Dungeons & Dragons: Every Fighting Style, Explained

thegamer.com:

In Dungeons & Dragons, martial classes are those held by characters that aim to deal with their foes using traditional weapons rather than through the use of spellcasting. While there are a variety of martial classes available to players, each with its own unique strengths, several of these classes provide characters access to a fighting style.

RELATED: D&D: Tips For Playing A Pacifist Character

Fighting styles are permanent augmentations to a character that provide specific benefits in combat, often improving a character's ability to use certain types of weaponry. Fighting styles can help a character excel in a specific area of combat such as more reliably landing their ranged attacks or even helping their defenses. So we're going to break down each fighting style currently available in D&D's fifth edition and see exactly what they're capable of.

Before we begin, we should note that despite not every class gains a fighting style by default, thanks to the Fighting Initiate feat introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, any character can theoretically gain a fighting style available to the Fighter class. Additionally, while some fighting styles have been shown in Unearthed Arcana releases, we will only be accounting for fighting styles that have appeared in official D&D expansions and rule books.

For those looking to play a martial character who fights primarily by using long-range weaponry, the Archery fighting style is a must-have. Simple yet effective, Archery provides a character with a +2 bonus to hit will all ranged weaponry. Rather than this increasing a character's damage output, it provides a solid accuracy boost that helps a character more reliably land their mark.

Despite its name, as this fighting style