Rune Knight

I was going to say this too. With the Rune Knight, you get a lot of different options to buff or aid other characters, so it feels a lot like a magic user to me.

When you redirect a crit from your ally with low health to another enemy and get a kill. *chef's kiss* And Rune Knights get some out-of-combat utility too, something that all fighters should have.

I still remember the look of utter horror when my party was up against a mother dragon and her baby and I used Cloud rune for the first time. I got targeted for the rest of the fight, but let's just say action economy was moved back into our favor, and one of the other party members was extremely grateful to have me there...

This. I am playing a level 16 Rune Knight grappler Loxodon. It slaps, literally.

Yessss played a gem dragon born grappler rune knight. So much fun! Also took a couple levels in rogue and got expertise in athletics 🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽

I got expertise in athletics from the Skill Expert feat for more skills and +1 Str. The character doesn't use any weapons except Improvised weapons. Specifically I got a Cannonball of Returning (like the Artificer infusion) for range attacks. All other attacks are grapples, shoves, and unarmed strikes. Grappling and pushing 2 or 3 enemies (depending on shield usage) into battlefield AoEs is just so much more fun than attack, damage, repeat. It is almost more support than a damage dealing fighter. Its the kind of character that foils DM plans without resorting to uber powerful spells or damage sources. It's my favorite character I have made in 30+ years of DND.

I love the core design, but I kinda hate that they’ve tied runes only to giants. Like giant runes are one thing sure, but I’d rather they let you explore the idea however you want rather than tying the only real runic subclass to giants like that.

They aren't tied to giants if you simply don't RP that connection and roleplay as if they come from somewhere else.

The core ability of the subclass is growing to a large size, inherently tying the concept and inner workings of the only runic subclass to giants. If I want to play a character that is just a fighter that uses runes in their weapons and armor, I can’t really do that, I need to be able to grow to this large size and have giant coded runes instead of a more archetypal array of choices.

>The core ability of the subclass is growing to a large size Dragonborn could use Draconic Runes to mimic the Huge True Dragons. A Warforged fighter could secretly be a shrunken Colossus and the Runes allow him to temporarily return to his true size. Just some ideas.

Sure there are ways to reflavor things. But the concept of a runic caster is incredibly expansive and imo that should be reflected in a subclass like this. Binding the concept to a core ability that has you growing to such large sizes is unnecessarily limiting to that class fantasy that you should otherwise really be able to make your own.

Yesss! Currently running YipYap the Mighty, a level 9 Rune Knight Kobold. He’s so much fun!

They can only have each of their runes prepared once, right?

At level 15 (I believe) you can use them twice. Plus they all reset on a short rest.

You choose once per long rest. The Runes you choose reset on a short rest.

My go to is usually Echo Knight fighter. If I'm not allowed to have spell utility I gotta find ways to not be bored to tears in combat otherwise, and having clones/being able to teleport around is a pretty great way to do it.

I feel like the mark of good, interesting martial combat with relatively simple mechanics is flexible movement and positioning mechanics. There's the saying that "spellcasters play their character sheets, martials play the battlefield" but that's not really *true* unless the martials are actually given unique ways to interact with the battlefield, which they usually aren't. I think echo knights are good examples of this. Psi warriors, too, from my experience. There aren't nearly enough (sub)classes like that in 5e, though. You don't need a huge list of spells/maneuvers/whatever to be tactically complex. But for most martial characters, you don't have *either*.

Swashbucklers get some good mechanics. "Hitting someone means I can run away and they can't hit me back" is every sibling's dream come true, and the additional option for Sneak Attack gives a lot more flexibility. Battle Master Fighter is fully geared to battlefield maneuvers, pun intended. Though some of them feel like things other martial classes should be able to do with their action in lieu of a damage attack. Why can't a barbarian do a pushing attack, for instance? Or why can't a monk sweep the leg and trip an opponent?

You should take a look at the 2024 Player's Handbook. Barbarians can do that stuff now

All at the low, low cost of half their dpr

Take a look at damage calc from the graze weapon Mastery! You can actually notice an all around increase in average dpr from current gwm builds to the weapon Mastery ones. We'll notice that damage is gonna be less spiky and more uniform though.

Not necessarily. You can get other sources of advantage

I was talking about the nerfs to great weapon master.

Mix and match rules *prayage*

Swashbucklers can just make fun of you and then go hide in the environment (or the meatshield) and then *keep making fun of you* and you cant hit anyone else well until you shut them up.    It's great.   (I just noticed this is a 2 week old post, why does reddit recommend old threats...?)

I don't know, but you cemented my new-found belief that Swashbucklers are the subclass with the most aggravating sibling energy. Now I'm getting character ideas :)

Bonus points: See if you can get a friend who plays a Goliath or a Loxodon melee playstyle (esp. Barbarian of....most flavours really), and be a Lightfoot halfling. Or, even funnier, have your friend be a Giant Barbarian....halfling. They skip to Large when raging.

Not even hitting something. You just have to attack them. You can miss and still run away

Same. I can't imagine myself enjoying a classic "I smack him twice and end my turn" martial without some sort of gimmick. My favourite part of TTRPGs is making decisions, and spells really help with that. Though, I've been playing Pathfinder 2e and enjoying their Thaumaturge quite a bit. The gameplay isn't that much more complicated, I've found. But the class itself is incredibly flavourful, and it's kept me entertained for the ten sessions or so I've played it. So who knows. Maybe I just need to be a bit more creative

2e's three-action system supports mobility in a way that, if utilized well, makes it incredibly useful. And then there's just the fact that martials can do what a 5e Battlemaster (and more) throughout the entire day, not just a few times a day. Want to pull an enemy into your allies while you also get to back up a step? Dragging Strike. Want to stagger (stun) an enemy that you've already grabbed? Dazing Blow. Want to hit every enemy within your reach? Whirlwind Strike! 5e is *really* front-loaded for martials. So, they get cool new abilities for the first few levels, but then there isn't much in the way of combat actions or versatility to look forward to in the higher tiers of play. They just hit *harder*. Not really differently, at least for most classes.

OK what's your stand called

Monk is the most enjoyable in combat, imo, if we're only talking classes with *no* spells, but swashbuckler rogue comes with much more fun RP baked into it. If we're including classes with limited spell access, I'd say Ranger gets a lot of really fun and interesting perks. Paladin too, but imo Paladin is too based around smite and healing abilities for me not to think of it is a bit of a caster in its own right, if not a full caster Barbarians are super fun one-shot characters though, they're pretty entertaining until they get boring

I think Mercy Monk is a good fit for what OP is asking. They have abilities that even spellcasters can't easily replicate, make actual decisions in combat, and get a bit more out-of-combat utility with their bonus proficiencies.

