Baldur’s Gate 3 is an adaptation of the widely popular tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons and its source material. You will use the established classes of this system to put together a group of adventures that each shines in their own way. Not all of them will perform as well as others in certain areas, so spreading out your skills is key.

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Fighters are often looked down upon as “one-trick ponies” due to their primary skill focus on Strength. However, they still act as a cornerstone for many party compositions. They can be built in numerous ways to cover different areas of expertise.

Updated by Chad Thesen on August 20, 2023: This guide has been updated to feature a new section on the choices you should be making while leveling up your Fighter into a Champion. This includes all the choices that you should make at each level-up point. As well as which pieces of gear you should go out and claim when at each of these levels to keep your performance high.

Best Fighter Ability Distribution

First and foremost, you will want to maximize your Fighter’s Strength and Constitution Abilities. This will be how they do their damage, and their key role will be on the frontline. Unless your plan is to build an Eldritch Knight, steer clear of Intelligence, along with the other mind-based Abilities of Charisma and Wisdom. You will have companions that can cover these areas.

Dexterity can be useful for making saving throws to avoid damage, but your Armor Class will be one of the highest among your party members. Have your Fighter lead the charge into battle and soak up the Aggro, so the other members of your team can do their jobs most effectively.

Primary Abilities (Max these out): Strength and Constitution

Secondary Abilities: Dexterity and Wisdom

Dump Abilities (Ignore These): Intelligence and Charisma

Best Race For The Fighter

Shield Dwarf is your go-to for fighters. They will give a +2 bonus to Strength and a +2 bonus to Constitution. Both of which are perfection in their hands. They will also grant some resistance to make it even harder to lose health from poison damage and avoid that poison entirely by having an Advantage on saving throws against it. The icing on the cake is Darkvision, meaning they don’t need any spells to help them see and risk missing their targets in the dark. Taking a Shield Dwarf should bring these both up to 17.

Alternative Race Option

Githyanki offers amazing benefits for an Eldritch Knight thanks to their +2 bonus in Strength and +1 bonus in Intelligence. Humans can round off all odd-numbered Abilities that to their +1 bonus to each of the six Abilities. This is great value and makes for a more rounded character. Humans do not have Darkvision, so you will need to be wary of that.

Best Skills And Background For The Fighter

The Fighter will actively be avoiding talking to NPCs, disarming traps, and solving puzzles. You can get everything you need from Soldier, which will grant you proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation. Don’t expect to do a lot of talking with this Fighter; you should have a dedicated character to do all the talking, such as a Charisma spellcaster or a Rogue with Expertise. The most useful remaining skills to take are Acrobatics and Survival when you want them to try to pick up the slack on a fumbled roll. Just don’t be the first one trying to clear them.

Alternative Background Options

Anything that grants Athletics is a good pick; if you are building an Eldritch Knight that has high Strength and Intelligence, then take the Sage Background before picking up proficiency in the skills of Athletics and History.

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Best Subclass For The Fighter

The best subclass for the fighter is highly debatable. It comes down to what your party composition is. If you have other members handling everything else, then Battle Master will take everything you are already doing and make it superior in every way. As a Battle Master, you will get a pool of “Superiority Dice.” These can be used to increase the value of your rolls by 1d8. They will also allow you to perform some extra features instead of just attacking to deal damage.

These special maneuvers can include tripping your enemies, disarming them, and much more. You regain these dice from performing a short rest, and you will get more dice as you progress.

What Do The Other Sub-classes Offer?

The Champion subclass will increase your likelihood of getting critical hits, which will be glorious, but a critical hit only doubles your damage. Even if your damage dies is a d10, you could still roll a 1. A Battle Master has you roll a whole other die, meaning your odds of dealing more damage are higher, and you get to use as many of them as you choose rather than relying on luck. Champions will be able to have an Advantage on saving throws across all physical Abilities. These include Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity.

