First Time Warforged

[GrinningDemon]

As the title says this is my first time playing in Eberron and more so my first time playing a Warforged. I know I want it to be a pure warrior death machine lol but I have no idea the best way to go about it. All books from the Eberron world are allowed just need to figure out what works oh and starting level 1.

[lytokk]

Barbarian prestiging into frenzied berserker. Pure death machine and if you pick up some of the Warforged Juggernaut levels, you'll be completely unstoppable. Unfortunately, this also means your party can't stop you either.

On a more serious note, A little more detail might be nice. What class are you thinking? Any sort of backstory or fluff you might be able to think of? Whats the optimization level of the group if you know?

Right now I have a thought for a wildshape ranger, Mithril bodied, who prestiges into primeval, chosing megaraptor as the primeval form. Pick up the dragonborn template for its firebreathing and viola, instant Grimlock.

[Lightlawbliss]

melee artificer, because we all know the artificer is the best at everything

[Fouredged Sword]

First off, you have a ton of immunities. Read them carefully. Know what you are immune to, and what you are not.

Second, decide right away if you want to be mobile, or tough. You want ether Mytheril body or Adimantium body. I prefer adi, but many people are not willing to lose that 10ft of move speed.

Third, you are going to have 8 hours of downtime a day that the rest of the party will not have. Do something useful with it. You can craft all night if you want to, or keep watch.

Fourth, get a surefire easy means of healing yourself. A few eternal wands of repair work well.

Now, classes. Fighter works well, and barbarian is fine, but have you considered Psionic Warrior, or a Psion / ranger / slayer? Both are really good melee combatants. Both also have access (though Psiwar needs to use expanded knowledge at 6th level) to Psionic Repair damage, one of the best healing powers for warforged. 3d8+uncapped ML healing for 3pp. That ends up with something like 10hp per PP of healing before you get into stuff like a torque of power preservation.

I would consider the following.

Ranger 1 / Psion (shaper) 6 / slayer 10 / Psion 3

Get expanded knowledge at 3rd level for Expansion. Get practical manifester to keep your ML up to your HD. Take Adi body at 1st level to get the +8 ac and DR 3/-. You do not need armor prof (heavy) to use your adi plate without penalty. It isn't armor, and has no ACP, just a penalty that is very close to ACP, and psionics ignores ASF. Focus your stats like so Con > Str > Int > dex > will > cha. Focus your powers on self buffs and nice utility. In combat, get big and hit things with a two handed weapon.

[supermonkeyjoe]

any combination of fighter (dungeoncrasher variant) , barbarian, Warforged Juggernaut and frenzied berserker should create a super-smashy warrior.

Warforged juggernaut gives you immunity to a lot of things that take out other fighters:- mind effecting spells and abilities, ability drain and damage, necromancy effects, death effects, all this on top of the usual warforged immunities to poison/disease/drowning etc.

[Shining Wrath]

A Warforged Artificer can literally build his own upgrades, which is seriously cool.

You'll take hits to both Wisdom and Charisma, so Cleric and Paladin are not natural fits, and you have to pay a feat tax to be a Druid.

Consider Mithral Body feat + Warblade or Barbarian. Equivalent armor to Mithral Breastplate so medium armor counting as light, D12 HD combined with all those sweet Warforged immunities. You can play the role I call "disrupter" - you run into the middle of the enemy, let them converge on you, and rely on Improved Uncanny Dodge plus all those HP to stay alive while you uncork the Mithral Tornado / Adamantine Hurricane (if Warblade) or Whirling Frenzy Rage (Barbarian) and deal much scathe. In the mean time your friends can drop CloudKill right on top of you, you'll only care about the loss of visibility. The front line of the battle is YOU, and you will keep moving that front line away from your squishy friends and toward the enemy's squishy people. Get some Tumble going so you can keep moving forward even after the horde arrives.

