Are D&D Fighters Boring?

Fighters in D&D are often said to be a boring, but is this actually true of this little martial DnD class? Let's see what the pointy hat thinks.
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Video Editing by the amazing Bia: / bnazf
Writing, Illustration, and Narration by me: / antodemico
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[@pointyhatstudios]

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[@me-42by42]

Wondrous Wielder does not specify what happens when the light and heavy properties interact, nor the range of the thrown property. Can you include a reference to where that information can be found or determined?

[@C._Bradford]

Totally dig this sub class. I had a similar character in mind that I've never played. Basically finds a crazy fancy scabbard and goes adventuring to find the mysterious legendary sword that was supposedly made to match it.

[@zimthefan6258]

Why can't I save your documents anymore I used to print them out to read and save for use

[@jacobyullman5005]

Quick correction on the Unleash Incarnation ability that the Echo Knight gets. You can use you Unleash Incarnation when you take the attack action. No where in the ability does it stipulate that you can only do so only once per turn, so if you Action Surge you can use Unleash Incarnation TWICE in one turn. That's a total of 6 attacks at level 5, 7 attacks if you're using two-weapon fighting.

[@elfcoder9226]

This is the first Nord VPN sponsorship the channel has gotten, right?

[@pedrolemos8566]

I always said "fighter is the easiest class to play, but the hardest to roleplay" because since its the one with the least amount of identity, it ends up beeing the one that needs the most creativity

[@3of6mylove]

It can also be very easy to roleplay, if you are just "generic Lawful Good fighter who likes to fight."

[@gamerdude746]

@@3of6mylove Which says a lot more about the creativity of the individual player than it does the freedom of creativity of the class.

[@3of6mylove]

@@gamerdude746 I mean, there are a billion ways to describe "I attack/shove/maneuver" and they're literally all the same, with different words. You can describe swinging a sword any number of cool ways, it's still swinging a sword. No amount of "flavor" fixes a boring action economy. No matter how creative your character, they're still limited to what their class gets to do in a turn.

[@burntninja450]

​@@3of6mylovethis is why I love the weapon mastery abilities, and really love the sneak attack options for rogues in the UA.

[@3of6mylove]

@@burntninja450 If only it didn't come with anything else. There's like, a few changes I like in one dnd, and a ton more I'd ignore. I just want them to give the martials more options, and completely leave the casters alone, or buff them if they fall behind, and not remove or nerf any existing thing. I don't want better martials to come at the cost of worse casters, or vice versa. New feats, for martials and casters, less useless feats and spells, add mechanical benefits to all the ribbon features, etc.

[@edgh5033]

My Don Quixote fighter is making up for her bland build by being utterly, irredeemably insane.

[@cforh]

I see you have played Limbus Company.

[@15stargamer98]

​@@cforh The best thing is that Don Quixote being admittedly insane isn't even a Limbus Company thing. If anything, Limbus kinda toned down the insanity of Don.

[@eddie-roo]

@@15stargamer98Don is a honorific, not a name. That’s like using Mr. as a name.

[@afishyfishh]

MANAGER ESQUIREEEEEE WHERE HAS THO DISAPPEARED TOOOOOO???

[@killianjoyus7903]

Irredeemably insane, as all things should be

[@TwilitbeingReboot]

I really enjoy Fighters as a "bring your own flavor" option. Got a character concept that feels martial, but doesn't slot neatly into the pretty distinct core fantasies of the other martials? Make your fighter fit the vibe. They're quite malleable. Also, you'll rarely have to worry about your GM trying to tell you your flavor is wrong.

[@spencersholden]

6:53 what is that anime called? It looks epic!

[@TwilitbeingReboot]

​@@spencersholden It's been a while since I watched it, but I think that might be _Puella Magi Madoka Magica_ . A lot of the action/fight scenes are accompanied by shifts in the art style.

[@Patch2112]

That’s exactly what I use it for lmao. If I’m home brewing a class or going with a particularly specific playstyle I’ll just figure it out based on a fighter lmao

[@MrBii03]

​@@TwilitbeingRebootit is madoka!

[@RevolutionBreaker]

Far and away, one of the most slept on D&D KZbinrs on the platform. Consistently fantastic, quirky in the best ways and just a wonderful romp every time. Thank you so much for all the effort I know goes into this.

[@zenmaster8]

wow... i cant believe manuevers were supposed to be a class feature. That would have made the fighter so much better imo. Like i love the maneuvers but i hate that im locked out of the other cool subclasses because of that

[@nani7610]

Theres always Homebrew my friend, Dnd is about creative so give the old middle figure to Wizards of the Coast and do whatever my friend

[@rikospostmodernlife]

Get yourself Laserllama's fighter

[@SentinalhMC]

I would give all of the subclasses access to a shorter list of basic maneuvers and then have lists of advanced maneuvers for each subclass, with the battle master being able to choose from the entire list to keep their identity as the best at maneuvers.

[@Arcboltkonrad13]

Not just that, but Superiority Dice were going to be a feature of every martial class (barbarian, monk, ranger, rogue and I think paladin)

[@jemm113]

That’s why Star Wars 5e did literally everything right with martials! Also pretty much every class gets invocations too! 🎉

[@spacero953]

one thing that i've always loved about Pointy hat is how he doesnt hide these sick ass custom subclasses behind a paywall... i've used so many of his custom creations through out my times playing DnD

[@amelialonelyfart8848]

Especially since a few hide theirs behind not only a paywall but make them available for a limited time only. Saw a Pathfinder video that had the PERFECT Barbarian subclass for my character, charged 5 bucks for it, then deleted it the next month. I watched the video a year too late, I guess.

[@Messypapa]

bro how have you used "so many" creations when the channel is only a year old lmao, do you just constantly die? or are you a DM 🤣

[@rthanejehxbejws]

@@Messypapaor he could have multiple friends and play in multiple groups

[@maxs-lz4pn]

​@@Messypapathe magic of one shots ✨

[@noblesseoblige319]

​@@Messypapamultiple KZbin accounts, Dm, one shots, games twice a week or more, game store employee, buying something and dropping before playing with it because it clearly sucks, or my personal favorite- too much free time. There's a shit ton of reasons to explain away a short-lived KZbin channel and trying multiple custom creations. Especially since newet players are the type to want to pay for custom stuff more often on average (according to dmsguild and drivethrurpg stats). There's so many, it really isn't sensible to even ask. It doesn't really matter. 20 creations is a lot, and absolutely possible in a year. Just twice a month. Not like KZbin isn't known for randomly deleting accounts without explanation besides "because we said so"...

[@BrunoStuff]

About eight hundred comments, Antonio, but I have to say... this video shows in unquestionable terms just how much love you have for the fighter, how its struggles pain you, and how long you have given it thought as to what the root of the issues is and how to fix them. Thank you, man. Love the content, love the fighter, and love the parting kiss at the end of your videos!

[@Dark_Jaguar]

I think what I like best about your Scion subclass is it leans right into the whole "Fighters should be good for beginners" aspect. No more pouring over page after page of weapons and figuring out all those nuances during character creation when you're still trying to figure out the basics of gameplay and the class itself, just set up a "legendary weapon" and learn the details of what makes a good weapon as the weapon grows and you pick upgrade paths for it. It's brilliant as the shining sun glancing off your sacred killamajig.

[@SusCalvin]

Players usually intuitively understand what weapons do. I do not need to explain in detail what a hand grenade or a pistol or knife does.

