help me with my knight build

[bigbaddragon]

Hi everyone:smallsmile:

I was digging through the books recently and i came up with idea to play a knight. I immediately decided to take one level (or two) of marshal as well, I like the aura that lets you add charisma bonus to trip, disarm, sunder & bull rush attempts.

I want to carry spiked chain and most likely take improved disarm, trip and maybe even sunder feats. My main problem is that I'm unsure about what PrC to go for if any. Kensai maybe.

About DM's rules:

1) 33 point buy system, all stats start at 8, cost 1 point per actual stat point to increase to 15, 2 points to increase from 15 to 16 (same applies for increase 16-17) and 3 points from 17 to 18

2) we get a new skill - "Feat". five ranks give any feat for which you meet the requirements. You always treat is as class skill when determining max number of ranks, BUT if you belong to a class that has more than 4 skill points per level you treat it as cross class when taking ranks (able learner doesn't lower the cost to 1 skill point in this case)

3) all characters get one extra skill point per level (4 at first)
and classes that have 2 skill points now all have 4

Campaign setting is Eberron.

I came up with this stats:
str 16, dex 10, con 14, int 13, wis 10 and cha 16 : do you think I made a good choice?

Anyway, what I need is all the help I can get regarding prestige classes (especially prestige classes), feats (without using tome of battle book of nine swords) and equipment.

Just one more question: am I asking too much or knight should have good fort saves and diplomacy as class skill?

Thanks in advance.

[Matthew]

I don't understand number 2)

Are you sure you want to use a Spiked Chain with a Knight? It's one of the few Base Classes that have Class Features that refer to Shields.

[Damionte]

That particular combo doesn't need a prestige class.

[Gralamin]

I would Personally Suggest being a dwarf Knight, and just going Knight and Dwarven Defender.
For Equipment, you should have The best Fullplate you can afford. The Best Tower Shield you can afford, and then whatever weapon you can + other items.
A knight Should not use a two handed weapon. A knight should boost his Challenge DC as hi as he can.

My advice to you is: Do not treat a Knight like a fighter. A Knight has the ability to force opponents to come to you, and to fight you. Therefore you want the highest AC you can muster.

If you have access to Tome of Battle, take Bloodstorm Blade.

[Matthew]

I cannot condone the recommending of Tower Shields, just on general principle. Oh yeah, I just realised this is kind of level dependent, as he can always get an Animated Shield, though I cannot condone that either really, also on principle.

[skywalker]

Just one more question: am I asking too much or knight should have good fort saves and diplomacy as class skill?

I think it's funny that the knight doesn't have diplomacy as a class skill. I think the knight has enough fun features that giving them another good save might be a balance issue. Will works better with the fluff.

Gralamin, he specifically said he couldn't use ToB.

However, I concur with your post. The dwarf knight, especially in this case, only loses one point of charisma bonus, gains a very useful point of CON bonus, and is capable of using a shield and a dwarven waraxe for no feat cost. Then he goes dwarven defender, draws all enemies to him, and what attacks that do hit are soaked up by d12 HD and high CON. I think you have a beautiful combination in a dwarf knight/dwarven defender. I say use the shield and waraxe for big time damage and AC. However, in keeping with the idea of "don't treat a knight like a fighter" I also recommend avoiding the tower shield.

[AtomicKitKat]

Don't bother with any shield bigger than a buckler. Knight should be aiming to keep opponents grounded within his threat zone. To that end, Spiked Chain, Spiked Armour+Reach Weapon, etc. all work. Keep them flat in your zone, keep your Dex high, and opponents are basically getting "Entangled". Even better if you can find some way to get Freedom of Movement on yourself while the casters drop actual Entangles on them(and you, obviously). Your opponents will never get past you unless the zone is huge enough to let them run around you. Get some size/reach increases, and you're set.

[bigbaddragon]

Matthew : 2) means that you can get yourself 4 bonus feats (lvl 2, 7, 12 and 17) if you're willing to spend some skill points.

The reason I want to use spiked chain is that I want to be party tripper/disarmer and my party wizard became very eager to cast enlarge person once I told him about my idea (maximize my kill zone), he even wants to make me an item that would allow me to cast it on myself a few times per day, and this would be very useful because opponents would treat all the squares I threaten as difficult terrain.

