D&D 3E/3.5 Good build and Items for Human Half Celestial Fighter Lv 5 (ECL 9)

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you’re going to go with any of the feat branches with Combat Expertise at the root, you need to commit to a single branch and actually commit to following it. Wandering off onto another branch or a completely unrelated feat tree (e.g. Power Attack) is a recipe for frustration. And make sure your stats and gear play into the feats you pick.

So if you want to play a tripper, make sure you have the Int and a good tripping weapon to support it.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

If you’re going to go with any of the feat branches with Combat Expertise at the root, you need to commit to a single branch and actually commit to following it. Wandering off onto another branch or a completely unrelated feat tree (e.g. Power Attack) is a recipe for frustration. And make sure your stats and gear play into the feats you pick.

So if you want to play a tripper, make sure you have the Int and a good tripping weapon to support it.

my rolls are like 18 14 17 15 15 14
so...
STR 18 = +4
WIS 17 +1 Lv4 = 18 = +4
CON 15 +1 Lv8 = 16 = +3
DEX 15 +2
INT 14 +2
CHA 14 +2
And this is without any gear yet.

Which Weapon is good and not exotic for tripping?
Why do I need good int for trip technic?
And how would you change the feat list?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well , you need a minimum Int of 13 just to qualify for the Combat Expertise feat.

Taking the aforementioned Knowledge Devotion feat could go a long way to offsetting the Att penalties when using CE to boost your AC. It would also let you be more effective when actually tripping enemies. If you go that route, the higher your Int, the better your odds of having good Att/Dam bonuses from the feat.

Knock Down is a decent feat, especially for a tripping build, but it’s a 3Ed feat, not reprinted in 3.5Ed AFAIK.

As for non-exotic weapons…again the Flail weapons are all tripping/disarming friendly. See also the Guisarme, Halberd, Scythe, and Sickle.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

Well , you need a minimum Int of 13 just to qualify for the Combat Expertise feat.

Taking the aforementioned Knowledge Devotion feat could go a long way to offsetting the Att penalties when using CE to boost your AC. It would also let you be more effective when actually tripping enemies. If you go that route, the higher your Int, the better your odds of having good Att/Dam bonuses from the feat.

Knock Down is a decent feat, especially for a tripping build, but it’s a 3Ed feat, not reprinted in 3.5Ed AFAIK.

As for non-exotic weapons…again the Flail weapons are all tripping/disarming friendly. See also the Guisarme, Halberd, Scythe, and Sickle.

Im ok with 14 int, it's the last thing Important for me as a Psionic.

Cannot take this knowledge devotion feat, since I can choose 2 books in additional to PHB, So I took the 2 Psionic books.

Knock down maybe will not approve as a 3ed feat, thanks for let me know.

Halberd seems very cool. What do you use if you was behalf of me?

 

[Grogg of the North]

Be sure to grab combat reflexes. You can substitute your attack of opportunity for a trip attack. This is one of the reasons that most trip fighters try to have some form of reach; either through their weapon, magic, race or some feat. The more ground you can control, the better. I don't know much about psychic warrior but you can always get potions of Enlarge Person pretty cheap. Or ask your GM if you can get a magic vest that does something similar.

Spiked Chain is sometimes considered the best tripping weapon. It has reach, but can also attack adjacent to you. However, it's an exotic weapon and you stated previously that you do not, or cannot, use an exotic weapon.

I prefer halberds. You can trip with it and set to receive a charge. If you can somehow get a pair of Steadfast Boots (Magic Item Compendium) you are always considered to be set to receive a charge. It's cheesy; allowing you essentially infinite readied actions each turn. If only you got advantages for pulling people off horseback....

Flails are another option. A normal flail would let you also use a shield. You could also branch into disarming with a flail. You would already have the pre-requisite feats for improved disarm. Combat Expertise feeds into both Improved Trip and Improved Disarm.

The guisarme can trip, has reach, but cannot attack foes adjacent to you. Invest in something like a spiked gauntlet so you can punch people in the face. Or, if you can convince your GM, pick up the feat Shorten Grip from Dragon Compendium. It lets you attack foes adjacent to you with a reach weapon but you take a -2 penalty to hit. You can also use Short Haft from Players Handbook 2 but that costs you your swift action instead of taking a penalty to hit.

