DND 2024 Fighter Build: Battle Master from Levels 1 to 12

Rules: revised 2024 Player's Handbook and current corrections. This is a single-class tabletop character, using the revised Soldier background, Human species, Battle Master subclass, and feats. It does not use Baldur's Gate 3 mechanics.

This DND 2024 Fighter build uses a Greatsword, protective armor, and carefully timed maneuvers to deal damage while helping the party control dangerous enemies. Start with Strength 17 and Constitution 16, take Defense at level 1, become a Battle Master at 3, and choose Great Weapon Master at 4. Reach Strength 20 at 6, then improve Constitution.

The route works from the first session, does not require multiclassing or magic items, and gives you a shield option when survival matters more than two-handed damage. Its main weaknesses are mental saving throws, distant enemies, and the temptation to spend every resource in one fight.

The character at a glance

The subclass, Tough, and Great Weapon Master require their revised published sources. Confirm those options are allowed before making the character. No optional multiclass permissions are needed. The free Fighter rules support the base class and a Champion alternative, but do not grant access to every proprietary subclass or feat. Revised Fighter rules, current Player's Handbook corrections.

If this is your first character, keep DnDDen's character creation walkthrough alongside the build. Write the choices on your sheet as you reach their levels instead of treating the level-12 character as your starting character.

Compare other revised party roles in the 2024 build hub.

Ability scores, skills, and background

Spend all 27 points

Soldier permits the selected increases of +2 Strength and +1 Constitution. Revised Human does not also add the old Human ability increases. Strength governs your main weapon attacks; Constitution improves durability. Dexterity supports initiative and your Shortbow, even though heavy armor does not add Dexterity to AC.

Take these proficiencies:

• Soldier: Athletics, Intimidation, and a Dice Set.
• Fighter: Insight and History.
• Human: Perception.
• Saving throws: Strength and Constitution from Fighter.
• Languages: Common, Dwarvish, and Common Sign Language.

History gives the character something useful to contribute outside physical challenges. Low Intelligence means it is not an automatic success button. At level 1, a proficient History check has a +1 modifier: Intelligence -1 plus proficiency +2. Athletics has +5. Proficiency helps a particular task; it does not replace the underlying ability.

Choose Tough for Human's additional Origin feat. It adds 2 HP per character level, including later levels. Human also gains Heroic Inspiration after finishing a Long Rest. When available, that resource can reroll one die immediately after rolling it; you must use the new result. It is separate from Advantage. Revised Tough, species and creation rules.

Starting equipment with an honest budget

Choose the equipment packages rather than their gold alternatives.

Fighter package A: Chain Mail, Greatsword, Flail, eight Javelins, Dungeoneer's Pack, and 4 GP.

Soldier package A: Spear, Shortbow, 20 Arrows, Dice Set, Healer's Kit, Quiver, Traveler's Clothes, and 14 GP.

That leaves 18 GP. Buy a Shield for 10 GP, leaving 8 GP. These are game-rule equipment prices, not real-world store prices. The shield is a deliberate purchase; it is not included in the Fighter package. Starting equipment, equipment rules and prices.

Your usual Armor Class is 17: Chain Mail 16 plus Defense 1. When you use the Flail and Shield, AC becomes 19. A Greatsword needs two hands when attacking, so you cannot combine its attacks with a wielded Shield. Donning or doffing that Shield takes a Utilize action. Decide which arrangement you want before opening the suspicious door.

Chain Mail also imposes Disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. A cautious approach is still useful, but the build is not an armored substitute for the party's scout. Stay far enough behind a scouting ally that one noisy character does not automatically commit everyone to a fight.

Weapons to keep accessible

The two numbers in a ranged weapon's range are its normal and long range. Long-range attacks ordinarily have Disadvantage. Carrying a bow does not make your Dexterity attack bonus equal to your Strength bonus, and enemy cover still matters.

Level-by-level progression

This table includes every feat choice and the main class milestones. Maximum HP uses the fixed increase of 6 after Fighter level 1, includes Tough, and applies Constitution increases retroactively.

At 3, Student of War choices are Carpenter's Tools and Survival. Buy tools separately. At 7, Know Your Enemy becomes available. The maneuver pool is four d8s at 3, five d8s at 7, and five d10s at 10; expended dice return after a Short or Long Rest. Official Fighter comparison and subclass progression.

For an HP check, level 8 is 10 + seven fixed increases of 6 + eight Constitution bonuses of 4 + sixteen HP from Tough = 100. Increasing Constitution changes earlier levels too. Do not merely add one extra HP when the ability improves.

The attack column assumes proficiency and the listed Strength. It excludes temporary benefits, magic weapons, and Advantage. At level 9, proficiency becomes +4; Strength 20 supplies +5, making +9. No feature here grants the level-13 Studied Attacks feature early.

