Author: Redweaver
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The fighter class is generally considered to be something of a "beginner's class", due to the relative simplicity of melee combat. Upon closer scrutiny, however, we find a quiet, hidden depth to the class which invites inspection and mastery. Much like the game Othello, the basics of being a fighter are quite simple, but after playing the class for a while, strategies and intricasies become apparent that the novice may not notice, but the master can use to great effect. Good at both taking damage and dishing out the pain, proficient at a variety of weapons, and given the large amounts of feats they will accumulate, fighters are the unparalleled experts of melee combat.
We'll begin our study of the fighter class with the selection of your race and move through Ability scores, skill placement and feat selection. As of yet, our knowledge of Action Points (AP) is incomplete, so I will hold off on trying to speculate about them much. As information about the fighter APs becomes available, I'll try to keep up with editing this guide with the relavant suggestions. Please help add to our knowledge of APs in DDO. A note to players coming from other MMOs: Fighters are not just tanks, able to take a lot of damage but not deal much themselves, which can be a jarring change from what you are familiar with.
Races:
Humans have the advantage of an extra feat to start with, and gain 4 skill points at first level, as well as 1 skill point each additional level. The extra feat is what makes the human race an attractive choice for the fighter class, who are a kind of "Feat master", as well as it's average start to Abilities, no bonuses or penalties. The downside of the race is that they have nothing extra that is special about them. No special racial abilities, no additional resistances, no bonus proficiencies from thier race, and no extra cool look to them in the way of dermal plating, body size, or even pointy ears. The human race is a solid choice for beginners, due to not many extra factors to consider, and for experts, because of the options the extra feat opens up at low levels.
Dwarves gain a +2 bonus to Constitution and a -2 penalty to Charisma. Since charisma doesn't play into combat in many ways (bluff and intimidate skills are about it), doesn't alter the numeric aspects of combat, such as to-hit bonuses, damage bonuses, Armor Class (AC) or Hit Points (HP), Cha is considered by many fighters to be a "dump stat". This means you can safely ignore the Ability for the purpose of creating a fighter and don't need to place any points into it or worry about penalties to the stat. If, however, you plan to make heavy use of the bluff or intimidate in your fighter build, dwarf may not be a good choice for your fighter, or you may have to spend some of your precious 28 points to "buy" your way to a higher charisma score. The +2 to Con gives your fighter a bonus to both HP and your Fortitude save, both important to your character's survival. HP determine damage you can take before dying, Fort saves help stave off poison and disease effects, which can reduce your melee stats. Additionally, dwarves gain a further +2 saving throw bonus versus spells and poisons. Another upside to the Dwarf race is the +4 bonus they gain to the Balance skill checks, which will help you keep your feet under you so you can continue swinging your weapon. With the many knockdown effects in the game, such as Trip attacks, Grease, Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, and other things, the Balance skill bonus can be a great bonus to your fighter's build. Dwarves tend to be good in a "tank" style build focusing on defenses and the ability to take punishment.
Elves start with a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Constitution. The bonus to Dex adds to your AC, your Reflex saves, which help you get out of the way of some effects such as traps and spells, Balance, Tumble, Hide and Move Silently skills. Having a high AC means you are harder to hit in melee combat, which means you will take less damage, which will help your fighter survive longer. Good Reflex saves will let you take half damage from many traps and spells, such as Fireball or Lightning Bolt, and taking half damage from these deadly sources is a good thing. Elves also gain an inherant +2 bonus to saving throws versus spells from the enchantment school, which includes sleep and charm effects, magical compulsions like Suggestion, and the dreaded Hold Person spell. Since fighters start off proficient with most weapons, the extra weapon abilities elves start with are redundant and provide nothing extra to your fighter. The -2 penalty to Con will reduce your fighter's HP every single level, which will allow you to take less damage in a fight, which can reduce your survivability. Elves tend to make a good mobility fighter focusing on the ability to avoid damage rather than take it and moving quickly in combat.