Finally, the scythe can trip. The biggest appeal of this weapon is that sweet sweet x4 crit multiplier!

@Dannyalcatraz Knock-Down is in the 3.5 srd. But it looks like it was printed in Deities and Demigods and in Sword and Fist, both 3.0 books.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

@Dannyalcatraz Knock-Down is in the 3.5 srd.

I followed the link, but didn’t see it. It went from “Irresistible Performance” to “Know Death”.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Weird. There are apparently two alphabetical lists.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Halberd seems very cool. What do you use if you was behalf of me?

Personally, I prefer the 1-handed tripping weapons, especially when my sourcebook resources are limited. So that would be the flails and the sickle.

If you go with a polearm, though, there’s 3 quick fixes for the problem of foes getting inside your reach. The 2 “cheapest” are spiked armor and the Improved Unarmed Strike feat. The “expensive” one is a dip in any class that gives Improved Unarmed Strike as a class feature.

In 3.5Ed, there’s only a couple that I can recall offhand. The first- obviously- is the Monk. It’s “expensive” because of the compromises you’d need to make for your build. There’s also the Oriental Adventures Shaman. While OA was never republished as a 3.5Ed product, the classes (and as I recall, the feats) were given an official 3.5Ed update in Dragon Magazine.

For future reference, if you had a more open rule book selection, the Combat Reflexes feat tree REALLY opens up when you have access to Dragon Compendium v1, and can take the various polearm feats. I’ve built 2 ComRef polearm builds (yes, with Enlarging options) and each was an absolute BEAST in controlling the battlefield.

 

[Alzrius]

Weird. There are apparently two alphabetical lists.

That's because one list is Salient Divine Abilities and the other is for feats. Knock Down is part of the latter.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good save!

So now the question is whether you can use online resources, and if so, which ones? (Because they’re not all the same,)

 

[EdenNotRaven]

Be sure to grab combat reflexes. You can substitute your attack of opportunity for a trip attack. This is one of the reasons that most trip fighters try to have some form of reach; either through their weapon, magic, race or some feat. The more ground you can control, the better. I don't know much about psychic warrior but you can always get potions of Enlarge Person pretty cheap. Or ask your GM if you can get a magic vest that does something similar.

Spiked Chain is sometimes considered the best tripping weapon. It has reach, but can also attack adjacent to you. However, it's an exotic weapon and you stated previously that you do not, or cannot, use an exotic weapon.

I prefer halberds. You can trip with it and set to receive a charge. If you can somehow get a pair of Steadfast Boots (Magic Item Compendium) you are always considered to be set to receive a charge. It's cheesy; allowing you essentially infinite readied actions each turn. If only you got advantages for pulling people off horseback....

Flails are another option. A normal flail would let you also use a shield. You could also branch into disarming with a flail. You would already have the pre-requisite feats for improved disarm. Combat Expertise feeds into both Improved Trip and Improved Disarm.

The guisarme can trip, has reach, but cannot attack foes adjacent to you. Invest in something like a spiked gauntlet so you can punch people in the face. Or, if you can convince your GM, pick up the feat Shorten Grip from Dragon Compendium. It lets you attack foes adjacent to you with a reach weapon but you take a -2 penalty to hit. You can also use Short Haft from Players Handbook 2 but that costs you your swift action instead of taking a penalty to hit.

Finally, the scythe can trip. The biggest appeal of this weapon is that sweet sweet x4 crit multiplier!

@Dannyalcatraz Knock-Down is in the 3.5 srd. But it looks like it was printed in Deities and Demigods and in Sword and Fist, both 3.0 books.

About feats:
1. Combat Expertise Feat
2. Improved Trip Feat
3. Knock-Down Feat
4. Power Attack Feat
5. Combat Reflexes Feat
6. Expanded Knowledge -> Share Pain
7. Linked Power
8. Psionic Meditation
9. Improved Initiative

Hey Gorgg, you got an Idea about the halberd weapon? like what we can upgrade to make this weapon to be a beast.
My DM said she needs to check if I can use Animated Shield with 2nd weapon, but didn't give me an answer until today, I will check with her today.
What about the psionic powers I choose?
And Armor, I want good armor and items to be a beast psychic warrior.
BTW, do you know maybe any combo with those powers in battle?

