Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sally_jones Apr 22, 2010 22:50:44	Hey folks, i was thinking of making a spartan styled dwarven fighter type. i'm not sure if i want to go two-weapon fighting w/ my shield as an off-hand weapon or grab a polearm and try to threaten a ton of area.   i'm looking for feat/item/class suggestions. please dont post full builds cuz i dont want to feel like i'm copying off someone. tome of battle is out. all else is fair game. thanks, sally
#2 warmonkey83 Apr 23, 2010 18:16:26	as far as feets go i would use combat reflexes, twf, improved shield bash, hold the line, shield charge..gear goes i would say short spear an dwarven waraxe ..i am sure there r tones of other ways u can take this but from the top of my head an u can always take it to a dwarven defender an become a one man wall of death
#3 sally_jones Apr 23, 2010 18:59:33	what about upping damage with my shield?
#4 warmonkey83 Apr 23, 2010 22:33:34	spike shield an you can at magic to the spikes ...an the shields ac separately
#5 sally_jones Apr 23, 2010 22:54:32	any ways to get more than that?
#6 warmonkey83 Apr 23, 2010 23:03:54	there are some magic shield that do stuff...but other then that i can't really think of anything useful but i am shure there are more feats out there that will give the shild some kind of over powered damge ...i just dont know any
#7 Maat_Mons Apr 24, 2010 6:40:05	Generally, you only want to fight with two weapons if you have significant bonus damage. Otherwise, you want to fight with one weapon in two hands. The usual strategy for a reach-based build is to use the attack of opportunity you get from your opponent moving to trip him, use the stand still feat (Expanded Psionics Handbook), or otherwise stop him from moving. If you are successful, he can never get close enough to you or your allies to attack. Another melee strategy is the dungeoncrasher alternate class feature for fighters (Dungeonscape). You deal damage whenever you bull rush someone into a wall. Further, the knockback feat (Races of Stone) gives you a free bull rush for each melee attack you make in addition to normal damage. These together generate substantial bonus damage on every attack. Charging can generate a lot of damage. There are several abilities that give large damage boosts that only function on a charge and a lion totem barbarian (Complete Champion) can make a full attack at the end of a charge. Karmic strike (Complete Warrior) and Robilar's gambit (Player's Handbook II) allow you to make attacks of opportunity against enemies that attack you. You can play a melee character that also has decent spellcasting or a spellcasting character that is also decent in melee if you want to expand your options.
#8 sally_jones Apr 25, 2010 12:50:28	the dungeon crasher + knockback idea would be nice, but i'm goin dwarf and am not a large size creature. also, i dont want any casting or manifesting.  i was thinking of going mostly ranger so i could get twf feats w/o investing much in dex. the weapons i'm gonna use are dwarven waraxe and heavy spiked shield.
#9 warmonkey83 Apr 25, 2010 13:10:05	um takeing ranger just to get the twf feat is like buying a BMW just for the floor mats ....your better off going fighter or take lvl in ranger just long enough for the twf the go fighter untill you find a Prc u like .
#10 sally_jones Apr 25, 2010 14:25:26	but i dont wanna put that much in dex to account for it.
#11 warmonkey83 Apr 25, 2010 14:34:17	well i really dont know what to tell you ...
#12 warmonkey83 Apr 27, 2010 0:08:35	ok tell me if you like this build i though up for you . 1ranger -imp shield bash 2ranger- twf 3fighter-shield charge-combate reflexes 4fighter-hold the line 5 ranger-enduance 6barbarian-toughness 7fighter 8fighter-dodge 9dwarven defender-extra rage there a little room to move around in this build you could drop the barbarain an get to DD faster its not the greatest build but i like how it works
#13 sally_jones Apr 27, 2010 10:01:17	the barbarian levels feel out of place, but i like the fighter ranger mix. my main question is: is it worth it to try for improved and greater twf? if so, what's the best way?
