So...my friends and I did something interesting. Something even WotC is too cowardly to do. We rolled the Battle Master into the main class, so every single Fighter is a Battle Master. It's been amazing. I highly recommend it.

In defense of the Cavalier, you don't need a steed to make it work. Those are mostly ribbon features. This subclass can be one of the best tanks for the party by drawing a line in the sand and letting nothing pass. Its age shows compared to other subclasses, but it does its job well.

I’ve never played a fighter, but my next character might have to be one. A golaith rune knight or echo knight seems really fun

Great review of the fighter class. It took a while for me to warm up to the class, but I've come around because of many of the points highlighted in the video. However, the main thing I overlooked is how the flexibility of the class gives it a wide range for roleplay.

Fighter is definitely in my top 3 classes to play with, but a lot of folks sleep on Eldritch Fighter with wizard multiclass. I’m always caught between an evocation wizard or divination wizard for flavor. Having a warrior that can dodge hits so smoothly without even looking OR a warrior wielding lightning and flame 🔥 off of their blade scraping off the ground. So sick.

The video I didn't know I needed , awesome content as always.

I've been loving fighter since the playtest. I remember Bron, my first fighter in the 5e playtest, a sneaky, lightly armored, switching between sword and board, 2 handed long sword and bow. Well rounded shady leader. Man I love that character. Also fighter/samurai takes a pivotal role on one of my favorite builds, the "Samurai Jack Combo" Fighter (Samurai)/ Monk (kensei)/ Cleric (war) combo with a thousand attacks per turn and wearing no armor.

Don't get me wrong when I say this because WotC also isn't perfect, but the Echo Knight is a perfect example of why Critical Role has a lot to learn about balance with regards to the subclasses they come up with. The Echo Knight is my favorite subclass by far but I will admit it is terribly broken. A far as Battle Master goes, every fighter should get a single maneuver and limited uses per long rest/less per short rest. Not everybody knows a technique to disarm an enemy, but they might know how to trip them during combat, and vice versa. Good video, as always.

One feat I really like is "Strike of the Giants" where you can have a Smite like attack added into your Melee/thrown attacks (one per turn.) Almost any Fighter Subclass can make good use of it, especially Champion with his expanded crit range. Almost all of them have a special debuff to apply like a Battlemaster and it relies on your STR or CON. Best of all, you can get it for free from a Background. The tough choice is choosing which one.

I actually almost shed tears to this video. To this day I played and only once 2 sessions. Best moments of my life. Swing this video made me just burst with joy since to this day I could never play and ever again. Much love to this game. 🎲🤺 Sneak attack

My go to class to play in dnd is either a fighter, warlock or paladin So yeah seeing someone actually explaining how epic the fighter brings a smile to my face

A small thing about the Rune Knight's Runic Shield. You can force a reroll for any creature, which means that IF it works with missed attack rolls, you can protect an enemy from a missed attack.

One of my favorite characters I ever played was a Dragonborn Monk Fighter Multiclass. He was a way of the open hand monk with 4 levels in Battle master fighter, meaning he could utilize martial abilities so well that he could control the battlefield. To give context, at level 9 he could use a maneuver for Riposte (use a reaction to attack if the opponent missed), and in that same attack use a ki point for stunning strike, so if they failed, they’d be stunned for a round, then if it was my turn, I could use another battle maneuver to disarm him, on top of my 2 attacks and a bonus action for unarmed strike as a monk, and if I really wanted to, use action surge to use 2 attacks again and another Ki point from the open hand technique to knock him prone (all of which at this point would be at advantage with him being stunned). So in terms of action economy, I stunned, disarmed, knocked him down, and attacked an opponent 6 times in a single round, all at level 9. This is a fairly unique scenario but it goes to show how much you can do with the right build.

Hey Alex, have you made a video about the various Battle Master maneuvers that the fighter can use, or has that already happened and I haven't seen it yet?

