Want some character help

[harveyslayer]

Hello, I am new here and was looking for some help making a character, here is my build so far

Stats str:18 dex;10 con;16 int;10 wis;10 cha;8

Barbaraian 1/Fighter 1/ Cleric 1/ Fighter 2/ Warblade 16

Feats: lv 1: Chill Touch Abberent Dragonmark, Extra Rage, Power Attack
Lv:2 Cleave
Lv 3; extra turning
lv4: improved bull rush
lv6; shock trooper
lv9; blind fight, mage slayer
lv 12; pierce magical concealment
lv13; iron heart guard
lv 15: stormguard warrior

Thats all the farther I have taken this out since i dont think we will get to lv 20. We are level 2 right now and I wanted to try and get this guy into a tier 2 character if possibly, we have a Druid and Cleric and we are going for a little power game so I would like to still be useful later on. Any help is appreciated

[Juntao112]

Why do you have a level of Cleric?

[harveyslayer]

oh forgot to add in the strength devotion and animal devotion feats, thats why

[Juntao112]

Why do you have 3 levels of fighter? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0064.html)

[harveyslayer]

I dont fighter 2 means 2nd level of fighter class. So i have 2 levels in fighter, 1 level inbarbraian, 1 level in cleric just to get the devotion feats for free, and the rest as warblade

[Darrin]

You can't take Shock Trooper at 6th level because you only have BAB +5. You could take Leap Attack there if you prefer.

I'm not all that familiar with the Tier System, but I don't think you can get to Tier 2 with a primarily melee build. Maneuvers just don't come close to doing everything that 9th level spells can do.

Looks like what you have there is tier 3.

[Feint's End]

As has been said you can't get in t2 with just melee. Tiers don't just measure raw power but rather versatility to interact with the world and your options of handling it. From the looks of it you would be high tier 4. The single level of cleric won't pull you out of there. Nothing wrong with tier 4 though.

You should probably change the fighter 2 to fighter 1. As is it is kind of confusing because afterwards you write warblade 16. Does that mean you only take the 16th level?

Last but not least. Any reason for strength domain instead of travel? I think animal is a great idea since it gives you swift action scaling flight without items but strength is just meh especially compared to the much better travel devotion.

[John Longarrow]

Are you planning to increase your wisdom? With a 10, you can't cast 1st level spells.

[weckar]

Barbaraian 1/Fighter 1/ Cleric 1/ Fighter 2/ Warblade 16

That looks like either awkward formatting or three fighter levels, buddy.

[FleshrakerAbuse]

Huh... looks like you're hitting level 21 with that build.

[Oddman80]

What race are you? Too bad about the fairly awful ability scores, but... I guess you get what you get.

I get the cleric dip, but consider going cloistered cleric to also cash in knowledge devotion and give yourself a minimum +1 to hit every enemy.

But what is dipping 1 level of druid doing for you? You get a perpetually weak animal companion, and you won't be able to use any of the druid abilities if you are in armor other than leather or wood... As previously posted, you don't even have the stats to utilize those abilities, if you DID limit your armor type. Not exactly the best for what looks to be a frontline melee build.

You are better off just taking barbarian for 2 levels, in order to pick up Improved Trip for free, through Wolf Totem ACF.

Are you going standard Rage or Whirling Frenzy? Lion Spiritual Totem for Pounce?
The latter two are all so much better when combined with Shock Trooper.

[harveyslayer]

I do have the pounce acf for my guy and we chose our stats based off 32 points. I don't have any level in druid, just the 1 level of cleric for the devotion feats. The pounce is also why I didn't pick travel. Should i still get travel even if I already have pounce? Also we are in the plane of Ebberon for this game.

[Feint's End]

I do have the pounce acf for my guy and we chose our stats based off 32 points. I don't have any level in druid, just the 1 level of cleric for the devotion feats. The pounce is also why I didn't pick travel. Should i still get travel even if I already have pounce? Also we are in the plane of Ebberon for this game.

oh my bad. Yeah strength is probably better then. Travel is really awesome but if you already have pounce it's not as good (while still useful ... don't get me wrong. especially for those times you really need to make a strike but are just out of range with a single moveaction) I second the level of cloistered cleric though. You don't really lose that much but get more skillpoints to play around with + a free domain. What's not to like.

[harveyslayer]

I'll run that by my DM when i level up to 3. He might say no just for the fact cloistered cleric is hours of study, and I am a barbarian at heart. I am kind of confused as to what feats I should take, I know shock trooper and leap attack but is pierce magical concealment worth it for a charging fighter?

[Feint's End]

It's not too bad but if you have your "core" feats (As in the shock trooper + leap attack stuff + power attack) but why not get somethings to increase your options? You could take a look at incarnum for some great options for example. Or take hidden talent and become psionic for some nice stuff like Up the Walls or Speed of Thought.
Maybe somebody else has some nice ideas.
Otherwise having more Extra Turning is never bad for the options through Animal Devotion. Maybe even pick up more Devotion feats and make yourself into a spiritual Warrior.

[harveyslayer]

hmm the spiritual warrior thing sounds like it would fit my characters backstory. He accidently killed his friend in a sparring match with his dragonmark at 16 and was exiled, he has spent the past 4 years wandering the wilds trying to find a way to revive his dead friend. I think thats some spirituality right there. What would you recommend i do for that cuz this is literally my 2nd campain ive played in so i know very little outside of core and a few of the complete series books.