#14 phaedrusxy Apr 27, 2010 10:44:10	Take 2 levels of ranger to get the base TWF, then buy the Gloves of the Balanced Hands from the MiC to upgrade it to ITWF. Then you can be a TWF without having to have a crazy high dex. Don't bother with GTWF.
#15 sally_jones Apr 27, 2010 11:24:54	bingo! i was thinking of my first two fighter levels being dwarf racial substitution from races of stone. comments?
#16 Christof_Romulus Apr 27, 2010 14:55:21	The primary problem with Warmonkey's build is that you simply can't be a Barbarian and a Dwarven Defender - as evidenced by the requirement to be nonlawful from Barbarian or risk losing Rage, and the requirement of the Dwarven Defender of being lawful.  Trust me, you're not the first to think to stack Rage and Defensive stance =P As for the whole spartan Dwarf idea, have you considered getting that feat from PHB2 that lets you two weapon fight with your shield without two weapon fighting?  Literally, it's exactaly the same as Two weapon fighting, except you can use your shield and any melee weapon, and it's prerequisite is improved shield bash (as I recall) so you can bash, keep your AC, and swing with your main hand. If you took that you could actaully phase out Ranger entirely and give you the whole spartan warrior aspect.  There are some other feats in the Complete warrior (names escape me right now) that actually work very well with the shield (I believe it's Shield charge) where you can charge attack with your shield, hit, and trip in 1 action. Feat build would be something like this: Lvl 1 (1) - Improved Shield Bash Lvl 1 (F) - *TwF Shield thingy I forgot* Lvl 2 (F) - Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Lvl 3 (3) - Shield Charge Lvl 4 (F) - Combat Expertise Lvl 6 (F) - Improved Trip Lvl 6 (6) - Improved Toughness or Toughness - either one that will qualify for Dwarven Defender
#17 sally_jones Apr 27, 2010 18:42:10	i want ranger for versatility w/ skills. also, shield charge is on my must have list.
#18 Maat_Mons Apr 27, 2010 19:02:44	There is an alternate class feature for scouts called riposte that gives you the bonus damage against any enemy that attempted an attack against you the preceding round and the AC bonus against any enemy you attacked the preceding round. If you could convince your DM to adapt the swift hunter feat to function with this variant, it may suit your concept well.
#19 eardatch Apr 27, 2010 19:05:58	The primary problem with Warmonkey's build is that you simply can't be a Barbarian and a Dwarven Defender - as evidenced by the requirement to be nonlawful from Barbarian or risk losing Rage, and the requirement of the Dwarven Defender of being lawful.  Trust me, you're not the first to think to stack Rage and Defensive stance =P As for the whole spartan Dwarf idea, have you considered getting that feat from PHB2 that lets you two weapon fight with your shield without two weapon fighting?  Literally, it's exactaly the same as Two weapon fighting, except you can use your shield and any melee weapon, and it's prerequisite is improved shield bash (as I recall) so you can bash, keep your AC, and swing with your main hand. If you took that you could actaully phase out Ranger entirely and give you the whole spartan warrior aspect.  There are some other feats in the Complete warrior (names escape me right now) that actually work very well with the shield (I believe it's Shield charge) where you can charge attack with your shield, hit, and trip in 1 action. Feat build would be something like this: Lvl 1 (1) - Improved Shield Bash Lvl 1 (F) - *TwF Shield thingy I forgot* Lvl 2 (F) - Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Lvl 3 (3) - Shield Charge Lvl 4 (F) - Combat Expertise Lvl 6 (F) - Improved Trip Lvl 6 (6) - Improved Toughness or Toughness - either one that will qualify for Dwarven Defender The feat is Agile Shield Fighter and it requires shield specialization, so sqitch the order for this build. It's actuall better than TWF for this build because large shields count as 1-handed weapons, imposing a -4, but Agile Shield Fighter also lowers the penalties to a flat -2, regardless of the category of weapon in the off-hand.
