New player, would like to try a fighter capable of big damage

[Regularspecial1]

new player to the game and i really prefer playing warrior archetypes in MMOs and would really like to play a pure fighter that is able to dish out pretty decent damage. i have access to 32 point builds but don’t have any experience with the DnD character system so not sure how to build something that would be competitive.

are THF fighters just a pipe dream? the information ive been able to find about a potential build on my own seem to say it is outdated compared to a barbarian.

[janave]

new player to the game and i really prefer playing warrior archetypes in MMOs and would really like to play a pure fighter that is able to dish out pretty decent damage. i have access to 32 point builds but don’t have any experience with the DnD character system so not sure how to build something that would be competitive.

are THF fighters just a pipe dream? the information ive been able to find about a potential build on my own seem to say it is outdated compared to a barbarian.

I hate to echo the crowd but if this is really your first DDO melee guy, then Barbarian is probably the more forgiving option right now, the thing is, a first life Fighter has a hard time recovering in tough encounters, while a Barbarian is fairly safe initially due to the temporary hitpoints and uncanny dodge, then later from the T5 self healing, and cores providing you with healing amp.

A Fighter Vanguard with a little Stalwart help (20% hitpoints, passive con/str) is also fairly decent, but a little slower and little more gear dependent than a 2 Hander Barbarian.

[unbongwah]

Let's see how many posts we can get before someone tells you to play Inquisitive instead.

A properly built fighter will out DPS a barbarian, but barbarian is more newbie friendly due to all the temporary HPs and self healing they get. Also fighter depends more on short-term clickies for burst DPS which is a lot to learn how to micro manage when you are new.

2H weapons are the way to go if you like big numbers, although they fall behind other combat styles at endgame.

[HungarianRhapsody]

If you're looking for a Fighter that puts out big damage, I recommend

Ftr 8/Rgr 6/Arti 6 putting 41 AP into Inquisitive and grabbing the level 6 DWS enhancement to allow Sneak Attack on the critters you shoot.

(c'mon, you know we can't let this get past one full page of comments without using the "I"-word. At least I'm making sure he gets to keep the Fighter icon on his character. )

[Kinerd]

a pure THF fighter with big damage numbers

New Build
Fighter 20
True Neutral Halfling


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt. . .34pt . . 36pt. . .Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .16 . . . 16. . . .16 . . . 4: STR
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .10 . . . 10. . . .10 . . . 8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .16 . . . 18. . . .18 . . .12: STR
Intelligence. . 10. . . .10 . . . 10. . . .10 . . .16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . .20: STR
Charisma. . . . .8. . . .12 . . . .8. . . .10 . . .24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 0
Max . . . 8. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2


Feats

.1. . . . : Least Dragonmark: Healing
.1 Fighter: Power Attack
.2 Fighter: Cleave
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Slashing
.4 Fighter: Great Cleave
.6. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Slashing
.6 Fighter: Two Handed Fighting
.8 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
.9. . . . : Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing
10 Fighter: Improved Two Handed Fighting
12. . . . : Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing
12 Fighter: Greater Two Handed Fighting
14 Fighter: Heavy Armor Champion
15. . . . : Skill Focus: Use Magic Device
16 Fighter: Superior Weapon Focus: Slashing
18. . . . : Toughness
18 Fighter: Heavy Armor Master
20 Fighter: Heavy Armor Combatant
21 Epic . : 
24 Epic . : 
26 Destiny: 
27 Epic . : 
28 Destiny: 
29 Destiny: 
30 Epic . : 
30 Legend : 


Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (42 AP)
Kensei Focus: Axes, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge, One Cut, Alacrity
Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Attack Boost III
Weapon Group Specialization
Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike III, Strength
Opportunity Attack, Weapon Group Specialization, Strike at the Heart, Strength
A Good Death: Melee, Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Deadly Strike, Keen Edge
Stalwart Defender (26 AP)
Toughness, Stalwart Defense
Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery III, Threatening Countenance I
Resilient Defense III, Armor Expertise III
Strong Defense III, Strength
Swift Defense, Tenacious Defense III, Strength
Halfling (12 AP)
Halfling Luck
Jorasco Dragonmark Focus III, Acrobatic II
Lesser Dragonmark of Healing, Break out the Leeches, Nimble Reaction I
Greater Dragonmark of Healing

use a greataxe, go nuts. note that you can use stalwart defense stance all the time, even when you don't care about defense

the halfling dragonmarks won't be enough to keep you going, hence the UMD, but compared to the 0 self-healing fighters otherwise get they're pretty sweet

[Regularspecial1]

Let's see how many posts we can get before someone tells you to play Inquisitive instead.

A properly built fighter will out DPS a barbarian, but barbarian is more newbie friendly due to all the temporary HPs and self healing they get. Also fighter depends more on short-term clickies for burst DPS which is a lot to learn how to micro manage when you are new.