[@animationdude9]

As someone who’s been bullied out of a table once for playing a Human Fighter I appreciate this constructive and entertaining video dude! It’s nice knowing not everyone just gives the class the middle finger.

[@Shnyak]

If someone gives you shit for being Human Fighter, they don't deserve to see you play an Aasimar Druid.

[@andrewlustfield6079]

Nor should they---fighters are the back bone of any party. A party without a solid fighter corp at first level is in really deep trouble, and that remains true until you reach pretty high levels. What you need to role play a fighter well is a clear idea of your concept and then equipping the character accordingly. You want to play a landsknecht fighter? Great. You want something with more swash, with a musketeers flavor? Fantastic. You want something that closer in line with a Norse/Anglo-Saxon motif? Or maybe something from a high medieval period like a English yeoman long bowman? The fighter is perfect for this. You want a buccaneer for a Sinbad type adventure, or a warrior from other cultures, whether it's mongol inspired or Mezzo American or sub Saharan Africa? The fighter can do it. The great thing about a fighter is the class's versatility. As for the video above--most of it is pretty incomprehensible. It's covering things that look like they belong in cartoons. I'm much more of a Peter Jackson's LOTR, 13th warrior, Clive Owen's King Arthur fan---the more grounded it is the better. As for whether Aragorn was a ranger? I believe Tolkien was quite clear--he was a Dunedain ranger of the north. I don't know who is debating that one--this is the first I've heard of it. When you look at the first Rangers--they were modeled on Aragorn. And they way I learned to play--rangers are a fighter subclass. The history and mythology behind fighters is so rich, deep, and vast---you could make a hundred of them and they would all be different.

[@brycejordan8987]

@@andrewlustfield6079 Before anything I'd note that fighters are neat. I do wish that maneuvers were baked into fighters at large as it really adds to them imo but they are solid and arguably the strongest of the pure martials. I'd note that a party without a fighter isn't too disadvantaged. DnD 5e is very much designed to be a bit more flexible on that front. Still, I do like to have a fighter/barbarian/paladin or a cleric in the group that can take some hits and do well in close combat encounters. As per Aragorn, it's more an evolution thing. While the og ranger is clearly based on Aragorn, rangers have gradually evolved to chiefly be a dex based half caster that typically uses 2 melee weapons or a bow/crossbow and is a full half caster. Compare that to Aragorn that pivots to a longsword at some point and while he has some magical properties, higher level ranger magic gets decidedly more fantastical.

[@andrewlustfield6079]

@@brycejordan8987 As for Aragorn goes, he always carried the sword that was broken until it was reforged during the Council of Elrond. Peter Jackson changed that for the movies. So there was no pivot to the long sword. And the kinds of magic Aragorn possessed was pretty subtle--he had some gifts when it came to prophesy and healing talents, and could command the palantir because they were the rightful heirlooms of his house. That was the whole reason he could wrest control of them away from Sauron. As far as the game goes, it's really a matter of aesthetics. Most of 5e is very high magic. That hits diminishing returns quickly. The more magic you put into the game and into characters, the more ordinary it becomes. When you have characters that can fly, breath cones of fire or cold, or do any number of magical feats---it gets to the point where magic has all the wonder and mystery of the plumbing under your house. It becomes mundane. I was watching an older Matt Colville video not long ago on whether or not 5e is a good dungeon crawler. He came to some really interesting conclusions--it's well worth a watch.

[@joshuamooney4509]

No one has ever given me shit about my variant humans fighters. Granted I may not have been able to hear them over all of my attack rolls…

[@nani7610]

FINALLY I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS, the most boring, yet my personal favorite, martial class is finally getting a pointy hat video now we just need the Fighter Lich

[@nani7610]

I’m pausing my video and commenting this because I’m about to see what the twist is, I’m so excited

[@shibasouls4422]

@@nani7610I love people like you

[@bertalanlaszlo8464]

As a fighter main I disown you for saying that.

[@SentinalhMC]

The fighter lich would work really well with this subclass. Perhaps the fighter pours his very soul into their weapon, turning it into a Mythic Arm and allowing them to impress their will upon anyone who wields it, slowly taking control by "helping" them to make the kinds of decisions they would until the two are indistinguishable and essentially the same person.

[@TheKidWunder]

BIG THIS PLEASE

[@danielbeanz8884]

I made a rune knight fighter goliath that was basically a wrestler (had like +7 to athletics) and used a growth potion with giant ability to make him the size of a dragon. He would wrestle the boss while matching their height. He was a great character.

[@Intrafacial86]

I’d love to see a Fighter subclass that really leans into the idea that the character has received a formal education alongside their combat training. Ideas for subclass features: 1. Having learned the finer points of personal combat and self-defense, they may add their INT modifier to their AC, their Attack rolls, and any rolls made to initiate, resist, maintain, or break a grapple. 2. They gain proficiency in History(INT) and one other INT-based skill. If they are already proficient in History(INT), they gain expertise (2x proficiency) instead. 3. They learn an additional Fighter-type fighting style upon taking this archetype (level 3) and again at levels 7, 10, 15, and 18.

[@keithharper32]

sounds like it should go to a professional military officer type character. which I can never figure out which subclass to use when I make such a character.

[@Intrafacial86]

@@keithharper32 this gives me the itch to do a paladin/battlemaster multiclass, with their oath being towards their “king and country”.

[@jasonzegestowsky3748]

@@Intrafacial86Oath of Vengence/Battlemaster is a fun build. Let’s say you’re the king’s Field Marshall/General and have taken a vow of vengeance against his king’s assassin.

[@Furyhound]

My favorite homebrew subclass for fighters I've ever made, was Veteran. Essentially it reinforces your fighter abilities, but also encourages you to specialize. It does this, by making your choose up to four abilities from another class (my favorite to draw from was monk) instead of gaining actions.

[@wolf_from_beyond8282]

Sounds super interesting. Can I check it out?

[@Furyhound]

@@wolf_from_beyond8282 its original one is on dnd beyond, but not mine

[@andersfrieden567]

Sounds like Bard, but for martial classes.

[@toetruck1589]

sounds like the college of adventurers bard from grim hollow, which i loved, meaning i want to see this, now

[@SwordFighterDoggo]

Can i get a link?

[@Driftingsiax]

Honestly I love how broad the fighter is. I’ve played many fighters many different ways, and it feels like there is tons of room to make them their own character. I don’t think it is a bland dish with no seasoning. It is a blank canvas, on which to create your masterpiece.

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

You can make any character their own character. Personally I imagine it more as a grocery store chicken breast with no base seasoning which everyone adds anyways regardless of dish

[@voicetest6019]

I've now played Rune Knight and Battlemaster for Fighter. Rune Knight, for example, is *terribly boring* before it gets its fun abilities at level 7. Before that, you had better like grappling, because other than once per short rest for fire/stone runes, that's all you are good at. Battlemaster is ridiculously good, and I'm optimistic that a ~~Jedi~~ Psi Warrior seems fun for the whole spectrum too. But at least for Rune Knight, I swapped it out for a Swarmkeeper Ranger and its so much more fun its kind of insane.

[@3of6mylove]

I feel like this applies to literally every class. They're all a blank canvas, but some are more blank than others. Barbarians are basically a stick and a rock, without even a canvas. Fighters have like, the very base coat on their paint job, but nothing else going on.