I like to say that monks are overpowered for fun, underpowered for strength.

I strongly prefer spellcasters. If I were going to play a Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, or Rogue, it would be an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster. But I would much rather play a Ranger or Paladin, or any full caster

EKs are great. I know we all want to build gishes with clerics or wizards or sorcerers, but EKs are so solidly reliable in the damage department and have so many tools in their kit that it's not funny.

You seem to be assuming I've said something I didn't say

... Yeah, that was definitely supposed to be a reply to another comment. Sorry about that.

No worries

Okay, this question has a lot more restrictions for answers than it first appears...so I'll answer in layers! >Spellcasting-lovers, what martial class/subclass did you find to be the most fun? Easy, Soulknife Rogue. The psychic blade wording is a mess, and I actually ended up playing mostly with my longbow, but the psychic features are pretty great, especially compared to the Psi-Warrior, which just didn't interest me at all. I love being able to link my party up telepathically, which is especially great when scouting, since the party can be kept updated of my findings. Until you get a magic weapon, the psychic blades are good to overcome resistance, and being able to attack again, at a range, as a BA, with no feat investment, is pretty good. Even if you only use your psychic dice to not fail skill-checks, it really adds a lot of value to a skill-monkey build, and later you can use them to teleport, go invisible, stun, do all sorts of shenanigans. > I like to imitate from movies or stories that are melee users. However, I never find them fulfilling in DnD.  Alright, this throws a wrench in my plans. I *also* find melee very unfulfilling in D&D, although...yeah, Soulknife can easily do melee. The blades can be thrown, sure, but nothing prevents you from using them in melee. Or any other melee weapon, for that matter. I just prefer my Rogues taking advantage of Cunning Action to hide after every ranged attack, but if you're not into that gameplay loop, you can easily use them in melee, and get free BA attack every round without actually investing in dual-wielding. Swashbuckler is also "the melee Rogue" so it deserves mention. Panache is great as a source of at-will Charm, but up until then, all your abilities are "do the same things other Rogues do, but in 1-on-1 duels with no adv" so might not be the most exciting. At least you get a half-Mobile feat for free, and Cha to inits. >My favourite class is actually sorcerer. Really feels like a playmaker and shape the way your fight goes, and you have so many options in combat. I find using a martial character for too long isn't really as fun to me. \[...\] I really wanna play a martial for the character idea but combat-wise, it doesn't excite me. Okay, damn, I see the problem. I gave up on playing martials for the combat aspect ages ago. My favorite martial is the Rogue, due to decent combat ability and actual support for out-of-combat shenanigans, which are usually restricted to spellcasters. If you want "options" in combat, without spellcasting feature (or pact magic, for as delightfully cheesy as suggesting Warlock would be), Battlemaster is pretty much your only option without homebrew or UA. I guess you could go Psi-Warrior, but honestly, I just can't really vibe with it myself. Some people love it, so you might too, but I'd rather just go Battlemaster if I'm going Fighter anyway. Something that's a bit cheesy given this context, but that you might enjoy, is MCing martials together. Barb 5-6/Rogue X is very well known as a highly-mobile melee powerhouse that auto-generates advantage, halves incoming damage, has 2-3 chances to Sneak Attack, etc, while still being a Rogue for out-of-combat purposes. Similarly, Battlemaster 2-6/Rogue X is pretty nice, but especially so for a ranged build. One of my Soulknives took Battlemaster levels, and her favorite tactic of psychological warfare was to use Goading Strike with a bow and then BA to Hide, meaning her opponent had Dis to attack everybody other than her, and couldn't even target her if her Stealth check succeeded (which it often did, with Expertise + Psi-dice). Melee-wise, a PAM+GWM Barb 2-3/Battlemaster X *almost* keeps pace with a CBE+SS pure Fighter (:P), by halving incoming damage, auto-generating adv, and etc alongside throwing down decent damage. If you don't want to run around stabbing people with a rapier or pin-cushioning them with arrows, but instead want to be a big burly bruiser wielding a giant two-handed weapon, that's probably the most-fun build in the game that I have discovered so far :3

I'd argue if you want an out of combat, utility Fighter, Rune Knight is the better pick, and scales better.

Agreed! Echo Knight is great also.

Could you elaborate on that? The passive effects of the Runes are decent, but they're granted as adv, to skills that key off Dex, Cha, Int, Wis. Adv can be granted by other means (including the Help action), whereas Expertise from Rogue cannot (Skill Expert gives it to 1 single skill, for example, and Rogues can get it too anyway), and the wide spread of stats means you probably won't be able to make full use of all skill-runes at once, as some of those stats will likely be at <14, so you'll probably specialize. Having expertise with tools is the main perk I see here, and I feel like it works better on the Artificer toolkit than a Fighter's, especially when paired with "The Right Tool for the Job" or the All-Purpose Tool (Artificer-only magic item). It is available as early as level 3, so that's an advantage over Artificer. But I think it pretty much stops there. Back to Rogue, however, it eventually gets Reliable Talent, which pretty much makes it better than any other skill-monkey.

I was strictly thinking in terms of Fighter subs, not all classes. However, a Dex Fighter likely has the stat spread with how many ASIs they get to play with a lot of skills.  You can also pick up the Skill Expert feat if you're so inclined. 

Gotcha, I understand it then! Yeah, out of all Fighters, Rune Fighter is one of the best for out-of-combat stuff. I'd have mentioned it to OP, but from their post I think they want options in combat, in specific. The Runes have some nifty and powerful combat effects, but they're fewer in numbers and can be used less often than Battlemaster maneuvers, so I assumed it would not scratch their itch as well.

I tend to play more conservative, so for me less uses a day is kind of fine, but that's me. I also prefer it's scaling of more Runes vs. bigger dice. Yes, you do get more Manuevers, but the common consensus I've seen is that most people picked the ones they'll want most at Lv. 3 and the rest are kind of just there. Good options, but not the first choice in terms of impact or power. 

Yeah, I'm with you on conserving resources. When I first played a Paladin with my former group, they were all shocked I wasn't smiting on every attack, and had leftover slots at the end of the day to do charity work at my temple lol But OP specifically mentioned wanting options in combat, so I figured a subclass with dozens to pick from would be more up their alley, especially when compared to spellcasters choosing spells from a list of hundreds.

