Mercinary

Any child could swing a fancy expensive weapon about they were gifted by their noble fathers. It requires a true master to turn any rusty weapon we picked up from the ground into a blade. We are the ones who weren't gifted with magical powers. The ones who weren't lucky enough to be granted powers of unimaginable greatness from patrons and gods. We weren't even lucky enough to be born into wealth, yet here we are.
Fighting and wasting our lives away in wars that aren't even ours, just for bread and wine. Most people believe we're only worth as much as we are paid.
We'll show them. Experience, tactics, and predicting the enemy are our tools to victory. Together, we'll make legends out of our dilapidated equipment.

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Do you enjoy Fighter, but hate when players say he's a noob class? Do you think he doesn't need the whole meal on a platter? Then I've got the subclass for you.

The Mercenary is all about ''Tenacity, Unwavering. He never stops going until he's dead.'' He's supposed to be very versatile, with an expanded idea of how Fighter was supposed to be. Essentially a Weapon Master. Mercenary's true colors really come out at level 10, when he gains access to numerous special abilities depending on what weapons he's using. The idea was that I wanted to make a Subclass that made it almost seem like a spellcaster, but with melee weapons. See, a spellcaster sometimes need to switch out their spells to be effective in the scenario. So does Mercenary with his different weapon mastery. He simply needs to hold the weapon to gain access to it's abilities. I wanted the player to be able to switch about their weapons freely, instead of being forced to stick with the one weapon they built for.

For example, if you wanted a good damage build for Fighter, you were basically forced to only go with Maul or Greatsword, and stick to those like glue because you can't use Great Weapon Master with anything else. Or you were forced to stick with Half-orc, even though you might dislike the aesthetic of the race, but you had to to stay meta.
I wanted to change that. With this, you can stick to pretty much any build, and you should stay relevant. It's strange how I'm hoping for criticism so i can make a 2.0.

Anyway, I hope you try my subclass. Tell me how it goes.

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Bonus Proficiencies

At 3rd level, You gain proficiency in the Insight skill. If you are already proficient in the skill, you add double your proficiency bonus to checks you make with it.

Tenacious Anchor

Starting at 3rd level, as bonus action, you can enter a defensive stance that lasts until the start of your next turn. While in your defensive stance, you can make a special opportunity attack against creatures who enter your melee attack range. Additionally, while in your defensive stance, you make opportunity attacks without using your reaction. This feature is unusable with weapons with the reach or special traits.

Stalwart Defender

Starting at 7th level, on your turn, you can use your reaction to ready your shield or weapon to protect an ally creature within 5 feet of you. Granting them half your proficiency bonus(Rounded Up) to their AC, and advantage on Dexterity and Constitution Saving Throws until the start of your next turn. If you or your ally moves further than 5 feet away from each-other while Stalwart Defender is active, the ability ends early and is unable to be used again until the start of your next turn.

Additionally if you aren't wearing heavy armor or a shield, you also gain proficiency in Dexterity saving throws. If you already have this proficiency, you instead gain proficiency in Strength or Constitution saving throws (your choice).

Weapon Master

Starting at 10th level, you have become experienced in the art of combat with any weapon. You gain different features depending on what weapons you are currently holding shown on the list below.

Additionally, if you aren't wearing Light Armor, you gain +1 to your AC.

Greatsword: When you use the Attack action, you can replace an attack with a special weapon attack. You Half-Sword the Greatsword to temporarily dent a creature's defenses, and cause it to deal 1d6 Bludgeoning Damage instead. Doing so reduces the target's AC by 2 until the end of your turn. This effect doesn't stack.

Longsword/Warhammer/Battleaxe (Wielded Two-Handed): Before you make a melee attack you can choose to take a -2 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +5 to the attack's damage.

Longsword/Shortsword:  If you take the Attack action on your turn and have advantage on an attack roll against one of the targets, you can forgo the advantage for that roll to make an additional weapon attack against that target, as part of the same action. You can only do so once per turn.

Greataxe/Battleaxe/Halberd/Handaxe: When you take the attack action on your turn, you can decide to attack with advantage. However, doing so will will cause attacks to have advantage on you until the start of your next turn.

Maul/Mace/Warhammer/Light Hammer: Once per turn, when you use the Attack action, you can replace an attack with a special weapon attack. If the attack hits, add your proficiency bonus to the attack's damage. Additionally, the next attack roll the creature makes has disadvantage.

Pike/Spear/Halberd/Rapier: Once per turn, when you use the Attack action, you can replace an attack with a special weapon attack. If the attack hits, it also automatically hits another creature within 5 feet of the target for the same amount of damage. This attack deals 1d10 Piercing Damage.

Pike/Halberd/Glaive: When you use the Attack action, you can replace an attack with a special weapon attack. You attack with the butt-end of your weapon. It doubles your proficiency bonus for your attack roll. This attack deals 1d4 Bludgeoning Damage.

Morningstar/Warpick/Flail: +2 to attack and damage rolls.

Spear/Trident/Dagger: Once per turn, you are able to perform a melee attack and throw the weapon as part of the same attack. If the throw hits it's target, it is a critical hit.

Whip: If the target is Large or smaller, when you use the Attack action, you can replace an attack with a special weapon attack to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If you succeed the creature is grappled except the grapple range is equal to your whip's range. While your whip is grappling a creature, you cannot use it to attack, and you can only drag the creature towards you. Once the creature is within 5 feet of you, you can switch the whip's grapple with your other hand. This doesn't require another grapple check.

Dagger/Shortsword/Rapier/Sickle: When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don't provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn, whether you hit or not. Additionally you can use a bonus action to hide, do a slight of hand check, or dash.

Dagger: Killing an enemy with a dagger will grant 5 Temporary HP to you and allies within 10 feet who can see or hear you until the end of combat.

Vanguard's Discharge

Starting at 15th level, when you aren't guarding someone with Stalwart Defender your melee weapon attacks deal an additional 1d8 weapon damage.

Additionally, when a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the creature.

Struggler

Starting at 18th level, while using Stalwart Defender on an ally creature, it's melee weapon attacks deal an additional 1d8 of the same damage type, and while you're not using Stalwart Defender, you gain +2 to Attack Rolls. If you aren't wielding a shield, you gain +1 AC.

Additionally, at the start of each of your turns in combat, you regain 10 hit points. You don't gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or if you have more than 100 of your hit points left, and you only require four hours of rest to finish a long rest.