Let's be honest: Battlemaster is the correct answer. But Arcane Archers are fun, arguably as useful, and far less widely used. It's a shame such an integral class to D&D's history would be slapped down by an upstart.
I decided to make a Dex based fighter with Two-Weapon fighting, Dual Wield and finesse weapons. When I hit 3rd I went with the Eldritch Knight and ditched my armor for Mage Armor and at 6th I had AC19 with three +8, 1d8+5 attacks and was totaly unencumbered.
Let's be honest: Battlemaster is the correct answer. But Arcane Archers are fun, arguably as useful, and far less widely used. It's a shame such an integral class to D&D's history would be slapped down by an upstart.
My one complaint regarding Arcane Archers is the limit on how many you get. Two choices at lvl 3 versus three for Battle Master
Let's be honest: Battlemaster is the correct answer. But Arcane Archers are fun, arguably as useful, and far less widely used. It's a shame such an integral class to D&D's history would be slapped down by an upstart.
My one complaint regarding Arcane Archers is the limit on how many you get. Two choices at lvl 3 versus three for Battle Master
For me the issue isn't how many shot options you get, it's that you only get two uses per Short Rest and it never increases. With the Battle Master, you get 4 Superiority Dice per Short Rest, which eventually increases to 6. Given that the Arcane Shots are more powerful, but I still wish you got at least a 3rd shot at some point, maybe at 10th level.
Champion, math quoting is all well and good that 19+ crits isnt that great compared to blah blah blah. the next part you get for the subclass is more RP than it truly needs to be. 10th is possibly underwhelming and that cant be argued if multiclassing is allowed, you could take ranger or pally to pick up the second fighting style without taking 7 more level of fighter. But then the champion is laughing. at 15th crits (and so automatically hitting) are on an 18+ get that flamesword and watch the dice you roll multiply!) Then 18th and you can hear the terminator music start up. Below half health? Heal, every round till your at half health again. Short rest or walk it off? Take stairs or jump? Durability shouldn't be underrated.
If your not playing past 10th then no, champion is not for you. If your party are hybrid 3rd level x / 1st level or greater y multiclassing for maximum benefits, its not for you, but pure fighter? How much is (with no con mod and 'set average hitpoints) a threshold minimum of 114 max hits and auto healing when below 57 worth at 18th level? What if you had con 18? thats max hits 186 and a half health threshold of 93 you will heal back to after every fight.
Eldritch Knight is an oddity, but using it to gain findfamiliar for scout utility, aid another (you) in combat and eventually access to the haste spell? not bad.
I've been playing an elven Battlemaster with a longbow and archery style. Menacing attack is my go-to for big monsters. Disadvantage on attack rolls and can't move closer to me. I also want to take Goading Attack, so I can shoot someone and then duck out of sight, try and make them ignore the melee and come at me. As a wood elf, my 35 speed can keep me away from most enemies. I'm also considering a rogue dip for the cunning action (plus extra damage).
For me it’s a toss up between Champion and Battle master. Both are super easy to conceptualize effective and sometimes near OP cheese builds from. My favorite fighter builds to date are Lightfoot Halfling Champion (8)/Rogue Assassin (4) with Alert, Lucky and Mobile feats. (If specked to level 20, rest of levels as fighter) I would have been looking at 6 attacks per turn (12 with action surge) a crit range of 18-20, reroll any 1’s for first time rolls and auto critting on any enemy/enemies unlucky enough to have a lower initiative roll for the first round of combat (with a +5 to DEX=not too many) OR pretty much a 20% chance to crit on 6 to 12 attacks. My other favorite build was a Bugbear battle master specializing in pole arms with the lunging attack maneuver (super fun hitting enemies from 15 feet away) push/shove attack maneuver (a 20 to STR lead to many a prone foe) and the frightful attack maneuver (for even more potential battlefield control).
I would really like to see on of the Unearthed Arcana options become an available class, the Brute. It's the Champion but more of the fighter you wished it was at lower levels. really good for dual wielding and just being better than champion (or at least more consistent). Other than That I think I like the Eldritch Knight, others have actually put forth the arcane Archer as an underappreciated option but I feel like I can do a better arcane archer as an Eldritch Knight. I think I feel that way because of the limitation on the number of shots available at a given time.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I had a Brute/Barbarian/Paladin build I ran for a one shot, he was crazy fun, with the brute abilities AND the smiting! Unfortunately the party was fighting a Yuan-ti spellcaster (who required cold damage to fully kill for whatever reason) and our party only had limited cold spell Magic’s to use against it. Still, I made sure the thing was constantly unable to respond by keeping its HP in single digits every round (I was able to average close to 50 points of damage per round before running out of smites.)
