Psi Warrior Fighter Build Guide – 2024 Update

For all D&D guides on Nat1gaming, they only use the main sourcebooks (Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) as well as Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (mostly for Silvery Barbs) as those tend to be the most commonly used books at tables. Always be sure that if you’re following a guide that you’re adhering to your tables rules about what sourcebooks you are allowed to follow.

Any spell, class, feature, or other game item that is linkable on this website is covered by the 5th edition Open Games License and will be in the Player’s Handbook, but not everything in the Player’s Handbook will be linked to. All other materials that aren’t linked to are from other sourcebooks or aren’t allowed to be linked to per the 5th Edition Open Games License, so please refer to the appropriate sourcebooks for that information.

For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you would not be multiclassing. While multiclassing can be excellent for many of these, this is for those who want to play the build all the way through in the same class. Guides that use multiclassing will be separate from these.

For spellcasters, you may notice substantial overlap between the spell lists of builds with the same base class. This is due to each guide utilizing a generically good spell list and not considering extenuating factors that will influence how you particularly sculpt your spell list. When creating your own spell list, you should take into account the campaign setting, what spells any other party members are capable of casting, potential overlap (ritual spells tend to overlap so it’s rare you need multiple people capable of casting them), or potential shortcomings in the parties total spell list. While this guide can definitely help point you in the right direction for crafting a spell list, you should use your judgement and preferences to figure out what spells make the most sense for your character.

To that end, please refer to the Spell List and Spell Tier list for any substitutions you’d want to make to the build.

Psi Warriors have a slew of really unique abilities that let them play similarly to martial half-casters without having to dedicate much towards making those abilities good. Beyond just being solid overall, the abilities are extremely diverse allowing a lot of different ways to play, even if your build is identical to someone else. Lastly, you get enough Psionic Dice that you really have agency over how you operate this class making it a solid choice in terms of power level and in terms of how fun it is to play!

Psionic Power (Level 3) – B+ Tier – You get functionally three abilities with this, and all of them have their time and place. The damage boost is likely the one you’re going to use the most, but having the option to move allies around (even if it is an action) or reduce damage for yourself or an ally is definitely nice. These are a bit weaker compared to the Battle Master and their maneuvers, but these are still good.

Telekinetic Adept (Level 7) – A- Tier – These are two reasonably strong psionic abilities that closely rival the general strength of maneuvers.

Guarded Mind (Level 10) – C Tier – Resistance to psychic damage likely isn’t coming up often if ever, but being able to end the charmed or frightened condition on yourself (even at the cost of a psionic die) is decent.

Bulwark of Force (Level 15) – B- Tier – Giving the squad +2 AC for a fight definitely isn’t bad, just be sure to not get incapacitated as this ability ends then!

Telekinetic Master (Level 18) – B Tier – Telekinesis is nice and all and even being able to attack once while using it is very solid, but it may not be better than just attacking every turn. This is still pretty solid though, especially as you can spend a psionic die to restore it.

The Ultimate 2024 One D&D Subclass Tier List

DnD 2024 Class and Subclass Tier List Breakdown

Level	Class Features/Feat	Notes
1	Fighting Style (Two Weapon Fighting), Second Wind, Weapon Mastery	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
2	Action Surge (x1), Tactical Mind	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
3	Psi Warrior Psionic Power	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
4	Feat: Dual Wielder (DEX)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
5	Extra Attack, Tactical Shift	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
6	Feat: Defensive Duelist (DEX)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
7	Telekinetic Adept	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
8	Feat: Mage Slayer (DEX)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
9	Indomitable (x1), Tactical Master	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
10	Guarded Mind	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
11	Extra Attack (x2)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
12	Feat: Intelligence to 16	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
13	Indomitable (x2), Studied Attacks	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
14	Feat: Intelligence to 18	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
15	Bulwark of Force	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
16	Feat: Resilient (WIS)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
17	Action Surge (x2), Indomitable (x3)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
18	Telekinetic Master	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
19	Feat: Boon of Combat Prowess	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
20	Extra Attack (x3)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6

Not seeing the exact build you want in this guide? Check out this guide instead!

The Ultimate One D&D Fighter Guide – Mastering Fighters

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Species: Goliath (Hill Giant)

Attributes:

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+2 background) = 17
CONSTITUTION	15 (+1 background) = 16
INTELLIGENCE	14
WISDOM	10
CHARISMA	8

Class: Fighter

Class Features: Fighting Style, Second Wind, Weapon Mastery

Skill Proficiencies: Insight and Perception

Background: Criminal (Alert)

Starting Equipment: Studded Leather Armor, Scimitar, Short Sword, Longbow, 20 Arrows, Quiver, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 11 gp + 50 gp from background

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Species: Goliath (Hill Giant)

For any martial character, it’s hard to justify not going for Goliath as the Hill Giant topple is so incredibly good to get advantage on attacks. There are other solid options for species as well like Human for an additional origin feat or Aasimar as they are just generally strong, but Goliath is generally going to be my choice.

