D&D: Playtest 7’s Fighter is Trying To Get Good At Punching
In Playtest 7, Fighters have a few big changes, including a new subclass with an eye towards punching. It’s a big swing, but is it a big hit?
Fighters get an overhaul in Unearthed Arcana Playtest 7. And while the Playtest 7 Fighter has a nerf every now and then, for the most part, there are some big quality-of-life improvements all around. And a lot of little ones too. Players of Battlemasters and Eldritch Knights will no doubt appreciate the little upgrades they’ve gotten to some of the less loved options that players have had to contend with.
All in all it’s a step in a pretty positive direction. Though again, it feels like WotC could go even further. But they do at least have an idea of what isn’t working about the Fighter and seem poised to address it in Playtest 7.
The Playtest 7 Fighter – Overview
First and foremost, Fighters are about fighting. And WotC is clamping down on this, by making sure that that’s mostly all they can do during the turns when they go completely all out. A big nerf to Action Surge seems aimed at stymieing the “2-level dip” that many a character might take into Fighter to gain the ability to take two Actions on the same turn.
Now Action Surge allows you to take on additional Action, except for the Magic action (which is what you’d use to cast a spell or use a Magic Item that requires a Magic Action to be activated (like a Wand of Fireball or the like). This means no more cheating your way into two spells per turn by playing a Wizard who took two levels as a Fighter.
The other big change is a new feature called Tactical Shift, which lets you move up to half your speed without provoking attacks of opportunity when you use your Bonus Action to Second Wind. Fighters also get Master of Armaments at 9th level, which lets you change out the Mastery properties of your weapons (with some restrictions). Which lets you make your weapons play the way you want them to. And at 13th level, Studied Attacks gives you advantage against a creature if you attack them again after missing them.
Other than that, most of the changes are returning the Fighter to the same progression it always had.
Playtest 7 Fighter Subclasses
Though the Fighter has some slight changes, the subclasses for the Playtest 7 Fighter are where it’s at. Starting with Battlemaster, which gets a significant improvement to basically every Maneuver. First of all, the Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Maneuvers are included now. Second, many of the maneuvers which required a melee weapon attack, now work with any kind of attack roll, melee, ranged, or otherwise.
And Commander’s Strike is actually worth taking, as you no longer need to give up your Bonus Action to use it. Other maneuvers just work a little more smoothly.
Champion Fighters remain the big, simple everyman class. The only big changes are at level 3, you now gain advantage on Initiative rolls and Athletics checks, because, like the Homestar Runner, you are a terrific athlete, and then at level 10, Heroic Warrior lets you give yourself advantage on any combat turn when you start without it. Very strong.
Eldritch Knights get a pretty big buff. Now they have no restrictions on spells, and War Magic has changed: you can now replace one of your attacks with casting a cantrip. Which puts the Attack action back on the menu for a lot of people. And it makes people wonder if you can cast a melee cantrip like Green Flame Blade or Booming Blade. And at higher levels, you can replace two of your attacks by casting a spell of any kind, though, that feels less exciting, but it’s still worth keeping around.
The Brawler – The New Fighter On the Block
Brawlers are a new subclass introduced in Playtest 7 for Fighters. And they tap into what seems to be a fundamental Fighter fantasy: killing someone with a cup. Or another improvised weapon.
They aren’t quite a monk, but they still are aimed at tackling unarmed and brawling type combat. This means you get a bonus 1d6 + Strength modifier in place of the normal damage on your Unarmed Strike. If you aren’t holding weapons or a Shield, your damage is 1d8 + Strength modifier.
You also gain proficiency with Improvised Weapons and can pick a Weapon Mastery property from both One and Two-handed weapons, which means you can Cleave or Topple or Vex with your Chair or Cup, depending. At higher levels, the Brawler gains Grappling Expert, granting a Bonus Action attack that can be used to Grapple or Shove. If you start the turn with a creature Grappled, you can deal 1d6 damage to them, which isn’t that much, especially for a level 7 feature, but it’s something.
At level 10, you gain advantage against a creature Grappled by you, and at level 15 you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the damage roll of an Improvised weapon, as well as dealing 1d12 with an Improvised weapon.
Honestly, this one feels so janky. It feels like it’s trying too hard to live up to the “you hit things really hard” that the subclass pales in power comparison even to the other Fighters, to say nothing of the Spellcasters of the game.
For instance, a Level 10 Champion gets a free Advantage on any attack. A Level 10 Eldritch Knight imposes Disadvantage on saves of creatures you hit with your weapon. A Level 10 Brawler? All they get is advantage on attack rolls with Improvised Weapons and Unarmed Strikes only and then, only against creatures that have already been grappled.
What do you think of the Playtest 7 Fighter?
