Underachieving swordsage?

[Gharkash]

Level 7 Human swordsage.
Swapped Desert Wind for Iron Heart.

Stats:
Str 19
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 16
Cha 10
+2 items to Str and Wis, 4th lvl +1 to Str

Feats:
Adaptive Style
Improved Initiative
Quick Draw
Ironheart Aura (want to go for Stormguard with Robillar's)

Maneuvers are mostly what one could expect for a wannabe 2h damage dealer, with some defense and a Diamond Mind focus for now. Using a bastardsword 2h.


The above is my character. And he seems to be doing meh in a not-that-high-op group. I tend to be "primary melee", as i am almost always first in last out, due to initiative and the other melee being a twf swift hunter.

The most glaringly obvious problems are: hitting things when they are not/ i cannot flat foot them and recovering useful maneuvers. These two seem to be a bit of class weaknesses, but still tend to be annoying. Last but not least, outdamaged when not able to use a good combo.

So, have i gone wrong, with all the DW for IH, 2h Str based? Am i whining without reason for things that i should have seen? Have i done mistakes that can be fixed? Any feat/maneuver/gear suggestions are welcome (something to make a swordsage a better frontline i guess).

Unfortunately "play a warblade" is not an answer, and i have to admit i may be over reacting, but even if not unplayable the character is still not living up to my expectations.

Thanks in advance.

[Krazzman]

What maneuvers do you use? (No really there can go a lot wrong with "Damage-Dealing Maneuvers")
What enemies do you face?
What other characters are in the party?

Else: afaik the DW has some boosts that are pretty good. A 1-round non-attacking fire elemental that gives you flanking and such stuff.
Best read the Swordsage Handbook (either the unfinished one or the unfinished in progress one).

[BowStreetRunner]

I honestly have never played or even seen played a straight swordsage. Rogue/Swordsage is the most common, but also Warblade/Swordsage, Fighter/Swordsage, Monk/Swordsage...it really is a great class for multi-class builds.

However, if you are looking for a good guide to anything having to do with ToB, I would recommend the Tome of Battle for Dummies (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=357.0) by DavetheMagicWeasel as a great starting point.

[docnessuno]

The main problem i can see is that your swordsage is a warblade wannabe. A warblade will do most of your routine, just much better.

Even if IH is awesome, DW provides very nice damage boosts at lower level, also the swordsage class encourages you to go for a dex-focused build and rely on TWF, while warblade and crusader work better on THW strengh-based tactics.


Here's an example of your build tweaked for dex-based TWF:

Str 10
Dex 19
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 16
Cha 12

Feats:
Adaptive Style
Two-weapon fighting
Shadow hand
Improved initiative

Result: More HPs, higher AC

Assassin stance for increased damage and to enable shadow hand, DW boosts for extra damage, TC manouvers for extra attacks and mobility, some utility picked up around. Avoid strikes unless they are awesome or allow full round attacks.

To solve to-hit problems, martial discipline weapons keyed to your stance work wonders.

Example of attack routine with 2 +1 daggers:

Move action: close in
Swift action: Activate distracting ember to have a flanking buddy
Standard action: Wolf fang strike [+9/+9 1d4+4+2d6(SA)]
New turn:
Free action: 5ft step to flank with a melee buddy that reached the enemy
Swift action: Activate searing blade for 2d6+7 additional damage
Full round action: Flashing sun [+7/+7/+7 1d4+4+2d6(SA)+2d6+7(Fire)]
New turn:
Swift action: Activate burning blade for 1d6+7 additional damage
Full round attack: [+9/+9 1d4+4+2d6(SA)+1d6+7(Fire)]
New turn:
Swift action: Activate sudden leap to close in with a new enemy and flank it
Full round attack: [+9/+9 1d4+4+2d6(SA)]

At level 9 comes a major power boost: Second iterative attack, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Dancing moongose, at that level you should also be able to upgrade your weapons to +1 martial discipline (shadow hand), being able to do some impressive burst damage.

[eggs]

Those feats look like a problem. None of them directly make the character better at fighting, so I'm going to guess you're relying pretty hard on that 3/4 BA, plus the occasional +4d6 or so on a standard action from strikes.

Starting with the numbers, if you want to boost to-hit quickly, a Discipline weapon's an easy way to get a quick +3. With +4 Str, +5 BA, a +1 Discipline weapon and +1 from Weapon Focus, that comes out to +14 total. Target AC at this level is around 22, so there's still some more work to do. Focusing on maneuvers that boost to-hit chance (Rabid Wolf Strike, Shadow Blade Technique, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Emerald Razor, Death from Above, Cloak of Deception, etc) can help patch some of it, as can vying for tactical positioning.

Second, shifting the goal toward allowing the character to use its numbers, with the Swordsage's low BA, what you're going to want is to make the most attacks possible at the highest attack bonus possible. To a certain extent, that can be done through AoOs: the more you can force enemies to provoke, the more damage you can do in a round. I'd start by retraining Quickdraw for Combat Reflexes (builds toward the Robilar's Gambit+Stormguard Warrior combo, which works very well later on), but I'd also strongly consider a 2-level dip into either monk dip for Decisive Strike, Improved Trip and Invisible Fist or Barbarian for Pounce, Rage and Improved Trip - either would make you a bit more robust, a bit more likely to hit and more likely to trip (which complements setting sun maneuvers and raises to-hit chances further at the same time).