Dungeons & Dragons is making changes to all classes including the Fighter with the upcoming Player’s Handbook (2024).
Despite widely being seen as basic, Fighters have always been among D&D‘s most popular classes, if not topping the list itself. Though they might not have all the fancy tricks and magical abilities of other classes, Fighters are tough, flexible, and straightforward in ways that make them easy for new players to understand.
The upcoming rules revision is about to make Fighters even more compelling, with the class benefitting from new features designed to help melee users hold their own alongside spellcasters. These are the most significant changes to the Fighter.
Fighter subclasses
Battle Master
This subclass largely stays the same, though the PHB (2024) will include Maneuvers introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Outside of that, Know Your Enemy no longer requires you to observe your target for a minute but only reveals immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities, and Relentless Presence (unlocked at level 15) now lets you use a free d8 instead of your Superiority Dice for Maneuvers once per turn.
Champion
These Fighters now get Remarkable Athlete at level 3 instead of level 7. This feature gives the Champion advantage on Initiative and Athletics checks rather than half proficiency on any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution checks.
Additionally, Champions get the Heroic Warrior feature at level 10. This gives them Heroic Inspiration – a new mechanic that allows the player to reroll any dice roll – any time they start their turn.
Eldritch Knight
The biggest change to the Eldritch Knight is the removal of spell school restrictions, giving these warrior mages more options to work with.
War Magic has been changed to allow the Fighter to replace an attack with a cantrip instead of having to use their bonus action. Similarly, Improved War Magic lets the player use two attacks to cast a level 1 or level 2 spell.
This is meant to allow Eldritch Knights to benefit from the Fighter’s unique ability to take lots of actions per turn at higher levels.
Psi Warrior
This subclass joins the core rulebook after its introduction in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It is generally unchanged from that book.
Fighting Styles
Fighting Styles are now considered feats, and you can swap them out anytime you take a Fighter level. This gives Fighters even more flexibility, as they can forgo a weapon that isn’t quite working for them in favor of something that better suits their playstyle and the party’s needs.
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Second Wind
This important Fighter ability is becoming more versatile. Second Wind can now be used multiple times per short rest, with Fighters starting out with two uses and gaining more as they level up. One use will be replenished when taking a short rest, and a long rest will restore all uses.
Second Wind can also be used to do more than just heal – though that alone is pretty useful. At level 2, Fighters gain Tactical Mind, which lets them expend a use of Second Wind to add 1d10 to a failed ability check. If they still do not succeed, the use is not expended.
Level 5 unlocks Tactical Shift, which lets a Fighter expend a use of Second Wind to move up to half their speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Weapon Mastery
Fighters arguably gain the most from the new Weapon Mastery system, which gives melee characters benefits or extra abilities called mastery properties when using specific weapons.
As an example, picking the Greatsword gets you the Graze mastery property, which allows you to deal damage equal to your ability score modifier when missing an attack roll with the weapon.
At level one, they can pick three weapons to gain their mastery properties, and they gain more options with Tactical Master at level 9.
Indomitable
This ability, gained at level 9, is getting a major buff. Instead of simply letting the character reroll a failed saving throw, Indomitable will let them add their Fighter level to the new roll.
That means you’ll get between +9 and +20 on the second try, all but guaranteeing a success at high levels.
Studied Attacks
At level 13, Fighters gain an ability that makes it less likely they’ll miss multiple attacks in a row. Studied Attacks makes it so that if you miss, your next weapon attack against the same creature gets advantage until the end of your next turn.
Epic Boon
Last but not least, all classes get an Epic Boon at level 19. These are powerful level-locked feats that can’t be obtained until reaching this point in the game, and there are 12 options for Fighters to pick from.
While you wait for the Player’s Handbook (2024), be sure to check out our other Dungeons & Dragons coverage, including our guides on changes to the Barbarian class, every subclass in the Player’s Handbook (2024), and what to know about Quests from the Infinite Staircase.
