Rules edition: This build uses the optional Variant Human traits and 2014 Fighter rules. The Variant Human’s feat depends on the campaign using the optional feat rules and the DM allowing the variant. It does not use the revised Human or Fighter rules.
A Variant Human Fighter can start with a feat that helps define a combat role from level 1. That early choice is useful, but it does not make one feat or weapon style best for every campaign. Choose the feat after you decide how the character fights, then build ability scores and equipment around that plan.
Variant Human traits and the Fighter
The 2014 Variant Human replaces the standard Human’s +1 to all six ability scores. Instead, increase two different ability scores by 1, gain proficiency in one skill, and choose one feat. The rules make this version conditional on the campaign using optional feats and the DM allowing the variant. Ask before building around a feat that has prerequisites.
Fighters choose Strength or Dexterity as their main attack ability. Strength supports most melee weapons and Athletics; Dexterity supports ranged weapons and finesse attacks. Constitution is a useful secondary score for hit points and concentration checks if you choose Eldritch Knight. Intelligence matters for that subclass’s spell save DC and spell attacks, while Wisdom helps common Perception checks and saving throws.
A legal point-buy example
For a Strength-focused character, buy Strength 15, Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 10, and Charisma 14. This spends 27 points under the 2014 point-buy table. Apply Variant Human’s two +1 increases to Strength and Constitution for a final array of Strength 16, Dexterity 10, Constitution 15, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 10, and Charisma 14.
This is one example, not a required array. A Dexterity Fighter can move the highest purchased score to Dexterity. You can also use the standard array; assign 15 to your main attack ability and 14 to Constitution, then apply your two increases to different abilities that support your plan.
Choose the level-1 feat for your combat plan
Polearm Master supports a character using a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear. After you take the Attack action and attack with a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to attack with the weapon’s opposite end; this attack deals 1d4 damage. While wielding any of the listed weapons, you can also use your reaction to make an opportunity attack when a creature enters your reach. A pike grants the reaction option, but not the opposite-end bonus-action attack.
Great Weapon Master is for a character proficient with heavy weapons. Under the 2014 feat, before making a melee attack with a heavy weapon, you can take a −5 penalty to the attack roll for +10 damage on a hit. You can also make a bonus-action melee attack after scoring a critical hit or reducing a creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon. The penalty is a tradeoff, not an automatic damage increase; consider the target’s Armor Class and any reliable ways your party has to improve your chance to hit.
Crossbow Expert can suit a ranged Fighter. The 2014 feat removes the loading property’s usual limit on the number of attacks you can make with a crossbow, removes disadvantage on ranged attack rolls made within 5 feet of a hostile creature, and can grant a bonus-action attack with a hand crossbow after you attack with a one-handed weapon. Loading ammunition still requires a free hand, so plan your equipment around that requirement.
War Caster is a possible Eldritch Knight choice if you expect to maintain concentration while threatened. Its benefits have specific conditions: the opportunity spell must have a casting time of 1 action and target only the provoking creature. The feat’s somatic-component benefit does not remove material-component requirements. If you would rather raise an ability score, take a different feat, or your campaign does not use optional feats, build accordingly.
Fighting style, armor, and subclass
Choose a Fighting Style that matches your equipment. Archery adds +2 to ranged weapon attack rolls. Defense grants +1 AC while you wear armor. Dueling adds +2 damage when you wield a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons; a shield in the other hand is allowed. Great Weapon Fighting is limited to rerolling 1s and 2s on the weapon’s damage dice, so it is a modest and variable benefit rather than a flat damage bonus.
Battle Master offers maneuvers for control and accuracy, Champion improves critical hits, and Eldritch Knight adds spellcasting. A level-1 feat can complement any of them, but the subclass does not make an otherwise unsuitable feat mandatory. For example, Precision Attack can help a Battle Master recover a low attack roll, but it costs a superiority die and cannot guarantee a hit.
Heavy Armor Master is another option for a character proficient with heavy armor. It increases Strength by 1 and reduces qualifying nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage by 3. It does not reduce every kind of damage, and its value depends on what enemies the campaign uses.
Use Fighter levels and bonus actions deliberately
Under the 2014 Fighter table, you gain Ability Score Improvements at Fighter levels 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 19. If your campaign uses the optional feat rule, an ASI can be replaced by a feat. The Variant Human’s starting feat is separate from these later choices. Improve your main attack ability when accuracy or damage matters more than another feat; Constitution or a feat can be a better choice for some builds.
Second Wind uses a bonus action, and Action Surge grants an additional action starting at Fighter level 2. Several common build choices also use a bonus action: Second Wind, Polearm Master’s extra attack, Crossbow Expert’s hand-crossbow attack, and Great Weapon Master’s critical-hit or takedown attack. You cannot use multiple bonus actions on the same turn, so decide which one matters most as the fight develops.
Backgrounds and character hooks
A 2014 background adds proficiencies and a feature, but it does not grant ability-score increases under these rules. Soldier fits a character with a military past; Folk Hero suits a local defender whose community offers help; City Watch and Knight of the Order are setting options from Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. Choose a background for its skills, feature, and story—not because it changes the Fighter’s ability scores.
A Human Fighter’s flexibility works best when the feat, ability scores, fighting style, and equipment point in the same direction. A polearm controller, archer, shield-bearing defender, and Eldritch Knight can all use the same class while making different tradeoffs. Confirm which optional feats and setting-specific backgrounds your DM allows before finalizing the character.