Post/Author/DateTime	Post
akio 10-09-05, 11:39 AM	yes i am a fighter :D . and i need help :confused: . i am a begginer and i sort of kno what i am doin but this stuff can get really confusing. so if anyone can help me just type. i dont care about what just as long as its about the fighter. i want to kno as much as i can. :D
Rancorpit 10-09-05, 12:07 PM	"I like Swords! I like Swords! I like Swords!"
Dusk Argent 10-09-05, 01:02 PM	Playing D&D for the 1st time can be a daunting experience, but playing a Fighter is perhaps the easiest class for a beginner to play until he/she can learn the rules of the game. My 1st bit of advice is to talk to your DM and ask him/her to help you design a character that will best fit the type of adventure he/she is planning on running. As to what kind of Fighter you should play... assuming that you are starting off at 1st lvl, I would recomend a straight-forward "Tank" character. Put your highest ability scores in Strength (which helps you to hit more in combat, do more damage and to carry heavier loads)and Constitution (which gives you more Hit Points). Buy the best armor and shield you can afford that gives the highest bonus to AC... this will help your character avoid being hit and taking damage. As for what kind of weapon you should use, that's entirely up to you. Personally, I like longswords. Also, purchase a bow and arrows so that you can attack at a distance. For Feats... you get 2 Feats at 1st level (3 if you are playing a Human Fighter). My suggestion is to take Improved Initiative (which helps you go 1st in combat, which is a good thing if you can defeat your opponent before it gets a chance to hit you back), followed by Weapon Focus (it gives the weapon you pick for it +1 to hit) and perhaps Dodge (+1 to your AC against one opponent you choose per round). Remember... the higher your AC the better your chances of avoiding taking damage at low levels. Toughness (which gives you 3 extra Hit Points) is also a good choice at 1st lvl to help you last longer in combat. As for Skills... again, ask your DM for help, but until you get the hang of things, just put them in Ride, Climb, Jump and Swim to help cover different situations your character might be in. As to what to do when you are faced with combat... it is always a good idea to weaken your opponent from a distance first with missle fire (from your bow, crossbow or thrown weapons such as spears) if possible before closing in to fight hand-to-hand. A good tactic if fighting only one monster/opponent is for you and another character to Flank it (which means standing on opposite sides with the monster between the two of you). This gives you and the other character a +2 to hit against your opponent. Also, stay close to your fellow party members and try to avoid having your opponents flank you! If you find that you are taking damage and are low in Hit Points, try Fighting Defensively (where you take a -4 to your attacks for that round for a +2 bonus to your AC) until your Cleric or Healer in your party (if you have one) can help cure your wounds. Again... this is just some basic advice for a beginning player such as yourself to help your Fighter survive long enough for you to become comfortable with the rules of the game. Once that happens, you can begin to explore the many different options available to you to customize your character. Hope this helps. :)
JD 10-09-05, 03:14 PM	Skip Williams has done some nice articles (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/cwc) on the basics for each class including, of course, fighters (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20041014a). It won't give you many advanced tips, but it's a nice guide into what your character can and can't do, and may highlight aspects of the class you previously hadn't considered. Plenty of people consider the fighter to be a 'basic' class, but the obscene number of feats the fighter gets make him one of the most customisable classes around. Check out the feats table in your PHB (or in the SRD (http://d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm)), and take a good look at the fighter bonus feats especially. True, you don't get to select from the entire feat list when you get bonus feats, but the FBFs tend to be the most useful ones for you anyway. Good luck and enjoy!
Dragonsblood 10-09-05, 09:35 PM	Pick a weapon and focus/specialize in it all the way up the tree. I suggest the greatsword. Power attack and Cleave are popular and effective feats. Expertise and Imp Trip are good. Do NOT waste feats by focusing/specializing in more than one weapon - I've seen too many people weaken their character this way and it's depressing. I do NOT recommend Dodge unless you want to take that tree all the way - this feat is weak compaired to many others. +1 AC to a SINGLE target is not worth a feat. Toughness is also a waste of a feat IMO unless you want to go for the Dwarven Defender PrC. Invest in the best armors and weapon you can afford. Upgrade in this order from your starting gear: masterwork full plate, masterwork greatsword, enchant that greatsword to +1, ring of protection +1, enchant that plate to +1, amulet of natural armor +1. Carry a couple potions of Cure Light Wounds incase the cleric can't reach you in time, but don't waste them just so you can dungeon crawl a day sooner. Don't buy a horse, buy a warhorse. Carry a longbow (and later a composite), but don't forget that your party probably needs you on the front line. Study and use the tactics in the PHB (charge, aid another, flanking, cover, etc). Those tactics make the difference between a good fighter and a great fighter.
amethal 10-11-05, 12:18 PM	I'd recommend human fighter with a greatsword. Take power attack, cleave and weapon focus (greatsword) as your starting feats. Don't worry too much about power attack yet - its not much use at low levels - but cleave will (normally) give you another free attack every time you drop an opponent, assuming there is a target within reach. Its a fun feat! Weapon focus (greatsword) gives you +1 to hit with a greatsword.
Bruunwald 10-11-05, 12:28 PM	Pick a weapon and focus/specialize in it all the way up the tree. I suggest the greatsword. Power attack and Cleave are popular and effective feats. Add to that Improved Critical when you finally qualify. And if your DM will allow Power Critical from the Complete Warrior, coupled with Improved Critical, that will make your greatsword a force to be reckoned with.
