Options in and out of combat, not just character build options.
Here are my observations from having played a warblade, as compared to my prior experiences of having run a fighter.
1) I have probably said this umpteen times, so just bear with me. A decent skill list (balance, diplomacy and tumble!), and enough skill points (4+int mod) to let you invest in a reasonable array of skills.
Fair enough. I, personally, am usually comfortable with Climb, Jump, and then one class or cross-class skill of choice, but maybe I'm easy in that department.
Contrast this with the fighter, where you had to "waste" points just to raise your int to 13 or 14 in order to pick up expertise (since it was a prerequisite feat for quite a number of important feat chains). His skill list stank, and rarely ever saw use. He was basically useless outside of combat.
Somehow, the Ride skill seems to come up a lot in my games. And there's nothing wasted about a couple of cross-class ranks in Survival or Diplomacy. There's no reason he has to be particularly good at something outside of combat, sometimes filling a niche minimally is enough.
Virtually all these problems can be sidestepped by taking a level or two in another class.
2) Lesser reliance on full attack. At higher lvs, the fighter is extremely reliant on using the full-attack action to maintain his damage output.
Yes, and no. If the opponent is moving around and taking standard actions, the fighter still has options. For one, using a bow is a good way to keep full attacks in play. But more importantly, a fighter can do a lot of things to keep up. Powerful Charge is a dandy feat, Combat Reflexes, too. Most other characters are going to be hard-pressed to find room in their build for both, but with a fighter, that's an option.
With full BAB, fighters are also very formidable should they choose to grapple or disarm. Is that tumbling rogue bothering you? Ready to grapple him when he gets close. Also, fighters usually have a good Str, so tripping is an option, too. And if the fall prone, an opponent has to resort to close combat to take advantage of the situation, which is the fighter's strength. Assuming the fighter isn't already a prone-fighting grappler.
Finally, never understestimate the stopping power of a standard action when you have Weapon Specialization, Power Attack, Power Critical, and Improved Critical. Most opponents will not actually be eager to exchange blows with you unless they are a giant or something.
3) Higher mobility. The typical fighter wears fullplate, which reduces his base speed to 20ft.
Yes, and no. The typical low level, modest Dex, unusually wealthy fighter without magical armor wears fullplate. In my experience, most mid-level fighters wear +1 or +2 chainmail. Higher level fighters are probably going to switch to mithril plate or mithril chainmail. If they go with mithril chainmail, they retain normal speed.
Also, any kind of movement boost changes the equation considerably. Full plate + boots of speed = freight train.
On the flip side, the warblade has the advantage with the shadow hand teleportation maneuvers (which he can readily access using the martial study feats, since they do not have prereqs).
Fair enough.
4) Versatility. A fighter who goes down the weapon spec tree is locked into his choice forever.
NO. Nononononononononono. Just no.
There is no one more versatile than a fighter. There is absolutely no problem for a fighter to specialize in both greatsword and longbow. There is no reason to even go down the weapon specialization path if you want to be able to pick up anything you find.
Sinking six feats into one weapon choice without a backup plan is an extremely suboptimized fighter. What if you choose bastard sword and your opponent flies? What if you choose morningstar and you need a slashing weapon? What if you get disarmed or some smartass disintegrates your weapon? No, those feats are great for creating your super smackdown, but the bread and butter of a fighter is having some options. If nothing else, take Throw Anything, Point Blank Shot, and Powerful Throw and get a +1 throwing returning greatsword so you at least have something to do.
5) Crappy saves. It used to be that the player controlling the fighter could expect to sit out just about every fight involving some sort of will saves.
Protection from evil solves many problems. Apart from that, there's not much to say, the fighter has one good save, two bad saves, like most classes. I would definitely take Iron Will at some point, and a cloak of resistance is a good thing to have.
At higher levels, there are options. A number of fighter-oriented prestige classes offer a Will boost. And maybe you can purchase a wand of remove enchantment for your rogue friend to carry.
The Warblade has advantages, but I think that sticks out as a strong point of the Warblade rather than a weakness of the Fighter. The rogue is not going to be happy about making a lot of Fortitude saves, either.
6) Adaptive style lets the warblade swap in a new array of maneuvers as a full-round action, allowing him to rapidly tailor his list of maneuvers to best suit any given situation.
Meanwhile, the fighter is left using the same tricks vs every foe he faces, however effective/ineffective it may be. A tripper facing huge+ foes? Tough luck. Sunder master, but facing foes not wielding weapons? Too bad.
I don't consider this a counter-example at all. I hope the "sunder master" would have some versatility, but at the very least, I hope he's carrying a bow or some tanglefoot bags or something.
Fighters have a staggering number of feats, and a well-tailored fighter has something for just about every situation. There are not many characters who can switch between using a bow with Precise Shot to a greatsword and going Power Attack. The fighter can afford to be at the top in one or two categories and still have backup strategies.
7) Iron heart surge. Because being hit with a waves of exhaustion or maze spell really sucks for anybody (especially since they do not allow saves). Pity it does not let you counter an immobilizing effect like hold person, but hey, I am not greedy.
Sure.
8) The warblade's variety of maneuvers make playing him more fun overall. I don't just move and attack/5-ft and full attack every round. I move, use a swift-action boost, and initiate a cool maneuver.
I would rather not be stuck with a deck of maneuvers and hope I have one that applies to the current situation. To me, the fighter has options and versatility. To me, a "cool maneuver" is a tactical choice that deals with an opponent in an effective manner.
Frankly, if the fighter is doing the same thing around, you are probably not playing the class to its full potential. That would be like playing a wizard and resorting to "I cast fireball" as your solution to all life's problems or playing a rogue and saying "Gosh, undead, I guess I'm out" instead of looking at your options.