Also I wanted to get that living spiked chain from Miniatures handbook that gives +4 to trip attempts.

Damionte: You're right, just wanted some ideas.

Gralamin: Dwarf (stability bonus) , not bad idea for my tripping combo at all, I oversaw that.

Matthew: Regrettably, animated shields do not exist with our DM

AtomicKitKat: My kind of thinking - exactly what I wanted

Thanks everyone, you have been very useful

[Kurald Galain]

Isn't that "feat" skill a bit overpowered? It gives all the low-skill-point characters two free feats per five levels (if spending those extra skill points on feats) and 5sp for a feat is a very good tradeoff anyway (considering one of the weaker feats is to give +2 on two skills). You could have a wizard that gains +1 feat per level.

Other than that, take the NI skill.

[TO_Incognito]

You aren't proficient with Tower Shields anyway; you'd have to multiclass to Fighter :smalleek:. Also, a Knight does not have to be using a shield for his Shield Block ability to function, does he?

[Person_Man]

I'm a huge fan of the Knight (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060501a&page=2), and have played one and DM'd a game with one. Here's my advice, for what its worth:

1) Tower Shield = Bad. Matthew is right about this. Even if its animated, it gives you an attack penalty. And considering how many great feats there are for a Knight, its a huge waste.

2) A Knight's main assets are Test of Mettle and Vigilante Defender. With them, the right feat selection, and intelligent tactics, you can control the entire battlefield. So its sometimes a very bad idea multi-class as a Knight, because doing so screws your opposed DC.

3) If you just want to be a Trip build, I suggest a Psychic Warrior with a one level dip into Pyrokineticist. Expansion and touch attacks are better then Enlarge Person and a Spiked Chain.

4) Speaking of the Spiked Chain, its been my personal experience that its a waste of time, especially for a Knight. First, consider that you'd be throwing away your shield bonus until you could afford an animated shield. Far more importantly, its a waste of a feat when you get plenty of other serviceable reach weapons for free (lance, guisarme). Consider how rare it is for an enemy to get past your reach (and at least one AoO), survive, then you start your turn adjacent to them before someone else in your party can kill them, and you are incapable of taking a 5' step back in order to attack them as normal. In that very rare occasion, you can still wallop them with a spiked gauntlet. The minor bonus to Trip isn't worth wasting a feat. And there is never a reason to disarm an enemy. As a full BAB class, you should be able to kill any one enemy with a charge or a full attack. If you can't, you're built sub-optimally.

5) I'm partial to using a mounted halfling Knight build. Using Spirited Charge and a lance two-handed (Power Attack = *6 per BAB) with an animated shield, you get the complete package, speed, high AC, high hit points, high damage, and battlefield control. Use Knock-Down to Trip your enemies for free, and they'll have an insanely hard time getting close to you. Hit and run, hit and run, drawing your enemies away from everyone else in your party. I've also seen a Goliath Knight with Knockback work well in combat. Or you could always use an Orc or Half Orc with Headlong Rush, though that's Forgotten Realms specific.

[bigbaddragon]

Kurald Galain: I believe you misread - no matter what class you belong you can get 4 feats till level 20 and thats it, no feat per level for wizards.

Person Man: Could you be so kind and post me builds on those two knights you mentioned (your knight and that which belonged to one of your players).
And one more thing: you mentioned using animated shield - my DM disintegrated it from shield special properties so it doesn't exist anymore :smallsmile:

[Matthew]

Yeah, PersonMan is right about the Spiked Chain. You are a lot better off going Weapon and Shield for a few levels, before switching to a Martial Trip Weapon and using either Improved Unarmed Strike or Armour Spikes, if you think it necessary.

What level are you starting at?

[bigbaddragon]

Level 7 to 10, can't tell exactly. Depends on how soon will my current character go to the afterlife.
I'm planing on going knight with my backup character.

[bigbaddragon]

Btw what do you think about halberd instead of spiked chain or even a ranseur if I manage to get my DM to make it a tripping weapon?

[Matthew]

Well, the Halberd doesn't have Reach, which may give you some problems. I would have thought a Glaive would be your best bet (you can still Trip with it, you just get no bonuses from the weapon itself).

[bigbaddragon]

You're right about halberd Matthew. Don't know where I was looking.

