D&D 5E 5E Survivor - Subclasses (Part VI: Fighters)

CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing
And now, it's time. We have arrived at the very summit of Peak D&D. It doesn't get much better than the time-honored, greatest and oldest D&D character class of all time. I'm talking about the Fighting-Man himself, the preferred class of newcomers and seasoned veterans alike: the legendary FIGHTER!

There's well over a hundred and twenty different classes and subclasses in the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game, and we're on a mission to determine which one is the Survivor! And this time around, we are comparing all 15 Fighter subclasses, from all of the Wizards of the Coast game resources against each other. The Survivor of this round will advance to the final round, where it will face off against the champions of all other character classes.

(Yes, I know that we've done this before, but lots of new subclasses have been released in the years since. It's time to see if the new students can beat the PHB masters.)

SURVIVOR: 5E CHARACTER CLASSES
Round VI: The Fighter


This week, we are going to examine all of the subclass options for the Fighter class, in 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Right now there are nine subclasses available for the Druid, and we're going to find out which one Survives!

The winner of this contest will advance to the Final Round, where it will represent ALL Fighters in the 5th Edition D&D game.

The Hall of Heroes
Round I, Artificers: Battle Smith
Round II, Barbarians: Totem Warrior
Round III, Bards: College of Lore
Round IV, Clerics: Tempest Domain
Round V, Druids: Circle of the Shepherd

The Rules and Stuff
  • In this round, only the Fighter subclasses are presented.
  • Only the subclasses written by Wizards of the Coast qualify. No third-party entries! Which is a shame, because Gunslinger is technically 3PP and it's my favorite. Alas.
  • Each entry starts with 20 points.
  • Every day, you vote for one subclass that you like, which gains 1 point. And then you vote for a different subclass, which loses 2 points. It is intentional that a negative vote is worth more than a positive vote - first, because it takes something extra to whittle these guys down to size. Second, because.
  • Mark your upvotes in green, and downvotes in red. Or just show them in bold text and use "+1" and "-2" to mark them, if colored text is too difficult on your browsing device.
  • It's easier if you just copy and paste the previous poster’s vote and change the numbers; the Quote function isn't the best for this.
  • You may vote only once per day in each category. This is an honor system, and we are all honorable gamers; please do not abuse it. If this means you vote once at night one day, and once the next morning - that's fine, but don't vote again until the following day. Rule of thumb: if your most recent vote post says "yesterday" in the time stamp, you can vote again.
  • This is purely a popularity contest and you do not have to explain an upvote or downvote, but feel free to--explanations are where the fun is! And the more outlandish, petty, or nitpicky your reasons for voting, the better!
  • When downvotes reach 0 the subclass is removed from the list.
  • Finally, if an entry has one point left, then you have to make the choice to use all of your downvotes to eliminate it; there is no vote splitting. In addition, you can't upvote and downvote the same entry (no "see" votes). And you have to use BOTH YOUR UPVOTE AND DOWNVOTE if you vote.

The Most Important Bits
Three important points that you must read before voting--
  1. This is a pure popularity contest, and is meant to be fun. You can cast your votes for whatever reason you want; spite, malice, favorite weapon, bicep diameter, irrational love or hatred of spiked chains, strategic voting, and so on are all perfectly acceptable. But this is for enjoyment only. If you experience anger, hostility, or other evidence of Not Having Fun, you are doing it wrong.
  2. This week (and the next few weeks to come) will feature a list of character subclasses from the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Unearthed Arcana, The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, and other places. Only the subclasses written and published by Wizards of the Coast are included.
  3. As always, the list is the list. If you have a complaint about the list, please direct it to /dev/null.
So. Onward to the contest!

