Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Fighter Class Build

Baldur’s Gate 3 will have one of the most complex combat systems in the RPG genre on release thanks, in part, to it being based on the Fifth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons‘ ruleset. Though there are some major changes to adapt the formula to a video game, most strategies work in Baldur’s Gate 3 as they do in the TTRPG – including the benefits of a well-rounded party.

It’s a good idea to have one or two melee-focused party members, a perfect slot for the Fighter Class to fill in. The best Fighter build in BG3 is one that takes the class’ melee prowess and turns it into a close-quarters devastator via the Battle Master subclass.

Updated November 2, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: When going for the best Fighter build BG3 players can make, you need to also consider factors beyond your character. After all, even with the best Baldur’s Gate 3 Fighter build, it’s nearly impossible to beat BG3 without a balanced Fighter party composition. Unless you are going for a solo run, it’s a good idea to consider your companion options before journeying out into the world – more often than not, this best BG3 Fighter Build is improved with the right companions. This guide to the best Baldur’s Gate 3 Fighter build has been updated to add a section covering our best BG3 Fighter build companion and party composition recommendations, as well as to clarify some details so players can more easily follow this BG3 Fighter Build guide.

Fighter Class Introduction & Overview

The Baldur’s Gate 3 Fighter Class, Explained

Fighter Playstyle & Signature Abilities

“Fighters have mastered the art of combat, wielding weapons with unmatched skill and wearing armour like a second skin.”

The Fighter is a class that’s meant to be played up-close-and-personal. Whether that’s through sheer brutality or magical assistance is up to the player – no matter their choice of Subclass, Fighters gain a few abilities that set them apart from other melee-oriented classes like the Barbarian. At Level 1, Second Wind grants a Bonus Action Self-Heal ability once per combat, then at Level 2, players get an Action Surge to grant an extra Action once each combat. Later on, Fighters gain better Saving Throws, Extra Attacks, and Fighting Styles, too.

Players choose their Fighter Subclass at Level 3, which can completely change how combat is approached. Though Fighters may lack the raw power of a Barbarian, the class’ ability to stay alive in combat and control the battlefield from the front lines makes them a great addition to a party lacking melee specialists.

Base Fighter Class Proficiencies: Armor, Weapons, Saving Throws, & Skill Choices

When you first start creating your Fighter Build, BG3 offers a selection of basic Class Proficiencies, and a choice of two Fighter Skill Proficiencies.

In addition to Armor, Weapon, and Saving Throw proficiencies that vary for each class, the pool of Skills you can choose from are different for each class. These cannot be changed once you get past character creation without resetting your build.

All Fighter Subclasses

There are a total of three BG3 subclasses Fighter players can try out, each of which focuses on different aspects of the class, and offers a selection of unique skills, proficiencies, and other features. As you level up in one of these BG3 Fighter subclasses, you will gain more abilities that are unique to your subclass choice.

Your choice of Fighter subclass can be changed by speaking with Withers, but you will start at Level 1 and have to make your BG3 Fighter build from scratch. Though this chart displays information for all subclasses, if you want to make best Fighter build BG3 has to offer, you should go for the Battle Master.

Fighter Class Features – Level By Level

The max level in Baldur’s Gate 3 is Level 12, and most of the time, each level you gain will grant something new for your Fighter build. On character creation you gain the basics for the Fighter class, then steadily gain Feat Choices, new spells and abilities, subclass features, and increase your Proficiency Bonus.

This chart displays everything you can expect to get at each Level-Up as a Fighter in your Baldur’s Gate 3 journey.

BG3 Fighter Subclass Choice – Battle Master

Overview Of BG3 Fighter Battle Master Subclass

What Makes Battle Master the Best Fighter Subclass?

“Battle Masters are paragons of tactical superiority, combining combat maneuvers and experience in the field to dominate every fight.”

The Battle Master Fighter build is named after the Subclass that players select at Level 3, which grants a powerful new set of skills to the Fighter that rely on a new resource: Superiority Die, used to fuel Battle Maneuvers. At Level 3, Fighters can unlock three Battle Maneuvers from a list of six, most of which have both a ranged and melee version that unlock together.

These Battle Maneuvers, paired with the Fighter’s base Action Surge and Second Wind actions, make them a serious force in melee combat – as long as they actually hit the enemy, that is. They are great at controlling enemy locations with certain Battle Maneuvers, rooting them in place or pushing them away, and can also be a source of minor buffs for the party and debuffs for enemies.

Battle Master Fighters rarely spent too much time away from direct melee combat, and in a party with ranged damage and support sources, they should spend as much time as they can up-close and personal with enemies. It’s perfectly fine to start a fight with a shot from a Crossbow, but when Initiative rolls, be prepared to close that distance quickly.

