TIL How to Play the Fighter Properly

[Aron Times]

My first character was based on an old D&D character, a half-orc archer fighter. The closest equivalent in PoE is an aumaua because of their bonus to Might. However, I made the mistake of assuming that rogues weren't that good at combat, as in the past three editions, fighters have been better combatants than rogues (rogues had the advantage of having more skills than anyone else in 3e, 4e, and 5e). I also made the mistake of assuming that Dexterity was used for ranged combat, and completely neglected Might (which actually affects all damage, spell, arrow, bullet, sword, etc. unlike Strength in D&D).

 

After finishing the game for the first time, I decided to recreate my aumaua fighter and make him more like a traditional fighter, a melee combatant. It made a huge difference, as with the fighter companion, I am able to lock down up to six targets in melee and pretty much keep my archers and spellcasters protected. Also, the fighter's constant regeneration was wasted on my first character, as he didn't take a lot of damage as an archer (and with a warbow, he had the longest range of anyone in my party). My tanks were the paladin and the chanter companions, and they didn't last as long as the current iteration of my character (that constant regen is awesome).

 

Anyway, my current party lineup is as follows:

1. Fighter Watcher - Island Aumaua with three weapon quickslots. Currently, I have sword and shield (actually flail and door, as in his shield uses to be a door), single-weapon, and two-handed weapon for my three weapon quickslots for tanking, accuracy, and damage penetration respectively. I might convert one of those quickslots to a ranged weapon so he has something to do when the enemy can't be reached.
2. Fighter Companion - Sword (sabre) and shield with a pistol as a backup weapon. Fits his Weapon Focus talent.
3. Cleric Companion - Uses his starting staff to fight behind the two fighters. His Turn Undead (sorry, can't remember what it's called in PoE) has been upgraded to improve the accuracy of allies. Very useful for allowing everyone to land hits, and also saves them talent slots that they would've spent on Weapon Focus.
4. Chanter Adventurer - Fights with an crossbow (can't remember if it was a crossbow or an arbalest, but it was Fine quality).
5. Cipher Adventurer - A blaster caster who uses a warbow to recharge her mana, er, I mean, focus. I particularly like her lack of friendly fire damage.
6. Wizard Companion - Focused on crowd control spells as his Might sucks for blasting. Uses a wand when he's out of spells/blasts.

I'm about to start Caed Nua, and will probably drop the chanter adventurer for the chanter companion, as I like the extra back story and roleplaying opportunities provided by companions vs. adventurers. So anyway, to sum it up, fighters are good at both melee and ranged combat, but using them as dedicated ranged characters wastes their innate tankiness.