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Bo9S Help making a decision please

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
diskordant
Jul 02, 2010 16:35:29 Okay so here is where I'm at:

CG Human Barbarian 2, Crusader 1

Stats: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 12, Chr 14

Feats: Extra Rage, Dodge, Mobility, Alertness(DM gives bonus feat of his choice at every level you don't receive a feat)

Stance: Martial Spirit

Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike(DS), Vanguard Strike(DS), Charging Minotaur(SD), Stone Bones(SD), Douse the Flames(WR)

House rules: using the frenzy variation of rage from UA, Using Wound Points from UA, No flaws or retraining, No prestige classes, +1 to two stats at every fourth level

Party: Elf Duskblade, Dwarven Barbarian/Dragon Shaman, Elf Rogue, Half-Orc Paladin

So that's where we're at. Here's what I know I want:

Feats: Elusive Target, Improved Critical(Falchion)

Stance: Aura of Chaos(DS)

Maneuvers: Mountain Tombstone Strike(SD), Strike of Righteous Vitality(DS), Bonesplitting Strike(SD)(ASAP)

Other things I really want but can do without:

Feats: Extra Granted Maneuver, Tireless(DM said we can take this even if we don't meet the prereqs) Improved Trip

Stances: Immortal Fortitude(DS), Strength of Stone(SD)

Maneuvers: Iron Heart Surge(IH)

Class Abilities: Improved Uncanny Dodge

I know that I won't be optimized with my picks, what I want is some help on getting all of that and getting Bonesplitting Strike, and Mountain Tombstone Strike as soon as I can. My planned feat progression so far is:

6th: Elusive Target
9th: Improved Critical(Falchion)
12th: Extra Granted Maneuver
15th: Tireless
18th: Martial Stance(Immortal Fortitude)

As far as I can see there are only these options for classes:

Barbarian 2/Crusader 18
Least amount of work, get Bonesplitting Strike and 9th level maneuvers earlier than any other build, get very little of the other stuff I want

Barbarian 6/Crusader 14
4-7: Barbarian
8-20: Crusader
Gets me Aura of Chaos early and Strength of Stone, and Improved Uncanny Dodge, very late for getting Bonesplitting Strike

Barbarian 2/ Crusader 16/Warblade 2
4-6: Crusader
7-8: Warblade
9-20 Crusader
or:
4: Crusader
5: Warblade
6 - 7: Crusader
8: Warblade
9-20: Crusader
Warblade level 2 at 8 gives me my Iron Heart Surge and Improved Uncanny Dodge, splits the middle of the two builds above for how soon I get Con Damage Powers

The real decision I have to make immediately is do I take Barbarian or Crusader at next level. Option three is the most complicated but the one I'm most leaning towards I just wanted to get some opinions. Also if there are any other suggestions please feel free to leave them.

#2
rydi123
Jul 02, 2010 17:09:44 Warblade, preferably at 9-10. It gives the most bang for your buck. You get very limited 9th level maneuvers though, so you'll have to buy a few extra with Martial Study (your gm is giving free feats, so 1 or 2 in that direction shouldn't hurt too bad). You might consider dropping level 2 barbarian to get more crusader (hopefully you took the pounce barbarian out of CC btw). Or you could take only 1 lvl of Warblade, if you don't need Uncanny Dodge and are keeping Barbarian 2.

You said you were happy with some of the sub-optimal choices in there, so I won't be commenting there. If you want further advice in that direction though, let me know.
#3
diskordant
Jul 05, 2010 3:27:20 Okay so here is my planned build:

4 Crusader 2(IL 3): Stance: Iron Guard's Glare
Stats: Str 19, Con 18

5 Crusader 3(IL 4): Maneuver: Mountain Hammer

6 Crusader 4(IL 5): Feat: Elusive Target
Trade Maneuver: Douse the Flames-> White Raven Tactics

7 Crusader 5(IL 6): Maneuver: Revitalizing Strike

8 Crusader 6(IL 7): Trade Maneuver: Vanguard Strike -> Bonesplitting Strike
Stats: Str 20, Con 19

9 Warblade 1(IL 5): Stance: Punishing Stance
Maneuvers: Wall of Blades, Iron Heart Surge, Steel Wind Feat: Improved Critical(Falchion)

