Tips for a TWF Dwarven Barbarian/Fighter

[Rae ArdGaoth]

I have a character (playing here, in Living Enworld, actually) who has just reached 6th level. He's a Brb 4 / Ftr 1 (link). Currently, he has the feats: Two-Weapon Fighting [L1], Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) [L3], and Improved Shield Bash [F1]. He dual wields a Dwarven Waraxe and a magical spiked shield of bashing.

I'm somewhat stuck as to how to advance him optimally. I'm pretty sure I'll give him another level of Fighter, so that means he picks up two feats. Originally I was thinking Power Attack and Improved Sunder, but I was playing another game where a L3 dwarf dealt 40 damage with a two-handed weapon and power attack. (It was a critical, but still!) Since I'm only using a one handed weapon, the effectiveness of Power Attack is significantly reduced.

So then I was thinking Combat Expertise and Improved Disarm, but to my dismay, I discovered that Combat Expertise is the one combat feat that can't be used during a rage. I may still choose that combo, but again, it's not optimal.

I also thought about Dodge, Mobility, and then Spring Attack, but again, he can't spring attack and TWF, so that's not great either.

I'm kind of at an impasse here. It's not an option to undo the level progression (and I wouldn't want to do that anyway, I really enjoy the concept), so I just need some help deciding what to do from here on. I'm not married to Fighter at L6, though I can't think of anything better that fits the character. Available material is SRD 3.5 + LEW Homebrew Content (Feats)

Thanks!

 

[Arkhandus]

Well, among the LEW feats, the Extra Rage and Shield Balance feats seem useful for your character. Similarly, Weapon Focus (Shield Bash) or (Shield Spikes) would be a bit helpful for accuracy with the off-hand attacks, though Shield Balance is a better first choice. So maybe, if taking a level of Fighter, go WF (SB) and Shield Balance. Then later on at 9th you could gain ER, with any other Fighter feats in the meantime used to get Weapon Specialization in the axe and shield.

Then move on to Power Attack and Cleave later still, for dispatching mooks more rapidly, if they still seem like useful feats at that point.

 

[Legildur]

Power Attack is almost ALWAYS a good choice for warrior types when trying to beat DR.

Also very useful for attacking objects not held by someone.

 

[blargney the second]

Here are my recommendations for stuff to get over time, in no particular order:
1) See if you can pick up the whirling frenzy barbarian variant from UA.
2) Trade in fast movement for Pounce with the lion totem variant from Complete Champion.
3) Replace TWF with Agile Shield Fighter from PHB2.
4) Since you need Shield Specialization for the ASF above, grab Shield Ward sometime.
5) Since you can bash just fine with a heavy shield using ASF, get Power Attack.
6) Grab Weapon Specialization then Melee Weapon Mastery (find a shield that does slashing damage for extra synergy)

You'll need a few levels of fighter to get those feats, but you should end up with great attacks, damage, and AC by level 10 or so. Pounce in particular will do very good things for you.
-blarg

 

[Creamsteak]

Here are my recommendations for stuff to get over time, in no particular order:
1) See if you can pick up the whirling frenzy barbarian variant from UA.
2) Trade in fast movement for Pounce with the lion totem variant from Complete Champion.
3) Replace TWF with Agile Shield Fighter from PHB2.
4) Since you need Shield Specialization for the ASF above, grab Shield Ward sometime.
5) Since you can bash just fine with a heavy shield using ASF, get Power Attack.
6) Grab Weapon Specialization then Melee Weapon Mastery (find a shield that does slashing damage for extra synergy)

You'll need a few levels of fighter to get those feats, but you should end up with great attacks, damage, and AC by level 10 or so. Pounce in particular will do very good things for you.
-blarg

I believe the only parts of that he can use is 5 and the first half of six.

 

[Arkhandus]

Yeah, you're basically suggesting he re-build his character using a bunch of optional rules and supplements, and ignoring the Living EN World restrictions he mentioned in his post.....

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Heh, I think blargney skimmed the last paragraph and missed the rules limitations. Most of those rules, I've never even heard of.

Power Attack is almost ALWAYS a good choice for warrior types when trying to beat DR.

Also very useful for attacking objects not held by someone.

Good points, and I think Power Attack also fits the character pretty well.

Well, among the LEW feats, the Extra Rage and Shield Balance feats seem useful for your character. Similarly, Weapon Focus (Shield Bash) or (Shield Spikes) would be a bit helpful for accuracy with the off-hand attacks, though Shield Balance is a better first choice. So maybe, if taking a level of Fighter, go WF (SB) and Shield Balance. Then later on at 9th you could gain ER, with any other Fighter feats in the meantime used to get Weapon Specialization in the axe and shield.

Somehow, I completely overlooked Shield Balance in the LEW feats... That's a perfect choice, though it means I'll have to get a new shield. It increases his damage output slightly and boosts his AC by 1. If I have the cash, I also hope to get a set of mithral full plate to replace his current magical breastplate. All this ought to boost his AC through the roof.

I'm not sure how WF interacts with shield bashes. Would I need to specify WF (Heavy Shield Bash), or would WF (SB) be sufficient?

Right now I'm thinking definitely Shield Balance and either Power Attack or WF (SB)... I feel like Power Attack is the more versatile of the two, so I'm leaning towards that.

L7 will be boring, but L8 I get an extra ability point, which will go into Dex, allowing me to take Improved TWF asap. So until L9, no more advancing along any trees... Hmm... Any comments?

 

[Arkhandus]

It appears that you would have to specify it as Weapon Focus (Heavy Spiked Shield) or Weapon Focus (Light Spiked Shield), as appropriate.

Why would you need to get a new shield? Only light and heavy shields can get shield spikes to begin with, so whichever kind of spiked shield you have should already work with Shield Balance.

If you're headed for Improved TWF at 8th-level, I'd suggest getting Weapon Focus for your shield before Power Attack, so as to improve the accuracy of your off-hand attacks. Getting more of them through ITWF won't be worthwhile if their accuracy is too low to matter. Hitting consistently with both weapons is probably better than hitting kind of consistently with the first weapon on Power Attack and rarely hitting with the off-hand weapon on Power Attack.

I'm not sure if you can use a spiked shield for bludgeoning attacks or not, like a normal shield would be used for..... If you can, though, then you've already got all 3 weapon damage types covered for purposes of busting through Damage Reduction (slashing with the axe, piercing with the shield spikes, and possibly bludgeoning with the shield itself).


Still, there is certainly some good that could come from taking Power Attack first. If you ever do face something with DR that your weapons don't ignore, or if you face an opponent that your AC doesn't seem very effective against, then you could always drop your shield and start Power Attacking two-handed with the Dwarven Waraxe for maximum carnage. So I guess it's really just up to personal preference.....

 

[Darklone]

Power Attack. In emergency cases you can still drop your shield and use the axe in both hands to hack through DR.

That Shield Balance looks not too bad. Did I read that correctly, Comp Series is not allowed? Dual Strike (comparable to that Two Blades style feat) would be great.

WF (heavy shield), not shield bash.

Take barbarian 5 at level 7, Imp Uncanny Dodge can be great.

 

[blargney the second]

Doh, my bad. Missed the restrictions.
-blarg