D&D 3E/3.5 Why be a Fighter? (3.5)

[Spatzimaus]

Actually, they get dirt for a skill list, so many PrC's are not open to them unless they multiclass with rogues.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I didn't mean a PURE Fighter could join PrCs easily. I meant that by taking some Fighter levels, it makes it far easier for anyone else to enter a PrC since the Feat requirements become far less limiting.
Likewise, everyone takes a level or two of Rogue to meet the skill requirements of a PrC. Although, now in 3.5E, Bard and Ranger both work pretty well for this.

Particle Man: I wasn't disparaging Fighters, I was stating that mathematically Fighters gained less per level at the high end than at the low, simply because there's not much stopping them from picking the Feats they want at low levels. By the time you get to level ~10 you're taking things like Blind-Fight, Endurance, and Quickdraw.
(Unless, of course, you use a lot of splatbooks.)

What I saw more often was the Fighter 6/Barbarian 2/Rogue 2/(some Prestige Class 10) setup, because once you reached Fighter 6 you had at least 7 Feats already, as many as non-Fighters get in their entire careers, so why not pick up some skill points and other abilities with the remaining levels?

 

[Particle_Man]

One possible "fix" for the fighter that keeps the progression was suggested earlier in the thread.

Super/Ultimate/mach 3 Weapon Focus (need 16 levels of fighter) and Weapon Specialization (need 20 levels of fighter) to add yet another +1 TH, +2 DA respectively with the chosen weapon.

I wonder what fighter feats are in Unearthed Arcana?

 

[reapersaurus]

man, I can't believe how non-creative the fighter-only feats are.

A legendary fighter doesn't just hit 5% more often, or do 2 points more damage than someone else.
That doesn't make legends - and in my eyes, a Fighter 12+ IS legendary, but then again, my mind is not in uber-NPC worlds...

 

[Olive]

A legendary fighter doesn't just hit 5% more often, or do 2 points more damage than someone else.

No, he slays dragons and travels to other planes etc. And surely those extra hits and damage help with that?

 

[The Souljourner]

Re: In defence of the 20th level fighter...

By the way, if a fighter uses a Composite Long Bow (Suitably Mighty) and has Far Shot, isn't his range better than that of most magic spells?

Depends on what you mean by "most".

Long range spells have LOOONG range. 1200 feet at 20th level.

1200 feet with a far shot composite longbow is (whip out the calculator) -14 to hit. Not so nice, especially given that fireballs don't miss.

BTW, I think those that say that a fighter has nothing more to take after level 12 are only saying it because they only want to be good at one weapon, which the fighter can do, but you're right, after 12th, there's nothing more to do. However, the fighter can be really really good with TWO weapons, which can take up the rest of his feats.

Want to be the ultimate two weapon fighter? Get improved shield bash, EXP: Bastard Sword, the full TWF chain, the full Specialization Chain for Bastard sword and Shield Bash (or whatever you'd call that) plus imp crit for the bastard sword (I wouldn't bother with the one for the shield, it's a waste for 20 x2 weapons IMO). That's 13 feats right there, and you have 6 more for other options (power attack, cleave, great cleave, dodge, mobility, expertise maybe)

Let's see a ranger or barbarian do THAT! With 22 strength and a couple GMW spells, that's 1d10+15 at +31 /+26/+21/+16 to hit and 1d6+12 at +31/+26/+21 to hit.

Average damage, assuming everything hits: 82 + 62 = 144 damage.

Now a mighty raging barbarian with modified 30 strength using a greatsword +5 and power attacking 5 (to give him the same attack bonus as the fighter):

2d6 +30 for 4 attacks = 168 damage.

So, yes the barbarian still out damages the fighter, but the fighter has *at least* 10 better AC than the barbarian in this instance, and can do this all day, whereas the barbarian has a limited number of rages and a limited duration, and can get it removed with a simple calm emotions spell.

All in all, I think that's a fair trade.

-The Souljourner

 

[lordmcdeath]

Fighters also give you a chance to play interesting races /templates. You really gimp yourself with any ecl race if you pick any other class.

I currently play a Half Celestial fighter 6/Sword of Andros 6 (a custom class based on the defense of children, a few offensive abilities but mostly just a bab = to fighter) and really I couldn't be happier. My Stats are higher than average, but the template can be thanked for that.
Feats
Exotic Weapon Prof (Mercurial Greatsword)
Weapon Focus(" ")
Weapon Specialization (" ")
Quick Draw
Power Attack
Cleave
Greater Cleave
Combat Reflexes
Hold the Line
Improved Critical (" ")

These feats do make me vunerable to a sundering, but if he charges me, I get an Aoo on him and if he can survive that to sunder my weapon I can just quick draw my other. It works quite well. Add in a keen weapon and a girdle of giant strength and I am cooking with gas.