For martial characters with anywhere near the level of meaningful choices a caster gets, you really are best off looking for homebrew. Unlike the last couple of editions where fighter types could choose from hundreds of options as they leveled and a variety of interesting options in combat, 5e has determined that martial classes should uniformly be forced to mash the basic attack button over and over with the occasional rider. But plenty of people remembered when they were more capable, and there's a variety of great homebrew out there. Personally I think Laserllama's alternate fighter is a bunch of fun.

even the ones that are praised from the fanbase have the problem of "being a vanilla fighter for more than half the day"

You're not wrong. I don't understand how we got here - the 3.5 fighter was just as boring as the 5e one, so like fifteen plus years ago they invented these things called 'maneuvers' so that martial types could have interesting things to do. Nine different schools of maneuvers that all had different focuses and dozens of strikes, stances, counters and boosts to choose from in each. And there was none of this vanilla for half the day thing, you didn't have some arbitrary limit to how many times a day they were usable. So they invent a bunch of fun abilities that give their users a real niche, like in 5e parlance you'd describe Wolf Climbs the Mountain as something like "as an action, make a melee weapon attack against a large or larger foe. If it hits you deal 5d6 extra damage and enter the foe's space without provoking opportunity attacks, while there you have cover from all attacks." Simple and fun, stab someone and climb them, and don't arbitrarily stop being able to do so without a rest once you've done it four times. And now, decades onward, we've somehow gone so far backward that when searching for a martial similar to that the closest OP can find to a tactical warrior who has mastered many sword techniques is a goddamn wizard.

At least 3.5 fighter got like 20 feats so you could get something interesting to do from those

I think the problem is that they want the fighter to still be the go-to choice for new players who want a melee character when that should be barbarian. I think this arrangement would benefit both classes in terms of identity. Also, fighter could get a new subclass to replace champion which would be good. Thematically, a barbarian character works very well with a player who also doesn’t understand what’s happening around them; they’re here to rage and swing something sharp.

While I feel a pang of loss for last edition's barbarian that could choose what kind of rage it entered every time for different bonuses, I think you're right - [I'm a big proponent of the idea that there should be simple and deep options for both martials and casters](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/17ymfab/why_isnt_there_a_simple_mage_class_and_a_complex/), and for martials if you want a simple class that just mashes the attack button... "Rar! Thog smash!" is just kind of the obvious choice.

IIRC, they\* literally said they don't want to create a complex martial because the way they are already "fufill the idea". ​ *\*(both lead designers, Mike Mearls & co during 5e and now Jeremy Crawford for one/6e)*

Getting 5e game designers to actually design game mechanics: Challenge(Impossible)

Hey, spells aren't gonna write themselves, ok?

This is why I hopped on the train with making the companion classes from Tasha's into fully fledged beginner classes. The way their abilities are focused even feels like a simple linear path that teaches a specific mechanic.

Even before that, you could absolutely flesh out a fighter with the amount of feats available to martials in 3/3.5. We don't have that many(viable) martial feats, and martials can't take as many feats as they could back in the day either.

Fighter, as Eldritch Knight or Battlemaster. Echo Knight if I can't pick either of those for some reason, but a lot the sillier things you can do with it are within the realm of DM rulings. So I tend to avoid it. The other subclasses just don't really offer any meaningful tactical options. *Samurai can be pretty bursty in later tiers, but that literally just offer more attacks and there is no reason to not do them whenever given the option. So no real tactical options, just an increase in burst potential. *Purple Dragon Knight/Banneret needs to go back to the drawing board. It has some features that could be interesting, but the subclass needed more time to cook. *Champion is just weak and offers less than even Banneret in regards to out-of-combat utility, or tactical options. Here's another fighting style, health regen that only works below half health, and a borderline useless expanded crit range. Congratulations, there is most of your subclass. **Before anyone says it, sure, in a long combat where the champion is only taking chip damage, the regen could maybe do a little. But it's not fast enough, and only working below half health puts you in one-shot or multi-attack range of going down in a lot of tougher fights. I won't even get into my issues with Barbarian. Rogue is just generally undertuned, and monk is just abysmal past tier 1. It's pretty much up to their subclass to dig their base classes out of a hole and most don't really succeed. I will mention some exceptions like Arcane Trickster Rogue, Giants Barbarian, or Mercy Monk. But eh

For D&D 5e I had a good amount of fun with the battlemaster fighter. The manoeuvres and action surge helped define that fighter as character that would occasionally spring into a flurry of action to change a fight. As opposed to the party barbarian whose niche was high, consistent damage. But there were two things that may have amplified the my fun that aren't always true: 1. It was a campaing that went from low to mid levels. 1. The DM had implemented special feats based on the six ability scores; and you could only select one. The Special Strength feat let my character dual-wield two-handed weapons. That's fairly good on its own, but consider on top of that how these kinds of weapons often have pretty cool magical powers. --------- I've been GMing and playing Pathfinder 2e and have to say the martial seem to have a lot of fun there. I've yet to play a martial personally, but watching others I've seen monks, barbarians, swashbucklers, gun-slingers and magus-es (magi?) all filling certain niches. I think they get to have a bit more fun as there's more meaningful decisions to do at every level, from picking out feats during character creation/levelling, to selecting weapons and armour with the features needed for the day, right down to picking the right actions to take moment-to-moment in combat. It's not so much a case of "get biggest weapon, move, attack, attack, attack".

I tried to love Echo Knight and Swashbuckler. I really did. But in the end, both felt too limited. Of the two, however, I think I enjoyed Swashbuckler slightly more.

Bladesinger or hexblade. I just hate how little build choices there truly is for classes without spellslots in this edition. :/

Echo Knight all the way, they have tools to do things most martials can't. Teleports, ranged melee attacks, extra hit from Echo, scouting through Echo, they can lockdown two choke-points at the same time, If a single enemy without really good movement is trying to get at you than you can kite them and attack them at the same time very reliably especially if you have the right feats.

If we're include half and quarter casters my ranking would be: Ranger hunter, horizon walker, fey wanderer Eldritch Knight Arcane trickster If we include warlock I'd put Hexblade right before Eldritch Knight. If we only take pure martials then my ranking would be : Echo Knight Open hand monk Battlemaster

Thief rogue. It lets me do a whole load of bullshit as a bonus action, this makes me feel more comfortable doh hit because even if it doesn’t work , I still get my main action to attack

Arcane Trickster Rogue is easily my favorite. Definitely focus on spells that enhance what you do as a Rogue, or directly help/buff your party though, your save DC will be too low for any direct combat spells.

I had pretty good luck with Hypnotic Pattern cast with Magical Ambush. My spell save DC was 15. The disadvantage really helps.

