warblade builds

[OracleofSilence]

alright, i am trying to easy a new and reticent player into Tier 3 play, so i was thinking, any good (balanced) warblade builds out their? the character is the primary damage dealer for the party

other character is a Factotum/Marshal, and the caster is a straight Psion (aiming for Anarchic Initiate) current level is 6th. (median AC just for reference is near 28)

[Keld Denar]

Warblade20.

What? Its not a joke. Seriously!

For feats, I personally like building toward Pierce Magical Concealment on my Warblade, so thats 3 feats (1 of which is a Warblade bonus feat). Another feat on your obligatory Power Attack feat tax (its good), and other than that...not that much that you really need. Maybe Skill Focus: Concentration if you want 3-6 more damage with (Greater) Insightful Strike? For gear, I like a solid 2-handed reach weapon. Glaive is my go-to weapon, but Guisarme opens up tripping as an option. If you want ultimate versatility, burning a feat on EWP: Spiked Chain or Drow Scorpion Chain is a decent investment, but generally not worth it for a damage focused Warblade. Heck, even Cleave is not totally wasted on a Warblade, especially if you have reach, since there will generally be multiple foes in your reach.

The glorious thing about Warblades is how EASY they are to build and how HARD they are to screw up.

[OracleofSilence]

that is kinda why i was thinking it. as i said before though, he is currently 6th level, and we may never get that far.

[Darrin]

alright, i am trying to easy a new and reticent player into Tier 3 play, so i was thinking, any good (balanced) warblade builds out their? the character is the primary damage dealer for the party


Warblades are really hard to screw up. Just give us a preferred weapons layout (two-handed greatsword, or TWF w/ kukris, etc.) and what level you're starting at and we can give you a maneuver list and some feat suggestions to start with.

[Midnight_v]

There is a Tome of battle build compendium somewhere...

[kharmakazy]

I like sticking with mostly diamond mind and iron heart disciplines. Also, white raven tactics is a no brainer since you can take 2 turns every other turn. I cannot possibly pass up mountain hammer though, it's like making everything you ever attack with adamantine. You can now punch through adamantine.

Also, a swordsage dip can boost your bad saves a bit, and help you meet maneuver prereqs due to their massive comparative maneuvers known

[Keld Denar]

Human or Half-Orc or Dwarf would work out nice.

Str > Con > Dex > Int > Wis > Cha

1st Power Attack
3rd Mage Slayer
5th Blind Fighting
6th Pierce Magical Concealment

if human, pick up Cleave as your bonus feat

1st
Steel Wind
Saphire Nightmare Blade
Wolf Fang Strike (as a prereq)

Hunter's Sense

2nd
Dousing the Flame (as a prereq)

3rd
Mountain Hammer

4th
Swap Wolf Fang Strike for Emerald Razor

Punishing Stance

5th
Insightful Strike

6th
Swap Dousing the Flame for White Raven Tactics


Typical Readied Maneuvers: 4

Emerald Razor
Insightful Strike
White Raven Tactics
Steel Wind (or Saphire Nightmare Blade)

There, perfectly simple.

[kharmakazy]

Typical Readied Maneuvers: 4

Emerald Razor
Insightful Strike
White Raven Tactics
Steel Wind (or Saphire Nightmare Blade)

There, perfectly simple.

That's really only 1 off of the maneuvers I have readied at Lvl 8. Steel wind is replaced with bounding assault since my speed is so low. So yeah.

[Morbis Meh]

If you want a damage machine might I suggest the tried and try ubercharger route? With 2 flaws:
Human Warblade 20
F: Power Attack
F: Improved Bull Rush
H: Cleave
1:Blindfight
3: Mage Slayer
W5: Combat Reflexes
6: Shock Trooper
9: Leap Attack
W9: Iron Heart Arua
12: Pierce Magical Concealment
W13: Improved Initiative
15: Stormguard Warrior
18: Robilar's Gambit

[Big Fau]

Warblades are really hard to screw up.

