High level (tiers 3 & 4) single class fighters, how was your experience?

[Spo]

Firstly, I realize lvl 10 and above may not sound like higher levels to some, but it has taken one of my groups over a year to get to this point so ...

Anyways, I am curious what your fighter experience was.

- Did you feel you were pulling your weight compared to maybe some of the flashier classes (like wizards and Paladins)?

- Did you feel you like an integral part of the team or just backup to other players (like tanky barbarians)?

- Do you have any regrets with either picking this class or the subclass?

- Did the actual game play of the fighter keep you involved in the game or you enjoyed it because of the role playing aspect?

Was curious because not seeing a lot of fighters in tiers 3 and 4.
Thanks

[Dienekes]

It was not so much that I wasn't effective. It was that at about level 5 I'd seen everything in the class there was to see. In combat I definitely pulled my weight (it helps that I was the only tank class so my positioning was the lynch pin of many a strategy).

Out of combat? Not as much.

I definitely kept going more because of the RP than the game, but then I always find the RP way more interesting than the gameplay.

I do not regret picking Battlemaster. But I do regret two things.

1) Relentless is a stupid ability. It should be "At the start of every combat encounter you gain 1 temporary Superiority Die, if you do not use it before the end of the encounter it is lost."

2) There really should have been some kind of Advanced Maneuvers available after 10th level. Just to mix things up and to have more effects to choose from other than all the ones I didn't want the first 5 or so.

[Slybluedemon]

I have played an Eldritch Knight about a year ago to about 16-18 level, can't remember the exact level but his name was, Zanthar The Iron Cross

Zanthar The Iron Cross

Did you feel you were pulling your weight compared to maybe some of the flashier classes (like wizards and Paladins)?

Yes, i do feel i was pulling my weight, actually i felt i was doing better because i was a fighter. Everyturn i can attack 3 times and when i action surge, that's another 3 attacks. If i missed my attack, no big deal but if the wizard missed his 7th level spell because the monster passed the save then its gone.

- Did you feel you like an integral part of the team or just backup to other players (like tanky barbarians)?

I did feel like i was an integral part of the team. I tanked hits and would dish it out, additonally because i was an EK i was able to use magic myself such as Fly or Fireball.

- Do you have any regrets with either picking this class or the subclass?

I didn't have any regrets, i love playing someone who is a soldier and just cuts stuff down with a sword.

- Did the actual game play of the fighter keep you involved in the game or you enjoyed it because of the role playing aspect?

Both, I love Fighters but I RPed my character as an Executioner of the Church. Basically, an arcane paladin who cut down and burned the wicked and saved the good without being bound by pesky Oaths that paladins have to follow. Fighters are a blank slate so you can RP so much with them.

[Sudsboy]

I have an 18th level Champion I rolled for our first group when 5e released. I've had buyer's remorse the whole way. He's decently powerful, particularly as he has a flaming sword, so the extra dice with expanded crit range is just about ideal. I've been unhappy with him pretty much any time he isn't swinging his sword, and even then some.

No wizards in our party, but the multiclass druid/paladin is a superhero compared to my guy. Champion is a boring single class character in my experience. I wouldn't recommend it.

[nickl_2000]

Played with a Tabaxi Eldritch Knight X/Swashbucker 3 (max level 17). He was a beast in many ways. He moved faster than the rest of the party, he was almost impossible to hit with his shield spells, and he could lay down solid damage all the time.

Considering that the rest of the party was a Moon Druid, Sorcerer, Archer Bard/Fighter, and Warlock he didn't lag behind a single one of us.

[Spo]

Played with a Tabaxi Eldritch Knight X/Swashbucker 3 (max level 17). He was a beast in many ways. He moved faster than the rest of the party, he was almost impossible to hit with his shield spells, and he could lay down solid damage all the time.

Considering that the rest of the party was a Moon Druid, Sorcerer, Archer Bard/Fighter, and Warlock he didn't lag behind a single one of us.

When and why did you multiclass? The reason I was specifically asking for single class fighter’s input was to gauge their experiences in playing with a high level fighter only. Now I’m wondering if multiclassing is necessary to to enjoying the higher levels of play.

[nickl_2000]

When and why did you multiclass? The reason I was specifically asking for single class fighter’s input was to gauge their experiences in playing with a high level fighter only. Now I’m wondering if multi-classing is necessary to to enjoying the higher levels of play.

It was another PC in a campaign I was in, so I don't know for sure. However I'm pretty sure these were the reasons
1) Expertise for shield master bonus action bash
2) Bonus action hide, dash, disengage
3) Swashbucker mobile like ability, bonus to initiate, and ease of sneak attack



I still don't think that multi-classing is necessary. I'm personally planning on making a full class Arcane Archer at some point and am looking for to raining down death

[Sam113097]

I ran a Battlemaster Fighter up to level 14, and the amount of feats that a fighter gets made it a lot of fun. By level 14, I had had 5 feats/ASIs, so I had easily maxed out my strength and picked up Polearm Master, Mage Initiate (Cleric), and Ritual Caster (Cleric). I had a ton of stuff that I could do in-combat (going supernova with action surge and a couple maneuvers to nuke a single target or take down a couple enemies with my glaive was super satisfying), and the feats let me have a lot of utility both in and out of combat. I feel like fighters are super customize-able thanks to all the feats they can get, and subclasses like Battlemaster and Eldritch Knight can give you a lot of choices during combat. I wouldn't recommend the Champion though, unless you really want simplicity.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

Boring.

