I liked playing <insert subclass> fighter because ....

[Spo]

Taking the dive into playing a fighter (usually play monks and druids) or fighter multclass. Have some good backstories that could fit various subclasses. I have learned that a good character with fun role play can make any class interesting (no need mention “fighters are boring to play”).

What fighter subclass did you like playing and why? Also, which subclass do you want to play in the future and why?

Thanks for your input!

[Amnestic]

Rune Knight, because out of the box I felt like I had a solid range of bonus actions and reactions without needing to rely on feats.

[Forevaxp]

Samurai because of the extra skill proficiency and how fun it is to nova with a Fighting Spirit + Action Surge. Also the combination with a dragonborn fits the whole “super dedicated towards improvement” theme.

[airless_wing]

Arcane Archer, because the lvl 7 ability is great. It ensures you're not handicapped when magic items are scarce, and means you'll nearly always be hitting something every turn. Never miss a shot.

Also, Cavalier, because it's really fun to be a single-unit phalanx.

[Xetheral]

Battlemaster gives lots of round-by-round decision points in combat, which helps make a combat-heavy game more interesting for me. Mix it with Thief Rogue (and a ton of caltrops, poisons, alchemists fire/acid, etc) to maximize the number of options for spending a bonus action, and the number of round-by-round decision points approaches a caster.

[DwarfFighter]

Champion because he's an honest hero.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Echo Knight, because my best friend Barry always has my back.

[Arkhios]

Cavalier, because it makes me feel like a proper tank without having to rely on magical abilities.

[Dragonsonthemap]

Battlemaster is a mundane fighter that's interesting to play. I dislike Samurai as a handling of its nominal concept specifically, but its mechanics do lend it to a sort of "noble warrior" archetype that I enjoy.

[Spo]

Arcane Archer, because the lvl 7 ability is great. It ensures you're not handicapped when magic items are scarce, and means you'll nearly always be hitting something every turn. .

This got me to take another look at the subclass. Thanks.

[MrStabby]

I liked playing UA rune knight fighter because it capured well the idea of a scholastic warrior versed in ancient mysteriries with awesome and well rounded mechanical backup to efficiently fill out the action economy in a diverse manner.

[Sigreid]

Champion because he was such a good all arounder I could play him like he was the star of an action hero movie. He could climb, sneak, wrestle, literally swing into action, et.al without a bunch of stuff to weigh him down.

[MaxWilson]

Eldritch Knight because they can be made very hard to kill (Shield, Absorb Elements, Expeditious Retreat) and can also generate their own magic weapons when necessary (starting at level 7). Also, Action Surging two Fireballs at once (at level 13) is a nice panic button to have. May you never need it.

[Lycurgon]

Rune Knight because I love the flavour of Rune magic and it gives a bunch of options both in combat and out of combat (skill bonuses/options) . Although with a few feats added to it I did find there was a lot of conflict for bonus actions and reactions, so many things to use.

Echo Knight because it is a cool concept with interesting mechanics that provides a different tactical experience to anything else available.

I haven't played one yet but am wanting to play a Psi-Warrior multiclassing with soul knife Rogue. It will have a lot of utility and combat options. The ultimate Psionic warrior with a bit of a jedi feel to it.

[Mr. Wonderful]

Battlemaster because it has the promise of a lot of extra options in combat.

It doesn't quite deliver, the limited number of actions per short rest puts a severe cap on things.

I wonder how it would be to trade down on dice and trade up on action limit. Like, instead of a d8 you start at d4 but get 50% more actions.

[ImproperJustice]

Psi-Warrior because I like parrying arrows with my Mind, while I help my Pugilist Champion buddy launch himself across a Chasm to punch an evil wizard in the face.

EK, because throwing a spear at someone and summoning it back to your hand is awesome.

Dwarven Champion with a Dwarven Thrower to enjoy the occasional mega crit, while finding any excuse to use Natural Athlete.

[Ganryu]

I liked playing Rune Knight fighter because I felt like an anime character powering up every turn by slapping on a new rune. As the combat continued, I felt I had UNLIMITED POWER!

[loki_ragnarock]

Champion: Because I play games to relax.

