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Archery
Blessed Warrior
Blind Fighting
Defense
Druidic Warrior
Dueling
Great Weapon Fighting
Interception
Protection
Superior Technique
Thrown Weapon Fighting
Two-Weapon Fighting
Unarmed Fighting
In , martial classes are those held by characters that aim to deal with their foes using traditional weapons rather than through the use of spellcasting. While there are a variety of martial classes available to players, each with its own unique strengths, several of these classes provide characters access to a fighting style.
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Fighting styles are permanent augmentations to a character that provide specific benefits in combat, often improving a character's ability to use certain types of weaponry. Fighting styles can help a character excel in a specific area of combat, such as more reliably landing their ranged attacks or even helping their defenses. So we're going to break down each fighting style currently available in D&D's fifth edition and see exactly what they're capable of.
The Fighting Initiate feat introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, any character can theoretically gain a fighting style available to the Fighter class. Additionally, while some fighting styles have been shown in Unearthed Arcana releases, we will only be accounting for fighting styles that have appeared in official D&D expansions and rule books.
Updated on October 6, 2024, by Alfredo Robelo: Fighting styles have been slightly reworked in the 2024 Player's Handbook, becoming feats that you can gain when your class gives you the feature. This means that classes that had a limited pool of styles, like rangers, now have more options to choose from, so we've updated this article to reflect that.
Archery
Works With All Ranged Weapons
For those looking to play a martial character who fights primarily using long-range weaponry, the Archery fighting style is a must-have. Simple yet effective, Archery provides a character with a +2 bonus to hit with all ranged weaponry. Rather than this increasing a character's damage output, it provides a solid accuracy boost that helps a character more reliably land their mark.
Despite its name, as this fighting style works with all forms of ranged weaponry, it's an excellent choice for those looking to make use of any type of ranged weaponry such as firearms.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Sniping from far away. | Longbow | Fighter or Ranger |
Constant barrage, with spells like Hunter's Mark adding damage. | Shortbow, vex mastery feature | Ranger |
Landing the best possible hits with firearms. Damage drops considerably after level 5. | Musket | Ranger |
Blessed Warrior
You Use Charisma For The Cantrips
Blessed Warrior is a unique fighting style exclusive to the paladin class, meaning it can't be obtained through the Fighting Style Feature. Unlike other fighting styles that augment a character's ability to use their gear in combat, Blessed Warrior provides a character with two cantrips from the pleric spell list.
As paladins normally don't gain access to cantrips, this is a solid way to pick up the likes of Guidance, Sacred Flame, Spare the Dying, or Toll the Dead, adding to a paladin's utility. For those looking to dabble more in the magic side of a paladin, this fighting style is definitely worth considering.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Cantrips |
---|---|
Supportive Paladin | Guidance and Spare the Dying |
Aggressive Paladin | Sacred Flame and Word of Radiance |
Blind Fighting
See Without Seeing
A fighting style that offers a distinct yet useful ability, Blind Fighting provides a character with a Blindsight range of ten feet. Blindsight makes a character quite difficult to get the drop on, even if a target is hidden or invisible.
As Blindsight is normally quite difficult for characters to gain, this is an excellent option for those whose party aims to make a lot of use of obscuring magic such as Fog Cloud and Darkness.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Doing a combo with a friendly spellcaster that summons Darkness. | Maul, topple weapon mastery. | Fighter |
Scouting ahead as the frontline tank. | Halberd, having reach equal to your Blindsight. | Paladin or Fighter |
Social settings where combat will be minimal. | Longsword | Ranger |
Defense
The Best Defense Is A Passive One
Defense is perhaps the simplest fighting style in D&D, and it is perhaps the most widely applicable and beneficial to any character. This is because, rather than augmenting one's offensive capabilities, Defense simply increases a character's AC by +1 as long as they're wearing armor.
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Regardless of a character's role on the battlefield, an improved AC is always a great asset, as it can make a character much more difficult to hit with attacks. Outside of characters with unarmored defense or those that lack proficiency in any form of armor, the Defense fighting style is a safe and effective option.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Frontline tank | Any one-handed weapon and a shield. | Paladin or Fighter |
Druidic Warrior
In Tune With Nature
Similar to the Blessed Warrior fighting style being exclusive to the paladin class, the Druidic Warrior fighting style is only available to rangers. While the Blessed Warrior fighting style provides access to two cleric cantrips, this option provides access to two druid cantrips.
This can provide a ranger looking to utilize more magic with useful options like Guidance, Produce Flame, or Shape Water.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Cantrips |
---|---|
Supportive Ranger | Guidance and Spare the Dying |
Social Ranger | Message and Elementalism |
Dueling
Make The Most Out Of Your Only Weapon
For those looking to wield a weapon in one hand while wielding a shield in the other, Dueling is a great choice for one's fighting style. As long as a character with this fighting style is only holding one melee weapon at once, and it is being wielded in one hand, that weapon deals an additional +2 damage.
This damage buff can really add up over time, allowing a melee-focused martial character to reliably deal more damage when in combat.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Aggressive Tank | Flail with a shield. | Paladin or Fighter |
Dexterity focused damage dealer | Rapier with a shield. | Ranger |
Great Weapon Fighting
Damage That Counts
Two-handed weapons such as Greataxes are often known for their above-average damage dice. However, aberrant dice rolls can still lead to some of a character's landed hits dealing below average damage. This is where the Great Weapon Fighting style comes in.