Dwarf fighter that fell in love with the surface and wants to see it all🔥🔥🔥

Yea, I still don't know if I want my next character to be a Monk or a Fighter. If they were to be a monk, I would want to use the new UA Monk; if I were to play a Fighter, I would be asking to add homebrew to the base class so it has more roleplay potentiallly and options. Is it bad that I think Fighters are suppose to be the martial equivalent of Sorcerers?

I have been playing a samurai fighter in a recent campaign. I say recent but we know with dnd how relative that is lol (about 13-14 sessions in right now since I joined as a later addition). It’s actually been pretty fun. And I do believe the first point made about fighters is correct, they can be versatile in a lot of ways. And I have had a lot of fun playing one in this roleplay/storytelling heavy campaign with tons of intrigue. When I joined the party already had a monk, a ranger, a wizard, an artificer, and a cleric. Fairly balanced actually though a bit weak on charisma. I also noted the group lacked a wide spread of languages between each other and the adventure intended to go over a lot of things that might require that. Sure, the wizard and artificer could change that eventually, but they weren’t there yet and it would put them in unnecessary danger should the situation be one where the act of casting a spell could be taken as aggressive, even if it was to bridge a language barrier. So those few things I noted. I decided on playing my samurai as a scholar of linguistics in the end. They would be a field agent of their scholar faction due to their area of study, but also be trusted to act alone mostly due to their fighting and talking skills. I also tacked on proficiencies in calligraphy, painting, and forgery tools (though specifically dm and I narrowed that down to paperwork and art stuff, but also let it make it easier to make multiple spell scrolls of the same spell over and over again if assisted by the spellcaster with the spell). I ended up taking the feat for linguist and also can write “reports” for my faction in said code, and also am teaching my party to use it too. This is actually one of the huge reasons the party jokes that my character is a super spy. The courtier feature also helps me be the face of the party and hold up with those all important charisma skill check stuff (I have it set to persuasion). Between all of this I feel I stepped quite well into the role the party needed and fighter was a major reason how that happened. I now play as the tank frontliner while the monk does the damage dealing and dips. I tend to also act as cover for the others too and have the strength needed to make those checks easy (I have had to pick up and carry the wizard out of danger on multiple occasions, more than half our sessions now). One of my favorite moments recently was between the monk and I. Monk plays as an ex-soldier who is disillusioned by his country and wants to understand the people his country are at war with. So he asked my character to teach him the language so he can learn. This moment majorly highlighted the monk’s character growth and we, as both the characters and players, were really proud of that moment…which is why I dropped my character secret to his character and his character alone, that my character once had a fiancé of that country that the monk’s country is at war with. This got the whole table into a tizzy as I had dropped few hints to the deeper backstory though they knew one was there and I had foreshadowed a few things already that they hadn’t pieced together yet. So yeah, monk’s character can now do with that information what he will. Anyway, mostly wanted to share to show that one can be versatile as a fighter. My character isn’t really your typical trope of a fighter and honestly does super well in their intended role, mostly serving as decent backup and bolstering everyone.

Wanting to make a dog soldier fighter, literally. He's an ascended dog race that was created because dogs' loyal and obedient nature would make them excellent troops for battle. I think he's going to be like a giant upright great pyrenees with either a soldier or farmer background. I want to make the most broken fighter build I can, but have him act all kind and dopey and a bit shy with a voice like Goofy. He's just a simple farm boy who got called into war like so many other dogs.

I recently used a level 7 Eldritch knight multiclassed with 6 levels of bladesinger wizard. My AC was 17+1(protection fighting style)+1(cloak of protection)+2(haste)+5(bladesong) plus I had shield spell and absorb elements, counterspell, and silvery barbs for a total of 27 AC with the option to go up to 32 or use other defensive spells. The DM couldn’t touch me the whole one shot plus I had 1/2 or 1/4 or 1/8 damage taken on AOEs. My attack round was, Cantrip, Attack (bladesinger), attack (haste), attack (bonus action from Eldritch knight). It was an INSANE build.

