Is your character a fighter and is having trouble figuring out which subclass to take? Here’s a guide to the best ones.
5. Samurai
Samurai posing for painting
Is your style more aggressive, or just want an eastern warrior feel? The Samurai Subclass is the way to go!
At level 3 you gain a bonus proficiency bonus in one of these: History, Insight, Performance, or Persuasion. Or you can choose a new language. You also gain Fighting Spirit, which helps you in battle. As a bonus action, you can gain an advantage on all attacks that turn and gain 5 temporary hit points. The hit points go up to 10 at level 10 and 15 at level 15. You only have 3 uses of Fighting Spirit every long rest.
At level 10 though, you gain Timeless Spirit. Whenever you roll initiative and have no Fighting Spirit left, you regain one use of it.
Once you gain level 18, your fighter gets Strength Before Death. You gain the ability to delay death when you reach 0 hit points and take an extra turn immediately after you use it. If you take damage, you go unconscious and do saving throws as normal. Failing 3 can still kill you. You get one use of Strength Before Death every long rest.
Why Samurai is great:
* Able to give yourself advantage every turn
* Cheat death!
* Great for flavor
4. Eldritch Knight
Eldritch Knight ready to attack
Have you ever felt like being a wizard without having to dump levels into Wizard? Then become an Eldritch Knight!
They have access up to 4th level spells; not much, but it’s something. One downside is that two spells from 1st level must be abjuration or evocation. You also only know 3 spells from 1st level at level 3.
You also gain access to War Magic meaning whenever you cast a cantrip spell, you can also make a weapon attack as a bonus action. It improves at level 18, letting you cast regular spells and attack with a weapon.
When you reach level 15, you gain the ability Arcane Charge which lets you teleport to an unoccupied space 30 ft from you when you use Action Surge.
Why Eldritch Knight is Great:
* Able to cast magic
* Teleportation - for free!
* Lots of damage potential both magical and not
3. Cavalier
Cavalier scouting for enemies
Is your fighter a horse person or just wanting more movement speed when it's your turn? The Cavalier is here for you!
At level 3, you get a bonus proficiency choice of the following: Animal Handling, History, Insight, Performance, or Persuasion; or a new language of your choice. You also gain Born in the Saddle which allows you to have an advantage on a dex save when falling off your horse. If you do fail and don’t go more than 10 ft down, you land on your feet. Finally, you only use 5ft of movement when getting on a mount.
Also at level 3, you get Unwavering Mark. When you land a hit, you can mark them. If you’re within 5 ft of an enemy, it has a disadvantage on hitting a creature that isn’t you. If an ally takes damage from the marked target, on your turn as a bonus action, you can make a weapon attack. If it hits, it deals extra damage equal to half your fighter level.
At level 10, you get Hold the Line. If enemies move at least 5 ft from you, you can make an attack of opportunity. If it hits, the creature’s speed goes down to 0 until the end of the current turn.
At level 18, you gain Vigilant Defender which allows you to make special attacks on every other creature’s turn. You can only use it to make opportunity attacks, and not when you would take a normal reaction.
Why Cavalier is Great:
* Able to attack a lot per turn
* Out-Maneuver enemies
* Good support subclass
2. Battle Master
Battle Master looking away from his kill
The Battle Master doesn’t seem that great at first. It doesn’t get much in terms of abilities. It does get maneuvers though, and that’s what makes this subclass shine!
At Level 3, you get Combat Superiority. It gives you maneuvers, superiority dice, which you get four of, and a maneuver DC of 8+Proficiency Bonus+STR or DEX Modifier.
You get 3 maneuvers of your choice from the following: Ambush, Bait and Switch, Brace, Commander’s Strike, Commanding Presence, Disarming Attack, Distracting Strike, Evasive Footwork, Feinting Attack, Goad Attack, Grappling Strike, Lunging Attack, Maneuvering Attack, Menacing Attack, Parry, Precision Attack, Pushing attack, Quick Toss, Rally, Riposte, Sweeping Attack, Tactical Assessment, and finally Trip Attack. That’s a lot to choose from. You get two more on levels 7, 10, and 15.
A few to choose from are:
* Feinting attack: You use a bonus action to make a feint attack. If it hits, you add your superiority dice to the damage.
* Parry: If a creature hits you, you can use your reaction and a superiority die to reduce incoming damage by whatever you get on the superiority die+your Dex mod.
* Riposte: When an enemy misses, you can attack it, adding a superiority dice roll to the damage.
* Tripping attack: If a creature is Large or smaller, whenever you hit it with an attack, you can add superiority dice to the roll. The creature has to make a STR check and if it fails, it lands prone.
You also gain proficiency with one artisan’s tools of your choice.
At level 7, you get to know your enemy. Spend a minute studying an opponent and learn two of the following:
* Strength score
* Dexterity score
* Constitution score
* Armor Class
* Current hit points
* Total class levels, if any
* Fighter class levels, if any
At level 10, your superiority dice grow to d10’s, and d12’s at level 18.
At level 15, when you roll initiative, you gain one superiority die if you have none.
Why Battle Master is Great
* Ability to deal lots of damage
* Great for flavor
* Lots of different abilities
1. Echo Knight
Echo Knight attack with his Echo
The Echo Knight lets you create a clone of yourself, also known as an Echo. Have you ever wanted to look at yourself as you cut enemies down? Now you can!
At level 3 you get the ability to create an Echo. The Echo has an AC of 14+your proficiency modifier, 1 hit point, and immunity to every condition because, well, it’s not you. You can teleport, swapping places with your Echo for 15ft of movement, regardless of distance. You can attack with it or you on your attack turn. If a creature moves 5 ft away from your Echo, you can attack opportunity as if you were there.
You get Unleash Incarnation also at level 3. It lets you attack from your echo’s location when you make an attack. You can do it as many times as your Constitution modifier will allow.
At level 7, you can transfer your consciousness from yourself to your Echo from up to 1000 feet away. The ability is Echo Avatar. You are blinded and deafened while you are in the Echo.
You can create two Echos that co-exist at the same time. You are a Legion of One at that point. Whatever you can do from an Echo’s spot, you can do from either. If you’re out of uses of Unleash Incarnation when you roll initiative, you regain one use of it.
Why Echo Knight is Great
* Great for damage
* You won’t get hit much
* You can protect your teammates
