Bolthar The Dwarf Warblade [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bolthar The Dwarf Warblade [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
bury_the_dwarf
10-12-06, 10:48 AM My group is starting a new campaign and my dm is allowing the Tome of Battle. I am trying to build a Stone Dragon Warblade tank going into the Deepstone Sentinel prestige class. We have access to quite a few books but none of the Forgotten Realms or Faerun books(3.5 only). My stats are 18, 18, 18, 15, 12, 8(our DM gave us 2 18s... little does he know...). I am not trying to break anything I just want to play a battlefield control type character and I really like the flavor of the Deepstone Sentinel.

I am thinking(with adjustments)
18
16
20
12
15
6

We are starting at level 5

Any suggestions you wonderful optimizers have for me would be greatly appreciated.
PhoenixInferno
10-12-06, 12:24 PM Not interested in the INT-fueled abilities of the Warblade? Y'know we don't really talk very much about Stone Dragon techniques very much around here - Iron Heart, Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind get all the attention. I'm not sure why and I like the Deepstone Sentinel's flavor as well. I'm curious to see where this goes.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=680285
bury_the_dwarf
10-12-06, 12:58 PM Hmm, Hadn't really thought about the int based abilities... would it be worth putting the 3rd 18 in int for something more like

18
12
20
18
15
6

or just a 15 in Int(I haven't spent my point from level 4 either)

My biggest question is what feats should I consider, I really haven't had much chance to look through Tome of battle or PHB 2 to see what sort of battlefield control(and defensive) types of feats are out there.
khaalis
10-12-06, 01:30 PM 18
12
20
18
15
6

or just a 15 in Int(I haven't spent my point from level 4 either)

My biggest question is what feats should I consider, I really haven't had much chance to look through Tome of battle or PHB 2 to see what sort of battlefield control(and defensive) types of feats are out there.

Most of the feats you are going to want, are Dex- and Int-based (minimum 13). Balance (Dex-based) is the central skill to Stone Dragon. However, you will likely end up with Dex restrictive armor so an 18 would likely be a waste.

I would go:
18
15 +1 (4th) = 16
20
18
12
6

As for the feats themselves, you have to decide what kind of control you want before anyone can give you specifics. Personally I am a fan of the AoO chains or the Trip monkey chain. JMHO.
phelanarcetus
10-12-06, 01:43 PM Stone Dragon doesn't have a ton of control built-in, though Overwhelming and Irresistable Mountain Strikes take away move and standard actions respectively as far as I recall. There's one that kills movement speed for a round as well, so there's some decentness in there. And some stances to boost grapple as I recall.

One reason I dislike a heavy focus in Stone Dragon is the fact that you must be in contact with the ground (my last campaign we all spent a lot of time under the effects of Fly), and additionally, almost all (or all) of the stances heavily limit mobility.

If you want to battlefield control, Crusader would probably suit better though; Devoted Spirit nets Thicket of Blades and Defensive Rebuke which, with Robilar's Gambit and Mage-Slayer mean that almost every action in your threatened area provokes an AoO. If you can dig up Lester The Molester from... aha! here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=694016), you'll see what the concepts behind it are. That one isn't maneuver-heavy, but you can get many of the same things with maneuvers.

With Warblade disciplines, let's see. Diamond Mind doesn't do much for control, though Pearl of Black Doubt is a fun stance for a high-AC build, and there are plenty of maneuvers that will let you dish out enough damage to be considered a definite threat (essential to getting enemies to attack you, this isn't World of Warcraft with Taunt). Iron Heart's best control are going to be Disarming Strike and Dazing Strike (aside from mixing Mithral Tornado or Adamantine Hurricane with trips and such). Tiger Claw is about killing, so it contributes threat and mobility with Sudden Leap, not much else for you. White Raven gives you some controls by shutting down AoOs and stunning, and it lets you make your allies more effective.

One thing to note about Warblade: you really don't get a lot of maneuvers, so you will be trading out at almost every chance you get, and you're probably going to have issues with going deep into more than two disciplines. So far I've managed a Warblade 20 build that got all I wanted from Diamond Mind and Iron Heart, but almost nothing else, and a Warblade-dominant build that got almost everything I wanted from Tiger Claw and Iron Heart.

You definitely want at least a decent Intelligence, because there's a lot of good you can get out of the Battle * class features. Especially if you get yourself a lot of AoOs and have Warblade 15.

... got distracted from the post for half an hour, good work me. I think I'd run out of things to say, anyway.
Richmud
10-12-06, 01:55 PM You might want to consider a 2-4 level dip into bloodstorm blade in order to give yourself some ranged power. A 2 level dip into deepwarden would also serve you well.

If you are going for the high wis because you are worried about your will save consider the feat in PHB2 that makes will saves con based, it has endurance as a prereq but you get endurance as a bonus feat
bury_the_dwarf
10-12-06, 02:13 PM Actually initially I was thinking high wisdom for spot/listen purposes.

