Character Optimaztion (Pathfinder)

[DyzonII]

I have recently got into another Pathfinder campaign/mod - "Carrion Crown." My GM has agreed that he's going to continue the group after the mod is finished levels 15 - 16 is the prospected finish... I have lost a few characters in the campaign, Magus 1-4 then a Wizard 5-7 thus far. I have played them a bit to...greedy :smallamused: but my main forte is melee/tank/dps archer...thus ALL fighter types :smallsmile: and due to me telling my GM that if I lost more then 2 pcs that I'd mid max my 3rd (note: I was play testing a the Magus and an archetype of the Wizard - "Spellslinger" both had its perks, but in a VERY high intelligent encounter sets both way to squishy.) So my question here is I'm in need of some advice about my MM (Mid Max) Fighter....

Majority of the content of ALL Pazio books accepted(with a few restrictions...these only apply (I believe :smalltongue:) NO traits/flaws; lvl 7 starting GP = 23,500

Level 8 Two-Handed Fighter (Archetype APG)
Human (+2 went into str and both ability +1/4lvl too)

Abilities:
26 str (w/ +4 belt of st); 14 dex; 14 con; 10 int;
12 wis; 7 cha

Feats: power attack(CRB); dodge(CRB); furious focus(APG);weapon focus-great sword(CRB); step up(CRB); following step(CRB); weapon specialization - great sword(CRB); greater weapon focus -great sword(CRB);improved critical(CRB);step up & strike(APG)

Weapons/Armor: +1 great sword(CRB); mw composite longbow +4(CRB); locked gauntlet(CRB);dagger(CRB)/+1 full plate

Items: +4 belt of strength; +1 amulet of natural armor

any sort of advice would be greatly appreciated :biggrin:

[Gnaeus]

I believe the term you are looking for is min-max. (not mid)

Is your question "I specifically want to play a member of the fighter class, how do I suck as little as possible?" or is your question "I want to play a melee guy, and I picked fighter because it looks like it is good in melee, how do I make an effective melee guy?"

[Larpus]

And getting ahead of myself here, supposing it's the second, if your reason for picking Fighter is anything like "more feats" or "I want to use Heavy Armor", then consider looking into Paladin or Armored Hulk Barbarian maybe with Fighter dips for feats.

Anyway, both these classes have the standard martial package (d10+ HP, full BAB, martial weapons), but gain features other than feats, which more often than not, are better than feats.

[Knightofvictory]

I'm the melee guy in my group too. ::smallsmile: I know there is a lot of hate for the poor fighter, but in my experience, unless your group has a druid who summons up zoos before combat, or a particularly cheesy wizard with hundreds of scrolls in his pants, fighter is amazing at low levels and fine at mid-levels. Good even. As a matter of fact, with the high STR and the Two-handed archetype, you should easily match damage with a Barbarian, and do much more consistent damage than a Paladin. No mistake, you can't do crap but crack jokes and roleplay out of combat, but fighting... that you can do.

Your feat choice looks mostly good to me, I would drop Furious Focus, all your bonuses to hit make it irrelevant. Step up is good, I dunno about 'step up and strike'. With only one AoO a round, I don't think it is worth it. Might trade Weapon Spec. for Disruptive so that when you close the gap those casters can't cheat you of an AoO with a defensive casting. Also, if you can fit it in, I have a great love for the cleave feat, but it kind of depends on what kinds of encounters your DM runs. I would try to grab the Iron Will feat and trade the amulet of Nat. Armor for the best Cloak of Resistance as you can afford. As a fighter, spells are your biggest weakness, so I would prioritize saves over AC.

EDIT: I'd drop dodge for something that boosts saves, or improved initiative. It's always nice to go first.

Not everyone understands the appeal of the fighter, but with a build like that I think you will do just fine smashing the crap out of things. :smallamused:

[Gnaeus]

Not everyone understands the appeal of the fighter, but with a build like that I think you will do just fine smashing the crap out of things. :smallamused:

Problem is, smashing things is easy. Lots of builds can smash things. I can build a synthesist summoner who can smash things just as well as the fighter, but brings a lot more to the table. I can make an alchemist who turns into Mr. Hyde to smash things, but who brings a lot more to the table. I can make a melee focus druid who can smash things, with a pet that can smash things, but who brings a lot more to the party than that fighter. If you can't smash things, because they are flying, or invisible, or 800 feet away with cover, the fighter doesn't measure up. Even a barbarian (who can smash things just as well as you can, or better) is better at doing things that aren't smashing than you.

Also, if you are going fighter, Mobile fighter is usually better than 2 handed.

[ericgrau]

Your feat choice looks mostly good to me, I would drop Furious Focus, all your bonuses to hit make it irrelevant.

With all his bonus to hit he will still miss sometimes. At his level +9 damage is still nice, but +9 damage and -3 to hit is almost break even. Soon he'll have nice magic weapons with extra damage and every miss will be even more painful, and additional damage even less helpful by comparison. I'd either keep both PA and FF, or drop both, as PA is already barely relevant and in a couple levels it'll be fully irrelevant otherwise (and actually lower his DPR soon after that). I don't remember where the damage calc thread is off the top of my head, but I believe weapon spec is already better than PA w/o FF for DPR. Even with FF full attack PAs are already looking iffy, especially if he gets hasted. Or if not, then all of this will be so in a couple levels.



Step up is good, I dunno about 'step up and strike'. With only one AoO a round, I don't think it is worth it.
True he should get combat reflexes if he wants to take that. And if he can manage be in fights with (up to the DM) and engage (up to his mobility) lots of squishies with low AC then that makes PA more relevant.

[DyzonII]

ty for all of the help/advice but it so happens that character lasted a single session...TPK! :smallannoyed: but now we have a near same party specs but now i was thinking of doing a bow fighter or a a gunslinger sice we have no ranged dpr besides the wizard and the cleric is going to be more of a buff(1st) dpr(2nd)...so i havent really looked at a bow fighter(fighter = MORE FEATS) but i was told that its pretty nasty so if anyone knows how to create one pls let me know :smallwink:

party:lvl 8
wizard(conj)
rouge(?)
pally(tank)
cleric(heal/buff)
-my pc-

ps: i will make a new thread with this in it

:smallbiggrin: ty again :smallbiggrin: