Who needs to play a social class in Baldur’s Gate 3 when you can let your greatsword do the talking? Fighter is a direct and straightforward class. Grab your pointiest weapon and some armor, and go to war. Just because Fighter isn’t as complex as some of the spellcasting classes doesn’t mean there are no decisions to make, however. Building a good character is easy, but building a great character is hard. This build focuses on turning the Fighter into a true tank, capable of absorbing as much punishment as possible and coming back for more. Thanks to this, it’s one of the best Fighter class builds in the game.
The Best Fighter Class Build In Baldur’s Gate 3
Fighters are all about charging headfirst into the action. They’re capable of some solid DPS, but they can also serve as some of the best tanks in the game. Larian Studios has let tanks be the shield walls they were always meant to be, and this build is a celebration of just that.
Race Choices
Dwarf is a great choice for Fighter, but this build goes with Half-Orc instead. Two of the Half-Orc’s racial traits make this choice a wise one. The first is Savage Attacks. When the player scores a critical hit with a melee weapon, they roll one damage die an additional time and add it to the extra damage. The second trait is Relentless Endurance. When reduced to 0 HP but not killed outright, you drop to 1 HP instead. Even though Relentless Endurance can only be used once between Long Rests, it allows the Fighter to hang in there even during the most bitter battles. For a tank, that’s hard to beat.
Best Fighting Style
At Level 1, Fighters can choose one Fighting Style. Each offers a unique benefit, but only two are suitable for this build. The first is Defence, which grants +1 to AC while wearing armor. The second is Protection, which imposes Disadvantage on attacks against allies when you are within 1.5m. Protection requires you to be using a shield and be able to see the attacker. That, combined with its small radius of effect, makes it less useful overall than Defence. For that reason, this tank build utilizes Defence instead as the first Fighting Style.
Background, Skills, and Other Features
Outlander and Soldier are the perfect Backgrounds to use when creating the best Fighter class build. For this tank build, we’ll be using Outlander. Athletics is arguably the skill most synonymous with Fighters, after all. Survival isn’t the traditional pick, but Baldur’s Gate 3 gives the player plenty of chances to get value out of it. With Backgrounds out of the way, it’s time to turn our attention to Attributes. This distribution serves well:
- Strength: 17
- Dexterity: 13
- Constitution: 15
- Intelligence: 10
- Wisdom: 12
- Charisma: 8
Though putting more points into Constitution would let the player squeeze a bit more HP into the build, being a good tank isn’t just about being able to take blows. Overall, the party is better served by the slightly more versatile Attribute listed above than one that min-maxes strictly around Strength and Constitution. If the player wants higher Constitution anyway, they can always draw points from Wisdom or Intelligence without sacrificing Dexterity and, therefore, defense.
Best Build Class Progression
In Baldur’s Gate 3, just like D&D, character creation is only the beginning of the long journey to greatness. The build starts here, but many of its most important features will only come with time as the character levels up. The following class features, Feats, and other traits are essential for developing this into one of the best Fighter class builds.
- Level 3:
- Fighter Subclass: Champion
- Level 4:
- Feat: Tough
- Level 6:
- Feat: Heavy Armour Master
- Level 8:
- Feat: Shield Master
- Level 10:
- Fighting Style: Protection
- Level 12:
- Feat: Sentinel
With every level the Fighter gains, they will become increasingly durable and increasingly fit to defend their allies. The goal for this build is to hold the frontline at all costs, giving and taking as many blows as necessary until the enemy drops.
Equipment
This build relies upon Heavy armor, a shield, and a powerful one-handed weapon. The goal is to gain the highest possible AC, tanking hits with armor and shield while keeping allies safe. Which weapon the player chooses is mostly a matter of taste. The focus here is on the armor. Fighter might not be the easiest class in Baldur’s Gate 3, but with this build, it can easily be one of the hardest to kill.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
