The poor Fighter in Dungeons & Dragons has often been accused as the most basic and uninteresting class in-game, thanks to a straightforward concept that lacks the exciting special attacks and spells of the other D&D heroes. Thankfully, the last few Unearthed Arcana releases have given the class some love and improved a lot of its features.
This newest Unearthed Arcana 7 looks to have done the same, for the most part, with subclass changes and a brand new subclass for players to try.
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The D&D Fighter’s New Class Features & Powers
The Fighter class has seen several new feats introduced and some reworks of existing feats, including Second Wind and Fighting Style. These are the newest changes to the Fighter in One D&D
- Tactical Mind is a new level 2 feature, which allows the Fighter to excel in or out of combat. This feat allows you to expend a use of Second Wind to roll 1d10 and add it to a failed ability check, with the use of Second Wind not being expended if you still fail the check.
- Tactical Shift is a new level 5 feature that lets you move half your movement speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks when you activate your Second Wind.
- Master of Armaments replaces Weapon Expert and Weapon Adept at level 9. This feat allows the Fighter to choose any kind of Mastery weapons they are using and replaces its Mastery property with another it qualifies for. This can be done when you finish a Long Rest.
- Studied Attacks is a new level 13 feature that increases the likelihood you’ll hit after you miss. If you miss an attack roll against a creature, you will have advantage on your next attack roll against that same creature until the start of your next turn.
How D&D Has Changed The Fighter’s Existing Powers
The Fighter class in One D&D has seen some changes to its feats such as Fighting Style and Second Wind, which are listed as follows:
- Fighting Style now lets you replace the feat you chose whenever you gain a Fighter level. This is inspired by Martial Versatility in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
- Second Wind will now also restore one expended use on a Short Rest.
- Weapon Mastery will now max out at 6 instead of 5.
- Action Surge will now work with any action except for the Magic Action.
- Indomitable has gone back to its original structure, with more uses at higher levels.
- Three Extra Attacks has returned to level 20.
- Fighter Subclass and Ability Score Improvement have been returned to their 2014 versions.
How One D&D Changed Fighter Subclasses
The Fighter has gotten several changes across multiple subclasses in this newest Unearthed Arcana, these being Champion, Eldritch Knight, and Battle Master.
Champion
- Remarkable Athlete replaces Adaptable Victor and moves to level 3. It now grants Advantage on Initiative rolls and Strength (Athletics) checks, in addition to increasing long-jump distance.
- Heroic Warrior now gives you Heroic Advantage at the start of each of your turns in combat.
Eldritch Knight
- Spellcasting contains no school-of-magic restrictions after level 3 in the subclass. Moreover, the Fighter can now change one cantrip when gaining a level, and the Fighter can use an Arcane Focus.
- War Magic now allows you to replace one of your attacks with casting a cantrip, allowing the Eldritch Knight to weave magic into their attacks.
- Improved War Magic now allows you to replace two of your attacks with casting a level 1 or 2 spell, allowing the Eldritch Knight to further weave magic into their attacks.
Battle Master
- Student of War now also gives you proficiency in a skill on top of the proficiency in one type of Artisan’s tools.
- Know Your Enemy now allows you to know a creature’s damage resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities as a Bonus Action.
- Relentless now allows you to use a Maneuver once per turn without expending a Superiority Die, but that free Maneuver uses a d8 instead of your improved Superiority Die.
The Battle Master has seen a lot of changes to several Maneuvers, which are listed as follows:
- Ambush from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is included.
- Bait and Switch from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is included.
- Commander’s Strike no longer uses your Bonus Action.
- Commanding Presence from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is included.
- Disarming Attack, Distracting Strike, Goading Attack, Maneuvering Attack, Menacing Attack, and Precision Attack now work with any type of attack roll.
- Evasive Footwork now lasts until the end of your turn, not when you stop moving.
- Lunging Attack now lets you take the Dash action as a Bonus Action and adds the Superiority Die if you hit a creature after moving at least 10 feet in a straight line.
- Parry now allows you to add your Strength or Dexterity modifier to the damage reduction.
- Precision Attack now triggers from missing an attack roll, not before you know if the attack hit or not.
- Rally now uses your choice of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma when determining the amount of Temporary Hit Points gained.
- Tactical Assessment from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is included.
Fighter Is Getting a New Subclass in One D&D: The Brawler
As well as changes to existing subclasses, the Fighter is getting a new subclass called the Brawler, which is focused on Unarmed and Improvised Weapon attacks, and it is all about grabbing anything and anyone in sight and beating them senseless. These are the feats for this new subclass.
Level 3: Unarmed Expert
You can roll 1d6 plus your Strength modifier in place of the normal damage of your Unarmed Strike. If you aren’t holding any weapons or a Shield when you make the attack roll, the d6 becomes a d8.
Level 3: Improvised Expert
You are proficient with Improvised Weapons. Whenever you finish a Long Rest, choose one weapon property from the One-Handed list and one from the Two-Handed list:
- One-Handed: Light or Thrown (Range 20/60)
- Two-Handed: Reach or Thrown (Range 10/30)
Until the end of your next Long Rest, the OneHanded choice applies to the one-handed Improvised Weapons you wield, and the TwoHanded choice applies to the two-handed ones.
In addition, whenever you attack with an Improvised Weapon, you can give it one of the following Mastery properties for that attack, depending on whether it can be wielded in one hand or two:
- One-Handed: Sap, Slow, or Vex
- Two-Handed: Cleave, Push, or Topple
Level 7: Grappling Expert
You can make one Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action. When you use Unarmed Strike in this way, you must choose the Grapple or Shove option. In addition, at the start of each of your turns, you can deal 1d6 Bludgeoning damage to one creature Grappled by you.
Level 10: Dirty Fighting
You have Advantage on attack rolls made with Improvised Weapons and Unarmed Strikes against a creature Grappled by you.
Level 15: Improvised Specialist
You are a master at making the ordinary deadly. Whenever you hit a creature with an Improvised Weapon, you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the damage roll, and the damage die of your two-handed Improvised Weapons becomes 1d12.
In addition, whenever you attack with an Improvised Weapon, you can use two Mastery properties from Improvised Expert, instead of one.
Level 18: Unarmed Specialist
Your Unarmed Strikes improve to a d8. If you aren’t holding any weapons or a Shield when you make the attack roll, the d8 becomes a d10.
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The Fighter has been shown some love across multiple Unearthed Arcana’s, and this newest set of playtest materials only adds to that notion. Its new subclass offers something a bit different, while the changes to subclasses, especially Battle Master, seem to be making some good changes. With the new rules set to release next year, we will likely see some changes between now and then, but so far, the Fighter seems to be in a pretty good spot.