Personally, I prefer the 1-handed tripping weapons, especially when my sourcebook resources are limited. So that would be the flails and the sickle.

If you go with a polearm, though, there’s 3 quick fixes for the problem of foes getting inside your reach. The 2 “cheapest” are spiked armor and the Improved Unarmed Strike feat. The “expensive” one is a dip in any class that gives Improved Unarmed Strike as a class feature.

In 3.5Ed, there’s only a couple that I can recall offhand. The first- obviously- is the Monk. It’s “expensive” because of the compromises you’d need to make for your build. There’s also the Oriental Adventures Shaman. While OA was never republished as a 3.5Ed product, the classes (and as I recall, the feats) were given an official 3.5Ed update in Dragon Magazine.

For future reference, if you had a more open rule book selection, the Combat Reflexes feat tree REALLY opens up when you have access to Dragon Compendium v1, and can take the various polearm feats. I’ve built 2 ComRef polearm builds (yes, with Enlarging options) and each was an absolute BEAST in controlling the battlefield.

Which 1-Handed no exotic there is that good like Halberd?
Ok, so I've taken Combat Reflexes on behalf of some other feat.

Good save!

So now the question is whether you can use online resources, and if so, which ones? (Because they’re not all the same,)

Ok so...
I can use:

The Hypertext d20 SRD (v3.5 d20 System Reference Document) :: d20srd.org

SRD:System Reference Document - D&D Wiki

www.dandwiki.com

 

[Grogg of the North]

I can't help you much with psychic powers. I have never played a psychic warrior and know almost nothing about them. Expansion is going to be the one power you're probably going to want right away. Making yourself large means higher strength and reach.

For a halberd, I like the Spinning Halberd feat in Complete Warrior. It's another book, and I know you're limited on how many you can use. Otherwise, make your weapon magical and get your strength bumped as high as you can.

For 1 handed non-exotic tripping weapon, go with a flail. It trips, it disarms, it can even cut a tomato! Well, not really. But if anyone doubts you, hit them with your flail.

For armor, go with whatever you can wear that also maximizes your dexterity bonus. That's probably going to be either a chain shirt or a breast plate. Or something eventually made out of mithril.

 

[Alzrius]

If you're using psionic sources, then I strongly recommend putting the collision power on whatever weapon you use. +5 points of damage on every successful attack is a huge advantage.

As for what else you should do...I want to reconfirm your build. If I'm looking at this right, you're playing a synad (from Complete Psionic) who's a level 10 psychic warrior, and your allowable resources are d20srd.org and Complete Psionic, is that right? In that case, what are you ability scores? If you haven't made them yet, are they using a point-buy total, or are you rolling for them?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As noted, the flail is your best 1HD option.

(…but the sickle is cooler.)

 

[EdenNotRaven]

I can't help you much with psychic powers. I have never played a psychic warrior and know almost nothing about them. Expansion is going to be the one power you're probably going to want right away. Making yourself large means higher strength and reach.

For a halberd, I like the Spinning Halberd feat in Complete Warrior. It's another book, and I know you're limited on how many you can use. Otherwise, make your weapon magical and get your strength bumped as high as you can.

For 1 handed non-exotic tripping weapon, go with a flail. It trips, it disarms, it can even cut a tomato! Well, not really. But if anyone doubts you, hit them with your flail.

For armor, go with whatever you can wear that also maximizes your dexterity bonus. That's probably going to be either a chain shirt or a breast plate. Or something eventually made out of mithril.

Hey Grogg, This is very respectful comment, thank you <3
I'll change my build right now.

If you're using psionic sources, then I strongly recommend putting the collision power on whatever weapon you use. +5 points of damage on every successful attack is a huge advantage.

As for what else you should do...I want to reconfirm your build. If I'm looking at this right, you're playing a synad (from Complete Psionic) who's a level 10 psychic warrior, and your allowable resources are d20srd.org and Complete Psionic, is that right? In that case, what are you ability scores? If you haven't made them yet, are they using a point-buy total, or are you rolling for them?

