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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1326402" data-attributes="member: 3146">Improved Buckler Defense can be found in Complete Warrior. It has prerequisite: Shield proficiency (so in most cases, it isn't in any long line of feats) and allows a character to retain the Buckler AC bonus while attacking with a weapon in that hand.Are you talking 3.0 or 3.5 here? Improved Shield Bash is in the 3.5e Player's handbook and it enables a character to retain his shield bonus while making a shield bash attack.For the record, that's two feats, not four. Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Shield Bash. Or Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Buckler Defense. Later, the character would probably want to get Imp Two Weapon Fighting and Greater Two Weapon Fighting. So, if it is a total of four feats, it's at most four feats over 11 or 12 levels.Nice try. There isn't. (Unless you count the Staff and Halberd style feats from Complete Warrior but both of those simulate two weapon fighting (rather strangely for the halberd which is not a double weapon). The closest thing for thf is an animated shield.In case you are actually interested in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of TwF vs. ThF styles rather than making a polemic against the that design, I'll explain it to you:Two Weapon Fighting style has a lot of flexibility. A character with the two weapon fighting feats has the option to adopt a defensive stance. He can push his AC very high if he wants to. (with either one extra feat, a +1 equivalent weapon ability for one of his two weapons, or both for cumulative benefit). Alternately, a TWF character can, with very little structural change, be nearly as offensively oriented as a ThF character. (More actually in 3.5--with Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Specialization, and Imp TWF--the TWF character can actually pull ahead in the damage/full attack action equation) That flexibility is not available to THF characters. That is a big advantage.As to these advantages really being afforded by sword and board rather than TWF, there are two errors there. One is assuming that Sword and board and TWF are actually distinct styles. Any TWF character can pick up a buckler or a light shield and, without spending any feats, choose whether to use the offensive focus of TWF or the defensive focus of sword and board on a round by round basis. Similarly, any sword and board character with ranger levels or the requisite dexterity can take one feat and gain the ability to make a two weapon attack with his shield. There is a continuum between offensively focussed TWF and defensively focussed sword and board.The second is assuming that a character who wields a shortsword in each hand and a buckler on his left hand is primarily a sword and board character. IMO, that character is primarily a TWF character who is just slightly less offensively focussed. If the character picks up Improved Buckler Defense, he might qualify as sword and board but it's certainly not the normal sword and board.Well, as I was saying, if the ThF wears the mithral breastplate, odds are good that the TWF has a better dexterity and therefore an AC advantage (whether or not he takes advantage of the buckler or shield options available to him). This is certainly the case if the ThF wearing the breastplate is a raging barbarian who takes a further AC penalty for rage.OTOH, if the ThF wears a suit of mithral fullplate thereby most likely equalling the AC of the TWF, the TWF has a mobility advantage. TWF will generally have an advantage in one of those two areas.OK, let's see. 25 point iconic spread characters.ThF: Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8TWF: Str 13, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 828 point balanced characters:ThF Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10TwF Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 1028 point maximized characters:ThF: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 8TwF: Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 8The actual difference in strength is not nearly as significant as you imply. In these examples (which I think are fairly typical at low point buys--at higher point buys, the cost of the dexterity needed for TWF is generally two points of strength).Sure. I'd recommend Combat Reflexes and Close Quarters Fighting (Sword and Fist or Complete Warrior depending upon the edition). However, considering the lower dexterity of many ThF characters, Combat Reflexes is often a very suboptimal choice for them.Alternately, the ThF could take Imp Unarmed Strike, Imp Grapple, and Clever Wrestling (MotW or Complete Warrior) to improve his grapple check.That seems overly optimistic to me. Most Tyranosaurs will not evaporate because of a single full attack (and, unless it's already close to the fighter, he won't be making that full attack). And there are plenty of Imp Grab monsters that DO often get up close and personal. Dire bears, Assassin Vines, Tendriculi, etcActually, assuming straight up enhancement bonus weapons and full attacks, TWF is very close to ThF in terms of damage/round. It actually pulls ahead at roughly half of levels 1-20 IIRC. However, an analysis that overlooks the possibility of wielding a pair of +1 Holy Wounding Bane weapons is overlooking the possibilities and flexibility of TWF. (Of course, it also overlooks the potential utility of power attack to the THF).I've played TWF characters and ThF characters. It doesn't seem to me that ThF is an obviously superior option--even for offensively focussed characters. And for those who want flexibility, TWF is a superior road.</blockquote>

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