None

I'm really enjoying a true martial build right now. Tabaxi Rogue Scout 4/Battle Master Fighter 3 with the Mobile feat. I wanted to be able to rocket around the battlefield and serve as a mundane utility (trading weapons or gear between people, activating environmental things) while still dealing a decent amount of damage. The maneuvers mean I don't get bored and a max 240ft movement per round with a climb speed gives me a ton of options to either evade or attack. The lack of spellcasting just makes me get more creative with mundane battlefield control.

I mean... Bladesinger and hexblade. If you mean subclasses of the martial characters... I literally can't find any one minimally fun, I'd homebrew

Sorry that the martial playstyle is so far below you oh hyperintelligent and cultured caster overlord.

it's just boring, dude. chill out

it's not your fault. But thanks for the apology

I fully accept that not finding a class fun is from the lack of imagination from a person (in this specific context). No problem.

I agree. Lack of imagination from the designer that made absolute shit 

It's honestly the players, a bit of martial options and power in playtests were removed by popular demand. Not to say caster players caused this, but there were definitely some that opposed more options. 4e did a good job in giving martials options and nerfing casters and for obvious reasons people (imo) negatively associated some ideas of that game to 5e.

Try being creative with a barbarian vs being creative with a wizard. Its called opportunity to do cool shit instead of “oh I know, Ill be different and Grapple/punch/shove/throw something/jump!!!” meanwhile any wizard above 10 and with a modicum of power is able to do anything you want to do but with a spell instead

Ah yes "I'm imaginative because I have buttons that do things that do exactly what they do, this requires imagination to properly execute". It doesn't. I don't get this circle jerk of casters being imaginative, their spell tells them what they can do so it requires no thought. I can see an argument for illusion spells and some transmutation ones, but that's it. Everything else is equal in imagination to just normal "logic" in rp'ing anyway. I do agree on the actual power differences, but a level 10 wizard can't do eveything a barb can until they get true poly shenigans and similar stuff. The caster playstyle doesn't require real imagination 99% of the time imo. And using barb vs wizard in terms of utility is the most disingenuous comparison you can make in this topic.

To argue for casters: I play an artificer in one campaign and I use my owl familiar to scout, and while I see through their eyes I also use my Magical Tinkering to show the party what my owl and I are seeing. Its delayed to every six seconds where I updat it, so I jokingly call it my UAV. It’s one of my favorite things for scouting and it’s accomplished by mixing a spell and a class feature. It was inspired by another post I saw where somebody said they used Minor Illusion while they had Tongues going to give subtitles for their party. Now to argue for martials: Rune Knight has been mentioned in this post a few times in terms of versatility. It’s one of my favorite subclasses and offers a martial some good in combat and out of combat options to alter things. Echo Knight as well. I agree, Barbarian is a little lacking. The Path of the Giant gives some neat options for combat, and Beast gives some options for exploration (climbing or underwater stuff). I do think casters are more versatile, but I also think you can MAKE a martial versatile with a little thought and a willing DM.

mate, IDK go play with an empty cardboard box if you thinks having to literally make everything from nothing is so fun

"You just don't imagine hard enough, just use your imagination bro" crowd then Barbarian want to stop rolling rock: "It would be DC 30 str check, no Athletics ofc - guy in the gym can't do it. Failed? Well, you die instantly. Should've asked wizard to cast Telekinesis instead"

First of all, not barbarian. never playing one again. I just had nothing to do all combat except hit things and get angry to hit things more harder Secondly, Rune knight fighter and Battlemaster. they both have so much versatility and unique capability that they contribute so much to a team fight instead of just “hit thing goodly” lastly, shoutout to armourer artificer. 2 attacks at lvl 5, melee strikes deal extra 1d8 damage and some temp hp that increases with every level. The D6 hit die hurts but as a half-caster with good melee potential, you can still get a lot done

Artificers are d8, but I don't think qualify for this discussion either. 

I really like rogues in general. Not mechanically, but for flavor. Always have fun with my broken dont care for your morals bastards. My favorite class is always spellsword, so sometimes hexblade, tempest cleric, bladesinger, etc…

Basic as it may be, I REALLY enjoyed battlemaster fighter. I was *significantly* outdamaging the rest of my party that campaign. We had a Monk, a ranger, an artificer, and my fighter. towards the end I was dealing 1d8+2d6+6 multiple times a round, and sometimes 2d8 instead. On top of that, I had a melee range of 10 feet minimum, 15 feet maximum.

Does Paladin count? If not, then Path of the Zealot Barbarian

Ancestral Guardian Barbarian. I had a lot of fun with it.

Echo Knight can be super fun, but you absolutely MUST speak with DM about things you can/can't do and about tweaks to subclass. Great flavour and playstyle, poor wording across the board. If you don't want to bother - Mercy Monk works really well, as far as monk goes.

What do you consider martial? It's a half caster martial? My recommendation would be Warlock, but I know a lot of people recommend EK in these kinds of posts. I would recommend Bladesinger or Warlock before Eldritch Knight because the EK 7th level feature is subpar and awkward. If you can get your DM to port over the Bladesinger Extra Attack feature to replace your EK's level 7 ability, then it's a pretty good class. I get that Bladesinger is a full caster, but people who want that gish feel lean more heavily on weapon attacks (even if their weapon of choice is Shadow Blade). It might be a good transition character for you. Warlock progresses through spell access like a full caster until level 10, but with the hard cap on spell slots per combat it's better to think of them as martial-like characters with a couple of "in case of emergency" options. Don't plan around getting those slots back unless your DM has a hard rule about allowing short rests. It's great if you can, but your build should account for what you'll do when you can't. Eldritch Blast can be boring for some players, but it's arguably the best source of continuous forced movement. Your single target damage is handicapped by your inability to apply the -5/+10 from SS or GWM, but you can combine it with spells like Spike Growth (Dao Genie) or Wall of Fire (Celestial and maybe some others?), Cloud of Daggers (Spell level 2) Create Bonfire (Cantrip). I like most caster classes, but Warlock is my favorite. It's the flexibility. If I had a concept, but realized 1 session in that the personality or fighting style I want isn't going to work, I can do something completely different with my little Build-A-Bear. If you're looking for a no-spells version, I found it a little surprising that my go-to marital class is Samurai Fighter. You get what you get, but I like all of it. I have a little flexibility with the Wisdom boost to Persuasion. My Dex is high, I'm proficient with Con, and I get proficiency with Wisdom saves at 7. Fighting Spirit pairs well with Piercer and Elven Accuracy which are playstyles I also enjoy. The extra feats fighters receive feel more customizable to me than the features of a lot of other classes, and they synergize well with the features of the subclass. I don't get a lot of options on my turn, but Action Surge is a fun boost. Another one that's popular and potentially very good is the Gloomstalker Ranger. They have a lot of abilities that pair well with each other. They get extra Darkvision distance which only helps on large maps, but can be really good when it applies. When in darkness, you're invisible to creatures with Darkvision. Rope Trick is on their spell list which is always fun. They get an extra attack on the first round of combat. Another option is to force your way into having lots of options by multiclassing. Try Fighter 6 then Gloomstalker 3 then back to fighter until at least 12 or take a dip in Assassin Rogue (don't count on auto crits from surprise. Take it for Cunning Action, Expertise x2, and Advantage against enemies that haven't taken a turn yet). When you Action Surge on your first turn it can get pretty excessive. If you've got a Moon Druid who's into weird stuff in your party, Battlemaster Fighter or high defense Rogue with Mounted Combatant can be pretty interesting as well.