Btw when do I stop being a pixie in the playground? Its kinda annoying :smallfrown:

[Matthew]

Easily done. There is a Reach version somewhere out there...

User titles and Post Counts (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45659). I wouldn't worry about it, they don't mean anything.

[bigbaddragon]

What did you mean by:

"Easily done. There is a Reach version somewhere out there..."

[Matthew]

Just that it's a common mistake that the Halberd has reach and that there are several Halberd variants in Dragon and other sources that do have Reach, such as:

Lochbar Axe - Dragon #331 (also has Trip)
Heavy Pole Axe - Complete Adventurer, Complete Warrior
Dwarven War Pike - Races of Stone

Unfortunately they are all Exotic Weapons, but hey, that means you can go Exotic Weapon Master...

[Kurald Galain]

Kurald Galain: I believe you misread - no matter what class you belong you can get 4 feats till level 20 and thats it, no feat per level for wizards.
Oh yeah, skill by level limits. D'oh.

[Person_Man]

Person Man: Could you be so kind and post me builds on those two knights you mentioned (your knight and that which belonged to one of your players).
And one more thing: you mentioned using animated shield - my DM disintegrated it from shield special properties so it doesn't exist anymore :smallsmile:

Sir Didymus
Strongheart Halfling Knight 10

Con > Cha > Dex > Str > Int 13 > Wis (dump): You need a 14 or 16 Dex, because you're going to be taking a lot of AoO. It's ok to dump Wis, because you have a strong Will Save and can always buy a Cloak of Resistance.

Strongheart Halflings lose their Save bonus and gain a bonus feat instead.

Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip (Halfling bonus), Mounted Combat (bonus), Knock-Down (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/divineFeats.html), Ride By Attack (bonus), Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Spirited Charge (bonus). If possible, also pick up Shock Trooper via a Flaw. Though its not pivotal for this build, it helps a lot on your Charge attacks.

Invest in Handle Animal. Buy a pack of dogs, trained for guard duty, attack, and riding. They're cheap, fast, and also useful for disarming traps in dungeons. (Fetch the bone Lassie!) Ride one into combat, and have the others guard the campsite and act as replacements in case your main mount gets killed. An even better combination is if you have a Druid or Ranger in the party with an animal companion. At higher levels, you can take Leadership or Dragon Cohort and get something more useful, preferably something with flight.

Your combo is simple. Use Test of Mettle to draw your enemies to you. Charge through and past them repeatedly, drawing them as far away as you can from the rest of your party. Divide and conquer. Have the rest of the party gang up on whoever passed their Test of Mettle Save, and once they're dead, have them kill whoever is following you around - one at a time - vastly increasing your party's effectiveness.

Use your lance and shield together for higher AC, or use your lance two handed for Power Attack and Spirited Charge for 3(1d6+magic+[Str*1.5]+[BAB*2]) damage. You mentioned that your DM has eliminated animated shields. This is pretty common. I let my PC's use magical bracers or a helmet with the exact same properties as an animated shield (same costs, same type of AC bonus), but without the floating shield fruitiness. You might want to suggest this house rule to your DM, so that you can get your Knight shield bonus to AC without having to give up high damage.

If someone tries to attack you, you get a free hit on them (lance is a reach weapon) followed by a free Trip attempt (Knock-Down). Remember, no one can charge through an occupied square, so if the person isn't killed, they become defensive terrain for you. And with Vigilante Defender, Skill Monkeys and Monks will have a hard time bypassing your defenses.

Also, its important to note that if someone under the effect of your Test of Mettle is standing 0-10 feet away from you, your next action should usually be to Withdraw or Move away at your full speed, or if possible Charge through and past them, ending up 70ish feet away. Don't make a Full Attack. And don't take your To-Hit down so far with Power Attack that you risk missing. This is counter intuitive, but remember that your main goal on the battlefield is to control your enemies, not engage them. If they spend every round chasing you, that's another round they're not attacking your friends. This is your true goal. Occasional massive damage from a great charge attack is just a helpful side effect.

Keep in mind that using this combo is just begging your DM to throw incorporeal (immune to Trip) enemies with no Int score (immune to Test of Mettle) at you. So I suggest you buy two lances: One main +4 Adamantine Lance for regular combat, and a secondary +1 Cold Steel Ghost Touch Lance of Disruption for when its appropriate.