FIGHTER SUBCLASSES
=====================================

Arcane Archer (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)
Battle Master (Player's Handbook)
Brute (Unearthed Arcana, "Three Subclasses" 2018)
Cavalier (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)
Champion (Player's Handbook)
Echo Knight (Explorer's Guide to Wildemount)
Eldritch Knight (Player's Handbook)
Knight (Unearthed Arcana, "Fighter" 2016)
Monster Hunter (Unearthed Arcana, "Gothic Heroes" 2016)
Psi Warrior (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)
Purple Dragon Knight (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide)
Rune Knight (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)
Samurai (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)
Scout (Unearthed Arcana, "Kits of Old" 2016)
Sharpshooter (Unearthed Arcana, "Fighter" 2016)
 

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CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing
Arcane Archer 20
Battle Master 20
Brute 20
Cavalier 20-2=18
Champion 20
Echo Knight 20+1-21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20
Purple Dragon Knight 20
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20
Sharpshooter 20
 

Undrave

Legend
Arcane Archer 20
Battle Master 20+1=21 default upvote for me until the end!
Brute 20
Cavalier 18
Champion 20
Echo Knight 21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20
Purple Dragon Knight 20-2=18 worst subclass ever
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20
Sharpshooter 20
 

Maxperson

Morkus from Orkus
Arcane Archer 20
Battle Master 22
Brute 20
Cavalier 16
Champion 20
Echo Knight 21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20
Purple Dragon Knight 18
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20
Sharpshooter 20
 

Maxperson

Morkus from Orkus
I've never liked the Cavalier all the way back to 1e. It was too focused on horses and you can't bring horses into buildings, castles or dungeons, which is where 99% of adventures take place. Here, let us give you a bunch of abilities that you will almost never use. 1e: "And then we will make it so that you have to attack the most powerful enemy and can never retreat!"
 

CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing
Let's wrap our commentary in SPOILER tags, so that the thread stays clean and easy to read for the voters. My two coppers:
I don't think it's going to win, because it's probably one of the least-played subclasses on the list. It was written by Matt Mercer and released as part of the Wildemount campaign setting, but it wasn't featured prominently in Critical Role's Campaign 2...so even the CR fans are probably going to give it a miss. So before it gets sent to the basement along with every other non-PHB subclass, I'd like to tell ya'll a little bit about what you're missing.

Flavor-wise, an "echo knight" is a fighter who can create small fractures in time. These fractures allow him to slip between two different moments in time, creating an "echo" of his presence elsewhere in alternate timelines. Basically he's in two places at once. In game mechanics, this means that he creates a copy of himself in an unoccupied space within 15 feet. Once it's on the board, the knight can use his bonus action to swap places with his echo, and can make his own Attacks originate from the echo. As he gains levels, he can do more things with an echo, like seeing through its eyes, or sacrifice it to teleport, or use it to heal.

It's such an original concept--way more creative than YASS (Yet Another Spell Sword), and more useful than your garden variety summoner/controller. If you like battlefield control and fighters, you will probably like Echo Knight.
 
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Arcane Archer 20
Battle Master 22
Brute 20
Cavalier 16 + 1 = 17 It's not my favorite but this subclass is way too good to down early. You could never hop on a mount and this would still be worthwhile to play.
Champion 20
Echo Knight 21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20
Purple Dragon Knight 18 - 2 = 16 Ugh, so bad.
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20
Sharpshooter 20
 

CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing
I wonder if folks would still be downvoting it if I had used its generic name ("Banneret") instead of its campaign-specific one. Because that name is terrible.
 
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Wandersails

Explorer
Arcane Archer 18 - 2 uses...
Battle Master 22
Brute 20
Cavalier 18 - Can't believe this is people's least favourite, it's my number 1 even without a horse
Champion 20
Echo Knight 21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20
Purple Dragon Knight 16
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20
Sharpshooter 20
 

RoughCoronet0

Dragon Lover
Arcane Archer 18
Battle Master 22
Brute 20
Cavalier 18
Champion 20
Echo Knight 21
Eldritch Knight 20
Knight 20
Monster Hunter 20
Psi Warrior 20+1=21
Purple Dragon Knight 16
Rune Knight 20
Samurai 20
Scout 20-2=18
Sharpshooter 20
 

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