Pathfinder 2e Remaster: How To Build A Fighter (2024)

Strength

+2 if building around dexterity

+4 if building around strength

Fighters building around strength want it to be as high as possible, as it lets them hit more accurately and harder in melee.

You always want Strength to be decent, even as a dexterity fighter. Most dexterity weapons, such as daggers and bows, will use strength to determine damage.

Dexterity

+4 if building around dexterity

+0 if building around strength

If you're using dexterity weapons, you'll want this to be your highest attribute. It lets you hit, and lets you dodge.

Dexterity offers very little to strength fighters. Armour with the Bulwark trait allows you to use a +3 modifier instead of your dexterity when facing fireballs.

Constitution

+3

Constitution puts more hitpoints between you and untimely death. This is useful for both strength and dexterity builds.

Wisdom

+2 or +3

Wisdom boosts perception. Fighters have one of the better leveling paths for perception, starting the game with expert proficiency. Wisdom enhances this effect, supporting the fighter's less resilient will to resist.

Intelligence

Optional flaw

Intelligence doesn't build into any class features but does give you starting skills and languages. Those can be nice to have but won't make or break a fighter.

Charisma

Optional flaw

Charisma doesn't build into any class features. If you have an ability flaw, odds are you're putting it here, unless you want to use intimidation or take a multiclass dedication such as swashbuckler.

Athletics

Athletics is a staple for muscle fighters. The trip and shove actions are effective tools for controlling the melee around you. A tripped enemy will prompt a reactive strike when they attempt to stand up, allowing you to make an extra attack at your full attack bonus.

Medicine

Medicine gives you a reliable source of healing by taking the treat wounds exploration activity once per hour. It won't compete with items or magic without skill feats and becomes weaker if multiple people are trained in it, as they will share a cooldown.

Stealth

The more of the party that can use stealth, the better. Other skills lose utility when multiple people can do them, but stealth is a valuable exception that dexterity fighters will benefit from.

Thievery

Theft is a useful skill for a dexterity fighter. Even if the party has someone who does it better, people are more likely to suspect the rogue than the fighter, which gives you a useful distraction.

Crafting

If you fight with a shield, you need a way to repair it before it breaks. You won't have a tremendous intelligence modifier to use with this skill, but you should be able to keep your shield patched up. It'll save you a lot of money on needing to fix or replace a completely broken piece of equipment.

Reactive Shield

Defensive melee fighter

Reactive Shield saves actions for defensive fighters, letting you raise a shield as a reaction instead of an action. You won't be able to shield block as part of the same reaction, so use this when an enemy would just barely hit to turn it into a miss.

Aggressive Block

Defensive melee fighter

Aggressive block punishes enemies for attacking you, by letting you shove them or knock them off-guard after they strike your shield.

Double Shot

Ranged Fighter

Double Shot allows you to partially work around the multiple attack penalty by taking two shots at once. They both need to target different enemies so this loses value if your GM prefers large singular boss fights.

Point Blank Shot

Ranged Fighter

Point Blank shot gives you bonus damage on those shots, ignoring the penalties for point-blank attacks and gaining bonus damage on weapons that don't have short-range penalties.

Sudden Charge

Aggressive Melee Fighters

Sudden Charge is amazing for strength-based fighters, letting them close the distance without sacrificing too many attacks. If you have a lower-than-normal speed, such as by playing a dwarf, you'll benefit more.

Power Attack

Aggressive Melee Fighters

Power Attack serves a similar purpose to double shot but on a single target. You functionally lump two attacks into a single strike to evade the multiple-attack penalty.

Combat Assessment

Fighters with good intelligence

If you have high intelligence or numerous lore skills (such as if you were planning a wizard multiclass dedication), combat assessment becomes a useful feat. You can bundle a recall knowledge action into your attack and adjust plans to deal with any weaknesses this uncovers.

Bastion

Fighters with shields

Just about the best defensive archetype with lots of shield-related feats. A fun standout feat from the set is Disarming Block, which lets you disarm an attacker who hits your shield block (using the athletics your strength fighter is so good at!).

Sentinel

Heavy Armor Fighters

This archetype is all about heavy armor and improving your fighter's bond to it. Sleep in your armour. Give it a pet name. Bounce failed attackers off it so hard they fly 10 feet away from you. Improve the effects of Bulwark armor to make up for your lack of dexterity.

Archer

Ranged Fighters

Doubles down on what dexterity fighters already do: shoot people. You gain access to new feats that benefit your ranged style, but the dedication also provides access to feats you already gain from being a fighter. With the free archetype rules variant, this frees up your class feats for other uses.

Medic

Fighters with medicine skill

Pairing with Godless Healing and Battle Medicine gives the fighter more healing abilities. If you want to follow through, the resuscitate feat at the end of this dedication allows you to bring back the recently dead with a DC40 medicine check.

Barbarian

Aggressive Strength Fighters

Gain the benefits of the rage action, along with the downsides. Dabbling in barbarian instincts like this means you take on the anathema of the instinct you choose. A dragon instinct means you can never back down from a slight, and a superstition instinct means you can never permit a spell to be cast on you (including healing!).