[Galithar]

Just here to say I think it's amazing that the first 7 responses (first answer) had 0 repeats, and only one repeat in the additional answers.

Personally I struggle to play a straight fighter because I like casting so much. That said an Eldritch Knight doesn't get much casting, but I have found them super enjoyable to play in one shots. I've never played one for a full campaign though. It gives you a little bit of that spellcasting and out of combat utility that I sometimes find lacking on martial classes.

[Arkhios]

Just here to say I think it's amazing that the first 7 responses (first answer) had 0 repeats, and only one repeat in the additional answers.

Personally I struggle to play a straight fighter because I like casting so much. That said an Eldritch Knight doesn't get much casting, but I have found them super enjoyable to play in one shots. I've never played one for a full campaign though. It gives you a little bit of that spellcasting and out of combat utility that I sometimes find lacking on martial classes.

I'd argue that Eldritch Knights' caster potency is a matter of perspective. In the end, as soon as they gain Spellcasting feature, they start with just as many spell slots as any other class with Spellcasting feature (Warlocks have Pact Magic, which is different), and end up with just as many spell slots for each spell level they gain (up to 3rd level, see below), as any other spellcasting class.

In comparison, even Eldritch Knight gets four 1st level slots, three 2nd level slots, and three 3rd level slots. No more, nor less, than any other class with Spellcasting. Their "potency" starts to wane with 4th level slots, but even they get two of them, just one less from the overall maximum of 4th level slots.

The "illusion" of being lesser at spellcasting comes from that they gain them slower than others. Spell Saving Throws remain equally potent between classes, as long as the Eldritch Knights have invested in Intelligence.

[Green.Grizzly]

Rune Knight because playing as a large creature is a lot of fun!

[MaxWilson]

Rune Knight because playing as a large creature is a lot of fun!

Especially if you started out Tiny, e.g
as a wildshaped porcupine (multiclassed Druid/Rune Knight).

[Willie the Duck]

Just here to say I think it's amazing that the first 7 responses (first answer) had 0 repeats, and only one repeat in the additional answers.
Agreed. Nice that even some of the poo-pooed options see some love. This just makes me sad for the PDK.

[MaxWilson]

Agreed. Nice that even some of the poo-pooed options see some love. This just makes me sad for the PDK.

I like PDKs (especially in the same party with other PDKs) because they make good Knights of the Round Table.

Melee fighters are suboptimal, GWM Mounted Combat PDKs even more suboptimal, but I LIKE them.

[MrCharlie]

The only ones I haven't enjoyed are Champion and Arcane Archer. With the new fighting styles I might actually like Champion more; there are a lot of fighting styles that I view as worth a feat for, potentially even to the degree I'd want three of them as a champion (Fighters get a lot of feats, and many fighting styles can actually work together effectively). Blind fighting is basically always useful, for instance, as is defense.

Arcane Archer is just too limited in terms of uses per day to be a viable archetype. Archery is good, arcane archer isn't. Eldritch Knight has better tricks anyway for the class fantasy.

[Spiritchaser]

Echo Knight (with sentinel) because chess

And also because of 3 dimensional movement, scouting, extra attacks when you need them...

But mostly because chess.

[Pondincherry]

Eldritch Knight, because it was really satisfying playing a heavily-armored character with a shield and Shield and watching enemy attacks just miss in droves. It even kept me from going down when an enemy spellcaster was going to use Magic Missile on me until we reminded the DM that Shield makes you immune to that, and I never expected the Magic Missile immunity to actually matter. False Life is also nice, and I haven't gotten to use Absorb Elements yet, but it's reassuring having it in my toolbox.

[Wraith]

I'm really looking forward for an excuse to play Eldritch Knight. I love the versatility of the spellcasting system in 5e, and being able to combine that with a solid warrior and action-economy through Action Surge/War Magic in combat sounds like something I'm going to love.

That being said, when theory-crafting I do tend to use Rune Knight a lot. Especially lately I've been on a kick for finding different variants on grapple builds, and whatever I want to end up with it's just far too easy to start with Fighter 3 and gain instant Advantage without needing to concentrate.

[Sol0botmate]

Rune Knight. Especially as Loxodon or Simic Hybrid.

