Warrior is a common character class found in many role-playing games. This class is also popularly referred to as the Fighter, as in Dungeons & Dragons. The class is may sometimes be referred to as a Knight or Bruiser, although in some games Knight is a separate class with a more defensive or support based aspect. Warrior character's skills are centered around strength and physical combat with a wide variety of melee weapons, and the ability to survive while tanking for the group, usually at the cost of agility or range. To aid in this, they can potentially use of some of the most powerful armor and weaponry in the game. As such, a Warrior is a well-rounded physical combatant, but because of the class's reliance on heavy plate armor and expensive weaponry, the cost of managing the Warrior's equipment is typically very high. In some games, the Warrior may be able to learn basic magic, but its capabilities in this field are somewhat limited.
, a text based multi-player role playing game was the first to offer a fully developed skills and profession system of which the very first player and profession was Zaphod of the Warriors, later renamed the Knights in November 1989. It currently has four iterations of the profession in each of its four player driven cities, The Warriors, Knights, Templars and Cavaliers. This, along with the mage, is Avalon's most ancient profession and remains its simplest to learn to a suitable level where the knight will be able to fight competently and be an effective force in any larger canvas battle. The class lacks the subtlety of other combat-orientated skillsets, but many players accept that drawback in exchange for the simplicity and speed of the knight's progress.
''EverQuest II''
In EverQuest II, a Fighter is the archetype for melee classes that specialize in leading combat and taking the brunt of the damage in groups. These classes include Crusaders, Brawlers, and Warriors.
''Final Fantasy''
The Warrior and/or Knight has appeared in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
The Warrior can be reasonably described as one of the most basic character archetypes in the Final Fantasy series. As a result, there are numerous characters who have appeared throughout the history of the franchise that can be considered roughly analogous to the Fighter. Some of these characters include Firion, Cloud Strife, Squall Leonhart, Adelbert Steiner, and Tidus.
''Dungeons & Dragons''
In Dungeons & Dragons the fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior class. The fighter is an adept warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics. Similar character classes are the paladin, ranger, barbarian and cavalier. Fighter was one of the three classes in the original Dungeons & Dragons game, then called "fighting man". In the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game, fighters get bonus feats at every even-numbered level, giving a 20th level fighter more feats than any other character class of equivalent levels. The class covers a huge variety of professions, from knights to bandits. There is a class in Dungeons & Dragons called "warrior", but it is not intended for the player characters, as it is a weakened version of the fighter class. It is used for non-player characters such as town guards and the like. This is in opposition to some games – such as certain installments of the Final Fantasy series – where a "fighter" character can upgrade into a "warrior."
''World of Warcraft''
The warrior class in World of Warcraft fills both the roles of tanking and damage. The warrior has the widest array of weapons to choose from in the game, being able to equip every weapontype in the game except for wands. Warriors, alongside Paladins and Death Knights, are the only classes that can equip Plate armor, the heaviest armor type in the game. Warriors can use a wide array of combat skills depending on their specific roles in a fight. Arms, Fury, and Protection are the Warrior's specializations. With the release of the third expansion, Cataclysm, the warrior class became available to Blood Elves along with the two newly introduced playable races of Worgen and Goblins, making it possible to play a warrior from any of the thirteen playable races.
''League of Legends''
League of Legends has champions with an attribute called "fighter" who specialize in dealing and receiving heavy amounts of damage at the cost of being less mobile than the usual roles. Fighters are usually physical damage dealers, although a few champions are classified as "fighters" despite dealing primarily magic damage. They are usually played in the jungle or in the "Top" lane, and examples include Garen, Riven, and Rumble.
''Dragon Quest III''
Dragon Quest III has both a "fighter" and a "warrior" class. The latter is equivalent to the fighters and warriors found in other games, but the former is instead a martial arts class, similar to the D&D monk.
''Fire Emblem''
In the Fire Emblem series, Fighters and Warriors both appear as a character class. The Fighter wields only axes, but when it promotes in to warrior, it gains the ability to use bows. Fighters/Warriors in the Fire Emblem series include the characters Bartre, Boyd, Garcia, and more. Fighters and their promoted form, Warriors, are characterized by high strength and HP with moderate speed, while lacking in skill and usually defense. This makes them an easy target for enemy sword-users who are generally faster and more accurate than Warriors as well as magic-users such as Sages or Bishops who tend to have high evade ratings. However, Warriors are excellent at eliminating enemy lance-users since axe-users have an advantage over lance-users according to the aforementioned weapon triangle and a Warrior's high strength allows their attacks to do significant amounts of damage.