He'll also mix in a large number of ranged combatants, so be sure to have a friend cast Protection from Arrows on you daily.
Ping Pong Pete
Goliath (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20040711b&page=5) Knight 12 (ECL 13)

Feats: Power Attack, Mounted Combat (bonus), Improved Bull Rush, Ride By Attack (bonus), Combat Reflexes, Knockback (Races of Stone), Spirited Charge (bonus), Shock Trooper.

Pete has two combo's. The first copies Sir Didymus. Get on a horse, use Test of Mettle, divide and conquer. Note that your damage output will definitely be higher, because you can use a large lance, use Shock Trooper to shift the To-Hit penalty to AC, and will generally have higher Str.

The second combo revolves around Knockback. It's a feat that's limited to Large and Powerful Build races which gives you a free Bull Rush whenever you hit an enemy, adding your Power Attack bonus to it. So instead of leaving your enemies Prone, you push them back. Shock Trooper allows you to move your enemies one square to the left or right for each square you push them back. And it gives you a free Trip attempt if you can steer a Bull Rushed enemy into another enemy's square. And hilariously, all your enemies can do is get up and head right back towards you.

This build is more powerful, but it suffers from two big weaknesses. First, since goliaths are a medium race, they can generally only be mounted while outdoors. Being a small race, Sir Didymus can pretty much go anywhere on his medium mount, maintaining his mobility under almost any conditions. If you just know that you're going to be spending a lot of time indoors, then drop the Ride By Attack and Spirited Charge and pick up Iron Will and Great Fortitude instead (sigh, I wish the Knight's bonus feat list was better), and pick up Leap Attack as soon as you can.

Second, Sir Didymus is playable at every level, but Pete desperately needs lots of feats for his key second combo to work. Keep in mind that he was originally a much higher level PC. Flaws help. But if you can't use flaws and you're playing at mid levels you have to suck it up and take 2 levels of Fighter, and accept the fact that your Knight abilities will be somewhat sub-par.

[Serpentine]

First of all: >headdesk...well...headlap< Whose idea was "Sir Didymus"?
Secondly: I've got a dwarf knight, heading towards dwarven defender. I think she's working alright, except her horse drowned...
Thirdly: I actually quite like the idea of the spiked chain, though I'm not sure how they actually work in-game. Keep in mind that the knight is the ultimate meatshield - they're not the best damage-dealers of the game, and they're made to get hit so that the rest of the party isn't. It might be worth discussing homebrewing a little if you're determined to use a 2-handed weapon, maybe try to convert all the shield-related stuff to armour or defensive use of weapons (bonus to fighting defensively? That feat that grants you some AC from a weapon (PHB2? Again?)? Whatever it is, make sure it enhances your defences). I think a reach weapon is certainly worth-while, though, if you can arrange it - I know there's at least one ability that's determined by reach.

[bigbaddragon]

Person Man: Thanks for the help.

[skywalker]

Sir Didymus
Strongheart Halfling Knight 10

Con > Cha > Dex > Str > Int 13 > Wis (dump): You need a 14 or 16 Dex, because you're going to be taking a lot of AoO. It's ok to dump Wis, because you have a strong Will Save and can always buy a Cloak of Resistance.

Strongheart Halflings lose their Save bonus and gain a bonus feat instead.

Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip (Halfling bonus), Mounted Combat (bonus), Knock-Down (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/divineFeats.html), Ride By Attack (bonus), Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Spirited Charge (bonus). If possible, also pick up Shock Trooper via a Flaw. Though its not pivotal for this build, it helps a lot on your Charge attacks.

Invest in Handle Animal. Buy a pack of dogs, trained for guard duty, attack, and riding. They're cheap, fast, and also useful for disarming traps in dungeons. (Fetch the bone Lassie!) Ride one into combat, and have the others guard the campsite and act as replacements in case your main mount gets killed. An even better combination is if you have a Druid or Ranger in the party with an animal companion. At higher levels, you can take Leadership or Dragon Cohort and get something more useful, preferably something with flight.

Your combo is simple. Use Test of Mettle to draw your enemies to you. Charge through and past them repeatedly, drawing them as far away as you can from the rest of your party. Divide and conquer. Have the rest of the party gang up on whoever passed their Test of Mettle Save, and once they're dead, have them kill whoever is following you around - one at a time - vastly increasing your party's effectiveness.

