Swordsage/Warblade Levels Dilemma

[Enyo]

I'm currently about to enter a campaign where there are two tanky characters, a humanoid twfing bear with a non-anthropomorphic bear companion and the other a potentially overpowered homebrew class they found in a wiki, a cleric, and a wizard.. My character is a damage dealer who fights with spiked gauntlets, which the DM considers to be unarmed. The main problem is on deciding which class should be the dominant one in terms of the maneuvers I get to have. Should I go warblade 14/swordsage 6 where I only get Strike of Perfect Clarity as my strongest attack and all the White Raven/Iron Heart stuff or the other way around with other maneuvers like Time Stands Still and Tornado Throw? This isn't a very serious game, but I'd really like to be useful when I'm probably going to be overshadowed by the first two members of the party.

[talonhawk01]

I'm currently about to enter a campaign where there are two tanky characters, a humanoid twfing bear with a non-anthropomorphic bear companion and the other a potentially overpowered homebrew class they found in a wiki, a cleric, and a wizard.. My character is a damage dealer who fights with spiked gauntlets, which the DM considers to be unarmed. The main problem is on deciding which class should be the dominant one in terms of the maneuvers I get to have. Should I go warblade 14/swordsage 6 where I only get Strike of Perfect Clarity as my strongest attack and all the White Raven/Iron Heart stuff or the other way around with other maneuvers like Time Stands Still and Tornado Throw? This isn't a very serious game, but I'd really like to be useful when I'm probably going to be overshadowed by the first two members of the party.

I'd consider the Warblade route. Use the White Raven stuff to make them even more ridiculous. White Raven Tactics on people who are already stupidly strong is hilarious...from the players' PoV. The DM may not appreciate it as much. >.>

[Grooke]

Since you fear being overshadowed by two melee characters, is it safe to assume your two casters aren't playing in a very optimized way?

If thats the case and you are playing a campaign where your warrior-types can really shine, going Warblade can really pay off. You can make it into a powerful warrior in its own right, but buy heavily investing in White Raven (not just WRT) you can make the other two guys insane. If you want to be a heavy-hitter who makes his buddies even worse, you may want to drop Swordsage and look into BardBlade builds. Even if you fall behind in personal damage, you will always be greatly useful to the party.

However, Swordsage also has its merits. Like talonhawk01 said, WRT alone is a huge buff to your team, but you can get it with only a few WB levels. Swordsage would allow you to differentiate yourself from the other two damage dealers and will probably give you more out of combat utility than WB (although, adding Bard to WB also does that).

[Enyo]

But couldn't I get WRT as unarmed SS 14/WB 6?

[Grooke]

Yes, thats what I meant with


Like talonhawk01 said, WRT alone is a huge buff to your team, but you can get it with only a few WB levels.

You don't need to go high-lvl WB to get it.