Battle Master Subclass Features – Level By Level

In addition to everything you unlock while leveling as a Fighter , your Subclass also determines what you unlock at certain levels. As a Fighter , you can select a subclass at Level 3.

For the purposes of this guide to the BG3 best Fighter build, choose the Battle Master when prompted to choose a Subclass.

Best Battle Master Battle Maneuvers (Superiority Dice)

The Battle Master’s unique mechanic is Battle Maneuvers. Upon reaching Level 3 and selecting the Battle Master subclass, players gain access to melee and ranged attacks that offer powerful additional effects. When using these abilities, though, they use one of the Fighter’s limited Superiority Dice. Each day, players get eight Dice to spend on these abilities, each of which uses just one. Of the choices presented to players, Menacing Attack, Pushing Attack, and Riposte are the ones players should prioritize first, though Riposte can be replaced with Rally if your party lacks healing. Rally benefits parties more at low levels as the total amount of HP that the Fighter gives to an ally doesn’t improve. Maneuvering Attack, too, can be useful for parties without a way to reliably get squishy allies out of range of opportunity attacks, but it’s a bit more situational.

Best BG3 Fighter Build Character Creation Choices

BG3 Fighter Build Race, Background, Proficiency, Feats, & Stat Choices

Best BG3 Fighter Race: Half-Orc

The Half-Orc race comes with a few notable racial abilities that help the best BG3 Fighter build become even more powerful and resilient. The race comes with Darkvision, and proficiency in Intimidation, but its real draw for Fighters comes from the Savage Attacks and Relentless Endurance passive features.

Savage Attacks lets players add an additional Damage Dice on top of their normal critical hit damage, but only with melee weapon attacks. Relentless Endurance prevents the Fighter from going down, restoring them to 1 HP upon reaching 0, only once per long rest. For the Battle Master build, which is a close-range melee build, these two abilities let the character persist through death and absolutely pile damage onto opponents with critical hits – just be sure to pick up abilities and gear that reduces the Critical Hit threshold.

A good alternative to the Half-Orc is the Githyanki, which gain Githyanki Psyonics to further enhance their ability to control the battlefield (and jump around from enemy to enemy as if on a trampoline). However, the Gold Dwarf or Dragonborn races are decent Racial good choices, too, thanks to inherent defensive that benefit melee characters considerably.

Best BG3 Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting

Upon creating a Fighter character in Baldur’s Gate 3, players are asked which Fighting Style they would like to follow. There are six choices: Archery, Defence, Duelling, Great Weapon Fighting, Protection, and Two-Weapon Fighting. These all have their own bonuses and drawbacks, but ultimately the Great Weapon Fighting style is best because it simply increases the baseline amount of damage every Two-Handed weapon can do. However, the Defence style is good for Fighters who will spend a lot of time in close combat.

Best Fighter Backgrounds in BG3: Soldier or Outlander

The Fighter’s focus on Strength and Constitution gives them a big boost to Ability Checks that rely on those stats. As such, gaining proficiency with Athletics and Intimidation via the Soldier background is the best route to go to further improve two skills that the class already exemplifies. Just be prepared to muscle your way through dialogue and RP encounters, foregoing alternative solutions, to earn Inspiration.

However, Fighters can also gain proficiency in Athletics via the Outlander background, which replaces Intimidation with Survival. Its Inspiration mostly comes from achieving feats in the wilderness, like felling a large beast, or finding a mythical location.

Athletics and Survival are great for exploring the world, while Athletics and Intimidation is better for an in-your-face Fighter. Either way, Fighters have plenty of opportunities to naturally trigger Inspriation from these two Backgrounds.

Best BG3 Fighter Skill Proficiency Choices: Perception and Intimidation (or Insight)

Fighters get a choice of two skills from a list of eight, but both of the recommended backgrounds above cover two of the choices, leaving six to choose from.

If you go with the Soldier background, proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation are already granted. In this case, choose instead to go with Insight and Perception, as the game gives players a lot of dialogue checks involving these two skills. Choosing the Outlander background grants Survival instead of Intimidation, so if you go this route, choose Perception and Intimidation for your starting skills.