DragonDeadite 10-11-05, 12:38 PM	If you're going for the full Tank idea, then see if you can use the Races of Stone source book. There's a nifty lil feat in there called Heavy Armor Optimization that is AWESOME for a fighter who wants to use Heavy Armor. It increases the AC by 1 and decreases the Check penalty by 2, and later you can get Greaty Heavy Armor Opt. which increases the AC by another one. That's usualy the best way to go if you're going with the Heavy armor and accepting the speed penalty. Much better feat that Dodge... think it's a BAB of +4 though.
Bruunwald 10-11-05, 12:46 PM	One other thing most of us forget until we're in a situation where we could have used it: Remember to keep weapons of various types of damage handy. Most of us have recommended the greatsword, but don't forget to keep a flail or morningstar handy for situations where you need bludgeoning power. My warmage/fighter isn't great with ranged weapons (he does okay), but I keep a heavy crossbow just in case. It doesn't hurt to get a shot off before the enemy engages. Sometimes you get lucky. Then you just drop the thing and charge in. And when my greatsword fails me, against some construct, or the like, I just whip out The Maul. Oh yeah.
DragonDeadite 10-11-05, 01:23 PM	And when my greatsword fails me, against some construct, or the like, I just whip out The Maul. Oh yeah. I love how he says that... "The Maul!" ... sorry, it just struck me as funny. :blush:
On_the_wings_of_TPK 10-11-05, 01:35 PM	Firstly I thought I would chat about racial options, since no-one seems to have gone there just yet. The selection of a race is very important to your character, both roleplay wise and roll-play wise. Prehaps you wanted a uncouth thug with a chip on his sholder. The half-orc would be a good fit. Or maybe you wanted a sneaky little guy, halfling. Or maybe you want a keen eyed sniper, elf. Depending on what exactly you want your fighter to do and to play like this option merits serioue consideration. I highly recommend consulting the PHB on races to determine witch one is best for you. Next I would like to talk about a different kind of fighter. This fighter does not rely on brute strength to deal damage. Nor does he have the biggest sword in the armory either. This kind of fighter trades off damage for accuracy, and in turn usually makes more attacks around, and is harder to hit in combat. I'm talking about the finesse fighter, sometimes called the fencer or duelist. A ranged fighter would take advantage of the same feats and ability placement as a finesse fighter. To start with, your Dexterity is going to determine most of your attacks, along with your AC and Reflex save, so we want that as high as possible. While we are on the topic of ability scores, because you will most likely be using feats such as Improved Disarm and Trip (your opponent can't hit you if he is on the ground or without a weapon), you will need an Intelligence score of at least 13. Strength is also important to a this kind of fighter as well; we have to do at least some damage. ;) Also as mentioned earlier hit points are a good thing, so we must not forget Constituition either. Surprisingly, no -one mentioned your Will save. Becuase fighters have a low Will save it is important to put something in your Wisdom score as well to compensate for that. We certainly do not want nasty wizards and clerics casting Hold person on us. So, using 32 point buy (ask your DM what stat generation methood you will using), I would recommend placing stats like so: STR 14, DEX 16, CON 14, Int13, WIS13, CHA8 Now would be a good time to consider a race. I would recomened an Elf. They give a bonus to Dex, and a penalty to Con. They are also immune to magic sleep effects, such as the spell sleep. Also elves traditionally fancy things like fancy sword play, archery, and are known for their patience and thoughtfullness. All of these would make a good fit for my character. So now our ability scores look something like this: STR 14, DEX 18, CON 12, INT 13, WIS 13, CHA8 Next would be feat selection. This should be done with an eye for the rest of the character. Take look through the PHB and see which feats would interest you. Also keep in mind how your character would think. I feel that our character above would want to be able to deal with opponents in a less lethal way, so he will want to be able to disarm and trip them. He does value accurancy over straight out brute force, and like most elves he has a strong leaning towards the longbow. For feat selection I think we should would go with something like this: Weapon Finesse, becuase it allows me to use DEX instead of STR to determine attacks. Combat Expertise, because it is a prerequisite for the feats Improved Trip and Improved Disarm. From here the next step is to fill in skill selection. As noted earlier this is more campaign specific, so I won't cover it. Next, it is time to choose a weapon. There are many choices, but for this type of fighter you need a special kind of weapon: a finessable one. This is a weapon that will allow you to use your DEX score instead of STR to determine your attack bonus. These weapons include: all light weapons, rapier, and spiked chain. The spiked chain has reach and it gives a bonus to disarm and trip attempts. Also my character would fancy something like that as it is not as lethal as straight steel, nor is it just plain Jane sword, but something that is studied and mastered like an art form. However, the spiked chain is an exotic weapon and requires the feat Exotic Weapon Profiency to use. We do, however, gain an extra feat next level, so I gues Combat Expertise will have to wait until then. Because you will get a +5 (Base attack +1,+ dexitarity score +4) to your ranged attack I would also highly recommend a longbow. Now my feat selection looks something like this: Weapon Finesse, and Exotic Weapon Profiency (spiked chain). After that, choose an armour that will allow you to get the most out of your DEX bonus to AC. I recommend a chain shirt if you can afford it, studded leather armor if not. And then fill in your saves.