Synad, Psyhic Warrior 9
Good Natural
Stats priority:
STR>WIS>=CON>DEX=INT>CHA

My Rolls:
18 14 17 15 15 14

STR - 18 Total = +4
WIS - 17 + 1 Level 4 = 18 Total = +4
CON - 15 + 1 Level 8 = 16 Total = +3
DEX - 15 Total = +2
INT - 14 Total = +2
CHA - 14 Total = +2


Feats: 9,
4 from Psychic Warrior,
5 from Level 9
1. Combat Expertise Feat - for Tripping opponents.
2. Combat Reflexes Feat - for Second attacks.
3. Improved Trip Feat - for tripping opponents, +4 str if I try to trip an opponent.
4. Knock-Down Feat - to trip opponents if dealing 10 damage or more. Since it's from DD, I hope it will get approved, but if not, I'll take Psicrystal Affinity for Combo thing, Vigor ME + Share Pain to the ranged opponent, to make him die faster.
5. Power Attack Feat - -1 attack rolls and +2 damage rolls to make opponents take 10+ damage to make them become trip.
If Knock-Down feat is unavailable, I think to replace it with Psicrystal Containment to make Psicrystal become better.
6. Expanded Knowledge -> Share Pain - Choose Share Pain for Vigor Combo.
7. Linked Power - Linked Power for Share Pain and Vigor, And other combos I can think of, Since I'm Synad, This race is designed for combos.
8. Psionic Meditation - When I don't need to move, I will make psionic meditation to make my psionic focus become good. Since I don't need to move anywhere.
9. Improved Initiative - To attack first.

Powers:
1st:
Vigor
Precognition, Defensive
Expansion
2nd:
Damp Power
Hustle
Strength of my Enemy
3rd:
Empathic Transfer
Hostile, Dimension Slide
Concealing Amorpha, Greater

Armor and Weapons: 49,000 Gold.
Mithril Breastplate +1 - 5,400 Gold. +6 Armor Bonus, 5 Dex Maximum Bonus.
Halberd Collision Keen +2 - 18,040, +5 Damage, 20-19 Critial, +2 Attack roll.
Animated Heavy Steel Shield +1 - 5,020, +4 Shield AC
Boots of Striding and Springing - 5,500, +10 speed feet, +5 on jump skill.
Handy Haversack - 2,000
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 - 2,000
Ring of Protection +1 - 2,000

9,040 Gold Left, Please recommend me something good for synad psychic warrior.

Speed - 40 feet.
AC - 10 + 6 Armor + 4 Shield + 2 Dex + 0 Size + 1 Natural Armor + 1 Deflection = 24 AC.
this is High for level 10? I think it's not all because of psionic powers.

Base Bonus Attack, +4 STR, +2 Weapon, +6/+1 Psychic Warrior = +12 First attack, +7 Second attack.
Halberd Collision Keen +2, 1d10, crit 20-19 it's x3, +5 damage collision.

Fort: 6 Psychic Warrior + 3 Con = 9
Ref: 3 Psychic Warrior + 2 Dex = 5
Will: 3 Psychic Warrior + 2 Synad (Threefold Mind [Su]) + 4 Wisdom = 9

Language: Synad and Common, Bonus: I need to think about it... maybe a suggestion will help.

What else do you want to know about my build?

As noted, the flail is your best 1HD option.

(…but the sickle is cooler.)

What if I will take Flail as a backup weapon? is it better then dagger I can hide?

 

[Alzrius]

Armor and Weapons: 49,000 Gold.
Mithril Breastplate +1 - 5,400 Gold. +6 Armor Bonus, 5 Dex Maximum Bonus.
Halberd Collision Keen +2 - 18,040, +5 Damage, 20-19 Critial, +2 Attack roll.
Animated Heavy Steel Shield +1 - 5,020, +4 Shield AC
Boots of Striding and Springing - 5,500, +10 speed feet, +5 on jump skill.
Handy Haversack - 2,000
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 - 2,000
Ring of Protection +1 - 2,000

A few things here.

Collision is a +2 weapon ability. So adding it with keen (+1) and a +2 enhancement bonus means that it's effectively a +5 weapon, which costs 50,000 gp, which is more than your entire gp allocation at this level. I think that collision is a worthwhile ability to have, but you're going to need to reallocate some of your expenses in order to take it.