[@blahthebiste7924]

I too watched the video

[@SusCalvin]

​@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 You can roll up a robe squad and have nothing but wizards and priests if you like. Wizards are just as simple, you get one spell per day.

[@edwardbickford8277]

Raising all of those Make a Wish funds on the livestream was truly an awesome feat!!!!! I'm happy and honored to have been part of that. Hearing that we broke the donation record really brings joy to my heart.

[@isaacblau_]

The comedy aspect of your videos is underrated, always hits the mark.

[@gaminreasons8941]

I like this Subclass, although I would like to note that most subclasses that give you a special item also gives you some form of insurance just incase you lose it. Whether it's making a new one or just summoning the old one. If you don't want them to have it at level 3 for whatever reason, I'd suggest it at level 7.

[@Shalakor]

The insurance here is always knowing precisely where to find it, even across dimensions, and needing to be incapacitated to lose it in the first place. But, yeah, it'll certainly suck to hunt it down, since the subclass gives you absolutely zero features to use without it. ...Might be fun to start a campaign from level one and roleplay already having that feature, with the arc for the first couple levels being tracking where that player's family heirloom (or whatever it is to them) has been stolen off to.

[@TabithaRicheson1996]

I love echo knight, my partner and I play a set of pallid elf twins named Axel and Ayla. Axel is a blood wizard or cleric (depending on the setting) and Ayla is typically a wild magic barbarian or Echo knight. The basic backstory for the twins is that Ayla died and axel brought her back and she becomes a reborn echo knight so her echo's are flavored as her from different timelines and they reflect how she died. Our mutual friend named it the necro-knight.

[@mirandakuhlmann6927]

My echo knight worships a sun goddess, I flavored her echo to be a special fighting technique gifted by her to her people. It forms as a semi transparent version of herself, but with a purple-y grayscale. It's meant to be a physical manifestation of the shadow cast by her goddess and her radiance. A reminder that light does cause shadow, but that shadow can still be used for good

[@Feanor6450]

thats beautiful.

[@user-pi8pi3wj7h]

that's badass

[@morphisblob1]

As soon as legendary weapons were mentioned as a unique thing only fighters could do at starting level I started screaming (internally). I just can not believe this was the first time I had considered it. While it seems obvious now, the scion subclass is seriously the first fighter I have seen as truly inspiring AND unique to fighter! You continue to impress me with insight into aspects that should be obvious but are only realized after put into words.

[@hunterowl1756]

I never knew that Maneuvers were meant to be a basic fighter ability. Kinda wish they stayed that way now, would have made the class way more engaging to play I think, and balanced among the other sub classes. Though I do personally wish we got a Arcane Martial/SPellcaster Hybrid full class, considering we have the Ranger and Paladin

[@DetectiveLance]

And that's why you don't ask "balance obsessed nerds that have a lingering loathing for jocks and sports in general" to playtest a purely physical character.

[@HellfireJags]

I do house rule that some of the more basic maneuvers (Trip, Disarm, etc.) are usable by all fighters, and other martial classes can attempt them. Those attempts just do not get the bonuses that a Battle Master would through their superiority dice, and of course the Battle Master has the full range of maneuvers to work with. It helps open up tactical options in combat, while still letting the Battle Master show everyone how it is really done.

[@Nyghtking]

Some of them were in 3.5, except anyone could do them, but since the saves were mostly vs strength or con typically only a paladin, fighter, or barbarian would use them. Like there was stuff for breaking enemy weapons, breaking them armor, knocking weapons out of their hand, knocking them down, pushing them back, and one where you could do a charge attack and if the target failed the save you would damage them, knock them prone, and move yourself.

[@animationdude9]

@@DetectiveLance Honestly this is pretty accurate

[@kaemonbonet4931]

​@@DetectiveLancethe number of DND nerds who have a fixation on spears and how much better they are than swords is astounding. I think people in 2014 just had no idea how this game worked and felt like abilities on base fighter would be too similar to the (unjustly) hated 4e.

[@ethanemerson4862]

Here are some other character creation prompts for fighters I thought of. 1. WHY are you fighting? (In general.) 2. WHO are you fighting and why them specifically? 3. Do you have anything to fight FOR?

[@totallynuts7595]

1) Goblins killed my family. 2) Goblins because they killed my family. 3) My family, to protect them from Goblins. And thus a meme of an anime was born.

[@ethanemerson4862]

@@totallynuts7595 hehe, nice.

[@goldenhorde6944]

Maybe this could be handled with a general "Allegiance" pick representing the archetype of your hero's home community, since both Paladins and Fighters are there as the knight classes but Paladins get Oaths as an abstract philosophical stance. Instead you could have Allegiance of the Guard for a morally neutral city-state, Allegiance of the Banner for a good guy kingdom, Allegiance of Blood for an evil empire, Allegiance of the Harvest for a cozy rural village, and Allegiance of Ash as the edgelord Oath of Vengeance equivalent for a fighter whose home was completely destroyed by the villain.

[@SusCalvin]

Denmark and Jesus. This is not class-specific though. All should fight for Denmark and Jesus. Esoteric Enterprises fighters are criminals who need quick cash, like everyone else.

[@axellis8333]

I'm reminded of Poppy's hammer from league of legends! Her father was commissioned to craft a legendary hammer for a heroic Demacian warrior, and Poppy helped to craft it every step of the way. After the hammer was finished her father was slain and Poppy used the hammer to fend off her attackers. Not knowing the hero the hammer was meant for Poppy roams the land searching for said hero, but will not suffer anyone less than perfect to wield the hammer. She'll have the hammer assist her when dealing with those who would do harm to her or others and those claiming to be the hero meant for the Hammer must first defeat her to prove their worth. She has never encountered an individual Heroic enough in her eyes for the hammer, and so she continues to wield it in search of it's rightful owner.

[@jonpeacock3016]

Poppy is such a good character story wise and super fun to play.

[@hazielop]

Just a small correction: Orlon wasn't Poppy's father, just his mentor :)

[@GamesAndWhales]

​@@hazielopYou conveniently left out one of the best parts of Poppy's story! The dramatic irony! It is (heavily) implied that Poppy herself is the 'Hero of Demacia', after all, she is wielding the hammer and championing Demacia, but she's far too humble to even consider that she might be the hero Orlon had in mind.

[@doomsversus7778]

Have you considered compiling your "D&D With a Twist" and other content into a PDF or something? Or maybe something else? I'd pay to have your content compiled into one thing instead of a bunch of Google Docs. I love your content and I want to use literally every single thing you've made in a campaign someday. I'm especially SO happy you've come up with a lich type for a martial class.

[@Nedoiko]

Something that applies to this can be found in Tasha's cauldron of Everything, in the character creation options's figther parts, where they added new manneuvers, they also added "builds" where they suggested specific figthing styles, maneuvers and feats to make specific kinds of figthers. like for example an Archer, a Bodyguard, a Pugilist, or a Military Strategist (I specially love that last one because I love the theme of the banneret, but it's so weak, instead Battlemaster just does that with superiority die)

[@AzraelThanatos]

Banneret and several other things from SCAG were incomplete at best (Crown Paladin doesn't have a capstone like all other oaths have).

[@icarue993]

I went from Pathfinder to D&D and I kinda wanted to make a Swashbuckler. So I was like: Rouge or Fighter... or multiclass. Then I just went for fighter (Battle master... cause duh) and chose things like: precise strike, riposte, etc. Added charisma and some intimidation maneuvers and done. ~Flavor~

[@Sarc339]

Watching a new Pointy Hat video on the weekend is a great thing.

[@Shy--Tsunami]

I just got off and im so relaxed watching this video and thinking of possible characters 🧘

[@LeRodz]

Here in Brazil we have a system called Tormenta, which does something pretty cool with the fighter by giving them the option to create a custom attack. You can choose from a list of features, such as the attack being imbued with a spell that's cast upon hit, or it giving you a sudden boost of speed, or additional elemental damage, etc. Those advantages make the attack cost more energy, so to counter that you can pick disadvantages to balance the price, such as making it slow or causing damage to yourself upon use. I think it's a wonderful way to make a class about hitting people good more flavorful.

[@ryancowell9382]

Congrats on the Fundraiser!!! So friggen proud and excited as your channel, art, and commentary continue to just wow me. Thank you for all of your heart, effort, and time you pour into Tabletop. Your videos are always a big ol' bright sunny ray of hope and excitement.

[@lewispatton6550]

I pretty much only play Battle Master and Eldritch knight. Battlemaster is just so flavorful and fun, and Eldritch Knight solves the fighters biggest issue, utility/ problem solving both in and out of combat.

[@SusCalvin]

You can do everything a bloke can do. Without a niche to tell you, you are left to make things up.

[@MasterGhostf]

I like the simplicity of the fighter; I just think it highlights how ridiculous many players make their characters. I think it's one reason why people dislike them as it's a foil to them. When there is a group of weirdos, your no longer weird. A normal character changes that and exposes that to everyone. I do like that legendary weapon idea. Might add it to my games.

[@animationdude9]

Same here. Fighters are a fun and badass feeling of familiarity to me

[@DaWishard]

Yes. Simply, y e s Though it doesn't hurt to have a few unique fighters like the Rune Knight, Eldritch Knight, or Echo Kinght (knights are a running theme it seems).

[@thnkng]

One of my players is currently playing a human fighter, who as a character is like, supernaturally mundane and generic His name is Amir Mahn, he's a battlemaster, he doesn't have some big, overarching goal like most people in the party, he's purely here for the money. And yeah, it's really interesting seeing him in contrast to the rest or these wild folks

[@MrReset94]

Then just play medieval simulation games rather than an hard fantasy one

[@DaWishard]

@MrReset94 I apologize, but that line of thought is well invalidated by the nature of fighter simply existing as a calss. It being a staple class and the vast majority of the subclasses being magicless or don't connect to any special powers means... it's designed to cater to those people that want that fantasy! Its a fantasy in of itself afterall. But let me add several more perspectives. People tend to forget that most of the bizarre races are... bizarre! This is explicitly stated in the handbook that, besides a few, most are rare. Of the main common races on top of my head, only certain elves and gnomes (not even sure if gnomes are among that list either) are more magically inclined. Keep in mind that not all dedicate their lives to developing their magics, just like how in real life not everyone dedicates their lives to develop higher levels of education. So there being not many people that could cast spells or do very high level of spells IS inevitable. Even in forgottem realms, outside the major cities, magic isn't hugely prevalent in most rural places. With lore said, why can't there be non-magical options? It's a common trope, even in fantastical settings and folk lore, that the heroes and protagonists are not magical in themselves and must overcome obstacles, magical and grand, through skill and wit! How could people not want to gravitate to it. FIGHTER IS THE MOST POPULAR CLASS FOR A REASON MY FRIEND! 👏

[@Ryan-nn3cf]

I always thought the maneuvers should have been a base fighter feature. They always could have added features to use the superiority dice in new ways for each sub class! Now I'm upset knowing it could have been!

[@minecraftaddictXD]

As someone who got introduced to D&D through BG3, great job for making this wonderful video! It was the perfect balance of informative and fun-I can't wait to play a session as a fighter with the echo or scion class someday!

[@falionna3587]

I'm having a blast with my eldritch knight fighter. I think fighters is more of a sandbox to allow you to build the character with miminal constraints, which works well with EK on the magic side compared to the echo where I can pick spells and go with a theme. It's in a sense the newbie who can just hand over the bare minimum and the veteran who can make wonders without constraints.

[@Merilirem]

I love EK but I wish it wasn't so limited. That or they should just make a full EK class with proper casting and fighting.

[@liao2211]

Slightly morbid, but for Echo Knight I reflavored it with the help of the D&D as a super soldier project. The Gemini project was a secret experiment to create a super soldier. The project involved twins. However one is dead. Using a totem of their former twin, like a lock of hair, and necromantic ritual revives their twin as a spirit that is tied to their living twin. Basically allowing them to fight together in a manner connected further than normal twins.

[@itscznben8728]

IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE?

[@Shy--Tsunami]

Wicked

[@siriusindustriesllc238]

I made my echo knight as a person who was spirited away to the faewild

[@WOLF7356]

The idea of the Scion subclass you described sounded great but honesty the subclass itself is extremely weak. At third level the only mechanical benefit you get is a POTENTIAL 1d8 extra damage once per short or long rest. Absorbing other magical properties is cool and fun but its almost entirely flavor text because mechanically there's no reason not to switch to a more powerful magic weapon when you get one. Honestly even if you included the 7th, 10th, and 15th level abilities as part of the 3rd level description it would still feel lack luster.

[@airicinders1264]

I have been waiting for one in fighters basically since the paladin one. I love fighters and i love your twists, so I already love everything about this video. Thank you, pointy, you're one of my favorite content creators in KZbin, keep the good work, you are amazing

[@jccraftmage2313]

Dude, that's an incredible character idea. I love that it's brave and it's wholesome and a great twist at the end. I don't mean to butter your biscuits, but you should really write a book one day

[@getsuki2935]

This is super super cool and something the fighter desperately needs! I think that everyone that wanted this flavor just were forced to use Hexblade even if they wanted to be strength based or without magical abilities lol

[@VakovoSheggorri]

I played echo knight fighter and it immediately became my favourite subclass, because it gives you a useful and fun feature that you just...use. You can just use it! In many ways, without being limited to like 3 uses per long rest! Its awsome! It pretty much immediately changed how I fought and moved about in combat, loved it. Also appreciate the Mask of Zorro footage, loved that movie.

[@Messypapa]

the timing of this video is crazy, i just made a fighter subclass yesterday taking inspiration from the battle master and giving it its own unique manoevres. great video PH!

[@brandond.7768]

For Eldritch Knight, I've added that any damage that is below their Con modifier, they do not need to roll a concentration check. Due to their general placement in combat and how often they get hit, getting pinged so often resulted them in losing concentration far too often. It helps only a little but keeps them from losing concentration vs. a group of goblins.

[@someusername9591]

Honestly, very sick homebrew

[@TytoT-pj9lz]

First off, excellent video as usual! Second, I'm curious about the limitations of the Wielding Legend feature of your Scion subclass. Like, if you snagged a weapon that deals 1d4 extra damage against aberrations, and a flame tongue weapon, could you add both enchantments to your legendary weapon? Or is this like Fjord's "Sword of Fathoms", where absrobing a new enchantment replaces the currently active one?

