Need Advice on Party Fighter

[ThenHeCame]

Hi there!

Anyways, I'm part of a 4 person party in standard 3E game, generic setting. I'm wondering what type of Fighter I should design to best help my party... Here s alist of it's current members, all Level 1


Human Cleric of Pelor ; Healing/Good with an Emphasis on being a healer, No intention of multi-classing

Halfling Rouge; Skills are all relative to a dungeon like setting and/or scouting with a favroit weapon being the sling. Considering taking levels as a fighter to better her skill with the sling.

Elven Wizard ; Specing in Tansmutation and taking a hit in conjuration. I think he is going the augmentation route and being the party "pill box" No intention of Multi-Classing

So that leaves me. Seeing this, I knew I was gonna have to be some sort of melee type, so that leads me to the questions, what should I be?

Should I go for pure melee damage? Min/Max myself out so I can deliver truck loads of damage around each round? Or should I make myself to be a damage spounge, trying to create the largest amount of AC/HP for myself? Should I go for a mhappy meduim? Is there a happy meduim?


Any thoughts would be helpful!

 

[Ruvion]

Gotta go finesse~!

How 'bout a finesse fighter?!
I know 3e doesn't make them the greatest fighter of them all...but it could be your thing.

If you want an efficient party, however, you have to go with the Tank: deal boat load of melee damage, can take almost as much damage, and are hard to hit as Baator.

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

Well

Depends. Any of the four Warrior classes will do fine in this situation, but each has it's own specialties and roleplaying opportunites. I see it like this, and remember that all of the following is just my opinion...


Fighter: Pure warrior, the best combatant, going this route will allow you to really dominate combat. The best min/max weapon is either the Greatsword or Double Sword, depending on what you want to do. Since you apparently won't be required to flank much for the Rogue, as she's focusing on using a ranged weapon, heavy armor is feasible. You will lack in skills and thus roleplaying/social situations, so you might want to multiclass a bit to increase your skills. The best option here is going with a Prestige Class once you attain mastery with your chosen weapon, I think.

Barbarian: Second best warrior, going this route will also allow you to dominate combat. You'll have the most hitpoints if you choose this class, and the increased movement is very useful for rushing enemy spellcasters and archers. Use a two hander for the best min/max results, or a weapon/shield combination. You should stay away from dual wielding, in my opinion, as the Barbarian does not have the extra feats to do this nearly as well as the Fighter.

You will deal out tremendous damage when Raging, and you have a decent skill list as well, especially if you are going to be traveling in the wilderness. The Barbarian does lack better abilities at higher levels, however, so you're probably better off going into a Prestige Class if you want to continue focusing on the Barbarian aspect of your character, or multiclass out into something else.

Ranger: An excellent choice, especially if you want to do more than just hack enemies to pieces. You will do well in combat, especially with your animal companions, and you will also be able to aid the Rogue in scouting out the enemy. It's not nice being stuck out alone ahead of the party if something sees you, after all. Do _not_ multiclass the Ranger, unless going into a Prestige Class, as a great deal of the Rangers power comes from their spells. The best choice of a weapon for a Ranger is the same as the Barbarian, though a greater emphasis should be placed on the two handed weapons because you suffer no armor check penalty when using them.

Ignore dual wielding, as you do not have the amount of feats needed to truly do well with this style, and you'll be more effective using a two hander at any rate. The Ranger class has the best skill list out of all the Warrior types, so you'll see a lot more roleplaying opportunities with this class than the others, with the exception of the Paladin. You will also be far more valuable in scouting out enemies and on guard duty. Since you have a Cleric keyed to healing the party, you will also be able to use the Rangers spells to the maximum benefit, especially once you get the third and fourth level spells. A Ranger Polymorphed into a Stone Giant will usually beat a Fighter of equal level.

Still, with the way your party is set up it is probably best to choose another class. The Rogue has the scouting taken care of, and since your Wizard is a Transmuter, he will likely be Polymorphing you into a Stone Giant before you have the abillity yourself.

Paladin: Fantastic warrior, with the best saves out of the Warrior grouping, as well as excellent spells and some very nice special abilities. He should should look at weapons with the same mindest as a Barbarian, and he may want to get Mounted Combat feats if he wants to use his mount as best he can. Be warned, however, that mounts often have a low survivability rate.

The Paladin also offers a lot of roleplaying options, and his association with his temple/god may open up quests that the party might not have recieved otherwise. His spells are great, especially Holy Sword, and the abilties he has as a leader are invaluable as well. Divine Grace, Aura Of Courage and so on are all great assets to the Paladin and his party. If you're going up against enemies that like to use magic, especially Enchantments and such, the Paladin is the best Warrior class to be.


