For ranged or finesse fighters, this is your primarily ability. Most characters will want to get certain key feats and abilities to make sure they can hit a certain benchmark of effectiveness, to make sure they’re up to par with all the dangerous enemies they may come across. Combat Role: In combat a fighter’s role they should specialize as well. Half-Elf: The Half-Elf is versatile, especially with some alternate racial traits. If you’re interested in a more well-rounded mounted fighter, the dragoon may be a good choice. Power Attack is your only true key feat, as what you do with your shield depends a lot on whether you focus on offense or defense. The Fighter is a good option for nearly any race, and different races lend themselves to a variety of different builds. 7th until 15th seem painful for the THF archetype, losing 10 movement in trade for 3-4 bonus strength damage on charge and itteratives. Combat Expertise and Disarm complement the general style of an agile warrior, so take them if you can. Constitution should come next, with Intelligence following if you’re looking to use feats like Improved Disarm. The primary archetype of interest is the two-handed fighter (Advanced Player’s Guide 108) which gives up your defensive abilities for improved ability to sunder, greater Strength bonuses to damage, and even improved Power Attack bonuses. Unfortunately it's impossible to make broad generalizations about abilities for Fighters. The free-hand fighter (Advanced Player’s Guide 105) has some nice bonuses (such as scaling bonuses to disarm attempts and a dodge bonus to AC), but gains fewer weapon training bonuses overall, thus reducing your already lower damage potential. They’re known for their combat prowess and their ability to turn the tide of battle with a swing of their sword. You’ll want a moderate Dexterity (to assist in the Ride checks you’ll make on your mount), but you don’t have to invest much in it as long as you maximize your ranks. Con: Hit points are crucial for Fighters because they tend to be the party's front line. Greater Trip is definitely a feat you’ll want later on, though I personally wouldn’t invest too much else in combat maneuvers, since they’re limited to foes of large size or smaller (unless you can get a permanent enlarge person). Because of your high damage potential, you run the risk of doing heavy damage to your party members if you’re ever confused or dominated, so Iron Will is a nice way to buffer your defenses in that area. Armor Mastery (Ex): A bit late in the game, but DR/- is always welcome. Keep those two as high as you can, with Strength as your main priority. You could also use some of your later feats on things like Iron Will, to round out your defenses. Fighter's Tactics (Ex) All of the fighter's allies are treated as if they had the same teamwork feats as the fighter for the purpose of determining whether the fighter receives a bonus from his teamwork feats. Worry about your mental ability scores only after these are taken care of, with some preference for Wisdom since it helps your weak Will saves. Because you need a higher Dexterity to keep advancing in Two-Weapon Fighting, you want it to be your primary score, until you can get it to 19 (which covers you for everything up through Greater Two-Weapon Fighting). Human: An extra bonus feat gets your build up and running a level earlier, and the bonus skill rank applies after your 7 intelligence drops your class skill ranks to 1. This sample build assumes you’re going into the duelist prestige class later, but attempts to keep your damage at a respectable level until you get there. Acces PDF Pathfinder Fighter Build Guide RPGBOT - Pathfinder 2e - The Fighter Handbook Pathfinder 2E Fighter Class – En Garde! The fighter's biggest problem is that they are typically forced to specialize to remain effective, and tend to be pigeon-holed by their combat strategy. It’s your main score. Clever feat combinations and character concepts can make this advice more or less helpful. A fighter with an archetype that replaces armor training cannot select advanced armor training options. Halfling: Your best bet for a small Fighter, the Strength penalty is offset by the Dexterity bonus. Through level 10, consider something like this (though not every build will have the Dexterity for later Two-Weapon Fighting feats). You’ll want a moderate Dexterity score if you can manage it (since your armor training lets you take advantage of it). So, if you have more points to play with or you get a good set of rolled scores, go for higher scores here (or not, as suits you). Pathfinder fighter archer guide Welcome to the Archery Handbook The purpose of this guide is to be one of the sources for all your archery needs in the spirit of Carnivore's Ultimate Archer Handbook. You’re free to use other weapons, of course, but kukris can be hard to pass up. Your damage will still be the greatest of the pack. Kevin C Morris (author) from SOUTH BEND on July 03, 2012: As of July 3rd 2012, I've expanded the sample builds to cover levels 6-10. I always like to note that the advice given within this guide (and others like