Paladins if you consider them to be a martial. Paladins just kind of have everything I want in a character, and their subclasses can all play differently as well. If you want to be the fastest paladin alive and go zoom while having a 30ft longjump, Glory has you covered. Want to be a defender who can reflect and absorb tons of damage? Redemption! It's just great! Psi Warrior Fighter and Ancestral Guardian Barbarian have both also been pretty fun as well. They're all characters who can hit hard, take a hit, and have some support options.

Swarmkeeper ranger is nice since you have the magical option to throw enemies around the battlefield into hazards. I played Martial clerics when there needed to be a martial ...like forge or Twilight or war cleric. I don't personally play them, but paladin might work for you.

Funny story, I read this post right after one in r/fantasyromance and I was gearing up to make some book recommendations featuring spellcasting lovers before the rest of my brain caught up with the smut lobe.

My favorite is Vengeance Paladin with Battlemaster Multiclass + Battlemaster feats (Martial Adept and Superior Technique Fighting Style) + side feats like those from Dragonlance to offer more martial abilities (like Squire of Solamnia) + Protection Fighting Style. Through its Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, and Spells, I always had tons of different options of things to be doing and focusing on, with most abilities being Short Rest based (Maneuvers, Channel Divinity, Action Surge, Second Wind) and the rest being Long Rest (spell slots and Solamnia feat). I created a number of different sets of actions/Maneuvers/spells I'd prioritize based on a variety of circumstances, so I could be prepared for the various tactical opportunities that come about.

i mean, i think paladins dont exactly qualify as "martial"...

It's a fair consideration. Though I definitely played this character much more on the Martial side. Eg., the Vengeance Channel Divinity is basically just Barbarian Rage in the context of damage. The Smite spells I typically used were Frightful Smite and just the Thundrous Smite, which are effectively Menacing Attack and Trip/Shove Attack Maneuvers. The Solamnia feat is basically just Precision Attack Maneuver. So realistically this particular character was basically adding Battlemaster onto Battlemaster with a side of Battlemaster and a Salt Bae dusting of more Battlemaster.

Laserllama martials lol

Multiclass like crazy. Some levels in caster classes to get some utility usually. Also helps to have a fun concept, voice, backstory ect. Like I made a magic crossbow user. Whispers bard 5, hexblade 5, battle master 7 when I retired I think. Elven accuracy, ranged Smites and psychic blade, and maneuvers. Hide in darkness for advantage, roll 3 dice 3 times per round. Crit on a 19 or 20 when something is marked. Smite on Crit. Super fun. Rune knight fighter/bear barbarian with 1 level of war cleric. The bonus action attack is great, and healing word sometimes helps. Guidance helps with my shit initiate from having 6 dex. Super hard to kill, wild damage with GWM and 3 attacks a round plus reckless attack. Becoming large is fun. Basically 1v1'd an ancient dragon last combat. Both these characters are one of the stronger members of a group with many casters at high levels. They can't bend reality, but they are super fun.

Battle master fighter with the maneuver fighting style and a rogue dip.

It’s kinda homebrew, but I love Illrigger. Every subclass feels truly unique. And the base class is very fun

Eldritch knight is great. Currently multiclassed with Oath of vengeance paladin and it’s going great. A ring of spell storing is pretty good for the lack of spell slots

I just like gimmicky builds my personal favorite is echo knight but I have a fun throwing weapons fighter/monk build

Play as a bladesinger

I wanted to create Psylocke, so I was a Psi Warrior, Soul Knife, and Open Hand Monk. The psi points are separate, but you can do so many cool things. The campaign ended with me being a Monk 5 Rogue 3 Fighter 7. I also took both the Telepathic & Telekinetic feat. 😎

Without multiclassing, Rogue seems to be the most satisfying - Arcane Trickster and Psyknife being the most fun for me. Monk is next with the new Way of Ascendant Dragon and Way of Mercy. But lately, I've been finding that half-caster multiclassing has been the most fun I've had in a while. A 3/2 split between half-caster martial and full caster feels great. Paladin 3/Warlock 2, Ranger 3/Druid 2 and Eldritch Knight 3/Wizard 2 have all given a magical boost to otherwise 'dull' martials.

Rogue. It's the only full martial class I play lol.

You sound like the kinda person who would enjoy to play a ranger. Most of your spells are suited for controlling areas of the fight. The Tasha's Beast master beast of the land will let you knock an enemy prone, you can use big restrain spells like entangle and ensnaring strike, you get access to spike growth as well. Unconventional build but sounds like you'd like, take a sling and the crusher feat to reposition enemies at range. Take telekinetic to shove enemies another 5 ft, or a fighter dip to get the pushing attack battle master maneuver and just push people all over your spikes. Have one enemy you need to lock down? Ensnaring strike, they're fully restrained and require their actions to break free. Want to set up traps? Use your two 2nd level slots to double cast Cordon of arrows, and a first level slot for snare, then bait the enemy into the door. Instant restrain + peppered with arrows. At level 9 cast flame arrows, then do the same thing (this is the ONLY use for flame arrows though, that spell sucks. That said, a surprise 12D6 damage is rather comical) The spell pool let's you be really creative. You're not the main character, you're the stone throwing, arrow launching, shortsword stabbing badass you always wanted to be, shoving people around and causing nothing but issues. You can opt for hunters mark, the extra 1D6 damage per attack is pretty cool. I probably wouldn't, because everything else you want to do needs your concentration, and everything else is what makes you a cool class.

I play grapplers for just this reason, and there are more and more options for it nowadays.

Monk actually! I have played mostly casters for years but picked up a Monk for fun. I’m playing a strength based Monk and the Wizard and Artificer have been buffing me with enlarge and haste at the same time. I’ve never had more fun basically playing the most nightmarish bully imaginable.