10 Warblade 2(IL 6): Maneuver: Disarming Strike

11 Crusader 7(IL 9): Maneuver: Elder Mountain Hammer

12 Crusader 8(IL 10): Stance: Giant's Stance
Trade Maneuver: Mountain Hammer(SD) -> Divine Surge (DS)
Feat:Extra Granted Maneuver
Stats: Str 21, Con 20

13 Crusader 9(IL 11): Maneuver: Rallying Strike

14 Crusader 10(IL 12): Trade Maneuver: Stone Bones -> Iron Bones

15 Crusader 11(IL 13): Maneuver: Castigating Strike
Feat: Adaptive Style

16 Crusader 12(IL 14): Trade Maneuver: Charging Minotaur -> Ancient Mountain Hammer
Stats: Str 22, Con 21

17 Crusader 13(IL 15): Maneuver: Adamantine Bones

18 Crusader 14(IL 16): Stance: Aura of Chaos
Trade Maneuver: Iron Bones -> Colossus Strike
Feat: Martial Stance(Immortal Fortitude)

19 Crusader 15(IL 17): Maneuver: Mountain Tombstone Strike

20 Crusader 16(IL 18): Trade Maneuver: Crusader's Strike -> Strike of Righteous Vitality
Stats: Con 22, Int 14

Crusader Stances: Martial Spirit, Iron Gaurd's Glare, Giant's Stance, Aura of Chaos, Immortal Fortitude

Crusader Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike(DS) becomes Strike of Righteous Vitality(DS), Vanguard Strike(DS) becomes Bonesplitting Strike(SD), Charging Minotaur(SD) becomes Ancient Mountain Hammer(SD), Stone Bones(SD) becomes Iron Bones(SD) becomes Colossus Strike(SD), Dousing the Flames(WR) becomes White Raven Tactics(WR), Mountain Hammer(SD) becomes Divine Surge (DS), Elder Mountain Hammer(SD), Revitalizeing Strike(DS), Rallying Strike (DS), Adamantine Bones(SD), Mountain Tombstone Hammer(SD)

WarBlade Stances: Punishing Stance
Warblade Maneuvers: Wall of Blades, Iron Heart Surge, Steel Wind, Disarming Strike

Standard Readied at 20:Mountain Tombstone Hammer, Bonesplitting Strike, Strike of righteous Vitality, White Raven Tactics, Ancient Mountain Hammer, Rallying Strike

VS. Undead/Constructs:Ancient Mountain Hammer, Adamantine Bones, Strike of righteous Vitality, White Raven Tactics, Rallying Strike, Elder Mountain Hammer

Here's the basic goals of the build. I need to provide both healing and damage output for the party. That's why I have taken all the healing maneuvers and as soon as I can. Secondly I plan on using a combination of high crit range plus the rerolling of 4s on 2d4 for Aura of Chaos to shut eneimies down with high wound damage hopefully stunning them in the process. Add in The Bonesplitting strike, anything that does Con damage is great under the Vitality/Wound point system, and I should be able to quickly disable foes. Then when I get Mountain Tombstone Hammer and I'm doing 2d6 Con and rerolling 6s to add to Con damage I stand a chance of killing anything with just a couple lucky rolls. With adaptive style and having 4 of my 6 maneuvers granted I can use it every other turn and if I don't get it granted I can WR Tactics my turn again and I will have 5 of 6 of my maneuvers and should have it then.
#4
rydi123
Jul 05, 2010 5:07:54 The biggest problem I see is the build tries to do many different things, but is weak on several areas. Points of improvement:

1. Stances
Giant's Stance is lackluster, and you won't be using it most of the time anyway; Pick up Thicket of Blades, it might actually be usefull on occassion.
Aura of Chaos is fun but unpredictable, especially without a build specifically dedicated to it; given your role as healer, Aura of triumph would be nice to have...
Immortal Fortitude is not spectacular, at least not within the normal system IMO, due to the diff of the saves involved. I would say it definitely isn't worth the feat, and survivability might be aided better by Aura of Triumph. Though you may want to disregard this advice, depending on how the wound point system you are using works, as I'm only familiar with the basic HP set up used in standard 3.5.

