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This is the Quickstart Guide version of the fighter, which only has features up to level 5. For the complete class, check out the Pathfinder Core Rulebook!

Fighting for honor, greed, loyalty, or simply the thrill of battle, you are an undisputed master of weaponry and combat techniques. You combine your actions through clever combinations of opening moves, finishing strikes, and counterattacks whenever your foes are unwise enough to drop their guard. Whether you are a knight, mercenary, sharpshooter, or blade master, you have honed your martial skills into an art form and perform devastating critical attacks on your enemies.

Key Ability

Strength or Dexterity: At 1st level, your class gives you an ability boost to your choice of Strength or Dexterity.

Hit Points

10 plus your Constitution modifier: You increase your maximum number of HP by this number at 1st level and every level thereafter.

Initial Proficiencies

At 1st level, you gain the listed proficiency ranks in the following statistics. You are untrained in anything not listed unless you gain a better proficiency rank in some other way.

Perception

Expert in Perception

Saving Throws

Expert in Fortitude
Expert in Reflex
Trained in Will

Skills

Trained in your choice of Acrobatics or Athletics
Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 3 plus your Intelligence modifier

Attacks

Expert in simple weapons
Expert in martial weapons
Trained in advanced weapons
Expert in unarmed attacks

Defenses

Trained in all armor
Trained in unarmored defense

Class DC

Trained in fighter class DC

During combat encounters...

You strike with unmatched accuracy and use specialized combat techniques. A melee fighter stands between allies and enemies, attacking foes who try to get past. A ranged fighter delivers precise shots from a distance.

During social encounters...

You can be an intimidating presence. This can be useful when negotiating with enemies, but is sometimes a liability in more genteel interactions.

While exploring...

You keep up your defenses in preparation for combat, and keep an eye out for hidden threats. You also overcome physical challenges in your way, breaking down doors, lifting obstacles, climbing adeptly, and leaping across pits.

In downtime...

You might perform manual labor or craft and repair armaments. If you know techniques you no longer favor, you might train yourself in new ones. If you’ve established your reputation, you might build an organization or a stronghold of your own.

You Might...

• Know the purpose and quality of every weapon and piece of armor you own.
  
• Recognize that the danger of an adventurer’s life must be balanced out with great revelry or ambitious works.
  
• Have little patience for puzzles or problems that require detailed logic or study.
  

Others Probably...

• Find you intimidating until they get to know you—and maybe even after they get to know you.
• Expect you’re all brawn and no brains.
  
• Respect your expertise in the art of warfare and value your opinion on the quality of armaments.
  

Table 3–12: Fighter Advancement

Your Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, attack of opportunity, fighter feat, shield block
2	Fighter feat, skill feat
3	Bravery, general feat, skill increase
4	Fighter feat, skill feat
5	Ability boosts, ancestry feat, fighter weapon mastery, skill increase

Class Features

You gain these abilities as a fighter. Abilities gained at higher levels list the level at which you gain them next to the features’ names.

Ancestry and Background

In addition to the abilities provided by your class at 1st level, you have the benefits of your selected ancestry and background, as described in Chapter 2.

Initial Proficiencies

At 1st level you gain a number of proficiencies that represent your basic training. These proficiencies are noted at the start of this class.

Attack of Opportunity

Ever watchful for weaknesses, you can quickly attack foes that leave an opening in their defenses. You gain the Attack of Opportunity reaction.

Attack of Opportunity [reaction]

Trigger A creature within your reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, makes a ranged attack, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using.

You lash out at a foe that leaves an opening. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. If your attack is a critical hit and the trigger was a manipulate action, you disrupt that action. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.

Fighter Feats

At 1st level and every even-numbered level thereafter, you gain a fighter class feat. Fighter class feats are described below.

Shield Block

You gain the Shield Block general feat, a reaction that lets you reduce damage with your shield.

Skill Feats (2nd)

At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill feat. Skill feats can be found in Chapter 5 and have the skill trait. You must be trained or better in the corresponding skill to select a skill feat.

Bravery (3rd)

Having faced countless foes and the chaos of battle, you have learned how to stand strong in the face of fear and keep on fighting. Your proficiency rank for Will saves increases to expert. When you roll a success at a Will save against a fear effect, you get a critical success instead. In addition, anytime you gain the frightened condition, reduce its value by 1.

