[3.P] [P.o.W] Maneuver selection for a Gish

[Sayt]

So, for a while in my local game I've been running a Fighter 1/Abjurer 4/Runesmith 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldritch knight 6, and the party recently got a relatively large sum of money for completing a hit on a Pit Fiend, and part of that money is going into retraining my Fighter level into Warder (Zweihander Sentinel) and Eldritch Knight levels into Bladecaster. We're currently level 17, and I've got 14 BAB, CL17 and the spells of Wizard 15 and

However, that leaves me with a somewhat strange maneuver progression.

I end up with three 1st level maneuvers, two seconds, a 5th and two 7th level maneuvers, with 5 maneuver's readied.

What I have known and readied for maneuvers are, so far:
1st Red Zephyr's Strike
1st Crushing Blow
1st Shoulder Rush
2nd Rising Zenith strike
2nd Raging Hunter Pounce
5th Scarlet Riposte
7th Riddle of Steel
7th Ruby Battle Lord's Strike

And as for Stances I have Circular Stance and Scarlet Duelist's Attitude, and plan on getting Iron Hide stance at Bladecater 8 (Well, and Stance of Arcane Steel, but Arcane Boost from AbChamp 5 basically makes it irrelevant.)

Does anyone have any recommendations for better maneuver or stance selection? Technically, the 5th level maneuver can be a sixth, but I wanted at least one counter.

[Elricaltovilla]

I would recommend grabbing some Iron Tortoise maneuvers, especially counters as that's where they excel and you mentioned wanting some.

[Sayt]

While a great deal of Iron Tortoise Counters are great, they're highly dependent on Shield AC, and Iron shell is the only one that actually lets you use your strength, but certainly Iron Shell is a better get than, say, Crushing Blow.

[Elricaltovilla]

While a great deal of Iron Tortoise Counters are great, they're highly dependent on Shield AC, and Iron shell is the only one that actually lets you use your strength, but certainly Iron Shell is a better get than, say, Crushing Blow.

You're playing a Zweihander Sentinel right? You have a shield AC from your class abilities, and can shield bash with your weapon, meaning that you can make use of Defensive Shell and Burnished Shell as well. Defensive Shell is a shield bash, meaning it also uses your strength as part of the roll.

Steel Shell is a 6th level counter that also gives you DR 20/- if you fail the counter.

Remember, you have the benefit of Full BAB progression on your side, so even if your shield bonus to AC is low, you're still going to be doing pretty good.

If you're looking for other counters, AC and Save replacers are good choices, since you can use them to shore up your lower saves and touch AC.

[Sayt]

I haven't played with this character for a while, So I forgot that I do in fact have a huge shield to AC bonus from Shield+Abjurant Champion 5, so maneuvers like burnished shell are actually fantastic.

That said, because my AC is quite respectable, anything that actually hits me isn't in a range where it can be countered reliably, so this actually might be a good use for counters like Quick Snap: I can't reasonably stop enemies attacks, so I might as well make them regret it.

I also seem to have mucked up my IL calculations and I'm capped at sixth, not seventh level maneuvers at 17.

[Elricaltovilla]

One thing you need to remember is that AC replacers apply to any AC: Flat-footed and Touch included. So if you have a sky high AC already, that's where you want to use them.

I usually recommend against counters that require you to get hit because... they require you to get hit. Unless you've got easy peasy in combat healing, you still shouldn't try and get hit by enemy attacks.