[Demidos]

As a fighter, combat manuevers are your frield -- (Improved) Bull rush or grapple or trip can all give you nice buffs. Also, Psychic Warrior is pretty much just "better" than fighter, especially if you can get the expansion power.

[harveyslayer]

wow this class seems pretty good, too bad i have 10 wisdom tho and that 1 level of fighter tho. This would have worked a lot better

[Oddman80]

I do have the pounce acf for my guy and we chose our stats based off 32 points. I don't have any level in druid, just the 1 level of cleric for the devotion feats. The pounce is also why I didn't pick travel. Should i still get travel even if I already have pounce? Also we are in the plane of Ebberon for this game.

wow. i am an idiot - my brain combined the first half of your post wioth the second half where you mention you had a cleric and a druid in the party.
I apologize for that.

Travel devotion is still pretty clutch especially if you are maximizing shock trooper. you can charge and full power attack, and then get away before they thing that didn't die starts wailing on you. I highly recommend getting a pair of Steadfast Rock Boots - these are a two item combo from MIC, that allow you to both ignore difficult terrain when charging, as well as be readied against charges yourself. this increases the frequency with which you can charge, while also minimizing the risk of getting charged. this is super great if you have the knockdown feat, because an attacker can't finish his charge if he is flat on his back having gotten hit for double damage and then tripped as a result.

Spending 2 skill points (some time when you aren't taking fighter levels) to pick up twisted charge skill trick is also really useful.

[harveyslayer]

How do skill trick feats work?

[Regissoma]

Skill tricks aren't really feats. They require two skill points to learn and you just need the ranks in the proper skills to take that skill trick. Most skill tricks can only be used once an encounter or a few times a day at most.

[harveyslayer]

ok so what I have so far is Barb 1/ Fighter 2/ Cloistered Cleric 1/ Warblade 16

Feats, power attack, cleave, abberent mark chill touch, extra rage, extra turning, travel devotion, animal devotion, knowledge devotion, improved bull rush
leap attack, shock trooper
twisted charge skill trick

Thanks for your help with this,any more suggestions?

[Oddman80]

Well, when the time comes, get the +1 valorous enchantment placed on your weapon for x2 damage on a charge.
And if you want to inspire awe, trade a level of war blade for ranger, pick up a favored enemy (undead or arcane hunter), but more importantly, gain access to the rhino rush spell. Pick up a wand of it for 750 gp, add a wand chamber to that valorous weapon, and now you attack for x3 damage on a charge.

[fishyfishyfishy]

As has been said you can't get in t2 with just melee. Tiers don't just measure raw power but rather versatility to interact with the world and your options of handling it. From the looks of it you would be high tier 4. The single level of cleric won't pull you out of there. Nothing wrong with tier 4 though.

Last but not least. Any reason for strength domain instead of travel? I think animal is a great idea since it gives you swift action scaling flight without items but strength is just meh especially compared to the much better travel devotion.

Warblade is very solidly a Tier 3, and since that is the majority of his characters progression, with the other levels there to compliment it, I'd say this is a T3.

I also suggest taking cloistered cleric if you can for the free knowledge domain for knowledge devotion. Travel devotion is pretty clutch on a build like this as it gives greater maneuverability. There will be circumstances where your cannot charge (difficult terrain) and this feat will allow you to move and full attack anyway.

Other than that you seem to have your feats down nicely. What maneuvers and stances do you plan on taking?

[harveyslayer]

Alright, so pierce magical concealment is staying, with that feat and a ring of blinking ill be a force to be reckoned with even without charging. I was thinking about lead the charge as my 1st level stance if I can count as my own ally, otherwise i'd like punishing stance. The 1st level moment of manuver from diamond mind, eventually iron heart surge. I can get 2 level 9 manuvers by the time i am level 20 so i'd like to work towards time stands still and that one manuver that adds 100 damage to your attack.

[harveyslayer]

bump to the top

[Oddman80]

Given your back story, of roaming in the wild, I reaffirm my ranger recommendation. The 16th level of war blade is doing absolutely nothing for you (except hp). No new maneuvers or stances, and no new abilities. having access to wands without needing to dump points into umd is big. And rangers spell list is a divine spell list which furthers that spiritual warrior thing. Between the cleric list, and ranger list your wand use capability will be really good. It can provide that extra versatility to your character that ups the tier rating, despite taking virtually all melee/warrior class levels

[harveyslayer]

alright but if i lose the 16th level of war blade i wont get to change an old manuver to get a 2nd lv 9 manuver. So i would be stuck with Time Stands Still as my only level 9 manuver. With the splash of ranger what would you recommend I do with that given that I have been wandering around Ebberron?

[harveyslayer]

bump to the top. how many bumps do i get before the mods close a thread btw?

[Feint's End]

Warblade is very solidly a Tier 3, and since that is the majority of his characters progression, with the other levels there to compliment it, I'd say this is a T3.

Warblade is generally agreed upon to be t4. It lacks the utility to get any higher than that. Not saying t4 is bad or boring .... just that the warblade, while being a very powerful and flexible melee dmg dealer, lacks the utility and possibilities outside of combat.