Hi everyone I need some help with the warblade i'm playing.
We are in the 2nd lvl right now but in their last campaign(in 4th) they started from 1 to 30 so i'm guessing we should plan for high lvls too(of course if we survive...)
The rest of the party is one Rogue(only good for dying in traps so far and trying to hide the moment we roll initiative),a Cleric(the uncle of the rogue he fights in leather armor and carries around a bow he never uses, he is a healbot for the time and he wants to enter a PrC that makes him good for crafting magic potions...I don't know this PrC to say the truth,it might be good).Both the rogue and the cleric are played by the same player and the plan is to limit the cleric only in RP later and use the rogue only in fights. We have a Dwarven fighter(he fights with throwing light hammers while he rides his bull and of course he aims for fighter 20 with mounted archery and other such useless feats).Our Sorceror dominates with his sleep spell and he isn't going for any build. Last but not least we have a MINOTAUR fighter [he goes around with 24str and 26 AC(fullplate and tower shield along with his natural armor) making the rest of us look like children with sticks.He has no LA.uses no buy off and 13hps so its a house rule I'm not familiar with] (he is the little brother of the DM and we all help him in his first game).
The DM is kind of a lunatic(we fought 2 lions at lvl 1!) and he uses a lot of house rules [for instance the sorceror can change a known spell each lvl and I threat adjacent foes with all reach weapons but i can't flank while i use them (i carry a greatsword and a glaive and use the most beneficial in each fight)].Things are kind of tough because ALL of us rolled 1 in hps when we lvled up (i have 19hps with con 16) and we lose our gear all the time(lost allready a wand of cure light wounds,a ring of shield and tons of potions)
This is my build: LN Human Warblade 20 str 18 ,con 16 ,dex 14 ,int 15, wis 12,chr 12(rolled)
1 Power attack,I.Bull Rush(Human)
3 Free feat
4 +1 int
5 I.Iniative(warblade bonus)
6 shock trooper
8 +1str (all the rest +stats go to str)
9 leap attack,C.Reflexes (warblade bonus)
12 Robilars gambit
13 Blind fight(warblade bonus)
15 free feat
17 free feat(warblade bonus)
18 free feat
As you can see i go for a semi charger build (using pounching charge).I want to keep my build simple because i'm the only one who knows ToB and while the DM trustes me to do anything I want, I don't want to overshadow the others,so no barbarian dips for pounch or hood builds.(The funny thing is all of them think that warblade is much inferior to the fighter because i don't have all those feats!!!)
I mostly need advise about my feats and especially at 3rd lvl, some thoughts i had are cleave(not so good),adaptive style(usefull in much higher lvls),Mage slayer(and later pierce magic concealment) or I.Sunder for combat brute but I'll get this at 15th lvl (of course i can take later leap attack or robillar's gambit). I don't really think stormguard warrior is really good for two-handed fighters so i don't see taking it.
Because i don't want to only have one trick i looked at some gear(i don't have the feats to do more tricks i'm afraid) and i saw Steadfast boots (from MIC).For 1400g i'm always considered as having a readed attack against chargers doing double damage without using a spear? Did i misunderstood or is this so good?
As last thing I want to ask about the use of martial discipline weapons(in my case diamond mind,iron heart and tiger claw) while their attack bonus can be really high isn't this kind of less usefull because of storm trooper?
Thanks for your replies in advance and sorry for the long post( and of course for my english...)
If you wanted to make your Dwarf friend mad you could go in to Bloodstorm Blade and take some throwing feats but, that's beside the point. It really depends on what kind of build you're going for. If you wanted to have better bullrushes you could dip into Fighter for 4 levels and do the variant from Dungeon Scape which gives you a Bullrush that deals a bunch of damage if you bullrush someone into a wall and you get bonuses against traps and while breaking things. I don't know what you're planning exactly but, since you're taking some of the prerequisite feats you could multiclass into Crusader then go into Master of Nine for a few things.
If your DM allows Eberon, have the Cleric Check out the Alchemist Savant (If I remember correctly, dont hold me to it) out of Magic of Eberron.