A counter-intuitive class is Wizard, as you'll be running the risk of Arcane Spell failure with your build-in metal armor. Go Mithral Body (again), add the appropriate armor bonuses and class dip (AFB, can't remember specifics), and you'll be an extremely tough wizard with a slam attack.

[lytokk]

Actually, there is no feat tax for druids. Races of eberron points out that the standard composite plating infers no penalties to druids. You merely don't get to keep it when wildshaped, unlike any of the other bodied feats. But hey, why not take the ironwood body feat. A little bit of DR is always nice, and you keep the armor bonus when wildshaped since its not armor, its a feat.

Also standard composite plating doesn't interfere with a monk's abilities, so there's always that too.

[Red Fel]

Consider Mithral Body feat + Warblade or Barbarian.

Seconding this.

Warblade is the ultimate stylish swordsman. Cool maneuvers, awesome weapon mastery, and pure guts. Barbarian is the ultimate smashing machine. Hulk out and crush things - and as a bonus, be immune to the fatigue when the Rage passes.

Definitely go with Mithral Body. Unless you plan to be the solid, stoic tank, mobility is your friend, and the feat is still an upgrade over your basic composite plating.

If you go with Barbarian, you can't go wrong with the Spirit Lion Totem + Whirling Frenzy combo. Spirit Lion Totem is an ACF from Complete Champion that replaces Barbarian's Fast Movement ability with the Pounce ability, which allows you to make a full attack after a charge. This means you get to leap into the fray and cause much harm. Whirling Frenzy replaces Rage with a more dexterous version, which - among other things - gives you an extra attack. More attacks means more murder. After that, it's all about customizing your particular murder style.

If you instead go with Warblade, you have an optimization banquet set before you. Everybody loves the Iron Heart discipline, of course, but there's something to be said for Tiger Claw's brutal flurrying attacks, Diamond Mind's precise and deadly Concentration-based murder techniques, and Stone Dragon's ability to smash, smash, and smash. And unlike the limited uses you get of Rage, maneuvers can be used repeatedly, and a Warblade can quite literally keep fighting all day.

[Stella]

Definitely go with Mithral Body. Unless you plan to be the solid, stoic tank, mobility is your friend, and the feat is still an upgrade over your basic composite plating.The "solid, stoic tank" can apparently be done pretty well. I was in a game with a Warforged who had the Adamantium body and used a reach weapon to offset the limited mobility. I never saw his build, but he was a quite respectable melee-type in a mid-low optimization game. Far better than most single class Fighters I've seen, reach weapon or not.

[Red Fel]

The "solid, stoic tank" can apparently be done pretty well. I was in a game with a Warforged who had the Adamantium body and used a reach weapon to offset the limited mobility. I never saw his build, but he was a quite respectable melee-type in a mid-low optimization game. Far better than most single class Fighters I've seen, reach weapon or not.

Oh, this is absolutely true. Not easy, but it's possible to be a proper meatshield and still be quite functional. Crusader is awesome for this, and very helpful for Warforged (with their healing deficiency and all). But the OP's language was "pure warrior death machine", which usually suggests damage output over damage soaking. Hence why I suggested Mithral, with its greater options available.

Remember that Mithral Body means you're treated as wearing light armor, whereas Adamantine Body means you're treated as wearing heavy. So right off the bat, certain melee concepts that lose out when wearing heavy armor (e.g. Scout, Ranger, Swashbuckler, Sacred Fist, Dervish, Shou Disciple, even Barbarian's Fast Movement) are eliminated by that choice. Additionally, they take heavy skill penalties, a heavy movement penalty, and ASF (if you decide to gish). Mithral Body may have some minor penalties, but keeps your options much more open.

[GrinningDemon]

Okay thank you so much for the info guys. I've decided to go with Fighter for the extra feats and weapon pro. I'm still debating the ali body vs the mith body.

[lytokk]

If you want mobility, go with mithril. If you want a slow moving yet harder to take down character, adamantine. If you're not sure, I'd normally suggest mithril. Since you don't ever have the option of changing your body feat (barring reforged entry) its really the best bet if you don't have an emphasis idea. in my opinion at least.