2. Offense
While the strikes are nice, especially the 9th levels, most of them are single hit (meaning no itteratives, and no extra attack from UA: whirling frenzy). It would be nice to get some use out of your itteratives, or get some AoO's off. Anything to up your overall utility. Robilar's Gambit?
Dmg is also an issue, might consider something like Stormguard Warrior, Power Attack combos, or something else to get some better damage.
If you plan on sticking with Aura of Chaos, find more dice to roll. The d4's on a falchion are nice, but not enough to make it really shine. MTS's con dmg is also nice, but it's basically just luck as to whether you get a 6 (and optimization is all about minimizing the role of luck in a build).

3. Feat Use
Might consider ditching Improved Critical. Not that it isn't good, but getting Keen on a weapon (scabbard of keen edges, keen enchantment, spell, etc.) seems to be a more cost effective way to go, and something that will be pretty dependable. Frees up a feat to play with.
Immortal Fortitude may not be worth the feat, depending on how it interacts with the wound point rules.
I'm of mixed opinion regarding Adaptive Style. For high level Swordsage it's totally worth it, for others it isn't as great. While the mid combat switch is sometimes good, it is often not worth the tempo loss to do it, and you will generally have the best maneuvers you have already readied anyway. Might be worth trading out for something better.

4. Defense
WILL save could use some work. Steadfast Determination would help, especially if your gm ends up handing out the Endurance prereq at some point.
Where is your AC coming from? Just some armor and your DEX mod?
Fitting in Swordsage in place of the second level of warblade would get you diamond mind counters and some other utility stuff, while 2nd level would get you wisdom to ac in mithril medium armor. Not a huge bonus by itself, but with a good item, that's a +4 ac. Though the second level may not be worth it, depending on how that effects your end level maneuvers.

5. Movement
This character is beholden to others for movement currently. Crusader is weak in this area, and you aren't taking any tiger claw with warblade to provide swift action movement. One thing you might heavily consider is trading out 1 level of warblade for 1 level of swordsage at level 13 or 17. Gets you 4th or 5th lvl shadow hand and tiger claw maneuvers, which you can then use for faster movement that avoids hindering terrain/opponents.
---

In looking at the build, my biggest recommendation so far is to take 1 swordsage/ 1 warblade instead of 2 warblade, given the holes in the build. The boost to saves, increased movement, defensive maneuvers, and general utility, make it a really solid choice. Seond level of warblade gives little except Uncanny Dodge, which you should have from 2 levels of barbarian. Only thing you really lose IMO is +1 BAB, but you get it back with a free weapon focus (falchion), so not really a loss.
#5
diskordant
Jul 05, 2010 13:55:22 okay, great advice. I know i'm trying to do a lot with one character but the problem is the only healing we have is a dragon shaman, and a paladin.

1. I agree with Giant's Stance being lack luster, I just didn't see much use in other stances though sometimes you just need something pointed out to you. Making that change. Aura of Triumph I want but the limitation on the foe being evil bothers me, our dm thus far has used many nuetral npcs and monsters rendering Aura of Triumph useless and me needing to fall back on Martial Spirit. Immortal Fortitude works well with the wound system because there are no negative hit points so I would have a dc 0 fort save to make to keep going at 1 wound point as opposed to a dc 15 fort save to keep going disabled at 0 wound point. I'm still not sure how Diehard will work so I may be able to keep up and running effectively without Immortal Fortitude so I may skip it.

2. Aura of Chaos increases overall con damage by 20% in the long haul, and is the only way of improving it that I know. Con damage in the wound point system is critically important against larger foes and anything with regeneration or fast healing, so if I only use it for the round that I unleash Mountain Tombstone Hammer, it's worth it still. I agree that I may have too quickly givin up my Con bonus from raging for an extra attack but when I first made this character I had not ever even seen Bo9S. The extra attacks from frenzy and high BAB I certainly would like to make use of, but I do like all of the stuff I can do on a standard action, allowing me to move and use strikes which is with in my character concept of always moving around the battlefield. I will definitely look into these other options, and if my DM grants me Power Attack for free it would be a great incentive for Stormgaurd Warrior.

