Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BISHOP3rd 01-25-07, 02:52 AM	Im pretty new to the game, Im playing a fighter, does anyone have any tips or trickers for playing a fighter? Does anyone have an opinion on tactical feats in the new warrior book?
Elsydeon 01-25-07, 02:57 AM	Multiclass or prestige class into something else. Anything, really. Fighters are good for the bonus feats, that's about it. So get some useful feats and flavor him with another class. Weapon master is an obvious choice. Though I don't play fighters, so I'd almost guarantee there are better.
Bortus 01-25-07, 03:13 AM	Yeah roll less 1's and more 20's!:D
Dragonsblood 01-25-07, 03:25 AM	For building... 1. If you want a traditional fighter, strength is your high stat, followed by constitution. I like to stick at least a 13 in intelligence for the combat expertize feat chain. I wouldn't put anything higher than a 12 in dex because you're going to want to get some full plate ASAP, which limits the use of a high dex. Charisma is a dump stat, and wisdom isn't far behind (though slightly more important than charisma for will saves). My ideal 28 PB fighter is: Str 16 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 8 2. I don't have access to any supplements at the moment, but there are some good low to medium level feats in the PHB. Like I already mentioned, the combat expertize line has good tactical feats. Make sure you learn the tactical rules really well if you pick those; they make the game more difficult for you, but also more rewarding. Power attack is a must have for damage dealing. I'd always take the weapon focus/specialization feat tree. If you see any prestige classes you like, take feats needed to qualify for it. 3. I prefer two handers much more than a sword and shield. The best way to avoid taking damage is by killing the enemy quicker. Not only do two handers have a higher base damage, but they do extra strength damage, double the power attack damage, and they give bonuses to special tactics like disarming. 4. Find a good prestige class. I can't give any good suggestions here, but I'm sure others do. 5. Stay away from the CharOp boards until you're more experienced. If you go there as a newbie it will make your eyes bleed. For playing... 1. Even if your greatsword is your best friend, always carry both a bow and backup melee weapon (preferably of a different damage type such as bludgeoning if you usually use a sword or axe). Keep plenty of arrows. 2. Try your best to influence the other players into making a cleric PC. Make this person your best friend 3. Get that cleric a wand of cure light wounds ASAP so you don't have to worry about him running out of healing. It's cheap, so you should be able to convince everyone in the party to pitch in. 4. Don't rely on the cleric to heal you. Always have healing and buffing potions on you just in case.
Animae_Draconum 01-25-07, 03:43 AM	IMHO fighter is a 4 lvl dip class at most, even for someone new to the game fighter is terrible, find a friend with Tome of Battle and play a class that isnt made for NPC fodder.
Yokomohoyo 01-25-07, 04:53 AM	Fighters are allright if built correctly. If this is your first time playing D&D and just want a run up to the BBEG and start bashing then I would strongly advise against a fighter for more than 3-4 levels or going altogether barbarian. Or if you like the more sneaky characters then I strongly suggest against the fighter all together... But don't just ask us for feats and what not without telling us what type of character you want to be first. It would help out a lot if we knew what type of fighter youwant to be and what race and what not. ^_^
Animae_Draconum 01-25-07, 04:57 AM	I would strongly advise against a fighter for more than 3-4 levels Actually the correct numbers for fighter are 1, 2, and in a very rare circumstance 4. 3 is not a valid choice for fighter levels unless proceeding to 4.
Yokomohoyo 01-25-07, 05:00 AM	True due to the lack of bounis feat.
Hack and Smasher 01-25-07, 07:11 AM	As a fighter, i give the greatest piece of advice ever plan ahead, decide on what you want, get it and then go get something else preferably a prestige class, but a couple levels in some of the base classes will add plenty. On tactical feats. Shock Trooper's heedless charge is devestating when combined with leap attack. Elusive Target is very nice however requires dodge and mobilty which kinda suck. Combat Brute can be very useful but really doesn't do enough to go out of the way for.
runestar 01-25-07, 07:23 AM	The chain tripper build is actually quite strong. I think it would require you to stay in fighter, or go a fighter/psywarrior multiclass because it is really very feat intensive and you will need every bonus feat you can get.:) Here you go.:) http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=163005
BISHOP3rd 01-25-07, 01:51 PM	Im a 3rd level fighter, Im using a long sword and shield. My ability scores are Str 17 Dex 14 Con 18 Int 15 Wis 12 Cha 11 My feats are Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Improved Initative, Cleave, and Iron Will. I basically want to make my fighter the best that I can . Thanx for the imput im looking foward to read everyone replys.
aramilcaelvan 01-25-07, 02:04 PM	Don't think of yourself as a fighter. Think of yourself as some sort of warrior, and then multiclass for flavor and ability. Think of the fighter as icecream, and all the other classes as toppings.
