Help me build an AC fighter

[Lady Sabelle]

What about a Swordsage from the Book of Nine Swords? You get a Wis bonus to AC that stacks with light armor. Plus all those cool maneurvers and stances. And if your worried about BAB then only take 2 levels then go into Warblade or Crusader.

 

[frankthedm]

AC is hard to raise compared to attack value or damage. Some monsters simply WILL hit you regardless of your AC, and the real question is do they hit you with the second/third/fourth attack. Part of this is by design; if AC rose as fast as damage output/to hit, battles could take forever. So you're fighting an uphill battle. You can have a high AC for your level, but by itself it won't be that great, and there'll still be plenty of ways for you to get hit/damaged. (Touch attacks, magic, etc.)

And if you sink too much character power{feats, magic items] into getting a good AC, your foes outmanuver you and kill your friends instead. The guy with a weapon and shield is normally far less a threat than somone with a two handed weapon or slinging spells.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

No you don't get the shield bonus from both. It's a shield bonus and two shield bonuses (like most other named bonuses) won't stack.

There is a problem with your concept, and maybe it matters and maybe it doesn't (only you can say).

AC is hard to raise compared to attack value or damage. Some monsters simply WILL hit you regardless of your AC, and the real question is do they hit you with the second/third/fourth attack. Part of this is by design; if AC rose as fast as damage output/to hit, battles could take forever. So you're fighting an uphill battle. You can have a high AC for your level, but by itself it won't be that great, and there'll still be plenty of ways for you to get hit/damaged. (Touch attacks, magic, etc.)

Also, having a high AC never won anyone a battle - doing damage to the bad guy wins battles. That means that while you might be standing, if you sacrifice everything to up your AC, monsters may just ignore you.

AC often comes from expensive gear and magic items. Given that you're going to be level 3, you really will have a hard time distinguishing yourself here. OTOH if this is just a starting point for a long-term effort then that may not be as big a factor.

Depending on your desires, you might want to look at a psychic warrior. They have a TON of tricks to keep themselves alive and many of the early buffs raise AC. Of course the trade-off is a 3/4 BAB.

QFT

And, if you really want a huge AC, I've found the cheapest way to do it is genrally finding a race w/ a manageable ECL that gives huge natural armor bonuses. Right now, I just started a bodyguard character w/ and ECL 7 race, which gave +8 natural armor and spell resistanc,e among other things. He will be using two shields, like your idea, one for AC, the other for special abilities. One thing to think about for a 2-shield fighter: the crushing strike (or is it crushing blow?) feat from PHB 2. It's the reason I'm not bothering to get his shields spiked!

 

[green slime]

Dwarven Fighter with Dwarven armour proficiency, wearing one of the Dwarven super amours, aiming for Heavy Armour Specialisation. (Races of Stone)

And Expertise. So you'll need Int 13:

Suggested Array:
Str 17
Dex 11
Con 18 (16+2)
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 6 (8-2)

 

[Particle_Man]

I would recommend the Knight. They have an ability to MAKE the bad guys attack them, which can alleviate the "bad guys ignore you" problem. It is level based, which favours going straight Knight and it is affected by Charisma, which leads to a bit of MAD.

Also, a cloak of displacement wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

[Phlebas]

Cleric with heavy armour and combat expertise - buff yourself into a Brick outhouse (shield of faith etc) ......

'course its not a fighter, but a combat orientated cleric can be a serious combatant

 

[Ed Gentry]

Thanks for all the input, folks.

I'm now considering a trip-monkey. Thoughts? Is it worth it?

I'm really just after an effective but still fun and flavorful melee type.

 

[wolff96]

I'm now considering a trip-monkey. Thoughts? Is it worth it?

I'm really just after an effective but still fun and flavorful melee type.

Trip monkeys are a lot of fun in games where you face a lot of humanoids of your own size. The problem is when you face... well, anything else. Sure, you're vicious against two-legged medium (or smaller) creatures, but everything else will have a hearty laugh when you try.

Don't get me wrong -- tripping is incredibly effective against the right opponents. I just wouldn't recommend building an entire character around it.

 

[Felix]

Dwarf Fighter 2/Cleric 1.

Str: 14 (2)
Dex: 14 (2)
Con: 16 (3)
Int: 13 (1)
Wis: 13 (1)
Cha: 10 (0)

Feats:

1st level: Dodge
Fighter 1: Weapon Focus: Dwarven Waraxe
Fighter 2: Shield Specialization
3rd level: Combat Expertise​

Get as good an armor as you reasonably can by 3rd level. Probably Chainmail or a Breastplate at most. By this point you may be able to afford a magical armor or shield, though it's unlikely you could get both (but try!).

Cast Protection from Evil before you go into battle, and hope you fight Evil critters.

Your AC:

+5 (Tower Shield with Shield Specialization)
+6 (+1 Chainmail)
+2 (Dexterity)
+1 (Dodge)
+2 (full Combat Expertise)
+2 Fighting Defensively
+2 Protection from Evil

AC: 30 (vs Evil critters)

You'll not be hitting too often (-2 attack penalty from Combat Expertise, -2 attack penaty from the Tower Shield, -4 attack penalty from fighting defensively), but your hit points will be as safe as they could possibly be.

Also: put full cross-class ranks in Tumble; at level 4 your AC bonus from fighting defensively will increase to +3.

 

[Thurbane]

Troglodyte, high Dex, mithril plate, tower shield...add cheese to taste...