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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fedifensor" data-source="post: 3204776" data-attributes="member: 7289">Well, a charge is only going to happen once per fight, so I'll give a counter-example, also using the Eberron Campaign Setting.Kalashtar Warblade 5Important Stats:  16 Strength, 14 Constitution, 13 WisdomImportant Skills:  8 ranks ConcentrationImportant Feats:  Psionic Weapon, Power Attack, Blade Meditation: Diamond Mind (bonus feat)Important Maneuvers:  Battle Leader's Charge, Emerald Razor, Insightful StrikeImportant Stances:  Punishing StanceImportant Equipment:  +1 Bastard Sword (katana)The Kalashtar can also charge on the 1st round of combat.  First, he uses a swift action to activate Punishing Stance (+1d6 dmg, -2 AC).  Then, as his full-round action, he uses Battle Leader's Charge, Psionic Weapon, and PA 1 to do 3d6+1d10+18 (avg 34) with a +10 attack bonus...the same damage as your fighter, with +2 added attack bonus (from charging) and -2 AC.  Considering the Warblade has more HP than the fighter, the extra damage is worth the AC penalty.  Or he could avoid using Punishing Stance and take 2 extra points of PA to have the same attack bonus and same damage as the fighter with no AC penalty.Unlike the fighter, the warblade is not just a one-hit charge specialist.  The following round, he can swing for 1d10+1d6+6 base damage (avg 15), using Emerald Razor to make that a touch attack.  If the foe gains most of their AC from armor, the Warblade can easily dump some of his +5 BAB into Power Attack for up to +10 damage, or 1d10+1d6+16 (avg 25).Or, he can use Insightful Strike to do 1d20+12 damage (avg 22.5).  Note that this is without any items to boost Concentration.Note that I used nearly identical equipment, and a lower Strength (which is fair, since I used those additional stat points in the Wisdom requirement for Psionic Weapon).  The great thing about it is the additional options offered by the Warblade.  Your fighter can charge, and then his only real combat decision is whether to Power Attack.  The warblade has more options because of the variety of maneuvers available to him.  Note that I still have three more maneuvers to pick, one more maneuver to have readied, and one additional stance.  I also have some additional class abilities that can really help in combat (like Uncanny Dodge).  Overall, the warblade is a much more capable and versatile fighter at level 5.Now, when you get to higher levels, the fighter starts using multiple attacks, which swings the balance in the favor of the fighter.  Or does it?  The kalashtar takes Psionic Meditation as his 6th level feat, which means he can recover his Psionic Weapon as a move action.  With a minor investment in a Concentration-boosting item, he can do +2d6 every round (except with Insightful Strike, but the Concentration boost will up that damage too).  At 9th, he can either take Greater Psionic Weapon for +4d6...or Deep Impact to make every standard action maneuver go versus touch AC (which makes Emerald Razor obsolete).The problem with fighters is that there is a law of diminishing returns with feats.  Every time a fighter gets a bonus feat, the presumption is that they will take the best possible feat for their build.  But if they do that, eventually they are taking less desirable choices (because they're already taken the best feats).  In contrast, the Warblade's maneuver choices are getting better and better as they gain levels.</blockquote>

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