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Fortinbras
2009-02-19, 07:53 PM
What do people think of this build for a reasonably well rounded combatent. I was my first so there were admitidily a few mistakes but I've found it to be reasonably effective. Any advice for future enhancement is welcome.

Dwarf fighter 8/Samurai 2/ Dwarven Defender 2

Feets/special abilities
lvl.1 samurai, bastard sword proficiancy, weapon focus bastard sword
lvl.2 samurai, two weapon fighting
lvl.1 fighter, quick draw, power attack
lvl.2 fighter, zen archery
lvl.3 fighter, leadership,toughness
lvl.4 fighter, endurance
lvl.5 fighter,
lvl.6 fighter, combat expertise, diehard
lvl.1 Dwarven Defender, defensive stance
lvl.2 Dwarven Defender, unncany dode
lvl.8 fighter

The point was a tough, capable swordsmen, who could stand in for the ranged combatent in a pinch and wouldn't fall easy prey to rouges. The cohort, a paladin/cleric, made for good armor support and was a capable healer.

SoD
2009-02-19, 08:32 PM
Dwarven Defender...is quite...well...meh. It seems nice at first glance, but when your smarter enemies realise you can't actually move while you're in defensive stance, and merely walk around you, or bash you with reach weapons while you wildly swing, but they're just out of your reach.

If it's the d12 you're looking at, another possibility might be the Warblade (if Tome of Battle is allowed), or Deepwarden (from Races of Stone), or Knight from PhBII.

Edit; why take toughness...at level 6, was it? By then, you'd prefur Improved Toughness (gives character level of HP), I think it counts as toughness for pre-reqs and all that.

Keld Denar
2009-02-19, 08:37 PM
So, I'm guessing that what you have is already set in stone? I'd suggest trying to get into Deepwarden at some point, and a level of Exotic Weapon Master. The later will give you Uncanny Blow, which will allow you to do 2x your str with your bastard sword while wielding it with both hands. Get an animated shield, if you don't already have one, which frees up your offhand to grip that sword in both hands. This will increase your damage and make you a viable threat and give you a better return on your Power Attack feat. Deepwarden is a neat PrC in Races of Stone that is kinda an underground ranger. The big game seller on it is the 2nd level ability called Stonewarden, which allows you to apply your Con bonus to AC instead of your Dex. This is great, since I'm guessing your Dex is pretty crappy. After those 3 levels, a worthy PrC might be Pious Templar. It gives Mettle, DR, Weapon Specialization for free, and fast progress Paladin casting, which, with access to spells in the Spell Compendium, are really good.

Really, Dwarven Defender and Samurai are both really bad. You could easily come up with something much stronger if you could modify those levels, but some DMs are a stickler for allowing character change. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as its not every game...the game is about having fun, not punishing players for making naive character building decisions.

EDIT:


Edit; why take toughness...at level 6, was it? By then, you'd prefur Improved Toughness (gives character level of HP), I think it counts as toughness for pre-reqs and all that.

Not without houserules. DD requires plain ol Toughness, and nothing in Imp Toughness specifies that it can count as Toughness like some of the Psudo-Dodge feats do (Expeditious Dodge, Desert Wind Dodge, Midnight Dodge).

Fortinbras
2009-02-19, 11:47 PM
Thanks for the advice I'll talk to my DM, if he says no change any other advice. For the record this was my first charcater, but he is also my favorite. Thanks