For yourself with the warblade, looks OK, as far as my brain's thinking capacity atm is concerned (Huge headache). Anyways, I suggest coming in again at 2nd lvl, but be a Feral lvl 1 Warblade. Later you can get Rend, Rake, Pounce. If you know your stuff you know what those do.
Tell the Sorcerer to check out Dragonheart mage (Races of the Dragons) and Exalted Arcanist (Book of Exalted Deeds), Hmmmm, tons of good spells for a Sorcerer out of Races of the Dragons.
I think thats it.
Since you're already getting synergy's from Intelligence on certain things you could take Able Learner (to make all skills cost 1 skill point) or you could take Lunatic Insight (from Heros of Horror but, this requires you to take an affliction which is from Heros of Horror as well) to get all the Knowledge skills as class skills. Then after taking one of those feats you can take the Knowledge Devotion Feat from Complete Champion which allows you to roll a Knowledge check to get a bonus on attack and damage against certain creatures. Also if you do that you could take a 3 level dip into Swashbuckler and pick up Insightful Strike which allows you to add your Intelligence to attack although with your current weapon choice gaining Weapon Finesse for free (from Swashbuckler) won't help that much.
Thanks for the replies but I'm afraid most of them can't be used.
Sadly when i made this character i forgot able learner so I can't take it now(when I said I'm 2nd lvl I ment I currently play the player ,not designing him sorry for any misunderstandings).
The synergy for the int (dex to damage through duelist and using knowledge devotion) is really good but I think taking 3 lvl just for 3 extra damage (int 16 at 4lvl) isn't really worth it.In a TWF build or with an eternal blade using an elven courtblade(finesseable) its much better.
I know that the feral templete is REALLY good for charger builds but I'm in a temlate allready(sorry I forgot to mention it),I don't know which one(guessing corrupted considering I took it as a gift from some kythons) and it reviels its power every even lvl.For the time I only get darkvision out of it.
As for taking bloodstorm blade lvls to ridicule the dwarf in the team,it isn't really nesecary he does it himself every time he hits for 1d4+2 damage with range increment 20ft
What really got my attention is your suggestions about Master of the nine as I already plan taking I.Initiative and blind-fighting so with a dip in either crusader or swordsage(the second seams better but i could be wrong) i can easily get the 6 disciplines. If only it didn't need dodge...
So If i'll go for master of the nine I'll take dodge as my 3rd lvl feat.If I decide to stay only warblade what should I take?(my thoughts are I.Sunder for combat brute later,cleave,mage slayer or adaptive style?)
Thanks in advance for your replies
Desert Wind Dodge and Expeditious Dodge are both very preferable to Dodge, and both count as Dodge for fulfilling prerequisites. If you're doing the Swordsage dip anyway, then you fulfill the manuver prerequisite for Desert Wind Dodge. After that, it's a question of how much you think you'll be moving. Expeditious Dodge gives twice the AC bonus, but you also have to move 4 times as far to get it.
Expedious Dodge is only good if you have a base speed of 40ft. or you plan on charging every round
Actually Dodge feat is aplied to everyone(houserule of the DM to simplify its use),not that it makes it much better
What troubles me is that no one is familiar with ToB.Even the DM didn't read it,he trustes me that I won't cheat(I even photocopied the maneuvers I use and he doesn't even bother when I tell him which ones are prepared!).Suddenly a warrior(standard semi-charger warblade) with not so great dependance on manuevers turns into a mystical manuever beast (in mid-high lvls master of the nine gives a huge boost to crusaders and warblades) and I'm afraid maybe it's going a bit too much. Considering the fact that most of the other players are weak (priest,thief and dwarf) I'm afraid I'll ruin the game.
Even though they now say that warblades are weak aganst fighters(for the love of God!) when more powerfull maneuvers enter the game(Iron Heart surge comes easily to mind) the power gap will be enlarged too much.
The thing is the DM is actually optimizing some encounters(not to the extreme) and we really have a hard time because this party is kind of hopeless when it comes to characters,they sincerely believe that fighter isn't much worse than spellcasters,that paladin is too good because he smites more in 3.5(along with spirited charge) and that druids are the worst...