Samurai Fighter Build Guide – Live By the Bushido – 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.

For most people, you want to play Samurai because you like the flavor. Using a big sword and slicing down enemies definitely has it’s appeal. The issue is that Samurai is a bit weak in its current form, but if you have a DM that’s willing to homebrew the Fighting Spirit ability to make it a little better, I can see this being a reasonable option for those who want to hit hard and consistently.

Combat Superiority (Level 3) – C+ Tier – A skill and language proficiency is always fine.

Fighting Spirit (Level 3) – C Tier – This is a decent feature and it does somewhat scale both in temporary health and it functionally scales as you get more attacks, but only 3 charges per day is extremely restrictive considering this is your main ability. I do recommend potential changes to give this ability a little more life in the linked article, but RAW, this ability is good, just limited.

Know Your Enemy (Level 7) – B- Tier – You probably shouldn’t be talking, but a small boost in Persuasion can be nice. However, the bigger prize is proficiency in Wisdom saving throws as that’s just a functional feat.

Tireless Spirit (Level 10) – C- Tier – Getting one charge of Fighting Spirit is realistically not that impactful, but it is per fight so I guess this isn’t terrible.

Rapid Strike (Level 15) – A Tier – Getting an extra attack is definitely no joke, but you do need advantage on one of your attacks to get it. Still with all the ways to knock enemies prone in the new rules and obviously your Fighting Spirit, this should work pretty consistently.

Strength Before Death (Level 18) – C- Tier – While this ability is cool, this is much worse than similar abilities as you can still very easily die on that extra turn you get without intervention. This will feel super relevant if you’re in a really close fight, but otherwise, you probably can’t have too much of an impact before just passing out anyway.

2024 One D&D Subclass Tier List

DnD 2024 Class and Subclass Tier List Breakdown

Level	Class Features/Feat	Notes
1	Fighting Style (Defense), Second Wind, Weapon Mastery	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
2	Action Surge (x1)	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
3	Samurai Bonus Proficiency Fighting Spirit	Second Wind Charges: 2 Weapon Masteries: 3
4	Feat: Great Weapon Master (STR)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
5	Extra Attack, Tactical Shift	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
6	Feat: Heavy Armor Master (STR)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
7	Elegant Courtier	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
8	Feat: Mage Slayer (STR)	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
9	Indomitable (x1), Tactical Master	Second Wind Charges: 3 Weapon Masteries: 4
10	Tireless Spirit	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
11	Extra Attack (x2)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
12	Feat: Constitution to 18	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
13	Indomitable (x2), Studied Attacks	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
14	Feat: Constitution to 20	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
15	Rapid Strike	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 5
16	Feat: Speedy (DEX)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
17	Action Surge (x2), Indomitable (x3)	Second Wind Charges: 4 Weapon Masteries: 6
18	Strength Before Death	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

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Species: Goliath (Hill Giant)

Attributes:

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

Class: Fighter

Class Features: Fighting Style, Second Wind, Weapon Mastery

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics and Perception

Background: Farmer (Tough)

Starting Equipment: Greataxe, 10 Javelins, Chain Mail, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 33 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	15 (+2 background) = 17
DEXTERITY	10
CONSTITUTION	15 (+1 background) = 16
INTELLIGENCE	8
WISDOM	14
CHARISMA	8

This is the standard stat distribution for Strength based Fighters as you have maxed out Strength and Constitution, good Wisdom for saving throws, and 10 Dexterity for no AC penalties.

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Proficiencies: Athletics and Perception

Great skill proficiencies for your generic Strength based Fighter.

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Background: Farmer

The best attributes with the best feat for martial characters that care about Strength.

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Starting Equipment – Greataxe, 10 Javelins, Chain Mail, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 33 gp + 50 gp from background

For two hander Fighters, this is the standard equipment. You could pick any two hander you want as both the Greatsword and Maul deal slightly more damage on average when their Mastery properties aren’t considered, but if you consider the Cleave property from Greataxe, this technically does the most. If you want a different weapon, I’d probably pick the Maul as the mastery property is better and gives you the option to take the Crusher feat.

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Class – Fighter

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

You get to pick your Fighting Style, and since this build wants to use a two hander, you should just pick up Defense as it’s a generically good Fighting Style.

