Pathfinder 1E Calling all Fighters (New Fighter needs help)

[Chris Bellamy]

I'm a noob to the forums and fairly noobish when it comes to table topping. I've played in about 4 decent campaigns so far but most were a long time ago and only one was pathfinder (recently; played a monk) I'm looking to play in a campaign upcoming with a very specific setting. In such a setting it would be best in my opinion to play a flail and shield fighter. We are starting at lvl 1 with a 15 point by in. I'm looking for help building the character to be a good character to get in and out of combat. To not be full DPS but to be able to get in and hold his own while other team members are playing the DPS parts but in a pinch I can hold my own in 1v1 combat if need be. My biggest question has to do with stats and feats to take (potentially the first 5 lvls). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Systole]

Playing a sword-and-board fighter is difficult at lower point buys, because to get the most out of that style of play, you need to go down the two-weapon fighting tree. In this case, you attack with mainhand, shield bash with offhand. This means you have to burn a considerable chunk of your point buy on dexterity to qualify for TWF feats. Your second option is to run down the Improved Trip tree and make a lockdown fighter, which is slightly less difficult, but now you have to get a 13 Int. And you're kind of useless against anything with more than two legs. Still, it's far less of a hassle than TWF sword-and-board.

If I might make some suggestions:
1. A fighter with a large flail will be way easier to manage, especially if you're noobish. You can run down the Trip feat tree if you want, but a BF 2-handed weapon always works.
2. If you really, really want flail+shield, you might consider taking a dual wield ranger. Rangers do not need Dex to qualify for their bonus feats, so you can dumpstat your Dex and still get all the TWF you want.

 

[Chris Bellamy]

I actually just talked to our DM. We aren't constricted to 15 point buy. We are actually choosing from stat arrays. here is what he has given us.
Stats - 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, or 14, 14, 14, 14, 12, 8, or 16, 15, 13, 11 ,10, 9. These are based on 20 point High Fantasy buys. You can only use these stat combinations.

 

[N'raac]

Stats - 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, or 14, 14, 14, 14, 12, 8, or 16, 15, 13, 11 ,10, 9. These are based on 20 point High Fantasy buys. You can only use these stat combinations.

If you want to go down the 2 weapon fighting mode, you need either Array 1 or Array 3 (2 gives you no 15's, and you need at least a 15 DEX to qualify for 2 weapon fighting). I dislike the 3rd array, as all those odd numbers mean a lot of points spent for no bonuses (aggregate +5 vs array 1's +7 total), but it would permit 15 DEX and 16 STR.

The first array would mean 16 DEX, 14 STR and match the rest as you see fit (likely 14 CON to max out physical stats). That would let you invest 1 stat bonus to get a 17 DEX and qualify for improved 2 weapon fighting. Going further down that chain requires more DEX investment, and while it adds attacks, they're low down the interative chain. A Human (or 1/2 E or 1/2 O) could bump either DEX (and enhance 2 W F down the road) or STR for added combat punch now.

The second array would work for an elf, or a "floating bonus" race as you could put the +2 to DEX. That would allow for a 14 CON and a 14 INT, so you could pursue both feat chains. Less specialized, but more versatile.

If you want to go the Improved Trip (or Disarm) route as well, you'll need a 13 INT, so that likely means a 12 CON.

 

[mr_outsidevoice]

For me Array 1
Str 16 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 8
Feats
1 Weapon Focus-Heavy Flail, Combat Expertise (If Human, Shield Focus)
2 Improved Trip
3 Improved Disarm
4 Weapon Specialization-Heavy Flail
5 Combat Reflexes

 

[Stormonu]

An odd combination one of my players pulled on me was to make a taunter. I forget the exact build but he went for the heaviest armor he could get, a shield and a reach weapon. He spent his feats on stuff to increase his AC as high as he could - as well as his intimidation skill (using the demoralize action). In combat, he would fight defensively. Along the way, he picked up a feat or ability that allowed him to taunt enemies, drawing their attacks to him.

It took me a bit to catch on to what he was actually doing. Using a combination of intimidate, taunt and fighting defensively, he would draw the enemy to attack him. With his high AC, opponents had real trouble hitting him (and he had a moderate chance of hitting back successfully for a decent amount of damage). Meanwhile, while all the enemy's attention was focused on him, the rest of the party could wail on affected opponent without fear of reprisal.

Worked pretty well, with one flaw: Spellcasters or creatures that use spells that target Will or use area effect spells.