Baldur’s Gate 3 Fighter Class Guide

The Fighter is the class Baldur’s Gate 3 hands out most freely. Lae’zel is one, so every party has a Fighter available from the beach, and our best classes tier list puts the class in its first tier next to the Ranger. It wears every armour, wields every weapon, and gets more feats than anyone else. What it does not get is spells, unless you pick the one subclass that does.

This page covers the class itself: hit points, the class actions that define it, fighting styles, proficiencies, the level-by-level unlocks, and the four subclasses. The classes guide compares it with the other eleven, and the best races for Fighter page handles the character creation screen.

Fighter Hit Points

The Fighter’s Hit Die is a d10, second only to the Barbarian’s d12, which is why our beginner classes ranking credits it with the second-highest health in the game. Level 1 gives 10 hit points plus your Constitution modifier, and each level after adds 6 plus the modifier. The Lae’zel build table shows what that looks like with Constitution left at 8: 9 hit points at level 1, then 14, 19, 24 and so on in steps of 5, reaching 64 at level 12.

Class Actions

Second Wind arrives at level 1 and heals you for 2 to 11 hit points as an action, once per short rest. It is the reason a Fighter can front a party without a Cleric in Act 1.

Action Surge arrives at level 2 and gives you a second action in the same turn. The best subclass page calls it the most devastating thing the class owns, because once Extra Attack lands at level 5 a surged turn holds four attacks, and after Improved Extra Attack at level 11 the Battle Master build counts five strikes in one turn. The Gauntlets of Surging Accuracy exist for this action: a 1d4 bonus on every attack roll for the rest of the turn you surge.

Indomitable, at level 9, lets you reroll a failed saving throw and keep the new result. Rally is a Battle Master maneuver rather than a base feature, but it is the one the beginner ranking mentions: a party member gains 8 temporary hit points.

Fighting Style

Fighters choose a Fighting Style at level 1, and the Champion picks a second one at level 10. Three appear across our Fighter builds.

Proficiencies

Weapons: all simple and martial weapons. Races add more; a Human Fighter also gets pikes, halberds, spears and glaives through Civil Militia, and a Githyanki’s Martial Prodigy covers light and medium armour and every martial weapon before the class adds anything.

Armour: light, medium and heavy armour plus shields. The Fighter is the class our tank build chooses for exactly this reason, and it pairs the armour with a Dwarf’s poison resistance.

Skills: our builds pick from Athletics, Acrobatics, Perception, Survival, Intimidation and Insight; Athletics and Intimidation turn up in every one of them. Saving throws: Strength and Constitution. Strength or Dexterity is the primary ability depending on whether you swing or shoot. The proficiency page explains how the bonus scales.

Fighter level progression

Fighters get a feat at level 6 on top of the 4, 8 and 12 every class gets, so a single-class Fighter ends with four instead of three. Lae’zel’s build spends it on Great Weapon Master; the Champion spends it on Athlete; the Arcane Archer on Sharpshooter. The feats page lists the rest.

Fighter Subclasses

The subclass is chosen at level 3, later than a Paladin or Sorcerer but at the same point as a Barbarian, Monk or Ranger. Three have been there since launch and a fourth arrived with Patch 8.

Battle Master

The Battle Master trades spells for maneuvers fuelled by a Superiority Die. At level 3 it takes Disarming Attack, Trip Attack (1d8 extra and the target goes prone) and Riposte, a reaction strike when an enemy in reach misses you. Precision Attack and Pushing Attack come at 7, Sweeping Attack and Goading Attack at 10. Our beginner ranking names it the best Fighter subclass for a first run because the maneuvers give you something to decide each turn, and the build pairs it with a Half-Orc, Great Weapon Master at 4, Savage Attacker at 6 and Alert at 8, with a Barbarian 4/8 multiclass as the endgame option.

Champion

The Champion is the simplest of the four and the one our best subclass page picks for the class. Improved Critical at level 3 lowers the number you need for a critical hit by 1, Remarkable Athlete at 7 adds your proficiency modifier to the skills you are not proficient in, and the second Fighting Style comes at 10. The build takes a Wood Half-Elf for the 10.5m movement, Soldier background, Ability Improvement at 4, Athlete at 6, Sentinel at 8 and Savage Attacker at 12, and it multiclasses Barbarian 7/5 if you want Rage without losing a feat.

Eldritch Knight

The Eldritch Knight is the caster. Level 3 brings two cantrips, three level 1 spells and Weapon Bind, which makes a weapon magical, unlosable and proficient until the next long rest. War Magic at 7 lets a cantrip be followed by a weapon attack as a bonus action, and Eldritch Strike at 10 gives a creature you hit disadvantage on its save against your next spell. It draws from the Wizard list: Fire Bolt, Shocking Grasp, Magic Missile, Shield, Chromatic Orb and Burning Hands early, Scorching Ray and Shatter at level 7. It is not a replacement for a party caster; the build says so itself, and suggests Wizard 7/5 for level 3 spells or 11/1 to keep Improved Extra Attack.

Arcane Archer

The Arcane Archer was added in Patch 8 and turns the class into a ranged sniper. Level 3 grants the Guidance cantrip and three Arcane Shots from Shadow Arrow, Piercing Arrow and Bursting Arrow, each riding on 1d8 plus 4 piercing. Level 7 makes every ranged attack magical and adds Curving Shot, a bonus-action redirect on a miss, plus Seeking Arrow; level 10 adds Banishing Arrow. The build runs Archery style, a Drow Half-Elf, Dexterity to 20 by level 8, Sharpshooter at 6, and a one-level War Cleric dip at 12 for another attack.

Which subclass to pick

The pages disagree with each other in a way worth knowing: the beginner ranking recommends Battle Master, the best subclass page recommends Champion, and the Lae’zel pages moved from Battle Master to Eldritch Knight when Patch 8 landed. None of them is wrong; the Champion is the strongest when you have no spare attention, and the other two reward it.

Because the class has feats to spare, it also turns up as the second class in several of our multiclass builds. Astarion’s Thief build dips Fighter 7/5 for the extra attacks, and the tank build stays Fighter throughout while using Athlete, Great Weapon Master and Moderately Armored as its three feats. If a choice does not work out, Withers can respec the whole character.

Fighter Guides

Go deeper with our detailed guides:

• Fighter (Best Race)