Martial Study

[LordOfCain]

As a level 6 character, what would be the best maneuver for martial study. Fighter 2/Ranger 3/HW 1. TWF.

[gawwy]

what is HW?

[Jack_Simth]

As a level 6 character, what would be the best maneuver for martial study. Fighter 2/Ranger 3/HW 1. TWF.

"Best" depends on what you want to do and your current build. There's not going to be a single answer. What do you want to do with it? Deal more damage? Make saves? Avoid getting hit? Hit back when you get hit? A little ranged ability? There's a rather lot of options.

[Elkad]

what is HW?

Horizon Walker.

[gawwy]

with it being horizon walker... are you doing some weird core only for classes and Prcs?

what other feats do you have?
what environment are you taking at first HW level? whats your goal with this prc?

[LordOfCain]

Weapon focus Heavy pick and Power Attack an Skill Focus Weaonsmithing for flavor. DESERT environment for first level; yes it USA weird core onl . I think I
could get Martial Study however.

[Rubik]

Weapon focus Heavy pick and Power Attack an Skill Focus Weaonsmithing for flavor. DESERT environment for first level; yes it USA weird core onl . I think I
could get Martial Study however.Uh... You okay?

[LordOfCain]

Autocorrect ruins lives... as does laziness and a bad cellphone keyboard.

[Aegis013]

...DESERT environment for first level...

Here are some good options:
1. (2nd level maneuver) Mountain Hammer - useful if you can't full attack (bonus damage), or if you need to punch through stone/break or avoid an obvious trap/collapse a building given sufficient time/et cetera. High utility, useful in combat.

2. (2nd level maneuver) Wall of Blades - useful defense option for combat.

3. (2nd or 1st level maneuver) Moment of Perfect Mind/Action Before Thought - get out of save free card if you have a high concentration check. Especially great because you don't auto-fail on a natural 1 (the last bit may vary between DMs).

4. (1st level maneuver) Distracting Ember - useful utility and in combat. Spawn a small fire elemental within 30ft as a swift action. It can be used to flank, can be a flanking buddy for an ally if timed well. Potentially useful to create light, trigger traps, set things on fire or whatever you can think of to do with a little flame you conjured up nearby (some of these require a mildly lenient DM). This one has the benefit of tying in with your choice of desert as a terrain thematically.

My personal favorites are Mountain Hammer and Distracting Ember (Desert thematic). Though if you plan to use Martial Study again down the road to pick up something higher level you may consider a weaker option now to get a better option in the same school later.

[Rubik]

Autocorrect ruins lives...Try again?

[ben-zayb]

If by maneuvers, you mean non-stance maneuvers only, I'd easily pick Mountain Hammer for its combat/noncombat use.

[Rubik]

If you're going to take Martial Study, remember that the maneuver you pick will stay the same throughout your career, so pick a maneuver that either scales directly really well, remains useful no matter your level, or multiplies the effectiveness of what you can do, so the more powerful you are, the more powerful the multiplier is.

For instance, Iron Heart Surge is always useful, because it negates any effect on you that doesn't prevent your ability to use the maneuver (like stun). White Raven Tactics allow you to use your swift action to give an ally a turn, and since your allies (including yourself) will become stronger the more you level up, it remains relevant through the whole game. If you can pounce, Battle Leader's Charge improves your performance the more attacks you have, even if it's just a flat +10 damage (and it stacks nicely with the Leading the Charge stance).

Also, you might consider buying some of the items that grant maneuvers. You can change the maneuvers you get up as you go, they're much cheaper than a feat, and you can get multiple items in multiple slots. Then take feats that either boost your maneuvers or are boosted by your maneuvers.

[DEMON]

IHS nor WRT are available at level 6 of that build, since your initiator level is just 3.

In my opinion, both Mountain Hammer (ignore DR and harness) and Shadow Jaunt (50ft. teleport) are good options, that remain relevant even later on throughout your career.

If you plan on getting the teleport-thingie of the Horizon Walker later on, then Shadow Jaunt will most likely become obsolete and Mountain Hammer will be a better option.

The save boosters are good, too, but I believe your For and Ref saves are good enough and you can boost the will save with either Resolute ACF for fighter or the Steadfast Determination feat (if those options are available in the campaign, since they are from CC and PHB2 respectively).

[daremetoidareyo]

IHS nor WRT are available at level 6 of that build, since your initiator level is just 3.

In my opinion, both Mountain Hammer (ignore DR and harness) and Shadow Jaunt (50ft. teleport) are good options, that remain relevant even later on throughout your career.

If you plan on getting the teleport-thingie of the Horizon Walker later on, then Shadow Jaunt will most likely become obsolete and Mountain Hammer will be a better option.



This good. Carry an umbrella for shadow near you

[DEMON]

This good. Carry an umbrella for shadow near you

Unlike Shadow Jump, you don't actually need shadow for Shadow Jaunt. You just create one yourself, I think.


A cloud of shadow energy engulfs you, spins into a tiny mote, and disappears. A moment later, this shadowy cloud appears across the battlefield and expels you from it.

[Douglas]

Burning Blade scales well, both directly with level and with number of attacks.

[Endarire]

Why go Martial Study instead of Warblade/Crusader/Swordsage?

[Rubik]

Why go Martial Study instead of Warblade/Crusader/Swordsage?If it's a higher optimization game, you could even pay for some castings of a DCFS (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?119456-What-is-a-quot-Chaos-Shuffle-quot) on the various (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyLight) Armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyMedium) Proficiency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyHeavy) and Shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#shieldProficiency) Proficiency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#towerShieldProficiency) feats, as well as all the Weapon Focus feats a swordsage gets at first level.

That's a lot of feats.

[ben-zayb]

If it's a higher optimization game, you could even pay for some castings of a DCFS (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?119456-What-is-a-quot-Chaos-Shuffle-quot) on the various (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyLight) Armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyMedium) Proficiency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyHeavy) and Shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#shieldProficiency) Proficiency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#towerShieldProficiency) feats, as well as all the Weapon Focus feats a swordsage gets at first level.

That's a lot of feats.They don't get feats, actually. They get the benefit of the feat, which by D&D definition, is only stated as:

Benefit
You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.

[Rubik]

They don't get feats, actually. They get the benefit of the feat, which by D&D definition, is only stated as:And one of the benefits of having the Weapon Focus feat is the ability to DCFS it out.

Would you not say that DCFSing it out is a benefit?

[ben-zayb]

And one of the benefits of having the Weapon Focus feat is the ability to DCFS it out.

Would you not say that DCFSing it out is a benefit?By the feat's Rules as Written benefit? No. But in very high-op games, I can see that being house-ruled in, with varying degrees of moderation.

[Troacctid]

And one of the benefits of having the Weapon Focus feat is the ability to DCFS it out.

Would you not say that DCFSing it out is a benefit?

Of course it's not. The benefit of a feat is part of the feat's entry and clearly demarcated as such. Exchanging one of your existing feats for an Abyssal Heritor feat is an effect of the embrace the dark chaos spell, not a benefit of the feat. Embrace the dark chaos requires you to replace a whole feat, not just the benefit of a feat.