My first Class was a dwarf fighter in advance dnd. It was the best!!

Cavalier has 1 feature tied to mounted combat. The class is made for *defense* otherwise. People focus too much on the "haha ride horse" feature. My first campaign featured a newbie who absolutely wrecked enemies with those dang marks lol

Level 3 Battlemaster Fighter/Level 5 Gloomstalker Ranger/Level 12 Assassin Rogue

My Rogue 3 Thief/ Fighter 5 Battle Master build is a mundane Ranger. Human Variant for that sweet sweet 5e Feat. (I took Mobility) Think Frontier Knight that can stealth scout, disable traps, find food and water, make a map, swing, shoot, ride, and speak a few languages. A warrior guide that is more presentable than the Barbarian and tougher than the Rogue.

We have a Rune Knight Fighter in our current game. Far and away the most versatile Fighter subclass ever. With the right choice of runes, he's a total beast and very fun to watch!

I’m one less so away from an level 5 archer gloom stalker to level 3 echo knight multi class build. My body is ready

I have a Drow multiclassing as fighter and monk/kensei. It's a fun build!

very well done

I picked fighter because I’ve never played dnd before a lot of classes confuse me …but fighter move here hit whatever end turn I love it I’m level 11 and decimate what’re I’m fighting

Psi Warrior is even scarier, none of its power can be Counterspelled. They aren't Spells they are Powers. Whereas the Eldritch knights abilites are Spells. scary huh?

The only thing about the Arcane Archer that kinda sucks is that you're restricted to using the shortbow or the longbow ONLY!! In other words, you can't even use any crossbows or any other ranged weapons at all!!!!! I wouldn't choose that subclass because it makes you such a one trick pony!!

playing a rune knight in the curse of strahd atm. i love i a whole lot

arcane archer with a couple of level in artificer to use his INT for attack and damage solve the DC issue and is pretty good and fun to play

Yeah baby. Now we just need the barbarian class

Rune Knight > Battle Master. It's hard to beat a Huge Bugbear with a polearm and sentinel.

While I agree the Battle master is the best and i do intend to play an echo knight goblin 😂... my first fighter ever...i prefer druids and rangers... I choose the Samurai. She is litterly the red-headed step child. Its in a Spelljamer campaign. Im playing a githyanki, wildspacer background, ex family were pirates, real trouble, human trafficking etc. My character and her younger brother were captured. She was reformed and joined the human clan (Japanese) and became one of them. Shes changed her name and has sworn to kill the leaders of her ex group, her mother and older brother. She's LN however. A bit like Darth Vader, following a doctrine to the letter. She followed the evil doctrine until she was enlightened. She is rather cold, loves poetry. She reads and writes it. It helps that i was a published poet in college...i did actually write a few war and murder poems for her. But when i mentioned poetry, i saw frowns so I dont read it. She is fun to play. Flirting with females because she's a lesbian, being blunt, too Blunt. The group has decided she is not to negotiate, lol. That is cool because i do that in my other game with a high Charisma and caring bard. Problem is when the group wants to be sneaky. My character wont do that. Only if its Lawful. I did dip into cleric, twlight, so that she gas darkvision. I do a Hebrew accent for her, well i try anyway. I did get to ride a shark last game it was fun. Im looking forward to playing a mischievous goblin echo knight next fighter that i play.

To be totally fair, terms like "best subclass" are somewhat pointless to say. Flavour, player creativity, setting, magical items, etc., etc. Are all factors. It feels a bit like personal preference bled through, ngl. But, then, that's just the opinion of an old man on the internet, so, y'all do you.

Is it just me, or have you not done a video about broken barbarians yet?!?! Hopefully, it's on the horizon soon?!?!