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Attributes

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+2 background) = 17
CONSTITUTION	15 (+1 background) = 16
INTELLIGENCE	14
WISDOM	10
CHARISMA	8

This is close to the standard stat distribution for Dexterity based Fighters as you have maxed out Dexterity, maxed out Constitution, but as a Psi Warrior, Intelligence matters as well.

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Proficiencies: Insight and Perception

Just excellent skill proficiencies for any character.

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Background: Criminal

Good skill proficiencies, good stat distribution, and an excellent origin feat.

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Starting Equipment – Studded Leather Armor, Scimitar, Short Sword, Longbow, 20 Arrows, Quiver, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 11 gp + 50 gp from background

The standard for a DEX fighter.

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Class – Fighter

Fighters get three abilities to start off with in Fighting Style, Second Wind, and Weapon Mastery.

The Fighting Style you’re going to pick is Two Weapon Fighting! Getting your DEX as bonus damage with your offhand attacks is excellent and is going to really ramp up your damage potential.

Second Wind is a cool feature where, for a bonus action, you can heal yourself a bit. This is obviously great for tough fights when you are running low on health and this not only scales with level, but also gets additional features later on.

Weapon Mastery gives you the Mastery property of three weapons and I would recommend taking the properties of your three starting weapons. To that end, make sure you are always using your Scimitar in your main hand to properly access the mastery property.

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Level 2

Class Features: Action Surge, Tactical Mind

Level 2 brings two new features with Action Surge and Tactical Mind.

The Fighter is one of the most popular multiclass options in D&D, and Action Surge is a huge reason why. While you can only use this once every short or long rest (twice at 17), getting an additional action almost always means a whole new slew of attacks. Even at level 2, this is a powerful ability, but once you get multiple Extra Attacks, this becomes an extremely powerful feature that can dole out an obscene amount of damage. In a pinch, this can be used for other actions such as Dash as well which adds to the power and utility of this ability.

Tactical Mind is a neat new feature that allows you to use a Second Wind charge to reroll a failed ability check with a bit of a bonus. While this won’t come up too often, this is a nice feature to have for particularly important ability checks.

Level 3

Class: Psi Warrior

Class Features: Psionic Power

Level 3 brings your subclass – Psi Warrior! Unlike other subclasses, you only get a single ability from the jump, but this ability is pretty complex.

Psionic Power is a pool of dice (which starts at d6 and you get twice your PB) that allow you to use your Psionic powers, or in some cases, refresh them. You regain your dice after a long rest or you can regain one every short rest. Right now, you have three uses for these dice – Protective Field, Psionic Strike, and Telekinetic Movement.

Protective Field is a ok defensive option early as being able to reduce some amount of incoming damage to you or a friend can be helpful, but this quickly gets outscaled so I wouldn’t plan on using this much later on (or even that much now for that matter).

Psionic Strike is an offensive option that can tack on additional damage to an attack, and while the damage isn’t that high, this is going to be where you spend the crux of your Psionic dice for now.

Telekinetic Movement is a utility option that lets you manipulate objects or even willing creatures which is quite nice. Unlike the other abilities, this is one you can only use every short or long rest unless you expend a die to reuse it. It’s hard to say how often you’d need to use this ability, but this can be helpful for exploration if some characters can get to high places where others can’t.

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Level 4

Feat: Dual Wielder (DEX)

Class Features: None

Level 4 brings your first feat, and you definitely want to get to 18 Dexterity so a true feat it is. Since you’re going to be using two weapons, you have to pick up the Dual Wielder feat! In short, between this and the Nick property, you can now get three attacks a turn with your action and bonus action. Next level when you get an Extra Attack, you get four attacks and all of them get DEX in bonus damage because of Two Weapon Fighting! This is going to make your damage potential really high, just slightly less than STR users.

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Level 5

Class Features: Extra Attack, Tactical Shift

Easily the most exciting feature for martial characters, level 5 brings your Extra Attack! Being able to double your damage output is obviously really strong, but since you’re a Fighter, you’ll eventually get even more attacks on top of this!

Level 5 also brings a new feature with Tactical Shift. Now when you use Second Wind, you can move up to half your speed without provoking an opportunity attack. A heal, disengage, and extra movement? Sign me up!

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Level 6

Feat: Defensive Duelist (DEX)

Class Features: None

You have a choice here between just going straight to 20 DEX for your best weapon attacks available, or grabbing two feats between now and level 12 to get to 20 DEX instead. While either are reasonable options, I like picking up the two feats. To that end, I really like grabbing Defensive Duelist as it’s an excellent feat for Two Weapon Fighters. Fighters rarely use their reaction, so being able to use it to increase your AC against any hits you may take is really strong.