Novabomb 01-25-07, 02:22 PM	Im a 3rd level fighter, Im using a long sword and shield. My ability scores are Str 17 Dex 14 Con 18 Int 15 Wis 12 Cha 11 My feats are Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Improved Initative, Cleave, and Iron Will. I basically want to make my fighter the best that I can . Thanx for the imput im looking foward to read everyone replys. For the sake of anything you find holy take exactly one level of fighter, and no more. I recommend reading the posting guidelines on the Character Optimization boards and posting there. If nothing else you will get many ideas.
Dragonsblood 01-25-07, 05:47 PM	Im a 3rd level fighter, Im using a long sword and shield. My ability scores are Str 17 Dex 14 Con 18 Int 15 Wis 12 Cha 11 My feats are Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Improved Initative, Cleave, and Iron Will. I basically want to make my fighter the best that I can . Thanx for the imput im looking foward to read everyone replys. Pretty solid so far. If you don't want to multiclass (or don't have access to good suppliments), start taking the combat expertize tactical feats since you have a good int. If you want to take a prestige class, look at the feats/skills required and start investing towards it. But either way, next level take weapon specialization; that's THE reason for taking 4 levels of fighter.
Tony Vargas 01-25-07, 06:11 PM	Im pretty new to the game, Im playing a fighter, does anyone have any tips or trickers for playing a fighter?Well, if you're /really/ new to the game, I'd say: don't. Play a barbarian, they're much simpler to deal with at chargen and level-up, and straightforward to play, while providing the same basic entertainment value as a fighter. Since you've already done the work of getting a fighter to third level, though, you can't be /that/ new, and if you're already enjoying it, you might as well proceed. Obviously, it'd help to know more about your group and the campaign you're in, but, in general: At fourth level you face an obvious choice: Great Cleave or Weapon Specialization? Since you've already settled in on the longsword as a speciality, neither of these is going to perform quite as well for you as it might if you'd settled on a two-handed or ranged weapon (respectively), but they're both still solid choices. If you have access to the PH II, a series of shield-related feats might actually do more to enhance your effectiveness than would concentrating on your weapon - you make a definite sacrifice in terms of damage potential when you choose a one-handed weapon like the longsword, and getting as much out of the shield as possible becomes obligatory. If you're PH-only, you're not actually likely to get enough out of shield use to justify the choice of longsword - with the PHII, it's more viable. I'll assume no PH II to keep it simple: if you're finding that you have little trouble dropping enemies, Great Cleave is worth it, otherwise, boost your one-handed damage with the Specialization. It's not fantatstic, but it'll help. At 6th, you get two feats, and one of them may be a non-fighter-bonus feat. You can take whichever one you didn't take at 4th. At 8th, if you want to stick with specializing on the Longsword, Improved Critical can be a good choice, followed by the Greater focus and specialization at 10th and 12th. That'd make a you a fairly pedestrian - I'd say positively old-fashioned - fighter. Your shield use should (with good enough magic items) be giving you a comparatively high AC, and the relative prevelance of the longsword as a found magic item should be helping you out offensively. Your role all this time will have been 'tanking' - you try to keep yourself between the enemy and other members of your party, so that they score fewer hits against your good AC than against thiers. Your feats mainly serve to make up for the loss of offensive power in choosing a shield. If you haven't already played fighter a lot, there's some fun to be had with that ancient archetype. If the rest of your party is similarly inexperienced, you probably won't even notice how 'sub optimal' such a character can be. You could, instead, focus on leveraging your AC. Take Combat Expertise and Dodge to maximize your AC (and Shield Specialization & Shield Ward if PH II is available). Continue in that vein with Mobility (boosted AC vs AoOs), and, if you aren't addicted to heavy armor, Spring Attack. That leaves you even harder to hit, but even less of a threat (the danger is that enemies might start 'ignoring' you for that reason). Once you get bored with that character, though, you still haven't scratched the surface of what you can do with the fighter class. All those bonus feats can be used to explore any (even all) of the combat options in 3E. You can go with a reach weapon, using feats like Combat Reflexes and Improved Trip to take full advantage of the AoOs it can provide. You can specialize in archery. You can go for high-damage and feats like Great Cleave and Sunder with a two-handed weapon. You can maximize AC via Combat Expertise. And, of course, you can do more than one of those things. Ultimately, you'll find that you can take any non-magic-wielding concept, and build it with fighter, or some some combination of fighter and few other non-caster classes (rogue, barbarian, scout, etc). In some cases, you'll also find PrCs that perfectly fit your concept, and fighter bonus feats will help you qualify for them. Does anyone have an opinion on tactical feats in the new warrior book?I didn't much care for them. A few sounded cool, but didn't deliver. ... that actually goes for almost all the tactical feats I've ever seen: they're a cool idea, but I've yet to see one that really lives up to the potential for coolness. More often, they're forced, mechanically flawed or simply over- or under- powered.
