D&D 3E/3.5 Help with Fighter- DND 3.5 -

[DanGwancie]

So i have This Fighter at lvl 8 with a focus on Scythe combat. And despite him having 20 AC(21 with dodge), he still gets his arse kicked too much. here's what he has:

HUMAN:
STR -20
DEX -16
CON -16
INT -13
WIS -11
CHA -11

+1 BREASTPLATE
+1 SCYTHE
GAUNTLETS OF OGRE POWER I (+2 STR BONUS)
AMULET OF NATURAL ARMOR (+1 AC)

FEATS:

DODGE
MOBILITY
SPRINGATTACK
WHIRLWIND ATTACK
IMPROVED TRIP
WEAPON FOCUS (SCYTHE)
WEAPON SPECIALIZATION ( SCYTHE)
IMPROVED CRITICAL

Still, i don't get as many crits as i would like, but.. i can't complain. dice rolling can't be messed with.
i still get pretty kicked up. how can i get sturdier? ( i know improving our gear is an answer, but our DM is cheap.)

 

[Rakusia]

well you cant go dex routh your armor only allows +3 could get your con up for higher hit points but thats fairly negligible. how are you getting hit so much? is it flat footed touch attacks or what?

 

[DanGwancie]

basically my dm is a bitch and a cheap guy xD we don't get the gold we need or are supposed to get. he's a low wealth characters kind of guy
although having what i have is good enough. maibe i'll need to get more CON, or get lucky that one day i'll find some good gear.

 

[DanGwancie]

. ..

 

[Rakusia]

if im remembering correctly and i very well may not be i THINK con is retroactive. as far as low wealth a plus 1 breast plate is fairly expensive as are ogre power gloves. if you have a bit of spare money or a wizard who owes you a favor you could get an armor spell put on your scythe or at very least make it mercurial. its cool a bit of mercury is in a bulb when you swing your weapon it goes to the end of the blade making your swing hit harder

 

[DanGwancie]

oh and basically i'm the better geared one in the party. the rest depends on me as a offtankystuffs.. hm.. mercurial... i'll look into that.

 

[DanGwancie]

all gear i have is looted.. we once had a lot of money, but as it happens a "minor god" took it all from us.. it simply vanished!

 

[Grogg of the North]

How do you keep getting beat down? Is it that your DM is throwing lots of big strong monsters that try to turn you into a fighter pancake? Do you get surrounded by lots of smaller monsters? Is it spell casters attacking from range and fleeing? What books are available to you? Is there a friendly spellcaster that can help you?

Well, the biggest problem may be that your DM is stingy with loot. I'll try to stay away from wealth based solutions but at the very least I have to recommend Mithral Full Plate. This way you'd get the most out of your dex and have full plate's protection. Adamantine armor would give you DR x/-. Personally, I'd go with mithril but YMMV.

If you have improved trip, I assume you also have Combat Expertise. Start using it to bump your AC. Improved Combat Expertise (Complete Warrior) can really boost your AC.

If you have access to Complete Warrior pick up the feat Elusive Target! You already meat the pre-reqs and it's a wonderful feat especially if you get surrounded a lot. Defensive throw would also help since you're tripping your foes already. However, it requires two feats you don't have yet (Combat Reflexes and IUS).

Improved Buckler Defense, also from CW, will give you a small shield bonus.

There's always Improved Toughness (CW) but I'd only consider that as a last resort. Really at this point you should be beating your DM with complete warrior until he allows it.

Lastly, if you do happen to get a windfall of loot, I'd recommend getting lots of smaller bonuses rather than blowing it all on one big item.

 

[Ahnehnois]

You've made a character that specializes in Spring Attack and tripping. The question to me is why you're getting hit at all. If you spring in, trip an enemy and take your free attack, and spring back out, there's not much they can do. This character is built to avoid hits, not soak them up.

Rather than trying to improve your defenses, I'd be looking at tactics (both individual and party level) to avoid being attacked and new improvements to help you become better at tripping.

Also, I wonder how you have Improved Trip without Combat Expertise. If you did have Expertise, that would be an option for greatly enhancing your AC. If you are limited on items, your AC is never going to be competitive; that's your DM's call. An AC of 21 at level 8 is not exactly impressive. You could hit yourself on a 7. Other than a massive improvement in equipment, Expertise is your only way of changing that.

 

[Dozen]

How about a dip into an initiatior class? Swordsages are squishy, for certain, but can take plenty of defensive manouvers from Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon and Diamond Mind. Even better are Crusaders if you don't mind going religious, born tanks, and War- Well, Warblades are something your DM would probably ban. Worth to ask once though, if you like it.