Warblade: Worth dipping into Fighter?

[Shreav]

Hey guys,

My DM has said that simply dipping into another class doesn't mean I'm blocked off forever from Warblade level 20, I'm just delaying it.

I was wondering what you're thoughts would be for dipping into Fighter at CL2 for Weapon Focus feat. And, instead of Weapon Focus, should I get Exotic Weapon Prof instead?

FYI, I'm strongly leaning towards being a 2H Bastard Sword equipped Illumian (by choice for RP purposes) and the goal is to get Leap Attack (CA) by level 9 and Shock Trooper (CW) by level 12. I had the option of using the Power Sigil Zha from here, but I decided to stick with Aesh and Uur instead.

Thoughts? What would you do, besides change race?

 

[xigbar]

Hey guys,

My DM has said that simply dipping into another class doesn't mean I'm blocked off forever from Warblade level 20, I'm just delaying it.

I was wondering what you're thoughts would be for dipping into Fighter at CL2 for Weapon Focus feat. And, instead of Weapon Focus, should I get Exotic Weapon Prof instead?

FYI, I'm strongly leaning towards being a 2H Bastard Sword equipped Illumian (by choice for RP purposes) and the goal is to get Leap Attack (CA) by level 9 and Shock Trooper (CW) by level 12. I had the option of using the Power Sigil Zha from here, but I decided to stick with Aesh and Uur instead.

Thoughts? What would you do, besides change race?

Unless you need Weapon Focus to qualify for something else, there are better things you could do. Warblade already gets a few bonus feats, if you really want it.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

If you're 2-handing the bastard sword, you don't need the EWP feat....


EWP is great on a Warblade, though, just for the fact that you basically gain proficiency with every exotic weapon ever printed (you're just limited to proficiency with one of them at a time). If your concept calls for using a specific non-exotic weapon, though, it's not worth a feat.

Weapon Focus is a poor feat, I don't recommend taking it unless you're going for Melee Weapon Master or some other feat (or prestige class) that's actually good and requires it.

Basically, a Fighter dip is nice if you need the surge of feats at an early level to accomplish your combat style goals. If you can get the feats in time w/o Fighter, straight Warblade is absolutely better.

So, you need Power Attack, Imp Bull Rush, Leap Attack, and Shock Trooper. You can have all of those, taking in that order, by level 9, just using your general feats at levels 1, 3, 6, and 9. You also have 2 bonus feats, though the list is stinky. I'd recommend using a bonus feat to get Ironheart Aura so you can take Stormguard Warrior at some point. Possibly prioritizing it over Shock Trooper, even. For your other bonus feat, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, and Improved Initiative are all decent.

Endurance is worth picking up as a bonus feat at level 5 if you wish to pick up Steadfast Determination from PHB2 (use Con instead of wis on will saves, never auto-fail fort saves on a 1). If you're doing that, you should put one of your feats on the back burner and start the game with Steadfast Determination, so you can safely dump the utter hell out of your wisdom score. Warblades do have access to the Diamond Mind save counters, so this may not be worth it to you, but not burning a maneuver readied and an immediate action on Moment of Perfect Mind is nice.

 

[Shreav]

I figured that getting Exotic Weapon Prof gives great versatility for future purposes.

Also, in regards to Weapon Focus, I absolutely have no clue why I am bothering with that anymore. I think I took it up because of Weapon Aptitude. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that it is a waste of a feat.

You are correct about the bonus feats. They plain suck. But, I was looking at Blind-Fight. I thought about getting Stormguard Warrior, but then I need Weapon Focus again. The other problem with that was that I was only focusing on Tiger Claw and Diamond Mind maneuvers, except for one Stone Dragon.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Stormguard requires proficiency in any one or more IH weapons. This includes the longsword. You do not need Weapon Focus for it, at all.
And you only need 2 Iron Heart maneuvers to get the feat, and stances count as maneuvers. It's not a hard feat to get as a Warblade.

Tiger Claw and Diamond Mind is interesting, though. Would work well (at least better than most melee builds) for a small race. Insightful Strike makes base weapon damage meaningless, and the uber sexy (for its level) Soaring Raptor Strike depends upon being smaller than the target. Not saying you should do that, just like the idea myself.

 

[Dandu]

By Fighter, do you mean Psychic Warrior?

 

[xigbar]

Also, the Aptitude Weapon Enhancement should fix any weapon feat related needs.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

I'd highly recommend going straight Warblade to 20 to be honest. Stance Mastery is pretty dang awesome.

 

[Shreav]

Thanks for the hints, guys.

I thought about Stormguard Warrior as a tactical feat, but Iron Heart Aura seems like a waste of a bonus feat to me since I will probably never get an Iron Heart stance.

I think Shocktrooper is much better, but I wonder what else I should do.

By level 9, I know I'll be versatile enough to decide whether I want to use diamond mind strikes or tiger claw combos. I love the whole Leap Attack+Pouncing Charge+Shock Trooper combo.

 

[Dandu]

I thought about Stormguard Warrior as a tactical feat, but Iron Heart Aura seems like a waste of a bonus feat to me since I will probably never get an Iron Heart stance.

Why not?