Fighter feat ideas?

[Particle_Man]

I have this idea for a smart, "maneuvers"-style fighter. She would rely upon a Tower Shield, Combat Expertise, various feat-granted maneuvers, and the most protective armor she could find.

I rolled a high int, so she gets 5 ranks per level (she is human). I decided to cross-class them all for Spot, Listen, Search, Use Rope and Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering).

Her style would be to start with a flail, and then switch if she had to drop the flail due to a disarm or failed trip attempt.

My current feat ideas are:

1. Jack of all Trades
1. Combat Expertise
1. Improved Disarm
2. Improved Trip
3. Dodge
4. Mobility
6. Improved Combat Expertise
6. Elusive Target
8. Power Attack
9. Improved Bull Rush
10. Shock Trooper
12. Improved Sunder
12. Combat Brute
14. Quickdraw

I am not sure where to go with my feats after this. Any ideas? I have access to the core books + the 4 "Complete" class books.

 

[Thanee]

Take Able Learner at 1st (found in Races of Destiny), probably instead of Jack of all Trades.

I'd drop the tower shield and get a buckler or large shield.
Buckler probably, since you can then switch between 1hd and 2hd use.

I'd also move Power Attack to a lower level and add Cleave (move back Dodge, Mobility, Improved Combat Expertise).

Do you really need Improved Bullrush and Improved Sunder?
The latter seems particulary pointless, since you already have Improved Disarm.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Lord Pendragon]

If you're really looking at a "maneuvers-based" fighter, I can't help but think TWF and some of the tactical feats from Complete Warrior would be fun. Are you focused on being a defensive fighter? More tank-like?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Couple of thoughts ...

1. If you're really wanting to focus on weapon tripping and weapon disarming, you might want to move Quick Draw up to around 6th or so. Dropping your weapon is a good defense against counter-tripping and you'll need to worry about counter-disarming, and at that point you'll have 2 attacks per round. Being forced to drop your weapon on your second attack, and spending a round until your next action unarmed (and likely not threatening), is probably a bad thing.

2. Improved Sunder is probably not worth it.

3. Ask your DM if he'll consider house-ruling away the Power Attack / Combat Expertise discrepency (i.e., CE is capped at +5).

4. You might want to consider investing in a single level of Rogue at some point, and throwing a bunch of points into Tumble. It improves your Fighting Defensively tradeoff to -4 / +3, and can make you nigh unhittable when combined with CE. The additional d6 sneak attack damage, as well as the bonus to Reflex saves, might be worth it.

5. Be careful with CE and Disarming. Disarm uses an opposed attack roll mechanic, to which the penalty from CE applies. You'd look rather silly if you focused so much on your defense that your offensive trick backfired!

6. Consider Iron Will. Your Will save is going to be one of your largest Achilles's Tendons.

 

[MoonZar]

Hello,

Do you want weapon specialization and improve critical ? If you don't could you explain me why ?

 

[MoonZar]

Couple of thoughts ...

1. If you're really wanting to focus on weapon tripping and weapon disarming, you might want to move Quick Draw up to around 6th or so. Dropping your weapon is a good defense against counter-tripping and you'll need to worry about counter-disarming, and at that point you'll have 2 attacks per round. Being forced to drop your weapon on your second attack, and spending a round until your next action unarmed (and likely not threatening), is probably a bad thing.

2. Improved Sunder is probably not worth it.

3. Ask your DM if he'll consider house-ruling away the Power Attack / Combat Expertise discrepency (i.e., CE is capped at +5).

4. You might want to consider investing in a single level of Rogue at some point, and throwing a bunch of points into Tumble. It improves your Fighting Defensively tradeoff to -4 / +3, and can make you nigh unhittable when combined with CE. The additional d6 sneak attack damage, as well as the bonus to Reflex saves, might be worth it.

5. Be careful with CE and Disarming. Disarm uses an opposed attack roll mechanic, to which the penalty from CE applies. You'd look rather silly if you focused so much on your defense that your offensive trick backfired!

6. Consider Iron Will. Your Will save is going to be one of your largest Achilles's Tendons.

He's right iron will is very handy for fighter...

 

[Jdvn1]

Take Able Learner at 1st (found in Races of Destiny), probably instead of Jack of all Trades.

I'd drop the tower shield and get a buckler or large shield.
Buckler probably, since you can then switch between 1hd and 2hd use.

I'd also move Power Attack to a lower level and add Cleave (move back Dodge, Mobility, Improved Combat Expertise).

Do you really need Improved Bullrush and Improved Sunder?
The latter seems particulary pointless, since you already have Improved Disarm.

Bye
Thanee

I was thinking the same thing about Able Learner, but I didn't remember the name.

I'd move Power Attack to replace the position of Dodge, then I'd work for Sense Weakness (found in the Draconomicon) to further take advantage of Int feats.

I agree with the rest, though. You don't need a tower shield (they're kind of a pain, although the metal tower shields in RoS are neat since you can get them mithral'd), and Bullrush and Sunder seem thrown in.

Get Quick Draw earlier, get Improved Init, and get Improved Critical (although I like getting Power Critical for weapons with a crit of x3 or better).

 

[Particle_Man]

Thanks for your ideas. I guess I am trying to go for a defensive "tank" fighter. I am trying to avoid feats that invest in any one weapon. And some of the "maneuver" feats like Shock Trooper and Combat Brute require as prerequisites Improved Bull Rush and Improved Disarm.

What does Sense Weakness do?

 

[Jdvn1]

What does Sense Weakness do?

It lets you ignore 5 points of DR, and 5 points of hardness. It's an excellent feat at high levels, but it requires Weapon Focus, so you have to choose a weapon or have a Weapon Focus-like feat (I know that some of the Races books have substitution levels which act as Weapon Focus for a group of feats, and there's a variation like that in Unearthed Arcana).