Yeah. Even going straight-up Sword and Board with the Weapon Focus line, as long as you pick your maneuvers even a little wisely, you will still be a very competent character as far as melee combat goes.

Seriously, only by not using your maneuvers and stances can you truly screw up a Warblade build.

[JaronK]

I wouldn't do Warblade 20 simply due to the screwed up stance progression of Warblades, which always makes it advantageous to get two levels of other classes early on so you get your stances when you want them.

As such, I'd go with Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Crusader 1/Warblade X. That will give you the always useful pounce, some Rage when you want it, and the ability to heal up the party a bit. Plus it might get some prerequisites maneuvers out of the way.

JaronK

[Midnight_v]

There is a Tome of battle build compendium somewhere...

[Elric VIII]

I really like the idea of a level 2 dip into Fighter, then pick up Martial Study as one of your feats, then take a few levels of Mo9, since it essentially lets you get your capstone at level 9. The +5 Maneuvers readied is pretty cool too.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Warblade handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193992).

It's really hard to screw up the warblade. Just don't take any of the maneuvers that allow a fortitude save (except feral blow), unless you maxed out your strength to pump the DC.

[Darrin]

Wolf Fang Strike (as a prereq)
Hunter's Sense


Could you elaborate a little on this? I'm puzzled why Hunter's Sense is recommended as much as it is... is Scent that uber-important that you're more likely to need it than Punishing Stance or Leading the Charge? (I'm more inclined to use bags of flour or torch bug paste to deal with invisibility/concealment.)

[Hiro Protagonest]

Could you elaborate a little on this? I'm puzzled why Hunter's Sense is recommended as much as it is... is Scent that uber-important that you're more likely to need it than Punishing Stance or Leading the Charge? (I'm more inclined to use bags of flour or torch bug paste to deal with invisibility/concealment.)

Scent is basically your way of seeing invisible dudes until you get Hearing The Air.

[JaronK]

You can't trade out stances as you progress, and there's probably other stances you want in combat more later. This makes low level stances that are actually useful when you're not fighting more valuable. Admittedly Leading the Charge is impressive, and so is Blood in the Water, but if you weren't going to use those in combat at high levels wouldn't you rather have Hunter's Stance later on?

With that said, Hearing the Air can also be extremely useful for this, so if you plan on taking that stance then perhaps Leading the Charge or Blood in the Water is a better plan.

JaronK

[Keld Denar]

Well, the OP mentioned that this would be at level 6, and probably not going much higher (thus lacking many of the common charger abilities). Pierce Magical Concealment allows you to avoid miss chances generated by magic (such as invisibility), but it doesn't allow you to pin-point the source. Scent allows you to locate the creature, move toward it, and if you get to within 5', pinpoint it (allowing PMC to come into play). PMC doesn't work against hidden foes, but Scent should still help you find them (barring Darkstalker).

Of all the 1st level stances, its a good idea to have one combat stance and one utility stance. As a utility stance, Hunter's Sense is about the most useful as you increase in levels. Punishing Stance could be swapped out for Leading the Charge, if you plan to charge more often than not (but then you'd probably want more charging feats like Shocktrooper). I build this as primarily a move + strike type fighter. Either move toward the foe and strike them, or strike them and then tumble away (thus denying a full attack) as the circumstances dictate. Using a Glaive as a primary weapon, he'll only crit on a 20 which makes Blood not so useful. Thus, Punishing Stance will probably result in the most damage out of all of the 1st level stances. Not much point in having BOTH Punishing Stance and Blood in the Water, so Hunter's Sense makes a perfect utility backup.

And actually, since you don't have a Ranger, you could go human, use that bonus feat for Track, and Warblades get Survival as a class skill. That'll really get you some use out of Scent. You won't have a huge Wisdom synergy toward Survival, but you'll at least have the option.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Well, the OP mentioned that this would be at level 6, and probably not going much higher (thus lacking many of the common charger abilities).

He said they probably won't get to 20th. Because you said warblade 20, and he said "we're 6th level, and we may never get that far".