Stopped playing high level 5e D&D a while ago. We can have the same stories at 10th level, yeah I've seen someone punch a Lich at level 10.

To play high level we boot up 4e, a lot more fun that way.

[AvatarVecna]

Played from low-mid to low-teens with a pure battlemaster (ranged, also played at being sneaky/scouty). Lots of ASIs let me keep my Dex high, grab a couple extra maneuvers, and even grab Stealth expertise (although a rogue dip might've been useful). Maneuvers on ranged let me play at being battlefield control while still pumping out plenty of damage when I needed to, and could set up some nasty combos if there were (for example) traps nearby to push enemies into. Use the lvl 7 ribbon surprisingly frequently, and it allowed me to be a lot more useful out of combat than I otherwise would've been. I was sneaky enough with a Cloak Of Elvenkind and Slippers Of Spider Climbing that basically nobody anywhere near our level could ever detect me, so while allies were using rituals to gather information, I'd ghost through the dungeons and get AC/HP values on as many targets as I could. If I could successfully scout the bosses, I'd spend 3 minutes on them getting Str/Dex/Con/AC/HP/class levels and report back.

This information gathering was even occasionally useful during social events: I tanked Cha, so I'd mostly stay quiet during any such scenes, but they almost always lasted long enough for me to get a gauge on all 7 pieces of information about anybody I was talking to. Pro-tip: Str/Dex/Con might mean something, might not, but if you're talking to some nob as a well-made Fighter 7+ and they've got better AC/HP than you, that's something the group needs to know - this guy is waaaaaay better at fighting than his social standing might otherwise indicate, and at least a couple times, that turned out to reveal a villain who was pretending to be way worse than they were. Any class feature that helps you unmask Batman is awesome.

[CTurbo]

I've seen a few mid-high level Fighters and it's usually the same thing. They are great at fighting and nothing else. This is why I consider Ritual Caster and/or Magic Initiate almost feat tax for Fighters.

Unfortunately many people forget that you don't need fancy class abilities to role play. Just because you don't have face skills on paper doesn't mean you can interact with NPCs.

[djreynolds]

At level 12 paladins, rangers and barbarians and even monks have maxed out their attack and probably have a feat to boot

Your fighter maxed their strength/dex at 6th, grabbed SS or GWM or PAM at 8th and at 12 might be looking to bolster their saves... but 14 is right around the corner.

Here is the thing... unless a DM specifically targets a fighter with "mental save", they are chugging away.

Level 13 is another boost is proficiency bonus also.


I've seen a few mid-high level Fighters and it's usually the same thing. They are great at fighting and nothing else. This is why I consider Ritual Caster and/or Magic Initiate almost feat tax for Fighters.

Unfortunately many people forget that you don't need fancy class abilities to role play. Just because you don't have face skills on paper doesn't mean you can interact with NPCs.

I happen to agree and you can include resilient wisdom here as well, which a paladin does not even need resilient con because of aura protection.

I remember specifically at 14th level I took the skilled feat, its crazy but I took persuasion and insight and nature and the reason was we often split up to handle different tasks... and as the fighter I got the mundane stuff like buying and selling gear, getting info, talking to the "commoners" while the rogue was doing crazy stealth stuff, the paladin was doing meet and greets with "big wigs", and who knows what the wizard was doing.

But in combat I often fight side by side with the paladin.... so I had his auras, all of them.

This what we fail to consider is that if you trust your teammates most fighters can just focus feat wise on combat as the paladin or wizard or cleric is there to fix you... often immediately so you can get back to fighting

So grabbing magic initiate I took this at 12th, and I casted the bless spell... because at these higher levels this spell is often forgotten.... but because of bounded accuracy it still rocks

[Ashrym]

Champion with survivor could soak up a lot a damage. Battle master DEX archer was a lot more fun.

[ZorroGames]

Running an AL Earth Genasi Battlemaster at 11th. Had several T3 games and had fun (even at 1 hp Mano-a-Mano with a young adult Black Dragon ridden by a Red Wizard of Thay, on the end of a pier.)

The combination of Mariner’s Plate and Cloak of the Manta Ray was most useful since we had amphibious foes too in that battle. And I was the only “Wall” PC.

The big decisions at 12th level will be to decide on Feat (GWM,) ASI, and/or prepare for possible MC/ dip into Cleric.

ST 20
DE 10
CO 18
IN 10
WI 14
CH 8

GWF
+2 Maul
+1, +2 versus plants Long Sword
+1 Short Sword
Goggles of Night
Ring of Fire Resistance
Water Breathing potions x 6 (don’t ask)

Assorted BM maneuvers.

[AttilatheYeon]

I have a t3 cavalier who should hit t4 soon. I like him, he's my second tankiest character behind my kensei monk. When i hit t4, he'll be my tankiest. He's AL tho so that prolly changes a few things. I use an animated shield and great axe in combat, in t4 will be an animated shield and black razor/matalitok. So super tanky, good to great damage.