As for what type of control I was thinking some kind of tripping/disarming mixed with the actual terrain control of deepstone sentinel. Dunno if it will work to well though
Richmud
10-12-06, 02:20 PM As for what type of control I was thinking some kind of tripping/disarming mixed with the actual terrain control of deepstone sentinel. Dunno if it will work to well though

Well tripping and disarming cry out for the spiked chain. Beyond which exotic weapon proficency is alway great for warblades as with an hour of practice they can use any exotic weapon they come across
bury_the_dwarf
10-12-06, 04:17 PM lol I still didn't get very specific. I think I really want the AoO tripping
Richmud
10-12-06, 04:30 PM lol I still didn't get very specific. I think I really want the AoO tripping

Well then you want to find a way to get thicket of blades and lots of reach. So spiked chain is still a good choice

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bury_the_dwarf 10-12-06, 10:48 AM	My group is starting a new campaign and my dm is allowing the Tome of Battle. I am trying to build a Stone Dragon Warblade tank going into the Deepstone Sentinel prestige class. We have access to quite a few books but none of the Forgotten Realms or Faerun books(3.5 only). My stats are 18, 18, 18, 15, 12, 8(our DM gave us 2 18s... little does he know...). I am not trying to break anything I just want to play a battlefield control type character and I really like the flavor of the Deepstone Sentinel. I am thinking(with adjustments) 18 16 20 12 15 6 We are starting at level 5 Any suggestions you wonderful optimizers have for me would be greatly appreciated.
PhoenixInferno 10-12-06, 12:24 PM	Not interested in the INT-fueled abilities of the Warblade? Y'know we don't really talk very much about Stone Dragon techniques very much around here - Iron Heart, Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind get all the attention. I'm not sure why and I like the Deepstone Sentinel's flavor as well. I'm curious to see where this goes. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=680285
bury_the_dwarf 10-12-06, 12:58 PM	Hmm, Hadn't really thought about the int based abilities... would it be worth putting the 3rd 18 in int for something more like 18 12 20 18 15 6 or just a 15 in Int(I haven't spent my point from level 4 either) My biggest question is what feats should I consider, I really haven't had much chance to look through Tome of battle or PHB 2 to see what sort of battlefield control(and defensive) types of feats are out there.
khaalis 10-12-06, 01:30 PM	18 12 20 18 15 6 or just a 15 in Int(I haven't spent my point from level 4 either) My biggest question is what feats should I consider, I really haven't had much chance to look through Tome of battle or PHB 2 to see what sort of battlefield control(and defensive) types of feats are out there. Most of the feats you are going to want, are Dex- and Int-based (minimum 13). Balance (Dex-based) is the central skill to Stone Dragon. However, you will likely end up with Dex restrictive armor so an 18 would likely be a waste. I would go: 18 15 +1 (4th) = 16 20 18 12 6 As for the feats themselves, you have to decide what kind of control you want before anyone can give you specifics. Personally I am a fan of the AoO chains or the Trip monkey chain. JMHO.
phelanarcetus 10-12-06, 01:43 PM	Stone Dragon doesn't have a ton of control built-in, though Overwhelming and Irresistable Mountain Strikes take away move and standard actions respectively as far as I recall. There's one that kills movement speed for a round as well, so there's some decentness in there. And some stances to boost grapple as I recall. One reason I dislike a heavy focus in Stone Dragon is the fact that you must be in contact with the ground (my last campaign we all spent a lot of time under the effects of Fly), and additionally, almost all (or all) of the stances heavily limit mobility. If you want to battlefield control, Crusader would probably suit better though; Devoted Spirit nets Thicket of Blades and Defensive Rebuke which, with Robilar's Gambit and Mage-Slayer mean that almost every action in your threatened area provokes an AoO. If you can dig up Lester The Molester from... aha! here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=694016), you'll see what the concepts behind it are. That one isn't maneuver-heavy, but you can get many of the same things with maneuvers. With Warblade disciplines, let's see. Diamond Mind doesn't do much for control, though Pearl of Black Doubt is a fun stance for a high-AC build, and there are plenty of maneuvers that will let you dish out enough damage to be considered a definite threat (essential to getting enemies to attack you, this isn't World of Warcraft with Taunt). Iron Heart's best control are going to be Disarming Strike and Dazing Strike (aside from mixing Mithral Tornado or Adamantine Hurricane with trips and such). Tiger Claw is about killing, so it contributes threat and mobility with Sudden Leap, not much else for you. White Raven gives you some controls by shutting down AoOs and stunning, and it lets you make your allies more effective. One thing to note about Warblade: you really don't get a lot of maneuvers, so you will be trading out at almost every chance you get, and you're probably going to have issues with going deep into more than two disciplines. So far I've managed a Warblade 20 build that got all I wanted from Diamond Mind and Iron Heart, but almost nothing else, and a Warblade-dominant build that got almost everything I wanted from Tiger Claw and Iron Heart. You definitely want at least a decent Intelligence, because there's a lot of good you can get out of the Battle * class features. Especially if you get yourself a lot of AoOs and have Warblade 15. ... got distracted from the post for half an hour, good work me. I think I'd run out of things to say, anyway.
Richmud 10-12-06, 01:55 PM	You might want to consider a 2-4 level dip into bloodstorm blade in order to give yourself some ranged power. A 2 level dip into deepwarden would also serve you well. If you are going for the high wis because you are worried about your will save consider the feat in PHB2 that makes will saves con based, it has endurance as a prereq but you get endurance as a bonus feat
bury_the_dwarf 10-12-06, 02:13 PM	Actually initially I was thinking high wisdom for spot/listen purposes. As for what type of control I was thinking some kind of tripping/disarming mixed with the actual terrain control of deepstone sentinel. Dunno if it will work to well though
Richmud 10-12-06, 02:20 PM	As for what type of control I was thinking some kind of tripping/disarming mixed with the actual terrain control of deepstone sentinel. Dunno if it will work to well though Well tripping and disarming cry out for the spiked chain. Beyond which exotic weapon proficency is alway great for warblades as with an hour of practice they can use any exotic weapon they come across
bury_the_dwarf 10-12-06, 04:17 PM	lol I still didn't get very specific. I think I really want the AoO tripping
Richmud 10-12-06, 04:30 PM	lol I still didn't get very specific. I think I really want the AoO tripping Well then you want to find a way to get thicket of blades and lots of reach. So spiked chain is still a good choice