Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Fighter Build [Race, Subclass & Abilities]

Our fighter build in Baldur’s Gate 3 is designed for those who relish getting up close and personal with their foes. Utilizing their sheer strength to bring about their untimely demise swiftly. This guide will help you maximize your build to get the most out of it.

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Key Takeaways

• The fighter class is a frontline-type class used for attacking enemies head-on.
• For a fighter-type build, several races and skills are available to pick.
• Half-orc and Githyanki are both races that are better suited for close-quarters combat, a perfect match for a fighter class.
• The subclasses open when the character level reaches three, so keep that in mind.

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After some experimentation, we have concluded that Half–orc and Githyanki are the best choices for beating your foes to a bloody pulp.
Firstly, it’s essential to note that while you can select any class with any race, maximizing the potential of their abilities requires aligning them with their inherent strengths.

Half-Orc

The Half-Orc has some of the finest race features best suited for a melee build. As a race, Half-Orc offers exceptional features ideally suited for a fighter class, enabling you to move with greater agility, gain enhanced vision, and deliver more powerful strikes.

Abilities
Base Racial Speed		You can move 30ft pre-turn.
Darkvision		You can see up to 40ft.
Relentless Endurance		If you reach 0 hit points, you regain one hit point instead of becoming downed.
Savage Attacks		When you land a Critical Hit with a melee weapon attack, your damage dice are tripled instead of doubled.

The best race feature is the Relentless Endurance, which allows you to withstand massive damage without being knocked down. Furthermore, this presents a valuable opportunity for skilled players to stage a comeback in a losing fight.

After careful consideration, we concluded that Battle Master is the most suitable sub-class for the Half-orc because it will enhance the half-ore abilities by reducing the damage taken and help increase the damage dealt. The only drawback is that you won’t be able to cast spells.

With the Battle Master, you will gain access to some of the heaviest weaponry and armor in the game, so in conclusion, you will be dealing massive amounts of damage to anything you swing your weapon at. In addition, with the armor, you can tank most of the damage, so fighting on the front lines will not be that difficult.

We recommend the Soldier background for the Half-Orc. Furthermore, this background suits our build, focusing primarily on close-range combat. This will further enhance the Fighter and Battle Master abilities you possess to their absolute limit, making you an unstoppable force on the battlefield. This is the best fighter build in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Leveling up

Feat
You will get to select these on Levels 4,6,8, and 12. Furthermore, you will only gain 4 Feat points, so use them wisely. We chose the following.

Great Weapon Master		Makes the player more proficient with heavy melee weapons. Grants an extra melee attack if the player lands a crit hit.
Heavy Armor Master		Strength increases by 1, and nonmagic attack damage reduces by 3 when wearing heavy armor.
Durability		Adds 1 point to Constitution and grants full HP when players take short rest.
Ability Improvement

Manoeuver
You will get to select these on Levels 3,7 and 10. Furthermore, you will only be granted 7 Maneuver points, so use them wisely. This is exclusive to Battle Master Subclass.

• Evasive Footwork: Evade enemy attacks for one turn
• Menacing Attack: Makes enemies easier to hit by applying frightens status for two turns. It can be done with melee or Ranged weapons.
• Pushing Attack: Pushes back the targeted enemy 4.5 away.
• Goading Attack: Making enemies attack only you for one turn applies to melee and ranged weapons.
• Sweeping Attack: Targets multiple enemies at once with a radius of 2m.
• Disarming Attack: Targets the enemy’s hands and can be done with melee and ranged weapons.
• Riposte: You can retaliate when an enemy misses an attack on you.

Githyanki

As a Githyanki, you get access to a fantastic Race Featuring the “Martial Prodigy,”  which grants Githyanki access to light and medium armor. In addition, they also get to wield short, long, and even greatswords.

Abilities
Base Racial Speed		You can move 9m pre-turn.
Astral Knowledge		Gain Proficiency in all Skills of a Chosen Ability.
Martial Prodigy		A lifetime of relentless training gave you armor Proficiency with Light and Medium Armour and the Shortsword, Longsword, and Greatsword.
Githyanki Psionics: Mage hand		Create an invisible spectral hand that can manipulate and interact with objects.

Additionally, Githyanki may not take as much damage as the half-Orc. On the contrary, they possess various abilities that can offer a lot of playstyles for skilled players.

After experimentation, we concluded that the Eldritch Knight is the most suitable sub-class for Githyanki. Furthermore, the Eldritch Knight combines a Fighter and a Wizard. The spell casting isn’t as strong as a Wizard but offers many options. For example, defensive and attack spells differentiate between winning and losing in a brutal fight.

Outlander best suits the versatile skill set of the Githyanki. Moreover, it focuses more on the survivalist aspects of the character. In addition, this background is proficient in skills like animal handling and survival.

Feat
You can select these on Levels 4, 6, 8, and 12. Furthermore, four feat points are rewarded to the player for each level. Hence, we chose the following.

Dual Wielder		Allows the user to wield 2 weapons in a fight. Heavy weapons are an exception.
Ability Improvement		We used the ability improvement for the last 3 Feat to increase the strengths to 19 and Dextarty to 17.

Cantrips

Cantrips can be used freely without taking up a spell slot.

Fire Bolt		3-30 Damage Range 18m
Poison Spray		3-36 Damage Range 3m
Acid Splash		3-18 Damage Range 18m
Mage Hand		Conjuration Cantrip Range 18m
Misty Step		Conjuration Cantrip Teleportation Range 18m

Spells

• Melf’s Acid Arrow: level 2 Evocation Spell 6-24 Damage Range 18m
• Magic Weapon: level 2 Transmutation Spell Weapone gains +1 to damage
• Scorching Ray: level 2 Evocation Spell 6-36 Damage Range 18m
• Thunderwave: level 1 Evocation Spell 2-16 Damage Range 5m
• Magic Armor: Level 1 Spell Abjuration spell Protects target from damage
• Protection from Evil and Good: Level 1 Spell Abjuration, which protects ally from magic-related attacks
• Shield: Level 1 Spell Abjuration, which increases armor by 5 when hit by an attack.
• Burning Hands: level 1 Evocation Spell 3-18 Damage Range 5m
• Witch Bolt: level 1 Evocation Spell 1-12 Damage Range 18m
• Jump: level 1 Transmutation Spell Triples the jump distance

In conclusion, these two races best suit a fighter build in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you found this guide helpful, please make sure to give our other guides a read as well:

• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Cantrips.
• Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Race.
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Eldritch Invocations.
• Baldur’s Gate 3 8 Best Companions.
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Cleric Build. 
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Fighter Build. 
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Druid Build.