danielinthewolvesden 01-25-07, 07:11 PM	Im a 3rd level fighter, Im using a long sword and shield. My ability scores are Str 17 Dex 14 Con 18 Int 15 Wis 12 Cha 11 My feats are Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Improved Initative, Cleave, and Iron Will. There are tons of great feats in the PHII for fighters through all 20 levels. For example- Sheild Specialization, Armour Spec and so forth. There's also a Feat (requires Endurance) that allows you to use your Con bonus instead of your Wis for Will saves and also makes it so you do not fail Fort saves on a Nat 1. Great feat. Maybe your DM will let you swap out Improved Init. for Endurance? Do not listen to anyone who says otherwise. Sure, there are more optimal ways of building a melee Warrior type, but so? Fighters are fun. Otherwise, go for a PrC. If you do not take Weapon Spec @4th, try Pious Templar. It requires a few ranks in Ks Religion and a sucky Feat, but otherwise it's great. Kensai gets a great weapon, but is hard to get the requirements.
ressurrector 01-25-07, 07:32 PM	Don't play a Fighter. Play a Ranger, or a Rogue, or a Paladin, or a Barbarian. Or just a class from the Tome of Battle (requires somewhat more work to set up, however)
Nelagend 01-25-07, 09:09 PM	Well, Weapon Spec at 4. After that you can either run up the PHBII feat chain to Weapon Supremacy at 18 (weak compared to other classes), or multiclass into barbarian if chaotic, or multiclass to paladin if LG. Oh, and get Iron Will at 6 whether you're still fighter or not.
Yokomohoyo 01-26-07, 12:23 AM	Do you have access to the Compleate Warrior or to the Oriental Adventures books? If so then you might want to look into the character PrC Kensai (Sword Saint), its one of my favorite PrC for fighters.
danielinthewolvesden 01-26-07, 02:06 AM	Oh, and get Iron Will at 6 whether you're still fighter or not. He already has that.
Karish 01-26-07, 10:14 AM	Honestly, I find playing my characters as equal-level Fighter and Rogue to be useful. Once I get the 6 feats for 10 levels of Fighter, the +10/+5 BAB, and that whole 10d10 HP to toss in, I like it to add to the Rogue levels. Honestly, I play my fighter-types as someone who seems like they are trying to be a part of the assassin class, but aren't evil or part of the guild.
BISHOP3rd 01-28-07, 10:54 PM	I think after reading replys and talking to others, Im going to drop the sheild and long sword and get a great sword. I already talked to my DM and he is cool with it. I also went ahead and bought the phII. The book cost more then the 3.5 version, anyways theres alot of cool feats in there im reading up on. Like the Combat form feats. The only draw back is that they require a Wis 13 and I only have a 12. Should I put my next score into Str or Wis to get these feats?
TakersSuck 01-29-07, 12:06 AM	I like fighters for their simplicity and their versatility. Tons of great feats and so many options. Improved Trip, Improved Sunder, Knockdown, Power Attack and Cleave! Stay a fighter and pick 2 weapons and be really good with them. Switching classes make you a weaker fighter. Leave the bards and wizards to cast spells from your shadow. Stay up front and get your hits in.
