PDA

View Full Version : [3.5] 1Barb/4Fight/ --> Warblade pewpew ?



Torvon
2010-04-14, 07:45 AM
To sum it up: 1Barb / 4 Fighter / Rest Warblade.
Asking for advice about maneuvers, stances, feats and magical items.
Thanks :p

------------------------------------------------

!Lo people.

After you were incredibly helpful on my first posting here (especially Eldariel), thanks!), I'm going to try to make a second request.

I'm pretty "new" to 3.5e and am looking for a bit of advice.

Playing in a very nice group at the moment, (1) cleric, (2) mage/warlock, (3) rogue/scout, and (4) me. Since it was my first 3.5 char, the group decided I should start with a fighter.

I started reading and decided to go 1Barb/rest fighter, because of the skillpoints, rage, movement, pounce, you-know-it-all.

We had 2 extra feats from the start, and we get feats every odd level (3/5/7/...), that + my fighter bonus feats gave me a nice start.

I'm level 4 now.
1- Barb - 1 feat, 1 human feat, 1 feat from flaw, 2 extra feats
2- Fight - fighter feat
3- Fight - feat, fighter feat
4- Fight - stat
--------------- ?? -----------------------
5- Fight - feat, fighter feat
6- Warbl
--------------- ?? -----------------------

Stats: STR 18+1, CON 16+2, INT 14, DEX 12, WIS 10, CHA 8

I do incredible damage as human fighter.

I'm running around with a Greatsword,
Fur. & Pow. Charge, Tireless, W. Foc., Extra Rage, Imp. Bull Rush, Power Attack & Cleave at the moment.

My mage buddy enlarges me, and with a bit of rage here and a bit of Powerattack there, I do around 3w6(large gsword)+2w6(feat)+14(normal+PA) on a charge.

You see where this is going: at level 5 I'll add Leap Attack and Shock Trooper for some additional Pewpew.

Ok. Now, I started reading a bit here and there, and saw that the Warblade rocks so much more than my fighter. The only fun thing in fights about my fighter is DAMAGE. But that's all he does really, kill that one here, cleave the next one dead, wait until it's my turn again. Charge someone dead, eat some AoOs, cleave the next one dead. Etc pp.

So, I decided to go Warblade from now on.


(1)
Is this a good choice? I saw so many threads, and actually would agree that Warblade is more fun & superior to the "you get to be a better tripper disarmer charger and bullrusher than other people" fighter.
(no need to repeat the whole discussion here , though).


(2)
Would you agree that I should wait until level 6 to start Warblade, since I'll get an additional Fighter Feat with level 5?


(3)
If I see correctly, I'd start Warblade with Initiator Level 3.5 then (first 5 levels *0.5, +1 from 6th level Warblade). Meaning I can use first and second level stuff, also on the next level. The third Warblade level will put me to ILvL 5.5, and therefor enable me to grab 3rd level maneuvers.
Correct?


(4) Maneuvers & Stances
What maneuvers / stances should I go for? My current weakness is ... AC. I have an AC of 16 with a breast plate (medium armor due to barbarian and leap attack, I don't want -11 from full plate on jump checks). After a charge thats AC 14, with grow person on my it's AC 12, and with rage it's AC 10. That's not very good really :)
We have a good cleric, and I play very aggressively, which is fun, but I just need to buff my defense. And my damage. I looked into some maneuvers, not 100% sure though.
Do I need to focus on one or two schools?
(1) Steel Wind & (2) Wall of Blades sounds fun (Iron Heart) and important. Now, enhancing my charge would be fun, but I don't wnt to stay a one trick pony.
What about (3) Battle Leader's Charge? It sounds fun, not sure if I can use Powerattack with that one, though, or my other feats (furious and powerful charge, better+hit and more damage).
As for stances, I don't want Punishing, I do more than enough damage and my AC sucks already. Absolute Steel sounds very nice, but it's level 3, can't take it in the start. Leading the charge is ok I guess, and might even qualify as prereq for Battle Leader's Charge?

What do you think? So much stuff, really hard to choose...


(5) Magic Items
Also, I would love to have some advice on magic items (I have around 5.000 GP atm).
* Ring of Protection +1 looks nice I guess.
* Strongarm Bracers for later, maybe?
* Whirling Weapon looks hardcore, but too expensive I guess.
* Life Drinking Weapon crystal maybe?
* Amulet of Tears?
* Boots of the Battle Charger (oh yeah baby)
* Gauntlets of OGre Power?


(6) Feats
Right, I have a few feats in the pipeline that enhance what I do as fighter (Shock Trooper and Combat Brute, Leap attack).
But what TOB feats are viable? How should I enhance my Warblade?


D'oh, that's a long thread.

Sorry :p

ta-ta
Torvon

(EDIT: where do I look up what a super mega big greatsword does? With enlarge person I'm large, with those strongarm bracers I can carry a huge greatsword, and with "giant's stance" I can pretend to be even one size larger :) )

Flickerdart
2010-04-14, 08:46 AM
Taking a Fighter level at 5 means that at 6th level you initiator level is 3 (1 for Warblade and 2 for 5 non-Warblade levels). Taking a Warblade level at 5 instead means that at 6th level, your initiator level is 4 (2 Warblade, 2 for 4 non-Warblade) meaning that at 7th level you get 3rd level maneuvers, only 2 levels behind instead of 3. I'd say they're worth more than a bonus feat. If you want that level of Fighter, you lose nothing by taking a 6th level as non-Warblade (perhaps grabbing the first level of a Prestige Class?).

Godskook
2010-04-14, 10:02 AM
1.Yes

2.Eh. Its up to you on this one. Warblade 15 has a pretty decent class ability, and you need a IL of 17 to have access to L9 maneuvers pre-eipc, so be careful if you know you're getting that high.

