Dungeons and Dragons has gotten a resurgence of new players thanks to the hype for upcoming movies and shows like Honor Among Thieves and Legend of Vox Machina. There’s so much for new players to sink their teeth into, and one of them is deciding what magic items to use.
With only three attunement slots available, it’s certainly a challenge deciding what magic items to bring. Fighters are good enough by themselves, but magic items give them that extra push to be truly legendary heroes.
Winged Boots (Requires Attunement)
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Winged Boots gives players the ability to fly for up to four hours, with hours being regained for every 12 hours the player doesn’t fly. In combat, the loss of hours is essentially rendered moot, since each round is only six seconds long anyway. For melee fighters, the flight is the perfect equalizer against flying enemies.
Whether it’s to reach an up-high enemy, a tactical retreat, or just to get more ranger for archers, Winged Boots give Fighters a lot of versatility and mobility. For grapplers, they can perform some truly spectacular wrestling moves to put down certain enemies, if they have the toughness for it.
Cloak of Displacement (Requires Attunement)
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Cloak of Displacement projects an illusion of the player character right next to themselves. Thanks to this, all attacks against the player are made with a disadvantage. If the player takes damage, the effect dissipates until the start of the next turn. On survivability alone, this is a fantastic magical time.
Fighters are always going to be in the fray, and so, anything that makes attacks against them less effective is amazing. This added survivability makes Fighters that much more dangerous in battle, as every turn they avoid damage is one more turn they have dishing it out. All thanks to a bit of literal movie magic.
Ring of Evasion (Requires Attunement)
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Sometimes, an unexpected fireball might make its way to the Fighter. In such cases, being able to dodge it for free is an incredibly powerful ability. Most attacks that require a Dex saving throw are incredibly high damage, and the fact that Ring of Evasion cancels that out (or at least halves it) dramatically increases survivability.
This is particularly useful for Fighters who chose to increase their Strength instead of Dexterity. The fact that it’s a ring also means it can be worn with other survival items with ease. A Fighter with Cloak of Displacement and Ring of Evasion is a slippery Fighter indeed, resembling a Pokemon using banned evasion moves more than anything else.
Adamantine Armor
Of course, no matter how many evasive items one takes, there’s always that inevitability of an attack landing. Even worse, if that attack is a ritual, it could easily spell game over for the adventure. In such cases, the toughness of Adamantine Armor becomes a godsend.
Adamantine Armor can take the form of any medium or heavy armor (except hide), and turn any critical hit against the player into a regular hit. There are several ways to improve one’s AC, but being immune to criticals is something well worth the investment. Plus, this needs no attunement, so it can be used with other magic items.
Mantle of Spell Resistance (Requires Attunement)
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Spells are one of those things that the physically tough martial casters can’t do much against. For spells especially that don’t involve STR, CON, or DEX, spells are especially troublesome, and the right spell could derail a Fighter’s momentum.
The Mantle of Spell Resistance provides the simple yet powerful benefit of gaining an advantage on all saving throws against spells. It doesn’t matter if it’s Fireball or Psychic Scream, the Fighter has a much higher chance of surviving whatever spell the powerful creatures they face throw against them.
Spellguard Shield (Requires Attunement)
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While the Mantle of Spell Resistance is fantastic for archers, two-hand wielders, or duelists, sword and boarders might find themselves wanting something more effective. This is where the Spellguard Shield comes in, providing the same benefits that the Mantle does, but with a few bonuses.
First of all, it’s a shield, so it provides that handy +2 AC. In addition to protecting against powerful spells, it also gives an advantage against magical effects in general, as well as putting a disadvantage on any spell attacks made against the player. For those who hate dealing with casters, this shield is a must.
Ring of Free Action (Requires Attunement)
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Frontliners are going to be the target of all manner of attacks and spells. In fact, not all of them are necessarily damaging. A Paralysis spell, an oil spill, or a magical net could easily stop any rushing Fighter’s plans of dominating the enemy casters.
Ring of Free Action cancels all of that out, making the player able to move through Difficult Terrain without sacrificing extra movement, and spells such as Paralysis or Entangle will not affect the player. Being incapacitated is about the same as being dead for Fighters at the worst of times, so Ring of Free Action is handy for preventing that.
Amulet of Health (Requires Attunement)
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The Amulet of Health is yet another simple but powerful magic item for martial characters. Amulet of Health sets the player’s Constitution to 19, essentially one point off of 20. Seeing as most people don’t bother increasing Con past a certain point, this is a massive benefit.
Stat gains are rare and valuable, and Amulet of Health puts the player at max Con without needing to dump more points into the stat. For fighters, this means they can focus on amping up their Strength and Dexterity much earlier, without worrying about melting in the middle of a battle.
Weapon (+1, 2, Or 3)
Simple. Boring. Effective. This is exactly what a simple +1/2/3 weapon of the player’s choosing has to offer. True, it may not spit fire or curse souls, but that simple stat increase could spell the difference maker in fights. The effects are reliable and the increase in damage and hit chance are nothing to scoff at
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Thankfully, basic +1 weapons don’t require attunement either. That means a fighter can hoard as many of these as they can carry without much worry. It might be boring, but for those who like reliability, these weapons are a must. That said, enchanted weapons with a +1 also exist, so it’s still worth a look.
Belt of Giant Strength (All Variants, Requires Attunement)
Strength is an often underrated stat in Dungeons and Dragons due to the general rarity of Strength saving throws. However, for a STR-focused fighter, every single rung of the Belt of Giant Strength provides great benefits, as the Hill Giant tier already sets the players’ strength to a whopping 21.
In the highest tier, this can be raised to a staggering 29. The flat +9 to attack and damage rolls for STR fighters is amazing enough on its own, but the benefits of super strength shouldn’t be looked down on either. For grapplers with Powerful Build and the ability to Enlarge especially, Belt of Giant Strength makes the Fighter a certified superhero.