Novabomb 01-29-07, 12:10 AM	Sigh, continuing in the fighter class past lvl 4 is just asking to be shafted. To each their own, gl.
runestar 01-29-07, 12:22 AM	You have never stepped inside the CO boards, have you...;)
Tytalus 01-29-07, 01:33 AM	The reason you are getting so many "multiclass ASAP!" recommendations is that the power of fighters does not scale well with levels, especially compared to powerhouse classes such as Druid, Cleric, or Wizard. A few basic hints on fighter optimization: Odd levels are empty levels (if you multiclass, stick with even fighter levels). Exception: level 1. Multiclassing generally works great with fighter levels. If you won't be playing above level 4, don't worry about it, though. Effective fighters playable at high levels generally use either tripping (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=163005) (Spiked Chain usually), combinations of THF and multiplier feats (Power Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trouper, etc.), or Karmic Strikes (with appropriate feats). You can find a few hints on practical fighter optimization here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=733597) and here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=201375). Since you are going to have lots of them, fun (and effective) feat combos are listed here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=416752). If you can, pick up Tome of Battle. It makes fighter types very playable (and fun) at high levels. Note that the characters become more complex, too. Check the Character Optimization (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=339) (CO) boards for more specific advice. Don't forget to read the positing guidelines first. At fourth level you face an obvious choice: Great Cleave or Weapon Specialization? Well, Weapon Spec at 4. Note that both Weapon Specialization and especially Great Cleave are considered to be subpar over at the CO boards.
Vaelan 01-29-07, 08:49 AM	My advice is to play the game the way you want to and learn it without inheriting the biases of others. If you do this, I think you'll find that very few people on these forums are even worth asking for advice, as their main beliefs are gross exaggerations of conclusions that were drawn from circumstances that are quite different from those of an actual game. You see all of those people saying that Fighters are only good for two levels? Chances are, they came here much like you did. They didn't know anything about the game and were told not to bother with the Fighter, so they didn't. The fact is, they probably haven't ever played a Fighter for more than two levels. They simply do not know what they're talking about. I have played Fighters all the way up to level 20 in various stages of this edition's growth and with people who are familiar with the tricks that are worshipped on this forum and have the sense to use them properly. I was always at least as effective as the other members of my party, and almost always significantly more effective. It is quite possible to build a variety of effective Fighters. Most people on these forums never bother to try because they were told that Fighters aren't worthwhile when they first came to the boards. Don't rely on them to do your thinking for you. Lastly, keep in mind that D&D is a team-oriented game. The greatest failing of this forum as a tool to educate people about the game is that its members ignore this important fact. To see this, simply take a look at the CO board that you have been directed to. They will dismiss and actively deride any mention of teamwork, even though teamwork is a perfectly valid part of the game.
Leo 01-29-07, 09:08 AM	My advice is to play the game the way you want to and learn it without inheriting the biases of others. If you do this, I think you'll find that very few people on these forums are even worth asking for advice, as their main beliefs are gross exaggerations of conclusions that were drawn from circumstances that are quite different from those of an actual game. You see all of those people saying that Fighters are only good for two levels? Chances are, they came here much like you did. They didn't know anything about the game and were told not to bother with the Fighter, so they didn't. The fact is, they probably haven't ever played a Fighter for more than two levels. They simply do not know what they're talking about. I have played Fighters all the way up to level 20 in various stages of this edition's growth and with people who are familiar with the tricks that are worshipped on this forum and have the sense to use them properly. I was always at least as effective as the other members of my party, and almost always significantly more effective. It is quite possible to build a variety of effective Fighters. Most people on these forums never bother to try because they were told that Fighters aren't worthwhile when they first came to the boards. Don't rely on them to do your thinking for you. Lastly, keep in mind that D&D is a team-oriented game. The greatest failing of this forum as a tool to educate people about the game is that its members ignore this important fact. To see this, simply take a look at the CO board that you have been directed to. They will dismiss and actively deride any mention of teamwork, even though teamwork is a perfectly valid part of the game. Hear him. That's probably the smartest and truest thing I ever heard in these forums. There is no better way to learn this game than to play it.