3. I would love to find a scabbard of keen edges or a Keen falchion, and if my DM lets me buy one or the other I would be all over it. I just don't like depending on loot, especially since our nearly 4th level characters still have little more than 1st level characters in terms of gold (about 500gp total). Once our loot gets caught up I'll start sniffing around for said items and maybe be able to free up that feat. My main concern with adaptive style is that my chosen main offense(con damage and critical hits) is actually pretty useless against undead and constructs. Immortal Fortitude I'm kinda on the fence about since I realized that I will get Diehard for free.

4. I read Steadfast Determination, and it's a must have. We have to roll a ton of Fort saving throws and not failing on a 1 would be epic. I will try to nudge my DM into giving me the endurance feat. Honestly I was planning on getting hit and just surviving via Immortal Fortitude and my healing strikes and stance, so that my damage pool would always be full. I had read somewhere that high AC is sub-par for Crusaders, and since HP damage won't be able to kill me effectively I wasn't planning to do much for boosting my ac.

5. I considered picking up sudden leap, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. I have been pumping my ranks in jump so i guess it was kinda a no brainer. Okay i'll get that at 1st level warblade instead of steel wind. I was also considering Absolute Steel Stance for the added movement outside of combat mainly. That would pump my movement up to 50'. 1 level of swordsage at 17 could net me two more con damage powers, and shadow stride, and pouncing charge. I lose improved uncanny dodge, but i'm not really that worried about getting hit anyways and +1 to the all important fort saves but i think I can afford that for +2 to will and ref. That does sound like a better option.

#6
rydi123
Jul 05, 2010 15:13:58 Glad to be of use. Your decisions sound reasonable given the mechanics for wound points.