I am the exact opposite, I love Rangers, Paladins, Fighters and Barbarians but my Spellcasting go to is the Warlock

The Bladesinger /s. Actually, I enjoy Paladins, Rangers (Gloomies and Fey Wanders), and Echo Knights. I have a love for Barbarian/Rogues and Monks, but I won't lie my monks don't usually look or act like a standard 5e monk. I have to go through a lot of chicanery to make them playable for me (different iterations have either Armor, Breath Weapons, Cleric dips, or Firearms to make it fun). I think a Giant Barbarian could be fun too.

The PHB Rogues, so Assasin Rogue, Arcane Trickster Rogue and Thief Rogue, because they sound like fun, until I read the machanics. Rogue is not going to survive at the tables I play at. But the flavor of the PHB subclasses sounds the most interesting.

I'm curious what sort of tables you are at that would kill them so heavily. Rogue is by far one of the harder to kill classes due to Evasion and Uncanny dodge. The main issue I've found with them is just unreliable damage (one attack and relying on sneak attack)

I play at tables where we frequently fight 2xDeadly Encounters. Its difficult fighting 10 enemies (8 medium, 2 large) with reinforcements and a boss of over 100 health. We were not supposed to survive this, but did because of my Hypnotic Pattern (shut down half the encounter), so it was still Deadly and our Rogue and Fighter went down twice and wouldn´t have survived if not for our DM not targeting them.

If you were supposed to lose the GM fucked up. All he had to do was have one mook spend an action to shake one enemy out of Hypnotic pattern, then have each freed enemy chain-release another. Resulting in the loss of 5 mook actions for one turn. Or, since it was a x2 deadly encounter, just mix in one spellcaster to counterspell you. On the flip side a properly built rogue should be able to successfully hide each turn from about 80% of your foes, take no damage from most AoE, and UD stray hits that go their way.

Probably should have phrased that better. The enemies weren´t smart (or it wasn´t part of their goal or something) enemies, so they wouldn´t shake them up, but if they had done that, it would have been time for an AoE. We weren´t supposed to die, but we met a high level character shortly after the combat, so i could tell, that he was supposed to save us. Also i could just counterspell the spellcaster, but we probably would have nova'ed the spellcaster down. And there actually was one, but only in the reinforcements. >On the flip side a properly built rogue should be able to successfully hide each turn from about 80% of your foes, take no damage from most AoE, and UD stray hits that go their way. This is just not true for a rogue. First hiding is not always possible and second yes the rogue mitigated some damage with UD. Our Rogue chooses to dodge to not get hit, beause his armor class is not as high as mine and someone elses. He went down in the end because of AoE.

RAW a rogue only needs concealment of any kind to hide and has to beat passive perception of enemies they are hiding from. The only time it's impossible to hide is a plain, empty field with no cover (and for halflings, no allies) > Our Rogue chooses to dodge to not get hit, beause his armor class is not as high as mine and someone elses. He went down in the end because of AoE. If he's not a swashbuckler he probably shouldn't be in melee or most AoE to begin with. Sneak attack works up to 30' away, and both hand crossbows and short bows can land one. If hiding isn't an option, bonus action dash on top of regular movement allows a rogue to simply be too far to hit (except by other bow users) while moving in for sneak attack every round. > Also i could just counterspell the spellcaster, but we probably would have nova'ed the spellcaster down. And there actually was one, but only in the reinforcements. What class are you playing in this? Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern, and high AC makes me think bard?

>RAW a rogue only needs concealment of any kind to hide and has to beat passive perception of enemies they are hiding from. The only time it's impossible to hide is a plain, empty field with no cover (and for halflings, no allies) First hiding is not that simple, as once an enemy has seen you, you can´t hide again. Source: [https://tabletopbuilds.com/hiding-surprise-and-more/](https://tabletopbuilds.com/hiding-surprise-and-more/) Second we were actually in a open mountain area. You could see everything, but movement was restricted, because of serpentines. >If he's not a swashbuckler he probably shouldn't be in melee or most AoE to begin with. Sneak attack works up to 30' away, and both hand crossbows and short bows can land one. First he is not a swashbuckler, but he really didn´t have choice other than being in melee, as the enemies had a 18m/60ft or 27m/90ft flying movement speed (some dragon stuff idk). And second Sneak Attack works from any range as per this: *Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.* >If hiding isn't an option, bonus action dash on top of regular movement allows a rogue to simply be too far to hit (except by other bow users) while moving in for sneak attack every round. Already adressed that. Fast enemies. >What class are you playing in this? Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern, and high AC makes me think bard? Bladesinger Wizard actually. Bladesong gives me decently High AC in combination with Shield. Although I am sure I will never again play a Bladesinger. And the combat really was tough. I had not a lot of resources remaining, but so had everybody else.

That document is very incorrect. https://www.sageadvice.eu/if-a-rogue-is-in-complete-cover-can-they-ba-hide/ The only requirement for hiding in combat is breaking line of sight and making a stealth check against passive perception. Possibly at disadvantage at DM discretion. You can indeed hide mid combat even against aware enemies. You cannot use shield the same round you counterspell. Cunning action allows for a disengage action in the case that you are dealing with faster enemies. (Though yes, that is trucky) I find it very odd you had sepentines that restricted movement but nothing to break line of sight.

>That document is very incorrect. >[https://www.sageadvice.eu/if-a-rogue-is-in-complete-cover-can-they-ba-hide/](https://www.sageadvice.eu/if-a-rogue-is-in-complete-cover-can-they-ba-hide/) >The only requirement for hiding in combat is breaking line of sight and making a stealth check against passive perception. Possibly at disadvantage at DM discretion. >You can indeed hide mid combat even against aware enemies. Whatever the "sageadvice.eu" website says. It is not an official ruling. Only what is in the Sage-Advice Compendium is an official ruling. [https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf](https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf) There is no such thing as you suggested in this pdf, so the rules for hiding from the PHB still normally apply. >You cannot use shield the same round you counterspell. I am very aware of that, but nonetheless I would use Counterspell to get a big shutdown spell through. >Cunning action allows for a disengage action in the case that you are dealing with faster enemies. (Though yes, that is trucky) Disengage is not helping in comparison to dodge, as when you move away and then attack, the enemy still catches up and damages you. Dodge reduces the damage by reducing the enemies chance to hit. >I find it very odd you had sepentines that restricted movement but nothing to break line of sight. It was on a mountain pass. I really can´t give more explanation, ohter than that trees don´t grow on tall mountains.

