Help me choose a feat for my Dwarf Paladin

[Lord Pendragon]

Not only that, Power Attack is a prereq for better Paladin feats, and power attack is cool to have when you can only make one attack (often happens at the first round of combat when you have to move to your target before attacking).

This is true. My 7th-level human paladin currently has Power Attack. He mostly took it as the prereq for Divine Might, which is very nice. As an S&B fighter, he doesn't Power Attack very often. The exception is on a mounted lance charge. Convert the charge bonus and the +1 bonus for higher ground into damage, and you have an instant +6 damage with your lance.

Power Attack is also very nice for defeating damage reduction. Loose your shield, grab your warhammer in both hands, and layeth down the smack.

 

[Rashak Mani]

I'm always torn between getting more fun and useful feats... as opposed to defensive feats. Still Close Quarter Combat is a life saver in the campaigns I play in. Its way to common for higher level CR enemies to have improved grab. Sad but true. With a good weapon you can dish out good damage and save yourself from a "tight" situation.

A lot also depends on what your other group members classes and abilities are. I don't particularly like Power Attack for 1 hand weapons. For 2 handed its good... there are situations like destroying an obstacle or just hitting easier targets with DR that warrant 2 handed power attack. Attacking big animals too... they have bad AC. Overall Power attack isn't that great IMHO.

Zen Archery is interesting if your going to throw your weapon...

Forget Armor optimization, improved critical, improved initiative or lighting reflexes. They are paltry attempts at making better what is bad in a dwarf.

 

[EvilGM]

I love Improved Initiative. However, as a melee combatant, you ideally want the opposition to move to you so they get one attack then you can do a full round attack. If your battlefield control is good (usually from casters limiting opponent options with spells and party mobility/maneuvering) you shouldn't need this feat.

If you really want the feats that Power Attack opens up, then by all means get it. I find Cleave/Great Cleave to be fairly useless, but the other feats are helpful. It is fun to power attack all the time, especially if you have other competent melee combatants in your group.

Improved Critical is nice and would double the amount of crits you deal out.

The grapple problem won't go away and will only get worse as you increase in levels. Close-Quarters Fighting is a wonderful feat, but I'd rather get my hands on a Ring of Freedom of Movement.

Quick Draw would let you throw multiple hammers each round.

I'd most likely take Improved Critical (warhammer)
- It will provide more opportunities for spectacular hits (x3 woohoo)
- You are committed to the warhammer as your weapon so you will want to pick this up at some point... why not now?
- It does not stack with Keen, but Keen isn't available on bludgeoning weapons.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Here are the feats I'm thinking about...

• Improved Critical (Smite bonuses get multiplied on crits, warhammers have a x3 modifier, and Bless Weapon works with this feat. I'm not sure if a 19-20 makes much of a difference over just a 20 threat range though.)
• Zen Archery [Complete Warrior] (Good for throwing the warhammer considering my Dex and Wis and throwing the warhammer is a PrC ability I'll be getting the same time I get my feat. It's a net +3 to hit with all ranged weapons.)
• Power Attack (Good combo with smite considering the extra +3 to hit I get when smiting. Also prereq for Cleave and other good things.)
• Mounted Combat (For dire wolverine special mount, though the wolverine does rage only when he gets hit. Trample isn't a bad way to go either for later on.)
• Endurance (For possibly getting the Battlesmith PrC from Races of Stone later on.)
• Improved Initiative (I'm slow to react thanks to my Dex.)
• Improved Toughness [Complete Warrior] (More hit points are never a bad thing.)
• Lightning Reflexes (My saves are good, but Reflex could be better. Then again, he gets an extra +2 against Reflex saves from spells for being a dwarf.)
• Heavy Armor Optimization [Races of Stone] (This plus the Greater version would give Rurik an extra +2 to AC and reduce his Armor Check Penalty from -5 to -2.)
• Extra Smiting [Complete Warrior] (More smites can only be good.)
• Close-Quarters Fighting [Complete Warrior] (My last character in the campaign got grappled like it was his job. He even developed a phobia for dire animals. This would put a stop to those Improved Grab creatures my DM seems to be so fond of.)

Any advice as to what would a) Strike fear into the hearts of dwarven enemies and b) Be good mechanically is very appreciated. Please feel free to suggest other feats I haven't considered, though I prefer WotC 3.5 material (that's mostly what I have in the way of books).

Well, let me narrow these down for you:

Close Quarters Fighting: A very good feat for any melee combatant. Even if you pick up a Ring of Free Action, the extra AoO is always nice.