Because:

1. You can grapple multiple enemies and keep them in hazard spells like simple Cloud of Daggers from 3rd level slot with 2 enemies grappled is 24d4 dmg per round (60 dmg average) + as Simic Hybrid you can still hack them with greatsword for 5d6 +10. In 3 turns that is 147 dmg (level 5 party) and nothing prevents you from grappling another enemy after one died in your grapple and keep shredding him in hazard spell effect. You can setup multiple shove+grapple into hazard spells + still being able to attack with advantage with GWM if you wish to go that route. Enemies can attack you with disadvantage while being shredder by hazard spells or try to get away from you, wasting action trying to win vs your Athletic skill check.
2. You can grapple multiple Huge enemies without your casters wasting concentration on Enlarge. Hell, later you can grapple Gargangual shoving them and grappling them and push them through Prismatic Wall/Upcasted other hazard spell every round + damaging them.
3. You can Charm enemy as reaction and damaging them does not end charm effect
4. You can restrain enemy casters as part of attack
5. You can impose disadvantage on enemy saving throws EVERY turn as reaction or give advantage on ally save throw every turn.
6. You can give yourself resistance to Blug,Piercing and Slashing dmg as bonus action
7. You get 120 feet darkvision, advantage on Insight, advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and resistance against poison damage, can't be surprised, advantage on Arcana checks,
8. You can deny critical hits with Runic Shield
9. And you still have Action Surge, Extra Attacks, Second Wind, Indomitable, heavy armors, d10 hit dice
10. Your DC for CC rune effects scale with CON which is your secondary main stat to level up anyway
11. With Blind Fighting you can easy grapple invisible enemies and still attack them with advantage in prone state.
12. Very good multiclass potential into Druids, Rangers and Clerics due to Silence+Grapple combo with free hands or Spike Growth + Grapple combo or Shield of Faith/Bless.

Overall a very very strong front liner tank/controller with potential to still dish out great damage if that is your jam and making grapple relevant in any scenario due to size increase. Shoving + Grappling enemy dragon while giving him disadvantage on Athletic checks every turn? No flying for him, not movement for him, no melee attacks for him on rest of your party.

[Dravda]

Eldritch Knight, because spellswords are awesome!

[AvatarVecna]

Battlemaster. I've played combatants that do stuff like this in other systems on occasion, using weapons in more tactical ways than just "shoot the bad guy" - things like interacting with the environment, or the enemy's gear, or setting up combos with my allies. The thing is, a lot of times we end up having to make rules for that kinda thing on the fly just cuz it's not something the system was ready for us to try - and sometimes that meant the DM didnt really wanna figure out the rules for something on the spot and we weren't allowed to do anything special with it right then (or worse, ever, cuz some DMs really dont like straying outside the written rules too much). Battlemaster has a wide range of tactical options that let you be whatever kind of fighter you want.

[stoutstien]

PBK. I like the flavor and the challenge of using the most under tuned option. RK a close second just because it looks like a blast to play.

[Dr.Samurai]

I played a half-orc Eldritch Knight and really enjoyed leaning into the assumption many in-universe people made about him (big strong warrior) and also into the reality they didn't see coming (scholarly gentle soul that can cast spells).

I really enjoyed augmenting the combat through spells, being able to summon my sword, and having intelligence skills on a fighter base, as I prefer martial characters but like to have more options as well.

I took inspiration from Beast from x-men, and used Thesaurus.com to up his dialogue. Very fun character for the one-shot we played.

[Fable Wright]

I'd argue that Eldritch Knights' caster potency is a matter of perspective. In the end, as soon as they gain Spellcasting feature, they start with just as many spell slots as any other class with Spellcasting feature (Warlocks have Pact Magic, which is different), and end up with just as many spell slots for each spell level they gain (up to 3rd level, see below), as any other spellcasting class.

In comparison, even Eldritch Knight gets four 1st level slots, three 2nd level slots, and three 3rd level slots. No more, nor less, than any other class with Spellcasting. Their "potency" starts to wane with 4th level slots, but even they get two of them, just one less from the overall maximum of 4th level slots.

The "illusion" of being lesser at spellcasting comes from that they gain them slower than others. Spell Saving Throws remain equally potent between classes, as long as the Eldritch Knights have invested in Intelligence.