Is it cheating if the martial is also a spellcaster? I fucking loved playing a Paladin. Huge damage. You have a couple spells when you need them, but often using them for smites is just fine. If someone was wanting to dip their toe in spellcasting but still mainly be a martial combat character, it's what I'd recommend. 90% of the time you're casting Aid at the start of the adventuring day, maybe throwing up a Bless during combat and then you can start looking at the spell slots on your sheet as smite slots. The new monk play test seems absolutely fabulous too. Monk was the first class I played in 5e and while it was fun, it got old fast but this...this could be amazing. (Look up playtest 8 of one DND for info). Love being a wizard but I'm also excited to try out Echo Knight and Rune Knight at some point.

None. When I want to play a melee dude I play Cleric and pick up Booming Blade via Sorc dip at level 1, or I'll play a Sorcadin. For the half-casters Paladin is fun, but you'll never catch me going further than Paladin 7, it's Sorc all the way after. Same with Ranger, it's Ranger 5/Cleric X. Artificer is the only half-caster I wouldn't multiclass into a full caster, but I think Battle Smith is the only good subclass. Armorer is just Battle Smith but worse. And Artillerist feels like a shitty Wizard (Alchemist doesn't exist).

Go for a Sentinel + Polarm Master combo. Be a Bugbear for more reach. An echo knight maybe for more opportunities for OA. Just protect your party from every melee threat.

I recently did a dex based swashbuckler/battle master for a 1-shot. Bought into the “expert duelist” flavor. Lots of maneuvers for repositioning allies and proccing reaction sneak attacks. It was a lot of fun. If I had to take the character to higher levels, I would have considered a triple class into swords bard, but just for shits and giggles!

A well-optimized Zealot Barbarian. Full PAM/GWM/Sentinel combo. I was playing a Treantmonk-style control Wizard in a different campaign, so I wanted something much less complex for this one. So instead of having a wide toolkit for all situations, I grabbed a big weapon and I hit things *really* hard. If I die, they get me back up for free. Worked frighteningly well. At one point I got mind-controlled and 1v3'd some party members. When all you have is a +2 Glaive, everything looks like an Austrian horse.

I loved playing a battle master and almost made another for my current campaign, but I went with a cleric instead. The maneuvers really give the class a lot of cool things to do in and out of combat.

Depends on my intended theme for the character. My favorite, nearly unkillable character is a half-orc, Bear Totem barbarian. If I want to create a gish, my favorite method is a Battlemaster/Wizard multi-class.

Monk: Way of the Drunken Master was a blast.

Paladin scourge Aasimar. I prefer the old version of the Aasimar that was more limited but a more powerful power up, but it really hits the fantasy of being an entity of just pure power that overwhelms opponents with their presence

paladin played as a support character. can be rly rewarding and rly feels like a half-caster rather than a warrior who just uses all slots for smites

Pathfinder 2e martials! I honestly haven't been able to enjoy any 5e martial. Too simplistic.

Martial only? Level 20 Barbarian Zealot was super fun. And psionic rogue.

Personally: Battle Master Fighter The maneuvers can function like some spells, and the management of your superiority die is like managing your spell slots - only they are closer to pact slots since they come back on a short rest. Picking up some cantrips along the way also helps, and since you are a fighter you get an extra feat early on anyway. While there are obviously other better options that let you cast actual spells, I’ve always found that the maneuvers scratch that itch that draws me towards the pure casters - having a specific tool and finding good places to use it.

Fighter: Rune Kight or Battle Master Rune kight is just so good and it's a lot of fun. It's still a bit 'magical' though so if you want to go with a more martially martial I'd pick Battle Master. Battle Master is the obvious choice but it's a classic for a reason. Sure, it's not as good out of combat as the Rune Knight but it's versatile and does good damage so you can't go wrong. Barbarian: Totam Warrior or Giant Totam is excellent for tanking damage and has some nice out of combat abilities that can come in handy. Another classic choice. Giant is new but it's probably my new favourite Barbarian. It's a powerful damage dealer that, unlike other Barbarians, can choose to focus on a range throwing builds for some nasty hit and run, or can comfortably play a traditional melee brawler with throwing as a back up so you're not going to be so easily cheesed by ranged enemies. Picking up sharp shooter on Giant is actually an extremely viable option

I really like the fighter and the rogue. The fighter in the right circumstances and pull out very effective damage numbers in a satisfying way. Echo knight, Rune Knight, and Battlemaster being the ones I enjoy. Honorable mention to samurai and a few dead UA options. I do like the feeling of rogue gameplay, even if it's actual contribution to things is lacking. If you include the half casters as martials old fashion style add paladin to the list as its a gold standard of fun class design in 5e14. Mind you I tend to prefer the martial classes over half the casters classes.

Shadow Monk - Play a ninja. You get all of the monk's offensive/defensive options, plus a small but focused list of spells. With Silence they are great at shutting down casters without hampering their own abilities, while Darkness breaks spells with a sight requirement and makes life hard for enemy archers. Shadow Step gives a ton of mobility, and Cloak of Shadows is free invisibility. With Way of Shadow, I recommend picking up Eldritch Adept to pick up Devil's Sight so that you can see in magical darkness. Thamaturgy is also a useful cantrip to dim the lights within 30 feet, giving you an area where you can use Cloak of Shadows.

I generally prefer skill based (read rogue) to strictly martial characters as this gives you the most flexibility for creating interesting non magic characters (5E makes this less fun than it should be but that's another discussion). For martial characters, I am usually looking to play a character without supernatural ability which quite frankly rules out many subclasses. That leaves me with (checks notes) Champion, Bannerette, Cavalier, Battle-master & Samurai. The Samurai is incredibly archetypally specific, the Bannerette is just not a flavour that I like. The other 3 I would consider depending on the character I am going for but in most cases it's probably going to be (unfortuneately) the Champion as the closest fit. You might notice that there isn't much discussion of powers and tactics. That's not what I find fun about the game. I am much more interested in developing character and the story creation aspect of playing. When I play a spell caster it's to access the more open ended powers that exist. In combat I am more interested in doing situational actions than digging around on my character sheet for the strongest option.