#20 warmonkey83 Apr 27, 2010 19:35:15	The primary problem with Warmonkey's build is that you simply can't be a Barbarian and a Dwarven Defender - as evidenced by the requirement to be nonlawful from Barbarian or risk losing Rage, and the requirement of the Dwarven Defender of being lawful.  Trust me, you're not the first to think to stack Rage and Defensive stance =P As for the whole spartan Dwarf idea, have you considered getting that feat from PHB2 that lets you two weapon fight with your shield without two weapon fighting?  Literally, it's exactaly the same as Two weapon fighting, except you can use your shield and any melee weapon, and it's prerequisite is improved shield bash (as I recall) so you can bash, keep your AC, and swing with your main hand. If you took that you could actaully phase out Ranger entirely and give you the whole spartan warrior aspect.  There are some other feats in the Complete warrior (names escape me right now) that actually work very well with the shield (I believe it's Shield charge) where you can charge attack with your shield, hit, and trip in 1 action. Feat build would be something like this: Lvl 1 (1) - Improved Shield Bash Lvl 1 (F) - *TwF Shield thingy I forgot* Lvl 2 (F) - Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Lvl 3 (3) - Shield Charge Lvl 4 (F) - Combat Expertise Lvl 6 (F) - Improved Trip Lvl 6 (6) - Improved Toughness or Toughness - either one that will qualify for Dwarven Defender lol forgot about the lawfull stuff...so yeah you can drop the barabarain and get there quicker i like this build all but the combat expertise an improved trip ...but to each there own ..... the other one in the complete warrior is shield slam ...i'm not a big fan of that one ..its only when chargeing an it only dazes for 1 round .. but yeah thier is me 2 cents
#21 Christof_Romulus Apr 28, 2010 2:09:40	Now that I'm home, let's see what I can do to make this build more legit: Feat build would be something like this: Lvl 1 (1) - Improved Shield Bash Lvl 1 (F) - Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Lvl 2 (F) - Agile Shield Fighter Lvl 3 (3) - Shield Charge Lvl 4 (F) - Combat Expertise Lvl 6 (F) - Improved Trip Lvl 6 (6) - Shield Slam With this 6 level build you don't qualify for Dwarven Defender if you were going for it, however, you are a true dwarven spartan - 3ac from even the most mundane heavy shields, and swapping in your shield to attacks and iterative attacks, and while Warmonkey doesn't agree about Shield Slam, it isn't terrible - as if you're fighting against spellcasters or rogues they won't make the Fort save required and unlike Stunning fist... infinate uses a day my friend. Additionally this build grants extra attacks out the wazoo - allow me to demonstrate:  Charge attack w/ shield (They have to Fort Save), Free Trip attack (+4 thanks to Improved Trip), if trip is successful you get another attack (Due to improved trip) and they have -4 to ac from being prone.  Because they're prone on their next action they either stand (Usually providing an AOO) or stay down and eat damage.  If they moved 5ft or less in the following round full attack including your shield at no penalty to AC, if they moved 10ft or more charge attack and repeat. Another big plus, depending on if you spike your shield or not, you can have multiple damage types at your disposal, getting around that pesky DR 5 bludgeoning from Skeletons, or DR 5 slashing  from Zombies, assuming Dwarven War Axe, of course. I don't know about trying to cram Ranger into this build.  The only way to actualy use Ranger would be to get to TWF, which would be obtained at level 2 (where the build I proposed gets Agile Shield Fighter), and the problem with the Ranger feat is that it is a conditional virtual feat - what that simply means is if you get into medium or heavy armor (like most Fighters with low Dex wear) you lose all the benefits of that feat and any feats you get that are based on that feat. Best of luck to ya!  For Sparta/Moradin!
#22 cru Apr 28, 2010 9:47:16	If you're spending a feat for Shield Specialization, definitely take Shield Ward.
