WANTED Melee class that can stand up APPLY WITHIN

[Anditch]

I am in a small group of 6 people.We have been playing DnD for a combined 70 years or there abouts, and only in the 3rd edition have we decided to keep away from Melee types as we tend to die very fast. The ones that dont get into hand to hand(wizards sorcerer) tend to live alot longer. I am looking for a Melee type that can handle most things. i would be looking for a Prestige class to but it does not matter if it is straight class or not. Any race is allowed i am not fussed.It can also be a hybrid (Melee who can cast like a ranger, paladin etc) . Has anyone got any ideas of a good char for me or for our group that can absorb/dodge take the blows etc plus also any helpful magical items too. Its getting to the point where people are going for casters and archers to keep our chars alive.
Thanks all for your ideas

 

[DM with a vengence]

Go with a Dwarf Barbarian or Fighter. Heavy Armor, Shield, and a Battle-axe. You may not get to the fight any time soon, but once your there you'll end it pretty quickly.

Another good one is the Human mounted Fighter or Paladin. A horse and lance can give you the mobility to really take it to the enemy, and yet avoid getting hurt at the same time. Spirited Charge is your most powerful feat. If you really want to cheese out, pick up TWF and Ambidexterity, along with a feat from DotF called Improved Shield Bash. When they try and close with you, poke 'em with the Lance and then slam them with the shield to push them back into poking range.

In general get a high AC, high Con, and high Saves, it'll be tricky to get all of these and keep up your offense, but it's the only way to a truely survivable character.

 

[Artoomis]

One of my favorites is the mounted (on a war dog ) halfling paladin (or straight fighter).

They can be mounted just about anywhere, even indoors. Very cool.

The paladin gives a more survivable mount than a straight fighter - the fighter, of course, has many extra feats.

 

[Ravellion]

Go for an AC monster. I think the bladesinger (Web Enhancement Tome & Blood by WotC) with shield spells might be a very good one to use. Always go full expertise as well, which is a requirement for the prestige class anyway.

Use Figther 4 Wizard 2 to enter. Get high Int and Dex, Con next, Strength as fourth priority and then finally Charisma (I know, I know...). INT bonus will count to AC as soon as you enter the class, but only in light armour. Get Elven Chain or Mithril Shirt (depending on DEX modifier). Get items and spells to boost INT, DEX and CON instead of strength. Get Tumble as a skill.

He won't do a lot of damage, but he'll annoy the hell out of the DM.

 

[Burne]

I like Devoted Defender as a tank-type prestige class. d12 + free AC is good. If you can stand the inflated entrance requirements of Dwarven Defender you can have d12's, free AC, DR and a +AC rage. Epic Dwarven Defender can have 30/- DR at 30th level.

Dwarf is an excellent tank race, as is barbarian as a base class.

On the other end of the defensive scale, Monks + Halflings + Rogues = stupidly big AC. 2 monk/x rogue weilding a monk weapon as weapon of choice so you can flurry of blows is good. And nothing says love like doing 1d4+1 to everything you can't sneak attack.

Same theme diferent execution is Duelist. Monk works good here as well and lets you generate truely stupid amounts of AC.

 

[Deset Gled]

The Survivor prestige class and Roll With It feat (both from Savage Species) sound like they are practically made with this in mind.

 

[reapersaurus]

aren't you looking at it a bit one-sided?

Who cares if your character survives, if the group gets the tar beat out of them because they don't have a tank?
Why is it considered 'good' that a wizard/sorcerer/archer type doesn't die?
Shouldn't they be suporting the tank-guy that is keeping the enemies from slaughtering the non-melee types?

There's WAY more to this story than simply recommending classes that won't die in melee.

Hell, if one melee-character is responsible for keeping the 5 non-melee types alive when a dozen melee enemies come forth, than its NO WONDER the melee-types keep dying.

 

[mmu1]

The ones that dont get into hand to hand(wizards sorcerer) tend to live alot longer.

Reapersaurus already pretty much said it, but did your group stop to consider the reason why all those other people could afford not to get into combat?

I think you guys don't need a new, improved melee class, you need everyone else to put some work into keeping the tank alive... Still, as far as melee survivability goes, the best you can do without some kind of highly unusual multi-class probably involving a lot of expensive magical equipment would likely be a Dwarven Fighter 4/Barbarian X with a maxed-out CON, good DEX, enough INT for Expertise, Dodge and as far as equipment goes, Mithril Full Plate, and a large shield... Just remember not to Rage unless there's no helping it...

 

[Halivar]

That's so strange that the original poster has had this experience with melee classes... my experience with 3e is totally opposite.

My last two characters have been a paladin and a fighter/planar champion. In both cases, the spellcasters, bards and clerics seemed to have use only to buff me and make me the ultimate killing machine.

So far, the mage in our group is only useful insofar as they disintegrate any opposing mages or clerics in the first round. The rogue? Backstab +infinity-d6 is nothing but a pinprick next to my +5 power attack, especially with all the crit-range goodies I got. Bards and sorcers exist to give me plusses to attacks and stats.

Granted, I have died more times then all my group-mates combined, but it's a small price to pay for being the only ABSOLUTELY necessary character at the table. YOMD, and probably does.

Then again, maybe no one in my group knows how to play non-melee. I, myself, have never tried anything else. I think my next character will be a wizard, and we'll see.

BTW, if this post is completely ignorant, forgive. I'm a really nice guy and hurting my feelings makes me cry...

 

[Gaiden]

The key to survivability is a combination of good saves and damage reduction (not in the D&D sense but literally reducing damage). This is done relative to other characters by making the hits count less (having high HPs or DR) or getting hit less often. The combination of both is the most effective - hence the dwarf fighter recomendation.

In terms of straight up survivability for a nonspell caster, you really cannot beat a dwarven paladin or something of the like. High HPs, high Saves, high AC, and mounted to increase mobility (less total blows).

I made a character that wound up being a machine using the paladin class - human Pal1, Fig1, Sor4, MotAO6, S.E.8. He had incredible saves with his charisma adding to each, he had the best armor money could buy (w/still spell and most spells that did not require S components), access to all the greatest defense spells, and a host of HPs - started with an 18 Con. However, he was a magic user.

I would disagree that the AC machines are the best way to go with survivability. There are too many ways to get around high ACs and moreover, the AC machines tend to be save wusses and/or HP wusses with the bladesinger as the epitome. That is not to say that they are not fun to play, just that they are no where near the survivors that are dwarven fighters and paladins in general.

I would stay away from the monk as well unless you have really (REALLY) high stats in Str, Dex, Con, and Wis. Otherwise you simply won't be effective, even if you can survive.