General Feats (3rd)

At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a general feat. General feats are listed in Chapter 5.

Skill Increases (3rd)

At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill increase. You can use this increase either to increase your proficiency rank to trained in one skill you’re untrained in, or to increase your proficiency rank in one skill in which you’re already trained to expert.

At 7th level, you can use skill increases to increase your proficiency rank to master in a skill in which you’re already an expert, and at 15th level, you can use them to increase your proficiency rank to legendary in a skill in which you’re already a master.

Ability Boosts (5th)

At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, you boost four different ability scores. You can use these ability boosts to increase your ability scores above 18. Boosting an ability score increases it by 1 if it’s already 18 or above, or by 2 if it starts out below 18.

Ancestry Feats (5th)

In addition to the ancestry feat you started with, you gain an ancestry feat at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter. The list of ancestry feats available to you can be found in your ancestry’s entry in Chapter 2.

Fighter Weapon Mastery (5th)

Hours spent training with your preferred weapons, learning and developing new combat techniques, have made you particularly effective with your weapons of choice. Choose one weapon group. Your proficiency rank increase to master with the simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks of that group, and to expert with advanced weapons of that group. You gain access to the critical specialization effects of all weapons and unarmed attacks for which you have master proficiency.

Key Terms

You’ll see the following key terms in many fighter class features.

Flourish: Actions with this trait are special techniques that require too much exertion for you to perform frequently. You can use only 1 action with the flourish trait per turn.
Open: These maneuvers work only as the first salvo in the attacks you make on your turn. You can use an action with the open trait only if you haven’t used an action with the attack or open trait yet this turn.
Press: Actions with this trait allow you to follow up earlier attacks. An action with the press trait can be used only if you are currently affected by a multiple attack penalty.
Some actions with the press trait also grant an effect on a failure. The effects that are added on a failure don’t apply on a critical failure. If your press action succeeds, you can choose to apply the failure effect instead. (For example, you may wish to do this when an attack deals no damage due to resistance.) 
Stance: A stance is a general combat strategy that you enter by using an action with the stance trait, and you remain in for some time. A stance lasts until you get knocked out, until its requirements (if any) are violated, until the encounter ends, or until you enter a new stance, whichever comes first. After you take an action with the stance trait, you can’t take another one for 1 round. You can enter or be in a stance only in encounter mode.

Fighter Feats

If you need to look up a fighter feat by name instead of by level, use this table.

Feat	Level
Aggressive Block	2
Assisting Shot	2
Brutish Shove	2
Combat Grab	2
Double Shot	4
Double Slice	1
Dual-Handed Assault	4
Dueling Parry	2
Exacting Strike	1
Intimidating Strike	2
Knockdown	4
Lunge	2
Point-Blank Shot	1
Power Attack	1
Powerful Shove	4
Quick Reversal	4
Reactive Shield	1
Shielded Stride	4

Fighter Feats

At each level that you gain a fighter feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before taking the feat.

1st Level

Double Slice [two-actions] (Feat 1)

Fighter
Requirements You are wielding two melee weapons, each in a different hand.

You lash out at your foe with both weapons. Make two Strikes, one with each of your two melee weapons, each using your current multiple attack penalty. Both Strikes must have the same target. If the second Strike is made with a weapon that doesn’t have the agile trait, it takes a –2 penalty.

If both attacks hit, combine their damage, and then add any other applicable effects from both weapons. You add any precision damage only once, to the attack of your choice. Combine the damage from both Strikes and apply resistances and weaknesses only once. This counts as two attacks when calculating your multiple attack penalty.

Exacting Strike [one-action] (Feat 1)

Fighter, Press

You make a controlled attack, fully accounting for your momentum. Make a Strike. The Strike gains the following failure effect.

Failure This attack does not count toward your multiple attack penalty.

Point-Blank Shot [one-action] (Feat 1)

Fighter, Open, Stance
Requirements You are wielding a ranged weapon.

You take aim to pick off nearby enemies quickly. When using a ranged volley weapon while you are in this stance, you don’t take the penalty to your attack rolls from the volley trait. When using a ranged weapon that doesn’t have the volley trait, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to damage rolls on attacks against targets within the weapon’s first range increment.

