optimized Monted combat Fighter

[Isearchfortraps]

I am looking at making a optimized mounted combat fighter from core player hand book any tips on races and feats i should get to help make a beast of a charger? 3.5 core only

[PinkysBrain]

What level? Are druids out? (Getting a good mount is a problem, Paladin gets a decent mount ... but blah Paladin.) Are monstrous races out? (Centaur is pretty decent and avoids the need for a mount altogether, of course it only starts at ECL6.)

[GrumblyBear]

You could always consider picking up the Wild Cohort Feat (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) if you're looking for an easy way to get a durable mount.

[Mithril Leaf]

If you don't actually HAVE to have a seperate mount, there's always the bauriar, an outsider from Manual Of The Planes (IIRC) which has +1 LA and no racial hit die and is a medium sized tauric monster, akin to the centaur.

[eggs]

Getting a decent mount usually means Paladin, Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer or Wizard.

Core Paladins lack most of the things that can make the class decent - especially in ranged combat.
Core Sorcerers and Wizards are slow to develop decent mounts (gished out, even Lesser Planar Binding doesn't come online until ECL 11 or 12).

Clerics make good archers, but might have a bit of a hiccup in their lack of a Ride skill. That's the sort of minor tweak that the PHB encourages, so you could probably get it by in most groups, but if you play with real tightasses, that could be a problem. Conventional mounts should be good enough until the Cleric gets decent summons at ECL 5 or so, and Planar Ally eventually really jumps things off.

But Druids are probably the best way to go. They lack the Cleric's big numeric buffs, but they come with a strong mount from level 1, have a chassis that plays nicely with archery, spells to keep up versatility even when archery runs into problems (mobile targets, winds, displacements, etc.) and spells to eradicate archery's problems (battlefield control, wind spells, dispels, etc).

If you can get the goahead to use Leadership for a mount, the options open a bit further (Bards and Fighters aren't too bad), but I think Druid's still going to stay the strongest option.

[Gwendol]

To give some further guidance: I'd recommend a halfling, using a riding dog. If going full caster is too far from what you were thinking of, use the ranger class, picking the ranged combat style. Your mount (dog) will be less powerful, as will you (not being a full caster and all) but the ranger isn't a bad class out of core. It gets significantly better with spells out of the spell compendium, but still.