Level 4 Fighter (BM)

[Lord Kristivas]

Just hit level 4, and we (the group) have until 5th level to change anything we want about our characters, as it's our first 5e campaign. I'm just looking for some suggestions as we level up to optimize my Fighter.

Human Fighter with Soldier Background.
Shield Master feat for level 1. Duelist fighting style. 4th level stat increase probably will be spent on Str rather than a feat.

Theme: Tank.
I picture my guy as the tank of the group, rocking heavy armor with a sword and shield. My guy's usually the bait. We'll set up an ambush, and my dude is the one luring Ogres or Hobgoblins or whatever out into position, by banging on his shield, calling out challenges and insults to their mothers. When we're fighting something big, my guy tries to get in it's face so that the others can do their jobs in relative safety.

I chose Battlemaster, and picked Trip Attack, Menacing Attack, and Goading Attack. The last two seem to have been errors on my part, as they've not been useful thus far in the slightest. I'm considering dropping all three for Precision Attack, Riposte, and either Sweeping Attack or Parry, though I'm wary about Parry as my Dex is rather "meh".

I don't want to build all the way to 20, but I would like a good outline to shoot for until at least 11 (3rd attack, which I consider a must-have for this guy). I'm trying to prioritize how I'll stack feats at 6 and 8, and the following are what I'm considering in no particular order:
Sentinel - Pretty darn good for controlling the battlefield in melee.
Martial Adept - An extra SD (the big winner here) and more maneuvers (meh).
Heavy Armor Master - Would have been more useful at level 1, could still be great against that army of Kobolds. The higher level I get, the less attractive it feels.
Resilient (Wis) or Resilient (Dex) - That "take no damage from a successful Dex save" thing about Shield Master is nice, but I've got a 12 Dex and am not proficient. Wis would be great for other obvious reasons.
Lucky - Just because it's that cool.

Other info: We're running HotDQ and RoT, so I know this game will last at least until the low teens. We have a Moon Druid, Hellish Pact Warlock, Arcane Trickster Rogue, and an NPC Bard healer.

Something I'm not interested in: Polearm Master. I know it's great, but I just don't care for it. Other than that, fire away. :)

[Vogonjeltz]

I went with martial adept on my Battlemaster.

My maneuver picks:
Disarming attack (for humanoids)
Trip attack
Menacing attack (targets low wisdom)
Parry
Riposte

The first two target str, the third wisdom (so I had variety of choice vs enemies) and the latter two are reactions, which the fighter otherwise doesn't do a lot of. They also cover both case scenarios where someone attacks you (hit or miss)

My favorite is riposte because it nets you a whole extra attack along with the die.

For you, shield bash makes trip slightly less useful. How's your charisma? Rally is nice because the temp hp have no duration, so if you're going on a short rest you can buff your party and they'll retain them for any upcoming fight.

[Callin]

Distracting Strike is ok, Maneuvering Attack is good, Pushing Attack is great.

Those are what I consider to be good leader maneuvers. Also you have a rogue in the group. He is going to hit harder than you. Commanders Strike can let him use his sneak attack for another heavy hit on a mob.

[Gwendol]

Seconding martial adept. You want as many maneuvers as early as possible to give you options.

[Lord Kristivas]

I went with martial adept on my Battlemaster.

My maneuver picks:
Disarming attack (for humanoids)
Trip attack
Menacing attack (targets low wisdom)
Parry
Riposte

The first two target str, the third wisdom (so I had variety of choice vs enemies) and the latter two are reactions, which the fighter otherwise doesn't do a lot of. They also cover both case scenarios where someone attacks you (hit or miss)

My favorite is riposte because it nets you a whole extra attack along with the die.

For you, shield bash makes trip slightly less useful. How's your charisma? Rally is nice because the temp hp have no duration, so if you're going on a short rest you can buff your party and they'll retain them for any upcoming fight.

My Charisma is really good. We rolled for stats, and I hit some pretty damn high numbers (17, 12, 17, 12, 14, 16). I didn't want to be "that guy", so I stuck my 16 in Cha. Aside from being the "tank", I'm kinda the de-facto leader and face of the party. The Warlock's cha is huge, but she's a Tiefling and is looked upon with suspicion during the best of times.



Distracting Strike is ok, Maneuvering Attack is good, Pushing Attack is great.

Those are what I consider to be good leader maneuvers. Also you have a rogue in the group. He is going to hit harder than you. Commanders Strike can let him use his sneak attack for another heavy hit on a mob.

Commander's Strike was definitely on the list for my level 7 maneuver, after I was able to get my 2nd attack. If I take Martial Adept, I'll be adding it right away.



Seconding martial adept. You want as many maneuvers as early as possible to give you options.

Agreed, and I think that's the route I'm going for level 6. The extra SD will be great. My DM isn't exactly stingy with rests, but he won't go out of his way to give us chances to rest, either.

[SliceandDiceKid]

I like battle master fighter. Have you considered switching to paladin? Just want to mention it as an option. Similar party role, make use of your cha, and spell versatility to supplement the loss of maneuvers.


As far as maneuvers, I vote for
1) riposte
2) lunging attack
3) feinting attack

For a feat, I like most options to even out your key abilities.

Heavy armor master and shield master are awesome. Good picks.

[silveralen]

Personally I'm a big fan of the save prof feats. It depends how often your DM tosses such monsters at you, but it should work.