Leveling as a Martial Adept

[TroubleBrewing]

I'm running a game which began at level 6, and the players just hit level 7. One of my players started with a Crusader 5/Hellreaver 1 build, and has just gained Hellreaver 2. Since his IL is 6 (5+1/2+1/2) right now, would it benefit him to get another level in Crusader at 8 so he can pick up some more maneuvers?

If that's the case, would Hellreaver +2/Crusader +1 be a solid progression from this point on?

[gkathellar]

Crusaders don't gain an additional maneuver at level 6. Still, probably a good call as he can retrain an lower-level maneuver.

Bear in mind that the more Hellreaver levels he takes, the more its going to hurt his maneuver advancement. If he takes 7+ Hellreaver levels, he never gets access to ninth-level maneuvers. 5-6 and he'll only get them at 20th level.

[Runestar]

Since crusaders get their 3rd stance at lv8, it certainly helps to delay this by 2 lvs, which in turn gives you IL9, allowing you to select 5th lv stances.:smallsmile:

[Keld Denar]

Crusaders don't gain an additional maneuver at
level 6. Still, probably a good call as he can retrain an lower-level maneuver.
He does get a maneuver swap though. He could drop one of his 1st level manevuers like Charging Minotaur or Dousing the Flame for a nice 4th level maneuver like Divine SURGE.

Bear in mind that the more Hellreaver levels he takes, the more its going to hurt his maneuver advancement. If he takes 7+ Hellreaver levels, he never gets access to ninth-level maneuvers. 5-6 and he'll only get them at 20th level.
True, but Hellreaver does get some VERY tasty abilities. You won't be THAT offput. Sure, you might not get Strike of Righteous Vitality by level 17, or even by level 20, but Hellreaver pays off right away with its swift action healing and pseudorage.