Best BG3 Fighter Feats: Great Weapon Master, Sentinel, Alert, Charger, and Savage Attacker

• Great Weapon Master Effects: Grants two new abilities, Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack, and Great Weapon Master: All In
  • Bonus Attack grants an additional melee weapon attack, as a Bonus Action, when you make a melee Critical Hit
  • All In reduces your Attack Rolls with Two-Handed or Versatile weapons (that you are Proficient with) by 5, but increases their damage by a flat 10
• Sentinel Effects: Grants three new abilities, Sentinel: Vengeance, Sentinel: Snare, and Sentinel: Opportunity Advantage
  • Vengeance lets you use a Reaction to make a basic weapon attack against any enemy that attacks an ally, within melee range
  • Snare nullifies movement for any enemy you hit with an Attack of Opportunity
  • Opportunity Advantage grants Advantage on all Opportunity Attacks
• Alert Effects: You gain +5 to Initiative and can’t be Surprised
• Charger Effects: Grants two new abilities, Charger: Weapon Attack, and Charger: Shove
  • Weapon Attack lets the player charge forward and them their weapon into the first enemy they hit without provoking any Opportunity Attacks during the charge
  • Shove lets you charge forward and shove an enemy forward. The distance that the target travels is determined by Strength and Weight.
• Savage Attacker Effects: When making Melee Weapon attacks, roll all damage dice twice. The higher of the two results is used.

Best Fighter Ability Scores & Stat Distribution

To create the best BG3 Fighter build, we recommend putting the majority of points into your Strength, followed by Constitution and Dexterity. The primary stats for most Battle Master Fighter spells and abilities in BG3 are Strength and Constitution, but Dexterity should follow closely behind to aid your other combat skills. Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence are not essential for the Battle Master Fighter build.

Best BG3 Fighter Leveling Choices

Best Fighter Spells, Feats, & Other Choices At Every Level

Best Fighter Build Companions & Party Composition

Best Companions For Battle Master Fighter Builds

The best Fighter companions in BG3 are Shadowheart as your primary ranged Support, Gale as a ranged damage-dealer and CC source, and Astarion as your main ally in melee combat (who can also set up strong Stealth maneuvers). Though you can change the class and specialization of any of your companions, these three come with strong pre-determined class and spec combos to balance out your Fighter party composition.

• Shadowheart: A Trickery Cleric, Shadowheart serves as a good companion for hybrid damage and support, which mirrors (and complements) the Circle of the Moon Druid playstyle well.
• Gale: An Evocation Wizard, Gale can learn any Spell in Baldur’s Gate 3, is able to adapt to most situations, and is thus the most versatile ranged damage-dealing companion.
• Astarion: Best suited for the Thief subclass, Astarion lets you access hidden, locked areas more easily and is capable of setting up complex combat strategies without attracting attention with Stealth

If you are dead set on including a character in your party, simply talk to Withers to respec them to one of the optimal Fighter companion classes listed above. This way, you won’t miss out on that character’s questline, and you won’t have to suffer from an improperly balanced party.

Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Fighter Build Equipment

Get The Best BG3 Fighter Gear In All Three Acts

This section covers the best equipment for Battle Master Fighters in BG3 across all three Acts. Some pieces from early Acts may still be powerful in later ones, though, and will remain equipped through several Acts.

• Items with bolded names are new options for the build in each Act, and may replace older pieces of equipment.
• Items with unbolded names must be acquired in earlier Acts, but are strong enough that they don’t need to be replaced in Acts 2 or 3.

Best Battle Master Fighter Items & Equipment: Act 1

Best Battle Master Fighter Items & Equipment: Act 2

Best Battle Master Fighter Items & Equipment: Act 3

Best BG3 Fighter Multiclass Choices

Maximize Your BG3 Fighter Build With Complimentary Fighter Multiclass Options

Players can choose to Multiclass beginning at Level 2. Look for the “Add Class” button on the top right of the level up overview menu – this will open up a new menu where players can allocate the level to any other class in
Baldur’s Gate 3
when selected.

Barbarian Multiclass – Fighter 11/Barbarian 1

Choosing the Barbarian class to multiclass into as a Fighter is important for one reason: Rage. Rage is an incredibly powerful ability that lets a character use a bonus action to make an additional attack on their turn, but it requires a bonus action to activate.

As a Level 11 Fighter, players can attack three times in a single turn, but by putting one point into barbarian, they can attack four times minimum every turn – as long as a bonus action isn’t used for another ability. It’s also viable to put three points into Barbarian to be able to select a subclass, but the character will lose out on the Fighter’s third attack granted at Level 11.

Cleric Multiclass – Fighter 11/Cleric 1

The Cleric multiclass option for Fighters is good for similar reasons as the Barbarian multiclass. Fighters unlock their third attack at Level 11, leaving just one level to put into another class. The Cleric, specifically the War Domain subclass, is an excellent choice because it unlocks a fourth attack, and grants access to some basic Cleric support spells.

It’s not a bad idea to go with the Eldritch Knight subclass instead of the Battle Master subclass for this multiclass choice, as Cleric spells will complement the Eldritch Knight’s toolkit. Just be sure to select War Domain, as it lets the Cleric take a bonus action to attack an extra time on their turn.