Bob Loblaw 01-29-07, 10:10 AM	So you want the best fighter you can have. What, specifically, do you want from your fighter? Depending on how you envision your character there are so many options that we cna only be vague in our help. The PHBII was an excellent choice for you. I like the combat focus feats. I think they can really enhance your fighter quite a bit. However, they are not always necessary to be the best. If you are going to take them then you will need to either put your next point into Wisdom or you'll have to find a magic item that gives you a bonus to Wisdom. Whatever you do, listen to Vaelan. He nailed it perfectly. Do not let anyone here (or anywhere else for that matter) tell you how to play your character. As long as you're having fun, you're doing just fine.
Count Arioch the 28th 01-29-07, 10:28 AM	Actually the correct numbers for fighter are 1, 2, and in a very rare circumstance 4. 3 is not a valid choice for fighter levels unless proceeding to 4. 5 is right out!
starfire311 01-29-07, 10:37 AM	Actually the correct numbers for fighter are 1, 2, and in a very rare circumstance 4. 3 is not a valid choice for fighter levels unless proceeding to 4. Actually since PHB, fighter 4 is a much better option thanks to MWM, but prior to that fighter 4 was not a good chioce, although I did have a barb 4/fighter 4 that could bash some heads.
Animae_Draconum 01-29-07, 10:41 AM	My advice is to play the game the way you want to and learn it without inheriting the biases of others. If you do this, I think you'll find that very few people on these forums are even worth asking for advice, as their main beliefs are gross exaggerations of conclusions that were drawn from circumstances that are quite different from those of an actual game. Believe it or not it is possible to play the game the way you want without forcefully making sub-par characters. Fighters get left behind as the party grows in level because bonus feats are never as good as the myriad of class abilities you could have had. This is not an exageration or conclusion drawn from anything other than actual games. The Fighter has 2 weak saves, poor skill points, terrible class skill list, and not a single class ability. You see all of those people saying that Fighters are only good for two levels? Chances are, they came here much like you did. They didn't know anything about the game and were told not to bother with the Fighter, so they didn't. The fact is, they probably haven't ever played a Fighter for more than two levels. They simply do not know what they're talking about. How presumptuous you are...I have played a fighter for 18 levels and optimized it to hell. They just dont even compare to other classes past level 10. I can honestly say they carry more than their fair amount of weight in the party at low levels but their effectiveness drops severely after level 10. I have played Fighters all the way up to level 20 in various stages of this edition's growth and with people who are familiar with the tricks that are worshipped on this forum and have the sense to use them properly. I was always at least as effective as the other members of my party, and almost always significantly more effective. If a fighter can keep up with a party consisting of supposedly strong builds then someone isnt playing their character to its full potential or the fighter was house ruled. And you mean to actualy try and say that Fighter 20 is as effective and often more so than most other straight core level 20 builds? You're insane. It is quite possible to build a variety of effective Fighters. Most people on these forums never bother to try because they were told that Fighters aren't worthwhile when they first came to the boards. Don't rely on them to do your thinking for you. This is true, but only if you multiclass and find ways into strong PrC's. Again class abilities>bonus feats. Also we arent thinking for him/her, just providing our collective experiences as insight to think on, your experience is unique to say the least. Lastly, keep in mind that D&D is a team-oriented game. The greatest failing of this forum as a tool to educate people about the game is that its members ignore this important fact. To see this, simply take a look at the CO board that you have been directed to. They will dismiss and actively deride any mention of teamwork, even though teamwork is a perfectly valid part of the game. This last statement is correct, all except the bit about the CO board, a lot of what goes on there is soley thought exercises on the RAW. Plenty of optimization requests include details about creating synergy with the rest of the party. In fact the posting guidelines (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9000374) encourage you to give as much detail on the situation as possible.
Tony Vargas 01-29-07, 03:51 PM	Note that both Weapon Specialization and especially Great Cleave are considered to be subpar over at the CO boards.I'm not terribly impressed with WS, myself, but once you take WF, you're kinda on that path. The usefulness of Great Cleave has a lot to do with the style of your DM. Many DMs, as the game progresses out of low levels, find it easier to cope with the increasing complexity by using a few, or often only one, foe(s) in each encounter - the foe may be quite powerful, but at least he's just one set of abilities to deal with. Obviously, such a DM relegates Great Cleave to the metaphorical dumpster. OTOH, some DMs like to add more and more opponents, rather than more and more /powerful/ opponents - feeling it gives the game a more 'epic' scope - they make Great Cleave, WWA, and AE spells wonderful things to have. Of course, there are more balanced (or at least less extreme) aproaches, as well.