When a character with this fighting style deals damage to a target when wielding a weapon with two hands, they can treat all 1 and 2 results as 3 when rolling damage. This allows a character to make their damage output much more reliable, making heavier hitting melee weapons a more enticing choice.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Dealing the most amount of damage. | Greatsword, minimum damage of 6 with this style, graze weapon mastery to deal damage even when you miss. | Paladin or Fighter |
Dealing with swarms of enemies. | Greataxe, cleave weapon mastery. | Paladin or Fighter |
Interception
It Uses Your Reaction
For those looking to protect their allies in combat, Interception is an option that can allow a martial character to serve as a bodyguard for their allies. Whenever another creature within 5 feet of a character with this fighting style is hit with an attack, the interceptor may use their reaction to reduce the damage of this attack by 1d10 plus their proficiency modifier.
As there is no limit to how many times this reaction may be used per day, when utilizing strategies that keep party members positioned close together, this style can provide substantial damage reduction over the course of an encounter. And if your DM allows it, you can even use it to intercept attacks directed at you.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Double frontline party, standing side by side with your damage dealer. | Warhammer, push weapon mastery. | Paladin or Fighter |
Long range attacker, standing next to the Wizard, so their concentration isn't broken. | Longbow | Ranger |
Protection
It Now Lasts For Multiple Attacks
Fundamentally similar to Interception, Protection is a fighting style that allows a character to use their reaction in order to try to protect an adjacent ally. While Interception can be used to reduce the damage an ally may take, Protection aims to prevent an ally from being hit entirely.
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If an ally within five feet of a creature with this fighting style is targeted with an attack, one's reaction can be spent to have that attack be made at disadvantage. While Interception is guaranteed to affect the triggering attack, Protection might not stop the initial attack, but you can give disadvantage to all following attacks as long as you remain next to your ally.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Double frontline party, standing side by side with your damage dealer. | Morningstar with a shield. | Paladin or Fighter |
Supportive frontline with healing abilities. | Longsword with a shield, being able to drop it when no one needs protection. | Paladin |
Long range attacker, standing next to the Wizard, so their concentration isn't broken. | Light Crossbow with a shield. | Ranger |
Superior Technique
Strategize Like A Battle Master
Introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Superior Technique is a fighting style that allows characters to dip their toe into the fighter's Battle Master subclass. Battle Master is a subclass based around the use of special maneuvers that may be accessed through the use of "superiority dice."
The Superior Technique fighting style is from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and it is not present in the 2024 Player's Handbook. If you wish to use it with those rules, make it exclusive to fighters, replacing any other styles they might get.
While Battle Masters flexibly have access to several maneuvers, Superior Technique allows a non-Battle Master character to access a single maneuver of their choice. As these maneuvers are quite varied and unique, this can provide a character with distinct utility that they may lack otherwise.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Maneuver |
---|---|
Use both action and bonus action to attack with a single weapon. | Feinting Attack |
Reduce incoming damage to survive longer without needing higher AC. | Parry |
Support allies with a class that doesn't normally do so. | Rally |
Thrown Weapon Fighting
Be Sure To Have Enough Ammo
Traditionally, thrown weapons tend to deal less damage on average than their melee and ranged counterparts. However, the Thrown Weapon Fighting style makes the use of such weapons more enticing.
Thrown Weapon Fighting used to give the ability to draw and use the weapon with a single action, but that is now a property of all weapons with the Thrown property.
Offering a comparable damage boost to the Dueling fighting style, whenever a character adept with Thrown Weapon Fighting deals damage with a ranged attack from a thrown weapon, it deals an additional +2 damage.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Topple enemies from range to catch them at melee range. | Trident, topple weapon mastery. | Paladin or Fighter |
Constant barrage, with spells like Hunter's Mark adding damage. | Handaxe, vex weapon mastery. | Ranger |
Use light weapons, freeing up your bonus action to cast spells. | Dagger or Light Hammer, nick weapon mastery. | Paladin or Ranger |
Two-Weapon Fighting
The Most Attacks Per Turn
Two-Weapon Fighting is a solid option for those looking to build a dual-wielding combatant. Normally, a character making an attack with the weapon in their offhand as a bonus action is unable to add their ability modifier to said attack. However, this fighting style helps a character be more ambidextrous, allowing their ability modifier to be added.
This can allow dual-wielding builds to potentially deal significantly more damage as their additional attacks deal just as much damage as the first they make each turn. Remember, however, that for all this to work, both weapons need to have the Light property.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Weapon | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Constant barrage, with spells like Hunter's Mark adding damage. | Hand Crossbow, vex weapon mastery. | Ranger |
Use light weapons, freeing up your bonus action to cast spells. | Shortsword and Scimitar, using the nick weapon mastery of the Scimitar. | Paladin or Ranger |
Unarmed Fighting
Your Fists Are The Ultimate Weapon
While monks are the class most often associated with unarmed combat, the Unarmed Fighting style can allow a variety of characters to function as a threat, regardless of whether they're armed. In addition to causing a character's unarmed strikes to deal 1d8 damage as long as they aren't wielding a weapon or a shield, this fighting style blends perfectly with the Grappler feat.
The fighting style already benefits from grappling creatures, since if you're grappling another creature, you can cause that creature to automatically take 1d4 bludgeoning damage with no action required. With the feat, you can grapple any creature you attack (once per turn), gain advantage on hits against them, and suffer no penalties when moving them around.
Recommended Gameplay | Recommended Feat | Recommended Classes |
---|---|---|
Grab one enemy until you drop them to 0 hit points. | Grappler | Paladin or Fighter |
Push enemies around, controlling the battlefield. | Tavern Brawler | Paladin or Fighter |
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