Fighter is good. I took 2 levels to get Action Surge so by 10th level I can cast 9 Eldritch Agonizing Blasts with Quicken metamagic + Action Surge. 😊

Fighter is not broken, Action Surge is. Further, even Action Surge is not either as far as casters go: RAW you can only cast one levelled spells per turn. Otherwise Quickened Spell + Action Surge would mean 3 Fireballs in one turn. And 4 Attacks in one turn ... that's cute. Wall of Force + Sickening Radiance. Or +Mordekainen's Faithful Hound. Two turns and any enemy which cannot teleport or dispel magic dies. You know what level you need for that? Lv9 Wizard. At level 20, you can do this very combo 9 times without items or features included yet. 4 Attacks - if you would have a Longsword +3 and your stat at 20 - roughly equal (1d8+6(prof)+5(dex/str)+3)*4 = 60-88 damage, if all hits connect. Meteor Swarm, a Lv9 Spell, aimed in such a way that all 4 comets hit, combined with Overchannel (Evocation Wizard), deals about... oh right. 480 damage - on a succeeded save. In an AoE. At level 17. D&D5e gets whack starting at mid-tier (Spells Lv5+) and completely nuts at higher levels (Spells Lv7+).

I like my Varient human battle master archer. Take archery fighting style, and sharpshooter feat. Of course i usually dump into my dex and let it trikle from there.

People play monk in your game? I can't even get someone to play monk after I offer a starting magic item.

I love how the joke was a long winded way of saying take a 2lv dip in Fighter.😂 Good effective run down of the Fighter and its subclasses.

eldritch knight fighter vhuman sharpshooter perception acrobatics survival stealth wood carvers tools insight medicine you can pop in and out of darkness on your turn for added protection until you get devil's sight. I just want to use a bow and tried to tailor my spell list to use bonus action you can probably get more dpr from crossbow expert 8 16 16 8 15 8 Lvl 1 sharpshooter archery fighting style Lvl 3 booming blade light shield mage armor expeditious retreat Lvl 4 asi dex absorb elements Lvl 6 fey touched bless misty step Lvl 7 darkness Lvl 8 asi dex retrain expeditious retreat for find familiar invisibility Lvl 10 mage hand Lvl 11 protection from evil and good Lvl 12 eldritch adept devil's sight Lvl 13 counter spell Lvl 14 lucky fly retrain find familiar for haste Lvl 16 tough protection from energy Lvl 19 fire shield Lvl 20 greater invisibility

Time for a new tag line.

Can you pls do blood hunter next🙏🙏

Battle Master is the best fighter unless you play a Rune Knight.

Fighters are underpowered for one reason. Flavor is free and the subclasses are mostly flavor. They do make up for this with extra feats though. Note I'm not saying completely. They are starting to veer away from it.

Fighter has been broken since the move to 4th edition.

Fighter is broken. In a bad way. It's one of the weakest classes both in combat and non-combat situations. Paladin deals far more damage, can tank more damage, have same defense, is a perfect support because of auras and can cast spells. Wizard bladesinger is just literal monster. Only good uses fighter could have is multiclass. You couldn't make good fighter without multiclass or taking some features. And even then that multiclass would be probably 3 fighter/17 wizard. But still let me remind you the fact that you should focus on your character right now, not his "potential". It doesn't matter if your multiclass would be infinitely powerful on 20 level if you would be too weak to survive on 5th level.

Mr White guy you missed the part where wizards of the Coast said people that look like us can't leave the hobby fast enough. Not to mention all the other racist and just flat out BS things as company is done and said. How much of that do they have to do to you before you stop supporting it.

ALL PC's in DnD are broken lmfao...easiest game in the world...wanna know what actual challenge and balance looks like? play Pathfinders 2E...DnD players panic when someone even falls down at 0 hp lmfao come on now...

The "big" part is pointless as in just a few short months 5.5 will be out removing spell casting from action surge. What's that you say? Right now that's "just" playtest? Okay... wanna put money on it? Yeah, didn't think so...