Conclusion:

Personally, I'd go with a Fighter or a Barbarian, just because they are the toughest in a straight brawl, and that's what your party seems to need the most.

 

[Finkin Swiftfingers]

Go with a barbarian instead and follow the "cleave" line. It really starts to add up at the higher levels!

 

[Grim]

If you have the most recent Dragon Magazine, the *wild* one, be a halfling, use the "silverback" suggested multiclass (Bar/Rgr), switch out some of the feats, and then as soon as you can take a few levels of "Prarie Runner." Thats exactly what my halfling did, and now he is lvl 6, has 60 HP, does uber dammage, and runs at speed 40. And next level he can hustle for at least 12 hours w/o stopping. Thats 96 miles in 12 hours! With only minimal rest at the end. and thats only if he rolls really poorly.

 

[Victim]

2 things:

First, you must attract the attention of the enemies and focus their attacks onto yourself. If your wizard spends most of his spells on buffs, he won't have much self defense. A combat oriented rogue will do lots of damage without a lot of surivability. Both these characters, and to a lesser extent, the cleric, will depend on you to make sure they live.

Second, you must be able to survive all their loving attentions.

You can accomplish the first by looking intimidating, and by throwing out a lot of damage. You can survive by having a high AC and HP.

However, damage dealing comes from 2 handed weapons and massive strength while toughness comes from Con, some dex, and a shield. I reccomend buying some ranks in intimidate, and perhaps Perform: Taunt, if your DM will let you use it. Wear the best armor you can afford. Make that the best spiked armor. Nothing says intimidation like mean looking spiked armor.

I'd tend to favor damage dealing over AC/HP. Buffs will help defense more than offense, and the cleric will likely be healing you. A Displacement can cut physical damage against by half, ignoring all other stats like AC. Even Haste, which can give a similar boost to offense, depends on your starting stats - if you do no damage without haste, you'll see a 50% increase to that small bit of damage. Greatsword or bastard sword helps with the damage. The greatsword will probably help you deal more damage and attract attention. However, even buffs and heals can't always save you. And it would be humiliating to die before your friends can throw a buff or heal. Therefore, you'll need good armor and some defensive skill. If you can spare the intelligence, the expertise feat might prove useful. Since you control it's effects, you could hit hard in one round to attract attention, then boost your AC, hopefully frustrating their offense and letting your friends wear them down.

 

[justinsluder]

I think someone has forgotten another member of the warrior type. The Monk .

I mean, how much more intimidating can one get when you can wear no armor and not get a scratch on them. They have the best saves out of all the classes. They can move really fast, and they can bitch slap an orc across the room without even thinking about it.

Any ways, that's just my opinion.

Take care,
Justin Sluder

P.S. I like Monks.

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

I did not forget Monks. I deliberately excluded them, because they do not have the damage dealing capability of the other four Warrior types, which is what the original poster was looking for.

 

[Torillan]

Hmmmm......

Well, I've played a fighter from the start of 3e. The first feat I took was Combat Reflexes, and it has come in handy on many occasions. I had been focusing on the bastard sword (took Weapon Specialization), but along comes this nifty Icy Burst Longspear. The rest of the party had no hesitation to give it to me. So, I tried it in a few combats. It proved invaluable. Having a reach weapon and Combat Reflexes is astonishing, particularly if the party Wizard bestows a Cats Grace spell on you.

I guess my point is to avoid focusing too much on one weapon, as other options will come up.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Here's a pretty good combo, that I started a game with, but never got play through... (I didn't die... two players moved out of state, and the DM went AWOL, so the game fell apart.)

Human Fighter.

Feats: Exotic Weapon (Bastard Sword), Two other feats (I went with Power Attack, and Cleave).

For gear, he began with a Chain Shirt, a Buckler, a Bastard Sword, a Longspear, a Bow with some Arrows, and some other miscellaneous adventuring gear.

You can wear the buckler all the time, since it's just strapped to your arm. Now, he has a lot of options. Use the Longspear initially for reach, and to ready against charges. Drop it and draw the bastard sword when the enemy closes. If you need extra defense, weild the sword one-handed, and use the buckler. If you want a really powerful attack, ignore the buckler, and two-hand the sword for the extra strength bonus. Bow and arrows in case you need a ranged attack.

At 6th level, make sure you pick up Quick Draw. Now that you get multiple attacks, you'll be able to switch weapons in the midst of a full-attack... Attack the ogre warrior with your bastard sword, if he doesn't die, attack again. If he does die, quick draw your bow, and put an arrow through the evil sorcerer.