Halflings begin play with a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength. I've already discussed the good qualities of a high Dex, so I won't repeat them. In addition, Halflings get an inherant +1 bonus to AC due to their small size, making them further harder to hit. Their other racial bonuses and penalties aren't really a help or a hinderance to a fighter. The penalty to Str reduces your ability both to hit and do damage in melee, which are a fighter's bread and butter, and can make a Halfling fighter build require more planning and careful decision making than other races. Abilities such as Trip, Fighter Action Boosts, and perhaps using ranged rather than toe-to-toe tactics are keys to good Halfling builds. Halflings can also be good mobility fighters like an elf build, but Feat and AP choices could make or break this fighter, so I wouldn't recommend Halfling as a race choice for beginners.
Warforged get a +2 bonus to Constitution, but a -2 to both Wisdom and Charisma. Wis is generally considered nearly as much as a dump stat as Cha by some players, but be wary of falling into this trap. Wis affects your Will saving throws which are used to resist some spell effects, such as against Sleep, Hold Person and Paralysis, all of which can turn your fighter into so many useless pixels. They are resistant to poisons, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, and exhaustion, all of which can cause a fighter serious problems, especially stat reducing poisons and paralysis which reduces a fighter to utter uselessness. Warforged receive half effect from cleric heals, which can be both a pro and a con. Pro because you don't have to have a cleric in your party to be effective, and all MMO players have experience with how rare clerics can be and how long groups can spend doing nothing while waiting for a cleric to be looking for a group. Con because if you can't find a wizard or sorcerer with the Repair spell, the cleric will waste much mana trying to keep you alive and will have less mana for keeping the rest of the party healed. My best advice on this point is to find an arcane caster and make a friend. A well-played wizard and warforged fighter duo can be quite deadly and effective in DDO. Warforged also enjoy some quality natural armor which can reduce the effectiveness of opponents sneak attacks and critical hits, but finding a docent can be an exersize in frustration due to their relative rareness compared to other armors. Warforged, much like Dwarves, can excel in a tank build.
Abilities:
Strength. This is the livelyhood of nearly all fighter builds. Strength affects your to-hit and damage bonuses in melee combat as well as how much you can carry before becomming encumbered, thereby increasing your ability to have a varied arsenal of weapons. Points spent here will not induce regret. Hoard potions and wands of Bull's Strength, and ask for the buff by name. As a meta-gaming note, there are levers and switches in game which can only be activated, and doors which can only be opened by a high strength. I recommend a minimum of 14 in this stat to all builds of fighter.
Dexterity. Affecting AC, Reflex saves, and several mobility type skills, Dex is a solid fighter stat. How high you take it will depend on the type of fighter you are making. Tank builds aren't always so interested in avoiding damage or moving quickly, so don't need this stat as high as a fighter focusing on high AC, balance and tumble skills and general ability to move around in combat. A higher Dex bonus will be negated by heavier armors, so if you plan on wearing full plate or similar, extra points in Dex will be wasted. A penalty from your Dex modifier is not a good idea for fighters in general. I would advise a minimum of 12 in this stat to all fighters to keep your Dex modifier positive.
Constitution. This stat gives you your modifiers to HP and Fortitude saves, both of which increase the survivability and durability of your fighter. More HP is always good, and being able to shrug off stat reducing poison will make your fighter more effective in the long run. If you never get hit by poison in the first place, you won't have to spend money on restoration potions, and your cleric won't spend mana on restoration spells, leaving more mana for heals. Like Dex, a penalty from your Con modifier is not a good idea for most fighters, and how high you take it will depend on your specific build. I would say to put a minimum of 12 in this stat to all fighters.
Intelligence. If you want more skill points, this is the stat for you. Warforged specifically will be interested in the fact that this stat figures directly into your Repair skill, determining how many HP the Warforged gain back when resting at a shrine. Many fighters consider Int to be somewhat of a dump stat, so the number of points spent here will largely be based on personal preference for how many skills you want to increase. Even if you aren't interested in extra skill points, you should perhaps be interested in not losing skill points. I advise a minimum of 10 in this stat to keep your Int modifier from being negative.
