Baldur's Gate 3 best Fighter build

Do you need a strong Baldur's Gate 3 Fighter build? In Baldur's Gate 3, Fighters are combat masters who put strength and weapon mastery at the core of everything they do. Whether you're a skilled ranged attacker or want to show off ninja-like agility when it comes time to battle, the Fighter class has everything you need to suit a wide variety of combat-orientated playstyles.

If you want to know more about what the Fighter class brings to the table in Baldur's Gate 3, our guide has all the information you need to help develop your build, including an overview of Fighting Styles, classes and skills. Read on to smite your foes and leave every combat encounter victorious.

Note: Looking for lots more builds to choose from? Check out our dedicated list of the best builds in Baldur's Gate 3 for each class!

Baldur's Gate 3 best Fighter build

Fighters are generally a straightforward class, though you need to make some early decisions that will impact your approach to your character build. This is a class clearly designed to excel in battle, but unlike the Barbarian class, Fighters highlight movement and agility over brute force.

Your Fighter character must specialise in a particular Fighting Style and will begin the game with the action Second Wind, a bonus action that allows you to heal yourself.

Fighting Style options

Fighter characters in Baldur's Gate 3 can choose from the following Fighting Styles:

• Archery: +2 bonus to ranged weapon attacks.
• Defense: +1 bonus to armour class while wearing armour.
• Dueling: Deal two additional damage when wielding a melee weapon that is not two-handed or versatile in one hand and no weapon in the other.
• Great Weapon Fighting: When you roll a 1 or 2 for an attack with a two-handed melee weapon, that damage die is rerolled once.
• Protection: When you have a shield, impose disadvantage on an attack against your allies when you are within 1.5m. You must be able to see the attacker.
• Two-Weapon Fighting: When you attack with your off-hand weapon, you can add your ability modifer to the damage of the attack. (For Fighter class characters who have 15 or more ability points in Strength, this defaults to a +3 to Strength checks.)

Fighter subclass options

At Level 3, you can choose from three Fighter subclasses:

• Battle Master: This subclass emphasises tactical superiority with a wide array of Manoeuvres that can dramatically affect the flow of battle.
• Eldritch Knight: A magus-type subclass that sees the Fighter using magic to supplement their weapon weaponry.
• Champion: A subclass that grants passive buffs which boost the Fighter's stats in various areas, such as critical hit damage.

Fighter weapon, armour, and class proficiencies

• Fighter weapon proficiencies: Simple weapons, martial weapons
• Fighter armour proficiencies: Light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields
• Fighter skill proficiencies: Choice of two: Athletics, Acrobatics, Investigation, Survival, Intimidation
• Fighter saving throws: Strength, Constitution

Best Fighter race, background, and skills

In Baldur's Gate 3, your race, background, and skills grant you additional actions and features that impact your character. Here are the best picks for a solid Fighter build.

The best Fighter race is Githyanki or Half-Orc.

Many races make for good Fighters, but we've found especially good success with Githyanki, since they gain a number of useful psionic abilities that'll come in handy during combat. Misty Step, which lets them teleport around the battlefield, is an excellent skill to give your Fighter additional mobility in a tight encounter. Meanwhile, Half-Orcs make for superb Fighters thanks to their Savage Attacks skill, which lets them score extra damage with critical hits, as well as Relentless Endurance, which lets them drop to 1 hit point when they're reduced to 0 hit points.

The best Fighter background is Outlander.

An Outlander background grants Athletics and Survival skills. Athletics improves offensive Shoves, the ability to resist Shoves, as well as Jump distance. Survival helps guide the group through terrain while identifying natural hazards.

The best Fighter skill proficiencies are Acrobatics and Perception.

Acrobatics impact attempts to stay on your feet in tricky situations such as walking on ice or navigating thin rails, while Perception helps you spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of specific things in your environment.

Best Fighter Fighting Style

Our top pick for the Fighter Fighting Style is Archery, since there are countless occasions where you'll benefit from fighting at range and many secondary ways to continue to improve your Archery abilities as you progress.

You can choose a second Fighting Style at Level 10. This will be contingent on your playstyle, but once you've got ranged attacks covered with Archery, Great Weapon Fighting is a solid choice for those who prefer using two-handed weapons.

Best Fighter subclass

The best Baldur's Gate 3 Fighter subclass is Battle Master, which grants you access to seven Manoeuvres - three at Level 3, two at Level 7, and two at Level 10. These are unique combat abilities that you can activate using an action. We'd recommend taking the following Manoeuvres in this order: Disarming Attack, Trip Attack, Goading Attack, Distracting Strike, Pushing Attack, Feinting Attack, and Precision Attack.

Best Fighter feats

Fighters can choose feats at Levels 4, 6, 8, and 12. The best Fighter Feats are:

• Level 4: Ability Improvements (apply to Strength)
• Level 6: Athlete
• Level 8: Sentinel
• Level 12: Tough

For your first feat, choose Ability Improvements to bump up your Strength. Athlete is the next feat to take, as it boosts movement speed when prone, raises your Jump distance by 50%, and also increases Strength or Dexterity by one. With Sentinel, you can make a reaction attack when an enemy in melee range attacks an ally, and you'll also gain advantage on opportunity attacks. When you hit an enemy with a Sentinel-enhanced opportunity attack, the enemy cannot move the rest of its turn. Tough grants +2 maximum HP for each level, working retroactively and as you progress forward for a total of 24 extra HP by Level 12.

That's everything you need to know to build a fantastic Fighter in Baldur's Gate 3. If you're having as much fun with the game as we are, you won't want to miss our multiclassing guide and our insights on how to romance the game's various characters. And, if you're not happy with the build ideas we suggested here, you'll also want to see our guide on how to repec in Baldur's Gate 3 as well as our list of the best builds for every class.

Disclosure: Former RPS deputy editor Adam Smith (RPS in peace) now works at Larian and is the lead writer for Baldur's Gate 3. Former contributor Emily Gera also works on it.