D&D 3E/3.5 Warriors lacking luster in 3.5?

[aboyd]

Get rid of EWP in the very least - +1 average damage is not worth wasting a feat on.

Yes. He picked feats that put him solidly in the "sword & board" combat archetype. So that's all he should expect he can do -- swing & shield bash. If he's disappointed that he cannot do other stuff, he would need to work on feats that allow him to do other stuff.

Personally, I would drop most of those feats, except for the shield feats. I would probably add another shield feat from CW or PHB 2, so that my shield bashes were even more effective. Then with the remaining feats, I would put together a cluster of feats that all drove me toward the same thing. Maybe improved movement. Maybe enhanced damage. I probably wouldn't split my focus, though. Having 10 feats that all do different things isn't usually how I play. I want 2 or 3 feats per "feature" so that my character becomes highly effective at a few things. The other things that my character cannot do I do not worry about.

 

[Starbuck_II]

I just noticed he has power attack with a 1 handed weapon...what?

That is a -1/+1 boost; not worth it.

Ooh, did you buy a an Animated shield? Then you can use both hands with your bastardsword making power attack worth it (double what penalty is damage).

I notice you intimidate enemies...
Aren't there feats to improve that?
Kiai Shout (CW) shakens (1d6 rounds) many opponents a lower level than you. Shaken foe can be intimidated to be frightened (dropping weapon).
Or Daunting Presence (Libris Mortis) affects 1 opponent to be shaken (10 minutes).

I mention this because you maximized intimidate so you seem to like scaring people.
Isn't there some feat that lets you intimidate after a crit in Complete champion or PHB 2...or something like that?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I just noticed he has power attack with a 1 handed weapon...what?

That is a -1/+1 boost; not worth it.

Ooh, did you buy a an Animated shield? Then you can use both hands with your bastardsword making power attack worth it (double what penalty is damage).

The OP has a thread in the houserules forum on feats for this character. Far as I know (things may have changed), he plans on taking another homebrew feat to get 2H PA benefits with a one-handed bastard sword.

 

[irdeggman]

The OP has a thread in the houserules forum on feats for this character. Far as I know (things may have changed), he plans on taking another homebrew feat to get 2H PA benefits with a one-handed bastard sword.

And yet with all of those home brew feats he still chose to be a knight instead of a fighter (which would have allowed him quicker access to the fighting styles he seems to want). Oh well to each his own.

 

[Quickleaf]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a long time DM, but haven't played much and am fairly new to 3e, so I'm still getting acquainted with the rules.

Do you fight Giants much?

I've just joined this group, so that's hard to say. I do know that the next adventure takes us into a hill giant's lair tracking down a scholar abducted by a sorcerous society.

What magic items did you buy?

Ring of protection boosts touch AC, huh? The DM started me with 19,000 gold, most of which went into Full Plate +2, Spiked Heavy Shield of Bashing +1, Sword +1, Spiked Gauntlet +1

Personally, I would drop most of those feats, except for the shield feats. I would probably add another shield feat from CW or PHB 2, so that my shield bashes were even more effective.

Any suggestions about specific feats I should take?

I agree with those who said that you might not be using the Knight's abilities to the fullest.

Definitely possible, still getting acquainted with the game and this new (to me) class. I have used Fighting Challenge and Test of Mettle once each so far.

It also has the Dash feat, for another +5 to your speed. It also has the Ranged Pin feat, which would allow you to stop fleeing enemies by throwing an axe & hooking them to a wall or tree. It has the Hammer's Edge feat, which has a lot of prerequisites, but might be worth it since it knocks people prone without all the annoying tripping mechanics. It also comes with no size limits, so if you hit a dragon's/giant's toe with both your weapons, it might fall.

Ah! Feat overload! Is Hammer's Edge just with hammers or can swords work too?

The bottom line for a Knight is that you really should use HeroForge or something to create the class at level 20, so you can see your feats and class benefits in full. Determine what it takes to progress to a very effective place.

Thanks for the suggestion - I just downloaded version 6.0.1.10

I just noticed he has power attack with a 1 handed weapon...what?

That is a -1/+1 boost; not worth it.

Really? It seemed like it gave me some options and allowed for increase damage versus bigger opponents (who have AC penalty due to size).

Ooh, did you buy a an Animated shield? Then you can use both hands with your bastardsword making power attack worth it (double what penalty is damage).

Nah, it just seemed too cheesy to me. I know it's D&D, but I'm trying to preserve the character's "grim mountain knight" concept.

I notice you intimidate enemies...
Aren't there feats to improve that?
Kiai Shout (CW) shakens (1d6 rounds) many opponents a lower level than you. Shaken foe can be intimidated to be frightened (dropping weapon).
Or Daunting Presence (Libris Mortis) affects 1 opponent to be shaken (10 minutes).

Ooo, I'll have to check those out, especially Kiai Shout. Thanks!

The OP has a thread in the houserules forum on feats for this character. Far as I know (things may have changed), he plans on taking another homebrew feat to get 2H PA benefits with a one-handed bastard sword.