Weapon Mastery and the DND 2024 Fighter build

Weapon Mastery adds specific tactical effects to weapons you have selected. It is not a general license to apply every weapon's property to every attack. This route uses the following selections:

• Greatsword, Graze: a missed attack can still inflict the ability modifier's damage under the property's rule. That is not a hit.
• Flail, Sap: a hit gives the target Disadvantage on its next attack roll before your next turn starts.
• Javelin, Slow: a damaging hit reduces the target's Speed by 10 feet until your next turn starts; repeated applications do not keep stacking that reduction.
• Shortbow, Vex, from 4: a damaging hit can set up Advantage on your next attack against that creature before your next turn ends.
• Maul, Topple, from 10: an acquired Maul provides a Constitution-save route to knocking a target Prone.

The Maul is a future option, not additional free starting equipment. Its listed price is 10 GP. If you have not acquired one by level 10, select a weapon you actually intend to use instead. You can change one mastery selection when you finish a Long Rest. Weapon and mastery rules.

At level 9, Tactical Master lets you replace a mastered weapon's normal mastery property with Push, Sap, or Slow for that attack. You do not add all of them to Graze. This makes the Greatsword more flexible when weakening an enemy or controlling its position matters more than damage on a miss.

A Prone enemy is easier to attack with Advantage when you are within 5 feet. Attacks from farther away have Disadvantage. Before knocking something down, consider whether the ally acting next is a nearby swordsman or a distant archer. A useful personal benefit can be an awkward party choice. Conditions and combat.

Feats: improve the attacks you already make

At 4, choose Great Weapon Master: Strength 17 becomes 18, satisfying Strength-13 and level-4 prerequisites. Add proficiency damage to Heavy-weapon hits against creatures during your turn's Attack action, including Action Surge attacks. Hew instead allows an immediate same-weapon Bonus Action attack after a Melee-weapon critical or reducing a creature to 0 HP with one. Riposte and Hew lack that Attack-action damage bonus. There is no -5/+10 option. Revised Great Weapon Master.

At 6, Strength 20 improves accuracy, damage, Athletics, and relevant save DCs. Constitution at 8 and 12 makes this a durable, uncomplicated route. These are editorial priorities for reliability, not a claim that no other feat combination can outperform it in a particular campaign.

Soldier's Savage Attacker works once per turn when you hit with a weapon: roll the weapon's damage dice twice and use either roll. For a Greatsword, compare two complete 2d6 results. Do not pick individual dice from different results, double the Strength modifier, or treat the maneuver die as a weapon damage die. Origin feat rules.

The feat guide explains the wider selection framework. If your campaign uses the original rules, follow the separate 2014 Battle Master progression.

Maneuver reference and sensible priorities

Spend one superiority die, using at most one maneuver per attack. Except Precision, these maneuvers add that die to damage on a hit. Save DC is 8 + proficiency + Strength modifier: 13 at 3, 14 at 4, 15 at 5, 16 at 6-8, and 17 at 9-12.

Know Your Enemy reveals a creature's damage immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities as a Bonus Action. Official feature overview. Choose a visible target within 30 feet, once per Long Rest; spend a die without an action to recharge. Revised Battle Master.

Choose your purpose before spending. If an ally needs a safe position, damage is not the only measure of a successful turn. If enemies are nearly defeated, keeping resources for the next room may be more valuable than adding dice to a fight already under control.

Keep ordinary conditions distinct from additional effects: Frightened does not automatically make a creature flee, and forced movement does not itself provoke opportunity attacks. An ordinary grapple or shove resolved through a saving throw also does not provide the attack-roll miss required for Riposte. Rules glossary, official Sage Advice.

Two worked turns

Level 1: useful before the subclass

You have the Greatsword ready, AC 17, and 7 of 15 HP. An adjacent target has AC 13, no relevant resistance, and no effect imposing Advantage or Disadvantage.

1. Attack with a d20 result of 11. Add +5 to reach 16: a hit.
2. Your weapon dice show 2 and 3, totaling 5. Savage Attacker's second set shows 4 and 5, totaling 9. Choose 9.
3. Add Strength +3 once: 12 Slashing damage.
4. Use Second Wind as your Bonus Action. A d10 result of 4 plus Fighter level 1 restores 5 HP, taking you to 12 of 15.

One Second Wind use remains. You have not made an extra attack, used a maneuver, or gained a level-4 damage benefit. That modest turn is already useful: you attacked accurately and recovered without spending your action on healing.

Level 5: coordinate control and recovery

Assume a Medium enemy with AC 16, Strength save +2, and no immunity to Prone or relevant resistance. You are within 5 feet, at 40 of 59 HP, and have all four superiority dice. These are illustrative rolls, not expected damage.