3. You might also consider a greater true death crystal (magic item comp.), as it lets you crit undead. Won't work until later in the game when you get a +3 weapon, but hey, that's when you'll need it most.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 diskordant Jul 02, 2010 16:35:29	Okay so here is where I'm at: CG Human Barbarian 2, Crusader 1 Stats: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 12, Chr 14 Feats: Extra Rage, Dodge, Mobility, Alertness(DM gives bonus feat of his choice at every level you don't receive a feat) Stance: Martial Spirit Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike(DS), Vanguard Strike(DS), Charging Minotaur(SD), Stone Bones(SD), Douse the Flames(WR) House rules: using the frenzy variation of rage from UA, Using Wound Points from UA, No flaws or retraining, No prestige classes, +1 to two stats at every fourth level Party: Elf Duskblade, Dwarven Barbarian/Dragon Shaman, Elf Rogue, Half-Orc Paladin So that's where we're at. Here's what I know I want: Feats: Elusive Target, Improved Critical(Falchion) Stance: Aura of Chaos(DS) Maneuvers: Mountain Tombstone Strike(SD), Strike of Righteous Vitality(DS), Bonesplitting Strike(SD)(ASAP) Other things I really want but can do without: Feats: Extra Granted Maneuver, Tireless(DM said we can take this even if we don't meet the prereqs) Improved Trip Stances: Immortal Fortitude(DS), Strength of Stone(SD) Maneuvers: Iron Heart Surge(IH) Class Abilities: Improved Uncanny Dodge I know that I won't be optimized with my picks, what I want is some help on getting all of that and getting Bonesplitting Strike, and Mountain Tombstone Strike as soon as I can. My planned feat progression so far is: 6th: Elusive Target 9th: Improved Critical(Falchion) 12th: Extra Granted Maneuver 15th: Tireless 18th: Martial Stance(Immortal Fortitude) As far as I can see there are only these options for classes: Barbarian 2/Crusader 18 Least amount of work, get Bonesplitting Strike and 9th level maneuvers earlier than any other build, get very little of the other stuff I want Barbarian 6/Crusader 14 4-7: Barbarian 8-20: Crusader Gets me Aura of Chaos early and Strength of Stone, and Improved Uncanny Dodge, very late for getting Bonesplitting Strike Barbarian 2/ Crusader 16/Warblade 2 4-6: Crusader 7-8: Warblade 9-20 Crusader or: 4: Crusader 5: Warblade 6 - 7: Crusader 8: Warblade 9-20: Crusader Warblade level 2 at 8 gives me my Iron Heart Surge and Improved Uncanny Dodge, splits the middle of the two builds above for how soon I get Con Damage Powers The real decision I have to make immediately is do I take Barbarian or Crusader at next level. Option three is the most complicated but the one I'm most leaning towards I just wanted to get some opinions. Also if there are any other suggestions please feel free to leave them.
#2 rydi123 Jul 02, 2010 17:09:44	Warblade, preferably at 9-10. It gives the most bang for your buck. You get very limited 9th level maneuvers though, so you'll have to buy a few extra with Martial Study (your gm is giving free feats, so 1 or 2 in that direction shouldn't hurt too bad). You might consider dropping level 2 barbarian to get more crusader (hopefully you took the pounce barbarian out of CC btw). Or you could take only 1 lvl of Warblade, if you don't need Uncanny Dodge and are keeping Barbarian 2. You said you were happy with some of the sub-optimal choices in there, so I won't be commenting there. If you want further advice in that direction though, let me know.
#3 diskordant Jul 05, 2010 3:27:20	Okay so here is my planned build: 4 Crusader 2(IL 3): Stance: Iron Guard's Glare Stats: Str 19, Con 18 5 Crusader 3(IL 4): Maneuver: Mountain Hammer 6 Crusader 4(IL 5): Feat: Elusive Target Trade Maneuver: Douse the Flames-> White Raven Tactics 7 Crusader 5(IL 6): Maneuver: Revitalizing Strike 8 Crusader 6(IL 7): Trade Maneuver: Vanguard Strike -> Bonesplitting Strike Stats: Str 20, Con 19 9 Warblade 1(IL 5): Stance: Punishing Stance Maneuvers: Wall of Blades, Iron Heart Surge, Steel Wind Feat: Improved Critical(Falchion) 10 Warblade 2(IL 6): Maneuver: Disarming Strike 11 Crusader 7(IL 9): Maneuver: Elder Mountain Hammer 12 Crusader 8(IL 10): Stance: Giant's Stance Trade Maneuver: Mountain Hammer(SD) -> Divine Surge (DS) Feat:Extra Granted Maneuver Stats: Str 21, Con 20 13 Crusader 9(IL 11): Maneuver: Rallying Strike 14 Crusader 10(IL 12): Trade Maneuver: Stone Bones -> Iron Bones 15 Crusader 11(IL 13): Maneuver: Castigating Strike Feat: Adaptive Style 16 Crusader 12(IL 14): Trade Maneuver: Charging Minotaur -> Ancient Mountain Hammer Stats: Str 22, Con 21 17 Crusader 13(IL 15): Maneuver: Adamantine Bones 18 Crusader 14(IL 16): Stance: Aura of Chaos Trade Maneuver: Iron Bones -> Colossus Strike Feat: Martial Stance(Immortal Fortitude) 19 Crusader 15(IL 17): Maneuver: Mountain Tombstone Strike 20 Crusader 16(IL 18): Trade Maneuver: Crusader's Strike -> Strike of Righteous Vitality Stats: Con 22, Int 