My fighter always gets battered-am I "normal"?

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I had to take Toughness for the Defender class plus I don't think the DM is using the extra books. If and when I get more cash I will consider the amulet, but I wonder if amulet of natural armour might not be a more efficient spend?

It depends on how you look at it from a cost/benefit point of view?

Amulet of health
4000 - +level in HP. +1 fort save
16000 - +2 X level. +2 fort save
36000 - +3 X level. +3 fort save

vs

Amulet of natural armour
2000 - +1 AC
8000 - +2 AC
16000 - +3 AC
25000 - +4 AC
50000 - +5 AC

I'd say the higher level you get, the better that health bonus starts looking? And cheaper too...

More spell related answers - you could get Polymorphed into something for a higher AC... although I'm not a big fan of all this shapechanging shenanagins. Just sits a little wrong with me...

 

[TimSmith]

Been my experience too - higher level fighters have AC to stop power attacks and the 2nd+ attacks from stuff. IME found party co-operation is required to get things better than that.

IMO, a strong form of defense is a miss chance of some sort. A displacement from the wizard before a major fight will do you a world of good - items can be had for this, but they're very expensive... Some creatures can see through it, but many cannot. Greater Invisibility is great - and a lot cheaper to cast than stoneskin.

If you can assemble the required stuff, then a ring of blinking, ghost touch weapon and see invisible is extremely effective. Even provides defense against quite a lot of magic. Also stacks with the illusion based miss chances...

You might already do this - But having a plot with your two spellcasters might help a lot. There's plenty of buffing they can help you out with? Just off the top of my head, a magic vestment on your animated shield is a +2/+3 to your AC. You have no deflection bonuses - so Protection from Evil would be great, Shield of faith would be more AC but no save bonus - both just a 1st level slot?

And finally, timely in combat Heal spells is the difference between a healthy happy bodyguard and a couple of spellcasters getting pulped by monsters.

Good point about the protection from evil! 12 min duration and +2AC/saves for a 1st level slot which would hopefully save him at least 1 converted cure light anyway I must bend the cleric's ear about that one!

Whoa, I just checked out greater invisibilty and displacement spells. 50% miss chance (although some can see invisible creatures) whilst still being able to fight sounds like what I need! Admittedly only lasts 1 round per level (so, 12 rounds) unlike stoneskin at 120 mins, but half total damage should be negated completely! Still, it would get expensive for a wand with a decent duration and anyway would need casting a lot, so maybe the wizard wouldn't go for it. Perhaps for a major battle....A cloak of minor displacement sounds pretty good for a bit of long term durability.

 

[Thanee]

Only 3 characters is tough. Your party really needs to work together, and some spells from the wizard can power up your fighter quite effectively, especially the really powerful stuff like Polymorph, which can grant tons of Strength and natural armor. The miss chances are also very good. With a few spells like that your effectiveness will probably double.

The wizard could get the Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability spell from Complete Arcane and then the familiar could buff your fighter with a few spells, so the wizard does not have to 'waste' his actions on those spells. At 12th level up to 4th level spells are possible that way.

The cleric could also cast a Magic Circle against Evil and stay close enough (which certainly makes sense, anyways).

Using Combat Expertise is also a good idea for tough situations.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Glad you like the miss chances!

All sorts of good stuff on the cleric/wizard spell lists - if you can just get them to part with a slot or two. One option I've seen used is to you buy the caster a pearl of power at the apt level of the spell you want... they're not losing anything at all to help you that way? Expensive, but means you've 'bought' 1 use/day.

Edit: Having said that, with a small group, you would definitely benefit from helping each other out - at this level, a 3rd level slot used for displacement or haste on you is likely to be many times more effective than a fireball?

As for fighters role. In my group, the fighter type is by far the best at pulping single tough targets. He's normally kills the BBEGs off... as long as he can corner them.

 

[Thanee]

Oh, and for the record... yes, I think it's pretty normal, that the fighter gets 'battered'. The barbarian/dragon disciple in our CotSQ group (recently deceased and replaced with a Mystic Theurge) got quite a big share of the hurting in combat, and he was really tough with close to 200 hit points, AC 32~35 w/o CE and fast healing 5 at 14th level. For a long time he was also the biggest damage dealer with Power Attack, but lately he had to concentrate on defense too much in order to be effective offensively, since the only other character with decent melee staying power is the halfling paladin who is mounted on a winged dog and therefore often not in melee.

Bye
Thanee

 

[kigmatzomat]

IMC campaign the fighter ranks his injuries in "bard's worths." E.g. "I've lost two bard's worth of blood, can I get some clerical lovin', please?!?" When the bard is fully buffed by his wizard cohort, he has roughly 45% of the fighter's hps. When both of them are in an antimagic field, the bard is closer to 30% of the fighter.

And the fighter takes massive amounts of trauma despite having the deulist dodge ability and decent magical armor. Only the devoted defender can out-AC our fighter, though the cleric is a close second. The thing is neither the defender nor the fighter can afford to boost their AC that much very often or their damage output drops and the monsters ignore them to eat something smaller, weaker, and easier to kill.

Fighters are living chaff that you can't go around or get away from so you have to deal with them.

 

[frankthedm]

You could use, In this order

1. Ring of deflection +2
2. Amulet of natural armor +2
3. gloves of dex +2

Do convince the casters to summon. Those delightful speedbumps can be good for soaking up enemy actions.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I had to take Toughness for the Defender class plus I don't think the DM is using the extra books.

Ask him if you can substitute Improved Toughness for Toughness as a prerequisite for Dwarven Defender. Even if he isn't using non-core books, ask him anyway; it can't hurt to ask, can it? And Toughness is a sucky, sucky feat. It's almost cruel to require anyone to take it. (Please, don't anyone jump in and claim it's not "required" just because you choose to be a Dwarven Defender.)

 

[melkorspawn]

Maybe you can get yourself some DR, through either a PrC (Pit Fighter) or even an in game event (Curse of Avernus).

 

[melkorspawn]

"I've lost two bard's worth of blood, can I get some clerical lovin', please?!?"

You know... I was thinking: Could an arcane/divine multiclasser with levels in the Spellsword PrC channel cure spells into a sling bullet and chuck it at an ally?