2H weapons are the way to go if you like big numbers, although they fall behind other combat styles at endgame.

what would a pure fighter look like that wants to output a lot of damage?

i just need something to do this “first life” thing and then i can unlock higher point builds correct?

[Kinerd]

what would a pure fighter look like that wants to output a lot of damage?

i just need something to do this “first life” thing and then i can unlock higher point builds correct?

higher point builds don't really matter, especially for THF, because there's a maximum starting Strength that you'll easily reach anyway even with a 28 point build

also you don't "unlock" the higher points exactly, you reincarnate an existing character into a new level 1 character who gets the extra build points

[Fivetigers33]

Welcome to DDO! Build is only 1/3 of getting BIG numbers.

As another poster mentioned, as fighter you have to know how to manage your short term clicky buffs.

Gear is the last 3rd. Gotta have the right tools for the job.


----------------------------------------------------------------


In a nutshell, go 20 Fighter, most AP in Kensai. Take Power Attack, all the special fighter Weapon Focus/Specialization feats, Combat Style feats (TWF or THF), and Improved Crit: ___. Remaining AP can be put in other trees for a little more DPS, but would best be spent in Stalwart Defender for newer players to keep them alive.

Go TWF for higher DPS. You may see bigger numbers with THF, but your DPS will be higher with TWF. I guess either is fine, just letting you know how things shake down.

For gear make sure you are getting your damage ability (most likely Strength) as high as possible with gear bonuses (insightful and quality too). Same goes for Melee Power and Deadly. For Endgame Fetters/Dust is the weapon combination you want.

[Drecas]

Some considerations, how about playing an elf for the racial Arcane Archer line? Then put the rest of the points into Kensei?
Or play an Aasimar for the healing hands? And speaking of healing, how about a halfling fighter for the dragonmark?
I just keep mentioning healing because it really is the fighter's greatest weakness, dishing out a lot of damage won't do you much good if the enemies can whittle down your health faster than you can heal it. Hirelings can be very unreliable, suddenly refusing to heal you seemingly at a whim, I always prefer to be self-sufficient.

I myself am partial to the single weapon fighting style and Knight's Training, because longswords are so abundant and you get a decent one at level 8 in "A Relic of a Sovereign Past", even if you are a free to play.

Another style I've enjoyed on my 28pt build, is using a repeating crossbow, once you get the target below 30% HP you can use A Good Death to deal 3 x 500 damage (4 x Ranged Power).
Also pretty sure you can Deadly Shot to score 3 crits on something, also good DPS.

[Coffey]

Remember Fighting Style prerequisites when starting your character at creation otherwise you wont see the feat available to you when you go to level up at the fighter trainer.
These ability points have to be added at the character creation and can be added to at level up intervals starting at level 4 and every 4 levels after that.

So you can see that you will want to start out at character creation wiith at least 16 dexterity for Two Weapon Fighting for example:

Two Weapon Fighting 15 dexterity (Level 1)
Two Weapon Fighting 17 dexterity (level 6 for a Fighter)
Two Weapon Fighting 17 dexterity (level 12 for a Fighter)

Tomes can be used to add to your abilities anywhere from +1 to +8 which are added to your character as you level up automatically after enabling them and can be purchased through the DDO store. With enough Favor you can get a +2 Tome (1750 Favor) and a +5 (5000 Favor).

+1 and +2 bonuses will be applied at character level 1 and higher
+3 bonuses will be applied at character level 3 and higher
+4 bonuses will be applied at character level 7 and higher
+5 bonuses will be applied at character level 11 and higher
+6 bonuses will be applied at character level 15 and higher
+7 bonuses will be applied at character level 19 and higher
+8 bonuses will be applied at character level 22 and higher

There are other things such as inventory pages that will unlock through favor and it is very worthwhile on a first life character.

Good Luck and all the best to you!

[unbongwah]

what would a pure fighter look like that wants to output a lot of damage?

i just need something to do this “first life” thing and then i can unlock higher point builds correct?

Pretty much what was posted. If you want a build which specialized in racial weapon bonuses (e.g. dwarf with greataxe), that's fine too.

When you reach level 20, you can Reincarnate into your second life: you get upgraded to 34 points, earn a past life feat, and start over at level 1 while keeping all the gear you acquired. The accumulation of past life feats and better gear is where DDO's long term meta is.

[Regularspecial1]

Some considerations, how about playing an elf for the racial Arcane Archer line? Then put the rest of the points into Kensei?
Or play an Aasimar for the healing hands? And speaking of healing, how about a halfling fighter for the dragonmark?
I just keep mentioning healing because it really is the fighter's greatest weakness, dishing out a lot of damage won't do you much good if the enemies can whittle down your health faster than you can heal it. Hirelings can be very unreliable, suddenly refusing to heal you seemingly at a whim, I always prefer to be self-sufficient.

I myself am partial to the single weapon fighting style and Knight's Training, because longswords are so abundant and you get a decent one at level 8 in "A Relic of a Sovereign Past", even if you are a free to play.