That was the plan, but the DM pretty much nixed it. So, I'm going to go with RuneStar's suggestion and replace EWP (bastard sword) with Shield Ward.

And yet with all of those home brew feats he still chose to be a knight instead of a fighter (which would have allowed him quicker access to the fighting styles he seems to want). Oh well to each his own.

The DM suggested I check out the Knight for its special abilities and as a good fit for my concept. Basically, I sat in on a game and realized the squishy party had no DPS/tank, so I wanted to make a defender guy. My character concept was "tried to join paladin order and was turned away, becoming a mercenary." It definitely would be easier to get all the feats as a fighter, which was my initial choice, but the knight really is a better defender, which the party really needs.

 

[Arkhandus]

Seems like your choice of ability scores and feats probably locked you into one specialty. Your mount is supposed to supply speed, your lance the melee power, and your bow the ranged power. And of course, if your caster friends provide you the same kind of buffing as they do to the scout/monk, they won't have that extra advantage over you.

A human Knight 8 could have, with 32-point-buy for example:
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 14
Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Mounted Combat, Shield Specialization, Ride-By Attack, Shield Ward
Heavy Lance +1, Heavy Shield +1, Flaming Composite Longbow +1, Mithral Full Plate +1, Ring of Protection +1, Heavy Warhorse with Chain Shirt Barding

Melee sequence: Lance +13/+8 for 1d8+5 damage (avg 18, 36 mounted charge)
Ranged sequence: Bow +12/+7 or +10/+10/+5 for 1d8+5+1d6 damage (avg 26 or 39)
AC 27 (28 vs 1 foe/round), touch 18 (19), flat-footed 23 (24)

Naturally, you'd probably want more melee power than this, but a little tweaking to taste would still yield a Knight with great AC of all kinds (good but not great touch AC, but hardly anyone can get a great touch AC), decent damage output of both sorts, maybe good damage output of one sort or the other, and the usual defensive abilities of the Knight class.

Tome of Battle provides more options, but makes things a little more supernatural/movie/wuxia/anime-style for warriors. Crusaders get their maneuvers from divine insight and get some healing, battlefield control, and brute force maneuvers/stances. Warblades get more tricks/raw power maneuvers, and some more speed, but are more mundanely oriented. Swordsages get more supernatural maneuvers with a larger variety of tricks and some stuff that resembles spell effects. ToB classes are heavily encounter-based, rather than daily-resource-based.

 

[Shin Okada]

So you are playing a Knight with at least descent CHA.

How about taking a Leadership feat for getting a mount? Maybe a flying monster. That will give you better maneuverability in open field.

In dungeon, your job is to stand between the critters and your comrades. You are a tank. So you should be tough. I suggest you to consider taking various armor related feats shown in PHB II and Races of Stone. And maybe Improved Toughness (CW) and good old +2 save feats in PHB.

 

[Aus_Snow]

If it's easily accessible, and allowable according to the DM, the Book of Iron Might goes a long way to fixing what some see as being a problem in this area (i.e., a general lack of variety or even 'flair' perhaps, for pre-Bo9S warrior-types.)

Without really adding or changing a whole lot, system-wise, it nonetheless provides a manoeuvre/stunt framework that can spice up combat - for characters of any class, in fact, as I seem to recall the book's creators promising.

It was a Malhavoc Press product from oh, a few years back now, penned by none other than a certain Mr. Mearls. . . A rare combat-focused 'splatbook', actually, in that it doesn't contain any classes - not even prestige classes! - or very many feats, either. The race, you could certainly take or leave (the Ironborn), but that only takes up one section, anyhow.

Mind you, I should also say that yeah, just as with the Bo9S, it's a system-wide change you'd be looking at here. No new classes, sure, but still. . . a thing to consider.

 

[irdeggman]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a long time DM, but haven't played much and am fairly new to 3e, so I'm still getting acquainted with the rules.

Ah! Feat overload! Is Hammer's Edge just with hammers or can swords work too?

If you hadn't noticed yet - feats are worth their weight in platinum in 3.5, which is why any class that gives bonus feats is tremendously valuable.

Ring of protection boosts touch AC, huh? The DM started me with 19,000 gold, most of which went into Full Plate +2, Spiked Heavy Shield of Bashing +1, Sword +1, Spiked Gauntlet +1

You should switch to mithral full plate (it is a +9,000 gp cost for heavy armors though) - which makes it a medium armor for encumbrance purposes and for the class benefit armor mastery which allows you (at the level you are at) to ignore speed penalties for medium armor. Or you can suffer through one more level and get heavy armor mastery at 9th level or just get some medium armor instead (breastplate is 1300 gp cheaper, and a 3 AC bonus less) - a +1 ring of protection (deflection bonus) is 2000 gp - so it is close to swap out a breastplate and ring of protection for the full plate as is.


For reference

Touch Attacks: Some attacks disregard armor, including shields and natural armor. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either ranged or melee). When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn’t include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as your size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) apply normally.