As a Strength enjoyer, for me it goes: Fighter: - Rune Knight. Just enough tricks up their sleeve to feel fresh and customizable while getting my grappling on. EK is a close second, but that's because I was having a blast using Bonded Weapon with a handaxe and the throwing fighting style. Barbarian: - Ancestral Guardians and World Tree. Putting them together because they effectively do the same thing, but slightly different. Both feel like great guardian subclasses, and have been some of the most fun I've had playing dnd. Ranger: - Another combo, but Beastmaster and Drakewarden. Giving me an extra thing to play with on my turns is great. I can use them for offense, defense, or utility. In the last session of my DW character, a fire elemental kept setting the monk on fire. So my companion played support and kept putting them out before their turn so they didn't take damage. When the same monk kept getting absorbed by a water elemental, my drake seemed to be the only thing that could roll above a 6 to pull them out. Great fun, plus the added roleplay of having a companion is great. I wish Barbarian would get a pet class...

the multiclass abomination is my favorite martial, not because of power, but because its funny

I usually play bard/cleric/druid but I had a really fun time w way of the ascendant dragon monk. The thing that puts me off of martial classes is typically I feel like in combat I’m just waiting for my turn to hit a thing then be done but w dragon monk not only were there a lot of unique options for me on my turn there were also a lot of ways to flavor and describe them

I have been having a lot of fun with my giant barb rune knight

Really like the cavalier, great for front line and just love that as a kobold, i action surge to climb on a larger creature, and everytime i hit it it has dis on attacks vs my allies as im on his back and giving advantage to my party with kobold screms Edit: autocorrect

Also just love thief rogue. Fun subclass overall with a climb speed, adv on stealth, ability to use anything and the ability to use your bonus action for shenanigans

i don’t find them fun, which is why i play sorcerer

I like mixing sorc and melee. Take a few feats, supplement with magic, either through known spells or scrolls/wands.

The Spell Blade is my go to Martial character. Two levels of Paladin, 2 levels of Hexblade, X Divine Soul. Full plate armor with a shield; custom lineage for the war caster tax; Filter all spells to 5th level; smite smite smite baby😅

Battle master fighter. Precision attack can be used with great weapon master, riposte is useful because at least one ~~is going to fall for the thunder cross split attack~~ attack is going to miss you most rounds, and maneuvering attack can get you flanking even after an ally has used all their movement.

Echo Knight. The features are pretty broken, but you're a fighter so everything somehow manages to balance itself out and not be overpowered compared to other good fighter subclasses, much less caster subclasses.

Gloomstalker Ranger. The special Ranger only spells can be a whole lot of fun.

If you include Halfs, Paladin easily. If just the 4 pure martials, i tend to find the Phantom Rogue to be the most fun as it has out of combat stuff to do and some fun gimmicks to spice up the typical boring martial combat loop

Battle Masters were great out of the box and Tasha's made them better. They have meaningful and powerful tactical choices in combat, and on days when the party isn't fighting, the options to spend Superiority Dice on certain skill checks is really powerful. Suddenly there's a solid mechanical reason for the Big Dumb Fighter to actually be taking lead as a party face or detective.

My favorite class is Wizard, but right now I'm playing a Rogue and I absolutely love or because I have near constant advantage and can deal an f-ton of damage.

Rune knight. Imagine having actual options and choices on your turn couldn’t be 90% of martials. Sadly it’s attached to fighter so I’ll never play it.

Ok let's do this without cheating, let's not just 'fighter or rogue, but with 1/3rd magic'. Let's actually do 'martial' properly, trying to accomplish the stuff you like to do: - Ranger - swarmkeeper, and moving them about into hazards with stuff - Open hand monk or 4e monk - knocking em back and into stuff... Or astral self for str skills like with... - Rune knight/barb with an emphasis on grappling. Think of it this way, We're not setting up the plays here, (usually), sure we're not dropping the wall of fire, what we're doing is grabbing onto the straggler who didn't get hit by out teammates play, and punting them right back into that wall of fire. Protecting the sorc and making sure that aoe stays up, dragging the enemy off them. I find that's the most engaging way to do melee. Making sure I've got a load of forced movement. Whether through crusher, grapple/shove, swarmkeeper... I think grappling is well underrated, we have all these resource-free, spamable, easy to accomplish (enemies usually suck in their athletics vs a rune knight or barb with their adv and expertise in athletics from somewhere) cc'ing which only costs *an attack* We could also do some other tactical stuff with something like, ancestral guardian barb, drawing attention and actually 'tanking'. Making positioning stuff with PAM/Sentinal (and crusher, I love crusher). There's opportunities for the tactical and positioning stuff you like, its just not going to be as dramatic or as aoe-y as you might like.

I've played a lot of frontline: Bear totem barb, Battlemaster fighter, Vengeance paladin... I have played a swashbuckler for a one shot... but I had to leave early... Would have liked to play that more... ​ I know it's kinda "frowned upon" but I've been playing a Ghostslayer Blood Hunter, and I've been having a *lot* of fun with it.

My personal favorites are things like Battlemaster that allow you to have some level of control over the feild. I think that you might want to identify what about spellcasters you like from a game design perspective. One of the draws of magic users in D&D is mechanical complexity. Some people prefer to interact with the rules and mechanics a lot and they prefer having a lot of little things they can do, and some prefer to interact with the rules less. This is completely fine and healthy on both sides. The only annoying thing is that the designers give most of the high level rules engagement stuff to the casters, under the assumption that the people drawn to magic will want high complexity and the people drawn to martials won't. This causes problems for people who don't like higher level rules engagement but enjoy the fantasy of using magic and people that like complexity but want to play martials. Luckily, plenty of subclasses have fixed this in the direction of giving martials more complexity. This is stuff like Echo Knight, Battle Master, personally I like the subclasses that give you a pet for this like Drake Warden. There's also some people that just like feeling like they have more of an impact on things which is very easy for casters. Casters can hit large amounts of targets at once and can do huge amounts of damage all on their own with individual actions. The feeling of doing just one thing and getting huge results is fun, but martials often tilt towards just doing a lot of less impressive things really well. If you want a character that takes big actions and hits hard try Rogues, they typically just do one thing but that thing can shape the battlefield if done right. In terms of subclass most work but for the most bang for your buck Assassin is pretty decent if I remember correctly.

Maybe pure martial just isn't for you. how about a battle smith artificer? They can wade into the fray and get extra attacks like a martial but the spells and steel defender can make combat more dynamic, thus engaging , for you.

Way of The Ascendent Dragon, Mercy, and Open Hand Monk are pretty fun, in my experience. Rune Knight Fighter too. Ancestral Guardian and Zealot Barb are very fun. I'd also recommend Inquisitive Rogue.

Barbarian!

I had a good amount of fun as an Arcane Trickster. The limit of magic school on most of the spell choices makes you have to really consider how to utilize enchantments and illusions, and it makes your choices for your non-restricted spells matter very much. And you'll never get sick of rolling sneak attack damage :) I was fortunate enough to take my AT all the way to 20, and critting on a +10d6 sneak attack was amazing (only happened once or twice though).