Editing Fighter (section)

===2nd Edition===
[[Image:Valeros2e.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Valeros, iconic fighter from Pathfinder Second Edition. Yeah, he has a shield now.]]

To give Fighters something to do, they got exclusive access to Attacks of Opportunity before 6th level (and even then, only Barbarians, [[Magus|Magi]] and [[Paladin|Champions]] get it, and need to spend a class feat on it). Other than that, they remain the exact same opposite of the [[Skill monkey]] they are in any other D&D (Class feats are almost entirely combat utility, and almost no non-combat utility), although skill advancement is at the same rate as any other non-Rogue. Athletics and Intimidate remain your best skills, especially with the overhaul on how Combat Maneuvers work, while Crafting is critical for maintaining equipment regardless of focus (especially since shields can be damaged quite easily now). Dex fighters can get a lot out of Acrobatics, Stealth and Thievery. In combat, the only real weak spot they have is crossbows, as those weapons require multiple actions to reload and only the [[Ranger]] and [[Gunslinger]] can access the feats needed to facilitate on that front without dipping into an archetype.

More than any other class, the Fighter is the least bound by any class features, whereas other classes are forced to specialize in a specific part of their niche. While they have weapon mastery to grant better proficiency for one weapon group as well as access to crit effects, their impact boils down to slightly bigger numbers in combat for the most part. This makes Fighters incredibly open to archetyping since they lose so little from it. In addition, fighters have the ability to take temporary feats, as the [[Brawler]] did before. This was buffed because, instead of it being usable 3 + half Brawler level times per day for a few minutes, now Fighters can pick a Fighter class feat they don't have, picking at half their level.

What makes Fighters shine is having both the best attack bonus progression and having a bunch of combat feats that allows them to cheat the action economy, though it is not unique to them (Barbarian and Ranger both get various similiar feats). However, by having an attack bonus that is superior any other class, they are more likely to critically hit than any other class (barring the [[Gunslinger]]). Besides the usual double damage, fighters of level 5 or higher apply various penalties depending on the weapon they are using. From making them flat-footed, bleed or prone, a fighter in melee can bully a foe into submission with combat maneuvers or by simply being so good in hitting them. All this arguably makes the fighter the best martial class in the game, because being able to critically hit more than any other class pretty much outshines most other features other classes can offer.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Classes}}
{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}