So, I'm going to level here.

I am in a campaign that went from level 3 about two and a half years ago, and it just hit its first level 20 epic boon last session.

The Eldritch Knight did not have enough spell slots until level 7. Period. Long rest recharge, and you get 2-3 of them per day. That's one Expeditious Retreat and one Shield in an encounter, and then you're out. That's just... it's not enough, man, when the rest of your party members are able to throw out a good Concentration spell for 5 encounters per day and be able to Shield/Absorb Elements as needed. At level 7, it was fine, but... my god, it was like I was suffocating. It got to the point where I multiclassed Hexblade because I just needed those slots so bad and couldn't wait for level 7. You do not have enough spells as a level 1 wizard missing 3/4ths of your spell list as a 3rd through 6th level character.

Just... you don't.

[Arkhios]

So, I'm going to level here.

I am in a campaign that went from level 3 about two and a half years ago, and it just hit its first level 20 epic boon last session.

The Eldritch Knight did not have enough spell slots until level 7. Period. Long rest recharge, and you get 2-3 of them per day. That's one Expeditious Retreat and one Shield in an encounter, and then you're out. That's just... it's not enough, man, when the rest of your party members are able to throw out a good Concentration spell for 5 encounters per day and be able to Shield/Absorb Elements as needed. At level 7, it was fine, but... my god, it was like I was suffocating. It got to the point where I multiclassed Hexblade because I just needed those slots so bad and couldn't wait for level 7. You do not have enough spells as a level 1 wizard missing 3/4ths of your spell list as a 3rd through 6th level character.

Just... you don't.

You just don't get it. Just look at a wizard. Compare how many spell slots they have at each given spell slot level. Now, remember, Eldritch Knight gets only a 1/3 of the same progression as a wizard gets, but still: The amount of spell slots of each given spell level they will eventually get, is EQUAL to those of a wizard. Not less. When you're playing an Eldritch Knight you need to remember that YOU ARE NOT A WIZARD, HARRY. You are a Fighter dabbling in wizardry. Dabbling being the key word. You're not a full wizard. Thus, you don't have spell slots to spam them all day long. Nor do you have to be spamming them all day long. You're still more a Fighter. Don't ever forget that.

Comparing the amount of spells known between the classes is largely irrelevant. You still have a fixed amount of spell slots, so pick your spells with that in mind. Picking spells that you WANT to spam every encounter or even every turn is not wise. Sorry to say this, but Shield is not one you should build your Eldritch Knight around.

[Fable Wright]

You just don't get it. Just look at a wizard. Compare how many spell slots they have at each given spell slot level. Now, remember, Eldritch Knight gets only a 1/3 of the same progression as a wizard gets, but still: The amount of spell slots of each given spell level they will eventually get, is EQUAL to those of a wizard. Not less. When you're playing an Eldritch Knight you need to remember that YOU ARE NOT A WIZARD, HARRY. You are a Fighter dabbling in wizardry. Dabbling being the key word. You're not a full wizard. Thus, you don't have spell slots to spam them all day long. Nor do you have to be spamming them all day long. You're still more a Fighter. Don't ever forget that.

Comparing the amount of spells known between the classes is largely irrelevant. You still have a fixed amount of spell slots, so pick your spells with that in mind. Picking spells that you WANT to spam every encounter or even every turn is not wise. Sorry to say this, but Shield is not one you should build your Eldritch Knight around.

Bro. It's not the spells known. The spell list really matters.

At level 3-6, you have one spell that isn't Evocation or Abjuration. For me, that was Find Familiar. That means I didn't have Expeditious Retreat, didn't have any bonus action spells, didn't have Concentration spells worth the action to use in combat. Didn't have any out of combat spell slot uses other than Familiar, because Abjuration and Evocation just don't have them. The only useful spell that I had was Shield or Absorb Elements, because there's just no other bonus action or reaction first level spells, because all the Action combat spells are far, far past their shelf life at level 3.

My absolute favorite part of the Warlock dip? Access to Expeditious Retreat and Hex. Not the extra 3 slots/day that I took it for (though those were a life-saver). Just the ability to use them proactively over the course of the fight without wasting actions or waiting to be hit.

