Building a better Fighter, 4E D&D

First of all, a couple things to take note of:

This version of Bugbear Fighter will take being prepared to a whole new level.  Your power, versatility and overall effectiveness will be brutal.

First of all, it’s a MUST that your racial choice is BUGBEAR for a couple of reasons. 

1) It allows you to use oversized weapons.  An oversized executioners axe, means it is doing 2d6 for it's regular weapon damage.  Since an executioners axe is BRUTAL 2, you are rerolling your damage 33% of the time, whenever you roll a 1 or 2 on a die (since you’re rolling 2d6’s).  This is HUGE and one of the most important parts of the build.

2)  Once per encounter when you have combat advantage, you deal 1d6 damage with the bugbear encounter power, predatory eye.  (not much, but extra damage is always nice)

3)  The racial bonuses for a bugbear are +2 Str & +2 Dex.  Perfect for a battle rager who depends on wearing light armor instead of heavy (for full battle rager, temp HP gain)

This build is strictly to do serious damage, gain and keep HP and be prepared for ANYTHING.  It's still a work in progress, as I have only built him up to level 12, but most times, seems unstoppable. So far, I have found it to be highly effective and not only does it annoy the hell out of the DM’s, but even the players shake their heads at me.

This is achieved by the following combinations of powers, magic items, feats, etc..:

1)  Cloaked Executions GreatAxe utilized with Predatory Eye to ensure it's use and an additional 1d6 damage every encounter and the magic item Strikebacks, which allow for a free melee basic counter attack once per encounter.

2)  Multi-class Ranger feat (adds 3d6 damage per encounter), Predatory eye (adds 1d6 damage per encounter, feat: Marked Scourge (adds Wis mod damage each turn vs. marked enemies), weapon focus (adds +2 damage each attack, paragon tier), Iron Armbands of Power (+2 damage with all melee attacks) for extra damage.

3) Boots of the Fencing Master utilized with Powers such as: Footwork Lure, Inexorable Advance, Shrewd Repositioning, and the feat Martial Alacrity, which allow a total of 5 shifting powers / items, means for 6 rounds of combat, you have an additional +1 bonus to Reflex and AC, as well as being able to shift almost at will to reposition yourself or possibly get combat advantage.  I don't think any of our encounters have ever lasted more than 6 rounds.

4) Battle Rager Vigor along with Invigorating Powers such as: Crushing Surge, Knee Breaker and Inexorable Advance along with a Daily power, Victorious Surge, utility powers such as Unbreakable and Shooter's Nemesis, and magic items: Ironskin belt and amulet of life+2, the paragon path Dreadknought ability of +10 bonus HP and when taking an action point, Resist 10 damage until end of next turn = a LARGE # of HP and a large number of resistance to damage.

5) Dreadknought Paragon Class:  Gives you a 10HP Bonus and as a minor action (if I remember correctly), you can lose 10HP and automatically save against any status effect that a save can end.  POWERFUL.

Just to put the power into perspective: 

Round 1) Steel Serpent Strike (4d6+12 damage, +1d6 (predatory eye), + quarry(1d6, 1^st round), (+4 damage Marked Scourge),  = a minimum damage of 30 damage and a max of 52 damage, for a 2 (W) strike.  If you Crit, you could do a minimum damage of 50 damage and a maximum of 74 damage.  If this was a 6d6 attack, or 3(w) attack, the max damage would be 86.

For the Underdark campaign that I’m in, we are using extreme elite stats (being heroes and in the underdark).  For those following the offical guidelines, just adjust the ability scores as necessary.


Bugbear Battle Rager Fighter
Str:  23
Con:  20
Dex: 22
Int: 16
Wis: 19
Cha: 17

Here are the feats to choose at the appropriate level:

Level 1:  Superior Weapon Proficiency (Executioners Axe)

Level 2:  Warrior of the Wild: Multiclass Ranger (Gain Hunter Quarry feature)

Level 4:  Weapon Focus (Axe)

Level 6:  Swift Footwork (for Inexorable Advance and Shrewd Repositioning)

Level 8:  Improved Vigor

Level 10: Toughness

Level 11: Paragon Class: Dreadknought  Feat: Marked Scourge

Level 12:  Feat: Mighty Battlerage


If you have any questions or thoughts on improving the build, send me an email or post a comment.