rune Carver feature”, though you do pick up the Rune Shaper feat from the Rune Carver background, so it might still work (but probably not).
For the Rune Shaper it says that for “each rune you inscribe”, you learn a 1st level spell that you can cast once per long rest without using a spell slot or material costs. Once again, NOT “each rune you learned from this feature that you inscribe”.
IF (and i so mean IF) this works, then you can get all 6 runes for the Rune Knight by level 10 and get 6 1st level spells (and comprehend languages) that you can cast once each per long rest.