#23 Christof_Romulus Apr 28, 2010 10:27:25	I like shield ward a lot, but it all comes down to offense or defense - if this build were extended to level 8, then that would be the level 8 feat.  Touch attacks are a pain, and unless you have a reliable way to push your shield bonus to AC (Divine Shield), shield ward might not raise your touch ac enough (this dwarf he is making is low dex to begin with).
#24 hsien Apr 28, 2010 12:18:32	How about Con instead of Dex to AC The Deepwarden PrC, Races of Stone. But has Endurance as a pre-req feat, and several of the skill pre-reqs seem ranger oriented
#25 Christof_Romulus Apr 28, 2010 14:37:53	Ah, the Deepwarden cheeze - one of the single most awesome PRCs.  I like how it has D12 hit die, full base attack, high fort and high will saves, GIVES YOU TRACK (another reason to not have ranger to begin with), somehow has 6+int mod skills, can be PRCed into by a basic Dwarf Fighter by 7, and gets uncanny dodge and a smattering of other nifty things. Just an odd collection of awesome into one package - not a bad idea to become one, but it's difficult to figure out which feats to change to do it.  Stupid endurance =( So if you wanted to deep warden track quickly: Feat build would be something like this: Rogue: Lvl 1 (1) - Endurance Fighter: Lvl 2 (F) - Improved Shield bash Lvl 3 (F) - Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Lvl 3 (3) - Agile Shield Fighter Lvl 5 (F) - Shield Charge Barbarian: Lvl 6 (6) - Combat Expertise / Shield Ward Deep Warden: Lvl 7 Free - Track Level 8 - Stone Warden (Ex) This basically does the classic trade off - offense or defense.  Yeah, you get Con to AC as Dex, which is nice, but you do lose the tripping offensive until much later on.
#26 phaedrusxy Apr 29, 2010 9:48:20	Enter with the ranger variant that gives up Track to get trapfinding as a rogue instead. Have your cake and eat it too.
#27 sally_jones Apr 29, 2010 10:15:33	ok so our campaign only goes to 13th level. here is my projected build: ranger 3/ fighter 2/ deepwarden 2/ dwarven defender 6 i'll pick up the trapfinding instead of track for ranger. my first fighter level might be the dwarf substitution level. i'll b wielding a waraxe and heavy spiked shield. what is a good feat progression?
#28 Christof_Romulus Apr 29, 2010 12:09:13	ok so our campaign only goes to 13th level. here is my projected build: ranger 3/ fighter 2/ deepwarden 2/ dwarven defender 6 i'll pick up the trapfinding instead of track for ranger. my first fighter level might be the dwarf substitution level. i'll b wielding a waraxe and heavy spiked shield. what is a good feat progression?  Ranger: (1) Improved Shield Bash (2) Combat Style (Two-Weapon Fighting) (R) Endurance (3) Dodge Fighter: (S) Axe Focus?     or (F) Combat Expertise (F) Shield Charge Deep Warden: (D) Track (6) Toughness Dwarven Defender: (9) Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield)     or (9) Improved Trip (12) Shield Ward     or (12) Shield Slam Honestly I don't much like this build as is, but since you seem to.   I guess we'll just have to work within its confines, but I would just like to point out the reasons why I take pause with this build: This character won't be wearing heavy armor... ever.  Even with Mithril you lose the benefits of Two Weapon Fighting in full plate - Light armor to start with, and Mithril Breastplate at best. Sacrifice of Shield based feats - you don't really use your shield in this build at all, because you just don't have the feats anymore.  Dwarven Defender has a 2 feat requisite AFTER getting Endurance free from Ranger, and honestly NEITHER of the feats alone are very good. Anyway, if I were forced to take those levels, and the goal was to make a shield oriented fighter, this is basically what I would do.
