My thought regarding Improved Buckler Defense is that it's an easy way to boost your armor class (AC). Normally, when you use your arm that has a buckler to wield a weapon, the buckler's shield bonus to your AC goes away. If you're going to be a front line fighter, then it's an easy way to boost your armor class. You do take a -1 to attack because of the buckler's weight.
For Improved Sunder, I'm generally not a fan of it. First, you are using it to destroy to destroy an enemy's shield or weapon. Doing that also destroys the items that you could be using yourself or selling for cash. The use of Sunder can also be very campaign dependent because of how the rolls work. Is your GM using lots of humanoid foes? Then you'll be at an advantage. But if the GM is throwing lots of large creatures, their size works in their favor. Also, if the monsters are fighting with claws and teeth, then you can't really sunder those.
Combat Brute is something you could work towards. It requires a lot of set up to use effectively. Advancing Blows really requires you to have Improved Bull Rush to use it effectively. Sundering Cleave requires you to destroy an item in order for it to work. See my thoughts about sunder above. And Momentum Swing requires a large penalty to hit on your second round, -5. Assuming you get Combat Brute at level 6, you're sacrificing a large portion of your accuracy. Basically, Momentum Swing is you swinging for the fences. If you hit, you'll do a lot of damage but you're more likely to miss.
Your caster level is important for your spell like abilities. While you currently aren't throwing a lot of damage dice it does affect the duration of your buff spells (Protection from Evil, Bless, and Aid) and it reduces how much healing you're getting from Cure Serious Wounds (3d8+5 vs 3d8+1). As you level up, more and more of your spell like abilities will require your caster level to be higher. Holy Smite deals more damage the higher your caster level; Holy Word's power is directly related to your caster level vs the enemy's hit dice.
For other magical gear, I would highly recommend a Handy Haversack to keep your stuff in. Remember, you need to be carrying a light load in order to fly. I generally like to carry around potions of spells that are situational. Things like Remove Curse, Remove Deafness/Blindness, and Remove Paralysis. Buy stat boosting items for your strength, constitution, and dexterity. A cloak of resistance will boost your saves but so will your Protection From Evil spell like ability. Are you only allowed the DMG for magic gear?
Get a backup weapon, a dagger at the very least. If you get swallowed by a T-Rex, or anything big, you'll need to be able to free yourself from it's gut. And a dagger is the way to do that. Also get a ranged weapon. Even though you can fly, sometimes you just need one.
In the end, the best advice I can give you is to go with your gut and how YOU envision the character being.
I hope this helps.
Hey, Good morning!
I'm going to be Frontline vs Enemy Mages & Enemies that got Spell-like abilities firstly because I already got Dwarf Defender on the party! so I don't have to do all the tank job.
What I got at the party:
1. Human - Wizard 8 Master Abjurer 1
2. Aasimar - Sorcerer 8
3. Pixie - Druid 5
4. Half-Elf - Hexblade 9
5. Dwarf - Fighter 7 Dwarven Defender 2 (I think)
And me, 6. Sun Elf - Wizard 2, Fighter 4, Abjuration Champion 3.
So the Human Half-Celestial Fighter 5 Occult Slayer is just a backup character, But I want to build him as the best character I ever made, with the coolest personality!
About Buckler Defense, So you said, If I get Buckler I'll get more AC Since it's really good...
But from what I know, If we calculate the AC...
Items:
Mithril Chain Shirt +1 - 2.1K
Boots of Striding and Springing - 5.5K
Ring of Protection +1 - 2K
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 - 2K
Got 10,400 Gold.
So it's will go like this:
10 + Armor Bonus 4 + Shield Bonus 0 + Dexterity Modifier 6 + Size Modifier 0 + Natural Armor 1 + Deflection Modifier 1 + Misc Modifiers 0 = 22
Touch AC = 17
Flat-Footed AC = 16
How I can improve the AC?
About Improved Sunder and Combat Brute, I can really leave them.
Since I can say to my DM that I prefer to not take any feats from Complete Warrior or anything related (Occult Slayer will be coming when she open the third book for me which will be Complete Warrior)
I can use only PHB and MM feats, it will give me a lot of good feats to use... like:
Improved Natural Armor, Wingover \ Fly Attack, Hover
Still looking for amazing feats to use.
Feats until now:
1st Level - Improved Initiative (Required for Occult Slayer)
Human - Weapon Focus (Greatsword) (Required for Occult Slayer)
Fighter 1 - Power Attack
Fighter 2 - Open for Suggestion.
3rd Level - Iron Will or Dash
Fighter 4 - Weapon Specialization (Greatsword) or something else... ( I prefer something else.)
6th Level - Dash.
Fighter 6 - Open for Suggestion.
My caster level is really important if this is the thing... So what if I give up on Mage Slayer?
I think Occult slayer will give me this thing but better, no?
About the magic gear, Yeah, I think so...
I also can use Wonderous Magic Items.
The backup weapon, Dagger sounds cool, The dwarf on our party got a dagger as a backup weapon.
What about Dagger, punching with venom poison? can work well, no?
Best Regards,
Eden
I have been a fan of the Maul as a 2hd weapon for quite some time. Mechanically, it’s analogous to the Greatsword, but does B damage. And fewer critters are vulnerable to B damage than S or P.
They’re not powerful, but armor spikes are a cheap weapon you can always have “at the ready” for would-be grapplers or engulfers.
One of my personal favorite minor magic items across all editions is the Quiver of Ehlonna, a.k.a. the Efficient Quiver. It’s designed for spears, javelins and arrows or bolts, but will hold anything of similar sizes and shapes. So, while you might not have a 10’ pole on you, the Quiver could let you pack a spear or quarterstaff for similar uses.