It’s also the biggest pushover. By the time a DM throws Tarrasque at you, at least one spellcaster in your party will have true polymorph and suddenly the Tarrasque is a teddy bear, literally.
I haven't really gotten the chance to use a fighter beyond theorycraft and preparation (just recently switched to the new edition)...but I voted for battlemaster.
The idea of maneuvers as powers/spells appealed to me in late 3e with the Bo9S material and 4e with the everyone-gets-powers concept. I like the idea of badass normals standing strong among spellcasters and just making basic swings doesn't make me feel badass among casters. Special maneuvers do. Hopefully it plays as nicely as it looks.
Having reached Level 10 with my Goliath Cavalier I would probably change my vote from Battle Master to Cavalier. Don't get me wrong, I love Battle Masters. But Cavalier is AWESOME if you want to be the tank. The only downside is that it's extremely rare for me to get a chance to make the Unwavering Mark special attack. The enemies I get up next to and mark rarely go after anyone else. But it's awesome against enemies who will want to use an area attack like dragon breath or fireball. Any my character's main goal in combat is to keep the attention on him anyway, so it works out alright. It may not have the array of nifty tricks that the Battle Master has, but if you want to be a gravity well on the battlefield, try Cavalier.
So far, my favorite is the Eldritch Knight. Sure the scaling of Evocation spells is piss (And War magic is clunky at best), but if you're particular with your spell selection, you can achieve fantastic versatility and immense tankyness. Being able to cast Shield and Blur while wearing Full Plate gives you crazy staying power, so much that you can even get away with the occasional Leroy Jenkins play. Maybe I just have a soft spot for tanks, but to me it just feels incredibly gratifying
Wasn't down with the fighter when I looked at the PHB, Battlemaster is nice but dunno didn't really catch me. Than Xanathar's guide came out and the Samurai caught my eye. Always wanted to play the L5R d20 setting that was produced but never got around to it and the mechanics are interesting enough for a Samurai to be made. Thinking of going Vhuman for archery + sharpshooter with a longbow, get into more sword related stuff later on to be able to hold my own in HtH as well.
I know that lol but that's a cakewalk in comparison to the complete destruction we'll be facing in Hyrule.
Fight by my side, or stay behind me, and please don't get in my way.
Krymsyn
Let's be honest: Battlemaster is the correct answer. But Arcane Archers are fun, arguably as useful, and far less widely used. It's a shame such an integral class to D&D's history would be slapped down by an upstart.
"The Epic Level Handbook wasn't that bad, guys.
Guys, pls."
I decided to make a Dex based fighter with Two-Weapon fighting, Dual Wield and finesse weapons. When I hit 3rd I went with the Eldritch Knight and ditched my armor for Mage Armor and at 6th I had AC19 with three +8, 1d8+5 attacks and was totaly unencumbered.
My one complaint regarding Arcane Archers is the limit on how many you get. Two choices at lvl 3 versus three for Battle Master
For me the issue isn't how many shot options you get, it's that you only get two uses per Short Rest and it never increases. With the Battle Master, you get 4 Superiority Dice per Short Rest, which eventually increases to 6. Given that the Arcane Shots are more powerful, but I still wish you got at least a 3rd shot at some point, maybe at 10th level.
Champion, math quoting is all well and good that 19+ crits isnt that great compared to blah blah blah. the next part you get for the subclass is more RP than it truly needs to be. 10th is possibly underwhelming and that cant be argued if multiclassing is allowed, you could take ranger or pally to pick up the second fighting style without taking 7 more level of fighter. But then the champion is laughing. at 15th crits (and so automatically hitting) are on an 18+ get that flamesword and watch the dice you roll multiply!) Then 18th and you can hear the terminator music start up. Below half health? Heal, every round till your at half health again. Short rest or walk it off? Take stairs or jump? Durability shouldn't be underrated.
If your not playing past 10th then no, champion is not for you. If your party are hybrid 3rd level x / 1st level or greater y multiclassing for maximum benefits, its not for you, but pure fighter? How much is (with no con mod and 'set average hitpoints) a threshold minimum of 114 max hits and auto healing when below 57 worth at 18th level? What if you had con 18? thats max hits 186 and a half health threshold of 93 you will heal back to after every fight.
Eldritch Knight is an oddity, but using it to gain findfamiliar for scout utility, aid another (you) in combat and eventually access to the haste spell? not bad.
