Fighter Partner Class

[Kharneth]

I'm looking for a character to partner with my friend's polearm battle master. He's primarily interested in fighting (surprise, surprise). What type of character might gain the most out of such a partner?

We're trying out the Adventurer's League together, so it won't just be the two of us but the other party members could be anything. My buddy's main interest is having fun in combat because he's not convinced that there will be any engaging RP.

My thoughts range from pairing him with another polearm (or simply melee) character to supplementing his weaknesses by playing as a ranged and/or magic character.

[Man_Over_Game]

A Life Cleric + a heavy warrior is a very solid combination. Cast Warding Bond on your friend, and now you split the damage between the two of you. Once you hit level 6, you can heal him and yourself at the same time, creating a powerful duo. Get Heavy Armor Master, and now when he takes non-magical damage and splits part of it with you, you take 3 less damage from the hit, further improving the combination. His improved threat range will keep enemies from approaching you, and your high AC and Heavy Armor Mastery means he doesn't have to babysit you beyond using his pokeystick.

The idea is that you're a Champion's Herald, worshipping your god by supporting champions in their rise to glory.


Alternatively, a Celestial Warlock, with Eldritch Blast that knocks back, can keep your friend healed, be the face of the duo, and can push enemies back in/out of your friend's reach to create a mobile fort of murder. Less emphasis on survivability, but it does provide more damage, Charisma for a face character for the pair, and uses more control.

Option A is better in open areas, when you might be surrounded, has better survivability, and has more access to RP-related magic
Option B is better in tunnels, against bosses, or when enemies are coming from a single direction. It also has more access to RP-related skills.

I'm more in favor of survivability and adaptability over tactical gimmicks that may fail, so I'm more in favor of option A over option B, but option B is better with multiple combats per session.

[MaxWilson]

I'm looking for a character to partner with my friend's polearm battle master. He's primarily interested in fighting (surprise, surprise). What type of character might gain the most out of such a partner?

Are you trying to cover weaknesses or enhance strengths?

If you want to cover weaknesses--if your DM doesn't tailor challenges to the party--then you want someone with a good ranged attack, so that the party isn't helpless when you e.g. get strafed repeatedly by a Young Black Dragon's breath weapon. You also want the ability to support the melee fighter as necessary by granting him advantage, and ideally you also want to be able to boost his saving throws and help him recover when he's wounded or distressed. Therefore, overall I'd recommend a Bardlock: warlock 2 [Agonizing Blast invocation + Hex], lore bard whatever. Take Faerie Fire, maybe some other control spells like Plant Growth at higher level. Try to give your buddy lots of advantageous fights. Heal him when he's down. Consider taking the Repelling Blast invocation too, both to keep enemies off his back as much as possible and also to give him more chances to use his reaction attack when they come back into range of him. (And also to protect yourself.) If he's struggling to get into melee range, Longstrider him.

Etc.

P.S. Consider taking the Mobile feat to protect yourself. Mobility in 5E is often a better defense than AC is--there are plenty of things (like Medusa petrification) that can kill you stone cold dead regardless of your AC, but cannot do so if you're more than 30' away from them. Mobile feat not only makes you better at keeping away, it even lets you break contact without taking an opportunity attack. (Booming Blade + retreat 40'.) Even more so if you're fighting on difficult terrain, where Mobile Dashing lets you ignore the difficult terrain while your enemy is stuck moving at half speed.

[strangebloke]

Are there more folks in the party than just you?

If there are, play a squishy and hide behind him. Encourage him to take the sentinel feat. In this scenario I would suggest a bard, since you can cover a lot of bases he can't, and disable enemies for him to beat up on. A wizard might also make sense, since they have the best buffs in the game. There's an argument for a warlock as well, since someone needs to have a solid ranged attack.

If its just you two, you will need decent defensive chops on top of everything else. I'd go arcane trickster with ritual caster or one of the CC/utility-focused clerics. A tempest, order, or arcana cleric might all be good choices, depending on your preference.

[GlenSmash!]

A rather simple strategy is to go Wolf Totem Barbarian and just stand next to whatever he is fighting.

[CTurbo]

Wolf Totem Barb with GWM and a big 2 handed weapon, and Sentinel.

Both would get full time advantage on all attacks as long as they are standing next to each other.

Make the Fighter a Battle Master and take Riposte and they both get a reliable reaction attack.