Wisdom. This stat affects your Will saving throws and some skills. Higher Will saves will keep many enchantment spells from hitting you, and I can't stress enough how debilitating some of these can be, especially Hold Person. The Heal skill is also based on your Wis modifier, which lets you gain back more HP when resting at shrines. I would suggest a minimum of 10 in this stat so your modifier isn't negative.
Charisma. Other than the skills Bluff, Intimidate, and Use Magic Device (UMD), this stat has no real uses to a fighter. Bluff and Intimidate are skills to help manage a monster's attention to your character, and UMD has it's usefulness in activating wands. Unless you're build needs these skills, which can be increased with skill points even after a negative Cha modifier, or you are interested in augmenting your self-healing with wands, this stat isn't terribly important to most fighters. Being able to use Cure Light Wounds wands can both tone down the amount of mana a cleric has to use to keep you alive, and make you more viable for soloing. I recommend not spending any points in this stat unless you feel it is important to your specific build.
Skills:
The fighter class skill list is Intimidate, Jump, Repair, and Swim. These can be increased by one rank for a single skill point. All other skills are cross-class, and cost two skill points to raise a single rank. Some of the more important skills to a fighter would include, Balance and Tumble (based off of Dex), Repair (based off Int) or Heal (based off Wis) depending on if you're a Warforged or not, and Intimidate (based off Cha). Which skills you increase the ranks of will be entirely dependant on your specific build. Mobility fighters may be more interested in Tumble, Tanks might want a higher skill in Intimidate, or maybe you have your own concept that you can augment with careful skill choices.
Feats:
Feats are where you'll really bring your fighter build together and breath life into your character. Fighters gain a bonus Feat at first level and every even numbered level after that (2, 4, 6, etc.) selected from the following list:
Cleave
Combat Expertise
Dodge
Exotic Weapon Proficiency
Great Cleave
Greater Weapon Focus
Improved Critical
Improved Shield Bash
Improved Shield Mastery
Improved Two Handed Fighting
Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Manyshot
Mobility
Point Blank Shot
Power Attack
Precision
Quick Draw
Rapid Reload
Rapid Shot
Sap
Shield Mastery
Shot on the Run
Slicing Blow
Spring Attack
Stunning Blow
Two Handed Fighting
Two Weapon Blocking
Two Weapon Defense
Two Weapon Fighting
Weapon Finesse
Weapon Focus
Weapon Specialization
Whirlwind Attack
As you can see, this list contains most of the Feats in the game. Fighter builds are differentiated by the Feats chosen, and they get more Feats than any other class in game. A quick, nimble build may want Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack to maximize the ability to move in combat. A ranged combat fighter will want Point Blank Shot, Manyshot, Rapid Shot, and Shot on the Run. Someone wanting high melee damage might go with Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave and Whirlwind Attack. A more classical tank-like fighter could be built around Shield Mastery, Combat Expertise, Improved Shield Bash, and Improved Shield Mastery. A weaponmaster style build would pick Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, and Improved Critical with their favored weapon type. Toughness is a solid Feat choice for almost any fighter build, as it adds 3 HP at first level and and additional 1 HP each time you gain a level. My advice on Feats is to have a core concept solidly in your head when putting your fighter together, and pick Feats that keep you within that concept. Also, since many Feats have a prerequisite or two, plan ahead and know what your next Feat choices will be. This will help you in picking your Action Points as you level up as well because you'll know what fits your concept and what doesn't.
A fighter does not have to be just a simple, mindless sword-jockey. There are as many differnt possible types of fighter as there are different Feat lines, and each of them can be equally viable and deadly if well put togther and played with skill. From the loincloth-clad barbarian swinging a greataxe, to the lithe and nimble fencer swinging from chadeliers, and many more between, the fighter class covers quite a range of abilities and playstyles. Try out something a little different than your classic MMO tank, and you may just be pleasantly surprised at how much depth can be found in the fighter class.
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