#29 phaedrusxy Apr 29, 2010 12:15:47	I agree, and I would say screw dwarven defender. It turns you into a speed bump that enemies will likely just walk around and ignore, and requires two terrible feats. Just taking more Deepwarden or Fighter levels would even be better. Screw heavy armor. It is overrated.
#30 Christof_Romulus Apr 29, 2010 12:36:00	Screw heavy armor?!  It's overrated?!  Sacrilege sir.  Sacrilege. In a completely unrelated issue, I can't seem to have my formatting stay in whatever I type unless I put it to bullets (as some may have noticed). Anyone have a resolution to this? Additionally, what about a Dwarf Fighter... That has 2 levels of DeepWarden... now THAT would be awesome.
#31 Maat_Mons Apr 29, 2010 12:45:04	Are you copying it over from a word processor? Have you clicked the button marked HTML to investigate the formating at its base level?
#32 Christof_Romulus Apr 29, 2010 12:54:14	I'm not copying and pasting, I'm listerally just typing it in and it won't keep carriage returns.  I'll click the HTML button and see what happens. Okay, it's still doing the HTML stuff, or at least it makes claim that it is. EDIT: Wait a minute - now it's working... It would appear that the posts that I copy / pasted into lose all forms of formatting... but that doesn't make sense, as the reply that I made to Phaedus which I had no pasting in didn't keep my formatting.  How very odd.
#33 sally_jones Apr 29, 2010 16:25:25	as far as armor goes, i'm planning on going mithral breastplate. dropping the dwarven defender down to one level or cutting it out all together sounds reasonable. i know that going agile shield fighter seems optimal, but it caps at one extra attack n id like at least two off-hand attacks. so to do that i was thinking twf + oversized twf + gloves of the balanced hand. would it be more beneficial to stick with agile shield fighter to make room for other cool shield feats? i also like the shield charge + improved trip combo. comments?
#34 cru Apr 30, 2010 5:35:40	Here's a list of shield feats which I collected for some character drafts of mine before. Perhaps there's something that has not yet been mentioned. improved shield bash - keep shield bonus when bashing shield specialization - +1 AC with a shield agile shield fighter - twf with weapon and shield at -2/-2 active shield def - AoOs during def.fight w/o penalty; can AoO in total def at -4 shield ward - apply shield bonus to touch AC and rolls to resist maneuvers blood spiked charger - req wf shield and wf armor - on charge with one weapon, apply 2x str to damage - on charge with two weapons, use both, normal twf penalties - when shield blocks attack, get +2 to hit vs foe - full round action, provoking AoO, deal extra damage 2x str + 1d6 shield charge - on charge with shield, free trip shield slam - on charge or as fullround action, single attack + daze ewp shield shielded axe - use Waraxe+Handaxe+Buckler together
#35 Christof_Romulus Apr 30, 2010 12:42:03	I'm not 100% on what it is you're after, Sally_jones.  I "think" I get what you're after, which is basically something like what I posted before but not with Dwarven Defender?  So Ranger 3, Fighter4, Deepwarden 2, Fighter 4? Ranger: (1) Improved Shield Bash (R) Combat Style TWF (3) Combat Expertise (R) Endurance Fighter: (1F) Shield Charge (2F) Improved Trip DeepWarden: (D) Track (6) Shield Specialization (Heavy Shield) Fighter: (9) Shield Ward (4F) Shield Slam (6F) Oversized Two Weapon Fighting (12) Power Attack (8F) Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) Oh, and I hate to bring this up now - Heavy shields are considered one-handed weapons for determining attacks.  What that simply means is even with TWF attacking with a Dwarven Waraxe and a shield is at -4/-4.  You could down the size of your shield to a light shield and that would bring it to -2/-2, or take Oversize two weapon fighting and maintain a heavy shield at -2/-2.  Of course, in this build that comes a little late as I'm trying to cram as much in as possible, but I'm sure you can figure it out. Additionaly, if you're dead set on sacrificing your first fighter feat on weapon focus it makes things suck pretty hard, shifting all your feats into later levels.  Your call on that one - but since you're using a 1h weapon you shouldn't be expecting to dish out damage  that way anyway. There is a feat or a class - I think it's Dervish, that allows you to apply any feat for any weapon you wield to any weapon you dual wield with, regardless of what that weapon is - so you could take Weapon focus heavy shield and any time you wield a heavy shield your weapon in your main hand also benefits from it.  Also, Dervish lessens TWF penalties, might wanna look into that.
