Knight build and (mostly) mount options

Hi all,
I decided to play a knight and I'm tempted to try out mounted combat but being completely new to mounted combat thing I need a few (or more ... probably more) hints from you.

Q1: Can you recommend me some good mounts (preferably flying) and the ways to obtain them (preferably something that a sane DM would allow say about level 10)?

Q2: Can you recommend me some ways to max my mounted charge damage output (I plan on using knight's ability to make a lot of people attack only me and then run around the battlefield charging every round)?

Q3: In PHB1 there are pictures of heavy lance and light lance but there is only one description and it mentions only lance (not light or heavy). So is there any difference at all?

Q4: Is there some exotic equipment that would be particulary useful for mounted combatants and/or their mounts?

Q5: Any other nonDropMountedCombat suggestion you can think of?

Campaign setting is Eberron and almost all of the books are allowed except ToB.

Char's race is human, and stats are: str 16, dex 12, con 14, int 13, wis 8, cha 16. Int is 13 because I'm also shooting at tripping build with reach weapon (this is for moments I cannot use mount or when the fight is indoors). I'll be able to pull this off because due to Dm's generosity we get some bonus feats.
I'm also thinking about taking one level of marshal to improve my trip and PrCing into Soldier of Light (Deities & Demigods) for two levels in order to get turn undead (and thus qualify for divine feats) and divine grace.

I would also ask you to name your sources for anything you suggest and, by doing so, make my life easier.

Thanks in advance .

Hey there,

There are alot of things you could choose to be your mount, such as a griffon or pegasus. However, you may want to check with your DM first, as he or she may have some specific quest for you to undertake in order to achieve a powerful flying mount (I know thats what I would require).

If you want to maximize your charging damage output, and given the fact that you want to add in some turn undead / divine feat powered abilities, I would suggest you play a paladin instead of a knight. Let all evil foes fear the charging, lance-wielding, smiting paladin! Maybe someone can do a search for one of those smack-down threads that had a wicked paladin charging death dealer build.

Do not discount outright the potential benefits of using a land based mount, particularly since there are plenty of creatures that can make a decent mount. Once your on a flying mount, your life basically depends on how well your mount can survive Area of Effect spells or make saves vs Hold Monster.

The most important thing you need to do is work out some way for you to make use of the HD advancement rules in the MM when obtaining more or less mundane mounts. Given the choice between a Pegasus or a 15 HD Heavy Warhorse, I would go with the Warhorse.

Also, try to get some idea of what kind of adventures your DM is likely to use. If you spend most of your time indoors, than mounted combat is simply not a workable idea.

Now, regarding Feat selection, here are my thoughts (all from PHB 2 and PHB).

Mounted Combat, Ride By Attack, and Spirited Charge are the obvious must have feats.
You will be getting some as bonus Feats, but they are basically the most important if you want to ride someone down and to death.

If you are going to make a habit of the Test of Mettle ability (the one where you basically beg everyone in earshot to take a shot at you), you want Combat Expertise. I also suggest using the Shield Specialization Feat. If your going to be calling an the heavy hitters to target you, you need your AC to be staggeringly high.

The above will consume 5 feats, keeping you busy until either 6th or 9th level (Knight bonus feats aside). Seriously consider taking a brief detour into fighter for either 2 or 4 levels for extra feats.

For maxing your charging damage, simply using a lance combined with Spirited Charge will get you x3 damage on a normal attack, and x5 on a critical. Not much room for improvement there aside from things that also apply to other weapons. Power attack would help, but the Feats are mostly better spent elsewhere.

If your open to some mechanical Cheese, consider grabbing some levels of Scout for the skirmish damage. The constant charging will satisfy the movement requirement.

There are plenty of Prestige classes in splat books I do not have access to that are built around mounted combat, so take a look at some of them.

END COMMUNICATION

note that the skirmish has been updated to remove mount movement as a way of achieving skirmish dmg.

MIC has an enhancement called Charging, for a +1 cost you recieve an additional 2d6 whenever you successfully hit on a mounted charge.

Lord Zardoz said:

Power attack would help, but the Feats are mostly better spent elsewhere.

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I disagree. I think that Power Attack should be one of the first feats to get as not only can it significantly up the damage from a lance (being a two-handed weapon) but also has utility for overcoming DR with other weapons when not mounted.