Likewise, the animated property is worth +2, so an animated heavy steel shield +1 is going to be a +3 item in total, which increases its cost to 9,000 gp. (It's also only going to provide a +3 shield bonus to AC by itself, since a heavy steel shield normally grants a +2 bonus, and you've increased it by +1.)

Also, any enchanted weapon needs to be masterwork first, which adds 300 gp to the cost. Likewise, armor and shields need to be made masterwork also before they can be enchanted (though not for mithral items, which are masterwork already), which adds 150 gp to their base costs.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What if I will take Flail as a backup weapon? is it better then dagger I can hide?

It’s pretty big for a fallback option, but not unreasonably so. But the dagger gives you a ranged attack option, something that you lack. With your Dex, ranged combat is a decent option. Softening up a foe before melee is always good. Being able to hit a foe who doesn’t need to engage in melee is also important.*

OTOH, you don’t have an option for foes that are resistant/immune to piercing or slashing damage.



* At a Con, I watched a Knight do virtually nothing against a pair of green dragons who absolutely refused to land and engage.

 

[Alzrius]

It’s pretty big for a fallback option, but not unreasonably so. But the dagger gives you a ranged attack option, something that you lack. With your Dex, ranged combat is a decent option. Softening up a foe before melee is always good. Being able to hit a foe who doesn’t need to engage in melee is also important.*

OTOH, you don’t have an option for foes that are resistant/immune to piercing or slashing damage.



* At a Con, I watched a Knight do virtually nothing against a pair of green dragons who absolutely refused to land and engage.

That's a good point. I'd recommend a +1 composite longbow with a +4 Strength rating. While slightly more pricey than another +1 weapon (costing 2,800 gp in total), it will deal 1d8+5 damage altogether, have a decent attack bonus, and get around damage reduction that's overcome by magic weapons.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don’t forget to check out the list of psionic items when choosing gear. Minor things like Third Eyes and Psychic Tattoos aren’t too pricey, and can give you some useful wrinkles.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

A few things here.

Collision is a +2 weapon ability. So adding it with keen (+1) and a +2 enhancement bonus means that it's effectively a +5 weapon, which costs 50,000 gp, which is more than your entire gp allocation at this level. I think that collision is a worthwhile ability to have, but you're going to need to reallocate some of your expenses in order to take it.

Likewise, the animated property is worth +2, so an animated heavy steel shield +1 is going to be a +3 item in total, which increases its cost to 9,000 gp. (It's also only going to provide a +3 shield bonus to AC by itself, since a heavy steel shield normally grants a +2 bonus, and you've increased it by +1.)

Also, any enchanted weapon needs to be masterwork first, which adds 300 gp to the cost. Likewise, armor and shields need to be made masterwork also before they can be enchanted (though not for mithral items, which are masterwork already), which adds 150 gp to their base costs.

About the upgrade - we don't play like this, so it's the same price I told you.

About shield, you're right, it's 3, my mistake.

We don't play with masterwork cost, because it's backstory thing.

But anything else?

It’s pretty big for a fallback option, but not unreasonably so. But the dagger gives you a ranged attack option, something that you lack. With your Dex, ranged combat is a decent option. Softening up a foe before melee is always good. Being able to hit a foe who doesn’t need to engage in melee is also important.*

OTOH, you don’t have an option for foes that are resistant/immune to piercing or slashing damage.



* At a Con, I watched a Knight do virtually nothing against a pair of green dragons who absolutely refused to land and engage.

Yeah, so what do you think? Should I buy a dagger for fallback option?

That's a good point. I'd recommend a +1 composite longbow with a +4 Strength rating. While slightly more pricey than another +1 weapon (costing 2,800 gp in total), it will deal 1d8+5 damage altogether, have a decent attack bonus, and get around damage reduction that's overcome by magic weapons.

Ahhh, I see what you did there.
You want me to become archer when I focus on Melee attack? Sound not bad actually.
What I should replace in feats for this thing?

Don’t forget to check out the list of psionic items when choosing gear. Minor things like Third Eyes and Psychic Tattoos aren’t too pricey, and can give you some useful wrinkles.

I saw the low-cost Psionic items, but I don't know what I should even buy with the money left for me.
There's low-cost Third Eye?
What the Psionic tattoo even doin?