#36 Maat_Mons Apr 30, 2010 13:02:58	You could also use a heavy shield in your main hand and a handaxe in your off hand. I'm pretty sure you're thinking of tempest, not dervish. Tempest has terrible feat prerequisites.
#37 Christof_Romulus Apr 30, 2010 13:31:55	You could also use a heavy shield in your main hand and a handaxe in your off hand. I'm pretty sure you're thinking of tempest, not dervish. Tempest has terrible feat prerequisites. Tempest - that's the spice.  Yeah, they're weaker dervishes.
#38 sally_jones May 01, 2010 11:58:35	agile shield fighter seems to take those penalties down
#39 Christof_Romulus May 03, 2010 10:37:47	Yes, agile shield fighter, oversized two weapon fighting, and using a light shield will all reduce the penalties, however, the thing is:  Oversized TWF is used in conjunction with TWF costing you no less than 3 feats to achieve this - shield bash, two weapon fighting, and osTWF.  Agile Shield Fighter just outright sets the penalties to -2/-2 even though heavy shields would normally be -4/-4, which is originally why I had that on the list. The reason I don't have agile shield fighter on the list is because you wanted to go ranger and get ranger two weapon fighting, which adds one other feat of your choice to the docket to reduce the penalties from -4/-4, either osTWF or change the build to work with light shields.
#40 hsien May 03, 2010 12:36:19	I've never used them but if you're feat starved, there's also Psychic Warrior ( which hopefully does not make a Side-Kick Warrior ) First 2 levels give a bonus feat each, plus a couple of psionic powers
#41 Christof_Romulus May 03, 2010 13:43:39	I think the main limitation of this is the 13 levels, though to be fair games that get that far are pretty much hardcore as it is.  The trick is getting into deepwarden while dual wielding two, basically, one handed weapons, and doing it all as soon as possible.
#42 sally_jones May 06, 2010 18:57:15	ok i'm open to any build that nets me: full bab diverse skills deepwarden asap cool shield feats and optional ref or will that isnt the lowest possible dwarven waraxe and heavy spiked shield GO!
#43 tdsaw111 May 07, 2010 20:54:51	Kinda missing the Spartan part of this. I am away from home, on vacation, but should be able to work something up in the next few days. Are you looking for something Spartan-esque, or just Shield and Axe based? Also at what level are you looking, or what range of levels are you expecting play?
#44 sally_jones May 07, 2010 20:57:57	thirteen levels spartan as in using shield as a weapon and defensively.
#45 tdsaw111 May 09, 2010 22:24:55	Ok so here is what I worked up. Whirling Frenzy Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Ranger3/Fighter1/Deepwarden 2/ Fighter 2-4 Level 1: Improved Weapon Familiarity(RoS) Level 3: Improved Shield Bash Fighter 1: Shield Spec Fighter 2: Weapon Focus Dwarven Double Spear Fighter 4: Weapon Spec: Dwarven Double Spear Level 6: Improved Two Weapon Fighting Level 9: Power Attack Level 12: Greater Two Weapon Fighting Ok, so not the most powerful build, but has some Dwarven and Spartan flare. Use your money to beef up the shield and the spear. I would wear Breast Plate personally since it is Spartan themed. If you want something more potent, I can scrounge again, but I tried mainly to keep on theme. With this you will be hitting with the shield and the spear, or you can two hand the spear. You also treat any weapon with Dwarven in the name as a martial weapon. You can also choose to drop the shield and two hand the spear if need be. Or, I suppose two hand the shield? Anyway, this is what I had time to piece together between beaches. For something more potent, maybe look up the Fighter 20 Build Thread that Meyer wrote a while back. Lots of nifty stuff in there. Enjoy.