it) is only that: advice. Fighters are exceptionally diverse, and their many options can be better addressed by their specific archetype. Weapon Mastery (Ex): Absolutely fantastic. Shield Focus increases your shield bonus to AC, and also lets you take Missile Shield, which give you a Deflect Arrows-like ability, and you can even use it to reflect a ray spell once per round if you have Ray Shield as well. The Gentleman's Beginners' Guide to Pathfinder Second Edition. I’ve opted here to increase versatility, but it might not be a bad idea to take on a secondary style to use if you’re ever caught without your mount (such as using Combat Reflexes with your lance’s reach to gain extra attacks). Weapon Training (Ex): On top of "exclusive" access to Weapon Specialization (many classes can take feats as a Fighter), Weapon Training provides a bonus to attacks and damage with groups of weapons. You can combine them together in some instances with the right archetypes and feat choices. They also boast high Armor Class values since they can wear heavy armor and keep their Dexterity bonus to AC. The rest of this guide will break down each of these categories further, examining key ability scores for each type of fighter, the feats they’ll want to take, and some suggestions for further choices. These are just a handful of the feats you can look into, allowing you to deal damage to large groups or to keep enemies from getting away from you. Dippable levels in Pathfinder Post #1: Base Classes Post #2: Prestige Classes Post #3: Dip Helping Feats & Common Abilities & Sources For the sake of this guide, a "dip" constitutes 1-to-3 levels taken in a class for the sake of gaining abilities. Given that standing in a group is rarely a sound strategy, this archetype isn’t generally a good choice. As you gain more feats, aim for the mix of offense and defense that suits you. The classic fighter archetype is a warrior with a sword, a shield, and the best armor he or she is capable of wearing. Moreso than other fighters, the Weapon Focus line and Improved Critical are important to you because of your lower baseline damage output, so these are almost “key feats,” but not quite. Intelligence is nice for extra skill points, but you don’t particularly need it. One thing I have noticed about the boards is that, on average, classes with excellent optimization guides get played more often than classes that don't. You’ll lag slightly in attack rolls since you lose a few weapon training bonuses, but given your main focus on Dexterity, you can come out pretty well. Captain Snailbeard. I don’t generally recommend this archetype as a result. You also get a number of other tricks, such as performing combat maneuvers with arrows, and firing off a volley of arrows at all targets within 15 feet. These feats are the core of any archery build, for a fighter or not. Hit Points: d10 hit points like nearly every other front-line class. Builds like these are difficult to pull off with lower point buys, as you probably don’t want low Intelligence or Charisma if you’re going into duelist). Now with the APG there's the "Two-Handed Fighter" fighter variant that helps it even more. We're assuming for this build that you're a human, that you have strength as your primary attribute, and that it's at least 17 or higher. With a penalty to Strength and a bonus to Charisma, the Gnome has very little to offer. though i guess you probably should have a reliable means of flight before hitting lvl 15... Kevin C Morris (author) from SOUTH BEND on October 04, 2012: That's very true: Weapon Master has a lot of synergy with Critical Focus. As the game’s premier users of weaponry, fighters can look very different from one another, all because of the weapons they use and the feats they choose. Making critical hits more reliable provides a massive boost to your damage, and you can retrain Critical Focus if you haven't taken any critical feats. This feat gives you a somewhat unique function that compensates for your lower damage. It also assumes the player will be making a standard Fighter, and not one of the three archetype classes made available. As a general rule, you want to look this awesome, but be nowhere near as slow as Ike was in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. To have a successful two-handed fighter, Power Attack is all you need. Many still consider the archetypal party to be one of a fighter, a cleric, a rogue, and a wizard. A new fighter is a blank canvas, and can take nearly any form, but typically excels as a Defender or Striker. The fighter's biggest problem is that they are typically forced to specialize to remain effective, and tend to be pigeon-holed by their combat strategy. Through tenth level, your build could look a little something like this: Not every sword and shield wielder is a dwarf. Chief among these are leap from the saddle, which lets the fighter jump from his mount and make a full attack after a single move, and relentless steed, which lets the fighter reroll a saving throw for his mount once per day (gaining more uses per day as he gains levels). But take it as a starting point. You need Strength and Constitution to excel. Shield Specialization adds your shield’s AC bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense, and Greater Shield Specialization lets you negate a critical once per day, which can be a real life saver. If you would like help with Pathfinder player options not covered here, please email me and I am happy to provide additional assistance. Wisdom is nice when you can get it, and you don’t need to worry much about Intelligence or Charisma, as usual. Abilities gained at level 4 of a class will only be listed if they are super-awesome-mega-worth-it! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Dex: Coupled with Armor Mastery, high Dexterity can provide an excellent bonus to AC in even the heaviest armor. The fighter has a huge variety of options, and with plenty of bonus feats they can supplement these options with exotic weapon proficiency. Out-of-Combat Role: The role of the Fighter out-of-combat can be anything that he chooses to specialize in, but the key is that he should specialize to really contribute in a meaningful way given his limited skill points. However, because Enlarge Person doesn't give the Halfling reach, it falls short as a Defender. Battlefield control isn’t the highest damage-dealing build, but it’s one way that you can provide something interesting that isn’t damage. You probably don’t want your Charisma to be too low because you will need to use Handle Animal at least some of the time. Two-handed fighter builds are going to be quite varied, in general, since they have so many more feats available than other fighters do. A new fighter is a blank canvas, and can take nearly any form, but typically excels as a Defender or Striker. In terms of raw weapon damage, fighters are matched only by barbarians. Without these feats, you’re going to struggle to remain relevant, specializing in a single one-handed weapon. The selected feats must be ones that require the fighter to choose a type of weapon (such as Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization), and the fighter must have chosen weapons that belong to the associated fighter weapon group. With a feat at level one and another at every even-numbered class level, the Fighter gets a total of 22 feats by level 20 (23 for humans), giving you a dizzying number of options. Adaptable Training (Ex) Source Armor Master's Handbook pg. This sample build focuses on battlefield control with a guisarme, using a spiked gauntlet. Human Fighter 5Ability Scores (15 Point Buy):Str 13, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8Feats. With the Fighter's excellent attack bonuses and respectable damage, this can turn the Two-Weapon Warrior into an excellent Striker. So for the purposes of this guide, it is going to presume that the player wants to make a pure Fighter and will not be doing any multiclassing. One archetype that you might not examine that’s worth a look is the two-weapon warrior (Advanced Player’s Guide 109). Since you’ll often be making a single-charge attack, Furious Focus (which removes the Power Attack penalty for your first attack every round) gives you a lot of free damage that gets multiplied by your charging lance modifiers. Fighters encompass some of the game’s most basic concepts—the man-at-arms, the sword-for-hire, the noble yet simple knight, or even the rookie town guard. This ability functions as the alchemist’s mutagen ability, using his fighter level as his alchemist level.. Everything beyond that is icing on the cake. 31 Quick thinking and deception can often carry the day where raw force might not. The last two are teamwork feats, so you’ll want to coordinate with your group if you’re planning to take them. That's where we're going to start out for our two weapon fighter. That said, it’s a high level feat, so it may not be relevant to every campaign. Like the shielded fighter, the armor master (Ultimate Combat 44) gives up some offense for more defensive capability (most notably, damage reduction). In Pathfinder, fighters do not, comparatively speaking, have as many tricks as a well-played wizard or other spellcasters, but they are the measure by which every warrior character, whether a barbarian, a ranger, or some other class, evaluates himself. Here’s a sample build for a standard fighter with an archery focus. Wisdom is always useful for its bonus to Will saves, and Intelligence keeps your skill points up, but neither is especially necessary for you. The weapon master archetype (Advanced Player’s Guide 109) does provide some benefits to an extremely dedicated archer, but overall, the benefits from the archer archetype will provide more bang for your buck in the long run. So, it can pay not to specialize too much, leaving you capable on foot as well as on your mount. Duelist also gives you a special critical effect at 10th level, and you can stack that with the critical feat you have. The shielded fighter archetype (Advanced Player’s Guide 108) gives up most of your weapon training abilities for special shield-related abilities. Valeros, the 2E Iconic Fighter. These bonuses increase by +1 every four levels beyond 5th. This