Your other option is Eldritch Knight. Being an Eldritch Knight will grant you spell slots and allow you to pick up the slack of not having a Wizard in the group. This is amazing for a hybrid party composition, but you only regain these spell slots on a Long Rest, while Battle Master gets all their dice back for every Short Rest and a Long Rest, fueling their value much more consistently. You can make 2 Short Rests before a Long Rest, and you can have a third Short Rest if there is a Bard in the group with the spell Song of Rest. This means an Eldritch Knight only tops off their spells once, while a Battle Master will top off 4 times in total by the end of the Long Rest.

Best Feats For The Fighter

Provided you have been following this guide, your Strength and Constitution should both be at 17, thanks to being a Shield Dwarf. Firstly you will want to take Ability Improvement to get your Strength up to 18. Having this number at an odd number is not useful, so put the other into Constitution to bring it up to 18 as well.

You will now want to become even deadlier in combat, greater than any more Ability Improvements can make you. Because of this, your next two feats will be Polearm Master and Great Weapons Master.

Avoid Multiclassing. Multiclassing will slow down your progression through the Fighter levels and prevent you from getting your third feat.

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Best Party Composition For The Fighter

A Classic build will work incredibly well to back up your Battle Master. Your Battle Master is out on the frontline and will need some support. You want to have a Cleric in the group that can dish out a healing spell if anyone takes a big hit. Make the Cleric a Domain that gives them Heavy Armor Proficiency, so they can stand toe to toe on the frontline with the Fighter.

You will also need someone sneaky to be a Scout, so have a Rogue take up this spot. Be sure to give them lots of points for Dexterity and Charisma, as they will also be the face of the group. They can take Expertise in skills to cover a very large assortment of them.

Lastly, a Wizard will handle all your Intelligence needs and be your spell caster. If you choose to go with an Eldritch Knight, your Eldritch Knight will be handling the Intelligence skill rolls, allowing you to get a dedicated Charisma spell caster, such as a Sorcerer, to still have access to 9th-level spell slots, while Eldritch Knight only goes as high as 4th level slots. This means your Rogue can focus more on being sneaky rather than doing any talking and leave that to your spellcaster instead.

The Fighter In Combat

The Fighter acts as Frontliner. They attract the attention of enemies so that their allies in the back are safe from would-be rushers. Enemies that try to go around them can be blocked off and rushed by the Fighter. The fighter is proficient in heavy armor, giving them really great AC. At level 2, they will gain access to their Action Surge. They will be able to use this between Long Rests to gain another use of their Action, allowing them to finish off an enemy that is close to death.

At level 3, they will be able to choose their subclass. Being a Battle Master will give you a pool of Superiority Dice that will make you more amazing in everything you normally would do as a fighter. Fighters are proficient in a wide range of weapons, meaning they will be able to make use of almost everything you find throughout your playthrough. Since Strength is your primary Ability, you will be able to explore all the very heavy two-handed weapons and use them to their full potential. The biggest plus to this is that some weapons will have effects that replicate various spells in the game, meaning your Fighter will be able to mimic some of the actions that many spell-casting classes would be able to do in the same situation.

The Fighter Outside Of Combat

Outside the need for Athletics to get past some tricky terrain, the Fighter will not have as much utility outside of combat as with their tabletop counterparts since Baldur's Gate 3 is a video game adaptation. Their main usage will be in what they bring to combat, and other members of the party will explore more out-of-combat features.

Battle Master Leveling Choices

Most of your bread-and-butter features, like Second Wind and Action Surge, will be given to you. However, there are some choices you will need to make at certain points that can be detrimental to builds if the correct ones are not chosen. Below is a guide to help you make these choices when they come up.