[@ZeroRoyale]

Reading it, I think you only have one at a time

[@christhiancosta1844]

You know the "saying" of "knowledge is a curse"? I feel like that after seeing the old "expertise/martial dice" mechanic from 5e's playtest - it was simple, interesting, allowed for variation without losing effectiveness and really really played to the Fighter's theme Much of it thanks to the fact that the resources - expertise Dice - would comeback every turn instead of a rest

[@DefinitivNichtSascha]

I have a wandering NPC in my setting called the Mirror Knight. He basically travels the land, messes up bandits and challenges adventurers to test their mettle. Being the Mirror Knight, he fights using mirror images of himself (along with other mirror-themed magic items), so that's his flavour of being an Echo Knight.

[@rath60]

I love this can't believe it's not already part of the game.

[@Micaerys]

I loved this video!! And as a player of an echo knight with one maneuver I can confirm, BM and EK are amazing! PS. I gather you have watched Castlevania, good taste

[@Winter_RainVT]

Wow, what a well put together video. I didnt know maneuvers were supposed to be the base for fighters in general. I do feel vindicated that the "boring" part about fighters isnt due to fighters as a class itself. A bit of perspective and thought goes a long way :)

[@nicolaskoukis4264]

I play Pathfinder 2e mainly, although I still like to watch your videos for your perspective and ideas. Overall, I think you give me interesting things to play with in my games, and I find the posts/ideas about Fighters in the two games very different and very funny. When D&D players say fighter is boring, I understand, but I have never and will never think they are boring. But you are right about D&D not giving fighters a lot to work with... honestly it's something I've come across in my own games (on both sides). And Pathfinder has this problem too, albeit to a lesser degree. The way the system operates, it allows for more versatile builds, and more options. Fighters get their own Class feats that function similarly to Battlemaster stuff. In addition, they get skill-related feats and if your DM is nice and likes fun, Archetype feats every two levels. That on top of Ancestry feats and General feats, leaves a lot of room for customization (they don't have a subclass however, although subclasses in Pf2 are not as overarching as 5e. You pretty much get most of your stuff at level 1). It's funny cause in my two most recent games, I've had two fighters, one was a Polearm fighter and the other used a bow. It's funny cause both of them get a lot of flavor from their archetypes or skill feats. For example, the bow user specializes in Medicine and actually started out as a doctor. They actually picked up a bow cause 'why not lol' (general tone for this character is that they are insane), but despite them being really good at the bow, they put a rune on their weapon so they can do non-lethal attacks with their bow. They never kill an enemy, which is really interesting when last session, their vampire love interest just asked them to kill someone in cold blood. But yeah. Still doesn't solve all their issues. I will say the common discourse on Pf2 is actually that the Fighter is overpowered. Human fighter ironically stands as one of the most powerful builds in the game. That is cause human gets a lot of really good Ancestry feats, and Fighter has a +2 bonus above every other martial. That means they have around a 10% greater chance of hitting (and critting) vs your average martial, and a 20-35% (not exact numbers. Player and monster progression is weird) over your average spellcaster. This means that while they might not land the biggest blows, they are reliable to hell and back, and are very often the biggest single threat in any battle. That being said, I have no problems with this since there are a lot more martial classes in the game and all of them have their own unique flavor and mechanics. Fighters being reliable is their identity in PF2, and it isn't really a problem while Monks have the best action economy in the game, Magus' can cast fireballs from their greatsword, and Thaumaturges use the power of symbolism to convince the universe that their stuff actually works and that monsters have weaknesses that they normally wouldn't (seriously I love the Thaumaturge, if you get a chance read it on Archives of Nethys) But yeah, sorry for the superinfo dump. Loved the vid. Great stuff. I hope fighter gets the love it so desperately needs in the near future.

I'm going to test the Scion, but will be making the following changes because it feels a bit underpowered compared to the Battlemaster: On top of the damage type, Mythic Arm also lets you choose a mental ability. You add its modifier to the extra damage roll. All your attacks with the weapon until the end of the next turn receive the extra damage. Any action other than attacking will cancel the effect. At level 10 when you use Action Surge ranged weapons will get infinite ammo, thrown weapons will return to your hand and other melee weapons will get +5ft reach.

[@StayFrostyX279]

Gotta say what I love about fighters is that they are far more of a fun approach is that they are a blank canvas and that both helps and hurts them. Inexperienced someone won’t know what to do with them usually but it gives a sort of breathing room intro roleplay wise. Experienced role players can easily equate what skills and combine what background to create who they are. My fighter is someone who grew wanting to be be a physician and couldn’t learn much but with what he did learn he’s effectively surgical in his movements. I’m intending to pick up the healer feat.

[@3of6mylove]

My complaint is that despite all of that cool, roleplay flavor, you'll still be just attacking 90% of the time. Maybe shoving if there's other martials. Meanwhile the wizard can be just as interesting to roleplay but also gets to break the laws of physics at will.

[@SusCalvin]

​@@3of6myloveYou can ride an elephant. Or look behind the curtains, play the trumpet, scream at cobblers, judge wheat prices, throw a hand grenade or hide under a bed. If you want to do more than fight you just do it.

[@SusCalvin]

WFRP careers are winding paths where you can start as a student or surgeon and become a soldier.

[@StayFrostyX279]

@@SusCalvin survive a plague, study medicine solo, couldn’t afford the proper schooling or supplies to help the orphanage that raised him. Studied as a fighter to be more marketable worker. Eventually when you’re with the party they ask and reignite your characters passion to become a physician again. Make sure you start with a medicine proficiency and eventually get the healer feat. My group is running semi hardcore rules so long rests are 3 in game days of rest. I took up both healer and herbalism kit proficiency to help offset spell uses on healing. Especially since a lot of the enemies we encounter resist my attacks. My combat role has been primarily a frontline support at level 5 currently and in dangerous situations while action surge is normally used to put down enemies I have to keep it on reserve to keep my team alive.

[@buddyb3165]

Loved the video and espcialy the new subclass. This reminds me so much of the Vampire Hunter whip from Castelvania, granted the fact I recently binged the Castelvania Nocturn series on netflix might have influenced that a bit. Keep up the good work and congrats on the make a whish milestone.

[@smart456]

I am currently working on a homebrew class called the detective. Your videos and new subclasses are helping a lot. Btw i know someone else already made a detective class, I wanted to make one with dogs and cool movie stuff

[@grantspengler1553]

Fighter is unabashedly my favourite class! I love coming up with wacky ideas to roleplay as Generic Dude #12, and leads to some very fun moments. Also Lae'zel is perfect in every way 💜

[@LuckySketches]

I do like the Scion (absolutely love that my magic sword can be a cannibal and eat other swords) but I do wish there were at least some kind of ribbon feature early on that doesn't rely on action surge. Unless you group actually uses short rests often, your subclass features are largely only available for one turn per day. IDK what that ribbon would be, though. The ability to talk to swords? Smith's tools proficiency? ...Booming Blade?

[@nathanrockman4640]

I feel like my biggest gripe with the fighter is how as it levels up, it just stays some guy with a sword who can swing it a lot. Like idk, wizards get to launch meteors out of the sky at level 17. I feel like some superhuman abilities would actually make sense for a fighter, because I feel like the spell casting classes get to do insane things once they get 9th level spells. I feel like martial classes need a revamp.

[@alheimianservant1499]

Or at least be really good early game to babysit the casters, like in 1st edition

[@Reubenaut]

But there is nothing more inspiring than the human who through sheer will, strength, and strategy, can battle overpowering demons and gods as they just get back up and fight on unwavering to the forces against them.