Another style I've enjoyed on my 28pt build, is using a repeating crossbow, once you get the target below 30% HP you can use A Good Death to deal 3 x 500 damage (4 x Ranged Power).
Also pretty sure you can Deadly Shot to score 3 crits on something, also good DPS.

in high end group content, how valuable is the self healing? i have never done a raid in the game yet, but i was betting on having dedicated healers do the bulk of the healing, and while a dps having some self sufficiency is nice, is not something i look for in an MMO class

[HungarianRhapsody]

in high end group content, how valuable is the self healing? i have never done a raid in the game yet, but i was betting on having dedicated healers do the bulk of the healing, and while a dps having some self sufficiency is nice, is not something i look for in an MMO class

Self Healing is super important. It's harder for Fighters than it is for many other classes, but it's still important. It's one of the reasons why Barbarians are easier to play (IMO) than Fighters - Barbarians have a feature that can give them temporary HP in a tight situation. Fighters have a bunch of features that can reduce the damage they take, but once they take that damage, there are fewer options available to them under level 20 to self-heal.

Once you hit level 20, there are some parts of the Epic Destinies that will allow you to self heal through most content with a small investment in appropriate gear. After you unlock that specific Epic Destiny, of course. (Primal Avatar - Rejuvenation Cocoon ability)

[Kinerd]

in high end group content, how valuable is the self healing? i have never done a raid in the game yet, but i was betting on having dedicated healers do the bulk of the healing, and while a dps having some self sufficiency is nice, is not something i look for in an MMO class

even in regular quests you're going to take more than enough damage to die without self-healing, and because self-healing is extremely popular it's not a given you'll be in groups for them with a dedicated healer.

it's possible i suppose to run only in raids, but it's a long way from new player to raid ready and i think you'll be really hamstrung by a non healing character until then.

one thing to keep in mind is you have multiple character slots though, so you could always try a pure non healing fighter alongside the halfling build above and see how you like them.

[Ballrus]

Welcome.

My 2 cp:

New Build
Fighter 20
Chaotic Good Human


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 18. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . .8. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 10. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 12. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Intim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .3 .21
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Jump. . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .12. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.1 Human. : Power Attack
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.2 Fighter: Stunning Blow
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Bludgeoning
.4 Fighter: Great Cleave
.6. . . . : Knight's Training
.6 Fighter: Improved Single Weapon Fighting
.8 Fighter: Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
.9. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Bludgeoning
10 Fighter: Heavy Armor Training
12. . . . : Heavy Armor Combatant
12 Fighter: Greater Single Weapon Fighting
14 Fighter: Greater Weapon Focus: Bludgeoning
15. . . . : Heavy Armor Champion
16 Fighter: Tactical Supremacy
18. . . . : Heavy Armor Master
18 Fighter: Tactical Mastery
20 Fighter: Tactical Combatant
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Precision
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Blinding Speed
28 Destiny: Elusive Target
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Greater Weapon Specialization: Bludgeoning
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea


Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (41 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Picks and Hammers, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge, One Cut, Alacrity
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Strike I, Strength
  4. Opportunity Attack, Weapon Group Specialization, Liquid Courage, Strike at the Heart, Strength
  5. A Good Death: Melee, Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Deadly Strike, Keen Edge

Stalwart Defender (29 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery I
  2. Armor Expertise III, Instinctive Defense III
  3. Strong Defense III, Shield Expertise III, Strength
  4. Swift Defense, Hardy Defense III, Reinforced Armor III, Strength

Human (10 AP)

• Damage Boost, Strength
  1. Action Surge: Strength III, Improved Recovery
  2. Action Surge: Constitution II

Warhammer hit hard, and fast. Easy to get options: nightforge, whelm, Stormreach Guardian's Hammer, drow (duergar) warhammer, mornh and epic whelm. (Need p2p content)

THF: Don't recommend, but if you want try, swap SWF feats for THF and drop balance (remaining AP in jump).

You will solo a lot (low population lately), pop a healer hire, use intimidate to grab aggro from him, and stay in hard/elite (r1 it easy with party).

Good luck.

[Ballrus]

<snip>

If you like ballet...

TWF:

New Build
Fighter 20
Chaotic Good Human


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .4: DEX
Dexterity . . . 15. . . .8: DEX
Constitution. . 16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 12. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Intim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .12
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Jump. . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2

Swap SWF feats for TWF, grab 2 warhammers and go smash some bones.

[Coffey]

If you like ballet...

TWF:

New Build
Fighter 20
Chaotic Good Human


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .4: DEX
Dexterity . . . 15. . . .8: DEX
Constitution. . 16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . .8. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 12. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . 28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Intim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .12
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Jump. . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2

Swap SWF feats for TWF, grab 2 warhammers and go smash some bones.

I like your build guides. Starting Dex would need to be 16 to get ITWF at level 6.

[Regularspecial1]

thank you everyone for all the advice and information