3.Yes, except you round IL down.

4 & 5.Get a misschance or two. Easier than buffing AC, and doesn't get any worse with your tactics.

6.ToB classes do just fine with non-ToB feats. However, consider using one or two on Martial Study to snag maneuvers that aren't on the Warblade's list. Shadow Blink won't come available until very late-game, but Thicket of Blades comes around really soon, and is quite a good stance. There's also Counter Charge, which will help protect you against enemy chargers.

Torvon
2010-04-15, 06:20 AM
Ok, thanks so far.

Anyone else has suggestions?

Thanks
Torvon

EDIT: can I use Power Attack and my other bonus feats on a charge, when I use the BAttle Leader's Charge maneuver?

Runestar
2010-04-15, 07:20 AM
Fighter5 doesn't grant any feats, you may wish to consider the 2nd lv of barb instead.

What you can consider though, is to first take martial study up to 3 times before going warblade. This nets you 3 extra maneuvers readied (though you cannot refresh them) in addition to whatever warblade grants you, allowing you more flexibility in combat.

Ask your DM if you can retrain feats. :smallbiggrin:

Torvon
2010-04-15, 07:33 AM
Fighter5 doesn't grant any feats, you may wish to consider the 2nd lv of barb instead.

What you can consider though, is to first take martial study up to 3 times before going warblade. This nets you 3 extra maneuvers readied (though you cannot refresh them) in addition to whatever warblade grants you, allowing you more flexibility in combat.

Ask your DM if you can retrain feats. :smallbiggrin:

Are you sure those maneuvers gained by feats "stack" as readed feats with the 3 I get as Warblade on first level Warblade?

Torvon

EDIT:
where can I find the damage charts for Greatsword when I grow? With Enlarge Person, Giants Stance, Monkey Grip and those StrongArm Bracers I could wield a pretty big weapon. How much dmg is that?

The Glyphstone
2010-04-15, 08:12 AM
Are you sure those maneuvers gained by feats "stack" as readed feats with the 3 I get as Warblade on first level Warblade?

Torvon

EDIT:
where can I find the damage charts for Greatsword when I grow? With Enlarge Person, Giants Stance, Monkey Grip and those StrongArm Bracers I could wield a pretty big weapon. How much dmg is that?

...not nearly as much as you think it is. Enlarge Person makes you Large, so Giant's Stance is neutralized (it can't increase your damage past Large). Monkey Grip and Strongarm Bracers both let you wield something one size larger than 'normal', so they don't stack, which would make your weapon Huge.

Runestar
2010-04-15, 08:34 AM
Are you sure those maneuvers gained by feats "stack" as readed feats with the 3 I get as Warblade on first level Warblade?

Yes and no. I will explain with an example.

Say I start as a human fighter1, and take martial study thrice with my 3 feats to nab stone bones, moment of precise mind and steel wind.

At 2nd lv, I take 1 lv of warblade, and can learn 3 more maneuvers (say I take wolf tiger fang, sudden leap and sapphire blade nightmare). I now have 6 maneuvers readied per encounter (3 from warblade, 3 from fighter). I can refresh those from warblade by expending the required swift action+attacking, but I cannot recover those from martial study (they are effectively only 1/encounter).

Torvon
2010-04-15, 08:43 AM
Yes and no. I will explain with an example.

Say I start as a human fighter1, and take martial study thrice with my 3 feats to nab stone bones, moment of precise mind and steel wind.

At 2nd lv, I take 1 lv of warblade, and can learn 3 more maneuvers (say I take wolf tiger fang, sudden leap and sapphire blade nightmare). I now have 6 maneuvers readied per encounter (3 from warblade, 3 from fighter). I can refresh those from warblade by expending the required swift action+attacking, but I cannot recover those from martial study (they are effectively only 1/encounter).

Great.
Let's stick to your example: if I take another Warblade level @ 3, my second Warblade level, and I take that Martial Study feat another time (I know you can only take it three times, but let's pretend), I can add yet another maneuver, and that one can be refreshed as normal because I am already a warblade, right? And it also counts additionally? So I would have 7 maneuvers readied, 3 of them normal, 3 of them through Fighter Martial Study, and 1 of them through Warblade Martial Study, 4 of which could be refreshed normally (3+1)?

thanks
Torvon

Runestar
2010-04-15, 08:50 AM
Let's stick to your example: if I take another Warblade level @ 3, my second Warblade level, and I take that Martial Study feat another time (I know you can only take it three times, but let's pretend), I can add yet another maneuver, and that one can be refreshed as normal because I am already a warblade, right? And it also counts additionally? So I would have 7 maneuvers readied, 3 of them normal, 3 of them through Fighter Martial Study, and 1 of them through Warblade Martial Study, 4 of which could be refreshed normally (3+1)?

Still only 6, though your warblade now has knowledge of an extra maneuver to ready, but he is still limited to readying only 3.

To cite an extreme example, let's say a warblade1 took martial study twice at 1st lv. He knows 5 maneuvers, but can ready only 3.

That is the funny thing about martial study. It only increases the number of maneuvers you know (but not readied) if you are already a martial adept. Of course, since you can refresh them, this may end up being more useful in the long run, since you can potentially use the same maneuver more than once.

Torvon
2010-04-15, 10:10 AM
Righto, so you either use the martial study to gain

(1) a maneuver that is automatically readied, but cannot be refreshed - or
(2) a maneuver that is not automatically readied, but can be refreshed like the other maneuvers.

Weird. Thanks for clarifying.

Torvon
EDIT: oh boy I just came up with the idea to do both with the same maneuver. But that probably isn't possible.