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The Fighter in Dungeonborne isn’t like the Fighter from Dark and Darker; he has both the defense of a Fighter and the damage of a Barbarian. That makes him an expert in aggressive combat and a tank in groups. If it weren’t for the Druid, the Fighter would likely be my favorite class in the game. Like any class, you need to make the most of the Fighter’s strengths and shoring up its weaknesses by using the best build, solo and groups regardless.
Best Solo Fighter Build in Dungeonborne
If this were a tier list, the Fighter would be somewhere at the top when it comes to solo dungeon diving in Dungeonborne. I’d argue they’re in the top three, alongside the Druid. You can wear a plate and use most melee weapons, shields, and two-handed weapons.
Fighter Class: Best Passives For Solo
| Passives | Effect |
| Vengeful Riposte (requires 33 Dexterity) | After a successful defense (such as blocking an attack), your next attack is guaranteed to be a critical strike. |
| Hamstring (requires 50 Strength) | While Battle Cry is active, hitting an enemy with a weapon applies a 20% slow. |
| Weapon Mastery (requires 42 Stamina) | When releasing Battle Cry, gain a 200 point shield for 8 seconds. |
Ideally, you want to unlock all three passives, which is possible but not without snagging some really good gear. Keeping that in mind, if you have to choose a stat to focus on, I’ve ordered the passives in order of importance—Vengeful Riposte > Hamstring > Weapon Master.
These all synergize so well, especially Hamstring and Weapon Mastery, since you’ll be running Battle Cry. Speed is your worst enemy, so having Hamstring to better stick to targets, the squishy spellcaster and rogue kind, will be really helpful. That guaranteed critical strike and innate dexterity to the Fighter also means Vengeful Riposte can do superb damage.
The other two passives, Fired Up and Restraint, are of no use in solo matches. Fired Up is okay on paper, but you aren’t fighting enough people to benefit from it more than once, maybe twice. It also requires 87 strength to unlock and that’s asking for a lot.
Fighter Class: Best Skills For Solo
| Skills | Effect |
| Battle Cry (Q key) | Let out a battle cry, increasing your attack damage by 30%, physical resistance by 30%, and granting 30% lifesteal, lasting for 5 seconds. |
| Charge (E key) | Quickly charge forward a short distance. Using this skill will not interrupt actions currently being performed. |
While Whirlwind deals great damage and hits multiple targets, you can still take damage while channeling it. And since Whirlwind shares an ability slot with Battle Cry, you can’t benefit from defensive passives like Weapon Mastery. In solo, you’re better off compounding Vengeful Riposte’s damage with Battle Cry, all the while healing from it and taking less physical damage.
Charge, on the other hand, can be swapped with Inspire, if you prefer the movement speed. It’s perfect for closing the gap, which is particularly useful against ranged targets; a weakness of the Fighter’s, as it happens to be. If you’re having trouble deciding, go with Charge.
Ultimately, as a solo Fighter, you want to focus on an aggressive playstyle, like the mindset of a barbarian. You’re already naturally tanky because of plate armor, even without a shield, so being in your target’s face does pay off.
Best Group Fighter Build in Dungeonborne
If you thought Fighter’s couldn’t get any better in Dungeonborne, put them in a group. Aside from the Death Knight, they are the de facto frontline of any group. You’ll be a great shield that occasionally crits the lonely player that got separated from their group, usually the rogue or any spellcasters.
Fighter Class: Best Passives For Groups
| Passives | Effect |
| Restraint (requires 27 Will) | Cannot damage allies and cannot be damaged by allies. |
| Vengeful Riposte (requires 33 Dexterity) | After a successful defense (such as blocking an attack), your next attack is guaranteed to be a critical strike. |
Deceptively simple, isn’t it? In a group, you don’t need much as a Fighter. The Restraint passive is non-negotiable. It not only means you don’t have to worry about friendly-fire, your teammates won’t have to either, so they can go crazy with their damage.
Vengeful Riposte, on the other hand, is just so good that even tanks should use it. You’ll use a shield most of the time anyway, so it’s nothing but a net benefit. More often than not, you might find yourself critically striking the enemy team’s pyromancer and digging a hole for them, too.
With that freedom, you’re welcome to choose any other passives of interest, but they’ll largely be dictated by the skills you choose. If you use Battle Cry, go for Weapon Mastery or Hamstring as a third passive or both if you have the gear to increase your stats high enough. If you decide to use Whirlwind in your group, prioritize stamina to soak up the damage you’ll inevitably take.
Fighter Class: Best Skills For Groups
| Skills | Effect |
| Whirlwind (Q key) | Swings weapon and spins while moving, each strike dealing 75% damage. (Requires a two-handed weapon) |
| Battle Cry (Q key) | Let out a battle cry, increasing your attack damage by 30%, physical resistance by 30%, and granting 30% lifesteal, lasting for 5 seconds. |
| Inspire (E key) | Boost the morale of yourself and nearby allies, increasing movement speed by 150 for 3 seconds. |
Being a Fighter in groups really does give you the pick of the litter because you can honestly go with any combination of Q and E skills. Whirlwind is great because you’ll always queue against other groups, meaning you’ll almost always be up against more than one target. But Battle Cry offers that awesome physical resistance and lifesteal for sunstain.
Inspire offers more per mile because it affects the whole group, otherwise I would’ve said Charge. If you want to still use Charge, go for it; the skill is still good in groups. The reason you don’t normally in this case is because ranged enemies aren’t as much of a problem, assuming you have a ranged ally, which you should.
