Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LachlarlanIII 07-02-07, 10:52 AM	I've already started this character and had planned on being Barbarian 1/Fighter 14. Then it dawned on me that I'd be at a 20% xp/gp penalty for the majority of my adventuring career. :( I was wondering if I should just bite the bullet and take the xp/gp hit or if it would be more beneficial to go Barbarian 7/Fighter 8 and avoid the penalties. Thanks!
Lupo 07-02-07, 11:31 AM	I've already started this character and had planned on being Barbarian 1/Fighter 14. Then it dawned on me that I'd be at a 20% xp/gp penalty for the majority of my adventuring career. :( I was wondering if I should just bite the bullet and take the xp/gp hit or if it would be more beneficial to go Barbarian 7/Fighter 8 and avoid the penalties. Thanks! taking the 20% xp/gp hit from level 4 onwards is just going to hurt like hell - that are the levels where you want to buy the "essential" items and weapons, taking the hit past APL 10 isn't as painful as the character already have some basic stuff and the gp amount is general higher there. pure fighter builds - or with your character mostly fighter builds - tend to be somehow behind the power curve of fine tuned multi base/prestige classed builds. there are a few builds for fighter/archers or other VERY SPECIFIC feat intense builds out there. unless you are aiming at one of these, there is hardly a reason for any fighter level past fourth ;) for your gnome alternating levels of fighter and barbarian till fighter 4/barbarian 3 (maybe even fighter 4/barbarian 5 if you really want to have the "rage 2/day" and "improved uncanny dodge") and then hit for any appealing prestige class. the barbarian class features with higher levels are not really "shiny" and "extra rage" makes lots of barbarian levels quite pointless. ciao martin m.
dkay807 07-02-07, 12:12 PM	I've already started this character and had planned on being Barbarian 1/Fighter 14. Then it dawned on me that I'd be at a 20% xp/gp penalty for the majority of my adventuring career. :( I was wondering if I should just bite the bullet and take the xp/gp hit or if it would be more beneficial to go Barbarian 7/Fighter 8 and avoid the penalties. Thanks! Who needs Fighter levels? My buddy is currently playing a Gnome Barbarian 11 and the PC really kicks ass. I mean, he's not the most broken PC out there (obviously) but he gets 10/10 for style points. What's more - he uses a Starmetal, Vicious Heavy Flail (he more than has the HP to support it). Full BAB, small size and greater rage really give you a kickass attack bonus and sufficient damage to leave a mark. His next level is Dread Commando but that's beside the point.
LachlarlanIII 07-02-07, 02:07 PM	The original build was: Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8 1: Barbarian 1 - Combat Focus 2: Fighter 1 - *Weapon Focus (Longsword) 3: Fighter 2 - Combat Stability, *Dodge 4: Fighter 3 - Str 14 5: Fighter 4 - *Weapon Specialization (Longsword) 6: Fighter 5 - Combat Defense 7: Fighter 6 - *Titan Fighting 8: Fighter 7 - Str 15 9: Fighter 8 - Power Attack, *Melee Weapon Mastery (Slashing) 10: Fighter 9 11: Fighter 10 - *Mobility 12: Fighter 11 - Elusive Target, Str 16 13: Fighter 12 - *Greater Weapon Focus (Longsword), 14: Fighter 13 15: Fighter 14 - Slashing Flurry, *Greater Weapon Specialization (Longsword) Bold is already set in stone. As you can see, the build was feat heavy and took advantage of Combat Defense combined with Titan Fighting and Elusive Target. Alternating between Barbarian and Fighter means I won't be able to do that until very late or unless I opt to do less damage until very late. :(
ThaiGQ 07-02-07, 02:25 PM	The original build was: Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8 1: Barbarian 1 - Combat Focus 2: Fighter 1 - *Weapon Focus (Longsword) 3: Fighter 2 - Combat Stability, *Dodge 4: Fighter 3 - Str 14 5: Fighter 4 - *Weapon Specialization (Longsword) 6: Fighter 5 - Combat Defense 7: Fighter 6 - *Titan Fighting 8: Fighter 7 - Str 15 9: Fighter 8 - Power Attack, *Melee Weapon Mastery (Slashing) 10: Fighter 9 11: Fighter 10 - *Mobility 12: Fighter 11 - Elusive Target, Str 16 13: Fighter 12 - *Greater Weapon Focus (Longsword), 14: Fighter 13 15: Fighter 14 - Slashing Flurry, *Greater Weapon Specialization (Longsword) Bold is already set in stone. As you can see, the build was feat heavy and took advantage of Combat Defense combined with Titan Fighting and Elusive Target. Alternating between Barbarian and Fighter means I won't be able to do that until very late or unless I opt to do less damage until very late. :( Does Combat Focus work with Rage?
LachlarlanIII 07-02-07, 02:57 PM	Does Combat Focus work with Rage? As far as I can tell it does, but until there's errata or something saying otherwise we won't know for sure. In any case, I took barbarian mostly for the increased movement speed. That's why I'm not too worried about Extra Rage.
Jamesps 07-02-07, 03:16 PM	If you've got the wisdom for Combat Focus and you need extra feats then taking Pious templar is probably your best bet. It gives a fair number of bonus feats itself as well as providing some good defensive benefits and spell access. You'll have to delay some things to get in, unfortunately, but in the long run it'll pay off.
clannagh 07-02-07, 07:28 PM	Now that the 20% penalty effects both gold and XP it really doesnt have any effect on your characters wealth just slows down his progression. Providing he doesnt consume vast amounts of consumables every mod, at any given point in his career he will have made the same gold and have roughly the same gear with or without the penalty. It will just have taken longer to get there with the penalty. Its real effect is the same as loosing 12 TU a year worth of leveling (You get that in perrenland just be joining the military) and you can offset that as a fighter type by always playing at or above APL.