Can a Lvl 2 Warblade compete with 3d6 damage per hit?

[wayfare]

Hey All:

I have a Warblade in my upcoming martial arts game who weilds our version of a katana (1d8/18-20/x2). Another player s playind a Templar (homebrew here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283960).

So the Warblade wants to be the party damage dealer, but my Templar is using a Warmace as her Deity Weapon, which increases its damage to 3d6. My Warblade is using diamond mind and iron heart -- how can he keep up as a damage dealer in the early levels?

[Gavinfoxx]

Strength, two handing, and power attack when using maneuvers?

[BowStreetRunner]

Punishing Stance gives you +1d6 damage all day. Sapphire Nightmare blade can give you another +1d6, but as a strike you can do this at most every other turn with a recovery round in between. Steel Wind helps by allowing you to make attacks against two opponents as a standard action and at full BAB, which will certainly increase your DPR as well.

As Gavinfoxx stated, a two-handed weapon with Power Attack can get the damage up as well. A high STR score will not only increase your attack bonus to counter the penalty you take when using Power Attack, but also increases the damage dealt. Add Weapon Focus - again to help offset the attack penalty - and when you reach 6th level you can pick up Weapon Specialization too. You might also consider aiming for Melee Weapon Mastery by 9th level.

You will have no problem keeping up in DPR and should eventually start to outpace the Templar in the long run as your maneuvers improve.

[ddude987]

Also could play something like a Goliath. That nets 3d6 from a greatsword and +4 str bonus on top of that.

[Barsoom]

Greatsword + Punishing Stance is 3d6 out of the box.
Add Power Attack and Steel Wind when applicable, and you're keeping up quite nicely.

A small trick you can do with Punishing Stance:
Round 1: Activate PS, attack
Round 2: Attack, deactivate PS
Round 3+: repeat

This nets you the +1d6 damage always, but -2 AC only half the time. Good on low levels, when you don't have much to do with your swift actions anyway.

[Twilightwyrm]

Keep in mind also that, by 3rd level (even if you are focusing on Iron Heart and Diamond Mind), simply taking Mountain Hammer potentially gives you another 2d6, as do many other maneuvers. Hell, Stone Dragon is particularly good for this. At 1st level, you can be doing effectively 5d6 + 2.5xSTR damage with Charging Minotaur and Punishing Stance.