2 handed fighter optimization

[Nerich]

So I started my build as the charging fighter that has a valorous spiked chain, power attack, cleave, great cleave, improved bullrush, jump attack, and shock trooper.

I am barb1 fighter 6, and I really don't know where to go from here. I'm currently a power house but the other three guys are spell casters so my relevance will start to fade unless I come up with a plan.

My current thoughts for the next two levels are warblade at 8 (for punishing stance, charging minotaur, and lead the attack) and exotic weapon master at 9 (for flurry of strikes)

I want to have a very powerful build, as the others will be, but there are some limitations: I have to stick with the spiked chain, it was my dad's weapon, and my character is not a spellcaster, at all.

So where do I go from here? I can't do frenzied berserker as it was vetoed by the party, but id really like to focus on just hitting for massive damage as the spell folks can do the trickery (and I'm an orc lol)

If you need more info just ask, everything is open except home brews and psionics.
Oh and I'm chaotic neutral.

[TheCrowing1432]

Bear Warrior or Frenzied Berzerker are always attractive options when going uber charger. You may not be able to cast spells, but you can kill things super dead.

[Nerich]

Thought about the bear warrior, but frenzied is not allowed sadly...

[Flickerdart]

How is your Dexterity? Taking Improved Trip and Combat Reflexes will let you control the battlefield effectively. Given that you're the party's only meat, it will be up to you to prevent nasties from getting into the casters' faces, at least until they all grow pet dragons.

Since you already have Shock Trooper, consider Knockback. You can use your reach to Knockback people on AoOs, and into their allies, tripping them both. What fun! Pushing around enemies will help your buddies a lot, since you can corral errant monsters into kill-zones like Black Tentacles.

[Troacctid]

Exotic Weapon Master for flurry of strikes is pretty reasonable. (Assuming you have pounce and Weapon Focus already, anyway.) Extra attacks are nice.

I would wait until 9th level for Warblade, since that way you can get 3rd level maneuvers. (Remember, each of your non-martial-adept levels counts as half an initiator level, so if you have 8 non-martial-adept levels and 1 martial adept level, you have a total initiator level of 5, so you can get 3rd level maneuvers.)

[Nerich]

Oh that's a very good point, I didn't think about that, so I can switch the warblade and weapon master. Great point. Which maneuvers do you recommend?

[Troacctid]

Wall of Blades can help compensate for tanking your AC with Shock Trooper. Iron Heart Surge can be helpful in emergencies in case you get disabled. Mountain Hammer is handy to have for breaking stuff and bypassing DR. Sudden Leap can give you extra movement, which can be useful for setting up charges. White Raven Tactics can give an ally an extra turn, which is pretty great for action economy. Depending on how Battle Leader's Charge works with pounce, it may be a no-brainer. Normally I'd also recommend the save-replacing maneuvers from Diamond Mind, but they lose a lot of value for a Barbarian, since you can't make Concentration checks while in a rage.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

PH2 Chapter 8 has rules on rebuilding/retraining your character's feats, class levels, substitution levels, skills, even race.

You didn't mention what race you're using. If you're Human (or Half-Human, Races of Destiny p150), you should look into retraining one of your 1st level feats to Jotunbrud from Races of Faerun, which basically gives you the Powerful Build trait but without the ability to wield bigger weapons. This should enable you to use the feat Knock-Back in Races of Stone, in which case you'll want to retrain your Fighter 2 and 6 feats to the Dungeoncrasher ACF in Dungeonscape. Every time you hit you'll knock your opponent away, and if you knock them into a solid obstacle such as a wall (or the ground if you're flying above them) you'll also deal Dungeoncrasher damage (8d6 + three times your Str bonus). Also get the Dead Levels class features (archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a), since they're free.

If you have Fast Movement from Barbarian, retrain it to the Lion Spiritual Totem ACF in Complete Champion to get Pounce. Also swap Rage for Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) while you're at it. Take a second level of Barbarian with the Wolf Totem (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) variant to get Improved Trip (ignoring its prerequisites) instead of Uncanny Dodge. You can then take Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown), which combined with Knock-Back will send opponents tumbling across the ground. When you AoO an opponent who tries to get close, they'll be knocked back and knocked prone, and they'll have to spend a move-action to get up and another move-action to get back into melee, so every time you hit someone you'll basically waste their next turn's worth of actions. Definitely get Combat Reflexes as well.