Legildur said:

I disagree. I think that Power Attack should be one of the first feats to get as not only can it significantly up the damage from a lance (being a two-handed weapon) but also has utility for overcoming DR with other weapons when not mounted.

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I also agree that power attack is a must (especially if used with Shock Trooper feat) which brings me to a question thats bugging me. Lance is a two handed weapon and can be wielded with one hand if you're mounted. So, if you are mounted and wielding lance with one hand do you add your strMod (strength modifier) to damage or 1.5*strMod and if you use power attack in the same manner do you get 2 bonus damage per point of BAB or 1 bonus damage per point of BAB.

Now, regarding my AC: I'm gonna use a buckler and there is a divine feat called Divine Shield that lets you add your charisma bonus to your shield bonus to AC for number of rounds equal to half your character level (you have to spend Turn Undead attempt for this). That is why I'll be PrCing into Soldier of Light (and for Divine Grace of course). Also I will surely take Combat Expertize because I'm also shooting for trip combo. Now I know you will all say this build will require awful amount of feats but my DM's rulling is that we all get some bonus feats and we are also allowed to take flaws so this is taken care of.

I thank you all for your help so far. Keep it coming, anything you can think of.

bigbaddragon said:

Lance is a two handed weapon and can be wielded with one hand if you're mounted. So, if you are mounted and wielding lance with one hand do you add your strMod (strength modifier) to damage or 1.5*strMod and if you use power attack in the same manner do you get 2 bonus damage per point of BAB or 1 bonus damage per point of BAB.

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There have been a couple of contentious threads on this issue that you could probably find with a search.

Is the lance a two-handed weapon? Yes, looking at table 7-5: Weapons on p116 PHB. The description on p118 notes a special property that it may be wielded in one hand. The question boils down to this: does a lance become a 'one-handed weapon' (as per table 7-5) when wielded in one hand when mounted? I say no, just as a bastard sword remains a one-handed weapon when wielded with two hands.

However, others believe that wielding the lance in one hand makes it a one-handed weapon for all purposes, including Str bonus to damage, Power Attack, and size-related opposed roles (such as disarm).

Isn't there a Cavalier prestige class that helps out with the whole mounted charge thing?

Cavalier is great for mounted combat cos it gives quintuple damage on mounted charge but I want to cut down multiclassing and prCing to minimum because of knight's abilities. That is why I'll only take two levels of Soldier of Light and maybe one of marshal for the trip/disarm boost.

bigbaddragon said:

Hi all,
I decided to play a knight and I'm tempted to try out mounted combat but being completely new to mounted combat thing I need a few (or more ... probably more) hints from you.

Q1: Can you recommend me some good mounts (preferably flying) and the ways to obtain them (preferably something that a sane DM would allow say about level 10)?

Q2: Can you recommend me some ways to max my mounted charge damage output (I plan on using knight's ability to make a lot of people attack only me and then run around the battlefield charging every round)?

Q3: In PHB1 there are pictures of heavy lance and light lance but there is only one description and it mentions only lance (not light or heavy). So is there any difference at all?

Q4: Is there some exotic equipment that would be particulary useful for mounted combatants and/or their mounts?

Q5: Any other nonDropMountedCombat suggestion you can think of?

Campaign setting is Eberron and almost all of the books are allowed except ToB.

Char's race is human, and stats are: str 16, dex 12, con 14, int 13, wis 8, cha 16. Int is 13 because I'm also shooting at tripping build with reach weapon (this is for moments I cannot use mount or when the fight is indoors). I'll be able to pull this off because due to Dm's generosity we get some bonus feats.
I'm also thinking about taking one level of marshal to improve my trip and PrCing into Soldier of Light (Deities & Demigods) for two levels in order to get turn undead (and thus qualify for divine feats) and divine grace.

I would also ask you to name your sources for anything you suggest and, by doing so, make my life easier.

Thanks in advance .

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Well, first things first: Do you want the PC to be the main focus, or the mount?

THe reason for asking is that with a Halfling (or Human, if you have a lenient DM), you can get a 25+HD large Gold Dragon as a mount. You will need Paladin levels, the Devoted Tracker feat, Beastmaster prc, Dragon Steed feat, and a few other odds and ends, but you will be a master of mounted combat simply because your mount will kill everything in sight.