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Level 7

Class Features: Telekinetic Adept

Telekinetic Adept is split into two features – Psi-Powered Leap and Telekinetic Thrust.

Psi-Powered Leap gives you a pretty fast Flying speed for one turn, but since it’s just one turn, you’ll need to find a place to land or you’re going to plummet to the ground. This can be decent if you need to move quickly for one turn or you need to get up high in combat or exploration. Similar to Telekinetic Movement, you can only do this every short or long rest unless you spend a die.

Telekinetic Thrust is an add-on you can do to your Psionic Strike where you can try to either knock the enemy prone or move them 10 feet horizontally. Unfortunately for you, knocking an enemy prone would not be great as you would have disadvantage on your attacks afterwards, but if you’re going before some martial allies, this is a way you can make their lives earlier. Forced movement, on the other hand, is a bit more situation specific so it may be great, but it’s all about what CC or hazards are on the battlefield.

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Level 8

Feat: Mage Slayer (DEX)

Class Features: None

You get yet another feat this level, and you can finally get 20 DEX with Mage Slayer. Being able to really mess with casters is nice as a martial character, and getting a functional charge of Legendary Resistance? Incredible! A really strong feat that I have most of my martial characters taking.

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Level 9

Class Features: Indomitable (x1), Tactical Master

Level 9 brings a base Fighter feature – Indomitable! You can reroll a saving throw that you fail and add your Fighter level on top of it which is extremely powerful. As you climb in levels, this will almost be like a player’s version of Legendary Resistance which is super cool.

Tactical Master is a new ability lets you replace a weapon mastery property when you attack with Push, Sap, or Slow. This is yet another great feature as you may not always want the mastery property on the weapon you happen to be using, so having options is always welcome.

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Level 10

Class Features: Guarded Mind

Guarded Mind is, unfortunately, the worst of all your abilities for Psi Warrior. You get resistance to Psychic damage (which is relevant against pretty much just Mind Flayers), but you can spend a Psionic die to clear the charmed or frightened condition at the beginning of your turn. The first half of the ability will probably never come up, but the second half can be ok. Not great, not terrible.

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Level 11

Class Features: Extra Attack (x2)

Level 11 brings yet another Extra Attack, which like at level 5, is incredibly good.

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Level 12

Feat: Intelligence to 16

Class Feature: None

You get another feat and it’s time to start buffing your Intelligence! Empowering your psionic abilities makes sense considering your class is built around it!

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Level 13

Class Features: Indomitable (x2), Studied Attack

Level 13 brings another charge of Indomitable and a powerful new feature, Studied Attack!

Studied Attack is a super cool feature that, if you miss with one of your attacks against one enemy, you have advantage on your next attack against that same target! Anything that helps you connect with your enemy is always exciting!

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Level 14

Class Features: Intelligence to 18

Another feat, and once again, more Intelligence!

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Level 15

Class Features: Bulwark of Force

Bulwark of Force is a weird ability that as a bonus action to any ally within 30 feet (up to your Intelligence modifier), you you can give half-cover to for a minute or until you’re down. Half-Cover means +2 on AC and Dexterity saving throws which is a pretty solid buff, especially for how many people you can give it to on top of it just being a bonus action. This is yet another ability that refreshes every short or long rest, but you should try to keep some Psionic Dice around so you have the ability to use this in combat.

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Level 16

Feat: Resilient (WIS)

Class Feature: None

For your final feat, you may as well grab Resilient ()WIS to make your saving throws that much better and make it less likely that you need to use your Indomitable or Mage Slayer charges.

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Level 17

Class Features: Action Surge (x2), Indomitable (x3)

More charges for your best base Fighter abilities is obviously excellent.

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Level 18

Class Features: Telekinetic Master

Your final subclass feature is a neat one that lets you cast Telekinesis for free every short or long rest (and you can spend a die to reset), but to make this ability even better, you can make one attack as a bonus action while you’re concentrating on this so you don’t miss an attack turn one and you get extra attacks each turn moving forward. You should be saving as many Psionic Dice as possible to use this ability as getting to both cast this and attack is really strong.

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Level 19

Epic Boon: Boon of Combat Prowess

Class Features: None

Your Epic Boon choice, as I will pick for every martial character, is the Boon of Combat Prowess. Converting a miss into a hit is functionally getting an Extra Attack, but better, and I will take an additional attack every day of the week.

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Level 20

Class Feature: Extra Attack (x3)

Level 20 brings your capstone ability – Extra Attack (x3). No frills, no fuss, just a bunch of attacks which is perfect for a Fighter.