Spear Fighter

[Invader]

Is there a good predescribed spear fighter build floating out there anywhere? Any good feats for fighting with a spear?

Pretty much everything except ToB and MoI is on the table and the cap is going to be level 12 or 13.

[Kuulvheysoon]

I'm a big fan of Shorten Grip (Dragon Compendium) - it lets you use a reach polearm to attack adjacent foes (with a -2 penalty). No need to use actions to switch, just a minor penalty.

[DawnRaven]

Is there a good predescribed spear fighter build floating out there anywhere? Any good feats for fighting with a spear?

Pretty much everything except ToB and MoI is on the table and the cap is going to be level 12 or 13.

Little red raiding hood (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1659301) is based off of using spears and leaping about like a final fantasy dragoon. The build is a classic. Some of it uses ToB, but there are multiple build options in the thread.

[Gwendol]

You can make a hoplite by refluffing the trident to a spear.

[Invader]

Little red raiding hood (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1659301) is based off of using spears and leaping about like a final fantasy dragoon. The build is a classic. Some of it uses ToB, but there are multiple build options in the thread.

This is an excellent source that I didn't know about, thank you!


I'm a big fan of Shorten Grip (Dragon Compendium) - it lets you use a reach polearm to attack adjacent foes (with a -2 penalty). No need to use actions to switch, just a minor penalty.

This is the only feat I knew was specifically related to fighting with a spear, I'm also a fan and was planning on using it.

[Scow2]

Combat Reflexes is a big one. If you grab a Guisarm instead of Spear, you can make Trip attacks, and use Combat Expertise and Improved Trip.

[ArcturusV]

Don't forget throwing. Really that's the one advantage to using spear. Plus you get shock value against your DM/Players. Because there's always that guy who just goes, "... wait... what? What do you mean I just got 5 spears in the gut! He's not in range.... what do you mean THROWN?!"

I mean as long as you're going with spears, might as well get the full use out of them. Believe there's some throwing feats in... complete warrior that gets you power attack to thrown weapons, which helps negate some of the annoyances of ranged combat to start with.

Really it's why I pick up spears on characters. There's not a lot out there that quite combines ranged combat and melee combat quite as good as it. But sadly it's something much more effective in general for enemies than PCs. Lets you open up simple tactics like pike hedging, shield walls and throwing spears from behind it, etc. Simple stuff, but ruins people's days pretty quickly.

[Invader]

Don't forget throwing. Really that's the one advantage to using spear. Plus you get shock value against your DM/Players. Because there's always that guy who just goes, "... wait... what? What do you mean I just got 5 spears in the gut! He's not in range.... what do you mean THROWN?!"

I mean as long as you're going with spears, might as well get the full use out of them. Believe there's some throwing feats in... complete warrior that gets you power attack to thrown weapons, which helps negate some of the annoyances of ranged combat to start with.

Really it's why I pick up spears on characters. There's not a lot out there that quite combines ranged combat and melee combat quite as good as it. But sadly it's something much more effective in general for enemies than PCs. Lets you open up simple tactics like pike hedging, shield walls and throwing spears from behind it, etc. Simple stuff, but ruins people's days pretty quickly.

Is there a version of a spear that combines reach and having a range to be thrown?

[Joe the Rat]

I mean as long as you're going with spears, might as well get the full use out of them. Believe there's some throwing feats in... complete warrior that gets you power attack to thrown weapons, which helps negate some of the annoyances of ranged combat to start with. Brutal Throw, in Complete Adventurer lets you use Strength for your to-hit. That's your set-up for the goods: Power Throw. Reads as Power Attack, but makes no reference to weapon size or modifiers. So no boost for throwing a two-handed weapon... but Power Throw Shuriken!

Throw Anything would let you throw a Longspear. 10' range increment, but that's what you get with a Trident.

[Xaotiq1]

Is there a version of a spear that combines reach and having a range to be thrown?

Well, according to the SRD, you can throw a 2H weapon as a full round action:

"It is possible to throw a weapon that isn’t designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn’t have a numeric entry in the Range Increment column on Table: Weapons), but a character who does so takes a -4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet."

or get the throwing enhancement put on it. :smallwink:

[Tevesh]

I have two suggestions, one would be a bit of homebrew and the other is 3rd party.

The Homebrew is there is a Drow Fighting Style that allows Javelins to be used in melee and then immediately thrown. I think the fluff is you throw the javelin so hard it rips through the melee target and hits the ranged one. Swap Javelin for Spear.

The 3rd party is from Monte Cookie's Experimental Might. There's a Feat called Spearfighter that is Full Attacks provoke AoOs. I like the fluff from this because you get to poke whenever someone makes themselves vulnerable to you.

Finally, there is there Skewer Foe in Champions of Ruin. Subsequent hits with a Piercing Weapon deal an extra d6 of damage.

[TripleD]

Steadfast Boots from the MiC. Always readied against charge. Combine with Combat Reflexes and Hold The Line for two AoO at double damage against any charging enemy (of your size or smaller).