[Stella]

Okay thank you so much for the info guys. I've decided to go with Fighter for the extra feats and weapon pro. I'm still debating the ali body vs the mith body.If you go Fighter be sure to keep in mind the options which racial substitution levels open up for you. Battle Hardened is only 1 initiative bonus short of Improved Initiative and the +3 on saves vs. fear effects is pretty good for boosting the Fighter's low Will saves. And it stacks with Improved Initiative, giving you +7 on all initiative rolls.

The 2nd and 4th level Fighter substitution levels can also be handy, depending on your build intention. And you can mix and match with the Paladin substitution levels. You're much more likely to have a meaningful CON bonus than a CHA bonus, further boosting your Will saves.

[Fouredged Sword]

If you are going to be an adi body fighter warforged, I strongly suggest you look up the dungeon crasher fighter ACFs. They play VERY well with warforged juggernaut. You get to punt people around the battlefield causing to both be hurt, and act as pinballs that trip and hurt their allies.

Remember, fighter 6 / warforged juggernaut 5 / reforged 2 / X. Get shocktrooper as a feat.

Now, don't be afraid to wield a reach weapon two handed as a WFJ, as your armor spikes make for good close in weapons.

[GrinningDemon]

Hey guys the advise is being super helpful, sorry to say but I switched at the last minute to the ali body. But now my touch attack is terrible, any advise how how to fix that?

[LanSlyde]

Fighter6/Warforged Juggernaut5/Barbarian5/Fighter+4

Use the dungeoncrasher acf, trapkiller, and spirit lion totem, and Whirling Frenzy

Go Two-Handed with a greataxe, pickup Axespike style, Jaws of Death, and Second Slam. Your other feats are variable.

This will net you a maximum of 8 attacks, 4 axe swings, 2 slams, a bite, and a strike with your armor spikes. Your ability to crash through solid object is unparalleled, and quite frankly, it fits the mental image of a whirling metallic death machine. In fact, pick up Shocking Fist just so you can Captain Falcon someone in the middle of your rampage.

Be sure to open all combat with a one-liner referencing the superiority of the machine, end all combat by attributing your victory to the blessings of the Omnissiah.

[Blackhawk748]

Fighter6/Warforged Juggernaut5/Barbarian5/Fighter+4

Use the dungeoncrasher acf, trapkiller, and spirit lion totem, and Whirling Frenzy

Go Two-Handed with a greataxe, pickup Axespike style, Jaws of Death, and Second Slam. Your other feats are variable.

This will net you a maximum of 8 attacks, 4 axe swings, 2 slams, a bite, and a strike with your armor spikes. Your ability to crash through solid object is unparalleled, and quite frankly, it fits the mental image of a whirling metallic death machine. In fact, pick up Shocking Fist just so you can Captain Falcon someone in the middle of your rampage.

Be sure to open all combat with a one-liner referencing the superiority of the machine, end all combat by attributing your victory to the blessings of the Omnissiah.

This just seems awesome, personally i would wield a Maul but thats just me. Otherwise this seems perfect.

[torrasque666]

If you are going to be an adi body fighter warforged, I strongly suggest you look up the dungeon crasher fighter ACFs. They play VERY well with warforged juggernaut. You get to punt people around the battlefield causing to both be hurt, and act as pinballs that trip and hurt their allies.

Remember, fighter 6 / warforged juggernaut 5 / reforged 2 / X. Get shocktrooper as a feat.

Now, don't be afraid to wield a reach weapon two handed as a WFJ, as your armor spikes make for good close in weapons.