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

@@Reubenaut strategy is universal, not exclusive to martials. And no amount of skill or strength in 5e is letting you do *anything* to high level demons and devils without magic items.

[@sarahangel3481]

Yes, thanks to everyone who was able to donate something during the last stream.💙👍 I was also on Steam and it was amazing how quickly it worked. Unfortunately I had to leave Steam early because I had to sleep.😅 The Steam was fun pointy.😊 I could hardly write anything because the chat in the stream was so fast and my comment would have been lost there anyway. But I enjoyed listening to and reading what others have written.💙

[@biggestsmile6235]

Fighters are my favorite class to play! In a game where there is magic and monsters that can obliterate you with a hand gesture, i think its fun to be that one guy in the party that has no magic or supernatural nonesense going for them, just grit and a pointy stick.

[@3of6mylove]

My only complaint is that they tend to become a huge liability against certain foes. If you're going up against mind flayers for example, fighters and barbarians can actively become a detriment to the party due to their poor mental saves making them effectively just a living weapon for the mindflayers to control. Sometimes it may even be optimal to have the fighter/barbarian sit the fight out just to mitigate the risk.

[@biggestsmile6235]

That's fair, fighters and Barbs ain't great on the mental side of things, but in a situation where it's hordes of enemies and little time to rest between fights? Fighters are invaluable! No need to worry about spellslots here!

[@3of6mylove]

@@biggestsmile6235 I agree somewhat, but honestly a full party of spellcasters still seems the way to go. Depending on how you build them, you can absolutely make a gish that utterly demolishes the fighter in both combat and utility, and doesn't suffer much from resource management issues. Or just multiclass out of EK into wizard, now you're just a better fighter.

[@Merilirem]

@@3of6mylove clearly there should be a subclass that has amazing mental saves. Or some optional feat.

[@3of6mylove]

@@Merilirem It's called playing a paladin. All the melee goodness of fighter, none of the downsides. Potentially even higher damage depending on luck, but even if you can't deal damage due to the situation, you can still contribute with spells.

[@daniamataka5377]

This feels a bit like a Weapon Master archetype from Pathfinder 1st Edition because it puts all your training into one weapon, but having it be a weapon that you can enchant yourself as it grows with you is awesome. I tried doing the same thing by RAW in P1E, getting to have a living metal weapon that can become any weapon I'm proficient with all within budget of a starting level of 6. It was tedious scouring books and Archive of Nethys to pull it off so I'm all for having simpler ways to achieve cool things at level 1.

[@princeofcats6465]

Argueably my favorite character I've played was a warforged battlemaster fighter in Ebberon. He was a veteran of the 100 year war, and became sort of a neat freak / perfectionist as a coping skill for dealing with the horrors of war. After its end he was hired by House De'Cannith as the personal butler of its heir (played by my best friend playing an artificer) to keep him in line in his misadventures. He had a retractable arm-blade and shield, several intigrated artisan's tools, and intigraded armor he wore underneath his perfectly tailored suits. He used maneuvers like commander's strike and commanding presence to support the party in combat, and act as the party's face with the highest charisma and the ability to add my superiority die to charisma checks. His name was Marvin "Skulls" Watson, and I would lunge at the opportunity to play him with my friend again, as that campaign unfortunately never finished.

[@SusCalvin]

Everyone can talk. Fighters can talk all they want. Just come up with polite clever things to say. Fighters and other bums can have all sorts of professions. A butler probably knows how to cook basic meals and how a large household is run etc. You can play a fighter priest or a fighter sailor etc.

[@presidenttogekiss635]

Fun fact the "spiritually bonded to a weapon that grows in power with you" is a thing in pathfinder. You can transfer any cool powerful trait, like flaming, or +1 enchantments or more into your chosen weapon. The inventor class can also choose a super duper special weapon as their signature invention.

[@elib6465]

My favorite fighter I've made is Bantam. Bantam is a reskinned owlin cavalier fighter that instead of looking like a owl he looks like a chicken. Bantam was the only survivor of a bandit raid and in the ashes of that bandit raid he picked up a sword and a shield and promised that he will save others. Bantam may look like a chicken but he is the bravest man you will ever know.

[@FGCLovesYou]

I love it, both the concept and the name! I used to have chickens, and the only bantams I ever had were silkies. The most delightful little chickens. And yet those two silkies were the bigwigs of the whole flock.

[@galanothi]

Fighter has been my favorite class of 5e since I started. Going through the bland phase, the invested phase, the disappointed phase, it never changed. I just can't thank you enough for this subclass.

[@SusCalvin]

You can ride an elephant if you like. Or dig a trench or look behind the curtain or sell wheat

[@michaelferrone4112]

Love the subclass! One of my players is using it, but understandably lamented the lack of a “smite” to use on crits like paladins/hexblades get, so I added this option to Mythic Arm: “When you land a hit with your weapon, you can choose to expend a use of action surge to deal bonus damage equal to 1d8 of your chosen damage type times the number of attacks that you can make with a full attack action. This damage increases with Unlocked Potential.” ie. A level 11 fighter uses a d10 for AS dmg and has three attacks, so they could burn AS to deal 3d10 (6d10 on a crit) bonus damage on that hit instead of getting another action. I’m also replacing the extra attunement slot with the ability to absorb two magic weapons instead of one, using the higher of the two base magic bonuses instead of adding them (a +1 and +2 weapon would give +2 and any extra effects of both) Let me know what you guys think!

[@eriksalas165]

Umm... excuse me, Mr. PointyHat, sir. I went to the PointyHat Live channel (as you may remember instructing us to do in your video on world building), and I couldn't help but notice that there are no uploads there.. I may be mistaken, but I have checked the channel numerous times in hopes that my eyes were deceiving me. Alas, they are not. Sundays are a particularly busy day for me, and I would like to keep stealing your content and using it in my dnd campaigns, so if you could please correct this injustice, my good sir, I would be very, very, very, happy. Thank you, and your vids are dope

[@knightghaleon]

I like this fun subclass you made. It feels like Pathfinder 1E’s Blackblade Magus archetype. And it has some of the things I wanted Hexblades to have but we didn’t get because warlock.

[@TheSkiingDragon]

I’ve been wanting this SO bad. So, the Fighter is my favorite class, because it’s simple, it’s decent in combat, and it doesn’t need any magic, it’s pure skill and toughness. The problem with the Fighter is this: dnd has been made to be newbie friendly, but it still has lots of complicated features. Because of this, dnd needed an “introductory class” and the Fighter was chosen, probably because it seems like all he can do is hit stuff. But any class can just “hit stuff” the Fighter should be the master of combat. A wizard is modeled as the default spellcaster, but it knows basically every spell. The other casters sacrificed this versatility for more flavor. I think the Fighter should be the same way. It should be able to “hit stuff” in every possible way, and classes like the Paladin and Ranger should be sacrificing this combat versatility for Clerical and Druidic powers. A decent Wizard gets 3 unlimited use special abilities, and 4 special abilities, and can use any of them twice, all at level one. A Fighter, at level one, gets one passive ability. The Fighter is definitely customizable, but it needs more. It should be the wizard of combat. Adding more choices right off the bat will force wotc to make it more powerful. Also, I think it’s limited use abilities should be based on proficiency or modifiers. I love the Fighter, and it might be the class with the most potential, while staying balanced, but that means that it’s probably too weak. People complain about it being bland and boring, but that’s because they let it become bland and boring. The Fighter Fights, and it should be the BEST Fighter to ever Fight, especially if it has no out of combat usefulness

[@SusCalvin]

A level 1 wizard in Lamentations can shoot a fool with a shotgun but a fighter is +1 better at shooting a fool with a shotgun and has more hp when fools shoot back.