#46 sally_jones May 11, 2010 17:59:26	What if i changed gears and decided to be a polearm fighter? i'm thinkin ranger 1/fighter 6/dwarven defender 6.  trapfinding on the ranger level. i know there is a feat that lets u use a shield w/ a polearm in a dragon mag somewhere. i'm thinking dwarven warpike for my weapon. input? feats?
#47 tdsaw111 May 11, 2010 20:47:29	Could just use Improved Buckler Defense. Thicket of Blades from ToB, is nice. Stand Still from I believe Complete Psionics? I would not waste levels on DD though. It is kinda bleh. But, if you are not interested in using Tome of Battle and such, again check out the Fighter 20 thread that Meyer did. Pretty sure there was a polearm build in there.
#48 Endarire May 12, 2010 3:13:28	The Spartan Handbook
#49 tdsaw111 May 12, 2010 12:47:16	The Spartan Handbook While interesting, this seems to be more about optimizing a team to form a phalanx than about making a single Spartan inspired character. Most of the benefits described would not work for a single character as the teamwork piece is nonexistent. Of course, if the OP can get he entire group in on the idea, it could be a lot of fun.
#50 warmonkey83 May 12, 2010 19:11:08	The Spartan Handbook While interesting, this seems to be more about optimizing a team to form a phalanx than about making a single Spartan inspired character. Most of the benefits described would not work for a single character as the teamwork piece is nonexistent. Of course, if the OP can get he entire group in on the idea, it could be a lot of fun. yeah i just don't like the huge negs to BAB and the insanly high AC at 3lvl ....i get that its all about the D ....but really with those builds it just going to come down to who is better at rolling 20's for the auto hits .....and a singal wizard on a hill can just kill all of them with out even trying but thats just me
#51 Christof_Romulus May 13, 2010 3:41:01	What if i changed gears and decided to be a polearm fighter? i'm thinkin ranger 1/fighter 6/dwarven defender 6.  trapfinding on the ranger level. i know there is a feat that lets u use a shield w/ a polearm in a dragon mag somewhere. i'm thinking dwarven warpike for my weapon. input? feats? Sally_Jones, you're killing me.  But you're lucky because I'm totally OCD on character creation and right now I'm on a dwarf high so here's the build that "I" would go with: For the Spartan Shield dwarf - check my previous replies. For the Spartan with full BAB, skills, Shield feats, with war axe and heavy shield - check my previous replies. For the Spartan Dwarf with reach: 1 Fighter (1) Improved Weapon Familiarity(Complete Warrior) (F) Weapon Focus (Dwarven Warpike) 2 Fighter (F) Shield Specialization (Buckler) (Player's Handbook 2) 3 Fighter (3) Improved Buckler Defense (Complete Warrior) 4 Fighter (F) Combat Reflexes 5 Fighter - I hate you, 5th level fighter... if only there were a light at the end of... OH 6th level! 6 Fighter (6) Hold the Lilne (Complete Warrior), Weapon Specialization (Dwarven Warpike) Since you seem to like Ranger a LOT, throw ranger in at 1, move all the feats down a level and call it a day.  You keep your shield bonus to AC, the bonus is 2, you can hit people before they get to you (IE if they charge) and you can take AOO's even if you don't win initiative (Combat reflexes) so you can AOO the first charging guy EVEN IF YOU GO SECOND.  All is right with the world.
#52 Endarire May 13, 2010 15:49:13	Dwarf Fighter Reach Build: Change Chris Rom's build to be Ranger1/Barbarian1/Fighter4.  That way you get Whirling Frenzy and Pounce.