Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DonShard 03-08-07, 10:39 AM	So I'm new to LG, new to 3.5e, and thought I'd try my hand. Dwarven Fighter STR: 14, DEX: 13, CON: 16 (18), INT: 10, WIS: 13, CHA: 8 (6) Fighter 1: Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) Fighter 2: Dodge Fighter 3: Combat Focus Fighter 4: Weapon Spec Fighter 5: Fighter 6: Combat Stability, Titan Fighting Fighter 7: Fighter 8: Greater Weapon Focus Fighter 9: Combat Defense Fighter 10: Dwarven Armor Prof Fighter 11: Fighter 12: Greater Weapon Spec, Combat Vigor Fighter 13: Fighter 14: Slashing Fury Fighter 15: Combat Strike Stat bumps into CON for max HPs. Equipment will need to be supreme-o, and Dwarven Armor is in there because Battle Plate sounds cool, although mechanically I think I could drop the feat, grab a nice set of full plate and still work out just fine. That option would also free up one feat. I know there's nothing particularly inventive here, it's more what I would consider your "vanilla" dwarven fighter build. Decent attack, good defense (especially against Giants), but nothing stellar. What I'm wondering is whether this plainness will make him a waste of a seat at a higher level table. I mean, I doubt he'll ever be doing 300+ damage in one swing like some builds I've seen on the boards. As such, at higher APLs does this character become a liability to the party? Is there a better way to go about this build?
zoinks69 03-08-07, 01:22 PM	Pure Fighter is a tough way to play in my opinion. If normal LG was playable through 18 I'd say go for it and see what happens (Weapon Supremacy being the goal). The benefits of fighter: 1. 'lots' of feats. If you have a concept that is feat-intense, fighter is usually the quickest way to get there (spiked chain tripper, one example) 2. ?? Downsides of straight fighter: 1. Saves will be fair or awful. Just the way the game is setup, multiclassing will boost your Fort save immensely (with smaller, but useful, bumps to Reflex and Will). 2. Damage output will be increased. Rage/Reckless Rage isn't available as a fighter-bonus feat (just one example). 3. AC will be fair or good, but probably at the cost of feats (not worth giving up the opportunity). So, as you allude to -- "what does my guy bring to the table"? If I were playing a straight fighter, I'd pick one or two things to be good at. Also bear in mind that, unless you can REALLY crank your AC, it becomes less relevant at higher levels. So, for instance, I'd swap GWF for Melee Weapon Mastery (slashing) -- +2/+2 instead of +1/+0 for the same price. The other big omission is Cleave.
LachlarlanIII 03-08-07, 01:32 PM	So I'm new to LG, new to 3.5e, and thought I'd try my hand. Dwarven Fighter STR: 14, DEX: 13, CON: 16 (18), INT: 10, WIS: 13, CHA: 8 (6) Fighter 1: Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) Fighter 2: Dodge Fighter 3: Combat Focus Fighter 4: Weapon Spec Fighter 5: Fighter 6: Combat Stability, Titan Fighting Fighter 7: Fighter 8: Greater Weapon Focus Fighter 9: Combat Defense Fighter 10: Dwarven Armor Prof Fighter 11: Fighter 12: Greater Weapon Spec, Combat Vigor Fighter 13: Fighter 14: Slashing Fury Fighter 15: Combat Strike Stat bumps into CON for max HPs. Equipment will need to be supreme-o, and Dwarven Armor is in there because Battle Plate sounds cool, although mechanically I think I could drop the feat, grab a nice set of full plate and still work out just fine. That option would also free up one feat. I know there's nothing particularly inventive here, it's more what I would consider your "vanilla" dwarven fighter build. Decent attack, good defense (especially against Giants), but nothing stellar. What I'm wondering is whether this plainness will make him a waste of a seat at a higher level table. I mean, I doubt he'll ever be doing 300+ damage in one swing like some builds I've seen on the boards. As such, at higher APLs does this character become a liability to the party? Is there a better way to go about this build? Remove Dwarven Armor Proficiency. Pick up Mithral Heavy Plate and bump Dex to 14 at some point. You'll get more AC with Mithral Heavy Plate than you do with Mithral Full-Plate. Mithral Heavy Plate is +9 AC, +2 Dex. Mithral Full-Plate is +8 AC, +3 Dex. Move GWF to 10th, take Melee Weapon Mastery at 8th. It's also required for Slashing Flurry.
Redfist 03-08-07, 03:58 PM	Personally - I'd mix in PrCs. With your current build, your will save will be +6 at 15th level (not including magical boosts). Ouch. If you're going fighter and want to do the proto-typical front line cork route, you might want to consider Dwarven Defender. There are TONS of options with various PrCs.
LachlarlanIII 03-08-07, 04:16 PM	Personally - I'd mix in PrCs. With your current build, your will save will be +6 at 15th level (not including magical boosts). Ouch. If you're going fighter and want to do the proto-typical front line cork route, you might want to consider Dwarven Defender. There are TONS of options with various PrCs. It increases dramatically when he enters Combat Focus. His +6 becomes a +10. Combined with magical boosts (which he should have at 15th) it can be as high as +16, +18 vs. magic, and +20 if he drinks a potion of Owl's Wisdom. That's actually huge for a straight classes fighter.