malien said:
Hmm. So, a quandry.
With three feats to take... do I take... Improved Initative, Power Attack and Devoted Inquisitor?
Yes. Or Weapon Focus: Greatsword, Power Attack, and Devoted Inquisitor. Or Extra Smiting, Power Attack, and Devoted Inquisitor.
Or do I make better use of my +3 Dex bonus, lower my strength score (to many 12, that's more points for Constitution or Charisma) and go Weapon Finesse, Exotic Weapon Proficency (Elven courtsword) and Power Attack? Arrrgh, I want to do too many things at once.
Yes, you want to do too many things at once. This one, however, is easy: you can't qualify for power attack with a 12 strength; you need at least a 13.
I wouldn't go weapon finesse either. To go for an elven court sword and weapon finesse over a greatsword and a higher strength, you pick up (on the original stats you posted) +1 to hit. If it were possible to power attack with a 12 strength, you'd pick up +2 to hit. However, comparing the damage, you still wouldn't come out ahead of the first build.
14 strength, weapon focus and a greatsword:
+BAB +3 to hit; +3 damage
14 str, 16 dex, Weapon finesse and an elven court sword
+BAB +3 to hit; +3 damage
In other words, you spend an extra feat vis a vis the greatsword but gain no advantage in terms of attack or damage.
If you dropped your strength to 13 for some reason, it would look like this:
Greatsword: +BAB +2 to hit, +1 damage
Court Sword: +BAB +3 to hit, +1 damage--power attack for 1 to go to +BAB +2 to hit, +3 damage.
So, dropping your strength and using an elven court sword lets you spend three feats in order to attack worse or do less damage (your choice which) than you would by spending one feat on using a greatsword. It's a bad deal.