Use your lance and shield together for higher AC, or use your lance two handed for Power Attack and Spirited Charge for 3(1d6+magic+[Str*1.5]+[BAB*2]) damage. You mentioned that your DM has eliminated animated shields. This is pretty common. I let my PC's use magical bracers or a helmet with the exact same properties as an animated shield (same costs, same type of AC bonus), but without the floating shield fruitiness. You might want to suggest this house rule to your DM, so that you can get your Knight shield bonus to AC without having to give up high damage.

If someone tries to attack you, you get a free hit on them (lance is a reach weapon) followed by a free Trip attempt (Knock-Down). Remember, no one can charge through an occupied square, so if the person isn't killed, they become defensive terrain for you. And with Vigilante Defender, Skill Monkeys and Monks will have a hard time bypassing your defenses.

Also, its important to note that if someone under the effect of your Test of Mettle is standing 0-10 feet away from you, your next action should usually be to Withdraw or Move away at your full speed, or if possible Charge through and past them, ending up 70ish feet away. Don't make a Full Attack. And don't take your To-Hit down so far with Power Attack that you risk missing. This is counter intuitive, but remember that your main goal on the battlefield is to control your enemies, not engage them. If they spend every round chasing you, that's another round they're not attacking your friends. This is your true goal. Occasional massive damage from a great charge attack is just a helpful side effect.

Keep in mind that using this combo is just begging your DM to throw incorporeal (immune to Trip) enemies with no Int score (immune to Test of Mettle) at you. So I suggest you buy two lances: One main +4 Adamantine Lance for regular combat, and a secondary +1 Cold Steel Ghost Touch Lance of Disruption for when its appropriate.

He'll also mix in a large number of ranged combatants, so be sure to have a friend cast Protection from Arrows on you daily.
Ping Pong Pete
Goliath (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20040711b&page=5) Knight 12 (ECL 13)

Feats: Power Attack, Mounted Combat (bonus), Improved Bull Rush, Ride By Attack (bonus), Combat Reflexes, Knockback (Races of Stone), Spirited Charge (bonus), Shock Trooper.

Pete has two combo's. The first copies Sir Didymus. Get on a horse, use Test of Mettle, divide and conquer. Note that your damage output will definitely be higher, because you can use a large lance, use Shock Trooper to shift the To-Hit penalty to AC, and will generally have higher Str.

The second combo revolves around Knockback. It's a feat that's limited to Large and Powerful Build races which gives you a free Bull Rush whenever you hit an enemy, adding your Power Attack bonus to it. So instead of leaving your enemies Prone, you push them back. Shock Trooper allows you to move your enemies one square to the left or right for each square you push them back. And it gives you a free Trip attempt if you can steer a Bull Rushed enemy into another enemy's square. And hilariously, all your enemies can do is get up and head right back towards you.

This build is more powerful, but it suffers from two big weaknesses. First, since goliaths are a medium race, they can generally only be mounted while outdoors. Being a small race, Sir Didymus can pretty much go anywhere on his medium mount, maintaining his mobility under almost any conditions. If you just know that you're going to be spending a lot of time indoors, then drop the Ride By Attack and Spirited Charge and pick up Iron Will and Great Fortitude instead (sigh, I wish the Knight's bonus feat list was better), and pick up Leap Attack as soon as you can.

Second, Sir Didymus is playable at every level, but Pete desperately needs lots of feats for his key second combo to work. Keep in mind that he was originally a much higher level PC. Flaws help. But if you can't use flaws and you're playing at mid levels you have to suck it up and take 2 levels of Fighter, and accept the fact that your Knight abilities will be somewhat sub-par.



Person man owns.

[Person_Man]

Person man owns.

Really? Cause these are pretty moderate builds. Fun, but nothing earth shattering. Certainly beneath the abilities of a full caster, or even a Dragonfire Adept. Spend 10 minutes on the optimization board, and you'll see what I mean.

Anywho, thanks for the complements.

[Draz74]

Well, the Halberd doesn't have Reach, which may give you some problems. I would have thought a Glaive would be your best bet (you can still Trip with it, you just get no bonuses from the weapon itself).

