AtwasAwamps
2009-12-28, 01:06 PM
THIS IS NOT A PURE OPTIMIZATION THREAD. I know there are many better ways to achieve a “battlefield control melee combatant”, but I’m wondering if I’m on the right track with an idea I had that might be fun to mess around with fluff-wise and crunch-wise.
I know monks are generally awful and that taking a level in monk has the generally awful in comparison to taking levels in something else, but I want to play around with an idea I had. The fluff for the character is fairly simple and I can provide it if people care, but the basics of the build would be something like this:
Race: Human
Level 1: Monk
ACF: Decisive Strike
Levels 2-3: Fighter
Levels 4-5: Psychic Warrior
Levels 6-15: Warmind
16-20: No idea (probably a psionic class for increased power points or back to fighter?)
I don’t have all my books with me at the moment, but what I’m going for is, in fact, a pole-master “monk”. I would like to use the combination of decisive strike + reach weapon + stand still to create ludicrously high reflex DCs to use to control the space around me. Augmented with psionic powers, especially Expansion, this character should be able to have some fun controlling the battle space around him with an extended reach and high DCs for his Stand Still feat.
Obvious Feats to Take:
Weapon Focus (some polearm) -> Pole Master – Will allow me to use Decisive Strike with a polearm.
Combat Expertise – More AoOs = more effective build
Power Attack – If you have a two handed weapon, you should pretty much have this feat…
Able Learner: I’ll be gaining four bonus feats from this build and I won’t have a ton of skill points. Considering I will need to invest a nice chunk of points into Knowledge: Psionics, I figure picking up this feat will give me all the skill versatility I could want.
Possible Feats to Take:
Psionic Weapon to Deep Impact – Touch Attacks are always good and this character won’t necessarily have the high BAB of a pure martial character. Psionic weapon is kind of a waste, though…
Two Weapon Fighting: This could, I believe, allow me to use my unarmed strikes from my monk level as an additional weapon in combat, giving me a way to strike opponents who slip past my reach weapon.
Robilar’s Gambit/Karmic Strike – Would these be useful? Both are great feats and are good ways of forcing AoO’s and thus expanding the benefit of my Decisive Striking, but wouldn’t I basically be utilizing only on enemies that had reach or enemies that are stepping through my unarmed strike range (which won’t allow for a ton of damage?). Not really sure if they are worth it for what I’m trying to do…
Short Haft – If I took two-weapon fighting, using this would allow me to go through a full attack routine, striking with my pole-arm and throwing in an additional unarmed attack. Might be fun to play with using Psionic Lion’s Pounce (or charge…I don’t recall the power’s full name).
Questions I have:
How does the Warmind’s sweeping strike work with reach? I’m not sure I understand…does it just not work, since targets I threaten will almost never be adjacent to one another? Or will it only work when I have expansion up and my threatening range is that much longer/expanded?
What would be a good polearm to choose? A part of me wants to go for a Greatspear, losing another feat for the exotic weapon proficiency, just because the idea amuses me. I’d like to avoid tripping, even though it’s a great way to expand this build, because in our current games we tend to have one tripper per party and I’d like to stay away from that option (especially since the game I would play this character in DOES have a tripper in it already, just…not really a good one, so I’d be there to provide additional support).
Decisive Strike doubles ALL damage done by an attack, correct? So if I were to use the Warmind’s Chain of Overwhelming Force (admittedly not an amazing capstone), that damage would be doubled, as would Psionic Weapon’s? This is more a curiosity factor, as it would be kind of fun to mess with.
What are ideal 2nd/3rd/4th/5th level powers to choose with this build? I have plenty of room with 1st level powers, but after that, things get messy. Should I grab expanded knowledge for some MUST HAVES?
Anyways, this was just a fun idea I wanted to mess around with, but I’m not sure it would work like I think it would. I’m hoping people can answer a few of my questions and make a few suggestions for the build. Thanks a bunch and I’m sorry if anything is vague, I’ll be happy to explain anything in further detail.
I know monks are generally awful and that taking a level in monk has the generally awful in comparison to taking levels in something else, but I want to play around with an idea I had. The fluff for the character is fairly simple and I can provide it if people care, but the basics of the build would be something like this:
Race: Human
Level 1: Monk
ACF: Decisive Strike
Levels 2-3: Fighter
Levels 4-5: Psychic Warrior
Levels 6-15: Warmind
16-20: No idea (probably a psionic class for increased power points or back to fighter?)
I don’t have all my books with me at the moment, but what I’m going for is, in fact, a pole-master “monk”. I would like to use the combination of decisive strike + reach weapon + stand still to create ludicrously high reflex DCs to use to control the space around me. Augmented with psionic powers, especially Expansion, this character should be able to have some fun controlling the battle space around him with an extended reach and high DCs for his Stand Still feat.
Obvious Feats to Take:
Weapon Focus (some polearm) -> Pole Master – Will allow me to use Decisive Strike with a polearm.
Combat Expertise – More AoOs = more effective build
Power Attack – If you have a two handed weapon, you should pretty much have this feat…
Able Learner: I’ll be gaining four bonus feats from this build and I won’t have a ton of skill points. Considering I will need to invest a nice chunk of points into Knowledge: Psionics, I figure picking up this feat will give me all the skill versatility I could want.
Possible Feats to Take:
Psionic Weapon to Deep Impact – Touch Attacks are always good and this character won’t necessarily have the high BAB of a pure martial character. Psionic weapon is kind of a waste, though…
Two Weapon Fighting: This could, I believe, allow me to use my unarmed strikes from my monk level as an additional weapon in combat, giving me a way to strike opponents who slip past my reach weapon.
Robilar’s Gambit/Karmic Strike – Would these be useful? Both are great feats and are good ways of forcing AoO’s and thus expanding the benefit of my Decisive Striking, but wouldn’t I basically be utilizing only on enemies that had reach or enemies that are stepping through my unarmed strike range (which won’t allow for a ton of damage?). Not really sure if they are worth it for what I’m trying to do…
Short Haft – If I took two-weapon fighting, using this would allow me to go through a full attack routine, striking with my pole-arm and throwing in an additional unarmed attack. Might be fun to play with using Psionic Lion’s Pounce (or charge…I don’t recall the power’s full name).
Questions I have:
How does the Warmind’s sweeping strike work with reach? I’m not sure I understand…does it just not work, since targets I threaten will almost never be adjacent to one another? Or will it only work when I have expansion up and my threatening range is that much longer/expanded?
What would be a good polearm to choose? A part of me wants to go for a Greatspear, losing another feat for the exotic weapon proficiency, just because the idea amuses me. I’d like to avoid tripping, even though it’s a great way to expand this build, because in our current games we tend to have one tripper per party and I’d like to stay away from that option (especially since the game I would play this character in DOES have a tripper in it already, just…not really a good one, so I’d be there to provide additional support).
Decisive Strike doubles ALL damage done by an attack, correct? So if I were to use the Warmind’s Chain of Overwhelming Force (admittedly not an amazing capstone), that damage would be doubled, as would Psionic Weapon’s? This is more a curiosity factor, as it would be kind of fun to mess with.
What are ideal 2nd/3rd/4th/5th level powers to choose with this build? I have plenty of room with 1st level powers, but after that, things get messy. Should I grab expanded knowledge for some MUST HAVES?
Anyways, this was just a fun idea I wanted to mess around with, but I’m not sure it would work like I think it would. I’m hoping people can answer a few of my questions and make a few suggestions for the build. Thanks a bunch and I’m sorry if anything is vague, I’ll be happy to explain anything in further detail.