I've been playing an elven Battlemaster with a longbow and archery style. Menacing attack is my go-to for big monsters. Disadvantage on attack rolls and can't move closer to me. I also want to take Goading Attack, so I can shoot someone and then duck out of sight, try and make them ignore the melee and come at me. As a wood elf, my 35 speed can keep me away from most enemies. I'm also considering a rogue dip for the cunning action (plus extra damage).
Battle Master.
Because it's the WARLORD, my absolute favorite 4e class ... OF ALL TIIIIIIIME!
Champion, when you like extra fighter with your fighterKKKKKKK
For me it’s a toss up between Champion and Battle master. Both are super easy to conceptualize effective and sometimes near OP cheese builds from. My favorite fighter builds to date are Lightfoot Halfling Champion (8)/Rogue Assassin (4) with Alert, Lucky and Mobile feats. (If specked to level 20, rest of levels as fighter) I would have been looking at 6 attacks per turn (12 with action surge) a crit range of 18-20, reroll any 1’s for first time rolls and auto critting on any enemy/enemies unlucky enough to have a lower initiative roll for the first round of combat (with a +5 to DEX=not too many) OR pretty much a 20% chance to crit on 6 to 12 attacks. My other favorite build was a Bugbear battle master specializing in pole arms with the lunging attack maneuver (super fun hitting enemies from 15 feet away) push/shove attack maneuver (a 20 to STR lead to many a prone foe) and the frightful attack maneuver (for even more potential battlefield control).
I would really like to see on of the Unearthed Arcana options become an available class, the Brute. It's the Champion but more of the fighter you wished it was at lower levels. really good for dual wielding and just being better than champion (or at least more consistent). Other than That I think I like the Eldritch Knight, others have actually put forth the arcane Archer as an underappreciated option but I feel like I can do a better arcane archer as an Eldritch Knight. I think I feel that way because of the limitation on the number of shots available at a given time.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I had a Brute/Barbarian/Paladin build I ran for a one shot, he was crazy fun, with the brute abilities AND the smiting! Unfortunately the party was fighting a Yuan-ti spellcaster (who required cold damage to fully kill for whatever reason) and our party only had limited cold spell Magic’s to use against it. Still, I made sure the thing was constantly unable to respond by keeping its HP in single digits every round (I was able to average close to 50 points of damage per round before running out of smites.)
It’s also the biggest pushover. By the time a DM throws Tarrasque at you, at least one spellcaster in your party will have true polymorph and suddenly the Tarrasque is a teddy bear, literally.
The UA Brute is my favorite.
I haven't really gotten the chance to use a fighter beyond theorycraft and preparation (just recently switched to the new edition)...but I voted for battlemaster.
The idea of maneuvers as powers/spells appealed to me in late 3e with the Bo9S material and 4e with the everyone-gets-powers concept. I like the idea of badass normals standing strong among spellcasters and just making basic swings doesn't make me feel badass among casters. Special maneuvers do. Hopefully it plays as nicely as it looks.
Having reached Level 10 with my Goliath Cavalier I would probably change my vote from Battle Master to Cavalier. Don't get me wrong, I love Battle Masters. But Cavalier is AWESOME if you want to be the tank. The only downside is that it's extremely rare for me to get a chance to make the Unwavering Mark special attack. The enemies I get up next to and mark rarely go after anyone else. But it's awesome against enemies who will want to use an area attack like dragon breath or fireball. Any my character's main goal in combat is to keep the attention on him anyway, so it works out alright. It may not have the array of nifty tricks that the Battle Master has, but if you want to be a gravity well on the battlefield, try Cavalier.
So far, my favorite is the Eldritch Knight. Sure the scaling of Evocation spells is piss (And War magic is clunky at best), but if you're particular with your spell selection, you can achieve fantastic versatility and immense tankyness. Being able to cast Shield and Blur while wearing Full Plate gives you crazy staying power, so much that you can even get away with the occasional Leroy Jenkins play. Maybe I just have a soft spot for tanks, but to me it just feels incredibly gratifying
PKD?
Wasn't down with the fighter when I looked at the PHB, Battlemaster is nice but dunno didn't really catch me. Than Xanathar's guide came out and the Samurai caught my eye. Always wanted to play the L5R d20 setting that was produced but never got around to it and the mechanics are interesting enough for a Samurai to be made. Thinking of going Vhuman for archery + sharpshooter with a longbow, get into more sword related stuff later on to be able to hold my own in HtH as well.
Samurai, flavorful and fun