Aside from that? From level 3-6 as an Eldritch Knight, you could be a Battle Master or a Samurai. Your 'first level spell' that you can use 2-3 times per day could have instead been Advantage on all attack rolls for a round and temp HP as a bonus action, which is way nicer than any other first level spells. You could have been the Battle Master and had a bunch of different kinds of engaging combat actions to use mid-fight.

I played an Eldritch Knight for 17 levels over 30 months with a GM who's a bit of a powergamer of his own in the encounters we face. I know how the class works. What experience do you have that prompt you to say "no, really, it's fine from levels 3-6"?

[clearstream]

You just don't get it. Just look at a wizard. Compare how many spell slots they have at each given spell slot level. Now, remember, Eldritch Knight gets only a 1/3 of the same progression as a wizard gets, but still: The amount of spell slots of each given spell level they will eventually get, is EQUAL to those of a wizard. Not less. When you're playing an Eldritch Knight you need to remember that YOU ARE NOT A WIZARD, HARRY. You are a Fighter dabbling in wizardry. Dabbling being the key word. You're not a full wizard. Thus, you don't have spell slots to spam them all day long. Nor do you have to be spamming them all day long. You're still more a Fighter. Don't ever forget that.

Comparing the amount of spells known between the classes is largely irrelevant. You still have a fixed amount of spell slots, so pick your spells with that in mind. Picking spells that you WANT to spam every encounter or even every turn is not wise. Sorry to say this, but Shield is not one you should build your Eldritch Knight around.
Defense fighting style, plate and shield = AC 21. Hits are infrequent enough that spell slots spent on shield go far further than one might guess. In that connection, I believe blur is frequently under-valued.

[Fable Wright]

Defense fighting style, plate and shield = AC 21. Hits are infrequent enough that spell slots spent on shield go far further than one might guess. In that connection, I believe blur is frequently under-valued.

I wouldn't call it under-valued, myself, it just falls under the umbrella of "I have to choose my one spell of this level that makes a difference in combat". Blur and the associated Disadvantage is great. But Dragon's Breath with a familiar offers better action economy, since you're not burning your turn on casting. Misty Step, of course, means auto-breaking terrifying grapples, avoiding opportunity attacks, and bonus movement when you're concentrating on a non-Expeditious Retreat spell. Hold Person is really valued by a lot of people once you get the ability to force disadvantage on the save in a few levels; Shadow Blade gives you a weapon with advantage that can't be disarmed and upscales well; and Enlarge/Reduce can do out of combat things by shrinking doors off hinges, or giving you Advantage on Athletics checks, and also act as a combat buff.

Blur is fantastic, but so are all the other spells you can't take. Which do you value more? The action economy? Single-enemy impact? Out of combat utility? And then you only get one 2nd level 'flex' spell to cover as much of that as possible, which is a pain.

[ecarden]

I liked playing a champion fighter because the simplicity gave me:

1) Plenty of ASIs to dump into fun stuff like healer, or ritual caster.
2) The extra attention to think up fun things to do or say, as I wasn't always flipping through my prepared spells trying to decide what to cast.

[JonBeowulf]

Another vote for Battlemaster.

It was my first 5e character, so there's some instant love right there. But it's the only fighter chassis that lets you build what you want based on how you want to play it. Riposte and Parry were a lot of fun in (low level) boss fights.

We only went to level 5 in that "campaign" so I don't know how well they keep up with the other options.

[Sandeman]

I really like the Eldritch Knight.
Mostly a normal fighter but you get to sling some useful spells around. And the weapon summoning feature is very cool.

[Yakmala]

The first 5e character I ever played all the way from 1 to 20 was a dexterity based rapier and buckler Battlemaster, based on my old 1e Duelist from Dragon Magazine #73.

I loved the versatility of the character. Trip for gaining advantage. Commander's Strike to give the Rogue in the party another Sneak Attack. Goading attack to keep the enemy on me.

By combining Maneuvers and Feats, he almost always had something to do with his reaction. Enemy misses? Riposte. Enemy hits? Defensive Duelist. Enemy hits an adjacent ally or tries to run away? Sentinel. This combined with 4-8 attacks per round and maneuvers that worked with bonus action, made him very good at working the action economy.