14 Crusader Stances: Martial Spirit, Iron Gaurd's Glare, Giant's Stance, Aura of Chaos, Immortal Fortitude Crusader Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike(DS) becomes Strike of Righteous Vitality(DS), Vanguard Strike(DS) becomes Bonesplitting Strike(SD), Charging Minotaur(SD) becomes Ancient Mountain Hammer(SD), Stone Bones(SD) becomes Iron Bones(SD) becomes Colossus Strike(SD), Dousing the Flames(WR) becomes White Raven Tactics(WR), Mountain Hammer(SD) becomes Divine Surge (DS), Elder Mountain Hammer(SD), Revitalizeing Strike(DS), Rallying Strike (DS), Adamantine Bones(SD), Mountain Tombstone Hammer(SD) WarBlade Stances: Punishing Stance Warblade Maneuvers: Wall of Blades, Iron Heart Surge, Steel Wind, Disarming Strike Standard Readied at 20:Mountain Tombstone Hammer, Bonesplitting Strike, Strike of righteous Vitality, White Raven Tactics, Ancient Mountain Hammer, Rallying Strike VS. Undead/Constructs:Ancient Mountain Hammer, Adamantine Bones, Strike of righteous Vitality, White Raven Tactics, Rallying Strike, Elder Mountain Hammer Here's the basic goals of the build. I need to provide both healing and damage output for the party. That's why I have taken all the healing maneuvers and as soon as I can. Secondly I plan on using a combination of high crit range plus the rerolling of 4s on 2d4 for Aura of Chaos to shut eneimies down with high wound damage hopefully stunning them in the process. Add in The Bonesplitting strike, anything that does Con damage is great under the Vitality/Wound point system, and I should be able to quickly disable foes. Then when I get Mountain Tombstone Hammer and I'm doing 2d6 Con and rerolling 6s to add to Con damage I stand a chance of killing anything with just a couple lucky rolls. With adaptive style and having 4 of my 6 maneuvers granted I can use it every other turn and if I don't get it granted I can WR Tactics my turn again and I will have 5 of 6 of my maneuvers and should have it then.
#4 rydi123 Jul 05, 2010 5:07:54	The biggest problem I see is the build tries to do many different things, but is weak on several areas. Points of improvement: 1. Stances Giant's Stance is lackluster, and you won't be using it most of the time anyway; Pick up Thicket of Blades, it might actually be usefull on occassion. Aura of Chaos is fun but unpredictable, especially without a build specifically dedicated to it; given your role as healer, Aura of triumph would be nice to have... Immortal Fortitude is not spectacular, at least not within the normal system IMO, due to the diff of the saves involved. I would say it definitely isn't worth the feat, and survivability might be aided better by Aura of Triumph. Though you may want to disregard this advice, depending on how the wound point system you are using works, as I'm only familiar with the basic HP set up used in standard 3.5. 2. Offense While the strikes are nice, especially the 9th levels, most of them are single hit (meaning no itteratives, and no extra attack from UA: whirling frenzy). It would be nice to get some use out of your itteratives, or get some AoO's off. Anything to up your overall utility. Robilar's Gambit? Dmg is also an issue, might consider something like Stormguard Warrior, Power Attack combos, or something else to get some better damage. If you plan on sticking with Aura of Chaos, find more dice to roll. The d4's on a falchion are nice, but not enough to make it really shine. MTS's con dmg is also nice, but it's basically just luck as to whether you get a 6 (and optimization is all about minimizing the role of luck in a build). 3. Feat Use Might consider ditching Improved Critical. Not that it isn't good, but getting Keen on a weapon (scabbard of keen edges, keen enchantment, spell, etc.) seems to be a more cost effective way to go, and something that will be pretty dependable. Frees up a feat to play with. Immortal Fortitude may not be worth the feat, depending on how it interacts with the wound point rules. I'm of mixed opinion regarding Adaptive Style. For high level Swordsage it's totally worth it, for others it isn't as great. While the mid combat switch is sometimes good, it is often not worth the tempo loss to do it, and you will generally have the best maneuvers you have already readied anyway. Might be worth trading out for something better. 4. Defense WILL save could use some work. Steadfast Determination would help, especially if your gm ends up handing out the Endurance prereq at some point. Where is your AC coming from? Just some armor and your DEX mod? Fitting in Swordsage in place of the second level of warblade would get you diamond mind counters and some other utility stuff, while 2nd level would get you wisdom to ac in mithril medium armor. Not a huge bonus by itself, but with a good item, that's a +4 ac. Though the second level may not be worth it, depending on how that effects your end level maneuvers. 