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 you should obviously pick the Greataxe, Javelin, and any weapon of your choice. While you will get more and more weapon masteries as you level up, you will realistically only ever need a few to make your build work.

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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: Samurai

Class Features: Bonus Proficiency, Fighting Spirit

Level 3 brings your subclass, Samurai, and two new features to the table – Bonus Proficiency and Fighting Spirit.

Bonus Proficiency, as the name states, gives you a bonus proficiency. Insight is the easy choice here, but it doesn’t matter much which you pick.

The second ability, and the crux of this class, is Fighting Spirit. You get three charges of this per long rest that, when activated as a bonus action, gives you advantage on all attacks made this turn as well as 5 temporary hp (increases to 10 at 10 and 15 at 15). This is a solid ability that can help dole out a lot of damage as advantage granted from this and the -5 penalty from Sharpshooter will more or less cancel out.

That said, Samurai is considered a pretty weak class as it’s main ability only ever has three charges per long rest and never increases. To that end, there are one of two changes you can do to make this class way more appealing (both concerning Fighting Spirit). One is to keep the charges to three, but replenish on a short rest. Even replenishing on short rests means you won’t be able to use this super often, but often enough where it feels core to what your class is trying to accomplish. The second is to have the charges instead be PB + WIS modifier, but they only refresh on long rest as normal. This gives a more logical progression to scaling your Fighting Spirit so it gets more charges as you level up. It’s up to you if you want to change this, but I do think it makes the class more fun and make it feel like it’s actually getting better as you progress in levels.

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Level 4

Feat: Great Weapon Master (STR)

Class Features: None

You get your first feat and you can’t go wrong with Great Weapon Master! Extra damage on your weapon attacks and potentially getting a bonus action attack? Incredible! This is a truly excellent feat and great reason to use a two handed weapon.

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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: Heavy Armor Master (STR)

Class Features: None

Level 6 brings another feat and this is a good opportunity to pick up Heavy Armor Master. Reducing damage is always nice, and considering how many hits you’re likely to take, the health gain from this is going to stack up a lot over time!

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Level 7

Class Features: Elegant Courier

Elegant Courtier is a weird ability that lets you add your Wisdom bonus to your Persuasion checks specifically (which is nice, but nothing that impactful), but it also gives proficiency in Wisdom saving throws which is definitely more exciting. CC spells are a Fighter’s weakness, so being better able to combat them with a solid Wisdom saving throw is pretty nice.

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Level 8

Feat: Mage Slayer (STR)

Class Features: None

You get yet another feat this level, and you can finally get 20 STR 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: Tireless Spirit

Tireless Spirit simply gives you a charge of Fighting Spirit if you’re out of them when you roll initiative. Simple and a solid ability.

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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: Constitution to 18

Class Feature: None

Now that your Strength is maxed out, you can start pumping your Constitution for more health and better saving throws!

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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

Feat: Constitution to 20

Class Features: None

Level 14 brings another feat and you should be maximizing your Constitution score to get the best possible health, saving throws, and runes is awesome!

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Level 15

Class Features: Rapid Strike

This ability is actually somewhat similar to Great Weapon Master or Sharpshooter where you can lower your chance of hitting for a large benefit, and in this case, an extra attack! Trading advantage on one attack to get a whole extra attack is obviously an extremely good trade as, on average, it’s the same odds of hitting mathematically, but you have the chance of dealing more damage which is great!

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Level 16

Feat: Resilient (DEX)

Class Feature: None

Normally I would pick up Resilient (WIS) at this point, but you obviously don’t need that as you got that at level 7. Instead, why not give yourself proficiency in DEX saving throws to give yourself any chance of dodging some devastating effects!

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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: Strength Before Death

Your capstone ability is a neat one that, when you should fall unconscious, you can actually stay standing for one additional turn until you go down. How strong this ability is really depends on where you are in the initiative order as, if someone can heal you before your turn, this ability is probably unnecessary. However, if you’re about to take your turn and you’re going down, getting a turn to either help finish off the enemy and drink a health potion to not bother other people (now that drinking a health potion is a bonus action instead of a full action) is quite strong. Hopefully this isn’t something you need often, but it’s really good insurance when you do need it.

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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.