Extra Smiting: Don't bother. Your smite ability is going to sit stagnant after you become a Hammer of Moradin. If you were going up in paladin levels, this would be a contender. Since it isn't, don't bother with it.

Heavy Armor Optimization: Hmmm. It could be made to work with a very strong defensive focus. +2 to AC for two feats can be worth it if your AC is high to begin with. However, yours isn't particularly high. With the Hammer of Moradin DR, the AC will be less significant though.

Lightning Reflexes: Your reflex save is weak. With Lightning Reflexes, it will still be weak. You'll have to live with that fact.

Improved Toughness: A good feat, but there are feats that give you more options rather than just more hit points.

Improved Initiative: If you take this, you still won't go first very often. Learn to live with being flatfooted and buy some fortification armor ASAP.

Endurance: Blah. If Battlesmith is worth it, it could be alright but the Hammer of Moradin class is very good (I'd probably say broken in another thread).

Mounted Combat: A good feat, though you're picking up the mounted combat chain a bit late. You could get Spirited Charge by 15th level if you tried though. Only go this route if you will pick up Spirited Charge.

Power Attack: This is pretty much a mandatory feat for melee fighters. Sooner or later, you WILL want to wield your hammer two-handed and pound through some DR. And, sooner or later, you'll be in a situation where you don't need your shield and then you'll want power attack. It's the prerequisite for Divine Might which is a great paladin feat but not so good for you since your charisma is adequate rather than good and you are already spending your turn checks on Divine Vigor.

Zen Archery: This expands your options though I'd be a little concerned about its longevity. Right now your dex is 8 but +4 gloves of dex aren't very pricey and are almost definitely in your future. Then using your wisdom bonus for ranged attacks won't look so hot. Since you have a natural 14 wisdom and won't get any more spells as a Hammer of Moradin, there's little reason for you to boost your wisdom any more. I'd leave off.

Improved Critical: Warhammer. Since you're going to be increasingly committed to the warhammer as a weapon, this is a good choice.

So that's it: Close Quarters Fighting, Power Attack, or Improved Critical with Mounted Combat as a possibility if you want to take that chain all the way and Armor Optimization as an option if you're going to focus on cranking your AC through the roof.

 

[FireLance]

The real question is, how do you want to play your character and what does the rest of your party need?

If your party already has a primary tank, picking Zen Archery and going hammer hurler would be a good choice.

Mounted Combat isn't going to be as useful if you intend to take several levels in Hammer of Moradin as your special mount won't improve. You also won't get as much benefit from Extra Smiting because the damage bonus won't increase.

I agree with EvilGM that grapple problems are best solved with a Ring of Freedom of Movement.

Since you're going to get damage reduction as a Hammer of Moradin, AC bonuses aren't going to be that useful.

My suggestion is to go with feats that increase your attack capability. Improved Critical and Power Attack would be good choices, as would be Zen Archery, if you're not the primary tank.

 

[Enforcer]

Thank you everyone for your insightful replies! I posted both here and on WotC's boards. Guess which group of folks have been more helpfull...(Hint: It's EN World)

I'm still barely at 8th level, but when the time comes for 9th and my first Hammer of Moradin level I think I'll be choosing Power Attack. Doing the math it's not so great unless the enemy has a low AC (like many Dire Animals), but Divine Might is very handy. I hadn't noticed the free action part before, and besides, it's not like his Turn Undead is useful for actually turning undead. Those six attempts a day will all get used between Divine Might and Divine Vigor.

I also did the math on Improved Critical. My possibly faulty (I haven't done any real math in five years, but I was always good at it) calculations revealed roughly a 13% increase in average damage assuming one attack per round. Since right now my average is 9.5 (9.5*13%=another 1.2 damage per hit), that's not nearly as good as the +3 Divine Might will net me.

 

[dbm]

There is also an Axe Thrower feat in FR that lets you use your Str bonus to hit with thrown weapons (not just axes). The Hammer of Moradin in our campaign had this.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Enforcer]

There is also an Axe Thrower feat in FR that lets you use your Str bonus to hit with thrown weapons (not just axes). The Hammer of Moradin in our campaign had this.

Cheers,
Dan

Well, technically a Hammer of Moradin can never take the Axethrower feat from Player's Guide to Faerun. The feat is only available to dwarves from the Great Glacier (and certain non-dwarf regions).

Meanwhile, one prerequisite to the Hammer of Moradin prestige class is "Region: Spine of the World." This is meant to make sure all Hammers of Moradin are from Citadel Adbar, precluding the possibility of a Hammer of Moradin taking the Axethrower feat unless the DM relaxes the region requirements either for the feat or for the prestige class.