Wrong. Unless you have the Knock-Down feat, you can't trip with a weapon unless it says you can. Which is the only "bonus from the weapon itself" that you can get, in Core, for Tripping. Unless you count avoiding a retaliatory trip attempt as a "bonus."

People often read sloppily and think the Spiked Chain gives a bonus to trip. It DOESN'T! It just lets you trip with it, at all. It gives a bonus to disarm.

So you CAN'T trip with a Glaive. If you don't want to spend a feat on Spiked Chain proficiency, go with a Guisarme. Same tripping capabilities as a Spiked Chain, except it doesn't work against foes inside your reach. (Like Person Man said, just use a spiked gauntlet or spiked armor or shield in those cases.)

If Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown) is allowed, and you can afford the feat (at mid- or high levels), then you can take it and replace your old Guisarm with a Glaive.

[Serpentine]

Um... I'm pretty certain that you can attempt a trip with any (or nearly any) weapon, but there are some that are better at it (and some that are pretty useless. Tripping with a dagger? Unlikely. With your boot, maybe...). I'll check the PHB sometime, though.

[Person_Man]

Um... I'm pretty certain that you can attempt a trip with any (or nearly any) weapon, but there are some that are better at it (and some that are pretty useless. Tripping with a dagger? Unlikely. With your boot, maybe...). I'll check the PHB sometime, though.

Wrong. Unless you have a special ability (like a Wolf) or feat (like Knock-Down) that specifically grants you a free Trip attempt, you can only Trip with unarmed attacks and Trip weapons. And even then, you might have to drop the weapon if you fail the opposed check.


TRIP

You can try to trip an opponent as an unarmed melee attack. You can only trip an opponent who is one size category larger than you, the same size, or smaller.

Making a Trip Attack: Make an unarmed melee touch attack against your target. This provokes an attack of opportunity from your target as normal for unarmed attacks.

If your attack succeeds, make a Strength check opposed by the defender’s Dexterity or Strength check (whichever ability score has the higher modifier). A combatant gets a +4 bonus for every size category he is larger than Medium or a –4 penalty for every size category he is smaller than Medium. The defender gets a +4 bonus on his check if he has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid. If you win, you trip the defender. If you lose, the defender may immediately react and make a Strength check opposed by your Dexterity or Strength check to try to trip you.

Avoiding Attacks of Opportunity: If you have the Improved Trip feat, or if you are tripping with a weapon (see below), you don’t provoke an attack of opportunity for making a trip attack.

Being Tripped (Prone): A tripped character is prone. Standing up is a move action.

Tripping a Mounted Opponent: You may make a trip attack against a mounted opponent. The defender may make a Ride check in place of his Dexterity or Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the rider from his mount.

Tripping with a Weapon: Some weapons can be used to make trip attacks. In this case, you make a melee touch attack with the weapon instead of an unarmed melee touch attack, and you don’t provoke an attack of opportunity. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the weapon to avoid being tripped.

[skywalker]

Person man, I merely meant that your knight builds were really damned cool. Not necessarily that your builds were the greatest ever, just that they were really funny, unique, and cool.

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm also doing the Dwarven Knight/Defender build. I didn't actually start that way. He was originally a fighter planning to go to paladin, but I ultimately decided that the penalty to charisma hurt too much to make him an effective paladin, and decided to go to defender instead. That's when I got the PHBII and encountered the knight class, which was mechanically and fluff-wise a perfect fit for how I was already playing him, and my DM let me rebuild him.

Anyway... many of the knight and defender features work well together, especially the Test of Mettle and Defensive Stance. But, as Person_Man notes, the lack of DC progression hurts. One solution is the Ability Focus feat from the Monster Manual (as suggested in the PHBII), which can add two to the DC. Beyond that, I'm actually considering trying to convince my DM to houserule a feat that lets Defender and Knight sum for the DC and uses per day, similar to the Ascetic and Devoted feats. I think it's at the same power level as the Ascetic and Devoted feats, and makes of heck of a lot more thematic sense than most of them.

A lot depends on how high a level the campaign goes. If it tops out at 10, then the ability focus is probably the way to go. If it progresses to 12 or more, then you almost need the houseruled feat to keep him viable, or return to knight after a few levels of defender. We'll see what my DM goes for.