Orc Fighter Build Guide

Levels 1-4

Start with a Halberd and take the Great Weapon Fighting style. Your priority is maximizing your reach and damage. At level 3, choose the Battle Master archetype. Select Precision Attack, Trip Attack, and Menacing Attack as your maneuvers. Precision Attack is strictly for offsetting the -5 attack penalty we will take soon, while Menacing Attack is fantastic for keeping enemies locked in place. At level 4, take the Great Weapon Master feat. You now have the primary engine of your damage. Because you have Adrenaline Rush, you don't need to waste your action Dashing to get into melee; you can use your bonus action to close the gap and still unleash a Great Weapon Master attack.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 brings Extra Attack, doubling your baseline DPR. At level 6, use your ASI to split +1 Strength and +1 Constitution, bringing your starting 15 STR and 13 CON to a solid 16 and 14. At level 8, take the Polearm Master feat. This gives you a reliable bonus action attack and weaponizes your reaction when enemies enter your 10-foot reach. Keep in mind that on the first round of combat, you might use your bonus action for Adrenaline Rush to close the distance, but on subsequent rounds, you'll rely on the Polearm Master butt-end strike. You also gain Indomitable at level 9, which you should save exclusively for Wisdom saving throws.

Levels 11-16

At level 11, you gain Extra Attack (2), jumping your baseline melee DPR up significantly. With Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, and three attacks per action, your Action Surge rounds become devastating. Use your level 12 ASI to bump Strength to 18, and your level 14 ASI to cap Strength at 20. At level 15, your Relentless maneuvers ensure you always have at least one superiority die when rolling initiative, meaning you can always fuel a Precision Attack if you miss by a narrow margin. At level 16, take the Resilient (Wisdom) feat. With your starting 10 Wisdom, you are highly susceptible to spells like Hold Person or Hypnotic Pattern, which bypass your high AC and HP.

Levels 17-20

Level 17 grants your second Action Surge, allowing for back-to-back rounds of unparalleled burst damage. You also get your third use of Indomitable. At level 19, take the Tough feat to massively pad your hit point pool, adding 38 HP immediately. Finally, level 20 grants Extra Attack (3). You are now making four attacks per action, plus a bonus action attack, plus a reaction attack. If you use Action Surge, you are making eight heavy-hitting attacks in a single turn, and Relentless Endurance guarantees you'll live long enough to execute this combo.

Great Weapon Master

Take this at level 4. The -5 to attack rolls for +10 to damage is the cornerstone of martial Striker builds. Because you chose Battle Master, you can use Precision Attack to retroactively turn misses into hits. Adrenaline Rush ensures you are always in melee range to use this, preventing you from wasting turns throwing javelins.

Polearm Master

Take this at level 8. Combining this with a Halberd or Glaive gives you a 10-foot reach, a bonus action attack (which also benefits from the Great Weapon Master +10 damage), and a reaction attack when enemies approach. This maximizes your action economy, though you must carefully juggle your bonus action between this, Adrenaline Rush, and Second Wind.

Resilient (Wisdom)

Take this at level 16. As a high-level Fighter, your biggest threat isn't physical damage—it's incapacitating magic. A failed Wisdom save against Dominate Person turns you into a lethal threat to your own party. Gaining proficiency in Wisdom saving throws pairs with Indomitable to keep you in control of your character.

Tough

Take this at level 19. By this tier, enemies deal massive amounts of damage. Adding 40 hit points to your d10 hit die chassis makes you a behemoth. Combined with the temporary hit points from Adrenaline Rush and the cheat-death mechanic of Relentless Endurance, you become functionally immortal against standard attacks.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Start with Chain Mail and a Halberd. Your AC will be 16, which is respectable. If your DM allows starting equipment gold, try to purchase Splint Armor as soon as possible. Pick up a few Javelins just in case you run out of Adrenaline Rush uses and need a ranged option.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Upgrade to Full Plate Armor to hit 18 AC. Seek out a +1 Halberd to offset the Great Weapon Master accuracy penalty. A Cloak of Protection is heavily recommended here; the +1 to saving throws is crucial for surviving nasty spell effects, supplementing your low Wisdom score.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

Look for a +2 Halberd and a Belt of Fire Giant Strength. Setting your Strength to 25 completely negates the -5 penalty of Great Weapon Master. If you find a Belt of Giant Strength, you can potentially ask your DM to retrain your Strength ASIs into other feats like Sentinel or Alert.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

Your ultimate weapon is a +3 Halberd or a legendary weapon like a Bloodfury Tattoo to add necrotic damage and healing to your strikes. Plate Armor of Invulnerability is the dream defensive item, giving you resistance to all nonmagical damage, which stretches your massive HP pool and Relentless Endurance even further.

As an Orc Fighter, your role is the Striker and secondary Defender. You excel at isolating priority targets and deleting them with Action Surge. However, you rely heavily on your party to handle area-of-effect crowd control and magical buffs. You pair exceptionally well with a Chronurgy or Divination Wizard. If they cast Web or Hypnotic Pattern, you can use Adrenaline Rush to safely skirt the edges of the hazard and pick off restrained targets with your 10-foot Polearm Master reach.

You also shine alongside a Twilight Domain Cleric. While their Twilight Sanctuary temporary hit points will overlap with your Adrenaline Rush temp HP (they don't stack), the Cleric provides advantage on Initiative rolls, ensuring you can rush in and eliminate an enemy caster before they act. Furthermore, their Holy Weapon spell cast on your Halberd synergizes terrifyingly well with your four attacks per action at higher levels.

Barbarian 2 Dip

Taking two levels of Barbarian for Reckless Attack and Rage is a massive upgrade. Reckless Attack gives you on-demand advantage, which perfectly offsets the Great Weapon Master penalty. Rage gives you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, doubling the effectiveness of your health pool and making your Relentless Endurance trigger much harder to reach. Just remember you cannot wear heavy armor while raging.

Gloom Stalker Ranger 3 Dip

A three-level detour into Ranger for the Gloom Stalker archetype yields explosive round-one damage. Dread Ambusher gives you an extra attack on the first turn that deals an extra 1d8 damage. If you Action Surge, you get that Dread Ambusher attack again. Combined with the Orc's Darkvision and Adrenaline Rush, you become an invisible terror in the darkness that can cross the map and attack 6-8 times on turn one.

• Bonus Action Bloat: Players often forget that Adrenaline Rush, Second Wind, and the Polearm Master butt-end attack all require a bonus action. Don't waste your Polearm Master attack if you need to Adrenaline Rush to reach a target; prioritize positioning first.
• Wasting Relentless Endurance: When you drop to 1 HP via Relentless Endurance, you are still one hit away from death. Do not aggressively Reckless Attack or provoke opportunity attacks in this state. Immediately use Second Wind or retreat.
• Ignoring Wisdom Saves: With a starting Wisdom of 10, failing to take Resilient (Wisdom) or acquiring a Cloak of Protection will result in your character spending half the campaign paralyzed by Hold Person.
• Hoarding Action Surge: Don't save Action Surge for the perfect moment. Use it on round one or two to permanently eliminate an enemy. Dead enemies deal no damage, preserving your hit points.