Victim said:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I said Core Feats, which leaves you out Danger Sense, Combat Brute, and Power Critical. Besides, if you're using CW, then there are some better feats anyway. No CQC? How sad.
That's fine. There's still plenty to chew on.
Also, I was only refering to feats that are, you know, good. You have Combat Reflexes without a way to force AoOs.
Um, in my universe, AoOs happen. Forcing an AoO is a specific kind of tactic, one that has nothing to do with a build like this. This is so you can smack someone for each and every iterative trip attack, or to prevent 1d4+1 fiendish wolves from mobbing your spellcaster, etc.
Improved Disarm and Imp Sunder both work pretty much the same way, leaving you with largely redundant options - and a disadvantage against two handed weapon.
But at no disadvantage against someone with a rapier. Sunder is handy for fighting hydras and certain other creatures, and can be used to annihilate a weapon if you have something adamantine to work with. Improved Disarm is handy for snagging wands and staves.
And then there's Imp Bullrush.
What's wrong with Improved Bull Rush? In addition to lining you up for some tactical feats, it's great for shoving people into webs or flaming walls, knocking people off ledges, hedging someone in against your rogue, or reach games.
It's really a matter of whether or not you can find feats to take and hopefully don't suck. It's whether or not the marginal benefits of further fighter levels (ie, bonus feats) are equivalent to the benefits available from going with other classes. Is picking up Improved Bullrush for free worth a bigger HD, fast movement in medium armor (since your going TWF with the shield, Mithril Plate is probably prefered anyway), more skills, and Uncanny Dodge? Oh wait, there's Rage too, which can give back half of what you missed by not taking Imp Bullrush when needed, amongst its other benefits. Are you really getting that much use out Improved Bullrush?
We are talking about a sword and shield fighter. The barbarian probably wants to go two-handed. The barbarian has some advantages, but he cannot begin to compete in the AC department with this guy. Full plate, baby.
Every time I've seen numbers or arena fights run on the wizards optimization board, the fighter wins over the barbarian in damage output. The barbarian is partially a skill character, and indeed, is less able at fighting than, yes, a fighter.
The "marginal" benefits of fighter feats include the ability to dominate combat on several fronts, some outstanding combos, and deep access to feat chains. Even a very vanilla fighter has an incredible versatility compared to other melee characters.