sample build sticks to the basics, as mounted combat has one disadvantage over these other fighting styles: you can’t always fit your mount into narrow dungeon corridors. Bonus Feats: Bonus feats are why most people play a Fighter (or at least take a class dip). Wis: Only needed for Will saves, but don't dump it. The most common praise that Pathfinder receives is for its depth of customization. As you might expect, these feats form the core of your build. Str: Nearly every fighter needs a bonus to Strength, including archers. Constitution is slightly less important for you than other fighters, though you don’t want to make it a dump stat. The Charisma bonus is wasted, as are most of the Halfling's other racial bonuses, but some alternate racial traits can make the Halfling very viable. The roughrider archetype (Advanced Player’s Guide 106) trades the fighter’s generalist abilities (like bravery and additional weaponry training) for mount-specific abilities. Human Fighter 5Ability Scores (15 Point Buy): Str 17, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8Feats. Point Blank Shot isn’t strictly necessary, but it’s a prerequisite for most of the others, so you need it. There are also a number of feat chains dedicated to niche weapons like the crossbow and the whip. Kevin C Morris (author) from SOUTH BEND on June 13, 2014: Yeah on the one-handed build sample, how do you expect to get Dervish Dance at lvl 1 if you need 2 ranks in Perform (dance)? Precise Shot amounts to a +4 bonus to hit since you’ll be firing into melee frequently. Armor Training (Ex): This greatly reduces the need for Mithral armor, and makes Dexterity much more important for Fighters than it is for other heavily armored characters. Also look for other abilities that can really take advantage of your expanded reach, like the Disruptive line and Cleaving Finish. I say leave that for the munchkins (not that there's anything wrong with playing that way if the whole group is in on it). I don’t use any archetypes here, as the standard array of fighter class features still complements the fighter archer well, but the archer and weapon master archetypes both work. The Two-Weapon Warrior adds abilities which allow the Fighter to make additional attacks after moving, dramatically improving the Fighter's mobility. If you’re highly focused on defense, you might consider this archetype, but if you take a more balanced approach, you’ll likely want to skip it. Because they are so diverse, ability allocation must be similarly diverse. Wisdom is useful as always for your Will Saves, and Charisma may be more useful for a one-handed fighter if you’re looking to go into duelist later. Human Fighter 5Ability Scores (15 Point Buy): Str 14, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8. Dodge and Mobility are prerequisites for the duelist prestige class, which you'll want if that's your style. Though you have to have some Strength to get Power Attack, it’s crucial to keep your damage at a respectable level. The fighter is one of the simplest classes in Pathfinder, but it is also one of the most conceptually flexible. One of the key components of this customization is the incredible variety of feats and the frequency with which players pick them up. Has all the spells you would need from arcane caster and can turn into a full fighter with Transformation should you need it. Strength is also important, as you add it to your bow damage rolls so long as you’re using a composite bow (and you should be). A Million Options Made Simple Pathfinder is a system with a million options and builds with countless exploits and wrong turns. Mutagen (Su) At 3rd level, a mutation warrior discovers how to create a mutagen that he can imbibe in order to heighten his physical prowess at the cost of his personality. This one feat propels you to the higher ranks of damage-dealing stardom. If you’re now facing a confusing wall of races, alternate racial options, and favored class options, don’t worry, we’re here to help. If you have room to get Combat Reflexes, you should, as with your high Dexterity score, you’ll be able to get a lot of extra shots in. Dexterity is your prime ability and factors into your attack bonus for your ranged attacks. Lore Warden (PFS Field Guide) Source Pathfinder Society Field Guide pg. 140 2.0 Fighting for honor, greed, loyalty, or simply the thrill of battle, you are an undisputed master of weaponry and combat techniques. As with most fighters, Strength is your go-to score. The fighter is treated as having the selected feats for all the weapons in the associated weapon group that are legal choices for those feats. Because of your strongest feat options (particularly Dervish Dance), Dexterity will be crucial to your attack and damage rolls, as well as all the other things Dexterity gives you. Typically Fighters are the ones who charge right into the front lines and get right up in the business of the enemy. I support a limited subset of Pathfinder's rules content. Bravery (Ex): Situational. Such a feat gives you enhanced mobility, so you’ll probably want it. 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