[@SusCalvin]

You are as useful as you make yourself in all situations. I can play a fighter and draw the map or come up with an idea on what spell we could use or try to dig a ditch.

[@vtheman1850]

So I recently started playing DnD with a few friends and I am surprised to hear this. Just for background I am a HEMA practitioner, and fighters/battlemasters have been amazing for me, because DnD just generally get soo much right about medial combat it's honestly surprising :) The think with RP-ing one, is that it can be sooo many things. A Grizzled commander, A respected noble knight, sellsword/thug/cutthroat... and with Dex fighters being a thing the possibilities are honestly endless.

[@nightingale8178]

Small feedback on your Scion Martial subclass. Thematically it brings that Pact of the blade warlock fantasy into Fighter without really stepping into that territory too much which I appritiate. Feels pretty neat (Gloomstalker multiclass seems really good) all the way except lvl 10 feature. Its just +1 dmg increase on an attack. If feels like that feature should be just included as scaling in on 3rd lvl feature. Thats my thoughts at least

[@gaminreasons8941]

No, Fighters are a canvas. If a Fighter is boring, it's because the player made a stick figure.

[@crimsoneclipse1882]

Exactly! Fighters are only as boring as you make them.

[@nani7610]

True, but also its kinda hard to make a fun concept while also not just being your parties dead weight, especially when your dm is greedy with magical items

[@gandalfissus]

Fanum tax amounts of based

[@Veelofar]

Ah, yes, the old reliable defense of “well you should rollplay more”. I do. The problem with a mechanically bland class is that the mechanics don’t add anything. What’s the point of picking Fighter if you’re going to RP. Rogue can be easily put into a situation where they’re played as trained soldiers, and Sneak Attack flavored as being good at squad combat.

[@gandalfissus]

@@Veelofar you have no rizz

[@XycoticGamer]

is there a stream today ? (11-12-23)

[@boywithgirlsname]

This concept was done really well on Mark Hulmes/High Rollers' Aerois campaign with Nova V'ger and her legendary sword Tiangong. It is a powerful being split into many pieces that she had to fetch quest alongside the main storyline, annnnd of course the main baddies had pieces so it often was a great plot hook.

[@akannibrasil6633]

Hey, great video! I was reading the subclass and I thought the concept is really cool, but I think it lacks some of the very things you said the fighter could use: choices. Having a weapon of legend that has no effect by itself other than being able to absorb other magical weapons may present itself as an issue. It depends on the willingness of the DM to give the player the right types of magical weapons, and could be seen as a lack of identity on the weapon itself. I really feel like adding a choice of unique effects for the weapon at level 7 could play harder on the fantasy of unlocking the weapons true potential instead of +damage of some type. This is just an idea tho, I REALLY liked the concept of the subclass and can't wait to try it out!

[@DBArtsCreators]

The issue I have with the subclass is that it wounds more like a Warlock's pact boon (Pact of the Blade), not a Fighter subclass. It also leaves all the other martials out of the loop (as the idea of a class's subclass being centered around a legendary weapon technically fits Barbarians, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues & Monks). Nothing against a legendary weapon growing with the wielder, but it feels like it narrows it way to much to make it a class's subclass (and again, even as a subclass, it better fits the Warlock as a subclass or pact boon due to their whole gimmick being their bonds to sources of magic/power that doesn't come from them themselves).

[@kevincollins8802]

See, with unlocking the weapon's power being contingent on using your action surge (at first), it gives me this impression that any martial could swing it around if they wanted, but it takes someone who's mastered all forms of combat to draw out it's potential. There's also, imo, a pretty clear narrative distinction between "My patron gave me a fancy sword for being a good boi." vs. "I am the destined wielder of this storied weapon and I alone can draw out its full potential."

[@DBArtsCreators]

@@kevincollins8802 Even Fighters haven't mastered all forms of combat; at early levels, they are as skilled as any Barbarian, Ranger or Paladin when it comes to martial combat (going by what weapons they are proficient in) and all "Action Surge" indicates is a surge of adrenaline allowing for increased speed (the extra Action), not combat skill. And since a storied weapon would arguably BE the patron (or otherwise tied to a patron or similar force), there is no distinction there between "patron gave me my weapon" & "I'm the destined wielder" (hell, remember that a patron might not even be aware that you are drawing power from them nor that you are in a pact with them). And as an aside, choosing some "I'm the destined wielder" subclass for ANY class is rather unfair to a DM and the other players at the table - it's liable to cause "main character syndrome" (since the "destiny" has to take precedence at some point, otherwise the "destiny/destined wielder status is pointless). Again, legendary weapons with this sort of ability to grow with the wielder is fine, but making it into a subclass simply feels too narrow and is begging for trouble at any given table.

[@GoliathVenom]

Great video! I’m really excited for the twists for the classes that are left! (Also, because of all the clips you showed, I assume you have watched the Dragon Prince… did you like it?)

[@mestreinvoker6108]

It always surprises me how well you can make a fantasy background around a sponsor, it's really great and quite engaging as well.

[@wumbojet]

Fighters are not boring, your character is boring. This is like saying a blank page and a collection of pencils is "uncreative" because you refuse to start drawing something. That being said, I understand why people tend to prefer that classes have a specific fantasy or archetype tied to it, so I get why people don't often find them interesting.

[@DBArtsCreators]

Eh, the Fighter isn't so much a blank page as it is a page of one word sentences that, unlike the other classes, don't give you much guidance on what could be written/drawn on the page. "You are a fighter. You were trained to fight. You are good with weapons. You know how to wear a variety of armors. You don't have special powers. You are good at fighting."

[@screams6157]

This is a pretty reductive take. In a vacuum without thinking about mechanics, yeah this would be true. But this is a game as well as a storytelling tool, and the game side of Fighters in this iteration of dnd is bland. Especially when looking at other classes

[@falionna3587]

@@DBArtsCreators Thing is, the guidance also works as a constraint. There's quite is opportunity for far more variety with a fighter than the other classes. and you could easily make special powers by the subclasses, such as eldritch knight, echo, rune, psi etc. Or just special by being good at combat al a achilles. You can have a mundane origin or as supernatural, your battlemaster could've gained the maneuvers from a devil, god or at a dojo. It's far more of a blank page than the other classes where you're free to put anything.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

I think you're misunderstanding what's meant when people say "fighters are boring". For me, at least, when I say "Fighters are boring", I mean this in a purely mechanical sense. Namely, in combat I'm often just spamming a single attack when my turn comes around pretty mindlessly. By contrast, if I was playing a Wizard, there would be a lot more mechanical depth to combat as I'd be constantly making decisions like "which spell do I want to cast?" *Flavor*-wise, I actually don't think Fighters are all that boring. Swords are cool. Sword fights are cool. It's just limited by bland mechanics. And yeah, you can roleplay a fighter to be very cool, but that also doesn't really fix the bland mechanics problem.