Power Attack [two-actions] (Feat 1)

Fighter, Flourish

You unleash a particularly powerful attack that clobbers your foe but leaves you a bit unsteady. Make a melee Strike. This counts as two attacks when calculating your multiple attack penalty. If this Strike hits, you deal an extra die of weapon damage. If you’re at least 10th level, increase this to two extra dice, and if you’re at least 18th level, increase it to three extra dice.

Reactive Shield [reaction] (Feat 1)

Fighter
Trigger An enemy hits you with a melee Strike.
Requirements You are wielding a shield.

You can snap your shield into place just as you would take a blow, avoiding the hit at the last second. You immediately use the Raise a Shield action and gain your shield’s bonus to AC. The circumstance bonus from the shield applies to your AC when you’re determining the outcome of the triggering attack.

Snagging Strike [one-action] (Feat 1)

Fighter
Requirements You have one hand free, and your target is within reach of that hand.

You combine an attack with quick grappling moves to throw an enemy off balance as long as it stays in your reach. Make a Strike while keeping one hand free. If this Strike hits, the target is flat-footed until the start of your next turn or until it’s no longer within the reach of your hand, whichever comes first.

Sudden Charge [two-actions] (Feat 1)

Fighter, Flourish, Open

With a quick sprint, you dash up to your foe and swing. Stride twice. If you end your movement within melee reach of at least one enemy, you can make a melee Strike against that enemy. You can use Sudden Charge while Burrowing, Climbing, Flying, or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type.

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2nd Level

Aggressive Block [free-action] (Feat 2)

Fighter
Trigger You use the Shield Block reaction, and the opponent that triggered Shield Block is adjacent to you and is your size or smaller.

You push back as you block the attack, knocking your foe away or off balance. You use your shield to push the triggering creature, either automatically Shoving it 5 feet or causing it to become flat-footed until the start of your next turn. The triggering creature chooses whether to be moved or become flat-footed. If it chooses to be moved, you choose the direction. If the Shove would cause it to hit a solid object, enter a square of difficult terrain, or enter another creature’s space, it must become flat-footed instead of being moved.

Assisting Shot [one-action] (Feat 2)

Brutish Shove [one-action] (Feat 2)

Fighter, Press
Requirements You are wielding a two-handed melee weapon.

Throwing your weight behind your attack, you hit your opponent hard enough to make it stumble back. Make a Strike with a two-handed melee weapon. If you hit a target that is your size or smaller, that creature is flat-footed until the end of your current turn, and you can automatically Shove it, with the same benefits as the Shove action (including the critical success effect, if your Strike was a critical hit). If you move to follow the target, your movement doesn’t trigger reactions.

This Strike has the following failure effect.
Failure The target becomes flat-footed until the end of your current turn.

Combat Grab [one-action] (Feat 2)

Fighter, Press
Requirements You have one hand free, and your target is within reach of that hand.

You swipe at your opponent and grab at them. Make a melee Strike while keeping one hand free. If the Strike hits, you grab the target using your free hand. The creature remains grabbed until the end of your next turn or until it Escapes, whichever comes first.

Dueling Parry [one-action] (Feat 2)

Fighter
Requirements You are wielding only a single one-handed melee weapon and have your other hand or hands free.

You can parry attacks against you with your one-handed weapon. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn as long as you continue to meet the requirements.

Intimidating Strike [two-actions] (Feat 2)

Emotion, Fear, Fighter, Mental

Your blow not only wounds creatures but also shatters their confidence. Make a melee Strike. If you hit and deal damage, the target is frightened 1, or frightened 2 on a critical hit.

Lunge [one-action] (Feat 2)

Fighter
Requirements You are wielding a melee weapon.

Extending your body to its limits, you attack an enemy that would normally be beyond your reach. Make a Strike with a melee weapon, increasing your reach by 5 feet for that Strike. If the weapon has the disarm, shove, or trip trait, you can use the corresponding action instead of a Strike.

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4th Level

Double Shot [two-actions]        Feat 4

Fighter, Flourish
Requirements You are wielding a ranged weapon with reload 0.

You shoot twice in blindingly fast succession. Make two Strikes, each against a separate target and with a –2 penalty. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn’t increase until after you’ve made both of them.

Dual-Handed Assault [one-action] (Feat 4)

Fighter, Flourish
Requirements You are wielding a one-handed melee weapon and have a free hand.