• Race: This is the race you should choose at character creation.
• Background: This is the Background you should choose for character creation.
• Skills: These are the skills you should choose for character creation to cover what your Background does not.
• Fighting Style: You will have several options here, each offering different benefits. You will perform best in combat using a Two-Handed weapon thanks to your high strength and aggressive playstyle with this class.
• Subclass: Battle Master makes use of special maneuvers that can increase your damage and give you a significant edge over opponents in different situations.
• Maneuvers: You will be able to pick up maneuvers from a list they have been sorted by how often their use will come up. Trip Attack will have your opponents at your mercy, Repost gives you extra attacks, and Rally can save an ally in dire need. This puts them as the 3 most useful for any situation.
• Hunt the Devil: Completing this quest rewards you with a truly amazing weapon, the Sword of Justice.
• Haste Helm: When combat starts, you will have 3 turns of Momentum to help you close the gap on your targets. You can find this item in a chest at Blighted Village, which you will need to lockpick.
• Linebreaker Boots: Whenever you Dash, as you will get in the faces of your enemies, you will gain Wrath for 3 turns. This serves as Loot obtained from Beastmaster Zurk
• Crusher's Ring: You can get this ring from Novice Crusher in the goblin village; how you choose to do that is up to you. This ring gives you +3 to your movement.
• Absolution's Talisman: When your health is below 25%, hitting targets lets you heal 1d8. This can keep you alive and healthy on the frontline without other characters needing to worry. This can be looted from True Soul Guts.
• Boots of Striding: While not as good as Linebreaker Boots, these may be more preferred by a lot of players, hence their inclusion on this list. They will grant you Momentum while you are concentrating on any of your spells. This can help you move significantly around the map by choosing when to concentrate, even when the spell might not be the best choice. This serves as Loot obtained from Minthara.
• Feat: Take the corresponding feat for each of the corresponding levels.

Champion Leveling Choices

The Champion subclass doesn't get many choices to worry about. All of their features just make them better without needing to pick one thing over the other. Your biggest concern is just wondering how to be the best Fighter you can be by selecting feats.

• Race: This is the race you should choose at character creation.
• Background: This is the Background you should choose for character creation.
• Skills: These are the skills you should choose for character creation to cover what your Background does not.
• Fighting Style: You will have several options here, each offering different benefits. You will perform best in combat using a Two-Handed weapon thanks to your high strength and aggressive playstyle with this class. Defense will give you a +1 to your AC and will even stack with your previous Fighting Style.
• Everburn Blade: This is an excellent blade to get early on, near the very start of the game to be exact.
• Subclass: Champions do not get as many choices to make throughout the leveling process as the Battle Master or Eldritch Knight does. In fact, the only choice they get to make is choosing a second fighting style at level 10. This makes your choices a lot more limited, but playing them will require knowledge of their kit.
• Haste Helm: When combat starts, you will have 3 turns of Momentum to help you close the gap on your targets. You can find this item in a chest at Blighted Village, which you will need to lockpick.
• Linebreaker Boots: Whenever you Dash, as you will get in the faces of your enemies, you will gain Wrath for 3 turns. This serves as Loot obtained from Beastmaster Zurk
• Crusher's Ring: You can get this ring from Novice Crusher in the goblin village; how you choose to do that is up to you. This ring gives you +3 to your movement.
• Absolution's Talisman: When your health is below 25%, hitting targets lets you heal 1d8. This can keep you alive and healthy on the frontline without other characters needing to worry. This can be looted from True Soul Guts.
• Boots of Striding: While not as good as Linebreaker Boots, these may be more preferred by a lot of players, hence their inclusion on this list. They will grant you Momentum while you are concentrating on any of your spells. This can help you move significantly around the map by choosing when to concentrate, even when the spell might not be the best choice. This serves as Loot obtained from Minthara.
• The Adamantine Forge: Completing this quest will let you acquire this incredible piece of armor for your Champion, the Adamantine Splint Armor.
• Daughter of Darkness: Now that you have Polearm Master, it's time to get a weapon that will make use of it. Completing this companion quest for Shadowheart will net you the perfect one for your Champion, Shar's Spear of Evening.
• Feat: Take the corresponding feat for each of the corresponding levels.

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