BoringInfoGuy 01-30-07, 12:25 AM	I think after reading replys and talking to others, Im going to drop the sheild and long sword and get a great sword. I already talked to my DM and he is cool with it. I also went ahead and bought the phII. The book cost more then the 3.5 version, anyways theres alot of cool feats in there im reading up on. Like the Combat form feats. The only draw back is that they require a Wis 13 and I only have a 12. Should I put my next score into Str or Wis to get these feats? That is a valid way to go, but you may want to know the pros and cons more first. Assuming medium creature: Longsword: 1d8 damage, 19-20 x2 crit. Avg dam 4+str. Max dam 8+str. Greatsword: 2d6 damage, 19-20 x2 crit. Avg dam 6+str. Max dam 12+str. Same crit threat, but more damage from the Greatsword. And better minimum damage. And the Greatsword is a two handed weapon, so you get to add 1.5 times your strength to damage. And you also add two points to damage per every 1 point you take off your attack roll, when using power attack. That's a lot of damage. And just the thing you want when you find yourself trying to overcome the DR of a monster when you aren't able to bypass it. The Longsword is a one handed weapon, so it can't be used in two hands to gain the damage bonuses. What a sec, it can. A one handed weapon CAN be weilded in both hands, granting the same benifits of a two handed weapon. Still less damage, but you can choose to also use it one handed with a shield. So, let's look at the shields. The buckler lets you use a bow or crossbow without penalty while wearing it. You don't get the +1 AC Shield bonus while doing so, but that's life. You can also weild a melee weapon in the bucklear hand, but you take penalties for doing so. Since you aren't going for a bow specialist, this is not for you. Light sheilds also grant a +1 bonus, but you can't wield a weapon in the same hand. You can, however, hold stuff. Like a torch, for example. The shield can be used to make bash attacks as a light martial offhand weapon. The damage is pretty weak, but it is bludgeoning damage. Which overcomes a skeletons DR. Heavy shield grants a better +2 shield bonus to AC, but your shield hand is useless for anything other than holding the shield. Heavy shields can also make bash attacks, but as a one handed weapon with better damage. Either shield can have spikes added, giving better damage and changing the damage type to piercing. Adding enchantment bonues to a masterwork shields AC does not grant an enchantment bonus to a shield attack and damage. But you can add a seperate enchantment bonus to give the shield bash attack bonuses to attack and damage. And of course, attacking with a shield means you lose the shield's AC bonus until your next action. Tower shields give a significant +4 shield bonus to your AC. But you take a -2 to attack rolls while using a shield. It's a tradeoff. You get hit less, but you also miss more. But the tower shield can also grant cover. Sometimes, that is a very useful ability. Read up on it. No shield bash attacks are possible. Now, assuming a heavy shield, that +2 AC might not seem that great compared to extra damage dealt. But how about when you start getting to higher levels, and you want to magic up your AC? Before you can enchant armor, it needs to be masterwork, which adds 150 gp to the base price. Remember, if it's not created as Masterwork, it can't become masterwork later. So if you are going to shell out the 1,500 gp for Full Plate, you may as well pay 1,650 for masterwork. Adding a +1 enchantment bonus to an armor's AC sets you back a further 1,000gp. If you want to make it a +2 bonus, you need to pay 4,000 gp (or only 3,000gp if it is already a +1 armor) +3 is 9,000 gp (8,000gp if it's already +1, or 5,000 if it's already +2 - I'll stop now, you should get the idea). +4 is 16,000, and +5 (Maximum enchantment bonus) is 25,000. That's a lot of gold. The costs for enchanting a shield are the same for enchanting your armor. But here is the trick. With a shield, you can get the same enchantment bonus to AC for half the gold. See, shield and armor bonuses stack. And so do armor and shield enchantment bonuses. So, after you pay the 1,000 gp to raise your Armor's AC bonus by 1, you then spend another 1,000 gp on your shield to raise it's AC bonus by 1. Since they stack, you now have the same +2 AC bonus, but now for only 2,000 gp, instead of 4,000 gp. So you can up your AC bonus higher at lower levels. And don't forget having a shield raises your maximun AC bonus possible at the highest levels. So a fighter with a Full Plate +5 and a 12 or better for Dex has an AC of 24. (10 base + 8 armor + 5 enchantment +1 