5. Movement This character is beholden to others for movement currently. Crusader is weak in this area, and you aren't taking any tiger claw with warblade to provide swift action movement. One thing you might heavily consider is trading out 1 level of warblade for 1 level of swordsage at level 13 or 17. Gets you 4th or 5th lvl shadow hand and tiger claw maneuvers, which you can then use for faster movement that avoids hindering terrain/opponents. --- In looking at the build, my biggest recommendation so far is to take 1 swordsage/ 1 warblade instead of 2 warblade, given the holes in the build. The boost to saves, increased movement, defensive maneuvers, and general utility, make it a really solid choice. Seond level of warblade gives little except Uncanny Dodge, which you should have from 2 levels of barbarian. Only thing you really lose IMO is +1 BAB, but you get it back with a free weapon focus (falchion), so not really a loss.
#5 diskordant Jul 05, 2010 13:55:22	okay, great advice. I know i'm trying to do a lot with one character but the problem is the only healing we have is a dragon shaman, and a paladin. 1. I agree with Giant's Stance being lack luster, I just didn't see much use in other stances though sometimes you just need something pointed out to you. Making that change. Aura of Triumph I want but the limitation on the foe being evil bothers me, our dm thus far has used many nuetral npcs and monsters rendering Aura of Triumph useless and me needing to fall back on Martial Spirit. Immortal Fortitude works well with the wound system because there are no negative hit points so I would have a dc 0 fort save to make to keep going at 1 wound point as opposed to a dc 15 fort save to keep going disabled at 0 wound point. I'm still not sure how Diehard will work so I may be able to keep up and running effectively without Immortal Fortitude so I may skip it. 2. Aura of Chaos increases overall con damage by 20% in the long haul, and is the only way of improving it that I know. Con damage in the wound point system is critically important against larger foes and anything with regeneration or fast healing, so if I only use it for the round that I unleash Mountain Tombstone Hammer, it's worth it still. I agree that I may have too quickly givin up my Con bonus from raging for an extra attack but when I first made this character I had not ever even seen Bo9S. The extra attacks from frenzy and high BAB I certainly would like to make use of, but I do like all of the stuff I can do on a standard action, allowing me to move and use strikes which is with in my character concept of always moving around the battlefield. I will definitely look into these other options, and if my DM grants me Power Attack for free it would be a great incentive for Stormgaurd Warrior. 3. I would love to find a scabbard of keen edges or a Keen falchion, and if my DM lets me buy one or the other I would be all over it. I just don't like depending on loot, especially since our nearly 4th level characters still have little more than 1st level characters in terms of gold (about 500gp total). Once our loot gets caught up I'll start sniffing around for said items and maybe be able to free up that feat. My main concern with adaptive style is that my chosen main offense(con damage and critical hits) is actually pretty useless against undead and constructs. Immortal Fortitude I'm kinda on the fence about since I realized that I will get Diehard for free. 4. I read Steadfast Determination, and it's a must have. We have to roll a ton of Fort saving throws and not failing on a 1 would be epic. I will try to nudge my DM into giving me the endurance feat. Honestly I was planning on getting hit and just surviving via Immortal Fortitude and my healing strikes and stance, so that my damage pool would always be full. I had read somewhere that high AC is sub-par for Crusaders, and since HP damage won't be able to kill me effectively I wasn't planning to do much for boosting my ac. 5. I considered picking up sudden leap, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. I have been pumping my ranks in jump so i guess it was kinda a no brainer. Okay i'll get that at 1st level warblade instead of steel wind. I was also considering Absolute Steel Stance for the added movement outside of combat mainly. That would pump my movement up to 50'. 1 level of swordsage at 17 could net me two more con damage powers, and shadow stride, and pouncing charge. I lose improved uncanny dodge, but i'm not really that worried about getting hit anyways and +1 to the all important fort saves but i think I can afford that for +2 to will and ref. That does sound like a better option.
#6 rydi123 Jul 05, 2010 15:13:58	Glad to be of use. Your decisions sound reasonable given the mechanics for wound points. 3. You might also consider a greater true death crystal (magic item comp.), as it lets you crit undead. Won't work until later in the game when you get a +3 weapon, but hey, that's when you'll need it most.