Mission for the Bored on the Board - (Bo9S) Help picking my Crusader 18 Feat?

[Henry]

My problem: Playing a Crusader 17 / Warblade 1 Follower of Bane (LN) in a 3.5 campaign, one with all WotC books available. I'm picking my 18th level feat, and having a hard time picking a really worthwhile feat.

Character concept: crusader who stands there are takes lots of abuse to deal out damage with his powers.

stats: STR 25 (21), DX 12, CON 14, IN 12, WIS 10, CHA 12

My feats:
Exotic Weapon (Maul)
Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)
Die Hard
Martial Stance (Aura of Perfect Order)
Stone Power
Adaptive Style
Extra Granted Maneuver


I'm trying to decide on a good feat to pick that offers the most combat advantage possible. Because of how few feats I picked from the core rules, I'm ineligible for a lot of the neat feats from Players Handbook 2. Stone Power lets me take anything with Power Attack as a prereq, but a lot of the feats in that chain depend on the extra damage done by Power Attack. I was thinking Defensive Sweep (opponent starts and ends his turn adjacent to you without moving, gain an op-attack), but it's not often that an opponent stands next to me for more than 2 rounds. I could go cleave, I suppose, but the number of times I've been swarmed is pretty rare. Most of our foes that I can tackle are bruisers who I can take down in 2 or 3 rounds max (Thanks to things like Ancient Mtn Hammer or White Raven Hammer, etc.) I could just go plain ol' weapon focus, but it feels like a waste, kind of, though an extra +1 to hit is never a waste when you're using maxxed stone power every round.

So my choices thus far:

--Cleave
--Defensive Sweep
--Weapon Focus

I am VERY weak when it comes to ranged attacks, but I'm not sure that one feat might help me shore that up at all -- I think I'm just consigned to have to come to the enemy, rather than tack them from range.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Stormborn]

I have an 11th level Warblade in my campaign and given the damage she deals out with Elder Mnt. Hammer (IIRC) Cleave would have served her well many times if she had it. I suspect the same goes double for your PC. I agree the Weapon Focus is largely uninteresting, but a +1 is a often the difference between killing and being killed, so its worth it.

 

[Henry]

Just realized I had this in the wrong place.

 

[blargney the second]

Brutal Throw would let you use Strength to attack with thrown weapons.

Can you go dragonborn? Getting inherent flight is awesome for martial adepts, and you could make it awesomer with Air Heritage, Improved Flight, or Flyby Attack.
-blarg

 

[Runestar]

If all else fails, I suppose you could just take another martial study or stance feat for that extra maneuver you desire. Immortal fortitude can be cool to have, but you already have aura of order.

 

[almagest]

Power attack is by far the best thing you can take. Every melee character should have power attack -- especially with a two-handed weapon like a maul. (See if you can train out that EWP:Maul, because it's much better as a two-handed weapon. Get an animated shield if you're concerned about AC.) Even a modest -5 to attack rolls gives you +40 to damage at this point, assuming you hit with all attacks (which by this point, you should be buffed enough to hit with at least 3).

If you want ranged attacks, get a +x composite longbow with +x str bonus. Maybe some bane arrows, or at least arrows of different types to overcome DR. Some manuevers should work with a bow, as well. That should be all you need -- you're melee-focused; no need to over-extend yourself taking feats and spending lots of money on stuff you aren't that good at.

 

[blargney the second]

If your charisma's not in the pooper, Leadership is always very good.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Defensive Sweep combines nicely with the level 3 Devoted Spirit stance, assuming you have it, to create a "lose/lose" situation for enemies. Why did you take martial stance for perfect order? did you just not want to wait for it (which is understandable)? Is it possible to retrain that for something else? Of course you'd lose a high level stance, but you can only use one at a time, anyway. I ask because if you're getting Defensive Sweep, Combat Reflexes would be nice. Ditto for Robilar's Gambit, which requires CR.

I always liked the idea of a Crusader with the Retribution feat (dragon mag #326; crystalkeep p. 49). Only requires Power attack. To quote crystalkeep: "For each 5 hp of damage (round down) inflicted on you by a specific foe in a single round, you gain a +1 on your next attack roll if it is against that foe that takes place in the following round. For example, if a Wizard does 13 hp of damage to you with Magic Missile, you receive a +2 to attack that Wizard if it is the next attack roll you make and it occurs before the end of your turn."
Not very powerful, but fun. Has at least some synergy with the delayed damage pool (also working on intervals of 5) and the Stone Power "healing."