dex; ignoring feats, spells and items that can grant additional bonuses). A fighter with a Full Plate +5 and a Heavy Shield +5 and a dex of 12 or better has an AC of 31. (10 base + 8 armor +5 armor enchantment bonus +2 shield + 5 shield enchantment bonus + 1 dex, still ingnoring additional bonuses) The less you get hit, the less the cleric needs to heal you. Don't think that I'm telling you a longsword / shield combo is better than the greatsword. It's a trade off. The idea with the greatsword is to kill opponents quickly, so that they have less chance to hit you and the rest of the party. You have more oppurtunities to use cleave and great cleave attacks, and overcome DR. The sword / shield strategy is about taking taking less hits, so you can last longer. It has adventages when you are up against something that can put a lot of hurt to you. You also can flex your strategies more with a one handed weapon, since you can choose not to use a shield and drop some AC to do 1.5 str and double power attack damage. But even then, you are doing less damage then the greatsword can grant you. The middle of the road option is to use a feat to get the bastard sword. All the advantages of using the sword / shield combo, with better damage than the longsowd. The basterd swords 1d10 isn't as good as the greatswords 2d6, but it's better than the longsword's 1d8. Note that 2d6 is still much better than 1d10. It's not just that the greatsword has a max damage two higher. It's also the fact that the minimun damage roll possible is two instead of one, and a better chance of doing average damage each attack. The choice is up to you. All I'm trying to do is show you ALL the pros and cons. Other tricks from the PHB. Endurance Feat: It may seem pretty useless, but check out the last thing it does. You can sleep in light or medium armor without becoming fatigued. That means you won't be so helpless when your party is attacked during the night watch. After you get heavy armor, you can keep your old medium armor as pajama's. Take the Greater Weapon Specialization Feat path. There's a reason only fighters can take it in the core rules. It is a powerful boost to attack and damage rolls, which stack with all other bonuses. Read through the chapter on combat in the PHB. I'll wait. . . . . . Good. Now do it again. Your have a high Int fighter. He should know how to do all the basic combat strategies. For him to, you need to. Don't dismiss anything out of hand. Remember when you read up on Bull Rush? At first glance, it seems like something that would only be useful if you have a BBEG near the edge of a cliff or pool of lava. But you can also use it as a form of battlefield control. Ally being flanked? You can try to use Bull Rush to move the enemy out of the way, and yourself next to your ally, making you both harder to flank. Or you could look to push an enemy into a position that where the rogue is flanking him, getting his sneak attack damage. You don't need to have the Improved Bull Rush feat to use Bull Rush. You can just avoid some of the normal penalties. Sunder, Grapple, Disarm, ditto. All these combat strategies allow you to change the field of battle to your party's advantage. Never go "this is useless" and forget it. Keep all your options in mind. This can be just as important as what feats you take. I wouldn't suggest this, but if you take a level of wizard or sorcerer, you can use wands without incurring the arcane spell failure chance. (Wands use the spell trigger activation method. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, as are with scrolls. Since the arcane armor check only applies to spells with somatic components (most of them) and wands do not need gestures (which is what the somatic component is), you can use wands without penalty. Using a wand is a standard action that doesn't provoke an attack of oppurtonity. A wand can be any spell up to 4th level. So, for a single level of wizard / sorcerer, you can get access to all the spells a 7th level wizard can cast, all while staying in your armor. [edit: Thinking about it, I'm not certain that wands ALL spells up to 4th level can be gotten as wands, I'd need to check] A level of cleric can grant you similar access to divine wands. The only reason I'd suggest this is if the party's spell castors are stingy on casting support spells on you. Also, higher level wands will take a large chunk out of your gold. If you did tap one level of wizard and cleric, you'd lose two points of BAB, one bonus feat, and total HP. You'd gain 1 point to your fort save, and 4 to your will save. And if you are a human dwarf, or half-elf, you won't have any Multiclassing XP penalty. Maybe I would suggest this.