Don't go with Reforged if going with Juggernaut. Not only are they in the opposite directions fluffwise(lean more towards construct vs lean more towards living), Reforged's Magical Healing ability does NOT overwrite Juggernaut's Healing Immunity. The Magical Healing states:
Magical Healing (Ex): Also at 2nd level, you gain the full benefit of any magical healing applied to you, rather than half the benefit of such effects. referring to the penalty associated with the Living Construct subtype, while Healing Immunity states:
Healing Immunity:Starting at 3rd level, as a warforged juggernaut becomes more like a construct and less like a living creature, it becomes immune to the effects of spells from the healing subschool (http://dndtools.eu/spells/sub-schools/healing/) that heal hit point damage. In addition, it can no longer benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items, such as heroes' feast (http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-v35--6/heroes-feast--2400/) and potions.

You cannot gain the full effect as you cannot gain the effect at all. 100% of 0 is still 0.

[LanSlyde]

This just seems awesome, personally i would wield a Maul but thats just me. Otherwise this seems perfect.

Meh, the greataxe is requires for the Axespike style, if your going to grow armor spikes why not make the most of them you know?

[captain fubar]

war forged tend to be great beat sticks and they are also good choices for an artificer despite the cha penalty as they are valid targets for their own infusions.
shocking fist + stone power is a thematically interesting alternative to power attack should you follow the path of the beat stick.

if you want to play something with arcane spell failure dragon born will remove your composite plating without the feat tax while keeping all the nice things that come with the living construct sub type (though I find the mental image of the resulting creature kind of funny).

while the spell carved soldier has a cool feel to it you are better off just sticking with whatever spell casting qualified you for it and borrowing the fluff.

there are also many ways to abuse the ability to enchant your self with weapon/armor abilitys for example the Durable armour enhancement makes a suit of armor immune to acid and rusting normally not all that big a deal but when you are said armor then it is very useful.

[GrinningDemon]

I think if I take I take dungeoncrasher it's required to yell "I'm the Juggernaut bitch."

[Ellowryn]

And it's name will be Rick James.

[GrinningDemon]

Also I was wondering how would an unarmed fighter warforged go? I was looking over the dungeoncrasher class and that got me thinking about the unarmed grappler style.

[captain fubar]

a battle fist will go nicely with your unarmed forge concept allowing your unarmed strikes and slam to share enchants though combining your slam with an iterative will turn it into a secondary natural attack giving you -5 on the to hit roll and reducing your strength bonus. that and the bonus damage + more diverse damage type is nice too.

as for the use of fighter there are some alternative class features for the warforged fighter in races of ebberon depending on how many feats your build needs they could be worth look as well.

[Fouredged Sword]

Warforged who use unarmed strikes have an nice little combo built into the system. They have a slam that qualifies them for the beast strike feat, meaning they add their slam damage to their unarmed strike damage every time they hit with an unarmed strike.

Now a battlefist adds to the strike and the slam at the same time. Get your friendly wizard to cast greater mighty wallop on both and deal 12d6 damage a hit with your fists!

[GrinningDemon]

Thank you guys so much for your insight! It's helped me get a better picture for this character. So for an update to the character so any additional thoughts would be great. Any items would be helpful as well as well as when would be the best time to take a level of dungeoncrasher?

Fighter 1st level
Feats: Power Attack, Ali body
Weapons: Battle axe, and unarmed strikes (trying to improve these)
Extra: I have a spike on chain like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat for gap closing.
Abilities: Str-18, Con-18, Dex-18, Wis-16,Int-15,cha-10

I do plan on taking Snap kick and Beast strike once I'm high enough level. I also plan on taking Dungeoncrasher because I like the idea of being able to smash my foe into the walls and just smash and throw them around.

[torrasque666]

Take dungeoncrasher as your 2nd level. You don't need to go all 6 levels of fighter to get the benefits it provides, just two.

[Tindragon]

melee artificer, because we all know the artificer is the best at everything

2nd.

Its pretty MAD, but if you have the stats, very awesome character. You get 8 hours while everyone sleeps to be the watcher, or use your pet for that, while you craft all over yourself. Party buffs, self heals, self buffs, you can keep up as a secondary tank in a pinch as well.