You snap your free hand over to grip your weapon just long enough to add momentum and deliver a more powerful blow to your opponent. Make a Strike with the required weapon. You quickly switch your grip during the Strike in order to make the attack with two hands. If the weapon doesn’t normally have the two-hand trait, increase its weapon damage die by one step for this attack. (Rules on increasing die size appear Weapon Statistics.) If the weapon has the two-hand trait, you gain the benefit of that trait and a circumstance bonus to damage equal to the weapon’s number of damage dice. When the Strike is complete, you resume gripping the weapon with only one hand. This action doesn’t end any stance or fighter feat effect that requires you to have one hand free.

Knockdown [two-actions] (Feat 4)

Fighter, Flourish
Prerequisites trained in Athletics

You make an attack to knock a foe off balance, then follow up immediately with a sweep to topple them. Make a melee Strike. If it hits and deals damage, you can attempt an Athletics check to Trip the creature you hit. If you’re wielding a two-handed melee weapon, you can ignore Trip’s requirement that you have a hand free. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn’t increase until after you’ve made both of them.

Powerful Shove (Feat 4)

Fighter
Prerequisites Aggressive Block or Brutish Shove

You can push larger foes around with your attack. You can use Aggressive Block or Brutish Shove against a creature up to two sizes larger than you.
When a creature you Shove has to stop moving because it would hit an object, it takes damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 1). This happens regardless of how you Shoved the creature.

Quick Reversal [one-action] (Feat 4)

Fighter, Flourish, Press
Requirements You are flanked by at least two enemies.

You turn your foes’ flanking against them with a quick reverse. Make a melee Strike against one of the flanking enemies and make a second Strike with the same weapon or unarmed attack against a different enemy that is flanking you. This second Strike has the same multiple attack penalty of the initial attack and doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty.

Shielded Stride (Feat 4)

Fighter

When your shield is up, your enemies’ blows can’t touch you. When you have your shield raised, you can Stride to move half your Speed without triggering reactions that are triggered by your movement (such as Attacks of Opportunity). You can use Shielded Stride while Flying or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type.

Swipe [two-actions] (Feat 4)

Fighter, Flourish

You make a wide, arcing swing. Make a melee Strike and compare the attack roll result to the AC of up to two foes, each of whom must be within your melee reach and adjacent to each other. Roll damage only once and apply it to each creature you hit. A Swipe counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty.

If you’re using a weapon with the sweep trait, its modifier applies to all your Swipe attacks.

Twin Parry [one-action] (Feat 4)

Fighter
Requirements You are wielding two melee weapons, one in each hand.

You use your two weapons to parry attacks. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn, or a +2 circumstance bonus if either weapon has the parry trait. You lose this circumstance bonus if you no longer meet this feat’s requirement.

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Sample Fighters

Bully

Using a two-handed weapon, you push your foes about the battlefield and deal grievous wounds. You excel at taking down the biggest enemy standing in your way.

Ability Scores

Prioritizing Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom helps with survivability and increases your damage, and Dexterity allows extra maneuverability.

Skills

Athletics, Crafting, Intimidation, Medicine

Starting Feat

Power Attack

Higher-Level Feats

Knockdown (4th), Furious Focus (6th), Positioning Assault (8th), Brutal Finish (12th), Savage Critical (18th)

Duelist

With one hand free and a blade in the others, you are adept at foiling your opponents by way of misdirection, disarming strikes, and by always being ready for their clumsy attacks.

Ability Scores

Prioritize Strength. Dexterity and Wisdom help with survivability and versatility, and Constitution grants some extra toughness.

Skills

Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Medicine

Starting Feat

Snagging Strike

Higher-Level Feats

Dueling Parry (2nd), Guardian’s Deflection (6th), Dueling Riposte (8th), Dueling Dance (12th), Stance Savant (14th)

Archer

You take out your opponents from a distance with ranged weapons, and you excel at dispatching flying or other hard-to-reach enemies.

Ability Scores

Prioritize Dexterity. Constitution and Wisdom helps with survivability, and Strength adds damage with propulsive weapons.

Skills

Acrobatics, Medicine, Stealth, Thievery

Starting Feat

Point-Blank Shot

Higher-Level Feats

Double Shot (4th), Triple Shot (6th), Debilitating Shot (10th), Multishot Stance (16th), Impossible Volley (18th)