1. First attack: 11 + 7 = 18, a hit. Choose Trip.
2. Weapon dice total 7. Add Strength 4, Great Weapon Master 3, and a superiority result of 3: 17 damage.
3. The enemy's save is 4 + 2 = 6, failing DC 15. It falls Prone.
4. Your second attack has Advantage at this distance. Results 4 and 13 use 13; 13 + 7 = 20, a hit.
5. Weapon dice total 7 again. Add Strength 4 and the feat's 3: 14 damage.
6. Second Wind rolls 6 + 5, restoring 11 HP to 51 of 59. Tactical Shift can also move you up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.

Total damage is 31, with three superiority dice remaining. This example leaves Savage Attacker unused to keep the arithmetic transparent. Actual outcomes depend on attack rolls, saves, resistance, positioning, and whether using your Bonus Action to heal is the best choice.

Resolve Precision first, then use Graze only if the attack remains a miss. A DND 2024 Fighter build becomes much easier to run when each die has a clear job before you roll it.

DnDDen's online dice roller can help with practice rolls. Keep attack, weapon, and superiority results separate in your notes so you can explain the final total.

Action economy and resource recovery

An action, Bonus Action, and Reaction are separate opportunities. Gaining another action does not refresh the other two.

Action Surge supplies one additional action on your turn, excluding the Magic action. Through level 12 you have one use per Short or Long Rest. At 5, two Attack actions can produce four attacks; at 11, six. That is a burst option, not your regular attack count.

Your Bonus Action may already be needed for Second Wind, Hew, or a subclass decision. You cannot use all of them on the same turn. Similarly, spending your Reaction on an attack means it is unavailable for a later opportunity attack until it refreshes.

Second Wind has two uses at levels 1-3, three at 4-9, and four at 10-12. A Short Rest restores one expended use; a Long Rest restores all. Tactical Mind can spend that resource after a failed ability check to add 1d10, but does not spend the use if the check still fails. It does not improve attack rolls or saving throws.

Tactical Shift follows the Bonus Action use of Second Wind, not Tactical Mind. Indomitable arrives at 9: once per Long Rest at these levels, reroll a failed saving throw and add your Fighter level, using the new result. It is strong insurance, not automatic immunity. Fighter features.

Before an uncertain fight, record HP, Second Wind, superiority dice, Action Surge, and Indomitable separately. Ask what the party expects before its next safe rest. Spend aggressively to prevent a collapse; conserve when ordinary attacks already solve the problem.

Protect the party's plan as well as its hit points. Holding a narrow doorway can buy a wounded ally time, while chasing a distant enemy may expose everyone behind you. Tell allies which creature you intend to engage, then check whether they need that creature held nearby or moved away. Clear communication often makes the same character substantially more effective.

Alternatives and common questions

What if Battle Master is unavailable?

Use Champion with the same starting abilities, equipment, and feat route if those options are permitted. Remove all superiority dice and maneuver instructions. Champion offers a simpler play pattern through its own features; it does not inherit the subclass benefits in this guide. Read its revised progression rather than copying a 2014 character sheet. Free Champion rules.

If Great Weapon Master is unavailable, take Ability Score Improvement at 4: Strength 17 becomes 18 and Wisdom 10 becomes 11. Take Strength +2 at 6 as planned. Wisdom's modifier remains +0; remove the feat's damage and Hew benefits. If Tough is unavailable, choose an allowed Human Origin feat and subtract twice your level from the HP table.

Is the shield configuration a different build?

It is an available defensive mode. Use the Flail already in your equipment and the purchased Shield. Damage and relevant feat interactions change, while AC improves. You have Defense, so do not silently add Dueling's damage as well.

Here is a practical defensive comparison. An enemy with +6 to hit, making a normal d20 attack without Advantage or Disadvantage, hits AC 17 on results 11-20: ten of twenty outcomes, or 50%. Against shielded AC 19, it needs 13-20: eight outcomes, or 40%. That is a ten-percentage-point reduction in hit chance, not immunity. It does nothing against a saving-throw effect. Choose the Shield when surviving repeated attacks matters more than your two-handed damage, and allow for the action needed to equip it.

Should I multiclass after level 5?

This route stays Fighter because levels 6-12 deliver substantial ability improvements, more subclass options, stronger recovery tools, and the third attack at 11. A multiclass should solve a specific problem worth those delays. It also requires meeting both classes' prerequisites and the campaign's permissions.

For physical accessories, use the readable-set buying guide to compare appearance and practical handling. Readable d20s and several distinguishable damage dice are the practical priority; a theme grants no mechanical benefit.

What should I prepare before the next session?

Keep a clean printable character sheet, adding clear spaces for revised features if you use a traditional layout. Record the weapon currently in hand, current AC, remaining resources, and your next level's choice.

The most useful DND 2024 Fighter build is one you can operate confidently: attack with the correct bonus, understand the cost of your next decision, and choose control that helps the party finish the encounter safely.

Rules attribution: This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at D&D Beyond's SRD page. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Rules explanations and examples are original adaptations; separately cited proprietary options are summarized independently.