[@DBArtsCreators]

@@falionna3587 There is a saying: "You can't think outside the box if there is no box." Blank pages are bad, not good. Fighter doesn't allow for any real variety because its 'box' (the guidance/constraints) is essentially nonexistent. Everything you listed can be accomplished with the other martials to a greater degree (let alone the non-martials that have martial subclasses). The only thing Fighter actually gets unique to it from the outset to build around is "you are skilled at combat". Your background shapes you more than anything else, and every character gets that regardless of class. (And this is all side-stepping the additional issue that mechanically the Fighter is even more simple, boring & unengaging compared to every other class).

[@t.b.cont.]

I’ve always felt that if your class or race is your character’s personality and backstory it’s gonna feel generic and boring regardless. Having special abilities doesn’t make your character more compelling

[@SusCalvin]

Our special power was being Danish. This was an awesome power.

[@tananonn6778]

I always have high expectations whenever I watch your video but you always exceed them, these are insanely cool :D

[@peterbillings3276]

This is the guidance I needed to create my next character. Haven’t played fighter yet, but I love reskinning existing classes or spells to fit a specific theme, so I’m up for the challenge! Thanks Mr. Pointy Hat

[@Xangancan]

The scion subclass is a very interesting idea, but I feel its missing the customization I'd want from the idea. It's supposed to be a legendary weapon that the fighter grows alongside. I like the idea that the weapon can absorb other enchantments, but what I'd prefer is to be able to have more customization options. Such as being able to add properties to the sword sooner, to be able to use unique effects of the weapon unlocked over time. For instance: A choice of being able to do a mini smite or perform a long reaching blast of damage in an aoe. Maybe create a copy of the sword like a mini spiritual weapon. Something that makes the *weapon* feel legendary, not just a copy of other weapons in the world. Edit: Maybe a higher level skill could unlock an "ultimate" attack, like summoning excalibur in the fate series.

[@SusCalvin]

Earthdawn does this to some degree. Magic items are passed down, their legend builds. Their current holder invests xp in the bond and tries to symbolically live up to the legend. Magic items are created by being used to do legendary things. When you pass them on, you will have been part of that legend.

[@TerrisH20]

The Ranger class WAS once a fighter subclass, alongside the Paladin. This was way back in the First addition AD&D. Though, It quickly broke away into its own class by 2nd edition. Huh, thinking about it, the problem with fighters is basically a self-inflicted one in the end. It was originally designed with the means to fix this issue of seeming to be boring, but the solution was too popular, and its original subclasses were spun off into actual classes.

[@daral9217]

Yeah I recall thinking when I saw the battle maneuvers that they really should have been more wide spread as it is just an incredibly flexible system for slotting physical style abilities into.

[@pipogasser9488]

I like this new subclass of yours very much - although I think it is underpowered. At level 18 you can make one action surge with additional damage and negating crits? - I think the additional damage coule apply to all attacks. Or at least it increases with levels or proficuency. Paladins get more smites when they level up as well. - If the weapon is defining for my character, I would want more flavour and more effects to be built in. How about a list of enchantement options for your weapon? Sentient, ability bonuses, skill bonuses, perception bonuses, battle maneuvers or feat-like enchantments. And attunement weapons could also be transformed after a certain level - your legendary weapon will take a slot after that. - The property feature could come up at level 7 or 10 already.

[@EssBJay]

13:13 I have a Warforged Barbarian/Fighter combo. I went with Ancestral Guardian and Echo Knight--both of them are flavored as hard light holograms.

[@Tonz_of_Fun]

Oh mystical talking hat, i have a question & suggestion. Would you be willing to do another fighter episode but covering what you would do with battle maneuvers spread to all the subclasses? It has been a thought this whole video since you brought it up. I think it would be an interesting homebrew to toy around with.

[@nelpolian3863]

My favorite martial class in the ranger - I feel like its so customizable but that I also get access to some of my favorite spells and character flavor. Id love to hear you chat about them sometime if you havent already!

[@SusCalvin]

I like the old non-magic rangers. You got better at shooting fools and could track.

[@rexhex3700]

I absolutely love the Scion subclass! I had an idea similar as a Warlock subclass, however I wasn't fully satisfied with how it came out. But seeing it as a Fighter subclass makes me realize its actually what I wanted!

[@nipahholiday9302]

I loved the revisiting of your Mythica Matt Mercer simping

[@QuantumCharger]

Thank You! A while ago I wrote a character who used his arms as weapons (robot arms) based around the main character in a comic called "The Witch's Throne," but I couldn't get it to work well. This fixes that issue perfectly. Thank You

[@SusCalvin]

I don't see how this is a problem. Set a cost for cyborg arms, where bums might get them and how much it hurts when sir Bob cyberpunches a fool.

[@jakobnuernberger94]

As a person who currently only plays a human fighter, i gotta say that it is true that we don't have that many prompts to roleplay. I personally have the pleasure of having a great party (if we actually would find the time to play again) that makes it really pleasant for me to roleplay aswell. btw I love how you do the ads on your vids, really creative

[@ryanebrecht5651]

I love this fighter concept. I'm always amazed by your creativity.

[@iridium6714]

Very interesting subclass ! I really like it, and I do feel like there is indeed very few ways to make weapons unique and interesting for the whole game. Like, for real, unless your character is inclined for RP reasons to take care of a particular weapon, your lvl1 weapon will rarely if ever be your level 15 weapon. It's why I made a whole spell and blade class around the bond between a warrior and its weapon awakening magic from within. I think it's pretty cool, and much like your subclass, the weapon evolves with you througout the levels and gets special properties based on if it is light, or two handed, or reach. It's pretty cool.

[@haiclips3358]

Very cool subclass. I think the mythic arm feature should be additional damage of D6's equal to your proficiency bonus, because the level 10 features only equals to 1 Damage increase on something you can only use once per short rest. I like increasing it to D8's at level 10, and then D10's at level 18.

[@thegamesforreal1673]

My god, that little history about the battlemaster's superiority being baseline during the early versions of 5e but later confined to a subclass hurts my soul. From the moment I first read the Battlemaster's features, I immediately thought: "Wow, that's stupid, that should be baseline for a class all about fighting!" In fact, I would go a step further and make battle maneouvres a baseline feature for *every single class that gets a fighting style* , because you simply cannot convince me that a barbarian who's been fighting with a greataxe all his life can't even parry with it.

[@tobyd.8064]

F'ing good stuff, as always Hat! Keep it up, we all support you, as you very well know!

[@steel5315]

I actually had character inspo idea that fits this so well! Im gonna change him to a Scion Hexblade now because of this.

[@Seraphzero0]

Wow! Just Wow! This is your best work yet!!! I love this so much!!!

[@matterhorn731]

Loved the double plot twist with the demo character at the end there! Personally, I feel like one of my issues with Fighters is that they don't really have many choices to make _while playing._ In addition to the well known lack of out-of-combat abilities, when _in_ combat, the time when fighters are supposed to shine the most... their optimal strategy is usually just "get in range and make all my attacks and hope I roll well." I get that this is new player friendly, but I also worry that it can send the wrong kind of message by implying that the game doesn't have much variety, especially if the new player chooses something like Champion as their subclass and then gets to mid levels wondering why everyone else gets to do cool and interesting things and they still just hit stuff. (Personally, I'd absolutely let them retrain to Battle Master or something at that point.)

[@PatricRogers]

Your English and enunciation is better than many native speakers I know. If you hadn't pointed it out, I'd never have known. Also, your intellect, creativity, and presentation are always entertaining. Congrats on all your success!