You've already got a lot invested in Fighter, so take that to 9th level and get the Zhentarim Soldier substitution levels (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) (renamed/reflavored to a typical bully with no ties to any organization), retraining your current Fighter levels to those substitution levels as well. Put max ranks in Intimidate, get the Never Outnumbered skill trick in Complete Scoundrel, and take the feat Imperious Command in Drow of the Underdark. At Fighter 9 you can Intimidate an opponent as a swift action, Never Outnumbered makes this affect every opponent within 10 ft. once per encounter, and Imperious Command makes it so anyone you intimidate will cower for one round, and be shaken (or have their existing fear condition escalated by one step) on the following round. This is a superbly effective crowd control that you can do in addition to your normal attacks, and the only investment it takes is skill ranks, substitution levels that have no drawback, and one feat.

Consider making your spiked chain an Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm), you can invest skill ranks into it to gain an additional bonus to your Intimidate checks, and you'll get a 10% bonus to your current and future XP. This also enables you to upgrade it yourself as though you possessed Craft Magic Arms and Armor, though you'll need a spellcaster (another PC most likely) to assist you in meeting caster level and spell prerequisites for whatever you want to add to it. You can buy intelligent item properties for it as you level up, or you can just use the item creation methods to upgrade intelligent item properties onto it yourself ("A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#addingNewAbilities)"). Intelligent items (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm) are regarded as constructs, so it can't be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjoining, and it gets actions in combat that it can use to activate its own special abilities. Give it a greater power to use Swift Fly from Spell Compendium on itself at will (priced as Detect Thoughts at will, both are 2nd level) so it can fly to your hand and even carry you aloft with it. You can even give it a special purpose and dedicated power of your choosing (since you're the item creator when upgrading it) so it can shoot a 10d6 Fireball every round using its own actions. You can also just upgrade magic weapon properties on it such as Speed, Wrathful Healing (from Enemies and Allies, you're healed half the damage it deals, costs a +3), Greater Wounding (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a) (deals 2 Con damage per hit, costs a +4), etc.

Definitely pick up Warblade, I would actually just stick to nothing but Warblade levels for the rest of your career after Barbarian 2/ Fighter 9 (for Improved Trip and Zhentarim Soldier), though maybe take the 10th Fighter level for the bonus feat. If you expect to reach 20th level, maybe just retrain your current Barbarian level into Fighter and make your final build Fighter 9/ Warblade 10/ Fighter 1, which enables you to get Weapon Supremacy in PH2 with your Fighter 10 bonus feat at 20th level. I wouldn't even bother with Exotic Weapon Master.

[sovin_ndore]

I am not going to give the detailed breakdown that others are giving you on this. I will only suggest looking into dipping Crusader for Thicket of Blades[stance] and taking the feat Stand Still. Maybe consider Combat Reflexes or as an extreme option, consider dipping Occult Slayer with this sort of Combo.

[Nerich]

Can't retrain to human, that would change my entire back story and just isn't practical.

However everything else is great information, have a lot of reading to do on the intelligent weapon but I really like it. Really should have done dungeoncrasher, that's just awesome. Thanks a bunch. Not going to retrain the barbarian level though for backstory sake.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Taking Tome of Battle classes never hurts, especially since the initiator level rules mean you're not starting from the ground floor. Maybe add a few levels of Bloodstorm Blade, for more options when charging can't happen? Otherwise... maybe dip into Scout for Skirmish, then hop into a PrC like Nightsong Enforcer with full BAB and Sneak Attack progression? (I think that also progresses Skirmish)

[Nerich]

Hmmmmm I was thinking about the blood storm, mainly because it sounds epic. How effective is it compared to just mass warblade levels? Probably not much of a sneak attacker, more of a run in screaming kind of guy

What about bear warrior into warshaper ? That seems to have some pretty nice bonuses, but in all honesty I don't know how often I'd actually want to be a bear cause I can't use my weapon.

Also combat reflexes seems great but I have literally never gotten to make an aoo as the dm doesn't have enemies switching targets in the middle of a fight.

[Aleolus]

Exotic Weapon Master for flurry of strikes is pretty reasonable. (Assuming you have pounce and Weapon Focus already, anyway.) Extra attacks are nice.

I would wait until 9th level for Warblade, since that way you can get 3rd level maneuvers. (Remember, each of your non-martial-adept levels counts as half an initiator level, so if you have 8 non-martial-adept levels and 1 martial adept level, you have a total initiator level of 5, so you can get 3rd level maneuvers.)

Problem with that. All third level maneuvers require at least two maneuvers of the same school before you can take them.