You've identified the only ways to increase your critical range in the core books. For now, you'd need to go keen because you won't qualify for improved critical until level 8.
Yeah was thinking Keen was the better way to go, though I do like being able to have the improved threat range without having to spend money, but the restrictions of Improved Crit (aside from level) kinda makes the choice for me.
When comparing longsword and falchion, remember that two-handed weapons deal 1.5 times your strength bonus. That's a pretty big deal, especially for a critical build.
This is a very good point I hadn't considered.
Made a small change to the OP. Hope it's okay.
Fair enough.
3.5 melee fighters have two routes to go for killing: attacks or damage, which ends up being two-handed fighting or power attacks. I've never seen crits as a viable minmax route.
Not trying to min/max too much here, the crit focus is mostly just to offset my terrible rolling. I'm also doing what I can to gain flat bonuses but there's only so much I can get, so I'm looking for things that let me roll more dice to get bigger numbers.
So that rules out the two-handed fighting. Go for power attacks, and since you get to start at fourth level, cherry-pick yourself a multiclass too. Like...rogue for sneak attack. And quick draw. Now you're the guy who can cut an enemy in half before he knows you've drawn your curved sword.
Hmm hadn't thought of multi-classing, though that would build on my roll more dice strategy.
Right now my feats are looking like
1st - Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Falchion), Quickdraw
2nd - Improved Sunder
3rd - Cleave or Dodge
4th - Weapon Specialization (Falchion)
Now if I take a level in Rogue I'm thinking I'll go with Dodge instead of Cleave. Even as straight Fighter Dodge is probably better to take, Cleave is highly situational and since my DM likes to dogpile on frontliners being harder to hit, even just +1 against 1 opponent, is better than
maybe doing more damage to one other enemy
if I end up dropping this one.
Don't do sunder. Destroying your own loot is bad.
Fair point. Sunder spawned from an attempt to create an odd character trait, a pacifist Fighter. He'll kill monsters, beasts, demons, etc. creatures who are irredeemable either because of their nature (demons, devils, and the like) or because they lack the capacity for reform (animals and "mindless" monsters). Any creature capable of reasoning though he'll attempt to disarm and/or incapacitate rather than kill. Sunder seemed a better route than Disarm because I'd only need to take one feat to make it work rather than two. Suppose I could just say I'm always trying to deal non-lethal damage and play it up that way. Any feats that eliminate or reduce the -4 to hit when trying to deal non-lethal damage?
If I had to choose between the two of those, I'd go with Keen. Improved Critical costs a feat, and only applies to a specific weapon. If you decide to change your primary weapon later, say, because you found a great +3 Wounding Greatsword, you would have wasted a precious feat.
As a Fighter I've kinda got feats to burn but you raise a good point. So would you recommend not taking Weapon Focus and Specialization and if so which feats would you recommend.
Better than the Keen enchantment, though, would be the
Scabbard of Keen Edges. You can change your primary weapon, and still apply the keen quality to it via the item.
Sadly out of my price range, however you've given me an idea; Oil of Keen Edge is not. Thinking I can only afford one but as an ace in the whole it's not bad.
